Sew, I've Been Thinking ...

Just when you thought I'd disappeared off the face of the earth ... I'm back with an emergency version of Vogue 1020 which is probably long OOP.  I've come home with very little clothing, most of which doesn't fit. The rest is still in Hobart.  I needed a dress to wear and I thought making this in a cotton lycra would fit, but it was still baggy.  I need to put some weight on! I hope to be back to regular sewing soon.  It's been a hectic three months! More later ...

I've been a bit stuck with what to sew next as I can't find the fabric I want.  I saw it when I didn't want it and now I can't find it but then with only ONE fabric store in Tasmania, what else can I expect.  If anyone sees matte gold or champagne sequin fabric please let me know.  Even a bronze would work. These shorts are a real TNT. It's the Burda Ruby shorts that I downloaded free many years ago, pre blog days, in fact.  The fabric is the same.  It's a lovely soft stretch sateen that is leftover from a dress I made to wear to a wedding many years ago.  As I've been slowly packing I keep coming across things that might work for my SWAP, so this keeps with my stashbusting challenge.  The buttons and thread were from stash, too, so these are free.   The mirror shots are a little dark but they do fit me, despite the odd wrinkles.  It's hard to photograph yourself in a mirror.   Here they are on the floor and below you...

I've been listening to a lot of the Tragically Hip this week and it's flavoured my mood tonight. Two weeks ago when I started these jeans I had a plan, not just for my pants, but for my life.  My world has been altered in the past 14 days for reasons that I may share in the coming weeks.  I've had to delay my return home by a few weeks and that comes with mixed feelings.  But back to the jeans ... These started life as BWOF 05-11-116 skinny jeans, which I made recently in red.  As I mentioned last time, I frankenpatterned the pockets of Burda Anita jeans onto this pattern and this time I also frankenpatterned the crotch curve from my best fitting RTW jeans (Levis Bold Curve).  I took the back seam in by about an inch, but that could be because this sateen is a little stretchier than the one I used last time. I am quite happy with the fit, although these pictures make me look FAT. These pants are a nice addition to my SWAP.  The pictures aren't gre...

Now that I my tenure in Tasmania can be counted in weeks, this long weekend (Hobart gets two more public holidays to NSW) is divided between sewing and packing.  I took a couple of hours out this morning to take Molly down to the waterfront and have a look at the Wooden Boat Festival, but the rest of the weekend has been spent in the house.  Between the horrendous smoke from the fires and the unbelievable wind, it's way more comfortable inside, anyway.  I struggle with static electricity in Hobart at the best of times, but today every bit of thread, dog hair and other assorted flotsam and jetsam are all stuck to me and my sewing. First of all I finished up this pair of high-waisted skinny, slouchy pants.   Sorry about the crappy mirror shots but I am too lazy and too busy to waste time messing with a tripod.  You'll have to wait for the SWAP shots now! These are BWOF 03-11-119 and are made from the same fabric as the skirt from...

It seems that no post of mine is complete without a rant about Spotlight.  When I first started planning my SWAP I wanted to use chocolate brown sateen as my base.  I visited Spotlight in Hobart and they had tons of black and every colour known to man - except brown, in fact they told me it didn't come in brown!  I decided to wait until I got home at christmas time and visit one of the stores up there.  Although I couldn't find brown sateen, I did manage to find a really lovely cotton suiting with a little stretch.  I don't know what it is, but it really is lovely with a great hand, great weight and just the right amount of stretch. While I was contemplating my SWAP, I changed my mind and decided I would like to use black.  Safe in the knowledge that I had seen plenty of black, I went to Spotlight and guess what I found?  No black.  But they suddenly have a lot of chocolate brown. As I am going home at the end of this month, I hope I will...

I had two glasses of wine last night and that's it! I stupidly didn't take any photos, but I ended up wearing Dress Plan C which was one I made last year and have never worn. I've forgotten the pattern number and I'm too lazy to look it up. Dress Plan A.  I originally wanted to make V1151 but couldn't find ponte in a colour I liked.  There was boring black, washed out burgundy, dirty grey or cream.  I really wanted purple or orange or something bright, but here in fabric starved Tasmania I was fooling myself.  I moved to Dress Plan B. Prior to christmas I had traced BWOF 09-11-104 but never got around to making it, so I decided to give it a go.  I had 3m of poly chiffon that I bought at Spotlight last year for $3 a metre that was perfect.   It's a fairly simple pattern to make, but the double layer of chiffon with pleating and gathering makes it a little time consuming.  I changed the pattern contruction slightly.  For some reas...

I've managed all three of these in one garment. I had this scant 1 metre of cotton check fabric that's been in my stash for about 15 years.  I bought it for $3 at a sale of remnants and bolt ends from a clothing store in Mullumbimby called Mokea.  I've pulled it out many times, but there just wasn't enough to make any of the things I had envisioned, so it always ended up neatly folded and back in the cupboard. Somewhere in the middle of the night on Friday I remembered that I owe my friend, Bruce, a birthday gift from December and as he is a smaller guy, I thought I migh just be able to squeeze it out of this fabric.  I've only sewn for Bruce once before (a terry towelling bathrobe that didn't need fitting) and as he is about 2000km away I couldn't measure him, so I guessed.  I used KS3422 a pattern I've sewn for another similarly sized friend so I hope it comes close.  I know Bruce will wear it regardless, because he loves all things hand mad...