What I've been up to ...
I've been fairly busy recently, both at work and at home. Although the rain has stopped we have had a few storms and quite high winds. The sea is really big at the moment and last weekend I was totally knocked off my feet by a wave that came out of nowhere. I got up in time to see Molly tackled by the another wave, all arms and legs waving above the foam. It didn't stop her wanting to play. We've had power outages twice with big trees coming down all over the place. I guess that's to be expected when big winds come on the tail of lots of rain.
But there has been sewing. First is this skirt, which comes from the V1127 Badgley Mischka pattern, which has been in my collection for some time. I've hesitated to make this suit because of the fit problems most sewers reported with the jacket. I chose to make the skirt because I wanted a bandless skirt that sat just below my natural waist. With the ridiculously high temperatures at this time of year and the ultra high humidity, I find a band at my waist a little too hot. I cut a 12 based on the actual measurements on the pattern, but I really should have cut a ten. It doesn't sit this low on me as I have hips and Vera doesn't. I'm not sure about this style; there is no shaping in the front. It is comfortable and worn with a blouse over it, looks OK. If I were to make it again I would cut a ten, add a couple of small darts in the front and peg the skirt slightly. Considering I made this from a scrap of gorgeous brown cotton sateen that I got at the op shop for 50c and the lining came from stash, I'm pretty happy. I have pressed it since this picture was taken and I promise it looks better on than it does here. This won't fit the SWAP as there are no unmastered skills in this one.
Next up is BWOF 11-08-110 made from Shine on Diamond Twill from Gorgeous Fabrics. This is the fabric that I had originally ordered in black and I am so pleased that fate intervened and gave me brown. I love this fabric. It is not as shiny as it appears here. The picture in the link above shows the fabric far more accurately than my shot. It feels like a denimy microfibre and was a delight to work with. Again, this skirt looks way better on a human than on Vera. It has the most 'wiggle' factor of any skirt I have ever made.
I had run out of brownish linings and as I was shopping my stash I found this pink, so I decided to use it instead. The lining stops above the godets, so there is no chance of it being seen. I am really happy with the way this turned out. I french seamed the lining and I used a tip from kbenco for them hem; I sewed on bias binding, stretching it slightly as I sewed, then turned the hem up and hand stitched. The bias pulls the curve in enough so that there are no folds. Works like magic. Don't know if this counts as a new technique for SWAP.
I also made this top, which is BWOF 06-07-120. I've made this twice before and it's a perfect cool summer top for my climate. This fabric is persimmon voile again from Gorgeous Fabrics. To help with the sheerness, I have doubled the fronts but left the back single. I french seamed again. Not much else to say about this.
This is one of those garments that is set to be a favourite. I placed an order with Gorgeous Fabrics before christmas, choosing all fabrics for my SWAP and with a clear idea of what each would be made into. Except this brown cotton. I have no idea what I had intended to make. I spent an evening searching through Burda magazines and came up with this, which is 05-10-129. I'm totally in love with this top. I had the military style metal buttons in my collection and they are perfect. It's also my first succesful notched collar! I loathe patch pockets, but this top would not have worked without them. If I made this again I would lengthen it slightly. It was fairly time consuming with all the extra bits and topstitching, but I think it was worth it.
I have an animal print dress cut out for my Australia Day sewing as well as a few other things, so watch this space.
But there has been sewing. First is this skirt, which comes from the V1127 Badgley Mischka pattern, which has been in my collection for some time. I've hesitated to make this suit because of the fit problems most sewers reported with the jacket. I chose to make the skirt because I wanted a bandless skirt that sat just below my natural waist. With the ridiculously high temperatures at this time of year and the ultra high humidity, I find a band at my waist a little too hot. I cut a 12 based on the actual measurements on the pattern, but I really should have cut a ten. It doesn't sit this low on me as I have hips and Vera doesn't. I'm not sure about this style; there is no shaping in the front. It is comfortable and worn with a blouse over it, looks OK. If I were to make it again I would cut a ten, add a couple of small darts in the front and peg the skirt slightly. Considering I made this from a scrap of gorgeous brown cotton sateen that I got at the op shop for 50c and the lining came from stash, I'm pretty happy. I have pressed it since this picture was taken and I promise it looks better on than it does here. This won't fit the SWAP as there are no unmastered skills in this one.
Next up is BWOF 11-08-110 made from Shine on Diamond Twill from Gorgeous Fabrics. This is the fabric that I had originally ordered in black and I am so pleased that fate intervened and gave me brown. I love this fabric. It is not as shiny as it appears here. The picture in the link above shows the fabric far more accurately than my shot. It feels like a denimy microfibre and was a delight to work with. Again, this skirt looks way better on a human than on Vera. It has the most 'wiggle' factor of any skirt I have ever made.
I had run out of brownish linings and as I was shopping my stash I found this pink, so I decided to use it instead. The lining stops above the godets, so there is no chance of it being seen. I am really happy with the way this turned out. I french seamed the lining and I used a tip from kbenco for them hem; I sewed on bias binding, stretching it slightly as I sewed, then turned the hem up and hand stitched. The bias pulls the curve in enough so that there are no folds. Works like magic. Don't know if this counts as a new technique for SWAP.
I also made this top, which is BWOF 06-07-120. I've made this twice before and it's a perfect cool summer top for my climate. This fabric is persimmon voile again from Gorgeous Fabrics. To help with the sheerness, I have doubled the fronts but left the back single. I french seamed again. Not much else to say about this.
This is one of those garments that is set to be a favourite. I placed an order with Gorgeous Fabrics before christmas, choosing all fabrics for my SWAP and with a clear idea of what each would be made into. Except this brown cotton. I have no idea what I had intended to make. I spent an evening searching through Burda magazines and came up with this, which is 05-10-129. I'm totally in love with this top. I had the military style metal buttons in my collection and they are perfect. It's also my first succesful notched collar! I loathe patch pockets, but this top would not have worked without them. If I made this again I would lengthen it slightly. It was fairly time consuming with all the extra bits and topstitching, but I think it was worth it.
I have an animal print dress cut out for my Australia Day sewing as well as a few other things, so watch this space.
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V