The next lot of finished tops ….

Still in my top making phase I finished my last lot of shirts.

07/2012 #108

 

The third top I made was from a lovely cotton silk blend that I got from The Fabric Store.

The fabric is quite delicate so I fussed a lot with it.  I didn’t want to stretch the hems so they are just held in place with Vliesofix T10 tape instead of left raw like the pattern suggested.  The fabric is cut on the bias so it does hang beautifully.

 

 

I do like this shirt though the bust darts are a little high.

These next two patterns I liked (below) are the same pattern with different sleeves, and the top one has the tie on the front.

07/2012 #116

 

07/2012 #108 

I bought some lovely peach chiffon to make the second pattern but thought I would make a wearable muslin just to check the fit first.

Using a printed chiffon from spotlight I cut out  #116 – accidentally forgetting the add the seam allowances.  I thought that this would be OK and I was very wrong.

The shirt looks great, but I can’t lift my arms.   There is no movement at all between the sleeves and the body of the shirt (most likely due to my lack of adding seam allowances)

Some small modifications were to put the tie on the back instead of the front and doing a simple folded hem on the sleeves instead of  bias binding.

I also made a sorbetto from this fabric.

I actually made this one first just to see how easy it was to use premade bias binding on such a flimsy fabric.  The shirt turned out ok apart from the fact that when I ironed the front pleat – the iron was too hot and I burned a hole in it.

So, over the past two weeks I have made 6 shirts: 1 sorbetto and 4 burdastyle patterns (the green and white dot are the same pattern).

I think that I would wear only one of them out of the house.  I am ok with that.  Even though I wanted some new summer shirts this has turned into a “process” rather than “finished product” project.

It could be the fabric/pattern combination.  I really wanted to play with shear and lightweight fabric.  Maybe these patterns weren’t suitable for that type of fabric.

It could be the patterns.  The burdastyle patterns weren’t great.  They are very simple styles with minimal shaping (darts or curves).  I also find the instructions difficult to follow and often just did what I thought was best.  I hate not having seam allowances included, but I think it is something that eventually I will learn to love.

Then maybe it could be me.  Maybe I am not as skilled as I thought and still need to have my hand held for fabric choice and instructions.

Whatever the reason, I am done with tops for the moment.  I still have some beautiful fabric to make 07/2012 #108 but maybe I might wait until I can find a better pattern.

 

mini mismatched maxi

I bought 1.5m of this great stripey fabric from spotlight. I have a navy shirt that would go great with it.

I was going to make a style arc Fay skirt with it but thought the fabric may have been too heavy.

Icandy handmade did a post not so long ago about maxi skirts. I thought that the mismatched striped version would be the way to go because I wouldn’t have to worry about matching the stripes as much.
They have a few simple maxi skirt patterns as free google docs.

I didn’t measure the pattern for size and just blindly cut it out. Of course it didn’t fit me.

Well it did fit but it was very tight. Next time I will need to add at least 1.5″ to each side seam.

Even though it didn’t fit I wasn’t all that happy with the way it looked. Possibly the more complex stripe make it look too busy. I would have been better using the classic pattern with horizontal stripes.

Not to waste what I had done – I made it into a mini maxi for my little girl.

I made a yoga band for the waist and brought the side seams in by about an inch and chopped a foot off the bottom.

She seems to like it. I still like the idea of having one in this fabric for myself and have not ruled out the idea of buying some more.

three new dresses

Now that spring has sprung I am back in dress making phase.  I have started wearing a few of the dresses that I made last season.  I figured that if I wanted to make more I had to wear the ones I have too.

Vogue 1250

Lara has  made this dress quite a few times with great success.

The pattern is basically made from two pattern pieces strategically put together. Very clever.

I made a slight error with my pattern tracing and then cut the fabric incorrectly.  The pleat in the front shoulder is a lot wider on mine which has reduced the size of the cap sleeve.  BUT I am so much happier with this.

It sits quite nicely on my shoulder rather than hanging over.  I cut a smaller size so the dress would be more fitted than flowy.  The fabric is a cheap polyester which wasn’t that great on the roll, but perfect for this dress.

I will definitely make this pattern again and also consider shortening it to make it a top.

Burdastyle 8836

This is my “fabric-a-brac” dress.  I got the pattern for $1, 2m of lining and 3m of main fabric for $10.  Best thing is that both pattern and fabric have only been sitting in my stash for weeks – not months.

For something a little different to my normal style I made the version with the frill.  I haven’t made a burda pattern in a long long time and I was really impressed with the instructions.

Searching for a picture for the blog I came across this aussie pattern shop that has quite a few burda patterns at very reasonable prices ($4).  Patternsplus is well worth a look.

The options for construction for this dress is two layers of fabric or two layers plus a lining for the skirt.  I went with two layers of fabric, one of those being the lining fabric.  At the beginning the two layers are basted together and then treated as one piece for the remainder of the construction.

The dress is made from a medium weight chiffon and I learnt a lot working with such a light fabric making this dress.  It has a long centre back zip and next time I would use an invisible one.

For some reason I didn’t get the neck edges to line up at the back either but a little bit of unpicking and 5 minutes hand sewing and it is all good.

The dress fits well and is very wearable.  Though taking a quick photo for Susie gave me a glimpse of what it would look like as a tunic. It may get more wear as a shirt but I will leave it as a dress for the time being.

Vogue 8489

The third dress isn’t quite finished.  And it is one of those projects that I am not sure I want to put in the time needed to complete it.

I have done most of the work for this dress.  I just need to hem the arms and the bottom and handstitch the facings in place around the neckline. I am not sure I could be bothered.

I am not totally thrilled with the back.  The contrast isn’t lined up all that well and the tension in my overlocker wasn’t quite right so I can see the thread in the seams.

I got the fabric from Susies stash.  There wasn’t enough for all of the pieces so I used a black knit as contrast.  The dress is pretty enough – but maybe a little bold for me.  I think the black really makes the print stand out.  But I guess if there was no black the print would stand out anyway.

I knew this dress had a very low neckline.  But not only is the neckline low but the gathers around the bust, and the black contrast really draw attention to your cleavage.  It could easily be worn with a crop top or singlet underneath or even over a pair of swimmers.

So for now it is back in the project box, one day I might be inspired to get it out and finish it.  It is so very comfortable to wear.

Now that I have a few dresses done I am going to move on to tops next.  I have lots of grand plans with fabric and patterns just waiting for my attention.

The goal is to complete something every three days over the next 3 weeks.  So that is approx 7 items by 14 October.  Lets see how we go.

 

last piece of winter sewing McCalls 7359

One rainy day I lent my little girl my tessuti new york cape to keep her dry.  She has been wanting her own ever since.

I found some great wool fabric at “The Fabric Store” on sale and picked up 1.5m.  Then I went in search of a kids pattern.  I wanted a cape that was lined, at least thigh length, with a hood, a neck closure and slits for arms at the front.

I settled on an out of print pattern – McCall’s 7359 that I got on etsy and made view D.

I didn’t have as much fabric as was required and it took all of my puzzle solving skills to get the pieces from the fabric I had.

The lining is a cheap crepe backed satin that was in my stash destined for a fairy costume.

 

 

The only other modification I made (apart from shortening it) was to round out the shoulders.  The pattern is designed to be worn with shoulder pads. So just simply straightening the shoulder curve made it sit much better on her.

It doesn’t show up very well in the photos but at the neck is a cream Chinese frog closure.  I bought 3 of them but decided that one was enough.

Even though I think we have seen the last of the cold weather it still might get some wear.  And hopefully it should still fit her next season.

Not to be left out, the little boy feels he needs to wear his cape too when she has hers on.

fabric a brac

Like most crafters I have a problem with my stash.  It’s not really a major problem it is just the fact that I have more supplies than available storage space.  My crafting stuff is starting to creep into other rooms and wardrobes.

I have a stash of quilters cotton – fat quarters and yards of prints and collections that caught my eye or were destined to be something.

Over the years balls of yarn have made their way into storage containers in the spare room.  There’s lace and sock yarn as well as a few sweaters worth of 8ply.  There is even enough for a blanket.

I knew I was in trouble when I started buying yards of fabric for potential garments.  I just do not have the room.  This is my storage space next to my sewing table.

So I started with a spring clean and I was brutal.

I got rid of a good portion of my yarn on a rav destash.  I was surprised at what sold.  All of those balls that were just waiting for the right pattern are now gone and I feel “lighter” for it.  Don’t get me wrong I still have a decent stash of yarn remaining and there is enough left to satisfy my needs if inspiration strikes and I need an immediate fix.

For fabric I managed to get rid of a fair bit at the fabric a brac a few weeks ago.

Susie and I shared a stall and we did quite well.

What didn’t sell was sorted and a “to donate” bag was created.

There was a little temptation from the other stalls but I managed to come home with only a few new patterns

and some fabric (5m @ $2/m) to go with one of the dress patterns.

And really that fabric is not going to be added to stash it will be made into that dress soon and the scraps thrown away.

I think that is the way that I want to operate – have the pattern or the idea – buy what I need, make it and then move to the next thing.  It is difficult in practice because there is always something new and shiny that will divert my attention, which will then lead to the potential of that item not being made and the supplies to become stash.  But I guess it  then becomes fodder for next years spring clean.

I think it will be a never-ending battle but I am heading in the right direction.  Have a little bit on hand, buy what I need and not get too far ahead of myself with a huge queue of projects.

I still have a stash but now there is a little more room on those shelves.

Did you spy the kitty in the first photo too?

winter jackets for Brisbane

Winter has arrived in Brisbane.  It isn’t that bad, it is not really cold or windy.  Just a little rain and some dreary days.

After my dress phase I went into Jacket phase. I got two made just before the cold weather arrived. I have even worn them a few times.  There are two more on my “to-do” list.

I made the Tessuti New york cape from some black/charcoal wool fabric. I got this from the global fabrics in Auckland when we were in NZ recently.

The pattern can now be purchased as a downloadable PDF.  I have been wanting to make this for a while but the cost of the pattern and postage had always put me off.  The pattern is quite simple and so are the instructions.  I had to read a few parts a couple of times to figure them out.  The photos don’t help much either as the sample uses dark fabric and black thread.

The only stumble I had was with the hood not fitting along the neck seam.  I caught it before finishing it off so was able to fudge it to fit.

All of the seams are finished with bias binding which creates a beautiful garment.  But now that I have made it once I think that I would omit the binding and overlock the raw edges and seams for all but the hood.

I know these are crap photos – sorry!

The bottom edge is finished with binding too.  I used 6m of plain cotton binding instead of the wool binding that Tessuti recommend for $10/m.

I recently had this cape with me to show Susie.  It was raining and I gave it to my little girl to keep her dry.  Even though the cape was big (long through the arms and the length), the hood and shoulders fit her fine.  It didn’t look stupid big.  It really is one size fits all.

The other jacket I made was the Style Arc Audrey Jacket. I was inspired by Karens when we were in Canberra.  The fabric is also from the same shop the fabric store but this time from the one in Brisbane.  The fabric was expensive but I only needed 1.4m which made it a reasonable finished piece.

It is so hard to photograph.

I  made a little effort to match the pattern on the fabric.  I wasn’t obsessive over it but tried enough not to make it look silly.  I did ok with the pattern matching on the front and close to matching on the sleeves.

The jacket isn’t fitted.  It is cropped with wide 3/4 sleeves.  It is also fully lined.  I struggled with “bagging” the lining and did my best to fudge it.

I love this jacket but have not worn it as much as the cape.  It was my first go at Style Arc patterns and I was reasonably impressed.

Sock animals

After the little owl came home from Canberra the kids were continuously bugging me to make more sock animals.

On the first day of school holidays I could avoid it no more.

I dragged out my stupid sock creatures book and printed out my owl, sausage dog and baby zilla patterns. I have been hoarding socks for a little while and found some striped beauties at target this week. I thought they would be perfect for a sock monkey. There are lots of tutorials online but I purchased a pattern from squiggly monkey.

I set us up on the kitchen table with my little girls sewing machine and our bag of socks.

The little boy chose a dog like creature from the book and the little girl designed her own cat.

I took turns doing a little bit of each animal and got them to help me with tasks along the way.

Most of the construction is done by hand. The sock fabric is very forgiving and the quickest seams of running stitch seem to be fine. Not sure how well they will last after a little bit of love though.

The dog was named Jump and am really pleased with how he turned out.

The cat is called pounce. He is not as cool as the dog but she designed him and even did the face embroidery herself.

So in its own way, this one is more special.

They wanted to make sausage dogs next and a baby zilla for daddy. I wanted to make a sock monkey but after a few hours I had enough. Maybe another day we will spend another morning making more sock animals.

handstitched class week 1

There were 3 projects offered in the first week of class which focused on reverse applique.  They were embellishing a T-shirt, making a small felt needle book and a dogwood blossom quilt block.

I decided against the T-shirt project.  The techniques she used were straight from Alabama Chanin.  I decided to make a book cover from the Alabama stitch book instead of the t-shirt.

Thanks to Sheridan’s workshop on how to stencil print in Canberra, I stenciled a simple paisley flower shape onto fabric so the design would be on the front and back.

I layered the fabric and stitched around the design.  I then cut out the centre leaving the white underneath. The white is a little too high contrast for me and a dark cream or tan colour may have been better.

The felt needle book was fun to make.   It seemed to be a little bit floppy for my liking folded in half.  I decided to make mine fold into thirds to ensure the contents were a little more secure. Maybe some interfacing in the lining would have been a good idea too.  I like this book but not as much as the ones that I made for the sample swap!

I managed to get the stitching on the dogwood blossom quilt block done in Canberra (well mainly on the flight home!). It is totally because of Sherdian that I got this done at all.  Having her tell me what to do and how to do it made a huge difference.

I added the borders and now it is waiting the next step.  This cream border is going to be embroidered!

I am making this into a quilt for my 7 year old who is all about pink.  I do have the purple fabrics in the range too but maybe an all pink quilt might be the way to go.

All done by hand – Alabama Chanin

In keeping with sewing away from the machine I recently stumbled across Alabama Chanin.

Any thing Natalie Chanin and her Alabama studio are my new obsession.

I think I first came across Alabama Chanin though Stitched in Color (yep the same blog that is running the handstitched class).

I love the Alabama Chanin style. The clothes are unique but not out there, feminine but not pretty and they are very wearable. The best thing is that Natalie Chanin has 3 books that tell you how to make them.

She gives away all of her secrets – from the stencils and the patterns to which fabric, thread and needles to use.

You can make it from scratch yourself using the books. You can also buy supplies from her. I bought the needles and a thread sample pack so I could source some locally. Alternatively you can buy kits (eg. skirt below) of pre cut and stenciled fabric for you to sew. Or if you just love the clothes you can buy them already made!

I think I like this brand because everything Alabama Chanin is hand stitched. I initially thought it was just the added embellishments but even the garment construction is done by hand. For whatever reason this appeals to me.

Also all of her designs are made from knit (jersey) fabrics. In her book she advocates upcycling and making her designs from old t-shirts.

I have made a lot of knit dresses from the mission maxi pattern and can see that making something similar by hand would be achievable. Embellishing it using these appliqué and beading techniques would make it spectacular.

I am going to keep obsessing about these clothes and pouring over these books for a while longer. Something Chanin will be the first project on my list once the handstitching class is done.

I have all 3 books and at some stage will do a review of them as I read them cover to cover. At the moment I just read bits here and there and look at the pictures.

Handstitched

Sheridan and I are doing this handstitched class run by stitched in color.

Even though we live a 1000km apart it is nice to do stuff together. Now we have something new to organise, plan, seek opinion and  chat about.

I am heading away at the and of the week and I have madly been collecting supplies so they are ready to go when I get back.

I bought a selection of fabrics (from etsy store aspen fabrics) from the children at play range by Sarah Jane. This will be for the medallion quilt which will end up on my little girls bed. She choose this range from a few options I that I gave her.

I got frustrated with the last medallion quilt I tried to make from stash (and scrapped it!). I think this one will have a greater chance of success because I am going into it with a range of coordinating fabrics.
I liked the pink and orange fabric combination but she preferred the pink and lilac ones. She won.

I have also picked up some floss for the embroidery round. And some pretty pink solid is on its way for the hand quilting round.

It is not all about quilts though. In part of the class you have to embellish a skirt. For my canvas I made this simple A line one from and old spotlight pattern. It is made from a charcoal suiting fabric which sits nicely.

The only drama I had was with the zip. I think when I pressed the invisible zip prior to sewing, my iron was too hot and I melted it. Then when I did it up it was weak and the zipper fabric just came away from the teeth.

So I waited a few days to calm down and then replaced it.

Inspired by Sheridan I also did an invisible hem.  At the moment it is a pretty boring black skirt (which was really hard to photograph!)

I am really looking forward to doing some hand stitching and getting some sewing done away from the machine.