Up Sew Late

1950s Long Tall Sheath (Vintage Vogue)

2012-03-04T23:27:00.000+11:00

OK, now this one I am happy with.

This dress has been hanging around in its completely finished and *gasp* ironed state for about 10 days, and has nearly been worn to work a few times (alas, too cold,wet or windy for it), and nearly worn out to dinner twice (alas, not dressy enough). The fact that I keep putting it on and trying to wear it despite the weather and the occasion tells you I love it.

The pattern is Vogue 1137, a 1950 vintage pattern reissue, made as a straight size 15 - which is to say it's a size 14 but sewn with 1cm rather than 1.5cm seam allowances down the sides. Oh, the mad thrill of sewing without a muslin!

Unfortunately between directing my son and using the self timer I haven't managed very loveable photos. I have to blame the weather - this rain just won't go away! To be honest we did have a few hours of sunshine today but they were desperately needed for some outside jobs (you'll see a giant blue tarp on the lawn - that was part of it) that were a higher priority than blog photos :-(.

I managed to sneak these photos in just before the rain started up again...

Do you see how GREEN and healthy the garden looks? It is L.O.V.I.N.G. this summer.

But the dress. Yes, the dress.

It's much more fitted than I usually manage (a psychological block that I MUST get past for Julia Bobbin's Mad Men dress challenge!) but the dress is extremely comfortable, and I don't feel too exposed. Look everyone, a genuine smile!

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So how long?
About 5 hours. Yes, I know I'm a slow coach. But on the other hand it's been a long time since I've had to do any unpicking - so there!

And how much?
A mere bagatelle!

$22.50 tops. All up.

$18 of fabric (a half price remnant from Tessuti fabrics), and $2.50 for a reel of thread. The bias binding was a leftover, and the zip has been in my stash for ages - which means I bought it second hand or on sale. We can call it $2 but it might have been 50 cents :-).
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Pattern Review

I didn't follow the pattern instructions and only really glanced at them to check for danger zones, so I can't tell you if they're any good or not - but with this sort of straightforward construction there's not too much scope for calamitous errors.

I did find one surprise with the pattern though, which was that there seemed to be less ease than usual for a Vogue pattern - either that or it's supposed to be extremely snug and foxy? Maybe so! FYI these days I sew a size 12 bodice in Vogue patterns (and a 14 below the waist), but the fit you see above approximates to a size 15 everywhere - and I wouldn't call the bodice particularly loose. So if you're thinking of making this I'd recommend you measure the pattern widths first.

I made a couple of changes...

Smaller side seams - of necessity :-) - thank goodness I gave myself "extra" fabric to play with by cutting out too big!

No hand sewing - I did glance at the instructions to see if they included a neat way of sewing the lining to the bodice outer but they didn't. They seemed to suggest sewing front bodice to its lining, back bodice to its lining, then hand sewing front to back at the shoulder seams, followed by neatening up the lining pieces on the inside shoulder seam. In my experience this approach often looks messy. Instead I sewed outer to outer at the shoulder seams, and facing to facing at the shoulder seams, then sewed the outer and facings together along the neckline. I turned the dress right side out and then pinned the arm hole seams together as far as I could reach in towards the shoulder seam. Sewing these seams with the machine took a couple of steps working up from the lowest points of the armhole and required some care close to the shoulder seams where there wasn't much room for everything else to stay out of the way. I think there are some good explanations of this method out there in the sewing blogosphere but I have to admit I didn't look it up - just tried to think about the dress in 3d terms.

Self-fabric facings rather than full bodice lining. My fabric is a stretch cotton and I figured a non-stretch lining would strain at the seams and also make the dress too warm. I made a facing shape by basically tracing the bodice pattern pieces and drawing a wavy line that allowed for at least 6cm below the lowest underarm point and lowest part of the neckline. My facing ends just above the bust darts and I intentionally made it a little tighter on the bust than the bodice. And look what I also did - matched up the stripes on the outer and facing pieces!

This sort of detail just makes me feel good :-)

Order of construction - I like to join bodice front to skirt front, and bodice back to skirt back, before sewing the side seams. This lets me check stripes are matched on the waist seam without having copious amounts of fabric hanging either side of the needle, and also lets me fit the dress in one lovely long side seam. Especially since I'm bigger in the hips than in the bodice I don't want to sew side seams for the top and bottom parts separately - they might not be the same size at the waist seam!

Sway back adjustment - I took out a wedge from the back bodice waist seam to remove some puffiness that turned up in the bodice back when I tried it on in pins

This shaped waistline becomes a horizontal on me

Back bags be gone!

Straightened the side vents along the fabric stripe

Left out the self fabric belt. Just for now. I have the coordinating belt buckle ready to go but am feeling nervous about this step - so am doing without for now.

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The Verdict?

A fitted dress like this - once it fits - gives you the opportunity to vary the ease, the neckline, the skirt shape and the length for some very different looks.

I love it. I'm tempted to make another, shorter dress in a very different fabric.

WINNER: "Vogue Vintage Model" Pattern

2012-02-29T23:55:00.002+11:00

We have a winner!

Congratulations Debi, and better luck next time to everyone else.

Can't you just picture Debi wearing this in Scotland?

Although maybe not in bubblegum pink...

V1368 (OOP) - Ugly Bias Linen Dress

2012-02-25T18:40:00.003+11:00

Me: I've made another Donna Karan pattern dress... it's comfortable and loose...

but not what you'd call stylish.

You: Hmmm. It certainly doesn't look stylish like that.

Can't you stand still for a second?

Oh and just so you know -
when you're daughter's in the picture I can't concentrate on the clothes!

Just saying... it's up to you, I know...

Me: OK, here's a boring standing still picture.

And the back view.

Me: Satisfied?

You: My God, what dreadful photos!!!

Maybe those strange yellowy moving ones were better after all.

Tell me though - that's not really a Donna Karan pattern, is it?

Me: Yeah, it's this one - Vogue 1368.

It's OOP so unless you have it in your stash it's pretty low risk...

You: Looks absolutely nothing like yours!

Did you stuff it up or something?

Me: No! I didn't stuff it up, I swear!

I did make a couple of changes but they were just to fix it!

I even used a recommended fabric!

Look, this is what is was like when I made it "as instructed":

You: Geez - that IS ugly.

So what did you do to "fix" it?

Me: I just added some darts and a big bow :-)

A bit better, n'est-ce pas?

You: Barely.

It's still pretty dowdy.

Will you actually wear it?

Me: I don't think so...

Boo hoo hoo (runs off to cry)

You (shouting): Hey - I just noticed something funny

- those red marks

- they look just like BLOOD!

Weird huh?

But at least you didn't make shorts!

Me: BOO HOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

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The Lowdown

Pattern Rating: Easy

Cost: $24

2 metres x $12/metre linen from Material World
$0 stash zip (totally superfluous of course as the whole dress is bias cut)
$0 thread - using up some half spools
$0 binding - made by hand (no special tools, just bias cut strips sewn together and ironed in half)

Time: 4 hours = way too long given the finished object

approx 45 minutes cutting out due to lots of mucking about with placement on the fabric

I recently had a cutting out question in the comments, and thought this example would illustrate nicely how I go about things

If I had cut this out on the true bias the dots would have been angled from the horizontal as well as from the vertical, so I cut it a little off the bias. I started out with the front pattern piece and made a mental note of where the now horizontal dots sat with respect to the waistline marked on the front piece so I could be consistent with the back pieces. I placed the back piece for the right hand side first, but before I cut it I used my tape measure and ruler to make sure I was leaving enough room for the left hand back piece with the dots at the right level. Once I'd cut this piece out I flipped it over on the fabric to match up the dots before pinning and cutting the left hand back piece.

placing right back on fabric - using ruler

use right back piece to match up left back piece

1/2 hour initial sewing and 3-step zig zagging of edges
1/2 hour making bias binding
1 1/2 hours sewing, checking fit and fixing
45 minutes ironing, inserting zip and doing last of the 3 step zig zags in lieu of a hem

Adjustments:

Raised the front neckline just a little (an error! must have been confusing Vogue with Burda)

Cut all dress pieces slightly off the angle so as to get the dots in a straight horizontal across my waist
Lengthened about 3 inches
Added darts
Added a distraction bow

Pattern Review: Avoid this one. It makes a sack - and who needs another of those?

Quick Giveaway: "Vogue Vintage Model" Pattern

2012-02-23T00:47:00.001+11:00

Just a quick post to say I have a copy of Vogue Vintage Model V1044 in sizes 6-8-10 up for giveaway.

The pattern is for a dress which is "mid-calf length, has fitted bodice, front and back yoke extending to short or below elbow length sleeves and front tucks. Attached skirt is gathered, has snap closing in front, inverted pleats at center front, back and sides. A: very deep hem. A, B: self-fabric belt".

This pattern is a reissue of an original 1956-57 design, is supposed to suit all shapes except columns, and is rated Average / Moins Facile - maybe due to the tucks down the front bodice?

It takes between 3.7m and 6.0m of fabric depending whether you make long sleeves and/or extra-deep hems, but I suspect it could be made with less fabric if you reduced or removed skirt pleats, and/or shortened to knee length. The pattern shouldn't be difficult to grade down to a 4 or up to a 12, and should also be pretty forgiving in terms of hip size. I think it would look great in a dark grey paper taffeta or a rich coloured shantung... you could also use this pattern to try out a contrasting yoke.

If you're a follower and you're interested in this pattern, let me know by comment including your email address if that's not already included in your profile - happy to mail anywhere. I'll close the giveaway at about midnight Sydney time next Tuesday evening (28th February '12).

Did You Lose a Button?

2012-02-20T00:09:00.000+11:00

I think I might have it!

Was it yellow, or orange?

Red, or pink?

Was it a white button?

Was it a very special button?

Was it green?

Was it blue?

Brown?

Black?

Was it still on its card???

And when did you lose it, by the way?

...

Oh. That recently?

Sorry, can't help.

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Briefing Notes

Photographic evidence above relates to a button collection ("The Collection") now in possession of The Button Police. The need to progress the investigations relating to The Collection is a priority for The Button Police, however it is acknowledged that publication of this evidence may stimulate copycat crimes.

The Collection recently came into possession of The Button Police from a cooperative informant known as
"The Judge". Under questioning, The Judge revealed the existence of a button collecting dynasty, most recently represented by "Mrs X". It’s understood Mrs X and her mother, "Mrs Y" (now deceased), assembled the Collection over the period 1910–1990, most likely focusing their attentions on the Northern Region of NSW, Australia. The Collection was passed to The Judge for safe keeping in or before 1990, since which time it has apparently remained largely untouched.

Buttons may have been obtained by any one of three common methods, described forthwith:

The "snip" - a small scale, high-risk and relatively public method which may have involved the use of decoys to shift attention away from desired buttons. Individual or small groupings of buttons displayed on clothing would have been the most likely targets for this method.
The "trick" - a medium scale method which may have involved coercion of vulnerable person(s). The target in this approach would have been individual or small groupings of desirable buttons located in sewing rooms, educational facilities, store rooms and the like.
The "take" - typically a larger scale, highly organised and sophisticated method, which may also have included credit scams, decoys and/or coercion. This method would have targeted high profile individual or grouped buttons displayed in small shops or market stalls in which security was inadequate.

Any person(s) having information about the accumulation of the Collection, or believing their button(s) to be present in the Collection, should make formal representations to The Button Police. It should be noted that no alibis have been established for personages of interest for the period of interest. Due to the diverse and dangerous nature of the suspected collecting methods, citizen's arrests are NOT recommended.

Postscript

Although no photographic evidence is currently available, the existence of a further suspicious collection has latterly come to our attention. This collection, while perhaps small in scope, presents significant challenges in terms of provenance. The collection is believed to have been commenced by a figure already known to The Button Police as "Dutchy". The late Dutchy passed his collection in its entirety to his charming conspirator, "Muscles", at some time between 1995 and 2005, from which point collecting activities were taken on by Muscles. In the course of the past year Muscles has dropped hints to The Button Police about the Dutchy-Muscles Collection, but only in the last days has material evidence been described. Given the separate international movements of Dutchy and Muscles over the period 1915 - 1995, the Dutchy-Muscles collection may represent buttons from the Netherlands, Northern England, North America, Eastern and Northern areas of Australia, and possibly also portside towns from shipping routes of the 1940s. As more details become available they will be shared with the public.

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Apologies to PR, Mrs X and her mum, TVD and VMC for the above stretching of the stories.
And I acknowledge that all of the buttons were most likely acquired by means of the "buy" method!

Colour Shock! New Jacket, Pants and Top

2012-02-16T00:51:00.000+11:00

Me: Come on, tell me the truth - do my legs look big in these?

You: Well...

Me: What if I stand like this? More natural?

You: Hmmm - well let's focus on something else. What about that jacket?

Me: OK, here's my jacket - d'you like it?

You: Actually the jacket's kind of big too, isn't it... AND loud.

Erm maybe you could wear the jacket with something black?

Me: But don't you like it with the pants?

Me: Look, it's got these cool little side splits.

Me: And I can do these sort of karate moves really comfortably!

You: Well it's not for everyone, is it.

But obviously you're very happy...

Me (sulking): Well I'm not happy now! I can tell you hate it all!

Do you know how long this bloody took me???????

You: Look, it's probably fine for Australia.

And the t-shirt's OK - obviously nothing to it though.

Not many people would dress like that 'round here though...

Me: Do you really mean that? That it's FINE?

You: I'm not going to lie. It's OK. OK for you.

I like that painting though. Did one of your kids do it?

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Here's the lowdown - costs, timings, patterns.

Trousers
Cost: $24.20

Time: Approx 3h - very straightforward and quick.

The 2 metres of orange linen fabric for the trousers came from The Fabric Shop on sale, reduced from $20 to $12/ metre. It's a very heavyweight linen, and feels cool and soft against the skin.

The zip and buttons are vintage. The zip was 20 cents at the second hand store ages ago (I have a bit of a zipper stash) - you can't see its (red) fabric colour, but I thought that the gold metal teeth would look OK with the vintage style of pants. The buttons are much, much older - these come from an amazing button stash that my dad's partner recently passed on to me, and look to have already seen a lot of use before my trousers.

I used my rather favourite old Ralph Lauren Vogue pattern, which I've promised to make into navy linen beach pajamas :-)

I guess you can see these orange trousers as a test run for sizing...

Linen gives a lot more than calico, so I found I had to take these in a bit from my muslin size, and then I still had some excess width at the front so I was able to reinstate a couple of pleats that were included in the original pattern.

I also added about 10cm in length to the muslin to give myself plenty of room for hems. When I made this pattern originally (early 90s I guess?) I found my linen shrank a lot, most noticeably in length. I'm covered for that!

Jacket

Cost: $50

Time: 4.5 - 5h initially (incl about 40mins to cut out), + a further 1.5 hours to adjust and finish.

The fabric for the jacket came from The Fabric Shop, a 2 metre piece bought at $20/ metre at the same time as the orange linen for the trousers. It's a lovely heavyweight linen, and feels like top quality stuff. I already had lots of partially used reels of the right colour thread - from this DKNY dress, this UFO jacket, etc....

Back in the day I made the skirt and top from this Anne Klein pattern (V1325, well and truly OOP) in a size 10 but never got to the jacket. I assumed I'd need at least a 12 now, so I snaffled up a second hand copy ages ago - $10 or less, bingo.

I'm happy to report this jacket is really easy to make - unlined, and no buttons or closures - and it has has interesting cuffs, set in sleeves and lovely simple lines.

However, I should have thought about 80s sizing. The jacket is described as "very loose-fitting", which translated into modern parlance means BLOODY HUGE.

The dropped shoulders seem to demand huge shoulder pads (I didn't give in), and the 7/8 cuffed sleeves which looked so elegant on the pattern envelope are truly voluminous and long.

Here's where the "7/8 sleeves with cuffs" ended on my long arms:

I unpicked the cuffs and side seams, and took these up by about 6cm to get to a better look.

The sleeves were also much wider than they looked on the pattern envelope - one possibility (of course) is that the sweet little Vogue model is actually a giant. I tapered in the sleeves with a long pencil-drawn triangle that took them in by 5cm at the seam by the cuff to nothing under the arm (where I couldn't begin to think of how to make the set in sleeve narrower without making a new jacket body). So all up they're now about 10cm narrower at the cuff:

T-shirt
Cost: $12 max
Time: 45 mins

The fabric for this t-shirt came from Lincraft - about $12/m, and I used a 1m piece. And leftover thread.

For a pattern I used my own "famous" self-drafted kimono sleeve t-shirt, previously seen here, but left the neckline high. I cut this out super-fast at about 11.30pm on Saturday night and then sewed 2 of the seams till just after midnight. The other two seams got whizzed through after breakfast on Sunday - ie total of about 45 minutes to make. No edges were hemmed in making this garment. Nothing was done slowly here.

I pattern matched the stripes as usual (well, less carefully), BUT as I'd cut the fabric out a bit wonky or the stripes weren't straight or something, the shoulders are not equal heights ie the neckline is now odd.

If you like kimono sleeve t-shirts, they're really simple to make yourself - AND if you make your own, you can have it loose / tight in the places you want!

So all up, for the outfit - well, that can be homework :-)

See you!
- Gabrielle

I Heart Chloe: V2465 (OOP) makes a sweet top

2012-02-10T00:37:00.002+11:00

This little top is my latest completed project - I feel like I've been a pretty lacklustre blogger and commenter lately, but there have been a lot of distractions round here. School went back, and I went back to work. We had some asbestos removed (scary) and then roof renovations, and meanwhile the weather has been pretty close to non-stop rainy except when it's just threatening rain with a low grey sky (where is our Sydney summer? I know we had one pleasant Sunday, but is that IT?), which does not go down too well when the front part of your roof is off and the latest tradie didn't know how to put a tarp on properly.

All the brown muck you see out there came off the roof I guess.

Let's get back to the subject.

When I saw this pattern for sale I barely hesitated. It's a Vogue Paris Original, and I'm pretty sure it's from the mid 80s (around when my mum made me a formal dress in a similar shape... I should show you that one day, but it wouldn't even fit on my dressform). I'd never seen this pattern around before, but I thought it looked like it would be gorgeous in a pretty silk, with a coordinating slip underneath. That's not what I've made though, is it!

You can see the pattern in my smug little mitts below:

Well that's because first up I had to confirm the pattern's credibility and sizing, isn't it!

I made the bodice as a little top with one of my Tessuti remnant sale pieces of fabric, a lovely lightweight great quality cotton. I don't know about everyone else, but when I make up these "test" garments, I still like to do it carefully with the hope that the end result will be a valuable wardrobe addition. So I went to some pains to match up the pattern over the button bands with the fabric of the front bodice. I didn't have enough fabric to get a match down the side seams but I think centre front is a place where matching or not matching a pattern is most striking... and I am seriously chuffed with how well the matching has worked.

Yes I know it's buttoning on the wrong side, but if I'd done it the proper way around the matching wouldn't have been perfect. I am not at all bothered that my blouse does up like a man's, to be honest.

Surprisingly for a little cotton blouse, it earned me TWO separate, unsolicited compliments when I wore it to work the other morning. The fabric is interesting up close, isn't it!

The sleeves are double layered, which means no sleeve hems:

Here are the stats:

Total cost = $41
$35 pattern (big gulp. Must have been really sleep deprived as I normally prefer a $10 max!). I really had better use this one again
$5? fabric from Tessuti's remnant sale last year
$0 thread (a couple of already half used spools)
$1 small pack of vintage buttons from my stash

Total time: 5 hours
Approx 20 minutes cutting out
About 4 hours slow-mo sewing* and pressing
About 10 minutes arguing with my sewing machine about sewing buttonholes
About 40 minutes of hand sewing where the inside layer of sleeve attaches to the bodice, + buttons

Here's some of that hand sewing on the inside of the sleeve:

* Slow-mo sewing : I often sew on a very slow setting because I don't really have enough light in my sewing corner and I really hate unpicking the mistakes I make when I sew fast. I'm also trying to savour the process...

Boy's Tops

2012-02-08T00:23:00.003+11:00

I'm waiting to get some decent light (COO-EEE - Summer, where are you?) to take some photos of my latest little Chloe top (V2465, OOP) and Anne Klein jacket (V1325, OOP). For now here are two easy tops whipped up for my son:

1. A cool t-shirt refashion

I found a t-shirt in great condition at my local second hand shop. It fitted me snugly but it looked like a small man's top (maybe it had shrunk in the dryer?), and when I asked my son if he'd like me to turn it into his size he was thrilled with the idea. I have to say I get a bit depressed when I look at the grim t-shirt offerings for boys who are 7 or older, so it was fantastic to be able to make my son such an bright, cool t-shirt.

To do this refashion this I cut the original t-shirt carefully inside all the seam lines and cut off the neckband.

I then fit size 8 length /size 6 width pattern pieces from Burda pattern #9614 onto the cut pieces, taking care to align the existing cover-stitched hems with sleeve and back hemlines, and also to get as much as possible of the graphic onto the t-shirt front. I also ignored the pattern's neckline and cut mine close to horizontal so I could adjust it later. The t-shirt front was too long when I fit the graphic where I wanted it so I cut a band out of the length near the bottom and made an extra seam that's parallel to the existing front hem - it's not noticeable but I guess it could be a cool t-shirt feature anyway.

I got my son to try the t-shirt on before finishing the shape of the neckband as I wanted it to be big enough to get on but not too loose looking. I stretched the old neckband a little as I sewed it to the neck hole and it has worked well.

Cost: $6.50
$4 t-shirt + $2.50 notions (thread)

Time: 90 minutes or less all up

Conclusion: Yay! This was easy but very satisfying - and cheap!

2. A new rash top

- since every year his size seems to sell out before I get to the shops. Also rash tops looked easy to make (and they are, so long as you're OK with the plain look - my son would have preferred a fancy surf picture on the front but I have no idea how they are applied):

I should have checked my son's dimensions but instead I used a straight size 8 from the same pattern as for the t-shirt refashion, with a bit of extra length in the sleeves. I'm not sure why I didn't add to the length of the top itself, and I don't understand why I didn't use the size 6 width as for the t-shirt refashion... mistakes, I guess. I'm not hemming the body because we need all the length that's there - in fact, I can't see how this can really represent a size 8 length so perhaps I accidentally cut out the size 6 length. I can't be bothered to narrow this or add a band to lengthen it - but it'll be useful and my next version will be better. Interestingly, sewing this fabric wasn't too tough, so there will no doubt be more swimwear coming up.

Just for fun, here's how the sizing of this homemade rash top (size 8 t-shirt pattern) compares to a stretched out size 6 RTW rash top - mine is too wide and too short but the sleeve length seems good.

Cost: $16.80
$16.80 on fabric, with heaps left over
+ $0 on notions (an already started roll of thread and box of medium weight stretch needles)
Time: 90 minutes or less all up

Conclusion: Luckily my son isn't fussy and sees this purely as a functional top. If anyone knows how to print / iron on / stencil / ?? cool pictures onto swimwear fabric I'd love to learn about it so I can make my next rash top more interesting as well as better fitting.

Broderie Anglaise + Linen: V1175 Donna Karan (Mark 2)

2012-01-27T15:10:00.000+11:00

It was over a year ago that I first made a wearable muslin of this amazing Donna Karan Vogue pattern:

and I have worn that dress so much that it is becoming limp and weary.

I always intended to make it again, and finally I have:

Mark 2 is a little different from the original. This time around I've used a pretty broderie anglaise* for the contrasting front and back bodice, with a stone-coloured Irish linen for the skirt.

As the skirt fabric is heavy, I've left it unlined, and I've made the pockets from lining fabric. I enjoyed the unusual hemline created by omittting the skirt "puff" first time around (in the pattern, the skirt outer is sewn to the skirt lining and this creates a bubble or puff effect), so I did the same again with mark 2.

See how the hem rises in front? Contrasting fabric also highlights the interesting shapes.

This is a straight 12, and very roomy around the waist and hips so perfect if you have pear tendencies.

Pleats and shaping at the back

And at the last minute I took inspiration from the Prada top shown on the Feb. '12 cover of Vogue UK:

and hand sewed some extra daisies to the front neckline (this photo also tells you why my summery Sydney photos were taken inside):

Result? I love it!

Shall I make another? Maybe one for parties?

This is such a clever pattern... but it's not especially hard. It's rated Average; there are some places where you need to sew carefully and get the fabric pieces aligned correctly, but there are no ridiculously complex techniques needed.

*: the Prada top shown on the Vogue cover above is described as being made of broderie anglaise, so that's what I'm calling my fabric too. I did do some internet searching to try to understand the difference between eyelet and broderie anglaise but it remained unclear to me.

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I'm considering applying Carolyn's approach to collecting statistics about the cost of my sewing habit - actually Carolyn has decided not to keep sharing this info per garment, and this may be a one-off for me too, but taking note of these facts even if I don't share them certainly makes me appreciate that sewing is neither a cheap nor a quick exercise for me.

Total cost $48

pattern: $0 (second use therefore counts as free)

lace from stash: approx $12 I think (designer remnant from The Fabric Shop, marked down due to lots of marks on the fabric that didn't wash out)

linen from stash: $20 or less (less than 1.5m, bought on sale)

lining from stash: 1m piece, so at most $8

white thread: $0 (existing roll that was already half-used)

daisy trim: $8 for 1m from Lincraft

Total time 8 hours
but would probably take 5 if you had enough fabric + a serger, and if you didn't add extra steps

Cutting out this dress took me about an hour, but I had to place the bodice pieces between the marks on my lace, and I didn't have anywhere near enough linen for the skirt as drafted. I ended up being able to fit the skirt back, skirt front and part of the skirt sides (ie the really big pattern pieces in this pattern) onto my fabric, and then used the oddly shaped leftover bits to cut out the rest of the skirt sides in 4 more pieces. This took a lot of pattern piece jiggling, and my skirt then had extra seams to match up and sew.

My sewing machine's 3-step zig zag is probably slower than a serger would be. One day...

I love pleats, geometric shapes and puzzle-like garment construction, but they make for a slower than usual dress to sew.

I added lots of top stitching (imperfect but slow going) and hand stitched the daisy trim on the neckline.

Gotta run!

Ralph Lauren "Beach Pajamas" Muslin

2012-01-18T20:00:00.000+11:00

I've spotted a few blog posts lately with pictures of lovely 1930s beach pajamas - such as Q's Daydream Vintage's recent post - and was surprised when it dawned on me that they must have "inspired" the 1989 Vogue Ralph Lauren pantdress pattern I've been planning for ages to make. Here's another post from Q's Daydream Vintage on 1930s wide legged pants - beautiful!

And here's what my pattern envelope looks like - and when I originally made this up in a lightweight navy blue linen for my young skinny self, it even looked like this:

However, I am no longer a size 10 in Vogue patterns :-). I'm quite a bit bigger than that now... so I had a stab at grading the pattern up, and tested the fit with a muslin:

The full length back view photo just highlights an ugly utilitarian bra that probably shouldn't have been involved, and the crossed over straps looked fine, so here's a cropped pic from the waist down. Ignore the extra length in the waistband:

This muslin represents:

original size 10 pattern graded up to about a size 12 at the shoulders, then a size 14 everywhere else
removal of front waist pleats which were accentuating my belly - this takes the waist size up to probably an 18 (gah! must stop with the biccies!)
removal of gathers where bib top meets waist band - I wanted more coverage at the sides
removal of in-seam side pockets which weren't sitting flat
addition of about 3" in leg length

When I look at these photos the "fit" (should that be "loose"?) looks OK to me except in the top, which is (1) not providing enough coverage at the sides and (2) needs dart adjustments or adjustment in the way the bib meets the waistband at the sides to get rid of some of excess fabric at the sides. I may need to go back to a size 10 for my narrow shoulders (pear, anyone?) and I may need more length depending if I want the original above-ankle look or a more up-to-date longer look.

So still to do:

correct the darts and/or adjust seam between bib and waistband at sides
widen top from underarm level and down, so that it provides better coverage down the sides
consider adding about 2" more in length

I think it's going to be pretty nice, but it would look brilliant on someone skinny...

After staring at these pictures a lot I am also now wondering if I should just make this pattern up just as wide legged trousers - perhaps that would be a more practical version as well as more flattering on my biscuit-padded shape? My real fabric will be a heavy dark navy linen. I guess if I make this up as a pantdress I can always remove the bib top later on if it looks too appalling...? If you have a view I would love to hear it, although of course whatever decision I make will be my own fault.

PS I noticed Ralph Lauren using this pants shape again for 2012! Check out Vogue UK's report from his Spring/Summer 2012 RTW show... especially picture #5.

Another Little Dress

2012-01-16T16:14:00.001+11:00

I guess sewing dresses for my daughter must be one of my forms of sewing procrastination, because rather than keep going with my muslin for my 1980s Vogue Ralph Lauren all-in-one (more on that to come in a separate post) I've gone and made another.

Of course she says she loves it - smart kid! Positive feedback keeps the dresses coming...

The details:

the pattern is # 148 from BurdaStyle 06/2010, in a lengthened size 110cm. Exactly as for the last dress I posted. And the extra length is exactly as requested, long enough that the boys at kindy won't catch sight of her undies when she's running around (this seems to be a new concern).

the fabric is a very lightweight voile that I picked up recently at Lincraft (they still have heaps - also in a blues/purples version). It's fully lined (not part of the pattern) in a coordinating pale pink voile.

instead of 2 pieces of angled lengthwise trim as suggested in the pattern, this time around I handstitched a little piece of daisy trim on the neckline - a small piece of guipere lace, also from Lincraft (but quite expensive for them).

Look where I got the idea for the neckline trim from: a gorgeous Little Leona by Leona Edmiston t-shirt my daughter was given for Christmas:

I think I prefer the finish on this fully lined version to my earlier one with bias bound edges - makes for such a straightforward but neat-looking little dress....

The Crafty Side of Last Week

2012-01-15T23:47:00.000+11:00

Last week I worked 5 days, went to the gym 3 times, and went out for 3 meals, and still sewed a lot. The other thing I did was to ignore the internet - excepting google reader on my phone (where I can add a star but don't add comments, because the tiny phone keypad makes me write such absolute gobbledegook). If you were one of the people that left me a lovely comment, I'm really sorry not to have replied yet - I just don't seem to be able to multitask! My late evenings can be spent reading and commenting/replying/blogging OR sewing, and not both. But next week I'm having time off work so I will be catching up.

Here's the craft side of what I made last week.

A couple of cushion covers:

My first Nicole Mallalieu pattern, the super-simple zipped pouch - this one my purse test:

Then a pair of zipped pouches for my sister in law's upcoming birthday (it's OK, I'm just about 100% sure she's never read this blog). If I can, I'll try to make a matching little bag too.

The outer of one is the lining of the other, and vice versa:

These pouches were made from the zipped pouch pattern in Ms Mallalieu's "You Sew, Girl" book. I have to admit I felt like an absolute dunce making these - even though they were rated just Advanced Beginnner, it took me ages to understand what I was supposed to be doing. I think I was distracted by the colourful photos illustrating the instructions; so different to the B&W words and line drawings of the Big 4 :-).

My purses are a bit wonky - obviously homemade - and I managed to set one of the zips too low! I hope they're good enough for a gift.

A New BurdaStyle Girl's Dress

2012-01-08T15:46:00.000+11:00

My daughter is shooting up like a rocket - and because she's growing so fast she requires replacement dresses. I kind of wish I could just whip us t-shirt style basics, but I guess that wouldn't satisfy either of us.

So here's the latest:

It hasn't photographed very well in the bright daylight, so here's a closeup:

This dress was made using pattern 148 from issue 6/2010 of BurdaStyle in a size 110cm height significantly lengthened as specificied by the client. I didn't really have enough of this fabric (or the trim,come to that) for anything more than a mini dress - hence the blue linen band around the bottom (scraps from my recent beach skirt).

Arm holes and neck hole are finished with a darker coloured bias binding, which I'm getting better at yay!

I finished this up late last night and wasn't sure if it was going to be a bit snug through the shoulders and torso so I added a button tab (gives a tiny bit more room in the back shoulders) and a very adult zipper concealed down the left hand side seam.

I had expected the blue linen band would be a bit of a problem. I was specifically instructed yesterday to use pale pink linen, because otherwise the dress would be "blue all over" - but the pale pink looked awful! Luckily my little client is not too fussy so long as the end result is pretty.

I got a few more "orders" yesterday for more dresses and skirts from back issues of BurdaStyle and Patrones Ninos, and we had even got as far as matching stash fabrics to patterns. However, I'm going to try to leave the pretty stuff aside for a little while as I really need to sort out some grown up trouser fitting issues so I can finish sewing these (graded up substantially !!!) before summer ends:

Up Sew Late in 2011

2012-01-05T01:31:00.000+11:00

Over the weekend I went back through my 2011 sewing. I was more productive than I would have guessed! It looks like it was a good year. Among the "ups" were participating in Sherry's RTW sewalong (even though I didn't finish my jacket), taking part in Zoe's Me Made March 2011, and becoming part of a terrific and very kind sewing community (thanks readers and commenters!)

Now probably more for my sake than anyone else's, here's a pictorial round-up from this blog - I've tried to include everything made in 2011 that I also blogged in 2011 (including a couple of not-quite-finisheds), but I may well have missed something. The pictures click through to a larger versions in Picasa but don't link back to the original posts.

Dresses

Jackets / Suits / Coordinates

Skirts / Pants

Tops / T-shirts

Kids Clothes / Costumes / Cushions

It would be true to say I like a bit of colour!

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Now for anyone interested in how I inserted the above tables of clickable images that doesn't already know how, it's all about the html code, and it's not hard. I hadn't ever had anything to do with html code before this evening, although I do the occasional bit of programming in other languages for work - but really, it seems easy to copy the structure of the html code.

Click the Edit HTML tab at the top of your draft post instead of the default COMPOSE tab, and you'll see your post as it looks in code.

The basic html structure you need to use for a 3 x 3 table is as follows - you type this when you're in the Edit HTML view:

</tr>
</table>

Try this in the Edit HTML view, and see what it gives when you click over to the Compose view - you should end up with this:

Row 1 Col 1;	Row 1 Col 2;	Row 1 Col 3
Row 2 Col 1;	Row 2 Col 2;	Row 2 Col 3

To insert clickable links instead of text, you need to type in html addresses for your photos. I'm not going to provide you with my photo addresses, but this example is the one I really learnt from...

My photos were in Picasa. For each photo I wanted to include I selected the photo, then clicked "link to this photo" in the RHS pane, then selected size (eg Small) and link properties, then copied the html code generated under "Embed image". For each photo you get a unique piece of code which looks like this:

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/XelQhjnbNmP-Nocx85XS2Z29sxFvL0bHS71vkIlVgXQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-W-fK4kirX7g/TNaS93wzHuI/AAAAAAAAACQ/KC2C-rBQeAA/s288/V1128_AnneKleinNY_top%252526pants.jpg" height="288" width="273" /></a>

To include the photos in the table, you just insert these crazy pieces of html code into the basic structure above. Done!

A Last Project for 2011

2012-01-01T01:26:00.000+11:00

We've just got back this evening from 5 days away, staying at the kind of beach house where going to the beach is a matter of a short bush walk (take a different path, end up at a different beach...)

I knew there would be no room for a sewing machine while we were away, but a piece of linen was calling to me - it wanted to come too. Some fast overnight sewing turned it into a skirt just before we set off, and here it is outside the beach house:

This is the same pattern as my last skirt - Vogue 1174 (bodice left off), this time in a straight size 14. The only changes were a little more length, selvedge instead of hem at the front, simple waistband, and stitched down pleats. This latter is not a great idea as it means the pockets take on the job of providing the wearing ease. But not to worry...

I'm pleased to report this was a very comfortable, useful beach skirt.

We got back from the beach this evening just in time to race out and see the 9 o'clock "kids" New Year's Eve fireworks over Sydney Harbour. They said it was "so amazing" [daughter] and "just like 3D" [son]. The midnight fireworks and party looked to be even more exciting... Can great fireworks possibly be a sign for a spectacular year ahead?

On this hopeful note, Happy New Year to you all! I wish you lots of everything I want - patience, satisfaction and success with your sewing, and peace of mind, happiness and even more patience in the rest of life. See you soon!

Stripe Stripe (Vogue 1174 skirt + self-drafted t-shirt)

2011-12-13T22:40:00.001+11:00

Sewing has slowed round here recently due to Christmas distractions, but I have made a couple of stripey numbers that I am thinking will get a lot of wear over summer - assuming summer actually comes back...

First up, this is a stripey skirt made from the skirt pattern pieces from Vogue 1174 and a home decorating fabric that was living in my stash:

I quite like this as a skirt pattern, although I think it would be a better pattern if the front pleats and back darts moved out as the size went up. However, the fact that they don't means this is an incredibly easy skirt to take in - all the sizing variation is in the side seams.

This skirt has helped me with working out my skirt sizing too. I cut a size 18, took it in to a size 16, and it's still a little too big but likely to shrink on the first wash (no, this time I didn't pre-wash)... and if it doesn't shrink enough it will be really easy to take in.

Actually, viewed side on like that it does definitely look too big doesn't it!

My son approves ("you look very nice mummy!"), and I'll probably use this skirt pattern again - but next time around those central pleats are going to be moved closer together.

Easy to make, has pockets, definitely wearable and I learnt something to boot.

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Secondly, a self-drafted stripey t-shirt. The fabric is an el cheapo bought at Lincraft about a year ago, and the stripes wavered so much on the edges that even though I started with a couple of metres it was really just enough to avoid the waves. The neckline started smaller than it appears - it stretched out before I attached the folded over band, and I was all out of the flat see-through elastic I usually sew into jersey necklines so it's probably still growing as I wear it :-).

I cut this out with the front neckline mirroring the back neckline so I could make sure the stripes would match up on the shoulders and side seams. Once everything was lined up I made the front neckline a bit deeper than the back. Seems silly to have bothered matching stripes for such poor quality fabric - but I guess it's all practice.

The sleeves are a nice loose shape that tapers in to be fitted just above the elbow - super comfy and yet no one's going to cop an eyeful of underarm and bra.

Again, this is a 'pattern' (though currently more of a drawing on tissue paper to be honest) that I'll probably re-use. It's so loose that I think it could work in a woven fabric - and in a jersey it could be cut a bit smaller.

One of my little helpers took this next photo hence the genuine smile. He likes the fabric so I'm hoping to be able to eke out a junior t-shirt for him from the scraps.

I don't know what's up next - my daughter wanted a princess dress for Christmas but they're just $20 at K-mart, and my partner wasn't enthusiastic about my offer to sew him a linen shirt - so now I don't have any Christmas sewing commitments. What about you? Are you sewing for Christmas?

Two-Tone Linen Top

2011-12-04T00:34:00.000+11:00

Inspired by hazy image memories of designer colour-blocked sleeves, and also by the loose blocky styles that are in the shops at the moment, the other evening I found myself putting together contrasting linen fabrics and rifling through my second hand patterns.

I picked out a pattern that looked blocky in an '80s way, Vogue 7883. Here's the technical drawing:

It's only now that I check the envelope that I see it's printed in 2004 - not from the '80s at all - and an internet search shows it's a currently available pattern. (Grrr should've checked PatternReview!)

The top went together quickly; linen is such a breeze to sew and this is an ultra-simple design - there aren't even any darts. I made really minor changes to put the hemlines on the selvedges (which also lengthened sleeves and body by 1.5cm), to show the selvedge edge on the waist seam, and to make the lower front pieces more angular than the pattern indicated.

Here you can see the selvedges:

and the neckline is unchanged from the pattern original:

This is the overall result (when the wind is blowing just the right amount to make a waist shape):

I thought it would be cool looking, but it's not. Then I thought it could be a beach cover-up sort of top, and was going to add some 'secret' pockets to carry a key and a credit card - but my keys are heavy and would have really distorted the shape of the top.

This is what it looks like when the wind blows from a less flattering direction:

Although the length is fine - longer at the front than the back - it's much shorter than I expected from the pattern drawings. And it's blockier than expected. And the two tone thing just makes me think of jockeys! Of course I am way too big for anyone to ever mistake me for a jockey - but might they think I was a horse racing fanatic - are these colours already taken?

I don't really like it on me, but I'm happy with my sewing. I suspect it might be alright on if it fitted...I think this pattern runs large, and I made the top a size larger (14) than I normally would (oops).

I will probably end up wearing this over the hot summer holidays as it will be light and give me good sun protection. And I do love these colours - so summery. Maybe it just needs the right mango-coloured skirt or something?

14 mangos for $13

Tomorrow we'll eat some more of these Calypso beauties and I'll move on to the next project.

Vogue 1270 - Shiny Pink Party Dress

2011-11-27T23:39:00.001+11:00

I did it! I finished Vogue 1270!

Hmm these colours are all wrong... at least the wine's OK.

Nothing really amazing there, it's just that I'm a slow sewer and usually underestimate how long sewing activities will take. And in fact, even though I said I was aiming to finish the dress this weekend, my real due date is still DAYS away - my work Christmas party is not till this Thursday!

Of course the dress looks much nicer on the dummy (must be my amazing photographic skills, right???):

Two birds with one stone (cruel) and that sort of thing - here's my pattern review:

Pattern Description:
Close-fitting, lined dress has extended shoulders, pleated left side bodice front with two-piece pleated bow, and invisible back zipper. No provisions provided for above waist adjustments.

Pattern Sizing:
Combinations: B5(8-10-12-14-16), F5(16-18-20-22-24)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes! I'm very happy with this dress.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes, but there was one striking error, and an order of construction I'd change.

Pattern error:
Well I documented this in my last post and I don't want to bore anyone senseless, so if you want to read or re-read it please have a look back there. Basically ignore the picture in step #14.

Order of construction:
The patttern instructions have you sew bodice back pieces to bodice front (step #15), and skirt back pieces to skirt front (step #17) BEFORE sewing bodice to skirt (step #18) - and similarly for the lining pieces. This makes it trickier to take the dress in or out though. Better for future adjustments would have been step #17 before the side seams.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I really like the extended shoulders (which make my mini shoulders look a little broader)

and the nod to vintage dress shapes.

And of course I like the pleats and bow!

Upper bow attached to dress at bust dart

I also like that the dress is fully lined, so that the inside out view is very neat (great for someone without a serger).

Obviously I didn't enjoy finding a mistake in the pattern instructions - but it was terrific to find the maths area of my brain can still figure things out (yippee!)

Fabric Used:
Silk shantung + polyester lining. The shantung was picked up by fluke at a second hand shop, and initially I wasn't sure if it was or wasn't silk - but it passed the burn test and the 'what your mother thinks' test.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I cut this out in a 12 at the shoulders, a 14 at the bust, and an 18 at the waist and hips. I later took the waist and hips in to about a 14 - 16. I also added about 5cm to the length (I'm 5'9"-ish, and with this lengthening it's an above the knee length). Oh and I also just used a normal zip as I didn't manage to find an invisible one in the right colour.

Although the pattern description says there's no provision for above waist adjustment I'm not sure why they're saying that - you can certainly make the waist wider; that's obviously easy on the back pattern piece, and on the front pattern piece, just fold at the pleats and look at the centre front marking to work out which edge of the pattern piece will be the waist line and work on this. I guess it would be tricky to adjust the length between front bust and waist, although you could adjust the back for a sway back or whatever without problems.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I would like to sew this again but I don't know if I will - too many patterns and not enough time!

Conclusion:
A sweet dress with a lovely shape - I think this would suit many real figures and all dressmaker's dummies.

Cheers!

Vogue 1270 Preview - and a Clarification

2011-11-25T23:50:00.000+11:00

Vogue 1270

I am sooo close to finishing this dress it's not funny - and even less amusing is the fact that it's been really close for over a week!All I need to do now is decide if I want to take it in a bit at the waist (what would you choose: leave it loose in case an opportunity to gorge yourself arises while wearing the dress OR take it in for an illusion of waist?) and do the hems and a spot of handstitching.

This profile photo on the left shows the bagginess on the dressmaker's dummy's waist (although she has become a little slimmer than me recently). The dress is made from a piece of red/pink shantung silk, with a bright red lining. I picked up the silk in a second hand store - a rare lucky find for me as usually I just find really ugly curtains and polyester quilt covers (does anyone else in Australia ever find nice fabric in an op shop?)

Even though I'm not quite ready to show you the completed dress, I thought I could show you a sneek peak and document a tip for the pattern.

I read over here that Cindy was having a problem figuring out the bow on this dress, and I guess other people might have a problem with it too.... because there is an ERROR in the instructions. The picture for step #14 is misleading - this is not where the bottom part of the bow will fit. The top part of the bow comes out through a gap in a slash in the bust dart (step #1 is the slash, step # 12 is the upper bow coming out through this gap), and the bottom part of the bow stays on the inside of the dress until step #19, at which point it comes out in a gap in the seam between bodice and skirt. There are guidelines on the pattern pieces for how far the bow is supposed to come out, but basically it is taut enough on the inside to prevent the bodice pleats from falling open.

Yes, this needs to be pressed!

There is one other point about the bow that doesn't seem to be mentioned in the instructions, and that is how the top part stays up. The upper bow will flop down - we can call it gravity, but it's not serious. My solution was to sew a couple of tiny stitches on the underside of the upper bow attaching it to the dart seam - this makes the upper bow stay up without any visible means of support.

I am hoping to be able to post the finished dress by the end of the weekend - BUT I have the flu and the weather is really miserable (rainy and grey). My excuse is ready.

Photos of Kids?

My partner read my last post and was very dissatisfied that I didn't explain my viewpoint clearly, and that the pictures of my daughter said something that my words didn't. So I think I should clarify what I've decided (for now) about posting photos of kids. I've decided that - given my small place on the web and my reasonably low volume of kid photos - the photos I do post are probably at a rather low risk of whatever it is that could happen. That's why I did post a photo that included my daughter's face, but why only one of the photos shows her face (the other photos were cropped). Having said that I am still mindful that low risk doesn't mean zero risk. Today I went and deleted my (few) kid photos that were on flickr, and deleted a whole album on pinterest because it had too many personal photos in it - those two sites get a lot of traffic! I may also go back through this blog and recrop some / all of the kid photos (you will still be getting my mug though).

And speaking of blogging and sewing, I found this post about the sewing blog social hierarchy very interesting - I found myself agreeing with much of it...

Have a great weekend!

Back in the Saddle, and a Japanese (Girl's) Dress

2011-11-19T23:21:00.000+11:00

My last post was probably a bit surprising when it was supposed to be about a win! Thank you to all of you who commented; these questions had been getting me down and it really lifted me out of my sewing & blogging blues to read and re-read your perspectives and your kind encouragement. I've decided that even though I don't have definitive answers I should hop back in the saddle... after all, I find sewing tremendously enjoyable, and I so love the feeling of sewing community with you fellow sewing bloggers. My resolutions are to try to post better photos, to think before I post kids' photos, and to not veer too far off (sewing) topic. The bottom line is that I would like to make this blog something I would be happy for a friend or relative to read.

Back to the sewing topic :-)

Here's a little summer dress I made for my daughter just recently. It's pattern 'A' from the Japanese book Cute Clothes for Good Girls, and I've made many variants on this dress before but I do still love it! I think it's a very practical shape for a place with hot summers - the ruffles over the arms shield the shoulders from the sun, and the A-shape of the dress is nice and breezy. I also like that this is quite modest.

I made this in a length and width 120cm, which was a little wide (that's OK, extra breezy!). I swapped the button back for a zip - something I also did when I made this pattern into a little top not so long ago - becase although buttons are cute I think they're annoying for a little person to wear down their back.

And I added two little angled patch pockets on the front (pocket shapes from another pattern in the same book).

The fabric is something I "found" when I was tidying up my sewing space. I think I bought it from an online Aussie fabric shop - it's a cotton, but it's a medium weight and not as silky feeling as I'd expect for fabric for clothes so it's probably a quilting cotton. Regardless, my daughter adores the dress and is wearing it as many days a week as I'll let her - and that's success.

***

I'm working on a recent Vogue pattern dress for myself and hope to be able to prpovide the show and tell in my next post - it's looking Christmassy!

A Winner for Simplicity 2922

2011-11-09T11:40:00.000+11:00

The winner of my recent giveaways is Rachel from The Two Windmills. Congratulations Rachel - I'll be in touch to get your postal address, then Simplicity 2922 will make its merry way through to you.

If you haven't visited Rachel's blog before, she designs and makes the most gorgeous softies, she sews lovely clothes for herself and her boys, she quilts the sort of quilts I would love to be able to make myself... and I recommend you go over and have a look!

Update
There is not much sewing going on here and I've been feeling uninspired and also unsure about this blog. I know my sewing is rather imperfect (and I feel awkward to "show it off"), and frankly I'm getting a bit sick of the sight of my ugly mug in so many pictures (though I know headless pictures are impersonal). I love the pictures of my kids that I post, but although I don't get that much traffic I'm not sure if posting their pictures in public is smart - I removed one kid-sewing post a while back and moved another to "draft" last night. What do you think? Is a blog a piece of indulgence or a public good? Does a blog need to have a theme or is it more interesting of it wanders about? Should adult heads be included in completed project photos? What about kids - should they have their photos posted at all, and if so, how anonymous is enough?

Vogue 1158 - Nautical Dress

2011-11-06T23:03:00.000+11:00

My Vogue 1158 Tracy Reese dress is finished! If you recall my earlier "making progress" post, you'll know I took this slowly - but it was worth it; I've ended up with a dress I really love.

Here's a back view - unfortunately the back view on me photo didn't work out:

the dummy doesn't really list to the side, she's on a hill

It fits very comfortably (I muslined the bodice, and adjusted the neckline and sizing to fit) and it looks very close to how I envisaged it would look. It even looks OK inside out!

inside out - front

In fact, this is pretty much the happiest I've felt about something I've sewn.

A Close Call
I told you about the bodice already here. I decided not to sew in the bias band because it looked odd in my fabric, and instead I decided on this navy piping that just happened to be in the stash. When I made that decision it was too late to sew the piping in the usual way (sandwiched between the outer and lining fabrics), so I basted it in place and then sewed a straight machine stitch. Luckily I reviewed what that looked like before going too far; it was a shocking mess - I guess because the machine was going over several layers of fabric in some places and because the fabric was trying to stretch out more than the piping (no doubt also some operator error in there too). So I unpicked the machine stitching and went with what I think is called a pick stitch. I think it's ended up looking neat.

my pick stitching

the piping on centre back

A Few Changes
As mentioned in my earlier post, after muslining the bodice I decided I needed to raise both front and back necklines to better cover my bra. It still looks like the dress pattern - note that I didn't shorten the bodice at all; I added extra height in the front scoop and in the back V and phased these in with lines that followed the original neckline shape.

I didn't attach the belt to the dress as I want the flexibility to leave it off or to fasten the little tie at the back if I want. It can always be sewn in place later.

no belt

The skirt is not supposed to be lined but my fabric was too sheer to go without. On the outer skirt I omitted the centre front seam, and I meant to omit centre back but accidentally cut it. The ribbon stripes on my fabric run on the bias, so I decided to have the stripes run straight up and down on the skirt - this achieves pretty much the drape that's intended in the pattern with a fabric whose stripes are on the straight grain.

I haven't made the self-fabric covered shoulder pads but still may do (with plain white voile) - I suspect they will help to keep the bodice structure in place for me with my narrow shoulders. If I don't make the shoulder pads I may need to sew in some of those little things that you attach around your bra straps.

If you're making this dress, the underarm patches would ordinarily go about 1-2 cm higher - I had to sew them in lower to hide some coffee stains (don't bring coffee to the sewing room!).

That's all - I love this dress! If you're thinking of making it, I definitely recommend you do!

A Reminder
There are still 2 days to enter the pattern giveaway - hop back and leave a comment if you want one of these patterns, the odds are looking brilliant!

If neither of these patterns interest you, what about 70s/80s patterns? I'm thinking of giving away a few of these soon. I may also be letting one of my vintage reissues go to a good home....

Let's have another giveaway... and check out my Vogue t-shirt

2011-11-02T00:17:00.000+11:00

Giveaways are fun! And they make a small (hmmm infinitesimal?) contribution to cutting down on my stash :-0.

This post-blogday, pre-birthday giveaway is for your choice of two patterns:

1) Vogue 1222 in size AA (6-8-10-12), a pattern I bought new not too long ago but haven't used. It's an Anne Klein New York dress with some great topstitching details; I think it would be perfect for office wear in a tropical wool or lightweight double knit (two of the recommended fabrics). On the Vogue patterns website you can see more pattern details, including this dress description:

Fitted, lined, above mid-knee dress has short (unlined) sleeves, seam and topstitch details, back vent and invisible zipper.

It looks like a good pattern (check out this fabulous review) to me but I don't think I'm going to get around to it.

OR

2) Simplicity 2922 in a size P5 (12,14,16,18,20) (EUR 38-40) (FR 40-48), another pattern I bought new but have not gotten around to making. This one has a lot of positive reviews over at Pattern Review, and looks like a straightforward dress to make - with several options for length, sleeves, and neckband.

This pattern is out of print but still available on the Simplicity website if you want to see some better quality pictures or zoom in on the images.

Any rules? Yes. This time around it's only open to followers - but you can be anywhere in the world; I'm happy to post internationally. Entries close at midnight Sydney time on Tuesday, 8th November. Oh and if your email address isn't available from your profile or your blog please note that in your comment so I can contact you if you win.That's it~!

Now onto the t-shirt :-). Bet you were looking forward to that!

So... I thought I'd try making a t-shirt from a proper pattern, Vogue 8650 - ooh the novelty - and given how simple t-shirts are, I assumed success would be guaranteed.

Not necessarily. Can you define success?

This is an OK around the house / post-beach kind of t-shirt, and very comfortable (I'm wearing it now) but it's just not good enough for casual Fridays at work or for a BBQ with friends. It reminds me of a cheap t-shirt I bought at Target a few years back for its colour (and that I now wear to the gym). I guess if it gets more saggy in the wash it can makes friends with the others in the gym collection.

I made this in a straight size 12, but it feels too big in the neckline and sleeves and the fabric pools around the waist. I guess it would be good for the first trimester of a pregnancy. It's easy to make as in there aren't too many steps and only 3 pattern pieces. However, there's a bias binding applied to the non-pleated areas of the neckline, and even with my walking foot the knit fabric on top of bias binding didn't want to sit flat. And others on Pattern Review have commented that the pleats are not equal widths (I adjusted them as I went to try to make them look even).

PS Yes that is a strange thing on my head, I believe it's called a fascinator, but we can say it's a flower. We had a fabulous work function for half the day to celebrate the 10 mins or less of Melbourne Cup race, and the happy buzz lingered to the evening - so the flower got to stay on when I changed out of my nice frock :-).

Cute Top for a Good Girl

2011-10-30T00:16:00.000+11:00

I was going to finish off V1158 but there was another distraction - the crazy (hot-cold-hot) weather over this past week.

On about Monday at my son's school the temperature reached 34C - the teacher said if it hit 35C the class could have icy poles from the canteen. My daughter was at her new nearby, mostly outdoors kindy that day, as opposed to her farther away, totally indoors and air-conditioned kindy, and she got rather hot and sweaty. I decided she might need more summery dresses / tops to suit the heat and sun.

The fabric was one of the pieces I got at Tessuti's sale some time back - I just love it! I wish I could have gotten more of it (if anyone has some, can I barter with you?) It's a striped cotton in colours that remind me of the 70s, with lots of embroidery over the stripes. My daughter wanted it made into a dress but that was never going to be possible.

This top, made from pattern A in the Japanese book "Cute Clothes for Good Girls" is breezy enough for the heat and covers little shoulders. I received two criticisms initially: 1) it's not fair that the other hand will get cold, and 2) tops should have a straight shape (ie not used to the flare). But once on it stayed on all day, and it seems to have been very comfortable for a muggy Sydney day.

Sewing details: I made this pattern in a size 110 cm height but used the widths from the 120cm height pattern pieces, which looks to have been unnecessary. I made it as long as could with the remnant fabric I had, but it should normally be about knee length. I replaced the pattern's back buttons with a bright blue zip (quicker!) and free-styled the pocket somewhat, adding a little elastic to the top. As I've made this before in smaller sizes I didn't even look at the instructions - so I'm not sure if my bright orange bias bound neckline and sleeves were what was intended - I added the sleeve cap things after I'd sewn in the bias binding, so you get a peek of orange between shoulder and sleeve cap on the sides, a bit like having piping in there! Finally the hemline is a rolled hem as I wanted to lose as little length as possible.

Pattern Giveaway Winner

2011-10-24T00:25:00.000+11:00

On Saturday night midnight came and went, and so I've drawn the winner of my first ever pattern giveaway. And the winner is...

... lakaribane!

Congratulations lakaribane - you've won yourself a copy of Vogue 1192! I have your email address so I'll be in touch to get your mailing details soon. I hope you enjoy the pattern!

If you missed out there will be more pattern giveaways coming up - stay tuned!

To draw a winner I counted up entrants (9) numbered in date-time order of comment and then used the random number generator over at http://www.random.org/ with 1 as the minimum and 9 as the maximum. I hit "Generate" and got a "5" - so the 5th entrant was the winner. I did take a screenshot - but then I realised the screenshot proved nothing, as I could have rerun the calculation to get the result I wanted and you'd be none the wiser! In any event a screenshot of a random number is pretty dull. Next time around I may use a pseudo-random number generated based on clock time so that I can rerun it and prove my honesty :-)

In other news

I feel remiss in not posting much in the way of sewing progress this weekend. My Vogue 1158 dress is proceeding nicely, with not too many issues (I won't count redoing the zipper several times), slowed by the fact of several kids' parties over the weekend and a fair amount of tiredness. No photos to show though as the little bits of sewing have been late in the evenings. The Vogue 1203 top was probably not photographed as badly as it should have been - thank you so much for your encouragement, but I don't think I would be comfortable wearing it - I can imagine sniggers from passersby and colleagues, all merrily assuming I was (not very artfully) trying to create a false bust. The back is also not looking so grand. It will probably go to Vinnies.

Sacrificial Polka Dots

2011-10-18T23:43:00.000+11:00

This weekend I took a break from my lovely stripey nautical dress because I'm scared I'm going to stuff it up. My getaway was a small piece of polka dot satin and a Tracy Reese pattern (V1203). Unfortunately this top has proved to be a fabric sacrifice :-(. The problem is that the neckline drape is puffing out in front of my bust and looking really odd.

Here's what it looks like:

an average looking cowl

side on is at best not good...

and sometimes very puffy!

This pinned version shows you what I thought was going to fix it up - the photos are telling me otherwise:

pinning some of the puffy drape into the under-bust seam

the puff creeps out to the sides

bust puff be gone!

I do like the fit below the bust, but I fear this pattern needs a very different fabric. The recommendations were lightweight beaded fabric, charmeuse and crepe de chine. Very different.

I also only had 1m, whereas the pattern needed 1.2m. To fit the pattern pieces I added a horizontal seam in the back at around shoulder blade height (yes, that is a strange idea and not necessarily one that looks good) and I narrowed the neckline drape somewhat. Perhaps these changes played a part in this little disaster. I also used a long zipper from just below the neckline to just above the waist instead of a back opening and shorter zipper - but I don't think this was an issue.

Of course it looks better on the dummy!

I don't know that I will be fixing this... I am curious to see how it would fare in a knit, but I may not get to that particular experiment - too many other exciting patterns to try out!

PS Don't forget - you have until midnight Sydney time to enter my Vogue pattern giveaway. And if none of those patterns appeal, over the next few weeks I'm planning a few more sewing pattern giveaways - part one year celebration, part enjoyable declutter - so stay tuned!

Pattern Giveaway

2011-10-16T00:47:00.002+11:00

It's nearly my one-year blogoversary or whatever it's called, so let's have a practice giveaway! This giveaway is open to everyone - it doesn't matter if you're not in Australia - and while I'd like it if you followed me, you don't have to. To enter please leave a comment and let me know your preferred pattern. I'll draw the winner next weekend; entries will close next Saturday 22nd October at midnight Sydney time*.

The winner will receive their choice of these three patterns:

Vogue 1192, Anne Klein New York, size 8-10-12-14
Uncut, as new, still available on the Vogue patterns website
Misses' Dress. Fitted, straight, above mid-knee length, lined dress has side front tucks, back zipper and hemline vent.
I haven't made this but from what I've read this dress is best made in a stretch fabric - ignore the pattern envelope recommendations, You can then also skip the zipper and the lining.

Vogue 7954, Vogue Men, size 15 - 15 1/2 - 16
Uncut, as new, from 1991
Men's Shirt. Very loose-fitting shirt has collar on band, extended shoulders, yoke with forward shoulder seams, pocket variations, left front band, back pleat, shaped hemline and above elbow sleeves with stitched hems or long sleeves with pleats, placket and button cuff variations.
I've made this pattern (from my other copy) and was very happy with it. This pattern has all the basic men's shirt details in it - the sleeves are a bit wider than current fashion but can easily be narrowed.

Vogue 8060, Vogue for Me, size 1-2-3-4
Mostly uncut (only the trouser pattern has been used - in a size 2), still available on the Vogue patterns website
Toddler's Jacket, Top, dress, Panties, Pants and Hat. Loose-fitting jacket has tucks, button front opening and edging trim. Top has front tucks, side slits collar and back button opening, also edging trim and purchased rosebud. Dress: mid-knee length, contrast overlay and collar, back button opening and purchased applique. Panties or pants: elastic waist. D: elastic leg. E: ankle length, tucks and edging. Contrast lined hat: brim and ties.
I've only made the pants from this pattern and they were quite wide in a size 2 but very easy to make.

* 12pm on 22nd October Sydney time means 2pm that day in London and 6am that day in Los Angeles.

I'll be going through my patterns some more in the weeks to come so there should be some more non-Vogue (and likely retro pattern) giveaways soon.

Making Progress on Vogue 1158

2011-10-11T23:40:00.002+11:00

Just to let you all know - I am sewing. Slowly.

I'm making Vogue 1158, a Tracy Reese dress pattern. Here's what my bodice is looking like:

FRONT BODICE

BACK BODICE

It's an interesting fabric, isn't it? It's a cotton voile which has red ribbon and navy blue wool sewn across it on the bias. I haven't quite managed to make the red and blue lines symmetrical about the centre front - but I tried! I'm lining it with plain white cotton voile.

You're supposed to make your own bias strips from the dress fabric to edge the neckline and armholes with, but instead I'm using a piping from my stash. I decided to use the piping after I'd stitched my bodice outer and lining pieces together, so (as you may be able to tell) I'm not using the normal approach to sewing in piping. Oops. I hope it will still look alright.

If you're thinking of making this dress, the neckline is low cut front and back, and I found I needed to raise it in both places so as to cover my bra :-) The armholes seem to be low cut but have insets that bring them up to normal level. The dress is fully lined and so far the seams are French seams, which is ideal if you don't own a serger but would still like the inside of the dress to look neat.

And here's the Vogue pattern picture - they didn't line up their stripes perfectly either!

Burda dress again

2011-10-08T22:44:00.000+11:00

I've made another of those BurdaStyle dresses (10/2010-151) for my daughter, another variant from the same original pattern. My earlier versions are here and here. This one is loose and light, intended for active summer wear but also good for layering with optional fairy wings.

I am really not keen on this fabric - it's a quilting quality cotton that's way too fussy and floral for my usual tastes - but it's the one my daughter selected from a huge (stash) selection. And I suppose it was only ever in there because I'd thought she'd like it.

these colours are true

In this version of the dress I made several changes:

lengthened the bodice by a few centimetres,
significantly narrowed the skirt (fabric constraints...),
added in-seam side pockets,
added facings for the neckline, and
lowered the neckline a little all the way around.

I also had a go at making this sort of tulip sleeves, but I didn't do a fab job with them. The rolled hem or whatever it's called went quite well but I haven't angled the wrap over steeply enough. Oh well, I'll know better next time - the technique for creating this sort of sleeve certainly works though!

but these tulips don't look quite right, do they!

I'm pretty happy with the rolled hems

The Boss is satisfied for the time being.

Taking on a Vintage Dress

2011-10-06T00:51:00.002+11:00

I'll be off the "I had a holiday" posts soon, but I do have just one show and tell - this is a TLC sort of project rather than a sewing from scratch project. I won't do the actual sewing etc until I have a better understanding of exactly what I should be doing, so if you are reading this and you know a bit about caring for vintage clothes I would welcome your advice...

So - this is a dress that I bought from a small vintage dress shop in Lismore called The Black Angel (not currently online, but the owner was seeking advice as how to set up an online shop, so look out for it) which had a rack of mostly 1950s and on dresses. This green silk dress is the one that really caught my eye. It felt a bit tight when I tried it on but the zip coped and the seam allowances looked generous - so I bought it.

BUT while I was checking out the seam allowances, look what I found (and yes, in case you're wondering, this little surprise did mean a discount on the original price):

A total mess! Someone had hacked out the lining - chop, chop! I guess the dress got a little tight for the previous owner and this was their quick solution.

Evidently the dress needs to be completely relined. Some of the stitching around the facings for the neckline and sleeves is also coming undone.

I'd like to see if I can let out side seams without leaving stitch marks behind too.

And there are some stains down the front and around the neckline, so the dress needs some kind of a bath:

I think this is going to become a sort of TLC and sewing repair project. If you can suggest how I should clean a vintage silk dress, or you have any views on how I should go about relining it, I'd love to hear from you - I am not rushing into this project by any means!

Vena Cava (V1228) on holidays

2011-10-02T23:59:00.002+11:00

This Vogue 1228 Vena Cava dress was finished on our recent holiday near Lismore.

We were staying at the house of friends - a beautifully appointed home on a lovely hillside farm property.

The neighbours' cows and a small pony roamed their field... I think that's called agistment?

The kids played together nicely - there was tag, soccer, swimming and some gentle piano playing, and they made biscuits:

as well as a huge variety of paper & texta-based toys - everything they needed for a pirate adventure, and a large number of colourful credit cards (!!) because they hadn't brought their piggy banks with them.

We made a trip to Byron to show the kids the lighthouse:

We visited a koala hospital, and saw mum & baby koalas in the trees outside the hospital:

And we went to the circus:

It was a pretty relaxing holiday, and the hand sewing to finish a few hems was all I did in the way of sewing for a whole week!
Back to the sewing.

Although I know my fabric was too lightweight, I can't help thinking that this pattern is problematic too. I raised the neckline a few centimetres (which I probably shouldn't have, but I wasn't sure what else to try - and this was supposed to be a test dress), but my bra still shows in the corners of the neckline. I couldn't have raised it more because raising the neckline shifts the bodice pleats upwards and puts them in a place that just looks wrong with respect to bust and underarms. Even though I'm relatively tall, I'm short waisted - so I'm sure this fit issue would be pretty common. The neckline might not be too low on someone busty but then I think the bodice pleats wouldn't be full enough.

I really think the designer didn't work this idea through properly... maybe a separate band of fabric needs to be attached above the pleat to raise the neckline by the width of the band? I have read other reviews that say this dress doesn't work if you are too hippy, or too busty... and I'm wondering who it would suit.

I love the idea of this dress - I am a pretty big fan of interesting pleats and kimono sleeves - but I'm not sure it'd be worth my while to make this dress in a more expensive fabric.

V2 of V1098 Pants are Done!

2011-09-23T17:10:00.002+10:00

Yes, they are done. And they are marching through the garden, looking for a more photogenic spot.

They feel a bit tight. And I intend to re-hem them.

But I can certainly wear them! That's cause for a small celebration, right? A few balloons?

So... not much to say that I haven't already said about this pattern (Vogue 1098) here when I made the pants first time around. It's a good basic pattern if you want a boot leg style of pants.
This fabric is a smooth lightweight summer wool suiting from The Fabric Shop in Sydney. Probably this style works best with fabric that is not too lightweight, so probably my first pair looked better. However, the first pair had a hardware malfunction (a zipper issue), so they are gone-ski. This second pair is much better put together... much less embarrassing if ever seen inside out!

I don't think I'll be making another pair of these - I'm fancying the more tapered look now.... but who knows how long till I make more pants anyway.

Burda girl's dress #151, issue 11/2010

2011-09-19T01:15:00.000+10:00

On a whim, I made this little dress for my daughter yesterday morning. Obviously the kids were playing together exceptionally nicely; Saturday morning sewing is quite rare in this home.

I only had 0.7m of the fabric (a medium weight textured Japanese cotton from Tessuti fabrics), and my daughter wasn't sure she liked the fabric - but she agreed to suspend judgement.

The dress was really quick to make; the pattern (Burda magazine 11/2010-151) was already traced out from her recent birthday dress - and this sort of cotton is very pleasant and trouble-free to sew. Some minor modifications: sleeves left off, a narrower skirt with pleats not gathers, an angled patch pocket, and some trim from Lincraft (all around the hemline but only on the front neckline).

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Today was a two-party day for my daughter, and with choices including her Tinkerbell dress, a Snow White dress and her birthday dress, she chose to wear the new blue dress.

Judgement has been passed - it's a success. And worn all the way to bedtime.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Back onto grownup sewing, I've finished my grey wool trousers but haven't yet taken their pictures, and have started a cheap (hopefully wearable) version of the kimono sleeve Vena Cava dress (V1228).

And I'm mulling over ideas for a colour blocked linem version of this dress, V1074.

These are the colours I was thinking (and that I have in my stash). Any thoughts? Would these colours look alright? They remind me of gelati and sunsets. The weather is heating up...

I don't have enough of any one of these for a whole dress, and probably have only just enough of the pink for the bodice and straps. Your views would be much appreciated.

A Sheer Collection: Retro Style

2011-09-17T00:13:00.000+10:00

Recent fashion magazines tell me sheers or transparents, often layered, are a trend. Judging by the clothes I was making back in the late 80s to early 90s it seems the trend was around then too, and it seems I was besotted!

Back then I was a student; I was still living with my parents, and my recollection is that the little I was earning through holiday / weekend work was spent on nightclub and dance party entry fees, self-rationed Japanese Slippers*, and the occasional pair of shoes.

* you know, the green cocktail - made with Midori!

So here are two blouses I made from cotton voile. I used to wear these layered over a smart white singlet (definitely not a chesty bonds), with a calf-length narrow black linen skirt or very wide leg cream linen pants. I remember dressing like this for uni - crazy me - this is not how the other science students were dressing!

All the relevant patterns are shown a bit lower down the page.

Vogue Perry Ellis pattern used for the orange and yellow blouses (and a third sheer blouse made from paisley chiffon - I will see if I can find it too):

top left = yellow blouse, main = orange blouse

And the Ralph Lauren and Anne Klein patterns below were used for my cream linen pants and a black linen skirt - I still have the cream linen pants somewhere...

bottom half = crream linen pants

black linen skirt

Around the same time I made quite a few other sheer garments.... can you imagine a sheer outfit: blouse AND pants? Don't worry, the pants were double layer chiffon PLUS lining fabric so they gave an impression of sheer without actually showing anything. They swished around in a noisy, luxurious way when I walked and just felt special :-). And I think I wore a coordinating (homemade) silk cami under the blouse.

Some close-ups too: the louder colour is more realistic, but doesn't show you how sheer the fabric really looked. These pants were made using the same Vogue Ralph Lauren pattern as for the cream linen pants mentioned above. They're a really wide legged trouser leg - I think close to 60cm (23") wide at the ankles.

2 layers of chiffon plus lining...

Very loud, huh? Ah well, the lighting in those nightclubs was mostly dim.

The pattern for the blue blouse was this spectacular Vogue Claude Montana pattern.

The blue blouse was made from - I think - silk organza, and was such a favourite of mine. Even though it's washed and clean (unlike the trousers!) I've left it unironed because it has ripped along one of the underarm seams. I think it had weakened from sweat, to be honest, and then a recent wash was the final straw! Unfortunately I don't know how to repair it, and I think my iron could be dangerous to it :-(

On a cheerier note (let's distract me), have I ever shown you my B&W gingham outfit from the same pattern?

So - a long post, lots of clothes, but you can't see what they looked like on; there just aren't are any photos of me wearing any of these clothes and of course they no longer fit.

So to finish up, here's a photo in which you can see me actually wearing another of my sheer collection, back in the day.

The blouse that you can barely make out was made by my mum - a sweet dotted black and white sheer cotton blouse with fitted waist band, short sleeves and press studs down the front. It had a sort of post-WWII look.

Hmm well you can't really tell what it looks like, can you... but that's me alright!

to be continued...

Book Week Costumes

2011-09-16T00:03:00.000+10:00

Our school chickened out on holding the Book Parade in Book Week - someone was worried it would rain. My son and one of his best friends were both going as Leif from Deltora Quest, so we two mums decided to save time by splitting the costume prep work. I hemmed the capes and made head bands, while she made papier-mâché brooches (doesn't the brooch look amazing!) and bejewelled belts.

I'm pretty sure I got the easy jobs, but in any event our costumes were ready weeks ago, put aside to wait for today's belated book week parade.

In the playground this morning there were "sooooo many" Harry Potters and "heaps" of Zac Powers, masses of ballerinas and princesses, many striking looking Wallys, one Shawn the Sheep, and three Leifs from Deltora Quest.

Two of the Leifs were of course pretty much identical! Here's mine before we went to school this morning:

The costumes are a bit of a rough and ready interpretation of the cartoon Leif, but the boys were happy with them. My son especially loved his belt - the gemstones were even in the proper order, and his friend especially loved the headband.

Sneak Peek...

2011-09-12T00:12:00.000+10:00

I am really close to finishing off some grey wool trousers - I've been troubling myself to make them nicely so I'm not going to rush to finish, photograph and blog them tonight. No, instead I will show you the trouser feature I am feeling quite proud of - the fly:

Looking relatively smooth and untroubled from the outside...

And it's pretty neat on the inside isn't it? Well maybe not for you, but that's neat for me. AND it only took me 3 unpicks and resews to get it this way! Hey, I didn't even forget the fly facing.

Not much of a post so far though is it. Sorry.

OK, this will be good - another special detail, by invitation only. This is a detail that only you blog viewers will ever get to see and appreciate :-) Look how nicely my seams match up!

Next post you can see the trousers properly. I promise.

A little Liberty

2011-09-07T01:02:00.000+10:00

This is one of the *other* little tops from Simplicity 1403, well and truly OOP but widely available on ebay and everywhere else. Wish I'd realised that when I bought it - I might have gotten the right size for myself!

Late at night, so as usual, excuse everything including my closed and weary eyes. And nearly inside out neckline.

proof that the neckline is alright

The fabric is a small remnant of Liberty Tana Lawn - Fairford it's called, and I think it might also be OOP as it seems hard to find. The pattern only needs about 0.6m of wide fabric for this little top - I had 0.7m and I was able to lengthen the top by a couple of centimetres as well as cutting out generous facings for the neckline. Very useful to have a stashbuster in your pattern repertoire, n'est-ce pas?

I haven't sewn with Tana Lawn before but I think this will be a perfect weight for our sultry summer days.

As with that jersey top from the same pattern I had to make this pattern larger. I think I should have made it larger still.... overall it has worked out as I wanted though.

Thanks to Sherry's tutorial, my invisible zip which is contained down one side is my best yet! I still have a ways to go before I can be relied upon with a zip though :-(

I guess I will have to practise, so I will just have to keep sewing.
It's my duty!

I don't know what it's like in your house - maybe there are no little monsters, or maybe there are some but they know about going to bed at a reasonable hour and then staying in bed all night! If mine get up tonight I will see if this picture can send them back to bed:

go to bed!

PS Is there a really exhausting (shouting, arguing, crying) 4 year old version of "terrible twos"??? If so, when can we expect it to end?

Simplicity 1403 (OOP): 1940s jersey blouse

2011-09-03T22:00:00.002+10:00

Finally, finally I tried my hand at sewing one of my properly vintage patterns, a pattern which dates back to about the 1940s... back when zips were "non-separable slide fasteners".

The pattern envelope shows a couple of little cap-sleeved numbers that I really felt like sacrificing a little something special for.

Restraint! It also includes a 3/4 sleeved jersey variant in the top LH corner (did you know they had jersey in the 1940s? maybe it was different to today's jersey though).

Since the pattern looked to be a few sizes too small (this is a picture of the size I should have bought - now that I have it I see this pattern everywhere!) I made the jersey version as a tester - testing whether my usual slapdash bodice adjustment method* would work in vintage world.

Et voila:

* Basically I added a triangular wedge of extra width down the centre front and centre back - just about nothing in extra width at the neckline but about 2cm extra at the hips. I know that's not the right way to do it but I'm lazy!

Rear view, vintage hooks & eyes on the collar

I do realise that I must come across as optimistic in my assessment of patterns, but for now this one counts as a win. It takes me quite a while (and several wears) to work out which garments are fails, to be honest! Looking at these photos my only disappointment is that my tummy is too evident - the fault of lots of home made brownies and choc chip biccies.

You say life without chocolate?

Look I promise I'll try!

Can you see any darts? I think I sewed 16 darts and tucks on this little thing, and it felt like even more. You should be able to see 6 of them below: 2 darts going down from the shoulders towards the bust, 4 tucks providing shaping from hips to waist... There are also 2 more bust darts working alongside the gussets, 2 darts from the shoulders going down along the sleeves, 2 darts from the shoulders down towards shoulder blades at the back, and 4 more tucks for waist definition at the back.

The biggest challenge for me was the gussets. Gussets! I don't believe I've ever sewn them before. My gussets are not perfect, but they work. I tried the sleeves basted to the bodice without the gussets and there was some very unflattering pulling going on, both front and back - having gussets makes the fit much more comfortable.

OK, it's true, gussets are great

sunbeam highlighting The Mighty Gusset

So... I'm glad I waited before sewing a vintage pattern. The instructions on this pattern (well, I really mean the gussets) would have been quite beyond me a year ago. Hopefully this means I am now capable of sewing up some of my other nice vintage patterns too!

...and another OOP

2011-08-27T00:12:00.000+10:00

In my last post I said I'd show you what that wearable muslin skirt (from Vogue 1915, OOP) looked like on, so here you are:

If you're wondering, it's not that my neck comes out to the side for a dance or something, it's that the top has squirmed off to the side.

The shadows are tricky too, aren't they - something to do with the time of day I believe.

Here on the left is proof of at least one functioning pocket - oh wait, make that two functioning pockets - very handy.

You may be wondering about the top too...

... I wondered about the hemline when I saw this photo!

Evidently the top is from the late 1980s - same era as the skirt, which is why it kind of matches even though yes, it is mostly navy blue whereas the skirt is black. I cut this top out ooooh about 20 years ago (woah!) and then left it because it looked too boring. It was a good low-mojo kind of project - the sewing was much easier than expected and I had pretty low expectations and no need to finish the thing if indeed it was too boring.

The pattern is well and truly OOP, a Tamotsu Vogue "career" pattern (V2454). Very easy to sew, very loose, very basic. The fabric is some kind of chiffon that the younger me had cut out very carefully and precisely, and my sewing machine coped fine with it (with simple French seams wherever possible). A bit too boxy for my liking these days with no darts to shape it, but good for a quick production and no doubt easy to wear.

PS That hemline is straight. The top is not hanging straight. Nothing to worry about.

Life, Interrupted

2011-08-24T00:55:00.000+10:00

It feels ages since I last posted although I know it's only been a little more than a week... My dear friend Chris passed away about 10 days ago from brain cancer, leaving behind another dear friend, his wife, and their young son - I just really haven't felt like blogging since. There has been some sewing though... Chris' memorial service was last Thursday, and I sewed a cover for the coffin trolley (in a regal looking red velvet) - my first completed project in velvet, but I don't imagine it would make a particularly interesting sewing post.

I had also been doing minimal sewing for the school book parade, but the parade was postponed due to rainy weather - nothing to show there either!

So all I really have to show for the last 10 days is a wearable skirt muslin. The skirt design is vintage but looks current enough to me (do skirt styles just keep getting recycled, or am I just insensitive to the variations?). The pattern is Vogue 1915 (OOP), an Anne Klein pattern from the 1980s or 90s that I picked up recently for 50 cents.

Skirts should be easy but I always struggle with the sizing. This time I cut out a straight 14 but then had to sew narrow side seams, so maybe that should have been a 16. The fabric is a stretch one, that I used before in these trousers (no longer being worn because I did something stupid to the zipper)...

The skirt fits but for now I'll just show it on the dressmaker's dummy:

Photographic evidence suggestive of decent pleats and pockets... but dodgy waistband and vent...

If I can get my blogging mojo back I'll take a picture of the skirt on me and share that; I know the dummy can mislead on fit.

What else to say.... well, if you come across this pattern second hand, it is certainly worth 50 cents or a dollar. Everything lines up well and the pleats and side pockets look good. They'd look better than the above photos in a non-stretch fabric too. There's a centre-front seam, which might even make this a stash-busting pattern. I wouldn't pay a lot for the pattern though because the vent at centre back is not the schmick kind, and the waistband is cut as a straight piece but seems to need a bit of curve.

I'm considering making this in one of my Tessuti remnant sale pieces... no promises of course :-)

Knight Time

2011-08-13T10:41:00.075+10:00

So... I finished that knight's costume last night, and didn't get a chance to show my son till this evening, just before bed. He LOVES it, hooray! Here are some photos showing what knights do (apparently):

I like the costume overall, and it turns out we have a great need for a knight in our home. I wish I hadn't made the centre seams and stitching so puckered - my bobbin case was misaligned grrrr! I won't be redoing the affected parts - I have two other projects due by Wednesday evening or before.

Details:
Pattern: Mc Call's 5907, View C (knight). View A is a costume for a king, and view B is for a forest man.

Review:
This is a straightforward pattern, and one that will be very adaptable for other boy's costumes (tunic, hood...). It comes together well and as it's intended to not be too close-fitting, you don't have to be too too careful with the sizing imho. Not much more I can say really....just that I have one happy knight in the house!

My favourite part of the costume was the part I was dreading - the cut out and iron on insignia. I used double sided iron on stuff (I forget what it's called, I just had some lying about - as you do) and ironed it onto a square piece of black felt, then pinned the pattern piece on and cut out the shape before ironing the shape onto the tunic. You're supposed to make two insignias and iron one inside the other, but I thought it would get too thick and hard to align.

One of my two projects on a deadline is a costume request - my son wants to dress up as Leif from Deltora Quest for the book parade at school next week. I'm thinking just a blue hood/cape, and the special belt as a separate craft activity...

Here's what Leif looks like in the Japanese Anime version of the books:

hopefully I can turn this into a not much sewing project. I've still got that coat looming, and I've also cut out Vogue 1915 skirt (OOP) in a test fabric...

Stash Building - A Spectacular Effort :-(

2011-08-08T23:16:00.000+10:00

I'm actually having a go at myself in the title - I shouldn't be stash building! I already have plenty of stash, but it's just so hard to resist (a) something really lovely that whispers 'I have so much potential' to me, or (b) something cheap. If it falls into both categories forget it!

It'd be pretty embarrassing to show you all my purchases at that Tessuti remnant sale I mentioned in Saturday's post, but here are the pretties:

a mustard yellow net with large silver sequin pattern in the bottom half, and a dusty pink pure silk with small silver sequin pattern all over - both of great interest to my sparkle-loving daughter:

this silvery fabric which will be used in a costume for my son if he tells me he's interested in it:

a patterned lightweight cotton that I would like to make into a summer blouse (yes, there is enough of it - about 2 metres), and a small piece of heavily embroidered stripey cotton that my daughter insists be made into a dress (no, there's really not enough - maybe I should call all the Tessuti shops and see if they have any more scraps of this!):

some mostly small pieces of coloured pure silk - apart from the three shown below I also got some dark blues that I didn't manage to photograph well. I would love to try my hand at colour blocking with some of these; maybe in a simple loose, A-line dress?

I also got some sensibles - good lengths of crepe, silk jersey, wool/poly and masses of something that looks like ticking but is more like sheet weight. It worked out at less than $5 per metre... is it excusable?

Hey, she pushed in!

2011-08-06T14:14:00.000+10:00

Yes it's true, V1129 and M5907 were already there, and V1250 simply pushed in last night - and I let her.

But she's so easy-going and straightforward... and such a flatterer! I guess that's why she's so popular. She didn't even seem to mind being cropped off at the waist - said something about her neckline being her best feature anyway???

I'm really enjoying V1250's company; she's definitely staying on the sewing table for a while. I guess I'll have to spend some time with V1129 and M5907 soon though... M5907 had already stopped cooperating because I was taking too long; I'd hate for V1129 to act out like that too.

Details:
Pattern: Close-fitting knit DKNY dress with a distinctive cowl neckline and front skirt pieces wrapping around to back. Due to fabric constraints I cut the back piece + 2 inches extra length, and matched the front length to this. On trying the pinned together version I decided I needed more length so added rectangular bands to front and back. Otherwise I followed the instructions religiously - they are pretty clear.

Fabric used: merino wool jersey remnant - there was just 1m, but it was also just $3!

Time to make: cutting took less than 1/2 hour on Thursday evening and then all the sewing took just a few hours on Friday evening, even though I always sew at the slow speed setting.

Conclusion: A big tick!

PS If you're in the Wynyard/ Surry Hills/ Chatswood areas of Sydney in the next few hours, Tessuti shops are having a remnant / end of roll sale that ends today. I stumbled across it yesterday on the way home from work and will post later on my stash-creating finds - but there are some really good quality fabrics in there (Lisa Ho remnants I think), and all at $10 or less (including roll ends).

PPS and my head is all better now, thanks.

I have a headache

2011-08-03T18:05:00.000+10:00

Well that's this week's excuse. I bumped my head very hard on Monday evening and gave myself a touch of concussion, so this week is going to have to be pretty quiet. Last week was just busy, so I didn't manage to finish anything....

My head isn't up to scanning and talking about my latest vintage patterns, but I can show you a little bit of sewing progress - I had hoped to have one of these two projects finished early this week.

First up, V1129, an easy unlined jacket - currently full of pins and messy tailor's tacks, but I think it will work out nicely:

then secondly a knight's costume, based on M5907 and a very easy project - but I think I've snagged the fabric already:

A completed project and more details when my head feels better - promise!

Thanks Again to Donna Karan - V1220

2011-07-25T00:48:00.000+10:00

I love this dress - V1220 from a Vogue Donna Karan Collection pattern - but my seasons are completely out! It's the middle of the winter here and I feel the cold, so although I was brave for about 10 minutes this evening this dress will now need to wait till Spring to be worn.

Excuse my customary lack of make-up, grooming etc - but that's a smile! Yay for proper sewing and a good pattern!

I think everyone that's made this dress has been happy with it. Mine is not a perfect version - for example, my collar pleats don't align and my hem facing inners and outers didn't match up 100%. My hair will cover the collar error and I'll pretend my extra pleats on the hemline are a design feature, so don't tell!

oops on the collar

design feature on the hem

As I was making this I wasn't sure how it would look on my not very curvy shape. I knew it looked stunning on curvy women, for whom it's recommended... but I think it's OK on me too?

thinking... is it a yay or nay?

I'll post a review at Pattern Review at some point, but the essentials are as follows:

Fabric: Stretch cotton-polyamide ("light grey check"), from Tessuti Fabrics, and just $10/metre after 50% off! I bought 2.8m - that length was needed for the belt.

Sizing: I sewed a 12 in the bodice area and sleeves, graded out to a 14 for waist and hips. "Grading out" makes it sound confident, assured, etc but it felt like a gamble as the pattern pieces are not your average shapes.

Any Other Changes: None apart from adding those feature pleats at the hemline, ha! They aren't that great a feature when seen from behind.

Oh actually I found one - I didn't make the little loops to carry the belt as I'm not sure I'll use the belt. My mother-in-law certainly thought a bow at the waist would be an error of judgement for me and she's probably right (sigh).

Especial Likes: Concealed buttons, pockets, pleats, sleeve cuffs, faced hem... I guess that's why I made a warm weather dress in cold weather.

Watch Outs: Your fabric choice! If you choose to use checks or stripes you are making the job harder than it need be.

Also I think it would be best to use a fabric that doesn't fray too wildly as there are a couple of places where you need to reinforce and then clip in to a corner.

Conclusion: A great summery dress!

Time to fill my hot water bottle and hit the sack!

... good night~

His Loss, My Gain

2011-07-17T13:11:00.000+10:00

My partner's birthday is coming up, so I considered making him something. A nice striped long sleeve T-shirt, I thought, with that navy/burgandy striped cotton jersey that I bought last year with him in mind. Got out the fabric. Good quality, yes. Very stripey, check. Sort of masculine, yes. Measurements? Just 1.3m long. :-(

I think that I must have bought this fabric when I was looking scruffy, on a non-work day. I remember the shop assistant convincing me to buy less fabric than I wanted to. Maybe she thought I couldn't afford it, but seriously, this was a cheap fabric by Sydney standards - I'm pretty sure it was less than $10 a metre. It may also have been on sale. Maybe I was looking really down at heel?

very bunched up...

So I've made myself a long sleeved T-shirt instead - his loss and my gain! I hope it improves my casual look as well as helping me keep warm. That does mean I have to think of another birthday present though.

loose (RTW-style) shoulder fit

The top is inspired by a long-sleeved top that I was remembering from Burda 02/2011 (top 106B) - in drafting this post I've gone back to check my inspiration top, and it's a little different to what I made.

Because I didn't want to spend time on the cold floorboards tracing out the pattern, I made my top by copying an old, much-loved RTW long-sleeved T-shirt. The old favourite was looking grotty and threadbare (maybe I am very scruffy on weekends!) so I hacked it up and then cut out the stripey fabric in approximately the same shape.I probably should have reviewed the fit first though as my resulting top is loose in the area around front shoulder / arm hold / above bustline. That's ^&*(&%$ RTW fit for you!

My fabric was insufficient for sleeves in a single piece so I have cuffs with the stripes at a 90 degree angle. I do like this sort of end to a jersey sleeve anyway - it's neater for me to be able to omit the twin needle stitched hem, and the doubled fabric at the wrists feels somehow reliable (though I don't know what I'm relying on the cuffs for).

As usual, I've used that thin transparent elastic on shoulder seams and around the neckline (not shown). There's no seam finishing on the inside as my zigzag stitch stretches out the edges and then that shows through to the right side of the fabric - I'm not finding this lack of finishing to be an issue though with knits.

Here's the stripes lined up down a sleeve and a side seam - there wasn't much to worry about with an easy top like this except for lining up those stripes and making a reasonable neckband!

stripe matching down the arm

stripe matching down the side seam

*********

PS I feel I should apologise for my last post - it didn't really seem to be much about sewing. My sewing is going slowly these days because it's just too cold in my sewing area - but I've nearly finished some proper sewing that I'll share with you soon: Vogue 1220 Donna Karan Collection, the very popular summery shirt dress. I'm not sure yet whether this style is just for the curvy ladies, but you can be the judge when I finish it and brave the cold for some pics.

Pattern Magic 2: Wearing a Square

2011-07-09T20:13:00.000+10:00

One lot of facings flicked over shoulder

Facings hanging free

This is no doubt the easiest "pattern" in Pattern Magic 2... there's barely any sewing to it, and not even that much measurement required.

I made a little paper model first, like the one shown in the book, to understand how the top was to be cut from fabric and which areas needed proper measurements. This is pre-gussets of course:

The author seems to have made all her creations from woven fabrics (linen?), but on the Wearing a Square pages she comments "It would be interesting to make up this simple garment in a stretch fabric." Yes! Finally time for my blue Marc Jacobs double-layer knit to have its moment in the sun!

Mulling over my paper model and my too-large piece of fabric, I decided to modify the square by using a ridiculously large facing for the front opening - so making more a rectangle than a square. This is very easy to reduce later on though. I also made rather long narrow sleeves, which get baggy half way down due to the large gussets.

Flat-pack top - the folded fabric down the middle is my extra-wide facing

I didn't finish the edges or sew on any closures because I kind of like unfinished knit edges but also I haven't decided what I want of this. Depending on the final width of the finished facing, this top could have a small cowl, a hood or a scarf (might take a few cuts). The look of the top changes depending how much of the facing is gathered up on the shoulders, which also depends on how much width of facing you have - but whatever extra width you have can obviously be sewn down in permanent ruching if you wish.

Facing folded in half to make a deep hood/scarf

Back view with most of the fabric gathered on shoulders

Side view showing deep gussets, narrow sleeves

Folded over facing and the long narrow sleeves

Adding other geometric shapes to the square or making the fabric folds less symmetric are some of the other possibilities that I'm thinking about...

PS I've come to this Pattern Magic fascination rather late really - if you're interested in seeing more creations from Pattern Magic 2, head over to this Flickr group.

Lace Dress, Vintage Style (Vogue 1136)

2011-06-26T14:03:00.001+10:00

Vogue 1136, a vintage pattern re-issue from an original 1945 design, is to my mind quite a classy shape. It's supposed to be lower calf-length, which I guess is fashionable, but I wasn't sure... and I was using the (trimmed) scalloped selvedge edge in lieu of a skirt hem so once cut there was no going back.

So my version is a little shorter than the pattern specifies. I also left out the back skirt pleats because I didn't think they'd work so well in lace. For a bit of ease I added some mini pleats in the skirt at the points that lined up with the bodice darts. I love the V-shaped bands on the back... I hope you can see them:

And I love the neckline, and the long bodice darts:

I made this dress in an incredible rush for a function last night. We left the house late because I was still sewing when we should have been out the door! Luckily I'd made muslins of the bodice and skirt and didn't have complicated adjustments to make. However, I left the side zip till last and as a consequence it's
a bit wonky-looking (and needs to be repositioned in the skirt):

Possibly I need to take in the skirt as well: the left-hand photo shows the skirt when I hold it in a little, and the photo on the right shows the skirt left to its own devices and looking quite wide:

These are only minor and definitely fixable problems of my own making, and I'm happy with this dress!

I should give you more of the details I guess and not just show you pictures :-)

The pattern is V1136 of course, and as this is a vintage re-issue it fits as per modern sizing. I muslined the bodice really carefully but found the straight size 12 was perfect for me with just a little extra width at the waist. I guess if you have a large bust or broad shoulders this pattern might be a bit tricky to adjust though. I muslined the skirt in a rush and just ended up making this a little wider than a size 12 for the full length of my skirt - but the skirt shape is very straightforward when the back pleats are removed, and it'll be easy to take it in later. I think this would look great in a solid colour, as the lines get a bit lost in the lace detail and would similarly get lost in a busy print. It's recommended for fabrics like crepe, wool jersey or peau de soie.

Here are the pattern envelope technical drawings for V1136 - the jacket would be nice too:

My fabric is a lace that I bought at the Fabric Shop in Surry Hills, Sydney. I don't know what sort of lace this is classified as - maybe someone can educate me! It's machine made (very regular looking), it has a definite top vs underside, two scalloped selvedge edges that can be trimmed to the scallop shapes, and the floral patterns on the fabric are outlined in an embroidery stitch.

I used less than 2 metres of the lace fabric (phew - that's all I had) and less than 2 m of burdandy coloured lining fabric to make my slightly streamlined V1136. I underlined the bodice in the lining fabric, and I also used the lining to make a free hanging under skirt with French seams. I did consider using an underlining as well as a lining but thought this may have become a bit bulky and hard to keep smooth in sewing the layers together. As it was, for the bodice I basted all the edges of each piece before doing any of the real sewing - this worked well; otherwise I think the lace would have stretched and moved a lot while being sewn up. Sewing with lace definitely takes some planning, so I read up on a lot of techniques before starting this. If anyone would like more information about how this dress went together or what my OOP Reader's Digest compendium says about sewing with lace, underlining, fitting etc please let me know.

BurdaStyle Girl's Dress in Japanese Cotton

2011-06-16T18:00:00.002+10:00

The happy recipient of a new dress:

The dress was made in secret as a birthday present so it couldn't be tried on along the way - so I'm pleased to see it does fit. It's based on BurdaStyle 10/2010-151 in a 110cm height, also described as suiting an age of 6.

front view (hanger too wide)

back view - ties very hard to make out

I made a few small changes to the pattern (and just ignored the instructions):

ties that do up in a bow at the back, in case the dress was a lot too wide

full rather than 3/4 length sleeves - just the sleeves from blouse #151 in the same issue

skirt lined in cotton voile

bodice faced in self-fabric for winter cosiness (instead of binding at the neckline)

oops not a very neat zip and the wrong colour of thread!

a button on the front - I had a button for each colour in the dress and was originally going to sew them in a line down the centre front bodice, but I simply ran out of time

This fabric was my daughter's selection. I was planning to make her something using girly pink stash fabrics, but I just happened to pop into Tessuti Fabrics to buy some divine fake fur for wintery throws (seen as backdrop to some of the detail pictures above) and she became very quiet and basically glued herself to a bolt of fabric:-). Interesting! It's a Japanese cotton print made by cosmo textiles. I couldn't see it listed in Tessuti's online shop but they do have it in stock. It might actually be a quilting cotton...

Apart from finishing that dress I also had to make and ice cupcakes. I baked 120 mini vanilla cupcakes and iced 80 of them with butter cream and lollies for my dd's kindy and for a work morning tea.

I thought icing and decorating would be fun for the kids, but it might just turn into a lolly-eating fest, given that here's how they decorated the chocolate birthday cake:

Next up I have to make a dress for a dinner function. I have to! Grrrr... it's so much more fun to be carried away on a whim... Anyway, the fabric is very nice medium weight rose-coloured lace, and I'm thinking of keeping it as a very plain 3/4 sleeve sheath shape. I hope I can make myself do it!

Ooh Cashmere! Vogue 1098 Anne Klein Jacket

2011-06-08T00:03:00.000+10:00

This bright blue cashmere/wool jacket is what I've been working on over the evenings of the last week. It's by no means perfect but I'm rather happy with it... it even garnered unsolicited compliments in the office.

You won't recognise the dress, but it's from another Vogue pattern, and previously posted here.

I think this jacket looks good draped over the concrete ...

I took my outdoor pictures today at lunchtime, out at Barangaroo. Not many people around except joggers and tourists wandering too far past Darling Harbour, and interesting views of sea, concrete and sky. The office felt a long way away - I must do more of these interesting lunchtime walks.

And yes, I went a bit overboard with these pictures, but it was fun and there weren't too many witnesses.

And I returned to the office de-stressed!

Modifications:
You may have observed that my large buttons are non-functioning. You may also have observed that they are a little off-centre. There is a reason! On Saturday night my sewing machine refused to complete the button holes. I had practised on bits of doubled over, interfaced fabric - but I hadn't taken into account the impact of the seam down the centre front and also the angled seam. Both of these annoyed my button hole foot, and made the fabric way too thick for it to cope with. On Sunday afternoon I unpicked the mess and considered using a buttonhole service (if they could put handsome buttonholes on top of my mess - could they?). On Sunday evening I decided I couldn't wait, and decided I'd use platters (ie large buttons) to cover the mess with big press studs underneath. The buttons had to be positioned to cover the buttonhole marks, and these of course were off-centre because that way the fastened buttons would have been centred!

The other modification I made was to remove the collar. This was Jacquie's idea, and I think it was a brilliant one - it makes the jacket look more up-to-date. I did take the opportunity to cut, fuse, trim (for that extra bit of turn of the cloth allowance) and sew the collar pieces so that I could practise some of Sherry's techniques and see what it looked like:

I guess that's a proper collar! Maybe I should finish the edges and attach fastenings so it can be a detachable collar... hmmm don't think I can be bothered, although the idea does interest me in a theoretical way.

Sewing and Fit
The jacket looks like this on the pattern envelope:

It goes together nicely and seems pretty fool-proof (eg it already takes into account a certain amount of turn-of-the-cloth allowance for the collar and provides different sized upper and lower collar pieces), but I found the sleeves and body a bit short on me. The point where the main sleeve pieces join to the shaped "cuff" feels too high - I would have thought this should happen at elbow length, but it seems to happen an inch or so higher. Actually they look this way on the pattern model too! I'm still pretty pleased with the jacket, and it probably fits better than most of my RTW jackets.

Fabric
I used a cashmere / wool / poly mix for this jacket, and wow did it feel luxurious to sew with - like moving a knife through whipped cream. I found I only needed about 1.6m of 150cm wide fabric for the jacket in a size 12, although the suggested amount of fabric for size 12 is 1.8m - so this is relatively affordable to make in nice fabric compared to a coat. My lining is just a regular lining, nothing special. At the time I was planning the jacket I couldn't get the matching turquoise lining so I chose the green as something I thought would complement the turquoise and go with other colours I wear. Both the outer and lining fabrics came from Tessuti fabrics last year, and the buttons came from Tessuti a few days ago.

FINALLY: Vogue 8718 Suit in DKNY Stretch Linen

2011-05-31T00:08:00.002+10:00

FINALLY! YAY!

I started this suit back in February when it would have been very wearable and not shivery weather like now (coldest May in 40 years for Sydney), and I came very close to finishing it in a relatively short time. But for some reason I stopped at the point of press stud jacket closures and taking in / lining the skirt. There was so little left to do that I can't believe it took me so long to get here! Anyway, I got around to finishing the jacket one evening last week, and yesterday I finished off the skirt.

All along I have loved this suit, but I was quite worried about messing it up, especially in the final steps - which is where I typically mess up. I didn't this time, and I absolutely love the finished suit. I think it's a really interesting jacket shape - I love that it *makes* a waist, and accentuates shoulders. If I saw this shape of jacket in a shop I would really be drawn to try it on.

It also feels quite an achievement to have made a proper work suit!

The story of the suit - a series of fortunate events
Back in the first week of February this year, first week back at school, saying bye in the playground, I ran into a friend. She was wearing a gorgeous dark grey linen suit with raglan sleeves, a peplum with foldover details and I think also deep pleats in the bodice and skirt. It looked so flattering and unusual that I found myself really wishing I had one like it, to the point of nearly emailing her to ask where she'd bought it. I even went looking in the shops near my office - but I didn't find it. When I realised this Vogue pattern was rather similar I was just delighted. I ordered the pattern, and popped along to the linen sale at The Fabric Store in Sydney on the off chance. Surprisingly I found a very similar looking fabric (DKNY stretch linen). No excuses left, I got cracking on my copycat suit!

Here's the pattern envelope picture of the V8718 suit jacket and skirt - it's one of those very useful wardrobe builder patterns, so there are also pants, top and dress patterns included.

Fitting and sewing a suit
I was such a keen bean that I didn't stop to make a muslin or even check measurements - just ploughed ahead with a straight size 14, widened a little at waist and hips. This crazy fast start caused my only real fit issue - I should have made a small bust adjustment and removed a little depth from the front bodice. Otherwise the jacket fits well, albeit with raglan shoulder pads to create shoulders...

Fit seems OK at the back too!

The skirt is pretty straightforward but I made it too large initially, and have had several lots of take-ins on the side seams to get it to fit properly. The pattern has the skirt unlined, but the jacket is fully lined and ends up being quite heavy for a summer jacket so I thought the skirt needed lining so as to be a consistent weight. I had different recommendations from different people about lining this skirt: one person counselled a stretch lining made the same size, one suggested a regular lining made wider than the skirt (the fabric is quite stretchy) and another said I couldn't possibly make my lining wider than the skirt and that regular lining didn't come with stretch so I should consider using a jersey (!!). In the end I took my own advice and cut and sewed my normal lining fabric a little wider than the skirt. I then tried it on and wore it for a while around the house with every intention of taking in the lining if it was making the skirt bulge - but I don't think it does, and I don't think you can tell.

Feel free to let me know if you think it is particularly noticeable as it wouldn't be too hard to change, and I'm unlikely to be able to wear this for a while now that we're in winter weather here in Sydney...

Check out these crazy sleeves - the upper sleeve seam line is longer than the lining and is folded and sewn to the lining at strategic points.

There's some hand-sewing on the inside to attach the bodice lining to the peplum - here's a view looking inside the jacket. I used large black snaps, sewn on with top stitching thread (probably unorthodox). I didn't use any of Sherry's RTW tips because I came close to finishing this jacket before starting the RTW sewalong... which I have not yet completed :-(.

If you're on the other side of the globe and contemplating this as a summer suit, I can highly recommend it - so long as you're OK with having more than the usual number of pieces to cut out for the jacket. The pattern is very straightforward and the pieces go together well, and they make a really distinctive suit.

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Late Edit:
Audrey mentioned in the comments below that this pattern was an exact copy of an Akris designer jacket, so I went image searching - and sure enough it is! So here's the Akris original in two different colours:

The skirt and pants are quite different from the pattern though.

Teal Blue Wool Jersey Dress (V8511)

2011-05-29T01:20:00.030+10:00

I thought I was going to be posting about my finally completed V8718 suit ... but I haven't had the self-discipline to re-fit and line the skirt! The jacket is ready and looking pretty nice on the dummy, but I don't want to show you it without the skirt.

Instead, here's my latest distraction - Vogue 8511 made in a wool jersey.

I've replaced my original late night no make-up, I-am-a-mess photos with overcast not much light in winter photos - not much gain...

I really don't sew with a plan. I buy fabrics and patterns with a plan, but then I tend to sew what I feel like. This dress is a classic example - the fabric is a wool jersey, $24 for a 1.5m x 130cm remnant with a 'fault', and all along I was planning for this to be a plain and cosy long sleeved top that I could layer and wear with skirts or trousers. But then I noticed this post by Carolyn, and recalled that I had a similar Vogue pattern (V8511) to the Burda one she'd used. When I checked the pattern envelope it estimated a sleeveless version of the dress in size 14 only needed 1.4m for a 150cm wide fabric! Given they always seem to allow a bit of extra fabric in these reckonings I thought it worth a try... and laying out the fabric pieces on the fabric I found I could fit the 3/4 sleeve version (pattern envelope estimate of 1.9m for 150cm wide fabric, size 14). Only just, of course. The corners of some pieces were somewhat trimmed but still within seam allowances, and the sleeves were about 2cm shorter than intended.

Here are two more views of the dress, front and back:

and the dress on the dummy:

Pattern comments:
The recommended fabrics for this dress include knits and wovens. Obviously I used a knit fabric, and I started out making this dress in a size 14 with a little extra room allowed around the waist. That turned out to be way too big, and I had to take all my bodice seams in to make it more like a size 12. I think the bodice now fits well, but that was quite a bit of taking in. Maybe it would have been fine in a size 14 with a woven fabric. I also found a zip was not required with a knit fabric, which is always good news. The dress has a lined bodice, but the skirt is not lined - not sure why not. I chose not to line at all, and I am thinking to make a slip separately for this and other unlined knee-length dresses. I think apart from sizes needing to be adjusted for knits my only adverse comment about this pattern would be the sleeve widths - the envelope drawings show fitted sleeves but these turned out quite wide. If I make this again I'll take the sleeves in too.

Here's the technical drawing from the pattern envelope:

If you like this dress, Hand Sewn Home Grown, Jorth and A Sewn Wardrobe have made some lovely versions you might also want to check out...

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A postscript - although I prefer to be able to sew without a plan, I do need a plan. I have an evening dinner "do" coming up in a few weeks, for which the dress code is cocktail. I bought some rose coloured lace and a lining fabric at The Fabric Store's 1 day sale on Thursday, and was thinking to make a 3/4 sleeve dress with fitted bodice and ?? not sure skirt. This is what my fabrics look like:

Any suggestions as to patterns (Vogue or Burda preferably) or styles? There's 2 metres there.... if necessary I can probably get a bit more.

One Small Outfit (Skirt, Top and Hoodie)

2011-05-23T23:58:00.000+10:00

It's been a crazy week - the flu, way too much work on, lots of non-work issues at work, worries for my son at school, and lots of tears in the mornings as my daughter transitions to a new kindy. Lots of broken sleep. And then Blogger updates and consequent problems on top of that!

But finally I have something to show - the result of some Saturday night / Sunday afternoon sewing - a small outfit for my DD, started when the Saturday night project PJs for my DS went pear-shaped.

First up was a quick knee-length skirt, made from a remnant piece of heavy printed linen (plus cute button to mark the front and some lace trim for interest):

next up was a cosy fleece hoodie, which I originally planned to make last year - made using the hooded t-shirt pattern from Burda 9614 in a widened size 4:

and finally a long-sleeve t-shirt, made from some cotton jersey bought for a song at a Tessuti Fabrics sale a few months ago, and using the hoodless long-sleeve t-shirt pattern from Burda 9614 in an unwidened size 4:

front of t-shirt

back of t-shirt

Happily all these garments could be made from the stash - no need to buy fabric or haberdashery - AND all seem to coordinate well. I want to make some leggings to go under the skirt too to keep little legs warm, and I think I've found a reasonably matching pink striped jersey remnant for that too.

The three year old verdict: the skirt is pretty, the hoodie is not needed, and the t-shirt is great. "Oh wow! Dat's soooo cool mumma!" (I think the t-shirt is kind of cool too... )

Vogue 1193 DKNY in Red

2011-05-16T00:48:00.021+10:00

I think this dress measures up!

This Vogue DKNY pattern is rated Easy, and a fast sewer could probably whip it up in just a few hours + cutting out time.

I had thought a dress made up in a ponte di roma fabric would be good for winter (which is what this autumn feels like).

Is it work appropriate??? I'm not sure - it's a bit more clingy than I would typically wear to work, and very loud. I work in a conservative company, in a conservative Department but for the trendy Marketing Department. Hmmm.... I could think about this a lot... but on the other hand, the dress doesn't appear to need ironing and is cosy so I'll probably wear it pretty soon.

Here are a couple more views of the dress - I am mostly removing my head because it's late at night and I am not at my most presentable lol!

I made this up in a size 12 rather than my usual 14 because people seem to suggest using negative ease in knits. Because I was using a cheap ponte di roma from Lincraft I didn't make a muslin, just measured the flat pattern pieces, added some width to the waist, and sewed it up as per the pattern instructions. At the end I added 2 cm to the length by removing it from the generous 5cm hem.

Late edit: a few people have commented about the very invisible invisible zip in the centre back. I hope this isn't a disappointment, but I am not clever enough to have inserted an invisible zip so cleanly in a stretch fabric. Luckily I found that the dress could go on and off without a zip... I tested this with a basted centre back seam before the final sewing.

There was just 1 step in the pattern that I had to stare at for a little while - relating to the pleats, which folded in the opposite direction to expected - so here's a close-up from the inside of the dress:

I think the fit is surprisingly good for an easy dress - but then again, it is a DKNY pattern and we all know Ms Karan makes dresses that fit nicely!

V1247 Rachel Comey Top in Orange Ikat

2011-05-09T23:59:00.000+10:00

This is my orange ikat variation on the top from V1247, a Rachel Comey pattern.

front view

back view, unfortunately bunching up the fabric with my hand!

Again, as with my original V1247 top, I am rather pleased :-).

Construction:
This time around I sewed the top in a straight size 12, and didn't grade up a size at the waist and hips. In fact, when I tried the top on it seemed too loose for the way the fabric hangs, so I took the top in at the sides starting from a miniscule amount at armpit level to about 1.5cm at the waist, then grading out again to nothing at the hem. And to give the top even more shaping at the waist I also added a fold-over pleat that lines up with the shoulder pleats. I can still get the top on and off easily, but I have really narrow shoulders and upper chest - otherwise this may not have been possible. I probably should have also moved the shoulder darts in a little closer to the centre to account for those narrow shoulders.

front view

Because the fabric didn't lend itself to French seams I just used normal seams. I would use French seams on a sheer or silky fabric in this top though.

I cut fronts and backs so that my fabric's border print would be on the sleeve edges, and this meant that these pieces of fabric were cut on an angle to the grain - which I hope makes my shoulders look bigger!

border print dictated cut of the fabric

Also to create a stronger impression of a waist I changed the orientation of the other pieces: I cut the lower front pattern piece (piece 4) on the fold and on the grain (it's intended to be cut as 2 pieces on the bias) and cut the lower side front pattern piece (piece 5) on the bias ( intended to be cut on the grain).

Finally I omitted the bias-cut fabric strip for the neckline and the sleeve cuffs as I wanted enough fabric left over for a skirt for my daughter. On the neckline I used satin bias binding instead, and I think this looks alright although I probably prefer my original version's neckline treatment. With the sleeves ending in a border print I didn't think a cuff was necessary.

pinning satin bias binding in place around neckline

Fabric details
I bought this fabric last year from Sukarara village in Lombok, Indonesia. This village is a weaving centre which makes a lot of traditional ikat and songket fabrics. My recollection is that we were told that traditional ikat fabric isn't very wide because it's the width that's comfortable to weave by hand - certainly the women we saw weaving were making quite narrow cloths, and the larger standing looms we saw were I believe for use by men.

My fabric is an ikat because the pattern is woven and doesn't have gold or silver threads inserted between the weft threads the way a songket fabric would, and I'm guessing it would have been woven by a man because it's wider than the women's looms we saw. The woven patterns are specific to and passed down through families - and although this may be surprising given the muted colours of batik, colourful ikat fabric did seem to be authentic in Lombok!

Photo from Wikipedia, but this is similar to the displays we saw at Sukurara

I don't want to bore you with too many travel snaps, but here are a couple of photos taken at two different wedding processions (yes, if you're wondering, I did get permission to take these photos). Everyone in the wedding processions seemed to be wearing traditional sarongs. It looked to me that the brides and grooms wore long sarongs made of songkret fabric, but I think others also wore smaller pieces of songret.

Children in a wedding procession - the blue sarongs would definitely be ikat, as would the red/yellow one on the right

The official band in what looked to be an affluent wedding procession

Quite possibly if there were a few of these ikat V1247 tops in a room we might be mistaken for a gathering of celebrating APEC officials! I hope not! Thankfully few of my colleagues, friends or family have ikat shirts - and of course I don't get out much - so the risk should be pretty low.

Official photo from APEC 9 in Indonesia

Hmmm... actually those people are all men, aren't they! Risk = infinitessimal!

Finally I should warn you that the likelihood of your seeing many more incarnations of this top is high - I'm curious as to how it would fare in a wool jersey or in a t-shirt material, also in a silk or other drapey fabric and in a formal looking fabric. Too much, too much, I know - but I never had a TNT before, and this could be it!