Birthday Dress 2012 in progress

There are now only 2 sewing days left unitl my birthday, and I *think* my new dress will be ready. I have a back up dress in mind just in case, but I am really hoping that this year will be the year I get it done.
I just spent a lovely afternoon in the comany of Antqueen working on my dress, and its really starting to come together. I am about to go and do another 30 mins on it, after which it will be ready to have the skirt attached to the bodice.
I am making up a vintage Butterick 2255 in a linen/cotton blend white with overblown pink flowers print.
Here is the muslin:

I hope to have it close to complete by next Saturday, when I am heading to Antqueen's house for a hat trimming afternoon. I might also impose upon her to mark my hemline.

2012 sewing goals

Goodness how time flies!

This year, inspired by The Unclutterrer blog, I've decided to make monthly sewing goals. Let's see how I went in January 2112:

• muslin the Butterick dress - almost done, wiht assistance from ant_queen of Ant Country. Construction of a test run dress is scheduled for this coming weekend.
• sew a garment for Rachel's daughter, Keira (9mo) - almost done. The pieces are cut with construction also scheduled for this weekend.
• post some pre-loved garments for sale on gumtree - nopt done, but I have organised for a stall to sell off some vintage clohtes in Feb
• have a refashioning/sewing day with ant_queen - done! We had a lovely day together durign my end-of-January holiday, including much tea and talk and watching Paper Giants, which she gave more for Christmas.

Photos to follow.

 

As for the next few weeks, here's what is planned:

•  sew a garment for Amber's baby, due in early March (sex unknown or at least undisclosed)
• finish Butterick dress 
• hold a stall at the Nth Melbourne Markets to sell off vintage garments (19.2.12)

 March

• have that long-promised millinery day with ant_queen
• Birthday outing 31.3.12.

 

 

 

Winter Holiday planning

Once again we are departing Melbourne for 10 days warmth and relaxation in July. This year we are going to Timore Leste, where Hubby will have just finished a work project.
Hubby tells me that, in Timor Leste, women swim (or bathe perhaps) in t-shirts and shorts or similarly modest apparel over their swimsuits. To do otherwise will most likely attract unwanted attention.  Now, I don't have any shorts that are suitable for swimming. In fact, I own very few pairs of shorts indeed.
I was just checking out the restylista's blog and saw this post
Perhaps the answer is a play suit in seersucker or similar light-weight but opaque fabric. Sewing out of season will be a challenge, but I have been tempted by the idea of a playsuit for some months now, although I could not imagine myself wearing one.
Now to see if I have/can find a suitable pattern.

Pic Spam - vintage dress muslin

Muslin front

Muslin back

The Janeway Project - muslin update

 I have made some great progress with the Janeway Jacket pattern. Here you can see the muslin, modelled by my lovely assistant, Delores. The right side is more or less the original Burda jacket pattern, with a slight alteration to the sleeve. Clearly the neckline was too high and the head of the sleeve too 'high' or 'puffy'.
On the left side you can see the modifications I have made. First I re-shaped the front opening and neckline to better reflect the Janeway Jacket.

 I also flattened the sleeve head to take out some of the bulk, which you can see here. It did also mean that the sleeve is a little snug around the bicep, so I have added a little more room at the back of the top sleeve piece which I hope will solve the problem. I have not yet muslined that sleeve, so I will probably do that before I cut the fashion fabric.

In these photos you can also see where Helpful Hubby has drawn on the seam lines for the colour division.
Next I unpicked the muslin and cut along those seam lines. Next I re-traced the now divided pattern pieces, remembering to add the 1.5 am seam allowance at each division.
So, this week I will buy the fashion fabric and over the weekend I hope to cut and pin the body pieces from the fashion fabric and then, if I have time, muslin the new sleeve before cutting it in the fashion fabric.

The Janeway Project: Phase 1

I plan to attend the Saturday of Armageddon Pop Culture Expo dressed as Capt Janeway from Star Trek Voyager. I have 5 weekends left to construct my costume (I ought to have started earlier, but there’s nothing like a deadline to motivate a seamstress).


Phase 1 is the distinctive jacket as seen here:

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Kathryn_Janeway

I will be using a Burda Style magazine pattern. The first step is to do a ‘first draft’ or mock up so I can work out Burda’s at times mystifying instructions, tweak the pattern for fit, and then tweak the pattern to achieve the signature Star Trek parti-coloured finish.

Then I’ll be buying fabric and beginning construction. If I get the jacket completed I will look at an under-shirt; if I have insufficient time, I will use a grey marl round neck t-shirt I already own. I have already bought the communicator badge and captain's pips from an online store, and the red hair, well, that part is easy.

Wardrobe Refashion Spring 2010 Pledge

I Melbourne Belle pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months.
I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract.
I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed

Melbourne Belle

My personal goals for Spring 2010 are:
1. sew from stash
2. work through my refashions-in-waiting collection, and
3. Tackle (or trash) some UFOs.

Wrap skirt

The weekend before we left for Fiji I decided I needed one more garment, either a skirt or shorts. I had some light weight printed cotton in my collection that worked well with the palette of my Fiji wardrobe. After letting it sit on the couch amidst the rest of the Fiji wardrobe for a few days, I decided it was skirt fabric.

I chose New Look 6637. The envelope says "Easy 2 hours" and while the construction is easy, it seems to me that the "2 hours" refers to time spent on construction, exclusive of cutting the fabric etc.
Once I had cut out the skirt pieces I decided the fabric was too lightweight - I was worried about transparency - so I underlined it with scraps of poplin from other projects.

All in all the project took me about 7 1/2 hours, but I did stop for meals, laundry etc. I think its the first time I've started and finished a fashion garment in the same day.

I'm quite happy with the finished garment, and will probably make 1 or 2 more for the Aussie summer.  Perhaps I'll even make one a tiny bit shorter. I might also alter the side seams to give it a slightly more A-line finish, if I remember. 

I am glad I added the underlining, as I think it would have been not only transparent, but a little fly-away without the extra weight.

Vintage Butterick 6621 - skirt

I may have mentioned here that I am currently on a weight-loss journey that has seen me drop at least a dress size since Christmas. I hope to drop one more before the end of the year. This, of course, means I am shrinking out of my clothes, in particular, skirts and trousers. Recently I realised that I have nothing suitable to wear in the events of external meetings or job interviews (my current contract expires early November).
My grey suit jacket still fits reasonably well, but the skirt that matches it is unflatteringly and uncomfortably large. Remembering that I had some grey patterned fabric that was gifted to me years ago, I turned to my pattern collection for inspiration and came up with this:

Notice how in each picture the model wears her jacket buttoned up? Now I know why - the skirts and pants all have gathered elasticised waists. Of course, had I bothered to read the garment descriptions when I bought the pattern I'd have know that all along. Gathered waists are not normally my style, but as it turns out, might be just the thing while I am "between sizes" as I can cinch in the the waists without having to significantly alter or unpick the garment.

And so, here is my first attempt at Butterick 6621:

Hmm, that invisible zipper in the back isn't as invisible as I thought.

I've styled it here with a belt to cover the gathered waist. This is how I wore it to work on Friday.  I'll post pics of it styled with my suit jacket for a more formal look next week

I'm not sure I'm loving the centre front seam. Perhaps its just not the best fabric choice for this project. I might try it again with a more drapey fabric. And I'll also experiment with tweaking the pattern to cut the front as one panel. But its comfy, and based on this success, I will also try out the other garments in the wardrobe, perhaps for a spring capsule collection.

Coming soon - Travel wardrobe

Inspired by (a) Gertie of Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing and (b) the mini wardrobe challenge I am starting to think about a capsule collection for my imminent Fiji holiday. We plan to leave in 2 ½ weeks, and instend to be away for ~10 days. It has rather snuck up on me; therefore, I am trying to tell myself I cannot possibly make an entire new holiday wardrobe in that time. Instead, I will compile a collection from my current closet, and perhaps expand and accent it with a few carefully chosen sewing projects.


Stay tuned for pics of the starter collection this weekend.

ALF supporter gear

So I've been seeing (coveting) the official Essendon FC Earflap Beanie around the games. Attending outdoor football games in winter in Melbourne means lots of layers to keep warm. I always have trouble with drafts down the back of the neck and behind the ears. (Does anyone else get cold backs of ears in winter?)

I did have a(n unofficial, unlicensed) supporter beanie, but it did not have earflaps. I also had an old black t-shirt of Hubby's, and some red thread. Now I have this:

It probably took about 2 hours work all up.

It's not quite as sleek as the official one (I tried to post a pic but the cut and paste didn't work. It's over here if you are really interested http://www.essendonfc.com.au/bombershop/product.asp?bshop=2010061322143237&id=1349&scat_id=32 ), but it's unique and will do the job. Although I did just bust Hubby reclining on the lounge in it, so I might have to make a companion one for him. 

Simplicity Easy Chic suit – skirt – finished

I actually finished this some weeks ago and have worn it to work a few times. I am quite happy with it on the whole. That is to say, I am happy with my construction and finish. I still need to improve my zipper insertion, and the hemming of the flounce is a bit rough and ready in places. If make this skirt again, I will perhaps finish the flounce hem with my (recently acquired) overlocker, then turn press and stitch the hem.

Now on to fit – I think the fit was quite good when I finished it. Unfortunately, I have shrunk a little since I finished it, so it now seems a bit loose and at risk of slipping lower than is ideal. I fear that in another month or two it will be in the ‘too big’ pile, which is a nice problem to have.

I can’t be bothered taking it in, as it would require altering both the skirt and waist band facings, so unless anyone I know wants a green flounced skirt in approx. size 16, I might pack it up for charity along with a few other items I shrink out of.

Further on fit, I have determined that, while it fit the way it was designed to, I don’t particularly like skirts that sit so low on the hips. They cut across my tummy, which can be my least favourite feature, and make me feel rather self conscious about my appearance. I do like the idea of the flounced above-the-knee skirt, so if I were to make the garment again, I’d amend the pattern by keeping some or all of the length and bring the darts in so that the skirt sits higher and closer to my actual high hip line.

Fly-by post

Goodness, it's half-past May already! I do have a couple of completed projects to showcase: the green skirt and the purple lace belated-birthday dress of FRUSTRATION.
I will do my best to photo and post them this weekend. Now that winter is closing in its harder to get good photos on weekdays - no daylight!
Also on the agenda this weekend I think are a few UFOs and some mending. And perhaps a refashion/renovation.
We will see!

Simplicity easy chic suit skirt part 2

Today’s Sewing Philosophy: stop, look, and listen (to yourself).

Today I have stitched the darts and side seams. The last time I made this skirt it turned out too big, and even though I’ve taken it in to sit properly on my hips, it still feels a bit ‘baggy’ and frumpy. So I made sure to stop and try on after I did the side seams this time. As you can see from the first 2 photos, it still looks a bit loose, especially around the hips. Before going any further, I thought I’d pin the flounce on to see how that affected the overall look. I am glad I did – look how frumpy this is!

Looking at the pattern envelope, the skirt is supposed to stop mid patella. I re-pinned a few times until I got the length right. This told me I needed to take out a (whopping) 7 cm of length. That was more than I thought I could manage by just pinning and cutting. So I unpicked the side seams, folded the pattern at the designated spot, pinned the darts in the pattern, laid the paper pattern over the fabric, and re-cut the pieces.

I then re-stitched the side seams, and have decided that is enough for today.

P.S. Photos apear to have uploaded in reverse order - opps!

A sheer adventure

This blue blouse is a ‘first draft’ of Burda pattern ... Unlike a muslin, which is for working out pattern tweaks and is never intended to be worn outside the fitting room, when I make a first draft I use nice but inexpensive material, in the hope of ending up with a wearable garment, but prepared to bin it if it’s a disaster.
The fabric is a remnant of cornflower blue ‘soufflé georgette’ that I bought on sale at Cleggs specifically for this project. I decided to do a first draft for a few reasons. My old machine doesn’t like lightweight fabrics, so I haven’t really worked in sheers or light fabrics before, and the pattern calls for silk or cotton batiste, which I understand to be quite fine. Also I was not convinced that this shape was going to be flattering on me. Third, I am still figuring out my Burda size. According to my measurements I fall between sizes 46 and 48. In Burda world that puts me into the ‘plus’ size range; however, since I am smaller on top than on bottom, with a little tweaking I think I can make some of the size 46 tops work for me. This top, and my brown kit cardigan jacket, are both size 46, and are both loose and unstructured, which I think is why they work. For this one, I added about 1.5 cm at the entre fold front and back, resulting I suppose ion an additional 6 cm all around, as font and back were cut on the fold. (it was unclear from the instructions if I was supposed to add width here, but I could tell from the tissue fit that it would be too snug without it).
The pattern is quite simple and went together fairly easily. I trialled a few flashy finishing stitches on the cabbage, but given how light the fabric is, they didn’t really take, and rather than spend sewing time faffing about with tension and whatnot, I mostly stuck with straight and zig-zag stitches. I zig-zagged the seams to prevent fraying, then pressed them to the back as much as possible. The straight stitching caused a gathering effect, most noticeable on the shoulder/top of arms seams. I am not sure if that is supposed to happen, or typically happens, but the effect is quite nice.
I left it too late to research how to mitre the neck band, and consequently had applied it incorrectly,. The finish is no as neat as it could have been, but is probably only noticeable to me (and now to my readers).

Re-fashions in green

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These were both quick and easy refashions. The green knit top was not flattering, and not worth sending to an op-shop. Instead, I put it on over a favourite singlet top and traced the neckline of the singlet top onto the front of the knit. Then it was simply a matter of cutting off the neck, evening up the new neckline, and doing a roll-hem by hand. All up it probably took about 1 – 1 ½ hours (I’m a slow stitcher).

The sleeve of the woven shirt tore and was irreparable. Not wanting to toss it out, and knowing its only a matter of time until a similar tear appears in the body, I took off the sleeves and the collar, stitched the collar edges together, and finished the arm holes with bias binding. This was one of the first projects to come from the new machine, and with the 30+ days we had in Nov, I was very glad of it.

These are a few of my favourite things

About half-an-eon ago Villana asked me to post about some of my favourite sewing blogs. So here they are:

http://www.dressaday.com/dressaday.html
This is the one the probably started it all. I think I found it via mrsbrown’s f’list, but it may have been that someone else pointed it out to me (if it was you please do let me know, I like to give credit where its due.)
I think the next few came from Google reader’s recommendations.

http://nikkishell.typepad.com/wardroberefashion/
I think I found this one via google reader, its one of the most recent additions to my reading list, and it has inspired me to look at my wardrobe off-casts in a whole new light. I think I will take up the pledge for 2 months.

http://missceliespants.com/
I really enjoy Miss Celie’s writing style. I enjoy the way she talks about selecting fabrics, patterns and notions, her thoughts about pattern alterations, and the way she rocks her finished garments. I think this is where I first read about Burda magazine http://www.burdafashion.com/en/index.html (formerly Burda World of Fasion or BWOF) and http://sewing.patternreview.com/news

http://sewingfantaticdiary.blogspot.com/
I love reading Carolyn’s blog. She has such a joie de vivre and a joie de sewing! Sewing is Carolyn’s one and only hobby, and her blog is full of tips and tricks, great ideas in inspiration. I love watching a garment develop from an idea – often inspired by catwalk fashion – to wearing it out in the world. She is happy to answer questions, is very encouraging of less-advanced sewers, does a weekly New Sewists post, and generally makes me feel really good about where I am at in my sewing journey – I want to be like Carolyn when I grow up!
Reading Celie’s and Carolyn’s blogs have also alerted me other sewing/fashion blogs, some of which I have enjoyed, others I have passed by after a few entries. Here are some examples that (I think) came from these ladies’ recommendations:
http://betweenlaundrydays.blogspot.com/ (I don’t think she sews, but she makes jewellery)
http://daddylikey.blogspot.com/ (check out her “Don’t Showcha your Chocha” entries. They will change the way you view the world, I promise)
http://www.lindsaytsews.com/ (Lindsay and I have completely different aesthetic, life stages and experiences. Some days I scroll right over her posts, other days I am intrigued by what’s going on in her world.)

http://twoontwooff.blogspot.com/
I’m not sure how I found Dawn’s blog, but I enjoy her writing. She lives in Alaska, has 3 kids (twin girls and a son), works as a teacher, runs something like 5 miles a day, and yet find time to sew more garments in a week than I finish in a month. She has been sewing for a relatively short time, sews from Burda quite often, and is at the level I;d like to reach in the next year or so. Her “courageous” sewing, i.e. experimenting with her sewing, is inspirational.

http://botticellicraft.blogspot.com/
This is my friend A. Although we’ve lost touch over the last year or so, both busy with our respective lives, I enjoy seeing what she’s been up to, and what she is producing in her sewing/craft room.

I hope that you enjoy reading some of my favourite blogs. Please feel free to comment leaving links to any of your must-read sewing/fashion blogs that you’d like to share.

Going about sewing the wrong way?

As I came back to the office from my coffee run today I was struck by the notion hat I am going about my sewing preparation backwards. Inspired by Caroline of diaryofasewingfanatic, I have for some months been intending to use my week nights to prepare fabrics, patterns and so forth, so that on the weekends I can sit down and sew (or perhaps more accurately, construct). The problem has been that I often can’t be bothered with the ironing board, fold-out dining table, patterns and fabric on a weeknight, so inevitably I fall behind on my sewing plans.

This week I have been working on construction of SammyHubby’s robe for Armageddon. I am finding it quite easy to come home, have dinner, then sit at the machine for an hour to get a few seams done than I find it to start on project preparations. The added bonus being when its time to stop, I can just get up form the machine, throw the dust cover over everything and walk away, whereas if I am cutting, ironing etc, I feel I need to tidy up and put away at the end of the evening, especially if I have been working in the lounge room rather than the sewing room.

So perhaps I will try doing things the other way around – prepare for projects on weekends when I can dedicate several hours to it at once, then sew in fits and starts on weeknights.

Birthday Dress – the beginning

I really wanted a new dress to wear for my birthday outing at the end of the month. I don’t need a new dress - I have plenty of lovely things to wear, but I wanted one. I had thought of going to Fashion Incubator and splashing out on a designer dress (http://www.fashionincubator.com.au/), but I also want to save my pennies for my trip to Festival at Easter.

The other day I was running through my stash in my head, thinking about another project I suspect, when I remembered the purple crepe I bought earlier in the year. I had planned to make a Golden Age Cat Woman dress for a fancy dress party (http://www.goldenagebatman.com/catwoman.html), then realised the party clashed with a mate’s gig at the Espy. Since we was driving overnight from Wollongong to do the gig, the least we could do was attend – so the dress was never made.

With less than 3 weeks until my birthday, rather than trying a new pattern, I have decided to make a new version of a dress I made several years ago: Simplicity 9258. I chose the pattern size based on measurements Villana took of me in January – does anyone else find they take bigger sizes in patterns than in off-the-rack clothing? Perhaps it’s because the patterns are not Australian.

Last weekend I cut out all the pieces. I have realised that, for me, I need to break sewing from a commercial pattern down into small steps. First, I cut out the patterns pieces, then I leave it until the next day/weekend to construct – otherwise I suffer delusions of grandeur about the speed with which I sew, and get upset when the piece isn’t finished in a day.

Today, I constructed the bodice section. I am taking my time, reading the instructions carefully and following them precisely, not cutting corners or rushing. And as a result, I am not only enjoying the process, I am really happy with the results (so far). It means I haven’t finished my dress in a day, but I think I will end up with something of which I can be really proud.

So I am not a fast seamstress – I can live with that, as long as I look good doing it.