today I sewed!

http://thegreatvintagesewalong.blogspot.com/2011/03/progress-at-last.html

A little bit of Shopping

Today my lovely friend montjoye took me with her on a recce of this shop, which happened to be having a 50% off sale: The Fabric Store

A little like Tessuti, The Fabric Store stocks high quality, designer fabrics. I went in with a bit of a mission - fabrics for work clothes, and I am very pleased with what I bought. I have: purple cotton knit for a wrap jacket; teal merino knit for stretchy tops;  sage linen and brown with orange floral print silk for blouses; a french navy and white striped cotton jersey with a faint grey/sage floral print background for a 'Friday' top; and I had to have a black and white printed linen that looks remarkably like this fabric about which Gertie has recently blogged: Vintage Roses

Oh and a little black and white spotty remnant for refashioning the bottom of that Beechworth skirt.

During the week I collected the shelves to go in my new sewing room storage units (I had ordered frames and tub/drawers, but forgot the shelves). Now, after a busy day's shopping I am trying to get up the motivation to go and re-arrange the sewing room.

I think I'll go and do 30 - 45 mins, then rest with an ep. of What Not To Wear that I have recorded.

Summer time Swap

Next weekend I am going to the  Rose St Market Swap.
During the Xmas/New Year break I had another sort and cull of my clothes and identified more garments that I have shrunk out of and/or don't wear. I think I have more than the 6 items permitted, so I will either store some for the next swap, donate them or perhaps sell them on eBay.
Last swap I came home with some very nice garments, which makes me optimistic about this one, and even if I only come away with one or two new garments, it will be well worth it, as all the left over garments go to charity.

Pic Spam - vintage dress muslin

Muslin front

Muslin back

Black and White Beechworth skirt

 My family often holiday in Beechworth, a smallish town in North East Victoria. One of our traditions is to visit the local op-shops and spend a few dollars. I have recently found lots of great, vintage patterns in those shops, som eof whihc may feature here over the course of the year.

Over the New Year's weekend I picked up this skirt. I fell in love wiht the fabric, but the length was all wrong for me. I think this skirt was made by or for its former owner. It has no labels whatsover, and the navy blue zip has been shortened to size. 






A quick and easy re-fashion, I shortened it to just above the knee and hemmed it. I have plans to use the bottom section, which has only one side seam (note the side split to teh knee of the original) as part of a wrap skirt.

As fir my hair, it is pulled up in a clip at the back, I haven't had a significant haircut. I did call my usual place, a hairdressing school in the CBD, for an appointment this week, but they are not longer open on weekends, and I can't take 2 hrs during a weekday for a cut, so I will have to find a new service provider.

Stay thrifty!

Pondering

I have just found Syrena's blog via the Sew Retro blog today: http://balcsgirllovesvintage.blogspot.com/

What piqued my interest is that she describes herself thus: "a stay at home mom and housewife with traditional values that reflect those of the mid 20th century when women were homemakers & men were the breadwinners."

While I share Syrena's love of and fascination with sewing and vintage fashions, styling and sensibilities, I yet I also find myself the breadwinner, with a stay-at-home student and homemaker husband, and no desire to procreate.

I just thought this was interesting, the way people can share similar values on some things (modesty for example) and be so polar opposite on others.

Viva la diversite!

National Clothes Swap Day – only 6 more sleeps!

Monday 25 October is National Clothes Swap day, and I will be heading to The Clothing Exchange’s Melbourne event at Federation Square. I am very excited about this, as I have shrunk out of some of my favourite clothes, and haven’t the cash to spend on new ones.

 

Friday night, while Hubby is on a boys’ night out, I will review and edit my wardrobe into the following categories:

 

1. keep;
2. swap;
3. sell;
4. refashion;
5. donate.

 My wish list for the “buying” part of the swap event off the top of my head is:

 

• Jeans (I have 2 pr, so one more would be good)
• Capri pants or dress shorts
• Dress (es)
• Skinny belt(s)
• A full skirt

 

After my wardrobe cull I will have a better idea of what’s missing in my wardrobe, and what colours, cuts and fabrics to look for. I am very excited. I hope I find some nice things to take home with me.

 

P.S. The Janeway Project was a huge success – watch this space for details, but here is a sneak peak. How handsome is my hubby!

 

 

The Janeway Project – that hair

Over the course of the 7 seasons of Voyager, Janeway sport 3 distincy “everyday” hairstyles (there are others for specific scenarios, but as I am doing her day to day look, I will gloss over those for now). They are:



Victory rolls

 


The chignon















The bob


Since I am not prepared at this stage to cut my hair into a Janeway bob, that leaves chignon or victory rolls. Knowing that I like to have my hair off my neck when it gets warm, and knowing it is likely to get warm in the convention centre, this year I am opting for the chignon.

Luckily, I have very 1940’s hair, with a great deal of body and wave. I have been experimenting and practicing, and I am quietly confident that I will be able to pull off a convincing Janeway chignon – watch this space.

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.

An answer to a wardrobe dilemma

Although I don't mention it here very often, I am mid-way through my weight-loss journey. I have lost a little over a dress size since Christmas 09, and intend to lose one more over the (Southern) summer. While I am thrilled with my results thus far, I have shrunk faster than my sewing, or my wallet, can keep up with, which has left me with lots of lovely clothes that fit poorly, and a limited number that make me feel good in them. Nor do I want to spend a lot of time and money on garments that I plan to shrink out of within 6 - 12 months.This left me with a wardrobe dilemma. I do frequent my local Op Shops semi-regularly, but the sizes and styles available can be limited.

And then I stumbled upon a solution -

National Clothes Swap day!

The details of the Melbourne event are below. For other locations, check out the Clothing Exchange page: http://www.clothingexchange.com.au/Clothing_Exchange/Events.html

The Clothing Exchange’

A swapping event for the ladies

Admission $25

Check-in 6.30pm

Monday 25th October

BMW Edge, Federation Square

Melbourne

Partners Ethical Clothing Australia, Fitted for work and Frankie Magazine

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.

Back on the re-fashion Wagon

I've signed up for another 2 months Wardrobe Refashion, kicking off on September 1, and to celebrate, here are some photos of me at a recent wedding. My dress is a navy blue with bone polka dots dress by Husk, which I found in a local second hand clothing boutique. The blue bolero has been in my collection for a while, and probably came from an op-shop. The necklace is a Fiji souvenir, and the brown boots are Target.

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. 

Days 4 & 5

So I have come to the end of the 5 day challenge, and still have not tried out all the combos I had in mind. Perhaps I'll wash everything and do another few days later in the month.
Day 4 was  back to trousers, this time paired with the black knit top, watch pendent and ankle boots.

Day 5 - Friday - was red plaid skirt, white top, aqua cardi, watch pendent and scarf.
I tried to do a Grace Kelly head scarf.

I think we can agree it did not work. It is handy to have a scarf to put around my neck or shoulders in the office when it gets cool, so I was glad I stuck it in my handbag.
I have enjoyed wearing this red skirt this week, except that the lining is badly torn, and there is nothing like bending over at work to pick something up, and hearing it rip just a little bit more. I think I will remove it entirely, and instead invest in a few half slips/petticoats to wear under it.

Mini Wardrobe Challenge Day 3

Today's outfit was: black dress - grey long sleeved t-shirt - black knee boots - vintage belt worn as necklace. I later added the scarf when it was cool in the office.

Mini Wardrobe Challenge Day 2

Firstly, I was out and about this afternoon so thought I'd take an outfit shot 'on location'. But since I felt a bit goofy taking photos of myself in Magnation, I only took one, and it ain't my best work (I seem to be really sticking my tummy out. Note to self: poor posture = poor photos).
Today's outfit comprised: black knit top - red plaid wool skirt - black knee boots - vintage belt - pendant watch - outer layer