Friday 29 June 2012

I can't make it better, but I can make something

I can't make this better...


 But I can make a sweet pair of sweatpants with cool polka dot pockets.



My sweet Georgia girl took a tumble in the playground at school on Wednesday.  I think you can tell what she landed on!  We spent the afternoon in the emergency department followed by a trip to the dentist (she broke off a third of one of those perfect front teeth).  Thankfully, aside from her tooth, nothing appears to be broken.  She has been so brave - there has only been the occasional tear - the teachers and school nurse couldn't believe she didn't cry or get upset when it happened.  

Feeling pretty useless I ended up in my sewing room.  If I couldn't make her better I could at least make her smile.  I pulled out some bright coral coloured fleece and some aqua polka dot fabric and whipped up the Saija sweatpants from the 1/2009 Ottobre Kids magazine.  I left them next to her bed with a little note so that she would see them when she woke up this morning

She was so happy when she saw them and thankfully everything seems to be healing up nicely, although her face does get more colourful by the day!  

Thursday 14 June 2012

A little reward - Simplicity 2054

I've been having fun crossing things off my Autumn/Winter 2012 list but progress has slowed a little and basically that's because I'm a bit chicken.  Those coats are intimidating and those black pants I so desperately want are scaring me a little bit.  So this past weekend I made a deal with myself - trace out a couple of patterns, muslin the pants and then I could whip up Simplicity 2054 in some beautiful emerald ponti from Tessuti in Melbourne.  And here it is.




Sorry - no pictures on me, I was having a pj day and didn't want to get dressed.  This is such a quickie, I made a straight size 14 and I didn't add any extra length!  I even managed to squeeze out the detachable cowl which I think looks pretty good over a plain white t-shirt too.




With a little bit of luck I'll have some black pants to show you soon.  Suddenly they don't seem so scary anymore :D

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Sewing for the man - Jalie 2918

Meet Wade.


You might have seen the occasional photo of him on here and he has rated a couple of mentions (particularly when he built my sewing room cabinets).  Recently the complaints have been coming thick and fast about the total lack of sewing that is being done for him.  So I did a little bit of pattern browsing and came up with Jalie 2918 - a simple t-shirt pattern with neck and sleeve variations.


The first photo is view B in a beautiful black marle merino from Tessuti Fabrics (bought on my first visit when they opened in Melbourne) and the below is view A in a grey cotton/elastane from the stash (I think it was originally from Crafty Mamas).  The pattern suggests that you select the size based on the chest measurement, I made up a straight size 42 (or AA on the pattern sheet).  It's actually one size smaller than his chest measurement and better matches his waist and hip measurements.  We're both really pleased with the fit - I did consider tapering the sides in a little towards the hips but Wade liked it the way it was and he's the one who's going to wear them.


This was my first time sewing with a Jalie pattern and I really liked it.  The instructions were brief but the application of the v-neck was well illustrated and resulted in the best v-necks I've ever done.  I can see myself doing more man sewing in the future, in fact he has already put in an order for a hoodie (pattern suggestions most welcome).

Sunday 3 June 2012

Trend testing - Butterick 5672

Peplums are everywhere right now.  They're in the shops, on the blogs and they keep popping up on Pinterest.  I tried a couple on in the shops but with my height the peplum always started too high up my torso.  So I did what any self respecting seamstress would do and made my own.


This is actually a two piece outfit.  I figured that I'd get more wear out of a top and skirt than I would a dress incorporating a trend (who knows if peplums will still be around next season).  Now I know Vogue has released a pattern for a peplum top (Erica B has put it to good use) but I really didn't want to add another pattern to my stash, particularly when I wasn't sure that I was going to like the end result.  I really like the fit of Butterick 5672 so I decided to use the lining pattern pieces for my outfit.


Here's all the details from the last time I made this up.  This time I added an extra 1/2 inch to the bodice piece.  To make the peplum I drew a circle with a 42cm radius and then cut a circle out of the middle using a small plate.  I pinned the circle in different spots to decide how full I wanted it to be - in the end it's a little bit over 3/4 of the circle.  I ended up removing about 1.5 inches from the peplum length and narrow hemmed it (after letting it sit for a couple of days in case the bias sections stretched).  I love the end result - it's not too full but has a lovely twirl-a-bility!  


The skirt was so easy, it was straight out of the envelope with an elastic waist.  I measured my waist with the elastic and then overlocked (serged) it to the edge and then folded over, tacking it down at the side seams.  Couldn't be any easier.  I put this on one day last week to wear to work, but felt too 'eighties' in it so it ended up on the wardrobe floor for a couple of days.  On Friday I pulled it out and I couldn't wait to wear it.  I love the way it looks and I got a lot of compliments at work too.  It's amazing how much my state of mind influences the way I feel about my clothes.

Friday 1 June 2012

Excuse me...

I've succumbed.  Sewing will resume just as soon as I've finished devouring this series.

Fifty Shades of Grey




Book 3 will be finished tonight.

Seriously good.