Saturday 21 July 2012

Slowly, slowly

I've made a start on my Burda jacket (09-2008-105) but progress is v.e.r.y slow.  I'm trying to complete all the things I need to do which doesn't leave much time for the things I want to do, like sewing.


I've traced the pattern and I'm constructing the lining first to check the fit.  It's no surprise that Burda's instructions for lining the jacket suck, so I'm doing my own thing.  We'll see how well that goes :)  I've just pinned the back lining to Ruby below, it's not actually how it will sit, but it gives you an idea of the colour.


I'm planning on finishing the lining tonight and then if the fit is good I'll cut out the wool and start assembling it tomorrow.

I need your advice.  I can't get the Megan Nielsen Banskia top out of my mind.  Several times I've put it in my shopping basket and then cancelled at the last minute.  Has anyone sewed this top or any of her other patterns?  Are they ok, good, great?  Including postage it will cost me $26, which seems like a lot of money for a single top.  But then she is an independent designer and it's always nice to support a fellow Aussie too.  Your advice would be much appreciated!

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Awful to awesome

Have you ever procrastinated over doing something and then you finally do it and wonder what took you so long?  That's basically the story for my new ironing board cover.


I'd been on the hunt for an ironing board cover for a very long time and I couldn't find anything that was both functional and attractive (and reasonably priced).  So mine was in quite an embarrassing state - it had multiple layers of decrepitude topped with a layer of ugly - photographic evidence below!


Longish story short, I was reading this weekly wrap up at Coletterie and clicked through the link to Sunnni's ironing board cover tutorial.  And now I have this.


When this one needs replacing I'll make the sides a bit deeper as they only just reach over the edges and I ended up adding velcro strips to ensure a nice secure fit.  


This adds a splash on colour to my otherwise monochromatic sewing room and will hopefully inspire me to conquer my ironing pile :) 

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Slim fit black pants - using what you have

Thank you for all your kind words about Georgia - she's healing up very nicely and was stoked that people she doesn't even know would take the time to leave a comment.  So thank you again.

When I last talked about making my black pants I was planning to use Burda 04-2010-120.  I struggled to find reviews and the few I did mentioned that the fit wasn't great, so I made a muslin.  Let me tell you it wasn't pretty.  The back gaped, the back waistband sat quite low, the front waistband sat really high and there was way too much material sagging under my backside.


I decided to do a bit blog surfing to work out what I was going to do and I came across Sallie-Oh's post on Madalynne's blog.  Light bulb moment.  She was talking about making skinny jeans, but the same thought applies to any pants.  If you have a pattern that works for you, you don't need another pattern, you just alter what you have.
  

Out came Simplicity 3686.  I've made these pants 5 times before (3 were before blog and the other two are here and here).  This time I used view e, I'd always overlooked this view because I thought the pattern picture looked daggy (clearly I have no vision).  This time around I used a stretch cotton drill, narrowed the waistband by 5/8 inch and trimmed another 5/8 inch from the top of the pants.  I thought I'd shave extra width out of the pants to make them a skinny fit rather than a slim fit, but decided that the slim fit looked better, so the pants legs are as drafted.  To reduce waistband bulk I used a poplin to line it and sewed the selvedge in the seam to ensure the waistband didn't grow with my body heat.


I really like my new pants - it's a new silhouette for me and I'm going to have fun playing dress ups.  The fit at the back isn't as good as the wide leg version and I'm not sure if that's the type of fabric used, the way the pattern is drafted, or a combination of the two.  My one regret is forgetting to add belt loops.  Oh well, I still love them.