Sparkly Shoulders!!

I've always wanted to sew with some fancy sequin mesh.

Mission accomplished!

While I have a stack of dresses and trousers, my top or tee collection is lacking considerably. Especially tees for going out at night when you want to look a little bit spesh, but not too over the top.

 

 

The pattern for this tee is Burda Jersey Top 09/2012 #123A which I modified to a cap sleeve. I don't often wear long sleeves, and restaurants and pubs get quite warm inside. More so after a wine or two. ;)

The sequin mesh was purchased from Spotty recently. It was 30% off, then I used my $40 off coupon - double saving!! The black jersey is a mystery knit from the Remnant Warehouse bins. It has a super stretchy 4 way knit and great recovery. Good enough for this experiment. I purchased 2m for $6, but it a fault thought it that I cut around. Unlike last time!

The pattern calls for a facing around the neck and there is a button at the back. While this isn't the finish I would normally opt for with a knit, it did give a nice clean line around the neck and along the sequin mesh.

Cost:
Pattern: Burda Jersey Top 09/2012 #123A (I didn't trace it from the library this time!!) $5.40
Fabric: 2m mystery knit from The Remnant Warehouse (I'll account for the whole piece here) $6
Fabric: .25m Sequin mesh from Spotty on sale $8.75
Thread from stash
Button: 10c??
Total: $20.25

I should also say thank so much for your great feedback on my patterned pants. You gave me the confidence to wear them to work last week, where I received no less than 10 compliments on them. Mostly asking where I bought them, followed by asking if I made to order!

My husband still hates them and Oliver calls them pajama pants, which I don't understand, but who cares! Thanks again! I think I need to start planning another.

 

High tea and high fashion - the next Sydney sewists meetup

After seeing the wonderful time that our Melbourne friends had at their SewcieTea , we (Kristy, Sharon and I) decided that us ladies here in Sydney also needed an opportunity to frock up and gather en masse to admire lovely garments in a way that non-sewists just wouldn't understand.

Date: Sunday 23 June at 1.30pm
Venue:  Level Fourteen, The American Club - 131 Macquarie St Sydney
Cost: $47 p.p
RSVP: to Kristy_Idle "at" hotmail.com by 3 June

While $47 is a little pricey, as Kristy points out, it's far cheaper than fabric shopping. Pre-payment will be required, so please email Kristy if you are interested in attending and she'll forward the payment details.

source: levelfourteen.com.au

If at all you feel a little intimidated by the thought of high tea - I know my suburban life doesn't often lend itself to such posh events - I've attached a few words of advice from the etiquette queen, Miss June Daly Watkins.

High-Tea Etiquette, the Miss Dally Way

• Mind your posture! Sit up straight, square your shoulders and lean from the thighs.
• Keep elbows and arms off the table.
• Designate a host or hostess (usually the one who invited you) who will pour the milk first, then tea and offer her guests food from the tiers.
• Start with the sandwiches, then scones, then cakes.
• Take the food with your right hand onto your plate, and cut small pieces at a time, eating with your left hand. 
• Break the scones on your plate. The host or hostess will spoon jam and cream onto your plate. Spread jam, then cream onto smaller pieces.
• No finger licking.
• At all times, maintain eye contact, smile, relax and indulge. (source)

I don't know if I'm more outraged by the idea of pouring milk first or not being able to lick my fingers! I also officially nominate Kristy as the hostess - ha!

I hope you can make it!

Now, what will I wear?

Patterned Pants - Yay or Nay?

I'm not sure about the whole patterned pants thing, but it hasn't stopped me from making some.

What do you think? Yes or no??

I think with a simple black shirt they look OK, but my husband thinks otherwise. Apparently I'm not to walk next to him while I wear these. Good thing I love the turd anyway.

Again I used my modified Sewaholic Thurlow pattern. Seriously, if you've struggled to make a successful pair of trousers, I highly recommend this pattern.

As with previous versions, I slimmed the leg and sewed faux single welt pockets, as I never use back pockets. I also used my slash pocket variation as I prefer how they sit.

The fabric is a printed stretch sateen from Spotlight that I purchased at their recent sale. I think I like the print and I think I may wear them.

I think my sewjo is back!

Cost:
Pattern: Modified Sewaholic Thurlow trousers. Used before = Free
Fabric: 1.25m stretch sateen from Spotlight $11.25
Zipper:$1.80?
Thread: $2.70
Interfacing from stash
Total: $15.75

New Look 6123

Following your advice, I knuckled down and finished one of my UFOs and it felt good. I hope this is the turning point for the return of my sewjo.

Here tis New Look 6123 in Liberty Sybil Campbell.

While I do love this dress, it was a bugger to fit. I toiled the dress, but for some reason, the Liberty version didn't fit! I fiddled and I pinned and I sewed and I swore and by the time it fit I was sick of looking at it and cast it aside, un-hemmed and without zipper.

At this point I also realized that it was a terribly corporate frock and not at all suited to teaching or my social life!! Bum!

Now that it's finished, I really do love it and I think I need to book at date with the hubby to wear it.

Yay!

Cost:
Pattern: New Look 6123 = $5
Fabric: 1.7m Liberty from Shaukat = $42
Lining: 1m purple poly lining = $4
Zipper: $3
Thread: $2.80
Total: $56.80

Missing Sewjo. Reward Offered.

Has anyone seen my sewjo?? I'm seriously stuck in a sewing funk right now and I'm struggling to crawl out.

It all started with a few sewing fails - unblogged of course. A silk chiffon top (fabric of the devil!! When will I learn!!). A simple tee. A cardigan. For the most part, nothing too tear-worthy. But then the UFO started gathering in my sewing room. They mock me as I walk in the door and give me the evil eye as I peruse through patterns or stroke fabric in my stash... I just can't seem to finish anything!! What's wrong with me?

 

UFO #1: New Look 6123 in Liberty - when will I wear this? Why bother finishing?

 

UFO #2: Vogue 1152 in stunning black textured silk - Need to un-pick a sleeve. Blah!

UFO #3: Burda 09/2009 # 127  - Buttons. Uggh!

And lets not even mention the state of the floor.

I do have one completed project to show but.... well... It's not awesome. Here's Burda Draped Shirt 02/2013 #113, which I unfortunately made up one size too small and I can feel it. *sigh*

For the most part this was enjoyable to make, but still a little disappointing as it's too tight. I just didn't check my size. I assumed I knew it! If you are planning on making this top I recommend checking out this blog. The instructions are quite 'Burda', so I did need a little help.

At least there was enough fabric left over to make a pair of slim pants for Adele.

After catching up with Rachel today, she left me inspired to come home and tackle a fast and   rewarding project - a simple black tee. All went well, aside from a rat bag girl bugging me, until I tried it on to find a fabric fault line crossing right across the front of the tee. *sob*

Do you have any suggestions for getting out of this funk?


Cost:
Pattern: Burda Draped Shirt 02/2013 #113 traced from Rachel's Mag = Free
Fabric: 1.5m poly knit from The Remnant Warehouse. Gift from Rachel = Free
Thread from stash
Total = Free

Winter wardrobe for Adele.

As with every change of season, I look through my children's clothing to find everything looks horrible, tatty and a tad too small. I've been slowly building a new wardrobe for Adele, some photos have been negotiated, but not all have been possible. Stubborn child!

A long sleeve Go To Signature dress using jersey remnants. She loves the pocket and the fabric hides most of the crap she constantly drops down her front.

Another Go To Dress using a lovely knit from The Remnant Warehouse purchased here. This time I included a hood, which she is quite in love with. The contrast fabric was also from The Remnant Warehouse in the $1 bins out the front - bargain!

Another toddler cowl neck dress - I've made this pattern a few times before and it's a definite winner. Adele chose the fabric herself, which is also from The Remnant Warehouse.

A maxi skirt. Yes this is very age appropriate! I think every 3 year old should own a maxi skirt... Well, maybe not, but the child has been begging for one since I made my own. I drafted this myself and used a remnant for the outer and fully lined it in pink jersey for a little more substance. Needless to say this is her favourite new item. And for the record - Yes, it drags on the ground when she rides her mini ride on bike thing...

Jarmies - This is just one of 4 pairs that I've made for the child. Two are like this and were made with a large piece of Holly Hobby cotton jersey that I scored from the Op Shop for $1. I made another jersey pair in stripes and another flannelette pair made with full collar and button down placket, but I can't get a photograph of them as they are on such high rotation and always creased from after the wash.

 

Other un photographed items include the 5 pairs of leggings made from remnants including some merino. They are incredibly boring really, but totally necessary.

 

Hopefully that will sort out Adele for a little while longer. While it is cost effective to make clothes for her using remnants, it can be a little boring :)

 

Happy Tuesday!

Shifty: New Look 6145

After making quite a number of v-neck knit dresses recently (yikes 5!), I knew it was time to find a different look. Enter: the simple shift.

There are a number of shifts floating around in blog land courtesy of the Colette Laurel pattern, but given I am not the model size for Colette patterns, I opted for New Look 6145. My experience with New Look patterns has generally been good and I like the price tag too!

The other reason for choosing the New Look pattern was that I was trying to copy an old ponte shift dress that I own from way back. The bust darts on it are angled, like on the New Look pattern, which I think helps with shaping under the bust too.

I really like this dress. It's simple and skims over the body without gripping. The fabric, purchased from the Remnant Warehouse recently, is a little mesh-like so I plan to wear it with a slip which will also prevent it gripping to my tights.

Can you believe that I love this fabric so much I even made a toile of the pattern? Technically this is wearable, but really not my style.

As the pattern is not drafted for stretch I made a few changes. I cut an 8, but took an extra 1-2 cms from the width of the dress to ensure it fitted a little more than it would with a woven. I also raised the armscye and reduced the width of the sleeve. To ensure a nicer fit across the back, I deepened the back darts and slightly tapered the pattern at the waist. I also cut the back on the fold as there is no need to use a zipper in this type of frock. Lastly, I bound the neck, rather than face it, as it makes for a neater finish with knits. I think this sounds like a lot of changes, but most were done prior to making the toile as you could see there needed to be some changes to accommodate the stretch of the fabric.

 

And in the interest of full disclosure my friends - in an effort to trial new stretch patterns, I may have experienced an epic fail!

New Look 6071 - Slightly too big around the bust...

and look at that mess at the back!!!!

While this isn't too hard to fix, at the moment I can't be bothered. I might try this again in a nicer fabric, but for now, this will head to the re-fashion pile.

Win some - lose some!

Cost:
Pattern: New Look 6145 download from Sewingpatterns.com = $4.70
Fabric: 1.5m mesh knit from The Remnant Warehouse = $14.95
Thread and interfacing from stash
Fabric for toile: 1.5m mesh knit from The Remnant Warehouse = $8.95
Total inc toile: $28.60

Cost:
Pattern: New Look 6071 from ??? $6 ???
Fabric: 1.5m cotton knit on sale from Lincraft = $7.50
Thread from stash
Total: $13.50