Monthly Archives: March 2010

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Pattern Magic; toile 2, detsubori top

16/03/2010 8:35 am \ 5 Comments \

Actually that should read toile 2, and er, 3 as well, as I had a hiccup in the making of this one and had to start over.
Thanks to the wonderful and inspirational Karin of ancien-nouveau who was so incredibly helpful to me with Japanese terms  I managed to decipher that the name of this project is (I think) detsubori.  My (uneducated) guess is that this translates to perhaps “sail-collar” or some such, as that is how it looks.  I drew out the first version of the pattern and made up a toile out of some very cheap and nasty fabric bought for toile-making purposes.  In the making of this toile I initially sewed all  the back darts inside out, so they had to be unpicked and re-done; beginner’s mistake and I don’t think of myself as a beginner any more and was pretty cross with myself, grr….  Kept on with the toile and put it together properly this time…. For some reason known only to me-in-the-past, I finished this toile off with sew-on snap tape and finished the sleeve holes with bias binding, haven’t a clue why as the fabric didn’t suit the blouse and really is a bit nasty….  Sometimes when I get into sewing mode I’m like a robot and later on even I’m like “what was I thinking?…”and was pretty much finished…

It suddenly hit me like a thunderclap that this didn’t look much like the picture in the book.  Yeah, I’d made another boo-boo.  See the unpicker pointing to the bust dart in the photo?  Yeeeah..those bust darts aren’t supposed to be there.  At all.  The pattern is supposed to be drafted to eliminate this bust dart…  Oh…right, and this is not un-pickable…  (get out the paper and start drawing out the pattern again…)
Finished the second toile in like half the time of the first, so there had to be some advantages to all my blunders first time round.  Here is the second toile, note no bust darts… the sail is on the other side this time, well variety is the spice of life…

So I had some linen to make my husband another shirt and I managed to squeeze the pieces for the detsubori top out of the leftover fabric, except for the sleeves…  I made it into a little crossover top with a waist tie and a single button and little cap sleeves in a contrasting white, see the nautical colour scheme? that’s the influence of the “sail”.  I wonder if it translates to something completely different!!
In the front-view picture I’m holding up the sail as it has an annoying habit of going “flopsy” (that’s a highly technical sewing term, I’m sure advanced seamstresses would recognise).  It has been interfaced with quite stiff interfacing, but it still doesn’t stay up as smartly as the toile version.  Probably this is because linen is a much heavier and denser fabric that the light polycotton I used for the toile.  When I launder it I’m planning to give it a hefty spray of starch to keep it standing to attention.

 

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Borrowing from husband’s wardrobe, again…

15/03/2010 7:01 am \ 5 Comments \

Woot, for autumn!  I think the hot weather has finally settled down after a last scorcher on Friday and I’m in the mood for some of my cooler weather gear and some cooler weather colouring….
This skirt has been a winner; it was wonderful to reach for during the hottest days of summer as its so light and airy, and I’m thinking its cheerful hues will carry me through the cooler months too.  When I first bought this floral fabric I was a little afraid it wouldn’t be particularly versatile as it’s such an eye-catching print, but I’ve been proven wrong as I’ve worn it in so many ways; for today I decided to put it with the linen shirt I made recently for my husband (he’s going to get a surprise when he sees it here today!), worn as a kind of light coat unbuttoned and belted at the waist.  I love the colour combination of the deep port-wine shirt/coat with the bright reds/pinks of the skirt; feels so autumn-y, vibrant and rich, a fortuitous marriage for sure!
I’ve often expressed how much I love menswear to be worn by women; I think it can be a very sexy and feminine look, especially when paired with overly feminine garments like this blowsy floral skirt….

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 2894, floral cotton
Camisole; Country Road
Shirt/coat; Burda 7767, port wine linen
Belt; had since teenage years
Sandals; Micam by Joanne Mercer, from Hobbs
Nail varnish; Crimson Sparkle, Revlon

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Evening bag, specimen 1

14/03/2010 2:19 am \ 6 Comments \

So a new year brings with it a new round of birthday prezzies to be conceived.
For M’s birthday I made her this little evening bag.  It is made out of some leftover silk hessian (remember the heather purple dress?), with sparkly net overlay (remember the light summer cardigan?), velvet ribbon trimming and with pale pistachio green satin piping and lining.  I used a couple of large silver rings for handle loops and I sewed in one of my own labels, for fun.
I enjoyed making this bag, I think it’s cute and it was a lot less time consuming than the tea cosies of last year….

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Candy floss colours

13/03/2010 8:42 am \ 1 Comment \

The colours in my photos have disappointed me a little as my camisole is really pinker than it appears here.  Today I felt in the mood for an artificial and unnatural candy-floss pop of colour, a peek into the Hello Kitty world with its both hard and soft clashing colours.  Thus my atypical backdrop, a grey and black concrete and glass monolith all hard edges and manmade lines with not a speck of nature to be seen.  (And how fortuitous that the building should have my initial inset in marble and brass in it’s doorstep?!)
I’m also inspired by this Josh Goot dress I spied in the latest Vogue magazine; the colours so sharp, impossibly lolly-pink and  blue with the touches of stark black and white; stepping just out of a sci-fi cartoon world.  Nothing natural here.  Bring on the digital age, yeah.  I would love to have this dress in my wardrobe, but for now I’ll just have to settle for reproducing its colour scheme as best I can with what I’ve already got, but isn’t this fabric out of this world?
Though if I really look at these hues again wouldn’t they be just right for a sunrise peeping over ocean waters lapping onto pristine beach sands, the charred remains of a midnight driftwood campfire scattered about…. the epitome of a natural environs…. ah nature always has one tucked up the sleeve, does it not?  Just when fashion has contrived a seemingly artificial colour scheme mother nature slips in the reminder of a colourama of her own…

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 1023 view C, turquoise polycotton
Camisole; Country Road
Cardigan; Metalicus
Scarf; made by me
Bag; pink satin Olga Berg, birthday gift from a friend
Shoes; Perrini, had these for so many years I’ve forgotten where they came from
Nail varnish; Fools Paradise, BYS

Photo below from Josh Goot, Spring/Summer 10

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Wardrobe Refashion, project 6

12/03/2010 4:57 am \ 23 Comments \

This refashion was actually excessively easy and barely worth a tutorial of “during” pictures, but here it is…
I started out with these drawstring waist, three quarter pants.  They are shapeless and unattractive and only suitable for pyjamas… but the fabric is lovely fine linen in a gorgeous shade of pistachio that I fall in love with straight away… but am I ever going to wear these pants as is?  No way.  Drawstring and elasticised waists are just a no-go in my wardrobe.  I feel they bunch unattractively around my waist/hips, adding bulk to a problem area, and as a recent commenter kindly reminded me, I am not model thin.  Yeeeah…..  If I will take the risk of putting myself out there then people will feel free to inform me of my figure flaws, but hey I can take it.
So here are the before pants:
No way am I modelling these for the blog, they do look ridiculous and I have some pride.

I removed the drawstring and the elastic from the waist casing and cut the leg pieces off just below crotch level:

Now I took each of the legs; in these pants the back leg pieces are wider than the front pieces, so when ironed flat you get a pressing line with the leg seamline just inside of this running down the length of the legs … I marked with pins on the leg backs the line of this seamline that is on the leg fronts, and cut the fabric of the leg backs approximately 1cm in from this pinned line and overlocked the raw edges… Then on the leg fronts (which looks superficially the same as it did before) I stitch in the ditch down the original seamline… this is being pointed to by my unpicker in this photo… and thus a hem is created on each side of the two long leg pieces utilising the original pressing line.  (phew! that probably made no sense whatsoever! the picture can do the talking…)

I fitted these two pieces over my shoulders and pinned them inside the original waistband and stitched them on the top stitching line as well as the bottom stitching line of the waistband casing.  The short crotch seams front and back are re-sewn to be straight seams.  The original back of the pants with its pockets still intact I placed at the front.. and cut new holes for the drawstring at the new front…

There was a little slit at the bottom of the legs (now the bodice), I kept this and sewed it down with a button for an extra detail and to bring it in under the arm and help avoid bra flashing…

Hemmed the bottom, et voila….

I think it looks a little like a scrubs top, but then I do like this look.  The team that brought us Scrubs the TV show introduced to non-hospital workers a whole new wardrobe concept in the sexy loose-fitting comfort of scrubs, (and who didn’t just love “Scrubs”?)  This will be a good light floaty top which will be lovely and cool for hot days.  And comfortable!  Man, I might just still use it for pyjamas as well as day-wear…

Details:
Top; pistachio linen, refashioned from old pants
Skirt; Diesel
Shoes; Timberland

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Carrying off your muslin

11/03/2010 3:40 am \ 3 Comments \

I posted recently about a calico trial of a jacket that my daughter has appropriated and spirited off to her wardrobe; well I thought I’d show you her style of wearing it.  I think she looks very artistic.  She made her own skirt; she’s quite the accomplished seamstress herself, and although I promised myself I wouldn’t blog about her achievements and let her do that herself in her own blog one day, but since she’s wearing it in this picture I’ve included the pattern number for reference.  It’s Butterick 5488, a pattern I’ve had for years.  Just the picture of the models on the front looks kinda 80’s.  She made it using fabric I bought in the US to use as a tablecloth, from memory.
The “jacket” of course is calico, sewn up, then washed, with unfinished edges.  I used McCalls 5276 view B, but with no collar or facings.  Btw for anyone wishing to use this pattern, the sizing is HUGE.  I recommend if you pick up this pattern, go down a size.

Oh, and remember this?

I’ve been feeling guilty about this bag of old clothes, and decided I’d better get back to refashioning.  My last few posts on Wardrobe Refashion have been on my garments I’ve made from scratch so I’m feeling like I should do a refashion, if only to make some sort of dent in this monstrosity.  I keep telling myself I shouldn’t feel guilty about sewing from new fabric, after all I’m not buying new clothes and that still counts, right?  So many of the posts I’ve read on that site talk about using thrifted fabric, (and yay to everyone for using old! thumbs up for saving the planet!) but my understanding of the rules says it OK to use new too, yes?  And I don’t want to feel guilty about using new fabric once in a while…  I LOVE new fabric.  It’s one of my biggest passions.
Anyhow I have done another refashion and it is the easiest one I’ve done so far.  I remembered to take pictures and I’ll post more details tomorrow….

Details:
Jacket; McCalls 5276, unfinished calico, no facings or collar
Skirt; Butterick 5488, cotton print
Camisole; Country Road

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Carpet of leaves

10/03/2010 3:59 am \ 7 Comments \

Autumn is my favourite season.  The extreme of heat has passed so the mornings are pleasant and cool, and yet the days are still warm enough for swimming, walking, picnics and enjoyable sociable activities.  And who says Australia doesn’t get autumn colours?  I found this divinely pretty little spot under the trees carpeted all in soft greens, golds and browns… all I needed was some morning tea in my backpack and a friend to share these beautiful surroundings with.  A friend apart from Sienna, that is.  She would be more than happy to wolf down a few snacks with me but the vet told me this morning she is a tad overweight and needs to go on a diet.  Oh, and since we had to squeeze this visit to the vet into the morning schedule I’m also lacking the all-important time to have this hypothetical morning tea anyway….
I wore this skirt a lot last year but it’s only had a few airings this season as it’s just been too hot to wear it.  Now I’m feeling its warm bright hues are just right for the colourful mood I’m turning to in my autumn wardrobe lately…

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 7880 view C, cotton print
Camisole; Country Road
Cardigan; Metalicus
Necklace; souvenir from Santorini
Sandals; Neo, from Nine West (I think?)
Nail varnish; Fools Paradise, BYS

 

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Making boring black satin “snake-worthy”

09/03/2010 5:24 am \ 5 Comments \

So I’m working on this python print satin outfit, inspired by this gorgeousness of Prada.  (At right, Prada, Spring/Summer 09)  I’ve finished the top.  And I really want some kind of black detailing on the skirt to offset the python print.  I had a small amount of black satin, leftover scraps.  But plain black satin looks so boring; flat, shiny and plain.  I wanted some pizzazz, here.  What to do?
I spent a lot of time contemplating this and trying different things.  I even drove up to Fabulous fabrics and found some really gorgeous black snakeskin-detailed rubber coated jersey that I thought might be fabulous.  Bought 70cm.  It is fabulous.  Love it.  But against the python print skirt, it … just wasn’t working its magic.  It subtle little scales were lost against the python print, which is a pretty bold and striking print.  So I turned back to the black satin and tried to dream up some way of making it more exciting.  I know crushing satin permanently is a chemical process beyond the scope of my amateur skills; it had to be a sewing thing.  So I tried this:
Here’s a bit of black satin.  Not very “snake-y”, now, is it?

Folding the fabric with right sides together, I sewed 3cm-4cm lengths of pintucking, randomly placed to form rough asymmetric triangles and quadrangles.  This part is very random and “artistic”.  I’m aiming for a sort of fluid, languid flow of chaotic lines.

This is what it looks like from the wrong side.

And this is the right side, before ironing.  (Sorry, flash went off and I didn’t realise)  Looks kind of like a quilted eiderdown sewn by five year olds.  Fabulous.

Then I ironed on the right side, being careful not to pull the fabric out too much.  I kind of “placed” the iron onto the wrinkles to set them down as naturally and as scrunchy as possible.
Ironed, right side up.

And here I’ve pressed down the edges in a random wavy line (this is easy with satin) and sewn the finished satin strip along the side of my skirt.

Snaky enough?
I think so!
Stay tuned for the final outfit, shouldn’t be too far off now.
(And I still have that fantastic bit of black snakeskin jersey to make a matching cardigan, woot!)

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