Jim jams

26/06/2014 7:21 am \ 32 Comments \ Carolyn

Mundane, but oh so welcome and necessary. I’ve been absolutely freezing!!! at night lately and my old winter jammies were as thin as! so this was highest of high on my list of priorities. But it had to still sit waiting patiently in the wings for the all important Magicka robe to get made first, ahem.
Both top and bottom are made from nice and warm fluffy cotton flannel from Spotlight; the top is a modified version of pattern 121/122 from Burdastyle magazine 10/2009 and the bottoms are kinda self-drafted.

The top: actually I’ve been eyeing off this Burda magazine pattern for yonks and dreaming of making it up in a suedette and this new jammie top is sort of my “muslin”, if you like. I loathe wasting fabric on muslins and nearly always prefer to make something hopefully wearable, even when testing out a new pattern for the first time. So; this PJ top. It was a little bit hideous in its first, unmodified state; I ended up shortening it by about 12cm; slanted off the front neckline to be a V-neck and sewed the slit together at three spots which were covered up with three little buttons.
All the seams are sort of a faux version of flat felled seams. By this I mean I sewed all the seams normally, overlocked the raw edges cutting close to the seam stitching and then laid the seam allowances to one side and top-stitched them down 5mm (1/4″) away from the seam stitching.

at left, “looks” like a properly flat felled seam, but on the inside, o noes! it’s plain to see now that this is the cheat’s version…

I also added an interesting breast pocket; this was also a rough try-out for this pocket that I pinned a while ago.

The bottoms; standard regular baggy trouser bottoms with an elasticated waist. I made them the same way I’ve been making my PJ bottoms for yonks now: namely years ago I saved an OK-fitting RTW pair that had had it, and cut it up for a pattern. I’m saying “self-drafted” because I’ve made multiple minor modifications, in this case an added a faux fly front, narrowed the waist and raised the waist rise, made them wider in the leg and longer in the leg and added in-seam side pockets. My advice, PJ bottoms are like the easiest thing in the entire world, so when you are looking for a good pattern, just cut up an old pair for a pattern and make your own little modifications, do whatever you like, it’s almost impossible to stuff up PJ bottoms. Easy peasy, and you can spend that money saved on the fabric for your new pair instead!

Details:
Top, modified version of Burdastyle magazine 10/2009, 121-122, cotton flannelette,
Bottoms; self cobbled together, cotton flannelette
Socks; hand-knitted by me to a 60’s pattern, details here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burdastyle 10/2009-121, own design, pocket, pyjamas, seams

the spoils from Scandinavia…

26/06/2014 5:47 am \ 26 Comments \ Carolyn

I totally should have posted this before, sorry!… some fellow fabric enthusiasts expressed interest in seeing my Scandinavian purchases; the spoils sought and acquired, packed and repacked, schlepped through cities, one cobble-stoned street after another; and once safely home to be borne triumphantly aloft with pomp and circumstance and deposited with due ceremony unto the bottomless black pit that is The Fabric Stash. Haha, only joking, hopefully I will get around to making some things up without too much delay! I have already muslined up a highly possible “maybe” for the caramel leather.
Anyhoo, without further ado here are the goods:
leather from Copenhagen…
two pieces of the caramel and one small piece of the yellow

from Stockholm;
an enormously expensive upholstery fabric which may prove too scary to actually cut into… eeeek! and below; a linen mix that is a modern Swedish design. I fell in love with this straight away and bought the rest of the roll, which wasn’t very much! I’m really hoping I can get out of it the summer frock that I have firmly in mind.

from Norway;
it might not look traditionally Norwegian but somehow this fresh navy and white gingham print does seem both nautical and Norwegian to me. I’m thinking of a little summer-weight, boxy, zip-up hoodie of some kind.

from Iceland:
fish leather, from left green wolffish (catfish), black cod, salmon.. well, salmon! and aqua blue perch leather.

and a knitting book;

Also in Iceland; on our last day I just couldn’t resist a visit to the brick and mortar store whose online site is one of my favourite to visit and merely drool over the eye candy within, KronKron. Long ago I succumbed to an online purchase from these cooler than cool Icelandic shoe designers. Well, I would have hated myself forever if I had left Iceland without popping into the real deal.

Take a look at these details. Obviously I was helpless to resist, of course.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: fabric shopping, shoes

Fashionary tape; and a giveaway

23/06/2014 6:29 am \ 77 Comments \ Carolyn

I was thrilled to receive recently Fashionary’s newest and latest invention; the Fashionary tape. This is a dressmakers’ tape measure, but it’s not not just any old ordinary tape measure. The measuring tape has all the body measurements a person could possibly need, and more; already thoughtfully marked on the tape and ready for you to go.
Pretty useful, huh?!
The tape measure has both metric and imperial measurements on it, which is terrific if, like me, you have trouble mentally and accurately converting one to the other sometimes. Womens’ measurements are on the white, or metric side; and mens’ measurements are on the black, or imperial side; but obviously it is pretty easy to see the measurement in either side since you can just flip the tape over if your preference is for the other.
The tape measure has all the regular body measurements we use all the time, like bust, waist and hip, and then some other useful ones like bust-to-bust point, shoulder, neck, bicep, wrist and crotch height, and then even more that you might not have even thought of ! In all there are thirty measurements for women and twenty-seven for men.

And even if you don’t think you’ll need all those extra measurements, the tape measure is of superb quality, made of that really nice and thick, solid and sturdy, indestructible but still pliable, fibreglass fabric that’s going to last forever and a day. Just with that nice heavy old-fashioned feel to it, y’know, like your grandmother’s tape measure.
The Fashionary tape can be seen in action, along with bonus close-ups of a rather divine manicure that is just perfect for summer! on the Fashionary site here.

Also, Fashionary were generous and thoughtful enough to send me two tapes and so I thought I would offer the second one up in a giveaway! If you would like to own one of these beautifully sturdy tools of the dressmaker’s trade then please leave a comment on this post saying so by next Thursday 26th June. On this date I will randomly choose a winner.

Thank you so much to Fashionary for your generosity 🙂

Later edit: Thanks everyone for joining in! The winner has been notified 🙂

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fashionary, giveaway

Magicka robe

22/06/2014 4:36 am \ 21 Comments \ Carolyn

Have you heard of Magicka?
That’s OK, I hadn’t either until less than a week ago. Now I consider myself an expert, at least on the attire.
This weekend is Supanova weekend in Perth and Sam wanted a Magicka robe. Fortunately he had done some research and found a very helpful little pattern so you can make one for yourself. And it’s free! available here.

You might be wondering about the sausage on a stick. Please know this is an integral motif in the game, and everyone knows about that bit. Jeez.

I enjoyed making this! It is actually a pretty good pattern and you end up with a rather excellent wizard’s robe I reckon. The robe is a complete garment in itself under that hood, with an integrated chest plate piece that is joined inside the right front and snaps closed at the left shoulder seam: the hood does cover up the chest but the chest plate piece is a nice detail in that it does completely remove any slight risk that your undershirt might show.

The hood is separate, and rather mega-bucks cool, non?! I actually kinda love it. When I saw the pattern piece I was like no way, but it sewed up to be perfectly draped and mysterious and magic-y looking.
It was designed and the instructions written by someone who does know what they are talking about, like the hood and sleeves are fully lined. For some reason the sleeves are called “arms” in this pattern. The instructions are aimed at the beginner. I’m basing that assumption on directions like “Hint! Fold the fabric in two, so you can cut two of each piece in one go!”
At the same time, my view is that some of the steps are not explained in full enough detail for a complete beginner, for example the instructions for inserting the contrasting edging strip in the hood opening would be a little confusing for a beginner, and some of the illustrations are in the wrong spot to go with the accompanying sewing directions. Also, when drawing up your pattern pieces a few measurements are missing. No biggie, you can still work it out, it’s not rocket science. But just saying.
At first I thought it might be designed for a small person, like a kid, as a Halloween costume or something; and it might not fit my six foot two son. So did a few quick measurements, and yes indeedy this is a wizarding robe designed to fit a full sized, and tall, adult man. O-kaayy!
I used panne velvet, navy blue polyacetate for the hood and sleeve lining and gold satin for the edging, all fabrics from Spotlight.

Actually, the panne velvet was in absolutely shocking condition, the absolute worst I have ever seen for a brand new fabric.
After rolling out the first 2.5m we saw the fabric was sliced completely off from selvedge to selvedge, and had been joined together again with multiple little plastic joiner ties. Yep I’m talking full price, untouched on the roll, straight from the factory, fabric here. We’re not talking about a remnant. I knew I could easily cut the big skirt pieces from that first bit so I told the girl I would still take that as part of my whole …. “are you sure?” she asked, clearly horrified, but I assured her it would be ok. She continued rolling out and next thing we came across huge holes in the fabric. Holes. Like big holes, easily 2 inches across and boom! right in the middle. The first one she said, oh, I’ll just give you that bit, but by the next one, she was looking doubtful again, and I was starting to think twice too. After the third hole popped up she just offered to give me the entire roll, for the price of 6m; the quantity I had asked for. So far I’ve only just seen those three holes, spaced about a metre apart from each other.
I’m not dissing Spotlight here, after all they can’t check all their rolls of fabric and the staff at Spotlight are always very good about giving you extra and/or discounts when there are imperfections in the fabrics. But damn! that fabric was in a bad way!
And I now have masses of ultramarine blue panne velvet. Yay. I have zero idea what I’m going to do with it. Sheets? haha.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: costumes, fancy dress, pattern review, Sam

Fabric shopping in Scandinavia

19/06/2014 3:09 pm \ 35 Comments \ Carolyn

When going away I like to buy at least one piece of fabric or some yarn from a place, so I can make for myself a wearable souvenir. So how fortunate that fabric shopping in Scandinavia is fantastic!!

Our first stop; Copenhagen. I didn’t find much by way fabric stores online, but I had read about a leather shop and paid it a visit.
Well.
It. Was. AWESOME.

Skindhuset

Skindergade 6

1159 København K

map

Here can be found a lot of leathers and suedes in a variety of colours, leather needles and other working tools, and a good range of metal bits and bobs such as purse frames and handles; and buckles, snap latches and hooks used for finishing handbags and luggage. Stunned by the fabulosity within I conservatively bought only three pieces of leather. Later on I realised I had been way toooooo conservative and planned a return visit on our last day. Biggest mistake ever. My advice: buy stuff when you’re there, on the spot. Because you may find, like I did, that your last shopping day in a place is unexpectedly a public holiday and the shop is shut. *silent scream* a la Edvard Munch
oh well.

Next stop; Stockholm…
and Craig’s reflection in the window, wearing a shirt that I made for him too, hehe…

Svenskt Tenn AB

Strandvägen 5

114 51 Stockholm

map

Stocks a very beautiful, albeit extraordinarily expensive range of Swedish designs and prints in the form of upholstery fabric, lots of curtains and cushions made up. I was prepared to buy curtains as a last resort but fortunately found that you could also buy some of the fabrics off the bolt… and I did buy a lovely bucolic print that is still deciding whether it wants to be an Elisalex or a spring coat. Ahhh, decisions decisions!

And now I am so very grateful to Liz, who emailed me to point me in the direction of some bonafide garment fabric stores too; thank you so much Liz! Enabling successfully achieved. 🙂

Tygverket – Tyger i Stockholm

Sankt Paulsgatan 19

118 46 Stockholm

map

As soon as I walked in this place I knew I had come to the place where Swedish ladies shop for their fabrics. A cheerful jumble of all sorts of fabrics of every description piled up all over the place, not unlike our Spotlight, but more intimate and classier. I found some very lovely designs, both cute kiddies’ and lovely adults’ prints from Swedish designers and also other European countries. The staff were super helpful and kindly took my name and email so as to keep me notified about a sold-out button.

er, I promise that is not as lame as it sounds! They have a dala horse button, and I HAVE TO HAVE SOME!! They would be perfection personified; per-button-ified? to finish the little white summer blouse I have planned, and for which I have the fabric already 🙂

Ohlssons Tyger & Stuvar AB

Sveavägen 34

111 34 Stockholm

map

Another regular fabric store, with some lovely reasonably priced Swedish designs on linen and linen blends. A smaller range than Tygverket but of a more select quality, so still worth a visit. I bought one piece.

Next stop… Oslo!

Thank you so much to S ø lvi for this recommendation 🙂

Rainbow Tekstil AS

Storgata 28

0184 Oslo

map

It doesn’t look like much on the outside but it’s an Aladdin’s cave of a shop; two stories with floor to ceiling shelves all stuffed to bursting point with fabrics. I didn’t find any traditional Norwegian designs here or anything, it’s more like a regular fabric store, but it does have a very large and a nicely diverse range. After much hemming and hawing I managed to choose one piece.

A word of advice to the fabric tourist; the address says Storgata 28, and the shop is in this building but the store entrance and the shop itself is situated quite a way away from Storgata, around the corner on Lybekkergata. I had come thisclose to giving upon my search, but Sølvi had confirmed the address and so I was sure that it must be there somewhere and so kept on looking. I was glad that I spotted it at last!

Next stop; Reykjavik!

I hadn’t found any fabric stores in my online searches, so had thought I would most likely be buying yarn here.

However!

First day we wandered in here…

Nordic Store ehf.

Lækjargata

101 Reykjavík

map

And sure enough, found some lovely yarns and knitting patterns immediately. Browsed these for a bit, but then my amazed eye was caught and held by something else, far far cooler and all thoughts of yarn were abandoned. Not that yarn is not cool, you understand. It is. Really, yarn-lover from way back, here, honest. But wait. This store also sold leather made from fish skins. Fish leather. I kid you not. Cooooool! Obviously I bought some. I bought cod, salmon, perch and catfish leather. What on earth am I going to do with that, you might ask. Ahh, we shall see, we shall see 😉 I have some ideas, but everything’s still bubbling and geminating. One thing’s for sure, it has to be something to do the materials justice so I’m not rushing in.

So I didn’t buy any yarns, but do have to say something about Icelandic yarns though. Knitted items are part and parcel of Iceland. Icelandics are serious about their wool, maybe even more so than Aussies. Once you get out of the city sheep are everywhere you look and traditional Icelandic knitted items are sold and worn everywhere. It seems like everyone has and wears an Icelandic jumper, and I can’t tell you how much I loved seeing this. Even regular guys pumping petrol into their monster trucks, kiddies riding their bikes, women shopping in the supermarket. Everyone rocking their Icelandic jumpers. I just loved the regional cohesiveness, and it seemed to me a really nice thing, and sorta quietly patriotic.

Speaking of supermarkets, even the supermarkets sell wool and knitting patterns. That’s pretty impressive. How much do I wish we still had that here in Australia?? so much! Browsing through a knitting pattern book in one little supermarket I even found patterns for knitted wedding dresses. Consider my jaw officially dropped. Seriously, how lovely! Seeing this just made me love Iceland even more 🙂

So no, I didn’t buy any yarn, sadly not enough space in the suitcase… but yes! I did buy an Icelandic knitting book! Expect some Icelandic-style cosiness to pop up here, at some stage 😉

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: fabric shopping, shopping guide

a travel wardrobe; Scandinavia

17/06/2014 9:15 am \ 35 Comments \ Carolyn

Travelling! We’re home from a perfectly delightful sojourn in Scandinavia, back to a house full of the noise and busy-ness of offspring and animals, of cooking and cleaning. Not to mention a mountain of washing. I’ve done 3-4 loads a day since we got home and it’s still like, full floor coverage in the laundry there. Joy!

We spent time in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland; unfortunately with limited time we could not fit in Finland, home of Marimekko. And the Moomins. I know, right? A little bit of sad face. But not too much since everywhere we went was pretty much ALL amazing. I’m in love with Scandinavia! I would seriously love to live on a fjord in Norway or anywhere in Iceland: except that I’m a wuss who just cannot cope with true cold.

Anyhoo, now to get into something I nerdily like to do; the retrospective travel wardrobe analysis, looking back the the success (or not) of the clothes I took, ponder on what I wish I’d taken, and generally how did it all go.

Time away:
21 days
Where to:
Copenhagen, Stockholm, Norway, Iceland
Season:
Early summer. However I was keeping a close eye on the weather over there and soon realised that an early summer in Scandinavia is like early winter in Western Australia. So I packed accordingly. The daily temperatures were from lows as low as 7C up to about highs of 19C, and one delightful afternoon in Oslo when I met with the lovely Sølvi was warm enough to leave off the tights!
Expected activities:
Lots of city as well as country walking, one formal dinner, one hot spring and plenty of cold weather outdoorsy stuff, including hiking, horseback riding and zooming about in an open dinghy on a wind-whipped, iceberg laden, glacial lake. Fortunately, for that last activity everyone was provided with an ultra-thickly padded flotation suit, Michelin man like. Without which we would have fair dinkum all been icicles. Incidentally; no picture, sadly, but I can assure you a dinghy load of tourists all dressed identically as huge, puffy, red marshmallow men is a pretty darn hilarious sight.
Colour scheme:
Mostly strong, bright colours, tempered with ivory and only a little black
What I packed:

(each garment is linked to its original construction post)

2 jackets: faux leather jacket (smart) and lightweight blue raincoat
2 jeans: black corduroy and ivory denim
2 scarves: ivory wool (smart) and raspberry jersey
6 tops: ivory Pattern Magic twist top (smart)
striped Tshirt, purple Tshirt
dark orange bodysuit, olive green bodysuit
royal blue short-sleeved hoodie
3 skirts: navy corduroy A-line, green corduroy, sludge-coloured denim
1 jumper: pink/green/ivory striped
1 dress; floral jersey, with beige satin petticoat to wear under
5 pairs tights/leggings: 2 prs black woollen, navy blue tights, paprika tights, olive cotton leggings,
neon green knitted hand-warmers
white bathers
6 pairs wool socks
3 shoes: black suede pumps, black leather booties, hiking shoes, plus red thongs,
chocolate leather handbag
not pictured; underwear, nightie, toiletries bag, umbrella
My daily outfits:

Apologies that some of these pictures have already appeared here as part of the me-made May collage. There was some overlap in time 🙂

Thoughts:
Well I was adequately warm and comfortable, and had suitable outfits always so in that respect it was a very successful little selection! I got pretty bored with everything I’d chosen by the end of the trip but that’s par for the course 🙂
I know it looks like rather a lot of clothes pictured up there but for three weeks it kinda wasn’t. The weather was cold so lots of items were worn layered together, frequently. The variety of tops: long-sleeved, short and elbow length; fitted and loose, worked out to be absolutely terrific for layering.
The surprise “fabulous” item was the royal blue Pattern Magic hoodie; which seemed like the perfect thing to go with almost everything else! I wanted to wear it twice as often and several times had to restrain myself from throwing it on over yet another day’s ensemble. No joke, I need to make myself another one of those things!
I also really LOVE my floral dress. It just makes me feel really good when it’s on, I think it’s instantly flattering, it’s smart enough to wear out to dinner as well as during the day and yet is still that traveller’s godsend, non-crushable.
I tried to mix and match things up every day, and aimed to wear everything at least three times each. Because of the timing of our itinerary there was scant opportunity for washing clothes apart from the obligatory undies-in-the-shower-every-morning that I stick to religiously while travelling, no matter what. It’s always best to keep on top of that at the very least, I reckon! Also I washed my ivory Pattern Magic twist top and “saved” my white denim jeans for the trip home. Might sound funny, but for us it’s always such a long long trip to come home, from everywhere! so I always aim to keep something nice and clean for the trip home.
Shoes. Hmmm. In my opinion the trickiest thing in packing. Aaaaargh! So hard to narrow it down and always the most annoying and bulkiest things to pack! I had forgotten about the cobble-stone situation that is endemic to Europe so I kicked myself a bit for not bringing my desert boots. In retrospect they would have been fantastic in the city streets. But since my suitcase was bulging with new purchases by the end of the trip perhaps it was a good thing to have restricted myself there, spacewise. I took my black suede pumps because they can be worn both with or without tights. The tights-less occasions numbered exactly two! I guess I was overly optimistic about the prospect of warm weather, there 🙂 My ankle boots were brilliant. Hiking shoes are just a given. I wore my thongs just once! but I never feel like they are a waste of space since they really don’t take up any room in the suitcase. And you just never know if they might come in handy. That could just be the Aussie in me talking though 🙂

And yes, I met Sølvi! or define elise as she is known in me-made May.
I enjoyed a totally delightful few hours chatting with Sølvi; sipping champagne in the sunshine sitting alongside Oslo’s beautiful new Operahuset (opera house) and discussing important world issues such as sewing, fabric shopping, blogging and me-made May-ing. Just a thoroughly gorgeous afternoon. And we were so caught up in happy sewing chatter that we forgot about the obligatory commemorative selfie!
Thank you so much for coming out to meet with me Sølvi! 🙂

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: travel wardrobe