Monthly Archives: June 2021

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3 merino netties

30/06/2021 10:43 pm \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

To be perfectly honest I don’t know why I keep calling this a Nettie because I’ve rejigged it so much it literally has zero of the original seam lines left…

… anyway! above is my new sweater/ tee in the Fabric Store merino knit, colour Vanilla; I made it using (sort of) the Closet Core Nettie pattern and added a short wide turtle-neck collar… I love this tee so much! even though honestly I don’t really need to make another white or even white-is top as long as I live. I don’t care I still love it!

Worn with my Closet Core patterns Pietra shorts in BamBam cotton drill from Spotlight, and ye olde self-drafted tights

二 … another new sweater/tee; same pattern, same fabric in colour Marsala. Worn with my outback wife V 1247 skirt, self-drafted tights

三 … below; same pattern, this time with a bound neckline, and the same fabric in colour Forest. Worn with this little wool tartan skirt, fabric bought in Tokyo during a holiday there… boy that feels like decades ago now! I wish I could go back some day!

below, closer to actual colour

So; I had bought all of these beautiful thin merino stretch knits from the Fabric Store online during one of their sales… I had this idea once upon a time of making a tee in every colour in their range but just to do it bit by bit, buy maybe two new colours per year. I don’t know now if I’d still do a tee in every colour… since we moved and I had to finally own up to the fact that my stash is GINORMUOUSLY HUGE, so I’m kind of on a mission to use up my stash before buying anything else at all. And now with the completion of these three new tees, I’ve successfully used up nearly all the merino in my stash, which is kind of amazing! Yes, I said “nearly’ I still have about another sweater’s worth of the ivory leftover, and small leftover amounts of marsala and mustard left too, oh and also the forest, but the forest is thankfully already cut out and well on its way to be completely, and gainfully, used up which is totally awesome news.

oops, almost forgot! the last, forest, (sort of) nettie is the next in my use-12 fabrics challenge that I set up for myself at the beginning of the year… yes, I got a bit behind with this for a few months but I hadn’t forgotten it!

Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: Closet Case files, Closet Core patterns, daily outfit, Nettie, tee, use 12

Tali Tali Sandhills

22/06/2021 1:18 pm \ 17 Comments \ Carolyn

I thought about holding off on posting anything about this ensemble until later on, like after the exhibition and I had some pictures of it actually IN the exhibition but … well obviously decided no!

I was thrilled to be invited to participate in FrockOn this year, a collaborative exhibition between Flying Fox fabrics and Ikuntji artists group; an event that aims to highlight and celebrate the work of indigenous artists in Australia … Essentially indigenous designed and printed fabrics were supplied to sewing peeps like myself and we were expected to turn it into an ensemble for the exhibition.

I received 2m of this print; “Tali Tali- Sandhills” by Alice Nampitjinpa. The design depicts the artist’s Tjukurrpa the Tali Tali Dreaming in reference to her country in Western Australia… you can read more here, and even purchase some of the fabric if you so choose…

The print is in khaki and cream on black linen and I really threw my all into making something truly worthy of this really beautiful print! I just wish I got to keep it! a few peeps on instagram suggested I buy more of the same fabric and make another set for myself, but honestly, I don’t know if I have the creative stamina to do that. But anyway! Here it is, in the spirit of continuing to document everything I make, sewing wise on this ol’ bloggeroo … 🙂

I made the top using V1486, a Nicola Finetti for Vogue design … (this pattern previously made here) I love the boxiness of this design and thought it went so well with the clean, very straight and fitted lines of the skirt… the back closes with an open ended zip and I was pretty determined to use a gold zip, the nickel colour did not look good at all… however the gold one came only in a 75cm length so it had to be shortened. This is always a far fiddly-er process than you imagine and I’m always terrified the zip pull is going to be on the wrong side or fly off the top! A solid wedge of hand stitched upholstery thread at the top provides a good thick stop though.

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I cut all internal facings from plain black linen and made bias binding for edging throughout from khaki cotton batiste … I think this looks quite smart on the inside…

I made the skirt using V1693, an Issey Miyake for Vogue pattern that is sadly long out of print… (this pattern previously made here)

I really love how the asymmetric details of this design play up the jaggedly stripes against each other in such an interesting way, adding a bit of a visual twist to a print that is already quite dramatic!

I made bias binding of khaki batiste to bind inside edges and flat felled the side seams of the skirt inside… I found the perfect blotchy khaki buttons in my stash, and handstitched some “made by me” labels inside both pieces, these are cut from the same khaki cotton batiste and handwritten using a laundry marker…

I am SO EXCITED to see the exhibition virtually in July and to view all the art and textiles work by all the artists involved… it was an honour to be invited to contribute in just this small way … It was very scary to make that first cut but once I’d committed to my chosen designs it was a hugely enjoyable process to work with such special fabric. I posted it off back towards the beginning of the month and just hope it gets there ok! Still slightly terrified!

Details:

Top; Vogue 1486
Skirt: Vogue 1693
Sandals; my old faves from Zomp boutique

boy I really kinda wish I still had it looking at these pictures now. I actually REALLY love it!

Posted in: knitting, Uncategorized \ Tagged: skirt, top, vogue 1486, Vogue 1693

sewing tragedies

09/06/2021 11:45 am \ 8 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made this crazy new dress… isn’t this fabric hilarious?! The very second I clapped eyes on I simply could not resist… it’s like a comic book – first point in its favour – except all sewing stuff – second point in its favour. Almost an afterthought, but I was really drawn to its cool sharp black and white graphic artistry too- I don’t frequently gravitate to a lot of black-and-white prints but if it’s quirky I suddenly do – point three; and SOLD!

I think comic book art is a highly unappreciated art form and its taken way too long for the style to finally come out from the cold… I’ve always loved it but it’s always teetered on being Not Taken Seriously, which is such a shame.

I wanted a style of dress that kept the boxes fairly intact and not cut across like you would for a regular A-line skirt, so I drafted my own idea. It’s kinda wacky, but I actually love how comfy and nice it is to wear so I’m thinking of making this into our next pattern… I mean, it needs some work because this is a sort of prototype but I think it has promise!

Because the print tickled me pink I went with a pink linen for the bias bound neckline and armholes…! hmmm, a tenuous little link?! In reality it just happened to be sitting on the sidelines, so I grabbed it…. this was leftover bias binding from the Yallingup top I made for Cassie, in the previous post.

just because, cute pattern weight… #notstagedatall

I put on some patch pockets, and employed weapons-grade pattern matching skills here… hehe. Ok, definitely tongue in cheek there since only one pocket could be pattern matched! I only had enough fabric to do one… but you know. The other pocket is not even vaguely pattern matched sadly. I probably should have matched neither, to be consistent, but… I didn’t. Pattern-matching… missed chance for another sewing themed tragedy comic there, haha?