October 2022 - Handmade by Carolyn

green

27/10/2022 7:00 am \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

I made this little green sundress back in February, and have worn it quite a lot! It’s very comfortable and easy to wear…

the design is my very own. I’ve made this before in ochre linen, pictured and blogged here; and Cassie and I have been planning to make it into a pattern. This is the reason I haven’t blogged it yet, to be honest; as I was hoping to “unveil” it as a new pattern by now.

Believe it or not; I have already drawn up the pattern, AND graded it, and I’ve made a solid start on the instructions too… however Cassie as a part-time working Mum of a small toddler doesn’t have as much free time as she would like to work on the pdf side of things! Sadly! But it should get done, hopefully by early next year. Look out for it then!

The fabric is from Minerva; and is quilting cotton, of all things! but it is quite soft and even nicely drape-y too, and not too stiff. The green is kinda splotchy, in a good way! and has a subtle sparkle to it too. I’ve loved wearing it! and hope the pattern does well when it’s finally released. People seem interested in it, which is encouraging 🙂

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, dress, own design

the Maldives; a travel wardrobe

26/10/2022 11:18 am \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

phew! it’s been aaaaaages since I did one of these! or it feels like it anyway! We’d originally booked this holiday back in 2019, to be taken in 2020; and well, we all know what happened in 2020! Covid, in case future me has forgotten this world-altering event already… hehe. We’d decided we wanted to treat ourselves to a lovely relaxing break after catering to the respective two weddings of our two eldest; Tim to Kelly, and Cassie to Daniel. Of course these were both lovely and wonderful events in our lives, at the same time I’d made the wedding dresses plus all the bridesmaids’ dresses for both and was pretty much exhausted.

Anyway, we finally got to take this longed-for dream holiday! and return back to our dream holiday spot in the Maldives.

Time away: 7 days

Where to: Velassaru, of the Maldives

Season; tail end of the monsoon season, meaning possible rain. High tropical temperatures from 27C lows to 29C highs #heaven!!!

Expected activities: lots of nothing at all! no really, just swimming and lazing

Colour scheme: cheerful and colourful, as befits a blissfully beautiful oceanic isle

What I packed: We’ve been here previously, so I know that the ideal holiday wardrobe is basically a new little sundress every day. So this is what I took!

From left to right, top to bottom; all items are linked to their construction posts… (I will update this post with the links once the as yet unblogged ones are finally blogged)

pink checked sundress

rtw red thongs

rtw turquoise thongs

rtw ivory scarf

ivory, long sleeve tee

black tights

rtw black booties

not pictured; my oxen dress, a few books, small knitting bag, my nightie and a selection of underwear

I’ve been so slack with blogging this year! I’m sorry! I will make a big effort to blog everything as soon as possible 🙂 Also, there’s another sundress in my outfit shots that I wore but forgot to put into the lineup… also unblogged, whoops!

My daily outfits:

Thoughts:

I’d taken the long sleeve tee, cardigan, tights, scarf and booties to wear on the plane. It was bitterly cold in Perth as we were leaving, plus planes are cold, so I knew I’d need to be warmly dressed just for this short part of our trip. I wore these things over/under one of the sundresses on travelling days, to minimise packing space. Verdict: necessary!

The bathers got worn every day obviously, the bucket hat occasionally, and all of my colourful pretty sundresses got worn, each perfect for the climate and location. 🙂 it’s pretty hot and humid so you basically need a fresh one every day… verdict; all necessary!

I didn’t really need the raincoat; although we’d gone at the tail end of the monsoon season and it did rain several times, the resort provides big umbrellas for you. Plus, it was too humid and hot to wear the raincoat anyway… verdict; unnecessary!

I’d taken one pair of red thongs however I did not wear them even once! since the resort also provides a pair of thongs for you, the turquoise ones pictured above; and I wore these ones every day! Such a pretty, summery colour, and as a bonus they have “Velassaru” stamped into the bottom. There are Velassaru footprints all over the island, and I found this totally charming!

One thing which I did not take and which I wish I had? a pair of sand shoes, or sneakers. This trip we did a good solid hour on the treadmill in the resort gym everyday. This is actually so unlike us! a gym?! but for some reason we just got into it and enjoyed it. Possibly because the first day it rained quite heavily ALL DAY (thus the umbrella in my 1st daily outfit pic) and we still wanted to get some exercise after a day of travel. And after day 1 we decided to do it every day; just that one hour of solid exercise and then we could fully relax, swim, read, snorkel and just generally laid about for the rest of each day. And I had to wear either my thongs or a pair of Craig’s socks on the treadmill, because I had no choice! In future; I will take a pair of sneakers for both on the plane, and that I can wear for exercise if needed. because actually the booties were a kinda frivolous, plane-only thing… verdict; better footwear choice needed!

Some favourite holiday snaps: Craig took the 1st and 2nd distant shots of me, and the final one is our de facto pet from during the holiday; a rather large fruit bat hanging in the tree outside our cabin. I loved watching him swoop silently along the beach at night!

Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: travel wardrobe

22/10/2022 8:31 pm \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn \ Quote

I made a pretty new top… isn’t it gorgeous? It’s a slight different style that I might usually go for, and I absolutely love it! So elegantly feminine and floaty and chic.

This is the new Nicks pattern by Closet Core patterns; it comes as both a dress, a blouse, and a tunic top, which is the view I chose to make. It also comes with two different sleeve choices, a slightly puffy long sleeve, and the short sleeve. I really like the mix and matchability potential that this pattern has, I really reckon you could play about with the different bits and pieces and come with a whole tonne of different garments that could look quite distinct from each other. It’s not pictured on the pattern cover, but the blouse option does not have the buttons, nor any frill, so it stylistically looks quite different from the sweet V-neck buttoned front of the dress and tunic pictured there. I’m quite excited to try some of the different options out!

My fabric is actually the leftover ivory crepe from Kelly’s wedding dress! I had just enough to cut the tunic out, and not much more! And fortunately I still had buttons leftover from when I covered 100 for her dress too… phew boy was that a project and a half. I think I still have a little ptsd from all that. But excellent that I still have the buttons to use for other things like this!

I think I’ve pretty much decided to only make white or white-ish tops from now on actually. I’ve realised that during warm weather in particular, whenever I go to select a blouse or top from my wardrobe, I hone in on the white ones; they go so much better with all my more colourful or patterned skirts and other bottoms. Or maybe it’s just a mood I’m in at the moment. A sorta boring mood. Or maybe just in need of streamlined, uncomplicated comfort dressing, which to me means the visual peace and clarity of white tops.

This may very well be a mood that changes in the next instant, but for the time being; that’s the plan. Or maybe it’s just because the last time I sorted through my stash discovered I have a small mountain of white fabric that needs to be productively dealt with? To assuage the guilt? Either way!

I’m wearing my new top here with my Closet Core patterns Sasha trousers, still my favourite jeans. These are getting a touch sad nowadays, which in turn makes me sad. I think I should set aside a little time to make some more!

a suedette skirt

14/10/2022 6:00 pm \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

I made another Booragoon skirt for myself; partly so I could film it and make a kinda helpful – I hope! – youtube video to illustrate some of the more difficult parts of the construction process. I appreciate this is an advanced pattern with some tricky aspects to getting a nice sharp and clean edge to the front panel, and the way the zip is inserted is quite unique, in my experience. SO I hope this helps some! I will be linking to this video in the instructions too…

As the video contains quite a lot of detail shots already, this post is another short and sweet one… you’re welcome!

Please note that this skirt is a cut little longer than the pattern; and I love the more midi length of it! And it’s deliciously swirly!

I used a very deep chocolate brown suedette that is actually beautiful quality; Mum bought it for herself from the Fabric Store in Melbourne during one of our jaunts over there and upon cleaning out her stash has now passed it onto me.

I know, I’m so lucky, am I not? I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to work through my augmented stash now, but am excited to find out. Cassie, with a raised eyebrow opined that it’s (quote) extremely disciplined (unquote) of me to attempt to use up my entire stash before allowing myself to buy any more, but I’m determined to see it through. I may have to allow myself to buy something for Sam and Lainey’s wedding, but I’ll see how I go. I do have some nice fabric already … but mother-of-the-groom worthy? Hmmm.

just saying… pocket

Well, that’s all for now! Until next time!

Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: Booragoon skirt, Booragoon top, Carolyn & Cassie Pattern Co, daily outfit, skirt

pink Yoga Girl

09/10/2022 2:50 pm \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

Hello!

So I don’t often wear hot pink but I am really feeling this one! I’ve been traditionally told I should NOT wear this colour, like EVER; and what’s more I’ve always agreed, and yet… somehow… here I am. I find myself just really enjoying everything about this dress. It just feels so fun and cheerful youthful and unashamedly kitsch; all awesome things that we could do with more of in our lives, in my opinion 🙂

I made this dress a few months ago, and while it’s been a very cold winter for us here in Perth this year I have actually managed to wear it a handful of times already!

It is a Nerida Hansen print; Yoga Girl, the lilac colour way, and the pattern I adapted is also a Nerida Hansen one, the Smock Dress pattern…

Yes, it doesn’t look much like the pattern, so please allow me to explain:

the bodice is actually the same, just cut longer…
the skirt is cut correspondingly shorter; ie voila, it’s now a drop-waisted dress … these both due to a paucity of fabric
I left off the sleeve cuffs and just hemmed the sleeves as is
I cut a V-neckline and finished it with a bias cut strip; I did start out with the higher, rounded neckline of the pattern but it didn’t look so nice; thus the re-shape…
I added slanted welt pockets into the front

Simples!!

So yes, this is a very short and sweet blog post, but sometimes that is all that is necessary. If you’re reading this then I hope you’re having a great weekend!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, dress, nerida hansen, NH smock dress

pink trousers

05/10/2022 12:09 pm \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made some new trousers…

this is the new Mitchell trousers pattern by Closet Core patterns. It has two views, view A is a pegged, cropped version and view B is an ankle length, more swishy wide-leg version. Obviously I was always going to make the wide leg swishy leg version! I love that 40s Hollywood, menswear inspired vibe… although this design was actually inspired by Joni Mitchell from the 70’s, and yes while the menswear look was definitely a thing in the 70s I think it definitely had its actual roots from trend setters like Katharine Hepburn in the 40s.

I unearthed from Le Stash a long length of beige linen with blue pin stripes; originally bought from the Fabric store during one of our very earliest trips to Melbourne! I’m pretty sure I’ve had this for approximately ten years! SOOOOO happy to have this finally gainfully employed into a (I think) rather gorgeous new addition to my wardrobe!

Soon after buying it I suddenly felt the tastefully bland colour totally uninspiring, and just could not for the life of me work out why I’d bought it in the first place. But of course, an unexciting colour is never a problem when you can dye it… and it’s quite a thick, substantial kind of linen, really beautiful quality; so I hung onto it, confident it would find its purpose one day. And it finally has!

I washed the beige fabric with a length of very very intensely red cotton corduroy. This worked a charm straight off the bat and I got a length of beautiful blush pink linen which I absolutely love… hurrah! I’m aware this colour could fade over time, but fortunately it’ll be easy to keep it up with a light wash of pink dye every now and then 🙂 The buttons were from Spotlight, once upon a time… and the zip I used is a bit bright but it’s not like you can really see it. Both from stash.

The Mitchell design has two buttoned welt pockets at the back and deep, slanted front hip pockets peeping out from under deep front pleats, side ties to nip in the waist, and a waist facing as opposed to a waistband. This does give a lovely sleek and smooth silhouette at the back of the waist, which is very nice, I think! I couldn’t find the correct size of D-rings at Spotlight, so had to settle for a smaller set. I folded in the ties to fit as neatly as I could and I don’t mind the slightly squeezed in resulting look here, but am thinking if I ever do spot the right size I’ll probably by them and switch these out. Or not. As I said, I do kinda like this look!

Very happy with my back welt pockets! My stripes even match up perfectly, which is a pretty happy thing! And yes, I admit I pinned each and every stripe to get that perfect match 😉

this colour closest to the true colour…

The Mitchell design has you cutting the pockets from lining fabric, and you add facings and patches so that you can only see self-fabric peeping out from when the pockets open up; but I opted instead to cut all pocket pieces from the self fabric in the first place. It might make things a little bulkier but it’s a lot simpler and I don’t mind having the small amount of extra thickness; though this does depend a lot on the kind of fabric you’ve chosen… I guess if you have chosen a wool crepe of something then you’d definitely want to go the extra effort of doing the pockets as outlined in the instructions.

Of course they are exceptionally comfortable to wear. In fact I really enjoyed wearing them all day; and the fact is that I’m not usually very comfortable in trousers or jeans. I mean, I wear them, but mostly think I look terrible in them so tend to go for a skirt or dress by default. At this time of year though, I’m heartily sick of all my winter skirts, and yet it’s too cold for summer dresses yet, and so I find myself reaching for trousers/jeans instead. You know, just for a bit of variety. I’m a person who craves variety, particularly in my wardrobe.. oh really Carolyn? whatever gives you that idea?! *laughing at myself*…

Anyway, love of trousers amounts to a seasonal thing, for me. The exceptional quality of this beautiful linen, combined with a truly chic design means I’m sure I’m going to enjoy wearing this a lot over this season, as well as well into summer!

In all my pictures, I’m wearing them with my white Booragoon top, available as a pattern here, and first blogged here… I am wearing this all the time at the moment. It’s the perfect basic!