Fabulous stuff made by Mum and Dad…

26/07/2011 3:22 pm \ 17 Comments \

My Mum and Dad are enormously creative and talented.  They have made heaps and heaps of beautiful things…a visit to their house reveals one lovely work after another.  I took some pictures of just a few during our last visit…
a sofa table made by Dad, using wood he milled himself from a fallen tree on their property

a pile of colourful socks, knitted by Mum

A banksia seed-pod vase, drilled by Dad

A pair of colourful “leftover” socks, knitted by Mum

Candlesticks, made by Dad from materials scavenged from the tip…

A pair of intricately patterned socks, knitted by Mum

I am so lucky to have such amazing parents.  Thank you Mum and Dad for your never-ending inspiration!

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Rusty red wool/silk skirt

25/07/2011 4:52 am \ 23 Comments \

I’ve made a new skirt…
I found this yummily coloured, beautifully textured wool/silk mix fabric in a remnant bin in Tokyo, the day of our shopping trip with Yoshimi and Novita.  At the time I just picked it up instinctively, with only a quick check to see it was enough for a little skirt.  When I got home and actually laid it out however I could see there was quite a lot of fabric, too much for just one little skirt.
Oh well, maybe I could make a longer, almost-ankle-length skirt…?
I had originally intended to go for my ol’ favourite Vogue 7303, but here’s the thing; two years ago I bought another plainish skirt pattern Vogue 8363, and have rudely ignored it because of my steadfast and loyal allegiance to Vogue 7303; the poor thing has languished uncut in its packet.  I decided it was high time to try out a different skirt pattern, gave myself a strict talking to and bravely took out the new pattern.  And set to making a three-quarter length skirt (actually view C, lengthened)…. but by the time I had reached the point of hemming I knew that a longer skirt was not the right choice for this fabric.  It is such a heavily textured fabric, and is so visually impactful that the big unbroken expanse of it in a longer skirt was just too overpowering… so I ended up cutting a big chunk off to finish up with the very same little skirt that was my original vision for this fabric.  Full circle!
Because this fabric is quite special to me, a memento of our Japanese trip, I went all out to fit and finish the skirt as well as I am capable.  The skirt is lined with raspberry acetate lining fabric, the inner raw edges are finished with HongKong seaming and the lower edge is hemmed with bias tape.  I searched and searched for a suitable button and failed dismally.  So I tried out something new to me; covering a button with my own fabric, using one of those kits you see in the haberdashery section.  Super easy, and the perfect finishing touch!  I don’t know why I’ve never even had a go at this before!
I do have one teeny tiny regret… I have read somewhere about how iron-on interfacing is never used in couture construction, so I decided to go for sew-in interfacing in the waistband.  This was basted in and the waistband was finished, but I could feel the interfacing was waffling loosely about on the inside of it, so I decided to topstitch the waistband to hold everything firmly in place.  That worked, but now I kinda regret doing this, I think this style of fabric and skirt together suits a much more clean finish without any topstitching, and the loosely woven fabric is not the sort to take kindly to unpicking… I’m more afraid of damaging the fabric in the unpicking stage than I am of the look of that topstitching, so it stays.  This does not diminish my love for the skirt; buuuut… should have stuck with the iron-on interfacing!
And no need to worry about that cut-off leftover fabric, it has been put to good use already too!  Results to appear here soon…

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 8363 with modifications, rusty-red wool/silk mix bought in Tokyo
Top (not seen); Metalicus
Cardigan; Alannah Hill (bought damaged, and repaired)
Tights; Kolotex
Boots; di Sempre, from Zomp shoes

My review of this pattern…
Pattern Description:
Skirts A, B, C, F have front and back darts and back zip.  A; ruffle.  B; lace overlay and back vent.  C; side buttonhole closure.  Skirts D, E have front pockets and front and back darts.  E; purchased trim and snap closure.  F; front stitched pleats and back vent.  Skirt length is 5cm below mid-knee.
Pattern Sizing:
6-20 overall, I bought the AA (6-12) and custom-fit to myself during construction, as usual
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished sewing it?
Essentially yes, except that my version is a simple short skirt incorporating none of the variations pictured…!
Were the instructions easy to follow?
very easy!
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I like everything about this pattern.  Super easy, stylish, a basic wardrobe builder.  It might even be my new favourite skirt pattern!  Without a doubt I will use it and use it over again.
Fabric Used:
Wool/silk tweed, polyacetate lining
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
This version pictured is a short version of view C, without the button/button band at the bottom, the only other adjustments were fitting alterations.  Also my skirt pictured is fully lined, provisions for which are not supplied in the pattern but is an easy alteration.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Definitely yes, to both!
Conclusion:
Very easy, very basic, therefore a very useful pattern.  It has no standout or trendy features, so it will never go out of style.  This pattern is a winner that I will hang on to forever…!
(below; going for a fashion magazine pose…)

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Featuring small versions of Tim and Cassie…

23/07/2011 4:40 am \ 10 Comments \

Whizzing back a few years now…
and here are some more of the little outfits I made for my children when they were small.  These were “good” outfits, but of course I used to dress my children in good outfits on a day-to-day basis anyway, reasoning that they wouldn’t fit into them for very long!  So these clothes were worn to parties, to playgroup, to picnics, as well as for playing in the sandpit at home and to the beach; anywhere.  We’re not the sort of family to ever be precious about our clothes.  Oh, OK then… with the exception of that Chanel style coat, I admit it.
These designs were all from TopKids magazines.  I still have all nine of the magazines I bought, although none of the patterns I traced out!  They were such wonderful magazines.. ooer, I’ve probably said that a few, or a dozen, times before, haven’t I?  I’ve got this tendency to rave about them, sorry.  Such a pity they were discontinued.  I’ve never seen such great, trendy, funky, interesting little children’s patterns anywhere else since.

The dress Cassie is wearing has a few rows of smocking on the bodice and a little white Peter Pan collar, on which I hand embroidered a few flowers, stems and leaves mimicking the design in the floral.  Another cute little dress that has gone, goodness knows where…
Tim’s outfit was a little short overall, of a light denim fabric and with patches of a thickish checked cotton.  I was pretty proud of this, and he wore it tonnes of times, until it got holes in the bottom…  That red button sewn on the front is an aeroplane.

The button-up boxy little jacket is of the same light denim fabric, and has contrasting fabric for the pocket flaps and the hoodie part of it.  The contrasting fabric is printed with cheerful hippos setting sail in sailing boats.

The pictures of Cassie alone and of the two of them, were taken on her first birthday.

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An ancient xanthorrhoea…

22/07/2011 11:05 am \ 14 Comments \

… and me.
We have been busy recently; school holidays and an overseas visitor staying so we have been going sight-seeing.  There is nothing like touring one’s own surroundings and talking about local features to make one truly appreciate all over again where you live.  We have been doing lots of Aussie stuff, including a visit to the Perth Mint where we learnt about the Gold Rush and how many of the world’s biggest nuggets have been discovered here (most of them); lifted a gold brick (far heavier than I imagined) and learnt about the minting process.  Can you guess the melting point of gold?  Go one, take a minute to guess….

We’ve visited Kings Park, the beach and gone paddling on the river.  The last few days we have been down visiting my parents in the country.  We cooked damper and billy tea over an open fire out in the middle of the bush, as well as took plenty of photos of kangaroos.  Each of these things we have done lots of times, but have been extra nice when viewed through the enthusiastic eyes of an overseas visitor.  And today we visited a little traditional sweetshop, then I intuitively headed next door to the junk shop to have a trawl through … I couldn’t resist.  I told our visitor she didn’t have to come with me but she wanted to!  She found a really old kangaroo print dish and a boomerang shaped leather covered shoe brush, also printed with kangaroos and xanthorrhoea (the plant in my picture above).  I found some more glassware and more old mismatched fine bone china to add to my collection, and a manual typewriter for Craig.  Sam found a double-headed adaptor… er, well, one person’s trash etc etc, right?
So everybody scored and everybody’s happy!
Finally; the melting point of gold; 1064C…  How close was your guess??

Details:
Top; Ezibuy (the indispensable one with holes in it, gulp!)
Cardigan; MNG Suit, found secondhand
Jeans; Burda 7863 with modifications, black corduroy, details here
Scarf; dark crimson jersey, details here
(old and cruddy) hiking boots; Scarpa

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Sam’s quilt

19/07/2011 4:15 am \ 18 Comments \

An ongoing part of this blog is the documentation of stuff I have handmade in the past, including the small collection of quilts I have made for my family.  I have shown here before Tim’s quilt and Cassie quilt, now here is Sam’s quilt.
Like the others his quilt still lives permanently on his bed, but unlike the others has never had to be repaired and, apart from some fading of the colours, is in very good nick.  This is probably due to three reasons; firstly probably because it is the newest of the three, but also possibly because Sam is not the sort of boy who played on his quilt like the other two did.  He liked to hang out with his older brother and sister so would go and play on their beds instead!  And lastly, because I had finally learned about finishing a quilt in the traditional way this one is actually finished off “properly”, if there is such a thing!
The design is a simple arrangement of squares of fabric that I chose because I liked them, and I thought the soft antique-y shades of yellow, red and blue suited Sam’s sunny but shy personality.  The squares are enclosed and showcased in a grid of pale yellow strips.  The quilt is bound in the traditional method with self-made bias binding.  Each of the squares is bordered by hand-quilting.  I embroidered my name in the bottom corner and the year in which I made it.
Every now and again I read on the internet about the “slow-sewing” movement; a trend that is about taking the time to appreciate the sewing process and work meticulously and carefully on getting a perfectly handcrafted result…  Of course, nearly always such references are about a garment of some sort; a project that would take a few months at the most, whereas to the quilting fraternity (sorority) that time-frame is hilarious!  
A handmade quilt is the very definition of slow sewing.  Making someone a quilt is a labour of love, not a project to be taken by someone after a quick-fix result.   Each of the quilts I have made has taken me a year to complete; no exaggeration.  I have usually machine pieced the top so this can be put together in a few days, but the hand-quilting process takes at least a year.  Anybody who has made a quilt will attest to this highly labour intensive hand-made craft, so I always have enormous respect for people who quilt.  I don’t think I personally have the patience for another quilt (although I have at least one more, I think, to show here.) so I am pretty proud of these that I have made!

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Horrible colour, begone

18/07/2011 7:30 am \ 22 Comments \

So, as I mentioned last post, colour…

Exhibit one; some grey synthetic knit stuff from the remnant bin.  Remnant bins are a terrible trap really, aren’t they?, the fabrics within can be so tempting pricewise, and the truth is they might not be very “you” at all.  So in a moment of madness I was swayed by this mottle-y grey fluffy stuff and brought it home, and eventually got around to making up a top and donned it, and it looked more than a bit awful.  No I wouldn’t even take a picture of myself to show here on the blog; I looked pale, and ill, and … awful.  The shape of the top was OK and I liked the monastic roughness of the fabric combined with the simplicity of the silhouette, it was just the colour that was the problem here…  So it was off to check out the dye section.  I was pretty sure the fibre composition here was mostly synthetic, so I bought iDye Poly for synthetics, in Yellow.

Et voila!

I was just hoping to just get a more yellow-y shade of grey out of this that would be more flattering to my complexion; but imagine my delight at this wonderful moss-y green that resulted!  Obviously the grey had far more blue in it than I realised, and I’m sure we all remember from our paint mixing days in art class at school that blue + yellow = green.  This is a prime (haha!) example right here…

Construction details; I drafted the top using one of my other Tshirts as a guide.  The fabric remnant I had was cut off at a funny angle, necessitating the curved lower front hem. I matched this curve on the other side of the front, but I left the back pieces straight for a contrasting hemline.  Initially I meant to curve the back hem too, but I think I like that contrast now.  Both lower hems are unfinished, and after more than a few washings that the garment received during the dyeing process, I can report the happily un-fray/ravel-abe nature of the raw edges of this knit.  However I did handstitch the sleeve hems in a rolled edge.  The neckline, well I tried to be sort of clever here, and apply a bias binding that would both enclose and stabilise the shoulder seams inside, and as well as finishing the back neckline.  This turned out to be a trickier exercise than I thought to achieve my desired effect, but I think I pulled it off.  The front neckline is rolled to the outside in a tight little roll, and hand-stitched down.  (these pictures taken before dyeing, obviously!)

Final summary; well to think I started out with fabric that was, let’s face it, a bad purchase since I wouldn’t have bought this fabric at full price off the roll, and then finally managed to get something that I am actually happy with; ultimately a successful project.  I’m still not in complete love with the fabric, it is a tad cheap and scratchy but the new colour is so wonderful, and was a far more perfect-for-me colour than I was hoping for.
On that note, does anybody know of a good source of pure wool knit fabrics…?

Details:
top; my own design, from (originally) grey synthetic knit stuff dyed using iDye Poly in Yellow
Jeans; Burda 7863 with some modifications, purple stretch denim, details here
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

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Blue and green, etc

16/07/2011 6:00 am \ 16 Comments \

We all remember that silly ol’ saying about blue and green never to be seen (together), but I love blue and green together.  Particularly because teal and turquoise, both quasi sort-of versions of both the blue and the green factions, are amongst my favourite colours.  I wore this outfit yesterday, on a very nice morning tea outing with my lovely sister-in-law A…
You know, when I first made this coat I was a little sad that I didn’t have enough fabric to make the full length sleeve, and these half sleeves were the only option.  If I had had enough fabric, the truth is that I would probably have gone for longer sleeves….  but now I have them I am actually very happy at the serendipitous misjudgement on the part of my former fabric-buying self!  The reason?  quite apart from that gloriously feminine and distinctive shape; grey is a fabulous colour for winter clothes; practical and “serious”, neutral enough so all other colours look good against it, and unobtrusive enough that one is not going to tire of it easily… but even in the dead of winter it is nice to have a little bit of colour somewhere in the ensemble to set the mood, and this coat with its half-sleeves has turned out perfect for wearing different layers of of whatever colour is currently taking one’s fancy on the arms, and ditto for my charcoal Pattern Magic gathered hole dress… that hole!  who would have thought it would be such a great idea introducing a great little splash of colour into the ensemble!  (should have taken a picture sans coat but didn’t, meh…)
Colour is starting to occupy my thoughts more and more, and particularly the fact that one is so restricted by what is available in the fabric store.  I am starting to entertain more fantasies about dyeing my own shades… and particularly in the wake of a recent success in the dyeing department, which right now as I type these very words! is drying on a clothes horse in our living room and which I am quite excited about showing here soon…!
So watch this space… and wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Details:
Coat; McCalls 5525 view B, charcoal wool, details and my review of this pattern here
Dress; gathered hole dress from Pattern Magic by Tomoko Nakamichi, charcoal wool mix, details here
Navy tights, teal top, and turquoise scarf cardi; Metalicus
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies in Dunsborough

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Mum’s dragonfly vest

15/07/2011 3:51 pm \ 20 Comments \

I hasten to point out, not my work at all but another clever example of Mum’s creativity…  A vest made of Japanese linen; resist dyed, with a lovely dragonfly motif in the natural linen, and the background in traditional indigo.  The vest is unstructured and quite loose-fitting; the interesting and creative part here is the unique collar and front band.  Instead of going the pedestrian option of cutting the band in a single length of cloth with no features and letting the dragonfly fabric of the vest do the talking alone, Mum has made the band a feature in itself by sewing together a random arrangement of patches and strips, including pintucks and exposed selvedge edges, a coupla patches of the dragonfly fabric, and sudden and unexpected crazy zig-zaggy machine-stitching (hard to see here, but they are there!)   The vest has a single HUGE coconut shell button…
Thank you Mum for letting me share this inspirational sewing moment!
(Later edit: the pattern Mum used is Vogue 8454)

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