Handmade by Carolyn

A glitzy lunch-date

10/09/2010 8:17 am \ 7 Comments \ Carolyn

Ahhh, another day, another fashion parade and champagne lunch…. and no, I’m actually not joking. Just quietly I’m getting a little fashion-paraded out, and I never thought those words would ever come from me! ….hehe. No, really, I have seen some truly lovely and inspiring clothes over the past couple of days, and today I was lunching together with my husband, so an extra specially nice treat for both of us.
I knew the venue for today was going to be more glitzy and glamourous than yesterday (yesterday’s was more of a quietly dressy affair) so luckily I had all ready my glam, edgy cocktail dress that I finished recently … I’m so glad I have this dress now, I’m so happy with how it turned out and there’s nothing like being completely prepared for the social whirl of spring that can descend upon you with the suddenness of a tidal wave, causing unwary social butterflies who’ve failed to plan ahead to race out desperately shopping for a springtime dress, any dress, because they’ve suddenly realised they have absolutely nothing to wear and the events are starting to happen now now now.

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1155, bronze silk taffeta, see more details and my review of this pattern here
Bag and necklace; gifts from my husband
Shoes; Misano, from Labels
Sunnies; RayBan

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: dress, SSS10, Vogue 1155

The colours of Spring

09/09/2010 9:23 am \ 19 Comments \ Carolyn

Today I attended a very glamourous luncheon and fashion parade with friends, and am now exhausted… so please excuse any crazy bad spelling or random ungrammatical remarks in this post…
For this occasion I wore my new pink lace dress, and because it is still just barely into spring I took along my trench coat for the anticipated chill factor. And ended up not wearing it… but here it is draped over my arm just in case (how many times do you take a coat “just in case” and it spends the entire function draped over the back of your chair?!)…
Also for this special occasion gave myself the first pedicure of the season, released my poor neglected feet from the comfort of their winter wooly socks and given them the once over, including a coat of varnish in a gorgeous golden springtime glow.
He he, this morning I walked the dog in this dress and with thongs (flipflops) on my feet and got a few sideways glances; when I mentioned it to a friend later she suggested that people might have thought I was wearing my nightie?! What do you think? Does this look like a nightie?

Details:
Dress; modified Simplicity 3745, pale pink and caramel lace, see here
Petticoat; Burda 8071, pale pink satin
Trench coat; modified Burda 7786, beige cotton, see here
Sandals; Sachi, some little boutique in Melbourne
Necklace; gift from my husband
Nail varnish; Max Factor, Gold Peach

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7786, Burda 8071, coat, dress, Simplicity 3745, SSS10

New greige top, with a shoulder experiment…

08/09/2010 8:11 am \ 9 Comments \ Carolyn

“Greige”; not a word found in any dictionary, but one adopted by the fashion industry to describe this colour that is not quite grey, not quite beige… I love it. And going by my latest fabric shopping ~~binge~~ carefully-considered purchases, one I will be incorporating happily into my neutrals collection for this spring…
I’ve made this new top. Seemingly just an ordinary top, the pattern drafted from other tops I already own, with a small pattern modification… I’ve noticed on some designer collections the trend for a slightly different shoulder/sleeve treatment, where the sleevecap seems to be sitting much higher on the shoulder than usual, but still smoothly fitted to the shoulder. The crest of the shoulder/sleeve seam sits halfway up the model’s shoulder, see below right. Usually in my tops I aim to have that seam right on the shoulder crest… He he, I had a fleeting thought on first noticing this unusual shoulder in a fashion shoot that this might just be a symptom of an ill-fitting top!, but of course in serious fashion collections an effect is usually intentional… and I thought this was interesting so thought I’d give it a whirl. I think I had reasonable success for a first-time experiment. I just cut the sleeve cap about 4cm higher and removed width from the shoulder seam and arm scye along the outer edge… I do like the way the seam sits up a little higher, and not on the crest of the shoulder. It feels a lot smoother and sits nicer, in my opinion! Sometimes that little blobby seam sitting right on the shoulder edge can detract from the overall smooth lines of a top and this higher seam, not raglan, but not quite a conventional set in shoulder either, is a nice compromise… what do you think?
And for day 8 of Self-Stitched September: my pants are made from Burda 7863, from khaki stretch gabardine seen first here, and my scarf is knitted by me, seen first here.

Details:
Top; self-drafted, greige jersey knit
Jeans; Burda 7863, khaki stretch gabardine
Scarf; my own design, Debbie Bliss yarn
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies

photo below right, Maison Martin Margiela top, from Vogue Australia, photographed by Max Doyle; it is hard to see here, sorry, but the seam IS halfway along the model’s shoulder…

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7863, jeans, Knitted, own design, scarf, SSS10, top

Chambray shirt

07/09/2010 4:02 am \ 13 Comments \ Carolyn

After finishing my chambray/denim dress I had a leetle bit of the fabric leftover, too much for scraps, not enough for another garment. I had enough for the fronts of this shirt. So then had to go back for some more fabric to cut out the entire shirt… (and now still have a tad of the fabric leftover, mama mia, a recurring vicious cycle, how to use constructively and efficiently all the leftovers…?!)
I made this shirt using Burda 7767, my go-to menswear shirt that I’ve made up seven times in all now for the men in my family, this is such a great easy pattern… Obviously I sized it to fit me this time… other variations were to add two breast pockets with flaps, sleeve tabs to enable me roll up the sleeves (probably permanently), and to use snap closures throughout in leiu of buttons. I like the more casual “jeans-y” feel the snap closures give to a denim shirt. Although these particular ones from Spotlight were just hell to put in, I strongly suspect the wrong “tool” was enclosed in this particular batch, and unfortunately I couldn’t locate the correct tool which I know I have floating around in my haberdashery collection somewhere… but I was impatient to finish the shirt so just made do with the one provided.
Obviously the other variation I made to the pattern was to have the fronts lapping over the opposite way to a men’s shirt… it would be nice to know the reason behind this strange custom. Does anyone know the reason why mens’ shirts button up in a different way to womens’ shirts???? I’d really like to know…
I made these white linen pants last summer? or the summer before?, I make a new pair every year so they all kinda blend in… to see them properly and in full length go here…
Don’t you just love the clouds? We are expecting some rain soon, woooheee, finally! Everyone here is desperate for rain!

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767 with minor modification, blue chambray
Pants; self drafted, white linen
Shoes; Country Road

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7767, mens shirt, own design, pants, SSS10

It’s a jungle…

06/09/2010 4:30 am \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

Self Stitched September: Day 6;
Trying to zip my way through my winter options now as the weather heats up, and truthfully I’m a little roasting in this jumper here today…!
I was very inspired by the Marc Jacobs A/W 2010 looks of glamourous skirts made of luxe glittery fabrics, paired with slightly grungy oversized knits on the top… I do like unexpected contrasts in fashion as I think surprises (even in something as mundane as the clothes we choose to wear) add an element of playfulness and fun into one’s day. And couldn’t we all do with a bit more fun and joie de vivre in our day, well, yes thankyou! And although this skirt is not particularly super-luxe, I still enjoy the little hint of the glossy python print satin with it’s decadent 70’s nightclub air about it, a huge contrast to the staid almost un-fashionable farmyard practicality of a thick chunky knit.

Details:
Knit jumper; my own design, made from Jo Sharp Silk Road DK
Skirt; my own design variations on Vogue 7303, python print and black satin
Tights; Kolotex
Booties; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: jumper, Knitted, own design, skirt, SSS10, Vogue 7303

Father’s Day on the beach

05/09/2010 5:21 am \ 7 Comments \ Carolyn

Self Stitched September day 5:
The weather has been absolutely glorious, so after the obligatory Father’s Day breakfast in bed, packed up the dog and the husband (not necessarily in that order!) and headed to the beach for a stroll. I’ve mentioned before how the dog morphs into a frolicsome puppy when faced with sand and surf and after this morning we had a very tired, happy and sandy dog to hose down, ahhh, a delightful morning!
Today I’m wearing my top drafted from the Pattern Magic book (by Nakamichi Tomoko, really should get onto some more designs from that book!), made out of charcoal jersey knit. When I first assessed my wardrobe for this Self-Stitched September I was worried I wouldn’t have enough warm garments, but if the weather continues this way I may not end up even wearing some of the warmer winter options I have in there…! which will be nice!
My shorts are made from Burda 7723, these have an old-fashioned snugly wide waistband sitting high at the natural waistline and I modified the pattern by making the legs about 5cm longer and flaring them a little more to get even more of an old-fashioned forties look to them; these are made from a thick charcoal gabardine that used to be a puff-skirt my daughter bought in Paris about three years ago (to see it go here)

Details:
Top; from Pattern Magic, by Nakamichi Tomoko, charcoal jersey knit
Shorts; Burda 7723, charcoal gabardine
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Design
Sunnies; RayBan

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7723, Pattern Magic, shorts, Sienna, SSS10, top

Urban Sport style

04/09/2010 5:31 am \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

Self-Stitched September, day 4…
I made this black parka a few years ago, completely inspired by the “urban sport” vibe of the Marni Spring/Summer 2007 collection, anyone remember this sort of look? Although I copied the shape and style from the designer collection, I drafted the pattern for my version myself. I was really taken with the slightly sporty appeal and loose comfort of this look at the time and I still think it is flattering as well as easy to wear. I was particularly pleased with how the oversized crumpled collar turned out.
The skirt is one I’ve worn loads over last autumn… you’ve seen it many times. It is made using Vogue 7303 again, out of a cheerful brilliant orange raw silk, seen here first.
Husband and children all out and occupied; I visited the library this morning to reserve next month’s bookclub book (Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig), then faced the Saturday morning supermarket crush. Got three loads of washing on the line, house tidy and am feeling virtuous and accomplished; so with a clear conscience will spend a few hours now having some quality time with my sewing machine and the fabric stash … yes!! (air fist punch)

Details:

Parka; self-drafted, black cotton drill
Skirt; Vogue 7303, orange raw silk
Leggings; Metalicus
Shoes; Perrini, had for so long I’ve forgotten where I bought them…

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: own design, parka, skirt, SSS10, Vogue 7303

Tennis, anyone?

03/09/2010 7:07 am \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

Day 3 of Self Stitched September! and OK, so with honesty I’m not actually playing tennis in this ensemble…
This dress was made for last summer; my own design variations based upon New Look 6699, for more details and a full view of the dress, see here. This dress goes by the dubious moniker of the Straitjacket dress, for the reason that I installed a much too short zip in the side seam, and so it requires some degree of crazy struggling to get it on and off. I know, I know, get with the programme, just buy a new zip and put it in already, but really the few minutes of undignified struggling in the dressing room is a minor inconvenience compared to to the prospect of the alternative; fiddling about with the unpicking and putting in of a new invisible zip, and this one is actually perfect (if I say so myself), with all seams on the bodice, midriff and skirt lining up so perfectly I just don’t have the heart to re-do it. Ho hum, too many other more exciting projects await to be bothered with that, so… the Straitjacket dress is here to stay as it is… !
And because the air is still a little brisk today I slipped on my seersucker trench coat, which I made for summer two years ago using Burda 7786, first seen here.
And roll on summer!

Details:
Dress; my own design variations based on New Look 6699, two different printed and embroidered cottons
Trench coat; Burda 7786, white seersucker

Shoes; Country Road