Handmade by Carolyn

Felted table runner

10/01/2010 1:31 am \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn

A few years ago my friend L, who’s enormously artistic and creative gathered a few like-minded souls about for a felting workshop. We all met at D’s house, loaded with buckets, soap and bubble wrap and launched into an extremely fun morning making these scarves?/table runners?/ unspecified decorative thingys? I think we intended them to be scarves, but mine ended up too wide and shrunk lengthwise too much. I did wear it once as a sort of wrap around my hips over an all-black outfit and it looked kind of chic like that…
However it’s full-time position is on the coffee table in my front room for visitors to admire (ha ha) as it goes perfectly with the decor; bit of luck there… (the photo below is obv not in my front room, just to avoid a flurry of corrective commentation; the light was better outside…so!)
It’s made mostly of dyed unspun merino, but has a few swirls of various knitting wools and some beads embedded in there as well. Over time some of these beads have worked their way out and been found lurking in corners and under sofas and I’ve reattached them with a few firm stitches. Inevitable for something that has become the favourite sleeping place of a certain naughty puss-cat….

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: felting, own design

A day in the garden

09/01/2010 1:31 am \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

I used to love gardening. Once upon a time, I would go into my garden and a couple of hours would disappear as I pruned, weeded, tended and fed my plants; now it’s more of a necessary weekly maintenance that gets done. Oh sure, I still go to the nursery and get all excited about how my garden could look if I just got out there more, but for the time being my poor garden is taking a back seat to sewing. Well actually it has always taken a back seat to sewing, but now.. well let’s just say that if my life was a theatre, sewing is hogging the first ten rows, my office work sits up in the dress circle, housework is in the back stalls, and gardening is situated in those discounted seats at the side and behind pillars that get limited viewing. Cooking, well, cooking was running late and missed the first act, and had to be let in by the usher and do the walk of shame during the curtain change past everybody else already in their seats.
I made this top at the beginning of summer from New Look 6252, and it’s a great little pattern that uses very little fabric and can be run up in a day. I added a cute little pocket to the front out of some of the leftovers, for interest. This top’s only drawback is that its a “bra strap revealer”, so I have to consider my bra colour when I decide to wear it.
I’m a believer that a visible bra strap over your shoulder is OK if it matches your outfit, although the bra-closure part in the centre of your back with all the hooks and eyes should never ever be seen out in public… I think that the shoulder strap, if it is slimline and of a matching colour or lacy, it can look like part of a pretty camisole under a blouse, and can really add to your overall look. Only if it is pretty and matching, mind, and never if it is obviously screaming “BRA!”
On that completely off-the-track, unrelated note, I’m off to the garden….

Details:
Top; New Look 6252, green linen
Skirt; Old Khaki, bought while on holiday in South Africa
Cardi; Metalicus
Hat; LLBean
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Design
gardening gloves

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fabulous fabrics, New Look 6252, top

Wardrobe Refashion, project 1

08/01/2010 2:27 am \ 13 Comments \ Carolyn

My daughter had an old puff skirt. Three problems: 1, the zip had broken, 2, she now hated it, and 3, most importantly, it was a puff skirt. A puff skirt. The type that if you wore now you would be instantly labelled a hopeless fashion tragic. I found it in the bin, for heavens sake. After only a short rant on the evils of throwing out perfectly good fabric (it was made out of quite nice stiff sturdy charcoal gabardine and had a funky decorative waistband with strips of raw-edged black net caught in) I put it aside for further thought (after a thorough washing, thanks to its short bin occupancy). Now I’ve joined Wardrobe Refashion it was the time to take up the scissors for a bit of surgery…
Below is the before picture (no amount of begging would cajol either my daughter or me to model this thing in its before state)….
I’m actually thrilled with how it turned out. I think that high-waisted bermuda shorts are a very flattering look, sort of retro as well, reminiscent of Katharine Hepburn in that movie where she was a tennis player and pioneered open necked Lacoste sports T-shirts with shorts not unlike my effort here. (It’s entirely possible I have this movie memory completely wrong). I used Burda 7723, and just flared the legs slightly more, made them a bit longer and added some of the decorative waistband as patch pockets on the back, for some interest in this area. Shorts with a plain back can be boring, and a lack of decoration can paradoxically draw attention to an unsightly bum, I think.
Even though the skirt seemed to have plenty of fabric in it I only just got the pattern cut out of it. I used some lighter black fabric I already had for the pocket lining and bought a zip. I had some perfect buttons in my stash already.
Also the puff was originally held up by a black net underskirt; this I saved, slashed latitudinally and rejoined, then added a few randomly spaced knots to produce this rather sweet little scarf. I can feel it becoming a wardrobe staple already…

Details:
Shorts; Burda 7723, modified slightly, refashioned from old skirt
Top; Brown Sugar
Scarf; black net, reashioned from old skirt lining
Shoes; Perrini, had for donkey’s years

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7723, scarf, shorts, Wardrobe Refashion

A collar tute

07/01/2010 2:14 am \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn

As part of my autumn sewing plan I’m making a mustard top, and actually remembered to take a few pictures during the construction process… My mum has a Threads magazine-produced video of Louise Cutting demonstrating all these wonderful sewing tips and she showed a great way of cutting out and constructing collars that eliminates some seams, thus some of the bulk inside the collar. The extra fabric of seam allowances in collars can sometimes spoil the whole look of your lovely flat crisp sharp edged collar you had envisioned, and I thought I’d give this method a whirl.
Here goes.
Firstly, you get your collar piece and make a new collar piece like so;

trace your collar piece with the centre marked (at right above), then flip over the pattern piece and re-lay the same piece, overlapping at the SEAM ALLOWANCE line (1.5cm in from the cutting edge) If this isn’t marked on your pattern piece, you can mark it on yourself for accuracy (I haven’t because I’m slack). Then trace around this piece again in its new position, and at the 2nd centre (at top left in the photo above) ADD A NEW SEAM ALLOWANCE, seen at the very top. This whole final thing is your new collar piece. The final centre of this new collar pattern piece is where it was in its original position when you first laid the pattern piece down, on the paper edge at far right in the photo above (I’ve marked it in the photo but it may be difficult to see my scribblings…) Cut out your new collar piece, placing the centre on the fold.

You will end up with a collar piece that has one portion on the grain (the first one traced, your upper collar) and one portion on the bias (the second one traced, your under collar) Now, with right sides together, sew the seam allowance of your 2nd (under collar) centre, you know, the one you added a seam allowance to when tracing the pattern. In the photo above the unpicker/pointer is pointing to this seam.
Now open out this seam and press, then with right sides together sew the outer collar edge seam. In the photo below the under collar is facing up and my unpicker/pointer thingy is pointing to this new seam.

Now clip and grade your seams as per usual, turn and press, blah blah. In the next photo I’ve added the collar stand. Not quite sure why I’ve included this photo as it doesn’t really add anything, but seemed a natural progression in photo taking at the time…

And in this next photo is the finished collar on its stand. Already you can see the points of the collar are nice and crisp, in spite of the fact that this collar has quite an acute angle which would normally be a challenge to get a nice sharp point on the end. This is because of the elimination of one of the seams at this point.

And here is the collar finished and attached with its stand to the shirt (although sans sleeves at this point…)

One of the downsides to this method I reckon is the extra fabric requirement as its an awkward pattern piece to work with, but if you’re clever you can sort your pattern pieces around it to get the best layout using minimal fabric.
My final verdict? This method works well for just a simple collar on a top that hasn’t been “tailored” as such, and expects the upper and lower collars to be cut from the same pattern piece… Will I use it again? If I can be bothered with the extra cutting out of a new pattern piece, and if a crisp sharp collar is a priority, then yes.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Collars, tutorial

Brown dress saved

06/01/2010 1:39 am \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn

OK. I have to confess that I took this dress out of my reject pile yesterday with every intention of cutting it up for refashioning. Firstly I put it on for the before photo. I paused. Looked at it again. Thought it looked OK, actually. Felt pretty damn comfy, too. Also, in the searing heat of yesterday afternoon I felt cool; big plus! So the dress was saved at the eleventh hour from a brutal slashing…
Previously I dubbed this dress as the Bouchee dress, (you know, Bouchee are those elephant shaped chocolates?…) I think the last time I posted about it I was wearing a little cardi which possibly didn’t suit this style of silhouette… anyhoo, it’s back in my wardrobe for a while. When my husband saw me in it this morning he said I looked nice in brown, and he liked this dress, what more encouragement do I need to keep wearing it?!
It’s based on McCalls 4454, a camisole pattern that I really like, which has just been elongated, some godets inserted into the skirt, a handkerchief hem created, and some huge decorative pockets added to cover up some discoloured patches (the fabric was originally discounted and in the remnant bin because of these faded patches)
So yesterday afternoon I hunted about and found a different garment to refashion for this week, I’ll post about it on Friday when I do my Wardrobe Refashion post…
Still haven’t quite finished my trench coat. Have to locate a belt buckle today… and a zip for my refashion project… I guess its off to Spotlight, sigh…

Details:
Dress; own design, based on McCalls 4454, brown embroidered cotton
Shoes; Micam by Joanne Mercer, Hobbs shoes
Necklace; gift from my friend K
Nail varnish; Litl Boy Blue, by Artmatix

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: dress, Fabulous fabrics, McCalls 4454, own design

On feeling cool

05/01/2010 2:18 am \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

I decided to give myself a new pedicure last night, and chose this ancient nail polish I had called Litl (sic) Boy Blue by Artmatix. It’s so old it has a price tag on it $2.89; now, Australians, when was the last time you saw a price like that one?!! I think I’m on some pathetically hopeful but ultimately misguided attempt to psyche myself into thinking that if my toes look frostbitten then I will, ipso facto, then feel cooler. Hmm. So far, not working…
Since joining Wardrobe refashion I think I’d better get on and refashion something in time for my weekly post, as per the rules, and I am a sad stickler for rules. When it suits me, that is.
Currently I have been working on my autumn trench coat, which will be finished prob by the end of today. Extremely happy with it and ridiculously proud of myself. I do feel like a coat/jacket finished successfully is like the pinnacle of achievement for a seamstress. Especially the setting in sleeves bit… (steam coming out of one’s ears as one incessantly unpicks a multitude of little “tucks” for resmoothing and reshaping…) Enough said. Sleeves now set in successfully, so can leave that painful episode of my life behind.

Details:
Top; Butterick 4985, blue knobbly cotton
Skirt; da Vida, secondhand shop
Shoes; Anna, from Marie Claire shoes
Necklace; from Live!
Nail varnish; Litl Boy Blue, Artmatix

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Butterick 4985, Fabulous fabrics, Sienna, top

Red and apricot combo

03/01/2010 11:54 pm \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

So here is another outfit with this floral skirt. It’s proving surprisingly versatile, given its eye-catching print that one would, on first glance, think is a bit difficult to mix-n-match. Not so after all!
I’m often drawn to red and have a lot of it in my wardrobe, it’s such a cheerful energising colour that seems to suit both the winter and summer vibes equally well. I only don’t like it when it’s mixed with black. That particular combo is a bit harsh and stark for my colouring… leave that one for the black-haired beautys out there..
Today’ll be another scorcher so dressed for coolness. Very hot weather is so unkind to fashionistas as you can hardly throw on a cardi or scarf to add another colour to your ensemble, for fear of passing out from heat exhaustion…
My hair is a little wild this morning, we took the pictures quite early while my hair was still wet from the shower.

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 2894, red floral cotton
Camisole; Country Road
Necklace; From the surf shop on Rottnest Island
Beaded thongs (flipflops); some little shop in South Africa

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fabulous fabrics, skirt, Vogue 2894

Tea Cosy, specimen 7

03/01/2010 2:26 am \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

Here is the tea cosy I made for my friend T for her birthday. It is the Roly Poly pattern (again!) from Wild Tea Cosies by Loani Prior. I know, I know, so many Roly Polies, but they are cute, no?