Handmade by Carolyn

neon yellow and black gingham

15/12/2017 1:54 pm \ 28 Comments \ Carolyn

So, Mum was coming up to stay recently and we were going to be doing some sewing together… for a variety of reasons I didn’t want to be doing my Christmas sewing, the biggie being that I needed a little break from all that #exhausted #needsomeselfishnessSTAT

Anyway, I decided I wanted to just whip up something quick, fun and easy. A simple lingerie set. So quick! Such fun! So easy! And, I reasoned; I have a billionty-one lingerie bits and pieces on hand already, so I could easily shop my stash and avoid any last-minute dashes to the fabric store.

Obviously when anyone sets out to do such a thing, a last minute dash to the fabric store will be an absolute certainty. Ha!

So I had this small piece of neon yellow bamboo knit (Fabulous Fabrics I think), always intended for lingerie but never-got-around-to-it; and some bits of both white and black elastics, enough of the both together to cobble together a bra and two sets of sorta matching undies. For the set to look cohesive, I used both white AND black elastics on all pieces… so it’s kind of a case of nothing matches so everything does. I do really like black ,white and yellow together though, so I think it turned out very nice.

The difference between the two pairs of matching knickers is subtle, oh so subtle! but it’s there. One pair has black elastic on the waist, and white on the legs, the other has white elastic on the waist and black on the legs. Subtle!! To further emphasise the black/white dichotomy, I used black zig-zag topstitching everywhere there was white elastic, and white zig-zag topstitching everywhere there was black elastic. This was not a totally successful ploy, since the white zig-zag stitching basically disappears into the yellow and you can’t even see it, but hey.

On another note; high contrast black zig-zag top-stitching on yellow is a deeply unforgiving exercise. Much quality time was spent with my seam-ripper.

I’d planned to use a few little plain black and plain white ribbon bows in my stash, saved from old lingerie sets… but inevitably I became more and more convinced that black and white ribbons were just not right, and more and more convinced that the only option was something black AND white. Like, gingham. In fact I decided that gingham was the only possible choice, eventually. At first I first made some ultra skinny rouleau loops with a scrap of gingham fabric from my stash – must avoid any last minute dashes to the fabric store!!! – and made some little bows, but they were just too bulky for the set.

Thus, the inevitable last-minute dash to Spotlight, for gingham ribbon.

It’s OK, I bought other stuff while I was there! Alway, but always; there’s a little list building up. (sigh)

Mum agrees that the gingham bows were exactly what the set needed. The only thing is, that since the gingham ribbon is sold by the spool only, I now have about 3m left out of a 3.5m spool to do something with. Lol! MORE RANDOM STUFF ADDED TO THE STASH WILL IT NEVER END

Oh! pattern… I used the cloth habit Watson pattern for all pieces, except I used my own method for ensuring that all seams in the bra are enclosed in the lining, and as usual cut the knickers front and crotch lining as one piece so as to eliminate that horizontal front seam. I love the Watson bra more and more nowadays; it’s funny; I’ve always preferred a slightly padded bra with a foam-lined cup, basically my whole life, but just lately I’m really into this soft, unwired, unstructured type of bra. Especially for summer, when I’m not wearing tight Tshirts. Sure, they result in the flat-chested look, but you know what? I’m at peace with that aspect of my body now. I mean, it’s what I’ve got, it’s me, my body is just my body; and I’m ok with it.

Thank you, Jane for being such a fab lingerie model… and now, back to sewing the Christmas pressies!!

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Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: lingerie, watson

navy blue mary janes (shoes)

03/12/2017 1:18 pm \ 41 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made some new shoes!! This is the first pair of shoes made on my new, semi-high-heeled lasts; that I bought … maybe six months ago…? (blush) yes, it’s taken me quite a while to get onto it. Can I just say… Steep. Learning. Curve. That’s all. Making these was quite a different kettle of fish to the fun and relatively easy little flats that I’ve been making up until now. But anyway, they’re done. And I know I’ve said this before, but I may be prouder of these than I’ve ever been of ANY other thing I’ve made before!!

You know the old saying? something about 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration? YEP!! Although this might be more like 99% perspiration…

Several times I almost gave up on these because I thought they were not going to work, and several times I thought I’d almost ruined them. There are several bits that are definitely not perfect, a few scars from where I had, um, …issues… but I’m still pretty happy!

Confession time: I actually started recording YouTube videos to document the process of making these shoes, and basically gave up on that halfway because I truly lost heart a few times and felt like my shoes were never going to happen. Likewise, I didn’t take many actual photos during the making of them either! the ones in this post here are basically all of them… But I’m so glad I persisted in the end (minus the stress of filming myself) and have finally limped in to the finish line. I’ll make another YouTube video, some other time, on some other shoes.

my friend R was cleaning out her wardrobe and gave me some old shoeboxes last week… I’m so glad I could put one to good use almost straight away!

So! the deets…

Materials: the material is a beige-coloured, upholstery suede, from a piece given to me by my friend A after they’d had some benches in their boat re-covered… I’ve used this same fabric to make two pairs of shoes previously… my white oxfords and my laced-at-the-heels shoes. I spray-painted my pieces navy blue, using enamel spray paint (Bunnings) and also spray-painted two small, round-top, white plastic buttons from my stash… the shoes are fully lined with navy blue suedette fabric from Spotlight. For stitching both inside and outside the shoes I used Gutermann’s upholstery thread in navy blue (Spotlight). The layers are glued together with PVA glue, and the heel counters and toe puffs are formed with stretch denim and PVA glue. The soles are rubber sheeting (Bunnings); shanks are metal brackets from Bunnings, hammered to shape; foam insoles are just cut-to-size ones from the supermarket; heels are hand-carved pine (Bunnings) I bought my 5.5cm heeled lasts from etsy store Tatyz

The biggest, albeit hidden difference between these and all the previous shoes I’ve made is the presence of a shank … basically a shank is piece or strip of something hard and inflexible, mostly metal; that provides arch support and helps the shoe maintain its shape. I knew all along I’d have to put a shank in these, because of the defined sole curve… but racked my brains as to WHAT I could actually use. I’d investigated buying purpose-made shanks, but there were two issues… firstly, how could I be sure the ones I was buying would have the right curve to suit my lasts? and secondly and really the biggest one, was that all of the sources I found had minimum orders of, like, 5000. LOL!!!

I guess there’s probably a shoe-making supply store open to the public somewhere where you can actually buy them, but I couldn’t find it. Anyway, in my meanderings through Bunnings looking for likely suspects I found these metal brackets, and thought I’d give them a whirl. As it turned out, I think they’re going to do the job just perfectly!!

the yellow stuff is some thin foam which is just to pad out and level off the sole, offset the thickness of the shank

The brackets are very stiff and strong, and it took some crazy, Thor-like hammering to get them to curve just how I wanted them to, to fit snugly to the bottom of my lasts. So I’m pretty confident they will maintain their shape very nicely, even when I’m wearing the shoes, and subjecting them to the pressures and strain of everyday walking.

I decided upon a hand-carved, wooden heel. Ermahgerd, but these nearly killed me, not to mention my poor shoes… These ones gracing my shoes now are the second set of heels I made. I actually fully carved another set, but when I loosely attached them to the bottom of my shoes to trial them I could instantly see they were too small and looked visually ridiculous to my eyes… SO it was back to Bunnings to hunt for something else… it’s actually pretty hard to find good-sized blocks of wood for sale, that are not planks. The final heels were carved from a pair of furniture “feet”. These are big fat square blocks of wood that you can screw to the bottom of your sofas or whatever… anyway, they were a good size enough for me to carve some nice, blocky heels. I used our belt sander for all the carving.

rejected heels at right. They were carved from a table leg.

The heels are glued to the bottom of the soles (contact adhesive, Bunnings, same stuff I use to glue the sole to the bottom of the shoes) and then nailed through from inside the shoe. I drilled holes from inside the shoe, being very careful to avoid the shank! it would have destroyed the drill bit! Then, I swiped 2mm thick, 3cm long, shiny nails through a blob of PVA glue (in hope of giving them a bit of extra grip) and hammered them into the holes.

there are 9 nails per shoe… should be enough I think! I hope!

I’m making it sound all very straightforward… but this is the bit, yes, the very last step! where I seriously thought I’d destroyed my shoes. My first nail attempt was using a 3mm thick, 5cm long, galvanised nail, which in retrospect was a monstrous nail to choose. IT WOULD NOT HAMMER ALL THE WAY IN. Pulling that thing out did damage the back of that shoe quite a bit, which was pretty heartbreaking, but I certainly wasn’t tossing them in the bin after all I’d been through! Explanation on how I patched it up later…

normally I cover the insole in the same fabric as the lining… in this case I thought the periwinkle/ purple colour of the foam looked quite nice just as it is…

Anyway, once I’d got the monster nail out, I had success with the shorter, sleeker nails. The top edges of the back of one shoe were pretty stretched and dinged up from pulling out the nail, and I just judiciously applied new glue and a bit of new lining fabric to patch up what I could. And I gave both shoes a new coat of navy blue paint… truth was they really did need freshening up, after the months I’d spent working on them, constantly handling them, and tossing them in a drawer in-between times, the initial paint job was already looking a tad shabby. Also, in the process of making them I’d gone off my initial colour choice, thought it was a wee bit drab. So I bought two tubes of acrylic paint (Spotlight) in ultramarine blue and black, and mixed up a shade that was still a deep navy but was a little more vibrant and rich.

Final thing was to mask the heels and apply a quick spray of fixative.

Well, the final final thing of course was to varnish the heels (3 coats of clear satin polyurethane varnish from Bunnings) and to glue a protective layer of rubber to the underneath of the heels.

Ta da!! I’ve no doubt I will be wearing these with immense pride for years…. that is, until I make something better. I’ve learnt so much! On to the next pair!!

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Posted in: shoes, Uncategorized \ Tagged: own design, shoes

an armada of icebergs…

01/12/2017 1:34 pm \ 28 Comments \ Carolyn

Sooo… what tasteful works of homemade Christmas art has Carolyn proudly displayed in the entrance hall to assault the eyes of unsuspecting visitors to our house, hmmm? Oh, a whole bunch of little cardboard icebergs… hmmmm, ok, yeah. “Interesting” decor choice… #kindergartenchic #sohotrightnow

It’s an advent calendar!!

Also; I’ve just looked up what is a group of icebergs called, and it’s an armada. Cool, eh!

So, I saw this cute advent calendar on Burdastyle and couldn’t resist… because I freaking LOVE Christmas! and particularly Christmas crafts and all those fiddly decorative bits and bobs that you get to strew about your house…. maybe I even don’t mind a bit of baking too?! Just a teensy bit…? Maaaaybe #notreally 😉

On the site it’s called an Origami advent calendar, which is perhaps a little bit of a misnomer… because my understanding of “origami” is that there must be no cutting nor any sticking/pasting too, and these cute little contraptions involve both. If not origami though I don’t know what you’d rightly call this kind of construction, actually. Just … making boxes? cutting and pasting little receptacles together? Well, whatever. It’s a free pattern.

I used some card stock that Mum and Dad gave me when they cleaned out their shed…. it was perfectly clean and in very good nick! traced the template and cut out 24 identical shapes. So my icebergs are all the same size. In retrospect, if I was going to do this again (unlikely) or even if I re-use them for next year I would mix it up size-wise by printing out the template in two or more different scales, say 75%, and maybe even also as small as 60% to get a little range of sizes. I think they’d look pretty cool with more of a variety of sizes, but I’m ok with how the arrangement looks for now.

Anyway, let’s be real… it’s the contents that you get excited about, really!

Instead of sealing the boxes completely closed with double-sided tape as recommended, I put tiny strips of velcro on it, so you can open the boxes to get to the sweeties inside without potentially destroying them. See, it took quite a while to make 24 little boxes, like hours! and so I’ll probably re-use them, at least one more year. Hopefully more!

For the numbers, I used my old alphabet/number stamps that I bought many years ago… during my cardmaking phase. I found the boxes can fit up to four Lindt balls, with a bit of manipulation and shoving. Probably Craig and I will be the only ones excited about popping open the daily “iceberg” and counting down until Christmas. Or maybe, just me!

speaking of icebergs… I took these pictures in the vicinity f Le Conte glacier, Alaska, during our trip there this year. So so beautiful!!!

I don’t know if I’ve ever shown here my other, far less trendy, advent calendar, that I made yeeeeeeears ago when the children were little… I seem to recall it was a free pattern too, maybe from the Woman’s Weekly or Better Homes and Gardens something like that.

I still put sweeties into the heart pockets every year and have this year too, although who knows when my children will drop by and eat them?! This one’s a bit “country” but in my own defence that was the hippest of hip decor styles at the time! I know, it’s a bit dated now, but that can’t be helped… if there’s one set-in-stone rule about style, and this goes for decor and fashion; and that’s that what is HOT one year will definitely be NOT in a few years!!

one of the fabrics was designed by a Carolyn somebody, whose name was printed on the selvedge… and I had the brilliant idea of snipping off a “Carolyn” and attaching it to the back, seemed fortuitous at the time. Now I’m mentally apologising to the de-surname-d Carolyn who actually designed the fabric… whoops!

Now, if you’ll excuse me I still have a small avalanche of fabrics awaiting transformation into Christmas gifts and my summer wardrobe, and it’s already the first day of summer so I’d better get cracking…. au revoir!!

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Posted in: crafty stuff, Uncategorized \ Tagged: Christmas, handicrafts

Sasha trousers

23/11/2017 4:57 pm \ 38 Comments \ Carolyn

husband is off waiting with Clara and calling me; haven’t I finished taking pictures yet?

Hmmm, I know how this seems; I’ve only just written a post where I say how I am busily focused on solely making things for other people, as Christmas gifts and then here I am popping up with more things made for ME… haha, well there is a perfectly reasonable explanation, and that is that I actually made these trousers a few months ago and am only just now getting around to taking some pictures and writing about them. See? Perfectly reasonable!

Pattern; so this is the newly released Sasha trouser pattern, by Closet Case patterns, named for the impossibly chic Sasha of secondo piano… Heather contacted me asking if I would again be willing to test the new pattern for her… would I?! well yes, of course! I actually love testing patterns, I can feel like I’m doing something useful and productive and actually even helpful? one can only hope… Instead of the embarrassing truth that I’m clutching at any old excuse to nip into the sewing room and selfishly indulge in my favourite hobby once more, hehehe.

Fabrics; a blue stretch denim, thickish; and a thinner, maybe a bit too thin? grey-green stretch gabardine, both from Fabulous Fabrics. Yes, two pairs! actually the blue pair is really the first pair I made and is an earlier version of the pattern, the grey pair is my second pair and is the final version of the pattern how it’s been released out into the wild. I really love my blue pair though so I’m still going to wear them 🙂

Pockets: the blue are in blue linen, a leftover scrap from my stash that was initially a toss out from my friend L; and the grey are in some the leftover floral from this shirt I made for Craig last year, and also some StarWars fabric leftover from when Cassie made some boxer shorts for her boyfriend. Love me some crazy pockets!!!

Thoughts; so what to say? what you see is what you get here… this is a very nice pattern for a pair of very nice, sleek and elegant, slightly tapered, slightly low-waisted trousers. One of my favourite features is that smart flat front which I always think of as vaguely menswear-inspired, rightly or wrongly; and I absolutely LOVE the menswear look on women.

Lately I’ve kinda been in the habit of having my trousers a little more high-waisted, but I do think this lower-waisted look does sit and look better when one has a little bit of a tummy.

The trousers are satisfyingly equipped with a plethora of pockets; four, in fact. Two welt pockets on the back, I have to say these are super well-engineered, and intricately explained in the instructions. I can see the sample ones have button closure under the welt, which mine don’t have so I think this must have been an add-on after the testing process.

And two slanted hip pockets, I absolutely adore these, they’re totally perfect. Toss in the un-topstitched waistband/belt loops and hidden button and hook/eye closure, and it all adds up to quite a tailored and “formal” looking pair of trousers, perfectly suitable for business or office wear.

I mean, not that I’m an expert on office wear; but you know. In my sadly inexpert opinion, I think these would make great work pants.

just imagine I’m walking into an important office building in the city instead of a blank wall…

Also, they’re stretchy so they are also perfectly comfy and fine for doing a spot of gardening… We went down to our beach block to prepare it for bush fire season and the weather was a little cold… and none of my other “gardening” duds that I’d taken down were actually warm enough so I ended up wearing these all weekend. They were awesome. So comfortable! And practical! Hardy! I wore them to scramble about on all fours most of the weekend, pulling weeds, raking, and loading the wheelbarrow. And going to the rubbish tip! I lead such an exciting life!

obviously you can wear them to the beach too.

All details:

Trousers; the Sasha trousers by Closet Case patterns, stretch denim and stretch gabardine (pattern 1, below)
White blouse with lace; my own design from heavily modifying NewLook 6483, details here (3)
Ivory/caramel clogs; made by me, details here
Brown blouse; MN 2004 (Sudley) by Megan Nielsen patterns with my own modifications, details here (4)
Cream, cowl-neck tee; the loose-draped top from Japanese pattern book “drape drape” by Hisako Sato, details here (2)
Tan low-heeled shoes; made by me, details here
Black high heeled clogs; Dimattino, from Zomp shoes
below; I’m also carrying my Kelly raincoat

1,2,3,4

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Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: Clara, Closet Case files, daily outfit, sasha trousers, trousers

Lisa Carolina dress

15/11/2017 10:28 am \ 32 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello!

I have made a very special dress lately… actually I am super busy at the moment sewing up Christmas goodies but I have deviously made sure I always have something on the go for myself at the same time too, hehehe. And I knew I wanted to devote some of my time to making something from this deliciously cheerful and sunny dandelion fabric sent to me by my dear friend Lisa, of Lisa’s Carolina. Thank you so much Lisa!

Lisa has also made something for herself in it too.. . a Lotta Jansdotter Pilvi jacket. I really loved how she bound her seams inside using a yellow gingham, and I shamelessly took a leaf from her book and used small-scale yellow gingham for the facings and bindings inside my dress too. Thank you for this super pretty inspiration, Lisa!

armhole edge

skirt facing and pocket binding. and hemline binding. gingham galore, in fact…

For my piece, I decided to make the Wings dress, which is the cover dress of Burdastyle 04/2014; pattern 108. I’ve previously made this pattern up once, here; and that is one of my favourite dresses to wear, so I wanted to make another one for this summer.

I very much like this style of simple, fitted little flared dress, the “wings” have lovely roomy pockets in them which is just the most perfect arrangement!! and I juuuuuust managed to squeeze my pattern pieces onto the piece! though doing this took a little bit of placement magic… Like I mentioned in my initial review of the pattern it is quite boxy in the bodice so I slimmed down the bodice by about 3cm from the centre, and also by shaving off some width from the princess seams at the waist…. the design is more slim-fitting up top now but is has plenty of wearing ease enough for me, I think.

Also, I forgot to mention this the first time I made the dress, in which I did this exact same thing, but in order to avoid having visible topstitching on the “wings” that outline where the pockets are inside, I interlined the pockets with a light, white cotton voile. The back part of the pocket, that you see inside when the wings flap open, is the self-fabric.

This little strip of gingham inside the pockets was put there by my mistake understanding the pocket construction … but then I left it in place because I think it’s kind of cute 🙂

Details:

Dress; Burdastyle 04/2014;108 slightly modified, in a slubby woven cotton, slightly spongy and wholly delicious

Shoes; made by me, details here

Clara is such a lovely addition to our family, so fun and full of life and love and doing very well. And growing up fast. I can even take her for walks now without having my arm pulled from its socket

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Posted in: fashion, sewing \ Tagged: Burdastyle 04/2014-108, Clara, daily outfit, dress

magnolias

31/10/2017 5:23 pm \ 37 Comments \ Carolyn

Originally I bought this lovely magnolia print fabric to make something else… but ended up making this random frock instead. Spring was coming…and I really wanted something romantic and floral. I sorta couldn’t picture anything properly, there were false starts… then Mum, Cassie and I had planned another trip to Melbourne this year, to go to the Dior exhibition at the NGV and I became enamoured of something old-fashioned, feminine, of an easy-wearing, pfouffy skirt. So this is me, realising that. I feel a bit like an old-fashioned housemaid, like Cinders before the pumpkin, or an Arthur Rackham-illustrated Alice.

This is all good 🙂

I thought I would get a nice picture of my dress at the Dior exhibition… but do you think I did?! nope! I wore it, but well, Mum, Cassie and I were so busy looking at all the delightful Dior, listening to our audio and ooh-ing and aah-ing so I didn’t even think about it!! however I did notice a few days later that my dress was serendipitously a lovely colour/design complement to the floor in the NGV.

You just have to picture it on there!

Fabric; a stretch cotton sateen from Spotlight. I went to considerable trouble to make sure the magnolias are scattered randomly and unevenly across the dress with no discernible pattern repeats … even laying the pattern pieces down upside down sometimes so as to avoid too much same-ness.

Pattern; Vogue 1317, a Chado Ralph Rucci design. I have made this pattern exactly once before, here. I loved that dress and wore it a lot; but the tight underarm issue due to the unusual seaming with gusset and the cut-on, close-fitting sleeve arrangement, that I discussed in that post, turned out to be quite annoying after all. You might love the style of a thing, but if it’s uncomfortable then there comes a time where you’re like; why am I wearing this?? … and at one point I had one of those kon-mari urges to do a whirlwind clean out. I read a good tip somewhere… can’t remember where… that a good way to do a quick clean out of a closet or wardrobe that was stressing you out due to vague feelings of having Too Much Stuff was to walk up to it and just immediately and spontaneously pick out ten things to throw away,right then and there. You’re not supposed to spend more than, say five or ten seconds thinking about each thing… but just a gut reaction; do I love this? or not really? Because honestly, you know in your heart the answer to that question already and not allowing yourself time to talk yourself out of it does make the process of jettisoning rubbish a lot easier. Trust me, it does.

So, out it went. In my opinion the importance of using a stretchy fabric for this pattern should be printed in large bold letters across the front of the envelope. It’s absolutely fine in a stretch fabric. Well, of course it is! Everything’s fine in a stretch fabric!!

the ability to lift your arms up comfortably is always a plus

Mods:

1) I left off all the double topstitching for a clean stitch-less look, finishing off the hemline with bias-cut white voile… I also left off the giant birthday-present bow that ties in the middle of your tummy. I thought about cutting it longer and wrapping and tying it at the back like I did with my first version, but really the print makes this dress pretty busy enough already, without a belt-y thing as another visual distraction.

2) I shifted the pockets out towards the side seams by about 4cm, just like I did with my first version… you can just tell the pockets are situated way too close to the centre front, just by looking at that cover shot.

3) and most obviously; I wasn’t happy with the dress how it is here in its intended short version; in fact at this point I took a violent dislike to it and almost abandoned it completely. A few weeks of despondency passed by, and I was thinking about the Dior exhibition coming up, which let me to think of the Dior shape, which in turn inspired me to add the long ruffle/frill around the bottom…. I used leftover fabric from which I cut random “doughnut segments” and “pieces of pie” shapes, joined them together to make a giant, sorta fluted doughnut… and attached this to a white cotton voile skirt lining

I felt a lot better about the dress after this.

So I’ve worn it several times now… hmmm there I go, wearing things before blogging them, again!! Oh, I also decided to permanently stitch the collar flaps down inside to make it a V-neck. I just like this look better than the high slit front, in this particular fabric. Not quite so prim and proper.

The good thing about wearing something before blogging it is that I can, at least report on how it feels out in the wild, so to speak. I’ve worn it on the beach, to walk my dog, to do housework and the shopping… as well as in amongst the divine Dior. And I’m happy to say that the delightfully feminine swishiness afforded to me by this dress indeed sparked much joy in my heart, rendering it safe from kon-mari-ing, at least for a while!

Details:

Dress; modified Vogue 1371, in stretch sateen
Shoes (above); made by me and my own design, details here

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Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: Clara, daily outfit, dress, own design, Vogue 1317

kangaroo paws… and making a skirt with a side pocket opening; a tutorial

25/10/2017 1:53 pm \ 31 Comments \ Carolyn

I made a new skirt using a pretty special piece of fabric… there’s a little story behind it. It’s a handprinted organic cotton/hemp from Ink & Spindle with a really lovely kangaroo paw motif; designed by Lara Cameron and handprinted in Melbourne… mmmm everything in their range is SO yummy, it was reeeeeally hard to choose just one print…! I bought a piece and sent half to my friend Lisa of Lisa’s Carolina… she had once shared a piece of lovely Dusk blue Alabama Chanin cotton jersey with me and we made something in the same fabric… and I thought it would be fun for us to do the same with some Australian stuff. And it doesn’t get much more Australian than this!

Kangaroo paws are the state flower of Western Australian, so an apt pressie for an international sewing friend! And I thought the colours so pretty and earthy; rich tomato-ey/paprika and warm dusky pink on a natural unbleached background… actually I’ve just checked the site and it’s called “desert red on sand” Perfect!! I cannot WAIT to see what Lisa makes with her piece! 🙂

Anigozanthos manglesii… picture taken by me of a particularly nice specimen in our neighbour’s garden. Kangaroo paws come in many different colours now, however this red/green is our state floral emblem

I got to mulling over what to make with my bit… a skirt seemed like a good choice for this full-bodied canvas-sy stuff. I wanted no seams on the front and the back, because I wanted to make the most of the random print, and hunted out an old favourite Vogue 8363, a pattern I’ve used loads of times before. But I didn’t even want a side zip closure either… then I got the idea in my head to make it to have pockets that perform double duty as the closure of the skirt. Meaning… NO ZIPS! I’ve made a couple of skirts like this before and knew this pattern could happily be adapted pretty easily to have this feature… I’ve written a little tute below in this post on how I did it 🙂

Because this is going to be a summer-y skirt, I left it unlined and enclosed all the raw edges with HongKong binding, using a pale coffee cotton voile from Spotlight. I also used this for the pocket lining and the waistband lining…

This skirt has taken me the LOOOOOOONGEST time to write a blog post for it… I’ve even worn it a few times… which is a kinda fail for me since I have this thing that I shouldn’t wear something until I’ve written a blog post about it. Naughty! Partly because of my plan for the pocket closure tute, about which I’ve been terribly procrastinate-y. Well I’ve finally done it now, at last. Please do let me know if you find this useful and/or helpful… and if you use it of course!

How to adapt a pattern to have a side-pocket opening… this is a good feature since it negates the need for a zip AND you get the bonus of pockets, naturally!

skirt map

The pattern I used here comes with a slant-edged pocket pieces and either a CB zip or button front closure so it’s pretty easy to adapt the waistband and method of construction to accommodate the pocket closure. However, even if your skirt pattern doesn’t come with pocket pieces you can still draw your own pocket pieces and adapt any skirt pattern to accommodate them… as long as you remember this VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: your skirt pattern MUST be roomy enough in the hips so that you can comfortably shove your hands inside without making the skirt too tight by doing so i.e.. NOT a figure-hugging body-con pencil skirt. Though you can of course start with a figure hugging pencil skirt pattern; keep the waistline and just grade the side seams out at the hips to give you the pocket room you need… allow around 12cm at least of extra ease at the hips from a pencil skirt starting point.

My pictures demonstrate a skirt opening at the LEFT hip… for a right hip opening just flip sides!

The pocket (below, at right) has the same top and side edge as your skirt front piece, and the pocket bag (at left) has the slanting opening edge. This slanting edge should be cut identically on the each of the topside edges of the skirt front itself also… If you’re drafting your own just ensure it has the width to accommodate your hands. Also, the waistband is going to overlap at the top of the pocket… so cut the waistband piece long enough to go around your waist, plus at least the width of the pocket bag top edge.

For the L pocket only: mark with a pin a point A on both pocket and pocket bag pieces as indicated here, roughly 12cm (5″) from the top edge.

Finish the raw edge above this point. I have finished mine with a bound HongKong finish, however a skinny hem or overlocking is perfectly fine.

Stitch pocket bags to each side of the skirt front along those slanting opening edges.

Press seam allowance open, grade seam allowances, re-press all seam allowances towards pocket bag, under stitch, press pocket bag under. At this point, pocket bag and skirt can be basted together along the top edge.

Pin under-pocket piece to pocket bag piece along unfinished curve edge. Stitch from point A to the side edge. Note: the R pocket is pinned in the same way, and stitched along the entire pocket edge to the top edge.

Finish seam allowances. R pocket edge can be finished along the entire seam, L pocket must be left open above point A

For a HongKong finish, leave a little tail which can be turned under and enclosed within the binding as shown in the following pictures…

Stitch a bar tack at point A to reinforce and strengthen the pocket opening,

Align the skirt front/pocket bag over the under-pocket, keeping the finished edges together. … and baste all three pieces together along the side seam below the slanted pocket opening. This is the skirt front, finished, at this point join skirt fronts and backs together along the side seams. Above the slanted pocket opening, the skirt back is stitched only to the under pocket piece for both R and L sides.

Attach waistband to the top of skirt, commencing from the skirt front/L pocket bag edge, encircling the waist and extending past the L side seam taking in the top of the LH pocket piece also.

Hand slipstitch the waistband facing inside in the normal way, and stitch press studs and/or a wide hook and eye on the waistband overlap…

Ta da!!

Details:

Skirt; modified Vogue 8363, upholstery fabric; worn with:

(at top)

Drape-y top; the loose draped top from “drape drape”, by Hisako Sato, details here
Hat: Vogue 8844, ivory corduroy, details and my review of this pattern here

(below)

Tee; modified Nettie, Closet Case patterns, details here
Cardigan; my own design modifications of Nettie, Closet Case patterns, details here
Raincoat; Kelly anorak, Closet Case patterns, details here
Shoes; made by me and my own design, details here

the skirt is a little longer here… This was its first length and is how I wore it for its maiden voyage… and then I took one look at my pictures and thought, hmmmmm. I don’t know if it’s just on me, but I find knee length skirts are an instant frumpify-er… I like them to be EITHER a few inches above my knee OR to be full midi length, halfway down my calves, every time I’ve gone for a middling length I’ve regretted it. Like, it’s gotta be one extreme or the other… but NEVER in between! I think it’s just right now!

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Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: daily outfit, pocket, skirt, tutorial, Vogue 8363

not another striped tee

21/10/2017 10:04 am \ 29 Comments \ Carolyn

New Inari tee, sort of.

I bought this striped fabric from Fabulous Fabrics at the same time that I bought the striped fabric for my zebra striped skirt… that I made nearly two years ago… oops! I was going to make a matched set.. but I got distracted, as you do and just never made the top. I have now, obviously. Finally.

dressing to match your puppy. it’s a thing, ok?

Not sure if the skirt and top look too… er, costume-y together?? Is it just me or are stripes feeling just a shade on the side of… last year? Not that I don’t like stripes or anything… I DO! we’ve all bought into the stripe-hype that stripes are a neutral and go with EVERYTHING for years now… but everything runs its course. Not to mention, and speaking as a seamster, they’re an absolute pain in the bottom to sew. Crazily; I bought enough of this striped fabric to make a Named patterns Inari tee dress for Cassie, but I don’t think I have the intestinal fortitude to face two entire dress-lengthed striped side seams right now. I need time to recover.

failing to match my puppy

Modifications: I redid those blasted striped side seams several times… but I think it was worth it in the end. Behold, attempt number one. The stripes are all matched perfectly fine, but the V-ness they make as the side seam tapers outwards looks kinda weird.

so I unpicked those perfectly matched stripes, sobbing only just a little bit, re-pinned and restitched. Hallelujah for the cropped-ness of the Inari!! shorter side seam, naturally; phew. Now, my side seams still taper outwards some in the spirit of the Inari, but the angle is more subtle, and I just think the way the stripes are now is visually a lot more pleasing to the eye.

My other alteration was my now usual one to widen each of the sleeve hemline and the cuff by a good 10cm (4″) using this method described here.

ON another note; I actually made everything I am wearing in all these pictures, including my shoes… not something that happens all the time now my Year of Handmade is over, but just every now and again 🙂

Details: (above, with striped skirt)

Top; modified Inari tee by Named patterns, with modifications, slightly spongy striped knit
Striped skirt (above): Vogue 1247, striped woven, details here
Denim shoes (above); made by me, details here; these are getting pretty old now, which is making me sad 🙁

Details: (top picture, with floral skirt)

Floral skirt: Vogue 2894, floral cotton lined with purple
Black clogs; made by me, details here

So that’s it! I decided to wear it with my red floral skirt, for its maiden voyage into the city today to meet my friend J for lunch… the stripes/floral combo still feels fresh and springy to me and I really love it. Cassie came around later in the evening, coincidentally wearing her little cottages Inari tee that I’d made for her! and mentioned that she really loved this outfit. Oooh, praise from a daughter; that’s high praise!!

location: Elizabeth Quay, Perth