Handmade by Carolyn

unselfish sewing

01/08/2016 2:21 pm \ 15 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello! just a few quick items for today… I’ve actually been sewing a few things for other people! Scary stuff, huh. I mean, it’s one thing that I can see all my own flaws in things I make for myself, and on a daily basis! but that’s kinda the rough with the smooth, you accept that because it’s all your own doing, all your own fault and you can tell yourself you’re “learning” and going to do better next time haha…. but to subject another person to those flaws … well that’s really exposing yourself. ok, you know what I mean…

Anyway, you just do it; and only partly because you have more than enough clothes for yourself yet still have the desire to MAKE. Ok, then, mostly because of that 😉

Fortunately, everyone in my life is kind and sweet and appreciative, and usually only murmur kind, sweet and appreciative things about the clothing I ~~force~~ bestow upon them. I’m so lucky to have such polite people in my life!

Anyway, item number one above; a skirt for Cassie. Pattern is Butterick 5488, a pattern she’s used for herself several times already. It’s a great little pattern, with nine variations. Yep, NINE. Sure, they’re all near identical, but still. What’s not to love about that.

Fabric; the small portion of leftover paisley jacquard leftover from my paisley shoes, here; I only had a teeny amount left, so I paired it with some rather nice, black pleather that has a realistically distressed texture and a nice dull sheen to it. Also an exposed jeans zip, this is also a leftover of sorts, when buying the zips for my recent khaki army jacket I bought one too many. So ta da! and it feels good for it to find a home so quickly and harmoniously blending in so nicely with the deluxe and somewhat opulent feel of the fabrics together. I love I love how it all comes together in this skirt! heavy-duty brass, the richness of paisley, the edginess of leather.
This is the first time I’ve put an exposed zip in a skirt with lining, and wasn’t totally sure how to do it; I put the zip in similarly to how you’d do a welt pocket, and then hand-stitched the lining to the zip tape on the inside. I cut the bottom edge of the pleather clean and straight with my rotary cutter and left it unhemmed; and hemmed the paisley portions in a deep 4cm hem by hand. The skirt is fully lined with raspberry polyacetate, itself a leftover from my toasty autumn dress here. So this skirt is nearly all from scraps and leftovers! yay!!

When lining a skirt that doesn’t come with lining pattern pieces, I usually use the shell pattern pieces; splicing them together and cutting them a bit oversized for some ease in there. I omit stitching darts, instead folding the excess in a pleat as pictured here. Also nearly always zooming the side seams up on the machine at a million miles an hour like a rabid bat out of hell… whoops, of course I meant to say; slowly and sedately and ever so carefully #NOT *blush*Item number two; a hoodie for my son’s girlfriend. I had made this striped hoodie for Tim last Christmas; and intended for Kelly’s hoodie to sorta match his; there were some leftovers and I bought some co-ordinating striped fabric to go with the small amount I had leftover from his hoodie.

I was very pleased with how it turned out, and almost wanted to keep it! hehe just kidding… of course I made it for her, she looks great in the navy blue, and the stripes; and I think it suits her beautifully. Also, don’t they look really nice together?

awwwwww

Pattern is KwikSew 3667. This really is a lovely pattern; I’ve used the hood pattern multiple times to add a hood to things that didn’t have a hood, and wanted one. And I also had my own once upon a time; my Hoodie McCloud that I really loved wearing for a long time. Cassie borrowed it once and… yeah, so pretty much it’s been hers ever since. You know, when your daughter wears something of yours, and of course she looks a thousand times better in it than you? So of course you just give it to her… *sigh* I really should make myself a replacement…

Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: Butterick 5488, Cassie, hoodie, Kelly, KwikSew 3667, skirt

khaki Tosti jacket

28/07/2016 6:38 pm \ 87 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello!
For ages I’ve wanted to replace my old beloved khaki ripstop army-style jacket… I LOVED that thing and even did a 6 different ways post on it once. At some point I decided I’d made the sleeves just a smidgeon too short so with some sadness passed it on to Cassie. Who loves it equally, and wears it often… and I found myself pining for it all over again whenever I saw her wearing it!

Finally I’ve got around to making another one for ME!

I just adore jackets with tonnes of hardware and detailing, like zips and lots of different bits and bobs and interesting pockets. So set about planning for this one to be chockablock with loads of that sort of thing. I considered using the same Burda pattern I used for the previous one, but I had to make lots of additions/adjustments to that in order to make it the complex, feature-laden army-style jacket that I wanted, which is fine! but since making that one, lots of great patterns have popped up with all those features already incorporated into the pattern. Eventually I settled upon the Tosti utility coat pattern by Yuki of Waffle Patterns, it had the detachable hood, the belt, tabs, the front zip placket for a separating zip, multitudes of pockets, in fact: everything I wanted. I was really attracted to the variety of different pockets it had and was pretty determined to use each and every one of them in my jacket. There are six different types of pockets! an inner breast pocket, a sleeve pocket, two options for breast pockets and two options for hip pockets, and I used ’em all. Cassie thought I was loopy putting four different pockets on the front of the jacket, but I stubbornly ploughed ahead because I love that mishmash look… I know you’re not supposed to do ALL of them with the pattern, but I just wanted it!

Beware; pocket overload approaching…

Breast pockets:(L) inner welt pocket with flap; and (R) inner pocket with exposed zip closure

Hip pockets; (L) bellows pocket with patch flap; and (R) patch pocket with exposed zip closure

(left) patched sleeve pocket with exposed zip closure; and (right) inner breast pocket with double welt

The fabrics: the khaki cotton ripstop was from some online fabric store in the US; and I can’t remember its name, sorry! My neighbour Meggipeg and I went in together with a joint order. The fabric was priced reasonably, but postage was horrendously and shockingly expensive… the trap!!… but at least I got the ripstop so that’s ok. One of the saddest things ever is when Spotlight ceased stocking this stuff *sob*

The plaid cotton flannelette I used for lining and all zips were from Spotlight, and I had to visit two stores to find them all! and the copper press studs were from both KnitWit and Spotlight Yes, I had to visit a coupla stores to get enough of those too! The belt buckle was harvested from an old belt. Originally, I had decided I would put thin black fleece interlining in my jacket for some warmth, but once I had the lining made up I realised I wouldn’t need it. The jacket is pretty warm enough already, and truthfully, if it was any warmer it actually wouldn’t be all that useful in our climate.

There is tonnes of topstitching all over, so satisfied that part of me that adores precision sewing. I’m that weirdo that LOVES topstitching! and am pretty much totally and blissfully happy when I’m hunched over the machine, chugging along; churning out lines upon lines of precise, neatly and evenly spaced, stitching. The wonderful thing about this ripstop is that the little squares in the weave of the fabric make precision stitching and lining up pieces to be perfectly square very very easy.

(L) belt loop; (R) shoulder tab. Press studs from kits bought in KnitWit and Spotlight

(L) collar with press studs for hood, (R) wrist tabs

No one will ever see or notice this but me, but the plaid lining matches up all the way around #patternmatchingfreak

The lining appears a bit “blowsy” in this picture, due extra ease in the lining… many of the lining/shell seams have you make folds/pleats in the lining when stitching the lining to the shell, to account for the extra length.

I’d cut a plaid lining for the hood too but decided upon a self-lined hood. Less jarring in appearance when the hood is worn down. Which, let’s face it, it most usually is!

Opening zip, and placket with press studs; (below) self-lined hood

I also made the belt, using a buckle harvested from off an old belt of Tim’s, and eyelets from a kit from Spotlight

I posted lots of these progress pictures on instagram also, so I’m sorry for the doubling up. But; you know instagram; it’s fabulous and I love it, but stuff gets “lost” in no time there since it’s not that easy going back to see things you posted a year ago…so I’m reproducing all those pictures here. I know a lot of us seamsters have migrated pretty solidly to instagram now; in fact it seems fewer and fewer people are reading blogs and it could be that blogging like this is dead or at least heading towards comatose. I mean, let’s be honest, how many people actually click over when you see the words “on the blog now, link in profile”? Precious few… and that’s just the way of things, times change, people now are of the moment and often are only interested in one quick visual; and that’s all absolutely fine and ok and completely understandable. I think though that I will still keep on with writing this blog anyway, just for my own benefit. I want to keep going for the same reasons I started it; as a record of all my sewing projects, because I can search for and look up older things up here, and you can’t really do that over on instagram all that easily.

Hmmm, well that was a bit of a diversion there, sorry! I’m writing a review of this pattern, but no point in reading it really. It’s pretty glowing, because I absolutely LOVE this pattern; I thoroughly enjoyed making my jacket, and am totally enamoured of the final product. Fair dinkum; I’m going to wear this to rags.

Fun fact; after a week of FREEZING cold weather.. today, the day after I finished this jacket and wanted to wear it for the first time; of course today was then an unseasonably warm day. Naturally!! But you know what? I wore it anyway, mwahahaha. Unco-operative weather! pfffft! see what I care! I wore it, and I roasted. And I loved every minute of it!!

Details:

Jacket; the Tosti utility jacket by Waffle patterns, khaki cotton ripstop with plaid, brushed cotton lining
striped Tshirt; self drafted, details here
Skirt; Vogue 1247, cotton corduroy, originally yellow and dyed brown, details here
Tights, self-drafted, black stretch, details here
Shoes; made by me, details here

Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: daily outfit, jacket, pattern review, Sienna, tosti jacket, waffle patterns

something 80’s

24/07/2016 10:23 am \ 17 Comments \ Carolyn

So; like, we were going to this 80’s themed party, and, like, EVERYONE in this particular group always dresses up to the max! Not dressing the part would be heinous! and of course I had to be fully self-made, ‘cos of my challenge. Also, like, I had to be warm. It’s like the middle of flipping’ winter! Like, duh!

So … remember…. ? Flashdance…? Fame…? Yep, a baggy-rific parade of dancercise warmup gear, headbands, leg warmers *shudders* I remember it well, oh how I remember it oh too TOO well.

Fortunately, or maybe not so fortunately? I had nearly all the components, already. Dear god. My red jumper is the real 80’s deal, that I knitted for my husband, way back then, and blogged here. I purloined it from our old, knitted stash. Slipping in here…. I now never ever throw away hand-knits. I’m embarrassed to say that I have actually thrown away nearly everything I knitted in my childhood and teens, and how I regret it. Some of that stuff was actually great. Like, I’m so sure!!

I am also wearing my black Carolyn pyjama shorts, my raspberry tights, my paprika bodysuit, my neon green arm warmers – gotta have some fluoro in there, somewhere!, and my little soft, black oxford shoes, that pass for dance shoes, in a pinch. I certainly boogied and grape-vined my little 80’s-lovin’ heart out in them last night and they stood up to the challenge beautifully, thank goodness. I’m always inordinately pleased when my handmade shoes prove themselves! You little beauteeeeeehs!

I’m also wearing pseudo leg warmers and a purple headband, made from some old Tshirts languishing in my refashioning bag. For the leg warmers, I kept the old hem in place, and used this as the casing for some elastic, to hold them up on my legs. Neat, huh? No need to sew a new casing!

And of course, the Ponytail, and the Rayban Wayfarers. Oh yeah. Mandatory stuff. Oh yeah. And, naturally, I wore my sunglasses at night.

Everyone’s costumes were so much fun: there was a Warwick Capper; laugh!! and John McEnroe… actually TONNES of mullets in general… a David Lee Roth, a Lene Lovich, a Frankie goes to Hollywood dude, a Pretty Woman, a few girls dressed similarly to me, lots of Valley Girls. My husband was a pastel-perfect Miami Vice style dude. And the music was a fun-filled, boppy trip down memory lane. A totally righteous time was had!

Posted in: fashion, sewing \ Tagged: fancy dress

the year of handmade, 5

23/07/2016 4:30 pm \ 11 Comments \ Carolyn

Ello ello ello!

Another month, another roundup. Five months… done! Above are just some of my favourite outfits for over the past month, the whole lot can be seen in my Year of Handmade Flickr album, here.

Hmmm, what to say, what to say. OK, what I would really like to say is this; thank you so much to everyone who is showing an interest in my challenge here, and taking the time to leave the occasional comment saying so! I really do appreciate each and every comment. I’m really excited by the number of people saying they would like to do the same thing one day 🙂

There’s not really much that’s new to say about my challenge per se, which is chuffing along just fine. I really do have plenty of clothes and now shoes too, to be able to go all me-made for the entire year. I don’t have much doubts anymore that I’m going to be able to do it, not anymore 🙂

What else… maybe I could say something fluffy here about dressing for winter…

So; winter, my least favourite season. I loathe being cold and wet, and pine for warmer weather. However, I do like dressing for winter. It’s probably the only thing that makes cold weather tolerable to me! joking, but only a little. I mean, I love dressing for hot weather too, of course, mostly because I love everything about hot weather… but dressing for cold weather IS a lot more fun I think. Reason being; you have so many more options for mixing and matching colours and styles and so you can be far more creative. In summer you can just toss on a little dress and boom! done; you’re ready to go. This is easy and fun, but I do find I get really bored with all my summer dresses by the end of it. During winter, with loads more components and therefore combinations in an outfit; it’s more interesting and you’re not so likely to get bored with your things. I reckon I could probably go all winter mixing and matching stuff and possibly not repeat an outfit* Ergo, it’s a much more exciting time of year in which to get dressed.

To take a couple of examples… in my compilation above; I’m wearing each my purple Jade skirt and my charcoal twist top twice, in different outfits each time. Oh, and my ivory sweater. And the raspberry scarf. They’re all such great basics in my winter wardrobe this year, my most worn pieces! and all are getting mixed and matched a TONNE. In fact, it was impossible for me to find six outfits in which I was not wearing at least a few things twice, in the six outfits. Not counting my gloves, my winter boots and black tights of course, which are doing constant duty! Point being; my winter wardrobe is not huge and things get repeated all the time BUT each and every outfit will still be a different combination of things. Mixing and matching my clothes is just one little shred of winter that I find to be fun and enjoyable. Yeah 🙂

Hey, you take what you can get! Roll on, spring!

*Does that mean I have too many clothes? Hmmm, probably; but then I love fashion and I love to sew so that is possibly always going to be a problem. If you can call it a problem!

Posted in: fashion \ Tagged: year of handmade

laced up at the heel (shoes)

21/07/2016 8:11 pm \ 28 Comments \ Carolyn

I made some new shoes! and they lace up at the back of the heel.

Yah, sorta weird… It’s not often you see shoes laced up at the back of the foot, well never, actually! Seems a fiddly awkward place for the laces, however I can slip them on and off without untying the little bow, which is pretty useful.

I’m so happy with my shoe-making lately, I feel like I’ve actually “got it” down pat at last. The making is easier for me, they’re staying together well, and feel sturdy and comfy on my feet and like they can withstand the knocks. My winter boots were the ones that kinda sealed the deal for me. LOVE THOSE THINGS SO MUCH!!!

And I’m very happy with these ones too. I reckon they’re going to be great come spring. The colour, the shape, the style; all very classic and basic but I think they’re kinda fun too. I like how they’re all plain and modern from the front view, and at the back view has that funny little mediaeval leather lace-up.

The pattern and design is my own. The fabric is some beige suedette-faced upholstery fabric, given to me by my good friend A who was having some bench seating recovered. She kindly gave me some of the offcuts, and it’s actually brilliant stuff for shoes! Tough, yet pliable and with that nice fuzzy suede surface but without the high maintenance of real suede. I’ve cut off a bit of a length, because I reckon that it might come up good if spray painted too… which opens a whole new and colourful world to me, shoe-wise. Excited! and no, I still haven’t got up the courage to cut into my Icelandic fish leather yet. I don’t know why I’m still scared of doing that, but I am! Maybe I’ll manage it before my Year of Handmade is up!

The shoe laces were cut off from some of these caramel leather laces, the leather strips I bought in Japan. As shoe laces those strips were quite long… far too long really, which is terrific. Means I can get another pair of short laces out of each set!

I lined the shoes with some very thin, pale gold suedette from Spotlight, the same type of stuff I’ve lined all my other shoes with, and the exact same stuff as my paisley oxfords. I glued the layers together with PVA, and have also hand-stitched the layers together around the opening edges in beige upholstery thread, for a more finished look.

Inside is a foam inner sole, covered with the lining fabric for a neat, co ordinating look. I made the toe puffs and heels counters with stretch cotton denim as for all my previous shoes, as described in this post here.

btw, I’ve received several emails asking me for tips on how to make shoes… thank you to all those who are showing an interest in my adventure! I still consider myself a beginner, or maybe an advanced beginner, but I am always happy to help others by sharing what I’ve learnt along the way. Please, if you do want my tips and advice then read through my posts on shoe-making, it’s already all laid out there! I don’t see a lot of point in writing it all out twice; although I am considering a step-by-step on making a pair of shoes. Possibly in video format. I’ll see how I go 🙂

The back seam, where the laces are, is not super neat… it was actually quite hard to sew this part and to gauge how this was going to lie on the finished shoe… not to mention forming the shoe and installing the heel counters. I ended up having to take it off and sew the back heel seam temporarily to make the shoe, and then carefully unpicked it and re-finished the top edge of the seam and re-sewing the edges again by hand. The hand stitching and that general sort of lumpy-bumpiness going on at the back of the shoes definitely adds that “handmade” look to them. LOL! but I can live with that. After all they ARE handmade! 🙂

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

Purple-y top

16/07/2016 11:21 am \ 17 Comments \ Carolyn

Here I am, waiting for the ferry to head off into town, and so I took a quick, in-the-wild photo of my new top. Thanks, random bench! for being a good little makeshift tripod, and I don’t mind at all that you snuck into my photo!

OK. Remember how I said I had enough of the purple-y, wine-coloured silk/linen knit leftover after making this skirt for a little matching top? except with contrasting sleeves? well ok yeah; that explains the whole project, actually. Probably no need for me to babble on any longer!

Well, maybe just the bare details…

Fabric; silk/linen knit from KnitWit. Black pleather for the sleeves from Spotlight, leftover from some of my shoes and my moto jacket.

Pattern; the epaulette cut and sewn, pattern 4 from “she has a mannish style” by Yuko Takada. I just wanted a loose-ish, boxy kind of a plain Tshirt, fairly featureless. I have a pretty good, tried and true, woven Tshirt pattern that I tend to use, NewLook 6483; but I really wanted something with no bust shaping darts. I really really like the Named Inari tee pattern, which is super popular in the sewing community right now; for a good reason of course! however since I had this book already I thought I’d give the epaulette tee a whirl as a possible Inari tee stand-in. So I traced it up and boom…. done. Super easy. And I really like it! and will no doubt use the same pattern again. 🙂

The only variation I made was to leave off the eponymous epaulettes, haha. Maybe next time…

Finishing nitty gritty: 1) I left off the facings, and just overlocked the raw edge then stitched down a simple seam allowance inside the neckline. Simple, neat, and not bulky at all.

2) Pleather sleeve edges were clean cut using my rotary cutter and left raw.

3) Lower hemline; turned under twice in a deep hem and hand stitched;

So that’s it! Simple easy, unexciting, but then again the most useful things often are. Leftovers and scraps, so basically “free”… yay! I really like the sleeves, and hopefully they do add just some little bit of je nais se quois… and don’t just look like a random add-on because, you know; not enough fabric.

Details:

Top; top 4, the epaulette tee, from She Has a Mannish Style by Yuko Takada. The English translation re-named this book She Wears the Pants, and I’ve previously ranted here on my blog about what a bad, bad, or at least awfully misleading title this is; since the book contains very few patterns for any actual pants. grrr
Skirt; the Jade skirt by Paprika Patterns, same purple knit, details here
Bodysuit (under) the Nettie by Closet Case patterns, black stretch, details here
Gloves; hand knitted by me using a 60’s pattern, charcoal merino, details here
Tights; my own design, black stretch, details here and my tutorial for making your own custom-fit tights pattern is here
Boots; made by me, details here

Posted in: knitting, sewing \ Tagged: daily outfit, She Has a Mannish Style, She Wears the Pants, top

blush pink twist top

10/07/2016 9:09 pm \ 23 Comments \ Carolyn

Ok, so; new top. Running down ye checklist…

It’s blush pink. Blush pink is so hot right now! Note; ticks “colour so trendy it hurts” box

It’s twisty. Twisted is ME! Note; ticks “my kinda thing” box

Do I need it? well, it’s still winter and freezing cold and the thing is; I still do not have very many long sleeved Tshirts. If I had a wardrobe gap, and of course I don’t really have a wardrobe gap since I sew for myself… anyway, IF I had a wardrobe gap then long sleeved Tshirts would be the nearest thing to it. Note; ticks “useful and needed thing” box.

Pattern, the twist top from Pattern Magic, the conceptual fabric and pattern manipulation book by Tomoko Nakamichi. This is my fifth version of the twist top, it’s another one of those patterns which I seem to make up a new one every year. Previous versions are here, here, here and here. With the exception of version one, which was my wearable muslin and which I eventually threw out because the fabric was too thin to suit the design really, I wear all of them quite frequently in winter and LOVE them.

Fabric; a ponte, slightly sponge-y and with a crinkle-y, crepe-y textured surface, from Fabulous Fabrics. And, even though blush pink is NOT my colour and I can already hear my mum telling me NO! Carolyn, pink does you NO favours! well blush pink is a big trend for spring and I just kinda wanted it, illogically and randomly. Something trendy and up to the minute. This one may not turn out to be a staple like its big sisters because, you know; Me, plus Pink, equals “oh my god are you ok? you look so tired…” but there’s no doubt it will get at least a few outings this winter and spring. Hey, I can always dye it 🙂

Details:

Top, the twist top, from the Japanese pattern book Pattern Magic, by Tomoko Nakamichi
Jeans; Burda 7863, ivory stretch denim, details here and my review of this pattern here
Shearling jacket; McCalls 5276, details here
Gloves; knitted by me, details here
Socks, knitted by me, details here
Desert boots; made by me, details here

Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: daily outfit, Pattern Magic, Sienna, top

a toasty autumn-y dress

29/06/2016 3:54 pm \ 35 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made another dress. Just right now, I’m fully into dress/skirt wearing, tending to pluck them from the wardrobe with barely scant regard to the several nice pairs of jeans in there. I dunno why, since it’s winter, and you’d think I would want to be wearing jeans, but that’s just the way it is. Of course I reserve the right to become a jeans fanatic again without notice, anytime down the track.
I have a perfectly good reason for a new winter dress… I’m meeting with a bunch of sewing ladies this Friday and you know what that means…. YES! must sew something new to wear. Can’t just wear any old thing, hmmmm? Aaah, the pressure! Sewing meet ups nearly always require new clothing, yes? No worries, I’m totally on to it. Note to self; need lots more sewing meet ups #kidding #kindof

The pattern is Vogue 1316, a favourite which I have made twice before, each time with the addition of deep pockets (above) hidden under that long diagonal front curved band. (see my advice for adding pockets to the design illustrated here). I seem to be in the habit of making a new one every year! but that’s not totally a surprise since I’ve unequivocally loved the design from the very first version. I also seem to be in the habit of always making it in corduroy! which is kinda funny since I actually have plans for several different experiments using this pattern, none of which involve corduroy at all. I should get onto those, tout de suite. Maybe I should realise another one, and there’ll be two new Vogue 1316’s this year? Oh, I think so; yes, I do think so…

This one is all wide-wale cotton corduroy from Spotlight, with an invisible zip from Spotlight, and the dress is fully lined in burgundy polyacetate lining fabric found in my stash, originally from Fabulous Fabrics.

Well, for now I’m just going to enjoy mixing and matching this new one into the current wardrobe repertoire. The warm toasty colours are going to go with lots of things I currently have, I think.

the colours in sunlight

Ok, seeya! soon I’m off to meet sewing ladies! and to look at fabric! and wool! and eat yummy stuff! #it’satoughlife

Wooot

Details:

Dress; Vogue 1316, cotton corduroy, my review of this pattern here
Tights; self-drafted, black stretch stuff, details here and my tutorial for making your own custom fit tights pattern is here
Boots; made by me, details here

LATER EDIT: 3 years later and the dress got a facelift! a rejuvenating dunk into a crimson dye bath… I’d been feeling like that apricot in particular was a bit in-your-face in a colour-clashing sort of a way and a crimson dye-bath has united the colours so they meld in together so much more nicely now. Feels like a new dress!