Handmade by Carolyn

Sagittarius

16/11/2013 7:44 am \ 84 Comments \ Carolyn

… the sign of the centaur/archer.
My new dress doesn’t have a centaur, but it does have the next best thing… a horse! Plus; the requisite bow. And two arrow(head tab)s.

Ha! (mutters sotto voce) nailed it… 😀
This is made using pattern number 35, from Patrones 7, a magazine given to me by Merche in a little exchange we did last year; thanks Merche! Cassie got to the magazine first and made this little top, and now I have something from it too 🙂

Um, so the dress turned out very… retro, I think. This was not the effect I was going for, btw. I was going for modern and summery. I think I got WW2 era and autumnal. Slip on a handknit woolly cardigan, put flesh-coloured nylons on my pegs, sensible brogues or wellies on my feet and victory curls in my hair; and this is exactly the kind of ensemble my grandmother would have worn as a young Englishwoman in the 40’s. I didn’t think the pattern “looked” retro when I picked it for my dress, in fact I thought it rather modern and timeless. Funny thing. Seriously I have no idea what happened, twixt design and execution, but something sartorially timewarp-y happened.

The fabric is a mustard silk crepe, originally from Tessuti’s in Melbourne? I think? I spray-printed a negative-space horse on the front skirt, and random spots all over the remainder of the dress pieces. The dress is fully lined with silvery grey silk habotai from Fabulous Fabrics. The greyness of the lining filled me with anxiety at first. I could have got a perfect colour match if I’d chosen polyacetate lining but I had my heart set on silk habotai and grey was the least offensive choice. I just went for it… and y’know? I’ve worn it a couple of times, and am so glad I did go with allover silk, because it is seriously sooo beautiful to wear! We had 34C yesterday, and no kidding I felt like I was wearing nothing, the silk habotai is sheer heaven; divinely light-as-air and fluttery and slinkily gorgeous against the skin.

Also; the colour. (Sings) love it! This project was an obvious contender for my swap, but I’m not going to count it since something else is going to be my one allowed thing before Christmas. But of course the excellent thing is that both the colour and the style of the dress will fit in beautifully with my autumn wardrobe too. And I can just enjoy wearing it on its own for now. Yay!

The bodice is cut on grain, but the skirt pieces are cut on the bias.
Bias cut silk; for both dress and lining. So yeah, ok; bias cut dresses look great and hang gorgeously, but they hog the fabric like nobody’s business and make for a dang masochistic sewing project! Now I remember why I only make these very occasionally 😉
I sewed all seams as French seams, using strips of tissue paper to prevent those bias side edges from stretching out. The closure is by invisible zip in the left side seam, and I stabilised the bias edge first by stitching a strip of the silk habotai selvedge to the seam allowance, like so. Before hemming I left it hanging up for five days, and it was interesting that the bias didn’t drop out very much. But it did just a bit; just enough to reiterate the old rule of thumb; yes, always hang a bias cut garment for several days before hemming!

I hand-sewed the sleeves and lower hem in a narrow rolled hem, but I got lazy with the lining and just whizzed it up on the machine. Not a total masochist, then!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, dress, Patrones 35-7, printing, Sienna

Wardrobe planning…

14/11/2013 8:43 am \ 38 Comments \ Carolyn

…or a more playful and therefore more apt title would be; Fun with Fashionary! I’ve been planning for my 11 piece SWAP and doodling and colouring-in like it’s going out of, um, fashion? 🙂
Fashionary have released a new sketch panel, which I am using to map out my autumn/winter sewing for next year. Autumn/winter seems a looooong way off, but winter stuff is generally more time-consuming, plus I reckon it’s a good idea to put in just a bit of thought. Summer is easy; handful of little dresses, bob’s your uncle. A winter wardrobe needs to be mix and match-able since you want to be able to layer everything without your ensemble looking like a dog’s dinner. Thus, planning…

The new Fashionary sketching panel contains two pads; one is for garments alone, the other has the familiar croquis marked for on-the-body fashion sketching; and I used both! A new feature is that there are some side view croquis. Although I actually didn’t make use of it this time, I think having the option of a side view could really come in handy.

The sketch panels are a workaday version of the Fashionary sketchbook; comprising loose sheets of perforated, concertina-ed pages and are an excellent tool for the sort of informal playing-with-ideas kind of brainstorming that comes with putting together a cohesive collection… particularly if you are like me and couldn’t bear the thought of ripping pages from out of your lovely hardbound Fashionary sketchbook. The panel comes in one of three different designs; women’s, men’s and there is now a children’s version. I have the women’s version, natch! Included is a card with examples of flat sketching samples, to help you in drawing realistic and well-detailed garments if, like me, you can’t really draw to save yourself, and a page on which to record an complete set of custom body measurements. Very helpful! Each set has 8 panels, with 9 pages per panel, and with the templates printed on both sides, so there’re plenty to play with. A whole tonne of really inspiring fashion artwork created using the Fashionary notebooks can be viewed on the Fashionary site, here and here
Planning a wardrobe collection way ahead is very sensible! and y’know what? I enjoyed it… I checked out my fabric stash, then sketched out each of my garment/fabric/pattern ideas, and dealt them out on the table like playing cards to see how everything worked together and see what stood out like a sore thumb. I had a couple of early definites that got discarded at this point when I could see quite plain and clearly that they were not going to work with anything else. Too often, I make something that I think is going to be omg so useful, only to find that; um, it doesn’t actually go with anything else. Mixing and matching sketches of my little collection was an educational rehearsal. I grouped and regrouped and pulled out the ideas that didn’t fit in. Once it was whittled down I stuck them onto the wall behind my sewing machine, to keep me motivated and on the right track to get them all done. Well that’s the plan!

So, the Chosen Ones are…

Two of the things in my plan are a patchworked tweed wool skirt and a mustard cropped jacket, represented as such in the top picture but drawn back to front in the above picture because I’m dithering on those and may swap those two around. Undecided on that one… but optimistic about everything else. The olive ensemble at lower left is a proposed Alabama Chanin project. Also, there are two plain lightweight white shirts in the eleven things. That might sound generic and boring, but I reach for a plain little white top a heckuva lot and so I need lots of them!

As per the swap rules I’m aiming for the eleven garments to be sewn between Christmas and the end of April. This may or may not actually happen 🙂 It’s an experiment. I may be all like, ooh this is easy!; breezing through the list happily and without disaster… or I may be like, what the heck was I thinking, everything’s totally hideous!! *bale* I don’t do that much, but I don’t wanna jinx myself here. Disasters do happen. Eleven sounds ambitious, but then it is probably no more than I would make in that time anyway. It’s doable.
Between now and then I will make a few more summery dresses and things for myself to supplement my summer wardrobe, plus there’s Christmas sewing to think about!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: book review, Fashionary, SWAP

yesterday…

09/11/2013 7:30 am \ 40 Comments \ Carolyn

… I received a belated birthday present from Mum and Dad.
woa. Further experiments in, effectively, creating your own fabric designs. Eye candy, indeed. It’s rare for me to get this excited about a(nother) sewing book. Ha ha! well, we all know that’s a lie… beautiful fabrics? a concept that is but always going to reel me in, the proverbial hook, line and all.
Prior to my birthday, Mum had offhandedly asked me: did I like embellishments? Embellishments. A concept that has gained a bad rep, thanks to scrappy leftovers rosettes, and sweatshirts sporting appliqued quilting cotton prints outlined in squiggle paint. I world-wearily said no. But I’ve changed my tune now. This is the new and improved version of embellishment, a modern and yet still authentic approach.
Appetite whetters include…

my favourite..

no, actually this is my favourite

no, wait, this is ..

oh hang on a sec… this

omg, shut the front door! gorgeous!

I would dearly love to get into this. Could I incorporate some of these ideas into my mini wardrobe plans?? hmmmm, possibly. *rubs chin, glint in eyes* yes, quaite possibly.

(tagged “book review” but really this is just my first impression. I will write something more in-depth and intelligent once I’ve actually used the patterns and ideas in the book 🙂 )

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: alabama chanin, book review

Purple jeans; 6 different ways

06/11/2013 6:34 am \ 21 Comments \ Carolyn

My purple flares have been such favourites ever since they rolled off the sewing machine; an unlikely wardrobe staple. Who would’ve thunk purple jeans would turn out to be such useful things in my life?? Ask the ignorant old-me back then and she probably would have been doubtful… anyhow they have been and I’m rewarding them with a little retrospective.
I made them originally in 2011 using Burda 7863, and in addition to these outfits here they have appeared in a supporting role in several other of my 6 different ways posts too. A few of the following pics are from previous me-made months, some not…
Below, at left; worn with a rusty corduroy tunic top. Boy that top was gorgeously toasty warm. I need another one before next winter; at right; worn with a little self-scarfed top and my brindle knitted cardigan.

Below: at left; worn with a purple Tshirt and a hoodie refashioned from a pair of jeans, at centre; with a grey-dyed-yellow woollen top, and at right; with a plain white Tshirt and thongs on my feet. Admittedly uninspiring, but I included it because this latter outfit has pretty much been my lifetime uniform and so is probably the most “me” ensemble here!

Below: at left; tucked into biker boots and with a long white top and my f-leather jacket, At right; and yup, this one does make seven different ways but (shrug) I almost didn’t include this last picture, they’re on the saggy and baggy side and look a bit awful now, and so faded!!! but I guess that just shows how much they’ve been loved. Worn with my green jacket-thing (later dyed) and a raspberry jersey scarf.

Hmmm; what colour to make next, I wonder… ?

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: 6 different ways, Burda 7863, jeans

A horse, and other news

03/11/2013 7:40 am \ 27 Comments \ Carolyn

The lovely Yoshimi the Flying Squirrel will be literally flying! and over here! She has revealed her travel plans, so now I may say something too… I am thrilled to say that she is coming to visit me on her way to the bloggers meet-up in Melbourne. I will be so happy to see her again, and am super excited to show her around Perth! I’m planning for, and hoping that she will have a really wonderful time here, and I know she will have an absolutely brilliant and fun weekend at the Melbourne meetup with TJ and Maria and all the other Melbourne gals too. Exciting stuff! 😀

In current doings, I’ve been mucking about with fabric paint again today…

I bought this lightweight mustardy-chartreuse silk in ?Tessuti’s? I think? during my girly trip to Melbourne with Mum and Cassie last year and it’s been burning a hole in my conscience. I’ve reeeeally wanted to make something interesting with it but couldn’t think what and it was fast becoming too precious to cut up. Finally I’ve thought of something… hopefully this will turn out cool in the end.

My initial grand plan was of a more realistically shaded horse, with sharply defined edges outlining rippling equine muscles and tendrils of mane billowing gorgeously in the slipstream… those pie-in-the-sky ideas had to be abandoned when experiments revealed that the paint bled like the blazes on this silk. Oh well. Embrace the limitations, and all that! And a serendipitous one; since the splodgily abstract nature of my print brings to my mind the markings of an Appaloosa horse. Ok, I’m happy!

source

The technical blahdy-blah…

I drew my design, gave it a grid so I could enlarge it to a good size to fit my piece, and then traced it onto the fabric using water soluble pen, although tracing probably wasn’t necessary in the end. I mixed a hefty blob of black fabric paint into about 2 cups of water, in a plastic spray bottle… just one of those cheapies you see in the gardening section of the supermarket for your seedlings. Some experimenting was necessary to determine a good ratio, giving a solution that was thin enough to spray without clogging up the nozzle, and yet had enough paint to leave a mark on the fabric.

Cut out my stencil and sprayed away. I also sprayed the other pieces; and as lightly and as thinly as I could, painted in some mane and body contouring streaks with a paintbrush, separately.

This will be appearing in wearable form, tout de suite…

In other sewing news, I have decided that I might quietly do a stitchers guild SWAP this year. I’ve bought a few Australian Stitches magazines over the years and, like lots of people, Lynn Cook’s wardrobe planning was always my favourite bit. I discovered that following her example was an established sewing blog thing-to-do last year, with rules and a time frame and a competition as well! man, I’m so behind the times 🙂
Anyway, I’ve really admired everyone’s SWAP wardrobes, and thought that maybe my own rather random sewing efforts could do with a bit more planning… so sensible! a new concept for me 🙂 I might not actually enter my SWAP into the official competition… I mean, you are only allowed to make one thing before 26th December, whaaa??? don’t know if I can wait that long! But I do like the whole idea of following the rules and making a co-ordinating mini-wardrobe. So I’ll see how I go. The stash has been raided for some likely looking candidates and I’ve sketched out a plan of attack…
The horse-y fabric may or may not become the first “thing” 🙂

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: own design, printing, random life stuff, SWAP

the paper doll project

03/11/2013 7:19 am \ 8 Comments \ Carolyn

(I’ve pledged to wear only clothes handmade by me this year and to sketch my daily outfits in my Fashionary. I’m calling this; the paper doll project)

24th-27th October
from left:
powder blue silk tunic top and dress
blue bell-sleeved top, refashioned denim skirt
chequered elisalex, black faux snakeskin cardigan, black wool tights
coffee lace skirt, white trees top
sage-green/oyster white ball gown
sew bossy dress

28th October-2nd November
from left:
Aquarius dress
top with golden curls, ivory curtaining skirt
giant polka dots dress
coffee lace skirt, royal blue PM hoodie
billowy black shirt, little charcoal skirt
billowy white shirt, wedgwood blue damask skirt

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fashionary, paper-doll project

A pale set

31/10/2013 8:27 am \ 128 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made another new set of lingerie… fairly plain and simple and prosaic but that’s ok since plain, simple and prosaic are my middle names. Three more of my middle names, that is. I have lots of de facto middle names, deployed in this blog selectively and when it suits my purposes to describe the various facets of my personality and how it applies to my wardrobe.
*eye roll at self-craziness*
The bra has no foam insert, thus the sad, limp, popped-balloon kind of a look it has in its picture above… It does have an extra, underlining layer of cotton jersey in the lower bra cup which gives it a nice thickness. But no padding = no visual appeal, I do admit that. Droopy and deflated 🙁 It looks heaps better on an actual body.

The fabrics have all been in my stash for yonks; an ivory coloured cotton jersey (Spotlight) that I’ve also used for all my white Tshirts and a white stretch lace (Fabulous Fabrics). Also, white lingerie elastic and decorative mini-bows made using creamy-peach coloured ribbon. Unlike my previous lingerie set which was all yellow-y, the presence of pure white here enabled me to use the bright white rings and sliders on the straps of the bra. It’s a pain that Spotlight has such limited colour range; maybe I should get global and go internet-notion-shopping for other colours. Maybe…
I made the straps using this very pro-looking ivory lingerie strap elastic. I spotted it in Homecraft Textiles, and bought some to try it out.

yo, looks like a REAL bra!!

Pros; it looks real clean and neat, and gives the bra more of a professional RTW look, plus it is very strong and sturdy and feels like it will last for aaaaages, even possibly outlive the bra itself and be re-cycled for future bras too.
Cons; looks definitely “lingerie-y” if it was to peep out under a top, whereas I think a turned-out fabric strap looks like a little camisole and doesn’t scream “BRA!!!” quite so loudly. Plus it’s more expensive to buy notions like this as opposed to making your own straps from the same fabric as your bra. Oh well, I bought enough to make one more bra, sometime down the track.

I bought the white stretch lace to fix up these undies, and there was so little left on the roll at the time I just bought the rest. Fortunately, that happened to be just enough for the bra upper cup pieces and another pair of Tanga knickers. These knickers are the easiest thing in the world to make and they look super cute on, but I hated that awful seamed crotch in my first pair and ended up re-constructing the whole crotch… for this second pair I eliminated that crotch seam right from the word go. I cut both the lace crotch and the cotton jersey panty liner using the panty liner pattern piece. I cut two strips of regular elastic 10% shorter than the length of the crotch edge, laid them inside the edges of the panty liner, turned under to encase and pinned to the inside of the crotch piece and then zigzagged all layers together, stretching the elastic to fit. This makes for a very comfy pair of knickers, with no.. er, wedgy issue 🙂

don’t worry, these are as yet pristine and unworn

The other pair of matching knickers is the bikini bottoms of McCalls 2772, in the same ivory cotton jersey as the bra. I really like my lingerie sets to co-ordinate together in some way, and it tickles me even more when the two pairs of undies in a set are different from each other but both still recognisably match the bra, somehow. The mix of cream, white and ivory in this set is very peaceful and calm, and very pleasing to my eye. And I expect it will be nicely unobtrusive under my pale summer wardrobe.

Details:
Bra; KwikSew 3300, cotton jersey and stretch lace, my review of this pattern here
Lace knickers; Tanga knickers, a free downloadable pattern here, modified to have no crotch seam
Jersey knickers; the bikini bottoms of McCalls 2772 with lingerie elastic attached as for knickers.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Kwik Sew 3300, lingerie, McCalls 2772, Tanga

Scorpio

26/10/2013 1:44 am \ 38 Comments \ Carolyn

… the sign of the scorpion.

Scorpio was always going to be the difficult one. I literally had zero idea what to do, right up until about last week. Googling scorpion images I did see some rather cool designs for scorpion tattoos that I quite liked. Which led to doodling stylised scorpions and thinking that I could do some printing, and then the practical wardrobe consideration that some of my older lingerie sets are starting to get to the end of their life, underwires starting to work loose, picot edging on some pieces starting to unravel… Boom, decision made.

I forgot to take many pictures of my design process … but these are two of my preliminary sketches for my scorpions. My final design had seven writhing scorpions, which I applied to the fabric first one way and then the other, to lose any obvious repeatability in the print. Ahem, probably a completely unnecessary thing to do considering the tiny pattern pieces in lingerie!

The fabric is a sandy coloured cotton jersey, bought as a huge roll at the Morrison remnant sale last year. The set used but a teensy portion of this! I wanted the scorpions’ colour to be sort of variegated, not flat; so I used two colours, an apricot-y pink and a yellow-y mustard, put down on the screen in unmixed blobs. The marbling turned out to be real subtle. You can just see it if you squint a bit 😉

To economise my print, I first laid out my pattern pieces in the most fabric economical layout I could, and roughly marked each piece out by dotting about a centimetre outside the cutting lines of each, using a purple water soluble pen. This was to ensure that I covered each pattern piece with my print fully, as well during the printing process I cut out some pieces and printed them separately to achieve better placement of the print.

Patterns: the bra is KwikSew 3300, modified to have a foam cup insert as described here. I left the straps plain and unprinted because I’ve got a couple of bra-strap-revealing summery tops, so a nice unobtrusive beige strap is just the ticket. I left off the sliders because the only ones I could get were brilliantly snowy white. which would have looked awful. So I just went with a plain strap, with a length of the lingerie elastic sewn between the back and the strap providing the wearing ease. Both pairs of matching undies are the bikini portion of McCalls 2772, a pattern I’ve used a lot for undies. I used unprinted self fabric for the panty liners but it blends in so perfectly you can’t even see them in the picture above!

I usually use 1cm lingerie elastic on my lingerie.. and when I went to get some more of the pale yellow, Spotlight only had the 1.5cm width; aaagh!… so I had to use this wider stuff on the upper sections of the bra. Oh well (shrug) you can only see that it’s wider on the inside!
You can probably also see the hand pick-stitching around the perimeter, my version of under-stitching that secures the bra lining to the foam cup. I don’t know if this stitching is necessary or not?but I just don’t like the idea of the foam cup not attached to anything, possibly floating about in the wash. I stitch it all together, just in case.
I did make some teeny mini-bows using orange-y mustard coloured ribbon, and trialled sewing them on the set as decoration, but took them off. That scorpion print is plenty busy enough already!