Handmade by Carolyn

Navy stripes

13/06/2013 1:20 pm \ 53 Comments \ Carolyn

It was Sam’s birthday a few days back and I made a shirt for him.

The fabric is from Spotlight, a medium-weight cotton twill in a heavy cream colour with navy blue stripes. Ahem, stripes again, I know; but hey. It’s so hard to find different and nice mens’ shirting fabric. Seriously hard. Fortunately, Sam loves stripes, so our quest to stockpile the world’s largest, handmade, striped men’s shirt collection is going great guns, thanks.

Buttons; a light bone colour, also from Spotlight. Y’know, Spotlight gets a lot of flack for the hit and miss nature of their stuff. And then every now and again, just when you’re about to throw up your hands in despair, you find some gems. So I’m eating my words right now. These buttons, and this fabric? Awesome-sauce!
So, do I have any new revelations about tailoring a man’s shirt? No. Am I being mind-numbingly repetitive. Um, probably! I used the same ol’ pattern too. I reeeeeeally should get some new patterns, honestly. And no; it wasn’t really a huge birthday surprise, since for one, he did actually request it. But I still wrapped it up so he could unwrap it on the day!
It’s made to his fit preference; loose and boxy enough to wear open over Tshirts and hoodies, if he so desires, which he frequently does.
Features… Epaulettes.

There are one or two bias details, for some visual interest. Pocket on the bias, with a pen compartment. Sleeve plackets cut on the bias, and I loooove how this looks! Plus, it was heaps easier having no stripe matching to worry about here 😉

Straight hem, with split side seams.
ETA: at right, showing the inside view where the flat-felled seam allowance meets the split side seam… (I will do a small tute on how I do my take on this, if anyone is interested?)

The collar is cut with much smaller, less pointy wings than the pattern piece.

I’ve been accustomed lately to flat-felling the armscye seam allowances, and French-seaming the sleeve and side seams. Then I read an opinion somewhere that French seams were “feminine” and not suitable for a men’s shirt at all… that flat-felled seaming throughout is the only acceptable finish to a man’s shirt. O rly?? Well, that burst my bubble.
So I felt sufficiently shamed into going with flat felled seams throughout. Doing this up inside the sleeves of a shirt is not exactly easy. I got a pretty nice finish, but it was fiddly business.

The yoke.
~~Drastic fabric shortages~~ an inspired creative decision dictated that I cut it as two halves on the bias. The yoke facing is a regular, on-grain, single piece of fabric for stability, cut from plain white cotton.

Shirt; Burda 7767 modified, navy and cream striped cotton twill. My review of this pattern is here, and my previous Burda 7767 makes are here and here.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7767, mens shirt, Sam

Browning a couple of things

10/06/2013 4:30 pm \ 53 Comments \ Carolyn

Remember my Sew Bossy dress, below? It was very… sweet, wasn’t it?
I mean, I wish I could wear really pretty things like that, but I think I cannot! But
I thought it had promise, it just needed de-twee-ing.

before

I lopped off
the sleeves, so now they are plain little cap sleeves; and then dyed the whole thing
brown, using iDye, colour Brown.
So, I didn’t do very much, but it’s definitely made a ginormous
difference to my resolve to actually wear it! I kinda love its new look, still with an old-fashioned charm, but in a less cute and more prosaic way, reminiscent of peeling sepia-d wallpaper in a decaying old farmhouse, or something.

Since I had used ivory
coloured polyester thread to sew the entire dress, after dyeing the hem
stitching really stood out and looked awful. I unpicked all the visible ivory top-stitching and re-stitched
using coffee coloured thread.

The little quirk of
dyeing is that you cannot always predict exactly what your results are going to
be. I found it interesting that
the ivory based print has come out a slightly purple-y shade of brown, while the
white cotton I used for the neckband and hemline piping has come out more of a
yellow-y, coffee colour. Aaah, the lucky
dip that is dyeing!

And while I had the dye pot and
dye out I also re-ombred the top of my red velveteen skirt, which had lost a bit of its intensity
since I first dyed it a year ago.

I’m a big believer in the transformative powers of brown dye. Such wonderful stuff.

Details:

Dress; dress “T’ from the
Stylish dress book by Yoshiko Tsukiori, original post here; with short sleeves, blue sprigged cotton dyed brown. My tutorial for basic one colour dyeing is here.

Tights; self-drafted, of
denim look jersey knit, details and my tutorial for making your own custom fit tights here

Shoes; Francesco
Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

Skirt; Vogue 1247, red
cotton velveteen dip-dyed with iDye in Brown, details here. My tutorial for dip-dyeing is here.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, dress, dyeing, Sienna, Stylish Dress Book, Wardrobe Refashion

White Bombshell

07/06/2013 11:22 am \ 157 Comments \ Carolyn

G’day beach babes! OK so I admit it is winter here in Australia now. I can explain…

The very clever Heather of Closet Case Files has dropped a literal Bombshell on the sewing world with this, her inaugural swimsuit pattern, and I was honoured that she asked me to be a pattern tester, woot!! So thrilling! This is the first time evah I have been asked to test a pattern, so that was pretty exciting for me! Thanks Heather!

The pattern for the Bombshell swimsuit is available here. So how ultra glamorous is this style, huh? Honestly, I think that this is like the most flattering swimsuit I have ever owned… including RTW. I even bravely turned my back to the camera, to show the rear view… yikes! Normally I would be waaay too terrified to model the rear view of a swimsuit, on the internet. But you know what? the back of this swimsuit is actually very flattering to the be-hind, and even looks… dare I say it! quite lovely? Believe me, I would not be turning my back to the camera in just any old swimsuit! The sides and back come down far enough to modestly covers one’s entire bottom, which is very nice.

In fact, not just the bottom but the whole style is very demure and sweetly retro. The full-body ruching and straight boy-leg cut is reminiscent of the 50’s. Heather has designed three styles; style A has a gathered bust with a wide-set strap, style B is a halter neck, which can also be constructed as a pair of high-waisted bikini bottoms (style C) See Heather’s gorgeous versions of styles A and B here.

This is style B, and I used a white polyester knit from Fabulous Fabrics. White swimwear can be scarily see-through when wet, but in this design both front and back has two layers of fabric, and with the outer layer heavily ruched, meaning you have pretty much two and a half layers of fabric covering your body. So I think it’ll be pretty modest in the water 🙂

Do you like this swimsuit? if so then I have very good news!

Heather is generously giving away a copy of the pattern to one lucky reader of my blog… so for a chance to win then please leave a comment on this post before Monday 10th June. If you have never made a swimsuit before and are nervous about the techniques involved then never fear; Heather has that base covered. She will be running a Bombshell sewalong on Closet Case Files, commencing on Monday 17th June.

Later edit: Thank you all for those lovely compliments! the pattern recipient has been notified.

Details:

Bathers; Closet Case Files Bombshell, white polyester knit

Hat; Country Road

Sandals; Misano

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: bathers, Bombshell, Closet Case files, giveaway

Navy and white striped Tshirt; 6 different ways

05/06/2013 3:29 pm \ 23 Comments \ Carolyn

A striped Tshirt seems to be the wardrobe staple of a certain kind of girl, a very stylish and chic kind of girl, that I think is not very like me. I mean, I like to think of myself as a non-conformist, but sometimes you find yourself latching on to a current trend almost without noticing! The striped Tshirt is being touted as a “classic”, but I reckon it is a more accurately described as an ultra-fashionable item, that ipso facto will probably go out of fashion in a few years, like everything else. Whichevs, for the moment it is IN. And I found myself making one. And wore it and wore it!

I looked back through my old photos to find these pictures of different outfits incorporating my navy and white striped Tshirt. It has appeared in a supporting role in plenty of other outfits too, but these ones are all “new” to a 6 different ways post. Five of these outfits are from previous me-made or self-stitched months; the first photo is a portion of one I used as my profile pic for a year!

Below: at left; the plain practical lines of the Tshirt play off well against the overblown silhouette of a pouffy white skirt, and at right; this is probably the “trendiest” out of all the outfits here…. worn with a beige trench coat, a long skinny knitted black scarf, and with khaki skinny jeans tucked into bikie boots.

Below at left; the Tshirt’s first appearance here on my blog, worn with greige corduroy jeans, a jersey scarf and hand-knitted socks, and at right; worn pinafore-style underneath my favourite charcoal grey pattern magic dress, with matching navy blue tights.

Below left; grunged down for a day of sweaty cross-country hiking with charcoal grey shorts and hand-knitted socks, at right, for a rainy winter’s day, the stripes stand out against the pale colours of a light grey longline skirt and a boxy little ivory jacket

It’s funny really that this Tshirt turned into such a favourite, since it was initially just an afterthought, thrown together using the leftovers of some rather low quality fabric. My newer striped Tshirt is made with much nicer and meatier fabric, so I am hoping it lasts even longer, at least until the trend fades away! 🙂

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: 6 different ways, own design, top

photo maisonette

03/06/2013 7:20 am \ 25 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello!

My friend Yoshimi and I have a new venture; photo maisonette, a daily visual diary of our two different lives in our two different worlds in Japan and Australia. The new blog is inspired by the wonderful site 3191 Miles Apart, a site which has changed a lot since it started, but initially was a wordless site where two friends regularly posted side by side pictures from their two different lives. I loved the idea! and our blog will be along those same lines… a photo a day, from our two individual perspectives. We are not collaborating on the ideas for our photos beforehand, nor will we be writing any explanation behind them; but hope that our pictures themselves tell their own complete story and illustrate what our lives are about.

Yoshimi cleverly suggested the name for the blog “photo maisonette” which I think beautifully captures the idea … of course in English a “maisonette” is a small house with one flat on each of two floors, two individual occupants occupying each floor. So there is an upstairs person, and a downstairs person. Similarly, our “photo maisonette” will have two stories; the upper story belongs to Yoshimi, and the ground floor is mine.

We hope you enjoy visiting our new blog.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: photo maisonette, photography, random life stuff

paper doll project

03/06/2013 3:27 am \ 12 Comments \ Carolyn

I’m still doodling about with my paper doll project! I didn’t put any pages in my blog during me-made May because it seemed kinda overkill, but I think for the sake of having it all here…

If you love looking at fashion-y sketches ala Fashionary, check out Sarah of Rhinestones and Telephones. She drew beautiful sketches of her delightfully pretty and feminine wardrobe everyday for me-made May.

7th-12th May
(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)
from left:
faux leather skirt, triple collar coffee shirt, coffee net cardigan
charcoal twist top, little charcoal skirt, red leggings
ivory twist top, ivory curtaining skirt, swirly print leggings
purple Tshirt, blood orange top, red velveteen skirt
beige raw silk dress, charcoal wool coat (pm)
black corduroy jeans, white Tshirt, iceberg garter stitch knitted jacket

13th-18th May
from left:
teal silk dress, handknit socks
blue chambray dress, “wearing a square” jacket
knots dress, leopard print cardigan
charcoal top (from pants), white wool mix skirt
powder blue silk tunic top + dress
navy corduroy skirt, blue PM hoodie, moss green felt cardigan

18th (pm) – 23rd May
from left:
red dress + ivory trench coat
blue chambray shirt, blue denim skirt
grey striped dress, Tshirt, ecru scarf
ivory shirt, dusky pink “bustle” skirt, calico cardigan
PM “wings” grey top, little grey skirt, charcoal spiral leggings
strawberry jeans, ivory top (from pants), white Tshirt

24th – 29th May
from left:
eggplant dress, denim-look tights, chocolate cardigan
mustard dress, hank-knit socks
“sleeve” Tshirt, corduroy skirt (from jeans)
lace skirt, snakeskin cardigan, white Tshirt
leopard print Tshirt, PM gathered hole dress, paprika tights
striped Tshirt, Lagerfeld skirt, black tights

Stashbusting..
During the month of May, I used two plus two half lengths from the stash; my teal silk dress, and my paprika tights used a whole length each, and my striped Tshirt and black tights each used a portion of those fabric lengths… plus I refashioned one garment, and knitted a pair of winter gloves. I’m back on track!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: paper-doll project, stashbusting 2013

red

31/05/2013 7:12 am \ 54 Comments \ Carolyn

The photo mini challenge for today, the last day of me-made May is “red”.

min 6C, max 19C, fine and sunny

Details:
Jacket; Burdastyle magazine 08/2010, 113, chocolate brown faux leather, details and my review of this pattern here
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified, purple stretch denim, details here and my review of this pattern here
Top; the loose drape top from drape drape by Hisako Sato, white cotton jersey, details here
Socks, seen below, and also red!; hand knit by me to a 60’s pattern, details here
Boots; Andrea and Joen

In my family’s last day of MMM13, Craig is wearing this shirt, Tim is wearing this hoodie, Cassie is wearing this Tshirt, and Sam is wearing this jacket.

Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, white linen, details here
Tims hoodie; self-drafted, grey and khaki cotton jersey, details here
Cassie’s Tshirt; self-drafted grey and black striped cotton jersey, details here
Sam’s jacket; Burda7767 modified, navy blue corduroy, details here, and my tutorial for making that welt/patch double pocket is here

So, Me-made May…
Yay! I did it, and it is finished! I apologise for the boringness of my daily outfit posts, I know that a lot of my regular visitors switch off my blog completely during the me-made months; so obviously a lot of people do not like that what-I’m-wearing-today aspect. That’s ok 🙂
I do try to mix my wardrobe up creatively, and and to keep it interesting and keep it real.
I learnt nothing new, but this was my sixth time. Oh I lie, I did learn one thing; that I have more than enough handmade clothes… I repeated only three items this month; namely my ivory curtaining skirt, my calico knitted cardigan, and a plain white Tshirt; of which I have three, so maybe not repeating the exact same one, but still. Hmmm, these are all white-ish items. I cannot escape my love for pale colourless clothing!
I upped the ante by electing to wear exclusively handmade clothing, everything; including lingerie, hosiery and socks, but bearing in mind I have already pledged to do this for the entire of this year anyway, and actually I’ve always pushed myself to the limit in the me-made months. This year I’ve pushed myself way past those limits. I do wonder if it is time for me to let MMM go now.
I’ve always really liked the community of me-made May, and thought it was a brilliant idea of Zoe’s for getting us all together, wearing our handmade stuff and supporting each other.. Which is why I kept coming back, like a moth to the flame 🙂 This year I felt the “community” feel had diminished a bit; probably because the group was just so BIG this year, over 400 participants! While this is absolutely terrific, that so many people are sewing for themselves and proudly wearing their own creations and I absolutely love that and believe that side of it is just fantastic! however… the (tiny and selfish) downside for me is that the we-all-know-each-other aspect was lost just a little bit. I noticed that the group broke up into cliques. I did not get to know a lot of the new participants this year; I admired and commented on a lot of creations, and received far less comments back. I found it impossible to look at every picture, every day, so ended up just sticking to the small group of lovely ladies who were replying to my comments. And look, that is fine. Everyone does what they can, as much or as little as they want to, and that has always been the way the group rolls. But I did feel a little sad that it was a lot less personal that it has been in the past. A side effect of the group getting so big? I don’t know.
Taking the photos is always by far the most challenging part for me, and that didn’t change. I made a personal rule to limit my photo sessions to about one, or up to two minutes tops. Some days I had trouble getting the settings on my camera right for certain lighting conditions, and had to go over time; but having that rule took some pressure off.
I also documented here on my blog what in the me-made category my family was wearing, and on most days someone other than me was wearing something I had made. This made me very happy, and was my favourite part really 🙂
So that is it!
All my daily outfits for this month are in my MMM13 Flickr set here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, MMM13, Sienna

Boring black Tshirt

30/05/2013 7:02 am \ 29 Comments \ Carolyn

The penultimate day of me-made May, and I have a post planned to ~~spew out some vitriol~~ reflect on my experiences. Only kidding there. I have no vitriol, of course. Well, very very little 😉 hehe, but seriously, I am going to be throwing a party that it’s finished!!
But ahem, my outfit. I am wearing another sorta new, but not actually new thing, today. I sorted through my Tshirt drawer. And found this batty Pattern Magic top sitting there, sad and unloved and in need of a makeover. I made it a year ago, using bright blue cotton jersey, dyed brown. The resulting colour is a great colour for me, a very dark and quite rich chocolate brown that is almost purple in a certain light.

before

Great colour.
Not such a great top, though.
I wore it a couple of times and each time felt just a bit too… weird in it. The pokey-out bits required pulling into place and arranging just so in order for them to not look Very Weird. Mind you, I’ve nothing against “weird”, but there’s weird and there’s weird, if you know what I mean. There’s interesting, avant-garde, attractive weird, and then there is just plain weird. Don’t worry if you don’t see the difference there, I know what I mean.
But hmm, still a great colour. And there was a fair bit of fabric in it…

after

I half winged it, using my custom-fit Tshirt pattern. I had to piece a new bit in the lower edge of one side, and angled the hem a bit to encompass this, a smaller, pieced-in bit would have looked too bitsy. It’s still a bit bitsy probably, but this was the best I could do! And I do really like that slightly angled hemline. I hemmed the lower edge using the blind hem stitch, only on the outside; so it’s decorative close-up.

The sleeves also had to be pieced to get any length to them, and were stitched inside and underneath the existing narrow hem of the top’s armscye. It has the effect almost of a tank with a little cap sleeve underneath, and then with a longer sleeve underneath that. The sleeve hems are angled too; shorter at the underarm seam than on the outer arm.

Sorry if it’s boring now, compared to the before. The good news is that I will actually wear it now, being no longer, you know, weird.

min 6C, max 17C do not let that sunny blue sky deceive you, it is blinkin’ freezing! and we had heaps of rain this morning!

Details:
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified, ivory stretch denim, details here
Top; my own design, blue cotton jersey dyed brown
Jacket; Vogue 7975, thick woven wool, with silk lining and black braid edging, details here
Socks; handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, details here
Boots; nylon, from Zomp shoes

my family mmm13, Craig is wearing this shirt, Cassie is wearing these handknit socks, and Sam is wearing this hoodie

Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, green cotton, details here
Cassie’s socks; handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, 2ply yarn, details here
Sam’s hoodie; self-drafted, blue/grey jersey, details here