Leatherette A-line skirt; 6 different ways

07/04/2013 5:30 am \ 39 Comments \


I don’t wear this faux leather skirt nearly enough, given that it is actually a pretty cool skirt.  I think maybe that is the problem…  maybe it is too cool for me!  I’m not really used to wearing much leather or faux leather, except in shoe, boot or bag form.  But, using my imagination I can discern that the weather seems to be making a very veeery gradual descent into overall cooler temperatures, so I’m thinking about those parts of my wardrobe again.  And about giving all those little sundresses a break.  I think this skirt deserves to make a few more appearances and get worn, dammit.
I made it using Vogue 1170, and it first appeared along with my review of the pattern, here.

Below left; worn with a matching, wool and faux leather military style jacket with knitted sleeves.  Haha, of course this skirt and jacket wasn’t ever intended to become a matching set, just that I had some of the leatherette leftover, enough to squeeze out some of the pattern pieces of the jacket.  Bonus outcome, a sorta suit!  Random observation, I am fair dinkum sweltering in this photo here! so this will be a very good ensemble for winter; some day when I get the fashion urge to channel Star Trek or something.
Below right; peeping out from one of my most recent creations, the bell sleeved denim top.  I have to admit; this is my favourite of the bunch.  I’m kinda head over heels in love with it.  I like the contrast of the unpretentious honesty of blue cotton denim against more sophisticated smooth and glossy leather; and the casual, easy-fitting and very un-body-con vibe of the shapes here reminds me of those lovely Japanese pattern book looks.

skirt1
Below left; with a plain white Tshirt and black snakeskin cardigan; hmm another of the faux leather components of my collection!  This might even be an office appropriate outfit; not that my office requires one.  I have a friend who does the very same job I do, and we often joke about our “work wardrobe”, haha.  Which generally features shorts and thongs, or a dressing gown and slippers, depending on the season, and a dog under the desk at your feet.  I would need an outfit that fitted smartly into a real office for about 2% of my actual working week, tops.  But I would wear this for such occasions.
Below right; the colours blend in nicely, and the vertical lines of the folds in the skirt are nicely visual juxtaposition against the random diagonal folds of this painted silk, Issey Miyake top.  I was pretty pleased to discover this skirt and top look great together.
skirt2
Below left; I like unexpected things and what could be more unexpected than a leather petticoat?  Skirts underneath a dress or dresses over a skirt, take your pick; is a terrific combination for a cooler day.  I’m wearing here my trusty eggplant dress; add a big drapey berry coloured scarf over the top, and I think this is a nicely layered autumnal ensemble.  Below right, maybe a bit smarter or more preppy whatever that means; I’m wearing a little triple-collared shirt with a net cardigan over, all in visually peaceful gentle shades of grey, coffee and white.  I’ve always loved these subtle pale neutrals here.  When I started my blog my aim was to branch out and incorporate new and more interesting colours into my wardrobe.  So I do enjoy flirtatious adventures with real colours sometimes, but only tempered with plenty of safe retreats to my ol’ pale and drab faithfuls.  I think I enjoy colours like a holiday, playing with them for a few exciting funfilled days at a time, and getting back to my neutrals is like coming back home into your own comfy familiar space again.
skirt3
Hmmm.  Waxing lyrical about colours as a metaphor for life again, for heaven’s sake.  Somebody stop me.  Anyhoo, whatever; I think I’ve ignited a fresh love for my comfortably, blessedly colourless faux leather skirt.  Now I just need the weather to co-operate so I can wear it!
Oh, what am I wearing today?? today I am wearing the eggplant dress just above, but sans the extras.  Like I said, it still feels like summer here, no joke.
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Mum and Dad’s; a travel wardrobe…

04/04/2013 1:06 pm \ 32 Comments \
So as hinted previously, I have just returned from a long Easter weekend entire week away.  How did that weekend stretch out so long???  Oooh I have no idea! but I am not complaining! 😀

Time away: 7 days
Where to: my parents’ house in the bush
Season: early autumn.  Hot days, and beautiful and fresh in the evenings, daytime highs from lovely 28C right up to a roasting 34C
Expected activities: LOTS of bushwalking, smidge of campfiring and flying-foxing (yes, really!), a coupla forays into town and one big family dinner at a semi-swisho country restaurant for a special anniversary dinner for my brother and sister-in-law.  Meeting a friend for lunch.
Colour scheme: mostly bush-and-dirt friendly olive, khaki and moss green, with the freshness of white and one shot of hot pink for fun and colour

What I packed: (click on each garment name to link to its original construction post)
(left to right; top to bottom)
4 Tshirts, here and here
(below) summer pj’s
hiking boots
smarter lace-up booties
ugg boots
thongs
not pictured, but I also took a selection of my handmade underwear and bathers

Verdict:  Mum and Dad had mentioned that they had experienced a few cold nights, thus the packing of the corduroy jeans and ugg boots … and then of course we had hot weather! only one morning and evening did I put on the black corduroy jeans but pretty soon took them off again for something cooler and easier to get about in.  I needn’t have bothered with them!!! but better safe than sorry I guess  🙂
Everything else was great.  My dark olive khaki hiking pants were worn and worn, until I felt they could have walked around the property all by themselves!!  My new wool felt cardigan was fantastic in the evening.
Nit-picking; I could have done with a few different tops, as in a bit more variety in styles.  I do get bored with my choices when I’m away, particularly when I pack lots of the same; in this case, plain Tshirts.  But actually plain Tshirts were the ideal thing for the kind of holiday this was.
My daily outfits:

I know you guys will like this photo  🙂
Hiking boots and hand-knitted sockies

Old photos: but part of the holiday outfit batch.  I don’t think the first photo has ever appeared here on my blog.  That was part of me-made May, last year…

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…

04/04/2013 9:31 am \ 8 Comments \

27th March – 1st April
(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:
full moon top + little charcoal skirt, knitted green hoodie
white Tshirt + long layered lacey skirt, dk olive wool felt jacket 
dark pink Tshirt + hiking cargo pants, handknitted socks, dk olive wool felt jacket
white Tshirt, hiking cargo pants, handknitted scarf and socks
linen army-style shirt, hot pink shorts, handknitted socks
charcoal/black stripe Tshirt, khaki hiking pants, handknitted socks

by the way, and I’m sure everyone is way smart enough to have sussed this out already; but just saying: when I draw my paper dolls merely carrying a cardigan as opposed to wearing it, that denotes that I wore it only for a small part of the day, like in the evening when it might be a bit fresh.
And: halleluia for fresh evenings  🙂
And: sorry I stuffed up colouring-in my hiking boots.  Days 3, 5 and 6 here are supposed to be all the same shoes.  My bad.
And: well.  Can I just say; drawing lace to look anything at all like “lace” is flipping hard.

In stash busting efforts for March; I managed to whittle my collection down by another three lengths of fabric, woot!  Namely, the sand-coloured silk/linen for the knots dress, a length of emerald green corduroy, and the blue cotton denim for the bell-sleeved top.  Also kept up with my pledge to continue re-fashioning old unwanted textiles into new and useful things; by re-using the lovely wool felt from a long-unworn wrap to make my new cardigan/jacket thingy.

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Aries

29/03/2013 1:16 pm \ 38 Comments \

Aries; the ram.
But… where is the
ram??  Well I am wearing him!  In the form of my pure wool felt cardigan/jacket.  Baa-aa!
And I did take a picture
of this inquisitive flock of girls while I was driving up the driveway to my parents’ place this morning.  We are here for a big family Easter
shin-dig 🙂
My cardigan was until very recently, a voluminous
drape-y wrap, which I bought in New Zealand a few years ago.  The fabric is so soft and snuggly,
making it beautifully warm and cosy, and I’ve always loved this deep olive
colour.  But the shape, while very fashionable
at the time that I bought it, eventually became very not.  I’m not going to
show you any pictures of me wearing it, as it was.  Especially with my hair… so just picture Samwise Gamgee in
LOTR and you’re getting a pretty good idea!  So unfortunately I have not worn it for aaaages and knew I
never would again either looking like that; but I still loved that soft wool and thought it definitely
deserved a second wind.
I like it all over again now.  I think it turned out sorta like an unstructured
tweed jacket; a casual, playful, loose and floppy version of the landed
gentry’s countrywear, like a cheeky, irreverent, younger brother of the same, if you
like.  And I still have my souvenir from New Zealand, in a newly wearable style  🙂
Details:
Jacket; based loosely on Simplicity 4698,
deep olive felted wool, refashioned from an old wrap
Skirt; my own design
based upon Vogue 7303, white stretch lace, details here
Tshirt; self drafted,
white cotton jersey, details here
Socks; handknitted by me,
to a 1960’s sock pattern, details here
Shoes; Francesco
Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

Warning; technical sewing blahdy-blah from here on  🙂

There were a few little holes, which I darned before doing anything else.

The new design is
partially based on the pattern Simplicity 4698 with major alterations.  Needed partly because of a severe lack of
fabric, and partly because the felt is so thick and spongy it just would not
suit a properly lined and tailored suit jacket anyway.  I have made this pattern up previously four times I
think, only one of which I still have

The pieces were all
reduced in size a lot, basically to match
the regular cardigan size that I wear, and the back princess seams and outer sleeve seams were eliminated.
I made it as a completely
unlined cardigan, with welt pockets.  The sewing lines of the welt are stabilised with a strip of corduroy.
To reduce bulk, because
the fabric really is very very thick! the pockets themselves are just a single
layer inside, sewn directly to the jacket front invisibly by hand.  I used lots of tightly spaced, tiny
stitches around the pockets but hid them inside the felt so they only show up as the faintest shadow on
the  right side of the
garment.  I edged the entire front,
collar, hemline and sleeve hems by turning under a tiny roll of fabric under
the edge and slip-stitching by hand. 
At the roll-point of the collar I switched the turn under to the other
side, to allow the front turnback of the collar to lie flat and true.  Those overlocked seams are remnants of original seams.

On the inside, I hand
slip-stitched all the new seam allowances down to “disappear” as invisibly as possible
against the cardigan, for a neat and tidy inner finish.  Maybe neater than the original overlocked finish, I think  😉
The buttonholes are all
embroidered by hand using 2 strands of embroidery floss, and the buttons are
nacre; sewed on upside down because the rough hewn wrong side of the buttons
was stylistically perfect for the rustic style I was going for.

It is quite a simple
re-fashion, basically a wrap front cardigan has been transformed to a suit
jacket style cardigan.  Not exactly
earth-shattering stoof here.  But I
am happy, since the new style means I am in love with it all over again and
will get a few more years wear out of it!

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paper doll project

29/03/2013 12:54 pm \ 18 Comments \

21st – 26th March
(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:
refashioned denim skirt + blue denim top
leatherette skirt, crushed silk top, striped jersey scarf
sand capri pants, white drape-y top, coffee net cardigan
outfit refashioned from  3 old mens business shirts
powder blue dress + tunic top
purple jeans, white Tshirt, refashioned corduroy hoodie

ummm, if anyone is bored with my paper doll project or fed up with having their blog reader of choice filled up with posts of it; then please sing out, I won’t be offended it it is all getting a bit dull and repetitive.  I mean, I am going to continue sketching my daily outfits this year, just for my own fun anyway, and I intend to do a bit of statistical analysis on my wardrobe choices at at the end; but I don’t want to inflict it on everyone.
When I started posting these it was just a sorta notification that I was doing it more than anything else, and I did not expect any sort of enthusiastic response.  
I’ve got no idea if anyone is actually finding the constant updates interesting at all, or whether my blog is becoming as boring as all get-out and you are all just very very polite.
🙂

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an Easter Egg tree

26/03/2013 3:35 am \ 29 Comments \
So, my offspring might be past the age where seasonal kindergarten crafts hold much allure anymore.  Nonetheless I occasionally indulge in silly decorative flights of fancy.  
Upon first sight Sam straight away asked if he could have one now.  
(thinks) hmf.  Do you not appreciate the artistry and awesome cute-ness of zis masterpiece?  Does it always have to be a case of Must Devour Now?
I snapped, no!  It has to look pretty for at least a few days more.  
Losing interest, Sam slunk away.
To return for the harvest in a few days, no doubt.
PLEASE NOTE: if you have small children around then pins are NOT a good idea!  Maybe a hot glue gun would do the same job  🙂
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Blue-bell sleeves

21/03/2013 4:20 pm \ 38 Comments \

Hello  🙂
I’ve made a new top.  Actually I made this a little while ago, and I’ve suddenly came to the glorious realisation that hey! the autumnal weather is here and it’s actually beautiful enough to wear it.  I love this time of the year!
This is made using Vogue 1115 with the body lengthened by about 2.5cm, and used a piece of thin blue woven cotton denim-y stuff.  I chose to use the fabric wrong side out, since I preferred the muted, slightly undefined, yellow-y tone of the blue of the wrong side.  The right side is a stronger blue, which I didn’t think did wonders for my complexion.
I’ve written a pattern review below for anyone interested, but there really is one important thing to know about this pattern, it is rated Advanced/Plus Difficile, and yes, that is a well deserved rating.  The undersleeve/side piece when joined together is pretty tricky to insert neatly; and sewing down the seam allowances of said sleeve gusset with a double row of topstitching? … seriously tricky.

Most of the topstitching I used a deeper blue thread which was painstakingly colour matched to the blue in the fabric weave.  Haha, kidding; actually it is just leftover thread that I already had in my stash  🙂 the fact that it matched is fortuitous!  I used a lighter shade of blue for the bar tacks.

Installing that invisible zip, another seriously tricky procedure.. since I prefer to insert the zip before sewing up the seam below it; and since the seam allowance has to be finished with a double row of top-stitching to stylistically match all the other seams on the garment; this is an area that needed a bit of nutting out.  I’m pretty pleased with the nice even finish I got in the end  🙂

Look at those blissfully deep, welted inner pockets (satisfied sigh)  I made them a smidge deeper and bigger, and the edges are finished with HongKong seaming.

The graceful curve of those pieces in the back is so elegant and stylish.  I just love the seaming lines here!  I also like how the slit at the lower back stylistically matches the slit at the upper front neckline.  imo, it’s the little details like this that set the designer patterns apart from the others.

Those wide bell sleeves… I wasn’t absolutely certain that I would adore these, but they’ve grown on me.  They are certainly comfortable and feel nice to wear, no constrictions whatsoever! and I think they look quite designer-y and interesting.  I worried that the size of them would make them annoying, that they would get in the way of my daily activities, but I’ve worn my new top all day and barely noticed the sleeves.  No worries there!


Details:
Top; Vogue 1115, blue cotton denim
Skirt; based on Vogue 1247, refashioned from another skirt, originally Vogue 8561, details here
Sandals; c/o Misano

Pattern
Description:
Loose-fitting,
hip length, pull-over top has wide funnel neckline with slit, front and back
armhole gusset seaming, bell sleeves, welt pockets, back  inset, slit, side back zip and flat
fell seams.
Pattern
Sizing:
American
sizes 6-12; I cut the size 10
Did
it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished
sewing it?
Yes.
Were
the instructions easy to follow?
In my
opinion the instructions are straightforward but this pattern is rated
Advanced/Plus Difficile for a reason!
What
did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
Well
I do so love a sewing challenge, and there are a few in this pattern… this is
not a top that can be whipped up in one day, no sirreee!  I dug down deep into my reserves of
patience and only allowed myself to work on the tricky bits when I was feeling
fresh and not tired!  For example:
stitching those double rows of topstitching to the undersleeve and side / front
and back seams was tricky, and also attaching
the neckline facing neatly to the top curved edges of the zip tape quite
tricky.
Fortunately,
I really love the final product!
Fabric
Used:
Lightweight cotton
denim
Pattern
alterations or any design changes you made:
I
lengthened the body pieces by 2.5cm at the hem, and cut the pockets to be 1.5cm
deeper…
Step
16, I chose to reinforce underneath the single layer of fabric with a small
bias cut square of interfaced cloth before stitching the bar-tacks.
Step
35; I prefer to insert the invisible zip before
sewing together the seam underneath, I think you can get a much neater finish
Step
49; I think it is supposed to read “with right sides together” but in any case
I didn’t stitch the welt together like this, just folded it wrong sides
together and continued with step 51 with the edges raw and unstitched, and then
in step 56, slipped them between the pocket and triangular ends, stitching them
in place in the pocket seam, a more elegant and less bulky way of finishing the
welt considering the raw edges are bound with HongKong seaming in step 57.
I didn’t do the following, but if I was
making this again I would…!
Step
3 and step 20 have you slash the underarm/sleeve between stay-stitching… I
recommend instead that you leave the actual slashing until just before step 45, when you pin
and attach the undersleeve and side. 
There’s no need to make the cuts so early, and if your fabric is subject
to fraying then I think it’s best to leave it until the last minute,
particularly since you are cutting so close to the stay-stitching and into the
armhole corner.
Would
you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I do
recommend this pattern to the advanced seamster, and I think I will sew this one up again.  And,
ahem, I can get the top on and off without having to even use that
difficult-to-insert zip as long as I don’t mind my hair getting a bit
messy.  Which I don’t.  So, maybe I have a tiny head but
looking at the pattern envelope I think the model probably could do the
same.  The next time I might not
even bother with that zip. 
Conclusion:
I’m very happy with my new top, and I think it is a great
designer take on comfortable and
chic.  I was a bit worried about
those wide bell-sleeves before I started, that they would get in the way of daily activities, and/or look awkward and
stand out stiffly in a difficult-to-wear way but I needn’t have been; the sleeves feel great and look quite cool, and are very comfy in this loose floppy fabric.

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…

21/03/2013 12:40 pm \ 9 Comments \

16th – 20th March
(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:
blue chambray dress + ecru scarf
red silk ballgown
blue Pattern Magic top + hot pink shorts
white top with self necktie + red floral skirt
Japanese print dress
aqua dress with wave-y welted pockets

Definition of “fun”:  a old-school glamour-fest …  we attended a friend’s Oscars themed birthday party last weekend.  I frocked up! and so did everyone else.  It was pretty fantastic to have an opportunity to wear one of my ballgowns again, and I just love the rich and royal crimson rustling that comes with this one  🙂 Makes me feel a bit Downton Abbey or something.
My husband wore his tuxedo.  Oh my: is there any sexier attire for a man than a well-tailored suit?? (fans oneself) I do not think so!!
The temps and humidity is easing off as of today, which is pretty fab.  I’m getting a bit bored with my summer clothes and I’m looking forward to branching out!

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