Category Archives: Sewing

dressing like a tomato

25/05/2023 2:23 pm \ 6 Comments \

Hello!

So, I’ve alluded to this ongoing project previously; the mission to “use up a rather large length of tomato-red jersey”  I am pleased and just a little lot relieved to report a successful completion of the mission, ahem…

I originally bought this “remnant” from a Morrison seconds sale… it was very cheap… when I had the chance to check it out properly I realised it was at least 6m in length, possibly more if I’m honest.  Phew!  Just a few weeks ago I dedicated myself to remove this from Le Stash.

Item 1; a dress for Cassie… this is the Ebony pattern by Closet Core patterns.  I don’t have any pictures of her wearing it, but it skims her knees and the sleeves are elbow length.  This will be a great little dress for winter for her; worn with tights and boots, over a turtleneck, and with her denim jacket, it looks super cute!

Item 2; a little T-shirt for Theo (previously posted)

yes, he looks cute

Items 3,4 and 5; a little T-shirt for Arthur, plus the sleeves for two more (previously posted)

here he is on Mothers Day.  Cassie is wearing this dress I made last year, and Tim is wearing a hoodie I made for him yeeeeears ago.  I’m thrilled he still loves it so much!  Also, yes, the dress is still mine but I’ve lent it to Cassie for a little while because she wanted some more work-appropriate dresses and I don’t have the time to make new ones for her just yet!

 

Item 6;

a cardigan for myself… I’m in the midst of planning to make a pattern for this design this year.  I’ve made multiples for myself and it’s such a useful little thing to have!

wearing it during me-made May

Item 7:

a little top for myself.  This is our most recent pattern the Booragoon top, available in our etsy store here  #shamelessplug

Item 8;

a little winter skirt for myself.  This is the Paprika patterns Jade pattern; one I make up usually once a year.  Well, I really like it!  Again, pictured during me-made May…


there’s even a failed Item 9!  I cut out a skirt for Cassie too, but as I was pinning it together for its first seam I noticed a fault, a few holes right across a line of the grain.  By this time I was well and truly over the tomato fabric so it was with some joy that it got tossed into the bin.  No regrets!

So wow, yes that’s still a lot of tomato!!

I may or may not wear all three of my own tomato items together like this; on the one hand I really love this colour.  On the other hand…. well actually there is no other hand really.  I love the colour, so I most like will!  btw, not pictured; but the three items I made for myself each has a “circa 2023” label on it.

Now; to be honest, there is a problem with all of these new makes, well more accurately there is a problem with the fabric… I realised that it was cheap and plentiful for a reason.  The fabric is super stretchy, as in it’s stretching out quite fast and it’s clearly not going to last very long.   Like, probably not longer than this year.  Beware a bargain!  You can see in my miniskirt how the folds do not look super stable and a little stretched out already.  Oh well, just gong to enjoy it while I can  🙂

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green Quilla and some small T-shirts

17/05/2023 1:07 pm \ 1 Comment \

Hello!  I’ve made some new things… actually I’m always making new things but am seriously behind on blogging them.  Bad me!

First up; a new little top for myself… this is the new Fibremood Quilla pattern, I and I love it!  It’s super cute in my opinion, very easy to make and uses a very small amount of fabric.  Is that a good thing? well pretty wonderful when you have lots of small leftover cuts that you wish to “gainfully” use up, like I am.

something I should mention: several times I have had to go back and lowered the necklines on a few of my fibremood makes, retroactively; because I’ve found them to sit quite high in general.  So this time I proactively lowered the neckline by 5cm on this and I’m glad I did! it doesn’t feel too low at all and is in fact very comfortable.   Something to bear in mind!

 

I used a raw silk hessian from Le Stash… this is leftover from when I made this green dress.

I stitched with green thread of course, but didn’t have any matching cotton for the bias binding nor green overlocking thread, so used white for both of these so there’s kind of a match-matchy situation going on with the inner seam finishes.  This is quite a pleasurable sight to my eyes.

This top has a reverse pleat going on with the front/back panels and side panels; so I thought I’d share how I do the hem in this circumstance; the pattern just has you hemming as usual, but I’ve always found you get a sharper pleat if you doit like above.  You need to snip the seam allowances at the hemline point so the hem seam allowances can wrap out the other way around the side seam allowances.  Yes, sounds like it makes no sense but it does if you’re doing this sort of hem, trust me.  Because I didn’t have matching overlocking thread, I just did a zigzag stitch to finish the raw edges in the hem allowance.

This gives you a nice, permanent fold at that point and enables the pleats to sit the way you want them too.

oh, see that cute little T-shirt Theo is wearing in the above pic? that’s the one I blogged about in my previous post.  I’m happy to say he loves wearing it as a regular T-shirt and not just for pj’s!

Also, since Arthur’s T-shirts were a tad on the small side I made him a few more… These are made from out of two of Tim’s old T-shirts and also some more of that tomato red cotton jersey that Theo’s top is made from; that I’ve been using up lately.  There will be some more things from this stuff appearing very soon, once I get around to modelling and photographing it.  It’s actually finally all gone now, hurrah! and I have moved onto other fabrics!

Extras: yes, I made those jeans, using old jeans and the Closet Core Jenny pattern, previously blogged here

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pj’s

02/05/2023 8:13 pm \ 6 Comments \

Oh man!  I have been unable to post here for quite a while and was starting to wonder; could this be the end of Handmade by Carolyn…?  Fortunately my clever husband worked the problem out.  Then I wrote a whole post and posted it, and it just disappeared, poof! into the ether.  So upsetting!  I’m going to try for a second time, so hopefully this time it will not!

Pj’s.  I’ve made a few.

Firstly, for me, I used my namesake pattern, the Closet Core Carolyn PJ’s for my pants and a Burda pattern, 10/2009, 121 for the top.  Sometimes I think I should make the Carolyn top as a pj top too, but I really prefer my pj tops to be buttonless. As well as saving buttonholes for a shirt that I will wear awake, and out of the house.  Well, buttonholes are an effort!

I know I pledged to not buy any new fabric until I’d used up my stash, and I had to buy some flannelette for these, which is a little bad but not really because I really needed new winter jammies.  I managed to use up every last scrap by slapping some patch pockets on the front of the top; which makes me feel very thrifty and virtuous, so it’s all good in the end.  The white flannelette was already in my stash, leftover from a previous jammie-making venture.  Both from Spotlight.

Next up; I made pj pants for Cassie, and mini matching ones for Theo.  So cute that they can match each other!  Cassie’s are the Closet Core Carolyn pattern, and I left the front open at her request, just in case she decides to go though another pregnancy in the next few years.

I added a press stud at the waistline and a drawstring so they can still be closed easily.  The drawstring is attached to a bit of elastic threaded through the back of the waistband.  I cut out and stitched in her Spoonflower label… oh I forgot to mention!  The print on the fabric is her own design in her Spoonflower shop, printed on fleece from their range.  We were using this small length as a cot blanket for when the kiddies slept over, but it’s outgrown that function and needed up cycling.  So now it’s pj’s!

Theo’s matching pants are Burda 9436 modified slightly to be pj bottoms by eliminating pockets and adding elasticated cuffs, and his little red raglan T-shirt is self drafted.  It’s cut from a massive “remnant” that I bought from a Morrison seconds sale, once upon a time.  When I say, remnant, I mean about 6m although I’ve been too depressed to ever actually measure this.  I don’t know what I was thinking, buying it; honestly.  I must have been mad.  It’s my current intention to use up this remnant as soon as possible… I’m making good headway too, results to appear here soon.  I hope!

Next up, for Arthur.  For the pants, I used the same Burda 9436 as for Theo, lengthened because he is much taller; and grey sweat shirting fabric from the stash.  The two little T-shirts (same self drafted pattern again) are made using his Dad, Tim’s old T-shirts.  Yes, I still have some of these left! and actually it’s getting quite hard to cut Arthur sized T-shirts from adult-sized T-shirts, believe it or not; so I’m planning to power through all the T-shirts pretty quickly now.

Lastly, and completely random I know; I made some lemon macarons because I had lemons, and because I kinda wanted to prove to myself I was still capable.  Very very pleased with how they turned out!

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a green hat

29/03/2023 3:08 pm \ 1 Comment \

It’s a new season! and I wanted a new hat in a new and different colour from my current collection; something more “beachy” coloured.  So I whipped one up.  Ka-chhhhhh!

I used the free Sorrento bucket hat pattern by Elbe Textiles.  Actually I’d originally written that it was free, which it was when I downloaded it; however now it is not.  I’ve made this pattern up multiple times before for my family, as blogged here; and this is the first one I’ve made for myself.  I was actually a little inspired by the one I’d made for Sam; he wore it while we were all setting up at the wedding together.  I was like, hey that hat has a pretty nice shape.  I want to try it for ME!

The fabric is the last leftovers from a pair of raw silk trousers that Mum tossed out quite a long time ago now.  I’d originally used those same trousers to make a knitting bag for her, as blogged here.  I also used it to cut some of the pieces for this dress; blogged here.  So it’s produced quite a few good things in the end!  And I lined it with some of the leftover silk crepe that I had used to make Mum’s dress, worn to Cassie and Daniel’s wedding; blogged here.  Such pretty stuff.

I installed a hanging loop, and stitched on one of the circa 2023 labels.  Still getting a kick out of these!

Bob’s your uncle!  Simple and free, which is quite a nice thing  🙂

PS; yes I made the green dress above too; blogged here

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some pretty leafy underthings

15/03/2023 12:32 pm \ 1 Comment \

I’ve made some pretty new lingerie for myself… how lovely is this sweet leafy lace?  Sometime in 2020 I treated myself to a Black Beauty kit from Emerald Erin.  I bought the Black Beauty bra pattern too; planning to use it with this kit … however.  I ran up a muslin for the pattern first – I know! so unlike me!!  – anyway, it just was not working out for me.  I’ll give the pattern another go sometime, but in the meantime I wanted my pretty new set so just went with some tried and true patterns.  Yes of course I’m taking about the MakeBra DL03 and the cloth habit Watson pattern for two pairs of matching undies.  My good ol’ go to’s.

 

I roped in some foam lining from my original MakeBra basics kit, and some white cotton jersey and white lingerie elastic already in my stash to finish up the bra and to make two pairs of matching undies too…

Some making notes:

 

The Make Bra pattern is a wonderful pattern, but you do have to cut and piece your pretty lace to make the cup covers; and sometimes this just will not look good.  In this case it didn’t; the seams in the tulle stood out too much visually, so I cut out some of the motifs from the lace and arranged and appliquéd them to disguise the more visible seams.  I really love how this looks and am super happy with how organic it looks.

My two pairs of matching undies are similar but unidentical.  I really like this sort of effect in a lingerie set.  I actually have a tiny piece of lace leftover, so might even make up another thing with it sometime.

It’s funny; for the last two of my children’s weddings I have managed to make a new set of underwear to wear on the day, and this third wedding for my third child has turned out to be a continuation of the tradition!  I shall really enjoy wearing my new set along with my brand new mother-of-the-groom outfit!  It even matches! (hint hint!)

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a simple little frock

01/03/2023 11:15 am \ 6 Comments \

It’s been a while, but rest assured I’m still making/sewing like mad!  just that I can’t show anything at all for a little bit yet…

but I can show this! just a simple little summer dress but better than nothing eh

This pattern is the new Lennox dress from the latest fibremood collection; it’s a very simple and standard sort of a thing but the point of difference in this design is the pleated skirt as opposed to the ubiquitous gathered skirt of which we’re all becoming quite weary… or is that just me??!  If so, sorry!

It has a buttoned up front, which I can wear backwards too actually, should the whim strike.  In the pattern you’re supposed to use a snap tape, but I happened to have some pretty good buttons my stash. Actually; perfectly sized and perfectly colour-matched buttons… so rare! and so incredibly lucky!!  I added inseam side pockets and a little cuff to gather in the sleeves.  As is, the pattern has them just hanging loosely open, which I thought looked kinda unfinished.  I really love this kinda of loose cuff finish on a half-length sleeve.

My fabric is a beautiful midweight linen that I bought in Tessuti last year, during our trip to Melbourne.  One of the few pieces of fabric I bought last year!  I think possibly the last before my self-imposed ban on any and all fabric shopping.  I allowed myself a few purchases in Melbourne because it got the rather weak pass of being “souvenir shopping”, but honestly t’was a little naughty of me!  I do really love the slightly blotchy pink background colour, and the equally blotchy navy blue polka dots.  They’re slightly wonky, so pattern matching is kinda spotty; but well you know.

Ah, the good ol’ “circa 2023” label!  I really enjoyed dating my creations last year so I bought some for this year as well.  Not as many as last year, because wedding sewing has so totally dominated my life this year so far that I’m very aware my output will be considerably smaller too.  But hopefully of higher quality!

Talk soon!  I should have some VERY exciting things to share, very very soon too!

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I made a dress, a cool skirt and three tops; aka I actually used all of my 2022 labels, yay!

31/12/2022 1:11 pm \ 3 Comments \

I’ve made a few new things, thus appropriately using all my “circa 2022” labels, hurrah!  I know, I know, using up labels should NOT be a criteria for making anything, and yet.. and yet… I still felt compelled to do so.  And these are all things that I am going to be very happy wearing, so I’m ok with it all  🙂

First up!

this dress, another from my self-designed pattern that Cassie and I are working on right now.  I made this one from this dress that I wasn’t wearing any more.  I really loved the large scale check linen, but the length and sheer volume of the dress made it unwieldy if not borderline uncomfortable to wear on the beach…  which let’s face it; is a large part of my life nowadays.  I’m much happier with the fabric usage now since I am more inclined to wear it in this more streamlined iteration!  Technical deets; I had to cut many pieces on the bias and there’s a centre back seam in the back bodice, which shouldn’t be there; but I covered it up with a bias cut strip of dark chocolate cotton.  Mostly to obscure the complete lack of patten matching here, which was visually jarring to my eyes.

Second! a simple little white Booragoon top.  Actually; and Third!  I’ve just remember I made TWO simple little white Booragoon tops; one for Lainey for Christmas, which I have totally failed to photograph.  Picture this top, just in white.

 

 

btw, I didn’t put labels in things I made for others, just because you never know if people are going to get the same kick out of them that I do…   Anyway I made another white one for me too…  pictured on Cassie here.

This is Cassie’s and my Christmas post for our pattern company this year; I’m wearing my mustard Yallingup dress, Cassie is wearing her yellow Booragoon skirt and the aforementioned new little white Booragoon top.  You might be able to see it’s a tiny bit big on her, since it’s my size.

Fourth!  I made a new skirt, using some Ikuntji Artists fabric, that I did purchase during this year, using the voucher that I’d won for this outfit.  The print is called “Mintjinperri”, by Kelly Dixon, which sadly seems to be no longer available.

Having said that though, I think the print is what totally makes the skirt!  Pretty amazing, huh?!  The skirt is partially lined with dark blue lining fabric.

The pattern is my own, another that I am developing right now.  I made it long, with two side splits, and the also split lining is attached to the splits at the sides.

 

Something giving me joy?  sounds a tad obsessive, but I used coffee coloured thread for most of it, including the topstitched hem, which is the only visible stitching on the thing.  A few spots had coffee coloured top-stitching on solid dark blue areas which was a little distressing, so I switched to dark navy blue for these bits.

Fifth!  I made the matching, dark navy-blue Booragoon top.  Well, I still had my pattern pieces out so just cut it out and ran it up very quickly.  I’ve already written just about anything I can think of with regards to the Booragoon, my own pattern, but just know that I’m not making it up again and again just to big note myself, but because I truly love this little pattern right now.  It’s very flattering to my figure, and because it’s sleeveless it goes nicely under cardigans in the summer too.

So that’s it!  The very last of my 2022 labels, and the very last day of the year too.  Seems fitting  🙂

I’m going to try to squeeze in a retrospective post before the VERY end of the day too, so fingers crossed!  If I did, then it’s going to be very obvious, very soon!

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2022; a retrospective

31/12/2022 11:09 am \ 3 Comments \

It’s the last day of the year! which seems like a pretty good time for reflection and introspection.  I mean, why not?  a blog is as good a place as any for such nonsense  🙂  I’m going to start out with my own personal favourite outfits from each month of the year…

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Everything made by me!  I really love how I can make my own style and thus feel perfectly comfortable in my own skin most of the time.  I think my “makes” don’t always hit the mark for me in the long run but I do feel like I’m getting a grip on what works for me overall while still trying to be a little adventurous too.

What did I make this year?

I made 82 things this year; not too shabby, I think!  The breakdown: in total I made 12 dresses, 17 tops, 14 skirts, 1 scarf, 5 prs sockettes, 6 prs tights, 5 bags, 3 hats (inc. 1 crocheted), 1 pr trousers, 2 coats, 1 hoodie, 2 cardigans, 1 pr bathers, 1 slip, 1 baby onesie, 2 robes, 4 sets of underwear (1 bra + 2 prs matching undies per set), 1 jacket, 1 pr knitted socks, 1 pr knitted hand warmers, 1 stuffed felt fox + clothes.  Phew!

Out of these;  4 tops, 3 skirts, 1 hat, the 2 robes, 1 coat, 1 bag, and the stuffed fox were all for others.

Cassie and I were thrilled to release two new patterns for our tiny pattern company this year too; the Booragoon skirt and its partner, the Booragoon top.  We love how these patterns go together!

  

Stashbusting vs new fabric…

I made a substantial effort to not buy any new fabric this year!  and imo only failed in an acceptably small way!  We went to Melbourne in March, and I allowed myself to buy a few new pieces.  Well, souvenir fabric always gets a pass from me and I was very careful to not go overboard!  I also received two new pieces of fabric from Minerva, and used my prize voucher from Ikuntji Artists for my winning entry into FrockOn last year.  Apart from that I bought nothing! and I’ve really roared through a large amount of stash this year.  I managed to go through the 30m I promised at the beginning of the year by May, and from then made my pledge to keep going with buying no new.  I think I’ve made pretty good headway, especially considering that latest year Mum basically offloaded her stash onto me!  I’ve had to have a stern talking to myself though about no longer accepting any one else’s stashes.

favourite makes?

This is really really hard for me to choose just one thing! so I’m allowing myself a few…

For pride in the sewing process I really love how this green dress turned out:

for pure joy, I choose this little raincoat I made for Theo

also I’m quite pleasantly surprised how much I love this extremely soft, comfortable and wearable dress made from an old sheet!

any fails?

It makes me so sad to nominate this dress since I was so proud of it when I’d finished it! but unfortunately the top feels weirdly bulky and I’ve decided I just don’t really vibe with the double corded, gathered waistline.  I’ve developed a dislike for those very carefully constructed white-and-red inserts too… eeep!!  I can’t just give up on the lovely plaid fabric just yet though and am determined to rework it somehow early next year.  I have plans!

what did I wear this year?

my most worn things this year can be summed up quite succinctly in the following outfits…

top ticket items were; my yellow raincoat (27 wears), my above-knee raspberry skirt pictured just above left (23 wears), the yellow cardigan just above right (22 wears) and my blue/white gingham Myosotis dress (top centre, 22 wears).  This isn’t counting any of my shoes, underwear or my black tights.

in general life stuff; I’m still learning Japanese, it’s coming up to three years now!  Pretty pleased with my progress and I’m hoping to keep on it with the same intensity next year too.  The first bit of 2023 is going to be a quite challenging though, because I’m currently working on a HUGE project, Lainey’s wedding dress!  Yes, I’m deeply embroiled in that, and it’s only going to get more involved from now on.  I’m going to try to make at least a small effort to keep on with eliminating the stash but to be honest that has to go on the back burner for a short while.

I will however most definitely be making something new for myself in my mother-of-the-groom role, of course!  So excited for Sam and Lainey’s big day! and for Lainey’s dress, which I am super DUPER excited to be making for her!

If you’re still reading, then thank you! I really enjoy reading and appreciate every comment.  I wish you all the absolute best for a safe, happy and healthy 2023!

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