Tag Archives: Daily Outfit

ivory madou

22/04/2022 11:55 am \ 1 Comment \

I made a new jacket  🙂

I love making and wearing jackets, and this one was … um, fun? to make?  Haha, no really.  I used this beautiful ivory/vanilla wide wale corduroy that I bought years ago, from Potters Textiles… it’s one of those quite lovely luxe fabrics in such a perfect “white” for my complexion that I’ve been saving for all this time… just waiting for that perfect pea coat pattern.  Although maybe it’s not quite a pea coat in the end, maybe more of a cropped shacket…?  Honestly I don’t understand all the in or even relevant terms for clothing a lot of the time but it’s a jacket and very comfy and fun to wear, and I LOVE it!  Phew what a crazy sentence!  I’m sorry!

So, launching into the pattern deets: this is the FibreMood Madou jacket pattern, from the latest magazine/pattern release.  It’s quite boxy and intended to be a bit longer that my version here.  I cut mine  bit short; partly because I thought this was a better length, and partly because by doing so I have enough leftovers to scrape a little mini skirt for winter too.  Ha!  It has huge breast pockets, which may well be mostly decorative in the long run because honestly, can you actually put anything bulkier than a credit card in a breast pocket?? but they look pretty cool, I think.  However, there are also huge hip pockets, thus satisfying my die-hard little pocket loving heart.  *happiness*

I added one of my circa 2022 labels.  Still love these!

Now, why was it *inverted commas* fun? to make, as expressed above?  well, being wide wale corduroy, and also being really gorgeous fabric that I absolutely could not ruin; any wobbly wales in the corduroy were going to drive me absolutely crazy and I quickly realised I could not tolerate any of that …  I ended up hand-basting the central back seam; cursing myself the whole time for not ignoring the pattern and cutting it on a fold instead NO! actually I remember now, I DID cut it on a fold, and thought I’d just cut the edges off and avoid that centre back seam… and then I thought; no, I’ll follow the pattern as it should be and have a centre back seam.  So I sliced up up the middle thus condemning myself to handstitching the seam.  However!  I have to admit I love the look of the centre back seam now; it’s perfect as far as the wales looking lovely and even, and it does make the back look a little more interesting than if there was no seam.

Same goes for the front button band stitching, and putting on the patch pockets; I was super super careful in the pressing, the lining up, and the stitching of each of these components.  And am very happy with the results too!

The underneath of the collar, and the front bit of the hip pockets are cut from a perfectly colour-matched pice of heavy natural calico; that I bought from Calico and Ivy years ago.  I did have enough fabric to cut these things, but am determined to get that matching mini skirt!

I used some dark copper jeans buttons for the buttons; from stash.  My supply of these is very low now and I will need to buy more in the near future.  It feels good to be using my stash though!  I love finding exactly what I need, already in my possession.  Reminds me, I can update my #use 30 stats; I had 2m of the corduroy, and I still plan to make a little skirt from the leftovers, so I think I can claim 1.5m for this latest creation.  Bringing up my total to 18.5m for the year so far.  11.5m to go!!

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millennial holiday

30/03/2022 6:00 pm \ 4 Comments \

I made a new dress for myself.. using this super cute cotton … it’s called Millennial Holiday, which I have to confess gave me a real laugh!  But isn’t it beautiful.. those happy, sunny and joyful colours, gorgeous girls wandering about under palm trees in their trend-tastic outfits, walking their dogs, drinks in hand… such a fun and happy print!

It’s another Nerida Hansen fabric – and yes, I’ve been extremely naughty adding new fabrics to my stash whilst not having “consumed” the promised 30m from my stash yet.  I just don’t feel like getting upset with myself over it though.

 

The pattern is also another Nerida Hansen one; the Half Sleeve Dress… by the way, the links above lead to the products but they are not affiliate links and I am not getting paid for these posts.  I wish! haha.

I did a slight modification that I that I thought gave it a nice little extra visual interest… the sleeve hem is finished with a facing; I cut 4 of these and made a “cuff” for each sleeve instead of putting the facing invisibly inside.  The cuff has the seam inside between the sleeve and the cuff, and I hand stitched the cuff to the sleeve in a few spots to secure it in place.  I love how this looks!

I used my circa 2022 on the sleeve this time, because it seemed like a better spot than the back of the neck I’d used for my previous 2022 makes.  I felt like it would be a bit invisible in that location, in this print.

I’m very happy with this super sweet and cheerful dress!  As well as the fact that the colours are absolutely gorgeous, the girls make me smile, and the shape and style is so perfectly suited to my current beach/dogwalking lifestyle.  What more could one hope for in a dress  🙂

I’ve got several things to blog here, immediately, because I’ve been shamefully neglectful of my poor little blog.  Life has just got so busy lately, I know I know…  I hate excuses too; however, the thing is I’m babysitting my two beautiful grandchildren (separately) on two, sometimes three days a week, while Cassie and Kelly work; which is absolutely lovely although also quite tiring.  But I want to catch up  here too… time to embark upon a blogging onslaught.  You have been warned!

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hand drawn check

03/03/2022 1:08 pm \ 4 Comments \

Isn’t this fabric totally gorgeous?!!  I love it so much!  I still have a huge affinity to pink, despite that I’m not “supposed” to wear it, whatever that means.. well, if it makes you happy!  And this little group of colours really does.

This is the Hand Drawn check by Nerida Hansen fabrics, colourway Navy Pink  – yes of course they had me at “navy” plus “pink”; one of my all time favourite colour combinations!  and I used one of their patterns, the Summer dress to make this too!  btw way, yes those are direct links to the things, but rest assured they are not affiliate links  🙂

 

goes so nicely with my teal clogs!!  #bonus

and yes I made those too… details here

I’m totally over the moon with the gorgeously pretty and floaty result… it’s a really lovely combination, if I say so myself  🙂   The design is very simple; it just slips over your head with no closure needed, my favourite sort of thing to wear, especially in summer  😉 and the beautiful cool slipperiness of the tencel linen sliding over your body as it goes is an absolute delight.

The Summer dress design has massive pockets, ahem; not that that is in any way important, of course!  😉 and a slight oversized-ness that feels happily up-to-the-minute in the fashion stakes.  I wasn’t sure if I should go down a size, but in the end decided to trust the size chart.  And actually I’m in love with the loose fit.  I really like the midi length.  It’s not a length that I’ve been wearing a lot over the last few years but I feel it sneaking back into my list of “wants”; as in things that my mind feels lately are all of flattering, comfortable, and a little bit of a refreshing change.  They say that hemline lengths are the barometer of the fashion world? well who knows, I often just think that anything goes in fashion right now, but it is nice to have a variety of things to choose from in the wardrobe.

I was careful to match up the checks at the side as best I could; even though I sometimes rail against the rigidity of this mindset, and I feel like it can sometimes lead to more fabric wastage too… I still do it myself most of the time!  It does look a lot nicer when you go to the effort of making sure the print is nice and consistent all around.  As it turned out; the skirt length was just about perfect that there was almost no wastage through pattern matching; which was a nice outcome.  And I managed to cut the huge deep pockets from the sides, so I actually have a small amount of leftovers for … something.

 

Of course I fell in love with that print first and foremost, but actually the quality is superb as well.  It sewed up beautifully; very soft and supple, but has a very nice amount of body too.

I cut some of the leftovers into bias strips and made bias binding; which I used to bind the front and back facing.  I love the look of this! and of course it’s a much more comfortable finish to wear than if you just whizz it around on the overlocker; which can be scratchy. Of course I also added a circa 2022 label.  These are so cute! and the novelty has not worn off at all for me  🙂  Probably going to put one of these on each and every thing I make for myself this year!

And I made a mask.  As you do.  However, just something about the print – which I love! – well in a mask I felt like it turned out a little bit … Hannibel Lector-ish?  Yeah, I know; once you see it…  The dress itself doesn’t trigger that for me at all… but in a mask? hmmm!

Why yes, I did indeed made my hat too.  One of my all-time most worn garments!  Details here

Now I have to confess this fabric was new to me this year, so I can’t really count it in my #use30 metres fr0m stash.  In the process of testing our new pattern lately I have used another 4m of fabric from my stash, but I really should ADD the 2m I used for this gorgeous dress in there to be fair!  So; I think I can subtract the balance of 2m off my tally; bringing me up to 15m used, and 15m to go? sounds kinda about right?  I know; it’s getting a bit dodgy in the accounting department but honestly I have zero regrets.  I absolutely love this fabric and it makes me very happy, so I’m definitely not beating myself up over the whole thing.  I will use 30m from the standing stash in the end, however long it takes, and I’m content with that.

 

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nani Iro Encounter dress

11/02/2022 11:04 am \ 4 Comments \

Hello!  I’ve made a new rather beachy little dress!

I bought this beautiful fabric over two years ago, the last time we were in Japan and Yoshimi took us to her favourite craft store; Yuzawaya in Kichijoji, it’s quite close to the Studio Ghibli museum and we popped in on our way.  It is a nani Iro double cotton gauze”Encounter”; and it’s so pretty! but in a sparse, painterly way that I think it’s not too pretty for me.

I used a pattern from the Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori; dress F which I have made several times before.  It’s my favourite from the book, because it is so subtly stylish in a very quiet and cute way without tipping into too cute (for me).  My favourite thing about it is the shaped, open sleeve design, with little ties.  I squeezed in seam side pockets, of course;  and actually used up practically every scrap of my 2m of fabric.  I have enough left for a face mask but didn’t get around to making that yet.

I’ve been dreaming about finally wearing this beautiful fabric for so long, finally cutting into it and making something that I know I am going to love was a joy; I almost feel like I’m cheating on my “use30” pledge?!  But of course it’s not really cheating.  Adding this 2m to my current tally of 8; and I’m up to 10m for the year… 20m to go!!

For the facing, in the past I’ve just tended to overlock the edges of a facing like this… however I’ve often found an overlocked, interfaced edge to be quite irritating when it’s rubbing against soft skin all day long.  So this time I went to the effort of finishing off the facing with a strip of self bias-binding.  I can already attest that this tiny little innovation is a huge improvement!

I also added a fun new label, that I bought to treat myself at the beginning of this year…  the idea of a time stamp on my clothes just took my fancy!  Yes, I am indeedy a bit of a nerd about things being orderly and documented/tallied in a well organised fashion – obviously! What is this blog if not just a further manifestation of my obsession?! These cute labels are from Kylie and the Machine; the coolest of cool label makers out there. I don’t mind being cool occasionally, if it fits my current fancy.

This is the first outfit in my “make 12”.  It’s a bit quick and casual, but I’m so happy I finally cut into this precious, very loved fabric; plus it could not be more perfectly suited to my current lifestyle, so all is good.  I hope to be making more exciting and involved things for future contenders.

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gingham!! carrot cake!!

29/11/2021 6:35 am \ 2 Comments \

Hello!   I made a fun new frock…

I received 2m of this gorgeous blue gingham from Minerva; it’s very light and floaty and so I decided to make a little sun frock. I spent several hours laying different patterns down on the fabric to see which one would result in minimal leftovers; something that has become really common for me now when I’m deciding on a project for a piece of fabric .  The Deer and Doe Myosotis pattern “just” squeezed on with absolutely no leftovers at all!  and even then I had to cut the sleeve cuffs out on the cross instead of with grain.  Which is no hardship at all, of course…  Can you even tell?  The gingham squares are so regular and even … it’s hard to see if you don’t really check it out very carefully!

I’ve used the Myosotis pattern once before, for this favourite little sun frock, and this time I did a substantial small bust adjustment to the pattern.  Basically I rotated out the front waist darts completely and reduced the bust dart by about half, and the result is a really good fit for me!  I left the back waist darts unchanged, because I do have a small sway back and so this shaping suited me well.

it appears that the shoulder is altered in the right hand photo, but it hasn’t; it’s just that the paper is floating up a bit at that point

I used three small white buttons for my stash for closure, and all the raw edges inside the dress are overlocked with ivory thread to finish.

I submitted a long blog post to Minerva on the dress, here, which you can read if you like..

In baking news, and yes! I do seem to be doing a bit of baking lately!  I made a carrot cake for Dad’s birthday… to be clear, this was not THE birthday cake, which Mum made, but more of a consumable treat for Dad as a birthday present, since he’d stipulated absolutely NO birthday presents, please.

I did a bit of sleuthing to find out his favourite eatable treat, and lo! it is carrot cake (surprise!)  So I made one! I figured at least this is a present that will be consumed and then it’s gone, and doesn’t need storing or dusting or anything.

 I used this recipe from the cooking tree, yes she is my favourite thing to watch at the moment! and it was absolutely delicious.  We all liked that there was a much higher proportion of icing to cake than usual.

I really enjoyed decorating the cake!

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I made a really nice coat

22/11/2021 5:36 pm \ 3 Comments \

I’ve made a new coat, and I really love it!  I’ve been seeing some oversized, over-long coats here and there, not in the flesh I mean since where I live we really do lag behind just a leetle bit fashion-wise, particularly when it comes to something as Perth-inappropriate as a coat.  No, I mean I’ve seen them mostly in Vogue magazine or Pinterest, and had a fancy for one myself… when I saw this pattern by FibreMood I decided it was time to go for it and make one!

 

I used this beautiful tobacco silk/wool fabric with a recurring, tiny gold spot; so tiny it sadly doesn’t show up in my full-length pictures… but look how pretty and delicate it is  🙂

Hehe, I’ve had this gorgeous stuff in my stash since late 2010/early 2011, when I bought it in Tokyo… this was the first time I’d met Yoshimi and Novita in Japan, and they took Cassie and me out fabric shopping. It was such fun! and this lovely piece of fabric was one of my spoils of that trip.  I posted about it here… and as you can see, I finally made the choice as to which side I should use… obviously the wrong side finally held sway.  It was hard though, I was honestly still dithering right up until the very first cut!

wrong side is at the top, right side is below…

This is all the fabric I bought on that trip… and I’ve used all but one piece now; the deep green wool at the top of the picture. I really should use that up now!

below; I still carry that bag regularly, and wear that red scarf…though I gave that white coat to my daughter-in-law Kelly a few years ago when we last took the family to Japan  🙂

Woops got a bit distracted down memory lane there!  anyway, so the pattern I used for my new coat is the new FibreMood Carmen pattern, and it’s a really nice one… it’s big and roomy, has very deep side seam pockets, a chic notched collar and closes with a minimal tie.  No buttonholes, yay!

The coat is designed to be fully lined with a bagged lining, that turns out through a gap in the sleeve seam.  Now, patterns rarely specify this, but in my opinion they should; my one recommendation for doing this is to make sure that you can fit your fist through the hole.  Your job will be so much easier!

My lining fabric is also from deep stash, it’s a metallic gold/bronze taffeta that I bought years ago on special from Fabulous Fabrics.  You can probably see in my lining photo that it has water stains all down the centre, which is why it was on super special, and also why it took me a long time to use it, probably.  It’s ok, at least I’ve used it now! and I actually love it.  I really think the metallic-ness of it beautifully highlights the gold flecks on the shell fabric.

I added a hanging loop between the collar and the back neck facing; because I’ve always found this to be a really handy thing.

 

Not sewing related of course, but chocolate related, and who can resist a bit of chocolate-related content, hmmm?  No need to answer that, I know it’s purely rhetorical…  anyway, I made this chocolate brownie cheesecake recently, using this recipe by the Cooking Tree, and this is to remind myself how utterly divine it was; and that I MUST MAKE IT AGAIN!!!!

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some wide-legged chocolate trousers

03/11/2021 3:19 pm \ 12 Comments \

I guess the title says it all really!

Well, a little more detail wouldn’t hurt I suppose  😉  This is the latest and 10th thing in my #use12 mini capsule wardrobe that I proposed for myself at the beginning of the year.

I used Vogue 1693, an old Issey Miyake pattern that I’ve had for many many years, and am very sorry it’s not available any more since it’s completely unique and I think a real beauty too.  I’ve made the trousers once before too, a navy blue pair.  Although a few commenters, particularly my husband, ahem, did not think they were as wonderful as I did (!) I really liked them and ended up wearing them a lot!  I personally thought they were all of chic, “interesting”, comfortable and flattering, a combination that doesn’t pop up all that often.  Maybe they’re a little “80’s” but I am an 80’s child at heart still, no point in denying that.  Also, all things fashionable do come around again at some point and I’m a believer that if you like something then it’s perfectly ok for you to wear it.  ps, he did come around to them in the end!

For these ones I bought the same fabric from Spotlight that I’d used for my first pair since it worked out so well… a medium weight cotton twill, this time in a rich tobacco-chocolate colour.  I actually bought the fabric about two years ago but did nothing further, probably since I was still wearing the navy blue pair quite a lot at the time and didn’t feel that desperate need for a new pair yet.  And now the Time has Come!

 

The chocolate dress zip was already in my stash, it was a trifle too long but that’s not really a bother if you’re truly committed to using up the stash like I am right now! and the buttons are recycled off of an old pair of jeans that I made about ten years ago, these ones here actually.  Yes, I finally bid those adieu just recently too… it takes me a long time to say goodbye to things sometimes!  Also, thank you so much to lockdown me who devoted an entire afternoon to sorting through and neatly stringing together all of my unholy button stash into batches.  T’was worth it!

Oh, I also made the little white T-shirt I’m wearing too… it’s a modified Closet Core patterns Nettie, as usual.  I have often joked to myself that the last thing I need is another white top… but I was recently forced to throw out my previous small, short-sleeved white T-shirt because it really was disgracefully shabby from over-wearing… and I’ve really missed it!  White cotton jersey was thrown my way by Mum just recently; actually quite a massive length of it, like enough to keep me and the whole family in white T-shirts for the rest of our lives, I think.  Thank you Mum!

Video? why yes! … currently up on my youtube channel here:

I’ve probably said this before? but anyway, I am truly grateful to everyone who does watch my videos and leave a like and maybe even a comment or something.

I’m so excited that my little #use12 capsule wardrobe is nearly finished, and EXTREMELY excited to really get into it and style them all together for a little photoshoot when it is completely finished!   I can’t wait to see how/if they go together as a complete set as well as I’ve been hoping!

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Betty boop

15/09/2021 3:13 pm \ 6 Comments \

I’ve made a pair of cute little trousers! well at least I think they’re pretty cute anyway…

 

So: here’s the funny thing; I really do love and want to wear a lot of trousers/jeans/pants but I kinda struggle with them.   I genuinely worry that I look terrible in trousers and I’m convinced I look better in dresses and skirts.  If anyone has taken even a passing glance at my ootd blog it’s obvious I rarely wear pants.  And yet, I’m always on the eternal search for pants that look cute AND that I think I might look ok in.

 

And I think these fit the brief!  I’m very happy with how they turned out; they have a sorta fitted feel to them without being in the slightest bit tight, they’re loose enough to be comfortable, but have no hint of bagginess in them.  Yes!

 

I have an extra special reason for loving these; my grandmother was known as Betty, even though it was not technically her name.  SO I have a special soft spot for the name.  I’ve always held this deeply secret wish that my name was Betty, because I loved my grandmother so much.

Anyway!  I’m happily adding these to the small collection of pants that I really love… I have several pairs that I feel really good in; up until now my blue Sashas and my Morgan jeans were the top of that list.  I also still love my Ginger jeans, although I wear these less nowadays.  Yes, all Closet Core patterns, hehe.

Coinkinky-dink; the fabric I used to make these are the leftovers from my old Ginger jeans!  I made those back in  *checks blog archive* wow 2014.  I can’t believe they’ve gone so well, for so long!  I could have sworn I got the fabric in Spotlight, but my blog reliably informs me I bought it in KnitWit,so there you go.  I have zero memory of that.  Ha!  Thank goodness for the blog!

I cut the pocket lining from this cute evil-villain, cotton fabric, that was leftovers from one of Craig’s surgical masks, and I also made a few Covid masks from the leftovers this year too.

I used a red top-stitching thread for all the topstitching, I dunno, just for fun, because I had it.  In fact, 100% of the materials for my Betty’s were from my stash, which always feels amazing; if I can achieve it.  The potential of my stash is quite exciting to me, I’ve discovered so many garments in it this past year!

The top I’m wearing them with here is a Burda pattern; 04/2014;111, made in a bobbly stretch stuff from Fabulous Fabrics.  And in another funny coinkinky-dink, I am wearing this very same top in my blog post of the Ginger jeans too!  Another old favourite that has stood the test of time for me  🙂

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