Tag Archives: Fabulous Fabrics

Army shirt (not really…)

25/08/2011 11:30 am \ 27 Comments \

… but my interpretation of a sorta military look.
I love khaki and all muddy colours, and felt a khaki/muddy/sludgy coloured shirt would be just the thing; and once the military mindset had taken a hold on me it wasn’t long before vaguely uniform-y style details starting sneaking onto my new shirt too…
I used Burda 7767 again (and yes, this is version fifteen of this pattern that I was referring to in the rogue’s gallery of Burda 7767 here).
I added a few little touches; some shoulder tabs, held down with a decorative strip, sleeve tabs to keep those sleeves in place when pushed up halfway up my forearm just how I like it…  The bottom hem is curved.  The pockets have a folded bizzo down the centre front which is top-stitched in place, and I squared off the lower pocket corners.  This shape is echoed in the pocket flaps.  I also folded back the button band to the outside so I could get that look of a separate band, rather than that smooth look you get when it is turned to the inside, although this played havoc with my usual method of neatly finishing the button-band hem edge I worked it out OK in the end.

These buttons are fabulous, aren’t they?  I used 16 to finish this shirt, and if I could have invented ways of sneaking a few extra in here somehow then I probably would have!  They are brass, and are stamped to look somewhat like an ancient Chinese or ancient Roman coin.  Or something like that… am even vaguely toying with the idea of going back to Fabulous Fabrics and buying up every single one of them.  But mustn’t be greedy, must play nice and leave some for others now…  🙂
And take a sqizz at my new label! (thank you so much to my good friend Yoshimi who helped me to get these adorable things!  You have my unending gratitude!)  I LOVE them!  And I feel about them a bit like Elaine from Seinfeld when she found out her favourite contraceptive sponge had been discontinued, and she only had a limited supply left, and she then had to judge each new man she met on whether he was “sponge-worthy”.  Now I have to judge each new garment I make as to whether it is label-worthy or not.  I think my new shirt is label-worthy… What do you think?

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767 with modifications, dark khaki linen
Skirt; my own design; charcoal knit stuff
Tights; Spencer & Lacy
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes
Sunnies; RayBan

(and for those wondering if I had traced off this much used-pattern, lest it get all tattered and torn, I am using the original tissue every time and it is in pretty good nick still, see?  I take very good care of my patterns!)

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The two things together

06/01/2011 8:45 am \ 14 Comments \

I’m not sure if this outfit is too severe.  Perhaps.  But this is the thing; I wanted to see these two pieces both together as they were designed to go with each other.  Both being from the same designer.  Japanese designed clothing can often be very architectural and pared back.  And I love this sharp, slightly futuristic minimalism that Japanese designers offer.  And it’s a look that I think is very indefinably now.
So, yeah, here’s me trying to be all super fashionable…
Yet other times I’m romantically lacy and floral, and other times a bit sporty; thus the schizophrenic nature of my sartorial tastes… these very different styles are constantly clashing together in my wardrobe, sometimes meeting in a mishmash of an outfit for a day, sometimes donned in a pure distillation of a recognised style.  
Perhaps it’s just that I like to experiment in both my sewing and with my “look”.
Today I am purely Japanese.
Oh, except for the raggedy old hat (romantic)… and the tennis shoes (sporty)…
So I guess, not so purely Japanese after all! 

About the other pictures; I snapped these samples of the local wildlife floating past the jetty this morning.  Black swans, natch, our state fauna and emblem, and after which this river is named.
And the jellyfish… relax, these ones are harmless.  I learnt to swim in this river, as did my kids, and one soon learnt to gently swoosh them aside during swimming lessons!

Details:
Top; top “b” from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like, by Natsuno Hiraiwa, white cotton, first posted here
Skirt; skirt “d” from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like, by Natsuno Hiraiwa, silver crepe first posted here, I styled this skirt styled in 6 different ways here
Hat and shoes; Country Road

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Sam’s shirt

02/01/2011 2:50 am \ 10 Comments \

This is the shirt I made for our youngest for a Christmas present.  The funny thing about making this shirt was that I cut it out and made it up with absolutely no attempt at secrecy whatsoever, and it was still a surprise to him when he opened up his present!  Luckily a happy surprise…   Yah, Sam is not particularly observant of or interested in my sewing projects, but will sometimes grudgingly give approval or advice when pressed.
This shirt is just the thing for his style.  Sort of conservative, but with the youthful twist.  He currently likes to look a tiny bit cool, but not really.  Sorta hip while still wanting some invisibility.  Just… well, a teenager.
The fabric is cotton check, a bit scrunchy and randomly creased like Tim’s, but is not stretchy and was correspondingly a lot easier to work with.  In fact I love this fabric.
I used the old faithful Burda 7767, with the following modifications; the addition of two bias cut breast pockets with shaped bias cut flaps, shorter sleeves, added sleeve tabs and shoulder tabs, a longer curved hemline, and the use of silver snaps in lieu of buttons throughout.  I also later added an iron motif, like I did for Tim’s shirt, but this isn’t in the photo I took on Christmas Day here, because … oh, kind of long story.  Basically when we were in Spotlight choosing Tim’s motif (Tim was still away working) I asked Sam which one he liked the best.  He promptly and without hesitation chose a square motif with a sailing ship, which was quite cute but I also knew would not look cool on the shirt I was making.  I felt the rearing lion one would look really good.   So I secretly bought this one as well, and slipped them both in the pocket of the shirt when I wrapped it for Sam to decide.  And then he chose the rearing lion too… so I put the rearing lion on and we still have the sailing ship for some other shirt down the track…  
This motif is from the same horoscope collection as Tim’s raging bull; similarly Sam is no more a Leo than Tim is a Taurus… but look at us, defying the system…
I’m a Libra, but I’ve always felt a bit gypped at the mundanity of being represented by an inanimate object; a pair of scales, for heavens’ sake.  The other signs get all this cool stuff like bulls, scorpions, entwining fish and other interesting and/or virile animals, or cool centaurs, beautiful girls, water bearing maidens… the stuff of myth and legend; romantic fables of old.  Scales.  I ask you…  What’s more, I’ve just looked up Libra and,  well thank you Wikipedia, found it described as “fairly faint, with no first magnitude stars”.  Just couldn’t sound more lame…  as if we weren’t struggling with the whole stigma of a kitchen-device-as-our-mascot already…
Excuse my rambling, hehe.  I’m going to go and chill out with some fabric now.

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Cassie’s dress

31/12/2010 3:38 am \ 19 Comments \

This is the dress I made our daughter for her Christmas present this year.  I know her tastes very well and could picture exactly the dress I wanted to make for her, but was quite anxious about how to go about it.  Cassie is the most difficult one in the family for me to sew surprises for, for the following reasons:

1. In order for her to like it, it had to fit her perfectly; neither tight or clingy, or worse, saggy and baggy.
2. I wanted it to be a length that made both of us happy.  Once upon a time, not too long ago, if you had drawn up as a simple Venn diagram of preferred dress/skirt lengths for Cassie, comprising two sets representing mine and Cassie’s preferences; the intersection of the two sets would have been quite a tiny one.  Luckily she has grown up some and is aware that while barely bum-skimming skirts might be greatly appreciated by guys when a girl bends over to pick something up, that sight of publicly exposed knickers is often a moment of horrified self-awareness for that same girl’s friends.  “OMG, don’t tell me I’ve ever looked like that?!!
3. She loves sewing herself, so is always super aware of what I am currently sewing.  She also loves to go through the fabric stash, looking for something suitable for herself, and often wants to come with me if I go fabric shopping.  This makes embarking on a secretive project an extreme challenge.

So, how to make her a secret Christmas dress, that fitted perfectly, and of a length that she would be happy with?
Well of course, it couldn’t really be much of a secret in the end.  But she has a sense of humour and we managed a compromise… she stood in the laundry with her eyes shut while I did the fitting.  Again with her eyes shut, a mutually satisfying length was decided on.  The surprise for her was just the final look.
The stretch lace I used for this very simple Tshirt dress is of course see-through on its own, so I lined the dress completely with a soft silky like jersey matched in colour to the dress.  The sleeves are unlined.  I positioned the body and sleeve pieces on the length of fabric so the natural edging edges the sleeves and lower hem.  The seams are all overlocked to finish on the inside.  I didn’t finish the lower edge of the lining because it is that wonderful type of jersey that never frays. 
I think she looks just beautiful in it.
And she loves it too, so I couldn’t ask for a more happy result!

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Tim’s shirt

29/12/2010 1:25 am \ 13 Comments \

This is a shirt I made for our eldest son for a Christmas present.  I didn’t need to be secret working on this one, as he was working up in Kalgoorlie up until only a few days before Christmas.
I’m glad he got a job where he is earning some good money but I did really miss him…  oh dear, empty nest syndrome coming on already?  sad…  🙁  
Anyway, we are making the most of him being home now.  And he has probably at least another year of Uni at home.
This fabric was a bit of a *&%# to work with.  Excuse my French.  I’ve had it for about a year, toyed with various projects in my mind, possibly a shirt for Craig, draping it over Bessie to get inspired for something for me etc. and finally came to terms with the fact Tim was the best one in the house to carry off this “deconstructed businessman” fabric.  The fabric is heat set into random crazy creases, and is slightly stretchy, thus the %$#@ factor, have you ever tried fine precision tailoring with stretchy or pre-creased fabric??  And I like for mens’ shirts to be well tailored… well, I just had to accept the quirks of this fabric and go with it as best I could.  I think I wrestled it into some sort of submission with minimal meltdown on my own behalf.   Anyhow I’m very happy with how it finally turned out.  And most importantly Tim likes it too.  He wore it on Christmas Day, and has worn it out to two other parties with his friends since, so must do!
The pattern is Burda 7767 again, this time made up pretty much as is but with narrower sleeve cuffs, the addition of two breast pockets with asymmetrical flaps, a long curved hem and the use of navy blue snaps in lieu of buttons.
I also added this iron-on “raging bull” motif.  Hehe, this is kind of funny because there is no one less like a raging bull than Tim…  It is actually one of a series of horoscope signs, and Tim is not even a Taurus, but meh…  I liked the colours of this motif against the colours of the shirt, and I thought it needed a little extra something to make it less formal and wicked enough for a young bloke.

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767, pattern review here, cotton with probably a spot of spandex for stretch?

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Merry Christmas!

25/12/2010 2:36 pm \ 14 Comments \

Merry Christmas, all!  Wishing you a wonderfully happy and peaceful day together with your families and friends!

Details: 
Dress; Vogue 8555, with a bodice front of my own design, and added petticoat and waist tie,  printed cotton
Shoes; Sandler, had for many years

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Drafting a new bodice…

17/12/2010 5:45 am \ 14 Comments \

For my Christmas dress this year I have visions of a dreamy floral dress; tight bodiced but with a big big skirt… this is not a look I’ve worn very often, if at all so it’s quite possible I am going to look ridiculous in this!  However whenever I see ladies wearing these big skirted bright floral numbers I think how lovely they look, really so feminine and pretty.  I’m not sure if I can carry this off or not, I hope so but we’ll see…
I’ve had this pattern for a while but not yet used it; one of those buy-one-Vogue-pattern-and-get-three-free deals.  I bought it because I was swayed by the nice illustrations on the front and thought, hey, a useful basic dress pattern, OK!  And promptly put it away, never to see the light of day again…
I like the skirt but the bodice is very not me… 

Just a bit too poofy and gathered and flouncy.  Even just looking at this pattern piece I already know this volume of fabric in a bodice would be just too over the top for my figure, the words “deflated balloon” spring to mind…  But I had a firm idea in mind of the kind of bodice I wanted for this dress; something with a bit of interest, some pleating but still quite fitted.  So the following is what I came up with, inspired by a dress I had seen somewhere, not sure where now…
Burda 8071 has a very simple, streamlined, princess-seamed bodice that fits me perfectly, so I used this to cut out two side fronts.  For the front; I cut out a slightly sloping centre panel, and two long rectangles for my pleated sections… (I did cut off those two jutty out bits at the centre top of the rectangles after taking this, just ignore them, sorry)

Carefully measured out the pleats, alternating 2cm and 3cm gaps, and pinned, folded and pressed in place…

At the back I sewed the peaks of the pleats in 0.5cm seams, and sewed the little skinny centre panel to the pleated panels at their centre edges. 

I then fanned out the bodice at the outer edges, leaving pleats of 2cm depth at the centre edge of the panels, and 1cm depth at the outer edge.  I’m aiming for a bodice with nicely sun-rayed pleats here…

Then finally used the Burda 8071 centre front pattern piece to cut out a centre front.  I left the top centre edge high and uncut, so the centre front is not cut as deep a “V” as the pattern piece above it.

Sewed the side fronts to the centre front piece…  For the shoulder straps I used two rectangles, slightly curved… pinned them how I wanted them to be on the bodice, with a little pleat at the bottom…

The lining pieces were cut with no pleating.

I also wanted a waist tie at the back of the dress, to pull in the waist and nip it in.  This was a simple matter of cutting out two long rectangles, of equal width to the back midriff pieces, with a long angled edge at the end.

These were sewed in the side seams of the midriff pieces, before attaching the midriff piece to the bodice.

For the skirt; the fabric I am using is not sheer so a skirt lining is not essential.  However I like for the innards of my dresses to be finished as completely and as beautifully as possible, and I also wanted a big flared petticoat effect with this skirt, so I cut out two skirt pieces using the facing fabric.  The skirt of this pattern is a quite densely pleated as well as flared skirt, and while I wanted the flare I didn’t want that extra bulk of a pleated waistline on the petticoat (slimline, please!) so I cut the petticoat pieces to be straight A-line, with no pleating at the top.

This is a work in progress…   I have several top-secret Christmas sewing projects on the go as well as this, and I will post pictures of these plus this dress on or after Christmas Day…
Later dudes!

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The B1,B2 shirt

03/12/2010 5:41 am \ 23 Comments \

Hehe, I realise only Aussies are going to get that reference.  My daughter suggested the name at first sight, and the similarities had up until that moment escaped me.  But mean wife that I am, I informed my husband that he still has to wear his new shirt, nonetheless…
To explain; Bananas in Pyjamas is a favourite Australian children’s television show, starring (of course) B1 and B2.  My kids all adored this show as littlies…
As the Bananas are always “coming down the stairs” I just had to make my husband come down the stairs for this photo…!

Prior to my daughter’s brilliant observations, I was pretty pleased with this latest addition to my husband’s wardrobe.  Oh, OK, I still am pretty pleased… particularly with the buttonholes.  They are on the diagonal!!  Cool, no?  I had seen a shirt in a very expensive menswear store with diagonally placed buttonholes, and decided they looked pretty interesting; a tiny little twist on an otherwise standard shirt, so I decided to incorporate this feature in the shirt.  And I do like to experiment with different effects, even in something as basic and potentially unexciting to the home seamstress as a men’s casual shirt.
To draw attention to this feature I also placed the buttonholes in pairs, and used bright contrasting buttons.  Well, they deserve to be noticed, right?!  My husband had put in his boring request for white or navy buttons, but has conceded now that the yellow buttons are a bit more fun and casual.  And definitely more interesting.
I had also used contrasting fabric for the collar and cuff lining, a feature I’d seen on other shirts in the same expensive store, and had decided the yellow buttons were sort of necessary to tie in somehow with the yellow fabric I’d used here.  I just felt the shirt needed a little zing to it, as the fabric was so… conventional.  I had bought the striped fabric about a year ago always with the intention of making a men’s shirt, but had not got around to it.  I think now I just felt uninspired with the prospect of a kinda blah end result, but with the slightly off-kilter extra details I’m now very happy with it and don’t feel it is at all boring!
And yes, my husband likes it too!

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767 with the usual custom fittings, navy and white striped cotton

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