Sienna Archives - Page 13 of 32 - Handmade by Carolyn

Drape-ity drape

19/01/2013 11:00 pm \ 53 Comments \ Carolyn

I have made a new top and a new skirt! and am combining the two new garments in one post; since they kinda go together so well and all, and actually the skirt is so… well, bland and basic that frankly it doesn’t deserve its own post. My top is a modified version of the loose drape top, pattern no. 1 from drape drape, by Hisako Sato. I used a soft slightly crinkly white cotton jersey, bought from the Fabric Store in Melbourne during my most recent trip. Regarding the design; I really loved those lovely soft drapes of that front and back neckline, however, like JenC noted in a comment, this top made up as per the pattern is a … er, raaaather revealing garment. As in, very very revealing. The photographs in the book have been carefully selected, but it’s plain to see that the model is a hair’s breadth away from being topless. And more, the top would be falling off one’s shoulders, only like, all the time.

But I thought it would be pretty easy to alter the pattern to be less revealing while still maintaining the essence of those beautifully soft falls of fabric at the neckline. I took out a good 20cm in width from the horizontal line of the front drape, and close to 30cm from the back drape, re-drawing in the armhole and side seams to be the same as the original, tapering out to the same hemline, and keeping those neckline edges cut straight on the cross so as to keep the self-facing as part of the same pattern piece, on a fold. Terrific design feature btw, for those frightened of finishing knits this is an excellent easy way out!

Reducing the width has given me a top with the same flavour that attracted me to the original, but with coverage… yes, I may have some nice lingerie now, but I don’t want to be modelling it out in public for everyone on the street!

The side seams are flat felled, and I hand slipstitched the facings and armhole bindings in place for a smooth clean look on the outside. I also added lingerie straps to the shoulder seams inside to prevent the top slipping off my shoulders, since in spite of taking out a whole lotta drape it is still that kind of design!

And I’m very happy with the result. Such a cool and elegant design. I can see this being lengthened very successfully, to make a simply gorgeous little cocktail sheath; how lovely would that look?

The skirt. Less exciting. But ironically, its the bland and boring stuff that often turns into the amazingly useful and versatile stuff too, though; don’t you think? The skirt is self-drafted, and identical in every way to this charcoal skirt from a few years ago, that has been utterly indispensible for layering and mixing and matching in my handmade wardrobe. Indispensible, I tell you! I used a piece of mystery fabric, part of the bundle given to me by my friend C from her late mother’s stash, and it is also the leftovers from this little Pattern Magic jacket. Thus qualifying it for an itty bitty stash-busting garment! Actually the top was also made using an itty bitty piece of fabric, less than 1m, but since I bought that fabric only three months ago I don’t know if it truly qualifies as “stash” What do you think? How long should fabric be in the stash before one can safely attribute it Stash Status?? One month? Six months? More than a year?

But the skirt is a definite stash-buster… goodness only knows how old that fabric is. This grey side is the reverse side to that I used for the “wearing a square” jacket, a smooth, blue-grey colour, with a double-knit look to its texture.

Details:
Top; modified version of the loose drape top, pattern no.1 from drape drape by Hisako Sato, white cotton
Skirt; my own design, blue grey double-knitty type of stuff.
Sandals; c/o Misano

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, drape drape, own design, Sienna, skirt, top

Yellow pleats. please!

10/01/2013 11:00 pm \ 49 Comments \ Carolyn

Yes, my title is swiped
shamelessly from Issey Miyake’s famous 1993 collection, but I reckon that is OK
since this is an Issey Miyake
design 😉

And you’ve probably noticed that it is yellow. A yellow top. Very yellow. Quaite
quaite yellow. As yellow as.

I’ve just been feeling very yellow-philic lately. Don’t bother to look that word up, I
just made it up just then.
“Philic”, meaning “attracted to” of course.

Oh, you’re welcome.
Don’t ever say this blog is not ed-you-cational!

I’ve been hunting for yellow fabric for ages…. and it just
doesn’t ever seem to be “in”. And
I don’t mean pastel primrose yellow, which is inexplicably always represented but which is too dreadful on me: I wanted intense! Saffron
yellow! Fierce yellow! Bold yellow!

Finally I spotted this satisfyingly ferocious, yellow silk
in the Fabric Store, in Melbourne, during our trip away last September, and
snapped it up! Then came the decision
of what to make it in… a decision swiftly and easily made when I laid eyes upon this Issey
Miyake pattern, Vogue 1142. My
yellow silk is that very flimsy and flighty stuff, the sort that slithers
across the table with the slightest breathe, so I knew it would be a good
choice; not too bulky when tripled up with this pleat-tastic design.

Oh, another
made-up word. Honestly….

I wrote a pattern review, below, but there is a kinda major issue with
making up this pattern that I thought it worth mentioning separately… the
pattern instruction just says “fold pleats in place, and press” and then those pleats are not even mentioned again, like bob’s your
uncle and that is all that is needed.

Hello? The sharpness and evenness of those perfectly spaced
pleats is only, like absolutely integral
to the visual success of the design imo.
Wouldn’t those merely pressed-down pleats simply wash out with the very
first wash??? Or, even just fall out on their own, with wear? And then your top will just be a
formless flowy thing; which admittedly could still probably look quite pretty, but
will not be the tiniest bit sculptural and would have lost all the character of the
original. I really like the sharp sculptural
lines of the one on the cover.

Accordingly I took the precaution of edge-stitching each and
every pleat down immediately after pressing. This step was fiddly, and accounted for the bulk of my time
to make the top; but I think it is essential to keep those pleats nice and
crisp for forever: so therefore it is worth it. In fact I just hopped over to Pattern review to check out
the other reviews and noticed that no one else mentioned how they
tackled the permanency or lack thereof, of their pleating; and I am curious as
to how their pleats fared in the wash??

Some deet shots; there is a heck of a lot of topstitching in this top;

edge-stitching on the outer folds of each pleat and the inner edges too,

the side seams are flat-felled in wide seam allowances

there is strategic stitching, artfully placed on the outside
of the pleats, to fuse them together

and also bar-tacks at the vulnerable side-seam/armhole
point as well as the upper edge of the side seam split, to add strength to spots that are subject to strain during wear.

Details:

Top; Vogue 1142, yellow silk

Shorts; Burda 7723, white linen, details and my review of this pattern here

Sandals; Misano

Pattern
Description:
Loose-fitting
pull-over top has pleats and stitched hems. Wrong side of fabric shows.
Pattern
Sizing:
American
sizes 6-14; 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?
Ohh,
the instructions are very easy to follow…
In my opinion a lot of extra top-stitching is essential in order to prepare
this garment to stand up to normal washing and wearing.
What
did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I
absolutely love the design concept; the way a
couple of almost-rectangles can be tweaked here and there before being… well
to put it frankly; pretty much slapped roughly together, and magically become transformed
into a rather romantic, artistic and very unusual blouse.
Fabric
Used:
Very
thin and slippery silk
Pattern
alterations or any design changes you made:
After
pressing each pleat in place, I edge-stitched each and every fold of each pleat,
to make it a permanent fold.
Yup. Each, and. Every. Fold. To not do this would be to lose all those pleats with the very first
wash. And since I spent about five
minutes carefully measuring each fold
before pressing; losing them was not an option I wanted to consider!

In
fact I cannot understand why the permanency of the pleats is not considered and
addressed in the instructions…

Would
you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes, I
probably will want another one of this summery and airy little top sometime. I recommend this top pattern to the meticulous seamster who craves romance and drama in her wardrobe, but still likes to be comfy.

Conclusion:

It is super comfortable
and very forgiving to wear, and nicely easy breezy for summer. On top of that, it is a delightfully unusual, undeniably cool and
very funky garment. I feel rather
artistique in this top 🙂

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, issey miyake, pattern review, Sienna, top, Vogue 1142

Denimen. Ineminem.

06/01/2013 11:00 pm \ 33 Comments \ Carolyn

First garment for the year!

The credit for the cute pocket and the funky piecing and top-stitching goes to Mum of course 😉 Yes, remember this Vogue 8561 skirt that she made, and
passed on to me because she didn’t like it? Unfortunately that particular combo of pattern and fabric was kinda unforgivably frumpy. I think the older you get, the far less
you can get away with anything remotely frumpy. When she saw it on me even Mum said “oh just toss it out Carolyn,
it does nothing for you either”

But it was of lovely, new fabric; slightly stretchy denim from
KnitWit? I think? and waaaaay too nice to ditch so hastily; and I liked the idea
of a little blue denim skirt in my wardrobe. Key word there: “little”. And blue denim; always a favourite!

So the unfrumpy Vogue 1247 came to the rescue… I
spliced the upper and lower skirt pattern pieces together and managed to cut a
front and back from the very lowest portion of the skirt, keeping most of the
original hemline intact.

Interesting, huh? that the hemline circumference of that long long original is almost exactly the same as it is in this much much shorter skirt. Explains a lot, in retrospect it was pretty constrictive and difficult to stride briskly along in…. and I’m a strider.

I cut out
that adorable little pocket from the top and re-attached it to the skirt;
because imo it was the hands-down highlight of the original skirt and I just had to keep it! The original dress zip was unpicked and
re-used in the CB seam, and I found a piece of non-stretchy denim in my stash
with a wrong side having an excellent colour match, leftover from a skirt
Cassie had made for herself. From this, I cut
a new waistband, and to reduce bulk and avoid that quintuple layer of fabric
you get in the joining seam of a traditional waistband, I edged the inside raw facing
edge with pale blue bias binding (leftovers from this shirt) and stitched them
together in-the-ditch. I re-used
the same heavy-duty hook and eye closure.

Voila! I think
this is a far more flattering and usable skirt in our climate, and there is no
doubt it is going to get a heck of a lot more wear now!

Details:

Skirt; a refashion of a Vogue 8561 denim skirt, using a
modified version of Vogue 1247, my review of this pattern here

Top; the top portion of a dress from Pattern Magic 3 by
Tomoko Nakamichi, of white cotton jersey, details here

Thongs; Havaiana

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, Sienna, skirt, Vogue 1247, Wardrobe Refashion

Check-mate

09/12/2012 11:00 pm \ 45 Comments \ Carolyn

… because I’ve made something in a check, and I’m accompanied by my best-est mate 🙂 The former, a rarity; the latter, far less so!
So, the searing-est of searing hot scorchers are but just around the corner, and like a war-wife stocking her air-raid shelter before the blitz, I am laying in supplies… I have made a new pair of shorts using Burda 7723, altered by lengthening and flaring the legs slightly, and adding a zip placket.
This is the eighth thing I’ve made using this pattern… yeah, so I’ve come to the conclusion that this pattern is one totally cruddy pattern which does not work for me at all… hehe, joking! Just seeing if you were paying attention. Obviously, this has been one of my favourite and most used patterns.
The green gingham was given to me by my friend C from her late mother’s stash. I can tell it is a really old old fabric, a cotton gingham of a solidly satisfying quality you just don’t see very often anymore. Seriously, I don’t want to come across all “oh-all-modern-stuff-is-crap-compared-to-the-good-old-days” since I think that is not true at all: but; a Case in Isolation… like the proverbial man; good gingham is hard to find now. This is a very good gingham; crisp, strong, thick and tightly woven. The white has slightly yellowed to a pale-ly creamy ivory through age, but as this suits my colouring I consider it a plus.
Now.
There is actually something rather special about my new shorts…. 🙂
this is the very first garment fully made on my baby sewing machine; my tiny elna Opal, that lives in our beach house! YES!

I have used it for hemming curtains, but I really wanted to make a proper and complete “something” entirely using this weeny little machine while we were at the beach house, so took down everything I thought I might need. Of course, I get started and quickly realise I did NOT have everything that I needed! I remembered after the fact that I usually finish off a few internal raw edges in this pattern on my overlocker, which of course I did not have with me. However, I did have a piece of white voile with me, which I had taken down just in case, like for pocket lining or something. I did not use it for pocket lining, but it was sliced into bias strips and I finished off all the raw edges inside my new shorts with HongKong seaming. This is a kinda high-end finish I would not normally bother with in a casual pair of shorts, so my overlocker’s absence really forced me to lift my game here!

Also, I also belatedly realised that my baby machine does not have a zip foot, meaning I had to insert the zip using its one and only foot, a regular wide one. So the front fly top-stitching around the zip turned out a wee bit wonky… but that’s OK. Seeing those sweetly crooked stitches on my machine’s very first garment is like looking at my child’s very first piece of kindergarten art.
Likewise, the baby machine does not do buttonholes, that I can work out anyway: so instead I handstitched a keyhole buttonhole using embroidery thread in a tight blanket stitch. Another example of a maybe higher quality finish than I would otherwise have employed! Maybe I should make more things while I am away from my “real” sewing machines 😀

Just for fun, and “why not?” I added strips of bias-cut gingham in the pocket opening edges. I was planning to put some welt pockets in the back with bias-cut welts too; but the unheard of happened, and disaster struck… I ran out of thread!
(heard in Perth, all the way from Dunsborough) “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Oh well. It’s not like one ever uses rear pockets… they’re just for show and I guess there’s already plenty of visual interest happening with the check and all. But once something is in my head and I haven’t been able to see it through; it’s Unfinished Business and niggles at me. Hate that. Maybe I’ll bring these shorts down again the next time and put those welt pockets in… maybe. We’ll see. 🙂

Details:
Shorts; Burda 7723, green cotton gingham; my review of this pattern here
Top; the ponytail top from Pattern Magic 3 by Tomoko Nakamichi, green jersey, details here
Shoes; bensimon, from seed
Hat; Country Road

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7723, daily outfit, embroidery, sewing machines, shorts, Sienna

A fluttery cloudy thing

04/12/2012 11:00 pm \ 32 Comments \ Carolyn

This wasn’t actually supposed to be a real dress. I was playing about. I have to confess to a few struggles
with my fabric… that had a mind of its own and a recalcitrant disposition. If fabrics can be anthropomorphised;
this fabric would be a will o’ the wisp, absent-minded girl with a head full of
poems and fairy tales and dreams, given to wandering barefoot on sunkissed
white beaches and forgetting that her library books were due back.

But it has been coaxed into a coolly flitter-y
flutter-y dress, which I think it wanted to be all along in its heart of hearts.

This is the Loose Flare Drape Dress; pattern no.11 from the
Japanese pattern book Drape Drape by Hisako Sato.

The fabric is a very lightweight, very soft, pale grey
marle jersey knit, part of a massive quantity I bought from the Morrison
remnants sale. A fabric I picked
up because I liked the soft cloudy-grey colour and the slightly fuzzy texture,
but was actually extraordinarily flimsy and difficult to work with. It clings and flutters and slips all at
the same time, it is very drape-y and almost sheer. It likes to curl up tightly on itself, and the sketchy “stripe”
in the fabric is whimsically slanted at a slight diagonal.

But happily ever after et cetera; the thin floatiness
of the fabric is a near perfect match for this pattern… I’m thinking of
rustling up a halter-neck bra to wear with it, but in the meantime it’s being stoushed
in the beach-bag to do duty as a cover up.

It may even stay there if I don’t get around to the
halter bra, since it is just the right shape and style to go over my
bathers. And it is so ethereally summery; a
flattering and exceptionally easy-to-wear dress, edgily short and cute-ly
flippy.

The dress is an A-line halter neck dress with a wide
and swing-y skirt; and a full length, full skirted lining for which I used the
same fabric. The loose flare piece
referred to in its title is a separate piece attached in with the halter neck
at the left side and sewn into the armhole, to flow free and loose across the
front of the dress.

This piece is what makes the whole dress, of
course. The extra piece is a very
simple idea, and it swishes and flutters so prettily against the dress.

The only adjustment I made to the pattern was to
leave off the zip and just to sew up the side seam. Well, it’s stretch fabric. I’m currently of the opinion that zips in a stretch garment
are a complete waste of money, time and effort.

Naturally I reserve the right to change that opinion
any time it suits me.

The fabric isn’t the only one here subject to
whimsy.

Details:

Dress; the loose flare drape dress, pattern no.11 from
Drape Drape by Hisako Sato, made of lightweight grey marle jersey knit

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, drape drape, dress, Sienna

here’s a thought…

30/11/2012 8:00 am \ 10 Comments \ Carolyn

Details:
Top; from Pattern Magic 3, of grey marle jersey knit, details here
Shorts; Burda 7723 modified, of grey/beige corduroy, details here
Thongs; Havaiiana

The last day of the month, the time of reckoning is at hand; and verily, an unexpected snag has raised its ugly head…
You see, while I, of free will and sound mind (ha!), elected for this year to account for how much I spend on sewing my wardrobe and on everything sewing-related really, including all the random bits and bobs for Craig and my children; I’m shy when it comes to personal gifts. Like, the birthday pressies I made for Mum and Dad this month, and Christmas is coming up, and since my family do read my blog… and yeah, seeing a price tag on a pressie is so so tacky, don’t you think? and all the love and the care and the thought, ~~and the hours of sewing, ahem~~ that go into a handmade gift are not accounted for, but become somehow negated when a number is placed upon it.
I didn’t think of this in the beginning, since everyone’s birthdays and Christmas are at the end of the year it has taken me this long to twig that this might happen…
SO I have decided on a plan. I am still going to tally and publish the costs of my sewing habit but there is going to be an addendum for this and next month.. a Secret Tally. I’ve already made things for my children and for Craig that I have tallied separately throughout the year, and I will add the costs of everyone’s birthday and Christmas pressies into that at the final tally next month. So, those costs will still be accounted for and published, but as part of a separate, whole and unitemised sum.
My own personal clothing expenditure will continue to be itemised… does that sound fair and open and honest?
I hope so, because whatever; that is how it is going to be!

So behold, the noble n’ neat, nitty-gritty for November…

Blood Orange top

Fabric;
previously accounted for

Patterns;
Vogue 1247, used previously

Lingerie holders;
gift

Total
cost: free

Seafoam and sand set

Fabric, hook and eye closure, bra cups;
all leftovers and recycled from previous set

Blue chiffon and white lace for the new crotch; $10.87

Patterns;
used previously

Elastic; $3.49

Underwires; $2.49

Total
cost: $16.85

All laced up skirt

Fabric; after using a birthday gift voucher from friends, $4.98

Zip; $2.30

Total
cost: $7.28

Miscellaneous purchases

no miscellaneous purchases this month

Total costs for November: $24.13

the Secret Tally, to be accounted for next month:

Dad’s “cement” birthday shirt and Mum’s “pomegranate” birthday shirt

A random thought for the day…

from Truth Theory

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

All laced up with nowhere to go

18/11/2012 4:01 am \ 67 Comments \ Carolyn

I’m joking… of course I’ve got lots of nice places to go 🙂
I’ve made a lace skirt.

My very luvverly, very perceptive friends again gave me a Fabulous Fabrics voucher for my birthday. Ohhh, they know me so well 😀
I try to do justice to their annual awesomeness by adding something appropriately beautiful and worthy to my wardrobe… last year’s voucher became the red dress, my favourite cocktail number; and then the spiral leggings. Ok, the leggings were not-so classic but nonetheless a very designer-y perennial and something I am still pretty pleased with.
Anyhoo, I’m returning to the classics with this year’s birthday voucher … ta da.

I used my voucher for this pale latte coloured, heavily configured lace and a length of caramel coloured silk charmeuse for the lining/underlining. For the waistband I used a piece of grey/beige handkerchief linen leftover from a little something else I have made very recently; that has not appeared here on my blog yet … it’s kind of a secret for the moment. To be appearing in due course 😉

The shapes of the pieces in this skirt are kind of based on those of a beautiful Chanel skirt I checked out while we were in Milan. I saw a skirt of heavily configured lace like mine, fitted but with no waist shaping darts, all the shaping in the side seams so as to minimally disturb the lace design, and a shaped, narrow yoke/waistband. I saw and I liked. I took note.

I used Vogue 1247… ! yah, you’d never have guessed, right? 🙂 The pattern has been fairly drastically altered: with the pieces spliced together, minus the pockets and re-configured to eliminate the waist shaping darts. The dart allowance has instead been removed from the side edges so as to not spoil the lace design; also the pattern normally features a high straight waistband, and I have lowered this a touch and shaped it into the waist also, so it is more like a narrow yoke than a waistband.

This is a great solution to the dilemma of fitting a lace skirt with minimal marring of the lace design.

The top of the skirt sits lower, at my natural waist. The centre back seam has the invisible zip closure, and is a straight seam with perfectly matched lace motifs. I hand-basted the zip in place, and the seam before machine stitching, in order to match up the lace motifs as well as I could.

The silk charmeuse underlining/lining skirt has all French seams. Instead of sewing the darts in place I folded the dart allowances into pleats which are just folded at the top and stitched in the seam allowance. This is a better way of treating the darts in a skirt lining; less strain on the fabric. This is another feature I’ve seen in high-end skirts.

I wore it for its maiden voyage here in a formal ensemble to go to a Christmas function; showing it off, tizzying it up y’know 😉 but I will also treat this as an everyday little thing, grunge-ing it down with casual loose tops. I’m picturing it with my khaki army shirt, or my billow-y white shirt. I’m very partial to that high/low look y’know. Very me. 🙂
Toodles, friends!

Details:

Skirt; Vogue 1247 heavily modified, latte lace with caramel silk charmeuse lining and linen waistband, my review of this pattern here

Blouse; Vogue 1170, ivory silk charmeuse, details and my review of this pattern here

Shoes; Misano

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, Sienna, skirt, Vogue 1247

Perchance to dream

27/10/2012 11:00 pm \ 19 Comments \ Carolyn

I have made some rather daggy baggy shorts, but
don’t worry. Style has not flown
out the window. After today, these are my new summer
PJ bottoms!

I used a too-small-for-anything-else piece of polycotton, crazily colourful and wildly patterned; given to me by my friend C from her late mother’s stash. It is very nice for summer PJ’s really; light and flowy yet closely woven and sturdy. One just has to be careful about looking at that rather garish floral print. Which I think I can manage, since I will be tucked up in bed with my eyes shut for most of the time I’ll be wearing it.

kidding! it’s actually rather luscious, don’t you think?

I made these using my usual pattern, adapted from off an old pair cut up yonks ago for this very purpose and from which I have made all my PJ bottoms for the past few years.

With added pockets naturally…. because; well, when it comes to the question of pockets in a garment, if one can then one does, amiright?

I gave them a decorative fly front, and found three purple buttons in my stash that are a pretty good match!

With regards to my white shirt here: no, that is not
sleepwear; but more a lame attempt to disguise the fact that I am, tut tut,
actually wearing my pyjama bottoms out in public; shock, horror. Really for the top half of my PJ’s I’ll
be downgrading one of these little tees. I opted not to wear said little tee out today because together
they really do unmistakably scream “PJ’s!!” It’s the elastic waistband I think (shudder) Even
for Australia, even for the beach….. yeah, no.

Actually I had almost forgotten I even had this lovely
white shirt… which is pretty dumb of me since it is kinda perfect for the delightful spring weather we are having. It’s
not too hot for it yet, and it gives really good coverage from the sun. I have
rediscovered my love for this shirt since seeing Merche’s truly fabulous version of this pattern. Isn’t it great that
we can simultaneously wear our shirts on opposite sides of the world, despite
having opposite seasons?