Tag Archives: Sienna

Perchance to dream

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

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?
a moment of reflection…  
Details:
Shorts; self drafted with the help of an old pair of
PJ’s, polycotton
Shirt; Burdastyle magazine 10/2010, shirt 102, lightweight
ivory cotton, details and my review of this pattern here
Hat; pilfered from my husband
Sienna; is wearing her own PJ’s as well…
pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , ,

Just add water

12/10/2012 11:00 pm \ 41 Comments \

I thought I had timed things pretty well for this one, heading out to the beach on the first day of school term, a day when I knew it would be utterly deserted.  Instead I royally stuffed up by rocking up boom in the bloomin’ middle of the school holidays!!… doh!  This is what happens when you are out of the system, people; you forget all that school-related info previously of paramount importance, like exactly when the holidays start and end.
Ah yes… you forget…
hmmm, where was I?
Oh, yes, I’ve made my new bathers for the new summer season  🙂  

Actually I exaggerate, I was pretty lucky the beach was not crowded at all; enabling me to set up in a discreet pozzie for a few incognito piccies with the faithful doggie.
My new bathers are made using an old faithful pattern, McCalls 2772, modified to make the bikini top a tankini instead.  This is the sixth time I have made bathers using this patten,  and my third iteration of that same tankini modification to this pattern; so it has been such a goodie.  That is not even counting the times the bikini bottom pieces have been used to make undies, for which it has been pressed into service stacks more times!
I know it seems terribly boring, that I keep using the same pattern over and over again, and I briefly considered trying out something new.  Briefly.  You see, I’m kinda content with being repetitive.  Happy to be boring.  This pattern really does work for me; it suits me, both my tastes and my body type.  And, bathers are pretty important, y’know, since you spend such an huge amount of time in them over the long long summers we get here, you really want them to turn out as perfect-for-you as possible.  Road-tested, and check!
A secondary consideration is that I have worked out the past coupla times I’ve made these that a 2m packet of swimwear elastic is fair dinkum exactly the right quantity for my tankini version, and I mean down to the last 1-2cm.  It’s a sign!  If I wanted to make up the bikini; and I did actually pause for a few days before cutting to consider going that route this time round, then I would have to buy a second roll of 2m.  
The tankini won.
I used a denim-look swimwear fabric; bought from the Fabric Store in Melbourne during our recent visit.  The roll was marked “tiger lily” so I am really pretty curious as to how tiger lily used this in their own collection.  I suspect they probably did not use quite as much fabric per set as I did here.  I’m imagining three or maybe even four, tiny weeny little triangles each?  😀
Playing on the denim theme, I added topstitching in burnt orange, and also a mini patch pocket on the front hip, topstitched to look like a jeans back pocket.  It is functional, but probably won’t ever have anything actually put in it.  Can you imagine… oh, I’ll just put the house key (or something else reeeal important) here in my little pocket to keep it safe while I am swimming over in that churning rough and tumble surf….   
Yeaah, bad idea.  But still c’est tres cute, non?

Details:
Bathers; McCalls 2772, the bikini top modified to make it a tankini, of denim-look swimwear fabric
Hat; Country Road

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , ,

B-Day

23/09/2012 10:00 pm \ 74 Comments \

Hmmm.  It’s my birthday.
Yes.  Well.  I’m too shy to go into sordid details, like giving an actual number or any nonsense like that.  OK, so maybe I just don’t feel like it.  But here is a hint; one of my favourite bloggers Yoshimi, and I share the same birth year.  So if you are familiar with Yoshimi, then you know!
Whoo; I haven’t done a random daily outfit picture for a while, so I thought what the hey.  I must be missing those me-made months…   on which note, it’s occurred to me that if there is ever another one, then I will be able to go into it having made my entire wardrobe, including all the underpinnings!  (nerdy woot)
ahh, the small things that amuse small minds….  😀
Walking along the beach with my dog is always high up on my list of favourite daily activities, on my birthday as well as any other day!  I’m also looking forward to being showered with gifts spending quality time with my family, hehe.  Tea, and quite possibly cake, will be consumed sometime during the day with my girl friends too.
Naturally, I must wear something fab.
Tootles, friends!

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1355, polyester chiffon lined with cotton voile, details here

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , ,

White-y tighties

06/09/2012 12:05 am \ 49 Comments \

hai there  🙂
oh sorry, were you expecting some fashion??
My set-up photo with just one lonely loyal dog sitting there really made me smile, so I had to put it in here.  For fun.

I’ve made some new jeans  🙂
These are made in a thick but stretchy denim from Spotlight in a lovely warm vanilla ice-cream shade, and using Burda 7863.  This is the seventh pair of jeans I have made using this pattern; it really is such a winner in my book!
I thought and thought and thought about the legs, whether to go skinny this time or not.  Whilst I looovee my khaki skinnies, I really do think that a slightly flared leg is actually way more flattering to my figure type.  And the reason we sew is that we can have clothes custom suited to our figure type and not be needlessly restricted to the silhouette being forced on us by the fashion powers-that-be for that season, yes?  Yes!
So I cut the legs based as closely as possible on my purple flares, which I have to confess are (whispers) my favourites.  Shhhh!  I never say so out loud, for fear of hurting the feelings of all my other pairs of jeans, but yah… my purplies really do make me feel extra specially good about myself every single time I put them on.  I can’t exactly put my finger on it; what is their secret.  They just work.  I am hoping these new ivory ones will be just as successful.
I cut my new jeans with the legs about 10cm longer, and with the slight flare, about 5cm in total from the knee out to the hemline.  I did a small alteration to pull in the waist at the small of the back also, a standard adjustment for me in jeans, and made very easy with the two-piece, shaped waistband in this pattern.

For the pocket decoration; there are two intersecting curves of closely-spaced zig-zag stitch done in mirror image on each pocket.  It’s hard to see them in the picture, white on white is hard to photograph! but I super highlighted the picture so it shows up as much as it does in real life.  It does, btw.  Show up, I mean.  The pure white top-stitching thread I used throughout highlights the warm, slightly yellow-y creaminess of the ivory fabric.
Oh, and yes, in case you’re wondering; it is quite difficult to take a photograph of your own be-hind, oh yes indeedy  🙂
I washed the fabric before cutting, then I made the jeans; then I washed them again before hemming to really guard against shrinkage.  I want these jeans to be plenty looong enough.  I think all the washing really helped with the fit too.
I added a coin pocket and a zip placket and also slightly altered the order of construction of the jeans, as outlined in this post for my purple jeans; which results in a more ready-to-wear look.  The pocket lining and waistband lining are cut from a sturdy but lightweight white cotton.

windy? o yeah…

Details:
Jeans; Burda 7863 with minor modifications, made of ivory stretch cotton denim; my review of this pattern here
Top; based on top “a” from shape shape (or Unique Clothes Any WayYou Like) by Natsuno Hiraiwa, made of blue shot cotton, details here
Cardigan; “wearing a square” from Pattern Magic 2 by Tomoko Nakamichi, blue/grey knit stuff, details here
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , ,

Red Riding Hood

13/08/2012 5:17 am \ 23 Comments \

…along with requisite “wolf” hehehe.
This is the latest in my attempts to make usable things out of things not being used….
I pulled out of my bag of toss-outs this oversized cotton cardigan along with another old Tshirt tossed out by Tim.  I’ve struggled with this cardigan… the cheerful warm tomato-red colour is a plus but the boxy shape and massive size has always been a problem.  Since day dot, really…  I bought it in 2001; my first mail order purchase whilst we were living in the US.  I was a mail order newbie, and just assumed naively that a small/medium would probably be my size.  When it arrived: well, it was ridiculously big!
Lesson learned!  Incidentally, the lesson ultimately learned was “don’t buy mail order, ever”… but that’s a whole other story  😉

Anyhoo I did not think or know at the time how I could go about returning stuff… so it stayed.  The armpits hung down below my bust level and I had to wrap it half again around my body and tie a belt over, to keep even halfway warm in it.  Stylish, not.  It’s basically been in the camping/washing the car and/or the dog in category since new, and then migrated to my re-fashioning bag at least a year ago.
Using my own trusty custom fit Tshirt pattern as a guide; I cut up the cardigan, re-sized the pieces and sewed it all together again: only keeping the shoulder seams of the cardigan intact, since they were already nicely re-inforced.  Also I kept the neckline band and the wrist bands untouched and intact, and the lower band is also original although taken in with the side seams. When refashioning something new outa something old, it is a good idea to keep and incorporate into the finished garment as many of the factory finishes as possible; it ends up looking a lot more professional and pulled together.  Plus makes it a heckuvalot easier.
I’m slightly obsessed with hoodies lately.  Hood = cool, right?  Right!
The red Tshirt was getting pretty fragile and the fabric was not going to hold up to anything heavy duty, but since a hood is something that just hangs there decoratively most of the time and is not “worn” very much, so I thought the fabric might hold up to the task.
Now my hood pattern from KwikSew 3667 is drafted to fit a crew neck, and my cardigan has a deep V neck.  But it is pretty easy to add on an extra wedge section while cutting out, so the hood will fit onto the V neckline…

I overlocked the lower edge of my hood and simply stitched in the ditch along the outside of the cardigan.

I removed the original buttons off the cardigan (green plastic, which I never really liked either) and sewed in a matching red open-ended zip.
I did have fancy plans to sew on a few decorative pockets cut from the Tshirt also, but after a coupla attempts I had to concede defeat; the Tshirt fabric was really too fragile and they looked muchos hideous.  So the cardigan remains pocket-less.  🙁
Yah, so hopefully the hood might hold up for a while yet.  We shall see.  To be honest, I’m still not head over heels in love with this thing, despite its cool new hood.  Y’know how sometimes something just doesn’t push your buttons, even though it ticks all the right boxes?  It’s “my” colour, it’s got a hood, it fits nicely (now).  It’s got a hood.  Did I mention the hood?  Hoods are cool.  I kinda love the hood.
Well, I guess I’ll look a tad more stylin’ around the campfire than I was before.
I’m counting this one a minor league win.

Details:
Hoodie; my own design, with modified hood from KwikSew 3667, made from an oversized old cardigan and an old tshirt
Tshirt; charcoal and black striped cotton jersey, details here
Skirt;  charcoal stretch jersey, details here
Scarf; details here
Tights; voodoo
Shoes; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , , , ,

Sleeve

06/08/2012 3:45 am \ 34 Comments \

Tattoo-ed sleeves are a “fashion” trend just like anything else, and so hot right now!  (ergo, probably destined to be so not some day  🙂  )  in the meantime I’ve made for myself a new Tshirt that is a nod to the trend…

The sleeves of my Tshirt are cut from an old child’s Tshirt with a graphic print on the front, the second, white sleeve is cut from the back obviously! and the body is cut from another white plain Tshirt, both are recent toss-outs from my boys’ wardrobes.  I got the idea for my new Tshirt when it occurred to me that the print reminded me of tattoos; a swirly print in bright children’s paintbox colours with a thick black outline.

Thinking about a real tattoo sleeve: it continues up and over the shoulder smoothly without interruption; and so I decided a conventional set-in sleeve with the seam on the shoulder would truncate the print and end up looking kinda wrong.  The best style for this look would be a raglan sleeve.
For which I did not have a pattern…
It’s funny; a raglan sleeve, whilst a recognised “thing” in the sartorial world, is very poorly represented in the sewing pattern kingdom, don’t you think?  In terms of population: the almighty set-in sleeve is the over-ridingly dominant species in the gene pool, closely followed by the kimono sleeve and the humble raglan sleeve is verging on being an endangered species!
So I set out to make my own pattern.  Luckily, I have a small raglan Tshirt from  many years ago which has long since passed into Cassie’s possession, so I temporarily repossessed it, and laid it down to trace around the sleeve, and then played around with my own self-drafted Tshirt pattern to fit in the new sleeve with a few minor sizing adjustments.  
So now I have a raglan Tshirt pattern  🙂  
The raglan sleeve is a very tall pattern piece compared to one’s common-or-garden, set-in sleeve pattern piece, so it took up practically the entire Tshirt!  But I tried to get in as much of the design as possible…  and I love the wide and flattering boatneck-line.   I preserved the lower hemlines of both the Tshirts intact to be the new Tshirt’s sleeve and lower hemlines respectively.
My family have all voted this their favourite of my new Tshirts!

Details:
Tshirt; self drafted, made using two old Tshirts
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified, black stretch corduroy, details here
Boots; Andrea and Joen
Sienna; wearing her own fur coat

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , ,

A tee or three

04/08/2012 2:31 pm \ 28 Comments \

I have made a few new
Tshirts…
I’ve noticed a few examples
of mixing and matching different colour and/or width stripes in the one Tshirt,
and decided to have a go at adding something like to my wardrobe; using up some scraps and a few more of the old Tshirts in my bag
of refashioning garments…
Below: I took both these
pictures from Australian Vogue, at left is part of a Tommy Hilfiger advert; at
right, from the Antipodium resort ’13 collection.
Quite interesting, yes?
My Tshirt is made from: the baby blue with thin black stripe is cut
from one of Tim’s old Tshirts; the sage green with diagonal white stripes is
leftover fabric from a top Cassie made for herself; and the yellow sleeves are
cut from one of my old tank tops, that was once white and that I dyed yellow
with ground turmeric, here.  The
green/white stripe fabric is an interesting print; the stripe is on the diagonal!  So while it looks like the lower part
of the body is cut on the bias, it is not!  
The pattern is my own
self-drafted pattern, with the sides cut straight down, instead of my usual
fitted-to-the-waist curve, because I wanted to match those diagonal stripes
down each side, this would have been a Mission Impossible with a waist curve!  I’m pleased to say, mission was accomplished.
I’ve also made a coupla new
plain white Tshirts.  I came across
some white cotton knit, leftover from this dress, while searching for suitable
candidates for lingerie, and while I decided it was not suitable for lingerie it
is perfect for Tshirts.  So I cut
out two new Tshirts.  Only then did I remember that I had mentally set this fabric aside for another Pattern Magic thing… (headslap)
oh well!  There is fabric aplenty
still for Pattern Magic things!
These will be great for thermal purposes and just basic useful things… one can never have too many white Tshirts, no?
The only special thing
about these new Tshirts is that I stabilized the shoulder seams with Seams
Great.  This was a gift from
the kind and clever velosewer; thank you so much velosewer!  This gossamer thin tape is new-to-me, and I am thrilled with how unobtrusive and tidy it
looks sewn over those shoulder seams!
The lower hems of the two
white Tshirts were finished with a twin needle blahdy blah, but for the striped Tshirt I
just decided on a whim to go with a simple zig-zag.  Man, but I’m just one crazy rebel, sometimes  😉  If it goes wave-y or funny I can always re-do it with a twin
needle, properly.
 
Details:
Tshirt; self-drafted, from
a mix of old and leftover cotton knits
Skirt; Vogue 1170, PU
laminate, details and my review of this pattern here
Shoes; Perrini, had these
for donkey’s years
pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , , ,

Peppercorn cardigan

21/07/2012 1:32 am \ 34 Comments \

 

I have knitted a cardigan.
The pattern is Jo Sharp’s “Tweed
Coat” available as a free downloadable pattern here and the yarn is Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in Peppercorn (col 425) which I bought during the 30% off closing down sale of their shop here (chokes back a sob).  The only change I made to the pattern was to shorten it
by 25cm… I reckon this is a much more manageable and wearable length than that very very long version in the pattern.  Whilst I like super long cardis in theory, the reality is that they bottom out in no time at all, visually inflating one’s be-hind to ginormous proportions.  How do I know this? because I used to live in a coupla longline cardi’s in the 90’s and I have the rear-view pictures to prove it…    not pretty hehehe  😀
This cardigan has had a tiny preview on this blog already, and I have been working on it for er, quaite a while?, approximately mumble months with
just a short interlude for my holiday knitting project, the mustard cowl.  I am a slow knitter I think  🙂 since it is a very easy knit.  I left this cardigan half-finished at home while we were away, and knitted my cowl in the round using my
aeroplane-OK-ed Denise set.
So, pretty cool, huh?  In a grandpa-cardi kind of a way, hehe.  I am particularly fond of the collar.  A distinctly grandpa-y feature I think.  It’s OK, I am quite partial to looking like a nerd from time to time.  My default look, if you will  🙂
It has pockets.  Just saying.  In case you hadn’t noticed this awesome little detail  🙂
I only knitted 5
buttonholes and sewed on 5 buttons, because this is the number I had.  My Mum gave these to me, aren’t they sweet!  Thank you so much, Mum!  I could indeed pass for a big fat fluffy pussycat in this cardigan, for sure.
It’s very warm.  Super warm.  Toasty as.  This cardigan is cos-ay.  I’m as snug as a bug in a … cardigan  😀
3C  minimums?  Bring it on.
Yup, we have been having extremely cold mornings (for Perth) lately… probably because we have had almost no rain at all!  We have had about two short rainy spells since I finished my raincoat, so that has barely been christened yet.  It’s bad, I’m telling you!  And those clear blue skies translate to cold cold mornings.  It gets nice and warm around mid morning with all the blazing sunshine, but the early hours have been freezing.  Don’t get me wrong I am a big fan of sunshine, but we need the rain too!
Details:
Cardigan; Tweed
Coat (shortened) in Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in colour Peppercorn (col 425)
Jeans; Au Bonheur PLH08002 in
strawberry pink denim, details and my review of this pattern here
Tshirt; self-drafted, white
cotton jersey, details here
Socks; not seen, but hand-knitted by me too!  😀
Shoes; Francesco
Morichetti, from Zomp shoes
spot the dog…
pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , ,
Switch to mobile version
↓