Sienna Archives - Page 29 of 32 - Handmade by Carolyn

Wardrobe Refashion, project 6

12/03/2010 4:57 am \ 23 Comments \ Carolyn

This refashion was actually excessively easy and barely worth a tutorial of “during” pictures, but here it is…
I started out with these drawstring waist, three quarter pants. They are shapeless and unattractive and only suitable for pyjamas… but the fabric is lovely fine linen in a gorgeous shade of pistachio that I fall in love with straight away… but am I ever going to wear these pants as is? No way. Drawstring and elasticised waists are just a no-go in my wardrobe. I feel they bunch unattractively around my waist/hips, adding bulk to a problem area, and as a recent commenter kindly reminded me, I am not model thin. Yeeeah….. If I will take the risk of putting myself out there then people will feel free to inform me of my figure flaws, but hey I can take it.
So here are the before pants:
No way am I modelling these for the blog, they do look ridiculous and I have some pride.

I removed the drawstring and the elastic from the waist casing and cut the leg pieces off just below crotch level:

Now I took each of the legs; in these pants the back leg pieces are wider than the front pieces, so when ironed flat you get a pressing line with the leg seamline just inside of this running down the length of the legs … I marked with pins on the leg backs the line of this seamline that is on the leg fronts, and cut the fabric of the leg backs approximately 1cm in from this pinned line and overlocked the raw edges… Then on the leg fronts (which looks superficially the same as it did before) I stitch in the ditch down the original seamline… this is being pointed to by my unpicker in this photo… and thus a hem is created on each side of the two long leg pieces utilising the original pressing line. (phew! that probably made no sense whatsoever! the picture can do the talking…)

I fitted these two pieces over my shoulders and pinned them inside the original waistband and stitched them on the top stitching line as well as the bottom stitching line of the waistband casing. The short crotch seams front and back are re-sewn to be straight seams. The original back of the pants with its pockets still intact I placed at the front.. and cut new holes for the drawstring at the new front…

There was a little slit at the bottom of the legs (now the bodice), I kept this and sewed it down with a button for an extra detail and to bring it in under the arm and help avoid bra flashing…

Hemmed the bottom, et voila….

I think it looks a little like a scrubs top, but then I do like this look. The team that brought us Scrubs the TV show introduced to non-hospital workers a whole new wardrobe concept in the sexy loose-fitting comfort of scrubs, (and who didn’t just love “Scrubs”?) This will be a good light floaty top which will be lovely and cool for hot days. And comfortable! Man, I might just still use it for pyjamas as well as day-wear…

Details:
Top; pistachio linen, refashioned from old pants
Skirt; Diesel
Shoes; Timberland

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: own design, Sienna, top, tutorial, Wardrobe Refashion

Carpet of leaves

10/03/2010 3:59 am \ 7 Comments \ Carolyn

Autumn is my favourite season. The extreme of heat has passed so the mornings are pleasant and cool, and yet the days are still warm enough for swimming, walking, picnics and enjoyable sociable activities. And who says Australia doesn’t get autumn colours? I found this divinely pretty little spot under the trees carpeted all in soft greens, golds and browns… all I needed was some morning tea in my backpack and a friend to share these beautiful surroundings with. A friend apart from Sienna, that is. She would be more than happy to wolf down a few snacks with me but the vet told me this morning she is a tad overweight and needs to go on a diet. Oh, and since we had to squeeze this visit to the vet into the morning schedule I’m also lacking the all-important time to have this hypothetical morning tea anyway….
I wore this skirt a lot last year but it’s only had a few airings this season as it’s just been too hot to wear it. Now I’m feeling its warm bright hues are just right for the colourful mood I’m turning to in my autumn wardrobe lately…

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 7880 view C, cotton print
Camisole; Country Road
Cardigan; Metalicus
Necklace; souvenir from Santorini
Sandals; Neo, from Nine West (I think?)
Nail varnish; Fools Paradise, BYS

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fabulous fabrics, Sienna, skirt, Vogue 7880

Orange skirt

06/03/2010 3:03 am \ 8 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve finished a new skirt, as part of my autumn wardrobe plans! It was a little delayed in getting finished as I debated whether to go and buy matching cotton to finish the seams ; yeah, HongKong seaming is my new passion!…. but I eventually settled for a bit of leftover print in my scraps bag (you may recognise it as the remains of the floral skirt I’ve been wearing a lot past summer).
It’s using Vogue 7303 again, cut short and lined. This is a plain pattern but one I turn to over and over as it fits me so well, and I really wanted this skirt to be a plain unadorned little number to add a splash of bright cheery colour to my wardrobe, I think I got it, no? Most of my encounters today resulted in a complimentary comment, so I’m very happy with it!

Skirt; Vogue 7303, lined, orange hessian silk
Top and ballet wrap; Metalicus
Sandals; op shop
Backpack; my son’s, souvenir from Santa Fe

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Fabulous fabrics, Sienna, skirt, Vogue 7303

Riverside situation

04/03/2010 4:27 am \ 7 Comments \ Carolyn

Little adventure this morning. Lately I’m in the habit of combining my two early morning tasks of dog-walking with taking my photo, if I’m planning to take one that day, that is. I have my camera, tripod and the shoes I’m planning to wear the remainder of that day in a backpack, I take Sienna with me and stop somewhere picturesque and set up for a few minutes. Well today, I’m out on this tiny jetty and it’s quite windy, I’ve got the tripod shored up between a pillar and the backpack to prevent it from blowing over (yeah, it was windy enough that that was a real risk!) and next thing I know, whoosh! my tripod bag is now floating in the river about five metres away. Bob bob bob, it goes, taunting me, out of reach. I look at it with despair. Should I abandon modesty and wade out to it? No, the river is over thigh deep at that point… Sienna is no bloomin’ good at all, she may look pretty but that’s as far as her usefulness goes. Fetch, she does not do… I look about for a handy young man jogging in his shorts who may gallantly help me out, but I’ve chosen my time well and there is absolutely no-bloomin’-one in sight AT ALL. No canoe-ers. I’ve got the foreshore to myself. Usually this is a plus as I’m shy about taking my own photo if anyone’s about, but this time I could really do with a helpful man… (couldn’t we all…?!, joking, I’ve got my own man, but he’s gone to work early, dammit)
So I hightail it home, dragging Sienna, not allowing her to sniff or socialise, and luckily my eldest two are still around, and my daughter, never shy of an adventurous stunt, immediately dons bathers and we drive back down, she swims out, it’s about twenty metres out by now, and rescues the tripod bag…
As the song goes, thank goodness for little girls…
As a anticlimactic afterthought, my hat. It’s newish, well on its maiden voyage anyhow (like my tripod bag). I bought a single ball of this yummy wool at anny blat at their shop in Paris when we were there six years ago. I finally made this beanie last year from my own design, just cast onto four double-ended needles and made it up as I went along. I’m going to make myself wear hats more often. I wish they were more in fashion.

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 7303, fabric handwoven by my Mum
Top; refashioned from husband’s old workshirt, my own design
Scarf; Country Road
Shoes; Timberland, bought in Rome
Cloche; annyblat yarn, my own design

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: accessories, handwoven, Knitted, own design, Sienna, skirt, top, Vogue 7303, Wardrobe Refashion

Gunmetal blue trousers, 6 different ways

22/02/2010 1:57 am \ 10 Comments \ Carolyn

I thought it was time for another 6-way profile of an item of clothing in my wardrobe. These are fun for me to do, shopping in my wardrobe and stretching my imagination, blasting away any preconceived ideas I’ve got about how to wear a certain garment. This time I’ve chosen to showcase my gunmetal blue linen trousers, from Burda 7944. Of course there is only one way to wear trousers, you can only vary the tops you’re wearing with it. However linen is such a great fibre, cool and airy enough for summer, and these pants are loose enough that I can envisage wearing thermals underneath when the weather gets colder. So I think I’ll be able to stretch them out into my winter wardrobe also.
Burda 7944 is a great menswear inspired shape, something like the look Katharine Hepburn originally pioneered in the 40’s. It does use a lot of fabric, because the legs are so wide, and require extra length for the cuff at the bottom, but it results in such a great look. I’ve always loved the menswear look on women, and I’ve even borrowed my husband’s linen shirt I made him for one of these looks!
For today I’ve styled it first for a casual look, for both summer and winter:

And for a slightly more dressy look, say if one is going to meet friends in town for an outing, summer and winter:

And finally a little more formal, for an evening do, both for summer and for winter:

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: 6 different ways, Burda 7944, Fabulous fabrics, pants, Sienna

Khaki and lace

06/02/2010 4:54 am \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

Today I look a little like I’m on safari. Hilarious, considering the only wildlife around the beach here is birds, possums, the odd bobtail and Sienna.

I know I showcased this olive skirt only recently, paired with a rainbow of colours; but I just couldn’t resist pulling it out again. Here it is in a neutral ensemble and complemented by all the soft subtle colouring that distinguishes the coastal palette. Smudgy khaki and browns have always been my best neutrals I think. I used to have a whole bunch of khaki clothes I took to Africa with me in the top of our wardrobe which have now inexplicably disappeared. Surely I couldn’t have thrown them out? That would be extremely idiotic, even for a forgetful airhead like me. Not impossibly idiotic, though…

My cream lace top is another old favourite that is more interesting than it appears from a distance; having lace strips sewn randomly all over and lovely old buttons.

My nail varnish is a colour I mixed up myself, after seeing a similar shade in a magazine editorial and immediately thinking “want”. Aiming for a light jade green I used mostly BYS French White with a little bit of BYS Mint Condition thrown in. Does anyone else mix their own nail varnish at all? I found it trickier than I thought. I recommend mixing only enough for one coat, then mixing the second coat when you need it; as the varnish dries so quickly you’re faced with a gluggy difficult-to-apply sludge by the time your first coat dries… of course I could have just paid ten times as much for the designer colour already mixed and saved myself the hassle, but that’s just no challenge to a DIY-er like me….

Details:

Skirt; Vogue 7303, olive green corduroy

Top; Butterick 4985; cream broderie anglaise cheesecloth with cotton lace overlays and crotchet tie

Overshirt; bought from Tinga Game Lodge, South Africa (stolen from husband’s wardrobe)

Belt; stolen from husband

Shoes; op shop

Bag; made by my Mum

Nail varnish; self mixed, using BYS French White and Mint Condition

(David Attenborough-style whispered voiceover) “Here we have a dangerously cute specimen which may attack without warning, smothering its victim with excessive licking… may mercilessly flay an unprepared observer with its wildly whipping tail… give this beast a wide berth”

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Butterick 4985, Fabulous fabrics, Sienna, skirt, Spotlight, top, Vogue 7303

On feeling cool

05/01/2010 2:18 am \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

I decided to give myself a new pedicure last night, and chose this ancient nail polish I had called Litl (sic) Boy Blue by Artmatix. It’s so old it has a price tag on it $2.89; now, Australians, when was the last time you saw a price like that one?!! I think I’m on some pathetically hopeful but ultimately misguided attempt to psyche myself into thinking that if my toes look frostbitten then I will, ipso facto, then feel cooler. Hmm. So far, not working…
Since joining Wardrobe refashion I think I’d better get on and refashion something in time for my weekly post, as per the rules, and I am a sad stickler for rules. When it suits me, that is.
Currently I have been working on my autumn trench coat, which will be finished prob by the end of today. Extremely happy with it and ridiculously proud of myself. I do feel like a coat/jacket finished successfully is like the pinnacle of achievement for a seamstress. Especially the setting in sleeves bit… (steam coming out of one’s ears as one incessantly unpicks a multitude of little “tucks” for resmoothing and reshaping…) Enough said. Sleeves now set in successfully, so can leave that painful episode of my life behind.

Details:
Top; Butterick 4985, blue knobbly cotton
Skirt; da Vida, secondhand shop
Shoes; Anna, from Marie Claire shoes
Necklace; from Live!
Nail varnish; Litl Boy Blue, Artmatix

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Butterick 4985, Fabulous fabrics, Sienna, top

Cool and casual for a hot hot day

21/12/2009 2:18 am \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn

Remember this bright bright white top? Almost needed your sunnies just to look at it?

And do you remember me saying I thought I had way too many white tops and it was time for a dye-job?

So, I do from time to time use dyes bought in the chemist, or at a craft shop. But for preference I will use a natural dye, or something I already have to hand about the house. I wanted to make this top a sort of blotchy blue/brown colour, so hunted about for possible candidates to produce this sort of effect. I made last year a jacket for myself out of navy blue hessian silk, which has been a marvellous jacket, but runs like mad when it is washed. And I mean, like when it is dipped in the tub the water goes like ink. Luckily, being silk, I was handwashing from the word go…

Anyway, time to put this to good use. I also grabbed a half bottle of instant coffee that had been languishing in the pantry for months (now my husband has his coffee machine it’s nothing but the best around this place, although some of my friends fortunately prefer instant so I always keep a jar handy)

Did the coffee soaking first (24 hrs),

followed by the jacket washings soak (another 24 hrs),

and voila, I’m very happy with my “new” top. It didn’t really end up with the hoped for blue/brown splodges, but is more of an aquamarine/sepia all-over washed effect, and actually goes beautifully with the nacre buttons that I had already used on the shirt.