Tag Archives: Spotlight

Python alert

19/03/2010 4:43 am \ 7 Comments \

I finished my python print satin outfit!  Here in this photo I’m not sure if I look as much like a sleepy python draped lazily down a tree trunk any more than I do an extra from the set of Dynasty… all that satin….  At least I’m not sporting shoulder pads, but give me a dry martini, a grotesquely over-carved balustrade to drape myself over, or at least a gilt-handled door to slam and I’m your woman…
The top is out of Burda 8497, with the only variation in the addition of long pointy cuffs that are permanently sewn closed with these rather gorgeous metal buttons I found.  I considered making cufflinks out of the buttons and going down that path with buttonholes in the cuffs… but nah, this is a much simpler solution; not to mention looks better finished.  Given the struggles my menfolk have with cufflinks I like to just be able to throw on my outfit and swan out the door with minimal fiddling over my ensemble, so it was  “no” to the cufflink idea.
The skirt was kind of based on Vogue 7303, my old favourite which I use as a basic shape for so many projects.  I’ve had enquiries about this one, sadly I think it’s out of print (or I’d get another as a back-up for myself!) but some are possibly floating around on the second hand scene.  It’s really just a good basic pattern, of which there are many many new varieties available in dressmaking stores.
As I posted about before, the panels down the side are satin, which I pintucked randomly and ironed flat, aiming for a scale-y effect with debatable success…  At one point these panels, which are finished off properly, hung lower than the hemline in a randomly wavy point, but I decided this looked a bit odd and folded them up level with the rest of the skirt and tacked them up on the inside.  They’re still up there if I change my mind and want the skirt to look more gothic-y, I can just unpick the tacking stitches and let them fall down again.
The lining of the skirt (not seen here, but posted about yesterday) is jungle green bemsilk.
Over the cooler season coming up I plan to wear this to formal and semi-formal functions with my Icelandic shoes, pictured.  I just LOVE these shoes!!

Details:
Top; Burda 8497, satin print
Skirt; my own variation on Vogue 7303, satin print with satin side panels
Shoes; Kron by KronKron, bought online

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Evening bag, specimen 1

14/03/2010 2:19 am \ 6 Comments \

So a new year brings with it a new round of birthday prezzies to be conceived.
For M’s birthday I made her this little evening bag.  It is made out of some leftover silk hessian (remember the heather purple dress?), with sparkly net overlay (remember the light summer cardigan?), velvet ribbon trimming and with pale pistachio green satin piping and lining.  I used a couple of large silver rings for handle loops and I sewed in one of my own labels, for fun.
I enjoyed making this bag, I think it’s cute and it was a lot less time consuming than the tea cosies of last year….

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Making boring black satin “snake-worthy”

09/03/2010 5:24 am \ 5 Comments \

So I’m working on this python print satin outfit, inspired by this gorgeousness of Prada.  (At right, Prada, Spring/Summer 09)  I’ve finished the top.  And I really want some kind of black detailing on the skirt to offset the python print.  I had a small amount of black satin, leftover scraps.  But plain black satin looks so boring; flat, shiny and plain.  I wanted some pizzazz, here.  What to do?
I spent a lot of time contemplating this and trying different things.  I even drove up to Fabulous fabrics and found some really gorgeous black snakeskin-detailed rubber coated jersey that I thought might be fabulous.  Bought 70cm.  It is fabulous.  Love it.  But against the python print skirt, it … just wasn’t working its magic.  It subtle little scales were lost against the python print, which is a pretty bold and striking print.  So I turned back to the black satin and tried to dream up some way of making it more exciting.  I know crushing satin permanently is a chemical process beyond the scope of my amateur skills; it had to be a sewing thing.  So I tried this:
Here’s a bit of black satin.  Not very “snake-y”, now, is it?

Folding the fabric with right sides together, I sewed 3cm-4cm lengths of pintucking, randomly placed to form rough asymmetric triangles and quadrangles.  This part is very random and “artistic”.  I’m aiming for a sort of fluid, languid flow of chaotic lines.

This is what it looks like from the wrong side.

And this is the right side, before ironing.  (Sorry, flash went off and I didn’t realise)  Looks kind of like a quilted eiderdown sewn by five year olds.  Fabulous.

Then I ironed on the right side, being careful not to pull the fabric out too much.  I kind of “placed” the iron onto the wrinkles to set them down as naturally and as scrunchy as possible.
Ironed, right side up.

And here I’ve pressed down the edges in a random wavy line (this is easy with satin) and sewn the finished satin strip along the side of my skirt.

Snaky enough?
I think so!
Stay tuned for the final outfit, shouldn’t be too far off now.
(And I still have that fantastic bit of black snakeskin jersey to make a matching cardigan, woot!)

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“What a curious feeling…”

08/03/2010 5:01 am \ 4 Comments \

When I sat under this tree today I felt a bit like a gypsy-ish Alice in Wonderland.  I had this big solid tree comfortably at my back with its branches swaying and drooping, its canopy of foliage like a whispering crowd of woodland onlookers, I’m looking over a lake sprinkled with silent and watchful ducks and a couple of black swans drifting and foraging in the mud at bottom… all I needed was a cake and a bottle marked “Drink me” though the pool was not of my tears and I could see no dodo… my dog lay peacefully and companionably in the dry grass nearby watching me and waiting patiently for me to finish this strange early morning photography ritual… she’s a faithful soul.
I’m getting braver in my choice of colour combinations; a month ago I would never have worn this top with this skirt.  These golden jewelled sandals always feel so light, sparkly and frivolous on my feet, but the solid brown beads anchor me back down.  I need anchoring, to be reminded me I have a job to do and it’s time to check back into the office and leave my daydreaming for another day…

Details:
Top; Country Road, dyed with turmeric
Skirt; Vogue 7880 view B, multicoloured polyester chiffon
Necklace; made by me
Sandals; Anna, from MarieClaire
Nail varnish; Fools Paradise, BYS

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Tea Cosy, specimen 14

07/03/2010 5:20 am \ 5 Comments \

This is the fourteenth and final tea cosy I have to show you.  This one was for J, and she keeps chooks, thus the three on top.  The colouring is also slightly different from the previous chook one I made for our mutual friend C.  J has the most divine garden and house filled with antique bits and pieces and every corner is a picture to gladden the heart of a photography freak.  She has things like old farming boots, filled with plants and sitting on an old rusty iron table in a leafy corner of the garden; a discarded bike leans casually under a tree; an ornate gate leans against another tree, forming the backrest to a bench; the verandah is hung with quaint birdcages, paint a-peeling, some with bird ornaments perched inside.  There is even a rusty jalopy parked in one corner, getting overgrown…  She has pet alpacas!  I regret deeply I didn’t have my camera when I visited…
She took this picture for me of the cosy with one of her antique finds, a tea caddy.  She sent me about six pictures of the cosy, each with cuter and cuter accessories alongside and it was tough for me to narrow the picture choice down to just one! but here it is.
The base is again the base for RolyPoly, from Wild Tea Cosies by Loani Prior, but the chooks are my own design.

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Tea Cosy, specimen 13

28/02/2010 3:22 am \ Leave a Comment \

Here is the tea cosy I made for a friend, S, for her birthday last year.  It is made using the pattern Harlequin Flower, with a few minor modifications, from the book Wild Tea Cosies, by Loani Prior.
I just love the soft feminine pretty colours of this tea cosy, and the whole style and shape of this pattern.  The little crocheted bell flowers were a tiny amount of crochet that I can cope with; crochet is not my forte, for sure and I struggle with each stitch…
If I was going to make any more tea cosies (and I’m not, I’ve only got one more to show you and then that’s it with the tea cosies!!) then I would choose this pattern, as I think it’s really cute and looks adorable on the teapot.

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Autumn trench coat

26/02/2010 2:04 am \ 13 Comments \

I made a trench coat!  Inspired by the beautiful coats in Burberry, but not by the sky high price tag, I set out to make my own….  I actually finished this a few weeks ago and have been dying to show it off(!)
but haven’t been able to wear it because of the 40C+ temps we’ve been having; seriously, the weather has been stifling, and I’m wearing sunnies in these photos to disguise the fact that I’m bleary-eyed through lack of sleep…
I used Burda 7786, which is a pattern for a single breasted trench coat and one I’ve used before here.  I modified the front lapels to be double breasted and added tabs at the wrists to bring the sleeves in, I think this will be a welcome feature when the weather turns cold … (please, turn cold…. ?) 
The coat is made from something called Ribstop cotton from Spotlight, and whilst I think it will be a good, very hardwearing fabric it did present some challenges in working with it.  Firstly I know from previous experience (long story!) to wash it before using it, as it shrinks like nobodies business.  I washed my length of fabric twice, in a heavy duty cycle.  Also it has a very fine dense weave, again good for a coat fabric, but in sewing it the needle didn’t so much glide up and down through the weave as it did audibly punch through this tough semi-impenetrable fabric.
Setting in the sleeves was a bit of a nightmare as this stuff simply would not gather satisfactorily or iron-shrink down AT ALL.  I ended up having to increase the length of the armscye and cut down some of the sleeve cap to get the sleeves to sit in nicely, which they eventually did.
As part of my new resolution to finish things off properly, I used Hong Kong binding on all the exposed seam allowances.  For this I made my own bias binding out of some leftover black cotton.  I am extremely happy with how this turned out.  For the lining I used a nice contrast print shirting cotton which is lovely and soft on the skin and will provide an extra layer for warmth….  ha ha, anyone in Perth at the moment will laugh at that one!, but will be welcome in a few months, I’m sure!
The belt presented its own saga, as I found nothing remotely worthy in Spotlight (although I did get the brass “end” of the belt there), and Fabulous fabrics runs more to diamante buckles! so set out to tour the op shops.  Luckily for $2 found a lovely brass buckle of the right size attached to a hideous vinyl belt.  I’ve said it before; I would never cut up a leather belt unless it was in a really bad way, but a vinyl belt is fair game…  Binned the vinyl portion, attached the brass buckle to my self fabric belt and sewed little miniature “buttonholes” for the belt holes…
And, finally finished.
Any dramas aside, I’m thrilled with my new coat and will be showing it off lots more…. ;D !!!!
(Thanks to my husband for the photo opportunity!)

Details:
Coat; Burda 7786, with some modifications, beige cotton
Top; New Look 6252, white seersucker
Skirt; Louis (?), op shop
Sandals; Micam by Joanne Mercer, from Hobbs shoes

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An edging finish using the fabric selvedge; a tute

25/02/2010 1:37 am \ 5 Comments \

So I set to work on making an outfit from my python print satin.  I want to make a skirt and a top this time, rather than a dress, so I can wear the top with other pants and jeans during autumn and winter.  For the top I’m using a wrap top pattern Burda 8497 and gave some thought to how to finish the edges.  I wanted a clean smooth edge with no visible stitching on view.  This pretty much ruled out any machine finishing, and while I’m more than happy to hand finish a hem I thought I’d try something else this time…
The Feb/March 2010 Threads magazine gave instructions for an edge treatment attributed to Madeleine Vionnet.  This method utilises the selvedge of the fabric, and the accompanying photograph showed a clean smooth edge with a rather attractive almost “piping” effect along the edge that I thought would be perfect, so here we go…
For this finish, cut the selvedges off the fabric, keeping about 1cm extra fabric, giving about a 2cm width strip overall.
Fold the fabric and press, so the “selvedge” side of the pressed strip is wider and overhanging the “cut” edge of fabric.  Lay this strip on top of the right side of your edge to be finished, with the “selvedge” edge up and keeping the selvedge edge longer than and overhanging the unfinished edge.
Stitch along the strip, keeping your stitching about 2mm in from the folded edge of the strip
Turn the selvedge strip to the inside and press.
According to the instructions in the Threads magazine no further stitching is needed.
My final verdict?  There seems no way of preventing the whole strip from just falling down and into view, so I would have to say it actually didn’t reeeally work all that well and I don’t understand how this method could be considered so fantastic.  I ended up hand stitching the hem down invisibly in the end anyway.  Alternatively you could “stitch in the ditch” along the edge and this could help prevent fallout.
I guess you could say it was a nice smooth flat hem, and the selvedge edge is clean and self-finished, so looks good on the inside.  I would use this again, but it might work better on, say, a neckline where there is no danger of gravity causing the strip to fall down and out, but if you are using this for a bottom hem then be prepared for further hand stitching for an effective hem…
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