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On getting maximum mileage from your patterns

04/11/2010 4:10 am \ 9 Comments \


For the third day in a row, shorts; sorry.   BUT has anyone noticed, this is also the third day in a row I have showcased these same two patterns for shorts and top?  Just to show how different a garment will appear with the use of different colours and textured fabrics, one can get a variety of looks using just a few basic patterns and just getting creative with one’s fabric choices…  don’t be afraid to try out unusual or unexpected fabrics using your old patterns.  And making slight alterations to the length, width and/or embellishments …  you will get a lot more bang for your pattern buck, too.  I swap pattern pieces between different patterns all the time, things like sleeves are very interchangeable er, I’ve only once used one of the sleeve options on this pattern!  The addition of a hood to a blouse, like yesterday, (and the next time I do this I will do a tutorial to demonstrate) will add a whole different flavour to a garment.  For example; take this shorts pattern, merely lengthening and flaring the leg, trying out different shaped pockets on the back; will change the look.  This pattern doesn’t come with pockets on the back, but it’s so very very easy to add them, and in any shape or form you choose.  Check out the last three days and you will see how different this same top and shorts patterns look on each day.
And to answer a query, for the last few days I have been down at our beach house in Dunsborough, thus the daily uniform of thongs (flipflops) and shorts, and the dusting of sand and salt as an accessory…  Dunsborough is in a huge bay, thus the calmness (is that even a word? un-wave-iness? now that’s better…!) of the ocean in this spot…  And btw, it is one of the few places in WA where you can watch the sun rise as well as set, over the ocean.  Love it here.
We are expecting (and wishfully hoping with our fingers crossed) some rain and I just love the stormy moodiness of those grim leaden clouds.  Such a nice change from yesterday.  Today is probably going to bring a balmy pleasantly cool day of 24C (75F).  I will be de-cobwebbing and washing a few windows.  Spring-cleaning, you know…

Details:
Top; Butterick 4985 with different sleeves and a lace collar, seen first here, grey printed and pre-shirred chiffon
Shorts; Burda 7723 with minor modifications, charcoal gabardine
Cardigan; Metalicus, secondhand
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs

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The weakness for ivory lace continues

03/11/2010 5:18 am \ 14 Comments \

Hehe, in order to avoid falling into a rut and boring you with repeat photos of the beach I’m making an effort to seek out new locations, variety is the spice of life, so they say.  Thus, the toasty tones of my lovely rocky wall backdrop setting off the all-white ensemble here.  Beautiful wall, no?  It is actually the outer wall of the toilet block down here at the beach.  Yeeeeah, I’m so sorry to completely ruin any romantic notions you may be entertaining about my “picturesque” backdrops… ! honesty in blogging, and all that…  the same beach from yesterday is a mere stone’s throw away from this spot.  That’s even for a pathetic stone-thrower like me with a truly “girly” throwing arm…

So… my new ivory lace hoodie; top 3 in the Great White Shirt project (I’m counting the two I made just before signing up, hehe)
This lace top will be perfect for days like today (a hottie of 35C, or 90F… I know, bit worried about what the real summer will bring…!)  The beauty of lace in hot climates is that it has its own inbuilt ventilation to pick up breezes and thus keep the wearer cool.  In a temperature sense as well as a super stylish fashion maven sense, of course…
Details:
Top; Butterick 4985, with modifications, ivory lace
Camisole (under); Country Road
Shorts; Burda 7723, white linen, these ones sewn to the pattern with no modifications
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs
(The rest of this post below is technical sewing stuff, so feel free to skip it if you want…)
So; new top.
I didn’t use the KwikSew hoodie pattern as planned!  Instead of racing irresponsibly off to the fabric store willy nilly for white stretch fabric I was a good girl and took stock of my stash first, and of course there were a few lengths of white fabric already lurking in there with no purpose: one was this ivory lace.  It’s not super high quality and not stretchy and I only had about 1.2m… so couldn’t use the KwikSew pattern, but just right for the old standby Butterick 4985.  I have used this pattern a multitude of times already.  I made a few adjustments, obviously the biggest is the addition of the hood.  For this I did use the KwikSew hood pattern piece but re-drafted somewhat drastically; cut it down smaller to suit the finer more delicate fabric I was using here, and also adjusted the neck edge length to fit the collar edge of the top, so the hood actually replaces the collar and is sandwiched in between the fronts and facing just like a collar would be.  I really just treated the hood like a giant oddly shaped collar.  I sewed the hood’s own centre seam in a French seam.   The back neck edge is finished in a flat felled seam.  The open edge of the hood is the selvedge of the fabric, which is a nice sealed flat edge already, making any further finishing unnecessary.Sleeves: I drafted a sleeve with a long flat sleeve cap like a man’s, and the rest of the sleeve is basically a wide and untapered tube.  I like the unstructured casual flappiness of this new shape.

Buttons; I lucked out and found these perfect ivory buttons with embossed roses and flowers, perfect, no? to go with the rose motif in the lace.  Rather than my usual habit of sewing all the buttons the same way up I sewed them on alternately up and down, to try to match the random rose pattern in the lace…

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Thankfully fashionable new shorts

02/11/2010 3:42 am \ 9 Comments \

After I had finished my greige corduroy jeans I had a bit of leftover fabric, not much but too much to throw away… and it didn’t take long for me to haul out a shorts pattern…  I totally love this look below from Ralph Lauren Spring/Summer 2011, tres cool no?  Except I think those Ralph Lauren shorts could be suede…  And so halleluia for corduroy, which is like the cheapie easy-care version of suede.  The same soft fluffily-textured luxe look without the high price tag and “watch out where you’re sitting” problems of suede.  Plus, love this colour.  In case you missed it, I just can’t get enough of this shade.
This is my now standby pattern, Burda 7723 and I made a few alterations; to lengthen, to widen the flare of the leg, the addition of a zip placket, and instead of a foldover waistband which would result in a double thickness corduroy waistband I made it halfwidth in corduroy and faced with thinner cotton lining fabric to remove this unecessary bulk from the waist band region.  Hehe, besides the fact I didn’t have enough fabric for the full width waistband…
Hmmm, I should really do a review of this pattern, it has been such a goodie and is super easy, plus uses a tiny amount of fabric.  In lieu of the usual two buttons on the waistband I went with an invisible hook and eye closure, to get a smooth uninterrupted waistband; this is a nice clean look and provides a slightly tailored effect, offsetting the casualness of corduroy.
And how nice is it when one discovers one’s own tastes co-ordinate with a new fashion trend?  According to the gurus in Paris shorts are IN; the super mini-skirts we saw everywhere last year seem to be out at the mo.  Thank goodness.  Although do we have to knuckle down and obey the edicts from Paris? well, of course not, but at my age I feel it does get a lot more important to look fashionably smart and up-to-date and avoid frumpy and old-hat looks.  So I am loving the re-appearance of shorts on the fashion radar, it is a good trend and I’m ready for them too.

Details:
Shorts; Burda 7723, with minor modifications, greige corduroy
Top; Butterick 4985, ivory embroidered cheescloth with lace overlays and lace tie at front
Cardigan; Country Road
Sunnies; RayBan

Later* realised I didn’t do anything Melbourne Cup-y today at all, not even a hat! should have worn my mirrored pony necklace, doh…!

Photo below from Ralph Lauren Spring/Summer 2011

 

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Downgrading a “good” dress

01/11/2010 9:22 am \ 10 Comments \

Does anyone else downgrade their dresses?  Move the snazzies out of category “with heels and make-up only” and over to “OK to walk the dog in”?
Last year this dress was a “good” dress.  I wore it to lots of formal lunches, parties and end-of-year functions, as well as a wedding (and this dress for the reception dinner and dance afterwards)  And this year I’ve made a few new party numbers to see me out for the seasonal social whirl… but I still love this dress and want to give it an outing once in a while… well, how could I not love it; it’s lace!
Luckily it’s quite subdued in colour and style and not overly sparkly or glamourous, so I’ve delegated it duty as a nice-ish everyday dress, just to wear out and about.  In its early life as a party dress, I went through the ritual of the “gently swooshing by hand in a bucket” cleaning routine.  Then started tossing it in a lingerie bag in with other delicates… then eventually, throwing caution to the winds, sans lingerie bag and just in with the general light clothes.  The first time I dared to do this I worried how the gathered silk chiffon midriff and sash would hold up…  but it survived that test and actually stood up pretty good.  So I reckon it can thankfully shed the lace-and-silk-diva label and has earned its place in amongst the daily players.
Oh, and the heels aren’t just for show; although I did wear thongs (flipflops) for walking the dog, here I was on my way to morning tea with the Monday gals… just thought I’d point that out after my post on “honest blogging” the other day…!

Details:
Dress; some design adaptions of New Look 6699, beige lace, silk chiffon midriff and sash, lined with swiss voile
Sandals; Marco Santini, from Marie Claire shoes
Sunnies; RayBans

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Three Grim Reapers

30/10/2010 4:04 pm \ 8 Comments \

OK, we don’t really observe Halloween here in Australia.  Trick-or-treating, definitely not.  But sometimes there is the odd party happening at this time that adopts a Halloween-y theme and thus provides an excuse for people to dress up in weird outfits.  So, a few years ago my eldest son and two of his friends went to such a party and decided they wanted to be Grim Reapers.  Hehe, checked out the dates on these photos, and wow, it was four years ago.  Four years ago!  Man!
I made their costumes (don’t get the wrong idea, I don’t make a habit of this sort of largesse…) using 4m each of black cotton fabric, and they fashioned the scythes themselves from my husband’s bamboo aikido poles with cardboard blades covered with aluminium foil..
I thought they looked pretty good, no?  Tim is on the far left…! lol. How can I tell?  Well, a mother just knows, yeah.

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Hoodie McCloud

29/10/2010 6:43 am \ 15 Comments \

Don’t ask me why the silly name I’ve dubbed my new hoodie.  I have no explanation myself.  I surprise myself with my inner loon sometimes…
The lovely Mary had a giveaway and sent me this cute hoodie pattern, KwikSew 3667, and this is my first effort.  I just used some unexciting pale grey marle fleece to try it out, but am already in love with the hoodie in this fabric, and this pattern.  It was very very easy to make up.  Probably took oh, about half an hour, cutting included.  Yes!  (air fist punch)  The most difficult part was… no, I’m teasing…  There was nothing difficult about this hoodie!  I am definitely going to make this one up again, and again.  Not that I’m going down the path of ease and comfort above all else, don’t worry.  I’m never going to be that gal in the bogan tracky dacks.  And while I do like to be challenged in my dressmaking, but it’s also nice to have a quick and easy project every once in a while, a soothing gel to the ego when more difficult projects are getting one down…
Thankyou so much, Mary!
I’m really liking the way style has not been sacrificed on the altar of comfort in this pattern; I think this loose and simple shape is very chic and “now” while still being evening-on-the-sofa worthy.  Look at the below shots from the Dries Van Noten Fall 2010 and Celine Spring 2011 collections (and yes, I am planning this in white too as part of my white shirt challenge).  I loved the Dries Van Noten look when I first saw it and will wear it like this with a silky skirt one day…  But for today I am bike-riding with my friend S so the need for a bike-appropriate outfit.

Details:
Hoodie; Kwik Sew 3667 view A, grey marle fleece
Jeans; adaption of Burda 7863, rust corduroy
Sunnies; RayBan
Thongs (flipflops): Mountain Design

photos below; at left from Dries Van Noten, Fall 2010, at right from Celine, Spring 2011

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An essential petticoat

28/10/2010 3:47 am \ 20 Comments \


The first time I wore this new cocktail dress was at a standing cocktail function; and all was hunky dory.  Felt a million bucks and the dress was perfect.  The second time I wore it was to a sit-down lunch and fashion parade at a fancy restaurant here, and a vitally important design flaw in this dress immediately made itself apparent.  I won’t embarrass anyone with any pictures, but the above picture with my new petticoat worn under the dress should give you some idea of the problem I faced… luckily I was out just with my own husband who could see the humour in the situation, and also luckily there was the tablecloth as well as a huge white serviette draped over my lap the whole time I was seated…!
This cocktail dress is really lovely and I am super happy with it, but I should have foreseen this.  I actually couldn’t believe it myself that I had simply not sat down in the dress up until that point and realised…!  The pattern is really a coat-dress, and has closure only at the waistband, and one button a little further down at about hip height on the inside flap.  Naturally there was going to be gape-age…!
So I bought some silk satin and made a petticoat, using an old standby sundress pattern Burda 8071.  I do already have a selection of petticoats, but since this one would undoubtedly slip into view when wearing this dress, I wanted it to match and blend in perfectly, and obviously be of a perfect length. For this reason I spent some time getting the hem length exactly right.  The petticoat sits just 2cm shorter than the dress.  The shoulder straps are of satin ribbon, and are adjustable.  Though unfortunately the only lingerie fittings I could find are these from Spotlight, which are just not very good… if I could find another range somewhere I would definitely swap them over.  Anyone know of a good supplier of lingerie fittings?
Viewing the petticoat modelled here by Bessie, you can see how much bigger than me she is.  The petticoat actually fits me perfectly, but I can barely squeeze it over Bessie’s hips, and as for doing up the zip, well no way Jose.  Even here it is stretched as tight as.  Having her is wonderful and certainly makes my sewing life much easier, but fine-tuning the fit of a garment is always something I have to do on myself, obviously!

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1155, bronze-y gold silk taffeta
Petticoat; Burda 8071, beige silk satin
Shoes; Misano, from Labels boutique

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A whiter shade of pale…

27/10/2010 8:02 am \ 7 Comments \

Today being slightly cooler (and on a side note, man has this been a delightfully warm spring…!) I am finally able to wear the scarf that Sam brought me as a gift from his trip to France.  It is a soft-as-clouds woven chenille; ivory, or white, the colour he told me I wear the most and is convinced is my favourite colour.  Hmmm, I’m always fascinated when people tell me what my favourite colour is, since I’m so unaware myself of what it is… he could well be right.  Possibly my favourite colour changes a lot, even daily, depending on my mood.  But there’s no denying white and variations of are a recurring theme for me in my wardrobe…  Even though my skirt is technically green and my top is technically blue, they are really both now just slightly off-white themselves.  A few years of laundering and drying out in the sun has bleached them to a faded shade of nothingness to satisfy even the most die-hard lack-of-colour lover such as myself…  And with a snowy ruffle of petticoat peeping out from my skirt, and pristine new bobby socks, well today I’m just a symphony of paleness, merely lacking a picnic and a hanging rock…
I have mentioned it before on this blog, my personal love for white shirts and how they are not just useful but beautiful.  As if there is an international synchronicity of minds, Barbara has started a white shirt sew-along (button over there in the side-bar), and how could I not but join in?  This is good.  My obsession with white shirts has been legitimised and sanctioned with an official outlet.  I don’t have to invent a reason to make a white shirt. When debating whether yet another white shirt is actually a reasonable addition to the wardrobe, I can now easily self-justify, well, I’m committed to The White Shirt Project.  Yes.  End of story.  Permission granted. Purchase of white, and even lacy, fabric may now proceed, guilt free.
And I can semi-cheat, hehe, having just completed two white shirts quite recently… specimens 1 and 2 below…

Details:
Top; Butterick 4985, blue self-embroidered cotton with lace details
Skirt; Vogue 7880 view B, sage green self-embroidered cotton
Petticoat; Metalicus
Socks; knitted by me, white cotton
Scarf; gift from my son, Paris
Boots; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

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