Category Archives: Uncategorized

Menswear, linen shirt

22/12/2009 12:46 am \ 3 Comments \

Today is my husband’s birthday, and my gift to him is a linen shirt.  Handmade by me, of course!  He requested that I make him some linen shirts after he bought himself one and loved the feel of the linen and its amazing wearability.  In my opinion the only downside to linen is its high crease factor, but this is acceptable in a casual garment.
So, being a birthday present I had to make this one on the sly, which wasn’t easy!  He always seemed to be popping in to the laundry(my sewing room), or coming home from work early, or getting up in the morning earlier than expected; just when I was sneaking in a bit of birthday shirt construction time!
I used Burda 7767 for the pattern; and I had decided on this pink handkerchief linen with gunmetal blue topstitching because he has a pair of pinstripe navy pants that don’t really have a shirt to go with in his wardrobe.  I really like the combination of navy and pink.  Also our eldest son commented that he would like a pink shirt, so I figured that if my husband didn’t like it then I thought he could have it!!
Luckily my husband does really like it.  The sizing was my biggest worry, as obviously I couldn’t fit it to him during construction, being a secret.  I measured it up against other shirts in his wardrobe.  It fits perfectly well, luckily, but I will be making a few minor adjustments to future shirt-making efforts.  Namely making the armholes just a tad deeper, at his request.  I also just made a basic shirt this time, with no fancy design features, but will play a bit with other details next time…
I used the new collar construction technique that I learnt from my mother’s Louise Cutting DVD (through Threads magazine), but as this was a bit of a rushed, secret sewing job I didn’t take any photos of this process.  I will take photos next time and post them, as I feel this is a marvellous method that eliminates some of the excess fabric bulk within the collar and results in a cleaner more streamlined collar.
I am a tiny bit disappointed with some of my topstitching on the sleeve placket (see photo), and being such a high contrast in colours it really stands out!  However my husband nearly always rolls up the sleeves on his casual shirts anyway, so it won’t really matter that much.  In future I will be more careful and spend more time on getting this just right. 

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Cool and casual for a hot hot day

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

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.
Other details:
Top; Butterick 4985, self striped white cotton, dyed over
Skirt; Diesel, bought in Rome
Scarf; Country Road
Hat; LLBean
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs
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Tea Cosy, specimen 5

20/12/2009 4:20 am \ Leave a Comment \

Here is a photo of the tea cosy I made for H.  Apologies for the excruciatingly bad photography; its actually quite a cute cosy.  With my poor little old camera the following equation applies: 
           indoors + no daylight = crappy photo.  
Using the flash just seems to make matters worse.  With my fairly limited editing skills I sharpened up the picture and tried to get the colours true, unsuccessfully.  (Regular visitors to this blog will notice that this isn’t the same photo that was there two days ago.  Truth is I couldn’t bear the hideous photo that I had there before and nipped back to H’s house today to get a better photo!  Here it is, and much improved!!!!)
  It looks grey in the photo but it is actually made mostly of a fantastic yarn of variegated grey and pink fluffy bits, with a bit of baby blue thrown in.  There is also some baby blue, purple and pink used for the lining and balls on top.
This is was the second of the Roly Poly cosies I made from Loani Prior’s book “Wild Tea Cosies”.

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This summer’s cocktail dress

19/12/2009 2:15 am \ 3 Comments \

Finally decided to post a picture of my new cocktail dress made quite recently.
I love this pattern from Anna Sui for Vogue; I think the ruffles at the back are gorgeous and so feminine.  Sometimes the back of an outfit can be a letdown from the excitement of the front, but this dress is not of that category, in my humble opinion (IMHO, finally worked out this previously baffling acronym the other day!)
I chose this pattern partly because I loved it, also because I wanted the challenge that the pattern cover promised.  I used silk crepe de chine; why oh why do I continue to torture myself with this crazy, slippery, flighty fabric with its willful, wayward mind all of its own?!  Don’t answer that.  Of course I know that it is the challenge that draws me; also silk is truly the king of evening fabrics for both looks and the luxurious feel of it, peerless IMHO (ok, I’ll stop that now).  And actually I’m overdramatising the difficulty factor as usual, I had only a few torturous moments; all to do with the set-in godet in the skirt front.  This whimsical designer touch had to be unpicked and redone once because the fabric kept developing strange inexplicable bumps, probably due to the bias seaming.  Eventually I went with carefully hand basting the seams, and topstitching at a snail’s pace to achieve a smooth enough finish for my satisfaction… Very challenging but not hair-pullingly so.  I am pretty darn proud of the final look.
I also included a photo of my usual method of cutting silk fabric pieces… I cut out the paper pieces, then use my rotary cutter on the fabric.  I hold down the fabric flat with the big see-through ruler seen in the picture (it probably has some proper name).  I use this method because it avoids pins in the fabric, the fabric is held down flat and undisturbed by pin/scissor pulling and tugging which may cause shifting and bunching, and the rotary cutter gives a nice clean cut edge.  I carefully add pattern markings after cutting.  I’d be interested in how other seamstresses handle the slipperiness of silk.
For the shoulder straps I used a chocolate brown sequinned ribbon, and all the edgestitching and topstitching was done in a deep chocolate brown.  I love this contrast, and how it goes with my Icelandic shoes!

Other details:
Dress; Vogue 1105, cream silk crepe de chine
Shoes; KronKron of Iceland, bought online
Stole; d/lux, from Calico and Ivy
Bag; Accessorize, gift from my children
Necklace; gift from my husband

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Casual Christmas party

18/12/2009 1:20 am \ 2 Comments \

We went to a Christmas party last night and I had intended to wear my new cocktail dress but a quick phone conversation with my friend confirmed that smart casual was more the order of the evening.  I didn’t want to turn up looking like a Christmas tree while everyone else was covered up decorously so reluctantly dressed down instead.  Hmm.  Still waiting for the opportunity to wear that dress…  Too many functions are casual…
Please excuse the bad quality of this photo, I think my camera can only really cope with natural daylight photos.
Yesterday I also picked up a shirt pattern for my husband; he has requested that I make some linen shirts for him so I am going to break new ground for myself and attempt some menswear.  Oh, and yesterday was a day for rejoicing, as I got out an old shirt pattern to start my latest project and lo and behold! tucked inside was my Vogue 7303 skirt front that I had lost about 18 months ago!  Yay! 

Other details:
Pants; Burda 7944, grey/blue linen
Camisole; Country Road
Cardigan; Vertice, from Mid 70s
Necklace; gift from my friend K
Bag; a handmade gift from my friend H
Shoes; Sandler, op shop

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Casual shopping chic

17/12/2009 3:21 am \ 2 Comments \

Blah blah; shopping and Christmas preparations on the agenda today.  Came home yesterday to piles of mail and a to-do list a mile long, plus a few parties on the horizons, it’s back to happy chaos in our house!
In the wardrobe department I am now planning for autumn; and I have a few sewing projects waiting in the wings and plenty of ideas about what to do next.  My mother brought along a fantastic DVD for us to watch while away; a Threads magazine production with great sewing tips by Louise Cutting, a lady who is a full bottle on all things sewing.  She had a great new way of sewing collars that eliminates the front seam altogether that I plan to try, I’ll give details when I try it out…
Anyhoo, today being a day of errands and chores I’m just dressed for shopping and looking smart but functional.  I’m wearing my linen pants, drafted by me from my favourite jeans, and my light summer cardi made out of a double layer of net sewn together at the shoulder, side and armhole seams.  I’ve included a close-up of the front area to show how the front edges were finished with grosgrain ribbon simply zigzag stitched in one seam.  This is a wonderful little top for very hot days as it looks quite chic and funky and covers your shoulders while still being very light.

Other details:
Pants; white linen, self-drafted
Camisole; Country Road
Cardigan; coffee and white net; self-drafted
Necklace; souvenir from Murano, Venice
Sandals; Vicenza, from Soletta shoes
Sunnies; RayBans

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Quiet study in neutrals

16/12/2009 9:11 am \ 2 Comments \

Today’s outfit is a little drab and neutral, however sometimes one feels like being drab and neutral.  Especially if it’s the last day of one’s holiday (sad face).  One is possibly overusing the impersonal first person pronoun here.  However this is one’s own blog so one shall write however one damn well feels like it, no matter how silly it sounds…
I feel this outfit is nicely complemented by the drab and neutral tones of the tree bark in this photo.  As well as by the rough weathered decking of our beach house.
Please note the floral fabric used as a facing in the skirt; a little secret prettiness known only to me, the wearer.  Sometimes I like to add touches like this; plus this patchwork fabric I used is firm and flat so a better choice for facing than the thicker corduroy fashion fabric, which is a little stretchy too.
Btw, I did a double take when I looked at the photo of my skirt as it looks embarrassingly lopsided.  It’s an optical illusion!  I just measured the skirt and the side seams are exactly the same length, in spite of how it looks in the photo!
Notice the ancient grey cardigan, hiding behind the white blouse out of shame for its general mis-shapen shabbiness.  It’s too awful for its own photo, but still impossible for me to part with this old favourite.  It’s a perfect cardigan for days when I know will be several hours driving with no one to impress but my youngest son and Sienna.

Other details:
Skirt; Vogue 7303, olive corduroy
Top; Butterick 4985, selfstripe white cotton
Cardigan; Country Road
Sunnies; RayBan
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs
Bag; Gucci

 

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Traditional beachy colours

15/12/2009 4:51 am \ Leave a Comment \

I’m realising this blog is becoming way too “holiday photo album” and not enough about the handmade clothes.  Yesterday particularly, and I really wanted to only include other photos if I feel they’re related in some way to my creative inspiration or are pleasing artistically to me in some way.  So today it’s just about the clothes, although my colour inspiration is clearly the sun, sand and sky.  Plus I’m running out of combinations for the garments I’ve brought on this jaunt…
I’ve included a close-up of the Burda 7723 shorts I first posted about two days ago and I’ll tell a little bit about my experience with this pattern:  they were very quick and easy to make and I’m super happy with the pattern.  I’ll definitely make these up again.  I like the high wide waistband, which fits snugly around my waist, making a nice change from the low-waisted pants that have been inescapable fashion-wise for the last few seasons.  This higher waist eliminates any danger of muffin-top that can pop out unexpectedly, and feels comfortable and secure when wearing it.  I shaped the waistband a little to accommodate my slightly sway back, and added rear pockets (for a photo of these, see two days ago).  I feel the flared leg is flattering and chic.
The cardigan (dyed by me) and top I’ve posted about previously also.  And just to forestall any suspicions that the cardigan is a dye-job disaster, it’s meant to look blotchy!!  I aimed for this effect!  You can achieve this marble-y effect by dunking the DRY garment in the dye bath (not pre-soaked), and leaving it undisturbed in the bath with minimum swirling.
Other details:
Shorts; Burda 7723, white linen
Top; Butterick 4985, baby blue nobbly cotton with lace trim
Cardigan; Country Road, dyed by me
Thongs (flipflops); Mountain Designs
Hat; Country Road


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