Category Archives: Uncategorized

Future Grrrrl!

22/06/2013 1:10 pm \ 65 Comments \

Whoa!  who is that babe?
It’s FUTURE GRRL!
So; Cassie was going to a Futuristic party… and had a firm idea of how she wanted to look.  To make this sartorial vision a reality she wanted a flamboyant and luxuriously textured coat.   
Mission accomplished!
She took her inspiration from an Alexander McQueen outfit, and looks kinda Blade Runner I reckon.  We bought the fabric and pattern together. Wait, wait what am I saying? I bought the fabric and pattern.  She buys her own clothes now, but I do pay for her fabric when we’re out together… I’m hoping to encourage that creativity and DIY spirit.  Well, that’s the theory, anyway!

below: Alexander McQueen Fall 2010 RTW

Fast forward a coupla weeks and Cassie having spent hours and hours and hours of her free time on meticulously hand-sewing another friend’s costume for him to wear to the same party (he looked very cool too, btw) suddenly realises the night before the party that she has to work the next day, and so there is absolutely NO WAY she can get her own costume finished on time.  Daughterly pleading with promises of chocolate followed.  *sigh*  Mum to the rescue.  I did not want that fabric and pattern to just sit there and not even get to the party!

Hehe, I’m joking of course, I was very happy to step in and take over the making of this ultra glamorous jacket.  Isn’t it rather gorgeous??  And, she did construct most of the shell herself.  Probably we each did about half the work involved.
btw, this is NOT the fab, self-indulgent, frivolous thing for myself I mentioned in my previous post… I had to abandon that for a while to make this!  That is yet to come!
The pattern is Butterick 5144, a reproduction 1948 pattern.  My, but this is a wonderful silhouette, isn’t it?  Fortunately I’m allowed to wear it too if I want  😉
The fabric is a heavy Chinese brocade from Spotlight; emerald green and gold and black, with dragons writhing all over, and lined with black polyacetate lining fabric.

Cassie made her own “sunnies” too.  Aren’t they amazing?  She tells me there was another girl at the party with homemade mesh sunnies on.  They met up and were like: 
Hey cool sunnies!  
Hey, yours too!  
Can you see anything?  
Nup!  Can you? 
No!
cue massive rofl…. in that way that girls at a party have…

Details:
Jacket; Butterick 5144, Chinese … silk? (can’t remember for sure) brocade
Sunnies; made by Cassie
Cami; Country Road
Skirt; Manning Cartell
Stompin’ boots; bought in Japan  

Pattern
Description:
Very loose-fitting lined jacket has shaped front and flared back, shawl collar, side seam pockets, two piece sleeves with turn-back cuffs and shoulder pads
Pattern
Sizing:
16-24, unfortunately the only size the shop had.  I graded it down to a 10.
Did
it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished
sewing it?
Yes.
Were
the instructions easy to follow?
Very!  This is rated easy, and it is!
What
did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
Oh My Gosh, you guys. I was doubtful at first when my daughter chose it, but now I could not possibly love it more. It could be the most glamorous thing in the house! The shaped hemline is chic and looks quite high-end, the draped back is elegant, the long and very wide sleeves look lovely. It has pockets! and is overall a surprisingly simple make. 
I have no dislikes.
Fabric Used:
Chinese brocade (I think silk? but am not 100% sure of that)
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
Unfortunately the only size in the store was a 16-24, and my daughter had her heart set on it. However I did not find it difficult to grade it down to a 10; there are 11 pattern pieces which are quite basic and the instructions are simplistic and straightforward. No fiddly or difficult bits at all.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
My daughter and I made this one together for her, and I think I would like to make one for me now! And, yes!
Conclusion: 
Very very cool. This is a 1948 reproduction pattern, so at first glance it might appear a bit costume-y but in this unexpected fabric it manages to fit beautifully into a funky modern wardrobe. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out. This one is for my daughter, and me? I’m dreaming of one in lightweight camel wool… or maybe in black or chocolate coloured velvet… (sigh)
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Gemini

19/06/2013 11:09 am \ 40 Comments \

Gemini, the twins.  
Of course my boys are not twins obviously, they are separated by several years and have one sister in between them too.  But they are both Geminis!  That picture cracks me up btw… so brotherly…  😀

So, of course the other shirt was for Tim, our eldest son!  He had a birthday recently too  🙂
The fabric for his shirt is the same that I used for Sam’s but in a different colourway; a medium weight striped cotton drill in black and cream stripes from Spotlight.  The cream background is a touch deeper in colour than the slightly lighter ivory colour that is on Sam’s navy blue and ivory shirt.
I went with an on-grain pocket this time, just for one different visual detail between the two shirts.
The other details are all almost identical: epaulettes, a smaller, slightly rounded collar, 

sleeve plackets cut on the bias.  The same buttons.

The yoke cut in two halves on the bias, with the yoke facing cut as one piece for stability reasons.  Close up, you might notice that on Tim’s shirt the black “arrow” is centred on a black stripe, whereas with Sam’s the negative space white arrow was centred on the negative space white stripe.  Little details like that tickle my fancy  🙂

Sam’s

Flat-felled armscye seam allowance as described here; flat-felled sleeve and side seams with a split hem, as detailed in the previous post.

Details:
Shirt; Burda 7767 modified, black and white striped cotton, my review of this pattern here

So, two more shirts.  Phew.  I feel like I could just about make these in my sleep now! but two in a row is just about my limit; toward the end of the second one I am getting a little shirted out and need to cleanse my palate by making something completely different before thinking about any more shirts.  Variety (in projects) is the spice of life, non?
Fortunately, my next, er make that, current project is super frivolous and super fun and I am having a ball with it.  Very very very silly and self-indulgent.  I’m having so much fun with it, that I have already roared roughly halfway through and I only bought the fabric on Saturday!  And I don’t even need it for several more weeks!!  I absolutely must slow down.  But eeeee!  It’s such a crazy and ridiculous thing, and I cannot wait to wear it and show it!

And I’m totally embarrassed that I mixed up Gemini and Cancer… when I did Cancer last month, honestly I didn’t even realise I had got it wrong until yesterday when I was browsing through birthday cards in the newsagent.  I think I got confused because my boys both have birthdays in June and are Gemini, and I just thought to myself, well that is going to work out nicely and then made a mental leap that ok then May must be Cancer and didn’t twig that Cancer came after.  You can tell I’m not too crash hot on horoscopes.

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One way to sew a flat-felled and split seam

19/06/2013 12:41 am \ 28 Comments \

A split side seam is a nice feature that adds a bit of visual interest as well as some wearing ease to a straight-hemmed garment, and flat-felling is a smooth and clean finishing technique for seams; but how to manage the awkward joining point between the two?
Marie Coffin and knj09705 both asked about the transition between the flat-felled seam and the split side seam on Sam’s shirt…  thanks for showing an interest!  and since I happened to making another shirt hot on the heels of the previous one I snapped a few pictures to demonstrate how I did it…
btw: I’ve checked out some of the better rtw menswear shirts and there’s a choice of finishing methods.  So the following is not the only way to construct this feature, but this is the way I chose this time.  I wonder… is there even a “right” way?
Stitch the seam down to the point at which the slit is to start.  I left an unfinished length of 10cm for the side seam splits on both of these shirts…

Press the seam open, and and the seam allowances of the split.

So in this case, the flat felled seam of this shirt is continuing from the split, right up the side seam and continuing right down the length of the sleeve to the wrist opening.  The rather weird picture below is attempting to show the side seam and sleeve seam allowances pressed open all in one continuous length; correspondingly, the seam allowance will be flat-felled all the way along this seam as one continuous length.

Decide which side of the seam allowance the seam will be flat-felled onto; again, after checking out rtw menswear shirts I’ve noticed there doesn’t seem to be an accepted convention here.  I’ve randomly decided for the seam allowances to lie against the shirt back.  
Trim this seam allowance to half its current width, with the trimming tapering off for the last couple of centimetres to the level of the slit.  Also, snip into the seam allowance of the other side to the endpoint of the side seam (pictured below).  Leave both slit seam allowances untrimmed.  

Now press the untrimmed seam allowance back over the trimmed seam allowance.
Turn the top allowance under, tucking it below the trimmed seam allowance underneath to encase it, and press.  Also, turn under the seam allowances of the split seam on both sides, and press.  Pin.
Stitch the seam allowances down, close to the pressed edge.  Stitch the short split seam allowance down separately.  
For flat-felling the sleeve seam allowance: while stitching longitudinally along a tube-like structure such as a sleeve; ALWAYS stitch from INSIDE the tube.  This eliminates the possibility of inadvertently catching down the other side of the tube by mistake.  And yes, with my machine I always have to stitch a tube seam in two stages, from the middle, out to each end!
Lastly, stitch across the top of the split seam to stabilise and strengthen the top of the split.  You could stitch a bar tack by narrow zig-zagging, or alternatively run a few forward-and-reverse passes of stitching.
Attempting to show the finished flat-felled sleeve and side seam in entirety.  Not much to see at all, really … but that’s the whole idea!  Nice and neat and tidy  🙂

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I dye…

17/06/2013 6:02 am \ 30 Comments \

…  literally.  I’m dyeing heaps of stuff lately.
My ultramarine corduroy skirt.  I was bored with it, and didn’t wear it at all during me-made May even though it was season appropriate.  That is A Sign.  I dunno, I’d gone off the colour; the brightness of it felt a bit passe, a bit garish, not serious enough for winter.
So…. to the dye pot!   Plunging your clothes into a pot of dye feels so adventurous, and a little bit dangerous.  Like a thrilling, reckless and risky thing to do.  Yeah?  Man, I need to get out more.
This was dyed with iDye in Chestnut.
It did come out a lot less brown than I thought it would.  I thought, bright blue mixed with orange-y brown would maybe beget a chocolate-y offspring, or a deeper version of the corduroy in my hoodie jacket I am wearing above.  The new colour reads like deep dark petrol, a dirty midnight blue and I like it all over again now.  I’m super happy with the nuovo neutral-ness of it.  Feels like an actual new skirt, yay.

Then I turned to my ombre-d red velveteen skirt.  I did this only last week, but when I compared it to my original version, I realised that my re-ombre-ing efforts had been pretty darn pathetic.  So I re-ombred the re-ombred skirt in iDye in Brown.  So now it has been re-re-ombred.  Ha!
And my sludgy little skirt had lost some of its sludge, so it got a fresh dunking and a soaking in the leftovers.
Re-sludge-ing, accomplished.

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 1170, blue corduroy dyed chestnut, original details here and my review of this pattern here
Top (under); the loose drape top from drape drape, white cotton, details here
Hoodie; self-drafted, made from a pair of old corduroy jeans and long sleeved Tshirt, details here
Tights; self-drafted, black merino wool fabric, details here
Boots; nylon, from Zomp shoes

Red skirt; Vogue 1247, red cotton velveteen ombre dyed brown at the top, details here

Brown skirt; Vogue 1247, purple denim dyed brown, details and my review of this pattern here.

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the paper doll project

17/06/2013 5:52 am \ 7 Comments \
(I’ve pledged to wear only clothes handmade by me this year and to sketch my daily outfits in my Fashionary.  I’m calling this the paper doll project)

30th May-4th June
from left:
ivory jeans, black Tshirt, Chanel style jacket, handknit socks
f-leather jacket, white drape-y Tshirt, purple jeans, hand-knit socks
white Tshirt, bell-sleeved top, little grey skirt, denim-look tights
blue denim shirt, strawberry jeans, hand-knit socks, ambrosial hoodie
blue denim dress, wearing a triangle cardigan, paprika tights
oo-la-la dress, hand-knit socks

5th-10th June
from left:

11th-16th June
from left:
white Tshirt, strawberry jeans, hand-knit socks, peppercorn cardigan, hand-knit socks
ivory skirt, striped Tshirt, grey hoodie, scrumply leggings
black Tshirt, sludge-y little skirt, chocolate cardigan, swirly leggings, hand-knit socks
white blouse, calico cardigan, burnt orange skirt, paprika tights
drape-y white top, petrol corduroy skirt, new-old hoodie, red leggings, hand-knit socks
purple Tshirt, purple jeans, olive felt jacket/cardigan
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Navy stripes

13/06/2013 1:20 pm \ 53 Comments \

It was Sam’s birthday a few days back and I made a shirt for him. 

The fabric is from Spotlight, a medium-weight cotton twill in a heavy cream colour with navy blue stripes.  Ahem, stripes again, I know; but hey.  It’s so hard to find different and nice mens’ shirting fabric.  Seriously hard.  Fortunately, Sam loves stripes, so our quest to stockpile the world’s largest, handmade, striped men’s shirt collection is going great guns, thanks.

Buttons; a light bone colour, also from Spotlight.  Y’know, Spotlight gets a lot of flack for the hit and miss nature of their stuff.  And then every now and again, just when you’re about to throw up your hands in despair, you find some gems.  So I’m eating my words right now.  These buttons, and this fabric?  Awesome-sauce!
So, do I have any new revelations about tailoring a man’s shirt?  No.  Am I being mind-numbingly repetitive.  Um, probably!  I used the same ol’ pattern too.  I reeeeeeally should get some new patterns, honestly.  And no; it wasn’t really a huge birthday surprise, since for one, he did actually request it.  But I still wrapped it up so he could unwrap it on the day!
It’s made to his fit preference; loose and boxy enough to wear open over Tshirts and hoodies, if he so desires, which he frequently does. 
Features…  Epaulettes.  

There are one or two bias details, for some visual interest.  Pocket on the bias, with a pen compartment.  Sleeve plackets cut on the bias, and I loooove how this looks!  Plus, it was heaps easier having no stripe matching to worry about here  😉

Straight hem, with split side seams.
ETA: at right, showing the inside view where the flat-felled seam allowance meets the split side seam… (I will do a small tute on how I do my take on this, if anyone is interested?)

The collar is cut with much smaller, less pointy wings than the pattern piece.

I’ve been accustomed lately to flat-felling the armscye seam allowances, and French-seaming the sleeve and side seams.  Then I read an opinion somewhere that French seams were “feminine” and not suitable for a men’s shirt at all… that flat-felled seaming throughout is the only acceptable finish to a man’s shirt.  O rly??  Well, that burst my bubble.
So I felt sufficiently shamed into going with flat felled seams throughout.  Doing this up inside the sleeves of a shirt is not exactly easy.  I got a pretty nice finish, but it was fiddly business.

The yoke.  
Drastic fabric shortages   an inspired creative decision dictated that I cut it as two halves on the bias.  The yoke facing is a regular, on-grain, single piece of fabric for stability, cut from plain white cotton.

Shirt; Burda 7767 modified, navy and cream striped cotton twill.  My review of this pattern is here, and my previous Burda 7767 makes are here and here.

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Browning a couple of things

10/06/2013 4:30 pm \ 53 Comments \

Remember my Sew Bossy dress, below?  It was very… sweet, wasn’t it?
 I mean, I wish I could wear really pretty things like that, but I think I cannot!  But
I thought it had promise, it just needed de-twee-ing.

before
I lopped off
the sleeves, so now they are plain little cap sleeves; and then dyed the whole thing
brown, using iDye, colour Brown. 
So, I didn’t do very much, but it’s definitely made a ginormous
difference to my resolve to actually wear it!  I kinda love its new look, still with an old-fashioned charm, but in a less cute and more prosaic way, reminiscent of peeling sepia-d wallpaper in a decaying old farmhouse, or something.
Since I had used ivory
coloured polyester thread to sew the entire dress, after dyeing the hem
stitching really stood out and looked awful.  I unpicked all the visible ivory top-stitching and re-stitched
using coffee coloured thread.
The little quirk of
dyeing is that you cannot always predict exactly what your results are going to
be.  I found it interesting that
the ivory based print has come out a slightly purple-y shade of brown, while the
white cotton I used for the neckband and hemline piping has come out more of a
yellow-y, coffee colour.  Aaah, the lucky
dip that is dyeing!
And while I had the dye pot and
dye out I also re-ombred the top of my red velveteen skirt, which had lost a bit of its intensity
since I first dyed it a year ago. 
 I’m a big believer in the transformative powers of brown dye.  Such wonderful stuff.

Details:
Dress; dress “T’ from the
Stylish dress book by Yoshiko Tsukiori, original post here; with short sleeves, blue sprigged cotton dyed brown.  My tutorial for basic one colour dyeing is here.
Tights; self-drafted, of
denim look jersey knit, details and my tutorial for making your own custom fit tights here
Shoes; Francesco
Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

Skirt; Vogue 1247, red
cotton velveteen dip-dyed with iDye in Brown, details here.  My tutorial for dip-dyeing is here.
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White Bombshell

07/06/2013 11:22 am \ 157 Comments \
G’day beach babes!  OK so I admit it is winter here in Australia now.  I can explain…
The very clever Heather of Closet Case Files has dropped a literal Bombshell on the sewing world with  this, her inaugural swimsuit pattern, and I was honoured that she asked me to be a pattern tester, woot!!  So thrilling!  This is the first time evah I have been asked to test a pattern, so that was pretty exciting for me!  Thanks Heather!
The pattern for the Bombshell swimsuit is available here.  So how ultra glamorous is this style, huh?  Honestly, I think that this is like the most flattering swimsuit I have ever owned… including RTW.  I even bravely turned my back to the camera, to show the rear view… yikes!  Normally I would be waaay too terrified to model the rear view of a swimsuit, on the internet.  But you know what? the back of this swimsuit is actually very flattering to the be-hind, and even looks… dare I say it! quite lovely?  Believe me, I would not be turning my back to the camera in just any old swimsuit!  The sides and back come down far enough to modestly covers one’s entire bottom, which is very nice.
In fact, not just the bottom but the whole style is very demure and sweetly retro.  The full-body ruching and straight boy-leg cut is reminiscent of the 50’s.  Heather has designed three styles; style A has a gathered bust with a wide-set strap, style B is a halter neck, which can also be constructed as a pair of high-waisted bikini bottoms (style C)  See Heather’s gorgeous versions of styles A and B here.
This is style B, and I used a white polyester knit from Fabulous Fabrics.  White swimwear can be scarily see-through when wet, but in this design both front and back has two layers of fabric, and with the outer layer heavily ruched, meaning you have pretty much two and a half layers of fabric covering your body.  So I think it’ll be pretty modest in the water  🙂
Do you like this swimsuit? if so then I have very good news!
Heather is generously giving away a copy of the pattern to one lucky reader of my blog…  so for a chance to win then please leave a comment on this post before Monday 10th June.  If you have never made a swimsuit before and are nervous about the techniques involved then never fear; Heather has that base covered.  She will be running a Bombshell sewalong on Closet Case Files, commencing on Monday 17th June.

Later edit: Thank you all for those lovely compliments!  the pattern recipient has been notified.

Details:
Bathers; Closet Case Files Bombshell, white polyester knit
Hat; Country Road
Sandals; Misano
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