Category Archives: Uncategorized

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  ðŸ™‚
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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Navy and white striped Tshirt; 6 different ways

05/06/2013 3:29 pm \ 23 Comments \
A striped Tshirt seems to be the wardrobe staple of a certain kind of girl, a very stylish and chic kind of girl, that I think is not very like me.  I mean, I like to think of myself as a non-conformist, but sometimes you find yourself latching on to a current trend almost without noticing!  The striped Tshirt is being touted as a “classic”, but I reckon it is a more accurately described as an ultra-fashionable item, that ipso facto will probably go out of fashion in a few years, like everything else.  Whichevs, for the moment it is IN.  And I found myself making one.  And wore it and wore it!
I looked back through my old photos to find these pictures of different outfits incorporating my navy and white striped Tshirt.  It has appeared in a supporting role in plenty of other outfits too, but these ones are all “new” to a 6 different ways post.  Five of these outfits are from previous me-made or self-stitched months; the first photo is a portion of one I used as my profile pic for a year!
Below: at left; the plain practical lines of the Tshirt play off well against the overblown silhouette of a pouffy white skirt, and at right; this is probably the “trendiest” out of all the outfits here…. worn with a beige trench coat, a long skinny knitted black scarf, and with khaki skinny jeans tucked into bikie boots.
stripe1a
Below at left; the Tshirt’s first appearance here on my blog, worn with greige corduroy jeans, a jersey scarf and hand-knitted socks, and at right; worn pinafore-style underneath my favourite charcoal grey pattern magic dress, with matching navy blue tights.
stripe2a
Below left; grunged down for a day of sweaty cross-country hiking with charcoal grey shorts and hand-knitted socks, at right, for a rainy winter’s day, the stripes stand out against the pale colours of a light grey longline skirt and a boxy little ivory jacket
stripe3a
It’s funny really that this Tshirt turned into such a favourite, since it was initially just an afterthought, thrown together using the leftovers of some rather low quality fabric.  My newer striped Tshirt is made with much nicer and meatier fabric, so I am hoping it lasts even longer, at least until the trend fades away!  🙂
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photo maisonette

03/06/2013 7:20 am \ 25 Comments \
Hello!
My friend Yoshimi and I have a new venture; photo maisonette, a daily visual diary of our two different lives in our two different worlds in Japan and Australia.  The new blog is inspired by the wonderful site 3191 Miles Apart, a site which has changed a lot since it started, but initially was a wordless site where two friends regularly posted side by side pictures from their two different lives.  I loved the idea! and our blog will be along those same lines… a photo a day, from our two individual perspectives.  We are not collaborating on the ideas for our photos beforehand, nor will we be writing any explanation behind them; but hope that our pictures themselves tell their own complete story and illustrate what our lives are about.
Yoshimi cleverly suggested the name for the blog “photo maisonette” which I think beautifully captures the idea … of course in English a “maisonette” is a small house with one flat on each of two floors, two individual occupants occupying each floor.  So there is an upstairs person, and a downstairs person.  Similarly, our “photo maisonette” will have two stories; the upper story belongs to Yoshimi, and the ground floor is mine.  
We hope you enjoy visiting our new blog.

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paper doll project

03/06/2013 3:27 am \ 12 Comments \
I’m still doodling about with my paper doll project!   I didn’t put any pages in my blog during me-made May because it seemed kinda overkill, but I think for the sake of having it all here… 
If you love looking at fashion-y sketches ala Fashionary, check out Sarah of Rhinestones and Telephones.  She drew beautiful sketches of her delightfully pretty and feminine wardrobe everyday for me-made May.

7th-12th May
(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)
from left:
faux leather skirt, triple collar coffee shirt, coffee net cardigan
charcoal twist top, little charcoal skirt, red leggings
ivory twist top, ivory curtaining skirt, swirly print leggings
purple Tshirt, blood orange top, red velveteen skirt
beige raw silk dress, charcoal wool coat (pm)
black corduroy jeans, white Tshirt, iceberg garter stitch knitted jacket

13th-18th May
from left:
teal silk dress, handknit socks
blue chambray dress, “wearing a square” jacket
knots dress, leopard print cardigan
charcoal top (from pants), white wool mix skirt
powder blue silk tunic top + dress
navy corduroy skirt, blue PM hoodie, moss green felt cardigan

18th (pm) – 23rd May
from left:
red dress + ivory trench coat
blue chambray shirt, blue denim skirt
grey striped dress, Tshirt, ecru scarf
ivory shirt, dusky pink “bustle” skirt, calico cardigan
PM “wings” grey top, little grey skirt, charcoal spiral leggings
strawberry jeans, ivory top (from pants), white Tshirt

24th – 29th May
from left:
eggplant dress, denim-look tights, chocolate cardigan
mustard dress, hank-knit socks
“sleeve” Tshirt, corduroy skirt (from jeans)
lace skirt, snakeskin cardigan, white Tshirt
leopard print Tshirt, PM gathered hole dress, paprika tights
striped Tshirt, Lagerfeld skirt, black tights

Stashbusting..
During the month of May, I used two plus two half lengths from the stash; my teal silk dress, and my paprika tights used a whole length each, and my striped Tshirt and black tights each used a portion of those fabric lengths… plus I refashioned one garment, and knitted a pair of winter gloves.  I’m back on track!

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red

31/05/2013 7:12 am \ 54 Comments \

The photo mini challenge for today, the last day of me-made May is “red”.

min 6C, max 19C, fine and sunny

Details:
Jacket; Burdastyle magazine 08/2010, 113, chocolate brown faux leather, details and my review of this pattern here
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified, purple stretch denim, details here and my review of this pattern here
Top; the loose drape top from drape drape by Hisako Sato, white cotton jersey, details here
Socks, seen below, and also red!; hand knit by me to a 60’s pattern, details here
Boots; Andrea and Joen

In my family’s last day of MMM13, Craig is wearing this shirt, Tim is wearing this hoodie, Cassie is wearing this Tshirt, and Sam is wearing this jacket.

Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, white linen, details here
Tims hoodie; self-drafted, grey and khaki cotton jersey, details here
Cassie’s Tshirt; self-drafted grey and black striped cotton jersey, details here
Sam’s jacket; Burda7767 modified, navy blue corduroy, details here, and my tutorial for making that welt/patch double pocket is here

So, Me-made May…
Yay! I did it, and it is finished!  I apologise for the boringness of my daily outfit posts, I know that a lot of my regular visitors switch off my blog completely during the me-made months; so obviously a lot of people do not like that what-I’m-wearing-today aspect.  That’s ok  ðŸ™‚
 I do try to mix my wardrobe up creatively, and and to keep it interesting and keep it real.
I learnt nothing new, but this was my sixth time.  Oh I lie, I did learn one thing; that I have more than enough handmade clothes…  I repeated only three items this month; namely my ivory curtaining skirt, my calico knitted cardigan, and a plain white Tshirt; of which I have three, so maybe not repeating the exact same one, but still.  Hmmm, these are all white-ish items.  I cannot escape my love for pale colourless clothing!
I upped the ante by electing to wear exclusively handmade clothing, everything; including lingerie, hosiery and socks, but bearing in mind I have already pledged to do this for the entire of this year anyway, and actually I’ve always pushed myself to the limit in the me-made months.  This year I’ve pushed myself way past those limits.  I do wonder if it is time for me to let MMM go now. 
I’ve always really liked the community of me-made May, and thought it was a brilliant idea of Zoe’s for getting us all together, wearing our handmade stuff and supporting each other..  Which is why I kept coming back, like a moth to the flame  ðŸ™‚  This year I felt the “community” feel had diminished a bit; probably because the group was just so BIG this year, over 400 participants!  While this is absolutely terrific, that so many people are sewing for themselves and proudly wearing their own creations and I absolutely love that and believe that side of it is just fantastic!  however… the (tiny and selfish) downside for me is that the we-all-know-each-other aspect was lost just a little bit.  I noticed that the group broke up into cliques.  I did not get to know a lot of the new participants this year; I admired and commented on a lot of creations, and received far less comments back.  I found it impossible to look at every picture, every day, so ended up just sticking to the small group of lovely ladies who were replying to my comments.  And look, that is fine.  Everyone does what they can, as much or as little as they want to, and that has always been the way the group rolls.  But I did feel a little sad that it was a lot less personal that it has been in the past.  A side effect of the group getting so big?  I don’t know. 
Taking the photos is always by far the most challenging part for me, and that didn’t change.  I made a personal rule to limit my photo sessions to about one, or up to two minutes tops.  Some days I had trouble getting the settings on my camera right for certain lighting conditions, and had to go over time; but having that rule took some pressure off.
I also documented here on my blog what in the me-made category my family was wearing, and on most days someone other than me was wearing something I had made.  This made me very happy, and was my favourite part really  ðŸ™‚
So that is it!
All my daily outfits for this month are in my MMM13 Flickr set here

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Boring black Tshirt

30/05/2013 7:02 am \ 29 Comments \

The penultimate day of me-made May, and I have a post planned to spew out some vitriol reflect on my experiences.  Only kidding there.  I have no vitriol, of course.  Well, very very little  ðŸ˜‰ hehe, but seriously, I am going to be throwing a party that it’s finished!!
But ahem, my outfit.  I am wearing another sorta new, but not actually new thing, today.  I sorted through my Tshirt drawer.  And found this batty Pattern Magic top sitting there, sad and unloved and in need of a makeover.  I made it a year ago, using bright blue cotton jersey, dyed brown.  The resulting colour is a great colour for me, a very dark and quite rich chocolate brown that is almost purple in a certain light.

before

Great colour.
Not such a great top, though.
I wore it a couple of times and each time felt just a bit too… weird in it.  The pokey-out bits required pulling into place and arranging just so in order for them to not look Very Weird.  Mind you, I’ve nothing against “weird”, but there’s weird and there’s weird, if you know what I mean.  There’s interesting, avant-garde, attractive weird, and then there is just plain weird.  Don’t worry if you don’t see the difference there, I know what I mean.  
But hmm, still a great colour.  And there was a fair bit of fabric in it…

after

I half winged it, using my custom-fit Tshirt pattern.  I had to piece a new bit in the lower edge of one side, and angled the hem a bit to encompass this, a smaller, pieced-in bit would have looked too bitsy.  It’s still a bit bitsy probably, but this was the best I could do!  And I do really like that slightly angled hemline.  I hemmed the lower edge using the blind hem stitch, only on the outside; so it’s decorative close-up.

The sleeves also had to be pieced to get any length to them, and were stitched inside and underneath the existing narrow hem of the top’s armscye.  It has the effect almost of a tank with a little cap sleeve underneath, and then with a longer sleeve underneath that.  The sleeve hems are angled too; shorter at the underarm seam than on the outer arm.

Sorry if it’s boring now, compared to the before.  The good news is that I will actually wear it now, being no longer, you know, weird.

min 6C, max 17C  do not let that sunny blue sky deceive you, it is blinkin’ freezing! and we had heaps of rain this morning!

Details:
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified, ivory stretch denim, details here
Top; my own design, blue cotton jersey dyed brown
Jacket; Vogue 7975, thick woven wool, with silk lining and black braid edging, details here
Socks; handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, details here
Boots; nylon, from Zomp shoes

my family mmm13, Craig is wearing this shirt, Cassie is wearing these handknit socks, and Sam is wearing this hoodie

Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, green cotton, details here
Cassie’s socks; handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, 2ply yarn, details here
Sam’s hoodie; self-drafted, blue/grey jersey, details here

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Black tights and striped Tshirt

29/05/2013 6:05 am \ 42 Comments \

So yesterday I mentioned I would need some black tights to see me through winter… well I made some, tout de suite.  Nothing like striking while the iron is hot! 
I used some lovely fine-knit black merino wool fabric, bought from the Fabric Store in Melbourne during our last visit, and my own self-drafted pattern.  Yah, nothing else to say about these really.  There’s no doubt I will wear them tonnes and tonnes.  I’m making a promise to myself that I will still wear my more colourful and interesting tights at least as frequently.

I also made a new striped Tshirt too; since my old navy and white striped Tshirt has been worn so much it’s had it and is now my PJ top.  I decided that a striped Tshirt, like the black tights, is another “need” for my wardrobe.  A must-have.  I know I know *cringe* must-have lists are a dime a dozen and sometimes appear to encompass everything under the sun: but I believe it takes time and trial and error to work out what really constitutes a must-have for an individual.  I think that these two pieces are both must-haves in the wardrobe, for me  ðŸ™‚
I used my custom fit Tshirt pattern, (the pattern that used to be Burdastyle magazine 06/2011, 120, altered completely beyond recognition), and a white and grey striped cotton jersey from Fabulous Fabrics.   I stabilised the shoulder seams with Seams Great, many thanks to velosewer for this  :).  The raw edges of the sleeve and lower are overlocked, then folded under once and stitched with a twin needle, taking care to have the stitching inside and out appearing within the white stripe.  

For the neckband; instead of a vertical or bias striped band, this time I decided I wanted the clean look of a plain white band.  So carefully cut the strip and folded and basted it so the band is the exact width of the white stripe.  The thinner grey stripe appears just inside the fold.
I attached the neckband using this method, and topstitched the seam allowance down to the body of the garment afterwards.

min 9C, max 20C, sun, cloud and a smidge of rain today!

Details:
Tshirt; self-drafted, khaki and white striped cotton jersey
Skirt; Burda style magazine 10/2010, 136 modified, (the Karl Lagerfeld skirt) black suiting mix, details and my review of this pattern here
Tights; self-drafted, black merino wool knit: my tutorial for drafting your own custom fit tights pattern is here
Shoes; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes

in my family’s mmm13 today; Sam is wearing this hoodie, and Cassie is wearing these handknit socks.

Sam’s hoodie; self-drafted, blue/grey cotton jersey, details here
Cassie’s socks; handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, 2ply wool, details here

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Paprika legs

28/05/2013 6:38 am \ 31 Comments \

I have made some new tights! and now I have paprika legs.  You know, paprika, the hot n’ spicy stuff.
I like the idea of hot spicy legs  ðŸ˜‰  you see, my initial impulse was to go with “oompa loompa” legs, but it seemed a little… er, silly?  Ridiculous?  Too close to the bone?!  I prefer the poetry of paprika!
Taking part in me-made May has once again taught me that I have plenty of me-made clothes.  So much that I really don’t need to be sewing fripperies for myself.  I am going to devote myself from now on to sewing two types of things: challenging sewing, for fun and self-fulfillment; and replacement or maintenance sewing, making essential things that I actually really need.
This is part of the latter.
The colourful RTW tights and leggings I was wearing last year and the year before have finally gotten hole-y enough to be embarrassing and are now retired to become pool-socks.  You know, when stockings get old you use them to put powdered pool chemicals in, tie off and then sit them in the swimming pool.  So the chemicals can dissolve slowly without getting hoovered up by the creepy crawly. 
I bought this rich burnt orange polyester knit last year, specifically for tights when the time came. 
I used my own self-drafted pattern, and the piece was big enough to squeak out two pairs.  So I made one pair from each of the “sides” so one pair is marginally darker and redder, and the other pair is lighter, a bit more “pumpkin” than red.  The differences are very slight.  The pair I am wearing here is the left-hand “redder” pair.  I figure I will wear these exclusively until they get a hole, and then I can start on the reserve pair.

Verdict: well, the colour is bright but I LOVE it, and think it will fit in beautifully with my autumnal colour scheme.  I think cheerful tights will always have a place pepping up the sombre drab neutrals, the blacks, charcoal and browns that are the backbone of my winter wardrobe.  So these will be useful.
Now, I just need a black pair, and I think I will be all set for a me-made, warm legged winter….  ðŸ™‚

Details:
Tights; self-drafted using my own tutorial for making custom fit tights, rusty orange polyester knit
Top; half of a self-drafted twinset, leopard print knit, details here, and see this twinset styled in 6 different ways here
Dress; the gathered hole from Pattern Magic, charcoal fabric, details here
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

in my family’s me-made efforts today; Craig is wearing this shirt again, Cassie is wearing these hand-knit socks, and Sam is wearing this shirt…

Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767, striped cotton with yellow facings, details here
Cassie’s socks; knitted by me to a 60’s pattern, 2ply wool, details here
Sam’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, navy and white check fabric, details here

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