another dress for summer!

Hi.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with lots of yummy food & good company?
Boxing Day here in Australia, so I thought I'd make up McCalls 6113 in readiness for the stinking hot days to come (if it ever stops raining that is!!).

This dress caught my eye with the uneven hemline & halter style, how summery does this look? I made the longer length dress.

I used a lovely lightweight cotton lawn (or batiste) that I found at Spotlight a few yrs ago. I love the butterfly print, very summery.
This particular dress looks beachy to me, because of the cotton fabric, so will be great for bbq's & trips to the beach.

I made it to the pattern except for shortening the elastic in the back, however if I made it again I would add some extra depth to the bodice front.
As I am a C cup this didn't cover my boobs as well as I would have liked (probably an extra 1" vertical width so it sat all the way under my boobs would be better, the horizontal width was fine).
& I would probably also extend the elastic to go under the boobs too, for a better fit (on the pattern only the lower back piece is elasticated)

I'm not 100% sure of this dress on me now that its made up.
I mean I like it & all, but I'm more used to wearing waist defining styles, so this feels a bit maternity on me (I have a fat tum so I'm a bit self concious about looking pregnant!).
It actually would make a great maternity dress as there's plenty of room in the front, & with the uneven hemline I don't think you'd have to alter the length at all (which means its wearable after the fact as well).
It will certainly be comfortable to wear in stinking hot weather, & could look fairly glam (or at least I think so) with the right fabric choice.

I think this style would also look fantastic in something like chiffon or georgette, or even a slinky silk charmeuse.
So perhaps if I was to make it again I would use something like that, as the cotton is a bit billowy.

Anyway, here are a few photos.

I should have a glass of wine in hand for this photo, what do you think?

PS. BF absolutely loved his Xmas shirt, & it fitted him perfectly ;-)
(abit of luck seeing as he lives a very long way away & I had to guess what size to make!)

yet another pair of Jalie jeans!

Hi there.
Well after the success of the denim shorts, it was time for another pair of jeans using Jalie 2908.
This is the 3rd pair of jeans made from this pattern, it is a real TNT.

I used the same denim as for the shorts, & kept to the white top-stitching again.
For the pockets I used a lace embroidery design, unfortunately I don't remember where I found it now though, but I think it turned out really nicely.

As this denim didn't feel as stretchy as the previous denim used, I cut the waistband as per the pattern (on the fold though & cross grain rather than bias, as I had done for the other 2 pair).

However, I ended up with a gaping waistband (which is not something I normally have a problem with as my bum is fairly flat) so I ended up removing the back section of the waistband , taking it in 2cm at the CB seam & stretching it to fit.
This pulled the back section in nicely & gave a perfect fit.

anyway here are the photos, tell me what you think!

sewing my first Patrones design - 290/12

HI there.
Yes, its been a few weeks since I've sewn anything worth blogging about.
Not that I haven't been sewing mind you, but have just been making 'boring' stuff!
(well there's also the new BF issue, but that's another subject entitrely!)
BUT today I finally got my act together to have a crack at my first Patrones design.

This one is from issue 290,  a Joven special (is that 'youth' designs??), style number 12.

The top is cute too!

These are a long pair of shorts with an interesting bound pocket design & a split waistband.
It also had an extra button on tab trim on the waist but I decided not to bother with that, as I wanted to make these in a fairly heavy stretch denim.
I also added some jeans pockets from Jalie 2908, with some embroidery from http://www.urbanthreads.com/ (design UT1976) using heavy white matt embroidery thread (which I also used for top-stitching).

Overall they turned out pretty well, & I'm happy with the sizing.
Being stretch denim they're super comfy too.

Design wise in the photo, they looked like they sat a bit low waisted, but on me they were on the waist line.
No biggie, but if I were to make them again I would only use the bottom part of the waist band as its rather wide.
As the denim was so heavy, & because I wanted a bit less bulk in the waist line (my problem area) I decided to use the contrast fabric for the inside waistband, cut on the bias.
It gives it a really nice finish.
The contrast fabric is a printed poplin, which was used to line the pockets, waist band, fly trim etc., & it was what inspired the final choice of embroidery design on the pocket.

Anyway, here are a few photos showing construction of the pocket binding & 2 piece waist band, & of course the obligatory finished shots.

I'm totally hooked on Patrones magazines, what gorgeous styles they have!

And now that I know they fit without too much drama, will be using them more & more.

I think a subscription may be in order - what do you think?

PS. here's what I made for my new BF for Xmas.

Hard to know what to give someone when you've just met them, but he's so lovely I wanted something really special & personal.... so hopefully he'll appreciate this.

Again more machine embroidery from Urban Threads, love their stuff! (UT1291)

The fabric is a lovely soft cotton with a woven check, & was just beautiful to sew.

Coconut buttons to co-ordinate with the coffee brown machine embroidery, I really hope he likes it.

Sequins!

Hello again!
I called into my favourite fabric shop again yesterday, looking for a bit of instant cheer that only beautiful fabric can give.
Came across a few nice pieces, including some lovel sequinned fabric - a coloured mess background with glossy white sequins embroidered all over.
they had it in 3 colourways, all with white sequins, a pale lemon, a salmon pink & a white mesh.
I bought 1m of the salmon pink & 3m of the white, with matching fabric to use as a lining.

I don't normally wear pink, but decided to use it as my test piece.
Here are the fabrics:

I decided that I wanted a cowl neck top after seeing Erika B's sequinned version of McCalls 6078.
But not wanting to be a complete copy cat, decided I'd try out New Look 6981.
Now tell me, is that the worst photo to show off a pattern or what?
The girls hair is disuising the main features of the top! Crazy.

But anyway, back to the top.
The fabric I used to underline the mesh was a rayon lycra mix in a baby pink.
It was a bit lighter in colour than the mesh, but this was the closest I could get.
Still, I think it looks nice together anyway.
I used a 3 thread overlock to finish off the hem & cowl edges.


I pinned the pattern pieces together & treated them as one, & overall this is a pretty easy top to sew.
for the binding trim on the sleeves & neck, as I didn't want any top-stitching, I hand-sewed these to the inside after understitching.
This finished the edges off nicely.


I decided not to turn the bottom hem under, as I preferred a less bulky look.
Being a double layer, it did end up a bit bulky at the shoulder seams as there was a pleat there (broke a few overlocker needles - that's a first!) but otherwise it turned out well...


What do you think?

And if you're wondering, I'm thinking a top or maybe even a dress from the white mesh (I just hope it doesn't look too wedding dress-ey though!).
I've got a one shoulder style I think would look nice, with some satin binding for the armhole & neck edges....
stay tuned for that one.

Summer shorts - New Look 6873!

Well today I decided to make a pair of shorts for summer, using New Look 6873.

This pattern caught my eye when I was on the hunt for a nice pair of shorts that weren't too tight (as that makes them too hot in summer) which also managed to be flattering at the same time.
I used a linen rayon blend in a pale turquoise colour, which feels soft & silky.
(this probably translates to - terrible to wash, terrible to wear! but hey, we'll take that chance, won't we!)

Excuse the cruddy photos, I couldn't find my camera (I think one of the kids 'borrowed' it) so had to use my phone to take them.
And it was night-time...
Ok that's my excuses, so live with them!!

Unusual for a New Look pattern, this pattern actually has a proper fly pattern on the shorts & as such, they were actually quite time consuming to sew. (New Look normally have very simple instructions, nothing fancy, often no linings etc & they use a lot of faux finishes to save time, eg fake pocket flaps, pretend fly etc).

I also love how New Look often have the waistline sitting 1 inch below the natural waist & use a curved waistband, & this pattern is no exception.
This sat really nicely & was ever so comfortable too.
They also had a nice inverted pleat at the front, which is a nice little feature to take them out of the ordinary.

I did try different hem lengths to see which length I liked best, & ended up with the fold up cuff as per the pattern.
Surprisingly (on me) this was the most slimming.
Cute button, don't you think?!

I don't normally wear wide leg pants but I suspect these would look flattering as well, so may even give them a go at some point too.
But for now, I want to make a few more pair of these shorts, as I really like how they turned nout & suspect I'll be getting quite a bit of use out of these this summer!

and a bag to match...

Well this arvo I decided to tackle a leather bag, which coincidentally (& unintentionally) matches the dress I made earlier in the day.
I bought this absolutely GORGEOUS leather on ebay from a seller called Rolipel Italia, & did I mention already, it is just GORGEOUS!
Its a lovely caramel colour with a bubble print design, & its glossy & thick (almost too thick in fact!) & just stunning.
I bought 2 skins, not knowing how much I'd need, & used 1 & a bit.
so some left over for a smaller project, such as a purse or similar.
I used Simplicity 3828, & what a tough choice it was deciding which one to make.
I eventually settled on the large slouchy style, as I really wanted to show off the leather.

Now my machine didn't really enjoy this experience, & it really put up a fight. A fraction heavier, & I doubt I could have sewn it, even though the seller did say it could be sewn on a domestic machine.
I pulled out all the stops, making sure I used a leather needle, teflon foot, tissue paper, heavy thread etc, but it still wasn't smooth sailing.
As such, I had to modify the design a little to make sure I wasn't sewing thru too many layers (& boy are those leather needles tough! a few times there I thought I was going to break one for sure, but it held against all the odds).
The darts were the most obvious change. Here I cut out the triangle of the darts, placed another piece of leather underneath, & joined the darts by topstitching them together....
the photo should show you what I mean better than my trying to describe it.

For the lining I chose a nice leopard print satin, which co-ordinated nicely.

I also changed the way the handle was attached, & didn't fold the handle in on itself either, again to minimise sewing thru the multiple thicknesses.
Overall I'm very happy with how it turned out for my first attempt at sewing with leather.
& even though its nowhere near perfect, I'll certainly be putting it to good use.
Here it is laying flat so you can see the basic shape.

I'm now on the hunt for some softer leather to try another one, as I really love how this turned out.

another weekend, another dress!

Hi there. Remember me?

I haven't been near the sewing machine lately, too much life has been getting in the way.
But today I managed to get one of the dresses sewn that I cut out yonks ago.



It is another Simplicity 2369 dress, the third one of these I've made so far.
Again I made the short sleeve version, but this time I had a nice coconut shell buckle to use. 
The fabric was very fine & slinky though, so the coverstitch machine chewed up the neckline topstitching a bit.
I unpicked that & attached some beige undies elastic (you know the type with the little loopy border?) to the neckline & lower part of the wrap piece.
I think it looks really nice & as an added bonus, it helped stabilised the neckline too.

One of these days I'll get around to making this as a top, & with a different sleeve!
As I have 3 of these dresses now (with the only difference being the fabric & the ties) I think I'll give this style a break, for now anyway.... ;-)
So what do you think?

McCalls 6078 - ties added

I've now added ties to the neckline to stop them sliding off & giving people an unwanted flash, & they've sorted that issue out.
Have taken some photos of me wearing it, to give you a better idea of how nice this top is.

Also check out Erica B's top that she's just posted on her blog - Erica B.'s - D.I.Y. Style!  

Made in a sparkly fabric, it looks absolutely fabulous! (I think I need one just like it!)