Spots are contagious!

There is something dotty going on in Blogland.  As I was in the final stages of finishing my new Kay Unger Vogue dress I noticed that several of my English friends had posted their spotted frocks.

The lovely Jane from Handmade Jane made a Ruby dress, while Tilly and Buttons posted an equally sensational New Look 6000.

I just love everything about this dress - the fit is great, the silky lining makes it extremely comfortable to wear and surprisingly crisp looking after 12 hours in the office.  I originally bought this fabric with wide legged casual pants in mind, but it has been in my stash for while and that trend came and went.  I'd glad I went ahead with dress - its classic and can be dressed up or down to suit the occasion.

My sewing productivity hasn't been so great lately. I've just completed a major assignment at work so hopefully will have more energy/motivation to stitch.  I'm not one for SWAPs but like Robin I am thinking small sets - a dress, a top, a bottom and a jacket, then sew something that is just for fun - perhaps a kaftan or a swim suit.  I've boxed together some fabrics and patterns for this purpose.  The current set includes this dress, a cream ponte jacket, a burnt orange knit top, a black ponte pencil skirt and for fun, a border print kaftan top.  Can you believe that I have six other sets outlined on my computer?

I have so much fabric and many many patterns, so I'll need to be more disciplined in 2013.  Work through the stash and buy no more until I do.  I've decided having a big stash is a bit of an impediment to a coordinated wardrobe.  I have bits of this and bits of that, all gorgeous and good quality but the colours and styles are eclectic. 

So I are my friends in cyberland is a stash a good idea?

Happy sewing, and all the best for the festive season.

The perfect summer blouse

Sewing has been a little slow here. I started on a Muse dress that had very promising beginnings but ended on the scrap heap.  I learnt a great lesson from that project - you are never too experienced to read the instructions and NEVER try to rectify you mistake with scissors until you have thought it through preferably overnight.

 

The sudden arrival of summer has forced me to ramp up my sewing productivity.  Having spent most of last summer in Europe, I have very few summer blouses or dresses suitable for the office.

 

 

 My delight with this blouse has made up for all the annoyance of the previous project.  I've not had much success with Project Runway patterns in the past, but Simplicity 2633 is an absolute winner for me.  I'll definitely make other versions of this blouse and I think the pleated sleeves might find their way onto a sheaf dress I'm planning.

 

I love the delicate orange and black Liberty print 100%cotton which I bought on Goldhawk Road in London back in January.  I added a black biased binding trim to the sleeve edge and lovely gold and black buttons.  I love the pleated sleeve detailing which I wasn't sure would suit me, but I find them extremely comfortable and quite flattering given my large upper arms. 

 

Not sure what to sew next.  I'm about to go to the sewing room and do a lucky dip from the box of fabrics and patterns I put together for summer sewing. That is as close to a sewing plan as I get!  Happy sewing!



I'm crushed

Made this Kay Unger design dress Vogue 1241 for a Melbourne Cup luncheon and I have to say I'm crushed  - literally and figurately speaking.  The combination of teal linen and black stretch lace is a definite winner, but the plain linen at the front is not that practical for a sit down occasion.  I look rumpled and please don't mention the barely modest neckline (the safety pin on the lining shot says it all). To be honest, I don't know how this happened.  I followed the rules, made the muslin, did the full bust adjustment, but obviously didn't take into account the seam allowances at centre front.  I do love the back, my new swayback adjustment worked well.

 

The Unger dress is interesting and clever from a construction point of view. If you are making this dress be sure to follow the instructions carefully or you won't be able to attach the lining. 

 

My other new dress is a knit maxi from some lovely jersey from Tessutis. I used Simplicity 2217 Amazing Fit dress as a base.  The main change I made was to fully line the bodice rather than use facings (I hate facings and always avoid them when I can!).  The skirt is not from the pattern, but a simple wrapped tube style.  I really like this for casual summer parties.

 

Next?  I'd love to sew my Issey Miyake Vogue 1309 in time for a party this Friday night, but somehow I think that is even less likely than winning the $100 million in Ozlotto tonight.  Meanwhile happy sewing.

Olé!

 

Been such a while since we've chatted and there is much to report.  After the little white dress I have been a veritable trouser factory churning out pants from the pattern I perfected in black linen.  I now have a white linen pair, including the front pockets so sadly missing from the black pair and the lovely grey wool pair pictured below.  This pair is fully lined and will be perfect when winter returns to Sydney town.  The fabric was purchased on my visit to the Goldhawk Road in London and I am so happy with the way they turned out.  I'll photograph the white pair when I finish a new blouse to wear with them.



After my trip to Spain I'm besotted by flamenco, so couldn't believe my eyes when I found this gorgeous cloth from the Australia designers Easton Pearson.  Thought for a long time that it was worthy of more than a skirt, but in the end, it seemed so obvious I went ahead.  I used New Look 0605 view D.  The pattern appears to be out of print, a shame as it includes a terrific, softly gathered faux wrap skirt in the options.  I overjoyed to discover that my fabulous flamenco perfectly matched 3 metres of Italian cotton shirting bought at a closing sale and sitting in my stash with no particular purpose.  Serendipity (the accidental discovery of something pleasant, valuable, or useful)!

My top is Vogue 8657 - a fabric hungry (the whole garment is self lined) but otherwise perfect pattern.  I cut a size 16 with a small FBA.  I'll definitely make this again, in a more drapey fabric.

Overall I love the outfit.  What to wear for business in a hot climate? Don't get me started.  This year I'm opting for this style of unstructured suits...so watch this space.

I was also inspired by Melbourne blogger Rachel to start my own balcony garden.  I have an unused sunny balcony 5 x 3 metres - a shameful waste of space.  I've planted spinach, lettuces, tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant, and a variety of herbs.  This photo was taken on the day of planting and I'm delighted to tell you that my tomatoes are pregnant and blooming.  All plants are doubled in size and the herbs have been harvested for variety recipes. 

So happy sewing ...and yeh to pregnant tomatoes.





A little white magic

Snippets of a conversation at my place that started about three weeks ago...

DD2:  Mum I'm so excited, I've been invited to [insert name of posh Sydney boy's school] social.
Mum: That's lovely darling, you'll be able to wear your black dress again.
DD2:  But I've worn that twice already.  Everyone is getting new dresses.

One week later at the store...
Mum:  $450, no way
            This one is lovely [pointing to something pink and dainty]
DD2:   Silent [rolling her eyes].  I really like this one.
Mum:  No way, I can't buy a dress that has raw edges and is see through!  I'll make a dress.  It is so simple, I can easily copy it.
DD2:  Why can't I have a new dress.
Mum:  But the dress I make will be new

Three days later at the fabric store...
DD2:  Don't expect me to be enthusiastic about anything you show me.
Mum:  [private thoughts] Spoiled brat, where did you get this sense of entitlement.

A few days later...
DD2:  You're going to Melbourne...on business...for three days...but what about my dress?
Mum: [private thoughts] I'm an idiot, why didn't I give in to her.

Two nights to go...
DD2:  Are you ever going to finish my dress
Mum:  Of course I will, have I ever let you down [private thoughts] maybe I'll have to do an all nighter.

The night of the party...
DD2's friend:  I lOVE your dress.  Where did you get it?
DD2:  My Mum made it.
friend:  Your Mum is amazing!

Amazing?..I'm not so sure, but certainly capable of a little white magic!  DD's dress is a copy of a dress by Australian designers Maurie and Eve  that was selling for $250.  While pretty, the original had poorly finished seams and was completely unlined - requiring a slip or the audacity to go out looking like a hooker.  This version is in white crinkle chiffon, lined with white silk.  It isn't perfect, in my near midnight delirium I made the skirt a little tighter than I wanted and it rides up.  But it made my DD2 happy and that is what being a mother is all about.

Black linen nirvana

I blame it on the cherry blossoms.  One look at the lovely splay of pink and I'd packed away my wool stash and reached for linen.  A whole spring wardrobe plan has been going around like a duloop inside my head.  Lovely linens and silks that have been waiting in the cupboard for just this moment turning into pants, tops, jackets and dresses.   But I must not get ahead of myself. 
I have been searching for the perfect pants pattern for years, but never achieved a fit that was flattering, wearable, and super comfortable.  So I decided to look closer to home.  Kenneth King's Jeanius course on Craftsy.com inspired me to look at pants in the cupboard that fit and feel great.  I can't tell you how pleased I am with my new black linen pants, self-drafted from a well worn pair of grey slacks.  The linen is top drawer, thickly woven Italian - found at a dressmakers fire sale in Brisbane. I love the way they hang.  I've bound the waistband and fly seam with some snakeskin print ribbon, but the majority of the seams are overlocked.  The only thing between these pants and nirvana is the absence of pockets. Next pair...or pairs.  I have some white linen, which I will line and some beautiful grey wool bought on the Goldhawk Road in London.  Happy sewing...I know I am.

Slow sewing

Slow sewing, like slow cooking can yield great results.  And that's exactly what I've been up to...and I confess obsessive Olympic watching.  My camel cashmere coat is the first of the projects I've had on the simmer.  I wanted a soft cut jacket that could double for work or play.  I also wanted to use my remnant piece of camel cashmere bought a few years ago before the moths attacked it.

For this project I used Vogue 8756.   I don't recommend this pattern for anything heavier than a light knit, in fact I'm hesitant to recommend this pattern at all.  I cut a size 14 with a 3cm full bust adjustment.  Part of my slow sewing effort was to steam and mould the fabric into shape, starting with the shoulders which needed a shoulder pad and a bamboo sleeve head to look anything like the design drawing.  I chopped 5cms from each side of the drape collar piece to stop the jacket from looking too front heavy. After a lot of steaming, the folds sit quite nicely, much better than they appear in the photo.

The real winner is the fabric.  The fibres are long and soft, very luxurious to wear and a dream to sew.  The colour is camel not orange, much closer to the second photo.  My photographer, DD aged 16 and into special effects thought  "like it would look nicer and no I don't have time to another photo''.

My other slow burner is a red sheaf dress - my practice run for Susan Khalje's couture dress over at Craftsy.com.  I highly recommend this course, there are so many tips and techniques to take your sewing to new levels.  I've learned how to make a muslin correctly, how to apply organza underlining, hand picking zips and one little thing that I'll share - did you know that the top metal tab on your tape measure is equal to a standard seam allowance?  This fact is a prize for Burda magazine sewers.  The dress will stay simmering away while I catch up with the course video.

Meanwhile, I've cut a pair of plain black linen pants with a fly front.  Despite a cold, cold weekend, there is a whiff of Spring in the air.  I saw the first cherry blossoms yesterday.

Happy sewing!