Frocking up for High Tea

Thanks to the fabulous organisation of Kristie at Lower Your Presser Foot the Sydney sewers braved the wet weather to attend high tea at the American Club. 

For those of us who don't have many friends or colleagues who sew, it was such a pleasure to meet with so many like minded talented and creative women.

I'm pictured with Maria wearing her very special Laura Nash design Fifth Avenue dress.  Maria is member of my Australian Sewing Guild Group.

My dress is a bit special too, made for the occasion from Butterick 5521.  Its a reversible polyester brocade, so I had the opportunity to play around with the design by using the pattern reverse on the side panels and the sleeves.  The dress is fully lined with a lightweight polyester lining.

I highly recommend the pattern and will definitely make a sleeveless version in summer.

Also enjoyed meeting Lizzy who wore an exquisite 1950s lace dress  and Christie who suggested an informal fabric and notions swap and ensured that I left with more fabric and patterns than I arrived with! 

There were many other lovely women present and I hope that I will see them again - making my sewing world less virtual. 

Next up I have a Burda colour blocked ponte dress under construction and need a blouse to wear with my new Burda pencil skirt, so that I can show it off.  Happy sewing to my real and virtual sewing friends!

Its a jungle out there

I look a little cross don't I?  Well I won't tell you what my husband said as he took this photo.

My annoyance has nothing to do with my new jacket - Burda February 2009 109 which I'm rather pleased with despite its awfully long gestation.  Firstly taking four years to trace off a pattern I loved, then taking four attempts to overcome some construction problems. 

Everything was going remarkably well until I attached the collar and neck facings.  Despite very carefully marking out my seam lines and joins with tailor's tacks I couldn't make it fit into place.  Four unpickings and some further adjustments later I finally tamed the beast into submission.

I've had the fabric for while, vintage heavy cotton that doesn't crush easily and performs well under the needle.  The lining also came from my favourite fabric charity.  It was also great to use my favourite buttons in stash which I bought on sale years ago with no particular purpose in mind. They are rather flash black with greyish mother of pearl centres and I had just the right number for this project.

I have some left over fabric and eventually will make a tie belt for the jacket so that I can also wear it open over a singlet for a more casual look.  Not sure when I'll get around to it.  Winter has arrived in Sydney and I need some warm weather gear.  I've made a short list of potential projects and will cut something out tomorrow.  I've been travelling a bit for work lately which takes me away from the sewing machine.  When I'm in country NSW I try to buy something from the local fabric store or haberdashery.  Never is  it more of a pleasure than in Armidale when I visit Fabric Fair.  The range and quality is stunning. I bought a beautiful piece of gold guipure lace and a lovely print jersey and if I wasn't running for plane would have bought more!

A quick win

At work we talk a lot about quick wins and I don't see we can't build them into sewing speak. 

My latest blouse Vogue 8747 was a quick win in that it was easy to fit and complete, but my credibility fails when I tell you that it sat is my old sewing room as a cut out pattern for nearly two years! I had forgotten about it and  found it at the bottom of a box when I moved into my daughter's old bedroom. 

The photo doesn't show up the details that well, so let me run you through them.  The fabric is a John Kaldor paisley print remnant bought from a charity store.  Australian sewers will know Kaldor as a homeware fabric maker but I don't think this high quality lightweight polyester was intended for curtains.

The pattern includes princess seams and light gathering at the bust.  It is from the Customfit range with A,B,C & D cup fittings included.  I made a 14 D straight out of the pack and the fit is good, but like my recent jacket I could do with an extra centimetre wearing ease.  This time not at the bust, but just above the waistline.

Thanks for all your comments on my last post.  It means a lot to me.  Next up, I just can't decide.  Off to think it through.

Tribal art

I've been missing in action a while.  Most of my sewing has involved unpicking and resewing skirts that were newly made but no longer fitted.  Thanks for your encouragement - your support helped me shed 7 kilos in 8 weeks.

I completed this jacket recently from a linen silk blend purchased in Lincraft last summer.  The pattern is a self draft cloned from an old Ignazia silk jacket that I bought second hand and wore to death...literally.  It is lined with white cotton batiste and has an interesting three quarter sleeve.  The original sleeve was masterfully drafted, pleated into a narrow band that attaches to the pleated lining sleeve.  Clever and very comfortable.

I love the side inseam pockets and I'm very pleased with my pattern matching, especially the centre back which is a seam finish.

The fit is somewhat aspirational at the bust.  I could do with an extra centimetre ease but I am still 6 kilos from my goal weight.  
 
I'm quite sure where my sewing is taking me next. I moved my sewing area into my eldest daughter's abandoned bedroom and in the process I found a blouse I started a few years ago which I'm now finishing.  Next up I think a tailored shirt is on the cards having just finished the excellent Craftsy.com course.

Meanwhile happy sewing!

Evolution blouse

My sewing seems to have a back story lately.  Don't get me wrong I love my new blouse, but it evolved in order to survive.

Nature intended for the blouse to follow Anne Klein's design Vogue 1294.  But somehow I didn't get the instructions and couldn't figure out how the collar worked.  It was also a little low cut for my liking.  So evolution stepped in and the blouse metamorphised into a necktie blouse with a ruffled front that extends around to the back.

By the time I got to sleeves I was feeling a bit smug and creative and added a fringe trim cut from the fabric selvidge.  Not so sure about the evolutionary benefits of this stage, so perhaps the wings will be clipped!

The best thing about the blouse was that I was able to cut the pattern straight from the pack without my usual 3cm fba and large adjustments.  Weight loss is a beautiful thing.  5 kilos down and more to go.

Not sure where my sewing is going next.  I have the most beautiful cyclamen wool to match this blouse but tailoring will have to wait for the 'new me'.   So happy sewing while I go upstairs and decide!

'Rom Com' dress

 

I'm calling this my 'Rom Com' dress.  You know the story.  Boy meets girls, initial attraction, boy displeases girl, misunderstandings are overcome, girl loves boy and they live happily ever after. 

Translated into sewerlese the story goes.  Girl is instantly attracted to fabric which is not conventionally handsome but definitely attention seeking.  Fabric does not behave as planned.  There is not enough of it for starters, forcing girl to sew shoulder panels across the cross - not recommended for silk faille.  And to the definition of silk faille...Heavy in weight yet maintains a shallow, graceful drape...we must add ##@@!! slippery and full of static, beware of cutting error!  Pattern Butterick 5415 runs large and long.  Much snipping and trimming and repeated unpicking brings dress into a loveable state.

Getting to know my rom com dress better.  We quite like each other now, but remaining static electricity in the fibres (is it actually silk?) leaves me unsure about any happy ever afters.  Worked well for Casual Friday.  Not casual I know, but not corporate is the best a suit can do.

Weight loss is progressing well, 3 kgs lighter and 2cms smaller.  I've finished my daughters lace skirt, but won't have a photograph until the weekend.  Next up...something with princess seams as I think this might be the easiest garment to downsize.

Love to hear about your own "Rom Com" dresses.  Happy sewing.

Just like a sailor

 

 

 

 You know the old saying about sailors having a girl in every port, well I'm a bit like that too.  A sewing pal to meet up with wherever I roam.  On my recent holiday to Tasmania I had the pleasure of meeting up with Carol of Sew I've been thinking over a few glasses of wine. 

I've included a shot of my new beaded kaftan dress, worn under denim in chilly Launceston. 

 

I made the white cotton voile top seen on a beach in the Freycinet Peninsula for a trip to Israel and Jordan in 2010.  Its a very practical traveller.

 

Throughly recommend Tasmania as a holiday destination, especially for those needing to recharge the batteries and get in touch with nature.  Walking in Cradle Mountain was a highlight, and I'm proud to say I climbed the peak in the right hand corner of the shot.  Hobart has much to offer especially the MONA gallery.  I've visited many galleries around the world and rate it among the best.  This is largely due to the interactive technology used, creating a very different intellectual and sensual experience than simply viewing images.

 

Sewing?  A little tricky at the moment as I've rejoined Weight Watchers in a bid to shed 10 kgs.  So tailoring is out for several months.  I'm making a loose fitting silk dress to wear to a party in a few weeks, finishing my daughter's lace skirt and then will reevaluate my plans.