Winner and Wear a White Shirt Day

It appears that some of my followers do indeed appreciate vintage wear more than I do. Carolyn is the lucky recipient of the pattern drawn randomly from my gardening hat!

I have completed my McCalls 6035 white linen blouse and am very happy with results. This pattern adjusts the shape of the princess seam to offer a variety of cup sizes. I used a 14 D which fitted straight out of the pack. The only adjustment I made was to reduce the gathering of the sleeve by a total of 14 cms! These sleeves are huge - straight out of the Seinfeld Puffy Blouse episode.

I will definitely make this blouse again, but am likely to substitute the sleeves for another style.

My blouse is ready in time for Wear your white shirt day on 19th May, a special day to raise funds and awareness for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. So my aussie sewing friends, I hope that you are busily making white shirts. Although if you do purchase the recommended Witchery blouse, it's all for a good cause.

Next up? I'm keen to start on a tailored jacket, but may just continue to make blouses as I am very short on work blouses now that I'm visiting the office on a daily basis.

It's been a while

I've been very short on sewing time lately -organising a charity dinner at my daughter's school and working in town on an in-house contract have rather preoccupied me. I did manage to slip in two sewing projects.

First up I completed my 1944 Vogue original design dress. This was a test pattern to see if I liked the style enough to make the evening gown for a ball I'm going to in November. The answer was a resounding no! There is nothing wrong with the dress, in fact it's quite pretty on. But it isn't me. I know that I will be shot down in flames, but I really don't like vintage. I'm giving away this pattern to a follower, because I know so many of you do. Just include a comment letting me know that you'd like to receive it. I'll wear the dress eventually - it requires a certain mood.

Enough of random sewing. I am back onto my linen collection. The jacket (Burda June 2008 115) was completed some time ago and blogged about here. I bought the Japanese cotton skirt fabric at the same time, with an edgy summer business suit in mind. The skirt is finally completed using Burda March 2008 114. This is a great pattern that I will use again and can vary with ease. I love the pockets and the pleats in the front. I am really pleased with way this outfit turned out. Forgive the photo - I hads already removed the makeup and was about to take off the outfit after a long day when it occured to me I should have it photographed. So you get me warts and all!

I've cut out a white linen blouse using McCalls 6035 in the hope this will be one plain blouse that suits me. The princess seams and the puffier sleeve shift it along from the man style white shirt that just does not suit me.

I still haven't touched the Donna Karan muslin. I'm not sure why - I think perhaps because I've changed my mind about the material that I was going to use and summer is almost at an end. It's on the back burner.

Happy sewing ladies!

Warning bright colours ahead

Put it down to fear of the Karan, Donna Karan that is. I just can't bring myself to work on my jacket muslin for 'the collection'. Instead I have wondering around the stash picking up the most random pieces of cloth that should been ousted based on my new found sewing philosophy.

This silk dress is one case in point. I bought the fabric from Hong Kong a few years back with the intention of a maxi dress, but never found the right pattern. Look its wild, but I really enjoyed wearing this dress to the theatre last night. Just pull it over the head, add boots and earrings and away I went. Silk against the skin is the best feeling.

I used a lengthened version of Simplicity 2696, a kaftan pattern which I blogged about here. Who says elegant minimalism can't be colourful?

I am also nearly finished another dress which is way out of my comfort zone. It is really a test dress for an evening gown pattern - and has definitely been ruled out on that score. The pattern is pictured below and I will have pictures of the finished garment shortly. Mine is a short floral version.

Not sure where to go next with my sewing. The weather is becoming cooler, so would prefer a three-quarter sleeved version of the Donna Karan jacket. I'll overcome my trepidation and get started. Right after I go through the stash again...?

I've also just started working in house for at least a month and potentially much longer. So sewing time will be limited. Worse, I will not have as much time to check out what all my blogging friends are up to.

Trench coat dress in action

This is the first time it has been cool enough to wear my trench in casual mode. I've teamed it with my striped t-shirt (self-drafted) and my favourite white linen pants.

I'm taking my eldest daughter and her boyfriend to lunch. She is leaving me this week to go to college in Melbourne. This girl has a great future ahead of her, but I'm a little sad.

Anyway she said I looked nice and suggested a photo for my blog. Perhaps this was down to the new laptop I just bought her...?

Not much to skite about

This week has not been much about sewing. I've had a visitor who is sleeping in my sewing room until Tuesday, too much professional work to cope with, back to school functions, not to mention just plain lack of motivation. You know that old Joan Baez song about motherhood where she wails "I'm tired, I'm tired, I'm tired..." as a refrain for all mothers around the world.

So the only sewing I got done this week was to finish my Butterick 5283 version C t-shirt. I remember Erica Bunker made this top, didn't wear it, then decided later that she liked it. I'm feeling the same - it is comfortable, soft and drapey, but... the indefinable but...

Perhaps it is that both my daughters and my husband asked me if the twist is meant to be off centre? It is also a little big at the back of the neck and I'm contemplating unpicking and adjusting it.

Next up, I need to start piecing my muslin together for the Donna Karan jacket.

Elegant minimalism

The style manuals all suggest that no woman's wardrobe is complete without a crisp white blouse. Unfortunately, the traditional white collared shirt looks rather dowdy on me. So I took out my pattern drafting manual and came up with this white linen shirt/jacket.

I am quite proud of my efforts - although this rather rumpled photo does it no justice. We've had a week of heatwave and I am simply too lethargic to pose it in or iron it properly! I feel like I have been living in a blast furnace.

The tie front extends from the side seam and joins to a separate piece on the lower front, giving the impression of a peplum. It teams beautifully with my recent black linen trousers, so I feel I have some coherence to my work.

I've also completed my January jacket for the jacket a month quota. This design is very clever in the way the lining is turned through a gap in the centre back, then hand stitched.

At first I was very hestitant about the cape sleeved bolero. I don't normally wear anything cropped and it felt it little costumey. But it works with my sheath dress in the same fabric for a dressy occasion, and with black tshirt and trousers for a more casual look. It is not my favourite items, but it may get the occasional outing.

I nearly finished another summer tshirt using Butterick 5283 version C and I've cut a muslin for my February jacket Vogue 1093. The Donna Karan designed jacket will be made in mustard coloured linen. I adore the pattern, but can see why it is ranked difficult by Vogue - the pattern markings look like ancient hierogythics. Hope I can pull it off.

My not quite summer pants

Well here they are, my first trousers cut from a pattern (Burda 2010/06 105), muslined and stitched. I am calling them my 'not quite summer' pants - simply because they are not the light summer pants I envisaged. The combination of the linen/polyester blend fabric and slimline cut is quite hot when the mercury goes up in ol' Sydney town. 41 degrees predicted for Tuesday (thats 105 on the US scale).

My other little niggles -and believe me they are little ones- are that despite lengthening them from the mid calf length pattern, and lengthening them from the muslin they are a fraction too short; and I accidentially put in the invisible zip on my left side. Now this is not an ascetic problem, but try getting them done up again when you've had a few glasses of wine at your own dinner party!?

On the plus side, I very happy with the fit. I love the way they can be worn with ballet flats or chunky high heeled sandals and that I can wear them into the cooler months.

Some of you may recognise the blouse. It had rather cute sleeves in an earlier life, but those sleeves for some reason threw the whole fit of the shoulders out. I tried to rotate them to no avail, so I binned them and added some of the vintage seam binding I bought on ebay. I have 67 cards of the stuff! It is very light and in my opinion, must nicer to use than the stuff we use today.

What's next? I am nearly finished my leopard print cape jacket. I am doing the jacket a month challenge but in a very uncommitted way. This pattern would be Very Easy Vogue if it didn't have a massive Vogue drafting error - the collar piece is 5 cms longer than it should be. So I need to retify this and complete. Then I am making a self-drafted blouse in white linen. And yes ladies...there will be a muslin and it will be IRONED.

Thanks for all your help. Your tut tutting is turning me from slap dash to a 'precision sewer' as Lindsay T puts it.