A fabulous fabric sale

I read about this fabulous annual fabric sale on the Summer Flies blog. It was very tempting but since I had bought way too much fabric lately I wasn't going to go. But then my husband convinced me I should go. Isn't he a sweetie?

It took me a while to actually locate the joint and had to circle around the block - the things you do for a good fabric sale. All the fabrics were $6/m and I had to spend quite some time considering the fabrics because I only had a limited amount of cash on me.

I ended up with a brown checked wool, a charcoal mystery fabric, a purple boiled wool and a charcoal linen. From the sounds of it, the boiled wool is the same as Summer Flies bought. It really is a gorgeous colour. They will end up as pants, a jacket and shorts or a skirt.

I really have to get cracking on some sewing. I have no more storage room at all. Well, in the sewing room that is.

Ottobre singlets

I felt a little bad yesterday when my daughter told me the only singlets that kept her warm were the two longer ones. She has had the other ones for quite a few years and because they fit width wise, I thought they were fine.

Rather than procrastinate, I whipped out my Ottobres and traced, raided my remnents, cut and sewed these singlets for her. The pattern is #33 from issue 4/04.

I have made these singlets many times before but since it has been awhile and I thought that the length of the bindings would not be as bad as I remembered. The bindings, im my opinion, are way too short and need to be a few cm longer.

The white singlets will be dyed at some stage, when it warms up a little more during the day.

Another My Image cowl top

This was my last piece from the retreat-at-home weekend.  This dark green knit was also from that big fabric binge from the other week. I am not known for sewing fabric up as I buy it, so using up three pieces straight away must be some kind of record for me.

This was an odd piece of knit fabric – only 112cm wide. I ambitiously thought I would be able to get a tee and a skirt out of this piece until when I realised how narrow the cut was. I was lucky to get a long sleeved top from it, though I guess cowl necks take a little more fabric.

The mystery fabric is lovely and stretchy so perfect for this type of top. I love this colour so much, it is the colour of my first ever tee stitched in year 9 (that tee was sewn mostly on my Mum’s 70s Elna, and I couldn’t sew the sleeve hems well since there was not free arm and I had never heard of a twin needle). I used some regular thread cone and thread in a bobbin as nothing in my somewhat extensive overlocking thread collection remotely matched this shade.

Nothing else to say but this is a great pattern and perfect for drapey fine knits.

Jalie 2449

This is the second garment I made on my retreat –at-home sewing day. The fabric is again from my binge. It is a lovely knit but it was not the colour I was imaging. I have never worn anything this colour but it grew on me and I thought it would be perfect for testing out on a new pattern.

I sized it up by one size and straightened the side seams slightly by using Kwik Sew 2874 as a guide. I decided to have the neckband wrap all the way around the top. To find out the amount, I lined the front and back pieces at the shoulder seam and measured by how much extra the back piece extended. I also added length to the neckband (the length of the piece cut off minus a couple of centimetres that that the neckband wouldn’t jut out – I could have worked out what percentage Jalie used by measuring their original pieces along the stitch line but I went with the quicker method of just winging it!).

I really like how it turned out – so now I have another jumper option when I am in the mood for sewing some more. I am on a bit of a knitwear kick since that is mostly what I wear in Winter and I felt I needed a bit more variety. Plus they are easy to sew.

It was a very Jalie day for my today. I wore the jumper, a tee and jeans, all from Jalie patterns.

Kwik sew 2874 - zig zag knit

This is the first a three garments I made on Saturday. I was having a bit of a sewing weekend while my fellow Crafty Mamas forum friends were having a retreat.

I have made up this pattern before, but in view c which is designed for colour blocking. I finally got around to tracing of a version where I did not have to overlap and pin pieces together. This is view A with view C neckline.

After not buying fabric for quite some time, I had a huge binge the other week and ended up purchasing over 20m of fabric (plus I won a metre from Lisa @ Crafty Mamas). Just now, as I was calculating my purchases, I gasped. The worse thing is I broke my rule and bought some of the fabric online from a place where I told myself I wouldn’t buy knit fabric from. I was searching for more sweater knits and couldn’t seem to help myself.  

The husband thinks the fabric is hideous, but I thought it would be nice and bright to wear in Winter.  Seeing as I recieved numerous comments today, from both the staff and students at school, I would say the husband doesn't know what he is talking about.  He now admits the fabric looks better made up!

The fabric is a result of the first part of my binge (the other pieces haven’t arrived yet).  I have no idea what sort of knit fabric this actually is, nor the fibre.  I spent a lot of time cutting since I decided that I was going to cut it on the cross and it was hopelessly off grain, if knit can be off grain. I had to cut one half of the pattern at a time and then flip over and the sleeves separately so that I could keep it as aligned as possible.

I think next time I will make the sleeves slightly wider at the wrists. They are fairly close fitting and I am unable to push my sleeves up for washing hand and so on.

Blue burda pants

Wednesday was my only free day this week and I made full use of being at home to sew these pants. The pattern is the pants pattern from the 1/2009 edition of Burda Easy Fashion magazine. 

I was inspired to sew these blue pants after seeing a pair of green pants on the Mod Cloth website. Seeing as my Winter staple consists of grey and black pants, these blue ones are quite a leap forward for me. I think they will be fun to wear on a bleak Winter’s morning.

I used the pants block drafted by Steph  to alter the pattern. The alterations are so easy to do and the fit makes the pants fit spot on. I am not sure if I overdid the crotch by scooping it out some more but the fit is very comfortable and I like what I see when I look in the mirror.

I have also taken inspiration from the Colette blog  (Are your clothes made to last, How to sew a blind hem ). I blind hemmed my pants as per usual but I turned the hem under for a cleaner finish. Normally I have my overlocking showing inside. When I was sewing the pants, I also was extra mindful about finishing it as well as I could to ensure long life and staying power in my wardrobe.

This is the last weekend of my holidays. I want to work on making an outfit for the boy for a costume party coming up. And I want to dye some silk knit fabric. I have to spend some time thinking about what else I could make in the next few weeks. That is one of my favourite things to do.

Sheath dress with sparkle

After my last projects of the basic knit jumpers (thanks for the comments) I felt like I needed to break out of my comfort zone and stop being so practical every once in a while. I wanted a dress to wear to church in Winter (we go on a Saturday night). I envisioned a sheath dress that could be worn under a cardigan or jacket but have enough ease that I could wear it like a pinafore. Hmm, is that sounding too practical again. I do try to put thought into garments because I actually want to wear what I have made on a regular basis. I chose the charcoal metallic fabric that has been in the stash forever because while pretty, it is just too dressy for my lifestyle.

 The pattern is from an old Burda WOF magazine # 112 from 5/05 with the neckline from an even older mazine (#110 from 12/01). The dress has princess seams, a boat neck and it fully lined. I had to take the seams in from bust to waist at the front, and in the waist area at the back to create some waist definition. Taking in the side seams just created wrinkles I probably could have taken it in all the way down to the hem, but this was enough for me.

I finished this up on Saturday afternoon and was very happy about it. However, when I went to put it on, I realised I had forgotten to understitch the left back section and it kept flipping out slightly. When I got home from church, I had to hand understitch that section becuase it had been bugging me. I can't believe I missed that.

It is probably a little dressy for my church, but I will wear it anyway. I felt a little chic wearing it with a cardigan last night.

Jumpers - just a little daggy!

In theory, these are the perfect jumpers for me. The colours are pretty, the style is perfect for layering under my new coat (most of the jumpers I have have interesting necklines and  just don't look right when the buttons of the coat are closed. Like this or this.) These new jumpers sewed up pretty good too, since they are just like a t-shirt. But without any interest, the are even boring to me and I like dressing simply.

The red is possibly some type of wool blend. I bought it 10+ years ago when I was at university and like travelling to fabric stores all over Brisbane. This particular place was in someone's garage, I swear. I think this was the only piece I actually bought at the time because I wanted to visit some other places in the area. The pattern is a vintage Kwik Sew pattern, 742 but I omitted the turtleneck (they say cowl neck) and added a self-fabric neckline.

The red version wasn't scooped enough, so my second version was scooped a little more with the Jalie 2806.

Maybe they will grow on me.

The 60s style coat - part 2: the one with the confession

I had also planned to use the lining material for the under collar but then because the lining fabric is so thin and fragile and a pastel colour that a different fabric would be more suitable. The idea about using the lining was to tackle the bulk/turn of cloth issue, so I needed a thin-ish fabric. Lucky I have a stash because I found a black herringbone weave wool blend that was perfect. Hopefully I have enough to still  use that wool for its intended use (pants) otherwise I might have to see if there is more at my local fabric store.  For turn of cloth, I removed about 1.2mm from the outer edge of the collar and 6mm from the edge that adjoins the collarband. The undercollar sits under nicely now that I have stitched-in-the-ditch around the collar/collarband seam. That seemed to stop it from puffing out and showing.

 

Since my sewing machine would not sew buttonholes through two layers of my thick boiled wool, I decided bound buttonholes would be the way to go. I did an average job on the front using Gertie’s windowpane method but made a right mess on the back. I got freaked out again and had the “bright idea” of cutting holes straight into the fabric and not doing proper window method with the square of fabric. Umm, bad move. Not only did the fabric want to stretch out of place, it wasn’t in the right position after all so I had to make the holes even longer. I nearly cried at my stupidity but managed to make it a little more presentable when I stitched the facing to the backs of the buttonholes. I really need to practice how to do the marking for the windows on the facing or try a different method or something because this is the second time I have had the experience of them not lining up.  I am thinking of doing bound buttons on my next blouse or skirt project so I can practice this skill. I think I also need to invest in some silk organza. Does anyone is Australia know of a good source?

I also had some difficulty attaching the lining. The fabric shell seems a lot longer than the lining. I attributed this to the boiled wool having more give than the lining. I had to ease the wool into the lining at times, but it all lots extremely smooth. I managed to rip a thin hole along the seam line when I was impatient with the unpicking, but I darned that area and sewed around it. Hopefully it will not be too fragile at this point.

For the hems and sleeves, I stitched in the ditch to tack the hems down, as well as some a couple of stitches here and there to stop the wool from moving. Since it was a knit, it likes to stretch.

The coat has managed to come together despite some difficulties. I experienced more drama than any other sewing project but I will wear it and that is all that matters to me at the moment.

The 60s style coat - part 1

This project turned into a mojo killer. Perhaps it was the uninspiring colour. Maybe it was because I was so unorganised with the lining, buttons and notions that more than once I had to stop to purchase interfacing or buttons.  I know that it was a bigger project than I had anticipated. I forgot how time consuming coats/jackets can be. Sew some seams, stop and press those seams. Press the stitching, press it open on the inside, press it open on the outside. I would have to turn the iron on each time, as I don’t trust myself to remember to turn it off before I leave the house. The chances of a fire are slim, but I don’t like the idea of leaving appliances like that on.

The pattern is Burda 111-09-05. I have used before in a boucle.  It was a close call between that and pattern120-12-08 . On my list were pockets, collar with not lapels, set in sleeves and about 65cm in length. Each pattern has a few features from my list. I did consider morphing the patterns, and layed the traced pattern over the other coat’s pattern sheet but then laziness set in and I just decided to extend the older pattern and had the pockets from the other pattern. I decided I could live with the raglan sleeves and besides, they are way easier to sew in!

I lengthened the pattern by 10cm, as this is what I felt my boucle version was short by. I was going to sew the pockets in the lining fabric to reduce bulk, but then I remembered my current coat which has self fabric for the pockets and it is snugly warm to shove my fingers in on playground duty. The fabric I used is boiled wool. I thought I was ordering something pants weight and I don’t know whether the fault was mine or the ebay sellers but this has been sitting in my stash waiting to be sewn for a couple of years. I have discovered that boiled wool is perfect for in light showers, as the day we visted Cooly Rocks On to see the hot rods, there was numerous showers and the water stayed on top of the coat.

I will add some more detailed shots for part 2.