I found my sewjo - hooray

This was my first project in a while. I kinda lost my sewjo when I went back to work.  It is hard to believe that I hadn’t touched my machines in nearly a month.

I tried a few things to find the mojo – I traced a few patterns, reviewed my sewing list and I even measured all my fabrics (just over 200 metres, not too bad). I just couldn’t seem to settle on a project and cut out some fabric.

Part of the reason I decided to start a database was because I couldn’t remember if I had washed the fabrics or not. I used to have a stash list on my old, old computer details length, width, fabric content etc as well as whether it had been pre-laundered or not. I am not one of those organised ones that take their fabric straight to the laundry room. Maybe I should make this a new habit.

Burda #126 from 3/2005 was one of the patterns I traced. It is a straight-ish skirt with an inverted box pleat at the centre front, big patch pockets, belt loops, jeans style yoke and curved waistband. I used a straight size 40 and the fit is spot on. I used the same colour stretch drill as my last jacket – I ended up having to buy another cut of the fabric because the first time the staff member did not give me enough for a jacket. I don’t plan to wear the skirt and the jacket at the same time though.

The skirt went together well – the instructions were very confusing and I still have no idea what they are talking about with the hem at the pleat. I ended up leaving the tabs off since they were wonky and I just wanted to move forward with the skirt rather than go back and recut the interfacing etc. Lazy I know.

This was the first time I had just the interfacing I ordered from Fashion Sewing  Supply. It is a great as everyone has said. Because of the stretch of the fabric, I also applied interfacing tape to the pockets and the hem, to stop any rippling of the stitches. If I make this skirt again, I will sew the pockets on and then sew the side seams. The pockets abut the side seam so sewing the pockets within the side seam would prevent the slight gap that happens when the fabric is stretched.

Keeping it real

The thing I like about getting older is that I can be more realistic because I have more self awareness and am not afraid to be in denial about things. For example, I am aware of certain alterations that I need to make to patterns for a better fit – having sloping shoulders for instance is not a bad thing in the whole scheme of things and garments can look better if I actually make the alteration!

One thing I am trying to be more realistic about is my wardrobe and thus what I sew. At heart, I am a very practical person. I don’t get dressed up at home if I am not going out (actually, I wear old comfortable clothes). I don’t go out very much either, so not much need for those lovely dressy clothes that are so fun to plan and sew. I like to make stuff to wear for work, but if I am being real, I get fussy about what I will wear to work. It needs to be practical and comfortable

I am a special education teacher, working in a primary school in a low socio-economic area. The school is somewhat overcrowded and I don’t actually have a teaching space of my own. I go into other teacher’s classes and have to work within their space the best that I can. So I might be sitting on a chair next to a student’s desk, or I might have to kneel next to a student (and then move across the room to help other students) or I might sit on the floor with a group of students (I find it easier to sit on the floor with some of the work I do, since there are lots of flashcards and games and it is hard on my neck to bend down to make sure students are attending to the right information. I would like a big table for all of us to sit around, but there isn’t the space this year).

My point is, I need pants to sit and kneel on the floor. And with the weather the way it is in summer, I like light airy cotton tops so I don’t faint while on duty. The classrooms may be air-conditioned, but it is disgusting outside.

I have styled the new tops I have made with likely coordinates from my wardrobe. I wish I was more stylish but I got into the habit of not wearing dangly jewellery and putting my hair in a pony tail while at uni doing pracs and then working at a special school setting.

Red polka dot blouse #107 from Burda 6/2008

I have made this previously and since it was so a comfortable fit, I thought I would make it again. The red polka dot fabric was a recent purchase, and has a lovely smooth feel to it. I made the pleats in the bodice, but omitted the elastic (last time I did shirring here and it made it a little too tight for my liking).

As expected, it went together very nicely. I followed Gigi’s tutorial for a clean finish inside the collar stand. I chose white pearly shank buttons. I love this pattern for the lovely pleated sleeve as well as the pleats on the bodice. It makes the waist nip in nicely.

Pinstripe blouse

This is another Burda #107 from 6/2008. I was going to make it sleeveless (like Solvi's shirtdress and because I was a little short on fabric) but I found the semi-raglan sleeves cut in too much, and I realised I had just enough to cut the sleeves if I cut them out separately.

I love getting the nice finish on the collar stand. Outside is left, inside is pictured right.

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Anthropologie inspired trapeze top

My last Anthro knockoff was a dud but this one is a little better. Only because it has a belt to cinch it in correctly. The fabric store actually on cut a metre rather than the metre and a half I wanted for this top. I was able squeeze it in, with a back seam but there wasn’t enough to make some binding for the neck and underarms. I ended up using store bought stuff, but I was reminded why I hate using it. In the future, I will make my own again. I don’t really use it much and when I have needed it I have been able to use from the stash of handmade bias I had made when I was younger and obsessed with binding everything.

I used this pattern as a basis for the trapeze shape, and the other pattern for the neckline. The sleeves are from another Burda pattern. I didn’t want to add the sleeves but the straps where too thin without them. I suppose it looks more like the top I was trying to knock off. 

Spotty skirt and Swiss dot blouse (#125 from 05/2009, skirt a mishmash of patterns and drafting)

I love using my tried and tested patterns over and over, but I wanted something that would look similar to my fave twirly skirt pattern but was a little less time consuming to sew. I kept the front yoke piece and using a vintage Kwik Sew pattern at a guide, made a 6 gore flared skirt pattern. I made the pattern quite a while back, so I am not sure why I chose 6 gores over say 8. Maybe the Kwik Sew one has 6 gores?

Because I had used the same yoke piece for front and back, the back sits a little funny. And the gores stick out too much for my liking. I am not sure if it because the fabric I used is not drapey enough or because the amount of gores doesn’t distribute the flare the way my other gored skirts do. I was a little sad when I first sewed it (weeks ago) but now I am feeling pretty happy about the skirt.



The blouse pattern is actually a pattern for a shirtwaister. I loved the pleated sleeves and cuff but did not want it as a dress, so I stopped tracing the pattern after 55cm (which was based on another blouse pattern that I had recently traced). I am not sure what I was thinking when I cut it out the pattern for the first time from some expensive fabric. I must have figured that my last blouse had a collar and stand so this one would be a cinch.

The thing is, I traced it some time ago from a borrowed Burda and I had misplaced the directions. The other issue was I have lengthen blouse that I based the length of this blouse on, when I should have lengthened this one too before cutting out.

 

I love love love how the cuffs worked out. I used Gigi’s method for a clean finish here too. I am so glad a could apply buttonholes here too. When I first had it pinned, I thought my arms were too wide. I then realised that I was overlapping it too much plus I could use smaller buttons here.

 I also used a method for a clean finish facing - sew the interfacing to the right side of the facing, turn and fuse to the inside. I also topstitched.

I love the results of this blouse and while probably use it again with some changes (change the front facing a little, plus the length). There is just enough puff in the sleeve for my liking and it will be great when I can use a wider hem.

 

Ottobre goodies for my girl

I bought the rose print fabric on a recent trip to the fabric store. It is one of the softest woven cottons I have ever felt and that prompted me to use it up straight away.

I chose the romantic dress from Ottobre (issue3/2007, #19). Since J measurements are quite different from the Otto measurements, so while the dress is 116cm for the height, the width is for that of the 104. Jalisa is actually closer to the next size, but I always seem to use the size under their actual height to get the length I like.

Look out for that mushroom

Jalisa loves the dress - the gathered pockets are a hit too.

I have pulled out a laundry basket full of warmer weather clothes that J has been wearing over the last couple of summers. While she won't run out of anything to wear (having a school uniform is great since she only needs clothes for weekends and holidays) I thought it would be nice to refresh her wardrobe with quite a few new pieces. Here is another Otto peasant top and Otto Bert? short. The peasant top is definitely too short - I think I will need to go up to the next height if I want to get some wear out of them.

Once again, the pockets are a hit. I have just finished a blue pair of shorts, with red and darker green to go.

Thank you God for

My darling husband. While he is not perfect, there is not too much to complain about. He is supportive of my hobbies, he is hands-on with the kids, I genuinely think he tries his best and he believes that I try my best. Thank you Lord.

Anthropologie knockoff / dud

 I have lots of pictures of clothes from Anthropologie and I was keen to make a few floaty tops like the ones shown above. I thought it would be really quite simple (and it was). Looks through Burda patterns. Find a pattern to use as the base. Find similar patterns to make the desired changes.

I started with the cute little number on the left. I thought the sleeves and the neckline were similiar enough to the look I was going for. However, I hated the gathers over the bust. Not my thing. Rather than doing my own thing and just extending the bodice peices, I found the peasant pattern to use as a guide for the side seams. I figured it was a sure thing for having enough ease to slip on over my head.

So yeah, there was plenty of ease there... plenty for a baby belly in there too. Late term baby belly.

I actually took these pictures as the before photo as I was going to fix the problem with lots of elastic thread. Just made it looks worse and it was tight and uncomfortable. So I unpicked the elastic thread and hung the top in my wardrobe. It'll work with a belt, if I ever buy myself a belt, or I can just wear it at home lest anyone mistake me for being up the duff at work.

 So my plan for lots of these tops went out the window - I think I will just concentrate on making fitted blouses for work.

Thank you God for...

I forgot all about this meme last week, but I remembered for today.


I want to thank God for the wonderful teachers that my daughter has had. I am so glad I can trust that they will do the right thing by my child. Being a teacher myself, I am aware of what of the best practise is for teaching young children as well as the great programs that teachers have available for spelling and science. I am so pleased that all three of J's teachers have so far employed best practise and implemented quality programs. Lord, I am so thankful to you. Amen

I am loving this red vee neck jumper and red tee here. In fact, I am wearing the tee today in support of the Morcombe family. I sewed this up a few Thursdays ago and took pictures, but never got to a blog post stage with it.

Jumper details

Pattern: Kwik Sew 1381 neckline, KS 742 everything else. Basically I wanted a tried and tested jumper but with a thicker, cross over v-neck.

Fabric: a red poly rayon blend knit. Lovely colour but lousy to sew. Luckily it feels lovely to wear, even if it was painful to sew.

Tee was my tried and true tee pattern, but I tried a sway back adjustment as per lovely Sherry's directions. Unfortunately this did not solve the puddling issue in my lower back, so I won't worry about that in the future.

It seems like an age since I made something for my daughter, just because. I have all this fabric sitting around so I decided to use it to make some shorts, shirts and dresses for my darling. Here is the tester pair of shorts and peasant top.

The peasant top is Ottobre's Singoalla blouse (#16 from issue 1/2007). I did not shirr as high as Ottobre did, because I was concerned it would not fit and Jalisa was at school at the time. I think any others I will not add the elastic thread at the bottom, and actually add a little more to give it a proper hem and not just a rolled  hem from the overlocker.

The shorts are the Ottobre Bert shorts (#23 from 3/2009). I have seen lots of blog with the women wearing short shorts and I thought it would be a much cuter look on her than me. Not a great snap of the pants. I think I will go down the next size in the width, as they are a little baggy on her. I used size 110 for the width with 116 for the length, but I think it needs to be the 104 width still (see, I have almost completed a dress and I used a 104 width and I think it was pushing it, but it may have been just that pattern. She is still wearing 98 width tees fine).

I have some small cuts of lime green and powder blue to use. I really have a lot of work since I have bought 25m of fabric in the last couple of weeks. I can barely resist a bargain, especially when I am encouraged by my husband.

Frugal sewing – can’t shake it off

For years I was a frugal sewist. Sometimes it was a case of not having much money to throw around. Other times I was saving as much of my money as I could. Anyway, I learnt a few tricks to get more bang for my buck:

• I reused the same patterns over and over. Patterns are pretty exxy in Australia, so if I used the same pattern a few times, I was spending less on other patterns.
• I borrowed Burda magazines from the library to read.
• Refused to pay full price for fabric or patterns.
• I chose patterns that did not use a lot of fabric and laid out patterns to use the least amount of fabric. I used to carry a list so that I only ever bought as much as I needed.

One discovery I made while laying out patterns from the same fabric was that I could cut out a knit top and a tee shirt in the same amount of fabric it took to cut out one tee. You just have to cut out one or two pieces at a time and refold.

While we are no longer watching the pennies so much, I am still careful with my spending and sometimes old habits refuse to die. I was able to cut out a long sleeve tee shirt, a knit shirt (Kwik Sew 3032 Top A) and a pair of undies all from 1.5 metres of fabric. I have just realised that I have made quite a few pairs of undies out left over knit fabric this year!

PS Shannon, thanks for the reminder - I had heard about them. I put in an order with Fashion Sewing Supply last night. Even with a massive postage quote of nearly $28 (yowzers) it works out the same price as the interfacing I have been using with less than stellar results. I think I had been putting it off because of the postage, but it works out if the interfacing is even a little bit better than the whisperweft.

Mulberry Jacket

I fell in love with curved lapels and collars when I made my last jacket. I wasn’t keen to make the exact same jacket pattern again so soon, so I began my search for another Burda jacket pattern.

I found what I wanted in pattern 111 from Burda 3/2009. I love that it is not too long, has princess seams and the sewn in belt was cute too.
I used a stretch cotton twill in a lovely Mulberry shade. It is actually a darker shade than my last jacket. I obviously gravitate towards the same colours. I picked stretch twill since it is fairly casual and comes in some great colours.

I followed Sherry’s RTW Tailoring Sewalong notes again. I think I will be referring to them everytime I make a jacket, because they are so helpful in achieving a lovely result.



I did change the yoke pattern piece. The piece is a combine front and back yoke, so there is no shoulder seam. While I did not mind the look of it I wasn’t sure if my sloping shoulder adjustment would work. So I drew a seam line at the shoulder points and added the front yoke piece to the front, while keeping the back as a yoke.

I just hope I was not too aggressive with my sloping shoulder adjustment. I made the same as I normally do but you can see the diagonal pulls. I wonder if I traced the shoulder point in the wrong spot or something.

Here is a closer view of the collar.



While I cut out the curved pockets and flaps, I ended up not using them. I thought they were a cute feature, but for whatever reason, did not feel like sewing them on at the time.

I am annoyed with the interfacing I chose. I used whisperweft which requires preshrinking. Except a lot of the beads of glue came off. Very hard to bond without the glue on there. Grr. Not sure whether to get textureweft next time, as it requires no shrinking or go for something entirely different altogether.

Here is a peek at the lining. While the lining likes to twist and squirm all over the place when cutting and handling, with the right needle and foot pressure it was a breeze to sew.

My new baby

I have been wanting an iron press for some time but when I had to block fuse my fabric for the RTW Tailored Jacket sewalong I was really keen. I have been keeping my eye on Ebay and this one popped up in a suburb close to me. I am yet to use it, as I want to give it a bit of a clean, but it should be really handy.