New Look 6143 - A Vision of Lace and Silk.

The most special and important part of my life as it is for most people is watching my children grow up into their own individual selves.
My middle daughter has just finished secondary school and is now preparing for the next stage of her life.
Part of the final school activities include a whole school assembly where they celebrate their academic , sporting and community achievements , a Valedictory dinner and the final celebratory day of school ( renamed because too many pupils muck up on Muck Up Day - one year it was quick set cement in the toilets causing over $30,000 worth of damage ! )

So with only three weeks until her Valedictory dinner my daughter asked if I would sew her dress and showed me a photo. This was quite a scary challenge because I think my daughter overestimates my sewing ability and I did not want to disappoint her on a very special day and did I happen to mention I only had three weeks . So the easy part was finding a pattern and New Look 6143 was virtually exactly the same as her choice of dress - a sweetheart neckline  satin lined lace dress with three quarter sleeves.

The next part was finding fabric and the time to squeeze this in amongst study and work. So one day we travelled to Melbourne and went to Spotlight . We bought the pattern and looked at their evening fabric selections. They had a  wide selection  but I suggested we keep looking and went to Darn Cheap Fabrics. 

Now Darn Cheap fabrics sounds well tacky but they actually have lots of beautiful fabrics and we found some lace and then real silk satin - in so many colours.  Once you have felt silk satin there  is  no going back to the Spotty Poly . There happened to be a full length mirror near the satins so she held up nearly every colour with the lace to her face and finally chose a muted rose colour . 

After making a quick toile and some fitting changes the sewing started. It really is a bit intimidating 

 cutting into silk but with such limited time you just have hold your breath, cross your fingers, hope for the best and do it. 

The pattern and instructions are fine. We made some minor changes to the pattern(  apart from her personal fitting alterations ). I narrowed the sleeves so they were more slim fitting . I also finished the neckline with concealed bias binding rather than it showing and using another sewing pattern added a wide sash. 

Also because we were using the sweetheart neck line bodice I had  to make some construction changes  - the bodice was fully self lined and then hand tacked to the lace. We were both mainly happy with the finished result but I should have also shortened the bodice for her and if I make this again I would consider sewing the lace and satin skirts separately .

We had a lovely night and I will have everlasting memories of my daughter running around the room  laughing and giggling  collecting about 30 helium filled balloons at the end of the night.

Butterick 5523 - Black and White and Red All Over.

I am getting to the last of my  winter sewing now. I bought this soft viscose lycra knit earlier this year and had a hard choice with what to do with it - there were a few patterns I wanted to resew  but I finally chose Butterick 5523 . I sewed this a few years ago  using an animal print and loved the result but the fabric was not really my thing . 

This dress is really comfy . I wore it to work today and it felt like I was wearing nothing ! 

It is also very easy  to  sew - in fact the hardest thing about this dress was taking the photos using the self timer .  I had returned home from work and wanted to take photos before I ate lunch - a sure fire recipe for disaster with me - eating and wearing my work clothes - guaranteed stains and slops . I took heaps of photos and this is the best one and only because I have the top 1/2 of my cute  little dog in it  ( Don`t be fooled by his appearance  though - he`s a little ratbag but I love him ) . 

tried to show a closer up shot of the pleats and fabric. 

Back to the sewing - as I said it is a very easy pattern - a draped collar , fitted above waist bodice with pleats in the front and back skirt and small pleats in the sleeves where they meet the shoulder seams. 

I did make a few changes with this pattern - I raised the neckline by 3cm , lengthened the sleeves by several cms so they would be full length and also lengthened the skirt ( but I could probably shorten it again ) .

The end result is the my kind of clothing - comfortable and relaxed but I think smart enough for my  work. Anyway I am now in the home stretch for sewing my winter jacket and then I am dreaming about sewing an easy bright cheerful summer tunic . 

Cheers Janine

PS - I saw this same fabric available on the knitwit website . 

Simplicity 2923 - In the Red .

Obstinence rather than common sense resulted in me sewing a summer dress in winter.
Fabric makes it way from my main stash to a little basket in my sewing room to the machine and then the wardrobe.
This fabric had been in the basket since October last year and I was determined there would be no retrograde flow with this one.
I used Simplicity 2923 , part of the Pattern Runway collection from 2008 and previously made into a much used yellow print dress .

The fabric is a splotchy aqua/ teal  drapey rayon with floral outlines from deep stash and another lucky find at an op shop .
The pattern is a button front dress and I used the notched collar bodice and flared skirt options.
I had 2.9 metres of fabric and only just had enough. I had to piece the fabric to get the pockets and two of the bodice fronts. In the end I eliminated the pockets because they looked terrible - bagging out and making my hips look huge AND cut over 20cm away from the skirt because it looked a bit frumpy. I had some trouble getting the notched collar right but apart from this sewing the dress went smoothly and the fabric was a dream to sew with . However I suspect that this fabric will not be sturdy because I have sewn with similar pieces in the past  and little holes seem to appear quickly .  With the cut off fabric I might in the future made a matching belt with one of my hoarded belt kits that I keep on buying  .
I` m happy with the dress now - I think the fabric shows off the blouson effect of the bodice nicely and looks a bit vintage styled as well.

With this project more fabric has now officially left the stash than has come in   I am in the red .
Echoing Lynley Dodds*  bossy little warthog character  " Eee " squealed the fabric hog  "Snip, Pin , Sew " and slowly the fabric stash went down and down .

Lynley Dodds is a NZ childrens author  famous for Hairy McClary but our favourite book of hers was Sniff, Snuff , Snap about a bossy little warthog.

Burda 7372 - A Spotty Dotty Circle Dress.

Bonjour!  This is the second of my projects for my middle DD using some cotton voile from Spotlight ( actually quite alot of cotton voile - four metres !) . The dress has quite a slim fitting bodice which merges into a large waist and a  circle skirt  . It is has a small mandarin collar, decorative only pocket flaps, inseam pockets  and bias bound armholes.  I used size 12 which is for a bust of 93 cm and the finished garment is only 97 cm so you can see there is not much ease at that particular point. However the waist is huge and shaping is provided by elastic .

This pattern uses four metres or 4 3/8 yards of fabric because of the skirt portion which is  a gathered  circle skirt . If you sew this, take my advice and cut out the skirt portions first - I didn`t and almost didn`t have enough fabric . In the end my daughter wanted me to shorten the skirt by about 13 cms so I went through all that angst for nothing . The  other changes were that  I cut out two yokes so it could be lined. I realise that my old cotton shirts always fade first at my upper back which led to a  totally useless thought that perhaps that is the purpose of  lined yokes .
Also I eliminated the outer fabric  casing where  elastic joined  to a narrow  fabric tie is threaded . Instead I made a channel in the waist / bodice seam and inserted elastic in there before sewing on the front bands. My daughter didn`t want the fabric ties but instead will wear this with a belt .

 A close up of the bodice, flaps, lined yoke and bias bound  armholes.

So now my daughter can be all swirly and girly in her spotty dotty dress but unfortunately she just won`t do that for this blog !

Now I admit I am excited . You see I have not sewn anything pour moi in two months - I am going through serious selfish  sewing DTs so once I finish up some PJ pants for my eldest DD I will get going with a skirt which is just a little bit different to the usual. My middle DD also wanted me to sew her a skirt but I think I will just keep quiet for now and not remind her about that ;) .

Cheers Janine.

McCalls 6110 - Feminine Feathered Frock Finally.

This dress has been in the making for a LONG time . I normally get a bit tired of projects that go on too long and  I mainly enjoyed the process but I am glad it is over .

This is McCalls 6110 - gathered bodice, racer style back, upper front band and gathered skirts  with a tie . I did not add the apron thingy.

Made of a sheer feather print georgette from Ebay  , bodice interlined with a  very fine cotton bastiste and the skirt portion is lined with sunsilky from Lincraft.
I used a few tips and tricks researched from the internet, Threads and Australian Stitches to make life easier in sewing this slippery fabric.
I pretreated the fabric using unflavoured gelantine - this definitely helped alot in the cutting and sewing . ( you can read my previous post for details about this ).
I used paper underneath the fabric whilst cutting out as well.
I used sharps needles instead of the universal type.
My sewing machine I am currently using has a built in walking foot which I think helped .
I interlined the bodice with bastiste which reduced the slipperiness .

I like this pattern overall although it is very loose fitting - If I make it again I will make the  front narrower . The front is not too low and revealing and the straps and racer back style hide bras. It is a good balance between not being too frumpy or too tarty I suppose( I am a bit old fashioned I admit ). I hope I don`t get in trouble for this but the back also covers up my middle DD`s scars from spinal surgery.
I really like the construction process - the inner seams are completely enclosed so it looks pretty on the inside as well. There is a bit of hand stitching involved but I don`t mind this.

This is the front inside portion.

Inside the back of the dress.
Overall I think this is the nicest garment I have ever sewn. About 98% of this dress could withstand a thorough stickybeak  from other sewists ( my machine rolled hems are a little wonky in one area ) and sewing this gave me great confidence in my skills. If I take the time to do the extra little steps it makes a difference and these extra steps are not hard in themselves - only time consuming.
Normally I like to see clothes on a real person so Daffy the Duck(t) tape model will have to do for now ( She is new by the way - very exciting for me .)

Now I am very sorry to be moribund but I can`t help but write this. It is my nature and my job to reach out and try to  help people. Just over two weeks ago our bestest and dearest friend took his own life. I will never really be able to make sense of this .He had financial problems but they were short term only and not bad enough that he would be bankrupted . We knew he was unhappy and he was receiving help from professionals and his many  family and friends who loved him and supported him  but we did not realise how deeply distressed he was - he did conceal it well. There were some subtle signs but only in retrospect did they become significant and no one person had access to all the  signs to put them together . BTW he was married with three children aged 15 to 20.
So if you are having trouble then reach out and get help and tell someone how you REALLY  feel.
If you know someone having trouble then reach out to them and let them know there is help .
Suicide only makes things worse , not better . Family and friends never recover fully from this and sometimes go on to develop their own problems. Sorry about that.
Take care and cheers . Janine.

Burda 7808 - Summer Dress Nirvana

An outside front view .

I have finished Burda 7808 and I am  pleased with the results . It did meet my expectations of a `perfect` summer dress - good coverage, touching my body in minimal areas but doesn`t look like a sack ( in my opinion anyway ) . The mystery fabric I used is soft and drapey , a very  pretty  green colour  and feels very smooth. It does wrinkle fairly easily but irons beautifully . I would highly recommend this pattern for others to try for a cool summer dress. The pattern comes together easily especially as I was able to eliminate the side zipper ( anything to make life simpler!) The dress is easy to get into and out without calling for the fire brigade  . The front and back inserts were a little tricky to get really nice corners so this pattern would not be suitable for an absolute beginner. However the insert is what makes this dress - they are shaped so the dress is not too baggy on the top . I think the yoke would be nice in lace or a contrast fabric or even velvet for a winter version. The other odd thing about these inserts are the neck line does not reach your belly button ( the usual burda designers must have been on strike or sedated or something ! )I have added lace and buttons for this version. At the bottom of the front yoke there is some slight gathering so the bottom of the dress is loose and floaty providing a bit of circulation for air .

Anyway not too bad for a free dress! 

Cheers until next time. Janine

Back Insert  showing princess seamed shaping.

Front Insert  with lace and buttons.

An inside back view !

Giveaway Winner and In Search of the Perfect Summer Dress.

Congratulations to Jacqueline Njeri of Kenya ! I am sending your pattern this week with another surprise - I  hope it doesn`t take too long to get there.

Bay of Fires . East coast Tasmania.

Wineglass Bay , Freycinet National Park, Tasmania.

Last week my family and I went to Tasmania for a holiday - we went to Hobart for 2 days and then Bicheno on the East Coast  for the remainder of the week. We went to Freycinet National Park and walked to Wineglass Bay and also visited the Bay of Fires. The scenery was stunning and I can see why the beaches have been named amongst the top 10 by various travel magazines. But gosh it was cold - It is the middle of summer and the temps were as low as 16 degrees celsius ( 62 F) .

Now typical of summer here,  today is 35 degrees celsius ( 96 F )  which leads me on to my next project. The what I call a Hot and Stinky Dress for those hot stinky days. I have been trying to sew a perfect dress for these days for years - one that provides coverage but  touches your body in minimal places  and doesn`t look like a sack.

I have hopes for Burda 7808 since the reviews I have seen on Pattern Review and on blogs have been favourable. I am using a mystery fabric of mystery content of mystery vintage  gifted to me from my ex neighbour Stephanie  who also gave me the pattern! The  material is a  pale green with an  apricot and taupe abstract design suggesting florals and old buildings arches . The material feels very soft and is quite drapey so I think it will be good for a summer dress.I hope it doesn`t take too long as we are in for more hot days now.

Finally my blog was also deleted in mysterious circumstances but the situation was easily and very quickly rectified. I am totally baffled as to why this occurred but happy that the problem is fixed. I know this has occurred to other blogs too - Handmade by Carolyn and Kadiddlehopper- so beware but be assured that if  the situation  happens to you your blog can easily be reinstated.

Cheers Janine.

                                                                        

October 2011 - The Good and The Bad and a Retrospective - Simplicity 2724.

Unfortunately most of October involved work and little play - meaning not much sewing. I finished my Simplicity `Fabric from Hell` Dress and one other simple top which I will blog about later. I am not complaining though because the tragic and terrible health circumstances of my co-workers loved ones meant they could not work and I had to fill in whenever possible.

On a bright note though at the end of October my husband and I had a long weekend in Hobart , Tasmania. This was our first weekend away without children in 18 years ( and previously we have only had 2 other single nights away ) made even better because the trip was free - I was very lucky and won a competition.

The trip included 2 nights accomodation at the Islington Hotel - a small boutique hotel in Hobart and by far the most beautiful , luxurious place we have stayed at , meals and a boat  trip to Bruny Island. We also went to Mona , an amazing art gallery and took a self -guided trip around Battery Point and the city looking at the historical buildings . To make you feel better the weather on the day of the boat trip was appalling and I was very sea-sick although managed not to be sick. At one stage we were surrounded by a ` superpod` of 100 dolphins and I didn`t even care - the view of the horizon was absolutely enchanting !

Anyway the relevance to sewing is that I finally had a chance to wear a dress I sewed last December - Simplicity 2724.
The top part is made of some scrap cream fabric and skirt from a chartreuse silk/linen blend - the latter is absolutely luscious.

My only regret with this dress is that I did not line the skirt portion . I am not completely sure about the pleated  sleeves and  may  remove them later ( however looking at this photo, the sleeves look OK ) . I love this pattern because the various top / skirt variations that can create entirely different looking garments.The top takes very little material so is a good way to use up scraps that are too small for anything else and too good to discard. I would highly recommend this pattern and definitely want to sew it again .   Unfortunately it is OOP. I am now off to see what horse won the Melbourne Cup this year. Cheers until next time, Janine .

Simplicity 2369 - The Fabric from Hell into the Dress from Heaven.



Siimplicity pattern 2369 with fabric .

Simplicity 2369 showing sleeve, pleat and buckles details.

I finally completed this dress last week and I am VERY happy with the result. It almost ended up a wadder and in the rubbish because initially the fabric was from hell and trying to sew the seams and pleats etc ended up with LOTS of skipped stitches. However, persistence and internet help prevailed and the finished dress is  a SUCCESS.
Last school holidays I bought a British magazine called Sew which came with this `free` pattern.  . Simplicity 2369 is a wardrobe pattern for tops, pants and dresses -there are three sleeve options included . Obviously I sewed the dress, using View C sleeves and cut the dress length in the middle between Views A and B . Apart from fabric and thread, the only other notion was a belt buckle and I found a black buckle that was exactly the right size for only 50cents from the op shop ! A very lucky find.
The instructions were really good - so I think even a fairly new sewist could tackle this. I love the front pleated wrap along with the attached band which pulls the front inwards and provides coverage and prevents  gaping. I think the front wrap is also flattering and help to conceal less than flat tummies
Overall I would highly recommend this pattern .
Cheers until next time Janine.

Butterick Dress 5523 - Miaow .

Presenting Butterick 5523 - a knit dress pattern .I used an animal print knit -jaguar I believe, purchased from an Australian Ebayer. This is my attempt to try different clothing choices from my  usual fare - it seems to have passed the family fashion police test which is always a good start - I really do need all the help I can get .
This pattern is very very easy - I could have finished this in one day . The  busy print covers the features of this pattern which are an above waist closely fitted  bodice with pleats in both back and front skirt portions and small pleats in the sleeves where they meet the shoulder seams. It also has a large rolled collar .  The only reason I didn`t finish this in one day was to change my overlocker threads - not really hard when you get down to it but always seems a good reason to procrastinate !

I made two changes to the pattern - I lengthened the skirt portions by a good 12cm or a few inches - my legs are not up to above knee styles anymore . I also lengthened the sleeves but since this was such a quick tissue fit I didn`t allow enough for seams here - this actually ended up being fortuituous because I was forced to use fold over elastic to finish the sleeves and I like this look. One really good aspect of this dress is that it seems to conceal a bit of a tummy ( I may well be deluding myself here though )and is figure flattering .  Overall I love this pattern and am glad that I am experimenting a little - this will not be my last animal print outfit ( only because there is enough fabric left over to make a top ) .
Cheers Janine
PS- Very excited - my next project is to assist my eldest DD to make a skirt during the holidays  - the Vogue Issey Mikaye maxi skirt I muslined earlier this year. Fabric has been chosen and cut out with some small design changes she thought of herself.

A Retrospective - Burda dress 103 02/08.

While I actually do have a new top completed to blog about I do not have a photo with the garment worn so I decided to blog about a previously made dress which I do have a photo of .Last Friday my middle teenage DD and I attended a book signing with her most favourite author Maggie Stiefvater in Melbourne City - this photo is on a tram on the way there.  This dress is out of the box for me - I am a conservative person in a conservative job BUT I am extremely pleased with the result and this shows that I should challenge my style sometimes. I reserve this dress for wearing at more fancy occasions not  for work as this dress is close fitting and sometimes there is a propensity for the front wrap to open up revealing a bit of leg.
I made this dress some 18 months ago and it was very popular on Pattern review. I have made a comment on the envelope housing my pattern that I have referred to Pattern Review and the blog Couture et Tricot in the makings as there was some mild confusion about markings on the dress patterns. I do recall though that once this issue was sorted out that the directions from Burda did make sense ( if you read them long and hard enough ) and the dress was not incredibly hard.
I have used a very fine stretch jersey as recommended and this is good for the drapey parts - however I am not sure how long wearing this dress will be . The material was a great find in an op shop - 4 1/2 metres for only $5.00 ( sometimes I think I should rename this blog the Super cheapo sewing blog ! )
Anyway I would highly recommend this dress pattern to anyone.
By the way the book signing was alot of fun - Maggie was a very funny young woman and my daughter was in heaven and all starry eyed - so much so she managed to leave my handbag lying around unattended in a shop for a few minutes until I said where is my handbag ( middle DD had asked for my handbag to get her camera out and look at all the photos of the book signing ) !
Cheers until I can bribe my 12 year old photographer to take some shots of my new top.

A little ( maxi) black ( patterned ) dress .

Well . a second posting . Miracles never cease around here. Another miracle getting my daughter in the dress and whats more my husband took the shot. I had promised my daughter it would be headless - she is a bit embarrassed. Anyway when I came home from walking the dog I was TOUCHED ALOT that they had thoughtfully done this just for me .
My eldest DD is attending a deb as a viewer /supporter and wanted me to sew her dress from material she had chosen last year from Ebay- there you go , another miracle ! She chose the above pattern McCAlls 6110.
I did like this pattern - the finishing inside is very good - it is lined and matches up very well. Can I tell how fastidious I was in making this dress . However when DD tried it on it was huge - and she did not like it ! So some quick and dirty stitching down ( sob sob - did I tell how beautifully I made this dress ) of the waist band and she was happy. 2 weeks later this quick fix ( which no-one will notice or know about except us ) doesn`t bother me but it did at the time. And she will wear the dress and does seem to love it - so that is the main thing. So if anyone ever reads this and wants to make this dress then make a size a few sizes down that you are used to.

In other sewy news I have finished my mothers skirt and am about to start on her casual jacket/ overblouse to match. I am very pleased with the skirt - the lining did make a big difference to this rather soft material but I dont think the blouse will need this.
Cheers Janine.