Japanese Cotton Sewing - Kwik Sew 3026 and Knipmode May 2012.

I added sleeve tabs so I can the wear the top with sleeves up or down. 

Last year my eldest daughter took a gap year after finishing secondary school  and travelled to Japan for several months , came home for 4 days and then took off again to Peru ( talk about how to cause your mother a heart attack  ! )
Anyway three years prior to that she spent three months in Tokyo on a school exchange and I muttered something about Japanese cottons . Her host mother took her shopping and  she  came home with the most lovely softest piece with a divine pattern. My DD told me how hard it was to choose because the cboices were overwhelming but I think she did a fantastic  job. This fabric went into my very special fabrics section . I wanted to sew the perfect garment that I would have for years and years  and not waste it.
Three years later and my daughter is about to go to Japan again and she mutters something about  me not having sewn up this fabric and how she wouldn`t get anymore for me . Umm was that a threat ?
 Quicker than you can say Japanese fabric I pulled it out and cut out Kwik Sew 3026 view B -a  pullover  basic shirt pattern with collar and stand, back yoke and front tab. I have made this pattern four times now so I knew it was a winner and being a basic style I would have it for the years and years that I wanted.

Obviously all went well with my daughters travels overseas and she did buy me more Japanese cotton - quite a lot actually .

Wanting to show my appreciation I sewed up one the fabrics straight away ( although eldest DD had already left at this point so she couldnt see it !) As a compromise I chose my least favourite and used a knipmode pattern from May 2012 to sew a simple yoked tunic with tabs on the lower sleeves and body .

Then while our daughter was in Peru ( Cusco and Manu National Park in the amazon ) her host brothers from Japan whom she stayed with in 2010 came to visit for one week  and they brought some more Japanese cotton for me ! That was a very interesting week because one of the brothers did not speak English and the other was learning ( and doing a great and very fast job ) and we do not speak Japanese ! Our eldest daughter is quite fluent but we got by without her and had lots of fun.

I have since used some of my Japanese cotton stash to make the lace and floral top for eldest DD which is only fair!
So I am very lucky to have a small stash of lovely Japanese fabrics  which I have again put away in my mind to be used only for the perfect project.

PS - I actually sewed this shirt last year just to clear up any confusion on time lines.
PPS - My youngest daughter is thinking about going to Japan on a school exchange so I may have to start muttering again about how lovely and special Japanese fabric is and how much I treasure it.

Vintage McCalls 5234 - The Sound of a Snail Eating.

Our last book group book was  ` The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating ` so I thought this was a good excuse as any to finally sew up my snail fabric. You see I bought this fabric in an impulsive moment because the shop was closing down and this was famed Japanese fabric - I had heard  about how terrific it was and I wanted to try some . But really - snails ?!

Crazy looking snail lady. 

My enthusiasm for this project waxed and waned. I was only half hearted to start with because of the somewhat juvenile print - I am an adult woman  - what was I thinking ? ( Mind you I still own and wear a Winnie the Pooh windcheater ) hence why I really needed a reason to sew it up .
But then after I washed the fabric I realised it was double gauze, a fabric I have never sewn before and only seen in Japan so I became excited again. The fabric feels soft but a bit spongy . It washed up well and I had no trouble with the layers coming apart.

I used a vintage pattern McCalls 5234 ( 1976 )  - a carefree pattern and at only 10 cents the pattern was almost free.
I prefer woven shirts with collars in general to knit tops ( but I sew and wear those a lot as well ) but I was a bit bored with my basic button up shirts so I was keen to try  this pattern with yokes and front pockets. And for some weird reason I was quite attracted to the pattern cover art with the over-rouged pouting and grinning models. The only change I made to the pattern was to reduce the size of  the collar - those 70s collars are huge .

Then I found the perfect matching bias binding in my mothers stash ( she must have every colour under the sun ) so I was feeling even more positive. I used the bias binding to create some flat piping to highlight the front yokes and pocket flaps  but I did not execute this very well so I started feeling blah about the project again . But I kept on going because did I mention this fabric is also the second most expensive in my stash - can you believe that ! Then, I started to feel the love again because the fabric is wonderful to sew with and  really from a bit of a distance you can`t tell they are snails and I am quite fond of orange and liked the pale blue contrasting colours. Also I found 5 orange buttons in my stash and if you really stretch your imagination they kind of look like snails as well.

I did finish the  shirt  but the final product does not quite  match what I had in my mind  .Despite that I have worn the shirt several times including to book group and it matches well with my orange cardy which I also sewed ( Butterick 5251 ) . Oh and the  book you ask ? It is written by a woman with a chronic debilitating illness which leaves her bed bound. A friend brings her a snail and she makes a home for it in a terrarium and then watches the snail because there is not much else she can do . However this book  was really  just about snails . I learnt lots of facts about snails that I never knew I needed to know. I almost started to even like the slimy things until the snail in the book goes and has over 600 babies ! Alas there were no snail elimination tips at all.


I am currently sewing a more complex Burda WOF jacket which will take a while but I am excited about . I am going to try catch up with  my sewing bloggy diary and post my other makes . I get bored of seeing the same photo when I log into my blog to look at what everyone is making !

Happy Sewing . Janine.

New Look 6356 - Un, Deux, Trois .

 The third time making this pattern this year with a little french influence with classic navy and cream stripes with a boat neckline .  What else can I say about this pattern ?
It is quick.
It is easy .
It uses little fabric.
It  has  an easy fit - not too baggy, not too tight .

New Look 6356 is designed for wovens but this top is made from a stable single knit ( with very little stretch ) . I only needed just under one metre of 150cm wide fabric  to make this long sleeved top in size 12  . The pattern does not come with long sleeves but it is very easy to lay a long sleeve pattern under the provided sleeve piece and extend it to full length. My daughters two versions with the short sleeves only took 80cm of 115 cm wide fabric ( size 8 ) .

OK although this was ` quick and easy`  I admit to unpicking the back seam four times and the side seams twice until I could match the stripes  : o  

To spruce up the top I sewed navy bias binding over the shoulder seams  ( I had just enough of the bias trim  to bind the neck and decorate the shoulders - love that ! ) and sewed on some cute little marcasite inspired buttons cut off an old shirt.
Overall this pattern is a winner !

Happy Sewing.
Cheers Janine.

New Look 6356 Top - A Lace and Floral Concoction.

Add caption

Or the fabric that my daughter stole.
I suppose it is only fair. After all I turned her old bedroom wardrobe into my stash storage when she left home AND she did buy the fabric in the first place AND I have sewn her two sisters a top each this year .
Well she has obviously been rumaging through my fabric on one of her trips home and spotted some left over lace from her youngest sisters school sewing project ( a lovely Simplicity Cynthia Rowley pleated dress )and thought to put them together.
I think the combination works really well - a Japanese cotton voile with a vague splotchy floral which peeks through the black lace on the sleeves and shoulders .

I used New Look 6356 dated 2004  , the same pattern for my youngest DD`s lace top and amazingly is still available in the current catalogues. It is a very basic darted  top for wovens with various necklines. And luckily all the hard work I did in fitting her paid off because my eldest DD is very similar to her so all I had to do was slightly lengthen the top and  sew  slightly smaller side seams.

  The only changes I made in construction of this top was to eliminate the facings and use bias binding at the neckline and instead of using a zip at the back I used a button and buttonloop .I hand stitched the lace to the sleeves and played around with the lace placement on the front bodice until it looked fairly symmetrical( I sewed the darts before adding the lace )  . We wanted to add lace to the back shoulders as well but there just was not enough. After handstitching the lace the top was a breeze to sew - shoulder seams, add the sleeves, side seams, centre back seam , hems , add a button and it is done.

I think I might need to start getting my daughters to give me some fashion/ sewing advice !
Happy Sewing Janine.

Simplicity 5552 - My Favourite Pattern ? .

Simplicity 5552. Possibly maybe this might be my favourite pattern if I was forced to choose - We will kill your dog ,pull out your eyeballs and confiscate your hidden chai latte cache  if you do not choose your favourite pattern !
I have been admiring the Wiksten Tova pattern but then realized  this simplicity was very similar .
I have made this five times now - twice for Mum and this version is replacing my first version made out of wrinkled white cheesecloth with lace. I wore that far longer than I should have - for seven years ! -but I loved it so much.

This is made out of a self patterned stripey white cotton from the op shop again ( I do sometimes buy new fabric -lol. ) I changed the pattern around  a little. I added a button placket in the front yoke,  slightly widened the ends of the  sleeves and added a band to bind them instead of just using elastic. I used white embroidery thread and using a fancy stitch included in my sewing machine I embroidered around the edges of the yoke. This covered the seams that showed through the white fabric, anchored them down and added an  interesting touch

.

Close up of the embroidery stitch and front yoke. 

Simplicity 5552, dated 2003. 

I have not yet finished with this pattern. I can imagine a version with a colourful embroidered yoke, a version with tone on tone embroidery, using lace for the yoke and also using a contrasting fabric for the yoke and sleeves as shown in the middle version B above. 

I have also sewed the version of this pattern with the square neckline  out of yoryu georgette . This was made in 2005  and I take this away on just about every holiday I go on because the fabric does not need ironing , feels dry almost as soon as it comes out of the washing machine and I love the colours and pattern.

 I actually made the white  shirt a few months ago and am kind of trying to catch up with blogging. I have finished sewing a dress and couple of shirts as well but I need to bribe my photographers when they are in helpful moods. Until then. Cheers and happy sewing.

PS- what is your favourite sewing pattern ?

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.

New Look 6345 - Denim Skirt with a Twist.

Yippee - I finished something for me. And I am very happy with it.

New Look 6345 ( OOP ) is a shaped yoked skirt with  A line mini, straight or flared  gored options.
I sewed the version on the model photo seven years ago and it is still regularly worn to work .
Mum gave me some really lovely embroidered mid weight denim - the pattern  is in teals and bronzes with that special sheen you get with embroidery thread but I am not sure how hardy it is going to be.
There was just under 90cm of fabric but it was 150cm wide which narrowed down my choices of pattern and also with the large repeating embroidered pattern I needed something simple.

Along one long edge of the fabric was a largish area with no embroidery. This was actually an advantage because I was able to cut the yokes out of this avoiding the hassle of pattern matching and making the skirt look a bit RTW . I sewed the straight version and was a bit concerned with no walking flap I might have to do the penguin walk but no you can take normal long strides ( phew ) .

The dreaded back view - I was pleased that I could kind of match up the pattern at the back and one of the sides even with my fabric limitations . I also thought having the flowery things on the sides might avoid some unfortunate flower placement at the front and back. I admit this is something I would not have considered prior to finding so much sewing info on the net but is something I can not unlearn now !

I added an inch in length to the pattern whilst cutting out but after trying on the skirt thought that was not quite long enough so I used for the first time that nifty trick of adding a bias binding to the skirt edge to make the most of my material. I found a scrap of kind of matching cotton to make my own ( I made the bias binding 3cm in width ) and also used this to line the yokes. ( for the record I am 5foot 7 or 170cm )
The flappy things at the yoke are totally useless but I love them .

 My best friend patiently waiting for a play with his  totally disgusting fluffy pillow . I received positive unprompted comments from my family with this make and I also love the fabric and the pattern so this one is a success.