Last of the summer blouses

Today I finished sewing what I have decided will be the last of the summer blouses. When I was in Brisbane a few weeks ago I made flying visit to Gardam's in Edward street and bought the last of the roll of this beautiful rose pattern broderie anglaise. And I decided that I would make one last of what has become my standard sleeveless summer blouse. I think I have made about 8 of these since the sewing bug bit me last birthday. They have been awesome with pants and skirts all summer. But with autumn around the corner it's time to start sewing things with sleeves. Here is the finished product. No doubt I will be able to wear it for a while yet in what passes for Queensland's change of seasons.

an at home weekend

Well it's been a big February so far. It took two weeks for me to be able to move back into my house properly. Even though I was sleeping here after a week of the flooding I had no hot water system so was living a strangely displaced existence with half my clothes at my parents' so I could shower there and get to and from work in a relatively respectable fashion. Then just as I got back to work it was time to high-tail it to Brisbane to the wonderful NLS6 conference. It was an amazing relief to escape Bundaberg. The conference was awesome. I got to listen and talk to lots of fantastic people. I also did some shopping therapy before leaving to come back home. Finally on Friday a new hot water system was installed and I felt like I could really move back home properly. So this weekend I have been nesting. The fridge and cupboards were bare so I went shopping and filled them up. I have cooked all day today to restock the freezer with meals. I've made an Irish stew, spaghetti bolognese, raspberry and banana muffins, fruit salad for the week and jelly. I have healthy fruit everywhere and am enjoying lovely cups of tea made in my own kitchen. I can even wash up without boiling the kettle first. Yes, I do realise these are all first world problems but they're my first world problems so I'll take responsibility for that. Yesterday I sewed and nearly finished my dark green dress. I also went out and bought some cute blue shoes from Saskia's after a delicious chai latte and bacon and egg burger breakfast. And then in the afternoon I had a gorgeous nap on my lounge. It seems like months since I had such a beautiful at home weekend. And joy of joys, on Thursday I nabbed my They Might Be Giants tickets for May 8 in Brisbane. And the next day I'm flying to Tasmania for a ten day holiday. Things are looking up!

no sewing Saturday

This morning saw me spending an extraordinary amount of money on new underwear. It was time and thank goodness for Boxing Day Sales. Then a coffee stop and a Spotlight stop where I bought some patchwork material and a length of dark green material that I will do something with. And then.....Ta DAAAA...the highlight of Saturday...yet another holiday meal with my grandmother. At least this time we had a buffer with my Aunt and Uncle visiting. And we also went out for lunch so there was not need for lots of food preparation and awkward silences when we ran out of conversation. Then it was everyone back to my parents' place for yet more trifle, cups of tea, chit chat and more Christmas presents. My Aunty Kay who has been paying attention to my Facebook photos of my sewing gave me the awesome gift of fabric. It has come all the way from New Zealand:

I like it a lot! Then I fell asleep on my parents' lounge. My Dad has developed a slightly annoying new habit of taking photos on his smartphone of people while they are asleep. I did wonder why he asked me if I had checked my email a while after I woke up. He's a trick!

Keen readers will notice I am wearing my patchwork skirt. It wore beautifully and hardly creased at all. I lurve it. Sadly, there wasn't any sewing today. I am running out of days before I have to go back to work.

"Do I hear happiness?"

It's day 4 of the #blog12daysxmas challenge and so far I am keeping up. Until I go back to work next Wednesday I fear these posts might become a little repetitive. Yesterday I sewed and sewed and sewed and came up with this:

No your eyes do not deceive you. That is indeed a skirt of patches. A patchwork skirt. It took me quite some time to read and decipher the instructions pre-cutting and putting it together. But then once I had the picture in my mind I sewed and sewed and sewed some more. I wasn't at all confident that the different patterns would go together. I am no genius with colour but I think they look okay. It was very exciting when it all fitted together. All in all from start to finish it took about 4 hrs. After all that concentrating I had a little nap in front of the cricket. What else is cricket for? Then I went for a walk in the "cool" of the evening with my Mum. We met a puppy and sternly told him to go back home. He ignored us and wanted to play but we were insistent. Then we chatted about the laws of physics in the world of Angry Birds. My mother is a recent convert since she received the iPad for Christmas. And my evening's entertainment was watching Annie on the television. Observations. Carol Burnett is still as good as she was when I first watched it at the age of 9. Annie is quite annoying. Albert Finney cannot sing very well. Tim Curry and Bernadette Peters are underused as the scheming Rooster and his girlfriend. Also, they all look very young. And the ending is totally over the top. Here is my favourite song:

tablecloth material

Well I didn't exactly have the Boxing Day Blues but I wasn't up to much today. I did manage to get to Spotlight first thing and pick up some specials in the fabric department. It was really hot though and their aircon hadn't really kicked in so I was feeling a little seedy by the time I left. I did manage to buy some good lengths of seersucker in cute prints so I was happy. When I was little and my mum used to sew clothes I was particularly disdainful of seersucker (or what I called "tablecloth material"). Now though I'm looking forward to sewing with it. Perhaps I am more mature? I did manage to finish off my easy dress that I started on Xmas Eve. I bought some 6 dollar a metre material just to try it out. It turned out well and I made a tie out of the same fabric to wear with it instead of a belt as the pattern suggests. Here it is at various angles. (I really must get a full length mirror)

Then I ate lunch and slept for a solid two hours. It was fabulous and I woke up feeling much better. I even made a cup of coffee. And then I sewed some more. This is one of my standard tops that I had cut out last week. This was the third time I had tried the pattern and I have just about got it sorted out now.

I went for a walk in the late afternoon with my Mum. It was a bit hot still but not too bad. Now I just have to watch Doctor Who and that's Boxing Day. Tomorrow may be movies, sewing, reading, sleeping or some combination of these activities.

Christmas Countdown: the festive skirt version

I impulse bought this piece of Christmas fabric a month or so ago in an internet buying frenzy. I didn't really have a plan. First I thought about a blouse, then perhaps bunting, a tablecloth ....and then this afternoon I decided to throw caution to the wind and whip up my very easy skirt pattern (which I have got down to an hour) so I would have a Christmas skirt. Of course I can only wear it this week and on Christmas day. That's okay. I didn't want the material to sit in the cupboard unused until next year.

Yes. I added ribbon.

the invisible zip

I was excited to receive a dress pattern in the post this week and couldn't wait to try it. Luckily I took the advice of the pattern and used a material I was not in love with for the first attempt. The dress has a fitted bodice, waistband insert and then gathered skirt. I managed to fit the bodice quite well. I inserted the waistband pieces successfully and managed to work out how to insert the invisible zip at the back. There are some issues with the waistband aligning all the way around (oops!) and I think I cut the skirt pieces one size too big as they are very gathery. Also the material is a bit heavy so doesn't sit very well but I needed to use it for something and I will know what to do next time now. It's definitely wearable but not a super awesome success.

I was happy with my choice of a contrasting waistband and matching hem though. Pretty patterns.

trimming all over the place

In an attempt to make lemonade out of lemons I finished this white top to take to Rockhampton tomorrow and added some daisy chain trim to the hem. (The lemons are Rockhampton. The lemonade is the daisy chain trimmed top that I will wear while there). I also whipped up a skirt to wear tomorrow and added red rick rack to its hem. I am trimming all over the place.

yoke

I've been eyeing this pattern on the various online fabric sites I've recently discovered. It was a little bit pricey in one store but on all the others it was sold out so I finally relented and bought it.

It was more complicated than it looked because the instructions expect you to also sew a muslin lining into the top. In a Queensland summer I just don't think that is going to happen. So I ignored all those instructions which meant I somehow got to the end and the armholes were supposed to finished but weren't. So I improvised with the old faithful bias binding solution and it worked pretty well. It's possible to cut it as a top, long tunic or dress. I went for basic length, decided I didn't need the belt or the flower. Here is the result. I had found this patchwork material for 6 dollars a metre in spotlight during the week so I wasn't too worried that this is the "test" version.

four tiers

I wasn't planning on sewing this skirt this afternoon. I was just going to cut out the pieces and then cut out some other bits and pieces and sew tomorrow. This is the pattern. It doesn't have any pattern pieces. You have to do some measuring and some maths and then cut the material yourself. It says to use a rotary cutter and mat but I don't have any of that patchwork paraphernalia so I just pinned, used the scissors and hoped my eyes were seeing relatively straight. It's a four tier skirt that you can make look like the pattern with four different patterns. (It's a sideways photo...I think you can all cope).

Or you can do what I did and just use one fabric. I got this in the post this week from Kelani fabrics. It's beautiful material and I had 2.5 metres which was the perfect amount for this skirt pattern. Unplanned!

So in three hours I had cut the four tiers, gathered, pinned and sewed them altogether and prepared the waistband casing. It says there is a choice of drawstring or elastic. I am going with elastic which means I can't finish it until tomorrow because I need a wider, stronger elastic to take the weight of the skirt. It reaches to my ankles. So here's a picture of a nearly finished skirt - just elastic and hem to polish off in the morning!

a kaftan top

 I bought this pattern  a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to find time to try it out. I have had success with the same brand in an A line skirt so hoped this one would work just as well. The part that took the longest was tracing off the pattern pieces. I got some cheap-ish light material from spotlight this morning (in case I totally stuffed it up) and went for it. Two hours later I have this:

There was the option of the short or long placket at the neck. I went for the short and then decided to embellish with some leftover lace. Looks a bit of alright. The pattern is for long sleeves which are then supposed to have a tab to hold them up but I decided given it was summer I would cut the sleeves off this time to just below the elbow. It worked out really well. I couldn't believe how straightforward it was.

Really looking forward to wearing it very soon and perhaps making another one as well :-)

green saucepans and more adventures in sewing

My mum bought me this excellent green saucepan in return for me looking after their garden while they went on holidays. I used it today for the first time. What gourmet delicacy did I cook up in it Nigella-style I hear you ask? Mushrooms. Not just any mushrooms. Mushrooms for the very important meal of lunch which yesterday in my sewing addiction I neglected to eat and then felt light-headed and icky by the afternoon. So this saucepan had an important task today. It provided my lunch. Well done saucepan.

Apart from green saucepans I've been sewing whenever I can in between work and piano teaching and other things. I finished this dress on Friday afternoon. It was my first go of the pattern. I know what to improve next time.

I don't know that it will be a "wearing out to special occasions" dress but it will make an excellent "wearing on stinking hot summer weekends" dress.

Then yesterday I tried a new top pattern. The giant faff-up on the neckline which involved an hour of tiny unpicking and resewing may have contributed further to my headache. Still I was pleased with how it turned out. I got all decorative on its "arse" (so to speak) and added the red border of ribbon at the neckline and around the hem. I will definitely make this pattern again I think.

And then I went to spotlight and bought MOAR MATERIAL. I was hoping to get my green apple dress made this weekend so I could wear it to work on Melbourne cup day but that will depend on the headache situation later today.

I have a hobby

I cut this skirt out last weekend and sewed it together yesterday and today. It's another attempt at the A-line pattern. This time though I had the advantage of owning a zipper foot for putting in the zip. It did take me ten minutes to work out how to change the foot on the machine but then the ease of sewing in the zip made it all worthwhile. I'm sure I'll get quicker. See how close I can get to the zip below.

Last weekend I made a matching black top and skirt that I had planned to wear to play in a concert tomorrow. It turned out really nicely but unfortunately the skirt was an appropriate playing the piano length but less appropriate for sitting and playing the violin. So I whipped up my basic 1 hour pattern yesterday in another black skirt that I will probably wear again and again. And then during the week I discovered that I was supposed to wear a coloured top tomorrow so I took the opportunity to venture back to Spotlight, VIP card in hand and buy MORE broderie anglaise this time in red. (I already have black and cream waiting to be turned into items).

The red turned out pretty well and in a moment of either genius or stupidity I decorated the hem with some red satin ribbon that I had impulse bought a week or so ago. I'm going with genius.

It occurred to me today that I seem to have discovered a new hobby. It's the kind I could bore people silly with in conversation if I chose to. Instead I'll just post photos all over the place.

You're welcome.

zips, rick rack and sleeves

Another weekend and more sewing. This weekend I cut out the A line skirt pattern I bought over the inter webs. Either I did something really wrong or the pattern was wrong because the waist pieces did not match the skirt pieces. I did some creative "adding of material" to the waist pieces so they matched. Phew. Then came the kicker....time to sew a zip for the first time since I was about 20. Yes I had a zipper foot for the sewing machine but I had no idea how to use it. I figured I would manage with the normal foot. And I did. It may not be the most beautiful zip in the world but it goes up and down and the skirt fits and stays on. It's made of some patchwork material that has been sitting in the cupboard for many years. Like I'm going to do any patchwork! Pfffft.

What's that you see? Yes indeed it's rick-rack. Rick rack is a running joke in our family. As a child my mother sewed lots of my clothes and invariably they were decorated with some kind of rick rack. I couldn't resist buying some a few weeks ago and I figured since I had mucked up the waistband on the skirt by sewing the bias binding to the wrong side and then having to turn it into a "feature" that I may as well do the same for the hem and then rick rack away. Perhaps I got a little carried away. Whatever. I sit in my office all day. I'll wear what I like.

Buoyed by my (ahem) success with the new A-line skirt pattern I decided to try a new dress pattern. This one came from spotlight this morning where I finally caved and became a VIP member after the zillionth time of them asking me. I was going to do the "no sleeves" version but then I thought, "Hey, I can sew a zip! How hard can sleeves be?". Well the answer dear friends is quite hard especially if you cut the material probably a size too big and then have to sew in the side seams meaning that the arm holes don't match the sleeve pieces any more. It's more difficult when you only realise this at the point of sewing the sleeves into the arm holes after you have hemmed them etc. At first I ended up with weird puffy sleeves where I had to gather the excess sleeve material to make it fit the arm hold. Then I decided that I was not Anne of Green Gables so I sewed the excess down, sort of like a reverse dart. I'm calling it a topstitch kind of feature. Luckily the busy pattern means you can't really see it. Anyway, although it looks like a tent on the hanger it fits pretty well after all my adjusting and I might even wear it to work tomorrow.

And that is the end of my sewing adventures for the weekend.

the sewing frenzy continues

The sewing frenzy continues. I spent every day at work wishing I was at home sewing. That is strange isn't it? Yesterday I made two things. This top and this skirt.

I am very happy with the top. It is better than last week's effort with the same pattern where I didn't take enough notice and got the bird pattern upside down on the back. And I managed to cut the skirt material so that the little horses were the right way up on the front and the back. It's the simple things that are the achievements! My seams were also much neater yesterday than last week. I was more confident at cutting and snipping and adjusting slightly to fit me. I am the "pear shape" so most shop clothes - especially dresses - rarely fit me properly. I am going to attempt a simple shift dress today and I have material for one more top. I also bought a pattern for an A line skirt with a zip in the side. I am saving some lovely material that has been in the patchwork cupboard for many years for that. I have to trace the pattern off for my size with that one. That might be my challenge for next weekend. It's lovely to have a project going. I am using it as an incentive. If I do all my yucky house jobs then I am allowed to sew. Yucky house jobs include washing, folding, tidying, cooking, very light cleaning, remembering that it's bin day, putting all my shoes away neatly. You get the picture. I am hoping the same incentive scheme works for my last assignment for the term which is due at the end of the month. Study first....then sewing.