Handmade by Carolyn

This is a sweet and pretty finish to apply to the edges of casual knit garments... and a more neatly-finished-on-the-inside edging, if slightly more involved, than a similar one I wrote previously. This is the edging technique used for this dress.
Firstly; the fabric has to be that sort that when left alone; rolls up at the edges all by itself. Generally, this will only be a reasonably lightweight, single knitted jersey.

Cut a cross-grain strip (that is, with the stretch running along the long edge of the strip) that is as long as the aperture being edged, minus 10% and rounded to the nearest full or half centimetre, for ease of working.
So, for example, if your neckline is 32cm, cut a strip that is 32cm - 3.2cm = 30cm. Or if your armhole is 125cm, cut a strip to be 125cm - 12.5cm = 113cm
The width of my strip here is 4cm (or 1 1/2")

Stitch together the short sides of the strip right sides together, in a 1cm seam. Then pin the right side of the strip to the wrong side of the garment. Your strip is now a bit more than 10% shorter than the armhole/neckline; apply the most stretch when attaching it to the most curved sections of the garment edge, such as the sharpest points of the underarm curve, and the centre front of the neckline.

Stitch in a 1cm (3/8") seam. If the area is not expected to cope with any stretch during wear then a straight stitch is fine; otherwise use a shallow zig-zag, a stretch stitch, or double-stitch with a twin needle.

Trim the seam allowances just a bit, by about 3mm.
Why do we do this, and not just stitch the seam with a narrower seam allowance in the first place? because stitching a narrow seam allowance on a fine flimsy knit is not easy even on the best of sewing machines. Most domestic sewing machines will tend to chew up the edges of a lightweight fabric if you try sewing very close to the edge, meaning you'll end up with an uneven ugly line of stitching. Stitching in a wider seam allowance just means the fabric glides through machine more easily, and stitches up far more smoothly, and then you can trim away the excess width afterwards.

Turn the strip up, and press up...

... then flip the strip over and onto the right side of the garment, encasing the seam allowances and press it in place. Don't worry if you are pressing some of the curl out of the fabric at this point, it will come back!
From the wrong side, pin the strip in place.

With the wrong side of the garment facing up, stitch in the ditch of the seamline between garment and strip. Again, if you are stitching a garment in which has to cope with a bit of stretching then it is probably wise to use a stretch stitch, or a double stitch with a twin needle here....

Give your garment a dunk in a bucket of water and if necessary, if it isn't curling up on its own; ease that curl back into place... it will stay there as it dries, and forever after that. Just don't iron it down!

Voila! cute curly seam, that looks a bit like piping :)

Oh, and that strip joint...? (hehe, strip joint, (smirk)) .... be sure to situate that in an unobtrusive place, like the underarm seam, or just behind the underarm seam if bulk is an issue. (sorry; I forgot to take a picture of this "during") Here the strip seam is about 1cm to the left of the side seam, with the strip seam allowances both pressed to the left and trimmed on the diagonal close to the stitching just prior to the final stitching-in-the-ditch step.

First garment for the year!

The credit for the cute pocket and the funky piecing and top-stitching goes to Mum of course ;) Yes, remember this Vogue 8561 skirt that she made, and passed on to me because she didn’t like it? Unfortunately that particular combo of pattern and fabric was kinda unforgivably frumpy. I think the older you get, the far less you can get away with anything remotely frumpy. When she saw it on me even Mum said “oh just toss it out Carolyn, it does nothing for you either”

But it was of lovely, new fabric; slightly stretchy denim from KnitWit? I think? and waaaaay too nice to ditch so hastily; and I liked the idea of a little blue denim skirt in my wardrobe. Key word there: “little”. And blue denim; always a favourite!

So the unfrumpy Vogue 1247 came to the rescue… I spliced the upper and lower skirt pattern pieces together and managed to cut a front and back from the very lowest portion of the skirt, keeping most of the original hemline intact.

Interesting, huh? that the hemline circumference of that long long original is almost exactly the same as it is in this much much shorter skirt. Explains a lot, in retrospect it was pretty constrictive and difficult to stride briskly along in.... and I'm a strider.

I cut out that adorable little pocket from the top and re-attached it to the skirt; because imo it was the hands-down highlight of the original skirt and I just had to keep it! The original dress zip was unpicked and re-used in the CB seam, and I found a piece of non-stretchy denim in my stash with a wrong side having an excellent colour match, leftover from a skirt Cassie had made for herself. From this, I cut a new waistband, and to reduce bulk and avoid that quintuple layer of fabric you get in the joining seam of a traditional waistband, I edged the inside raw facing edge with pale blue bias binding (leftovers from this shirt) and stitched them together in-the-ditch. I re-used the same heavy-duty hook and eye closure.

Voila! I think this is a far more flattering and usable skirt in our climate, and there is no doubt it is going to get a heck of a lot more wear now!

Details:

Skirt; a refashion of a Vogue 8561 denim skirt, using a modified version of Vogue 1247, my review of this pattern here

Top; the top portion of a dress from Pattern Magic 3 by Tomoko Nakamichi, of white cotton jersey, details here

Thongs; Havaiana

... woops, better late than never!

With all my crazy pre-Christmas sewing, followed by the stiflingly hot post-Christmas coma period, I totes forgot to post that I am taking part in Amy's Bra Sew-along, over at cloth habit....

Join us!

Now, I have made a few bras for myself already but I'm ashamed to say that the most perfunctory of measuring sessions was employed before I decided on same size I've been buying for years and years and years and years ("and years", recurring) since I've always felt perfectly comfortable in them.... yes, I know, lame excuse and how lazy, right? So I have a selection of nice and comfy 12A's (34A) in my drawer.... Well, in the spirit of "gettin' serious" about mastering the perfect bra I did three separate measuring sessions in each of the following 85b International bra size calculator, the Berlei bra size calculator, and the Victoria's Secret How to Measure page... that's nine measuring sessions; and in each case came up with 10A (32A). Hmmm. No wonder my bras were lovely and comfy if they're all a tad too big!

So for the sew-along, I am going to be brave, and try out the smaller size...

I will be using KwikSew 3300

I've been thinking about things for the year ahead. Apart from continuing to make all my own clothes, I mean... that's a given ;)
It's fun to set little goals to think about and complete. I like list-making and box-ticking, if that explains anything.

So, this year I am going to wear only my own self-made clothes, and sketch the outfit I am wearing each day in my Fashionary. I've written before how much I enjoyed and was thoroughly inspired by Natalie Purschwitz's journey, and this is kind of a homage to her Makeshift project. Although Natalie made her own shoes as well as her clothes; which blows my tiny mind!! So needless to say, making my own shoes is way beyond me. Actually it's probably impossible in Perth.
However I can do the clothes! and document them.
I'm calling this the paper-doll project.

1-9 January

The outfit on the right was drawn on white paper separately and then stuck on with stickytape afterwards... this is because my first attempt at drawing that skirt underneath looked horrendously weird. Awful. Since I completely suck at drawing. I'm hoping this project will change that.

However, I did like the way the white paper stuck on top made my outfit look just like it is; an all-white outfit, and not just like I had forgotten to colour it in. So I started drawing all the other white garments on white paper, and sticking them in for other days.

So practice makes perfect and hopefully my drawing skills will improve and... oh, who am I kidding; I just like fiddling about with paper and scissors and coloured pencils and sticky-tape, doodling fashion-y type stuff. Playing fashion designer! I loooooved paper dolls as a child. This is fun!

The hairstyle on each paper-doll is the hairstyle I had for that day too. Since I basically rotate between three hairstyles; ponytail, "out" and messy bun (day 8) then this shouldn't be too challenging to draw :)
The other reason I am doing this: well, apart from fun, and does there need to be any other reason, really?? of course no. But I started out using my Fashionary as a brain-storming and planning tool for my future creations. But it didn't take long for me to notice something of a downer; only about half the things I'd drawn as a firm "yes" for a future project, actually end up looking like I initially planned. I've found that by the time I finally get the fabric and the patterns out and get going I've often mentally moved on and incorporate a whole host of little changes!! There is no point in showing examples here, suffice to say they are many!

It's cheering to see the creations that did get made but the drawings of things that might have been but are not and never will be; are a bit sad, like wasted space and wasted effort. This year my Fashionary is going to reflect the clothes I actually am making, and choosing to wear. :)
(I didn't put in any links to the construction posts with photos, but I can do that if it is useful to anyone :) )

Yes, my title is swiped shamelessly from Issey Miyake’s famous 1993 collection, but I reckon that is OK since this is an Issey Miyake design ;)

And you’ve probably noticed that it is yellow. A yellow top. Very yellow. Quaite quaite yellow. As yellow as.

I’ve just been feeling very yellow-philic lately. Don’t bother to look that word up, I just made it up just then. “Philic”, meaning “attracted to” of course.

Oh, you’re welcome. Don’t ever say this blog is not ed-you-cational!

I’ve been hunting for yellow fabric for ages…. and it just doesn’t ever seem to be “in”. And I don’t mean pastel primrose yellow, which is inexplicably always represented but which is too dreadful on me: I wanted intense! Saffron yellow! Fierce yellow! Bold yellow!

Finally I spotted this satisfyingly ferocious, yellow silk in the Fabric Store, in Melbourne, during our trip away last September, and snapped it up! Then came the decision of what to make it in… a decision swiftly and easily made when I laid eyes upon this Issey Miyake pattern, Vogue 1142. My yellow silk is that very flimsy and flighty stuff, the sort that slithers across the table with the slightest breathe, so I knew it would be a good choice; not too bulky when tripled up with this pleat-tastic design.

Oh, anothermade-up word. Honestly….

I wrote a pattern review, below, but there is a kinda major issue with making up this pattern that I thought it worth mentioning separately… the pattern instruction just says “fold pleats in place, and press” and then those pleats are not even mentioned again, like bob’s your uncle and that is all that is needed.

Hello? The sharpness and evenness of those perfectly spaced pleats is only, like absolutely integralto the visual success of the design imo. Wouldn’t those merely pressed-down pleats simply wash out with the very first wash??? Or, even just fall out on their own, with wear? And then your top will just be a formless flowy thing; which admittedly could still probably look quite pretty, but will not be the tiniest bit sculptural and would have lost all the character of the original. I really like the sharp sculptural lines of the one on the cover.

Accordingly I took the precaution of edge-stitching each and every pleat down immediately after pressing. This step was fiddly, and accounted for the bulk of my time to make the top; but I think it is essential to keep those pleats nice and crisp for forever: so therefore it is worth it. In fact I just hopped over to Pattern review to check out the other reviews and noticed that no one else mentioned how they tackled the permanency or lack thereof, of their pleating; and I am curious as to how their pleats fared in the wash??

Some deet shots; there is a heck of a lot of topstitching in this top;

edge-stitching on the outer folds of each pleat and the inner edges too,

the side seams are flat-felled in wide seam allowances

there is strategic stitching, artfully placed on the outside of the pleats, to fuse them together

and also bar-tacks at the vulnerable side-seam/armhole point as well as the upper edge of the side seam split, to add strength to spots that are subject to strain during wear.

Details:

Top; Vogue 1142, yellow silk

Shorts; Burda 7723, white linen, details and my review of this pattern here

Sandals; Misano

Pattern Description:
Loose-fitting pull-over top has pleats and stitched hems. Wrong side of fabric shows.
Pattern Sizing:
American sizes 6-14; I cut the size 10
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished sewing it?
Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Ohh, the instructions are very easy to follow... In my opinion a lot of extra top-stitching is essential in order to prepare this garment to stand up to normal washing and wearing.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I absolutely love the design concept; the way a couple of almost-rectangles can be tweaked here and there before being… well to put it frankly; pretty much slapped roughly together, and magically become transformed into a rather romantic, artistic and very unusual blouse.
Fabric Used:
Very thin and slippery silk
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
After pressing each pleat in place, I edge-stitched each and every fold of each pleat, to make it a permanent fold. Yup. Each, and. Every. Fold. To not do this would be to lose all those pleats with the very first wash. And since I spent about five minutes carefully measuring each fold before pressing; losing them was not an option I wanted to consider!

In fact I cannot understand why the permanency of the pleats is not considered and addressed in the instructions…

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes, I probably will want another one of this summery and airy little top sometime. I recommend this top pattern to the meticulous seamster who craves romance and drama in her wardrobe, but still likes to be comfy.

Conclusion:

It is super comfortable and very forgiving to wear, and nicely easy breezy for summer. On top of that, it is a delightfully unusual, undeniably cool and very funky garment. I feel rather artistique in this top :)

Recently I received the Very Inspiring Blog award from pdiddly and also from janessewandtell, thank you so much Pauline and Jane!

But I just had to laugh a little bit... my 2012 round-up post attracted a comment, Anonymous of course, that read something like this...

Congratulations. I think your blog is the most up your own ass (sic) blog I've ever come across.

My typical knee jerk reaction is to spam those mean-spirited comments, only now I wish I hadn't because in retrospect it's kind of hilarious, isn't it? Maybe I should make up a button and all. Except I have absolutely zero skills in the button-making department. Would anyone like to receive that blog award? :D

Anyways; inspiration, inspiration... now I do know you're supposed to write stuff about yourself here, but: well since I am taking part in the cloth habit Bra-sewalong masterminded by Amy at the mo' my brain is stuffed full to overflowing with thoughts of lingerie! and I thought I would share with you some of my current favourite inspirations instead... some colourful and funky, some cute, some eclectic, some ethereally beautiful, all have something to give one some great ideas, yes?

Orange - custom tailored lingerie; source

Mimi Holliday, source

VPL source

Stella McCartney, source

source not found

Marni source

source not found

anthropologie, source

Roseanna, source not found

If you haven't yet; do these lovelies inspire you to attempt your own lingerie??

I am passing the Very Inspiring blogger award onto:

I have been making some weird looking things... not very inspiring stuff I'm afraid.

This is my meagre progress in the sew-along so far ;) 3 tester bras. At least I think I have correctly identified my size at last.

Because of one rather weird result I got in one online bra-size calculator, which I didn't want to just dismiss summarily without giving it the smallest benefit of the doubt; I also made up a 32C tester, the top bra pictured above. Well, it was utterly ridiculous on me. I quietly left that one out of the Flickr group!! The other two are 34A (what I thought I was) and 32A (what I am).

And I have made my two pairs of matching undies already... they are now sitting on my sewing bench just awaiting their bra!

10-15 January

I'm kinda excited about the paper-dolls; the nerdiness and and childishness of it really appeals to me. And the stats... monitoring my handmade wardrobe, what I am wearing, how I'm wearing it and with what frequency... omg; the latent geek emerges. Of course there are so many more important things in life to be monitored. But this blog has never pretended to be particularly d and m. Just the trivia, my friends, just the trivia. The fun stuff :)
Thank you for the compliments on my drawing, but seriously, y'know I really wasn't kidding when I said my drawing skills are not all that crash-hot. My paper dolls only look good because of the Fashionary .... you see, the figures on each page are already drawn in for you, naked, in very faint red dots. All you have to do is draw in your clothes. The line drawings on pattern envelopes can be quite helpful for that bit. Then you just dot-to-dot draw in the rest. And then colour in. Yeah. Everyone's opinion of my drawing skills is dropping dramatically, right?
I bought my Fashionary, and also one for Cassie here. And btw, this is not an endorsement; I received no freebies and I paid full price for both :)
It's been super humid and muggy here lately, a by-product of tropical cyclone Narelle off the coast. The weather girl informed us that we reached our minimum of 27C in the middle of last night and then the temperature started rising and was over 30C by 2am! Sooo hot! The rest of today was hideous, as you can imagine!
It's been a while since I wore these sandals and I love the brightness of the turquoise and aqua set off against the sludginess of my eggplant purply brown dress. This photo is re-visiting how I sometimes used to try to take somewhat arty outfit photos; looking down from high at my toes, trying to get all the colours and textures and the gist of the thing in one shot.

Hmmm. :D

How awesome is this Sew-asaurus Rex??!!!!!

I'm sorry, but this button is just too cool to pass up and I just had to have it on my blog... well, anime, you see. Renders me helpless to resist. Fortunately it has a great sewing-related concept behind it too.... oh I'm so in.

This is the brainchild of emsewcrazy at Tumbleweeds in The Wind and Cindy at Cation Designs, and the artwork is by Jen Sy.

I've committed to using at least two pieces of fabric from the stash per month, for the year. Hmmm, OK. I'm sure I can gather the strength to cut into and potentially ruin 24 pieces of my lovely fabric ... eek! And do I even have 24 pieces of fabric??
One also has the option of abstaining from purchasing any new stuff too... well I'll give that one my best shot but definitely no promises there. Well, what if I see something utterly awesome????

We have monthly themes to work to. Ordinarily I kinda suck at themes; any sort of sewing to someone else's say-so actually. But January's theme is itty bitty stuff, like using up the little itty bitty bits and pieces of leftover fabric in your stash that are not enough for a full project by themselves. Well, a good quarter of my wardrobe probably comes from scraps and bits of leftover fabric, so I'm pretty happy to go with that one!
In fact I churned through the bits and bobs part of my stash during the week; came up with some likely looking candidates and got a-snippin' and a-clippin' : results very soon .... stay tuned!

Some housekeeping notes: for several months now, and still; I am having a whole world of trouble with leaving comments on some Wordpress blogs... if you might reasonably expect some return comments from me, then please check your trash comments; mine may well have popped directly into there. If you "un-spam" my comments then the problem should be fixed, for me too!

I have made a new top and a new skirt! and am combining the two new garments in one post; since they kinda go together so well and all, and actually the skirt is so... well, bland and basic that frankly it doesn't deserve its own post. My top is a modified version of the loose drape top, pattern no. 1 from drape drape, by Hisako Sato. I used a soft slightly crinkly white cotton jersey, bought from the Fabric Store in Melbourne during my most recent trip. Regarding the design; I really loved those lovely soft drapes of that front and back neckline, however, like JenC noted in a comment, this top made up as per the pattern is a ... er, raaaather revealing garment. As in, very very revealing. The photographs in the book have been carefully selected, but it's plain to see that the model is a hair's breadth away from being topless. And more, the top would be falling off one's shoulders, only like, all the time.

But I thought it would be pretty easy to alter the pattern to be less revealing while still maintaining the essence of those beautifully soft falls of fabric at the neckline. I took out a good 20cm in width from the horizontal line of the front drape, and close to 30cm from the back drape, re-drawing in the armhole and side seams to be the same as the original, tapering out to the same hemline, and keeping those neckline edges cut straight on the cross so as to keep the self-facing as part of the same pattern piece, on a fold. Terrific design feature btw, for those frightened of finishing knits this is an excellent easy way out!

Reducing the width has given me a top with the same flavour that attracted me to the original, but with coverage... yes, I may have some nice lingerie now, but I don't want to be modelling it out in public for everyone on the street!

The side seams are flat felled, and I hand slipstitched the facings and armhole bindings in place for a smooth clean look on the outside. I also added lingerie straps to the shoulder seams inside to prevent the top slipping off my shoulders, since in spite of taking out a whole lotta drape it is still that kind of design!

And I'm very happy with the result. Such a cool and elegant design. I can see this being lengthened very successfully, to make a simply gorgeous little cocktail sheath; how lovely would that look?

The skirt. Less exciting. But ironically, its the bland and boring stuff that often turns into the amazingly useful and versatile stuff too, though; don't you think? The skirt is self-drafted, and identical in every way to this charcoal skirt from a few years ago, that has been utterly indispensible for layering and mixing and matching in my handmade wardrobe. Indispensible, I tell you! I used a piece of mystery fabric, part of the bundle given to me by my friend C from her late mother's stash, and it is also the leftovers from this little Pattern Magic jacket. Thus qualifying it for an itty bitty stash-busting garment! Actually the top was also made using an itty bitty piece of fabric, less than 1m, but since I bought that fabric only three months ago I don't know if it truly qualifies as "stash" What do you think? How long should fabric be in the stash before one can safely attribute it Stash Status?? One month? Six months? More than a year?

But the skirt is a definite stash-buster... goodness only knows how old that fabric is. This grey side is the reverse side to that I used for the "wearing a square" jacket, a smooth, blue-grey colour, with a double-knit look to its texture.

Details:
Top; modified version of the loose drape top, pattern no.1 from drape drape by Hisako Sato, white cotton
Skirt; my own design, blue grey double-knitty type of stuff.
Sandals; Misano

... and a day of tidying up the garden leads to one very happy outcome. No, wait, make that two very happy outcomes... the first being of course a nice, newly neat and tidy garden. The other is lovely big new FREE floral arrangement for the house! Doesn't everyone keep the prunings for a really big and dramatic floral extravaganza? Seriously if, like me, you are not a prima ballerina, then this is the best way to get gratuitous and regular fabulous floral displays happening in your house.

My outfit today serendipitously matches the new floral arrangement; so I took another arty, hand-held, looking-down-to-my-toes shot of my outfit, like Kirsty did the other day too. I'm thinking we should start a Flickr group together, and call it Selfie Foot-Shots, or the Navel-Gazing Fashion Bloggers Society, or something...

Details:

Dress; Burda 8511, details here

Sandals; Misano

Nail varnish; Glamourpuss, BYS

I made this cotton denim/chambray dress using Vogue 1152 about two and a half years ago. It first appeared on the blog, along with my review of this pattern here, and it has always been a favourite player in my wardrobe. The fabric is hard-wearing and casually comfortable, crinkles naturally and charmingly. Comfort dressing, yes!
It's appeared here on the blog a whole tonne of times already, in daily outfit photos, in the me-made months. In this year I've pledged to wear exclusively my own handmade clothes bar the shoes, these are some of the ways in which I can mix and match the dress.
Actually, up until now rtw tights or maybe gloves have slipped into the equation... but not this time! Whoo hoo! I have linked to the construction posts of everything else I am wearing here.

At left; committing the double denim crime... I'm wearing the dress layered over with a chambray shirt made of the same fabric, my scrumply Pattern Magic charcoal grey, spiral leggings and ankle boots. Below right; what's this? double denim again! Worn with my denim-look tights, green knitted hoodie and knotted blue scarf. Incidentally, who ever said blue and green should never be seen?? I wear blue and green together all the time!

Below left; yes, well, I do love the layered look :) Here, a longline lace skirt does petticoat duty underneath the skirt, and a classic navy blue silk blazer pulls it all together smartly. Raspberry pink sandals add a touch of cheerful colour.

Below right; for a more casual ensemble, this little jean jacket hoodie gives a more laidback sporty vibe to the dress. It might not have appeared on my blog every often, but this little jacket is a favourite of mine already!

Below left; I do like to wear dresses over jeans sometimes, how they become transformed into a tunic. The colour of these ivory flared jeans picks up and accentuates the four rows of ivory piping on the bodice of the dress. Below right; blue-and-green together again! The dress is actually quite low-cut, so if I am going out where actual people might see me I will often stop to grab a scarf to throw on over the decolletage. Adds some interesting colour, and saves blushes! In this case I'm wearing two scarves twisted together to get a bit more colour happening... turquoise silk chiffon, and cobalt blue knotted jersey scarves. Green and cobalt ballet flats echo the same colours.

These are just some of the different ways in which the dress can be mixed and matched to suit all the seasons. Today I'm wearing the last aquatically-hued outfit, with the blue and green scarves and ballet flats, and I'm looking forward to wearing the others as the weather cools down more. I'm rather chuffed that I could come up with all-rtw-free, workable outfits that I actually like!

Fulfilling a filial request.... Cassie wanted a pretty little sundress for some upcoming parties. Actually she was totally planning to make this herself, honest. Well, that's her story and she's sticking to it! but her new career has left her with not as much free time as she thought she would have.

Ahh, the disquieting little thought-readjustments that come with one's first full-time job.

Fortunately she has a Mum, willing (sorta) and able to step in.

The pattern is from Burdastyle magazine 05/2010, dress 114; a pattern I have used before to make this sundress for myself, and Cassie has used the same pattern for herself once before also. It is an utterly fantastica design for very hot weather; cool, practical, comfortable and pretty, and we have each independently and joyfully discovered that our dresses never fail to draw compliments. Subsequently, Cassie wanted another. Well, when you're on to a good thing.... ;)

I made the same modification to the back bodice that I did to my own dress to give complete lingerie coverage.

The lower tier is sewn to a separate, slightly shaped lining piece, which is sewn to the bodice lining and which lies underneath the top tier. So in this latest version of the pattern the two tiers are completely separate from each other.

Cassie chose the fabric, two different types of broderie anglaise cotton voile from Fabulous Fabrics, and I used a little of my precious horde of plain white cotton voile too.

The buttons and butonholes on the bodice whilst functional, are essentially decorative; since the dress is put on and taken off with a long invisible zip set into the side seam.

Above; note the ubiquitous hair-lacky bracelet. I frequently wear one of those myself, too.

Voila, we have party dress. Ees time to part-ay.

Details:

Dress; Burdastyle magazine 05/2010, dress 114, slightly modified; of white broderie anglaise, my review of this pattern here

I'm very happy with this latest set, I just feel like I am getting happier with each one!
The bra is made using KwikSew 3300 (my review of this pattern here), the undies with lace across the top are my old faithful McCalls 2772, and the other pair with the two diagonal strips of lace are a pattern very kindly sent to me by katherine h, lingerie creator extraordinaire. Thanks so much Katherine :)

This is a very cute undies pattern. It's fits somewhere between a bikini and a boy-leg style, a hybrid of the two. The construction is a bit more involved than the McCalls bikini but it's nice to have something different. I really like how the back leg edge is on the fold. A really interesting feature.
The set is made from a blue marle cotton-mix jersey (leftovers from this hoodie) and a lovely creamy lace, with creamy yellow lingerie elastic throughout and cream satin ribbon bows for decoration. The lower bra cup is lined with a thick-ish, stable, non-stretchy knit (leftovers from this skirt), and the bra centre piece and underwire casings were made with lightweight beige cotton voile (leftovers from this top)
The bra sewalong organised by Amy has been absolutely brilliant! If you are new to sewing lingerie I highly recommend checking out her detailed posts on construction. Her passion for lingerie is sincere and very inspiring! I've been keeping up with everyone's fitting stories on the Flickr group, and the advice and tips given have been invaluable.

The nitty gritty about my bra; this will be of interest to my fellow lingerie nerds only....

This is the sixth time I have made up the KwikSew pattern, and the first time as a 32A and without a moulded cup insert.
I lined the lower cups with a thick-ish, stable, non-stretchy knit; overlapped with and then sewn to the seam allowances.. This gives a bit more needed oomph to that flimsy blue jersey fabric..
The straps: usually I go with a plain, non-adjustable bra strap relying on the stretch inherent in the fabric to provide the ease factor.... (did someone just say "slacker!"?) this time I followed the instructions and interfaced the straps, then satin-stitched a piece of elastic to the lower back ends to allow for the stretch. Here's where things get creative.... my elastic options (and well, everything else too) are kind of limited here in Perth but I do still want to stubbornly but loyally support my local shops. My lace is a lovely ivory creamy colour so I chose the "skin tone" lingerie elastic to go with it. But the lingerie elastic is not very heavy duty on its own and I worried it would not stand up to strains of bra strap duty. So I zig-zagged a strip of more heavy-duty, braided 8mm white elastic to the back. This provides hidden strength, and the colour from the right side still matches everything else in the set.

The straps are adjustable... and if there is one thing I'm super disappointed about it is that the only sliders I could get are pure white... not happy, Jan! To my eye they stand out like a sore thumb.
For the same reason (limited colour choices) I had to choose a one-hooked, hook and eye closure; this being the only size available in cream. I'm actually fine with that, not being of a figure type that needs heavy-duty support in the chestal region, ahem. At least the colour matches! I just trimmed the back pieces to fit.
I cut the centre piece backing and the underwire casings from small scraps of beige voile, and yes, I did obsessively switch between blue, beige and white thread so that the stitching matches the fabric.

I used cream-coloured satin ribbon to stabilise the lace upper cups, the same ribbon that I used for the decorative bows on all three items.

Actually, I think the colour of my new ballet flats and scarf is more ecru than taupe, but the name printed on the side of the shoe box was "taupe". So I'm running with it. Seeing as not much at all rhymes with ecru.
But whatevs ... shoes! in one of my favourite colours. Or is that even a colour? :) I'm thinking these are almost animal print. What I love is that what "looks" like a spotty print is actually little irregularly shaped perforations in the leather, providing natural ventilation for hot sweaty feet. That's a real plus on hot sticky days like we are getting. Win!

Technically speaking, the new "scarf" is just a wide strip of soft, silk/linen jersey knit bought at the Morrison remnant sale. I originally thought to make lingerie with it, but now I've decided that I could well use a soft little summer scarf in this non-colour. Well the colour is perfection incarnate, no? It exactly matches the ballet flats. So, it has migrated from the stash and into the wardrobe, and is getting worn. Yes! Wearable stash! I don't think this counts as stashbusting, but... ;) I might still use it for lingerie. Mebbe, mebbe not. I'm still thinking about that, but in the meantime it's doing fab as a scarf.

I do love a light airy scarf; so fantastic for protecting the decolletage from the notoriously harsh Australian sun. If I'm driving I often rearrange it over my right arm, and it's amazing how effective it is at keeping one cool, just keeping that direct sunlight off.

The latest addition to the Navel-Gazing Fashion Blogger's Society photo collection.

Details:

Top; Vogue 1247, details here, made of cotton dyed by me, my review of this pattern here, and see this top styled in 6 different ways here

Skirt; Vogue 1247, made of stretch denim then dyed, details and my review of this pattern here, and see this skirt styled in 6 different ways here

Scarf; remnant

Shoes; from Misano

(if you're new, I've pledged to wear only clothes handmade by me this year and to sketch my daily outfits in my Fashionary. I'm calling this the paper doll project)

Some more navel-gazing; this time about the outfit fourth along... (seen first here) this was one of my earlier refashions from Wardrobe Re-fashion days. This is one that I sometimes forget to wear, because it is "old", isn't conventionally pretty and is even a little strange... and sometimes I have to wear a thing for a day to decide whether I still love it or not. But whenever I do wear this skirt and top ensemble I'm reminded how much I do love slightly weird clothes. I think I want to get back to making interesting things again.
Anyhoo, I decided again that the men's shirt ensemble is definitely a keeper. The same cannot be said for something from the previous week, which I am taking the scissors too... pretty soon ;)

... the water bearer!
So this dress incorporates the design from page 56 of Pattern Magic 2, by Tomoko Nakamichi. It is described as "a flip turn draped design tie appears from the slit in the front bodice for a complex and beautiful effect."
When I was playing with ideas for the Aquarius theme I had in my head; I imagined that front panel as a swimmer shooting out of the watery waves that are embroidered around the hem of the dress, up the front of the dress, and diving back into the water at the neckline. Yeah, I do occasionally have an overactive imagination.... :)

To represent the Aquarian waves I embroidered a running stitch sine wave around the lower hem of the dress, and on the full-length front panel. I originally had lazy-daisy water droplets going down the side of that front panel too... but the family veto-ed that one, thought they were naff. Hmf! :D

I do like the visually peaceful hypnosis of sine waves. Design-wise I've used them before.

And Aquarius is sometimes represented with a waves vaguely reminiscent of sine waves too.

The deep blue fabric is slightly rough and slightly crinkly cotton from Fabulous Fabrics. I absolutely love this stuff. It feels like it's going to be so comfy and easy to live it. When I found it in the store I bought some in each of the four colours! This blue is the first piece to go under the ~~knife~~ scissors :)

I really like this longer length too. I've already got a few short dresses and I wanted to go with something different this time. I think it's quite elegant, and the proportion of skirt to bodice lend the dress a more graceful and refined silhouette.

Details:
Dress; partly self-drafted, based on the flip turn design from page 56 of Pattern Magic 2, by Tomoko Nakamichi, blue cotton
Sandals; la soffitada Gilde, from Zomp shoes

Construction blah blah blah...
I drafted the dress a little differently from that suggested in the book... in this case I gave the dress a long darted true A-line skirt with satisfyingly deep deep inseam pockets. To fit the back skirt to my slight swayback, I sewed modified darts in the skirt, and folded pleats in the bodice at the same position. This allows the bodice to blouse out nicely from out of a fitted waistline. The front skirt and bodice have the same dart/pleat thing happening. This is a waist-slimming trick ;)

It is photographed here on Bessie who is bigger than I am, so it does blouse out more blousily on me. The back of the dress is quite plain...

The dress is put on and taken off with a long invisible zip in the left side seam, and that long front panel is invisibly stitched down to the dress at the waistline.

The front neckline has to accommodate the flip turn tie, so I finished it with a narrow hem. The back neckline and armscyes have interfaced facings. The bodice slit has been finished like a letterbox opening, with a hemmed rectangle of facing fabric. Like a welt-less and pocket-less welt pocket, if that makes any sense. After wearing the dress for a few hours the pokey-out end ceased diving obediently into the water, and instead kept slipping sneakily back inside the dress, so I anchored it firmly in position on the inside along the sides of the letterbox opening. It's not going anywhere now!

28th January-2nd February
(if you're new, I've pledged to wear only clothes handmade by me this year and to sketch my daily outfits in my Fashionary. I'm calling this the paper doll project)

Thank you for those nice compliments on my Aquarius dress :)

It was pretty hot that day, but my photos can attest to how insanely windy it was at the same time.... ideal bushfire conditions. Today is even more hot, but not a breathe of wind. At least that wind keeps the temps down a tad... but I don't know which is preferable; hot heavy stillness, or hot air blasting around?? tough call.

Whatevs; the paper dolls are trying to stay stylish but keeping cool is their biggest priority.

Summarising January's stash-busting efforts...

Straight-up I have to confess to buying one new piece of fabric this month... but I'm not counting it since it is not for me and I have already made it up. It did not even get to nod to its buddies in the stash before it was flung in the washing machine, on the floor, and chopped and stitched up. Results will appear here soon.. when its recipient can spare me a minute for a photo.

I used the teensiest wee corner of a veritable king-sheet-sized piece of blue jersey to make 3 tester bras and my newest lingerie set, so no discernible dent was made in that, really (not a win). However, I did use a piece of lace that has been languishing in my lace box for goodness knows how long (win!) and I refashioned one garment, which is not reducing the stash, but still a good feeling (win!) I came to the aid of another in reducing her stash; when I made Cassie's sundress (a Good Samaritan win!)

Overall; four garment sized pieces of fabric have disappeared from my stash this month... so I'm counting myself fruitfully engaged in the Year of Diminishing the Stash.

Now: OK, I can barely contain myself any longer.... I've bought something rather exciting, and I'm simply bursting with how much I want to show it to you here; have been chuckling with glee ever since I took delivery! but it will have to wait for a bit; for one big, very important reason. Give it a week or so ;)

I have made a little top for Cassie to wear to work. Or wherever she pleases, of course :)
This is Vogue 1142, which I made in yellow silk for myself last month. Cassie admired it so I offered to make one for her. She enthusiastically accepted. A daughter loving the clothes I make?? gets me fired up with the zest to sew unselfishly straightaway.

I didn't have anything suitable in my stash so I visited Fabulous Fabrics and bought a piece of lovely shell-pink viscose crepe. I think the soft delicate colour is a beautiful compliment to her pale peaches-and-cream complexion. Plus: viscose = wash-and-wear of course, so another ideal addition to her professional working wardrobe!
As in for my first version; I edge-stitched each pleat in place. The 100% viscose crepe is quite crisp and stiff compared to the thin silk I used previously; and it presses and pleats like a dream. I think those sharp regular pleats look absolutely wonderful in this more crisp fabric. I've taken lots of photos of those pleats and that artfully and prettily crinkled neckline because whilst I do love the slight floppiness of my own top I really really love how crisp, sharp and sculptural the pleats look in this fabric. It looks quite formal and business appropriate.

A little tip for working with this pattern: this time, as soon as I had edge-stitched the outer sets of pleats on each of the front and back I immediately pinned the pleats in place and stay-stitched along the shoulder stitching line. This makes it much easier to handle the big pieces, and having that stay-stitching makes sewing the shoulders together a bit easier too.

Also; this must be like the easiest pattern in the world to grade for size. Seriously!

Oh, you might be wondering if Cassie has barely had a single thing to wear since she got her job and I've contributed only one measly skirt to her working wardrobe?? well of course she has not gone without all this time! She does have one very nice pencil skirt that she has made for herself (un-blogged), and I have made a little woollen pencil skirt for her previously. Both suitable for the office and she has been rotating between the three skirts. And since I pledged to wear only my own handmade clothes this year, there is a nice little selection of shop-bought cardigans and random Metalicus items that she has joyfully transferred to her own wardrobe. At least my RTW clothes are not going to waste :)

Details:
Top; Vogue 1142, shell-pink viscose, my review of this pattern here
Skirt; Vogue 8363, black wool mix, details here and my review of this pattern here

A quick head-count and I realised I've made enough more of these shirts to put together another Rogue's Gallery of Burda 7767's...
This is hands down my most used pattern evah... I have used it 27 times!! My first Burda 7767 Rogue's Gallery contained 14 shirts and now this new gallery features another 13 shirts. Will there be more...? of course!
It is so easy to add little bits and bobs to this most classic of patterns to create a variety of shirts each with their own distinct character... each shirt is linked to the original construction post, and my variations to the basic pattern are listed after the link. My original review of this pattern is here.

version fifteen: a linen army style shirt for me. Added epaulettes, two bellows breast pockets with flaps, sleeve tabs, folded-out button band, curved hemline.

version sixteen: linen shirt for Craig. Curved edge breast pockets with curved edge flaps, double buttons on cuffs and pocket flaps, curved hemline

version seventeen: cotton shirt for Dad. Short sleeves, curved edge pockets with curved edge pocket flaps, curved hemline.

version eighteen: cotton shirt for Craig. Short sleeves, cuffed sleeves with shaped tabs, shield-shaped pockets with oversized rectangular flaps, curved hemline.

version nineteen: crinkly shirt for Sam. Epaulettes, bias-cut pockets, bias pocket flaps, curved hemline.

version twenty: slightly stretchy, crinkly shirt for Tim. Short sleeves, breast pockets and flaps, curved hemline, closely fitted to the body.

version twenty-one: cotton shirt for Craig. Shorts sleeves, curved hemline, epaulettes, slanted breast pockets with slanted pocket flaps, tabs on sleeves

version twenty-two: cotton shirt for me, now belonging to Cassie and worn as a dress. Super long length, a curved hemline, and with double, layered sleeves; a long sleeve linen sleeve underneath a short cotton sleeve. Square pockets with arrowhead pocket flaps and a button-down collar.

version twenty-three: a linen shirt for Dad. Bellows breast pockets with arrowhead pocket flaps. Curved hemline.

version twenty-four: a business shirt for Craig. Contrasting white collar, collar stand, cuffs, sleeve placket, pocket panel and button bands. Curved hemline.

version twenty-five: a linen shirt for Tim. Short sleeves, curved hemline, button down collar, bellows breast pockets with curved pocket flaps, cuffed sleeves with featured buttons

version twenty-six: a crinkly shirt for Sam. Sleeve tabs, curved hemline

version twenty-seven: a cotton shirt for Craig. Short sleeves, club collar and split side seams. Square breast pockets

Trivial fact; that post with the Burda 7767 review and also featuring me wearing an outfit I now consider to be rather hideous; holds the bronze medal in page views on my blog. This is completely amazing to me. I have no idea why people would find and randomly hit upon that post!

3rd February - 8th February
(if you're new, I've pledged to wear only clothes handmade by me this year and to sketch my daily outfits in my Fashionary. I'm calling this the paper doll project)

A thought:
would it be helpful for me to list the garments with links to the construction posts and real life photos?

Remember I mentioned I had bought something rather exciting, which I was dying to show off here??
Well, here she is!
Yesterday was Cassie's birthday, and I knew that she has coveted a dressmaker's dummy for a while. Actually I have been searching in a lukewarm sort of a way for a few years; ever since her birthday two years ago actually (eek!).... poor Cassie! Well, this birthday is an important one so I got serious at last. And I didn't want to settle for something tacky; I wanted to get her really nice one; solid, well made, classy, attractive; one to last a lifetime. In my opinion, a good dress form is just about indispensable to the serious seamster. And even if you're not, they can just look nice standing in the corner displaying a funky dress or scarf or necklace too!
Cassie has named her Clarissa. She is the small Lady Valet, from Wm. C. Jackson and Co; an Australian company. She is height and width adjustable. Isn't she gorgeous?!
It couldn't have been easier, I put in an order, paid, and a box turned up a week later on my doorstep. No fuss, no hassles whatsoever.
Well, no hassles if you don't count that it took me a few years to find her, that is!
My first port of call was to check out Dummies WA, the local business that made my own beautiful, solid-as-a-rock Bessie, who has appeared here on my blog loads of times. But her maker has retired and the business is no more :((
I looked briefly at the ones in Spotlight, but they only had some very ugly, very flimsy models, covered in dreadful bright red nylon. Aesthetics are important to me; and of course you can make a stretch knit cover to hide a hideous colour; in fact I will probably make a cover for Clarissa too. But flimsiness cannot be fixed!
So I ventured online.. scary stuff. I'm nervous about purchasing something big and expensive online. I prefer to buy local, deal with a real person, and have the thing right there and then; but I couldn't!
There were some really good European and British companies, which did not seem to post to Australia. And probably would have been astronomical if they had. I found a few really beautiful Japanese ones, but I couldn't work out how to translate the websites.
So I was pretty relieved when I stumbled upon this one. She seemed perfect in her picture online, and she is!
Cassie is thoroughly stoked; therefore so am I :)
Incidentally, Cassie is wearing here her own version of the Burdastyle 05/2010 sundress 114. I made another version of this same pattern for her here, and one for myself here.

Please note: this is not an endorsement; although I am a very happy customer! and I did not receive any freebies or discounts.

Later edit: below, a better picture of Cassie's dress. I forgot I had taken this one, from last Christmas :)

A self-rolling edge finish for knits

Denimen. Ineminem.

Bra sew-along....

the paper-doll project

Yellow pleats. please!

Sweet nothings

paper-dolls...

Un-stashing

Drape-ity drape

I've been pruning...

Blue denim dress; 6 different ways

Broderie anglaise

Blue marle jersey and creamy lace set

Taupe is dope

Aquarius

Stuff

Shell-pink pleats, please!

Burda 7767; a Rogue's Gallery

the paper doll project

Clarissa