So.....

I come in to do my end of year round-up only to discovered I haven't blogged since September. Oops!

Convention was fabulous as usual. It was in Brisbane this year. Not as hot as I expected which was a surprise. My clothes worked well so I'm happy about that. Oh & I WON one of the categories of the Convention Challenge with my tropical silk-cotton top & lime linen/cotton pants. Part of my prize was one of those Guterman thread albums with 42 reels of thread. Ooooooh.....love. Everyone who came up to me to see what I'd won oohed & ahhed over that baby. Hilarious!

I managed to get an almost there TNT pants pattern with Roberta Thompson at Convention. Pretty happy about that. Turns out that most of my problems were the front thigh. That in turn created wrinkles at the back. Who knew? So I have been making pants like some mad woman, still trying to get them "perfect". At this stage, they are not but I'm still wearing them. I made two cargo style pairs based on New Look 6005 for work but I have no photo of those. I need to review them too so will put that on my 2016 to-do list!

What I can show you is the cardigan I made for the sweater knit contest on PR and the colour blocked top I made for DD for another contest.

McCalls 6996 Size L

Fabric from All About Fabric, Tamworth

$25.50 per metre

I probably picked the wrong fabric for this particular cardigan as I don't think the stripes are suitable, especially for the back. I don't think it's that flattering on my bum either but ha!...I don't have to look at it!

New Look 6875 size M

Red & print fabric from 2 RTW T-shirts

Stripe from stash

DD has been waiting months for this top which I promised her in early August. We saw the Tshirts on spesh at a fat woman's store for $10 each so we bought the biggest ones and I cut them up. There will be another Tshirt coming when I get my A into gear. :)

Something else I made recently was this bag from Little Moo designs. ASG did a sew along on their FB page so I got sucked in. Let me just say that there were issues with this pattern! As I am discovering with bag patterns......ergh.

The last thing to show is a bag I made last week for my mother. I realised that I only had 1 present for her for Christmas so whipped this baby up quick smart. I have to admit it's pretty good. :) But the pattern is pretty good too. As above, I realised you get what you pay for with PDF patterns. DUMD patterns may be a little more exxy than others, but you get FABULOUS directions.

Date Night bag from Dog Under My Desk

Fabric: Vera Bradley purchased from China

Cost US$10 per yard

Nicole Mallalieu Beauty Case

I got this pattern from Homespun magazine ages ago...bought it especially for this bag. He he. Of course, now Nicole has brought it out as part of her range of patterns. Had I know this would happen, I would've held off cos there were a few problems with the magazine version that I'm pretty sure wouldn't be in Nicole's real one.

Vera Bradley make an almost identical bag to this which I wanted but then remembered I had this pattern so decided to make it myself.

I'm really happy with how this has turned out even with all the problems. Luckily they were problems that could be fixed such as one piece being cut too big or not enough bias pieces to bind 2 different seams. Luckily also I had enough fabric to make more bias but of course I could've used something else.

I did change the fabric for the handle due to fabric limitations. It's supposed to be the lime colour rather than the black print. My fabric is, of course, Vera Bradley. And I've got none of this one left. Sniff. It's a really pretty print with the splashes of lime but they are rather few & far between hence this bag doesn't have any on the front. The bottom is a different story.

Rather blurry view of the inside.

Close up of the back hinge and my label.

Close up of the handle & ring.

Closeup of the lid pocket. If I made this again, I wouldn't divide this pocket as it makes them rather small. I'd also consider using a contrast here.

This shot shows how the lid opens.

Closeup on the inside wall pockets.

View of the lid.

Closeup of my fancy zippers. This pattern calls for one zip that goes all the way around. In my best Vera Bradley knock off sewing, I wanted two zipper pulls so used 2 zippers. While a bit tricky, it's worked well. Luckily I've made lots of Nicole's zipper coin purses so knew what to do with the end bits. My zippers are from The Remnant Warehouse and are silver satin with metal teeth and fancy pulls. I love them!

2 tops, obligation sewing & a catch up

I've just realised I haven't blogged about the few things I've finished this year.

I used to have a nice TNT sleeveless top that I wear around the house. I decided to make another version for my cruise but discovered it's no longer a TNT due to body changes. Anyway, here it is. Apologies for the hanger shot but the fit is not that good plus my photographer is out.

McCalls 8050

Lizette cotton sateen fabric from Spotlight

$5 per metre bought on 8 December 2013

Here is the second top - also sleeveless and using another pattern that I've sewn before. This one is New Look 6895. I made 2 of the sleeved versions way back in 2011. This one fits better but I had to play with the neckline *a lot* cos it was very low and wide. I finally got a photo that shows the true colour of the fabric. You can see the difference between the first & the second photos. It's the first one that shows the correct colour of the fabric.

New Look 6895

View A

Cotton voile from The Remnant Warehouse

$5.95 per metre purchased on 2 November 2013

Close up of gathered front detail

My obligation sewing has ended with the finish of this gown for my mother. She calls it a brunch coat...not sure what Americans call it. She asked me to make it as she couldn't get one in the shops for love or money. They all tie around the waist which mother hates. Her alternative was to pay $70+ in David Jones. Anyway, it's made of the most gorgeous Cambridge lawn that I've had in my stash since the 90s. Back when Lincraft used to sell beautiful fabric. Sigh. I knew that I would never use it as it's not my colours plus I don't do floral much. But for a brunch coat it's perfect. It just needs the buttons & buttonholes (no buttons in the stash that matched). Oh & I added a patch pocket which was requested by mother.

Kwik Sew 3106

Size XL

Fabric from Lincraft

Close up of the front yoke

Also sewn for the cruise was a swimming costume for myself. Of course, this has to be a hanger shot...there's no way I'm exposing my body to you all! I'm considering buying a dressmakers dummy for better displaying these type of items. The hanger does nothing for it!

Kwik Sew 2333

Fabric from The Remnant Warehouse

$10 p/metre

Back view

Last but not least were 2 lanyards. Necessary items for the cruise. I made 2 but DD's has disappeared into the void so I could only photograph mine. Vera Bradley fabric (what else?) and I just made it using a 2.5" strip of fabric.

Mother's wristlet

I finally sat down at the sewing machine long enough to finish this. Not that it took long - I just couldn't get into it. Onto the pics.

The bag is made using Nicole Mallalieu's makeup bag pattern. The only thing I did differently to the pattern was the addition of the D ring in the side seam to attach a lanyard. Mother can fit all her necessary items in it for the cruise and can swan around without a huge bulky bag. 

Here's a close-up of the lining fabric:

 

And a close-up of the D-ring & lanyard:

Roll on 2012

While 2011 has been a reasonably good sewing year for me, I can't wait for 2012. Why? Well I'm hoping my sewing mojo will come back cos it's sure been missing for a good three months!

To that end, I made a toile today of the Minoru jacket. There are 3 or 4 of us in my sewing group who are making this jacket but we all seem to be encountering the same fitting problems. First of all, the elastic markings are too low. Well, actually this means the top half of the jacket is too long. I know I'm short and I can expect to change stuff like this but the pattern has no lengthen/shorten lines at the top half, only at the bottom. Same with the sleeves. I've taken off 2.5" already but they're STILL too long. Again, only one set of shortening lines. Whatever. There appears to be some mojo creeping back with this jacket and if I can get the dratted thing to work, I'll be making 2 versions. One in red ripstop (although it's more like a shower curtain than boardshorts) and one in maybe aqua drill. Yummy.

Anyway, today I had another finish! It's a curling iron/hair straightener cover. I've been looking at the Vera Bradley ones trying to work out how to copy it when I found this blog which had a tutorial for said VB knockoff. Beauty! So here it is, with the requisite mistakes which I'm not going to point out. LOL.

Yep, another finish

This is another bag I've been working on & just finished yesterday. The pattern is designed for pre-quilted fabric so I just quilted some cotton using 2 layers of fusible fleece. Big mistake! The pattern has some darn annoying dart thing at the bottom of the front & it was really really hard to get that through my computerized machine. In fact, it didn't like it AT ALL. However, I forced it through LOL and managed to finish it up.

Simplicity 2911

Fabric: Vera Bradley cotton fabric

from The Remnant Warehouse $5 p/m

My changes to the pattern are:

• Got rid of all the hardware that was recommended, changed the strap to a fixed length and attached it using O rings.


• Added a little zipper pocket to the front slip-in pocket (& wasn't that tricky for my brain to work out!)


• Used Nicole Mallalieu's boxing method to join the lining pieces together (Simplicity wanted me to do that dratted dart again).


• Interfaced the floppy lining so the magnetic catch had some support

So that's it. Another bag finished and now I have no projects. :(

My 2 final finishes for the trip

Before I fly away next Friday, I thought I'd post these last 2 items that I made for the trip.

The first one is another version of the Sandra Betzina cardigan that I blogged about before. It's Vogue 1058. I had to make this cardi much longer both above & below the bust in order to get that band in the right place. I'm still not sure about the fit (even though I made the right size this time!) as there's something going on in the armholes and I should have rotated the sleeve somewhat but it will do nicely as another layer for my trip. The red fabric is just gorgeous.

Vogue 1058

Size F lengthened

Fabric: 100% merino wool from The Fabric Store

Cost: $28 p/m

Purchased on 1st November 2010

The second and last thing for my trip is another version of Nicole Mallalieu's Baguette bag. If you recall, I made one last year and while I love it, it's a little small to fit all my things in it. Well...they fit but I can't do it up! It's also very floppy. So I made this one about 3cm wider and about the same taller. I also added a zip closure, made my shoulder strap a little wider and used a heavier interfacing and fusible wadding. Very happy with the result although the addition of the zip closure almost did my head in. Thanks to Sharonspils for lending me the instructions for that from another Nicole M bag pattern. I wanted the zip closure to give my things a bit more security for our trip. I've used it already and it's great. I can now fit my wallet, glasses case, camera, ipod and all the other stuff I have without the bag bulging out.

I found the matching border at Bargain Box fabrics in Shepparton on our way home from the Ballarat ASG Convention. Love it on the flap! This is a complete knock off of the way Vera Bradley bags are made!

A closeup of the zipper gusset addition.

Last, a pic of the inside pocket with my label. I also had a last minute idea to make a loop of elastic for the ever-present chapstick as I discovered when I used the bag, that the chapstick was hard to find in the depths! Lucky I hadn't hand-finished the lining seam. I knew there was a reason I put that off!

Nicole Mallalieu makeup bag

This morning I whipped up this bag in about an hour not counting a break for breakfast & some ripping due to reading the instructions wrong. Duh! I love how it has turned out and think these would make ripper gifts for my sewing buddies (oops..hope they're not reading this!!).

It's the same fabric as the laptop sleeve but don't worry...I've got plenty left so you will see more things in this fabric LOL. I love it!

Nicole's instructions were once again very easy to work out. I love the way she does the zipper and the boxed corner so the bag stands up. This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine...make up bags that fall over, spilling the contents out & breaking things. This happened to me last year & I wasn't happy when my blusher broke into a thousand pieces & now spills sparkly pink stuff everywhere. But I digress....

I can recommend this pattern and look forward to trying some more of Nicole's. I have a couple of 10cm zips so I may get the coin purse pattern at the next Stitches & Craft show & give that a whirl.

Laptop Sleeve

After the mini-wardrobe & formal wear contests, I've lost my way a bit. I have nothing to sew and no plans. So this is just what I needed to kick-start my mojo again. It's a laptop sleeve from Nicole Mallalieu's Laptop bag pattern. She doesn't actually give you the pattern but rather instructions on how to draft it to your laptop's size.

All the edges are bound with bias. I bought an 18mm Clover bias maker and wow! I've never made bias with one of these before but I'm in love with it! It was just so easy to make (once I'd cut the strips the right size that is LOL).

From Sewing with cats

Laptop Sleeve

Pattern by Nicole Mallalieu Designs

Fabric: Vera Bradley Purple Punch

Purchased from Etsy Dec 2009 US$10 p/yd

This pic is the boxed corner that Nicole uses. Easy!

And here is what the flap looks like underneath.

From Sewing with cats

Next up will be Nicole's make up bag in the same fabric. It's all ready to go. Oh & I've just drafted my knock-off of this top.

Second attempt at Amy Butler MP3 case

So here is my second attempt at the MP3 case. I must say I'm much happier with how it's turned out. I had to make the pattern smaller to accommodate my 4th gen iPod Nano which is not as wide as other iPods. I also changed the tabs and attached them to the main piece so I could cut it out as one. That worked well. I inserted the peltex from the end rather than the middle and that didn't work so well. It was a bit fiddly....the peltex while being firm enough for a case, is not firm enough to force down a 7" length of fabric especially when 1 side has fusible fleece on it. Anyway, I managed to do it but would go back to the insertion in the middle if I ever made this again (my friend saw the case & now wants one so maybe for her birthday?).

The velcro tab has also been enlarged but is not in the right spot. It could move down about 1/2". It's a bit hard to ensure it's correct as it's one of the first things to be sewn and the case changes size when the peltex is inserted. However, now I know so I will mark the pattern accordingly.

Amy Butler MP3 case

Fabric: Vera Bradley Purple Punch 100% cotton

Purchased from Etsy US$10 p/yd

Amy Butler MP3 case

Yes, not the Amy Butler finish anyone expected! I recently purchased some Vera Bradley fabric from Etsy & it arrived this morning. As I'd been already planning what to make, I was all ready to cut out & sew this MP3 case for DD. I changed a couple of things to make the Ipod touch fit.

I really had some issues with this pattern & will certainly change it when I make it again for myself. If you want to read my saga, it's all in my review on PR. I'll have to re-draft the whole main pattern piece next time as my ipod is a 4th gen Nano & much smaller.

Amy Butler MP3 Case

Fabric: Vera Bradley Puccini 100% cotton

Purchased on Etsy US$10 p/yard