It's only been a month

But it feels like longer! I thought I'd been sewing lots in that time but when I look at my finished items, it turns out I haven't. Eep!

So what have I sewn? Well it started with this Vogue 9057 Marcy Tilton top that I made in merino. 3 different pieces of merino at that. I cut it out in Tamworth...oh...did I mention Tamworth?? A few of the downunder girls from PR got together in Tamworth. Anyway....I cut out the merino in Tamworth and actually sewed it together there although most of the girls there didn't see me sew it. Hmmm...

The fitting is a bit tricky. I'm still not 100% sure of the top half cos it slips off my shoulders and seems to be too big. I may yet try & take it in a bit.

Then I had a thought that this top fitted into the Plus Size Pattern Contest on PR. But I had to make an outfit. Poo. So I whipped up these New Look 6950 pants which I've made before. I'm still trying to get the fitting right so they're a tiny bit tight in the knee area (of all places!) and they want to fall down. I think the weight of the pockets is pulling them down. Whatever. I do love the pockets though. I don't really love this view though.

So I entered the contest but didn't win. Pity because the prize was actually a good one! LOL. And I sure as hell AM plus sized in that photo!

After that I did some obligation sewing for my mother. A fleece jacket from a pattern I adjusted way back in 2002. My husband sacrificed the polar fleece I'd brought back from the US for him. I'm just not sure he knows that. He he he. It's not actually finished in the photo but if I don't take one now, I'll never see it again.

Then yesterday, I whipped up a mesh top for DD. She needed something to wear to a family party so we popped into The Remnant Warehouse on Friday and she picked out this mesh. It's gorgeous but I would never have picked it for her!

Simplicity 2148 View B

Size 12

Mesh fabric from The Remnant Warehouse 

$5.95 per metre

Meanwhile I am planning this Marcy Tilton raincoat in teal raincoat fabric. Just gorgeous. I'll keep you posted on that baby.

So...I've finished the wardrobe contest

After much stressing, making pants at all hours and taking photographs in the last of the day's sun, I managed to get 3 collages ready & entered in the contest. But wait...I haven't shown you all the items!

You've already seen the dress and one top. So here are my other three tops.

This is McCalls 5890 which I whipped up on our recent sewing weekend away. A really quick sew since it has no facings. The pattern also features the same top made into a dress and I'm tempted to give it a go! The fabric here is a remnant from a previous top made a few yrs ago.

This top is what started it all and is pretty much the hero of the wardrobe. It's the infamous silk/cotton that I bought in Canberra. Loved it the moment I saw it and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. This is Simplicity 2230 modified at the neck which pretty much means I got rid of that awful neck facing and just did a bias binding and turned it into a V. I did this amazing hem with my rolled hem foot on my sewing machine...I even impressed myself with that! LOL.

The final top is Kwik Sew 3764 with flounce from my dress fabric. The aqua is merino that I bought from The Fabric Store in January. Half price! And then I got a further discount cos it had some small holes. Very happy with that.

I'm also wearing the much-maligned V2948 pants in lime linen/cotton. Not really happy with these. And don't tell anyone...but they're not really finished. Well, not finished finished if you know what I mean. Sshhhhhhh.

Last but not least is one of my "sewist's choice" items, a mesh overjacket thingie from McCalls 6559. This was sewn straight out of the envelope, entirely on the overlocker with a rolled hem edge. Also sewn on the weekend away. I discovered the joys of water soluble stabiliser for rolled hem on this baby!

I also sewed a mesh top for my mother on our retreat but I have no photo of it and I've since given it to her. She was very happy with it so those of you who had your eyes on it can just forget it. :)

Last post of 2014

Time to do my traditional end-of-year wrap up. I keep a running tally down the sidebar of my blog of all the things I've sewn during the year. This year was reasonably productive but I always think I could do more. I've been working for Australia Post again this year starting from 26 October so haven't had as much time as I would've liked. It really makes me appreciate the time I have at home so a New Year's resolution is not to take this time for granted. I really admire all of you who work full-time and still manage to sew at night, in the early morning and the weekend. I don't think I could.

Anyway....onto my last project for the year (actually there is one more but it's a gift for a friend and I'm not sure that she doesn't read this blog). This was a gift for my great-niece - well actually she is my husband's nephew's daughter but close enough. I originally was going to make a totally different pattern but it was too much like hard work/effort so I decided to re-use the Vogue pattern that I made out of the leather.

The only differences from the leather version were (well, apart from the construction techniques!) the twist lock and the straps with O rings.

Vogue 8867 View C

Fabric from The Remnant Warehouse

Lining with pocket and my label

Strap attachment

Closeup of the twist lock

This year I made 7 bags (one being the friend's gift as above) culminating in 2nd prize in the PR Handbag contest. I also entered the Australian Sewing Guild Convention Challenge in the Convention Collection category (lots of Cs there!). I didn't win but I had a lot of fun, well most of the time anyway, making my wardrobe of clothes. I love planning stuff like that and I ended up with some new tops and pants which work well with all my other bits.

Here is my collage of finished items for the year.

To finish, here are some of my goals for 2015.

• Stop procrastinating!
• Make the most of my sewing time.
• Finish off some UFOs that I've just found in my sewing room (chocolate brown jeans I'm looking at YOU!)
• Master pants fitting - if I could only pick one goal, this would be the one

Happy New Year and see you on the other side!

Bridesmaid yet again!

I suppose now it's all done & dusted, I should show you the handbag I made for the Pattern Review Handbag Contest. Maybe I should've done this earlier and got some more votes! LOL. I came second in the contest but only by two votes.

I've had this faux croc patent red goat leather since the 2011 (or was it 2012?) Aussie PR weekend. We visited NSW leather where I picked this baby up for around $13. Such a bargain! Anyway, it's been sitting in my stash just waiting for the opportunity to be made into something wonderful.

As the goat skin was quite small, I couldn't really make anything big out of it so this bag was ideal. The pattern is Vogue 8867 which is apparently now OOP. I originally wanted to make View C but ended up with a slightly modified version of View B with the shorter flap. I couldn't get all the pieces for View C out of my leather.

A more detailed review is on PR....I described there how I sewed, taped & glued various seams and also how I sourced and attached the gorgeous little push lock. But I will show you a couple of pics.

The first one is modelled by my daughter in a similar pose to the pattern envelope.

 It was really hard to get a decent shot of the bag - flash, no flash, close up, far away - they all came out like this! Eventually had to go outside & use natural light.

Closeup of the gorgeous little push lock

Side view

A couple of finished items

A quickie catch-up post here to show the last 2 things I've sewn. Neither of them are secret women's business!

The first one is Simplicity 2603 View E with sleeves. This is the cami from the much-reviewed & loved cardi wrap pattern which is now OOP. I made this 3 yrs ago but the girls have grown and I have grown so it's now too small. Well, actually it still goes around me but is sooo short I can't wear it outside. In fact, even wearing it inside annoys me. Sigh. I shortened it and shouldn't have. Double sigh. So I have re-made it using some merino I bought in NZ last year. Love the length but maybe could've done with a bit more in the body. Just excuse the burgundy pants - I don't wear them like this in real life! Oh & the colour is out...it's more teal than blue.

Simplicity 2603 View E

Size XL

Fabric: Merino from the Fabric Store, Auckland New Zealand

Cost: NZ$20 per metre

The second thing I wanted to show you were these pants from Vogue 1355. It's a Sandra Betzina pattern and while I had trouble with the waistband aspect, I absolutely adore these pants. I thought they'd either be a disaster or fantastic and luckily for me, it's the latter.

Vogue 1355

Size H

Fabric: Poly Viscose from Martin & Savage

Purchased 25 November 2004, $12 per metre

If you pop over to Pattern Review you can read my thoughts on Sandra Betzina's negative ease waistband. Let's just say that no negative ease is gonna work on me so my pants now have an elastic waist. And I highly recommend it. LOL.

Vogue 8747

It's been a couple of months since I blogged. Mainly due to having nothing to blog about! But that doesn't mean I haven't been sewing - it's just that I've been sewing toiles. Blech. Talk about a headache! I think I've got those dratted things under control now and can begin the "real deal" items.

But in the middle of all that, I decided to enter the PR Fitted Blouse Contest. So I trawled through my patterns and found Vogue 8747 which, luckily for me, comes in sizes 12-20 in one envelope. I originally bought it for myself but decided for this contest to make my DD a blouse. She is currently job hunting and this will make a perfect interview shirt. She will also need *lots* of work clothes cos currently all she has is casual stuff.

So I started off with a really lovely white cotton batiste from my stash. It felt so gorgeous....until I washed it. Then I sewed it and I really wasn't happy with how it was handling so I put it aside (yes, I will finish it eventually!) and pulled out another fabric from my stash. This one was purchased in Salt Lake City way back in 2011 - remember that day, Sharon? It looked something like this:



If you look closely, you can see this fabric in that bag!

So the blouse is finished. Not without help from my cat Eliza who decided that each day I wanted to sew, she would sit right behind my sewing machine. Of course, today when I had finished the top, she found a completely different place to sleep. Ahh..cats...don't you just love them?

Anyway, I don't expect to win this competition. I just entered to give myself some motivation to sew something....anything! DD looks gorgeous in her new blouse and I'm happy with it. Oh except that I just discovered (by looking at the photos) that the gathering on the fronts is not level. Poop! Never saw that coming.

Vogue 8747

Size 12 with D cup front

Fabric purchased 7 March 2011 from

Yellow Bird Fabrics, Salt Lake City US$9.94 per yard less 20%

All set for Convention....

Two weekends ago I had a mini-retreat in my own sewing room & managed to get 6 tops finished for Convention. I had realised that owing to a little weight gain, none of my previous tops fitted. Well...they did...but not how I like them to fit. So I went through the stash, sorted out my fave TNT knit top patterns & got to work.

First up is Kwik Sew 2759 an oldie but a goodie. I probably should've gone up a size for this one but it will do. :) This has FOE around the neckline and I've sewn the overlap down so no flashing.

Next are 2 tops from Simplicity 4076. One has FOE around the neck and the other has the band from the pattern. The one with the band was a bugger to sew...very slippery.... and my Coverpro hated it. I wanted to try to make the neckline using my binders but it wasn't to be. Wrong choice on my part for a first attempt.

This is Kwik Sew 3784 without the buttons/loops and centre front seam. I used a fine wool blend that I got at Remnant Warehouse. I was in dire need of a plain black top so this has filled a hole in my wardrobe. The neckline is gaping a bit but I'm not sure if it's due to the facing or whether it may have stretched a little.

Again, a TNT pattern - Kwik Sew 3740. This first one, in the most gorgeous & expensive red/black/grey knit from Addicted to Fabric in Canberra, has no cowl and FOE around the neck. I had to laugh...I had my hair done this morning and you can see it getting messier and messier with every photo!

This version of 3740 is done using the softest most drapey fabric. I had to buy it just for the feel! It came from the Remnant Warehouse and goes so well in this pattern. It looks black and white in the photos but it's actually brown. Sharon, you should get some!

Last and certainly least is this silk jacket I've been making since May. Talk about give you a challenge! This was supposed to have a double mitred hem but my fabric didn't want to play so I ended up overlocking it and turning it over. Now I look at the photos, the sleeves are huge! probably not my best look but, as I was wont to say during construction especially at the end, I don't care!!

Vogue 8088

Fabric: silk sari given to me by ASG Board (hence the obligation sewing of same)

A few finishes

Last weekend, I joined a group of intrepid ASG members for a weekend away sewing. Three days (& nights) of uninterupted sewing time saw me finish 2 items completely & half finish two others. In fact, I could've used another project!

My first finish was Vogue 8795, the Marcy Tilton short drapey jacket. I just knew when I saw this that a black ponte with Swarovski zipper would be perfect and as I had the aforementioned ponte in my stash, all I had to do was order the zipper. Incidentally, I got it at Zipperstop and their customer service was wonderful. If you add the zipper to your cart by itself, the shipping to Australia will be calculated at $44.95! However, I emailed them & asked if they could just manually do the order and send me a Paypal invoice for the total. No problem & it was done that very day! $5.95 shipping. Highly impressed.

Onto the pic.

Vogue 8795

Size 14 at shoulders & 20 at sides

Fabric: Ponte

Purchased at The Fabric Depot, Portland OR 27 Feb 2011 $9.99 p/yd (less 20%)

Zipper from Zipperstop.com

The other item I made was the draped jacket from Christine Jonson's Travel Trio 1.  Mine is done using a turquoise acrylic sweater knit, sewn totally on the overlocker (except for the darts) and hemmed using my Coverpro. Very quick!

Christine Jonson Travel Trio 1 - draped jacket

Size L with FBA

Fabric: Acrylic sweater knit from The Remnant Warehouse

$15 for 2.5m remnant

I've also entered a contest on PR. The handbag one. Duh! I made Vogue 8439 using goat leather for the handles and ties. While it looks good in the photo, I will be taking it apart and giving it more structure. The interfacing I've used is just not firm enough and the leather straps & heavy hardware make it fall down in a heap. So I will need to fix that.

Vogue 8439

Fabric: Quilting cotton

Straps: goat leather from NSW Leather

Just for a change...a red top!

I received my Zipperstop order last week so finished up this Vogue baby. I adore this neckline but apparently did something wrong cos it didn't fit. Fudging had to be done so mine doesn't look as nice as it should. I'll just have to make another one, right? :)

The fabrics are wool except for that sleeve which is a Marcy Tilton mesh purchased at Puyallup. See, I am using the fabrics I bought in the USA.

Vogue 8793

Size L

Fabric: front - red merino from the Remnant Warehouse $14.95 p/m

back - black wool jersey leftover from my cardi wrap 2 yrs ago

sleeve - b/w mesh from Marcy Tilton $15 p/yard

collar - black/grey striped merino from The Fabric Store bought at Downunder PR weekend 2011

Coat is finished!

Woooooooooot!

After hours of steaming, fusing, cutting, pressing and sewing..the coat is finally finished. Have I mentioned this before? Not sure.

I'm loving the end result and it's very warm. You can imagine how warm I was in these photos since it's about 20C and sunny here today. The coat is 100% Italian wool lined with silk and fused entirely with Textureweft. The collar (both pieces) also have 2 layers of Armoweft and the front facing has one layer of Armoweft.

I didn't really need a lot of adjustments, just an FBA and some shortening of the sleeves. Oh & a little fiddling with the width at the front chest area and back sleeve.

The pattern is Simplicity 4403 and is a princess seamed, button up to the neck number with in-seam pockets in the front. I hate coats that don't button right up cos that's the bit that gets cold so it took a while to find the perfect pattern.

Simplicity 4403

Size 16 adjusted

Fabric: Italian wool from Rathdowne Fabrics in Melbourne

$30 p/metre

Lining: 100% silk from USA - US$20 of thereabouts per yard

Back of coat. Those wrinkles are only there because I'm folding my arms.

Closeup of funky lining fabric.

A close-up of my buttons. Love them!

I also made a beret to match the hat. The jury's still out on that one but it certainly keeps my head warm! Unfortunately, it appears to have stretched a bit at the crown...probably because I couldn't be bothered to insert the required piece of interfacing. Oh well, too bad. :)

Vogue 8440

Size: Small (pin head)

Fabric: Same as coat

Oh and here's one I made earlier. This is another beret, this time made in stretch velvet. I adjusted the pattern a little by making the crown bit smaller. This one is Vogue 8681. Forgive the blurry photo...it's my first time taking a pic in the mirror.

Vogue 8681

Fabric: Stretch velvet to match Marcy jacket

Vogue 8559

This is one of my evening outfits for the Convention next month. Eeek!! Did I say next month? Yes, it's 4 weeks from today. Better get cracking.

Lucky this top only took a couple of hours to whip up. Attaching the mesh was the fiddliest bit. Unfortunately, I only had the small sizes so had to use a medium where I should really use a large. The sleeves are a little snug and I should've done my shoulder/neck adjustment but other than that, I love it. I just happened to have this mesh in my stash & it goes beautifully with the burgundy velvet.

I did lengthen it by about 10cm (4 inches). It's incredibly short. I think Marcy designed it to wear over the tank from the same pattern but I think that would just be too much velvet for me. :) One thing I did learn....velvet is really hard to photograph!

I pinned it up here so you can see the mesh at the bottom edge.

Back view....love that little gathered bit!

Closeup of how the mesh is joined to the raw edged velvet. I used a twin needle although it's really hard to tell in the pic.

Closer view of the back gathered bit.

Marcy and my toile

I'm back with a pic of my finished Marcy Tilton top. The fabric is absolutely gorgeous against my skin..it's a micro-modal and just happened to match perfectly with the cherry red/black printed knit I brought back from Portland. I'm working on a small wardrobe of clothes for the Australian Sewing Guild Convention in September so this is one of my tops for that.

Vogue 8671

Size 16 at shoulders/neck, 20 at sides/fronts where possible

Fabric: Micro modal from the Remnant Warehouse

Cost: $6.95 less 25%

Please excuse my daggy around the house shorts! They certainly don't match. LOL.

I've used various pieces of fabric for the top. There is some black mesh from an older fat dress I had, some amazing black fabric with a metallic finish that I got at Remnant Warehouse and some stripe purchased from Marcy. I'm loving the raw edges (who'd have thought??) cos there's no hem hassles. The sleeves are a little long and I've already taken 3 inches off but I'm going to leave them and maybe push them up if necessary. The top is a little clingy but I think if I wore a tricot half slip underneath, that might make it look better.

Onto my toile. I have no pic cos it's not suitable for publishing! I made a size E hoping not to have to do an FBA. Well, actually I don't. But the jacket doesn't come anywhere near doing up around my stomach & hips and I can tell that it's pulling towards the back. So I need to add more to the back hip and do something with the back armhole cos there's balloons of puffiness around the armhole! It's also very short but I haven't put the band on yet. The shoulder looks OK...just need to take off my usual 1.5cm I think.

More sewing plans

Well I'm back in the land of the living. Feeling 100% and no idea what happened. My test results were all OK so I can just continue on.

Of course rather than returning to Marcy, I'm planning my next sewing project. I was reading Janis's blog and she's making Vogue 1036 which I also have. I got it in Portland. :) Anyway, residing in my stash is some gorgeous aqua denim which I bought when I went to Melbourne in 2009. It's been sitting there for 2 years waiting for me to come up with something and I think this is it! I've also got some turquoise snap source snaps which go nicely with it too so I think it's just meant to be.

Yesterday I traced off the pattern and today I want to cut out a toile. I'm hoping that if I use size E I won't need to do an FBA. I'll be watching the shoulder length though as Janis mentioned she needed to take of 1.5".

I just washed my denim.....the water came out bright blue! But, sob sob, I noticed when I hung it on the line that it's now a little distressed. So am I. It was gorgeous before but not so much now. Oh well.