So far in my year of non-procrastination......

The weather in Sydney has been warm, hot, humid, cool, breezy and more humidity. A bit of everything. Since I can really only sew productively on cool days, my sewing has been limited. But I did move the machine into the air con to sew something two weekends ago. And no, it's not pants.

It's the Dog Under My Desk Take Off tote! Yeah that's right, another bag! Erin's instructions are great but she uses different interfacing etc to Nicole Mallalieu so I had to source them, cos of course, I *had* to use the right stuff! I'm really happy with how it turned out so let me show you some of the features.

This pocket slips over the extendable handle of your suitcase. Very handy! I have a sewing bag with such a handle so this will give me extra space at my ASG meeting when I always come home with more than I go with!

The end of the zipper was supposed to have a sewn zipper tab over your chopped off zipper but since I used the correct length zip, I just left it. Plus I like it!

This is the inside and very hard to photograph. But that pocket is huge! If it wasn't divided, it could fit an iPad easily.

Outside zipper pocket which is handy for things you want easy access to.

There are a couple of things I would do differently next time. Like add handbag feet to protect the base. Mine is already dirty. :( But since I have to unpick it cos my front zipper pocket has come adrift, maybe I'll add them.


Onto the second item. When it was cool on Australia Day, I jumped at the chance to sew. And this is what I made. It's also by Dog Under My Desk and is the Get Carded bag. I made this for my DD. She has, funnily enough, a similar wallet by Vera Bradley. Cough. And she requested this fabric which is also VB. Double cough. Anyway, it's turned out FABULOUSLY! I even impressed myself with this one.

One side has a zipper gathered pocket and the other has a clear plastic ID pocket. Very handy for Opal cards etc.

This is the gathered zipper pocket. There are also options to have a normal zip pocket or a pleated pocket and a normal pocket to replace the ID pocket.

And of course, the inside. Erin uses velcro for the closure but I hate velcro. It nearly always dies a terrible death before the bag does. So I used a magnetic snap. Yes, I know...people say they wipe your credit cards but we shall take the risk.

In other news, I have decided to keep a running total of my fabric purchases for the year. Ergh...this may have been a mistake cos of 31 January I have bought 27.65m!!! Although I have to admit, a couple of pieces are specifically for the Travel Wardrobe contest on PR. But still. So this morning I did a quick purge from two of my plastic boxes in the sewing room and removed 6.5m to donate to Crowle Home. Feeling a bit better about that! But there is definitely more that can be donated so I'll be going through boxes as I feel the urge.

Fabric haul from New Zealand

As promised, I'm back with pics of the fabric haul. I've finally had a minute to myself to unpack the carry-on & extra bag I had to buy so I quickly took these photos to share with you.

This first photo is all the fabrics together. Not a particularly good shot though!

This is a gorgeous mesh I bought while staying with my friend in small town NZ, Waipukurau. It was $25.50 pm but I had to have it.

Also from Waipukurau came this gorgeous necklace that I had to have. $24! There was another too that I liked but it was much more expensive so I took an illicit photo to copy it at a later date.

Onto fabric from the Convention fabric tour. This is my first purchase which is black merino. Of course the photo does nothing for it...you gotta feel it! It's the softest stuff I've ever felt and at $19 p/m, I got 5 metres. It's good for basic layering stuff. I got this at The Fabric Shop (not to be confused with the Fabric Store which used to be called Global Fabrics in Auckland).

Also at that shop was the wall of FOE. I nearly wet myself when I saw it. But because it was the first shop we went to on the fabric tour, I didn't buy any! In my experience, if you buy FOE without having fabric to match, it never does.

Our second stop (with a morning tea break at a cafe next door...cheese scone..yum!) was Centrepoint Fabrics in Newmarket. It was a little more expensive but had a fabulous range of stuff. I got this berry coloured merino for $24.95 p/m. The usual price was $48! My camera couldn't cope with the gorgeousness of the colour but it's a little darker than it looks here.

Next stop, The Fabric Store (aka Global Fabrics). Their merino was the same price as in Sydney however, not only did they have some on sale for $20 p/m but they were giving us a 30% discount on full priced stuff. So I got this teal merino for $26.60 p/m. I have no plans at this stage for any of this fabric.

Then I spotted this purple stuff. It's a DKNY Italian jersey 20% wool, 75% viscose, 5% lycra. Gorgeous. $20 p/m reduced from $32. Again my camera couldn't cope but it's purple and not as bright as it looks here.

There were other fabric shops on the Auckland tour but I didn't buy anything. I know..what was I thinking! However, when I stayed with my friend we visited Napier and a shop I saw when I was last there in 2010. I spotted it as we drove to the airport with no time to stop. So we took the opportunity to go back and I got this burgundy poly spandex that is so me. It was reduced to $13.90 p/m.

Then I got this boring old black & white stripe poly spandex knit. The reason I bought this is the stripe goes DOWN the grain. I thought it would be handy for Marcy Tilton type stuff. $25.90 p/m but I got my metre for the price of 90cm due to a crooked cut.

So that's it. I probably wouldn't have needed another bag if it weren't for the 5m of black merino. But it was no problem as Qantas now have a 30kg bag allowance and I discovered that it doesn't matter how many bags you have, as long as you don't go over the 30kg. Score!

Trip wrapup

I've been putting off writing this post as I didn't really know what to say. So I'll just concentrate mainly on my purchases (cos, after all, isn't that the best bit?? LOL) and do a quick roundup of Puyallup and the classes in another post.

We arrived into Portland on Sat 26th Feb and proceeded to drive to Tigard for Apple store shopping. It was quite cold & stupid me forgot her jacket. We were dashing from store to store in 34 degrees with my teeth chattering. Anyway, I ended up with DH's iPad, my red iPod nano and a blue shuffle for my mother. I also bought some goodies at the Mac cosmetics store. Good haul!

Next day, we were chaffeured around by Janis and this is where the good stuff started. First stop, Fabric Depot. My friends & I had already begun shopping there before we even left home. They had a 50% off Clover sale the weekend before so we ordered on-line and picked up the order in the store. I also managed to drop some serious $$$ while we were there which was mostly notions but also some fabric & patterns. Oh & some DMC embroidery thread which is much cheaper there.

Next stop, Mill End Store. I have to say I tried my hardest but no fabric came home with me from there. Sharon, on the other hand, got the motherlode. But that's another story. All I got from Mill End was some wonder tape & the PR book.

I'd better share some pics with you otherwise it'll get a bit boring - me rambling on about various stores etc. You get the drift. Here's my fabric haul.

Let's see..... how can I tell you what they all are? At the back, the red stuff is polar fleece from Rose City Textiles. Very yummy! I also have some black for DH that's not in the photo. This came in very handy in some of our cold hotel rooms. Why don't they ever have spare blankets in the rooms???? But I digress. The black fabric at the back right is ponte. Next row is a poly/spandex aqua print, a rayon batik (gorgeous), the black/aqua sort of stripey fabric is a very fine cotton voile and the aqua on the right is some sort of knit from M&L fabrics in Anaheim ($2.79 p/yd). Next row is the most gorgeous cherry red/black knit (I think it's rayon but can't quite remember), then some b/w meshy stuff from Marcy Tilton's booth at Puyallup, the stripe is also from her booth and the red on the right is silk weight wickaway from Rose City Textiles. Finally, the bottom row is a gorgeous pink/black stretch woven from Yellow Bird Fabrics in SLC, blue/black/aqua funky silk for my coat lining, black/aqua knit also from Marcy I think and a piece of chiffon I wanted to make a scarf out of.

Onto the notions - well, what can I say. I was literally throwing stuff into my cart at the Fabric Depot. Most of this came from there.

I won't go into details except to say that I finally got a 40" flexible ruler for pants fitting and there's a bit of FOE in that pic. Oh & the epiphany of the trip - Gutermann numbers are DIFFERENT in the US. That was a big bummer after I'd downloaded the list of colours here beforehand and had plans to fill in the gaps of my collection. LOL. So I just bought all the aquas & teals.

Books - did anyone say books? This pic doesn't include the 4 books I got for my DD which were heavy little buggers and nothing to do with sewing. The two little books on the right were part of a door prize I won at the ASG Seattle chapter dinner at Puyallup. :)

Finally, sewing patterns. Oh my! I think I went a little mad. Most of them were purchased at Joann's but I did get a couple at Puyallup.

Fabric shopping!

Due to velosewer & Sharon's generosity, I had a voucher to spend at The Fabric Store so went there this morning to do my best. I ended up spending $180! Here's my haul.

The red fabric is a merino knit (gorgeous) and is actually a little more like cherry red in real life. The white is a linen I'm going to make cropped pants with.



This purple knit matches perfectly with a RTW skirt (see below) I bought the other day and blends in with my new colour scheme for summer of aqua, purple, white & grey. I got 5 metres of it!

And finally, 2 panels of this drop dead gorgeous stretch woven cotton.

I have fabric!

So after yesterday's ASG meeting at the Remnant Warehouse, I now have 2 more pieces of fabric for my wardrobe. Both wool, one black, one red. I really really wanted another print for one of my tops but it wasn't to be. So I either have to find another piece of fabric or bite the bullet & use the plain. Although, I may do both and only enter 1 in the contest. So here's the boring old storyboard.



I have already finished the New Look black/white/red wild print top and almost finished the cardi wrap. That wool jersey for the cardi wrap is just gorgeous but a bit of a bugger to sew....it grows! I think a walking foot might be the answer but of course, it's too late now.

I also just had a scare with my croc denim. I went out to do a rolled hem on my cardi wrap & found the plastic bag containing all the cut pieces for the jeans jacket had water in it! It would appear that the croc sweats. Lucky I found it when I did. Nastiness could have happened there. I now have it "breathing" on the ironing board. :)

Check this out!

I was reading through a fashion catalogue this morning and found this. It's from a shop here in Australia called "My Size" who cater for sizes 14 and over.

Hey...that's my fabric! See my storyboard for the mini wardrobe contest. Whaddya know! So...how much do My Size want for this Tshirt? Yes, only $129.95!!! Where's that eye popping icon when you need it? I paid $4 per metre for that fabric at Pitt Trading's half price sale. Normally $8 p/m. A bargain in anyone's language. 

This is why I sew. And people say you can't save money sewing anymore.

And we're off!

The mini wardrobe contest has begun! I'm so excited to start sewing. Geez...who would've thought! I'm washing my grey wool/spandex as we 'speak' and my red skirt is cut out.

Let me tell you about my red wool drama. There's always a drama, isn't there? LOL. It started with the pre-shrinking squares I mentioned in the last post. The thing was, the wool didn't shrink when washed in cool water. So off I go...dunk the 2m of wool into the cool water, swish around, spin it in the machine & line dry. While it's hanging I thought I'd check the measurement of the width. Well bugger me if it hadn't shrunk 12cm. ARRRRRRRGHHHHHHH! How the? So I consider my options.

• I could make the skirt shorter - this is not really a goer as I did that last time and it was too short, even for my short legs. Cross that one off the list.
• I could fudge it with the smallest size and it would probably still need shortening - that's not a goer either as, really, I need the size 20 if it's going to look half decent. Cross that one off.
• I could add a seam somewhere - hmmmm...this sounds like the answer. But where? Centre back? No - that would make a bias seam if I want it to be straight. And I do. Centre front? Well what would be the point as the lapped bit is almost at centre front so this wouldn't work either. Solution? The side. Yes viewers, only 1 side. It works because the pieces will now fit on the fabric and the seam will be on grain and also straight. Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

So the (now) 2 piece skirt is cut out. Later on I will re-thread the overlocker with red & serge all the edges of both pieces. Then I can change to black overlocking thread & finish off both my Simplicity 2603 cardi and the one I just made for my mother which I haven't mentioned. These have nothing to do with the mini wardrobe contest BTW.

Shopping

I met up with my real life sewing buddies last Saturday and they mentioned Pitt Trading had a half price fabric sale. So who am I to resist? I went over there on Monday and picked up a couple of things. These are their stories. ;)

I found the almost perfect print that matches my aqua pants fabric (which reminds me...I'd better get cracking on those or summer will be over and I'll be wearing bright aqua in winter!!). Not only did it have the aqua colour but also another one of my colours, a mid blue. Not that I have anything to match that but hey...a girl can always shop some more. I got three metres cos that's all they had left on the roll.

Viscose/rayon? jersey

$4 per metre

I also picked up this poly spandex jersey. I'm still not 100% sure about the size of the print but the colours are exactly what I wanted for my trip later this year (travel wardrobe colours are black/white/grey/red). I ummed & ahhed about it & then thought, what the heck it's only $4 a metre. So it came home with me.

Poly/spandex jersey

$4 p/metre

Then I headed up to the Remnant Warehouse where I made a killing. I got a Simplicity pattern for DD for a dress (we're going to my nephew's wedding in April), a 250m reel of Gutermann thread, a piece of fabric (see below) and some piping cord all for $8.95. I had a $20 voucher on my frequent shopper card and I think the girl made an error in her maths so $8.95 was my total for all that. Very happy! Here's the fabric...I couldn't resist. Again, it was my travel colours.

Poly/spandex jersey

$8.95 per metre

Here's the pattern I got DD. It's a Project Runway pattern so has no views to speak of. We're making the blue dress in the pic but with the uneven hemline. I bought size 12-20 only to discover that DD is a 10 in the high bust. Sigh.

I'm still alive

My real life sewing buddies are asking me why I haven't updated my blog. The answer is: I don't know! LOL. It's not like I haven't been sewing....it's probably more related to the lack of pics I have to show you. Dunno about you all but I find blogs with no pics a bit boring. So prepared to be bored!

Our weekend away was a total success. I made 2 tops & started a bag. No pics. Neither top is completely finished so if I get my A into gear & do that, I can post some pics & a review on PR. Sigh.

However, in other news I have been attempting to fit some pants. I haven't made pants since about 2000 when I had a TNT pants pattern done with the help of my good friend and sewing teacher, Roberta Thompson. But now that I've lost some weight, of course this TNT pattern is now useless. So I battled with adjusting a Burda pattern....it's a trouser pattern, close fitting. Yeah well too close fitting for my legs! So then I thought I might try my hand at the Burda WOF (I know it's not called that anymore but bugger it) mag that I just got. I think it's pattern 140 from the Sept issue. I traced it all off and then had an ephiphany.

I pulled out the TNT pattern from 2000.....went to my sewing notebook where I write all the details of my projects. Very handy...I can recommend doing this & you'll see why in a minute. I had made the pants back in 2000 when I was thinner than I was before I started WW and I had used them later for a fitted pant in a stretch woven with facing waistband & invisible zip. I hadn't realised until I read the notebook that it was the same pattern! So I figured why re-invent the wheel? These pants already have my extended calf adjustment and my fat thighs adjustment etc. So I tried them. OH MY GOD! They're huge. A bit clown-like in fact. So I consulted PP's FFRP pants version and took a 6cm tuck down the back leg. 6cm!! I still have both smiles in the front crotch & bagginess below my bum. My extended calf adjustment has gone to hell in a handbasket, the hip area is now too tight and the waist almost extends to my bust. I've let the front inseam out & taken in the back inseam but still have the resulting smiles & bagginess.

Ergh...it's no wonder I haven't made pants for years. I need to re-think. So much for my idea of having new pants for Christmas.

In other news, I found the most wonderful perfect fabric to match the pants fabric which is bright aqua linen/cotton blend. The top fabric is lighter aqua with splotches of the same colour as the pants fabric and is light enough to use on a lovely gathered top. However the bad news was they only had a metre at Castle Hill Spotlight. I bought it, thinking I could fudge but no. I've been thinking about this for 2 days when I finally bit the bullet & decided to go to Auburn Spotlight. Imagine my joy when I found a huge roll of the fabric. 3 metres have now come home with me. I'm doing the dance of joy. But my joy is only shortlived as the toile for the top is disasterous. Now I know why I usually sew knits.

Is that enough of an update for you? LOL

An award for little ole me

Gwen gave me this award recently (well, actually it was a while ago now) so here I am blogging about it.

* Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.


* Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author and the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

* Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains The Award.

* Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!

* Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

I'm supposed to pass this along to 5 deserving friends but I figure most people around have had some sort of award so I'll pass.

Sometimes I don't think anyone is out there reading my blog...it doesn't really matter to me cos I made this blog mostly for my own amusement and for interest sake. I know my sewing is sporadic at the best of times and I'm trying to improve on this. Right now, I'm working on that T from a post way below. I got together with my real-life sewing friends last Saturday and they were very helpful with fitting advice. At the moment it's very hot here in Sydney (& I'm talking 39C - 102F) and it's gonna be hotter tomorrow. So I have actually brought my sewing machine into the a/c but of course, the spot where I want to sew is where Sooty the black & white loves to sit. So I need to shoo her off first. LOL. I promise pics will be forthcoming. Right now DH & DD are off at the Top Gear live stage show & I have the house to myself (woot!).

Oh & I forgot to mention that I have bought some more fabric! Lincrap are having a 50% off fabric right now which in reality means nothing as they mostly have crap (hence the name). However, I found some nice knits at their Castle Hill store a couple of weeks ago but I refused to pay $15 p/m for them. So of course, I got them for 50% off on Thursday. $26 for 2 nice pieces of fabby...I'm a happy woman.

No sewing but I have been shopping!

If you're waiting for a pic of the Tshirt in the previous post, don't hold your breath. LOL. I haven't even cut it out. I have no excuse.

But in other news, I went shopping to the Remnant Warehouse here in Sydney with my mother & DD. Mother bought nothing but DD found a couple of pieces of fabric that took her fancy. The main reason we went was to get some sort of aqua cotton to make a sleeveless top for her. This is what she chose:

This is the pattern for it which I previously had (View C).

This is the trim I'll be putting across the band. The pic is a shocker...the trim is an almost perfect match for the fabric (aqua sequins) and looks fabulous.


Then she spotted this lycra and had to have it.....



Last but certainly not least, I picked up 2m of this for myself. Not yet sure what I'll make.

Fabric shopping in Portland!

I'm currently in Portland and today I spent the day with my new friend, Linda Griepentrog. She graciously drove us around all the fabric shops in Portland. Yes, I purchased a few things! How could I not? Here's the loot.

From left to right.....a gorgeous gorgeous piece of microfibre fleece from Rose City Textiles. This stuff is just so soft and, yes, it's a mottled colour, a light green. Not sure if it's really my colour but I loved the feel so just had to have it. On top of that is a couple of ribbons I got at the Bead & Button Emporium. That's a wonderful shop!

Next, is a piece of batik cotton from the Fabric Depot. This will be a summer cami top for wearing around the house. Nice & cool. You can also see Threads magazine. A must-buy for any Aussie in the US. It's $6.99 here and last time I looked, it was around AU$20. Below that is a remnant from the Fabric Depot for my cross-stitched Christmas ornament finishing. It cost me 50c so you can see why that jumped into my bag.

Last but by no means least, is 2 yards of black/white/grey rayon knit from the Mill End Store. This stuff is gorgeous and I just had to have it also even if the background colour is light and I probably don't need any more black/white stuff. But they had nothing else that appealed so it's coming home with me.