A Nautical number: Hello Sailor!

Ahoy there mateys!

What a week it has been...

Amongst working full time, being unwell, sewing 2 bridesmaids dresses, going to a poetry reading, eating dumplings,  and meeting up with some lovely lady bloggers (Rachael #1, Rachael #2 get a blog already! and Anna) I managed to finish a little something for myself. 

This McCalls pattern (M6752) has been living in the stash for some time now. It was purchased during one of those awesome 99c sales on the McCalls website. I think it has been mentioned that I enjoy stocking up during these sales...cough hoarder cough!

Not sure what I'm doing in this picture, sozza!

This number was sewn mostly on the overlocker with only the shoulder darts (they are so clever!) and the neckline/sleeve hems using my sewing machine. It was a VERY quick make. I think it was about 37 minutes of sewing all up...who's counting?

I only had about 90cm of this striped jersey in the stash but managed to get all the pieces out without too much "creative" cutting. I chose the smallest size as I am usually swimming in the big 4 and it turned out to be a perfect fit! win.

All the pieces matched up and I quite enjoy all the chevron-y goodness.

This was also my first time using a double needle... umm where have you been all my life!!!???

Now I want to double needle everything. Everything.

I can be slightly obsessive... So my mum says.

Pattern: McCalls 6754

Fabric: Striped poly/cotton jersey (with great recovery!)

Time: approx 37 mins + 15 mins cutting

Make again: 100 more please

And that's all she wrote.

Talk soon!

Swimming Pool Skirt: Sewaholic Hollyburn

This is a short and simple post.

I made a skirt, hooray.

A Hollyburn skirt to be exact.

This fabric came from my work (I know, like a broken record right...).

It's a rayon/viscose/nylon blend which I have never come across before. It feels like a dream! 

It also reminds me of the reflections in a swimming pool. 

Boo Dogg also bagged herself some of this stuff! I cannot wait to see what she makes...

I actually made a frock for frocktails from this very same fabric (A Sewaholic Lonsdale, fancy that!) which I haven't blogged about, you can read about the awesome night here thanks to the lovely Poppykettle. 

Oh wait, a gust of wind!

This is a great pattern to breeze through in a couple of hours. 

Well drafted with straight forward instructions. Too easy.

And the pockets! so good.

I chose view B with the waist tabs in the mid length.

You can hardly see them in these pictures, but I found the perfect buttons in the stash to go with this fabric. I have a whole drawer of buttons and rarely have the opportunity to bust them out. It was nice to be able to sift through and pick a couple out!

Use your zoom peoples! They are green 1940's numbers with a pretty star-like imprint.

Pattern: Sewaholic - Hollyburn Skirt

Fabric: Rayon/viscose/nylon blend

Time: approx 3 Hours and then some hand finishing of the waistband on the couch :-)

Skirt!

That's all folks.

What's everyone sewing?

Thanks to the wonderful hubby for playing photographer yet again :-)

Polka dot obsession

My name is Renay and I'm a polkadotaholic!

And yep...These legs really are THAT white in real life.

It seems that no matter how much sun these pegs see, they remain this translucent shade of white. sigh.

Oh well, you get what you get. I'm not going to be running to a spray tanner any time soon. I fear the Snog Marry Avoid effect, eep!

This is the second pair of sweet scalloped shorts that I have made up.

The first pair were in a coral coloured linen and were so comfy, they were worn to death. literally.

And since the sun is now teasing us with its presence down here in the south, it was high time for another pair.

This fabric appeared at work a few months ago and I foolishly missed out on getting some. Then it appeared again! fool me once shame on you polka dots but fool me twice I think not! 

So I scooped up a few metres of this and a few of a lighter shade too. Cause I'm greedy like that.

It is a lightweight chambray with white polkas. 

Be still my beating heart!

This pattern really is drafted perfectly. The instructions are so good that the welt pockets are a breeze and the finished result is polished and professional.

I underlined the chambray with cotton voile to make it a bit more stable and opaque. Which worked and feels quite dreamy to wear.

There are a few boo boos to report however.... 

I shortened this pair a titch... now I feel they are too short.

Second boo boo was lining the back pockets in white cotton. It peeps out as you can see in the photo above. dang it. Such a good idea at the time...

Well...you live and learn. 

Pattern: Pattern Runway - Sweet scalloped shorts 

Fabric: Polka chambray and cotton voile. 

Time: Two afternoons, maybe 6 hours. I know! took my time on these ones.

Fun Fact: Yes, I use spanners as pattern weights. They are Perfect for those funny shaped facing pieces and what not... 

Hope y'all are swell!

xx

The end

BHL Love. The Elisalex!

And another By Hand London garment has been cranked out of the sewing room. 

Which brings the total up to 3 in as many weeks, yee ha! 

Today we have the Elisalex...

This frock was made to be put on display in the fabric store that I work in. We had a bunch of jacquards in big and bold prints. As soon as I saw this one I heard my inner sewing voice scream "Elisalex, ELISALEX!!!". So I did what I was told and ran home to the By Hand London Pattern that had been lurking in the stash, awaiting a fabric match.

The mannequin that was to be dressed in this dress is almost the same size as me except a little bit smaller in the bust (...bitch), so I made this one up straight outta the envelope to fit her snugly. And this was such a dream to sew. Nothing too difficult. Some darts here and there and some gigantic pleats, an invisible zipper. 

On went the iron and the tunes and I got into the zone. You know the sewing zone I'm talking about right? The one in which you get super focused and work like a well oiled machine and the hours pass in what seems like seconds...Thank goodness this happens in my sewing life, because this sure as hell does not happen in my real life. Focus is not my strong point, must be an attention deficit in there somewhere... Look a blue car!

This fabric had its ups and downs. 

Con: Did not like the iron. No matter how much I pressed and steamed, it just didn't want to sit flat. So the side seams are just a little bit cave-y in-y. 

Pro: The body and stiffness of the fabric made the pleats look fabbo. Perfect for big-ass pleats. Tick!

Con: It's 100% polyester...something I usually shy away from. I overheat and die in this stuff I tells ya. I hate it more than carrot top. So bad!

Pro: The colour and print was too good to not wear due to the devil fibre content...

So that's the way the Elisalex cookie crumbles.

Pattern: By Hand London Elisalex

Fabric: Poly Jacquard, Cotton Voile lining.

Notions: Invisible zipper

Time: Sunday afternoon (approx. 289 songs on iTunes)

I love love love the shape of this dress. So flattering. It is so feminine and classy, perfect for dinners and weddings and... well just life in general. 

I'm a fan, what can I say!

Look how big this skirt really is!

Ps. Just a side note... My lovely man has a new lensbaby lens on his camera. He was having a play with it for this photo shoot. Look at all that creative blurriness!

Over and out!

xx

A Little Ditty about By Hand London: The Flamingo Charlotte Skirt

The good thing about working in a fabric store is that you are surrounded by inspiration all the time.

This is also the bad thing about working in a fabric store. 

I have a tendency to be impulsive, especially with fabric, even if I have no use/need/idea for it.

Case in point...

A few months ago, a nice range of laces arrived and I fell hard for particular bolt. The only problem was that it was white...but that didn't stop me from snatching it up immediately. I generally refuse to wear white due to my grotty artistic nature.

 (True story: I once owned pair of white linen trousers purchased for a trip to Thailand thinking it would be nice to swan around in white linen like Jennifer Lopez or similar tropical goddesses. On said trip, the poor white pants endured many a stain. On one particular train ride to Chaing Mai, a man bumped orange juice all over my lap and I had to get changed like Mr. Bean at the back of the carriage. Not fun. (The pants were then shrunk by the hotel laundry so I had to wear tight ankle length linen pants for the rest of the trip...also not fun)

Look at that perfectly matched side seam. Score!

Anyway, that got way off track but the point is, white and me are not friends. 

So the white lace had to have a facelift and due to its lovely 100% cottoniness it was perfect for dyeing.

 I perused the dyes at  Spotlight and soon realised that the choices were quite limited. It was Dylon or Dylon. Dylon it is! I tried to pick some nice bright colours and 'flamingo' was one of them. And it is definitely flamingo. Check out that bright pink!

Don't look at the zipper.... I said don't look at it!

After an hour in the dye, it was washed then dried and waiting to be made up.

Enter the Charlotte Skirt pattern. Loving all of the patterns over at By Hand London!

Not a huge amount to say about the construction of this one: I found a matching pink brushed cotton for the under layer and waistband and it is lined in a stretch lining from work. A quick shout out to stretch lining... how have I never used it before? It wins. 

I basted the lace to the brushed cotton and treated them as one piece. It worked fine, however it is a winter skirt for sure. Slightly bulky and probably too warm for summer thanks to Mr. brushed cotton.

The only issue I had with this pattern is that it is made for an amazon woman. I had to shorten it by a whopping 8 inches or something!! I'm 5'1'' so I usually have to shorten most dress/skirts but this was cray cray. An easy alteration so no biggie. 

I love the pegged skirt and high waist with double darts. Most flattering. It will be the go to pencil skirt pattern for sure... there may already be another one waiting in the wings... maybe...

One of my favourite things about the pattern is that the lovely lasses include a little sew in label for your finished skirt, so cute!

Label included in your pattern!

Pattern: By Hand London-Charlotte Skirt

Fabric: Cotton Lace, Stretch Brushed Cottton, Stretch lining

Notions: Skirt hook and bar fastener, vintage metal zipper

Time: A lazy Sunday afternoon

Oh and the other colour I picked you ask?

 China Blue. Not sure what this will be made up into, anybody have any ideas???

Saturday Night Fever Dress

Well well, 2 posts in one week. Things are looking up around here...

A while ago, I entered the Tessuti Gridlock Sewing Competition with a last minute ditch effort.

The sewing gods must have been smiling upon me because I actually won a prize for this dress!

The lovely ladies from Tessuti offered up a $100 gift voucher for the store.... ummm yes please!

The only problem was that my Tessuti wishlist was somewhat gigantuous (understatement).

So I  shuffled up to the shop to have a feel around and fell in love with some black silk...

But this wasn't just any black silk, no. This black silk was like a scene from studio 54 with a dance floor full of dancers. I kid you not. Win! 

Lets all stop for a moment and bask i this fabrics gloriousness shall we!

I think it's silk chiffon...or something. hmm. But look at it! Loooook! 

Doesn't it make you want to start John Travolta-ing all over the place? 

Anyway, enough of that jibber jabber. People want details...

Fabric: (I forget but think it is) Silk chiffon with dancefloor border print from Tessuti

Pattern: Victory Patterns Satsuki (Oh my god Satsuki! true love)

Time: Two afternoons

Swear words screamed whilst roll hemming: Approx. 762

The chiffon was quite sheer so i thought this disco creation would have to be lined. I wanted it to keep the liquid consistency of the beautiful silk so I opted for some silk habotai from my work to give it a bit of opacity. Turns out... sewing rolled hems on all this wafer thin silk isn't as fun as first thought. 

Just a quick note about this pattern (And Victory Patterns in General...) its fecking amazing!

I have sewn up three of the Victory patterns so far and have had no issues at all. The drafting is so flattering and the fit is wonderous. I can see this dress becoming a summer night out staple. 

Look Ma, no arms!

 The sash was made out of the black habotai also, you can see that the black isn't quite the same black... how does that work? Anywho, no major biggie, nobody will notice at the discotheque.

The belt is threaded through two carefully placed buttonholes and helps define the waist on an otherwise sack-like frock. Sack-like simply does not work on my top heavy frame unfortunately. I dream of pulling off those light and breezy, loose creations like this hot woman.

Hooray, I made a dress!

Anyways. that is all for now. I will leave you with a stupid picture to peruse. 

My sensai master (Husband photographer) mentioned that this dress looks like a kimono and said I should show off my best karate moves. I have no moves evidently. 

kiii yaaa

Heeeee yaaa

The dancefloor is a different matter however.... You wish you could see these moves. 

ciao now 

xx

Out of a coma and into Papercut Patterns

Ok so who wins the worst blogger award? yup, that'd be me.

But who has the time to worry about such things? Let's press on shall we...

Though there has been minimal blogging activity in these parts, there has been manic sewing activity.

I recently finished up at my office job and started working full time in a fabric store...(I know, kid in a candy store and all that. I shopped there so much that they had to employ me soon or later). 

So life is pretty swell, I walk to work each the morning, stopping for the obligatory coffee on the way and traipse along to play with fabric all day. Pretty much.

So, what of the sewing you ask? Here is a little somethin somethin I whipped up last weekend.

Enter La Sylphide...

So I guess I'm late to the Papercut Patterns party, Fashionably late I hope. 

I was seeing beautiful papercut creations popping up  all over the interwebs. This spawned furious jealousy inside me! So much so that I decided it was high time something was done about this cumbersome urge. Cumbersome! (greatest. word. ever.)

Patterns were ordered toot sweet, Add to cart, add to cart!

FIngernail biting and sleepless nights ensued and then the lovely pattens were in my hands.

Laughing like a mad scientist, I retired to the sewing lair.

I shopped the stash. Of course a light summer cotton voile is perfect for this cold Victorian weather... okay maybe not. But who cares, practical shmactical!

I could sing from the rooftops about how much I love cotton voile. Whenever the wind blows, it whispers "cotton voile" "cotton voile" (said in best Enya voice). 

Cough, we simply must press on...

Toosh. 

Nothing stunning to report about this make. It was pretty much completed in one afternoon. 

No major boo boos to report either. Simple sewing. My new machine even made the buttonholes a breeze (must tell you about the amazing buttonhole contraption one day!) and the plain white buttons were found in the button drawer. winner. 

So let's tally up the scores. 

Pattern: Papercut Patterns la Sylphide 

Size: XS (No alterations, Perfect fit!)

Fabric: Cotton Voile from the stash, High Five!

Notions: 6 white buttons from stash, High ten!

Minutes spent obsessing lusting thinking over next Papercut pattern: 164 (approx)

So thats that. I have several projects up in the air as usual and will be working furiously on another Tessuti competition dress. Only 14 days left before comp closes and counting...EEK!

Hope you're all sewing your little fingers off.

Over and out rubber ducky...

Tessuti Gridlock Gertie Wiggle Dress!

Now try and say that 10 times fast!

I finally decided to get my ass into gear and finish this dress today.
Yes...on the day this competition closes. No pressure!

I was unsure about this fabric from day dot, so it was left to sit in a pile on my sewing room floor for a good 3 weeks. Blue is really not my colour... yet I continue to persist in testing this theory!

 So in a pile it sat until I started seeing Gertie's wiggle dresses popping up all over the blogosphere (such as this one and this gorgeous one...)

I said to myself "you will be mine wiggle dress... oh yes. You will be mine!"

Then i stopped talking to myself and cut the darn thing out.

looking like a proud new mother...

Construction went together pretty smoothly.

After sewing the 8 double pointed darts! phew...

There was much head scratching over how to insert the underarm gussets.

But I managed to get them in somehow... and they look pretty neat if I do say so myself!

Finished Underarm Gusset! woop woop

So the gussets were done... then I lost steam and dropped the project in a pile again.

Until today that is...

 I had a day off from work and decided to tackle the UFO box (Insert scary music here) 

And I thought, what the hay, there are still a few hours to submit a dress for this competition so lets get cracking!

I whizzed up the side seams and added the neck facing and finished the hems. DONE AND DONE!

however... it looked pretty boring compared to some of the other comp entries. Hrmph...

(Not that I am in the running with a last minute whip up Ha!)

So I needed to use the white side of the fabric to add a little something.

A bow seemed like a nice and simple addition, and a quick one too.

I made it detachable so I can swap brooches depending on mood.

And the fit you ask?

A-m-a-z-i-n-g

I have never had a pattern fit so well straight out of the envelope... or book in this case.

I traced a straight size 8 (I think) and made zero alterations. 

No full bust adjustment, no pinching excess from the back. Nothing!

Winner. Thanks Gertie.

All in all, I am a happy little vegemite.

I feel a bit va va voom yet classy at the same time.

Now I just need somewhere to wear this little number.

Cocktails anyone???