Vogue 8998, Clove Attack!

Do you sew to wear? Or just for the love of sewing?

Sometimes finished items languish in my wardrobe waiting to see the light of day.

Why? Because I'm busy sewing fancy frocks instead of a real life wardrobe.

Cause that can just get boring no?

Case in point... 

This is Vogue 8998. 

I liked this pattern straight away and purchased from the vogue website during one of their fabulous sales. Vogue for $4.99 is unheard of in this part of the world, gimme gimme!

So I chopped into it as soon as it arrived and waited for the right fabric to come along.

Enter this clove print, Thank you Tessuti.

White? oh yes, how practical. I'll have the spaghetti bolognese please.

Now this is a strange fabric...Strange in a good way.

It is a double organza in a blend of Viscose and Polyamide. 

Stiff, crisp, slightly luminescent and perfect for full skirts... especially on a windy day, whoosh!

So I immediately set to work cutting and prepping this swishy frock to wear on my many nights sitting at home on the couch. 

Cough.

I mean, prancing around the town on, one of the many, Sunday brunch dates Tom and Nicole. 

Wait... thats not right.

The fit was perfect straight outta the envelope.

 This was mainly to do with the inclusion of different cup sizes thank you Vogue.

I love how more brands are doing this now, us big bosomed ladies are finally getting our comeuppance!

I lined the whole thing in some sexy silk satin and called it a day. Nothing makes you feel nicer than swanning around in silk.

The only problem of course is that you get used to it and now nothing else will do. 

Champagne taste, beer budget and all that...

But actually, the best part of this frock is the gigantic pockets! These hands don't wanna leave you dear, sweet pockets...

Who doesn't love pockets? 

Really, they are an awkwardly posed sewing bloggers best friend.

One admission...

Any pattern matching was unintentional. 

A Fluke, thank you sewing gods. This was a momentary lapse in consciousness. 

Must have been a Friday when i cut this out. Whoops.

There is a centre back zip, look at it.... oh  you cant, its invisible! 

(Actually, its not the best one. I'll blame the stiff fabric for that one...)

I also added a little button to the top to give the zip some support.

The hem is finished with satin bias binding catch stitched by hand. 

(I'll never get those 2 hours back!) 

The lining hem is finished with horsehair, as per the vogue instructions. This makes the skirt sit out nicely at the bottom and is a lovely finishing touch, it feels so swirly and fun.

Hello lover... 

here is a shot of the silk innards for all you fabric pornaholics out there.

So in the end, I'm not sure how this dress fits into my day to day life, but it was a lot of fun to make and I do gaze longingly at it and imagine sunny days and champagne... maybe a yacht.

sigh... someone get married already!

Happy days

xx

Pauline Alice: A continuing romance.... Sorrell Trousers

Well looky over here, today I am featured on the lovely Indie Stitches blog.

Caitlin asked me to write about one of the new Pauline Alice patterns, the Sorrell trousers.

And I loved them... Thanks Caitlan!

Go and have a read

xx

  

Autumn Sewing: Pauline Alice Quart Coat

This is the coat dreams are made of. 

It's all in the details. Pleats, lining, epaulets, zips, hanging loop!

I heart Pauline Alice patterns!

I seem to have added all bar two of her patterns to my collection. Whoops.

I'll be making her overalls next. (much to my husbands dismay, sorry not sorry)

I wanted this pattern as soon as I saw it.

It didn't matter that it was still summer here and coats were at the back of the sewing queue.

You know what its like when you get a new pattern and you want to sew it RIGHT NOW!

So thats what happened...

The Quart Coat comes in a lovely envelope with cute illustrations and the instructions are excellent, and in 3 languages no less!  

After sewing some very colourful coats last year (Bright Orange!) it was about time to make a staple coat that would go with everything. Basic black.
I took a trip to The Fabric Store and scooped up some melton wool.
I absolutely love sewing this stuff!

I won't go too much into the construction because it will probably bore you to death...

I made some shoulder pads and a back stay and interfaced the hell outta this sucker with a nice tailors interfering from work. I'm starting to run out of good interfacing. Anybody have any good suggestions/suppliers?

I used a poly charmeuse for the lining because its a nice weight and seemed to go with the wool.

Sewing it was a complete nightmare though. So slippery and fray city!

I sewed slowly (for me) and completed little bits of the coat here and there. It took about a week on and off to finish it up. There was a fair bit of hand sewing and lots of buttons to sew on. 

All in all a very satisfying make!

                    

 Here is a couple of shots of it on its maiden voyage to the Queen Vic Market and surrounds.

Side note: 

I was heavily hung over after going to see Russell Kane at the comedy fest and visiting many bars. 

So many bars. I. was. very. sick.

(So sick that I got an amazing plate of muesli and bagel that cost a million dollars and ate about one spoonful of it. No good).

Twas a nice day for a prance though!

The verdict is that I love this coat. It it SO warm, a nice mid length and comfy as hell.

This will get a lot of wear. In fact it already is the daily chuck on!

Yep. Was having a moment here...

Please stop taking my photo. In fact don't even look in my direction. Don't even breathe near me.

Anybody else sewing any Pauline Alice patterns???

Its a true romance happening over here...

Papercut Patterns Rigel Bomber - Everyday Digs #1

So far this year has been all about trying different things. Sewing things that is.

I want to try ALL the patterns. 

I'm doing my best to buy up ALL the patterns and so far its been not only exhausting but also bankrupting! But all jokes aside...

Not usually one to go for casual styles, I'm all about the fancy pants.

Every time a new evening gown pattern comes out it seems to snail mail it's way to my letterbox.

I just want to sew gowns alright! Give me boning, lining, hand stitching!

Tasia talks about this in her frosting/cake conundrum. 

I can relate... but lately there has been strange happenings in the sewing dungeon.

Everyday wear has been making its way into my self sewn wardrobe!

I am Renay and I'm currently in the mood for addicted to cake.

First case in point. The Papercut Rigel Bomber.

I was never interested in this pattern. 

Too masculine for me I said, too boxy. Just not quite right. 

Until I saw this one and this one!

THEN this cool autumny coloured wool arrived at work and there was a matching ribbing and all the stars aligned! I saw the sign people.

Add Rigel Bomber to cart.

I cut this out in February and it sat there until this month because... harsh Australian summer!

There was also the problem of the non lining with the pattern. 

My overlocker is having a sad moment. As I'm not a fan of looking at the ugly insides of my seams and pockets and since this fabric was fray central, this baby needed a lining.

A gold lining, BLING BLING!

How I hate thee stray thread!

I used the Threads method for lining this one. 

Just bagged it right on in there, with only 2 inches of hand sewing. 

I love this method and will be using it on EVERYTHING from this day forth.

It looks totes profesh.

The only other change made was to shorten the bodice by approx 2 inches. 

I took out some length from the bottom of the pockets so there was no fussing with replacing them.

I am short waisted and make this adjustment on pretty much all patterns. 

This may surprise you (not) but I am short. Just over 5 foot.

Thanks a lot genetics...

The only problem encountered during this make was finding a zip. Argh!

Firstly, there was NO colour that looked good, I settled with this beige kinda colour.

And of course there wasn't one short enough in that colour. I had to shorten it. 

Has anyone shortened a metal zipper? I had to Youtube that biz. And now I have no fingernails...

It ended up working really well (thumbs up) but the colour still bothers me.

I hate you zip.

So thats that. 

Turns out I like the bomber.

I shall leave you with a few parting shots of me channelling my inner male suit model.

how i hate thee stray thread #2 on left chest

thanks ya'll

I'll be back shortly with some more every day digs and also some more jackety goodness.

xx

Named Inari Tee

Howdy ya'll, I trust you are well?

Sorry for being away for so long! I have missed this little blog. But let's not get boring with real life details. Here is a simple top to get back into the blogging spirit!

Pattern: Named Inari Crop Tee

Fabric: A floral scuba knit with a mesh overlay (SO cool!). From work.

Time: This bad boy only took about 1.5 hrs from cutting to trying on...win

When Named brought out their new 'Ticket' collection I was possessed and accidentally went over to Stitch 56 and ordered up a few. Amongst my stash are the peg trousers, the Asaka kimono, the tulip dress and the lourdes jacket... yup...that was a two minute noodle week. Still coveting the pencil skirt and the bikini... but it is heading into winter over here so that might have to wait!

This pattern comes with two options, a crop tee and a longer tee dress. The crop tee is so tiny that I managed to scrape by with a 70cm remnant of this fun fabric. 

It is hard to show the texture of this one in photographs...when will they invent feelovision?

In my excitement to wear this little tee I chucked it on over a me made dress (an old but a goody), sorry about the lumpy space princess look (adventure time rules).

I managed to score the day off today so thought I would tidy up the sewing room and finish up a couple of odd projects such as boring curtains and a couple of bits to display in the shop. 

Like this...

I am a sucker for cotton and steel's awesome fabric and my purse shakes with fear every time the boss orders some in. Stop it Joy!!!

After finishing up the odd bits there was still plenty of time to bust out something else. Enter the Inari.

Anyways, not much more to say about this little crop tee. It was a quick make and the pattern is lovely, as I'm finding all the Named patterns are. Next up will be that kimono... I'm imagining a silk version to swan around the house in, yesssssss!

A couple of detail shots to feast your eyes upon.

Over and out. 

I'm back baby!

xx