Thankyou and darts!

Wow, you guys have left me some lovely comments over the last few posts. Thankyou so much! I really appreciate it. It is fun to share projects with like minded friends.

Now something to share. Most of you probably already know to do this but I had an "aha" moment so maybe there is someone who has not thought to do this.....

When I was tracing the Marfy skirt I noticed that the pattern did not have a "top" to it - that is it was cut out. But as I am used to have darts just drawn on the pattern sheet I put my own little pointed top on it. Then when I was ready to mark my darts I thought of Carolyn's post about using carbon tracing paper to mark the darts. I don't have any of that but do have a clover tracing wheel. Then I thought wouldn't it be easier if the dart inside wasn't there......

How easy is that?

Designdreamer commented: “really cute and creative! I had to go back and look at your picture of your remnant, I noted it said 1.25 on the label. Is that what you paid for the remnant?” Yes, that is right, how can you go past a bargain like that? The rest of the outfit is made from purchased remnants or leftover fabric from other projects...so I would guess the whole outfit (excluding shoes..lol) would be less than $20! Maybe only $10?

Designdreamer also commented: “Oh, and I too have some (A LOT) of some coral silk chiffon that I'll bet is very similar to yours. I haven't figured out what to do with it however. If you come up with any great ideas, I'd be interested.” It is not on my list to make up really soon, but I think a soft see through blouse/top would be nice. I have already bought some buttons just in case I feel the urge.

Marfy 1031 and Ottobre T

Skirt and top....without jacket...
with jacket.....
and the shoes......

Marfy 1031 - skirt

You know you are in a mess when you can't find your TNT (tried and true) patterns! Search high and low for my straight/pencil skirt pattern but it wasn't to be found. Ok, should be easy to find a straight skirt in all my big 4 patterns......no, I buy the patterns to fit my top which is a lot smaller. How about a Burda....no, all the patterns have fancy details (of course that is what we love about Burda but today I just want a plain straight skirt).

Ok, lets look at the 2 Marfy catalogues I have... YES a straight skirt in the Autumn/Winter 06/07 Marfy catalogue. The pattern comes in sizes ranging from 44 to 54 (waist 72cms to 104cms). Perfect - currently the waist is 70cms, so will give it a try.

The pattern is complete even with facings, however I did not use them due to lack of fabric. This is the left over fabric from the Vogue 8398 jacket (cotton lycra purchased at Spotlight in Shepparton). I used cotton tape to stabilise the waist and lined up to the waist. I also understitched.

The lining was a viscose remnant purchased at Cleggs in Jan 08. I used a decorative stitch to take up the hem of the lining. The lining was handstitched to the vent.

I followed the instructions in Power Sewing- Step by Step by Sandra Betzina (page 150) to do a mitred vent with walking ease.

The hem was topstitched using the triple stretch stitch in black to match the jacket.

I had some quick photos taken this morning in the outfit, but didn't have time to upload. Hopefully they are decent enough for posting tonight.

Yet another Ottobre T

During the sales I managed to buy myself 4 new pairs of shoes! Three are black and the fourth pair are a coral colour I could not resist. It blends into my colour palette so of course I needed them!! And lo and behold they match the 30cm piece of fabric I purchased at Cleggs on the remnant table.

The top fabric is the remnant, the second and third fabric are net/meshes previously purchased from Frou Frou and the bottom piece is the left overs from this jacket. And of course the shoe! The coral mesh was discarded from the project as the colour was too bright for the rest.
I drew a plan for the piecing of the remnant. No section could be wider than 20cms.
The finished top. If you look closely you can see the joins. I was going to use the net to highlight the joins but decided I liked it as it was. I used the net for the neck binding, hem and sleeves. The neck and sleeves have the netting doubled. The sleeves are single layer and hemmed with the overlocker using the rolled hem function.
The back is the netting lined with a brown knit lining.

The green skirt fabric is just pinned around Eames at the moment but hopefully soon will be a simple skirt. Once done, I will take a photo of me in the outfit and shoes.

Ahh, it feels good to have sewn something in 2008!

Too hot to sew....

(Sofie and her friend Grace)

Yes, I am still here but not sewing...far too hot for that. I can't even get inspired by making a sun dress! January is not a busy sewing time for me as the girls are home on summer holidays. In fact today Sofie and I are hitting the shops to get some airconditioned comfort. Ellen is off on a summer film course.

But I have been exercising and of course keeping up with what every one else is doing!

(Sofie and Ellen)

A day in the city.

Today the girls and I went into the city for the day. It was a beautiful day today and we wandered the smaller lanes, arcades and small designer shops.


In the afternoon we saw Atonement. I have to give this 11 out of 10. The costumes were fabulous and the whole feel of the movie was emotive and I cried....a lot....


And of course a day in the city means I have to drop into Cleggs! Cleggs is a fabric shop that I would visit almost everyday in my lunch break when I worked in the city. About 22 years back! . The actual shop has moved from its old Little Collins Street address to bigger premises in Elizabeth street but the main sales assistant is still there though he is very grey now.


And what did I buy? Well the remnant sale table got me first.



From left, coral silk chiffon, poly mesh (only 20cm so I will piece it), olive green viscose (for lining), poly rayon green/gold, and a couple of ribbons. I also got a large piece of brown knit that I will use for lining which is not in the photo.


From the bolt for $5 a metre I purchased the following two - a poly lycra knit and a poly mesh.


And the great thing with Cleggs is that you get all the details of the fabric on your receipt, including the composition, washing instructions and even the country of origin! All up it cost $30 exactly.


Hey, lucky I did not add "not buy more fabric" to my new year resolutions?

Happy New Year!

Please forgive me for this lack of depth post, but I am dying here! We are in the midst of a heat wave and we don't have air con. In fact it is too hot to go swimming!! My brain is fuzzled. And my tummy is complaining of too much drinkies.

To bring in the new year we spent the day at Chadstone (shopping centre and theatre complex) to get some cool air. We saw The Darjeeling Limited - quite enjoyable. And then went out for dinner (again air con. lol) and home to have a midnight swim.

2007 in review

2007 has been an eventful year and when I started the year with the hope to have adventures I should have been a bit clearer and specified FUN adventures! Dad passed away and mum is still under care. DH also lost a brother. Ellen and Sofie both had teenager issues with friends and school.

On the positive side there were two new great grandchildren for mum, Ellen had success at school and with her film and I have started this blog and met so many wonderful sewing friends over the Internet.

Sewing wise I had a very productive year. I have set up an album over on Flickr that has a photo of each garment made during the year here. 23 garments does not sound that much compared to Shannon and Carolyn, but not bad for me considering the year. I'm happy.

2008

I am not much of a resolution person. I am happy to go where life takes me. But having said that I would like to:

January:

1. Increase my exercise program to lose the body fat accumulated from my 2007 emotional eating.


2. Finish up my summer sewing - maybe a couple of dresses, and some tops to match other bottoms in the wardrobe.


3. Clean out and organise my jewellery collection. I spent last week cleaning out and sorting my wardrobe but have yet to hit the shelf with the costume jewellery.


4. Make at least one new item for each of the four new pairs of shoes purchased at the boxing day sales. (oops, well I love shoes, what can I say).

February:

1. Start on some serious jacket making! I have had this as a "goal" for many years now. I have bought the books, made a couple of jackets but haven't really progressed from there. My hope is to make one tailored jacket a month. Of course I will then need a skirt or two to match.....and a top.....maybe shoes????


2. Make some pants. You may have noticed in my 2007 album that I made 11 skirts last year but no pants. I think 2008 can also be the year of the pants. I am more of a skirt girl but a few pairs of pants won't go astray. I have always avoided them as I know there will be a lot of fitting and of course I need to lose a kilo or two first (sound familiar?). Well to be realistic I do want to lose last years weight gain first, so depending on how well I go with the January goal, this one may move to March - we'll see.

March to December:

1. Continue with my jacket making.


2. Sew what ever I am inspired to! And boy there is a lot of inspiration there with you all!


3. Use my favourite fabrics first!

That's it for now! I think I will go for a swim..........