Burda skirt finished and a new T

Burda 07-2007-115 skirt and Ottobre 2/2007 short sleeve tshirt. I am still not certain about the back of the skirt but will wear it and see if anyone comments. I can always take the elastic out.

Both fabrics were purchased at Brunswick Fabrics on our PRDUW - do I win?? (being the first to make up an outfit from fabric purchased that day).

The tshirt is a poly lycra knit. I blinged the flower across the bust for a bit more interest.

I will take better photos and post tomorrow, but for now this is it. The camera has gone off with the girls to their dance concert tonight. And I have something new to wear to go and watch!

Hot Patterns Deco Vibe Flippy Skirt - review

Sorry for the delay in the promised review. It has been a busy week!

I found the HP skirt to be easy to put together, it fit well (maybe a touch tight for my measurements) and the finished result was a fun skirt. I have done a more detailed review here and have taken photos with comments here. Hopefully they will be helpful for anyone who wants to make the skirt and would like a heads up.

The instructions were not good for a beginner, but of course we knew that. I didn't follow them as I did not like their order of construction. The instructions do say "This is just our way of doing things...if you prefer a different method, go ahead!" And that is what I did! But if you have made a skirt before and have tackled curved seams, then you will be fine.

Since finishing the skirt I have been working on McCalls 5007. I have almost finished it but have put it down as I am having trouble with the hem. Long story.....I made a sway back adjustment but that had ended up with the bottom of the jacket being crooked. So I adjusted the hem but I am not happy with how that is looking on the inside. I was not planning to line the jacket as I want to be able to machine wash and I have underlined. So I thought I would work on the skirt for a change of pace. I am making Burda WOF 07-2007-115, the one that Summerset made a while ago. Now I am having issues with the back of that! It is a bit poofy, like I have a full nappy (diaper) and it has slipped a bit. lol.
So I have partly undone the back seams and taken out some of the fullness in the centre panel. I will report back later in the week. For now I am putting costumes together with daughters for their dance concerts this weekend. The full dress rehearsal is tomorrow night so we are madly finishing up what should have been done weeks ago!

Hot Patterns Deco Vibe Flippy Skirt

A few of us Aussie girls (with the help of Mel) bulk ordered some Hot Patterns to save on the high international postage. I ordered the Deco Vibe Flippy Skirt. Jeremy's email a while back on the many possibilities of this skirt really inspired me.

So without further ado...here is my version:

I had a bit of a drama as I mentioned on a previous post. I had this fabric that I really adored that I thought would look really cute made up in the skirt. But alas I did not have enough. I thought I was being clever by cutting out part of the skirt and then adjusting the remaining fabric to cut out the flounce at the back. Horrors - not enough. After letting the project sit for a while I had another look and decided to add a centre back seam in the flounce. I still had to cut out the pieces on add angles so the flounce probably does not sit quite how it should but I am happy with the outcome!

Now, what to wear on top.....searched the stash for matching purple or cream knit. Nope! Well maybe the wardrobe would have something ok just for the photo shoot. Lo and behold, not only do I have a JacquiE RTW top (several years old) an exact match, some shoes also are perfect. It sure does work to keep to a core of similar colours!

I will do a review of the pattern and show some photos of construction in my next post.

BTW, the fabric is a cotton lycra with quite a bit of body. Love, love, love it...................yippee!

McCall's 5007

First, I want to say my sewing room is once again presentable. I would show you a photo to prove it but the camera has gone "walk about". Hopefully Ellen has it with her?

I really need some new jackets for work and lets face it, I have the fabric and the patterns! I have been quite undecided the last few days, as I thumbed through Marfy catalogues, Burda magazines and my pile of unopened patterns for inspiration. In the end I decided to try out McCall's 5007.

The fabric I will use is a crinkle poly purchased at Brunswick Fabrics (for $4 a metre) on our recent PR weekend.

As the fabric will show through on the seams I will underline it with a cotton also purchased at Brunswick Fabrics ($3 a metre).
I won't line the jacket as it will be one of those jackets you wear on hot days and then throw into the washing machine. I haven't decided yet what I will do with seam finishes. Maybe just overlock and then HK finish the hems.

I also bought some nice buttons at Lincraft today (sorry on photo) in the same cream colour. I will top stitch in cream as well so the jacket will match just about everything!

Admitting I have problems

I have been thinking for a while that I should 'fess up and Summerset's post this morning (well Aussie time) has moved me out of my computer chair, forced me to take up the camera and......admit my sewing room is a mess!!

Why is sewing so messy? You see I want to make myself a suit for work and I can't get started. Do you think my creative area has anything to do with it?
I have started to clean up by repacking fabric in my cupboard. Actually, looking at this, I think I have room for more!

See the mess next to my pressing and cutting area? I tend to dump scraps etc there as I work on a project. Maybe I could just put it all up in the roof space (attic). Lots of bits of projects past...

And the view from my desk - ick! So now I also have to admit that I still haven't taken out my steam press from the box.

And here is the pressing area. My Hot Patterns flippy skirt is cut out but oops I don't have enough fabric for the back flounce........

and my final confession.....I have put on weight and none of my jeans/ casual pants fit me...sob! No one to blame here but myself. OK I have admitted I am a mess but stay tuned.....

Ottobre 5/2007 skirt

This skirt is a basic yoked pattern. It has a slight A line and hits about mid knee. One version has the tie as shown on the photo at the left. I wanted my skirt to be fuller so I cut and pivoted the skirt front and back four times and added 5cms into each cut. This gave me an extra 4(pieces) x 20cm = 80cms extra in the hem circumference.

This is a very poor photo of the pattern spread out. You can just make out the slashed pattern on top.


I used newspaper. Once spread I recut the front and back the larger size. Only the hem increases and not the top that attaches to the yoke. I also added about 5cms to the length.

The yoke is faced but I did not line the rest of the skirt. An invisible zipper is in the back.

For the hem I used the narrow hem on the overlocker - quick and easy!

I like the fuller look of the skirt and am very happy with how it turned out. It was an experiment to see if it would work - and it did! I cut the skirt with the straight grain down the centre front and back. Cutting with the straight grain running down the centre of the pattern pieces would give different folds. I remember this was covered in a Stitches magazine but I can't remember which way was supposed to be more flattering.

Pattern Review weekend 2007

I am back from our Pattern Review weekend Downunder. What a great time we had. Cheryl (my sister) and I stayed overnight in town even though we live in the same city. Lots more fun.

We had dinner out on Friday night, a fabric shopping tour (by bus) on Saturday, dinner Saturday night and a workshop (get together) on Sunday. It was very hot on Saturday and the cotton fabric of my latest outfit stood up well to the heat and excitement. Thank you to everyone for your lovely comments left on my last post about the outfit! :))

Here are a couple of photos but of course more can be found on my Flickr album

On the bus with our fabric purchases.

Me back in the hotel room surrounded by my 24 new pieces! Looks like I have a lot of sewing to do..................

It is so much fun to shop and get together with other "sewists". Highly recommend it!!