Sewing projects completed and abandoned

Well I finished the silk floral straight skirt and I love it! Remember I was making

Simplicity 9825 which is now out of print.  I moved the zipper to the side and lined the skirt.  I like that is is between an A line and a straight skirt.

I'm afraid my photographer was not in the mood for creativity so I just begged her to snap these outside her bedroom, shame but you get the idea.

I have also made and abandoned a few bits and pieces but am currently making a toile from the Stylish Dress Book which I have had for a while but when Tessuti announced its arrival in English I couldn't resist a second copy.

I am trying Pattern S but making the sleeves a bit longer, watch this space....

I also spent yesterday morning breakfasting in bed with and my ipad and while cruising my favourite blogs found these guys in Melbourne,  Nicole Mallalieu Design and have ordered little kits for purses and make up bags, I thought this might be a way for me to use up some of my scraps and have some home made gifts ready made in the present cupboard.  

Where does the time go?

Well it has been quite a while and there are a few reasons for that - a lot of celebrating around my 50th birthday being a major contributor.  Now it is time for my liver and waistline to recover and normal duties to resume at home - the festival cannot go on forever.

As part of the 'festival' my husband and I had a lovely few days in Canberra, not the hottest romantic location du jour but an easy drive from home and a few things to look at and what's not to like about a teenager free zone for a while.  In Canberra we had a fabulous dinner at Aubergine and some very nice beer at a Belgian beer cafe called 'Little Brussels' in Kingston which really was very enjoyable - beer - I know but it was fun and the food looked great!  Other meals weren't memorable and our favourite breakfast joint, Silo Bakery, was closed both mornings we were there - bummer.  We went to see the renovations at the National Gallery which were beautiful and the new indigenous galleries are terrific.  we also re-visited the National Portrait Gallery and for the first time went inside the High Court of Australia which was terrific.  It was a Sunday so there was no-one around but the building is fantastic - you really sense the importance of its purpose and I will go back when court is sitting next time.

On the way home we stopped in Bowral to check out our weekender which is being re-let and were very pleased to see all the trees we have planted growing furiously and the place in pretty good nic - another year or so and we will be ready to use it again and it will be great.  For now, it is nice to know someone else is enjoying it and we don't have to squeeze in maintenance visits with all our other commitments.

A glimpse of what I miss...

What I'm not missing is feeling like we are never on top of the gardens and my husband always mowing the grass!!!!

Note there are no photos of the house.....this is the next project....

Holiday travels

Well, back home after a week of travelling and holidays.  It is always so nice to get home even tho we love travelling.  This time we went north to Port Macquarie for a few days with my sister and the childrens' cousins.  We always have a lovely time with them and Port Macquarie is so beautiful!

While the teenagers were sleeping, my sister and I went to watch the whales migrating along the coast - what a sight!

When the teenagers got up we went to Ellensborough Falls, a long beautiful drive through lush countryside and a good hike and great picnic when we got there.

Epiphytes

Imagine this as one 200 metre long drop

From the top

600 and something steps down and then UP again

Then, back to Sydney for a few days and then off to Melbourne for my daughter and I and to Brisbane to watch their team win the rugby, for my husband and son.  More later.  Oh and I have finished the skirt these holidays but need my photographer again, will post soon.

Close shave with a Tiger

I woke this morning to the news that the budget airline 'Tiger' has been grounded by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. This Coming weekend, I am taking my teenage daughter on our annual Melbourne trip and had booked with Tiger. In fact I had booked for a few weeks ago and had needed to change the dates incurring a hefty change fee. Now, it looks like it may have been good money after bad. They say they will refund our tickets but I won't hold my breath.

Each year for the past 5 years, we have done this mother/ daughter trip where we stay in a delicious hotel, eat yummy food, go to the Art Gallery and trawl melbourne's lane ways spending her pocket money and a few indulgences from Mum. We love it! Thankfully my generous husband just said 'quick book with Qantas' which I have done so we are still on track but I will never book budget flights again, well, maybe not quite never....Anyway, glad to not be up in the air with them if they aren't safe!

School Holiday sewing

Now the children are teenagers, my holiday responsibilities have changed.  I am required to make decisions about whether proposed social escapades are OK, ensure the cupboard is full of wheat bix, biscuits and treats as well as litres and litres of milk and to intervene when my teenage son starts looking a bit glazed over and unplug him from whichever device he is attached to and send him on a dog walk or to shoot some hoops.  The 'nerve centre' moves from the kitchen to my office/sewing room, the heater is on and the sewing cabinet is open.... woooppee.

First project is another Simplicity 9825 skirt. This time in yet another Tessuti Japanese cotton.

This fabric is so beautiful, it is hard to show the gold thread in a photograph although I think this one gives you the idea.

I am quite happy with the result although before I make this skirt again, I am going to alter the pattern a bit.  I always have to add a false hem because I forget to cut it longer and I need to make the yoke a little larger as it is quite snug.  I am also going to move the zipper to the side.  I plan to do all this in a toille and then use the calico as a pattern because I think when I have made these improvements, this could be a core pattern in my wardrobe.  I like that the skirt is between A line and straight and I like the yoke rather than a waistband.  The next fabric to make it up in is a silk twill in gorgeous colours... no prizes for guessing where I bought it!

A month can't have gone past!

But it has and its about time I got back on my blog!

I have been distracted from sewing with various other things over the past month and am feeling very frustrated by the ever increasing stash, earmarked patterns but lack of product. A late night picking up my teenage daughter from various school formal related activities, has meant a slow wonderful day at home with my pile of sewing jobs. I needed to clear the decks of the mending and altering before starting any new projects - DONE! (well, close enough).

I do have something to show you from the past little while. I have finally finished my red Hokko Bowtie dress which is an unashamed copy of the dress that Libby from Tessuti Chatswood made in the summer. Colette featured it on her blog and it looked so great and as I had the pattern already, I decided to make the same. I am so pleased I did and I have been slowly working through it in Georgia's classes at Tessuti Surry Hills.   'Gloria' has to model this one for me, too cold at the moment for summer dresses.

I had such a great time at Tessuti Chatswood on Friday with Libby.  We had not met before and when we worked out our 'link' with the red dress, a whole lot of other similarities came to the fore.  We seem to have the same taste and already owned the same patterns and fabrics in our stash.  I ended up adding a few more beautiful fabrics after discussing the possibilities they presented and ideas Libby had already explored with them.  Watch this space....

Now I am thinking about the next project to make at Sew Inn with Georgia. I'm currently thinking a loosely tailored jacket which I can belt with a thin belt and wear with a skirt.  Have tried to find a suitable image but its like the potato peeler - can never find it in a hurry! I'll post later when I find something.

Let me introduce you to Gloria

I found her looking for a home on ebay and living in the next suburb to me so I thought "meant to be"! I have made her the same size as me and she is donning my current work in progress - Simplicity 2588 dress. I can't wait to use her but I have exams next week so will have to be strong.

My new sewing space

My sewing space is heaven now I have a sewing cabinet and a wonderful new machine. At the weekend I had to re-hem a winter tunic and sew name tags into 10 shirts - 5 each child - and it was a breeze. Before I close it all away to turn to my university work - neglected last week as I struggled with the trousers - I thought I'd snap it for my blog. The overlocker comes out from underneath and sits on the extension as well. My next project is to get a notice board above it where I can pin projects and inspiration.

I should have listened

I love trousers, jeans, pants whatever you want to call them.  My sewing buddies discouraged me from trying to sew my own pointing out wisely that a good fit is hard to achieve.  It is so obvious when I think about it, how many different pairs of jeans do I need to try on before I find the ones with the right fit even though they may all look the same before I squeeze into them! However, my jeans were all feeling tight and what I wanted was a comfortable, elegant pair of what some people would call, slacks...stretchy material, black of course that fit snugly around the bottom but hang loosely in a narrow drape from there on down...mmmm shouldn't that be easy?.  Some fabulous material from Tessuti was bought and I decided to use The Vogue Woman pattern V8504.  
I made a size 10 - great fit around the bottom.  I cut a zipper to fit and then promptly ruined it by pulling up without a stopper - oops - an invisible zip is seemingly unfixable when you do this.  So, I decided to make them pull ups with an elastic waistband.  The trouble is, they now feel like track pants and I don't do track pants except when I'm on the track.  They did have a lovely drape but were way to wide in the leg for me, I was a bit swamped so I just chopped out about 5cm from each leg. I am wearing them now and they are OK but there was a lot of heartache in getting to this less than perfect point.  Maybe I should have listened?

I have tried to photograph them but it is impossible on my own - support team is at school - so another day.
I haven't given up.  I actually think these trousers in another fabric and without my hacking into them - a sort of palazzo style - would be lovely.  I've also found another pattern that may work better for my everyday pants : Mcalls 5273 but it is out of print. Maybe that is because nobody bought it, they all knew how hard it is to make your own pants and be happy with them!

Overlocking and endless possibilities

Well, not quite endless but I was very pleased to spend a few hours with Julie at Bernina Chatswood today learning how to use my overlocker.  It was such a thorough and useful class when we worked through all the ways to use the overlocker and how to look after it as well.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a sewing day and I can put some of them into practice. No photos yet but should something get made tomorrow, I will put it up.....

Then there are the others

I have made various bits as follows, some successful, some useful, some not so thrilling....

My new obsession...

In the past two years, one of my brothers moved to Tokyo with his family. I have been up to visit them three times! I love Japan and when Colette introduced me to these pattern books it was an extension of the love affair. I nearly always find a pattern I want to make up of these very wearable clothes with their distinctive style. So far, I have made these

Etro fabric from Tessuti, Japanese Pattern book

I discovered Japanese pattern books

Colette at Tessuti stocks these beautiful Japanese pattern books.  I had been admiring them for a while and Colette encouraged me to launch in, she even helped me draft my first pattern!  This is my Nani Iro top which I have made in 2 fabrics, again, both from Tessuti and I love them both.  I can see this is a top I will keep making..

2nd Project 2010

Next I fell in love with Ungaro silk satin again from Tessuti and I made up this McCalls pattern M5516.  Probably a bit ambitous for so early in my sewing career because it is very slippery fabric.  I still love the fabric and colours so wear it anyway!

1st project in 2010

At the wonderful sewing classes at Tessuti  in Surry Hills with Georgia, I made this skirt first. Oops just remembered there was one project before this but I gave it away to my sister as it was a bit too large.

The fabric for this skirt is a Liberty Lawn and I even lined it.

At last I have photographs

The main motivation for starting this blog was to document my sewing projects.  Because I have been sewing for year now, I thought it would be OK to include my 2010 projects...turns out there are quite a few but I will anyway.

Tessuti enzym washed linen
Vintage Vogue pattern 1627 Calvin Klein : My Mum made me this in Liberty wool when I was in my 20's and then in purple linen, thankfully she kept the pattern.  I love it, gathered front middle and back middle but not at the sides.

My lovely friend and neighbour Wendy gave me this fabric in the summer.  She had bought it at Tessuti some time ago but hadn't made it up and thought I'd like it....I quickly made it into this Japanese pattern

from this book

I also made this skirt from my Nooy Japanese pattern book, Tessuti fabric again..

and from the same book, over Easter I made this top with Liberty wool/cotton from Tessuti and have barely had it off since! I made the medium which is a 9 and it is a bit too large for me although I am a size 10 - next time, and there will be a next time with this pattern, I will go a size smaller.

Such beautiful fabric

Same book - simple tunic

Enough, enough...

there have been various other bits and pieces, Tessuti's 'fave t-shirt' pattern being a stand out favourite of mine, but that is enough for now....