Japanese Knot Bag and November Stashbusting

On By Sharon9 Comments

I follow Sue from Fadanista and this month she hosted a sewalong for her Japanese Knot Bag.

This bag has appealed to me from the start and I was very happy to sign up for the sewalong.

For my bag I used some home dec fabric which I had purchased from Spotlight back in 2009 for a jacket in my SWAP plans but it never happened and now the fabric stood out for the perfect evening bag.

I reduced the bag pattern by removing 2.5cm (1″) around the bag as I wanted a small bag for date nights.

For the main fabric I used some black SheerWeft to stabilise it.  The lining is a fat quarter of quilting cotton that was in my stash and I reduced the lining pattern by a scant 3mm (1/8″) so that the seams would roll to the inside.

One of the things that I am quite obsessed with is pressing, so even with this bag the pressing happened.  This is where my silicone mitt comes in very handy.  It looks like the one below.

This lets me put my hand inside the bag and use the edges of the mitt to press the seams open.

This is version 1.

Here is the finished bag and the goodies that I carried it in.  Hubby even managed to get his wallet in there as well.

The lining

Oops no pattern alignment!

and finally how it went out last night.

and I can’t believe I have managed to complete a piece in time for the Stashbusting Sewalong 🙂

******************
2015 Stash Out: 13.95 m
 2015 Stash In: 18 m

ASG Convention 2015

On By Sharon7 Comments

I’ve been home a  couple of weeks from Brisbane where I attended the Australian Sewing Guild’s 14th National Convention and thought I would share my travel wardrobe.

Time away:
10 days

Where to:
Brisbane

Season:
Spring, however Sydney put on a cold snap when we departed for our road trip north.  The temperature range was 13 to 26c.

Activities:
The first two and last two days were driving the 923klms from Sydney to Brisbane with two of my sewing buddies and we did manage to stop at a couple of fabric shops along the way.

Convention includes a lot of walking to/from your accommodation, classrooms, dining hall as well as lot of stationery activity at our desks.

We had a free afternoon on Wednesday so my sister collected me and we headed to Voodoo Rabbit, Fabric Collection and Sckafs but only a Prym measuring tape came home with me.

Colour scheme:
Navy, orange, off-white, brown and yellow.

What I packed: (each garment is linked to its original construction post – left to right; top to bottom)

Vogue 1247 top in navy chiffon with white spots
Vogue 1247 skirt in burnt orange linen
Orange Loafers
Simplicity 2603 brown mercury jersey cardigan
KS 3740 orange swirls top
Jalie 2908 navy jeans
KS 3740 blue and gold swirls top
Vogue 8572 off white damask top
Jalie 2566 Fractured knit cardigan
Jalie 2908 brown jeans
Vogue 8572 lemon polyester top
Vogue 1247 brown denim skirt
Vogue 8572 navy and gold silk top
KS 3740 lemon slub knit top
KS 3470 orange arrows top
Taupe loafers

Also in the suitcase was:

This is the most I have ever packed for a trip away, the benefits of travelling by car!

Verdict:
I really enjoyed wearing this wardrobe and once I arrived in Brisbane the jeans only got worn at night as it was a bit cool walking around.

Unfortunately I didn’t expect it to get as warm as it did and would have liked a pair of sandals to wear on the last few days, Brisbane’s 26c is a lot warmer than Sydney’s 26c.

Fabric and goodies:
On way our north, we called into Fantazia Fabricland at Tweed Heads and this fabric particularly leapt of the table into my arms.

Then I walked into the haberdashery shop and found a wall of Prym goodies, so 2 packs of the jeans rivets and 1 pack of Anorak studs followed me home as well.

Convention Workshop:
I spent the week with Roberta Thompson in her Alterations and Toile Fitting 4 days workshop and I hope to have a pair of pants to show you sometime soon.

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2015 Stash Out: 13.55m
2015 Stash In: 18m

Diane Von Frustenberg Vogue 1548

On By Sharon19 Comments

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I last visited my Mum and found this in her pattern stash, how had I not found this before, and she can’t tell me when she acquired it.

This pattern comes in one size only and this is a size 8, with measurements of:
Bust:  80
Waist: 61
Hip: 85

and the only finished length was the finished back length from the base of the neck to the hem.

Seeing my measurements are larger than those above for the bust and waist, I wasn’t quite sure how to tackle this.

I first went to Pattern Review to see if there were any reviews and there are two but only 1 with working photos from Twinset back in 2007 which unfortunately if you are not a member of Pattern Review you can’t see that far back.  What I did notice with the photo was how wide and low the neckline was.

So I dug out Butterick 3344 which I have made previously and compared the bodice pattern pieces.

I also did a FBA of 1cm and realised quite a bit later that I had put the horizontal line in the wrong place together with my adjustment to the make the neckline less revealing made the tie square very large.  This meant I had to do some creative adjustments when sewing the facing on.

The other changes I made to the pattern were to:

  • add 1cm to the back waist seam as I did to the front with the FBA
  • straightened the side seams at the waist on the bodice by 2cm.
  • cut off 17cm at the short dress length as it was extremely long on me and this also let the front pattern piece fit across the width of the folded 150cm fabric.
  • I didn’t add the pockets
  • I only made the tie opening on the left hand side as I don’t intend to try and wear this dress back-to-front

Now this fabric has been maturing in the stash since 2012 and I have already used some to make a version of Kwik.Sew 3740.

I used a knit interfacing for the facings.

I also didn’t finish the raw edge of the facing, as the bulk of that seam would have annoyed me.

The instructions are very detailed and easy to use and it is made completely on my sewing machine as it has travelled with me to various sewing groups.

The ties for the dress are very long, so I was very thankful to have my Fasturn tubes with me which made turning the ties out so much easier.

I really like how you use twill tape to stabilise the waist when attaching the bodice.

The back neck facing kept rolling out even with clipping and under stitching and it wasn’t until I read Vi”s blog Finished Seams where she showed quite a few details of a real DFV dress reminded me that that I could also used my label to keep the facing in place. 

I did use my Coverstitch for the hems.

Dress hem with facing slip stitched in place.
Sleeve hem.

and this is how the dress looks on.

and the twirl factor

For future versions, I need to do the following adjustments:

  1. Neckline gaposis
  2. Round shoulder adjustment
  3. The 1cm I added to the waist seam needs to be removed

It is a very comfortable dress to wear and the cross-over is very generous, so no exposure was apparent during the twirling session.

******************
2015 Stash Out: 10.55 m
2015 Stash In: 16.5 m

Cord Jean Jacket

On By Sharon21 Comments

My next post was supposed to be me wearing my new summer tops on our holiday!  Unfortunately the island was covered in cloud and the temperatures were in the low 20’s much too cold for me to be wearing short sleeves.

So instead you are seeing my new Jean Jacket.

I made this before blogging days and it has been seen during Me Made May.

Me Made May 2012

The pattern is Jalie 2320 which is now available as a PDF pattern.  I purchased this pattern for a workshop for a Casual Jacket with Alison Wheeler at the ASG Convention in Brisbane in 2008.

I cut a size R (32cm bust or XS) and my notes say that there were a “lot of tweaks” so without taking my pattern pieces back to the original pattern, I just know that some of the seams have been taken in but to what extent I’m not sure.

Now the fabric is part of my purchases from the US trip I did with my sewing buddies in 2011 and was spied by Alison as the perfect fabric for me!

I had also purchased the Craftsy class Sew Better, Sew Faster by Janet Pray which included the Jacket Express #218 pattern.  This jacket has similar lines to the Jalie pattern so I used Janet’s instructions to see how I liked the industry way that Janet teachers in her class.

The jacket was cut out to take to a sewing weekend at The Tops Conference Centre back in May.

Then to be all prepared for the weekend I had done quite a few samples for the edgestitching and topstitching on this jacket and decided on using two different threads Gutterman 689 and 23. My stitch length was 3.5 on my Janome MemoryCraft 5200 and then I positioned the needle for edgestitching at 1.9 using the S Foot and for the topstitching at 3.5 using the A foot and lining this up with the edge of the seam.

I really enjoyed using the industry methods, but then it came to the front facing and waistband which was the real difference between the two jackets.  It was at this point that the construction stopped.

It wasn’t until another sewing weekend in July, again at The Tops that this jacket was touched again getting the collar, cuffs and waistband on so that I could take it to Mick at Quick Buttonhole Service who supplied the studs and installed them for me at a cost of $30 (10 studs) which I felt was very good value and a lot less headache for me.

Now to make some plain tops to go with this!

******************
2015 Stash Out:7.25 m
2015 Stash In: 16.5 m

Polymer Clay beads

On By Sharon15 Comments

So much for my participation in the “Fabric Stash Contest” I wrote about last time, I did manage to cut out another 2 tops and a dress but then came down with a cold and just didn’t want to do anything at all.

Since then the 2 tops have progressed slowly but are still not finished and the dress is still attached to the pattern.

As I alluded to we are heading north soon and for my new tops I decided I need some new summery necklaces.

When I was last at Zilchbeads making these, I had with me the fabrics for my new tops and wanted some help in choosing some new beads for necklaces and the perfect necklace was on display.

It was a completely new technique for me as you make the beads, which I have never tried before, as well as using the quilling technique, again something I had admired but never tried.

To start you take three colours: black, white and pink, slicing them and then layering them together and rolling them through what looked like a pasta maker until you got the mix that you wanted and the thickness required.

Source Fire Mountain Gems

My next challenge was to cut this into wedges (like the purple one below) freehand, thankfully they took pity on me and cut the strips for me.

Then you roll from the thick end so that it layers nicely showing the different colours as you go.

Make sure you make a hole in each before they are cooked in the oven.

Once cooled, you start stringing and voila, a new necklace and earrings.

Now to get my tops finished so I can wear my new necklace!

Lemon T-shirt

On By Sharon15 Comments

One thing I did notice during the “Starting from Scratch” analysis was that the tops that I was missing in my final list were all “summer”.

Then Pattern Review decided to hold their Fabric Stash Contest and we had also decided to head north for a holiday so the decision to make this top was easy.

I’m trying not to turn blue -10C

Again I have used Kwik.Sew 3740, my TNT t-shirt pattern and this time I have:

  • Raised the neckline by 2cm
  • Added short sleeves
  • Added a 2.5cm cuff to the sleeves
  • Used my Janome Coverstitch binder to do a 3/8″ bound neckline

This is one of the ways I will wear it during our holiday up north

and I will remember to make sure the back hem is not turned under next time!

This t-shirt has turned out exactly as I had imagined and now to make some bright necklaces to go with it.

Another item from my “To Sew, Knit or Purchase” is completed.

******************
2015 Stash Out: 5.85 m
2015 Stash In: 16.5 m

MMM’15 – Days 25 to 31 and wrap-up

On By Sharon9 Comments

Monday 25 May

Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 in brown/red/coffee knit, previously worn on Days 6 and 15
Skirt: Self drafted pencil skirt in suede like fabric, previously worn on Days 6, 11 and 14
Jacket: Me made knitted shawl collar jacket (blogged here)
Accessory: Me made necklace and earrings (blogged here)
Tights: Brown tights
Boots: Airflext Valent brown boots

Tuesday 26 May


Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 in blue and gold swirls, previously worn on Days 2 and 14.
Skirt: Marfy 0757 skirt in blue wool (blogged here)
Jacket: Sewaholic Minoru jacket (blogged here)
Accessory: Me made navy necklace and earrings
Tights: Black tights
Boots: Nine West black boots


Wednesday 27 May


Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 in brown/cream/orange arrowheads, previously worn on Days 1 and 13.
Skirt: Vogue 7937 in brown wool crepe (blogged here)
Cardigan: Simplicity 2603 in brown Mercury Jersey, previously worn on Day 21.
Accessory: Purchased gold choker with cream pendant and earrings
Tights: Brown tights
Boots: Airflex Valent brown boots


Thursday 28 May


Dress: Simplicity 2648 in navy linen and pickstitching (blogged here)
Cardigan: Jalie 2566 in multi coloured sweater knit (blogged here)
Accessory: Me made crotched necklace and earrings
Tights: Black tights
Boots: Instep Otis black suede boots


Friday 29 May – Theme Day

Your Town (interesting landmarks, your garden, a favourite cafe, show us a little slice of where you live.)

Today was hectic, so my town was a bit hard to get to, however seeing you have seen quite a bit of my back yard, I thought I would show you where I spend my working hours, the office.

Trust the phone to ring!
Top: Vogue 1822 (OOP) in spotty Japanese cotton (blogged here)
Skirt: Self drafted pencil skirt with jean skirt lines added in green twill (blogged here)
Cardigan: Miette in Morris Woollahra wool, colour mint choc chips (re-knitted since last year and to be blogged)
Accessory: Purchased necklace and earrings
Tightsy: Brown tights
Boots: Sandler Sampson brown boots


Saturday 30 May

This morning it was catching up with a friend for coffee and then grocery shopping.

You’ve been to the butcher!
Top: Kwik.Sew 3740  in coffee/grey/cream knit, previously worn on Days 11 and 20.
Jeans: Jalie 2908 in brown denim, previously worn on Days 1, 3 and 22.
Accessory: Gold choker with purchased glass pendant with cream/brown/gold flecks and earrings
Boots: Sandler Sampson brown boots

Sunday 31 May

Today Sandra and I headed to the Powerhouse Museum to see:

Top: BWOF 02/2009/108 in cream Mercury Jersey, previously worn on Day 10.
Skirt: Vogue 1247 in orange linen (blogged here)
Cardigan: Simplicity 2603 in brown Mercury Jersey, previously worn on Days 21 and 27.
Accessory: Purchased necklace and earrings
Tights: Brown tights
Boots: Sandler Sampson brown boots


********************


Wrap-up 2015

The weather this year was very different from last year but the same things are still true, I need more layers and tops.

My sewing list for the remainder of the year is pretty clear, I just hope I can keep away from “skirts” as a blue denim one is calling out to me.

My goal to conquer elastic failed, I ran out of elastic!  New stocks have been purchased and hopefully some new lingerie will appear soon.

Now back to some regular blogging.

MMM’15 – Days 18 to 24

On By Sharon9 Comments

Monday 18 May

Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 with neckline raised by 2cm in chartreuse/navy/grey knit, previously worn on Day 7
Skirt: Vogue 7937 in black wool (blogged here)
Accessory: Purchased necklace, earrings and Rosoce (walk in)
Tights: Black tights
Boots: Nine West black boots.

Tuesday 19 May

Today was my birthday and I have received some wonderful cards and presents.

Dress: The Selfish Seamstress Audrey dress in brown linen (blogged here)
Cardigan: Jalie 2566 fractured knit cardigan, previously worn on Day 5
Accessory: Me made necklace and purchased earrings.
Tights: Black tights (just realised I forgot to change them when I changed my dress).
Boots: Airflex Valent brown boots.



Wednesday 20 May


Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 in coffee/grey/cream knit, previously worn on Day 11.
Skirt: McCall’s 7244 in grey wool flannel, made pre blog.
Accessory: Purchased necklace and earrings
Tights: Black tights
Boots: Instep Otiss black suede boots


Thursday 21 May

Top: Vogue 8572 (OOP) and very modified in off white damask, previously worn on Day 5
Skirt: Self drafted pencil skirt in brown tropical wool, previously worn on Day 5.
Cardigan: Simplicity 2603 in brown mercury jersey (blogged here)
Accessory: Me made crocheted necklace and earrings.
Tights: Brown tights
Boots: Airflex Valent brown boots


Friday 22 May – Theme Day

Animals (real ones, fabric ones, prints, go wild)

It is pouring rain and Roscoe is worried that I’m not taking him to his mates place whilst I head to Tamworth for the weekend with some sewing friends from Pattern Review.

Top: Jalie 2566 top in animal print (blogged here)

Jeans: Jalie 2908 brown jeans, previously worn on Days 1 and 3
Cardigan: Jalie 2566 cardigan in animal print (blogged here)
Accessory: Me made necklace and earrings
Tights: Brown tights
Boots: Sandler Sampson brown boots

Saturday 23 May


Top: BWOF   02/2009/108 in blue/brown/chartreuse, previously worn on Days 4 and 16.
Jean: Jalie 2908 dark blue jeans, previously worn on Day 2.
Vest: Me made knitted Shona Vest (blogged here)

Accessory: Purchased necklace and earrings
Tights: Brown tights
Shoes/Boots: Sandler Sampson brown boots

Sunday 24 May

Haydon Hall, Murrurundi

Top: Kwik.Sew 3470 in orange swirl knit, previously worn on Day

Skirt: BWOF 04-2009-101 in salt and pepper cord (blogged here)
Cardigan: Simplicity 2603 in brown merino knit (blogged here)
Accessory: Me made Captive Chain Maille necklace (blogged here) and purchased earrings
Tights: Seamster Rosehip tights in brown Mercury Jersey tights (blogged here)
Boots: Sandler Sampson brown boots

MMM’15 – Days 11 to 17

On By Sharon5 Comments

Monday 11 May

Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 in coffee/grey/cream knit (blogged here)
Skirt: Self drafted pencil skirt in brown suede like fabric, previously worn on Day 6
Accessory: Purchased necklace and earrings
Tights: Brown tights
Boots: Airflex Valent brown boots

Tuesday 12 May


Dress: McCall’s 5433 in navy linen (blogged here)
Accessory: Me made necklace and purchased earrings
Tights: Black tights
Boots: Nine West black boots


Wednesday 13 May


Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 in brown/cream/orange arrowheads, previously worn on Day 1
Skirt: Self drafted pencil skirt in brown tropical wool, previously worn on Day 5
Accessory: Me made necklace and earrings using smokey Quartz (blogged here)
Tights: Brown tights
Boots: Airflex Valent brown boots

Thursday 14 May


Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 in blue and gold swirls, previously worn on Day 2
Skirt: Self drafted pencil skirt in brown suede like fabric, previously worn on Days 6 and 11
Accessory: Me made necklace (blogged here) and purchased earrings.
Tights: Seamster 9701 Rose Hip tights in brown Mercury Jersey (blogged here)
Boots: Airflex Valent brown boots.


Friday 15 May – Theme Day – Something Old

Something Old (give a well loved garment its last hurrah, wear something you made years ago, but whatever you do, tell us the story behind it)

Skirt: Self drafted pencil skirt in brown linen, and this is its last wearing!

This skirt was part of my 2009 SWAP plans and was interlined and lined with Sun Silky.

Unfortunately the  skirt itself is looking very tired, particularly at the hem and I am only left with the interlining so there are a few reasons for the final hurrah!


Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 with cowl in brown/red/coffee, previously worn on Day 6.
Accessory: Me made burgundy necklace and earrings (seen here)
Tights: Brown tights
Boots: Sandler Sampson brown boots

Saturday 16 May


A lazy day at home, time in my sewing room and dog walking.

Top: BWOF 02/2009/108 blue/brown/green abstract print, previously worn on Day 4.
Pants: Simplicity 3640 in blue stretch twill (blogged here)
Hoodie: Seamster Avocado Hoodie 3401 in brown Stella Cotton knit (blogged here)
Shoes: Puma sneakers



Sunday 17 May

Some time in the sewing room and then a visit to the nursery and some serious planting.   This is after my darling sister had dug out the old plants and prepared the soil for me, she is a gem.

Top: Butterick 3344 in multi striped knit, previously worn on Day 8.
Pants: Simplicity 3604 in blue stretch twill, worn yesterday 🙂
Shoes: Puma sneakers

Pale pink pearls

On By Sharon5 Comments

I found this necklace this week whilst trying to work out what to accessorise this dress with, and then realised I hadn’t blogged about it before.

This was made during one of my many workshops with Sharon from Goddess of Beading, it is a delicate choker as it sits right at the base of my neck.

I used grey seed beads and some small pink pearls and with some clever stringing through the pearls I have created a multistrand necklace.

It works perfectly with a high closed neckline like my shirtmaker, but I am not sure if I will get to wear it with much else as most of my other necklines are rather open.