Tag: Stash 2017

Como Trunks

On By Sharon3 Comments

Still catching up with my sewing backlog, here is a gift I made for Mark back in September last year.

I have read a lot of reviews of the Thread Theory Como Trunks and purchaed a kit back in 2016 to check out the fabric quality as well as the elastic that they suggest you use.

These were made for our 16th Wedding Anniversary in 2017, and the gemstone colour is Peridot which by my thinking is green therefore this olive fabric in the Como Trunks kit was perfect and thankfully quite quick to make up.

For some reason last year Mark decided to wear trunks and went on a bit of a purchasing spree.  At this time he did make the comment that he didn’t want any for his Birthday or Christmas so I felt that I could still give him a pair for our Wedding Anniversary.

As usual the Thread Theory instructions are very clear and you end up with a very professional looking pair of trunks.

The only change I made was the way I sewed on the elastic for the waist, I followed how Mark’s RTW trunks were sewn which meant I had to trim the excess fabric away using my Duckbill scissors.

The Coverstitch was perfect for stitching the elastic in place as well as for the two leg hems.

There are no modeled photos but they are in high rotation which is great, but so far there hasn’t been a request for any more so I will see if that changes as the year progresses.

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2017 Stash Out: 21.9
2017 Stash In: 14.6 m

A striped top

On By Sharon7 Comments

This is the 3rd top that I made during our weekend away along with the skewed cowl and cream top back in May.

I originally purchased this fabric from The Remnant Warehouse for a shingle dress, Vogue 8904 and no matter how I tried I just couldn’t get it to sit right at my swayback even taking notice of all the very helpful blog reviews.

So this fabric has been marinating in my stash since then, still in pieces, so after seeing so many striped tops this year I decided it was the year to finally do something with the fabric.

Once again I have used KS 3740 as my base.

Michelle showed me a great trip for matching the stripes, using Steam-A-Seam you finger press this onto the right side of your fabric at the seam line and then slowly remove the tape and finger press your stripes together,

it worked a treat

The back has a seam as this works better for my sway back

I also used my A Binder on the Coverstitch to finish the neckline

This top also got a lot of wear during Winter and I have found more striped fabric in my stash so there could be another one appearing at some time.

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2017 Stash Out: 21.9 m
2017 Stash In: 14.6 m

Garnet Finlayson

On By Sharon7 Comments

I’ve been sewing for Mark again for our 15th Wedding Anniversary back in 2016 and it has taken me quite a while to get some photos of this garment even though it is worn quite a lot.

Some of the choices from Traditional and Modern Anniversary Gifts suggested Glass, Watches, Ruby, Alexandrite and Rhodite Garnet.

I then remembered I had been given some Sweater Knit from Knitwit by Alison’s mother about 10 years ago that I had earmarked for a smarter sweatshirt style that Mark had been wearing for years that were starting to show their age.

So I headed to Thread Theory and purchased the Finlayson Sweater PDF as I planned to sew this during our Sewing Weekend in Brisbane as Mark was going to be away for our wedding anniversary. However his plans changed so I suddenly had to get this made.

Working from his much loved sweater I cut a large and added 7.5cm in length as I wasn’t going to add the bands.

From my bag stash fabric I found some black twill that I used for the back neck facing.

and used my Duckbill scissors to trim the bulk from the collar which I also understitched.

This pattern went together very well and when I had the sleeves in I decided to compare it to his much loved sweater and realised it was going to be too large in the sleeves and also thought I’d take some extra width from the side seams as well.

The solid line is my stitching line and the dashed is the cutting line.

The final steps were to add some black twill tape to the neckline and to do the hems on my Coverstitch.

Mark has said that it is a different neckline but he seems to be quite comfortable with it as it got a lot of wear during Winter.

This is the only photo I have got of the back view, which shows how much fullness there is in the body,

mucking around with Roscoe

so I will compare this to the Medium to see how much difference there is for the next version.

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2017 Stash Out: 21.9 m
2017 Stash In:  14.6 m

T-Shirt with a Twist

On By Sharon11 Comments

This is a top that I finished in October last year and it has been worn quite a lot during the warmer months.

This is the result of the sew-along with the Australian Sewing Guild, T-Shirt with a Twist which was for ASG Members only back in May last year, but as we were experiencing Winter at that time, I decided to make it a summer top and leave it for a few more months.

I used KS 3740 as my base pattern and followed the instructions, but this is where I ran into trouble, 45 degree angles can be found both on the short length and long length of the quilting ruler I used, and I managed to use the wrong one.

Thankfully I made this at my ASG Sewing Guild Group at The Remnant Warehouse and Alison was very helpful in setting me in the right direction and also guiding all of the overs/unders for the lattice stripes.

Here are the lattice pieces in place.

Now this then leaves you a gap in the back neckline, so I used some Solvy  to create a false back neckline so I could used the B Binder on my Coverstitch to finish the back neckline

and continue around the plain front neckline.

Then at another ASG meeting another sewing friend, Wendy, kindly pinned the back hem for me,

which I finished with my Coverstitch.

I like that this top is plain in the front so I can wear a number of different necklaces with it,

and then there is all the fun in the back.

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2017 Stash Out: 21.9
2017 Stash In: 14.6 m

2017 in review

On By Sharon5 Comments

I am very late to the party, but what a year it has been and Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow has again asked us to share our thoughts.

Hits

All of what I have made this year has been has been worn continuously and I am very happy with it all.


Highlights

  • 3 classes with Susan Khalje in Sydney.
  • Trip to Melbourne to see the Dior Exhibition with sewing friends.
  • 3 long weekends away sewing with friends throughout the year.
  • Attending my first Australian Knitting Guild Camp.
  • Bus trip to the Bendigo Wool Show.
  • My Sewing Sister has arrived and I am thrilled with her.
Wearing my Couture Dress

Reflections

It has been an interesting year, sewing took a back seat as we renovated our home and even then the knitting didn’t increase but I was surprised that I had completed 9 garments.  The Little French Jacket still has a lot of work to be done, but I plan on finishing it this year.

It also came as a surprise that I managed to curtail my fabric purchasing this year with 21.9 metres going out and only 14.6 metres being added to the collection, this hasn’t happened since 2014 and I would like to continue this way.  Instead I have increased my knitting collection but at this stage it is still contained in 2 small tubs.

Goals

I’ve realised over the years that I post goals here and then go about and forget about them until my next round up!  After listening to the Love to Sew podcast Episode 22 I realised that I am an “Obliger” and unless I share my goals elsewhere I’m not likely to do it.

I joined Instagram back in January last year and found the #2018makenine hosted by Rochelle from Lucky Lucille.  This is 3 less garments that A Garment a Month which I found difficult to achieve so I am hoping that this format keeps me motivated.  I have chosen my 9 pieces and have started work on the skirt from Vogue 1247.  The question mark will be a top of some sort I’m just trying to work out which pattern.

Thank you everyone who has visited my blog to follow my crafting journey, it is very much appreciated.

Now for the collage of my makes for 2017:

Now to catch up on some blogging.

Cream top and other news

On By Sharon10 Comments

When I showed you my Skewed Cowl top, I mentioned that I had made 2 other tops prior to this one during our weekend away.

This is the first top that I had partly made but needed some fitting help with.

Now I’m not too sure why it has taken me quite so long to replace my cream knit top I made back in 2014 as this top is proving invaluable in my current winter wardrobe.

Again I have used KS 3740 with a further two adjustments:

  • a centre back seam to try and remove some of the excess fabric in the middle of my back, sometimes I think it works others not so sure.
  • forward shoulder adjustment that I have been doing to my TNT woven blouse pattern.

I did use my Coverstitch binder for the neck band.

Twisted sleeve – what now!

Now you may have noticed my accessory on my right hand, it is an Exos splint to keep my wrist and thumb still as I have de Quervain’s Tenosynovitis which is a result of all the fine handsewing I did back in February.  This has only been on for 2 weeks (I do remove it 4 times a day to do exercises and shower) but I’m not sure how much longer it will take to reduce the inflammation.

So not much sewing, knitting or jewellery making is happening here at the moment but I do have a few more blog posts to catch up on.

On a much brighter note, please meet Tomba who joined our family at 11 weeks of age and is now 19 weeks old.  We are off to his 2nd dog obedience class tomorrow.

Our household was just too quite after Roscoe left us and Tomba (who will be a very similar size to Roscoe) is making our life very interesting.

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2017 Stash Out: 7.6 m
2017 Stash In: 4 m

Skewed Cowl Collared top

On By Sharon6 Comments

The other weekend I want away for a 3 day sewing retreat with the Australian Sewing Guild at The Tops Conference Centre.

I had taken a top that was cut out which I wanted some help with fitting and then fabric for another 3 tops.

On the 2nd evening I pulled out this camel coloured knit which I purchased during my US trip back in 2011 and had plans to make the cowl neck version of KS 3740 my TNT knit top. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough fabric for the cowl from the pattern, but as this fabric had fantastic drape I really wanted a cowl neck of some sort.

You can see the fabric on the table.

Thankfully one of the ladies in the group had brought along her copy of Knits for Real People by Palmer Pletsch (my copy was in my bookcase at home) and I found the instructions on how to draft a skewed cowl collar (wow I just found this link) which as long as I didn’t want it as deep and happy for an extra seam it worked perfectly for the amount of fabric I had.

The best bit I was finished by lunchtime the next day, very happy indeed.

How I wore it to work the other week.

Now to get photos of the other two tops I made prior to this one!

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2017 Stash Out: 6.1 m
2017 Stash In: 4 m

Cold Shoulder Top

On By Sharon9 Comments

Back in December during my first lot of toile preparation for Susan Khalje’s classes I decided to make myself a new top for summer.

To start with I pulled out my TNT knit pattern, KS 3740 and then thought I would add the cowl from the ASG Cowl Neck Knit Top Sew-along, so I traced of a new pattern and followed the great instructions and had a new front pattern.

Then I dug out this fuchsia knit that I had purchased at The Remnant Warehouse that worked with this skirt that is an orphan in my wardrobe now that the knitted top no longer fits.

I merrily cut out my top, stitched the shoulders and overlocked the side seams and tried it on!

Did you notice above the words “no longer fits”, well it was a complete disaster, partly due to the fact that I have gained some centimetres and the stretch of the knit wasn’t what I thought it would be.  The top has now had its side seams unpicked and I am trying to work out a way to salvage it.

However I was determined that I would have a new top by the end of the year!

Back to the drawing board, this time I pulled out some Coral Cotton Knit that I purchased from Pitt Trading back in 2015.

First I checked the amount of stretch and it was better than the fuchsia knit, so I went ahead and cut out and sewed another top but this time I only basted the side seams before I tried it on.  A bit snug but wearable so the sleeves were basted in.

Looking in the mirror it was very apparent that I hadn’t made the forward shoulder adjustment to my knit TNT pattern, and with the knit being rather thin it was really noticeable.

It took me a few days and then it dawned on me, what about a cold shoulder top!

I undid the top of the sleeve and then put it on, turning down what I thought looked good, pinned in it place and then took the sleeves out, stitching the new top hems on my coverstitch and then trimming the seam.

I hemmed the sleeves and then stitched the sleeves back into the armholes.  I added Lite Steam-A-Seam2 to the remainder of the armsyce

turned it under and coverstitched it in place.

After a few washes

Back to the sleeve pattern, I pinned what I had cut off and it was 6cm.  So for the next version I will create a new pattern and straighten the curve at the top 1cm of the sleeve so that I when I turn it to hem there is solid fabric all the way across.

The back view

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2017 Stash Out: 1 m
2017 Stash In: 4 m

Susan Khalje Couture Sewing School in Australia

On By Sharon10 Comments

I was so excited to find out that Susan Khalje was coming to Australia from the Australian Sewing Guild and you my have seen Kristy talk about it as well.

During her 2017 Australian Teaching School she is offering:

  • 7 day Classic French Jacket sewing class
  • 6 day Couture Sewing school
  • 3 day Guipure Lace skirt class
  • 2 day Couture Techniques class

I have always wanted to attend the Classic French Jacket class especially after reading about it on Melanie’s blog and I had planned on heading to Baltimore sometime in 2017.

So February is going to be a busy month for me as I have enrolled in 3 of the classes;

  • Classic French Jacket, 
  • Couture Sewing school, and 
  • Couture Techniques class.

Kristy also pointed out that Bewitched is having a closing down sale and I made a bee line for there a few weeks ago and found some ink navy wool crepe for the dress I am planning and a wonderful tweed for my jacket.

The Couture Sewing school had me thinking hard on what to do for this as we are not people who go to balls, or fancy dinners and I don’t have that very special birthday coming up soon either.  Then I remembered I had Susan’s Crafty Class – The Couture Dress using V8468 and after seeing the amount of different looks this pattern can achieve, I have decided to use this pattern for this class.

For the Classic French Jacket class I have decided to use Susan Khalje’s pattern –  The Classic French Jacket.

I have been working on my toiles for the last 2 months during my limited sewing time and have attended two Sunday afternoon classes with Anita from Studio Faro who has worked so hard with me to fine tune the fit of both garments.  Still one more round to go, but now I am more comfortable with the fit for when I meet Susan.

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2016 Stash Out: 0 m
2016 Stash In: 4 m