Cargo shorts

As mentioned in my previous post I made several Christmas gifts this year including a pair of shorts for my lovely boyfriend. He was very surprised and happy - he keeps telling everyone that I made them and he likes the bright lining I used;)

The pattern came from The Great British Sewing Bee Fashion with Fabric book and it's really good. Everything matched perfectly and I absolutely loved fly-zip instructions. It took couple of minutes to have the zip installed! The only thing I changed in the pattern was cutting one pocket piece from main fabric - the pattern says to cut two out of lining fabric and topstitch a panel made of main fabric at the pocket opening (not sure if it makes sense lol) I also made the cargo pocket smaller but this was an accident. I got the folds wrong and I only realized that when I was about to stitch the pocket flaps. So instead of unpicking and fixing pockets, I just made the flaps smaller. Oh, and I used snap fasteners instead buttons because lazy!

The fabric came from Spotlight - it has unusual greyish purple cotton dill. Unfortunately it is not the best quality and I don't expect the shorts to be very durable. I treat them as a prototype since I couldn't do any fitting during sewing. At Sam's request next versions will have deeper pockets and I'm also considering adding welt pockets on the back. Apparently the shorts have nice cut and are comfortable to wear and that makes me very happy!

Ooops, wonky top-stitching! 

And a proof that the shorts actually fit :)

2015 in review

2015 was a good year, especially for my sewing! I made quite a few things, many of them are being worn regularly. I learned heaps both about fabrics and techniques. I made my first collared shirt, pair of pants and a full size quilt. I discovered indie patterns. And I joined Wellington Sewing Bloggers group that gives me courage, support and expertise every time I need it! I also found a new hobby when sewing is not an option. All good things :)

My favorite make last year was my Christmas Dress! My heart Cardamome dress is probably most work of all my dresses. Stripey Simplicity dress always gets commented on and I'm still really proud of my floral Granville shirt I made for 0 Degree Challenge.

There were a few fails last year too. The biggest one is probably my Watson Jacket (never blogged). It is just not me and makes me look terrible. It's a pity as I spent quite a lot of time and effort on it and it just doesn't work for me. Second fail is my "Welcome to the jungle" dress that I will blog about some time soon. Lovely dress, nice finish... and it's too small! I can barely breathe wearing it! And there are my Antoinette pants... Bad, bad fit, wrong fabric and just not the right shape. I need to learn more about pants fitting and just keep trying to get it right!

There was a little bit of unselfish sewing too. The biggest achievement of the year was making a quilt for my best friend! Took time and patience and lots of love to finish it which is fitting because it was a wedding gift :) The other thing I'm really proud of is a pair of shorts I made for my partner for Christmas. Blog post to follow soon.

This quilted cushion was also a Christmas gift. Worked out quite nicely!

And a little bit of fabric shopping and a new hobby. Knitting was my winter discovery and I do have a few knitted things to show on the blog... I'm just being a lousy blogger! I still have at least 10 garments to show from 2015!

As for 2016 I just want to keep sewing, keep enjoying it and keep getting better. I need to work on my fitting issues and nice finishes. I need some jackets in my wardrobe so that's my potential focus for next months.

HAPPY SEWING EVERYONE!!!

Sydney blush

This top is a huge surprise to me - I wasn't sure about the fabric, the pattern and their combination! This beautiful rayon piece came from Tessuti Fabrics in Sydney - I absolutely loved the shop but the prices were a bit out of my range. Because of that I only got 1,5m of this blush-pink and grey fabric and I'm not even sure why! I usually don't go for pale colours and I wasn't sure if they would work on me.

The pattern comes from Burda. Blouse 131 from May2014 magazine and I've been meaning to sew it for a while. I remember I had it traced at some stage and even the fabric was cut but I can't seem to find it anywhere! Anyway, the weekend before Christmas I decided to make myself a new top ;)

I had to do my standard 5cm full bust adjustment and I added it to the shoulder gathers. I used burrito method for the yoke as I love the clean finish it provides! After trying the top on I decided to take it in a little bit - I think 3 cm on each side. It sits nicer now.  While sewing the top wasn't too hard I must admit that Burda instructions are ridiculous! "Construct sleeve vents" or "attach the neckband" are the perfect example. Really Burda? A little bit more a hand holding would be welcomed here. Luckily the week before I made continuous sleeve placket so I knew what to do. The neckband was a bit of a trial and error. I machine stitched one side and the stitched the other side by hand. Because of that I had more control over the pointy ends of the neckband. It's not perfect but not too bad either.

I used some white pearl buttons from my stash and surprisingly my sewing machine had no problems with the button holes! I also realized I don't have to unbutton the blouse to put it on so I stitched the overlapping neckband pieces together (after the photos were taken) as it was gaping a little bit. I hemmed the top using my rolled hem foot - I need a bit more practice with it as the hem is a bit uneven.
Overall I think I like this top. I was worrying that the gathers in the bodice and puffy sleeves wouldn't look good on me but they somehow work. Even the colours seem to be ok and I think this top will be perfect for summer. And it will work well as office wear once I start working again ;)

Christmas dress

Ok, this is definitely my favourite project of 2015! I love absolutely everything about it!

Let's start with fabric. I bought this beautiful linen in Made on Marion - the most lovely local store for all sorts of crafters during their mid-winter Christmas celebrations. I couldn't resist this white and blue print. It reminds me of portuguese ceramic tiles called azulejos which I got to love when I lived in Portugal for 6 months. I bought 2,5m with no projects in mind but I thought it was going to be a dress or maybe a summer jacket. Then I started thinking about Christmas and the idea was born.

I decided to use the same patterns as for my Halloween dress - Simplicity skirt and Burda bodice. I modified the bodice neckline from sweetheart shape into a straight one. I thought it suited the fabric more. Unfortunately I didn't do it properly - the neckline didn't sit flat. I also realized that only when the dress was practically finished! The dress went to the naughty corner for two weeks, then I got back to it and fixed it in 20 min! It is almost perfect now ;)

I didn't want any stitching to be visible on the outside and I also wanted this dress to be pretty on the inside. I finished all the bodice seams with bias binding, hand-stitched it down using blind stitch. It took me a few episodes of "Jessica Jones"to finish it (I do recommend the show, David Tennant is a fabulous villain!). I opted for narrow, rolled hem. I am really proud of this dress!
I wish I had better photos of the dress - taking photos around noon on a sunny day made them overexposed and some details are hard to see.

I HEART Cardamome

The moment I finished my first Cardamome dress I knew it wouldn't be my last. I like the unusual lines of the dress and the fact that it has loose fit but the shirring keeps it close to my waist - very comfortable and flattering.

The fabric is one of my souvenirs from September trip around the North Island. The last stop was in Masterton where I bought this lovely navy rayon covered in hearts. It was a pleasure to sew with it! Even cutting wasn't a problem. I decided to use piping again, this time white so it matches the hearts. The dress quickly became my "to go dress" when I have no idea what to wear!

The photos were taken at our WBSN Christmas Picnic. It was perfect - weather was lovely, food was yummy and the company as amazing as always ;) We also had our ornament swap and I received the most beautiful cross-stitched kiwi! Handmade swaps with WSBN ladies are always amazing because everyone is so crafty and clever!

 

And my beautiful hand made ornament. Isn't it lovely?

Cover dress

Ever since I saw the McCall's 7084 I wanted to make the cover dress - stripes, sleeves and a full skirt. Finding the right fabric took a while but I managed to grab 2,5m of cotton/elastane stripes in navy and white, although I could have sweared that they were black when I bought the fabric! Anyway, navy is nice too.

2,5m wasn't quite enough - the pattern cover suggested 4,7m! I guess it's because of placing parts of the pattern on bias. To make it work the only change I had to make was narrowing the skirt inserts. They ended up being almost half the original size. It's actually quite fortunate - I would't want to have it any fuller.

It took me a while to finish this dress as I decided to do some fancy finish. Every seam allowance was folded over and topstitched. I lined the stripes where needed. The waist seam is finished with mint bias binding - it adds a pop of colour that makes me happy every time I wear this dress. There are pockets and sleeve tabs and even a label! I even managed to find navy press snaps to match the colour of the stripes so I could avoid buttons and buttonholes.  I think this might be one of my favourite makes this year!