Monday 17 November 2014

Completed: Swiss Dot Kanerva Blouse

Introducing my second Kanerva Blouse by Named Clothing Patterns! This time I used version #2 with a peplum and some silky swiss dot chiffon in a deep navy blue. I'd previously made this shirt in the size 6 in stretch knit and found it fit well, however, this time I was using a non-stretch woven so I chose to make it in size 10 instead to give me a little bit of extra room. The pattern actually calls for fabric with a little bit of stretch so the shirt can be pulled over the head without undoing the buttons but I still manage to do them up myself (and look hilariously uncoordinated in the process!)


I love how this shirt drapes! Its definitely hard work working with slippery, slinky fabrics like chiffon but the end result is very rewarding. I found the trick to make working with chiffon a little easier is to set the fabric out on a flat surface (I use my dining room table), straighten it out and spray it with a watered down starch solution. I find this helps keep the fabric more stable and on grain when cutting and sewing and makes life a lot easier! The starch easily washes out once the project is completed.









My original plan was to use a french seam on the majority of the seams, but in the end I just chose to overlock the edges. I was originally going to use an exposed metal zipper instead of buttons down the back but I eventually chose the buttons as the heavy metal zip would have caused the light weight fabric to pull under the weight of the zip. I'm still super keen to try an exposed zipper with this blouse, but with heavier fabric.





Other than that I made no other adjustments or alterations. I don't know why but I seem to be drawn to sewing anything that's NOT summer related at the moment, I mean, look at this shirt... its hardly summer appropriate in either colour or style and not really useful for when the weather over here hits 40deg. The way I'm going I'll have a kickass wardrobe by the time winter rolls around.




Pattern: Named Clothing Patterns Kanerva Blouse with peplum
Size: 10 - no adjustments
Fabric: Swiss Dot Chiffon from Textile Traders @ $9/m



Friday 24 October 2014

Completed: Sewaholic Thurlow Shorts

I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this blogging business! And now thanks to a tripod and a handy remote I can finally take photos of my finished garments without having to bully coerce family members into taking photos for me!!

Styled with a RTW white shirt

This isn't the first time I've made the Sewaholic Thurlow shorts but it is the first time I've ended up with something wearable! The first pair was destined for failure from the very beginning thanks to me choosing the completely wrong size (don't ask! I think I was having a fat day or something) and so as a result no matter how much altering and adjusting I did they just would not sit right... well I'm happy to report that (believe it or not) going down two sizes to a size 6 has produced a pair of shorts that fit perfectly with no adjustments WHATSOEVER!! Winning!!

Styled with my grey/black Grainline Scout Tee...

I used some medium weight cotton drill I purchased on sale from Spotlight. At first I was unsure as to if the patterned fabric would look OK as a pair of shorts considering they have so much going on already but then I figured that the pattern was random enough that I wouldn't need to worry about pattern matching and hey, it was on sale so worst case scenario they become my painting shorts or something. I'm glad I chose to use the fabric after all, the grey/brown/cream colours make it easy to pair things together and its something different than the other plain colours I have. Just looking at the photos now but I think the shorts will suit a slightly tighter tee as these shorts are very loose/flared around the leg and need a more fitted top to balance out the silhouette.


At first I was going to leave out the welt pockets as I wasn't sure if the combination of the print and welt seams would look to busy (totally not because I couldn't be bothered) but looking at it now I'm glad I chose to suck it up and do them. They give that RTW look plus its good practice for when I sew my Ralph Rucci coat welt pockets.

Spot the welt pockets... they blend in so well


Front - check out that pattern matching! Complete accident believe it or not!

Side view

 

The false cuff nicely topstitched
The guts, first time inserting the zip the 'proper' way and actually finishing off the buttons and buttonholes

 

 


A near perfect fit with no pulling or wrinkles around the crotch area
\
Same with the back, no lines or pulling even over the butt


 
 
 
I think these shorts are going to get a lot of wear over the next few months. I'm hoping to make another couple pairs in gunmetal grey, navy and maybe even a floral.

Pattern: Sewaholic Thurlow Trousers and Shorts
Fabric: Cotton Drill from Spotlight
Size 6 - no adjustments

Sunday 19 October 2014

Completed: Named Patterns Kanerva Blouse


This is actually the second pattern I've used from Named Clothing SS14 collection, the first being my *as of yet unblogged* Jamie Jeans. There are a lot of things to love about this pattern company! I adore how they release the patterns in seasons just like a fashion label and the little details that make each piece something unique and special. As much as I love vintage style clothing it is refreshing to find a pattern company that specialises in classic modern silhouettes and everyday basics. They have also recently released some of their patterns in paper format which is nice for some of us who cant be bothered with taping a million pieces of paper together! And apparently, recently updated their instructions to a more user friendly format.



I chose to make the Kanerva Blouse for a number of reasons. I loved how it was a cropped top, perfect for wearing with high waisted skirts without the need for tucking them in. It makes for a different silhouette which I now find I actually prefer. The only downside is not being able to wear it with low waisted pants or jeans without looking like a 90s tramp.



I may or may not have *stuffed up* when choosing the right size. I went off the finished garment measurements as I wanted the shirt to fit snug but now looking at the photos it may be a tad too tight. It also may look like I copied the fabric choice with this pattern too, but in my defence, I had been meaning to make myself a boat neck stripe top out of my navy and white stripe knit (left over from this project) and this happened to be the perfect pattern.

The pattern calls for fabric with slight stretch to make it easier to pull the shirt over the head rather than perform a variety of yogaish poses to button up the back buttons. I decided to go for a knit which worked well, but, hindsight is a wonderful thing and now its occurred to me that I probably could have left out the front side and centre darts...doh!! I managed to line the stripes on the centre darts quite well (it took me a couple of goes) but I really think it would have looked better without them as it draws attention to my bust area.



In other news, it appears I have conquered the stripe!! This shirt almost kicked my butt *read: was almost sent to the WIP box, never to see the light of day* but I persevered and managed to get every seam *almost* perfectly lined up. I discovered that decisions you make in the cutting stage really can affect the final perfect stripe matched product so it really pays to give some forward thinking and a little bit of hand basting is sometimes preferable over pins.


Other than that I'm very happy with this pattern, its simple, classic shape yet still modern and stylish and by the look of it I'm going to get quite a bit of wear out of it this winter. I've yet to add a row of gold buttons down the back to add some visual interest.

The skirt is actually another Named Pattern! The Vanamo Skirt!! This is my second version of the skirt, the first is yet unfinished un-blogged but I'm hoping to pull my finger out and get it up on the blog soon.












Completed: Classic Breton Shirt

Looking through my closet the other day I realised I have so many completed items that haven't been blogged yet!! The one that really stands out is my classic Breton shirt with a twist. I have been wearing this shirt to DEATH over the past few months (yes, its been finished for that long!!) so much so that its started to ball up and look rather ugly. But that's OK because there was a number of things I wasn't happy with in the end with this shirt. I'm hoping to make another one exactly the same, hopefully only this time without all the errors of the last one. The fabric turned out to be a total bitch to find. I ended up finding the perfect fabric online at Harts Fabric over in the States. It was pretty expensive ($17US per yard from memory) and the postage to Australia cost me almost as much as the fabric itself!! But striped knit fabric is turning out to be very hard to source and I had my heart totally set on making a similar shirt to this one by T by Alexander Wang.



I used the Ensis Tee pattern by Papercut Patterns (so in love with this pattern company!!) as the pattern design matched my inspiration perfectly. I did my best to match the stripes but a combination of a first-time sewing with stretch fabric and no prior experience in pattern matching proved to be my downfall. Also taking more than 4cm off each side seam doesn't help much either. All up it proved to be an epic fail in the stripe matching department with only one seam in the whole thing matching perfectly. Ah well, they say that practice makes perfect!






With the next one I'm thinking I might make a smaller size as I ended up taking at least 4cm off each side seam and a couple cm off the sleeve and underarm seams.
Despite all the errors in this shirt I still love it and wear it proudly. I think its important to remember that most RTW clothing (even the more expensive ones) often don't get the pattern matching perfectly either. I think sometimes we can be too critical and demand perfection of our me-mades so I'm trying not to get too bogged down by my unmatched seams. As for the fit its not perfect either but its comfortable and easy to wear. I'm looking forward to having another one of these in my closet!


Inspiration: T by Alexander Wang RRP$235
My Classic Breton Shirt $50.50
Fabric: approx 1yard white striped fabric $17.00 approx 1/2 yard navy striped fabric $8.50
Pattern: Ensis Tee by Papercut Patterns $25.00

Completed - Wenona Shirtdress

Here she is! My very own, much anticipated Miranda Kerr inspired shirtdress!! It feels so good to finally have made the thing that has been floating around in my head for the past year and a half and just in time for summer too!


As discussed in my previous inspiration post I used the Named Patterns Wenona Shirtdress as the basis for the dress but with a couple of adjustments (obviously!). I love this style of dress so much I've ear-marked some fabric for a two-tone long sleeved autumn/winter dress... is it ok to be hanging out for winter and its not even summer yet?! Its so hard to see all you inspiring northern hemisphere bloggers sew up snuggly knits and awesome coats while us southern hemisphere bloggers try to get psyched for summer, only to be oogling all your gorgeous summer stuff once we get back to winter!! ;-)

Close up of the button and collar detail


Anyway, before I get into all the nitty grittys of my dress there is one thing I'd like to point out to anyone thinking of sewing their own Wenona Shirtdress. This pattern has a lot of ease, and I mean, a lot of ease! I'm not to sure why this is or if this was the look they were after although just looking at the model from the pattern its not super obvious the dress is so loose, so I'm not to sure what happened there.
Either way, I'm normally a size 10 to 12 with every single one of the Named patterns I've used so far but (having done some sneaky pre-sewing research and finding excess ease was an issue) I ended up using the finished garment measurements and found I just fit into the Size 0 category... bahahaha... not even close to size 0 in real life but I'm not complaining!! Thankfully I picked this up before I printed off the PDF or else I would have had to print off and tediously tape together two lots of pattern sheets.
This shouldn't, however, discourage you from sewing up this pattern. I know I tend to go on and on a little bit about this pattern company but I'm seriously impressed with how well the pattern pieces fit together and how clear the instructions are. And I especially love the little details that take this from homemade to another level. For example, this was my first attempt at sewing a collar and collar stand and I've heard some horror stories when it comes to sewing a neat, professional collar and stand so I was very impressed with how mine turned out (being first time and all) thanks to the detailed instructions.


My poor attempt at the 'Angelina Jolie leg' pose

Great, now that that's out of the way I can get back to the nitty gritties.
I made a couple adjustments to the pattern to get the look I was after:
  • I removed the sleeves and bias bound the armhole, I didn't change the shape of the armhole as I thought I would have in my inspiration post
  • Added two 2cm darts in the bodice back and two 2.5cm darts in the skirt back to counteract the unsightly bagging thanks to a combination of excess fabric, a swayback and some stiffer than expected cotton fabric (I think I need to fabric soften the shit out of this dress before it will hang the way I want it to)
  • I removed the point in the collar back, opting for a sleek curve instead (the whole thing was starting to look at little bit too 'Little House on the Prairie' for me)
  • Added around 50cm to the length of the dress to take it from knee length to maxi dress length
  • reconfigured the button placement to ensure there would be no gaping around the boob area as things were looking a little bit snug



The other little details which I think kinda make the dress are:
  • charcoal grey topstiching the seam lines, collar and collar stand
  • the same charcoal grey colour buttons and buttonholes
  • a belt! Not handmade but it sure does provide the much needed contrast and takes the dress to modern rather than the before suggested LHOTP look.

At the end of the day I'm over the moon with this dress. I expect it will get a lot of wear this summer thanks to the cool cotton fabric and the maxi length means I can dress it up or down depending on the occasion. The fabric is my biggest bug bear at the moment as, for some reason, I was expecting soft, drapey rayon not stiff cotton. I'm hoping a couple washes in some fabric softener and white vinegar will help with the hang and drape of the dress, but if not I guess you live and learn. The joys of being so caught up in making a dress similar to the inspiration that you end up having limited fabric choice.










Named Patterns Wenona Shirtdress
Size 0
Fabric composition: Cotton

Monday 22 September 2014

Completed: One Mans Trash is Another (Wo)mans Treasure

Just a super quick post today on one of the three weekend projects I managed to complete this last weekend!! Yay for a super big dose of inspirational motivation and a rostered day off from work on Monday... impossible to have Mondayitis when you can start your week with a coffee and a sewing machine.

Anyway, this t'shirt started its life in our house as The Boy's shirt but I can't think of a single time he's worn it out as, in his words, he would look like a French Mime, lol :-)
I, on the other hand, loved the shirt and purchased it in the hope he'd come around and eventually wear it... but this Boy is stubborn so it became my painting shirt. It managed to survive a number of painting projects relatively unscathed until I came up with the idea it would make a perfect wearable muslin for the Sewaholic Renfrew tee and give me some stripe matching practice!

French Mime:
What The Boy thinks he would look like if he wore the shirt

I *cheated* and used the existing hems from the sleeves and shirt bottom so other than stripe matching it came together really fast! I used some navy stretch fabric from my stash for the neckband although I think I should have cut it a couple cms shorter as it tends to flop forward a bit despite the topstitching. I've made no other alterations or adjustments other than leave off the sleeve and bottom bands as I preferred to be lazy use the existing shirt hems.



After: Sewaholic Renfrew

Before: Men's striped t'shirt
























As you can see my selfie taking skills leave much to be desired! But hey, you get the general idea and I figured a post with dodgy photos is better than no post at all :-)

Overall I'm yet again impressed with these Sewaholic Patterns, the simple easy to understand instructions and beautiful, well fitting design make this a great wardrobe basic. I'm already planning another couple of these tees for my summer wardrobe!



Pattern: Sewaholic Renfrew
Size 8, no alterations or adjustments

Friday 19 September 2014

Inspiration: Miranda Kerr's Summery Shirtdress

With summer fast approaching (can you believe we are halfway through September already?!) and too late in the season to sew any more winter coats and other snugly clothes I've started to plan my summer wardrobe. Plan is a loose term as far as my sewing wardrobe goes as generally the order of which I sew things varies depending on the fabric and pattern availability and in the past usually whatever caught my eye.

But this summer I'm trying something a little different which has been working surprisingly well for me so far.
A couple of weeks ago I went through my pattern stash and pulled out all the patterns I planned to use for summer clothes, then matched them up with fabric from my stash and put them in order in a box. So now, instead of procrastinating over my next sewing project, all I do is pull out the next pattern from my box and the correlating fabric and get started... seems to be working a treat so far so lets hope I stick with it :-)


Miranda Kerr in her gorgeous shirt dress

I've had a bad case of dress envy with this next project of mine. Its been almost as consuming as my Sass & Bide Capecoat project but its been on the back burner mainly due to winter but also because Ive been searching for the perfect pattern to use. And then Named Patterns conveniently released their Fall/Winter '14 Collection. I have a serious love affair with all things Named at the moment and its showing no sign of letting up!!


Named Patterns - Wenona Shirtdress AW14 Collection

I was pretty excited to see Named had brought out a shirtdress in their latest collection! I personally love their patterns because of the way they fit my body shape and for their on trend styles and little unique details and this pattern is exactly that. Not only do you get a gorgeous shirtdress but also a cute button down shirt too! Good value for money as far as I'm concerned.

Named Patterns - Wenona Shirtdress sketch

I'm also pretty excited as to how similar the style lines are to the dress Miranda is wearing! With a few easy adjustments I think I could end up with something very similar... however... I love this dress so much I just had to find similar fabric and surprisingly I found some online that is pretty much identical to the fabric on Miranda's dress!! And in beautiful, drapey, soft rayon too!!

I know, I know, no imagination you say but I would have bought this dress if it wasn't eye-wateringly expensive!!


Geometric Patterned Rayon for my Miranda inspired shirtdress

In order to get a maxi shirtdress I'm planning to lengthen the skirt so it reaches my ankles. I think Miranda's dress is a little on the short side and being the tall girl I am I think it looks better either mid calf or ankle length. I'm also planning to remove the sleeves and bind the armholes with self made bias binding. I might have a play around with the armhole shape, maybe making it into a slight racer back style. I love the black buttons on Miranda's dress so I'm thinking I might steal that idea too.

Anyone else planning or sewing their summer wardrobe yet?! Day dreaming about floaty sun dresses and short shorts, days by the beach, BBQs with friends and blue cloudless skies... bring on Summer!!



Wednesday 30 July 2014

Completed: The Cape Coat

Just a little bit proud of my latest me-made. After literally weeks of obsessively staring at Sass & Bides Snowbird Cape (see here for my inspiration post) I faced my fears of stuffing up and got to work. As per usual with most of my me-mades I had a tight deadline to work with  as the Boy was taking me to Melbourne the following weekend for my birthday!! But hey, working with a tight deadline is nothing new to me. I'm pretty sure I do my best work when I'm stressed out to the max with literally minutes to go before I need to wear something. I've been known to be doing the last little bit of hand stitching in the car on the way to a night out!! And the cape coat was going to be so perfect to wear in Melbourne, so elegant and chic when worn with jeans and my striped Breton shirt.

Spotted in the Wild: The Cape Coat in Melbourne
FABRIC:
On my last visit to Spotlight I had come across the most beautiful ice blue fine herringbone wool blend suiting. It took a lot of self control not to buy a couple metres of it then and there but self control reigned supreme and I promised myself that if, in the next few weeks, I found something to make with it I would buy it. Well, shortly after I found a picture of the Sass & Bide Snowbird Cape and the rest is history. 



Closeup - The most beautiful fabric
As mentioned before the fabric has a very fine pale ice blue herrringbone pattern through it. Its a medium weight wool blend with beautiful drape, perfect for a cape. I chose the most beautiful charmeuse ice blue fabric for the lining. I think it almost cost me as much as the wool fabric but considering the lining was going to be visible I chose to splurge and get something nice. *Best Decision Ever!* sewing both of these fabrics was a dream!!

Getting ready to cut!!
Waistcoat:
Using the McCall's pattern as the basis for the waistcoat part of the jacket, I restyled the front panels to resemble something like a tuxedo jacket front, freestyling the design lines until I was happy with the end result. My original inspiration featured a straight collar that tapered down into the line of the waistcoat front. At first I thought I could get away with leaving out the collar but as the muslin came together it became obvious that it needed something to mark where the waistcoat ended and the cape started. After numerous YouTube videos on drafting a collar and as many muslin attempts I ended up just drafting a rectangular piece of fabric and stabilised it with interfacing. The end result is passable but for future reference I wouldn't mind knowing how to get a more professional look.


Cape:
Using the Vogue 1322 pattern for the basis of the cape I removed the centre back seam by cutting the piece on the fold for a more streamlined effect. I also hacked away at the front pattern piece until I got the desired shape (I know, I know probably not the right way to do things). I had forgotten how much I hate working with patterns from the 'Big Four', we are so spoilt with patterns from companies like Papercut Patterns and Sewaholic that are so well drafted they are pretty much guaranteed to fit amazingly. I forgot how much ease these Vogue patterns have!! I followed the measurement guide on the pattern envelope and dutifully cut out a Large (nothing boosts your confidence more than something telling you you're a Large size, NOT!!) and ended up with something that resembled the oversized padded shoulders of a rugby player... not super flattering and not really the look I'm after on a sleek cape coat. I ended up unpicking my seams and cutting the size Small instead (thankfully I was still in the muslin stage and could ruthlessly unpick at lightning speed without worrying about destroying my fabric). The end result?? A much better fit with the shoulder seams where they should be... So lesson for next time, cut a size or two less than what the pattern tells you or else just stick to the independent pattern companies! So much less hassle!!

Once I was out of the muslin stage things started to really speed up *read: lose track of time*. The best part about the muslin process is having the opportunity to really hack away at the design and iron out all the little issues that inevitably crop up. It makes for a speedier, more accurate end result. I think the final stage of sewing the actual final cape coat took about 9 hours from cutting to the last little bit of hand stitching!!

Its finished!!
The end result? I don't think I've ever been so proud of something I made!! It fits me beautifully and is such a pleasure to wear. I feel like a million dollars every time I put it on and the compliments I've received!! Walking around Melbourne I was stopped a couple of times by women wanting to know where I had bought it from!! Looking at my original inspiration there are a couple of things that I've changed but the intention was never to copy it exactly, just use it as my inspiration.
Just for those interested I've broken down the cost and time I've spent to see how much money I've *saved* if I had bought the original.

Original Sass & Bide Snowbird Cape - RRP $700
My Cape Coat: $79.50
Fabric cost: $40 for the wool fabric $15 charmeuse lining (charmeuse was on sale to $5metre)
$22 for Vogue 1322 pattern
$2.50 matching thread
McCall's pattern, interfacing, calico, needles etc from my stash

Hours: approx 10hours for planning, muslin etc and 9 hours to complete the final cape coat from cutting to finish.