Comfy Pants

 Style Arc Elle pant are my go to pant for a quick stretch pant. In fact I have a couple of sizes of this pattern. I have and 18 if I want a close fit and a 20 in case I don't want as close fitting or a stretch woven is used. I cant remember how many times I have made this pattern but probably at least 6 or 7 times, some more successful than others. As far as adjustments I just did a tummy adjustment which extended the rise about an inch and that worked well.

 

 

These are great pants to have in lockdown. They still look reasonable but are as comfortable as track suit pants. I have another pair cut out which show the adjustment. I also take a couple of inches off the length.

 

 

A versatile pattern that is a workhorse. My only thing is that I have wrinkles around my knee and i think this because I have narrowed the pattern too much.

 

Stay safe wherever you may be!

 

Clean space, clean mind

 My sewing mojo has disappeared. I feel there are several reasons, we're not going out much, I don't really need more clothes, although that's not entirely true and my fabric and sewing room was doing my head in. So when we went into lockdown over Christmas and January I decided to tidy my sewing room. So I refolded all my fabric. This took quite a bit of time because my back kept hurting, I organised a thread holder and sorted out my patterns. I bought some white boxes to put projects in to give a more unified look. I'm very happy now.

So now I feel so much better. The added bonus is I haven't purchased any new fabric for months. After going through all my fabric I realised how often I bought similar fabric and similar colours. My goal is to sew up as much fabric as I can.

The clean up has the desired effect , all I want to do is sew.

Hopefully finished items will appear soon.

                                            Happy Sewing

Fabric purchases

Here is my latest purchase. I had a lovely time ordering these fabrics. They are all from Tessuti's.

   The bottom black fabric is a ridged stretch, which I love. I am tempted to buy all the colours in this fabric. The next is a corduroy with stretch so will make a lovely pair of pull on pants. Then the spot which may become a shirt. A checked stripe another pair of pants and then 2 stretch fabrics for tops. They are all beautiful fabrics. I just need to sew them up now.

Pandemic sewing

I certainly lost enthusiasm for sewing as Covid 19 took hold. My sons wedding was off in April because everything was closed, plus we couldn't get to Victoria and you could only have 5 people at the wedding. They did get married at the end of March which was lovely for them. It was live so we saw it.

My sewing came back. I finished the flower girl dress but have left the hem to finish just before the reception that hopefully they are having in October.

It turned out well. she wouldn't try it on.

My wedding sewing involved several sews. I started with the Montrose Top

                                                  

I love these patterns . They fit straight out of the box. This fitted really well in the neckline. I used a size 20 C/D cup then used 22 waist and 24 hips. It fits well, a bit loose which is what I wanted.

My next part was to do the high front and low back. To do that I used Katie Dress. I drew the long curve at the back and then scooped the front. My practice turned out really well.

The fabric was from Tessuti fabrics and is a lovely crepe so it has beautiful drape. The front was still a bit short so I added a frill. I wore this quite a bit before the weather starting cooling down.

All in all I was pretty happy with how I worked out the pattern but I lost enthusiasm to sew for the wedding. I'm sure it will return before October.

I also made my daughter 3 white T shirts but didn't get pictures.

Now I need to sew some items for me for cooler weather.

                                                      Happy Sewing

Wedding Sewing

My middle son is getting married in April in Melbourne. I have been thinking about what to make for months but haven't started on anything yet and now time is creeping up so I think I should just jump in. These photos are my inspiration.

I love the idea of the Hi Low hem exaggerated and the pants underneath. I won't make it quite so long as the images as I think that would be annoying all night. I love Caroline Herrera"s outfit, so stylish and elegant. That's the idea I want to emulate. The 3/4 sleeves and the loose fitting top. I love the colours of the middle image, just gorgeous and I love those pants.

My fabric I bought from Tessuti's when their Chatswood store was closing.

The top fabric is a crepe de chine and the bottom is a knit for the pants. For the top I will use the Montrose Top . I love casmerette patterns because they fit and I don't need to make adjustments , I can make it straight out of the envelope, gotta love that. The pants will be Linda pants from Style Arc. They are an easy pull on knit pant. That i have made several times.

The ideas are there, I just need to get sewing.

                                  Happy Sewing !

Christmas sewing

I have been having so much trouble with my internet, it has been impossible to do anything, but at the moment it seems to be working.
I have been doing some sewing , however not too much. Yesterday I made my grandaughter a pseudo Frozen dress for Christmas. Shes only 21 months so I don't think she will care that is not identical to the real costume. I loved sewing this.

The white fabric I had in my stash. The pale blue knit I had in my stash . The starry net I bought from Spotlight and the Frozen fabric for the cape was from ebay. I just gathered the cape along the back bodice. The pattern I used was I Love the 90's dress by Ellie and Mac  It was super easy and such fun to make.

My future daughter-in -law asked me to make Ariana's flower girl dress . My son is getting married in April. The inspiration was this image

The only pattern I found that was close was on etsy, Frilled yoke dress, the top right image, ( I can't seem to upload the link). So to try the pattern I made a little cotton dress with fabric from my stash. Ariana is the bottom picture. It turned out well. I now have to change the yoke to square and add a frill at the neck. Luckily I have till April to perfect the dress.

  Happy Sewing!

Fun , fun fun Sewing

I sewed some dresses and leggings for my grandaughter. I had such fun. They are super easy and super quick. I used the Brindle and Twig  angled dress and their legging pattern.

It is difficult to take a photo of her standing still. The fabric was from Spotlight and I added some trim I had to the navy dress. I will use scraps mostly, but I saw this dog fabric and the flowers and I couldn't resist. She is 17months old and not particularly big. I made the 9-12 months which fits her really well now but I will make the next size up next time. A quick ,easy and fun sew.

                                                            She is the light of my life

            Happy Sewing !!!!

The retired wardrobe

I thought being retired I would have more time, silly me. Anyway we have well and truly cooled down in Sydney , its been really cold ( well for here anyway) and my wardrobe is seriously lacking. My clothing needs have really changed since I retired. I need casual relaxed clothes and I have a serious lack of these. So what to sew.

We went to Tasmania earlier this year and I made the Cashmerette pembroke dress and tunic. I seriously love this pattern.

I made the size 20 in the bust and graded out to size 24 at the hips. I really like the fit because I hate clothes that are 2 clingy.

Don't you just love the outdoor bath. the fabric , I think the fabric was from Tessuti's a couple of years ago. It is a lovely knit that has quite a bit of body, so comfortable to wear.
I plan to make quite a few of these in the next few weeks. I want to make a few with the turtle neck as well. Here are some fabrics I intend to use:

I love Cashmerette patterns they fit so well.

Hopefully I will keep blogging. Happy Sewing !

                                                   

Neglect and change

Wow my poor little blog has been neglected. I can't believe I haven't posted since June. My how time flies. There has not been a great deal of sewing being done. I lost my drive to do anything. I'm not quite sure but I think the reason may be that I just had a difficult year last year and couldn't put much energy into sewing.

A new year has started and my world has had enormous changes. My parents are moving house after being in their house since 1958. My Dad is a collector of books and films so it has been a difficult process. He has trouble parting with things, so it has been very traumatic for him and he is quite frail at the moment. Mum is going so well I think the move for her will be a huge benefit and improve her  life so much.

I have retired from teaching. Our school year ends in December so I am all done, which is sad and exciting at the same time. The classroom was just wearing me down. I have loved my work but I want to do other things while I still can. Most of all I would just like some time so I'm not exhausted all the time.

My plans for sewing are to make a dress for my birthday. I turn 60 in a couple of weeks so I need a dress to wear to lunch with my family. There are 2 options: Option1

I love this dress and there were so many variations with the neckline on line. I'm still undecided about the neckline and whether to change it or wear a camisole underneath, either way I will need to do something. The fabric is a rayon i bought from Spotlight last year. I have quite a bit so hopefully that would work. I will make the midi length because that will be like a maxi on me anyway.

Option 2:

I love view B but without the thrill. The fabric is either a linen or a linen mix. I think this would be nice as well. It will be like a maxi on me.

My gorgeous man asked me to make him a summer shirt as well. I'm not very experienced with shirts but I will try.

I do have some plans so I just need to sew. I think I said that last year as well.

                                             Happy Creating !

Winter wonderland

I know here in Sydney, Australia, we have a very mild winter and it doesn't last too long but it does feel chilly for a while. After the extended summer that we had , and the longing for cooler weather, it has arrived and of course my sewing is not done. Sydneysiders are renowned for believing winter doesn't exist but at the moment it's hard to deny.
So I need to sew some winter garments. My winter wardrobe has quite a few gaps. I need new basics, such as black tops, some ponti pants that feel like pj's but are actually suitable for work and generally some new clothes that are fun.
When I was in Melbourne I found this gorgeous ponti, from Tessuti's so my first project is this jacket.

I love this fabric. It is quite a subtle pattern. The jacket pattern is Butterick 6254. 
I will just need to make a few fitting adjustments. Then I will get it done.
Other patterns to make

                                                      A cosy top

                                                                 A nice dress

These are just a few of my ideas, so all I need to do is get started.
I have made a few things lately, I just don't have photos, so as soon as I get those I will post about the makes. That's the thing I find the hardest getting the photos done. Anyway

                                            Happy creating!

The endless summer

Summer keeps on going on in Sydney which is lovely in some respects but I do struggle with humidity and temps over 30c in April. Anyway I wanted a loose summer dress just like the dresses on Lazybones site which is where I bought the fabric from.

Terrible photo. I still have plenty to learn when using a tripod.
The pattern is McCall's 6923. I did a full bust adjustment which made the pattern looser anyway and  I did a bicep adjustment. I didn't add a zipper, I just did a loop opening. I didn't realise the front was crooked till the photos but I wasn't going to unpick the bodice.

I have my grumpy, serious face on here. I lined the bodice but didn't line the skirt. It is lovely and cool but I'm not particularly happy with the dress. It's lovely material and cool so I will wear it around but probably not that much to work. I don't think I will make this pattern again.

                                           Happy Sewing and Creating!

Style Arc Harlow top

I started making Style Arc Harlow Top  last year and then I finished it in January but the weather was too humid to wear it. The top will be a great trans seasonal piece. My main problem is taking the photos anyway here it is

 I love this fabric. I bought it from Tessuti's a few years ago. I'm not sure of the composition, but it was a cotton mix I think, I'm not sure. It was a little odd to sew and probably to stiff for my idea. However I was quite happy how the top turned out.
I did make a few adjustments . I decided I wanted a bit more swing to the top so I added 1 1/2 inches to the top and 2 inches to the length. I generally add to the middle to fit across my tummy.

I didn't make any adjustments on the sleeve width but had I did shorten the sleeves quite a bit.
Next time I make this I need to narrow the shoulders and bring in the neckline slightly. I didn't do a FBA because of the width I added.
Next time I may take the swing out and use a fabric with more drape. I will definitely add the to the length though. I will make this again.

One more picture. A new edition to our family my beautiful granddaughter.

                            
                                 Enjoy your creating!

Birthday Top Simplicity 8124

Hello greetings from humidity central. This summer has been so humid and uncomfortable. Although we just had a week of cooler weather.
Personally I have not had a great start to the year, first my knee and then a flu/virus that knocked me for 6. I was in bed for a week. I missed the first week of school, which is unheard of. Anyway I am starting to feel better. Sewing has not been happening, my plans flew out the window. However I did make a top before I got sick.
It was birthday a week ago so I made a top to go to lunch Simplicity 8124 Cynthia Rowley
I needed a top that was loose and comfortable. I can't stand anything tight fitting at the moment.

A super easy and quick top. I made a XL because I wanted it very full and flowing. You could definitely go down a few sizes if you don't like that. I cut quite a few inches off the hem but I am a shorty, next time I will leave it a bit longer . I cut off about 3 inches off the sleeves. The sleeves are exceptionally long.
The fabric was from my stash. I love this blue and I love polka dots. A great success.

This is where we had lunch. The Manly Pavilion at Manly. If ever your in Sydney it's a lovely place with great food.

                                              Happy Creating !