A new start

Can hardly believe it is so long since my last post. I didn't sew much this year and photographed even less. I had a temporary promotion and was head of our faculty, which was a great experience but longer hours and more work so sewing suffered, I did love the job though.

A new start for 2018. I've cut my work week back to 3 days which I am really looking forward to. I'm going to be a grandmother in February, all going well and I've joined the RTW fast over at Goodbye Valentino,   Goobye Valentino RTW fast.

I am quite excited about this. I have so much fabric and so many patterns that I would like to use and I thought this may be a great challenge. I just need to get my sewing mojo back. My greatest issue is adjusting patterns. I used to sew straight out of the packet but not these days, everything needs adjusting and I procrastinate about this constantly. This is a challenge but one I am hoping to overcome.  Hopefully with more time in 2018 thiswon't be an issue anymore.

In 2017 I made a couple of Ebony T shirt . Super simple and love them, I have worn these constantly. I will definitely be making more of these in 2018. I did sew this without any adjustments

I also made a knit tube skirt, copied from a RTW skirt which was about $160.00 AU.  The skirt cost me about $ 40.00 to make. The hardest part was finding the striped red and white fabric. Eventually I found it at The Drapery.
This is a fabric store in Adelaide, they have lovely fabrics worth looking at.

I also made another  skirt McCall 6931
The fabric was from Tessuti fabrics a few years ago. I love the fabric but maybe not the best for this pattern, it is a bit stiff. I haven't worn this yet because I don't have a top that goes with it but I will get to it.

Looking forward to 2018 more sewing and painting. Happy New Year to everyone. All the best with your sewing.

                                           Happy Creating!

                                    

Stripes and sleeves

Sewing has been slow but I have sewn a few items, yet to be blogged and photographed. I thought I would try with a new top. My inspiration has come from RTW striped tops.



I really like these striped tops. I love the loose shape and the loose sleeves.
When I was folding and tidying my stash in the last holiday I rediscovered this lovely striped fabric that I bought from Tessuti's a couple of years ago and I thought it would make a lovely top using Harlow Top Style Arc

So that's my plan. The fabric is so pretty with the floral and stripe. I just have to make time, a commodity that is running short in my life

                                       Enjoy your sewing !
                                             

An Indian adventure

I spent the last few weeks in India at a friends son's wedding. It was an exciting event in so many ways and India is a confronting destination in so many ways. As sewers and fabric lovers India is a paradise. I wore 3 different saris for the wedding. The fabric in saris is breathtaking, the colours and the silks and embellishments are amazing.

I felt so elegant in these saris, they certainly are a fabulous way to dress. I'm not quite sure what to do with these now but I'm sure I will use the fabric somehow
As for fabric, India is heaven for fabric lovers. There are so many places to buy fabric, its amazing.
We went to an enormous fabric store in Chennai. It was so overwhelming I didn't know where to start.

There were 2 floors the length of an enormous warehouse. Unfortunately I had to be quite restrained because I did have to carry the fabric home in a suitcase. If I went to India again I would just take an empty suitcase and fill the suitcase with all the beautiful cottons and silks. They are also quite inexpensive, another bonus.
I did purchase these lovely cottons from this store.

 Then we went to Jaipur and visited a co-op that was retraining farmers to hand print fabric. Each colour was done individually, just amazing. I bought these silk cottons that feel incredible. There was also an embroidered silk on sale, I could have gone crazy again but again I was restrained. Now of course I'm  home  I wish I had bought more fabric.

All in all an interesting trip. India is an amazing country that does present challenges. Attending an Indian wedding that went for 3 days and visiting the Taj Mahal are certainly bucket list items that are  now ticked off.

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                                        Happy Sewing!

The fabric is the winner

Happy New Year, I forgot to say this in my last post.  This post is about the fabric. I bought this fabric from Tessuti's, I bought the last piece. It is an Italian ponti, not what I would normally use for summer, however I felt a  straight skirt would show off the fabric. I dress would be lovely but a little to much pattern for me.

I just love this fabric there is so much going on. The pattern is STyle Arc Rita Ponte skirt. 
A simple straight skirt.I lengthened the pattern because I wanted almost a maxi length. I also didn't peg the sides in much because I needed to be able to walk in it.
It will be interesting when I wear this to school and what the boys response to the fabric will be, some of them will be quite intrigued. I have worn this a few times already.

I am pretty happy with this skirt. Super easy and winning fabric.

                                                  Happy Sewing !

Summer playing

So my plans for summer have finally been photographed. My navy and white striped pants and my white top.

The pants are Style Arc Tessa pant.
I actually made a wearable muslin in black linen, very unlike me, however they  turned out really well. I made an adjustment to the front for my belly. I used the Hot Patterns Tutorial for tummy adjustment and these pants fit very comfortably. There is also an excellent full tummy adjustment tutorial at The Curvy Sewing Collective website, Tummy adjustment. I think I will try this one next time. These pants are wider than I normally wear but I thought it would be nice to try something a bit different.

The fabric is a navy and white linen from Tessuti fabrics.  
I don't think there is any left online , I did buy it this fabric at the beginning of summer.. I am pretty happy with these and I have cut out another pair of pants already so this is becoming my go to pants pattern this summer.. They are so easy to sew.
 The top is Butterick 5356.
This top is out of print . I made View D and the XXL. I also added gathers at the back.

The top is quite large so I will make a smaller size next time but its fine for hot, humid days. I really like the sleeves.

The bodice is fine, if not quite as narrow as the image on the pattern. The fabric was from my stash. All in all a wearable outfit for summer. Even my daughter thought it was OK.
                                                     Happy Sewing!

Hits and Misses in 2016

This has been a very interesting year. I think in so many respects the world has gone crazy. We seem to live in fear and turmoil. My year has been busy and unfortunately a lack of sewing and blogging. I have done some sewing but no photos, hopefully tomorrow I will get some photos done.

The biggest miss this year has been the lack of sewing and blogging. Work was particularly difficult and time consuming. Whenever I seemed to get a bit of time something happened. My Dad had an awful fall and managed to smash his nose and cheekbones and chip his neck vertebrate and squash his spinal cord. As always he is positive and has made an amazing recovery.

What I have not stopped doing is buying fabric, not as much as usual as I haven't even had time to shop. There does seem to be a navy and blue theme in my purchases.

The spot and the paler blue were from Spotlight and the Navy check was from the The Drapery.
I'm off to India in January to attend a friend of mines son's wedding so I want to make some outfits that are cool and comfortable.
I have been purchasing some clothes though. I just found I had holes in my wardrobe and didn't have time, or maybe even the inclination to sew them. There are still some gaps and this is what I would like to sew. It's time to get back into sewing and blogging because above all I enjoy it.

                                                          Happy Sewing!

A summer plan

Rarely do I plan my sewing. I admire people who plan and I decided I should be one of those people. So I started thinking about what I buy in RTW and it is usually plain colours and usually not the latest trends. This summer I'm going to try and stick to this idea. At the moment I love navy and white. A classic combination that always looks smart. This will be my base, pants, tops and skirts in a variety of styles that are cool and comfortable.
My first project are pants and a top using these fabrics.

The stripe is from Tessuti"s a lovely navy linen.   
The white fabric is from my stash. It is a lovely embroidered white cotton that was hiding underneath some other white fabric,  a very exciting find. I have masses of the white fabric so I think I will make 2 tops. You can never have enough white tops in summer.
These are the patterns I have pulled out.

I have made the Simplicity 1660 before and that was a really nice pattern. I have made McCall's 5050 many times over the years and will probably use this one for a top. The other 2 patterns I haven't used, McCall's 7125 and Butterick 5356. I like the sleeves in the McCall's and the shape in the Butterick. I think either would be fine.
The pants I am using are Style Arc Tessa Pant. A simple elastic waist pant.

I am hoping this will be my summer linen pants pattern.
This is step 1 in my Summer Wardrobe plan.
                                 Enjoy your sewing!