July Sewing Projects & Miscellaneous

Simplicity 2554, View C

So far this month I have drafted a pattern based on a Hot Patterns pattern (basic trouser pants) for a wider leg dress pant with slight flare and side seam zipper, facings and no pocket. I made a muslin in a drapey ottoman weave polyester. Happily it is wearable and now can be the base for a pair of pants in a nice pinstripe (fabric just as cheap, but nicer! and basic black!!).

Luckily DH is away for a few days so I have had a few self indulgent sewing/shopping, evenings. I only bought ONE piece of fabric (stripe shirting at fabricland), one on-line pattern. Shopping my stash I found this gorgeous print that co-ordinated with my wearable muslin.

It is a lovely burnout rayon jersey tie-dye print purchased from the classifieds on patternreview.com -- I think the original origin is the now defunct fabric store from Textile Studios. It is very drapey, but stable and quite delicate. It was a perfect match for Simplicity 2554, view C and also fits my sewing goal of sewing more trendy items! Yay Me!!

The fabric was beautiful to sew. Because it was delicate, I chose a serged finish on the ruffles. Glad I did, as I needed the length (sans hemming) to form the cap sleeve. I think a cover-stitch hem would work as well. Choosing two colours of tan for the thread was a happy accident, but helps blend in with the colours on a print!

Here is a detail of the underarm gussett. This is NOT a one hour knit top pattern! Be prepared to gather the ruffles, baste them in place and pick out the basting. Anyway, I think it turned out cutely, no?

Besides sewing, I took a day off and took my sons to Canada's Wonderland. I go on rollercoasters, but my stomach (or inner ear) can't take the spinning rides any more! Sucks to get old!! Sorry abut the sideways pic above, but it is the newest coaster there, the Behemoth. DS #1 (13) went on it 3 times! I went on it once. 70ft vertical, you hit 77 kph in the first drop, with a great view from the top.

What's been happening in May & June?

This months been busy, but I did manage to get some sewing done...pj's for my step-daughter and Simplicity 2599 which is a knock off of an Anthropologie top that I liked - yes Anthropologie opened a store in Toronto!

Our first wedding anniversary was June 7, we were in London, Ontario for a friend's birthday, so we both got tatoos to celebrate, here I am getting mine -- the guy did it really quickly but it turned out well, it's a little sketch of a white pine tree.

And some relatives came from Wales to visit here, they came for a BBQ to our house. Add onto that a wild weekend in Wasaga beach for volleyball and it's a busy start to the summer!

I can't believe its been almost a month

Handsome Hubby on a Portage - full pack, Nikon in hand & Canoe on head, a truly talented man!

Burda WOF 3-2009-109

Since my last post! Here is my latest project, which I hope fulfils two of my sewing goals, to sew from BWOF (Burda World of Fashion) and make something trendy! I'm happy the way the fabric compliments the pattern, and the contrast between the front band colour and the blouse bottom.

My sons came back from a weekend in Montreal with their Dad, in which they were charged with hunting down a La Mia or Patrones -- and they came back with the latest issue of La Mia Boutique (the Italian verison of Burda), Not cheap at over $14 Cdn, but very high fashion, some great detailed pants -- will try and post pics later.

As this was a long weekend, and my hubby was on a volunteer camping trip with his high school teacher friend it was Sue's indulgent weekend of fun! Going to the gym, finishing this top, a trip to the fabric store & snoop shopping at Anthropologie (as far as I know the only Canadian store opened in Toronto). I found about 3 things that I have seen patterns that are very close and took some pics in the changerooms.

Here is my latest project, Christine Jonson Woven Pants #1010, flared version. The fabric is kind of nasty, it stretches out and doesn't recover that well and attacts all kind of lint! They are black, but I've lightened the photo to show the detail. I did have to take in the thigh to the knee quite a bit, as I wanted the long lean look on the pattern drawing, but they came out with too much ease and not enough flare. I'm happier with the fit now, but there is still a bit of gaposis in the center back. I moved the zip to the side.

What is up with back zippers in pants? Hard to do up and would poke you uncomfortably!!

Anyway they are servicable enough for work. The shoes, they are killer, though -- I scoured for them at Payless last fall. The lightened photo shows them as green, but they are grey patent with snub toes and big buckles. The top is a seafoam blue/green, so the outfit looks nicer in person than in my bad photo.

I'm bidding on some nice leopard print pony skin flats and some Tory Burch knockoff flats on e-bay right now, which will both go nicely with these pants!!

New Look 6179

Above & Below New Look 6179

Inpirational outfit from http://www.myshape.com/

If you have never checked out http://www.myshape.com/ it is a great site for wardrobe planning. I think most of the 'artistic' trendy outfits are just gorgeous, and they show accessories for each one! (Of course I'm schitzo, I also love Michael Kors which is really classic stuff!)

Anyway, I have been using myshape for some inspirational outfits. Above you will see the inspirational photo and the finished top. I've been eyeing double buckled belts for a while and was lucky to find this one on e-bay -- its a knock off of a linea pelle belt which I snagged for $6.95 plus shipping!

This top is New Look 6179 made from crinkle poly with a beautiful faded patchwork in lovely soft colours of sage, terra cotta, soft turquoise and raspberry with small gold glittered dots. The lace insets are vintage crocheted lace from my stash which looked kind of tea dyed. The ribbon trim is also from my stash. Anyway this strays from my usual sewing with the embellishment, but is a step towards my goal of being more trendy. Its fitted enough to be worn without the belt.

I think my next projects will be from my huge stash of Burda mags!!

Simplicity 2938

Above you can see the interior seam finishes

Above you can see the neckline tucks...

Here it is accessorized with the necklaces I had on today...

Here is my latest finished project. I've had it on my list to sew for a while (see my fall wardrobe board). It's Simplicity 2938 done up here in a very light weight dupioni cross-dye which was a dream to sew. I think this would be even better in a drapey fabric like a poly satin.

This is a really quick project, I knew it would turn out nicely because oodles of people on patternreview have made it. The only change I made was to lengthen it 1", add the front ties (this was a detail from a Tory Burch top from Spring 2008) and to do a forward shoulder adjustment. I also substituted a facing for the armholes for the bias tape in the instructions. I've had bad luck before with bias tape flaring out at the seamlines. I just turned and topstitched it as you can see from the interior photo. I'm not sure about the ties, they look a bit long but maybe this way I can tie them front or back??

Feels good to have another project finished. Next up is a storyboard for Spring!

A friendly Barter

My friend Debbie took some jewellery classes recently, so I asked her to make me something. In exchange, I said I would sew her a top. As you can see she made me an absolutely gorgeous necklace with a leaf drop front.

I made her not a top, but an easy jacket from sueded moleskin in a lovely soft orange (the photo looks deep orange, but it's not) You can read the whole review on www.patternreview.com

Thanks Debbie, I love my necklace!!

Resolutions for 2009 Update:

1. Sew with a plan whenever possible: I'm working on a spring plan, I'm deciding whether to finish a couple of projects from the fall/winter plan first
2. Do some decorating/painting in our house: Have had DH fix a curtain rod for the rec room, need to hem drapes for that room. Sewed a little valance on the weekend for the powder room; had DH rig up some antique crystal doorknobs to use as some hanging hardware.
3. Add some trend to my wardrobe: Ohh, that's a good one, need to work on that
4. Sew a coat. DONE!
5. Use my Burda Magazines more: I need to use these to accomplish #3. I did buy a very nifty tool to help trace/cut out patterns!
6. Excercise more: we have joined a gym and are making use of it. Lost 7 lbs so far!

Activewear

Being tall, it's a drag to find clothes that fit, let alone activewear (don't get me started on performance shoes!!) Yes, you can buy stuff at Tall Girls for a fortune or on-line without trying things on. But the beauty of sewing is you can make your own, have it fit perfectly and save a bundle.

Here are my Kwik Sew longjohns aka 'basewear' -- I used powerdry from http://www.wazoodle.com/ a great Canadian resource for activewear. Too bad I couldn't find it in a lycra blend, but oh well. I made the leggings from KS 3455 which has the bonus of being a one-seam pattern as well as having a diamond-shaped crotch gusset for more movement. The top shown is from KS 3567. I also made the matching crew-neck top to the leggings (not shown). As you can see from the picture taken outside, they did a great job of keeping me warm! Total cost for the patterns/fabric was about $65 for two tops (which I can wear as workout tops) and the leggings, plus I have enough fabric to make another top.

I generally layer them with a cami, base layer and stretch fleece top and leggings then my bib overalls (which are cheapies and not that warm, but I was able to find them in a tall size) and my insulated North Face jacket, a fleece gaiter and fleece lined hat, fleece liner gloves and ski mitts. My feet generally freeze, but this year with only one layer of socks (more room for the feet, and I guess an insulating layer of air) they did much better.

I preferred the top shown to the other one. The other top has a wrap-around side seam which felt a little odd under a top with a regular side seam, but it was only a minor preference. I also experimented with a flatlock seam on the pants, which results in a butted seam. It looked like it was not very sturdy, but worked like a charm! I reinforced the gusset with zig-zag stiching at the corners as any corners with a serger are difficult.

In the future I will hopefully be able to get some fine fleece with lyra or powerdry with lycra and make another set. I was also able to easily adjust the pattern to my hubby's measurements and make a pair of fleece leggings for him that stopped at the top of his ski boots, as per his request which only took me a couple of hours!

Simplicity 2764

Well, here is my coat! I like the way it turned out and it was not that hard to sew. It is not the beautiful Burda coat on my storyboard, but has a similar collar line. I liked the retro match of the fabric and the pattern. I added interlining from flannellette, some extra interfacing and a lining from rayon kasha to give it some warmth as the pattern is unlined. You can read the review for the entire coat!

What I have been doing in Jan/February

• I was sick for an entire week, off work with the flu. My 9 year old had it as well. Yuk. But I did manage to sew a fleece pullover and a set of long underwear for a ski trip during this time. Will post reviews later. Oh and also a pair of fleece long underwear for my hubby custom made to only go to the top of his ski boots


• I went thrifting and among the finds were:

- Ladies Tilley Pants (to be cropped off in length for the summer) $7

- Great grey Old Navy waffle hoodie $7

- Boys clothes $10 for the lot: 2 longsleeved Old Navy/Gap t's, 3 pair of chino/khaki's that have various and sundry convertable zips

• Finished a winter coat started before Christmas


• Went skiing for a week at Mount St. Anne in Quebec with 9 other friends. We rent a condo at the base of the hill in February each year and my hubby and I cook for everyone. We go a week where the rental includes free lift tickets and night skiing. Everyone skiis and we generally play cards at night. It's about a 8-9 hour drive but each year we have a blast. And as we do the cooking, others do the cleaning!!

Today I fell in love with a pair of sandals at Payless. They are pictured above, but they are gorgeous deep turquoise and a really nice quality faux-suede. I was lucky enough to be persistant and after I dropped in to a few stores, found my size 11's. Cool! Unfortunately being in Canada, Payless does not ship to stores. Also, the shoes are more money, they are advertised on payless.com for $24.99 and were $39.99 here (but I had a $3 coupon).

At first glance they go with a great Donna Karan dress I made a few years ago and a crossover top and a cute spring sweater my Mom gave me for Christmas.

Hopefully I will be able to post pics/reviews of my long underwear and coat.

Shoe Lust

I love shoes and own quite a few pair. My husband opened up a whole new shoe wardrobe for me when he introduced me to technically specific outdoor shoes. My shoe lust is compounded by the fact that I own gianormous feet (size 12 M) so cute shoes are hard to find. My favourite budget minded sources are e-bay and Payless. The top photo is my favourite sandals that I got last year from Payless (maybe I can convince my sister to order me the pair of the same in bronze for this summer) The second pic is the fabulous sandals given to me by my sister for Christmas. As she lives in Atlanta, if she can find my size/style she can order them to the store nearby. Unfortunately, they don't have that service in Canada!

Sewing progress: currently in the works is my winter coat, Simplicity 2764, view E in a black and white birdseye mystery wool. I sewed the front tucks, cut out a horsehair shoulder sheild and taped the underarm seam to stablilze it tonight. Tomorrow will tackle the back. I want this to be a combination of construction for stability and a quick project, so I'm adding some stablilizers to the coat as well as lining it. Perhaps also adding a little interlining of some polar fleece in the upper back as well

Items to Lust Over

After a few pleasant window-shopping hours over the holidays browsing e-bay, fashion blogs and Etsy, I found a few lovely jewelery items that appealled to me:

• Oxidized Sterling Silver Thai Silver Kyanite Double Strand Bracelet & Wire Wrapped Oxidized Sterling Silver Earrings from KrisCrossDesigns's shop


• Linear hand forged sterling silver twist-y bar earrings and Aureus II. extra large 14k gold filled hammered hoop earrings from organikx's shop (second two pics) Love their simplicity and the organic closures

Happily and co-incidentally, both of these talented artisans are Canadian! Go Canada!

Happy New Year

Guess it's time for the new years resolutions! Maybe if I take it simple I can actually accomplish a few of them. In no particular order:

1. Sew with a plan whenever possible. I do have a storyboard up in my sewing room to try and keep on plan. I have joined some contests on patternreview for motivation, but sadly lack the time to finish them in the time allocated. I'm pleased with my results when I stick to the plan!
2. Do some decorating/painting in our house. Other than my sewing room, I have not done any decorating since we moved in -- 'nuff said!!
3. Add some trend to my wardrobe. I tend to sew basics to replace things I wear all the time...I would like to dress trendier and perhaps add some designer knock offs as well.
4. Sew a coat. I haven't had a nice winter coat in ages. I think this will be my first project for 2009.
5. Use my Burda Magazines more. This is my most fabulous gift from my husband, but sadly underused.
6. Excercise more. We eat pretty well (both my husband and I love to cook) but I definately need to compensate for the delicious food and wine we enjoy.

I did get to sew today and finished a top that was cut out ages ago -- hopefully I can review it soon!

Best wishes to everyone for a great 2009!!