Truly Victorian TV110

Today is bright, cold and wintery – the perfect day to catch up on some photography.   Get dressed, run outside, take photos and run back inside to the warmth.

This is my first attempt at Truly Victorian’s TV110 pattern.  I really liked the shaping of the pattern – it’s perfect for a modern figure which wants a bit of shaping but not tight-lacing. I adjusted the measurements a little, but I largely followed the pattern.

I completely fell in love with the lace I used around the top of the bust line.   I found it at Hobbysew’s Top Ryde store and it just screamed out needing to be bought.

Will definitely use this pattern again.

 

A scrappy retro coloured quilt

Remember these fabrics I bought?  Well I finally finished the quilt I had planned for them.    I sourced the rest of the fabrics from patchwork stores, but these made a good bit of inspiration.

There was very little method in this quilt – the only rule was that I’d  make blocks which were 13″ tall and join them to make strips, each strip being the width of the quilt. When I had enough strips to complete the quilt, I just joined them together.   To make the blocks, I basically just sewed bits on bits and if it got too wide or tall, I’d trim off sections and use them to start the next section.   It was a lot of fun, but I’m desperate to do something more orderly for my next quilt.

 

The quilting is all ‘in the ditch’.   I was originally planning to do different decorative quilting stitches in each square, but it became apparent very early on that it would look far too busy.

One of my quilting friends made the observation on the finished product “lots of the fabrics are really ugly, but together they really work”.   As this was my intention, I guess I will call it a success.

 

My son fell in love with it and decided to have it on his bed.   Now his bedroom is Star Wars black and red and it looks kind of odd in there.   But hey, I’m just glad that it’s being loved.

Problems? Let me count them

 

This one nearly killed me.   It was a pattern which I’d used successfully a number of times before, but I just make mistake after mistake on it.  Some were silly mistakes and some were ‘learning activities.’

The exterior fabric itself was all upcycled.   The black and grey flocked material on the four front panels was upcycled from a skirt I found at a goodwill store.    The black velvet on the other panels came from my favourite fabric upcycling place – The Fabric Cave.  I know I keep plugging this place, but if you’re in Sydney, it’s well worth a look.

Problem #1 (Learning experience).    My first choice for the plain black panels was black cotton.  I found the blackest cotton I could, but it just looked lame next to the dark black flocking on the front panels.    I then remembered that I had some black velvet in my stash so I decided to try it instead.   Start unpicking all the cotton from the coutil backing.

Problem #2 (faulty fabric).   Replaced the cotton with the velvet and have it looking fabulous with a good fit.  Then the velvet pile started coming loose and left the corset looking like it has mange.    Start unpicking it all again

Problem #3, 4, and 5 (learning experience).   I headed to the Fabric Cave for some replacement velvet and found the perfect stuff.   Put it all back together again and find the busk is no longer sitting straight.   Not just a little off, but way off.   And the lacing at the back is also off.

Thought that perhaps it was because I didn’t sew the panels all in the same direction, so unpick and re-sewed the panels.   No luck.   4. Try again.   Thought it was perhaps because of the velvet, so I unpicked the velvet from the coutil and re-sewed the coutil only.   No luck.    I’m really wanting to give up at this stage, but the technical part of my brain is determined to find cause and solution    5.  Try again.  Finally I compared the flocked panels at the front and found they weren’t sitting identically.   Turns out that because the length of the sides weren’t absolutely identical, I’d joined the panels on left and right unevenly.    Note to self: make sure all pattern pieces have absolutely matching seam lengths.

Problem 6.   Don’t iron velvet flocking.  Just don’t.   Part of the flocking now has a dull patch on it.   Thankfully it wasn’t destroyed, but still……

I’m pleased to say that I’ve worn this a few times and it was worth persevering.  I am finally happy with it.  I could have given up, but I think I would have stayed irritated at not knowing why it sat unevenly.

 

 

 

McCalls M6959

Catching up blogging on my December activities.   This is the dress I wore for Christmas day.  I decided on McCalls M6959 because it’s a wrap around – which would give lots of space for the obligatory Christmas day food baby.

I had to do yet another full bust adjustment (FBA) because of awful gaping at the armholes.   This most recent FBA has inspired me to finally learn how to draft a sloper and make my own patterns.   I’ve booked into a course starting early Feb 2016 – can’t wait!

Anyway, I ran with view B.   It was quite simple to make and very comfy to wear.   I’d possibly use a bigger Christmas print if I made it again, but this worked well for the day.   The other thing I’d do differently is leave the collar off if loosening of the garment is to be expected – as the collar ends up uneven if the dress isn’t tied at exactly the point where it’s initially fitted.

All in all, I was quite happy with it.   Now, if only I’d managed to find some perfect red Christmas shoes!

Black Brocade Underbust

Oh I had a lot of fun with this one.   The client is my daughter’s friend who has a wonderful curvy shape and was so enjoyable to work with.   If I could dedicate myself to dramatic curves I’d be very happy.

Technical aspects:  Black brocade basted onto coutil with a cotton lining.  I double boned each seam.    As the wearer is only 16, I wasn’t comfortable with giving her a large reduction so we just stuck with 2″ reduction.  Not that it matters because she has such a great natural hip spring.    I extended the top and bottom of the back for both dramatic effect and to prevent any over spill of flesh.

She is delighted and so am I.

 

New Look 6952

I’ve been looking for fitted shirts lately.   All the fashion stores have very loose tops which  look terrific on some women – but they really aren’t flattering on me.

I so found New Look 6952 and thought I’d give it a go.   I tried to find it at my local Spotlight store but they didn’t have it.   No surprises there – I seem to have terrible luck finding the patters I want in Spotlight.  And am I the only one who has a yearning to go and re-sort all of Spotlight’s patterns in the drawers? It drives me nuts when they are all mixed up!   Anyway, I found a pattern on Etsy which had been pre-cut in my size.     I hate cutting out pattern bits so this was a win.

I chose view D.    Can’t beat a sleeveless top for summer.

I made a mockup and found lots of armhole gaping.  Standard outcome for those of us who have a generous amount of bust.   I altered the bust line using this technique and got a much better fit.

After the basic adjustment, the pattern was easy to follow.   My fabric was single sided so I had to add a facing at the front top of the shirt.   If you want to avoid making a facing, be sure to choose double sided fabric.   I also made my own bias binding instead of using pre-made.   I much prefer bias which matches.

Here’s the end result.   I’m rather happy with it

 

You want HOW MUCH? I could make it for less!

Almost anyone who’s a professional sewer will be familiar with those who look at their work and say “you want HOW MUCH for that?  Yes, the seamstress will get very tired of hearing this.   While they know that non-sewers have no idea of the skills involved, the number hours and the cost of fabrics it’s still a frustrating response.   And that’s before they’ve paid a small fortune for their machine, overlocker and various other tools.   A professional sewer can’t compete with the mass produced market.  They know that their ideal clients are those who understand that custom made or unique items can’t be made for the same prices as the ones being imported from a third world factory.

I get this.  I may not be a professional sewer, but I do know the cost in time and resources.

And armed with this knowledge, I was looking through the lifestyle section of the weekend paper this morning.   I saw a designer outfit which was really nice.   Not my style, but nonetheless, I really liked the styling of it.   Then Iooked at the price:    Skirt $1,245 and matching blouse $995.  That’s $2240 for a top and a skirt!   You want HOW MUCH for that?   Then add on the $2,720 of accessories the model is wearing and you’ve got an outfit which will set you back a cool $4,960.

OK, we can remove the accessories and just look at the blouse and skirt.   As a sewer, for the life of me I cannot justify the cost of this.   Yes, it’s probably gorgeous Italian fabric which will cost a small fortune.  But $2,240?  Really?

The thing which makes this garment so lovely is it’s simplicity.   But it’s that same simplicity which makes me question it’s value.     It’s not much of an alteration on a block pattern.   Yes, for those who don’t have a block pattern, it may need some time consuming tweaking of a commercial pattern….but hey, the original dress would probably need some tweaking for a custom fit on the average figure.

Anyway, this is my rant:  For the life of me, I can’t justify the cost of designer clothing.