More with the red and the black ...

This dress started life as NL6000 which has been in my collection for a while.    I was inspired by Rhinestones and Telephones Franken Pattern Pledge earlier this year to finally get to grips with patterns and fabric that have languished in my stash for some time and so this was a great place to start.  So many others have made this dress and it really is a great pattern.  Except for the sleeves.  I don't like 3/4 sleeves at the best of times, but I loathe them when they have these stupid cuffs and buttons that look like wings.  No problem; I can Franken Pattern.  I blended the sleeve from M5466 (also previously unused) with the original sleeve and therein lies the problem.  What happens when you replace a loose, shorter sleeve with a longer, fitted sleeve?  You can't move. 

After some cursing and swearing I added a lovely diamond gusset.  The picture isn't very clear, but it works and the dress is now wearable.   I lined it in bemberg and completely ignored the facings, just understitching the lining at the neck.

The fabric is a microfibre I bought from Gorgeous Fabrics about two years ago.  It has a slightly sueded finish but photographs with a sheen, so these pictures don't do it justice.  In fact, it looks unpressed in these shots, but it is.  I love the pleats on the side and I love the way the collar falls.  I tried about 5 different buttons, but I went with this one; a vintage silvered glass button.  I love garments like this that can make use of those special single buttons we all have in our stashes.  This one came from a button jar I bought at an op shop in Mullumbimby many years ago, so who knows where it began its life.  I'd guess it dates from the 30's.

Finally I finished the last of my free skirts from my TNT pencil skirt pattern, which it turns out is Burda 8715, a pattern I bought in about 1998.  I've made the skirt tons of times, but the jacket only once, although now I'm looking at it, it might just have to go back into the queue. 

 The fabric is another op shop piece of wool that cost me a whopping $1.50. I don't know if it shows in this picture, but the thin stripe is a brilliant blue, which just lifts this skirt and allows so many more wardrobe possibilities.

Parting shot: In my sewing room, I have a futon sofa that becomes a queen size bed  and this is Molly while I was sewing today. 

There won't be any more sewing this week until I get a new iron; my old one crapped out today.

I even managed some sewing ...

I've been a little quiet lately because work has had me running around the country like crazy.  I started on a small red, black and white travel capsule collection but the limited availability of basic sewing supplies in Hobart meant that I didn't get much of it finished in time.  The one thing I did manage to finish was this skirt which was then promptly rendered useless when the zipper broke.  This morning I made a trip to Spotlight in the hope they had restocked their zippers.  They hadn't, of course, so I had to buy a longer one but that wasn't a disaster.  So, a week later than planned, here is my new favourite skirt.  BWOF 02-11-103.

You may recall I recently made this pattern for SWAP.  I love the first skirt and I wear it a lot, so I'm sure this one will be the same.  It's a perfect work skirt for me; comfortable and professional looking, but with enough style to stop it from being boring.  It needs a really good press.



Earlier this year, I bought a whole heap of lining fabrics on sale at Spotlight for $3 a metre as I like to have a selection on hand for when inspiration strikes.  This one seemed perfect with the red wool.  As I have 2 metres each of the wool and the lining left, I'm contemplating a jacket but first of all I need to finish a dress that is also part of this collection.  I hope to get to that tomorrow.

More free skirts

These two skirts come from my TNT pencil skirt pattern, which started life as a Burda but I can't remember the number.  It has a knit coat that goes with it and dates from the early 90's.  I've lost count of the number of times I've made this pattern now.
The first one is a made from a piece of wide wale corduroy that was leftover from an op shop 60's armchair I recovered about 14 years ago.  The chair is long gone, but this fabric hung around and is finally converted into something useful.  It's lined with a leftover bit of gold satin that I think was used to line a jacket a long time ago.

The second is another piece of wide wale corduroy that I bought at the op shop for 50c.  It's lined with a piece of leftover black bemberg.  Both skirts use zips that came from the op shop, too.  I would say, by the  packaging, that they date to the 70's and they cost 20c each.  I didn't have enough fabric to cut the waistband, so I taped the top and sewed the lining as a facing.

This afternoon I decided to start work on a gift I'm making for a friend and I got the fabric out to make sure I have enough to make what I want to make.  When I turned around to get the pattern, Molly decided to help.

SWAP finishes officially tomorrow, so my task this week is to photograph my entry.  That's harder than the sewing!

From the bottom ...

After Faye's wonderful Starting at the Top Challenge, I realised that I was sadly lacking in the bottoms department.

I cut out four skirts on Saturday, complete with linings and interfacing.  All of them are completely from stash and therefore are 'free' garments!

This first one is BWOF 02-10-104 skirt, slightly A-line with cute hip pockets.  I made this once before in black as part of a travel wardrobe when I went to the US in 2010 and I wear it at least once a week.  I don't know why it's taken me so long to make another.

This one is made from leftover fabric from an outfit I made for a friend many years ago, long before blogging days.  It's an olive green mystery fabric that is somewhere between a faux suede and a velvet.  It's on a knit backing but has very little stretch and no recovery.  I had loads of it in black and green and this is the last of it.  The pockets and band facing are leftover hideous fabric from my ghastly-but-fun christmas dress. 

It is lined in a caramel coloured bemsilk, again leftover from some long forgotten project.  The zip is vintage and cost 50c at the op shop, still in its original wrapping.  The very slight stretch has given it a little flutter at the hem, which I find I rather like.  It goes perfectly with the top I made a couple of weeks ago.

Watch out for the others in the coming week.

I managed a 7 and an 8 ...

When your dog wakes you at 6am on a Sunday what else is there to do but sew? I was hoping to get another top in this weekend, but I surprised myself with two. Considering I didn't start until 9.30 and I was done by 2pm, I'm pretty pleased with myself. The fabric is a deliciously soft poly/rayon (I think) that I bought at Gorgeous Fabrics last year. I bought it at a time when I was obsessed with black and brown together, so it slots right into my wardrobe.

The first is the wonderful BWOF 08-08-118 tunic. I made one of these a few years ago and I wear it all the time, so I don't know why I haven't made another. I wear it with footless tights and sandals in warmer weather and over a long sleeve tshirt with leggings, over-knee boots and a long cardigan in winter. It's a really versatile style.

Somehow I managed to cut two garments from two yards of fabric. I had enough to squeeze out another TNT from KS3338.

So, now I've Started at the Top, I guess I need to make some bottoms ...

Two more ...

In between looking at houses today I managed to sneak in two more tops for the Starting at the Top Challenge.

B5247

M5241

Both made from a 3m length of a pretty nasty poly knit I bought at the opshop. It's out of my stash now and I will actually wear these garments.

My nemesis ...

Kwik Sew 3378 - so far I have cut this top out four times and this is the first time I've made it past sewing the front seam. It's all about the fabric. I realise now that every other time I've attempted to make this, it was in a beefier knit and it just wasn't going to work. This time I've cut it in a slinky knit and I rather like it.

The fabric came from Clegs in Melbourne. Every month I go to Melnourne for a managers' meeting and last week our meeting closed early. I made the mistake of asking my boss's EA if there was a fabric store nearby. He gave me detailed directions on how to get to Clegs (and I've discovered a fellow fabricaholic). The sad thing is, now that I know how close it is to our office, I will be heading down there every time I'm in Melbourne! As I was on a day trip and only a small backpack with me, I could only purchase two small pieces. I bought the slinky in black, too, for a cardigan. I was inspired by someone (and I can't remember whose blog I saw it on now) who recently made a Jalie cardigan in black slinky that was really lovely. That will make an appearance soon.

Because I had so much fabric leftover, I knocked out a quick TNT tshirt (KS3338) with the additional self drafted cowl from an old Australian Stitches. Their version also had a gathered front which, in hindsight, I should have added, too. Compared to yesterday, with two garments from $3 worth of fabric, these are relatively expensive at two garments for $18, but I'm not complaining!