Sunday, April 15, 2012

CHOCOLATE GINGER FINISHED WITH A LATTE

Yes, I was hungry when I wrote this post;)

Firstly, Chocolate Ginger sounds more appetizing than Brown Skirt!
And secondly, Latte is so much more tastier than Light Brown Bias!!


So, here we have my third Colette Ginger Skirt - certainly not my last, but for now it will take a back seat to some other projects.

I just love this skirt with its simple lines, not to mention how easy it was to whip up.


This was a total stash busting project.
I have about a gazillion zippers, so finding one to match was not a hard task.
Plenty of interfacing for the waistband - check!
The fabric was leftover from some trousers I made a few years back.
Oh, and the latte! I finished the hem in this pale brown bias which I hope lasts as long as the skirt - I have no idea how long I've had it (I've been sewing for over 30 years, you know!) and it felt a bit cardboard-y when I was slip stitching it..eek, it may disintegrate on me!



The innards...
The pattern doesn't call for lining, but I do like to line most of my garments though as I feel they hang a lot nicer.


My invisible zipper (which doesn't look so invisible when done up - darn it! - might work on that a bit more).



And the waistband top stitching - I like it when the innards look as nice as the outside!


Off to Busselton and Margaret River for a few days, so enjoy the rest of the week.

Friday, April 13, 2012

SIMPLICITY 3835...again!

Just a quick post to show you the other Simplicity 3835 (Built by Wendy).

This is pretty much the same polyester-y...crepe-y...georgette-y fabric as my previous blouse I made the other day. Also a $3 remnant bought from Potter Textiles.

I love the mix of pretty roses and animal print!



And I'm diggin' the rolled hem on my over locker!



With my nearly finished Ginger #3!
Will show you that tomorrow.


I remembered to photograph the French Seams this time.


Have a great weekend!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

ANOTHER GINGER...

Well, I have been sewing a LOT lately, just not for myself!

At the moment, I'm pretty much holding down three jobs....
Some days I have my Secretary's hat on, some days I have my Retail Assistant's hat on and for the rest of the time, I have my Alteration & Mending Seamstress' hat on!

I have started up an Alteration & Mending business (again) and I have been overwhelmed with the jobs coming my way, it has been really good and this time I've been enjoying it, mainly because I have put my prices up to reflect the real time and effort I put into it.

I even had enough work coming my way to justify buying my new friend, Diana.

Anyhoo...since it is school holidays, I've grabbed the opportunity to make myself something.



Another Ginger skirt....made from Panama Suiting from Spotlight and lined with Bemsilk.
I was going to lengthen it this time but totally forgot about it when I cut it out, so I put a false hem on with bias binding to eek out a little length.
I made some self covered buttons and inserted an invisible zip. Nice!




The top is one I've made several times. Simplicity 3835, which appears to be out of production now.
I scored this remnant fabric (polyester crepe or something) for $3 from Potter Textiles
(Sorry Tracy...Impulse visit!)

I tried a couple of techniques on the blouse which I haven't done for a while, French Seams (which I forgot to photograph) and Rolled Hems on my over locker.
Both gave a nice finish.


I bought another remnant while I was at Potter Textiles, so I will probably make another one of these blouses.

Happy Sewing!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

MUMMY SON TIME...

Awwww!
My heart just skipped a beat when Tom wanted to sew a stuffed animal toy for part of his school term project.

So he got to and searched the Internet for a pattern that he knew he could cope with (ie: one that Mum wouldn't need to rescue him from;)

Raided my stash for some frog appropriate fabric, buttons and eyeballs.

He cut the pattern out himself and was rather creative in cutting out the fabric too, but luckily the polar fleece was quite forgiving!

I did have to help with the pinning together but I reckon that's ok.

And, he steered the sewing machine really well (with only a little guidance from Mum).

He had more fun stuffing his undies with fibre-fill than the actual toy though!
I won't show you that photo...



Ta Dah!!!


Friday, January 27, 2012

COLETTE GINGER SKIRT

I've been wanting a denim skirt for a while now,
but not one of those that you wear with thongs and a mullet!



I have seen plenty of Colette Ginger Skirts on the 'www' and thought that this pattern would be perfect.

I made View 3 and its a super easy pattern to make up in less than a day!

I decided to line it as the denim appeared to be quite a loose weave and I hate it when your skirt 'seats' in the behind!
Thanks Tracy for the lining - it handles really well.

I have absolutely no idea where the denim came from:/

The 'innards'...


I did a mock flat fell seam in thread that is matchy-matchy with the lining.


The pattern called for an invisible zipper - which I LOVE doing, but chose not to in this case as they don't really work well with denim waistbands.



Love the skirt!

Will definitely be making more and I thoroughly recommend the pattern.


Sunday, January 8, 2012

NEW LOOK 6805 and BUTTERICK 6582

My first project for 2012 is a 'mish-mash'.

I love the New Look 6805 pattern and have made this up a few times with View C but wanted a different neckline so chose the View A version.
I also wanted a different skirt so I rummaged through my patterns and found the perfect skirt in Butterick 6582 (View C).

I have plenty of fabric left over so I will certainly make myself a matchy-matchy belt.

I bought this Vintage Style cotton voile from Spotlight a few months ago and here's the result.



I love the fact that the gathering stops at the front princess seam panel so it lies flat across the tummy. I certainly don't need any extra volume in that area after all the Christmas Cheer!

And a gratuitous twirly shot!


And for the neat freaks out there, here are the innards!

I couldn't get a nice green for the lining as they all seemed to darken the bodice too much so I just used cream which worked well.

Check out that fabulous hand sewing:)


I chose to just sew a narrow hem this time as the fabric was quite fine and I thought that hand sewing a blind hem may pull on the fabric too much.



I didn't have to make any alterations to the bodice as I'd made this up (in a different version) before so new it fitted and fitting a gathered skirt isn't exactly rocket science!

Off to do my Colette Ginger skirt now....
See you soon.