End of year sewing

Hi everyone, hope you've all had a relaxing holiday period. I'm happily still on holidays from work, and for the first time in many many years we have stayed home  this year instead of leaving at the crack of dawn on Boxing Day for 2 weeks in Queensland visiting the in-laws. It's quite nice actually to have time at home with no particular plans each day. I have been sewing too - finishing up two Burda of the month projects and taking stock of UFOs that I'm planning to finish next year.

But first to blog about the few Christmas presents I made for the kids this year. I didn't want to put any pressure on myself this year so I chose to only make a few things which turned out to be surprisingly easy and quick to make. I had these made and wrapped a few days before Christmas eve - no last minute finishing and midnight wrapping for me this year!

Since Anna has had a huge growth spurt this year, a new skirt of decent length was desperately needed. I made her a skirt from an old Burda magazine - 1/2008 #135, in a bright blue ikat print cotton from the stash purchased a few too many years ago to remember exactly where from:

 I changed it slightly by using two ribbons around the waist instead of one wide one, mainly because I didn't have any wide ribbon in the stash but also because I thought it looked kind of cute. The ribbon is supposed to go under the pleats through button holes (i.e. between the skirt and the waistband facing), but somehow I did the spacing wrong and the two centre ones are hidden under the bow. Still works though, so I'm leaving it this way:

Her dad is very pleased to see her wearing a skirt of appropriate length and Anna seems to like it as well, so a win all around.

I also made two singlet style dresses for Anna, self drafted by tracing around one of her RTW singlets that fit quite well. One is made maxi length and one is knee length, and since both are made in knit fabrics sewn on the overlocker except for topstitching the hems it took a little over an hour to make both. The purple gingham knit is from The Fabric Store and I used a plain white cotton knit for contrasting bands, and the stripe knit is part of my recent purchase from Janie's Fabrics.

I didn't forget Toby either, although this shirt is a few months late. You see I bought this very cute robot print cotton poplin from Spotlight back in March to make Toby a birthday shirt but then never got around to it (second child syndrome....). I have no excuses for not making this earlier, it seriously took me two hours but better late than never!

I used snaps down the centre front instead of buttons, mainly because I didn't have any orange buttons but also to help Toby dress himself since he's decided to do everything himself these days.

I made it from Simplicity 2907, which is a pattern I've used before and so have loads of other bloggers - it's a simple but cute pattern which includes a shirt, vest and cargo shorts for boys and a shirt dress for girls.  I made a size 3, expecting the usual excessive ease from Simplicity but this actually turned out to be a snug fit. Lucky it's his birthday in a few months and I'll have a reason to make another one!

Happy new year everyone - thanks for reading along with my sewing adventures this year. Here's to another happy, productive and creative sewing year next year!

Burda 3/2013 #110 - the Bird of Paradise Dress

I've always been rather jealous of those bloggers who can think up witty titles for their posts or give their latest project a cute/twee/funny/appropriate name. Sadly I lack that skill, and my posts are generally a literal description of the pattern name - this one is no different! It's a Burda pattern, made from fabric with what looks like a bird of paradise flower print on it.

This dress is made from Burda 3/2013 #110, which was my Burda of the month project way back in March 2013:

My previous version above was very much copied from the Burda version, right down to the colour of the fabric and the ribbon embellishments! This time I opted to keep it simple because the fabric itself is pretty vibrant and I only added some navy blue ribbon around the waist seam. Because I've made this pattern before and the blue dress still fits, I was able to whip this version out mostly in one evening, finishing the hem in the morning just before going to work so I could wear it that day to my team Christmas lunch. Of course I could have worn something I already owned, but there's nothing like a new dress to make me feel suitably celebratory.

With such a busy print I didn't bother trying to pattern match at any of the seams, so you can see the back and the sides do not match up at all. Normally this would really bother me, especially since at the centre back there is a duplicate of the print, but as you all repeatedly point out whenever I am critical of my projects - no one notices these things at all. So I'm not worrying about it at all.

If I do make this again, which I probably will since it's a simple and classic shape I will raise the neckline a little. It's not scandalously low as it is, but it does sit a little too wide on my shoulders and my bra strap tends to poke out. But otherwise this pattern is great - it's very simple to make, the skirt has a gentle a-line shape to it so it doesn't need a walking vent at the back and I quite like those angled darts (although the front bodice darts probably finish a little high on my bust point which I should change for the next version).

If you're wondering about the fabric, it's a stretch cotton that I bought from a new to me on-line store based in Melbourne - Janie's Fabric - which I discovered thanks to the ladies who post in the sewing down under thread over at Pattern Review. The fabrics are quite cheap (this one is $6.99/m and it's 148cm wide) so I was pretty sceptical about the quality of the fabrics.

I was pleasantly surprised when my parcel arrived - in addition to this floral stretch cotton I also bought a vibrant voile, a cotton jersey, a rayon jersey and a poly satin and all are really high quality with only the poly satin feeling a bit plasticky (which is to be expected really!).  Postage is free if you spend $100 and my purchase arrived really quickly so all around it was a good shopping experience. If you're on a fabric stash diet I'd suggest not looking at this site at all - you'll be tempted I'm sure.

So, only 9 days to Christmas now - once again this year has just flown by. We are staying home this year so I'm feeling remarkably calm about it all, although I still have a few things I want to sew before Christmas day so no doubt I'll end up running around like crazy anyway!

Review: Two Blue Birdies Stash Box

I was recently invited by Two Blue Birdies, a Melbourne based fabric and haberdashery online store to try out their Stash Box. I was very happy to discover their haberdashery range - they sell Aurifil thread and Tulip Hiroshima fine sewing needles, which in a recent workshop I did on fine sewing techniques the instructor highly recommended using Aurifil thread and good quality needles. Plus they also sell uber cool Merchant & Mills sewing patterns and tools.

The Stash Box is an interesting concept.  Each month you will receive a box of sewing and craft related goodies in the mail - you don't know what is in until it arrives which only adds to the excitement, and it sure beats only getting boring bills! It was pretty exciting opening the box to reveal this:

It's essentially a subscription service and you can choose between the Big Stash Box for $49.95/month; The Stash or the Felt Stash both for $34.95/m. You can cancel the subscription at any time which is useful if you find yourself getting behind on your creating and your Stash Boxes piling up unused. You can also buy single boxes of previous months directly from their online store if there are any left over which is a great way to try this out without any commitment.

The contents are pretty cute and useful:

There are 4 fat quarters, some cute flower buttons and pom pom trim, a sewing pattern for a stuffed toy, two pieces of felt, a fabric marker and two spools of Aurifill thread.

I must admit, as a garment sewer I'm a little perplexed about what to make with a fat quarter! Since I'm not into quilting at all, the pieces seem a little small to make anything useful although I am determined to do something with them because the fabrics have such lovely prints and vibrant colours. The fabric marker, threads, pom pom trim and buttons will definitely get used in the very near future though - those sorts of things are always handy to have, and my daughter has already been planning a dress for herself using those buttons and pom pom trim.

My verdict: I think it's a great concept, receiving a mystery box in the mail each month that will be filled with great crafty things is exciting and might give you inspiration to create at least one project a month. But as a garment sewer I'm not sure it's entirely my thing given it's focus on craft patterns and small pieces of fabric - I would prefer to buy the specific haberdashery items I need from them directly. However, if your sewing is mainly focused on crafty things and quilts then I think this box might suit you to a tee. It would also make a great present for a crafty friend - the gift that keeps on giving (for the life of the subscription anyway)!

October Burda of the month: 10/2015 #110 cowl neck top

I'm running a little behind on my Burda of the month project, but better late than never. The last few issues of the Burda magazine have been great and I've found it hard to pick a project because of too much choice, but I do love a cowl neck and so I couldn't go past this lovely cowl neck top with an interesting v-neck for this month's project. This is Burda 10/2015 #110:

image via Burda Style

Burda calls this their sleeveless high neck blouse, which is a good description because that cowl neck certainly sits quite high and doesn't drape low like most cowl necks. This is because it is actually cut like a funnel neck so that even though it drapes it does stick up:

I've made my version in a lightweight poly-linen in a glorious kelly green colour that I picked up for a few dollars at the Fabric Cave a few months ago - it came in a 4.5m length so expect to see some more things in this colour soon. The fabric had enough drape to make the neckline work, but it doesn't have any stretch at all. I found this pattern to be rather tight through the body even though I made my usual 34 at the bust grading out to 38 at the hip line, so I had to let out all the two vertical darts on the front and back to have enough wearing ease. Since they are released darts they really need to be deeper to form that pleat at the top but actually fitting into it was also necessary!

Speaking of fitting into to it, I tried out the tips that a few of you left in the comments recently about sewing in zips in the side seam by sewing down the first inch or so of the seam and then installing the zip so that the zipper doesn't finish under the arm. But doing this I found that I just couldn't get my arms into the top at all - I think this one is a bit too fitted around the bust to use this method. Now I need to decide how to close that top bit because I may have been a bit too lazy to undo the zip completely and move it up to the top of the seam!

I really like the back neckline of this pattern - the v-neck bands are extended from the front neckline. Thankfully this pattern has the illustrated instructions to help figure it out because it is a bit tricky figuring it out. Essentially the shoulder seam of the back needs to be sewn to the front at the shoulder seam, then you need to clip into the fabric and pivot to sew along the rest of the back band. It does make a neat finish on the shoulder seam:

Although I found getting the point at the back neckline a bit tricky to get it to sit flat - mine has a small bump but it's not too noticeable:

This back view really shows how odd fitting this top is on me - a bit too tight at the waist and a bit too loose above that causing that blousing out effect. I'll live with it on this version, but if I make this again I would change the fit to closed darts and add some more room around the waist so that it sits flat against my body. There is a centre back seam so it should make it easy to do a sway back adjustment too. Oh and ignore that annoying skirt waistband - the hook and eyes always pop open and I need to replace it with something more secure.

Lengthwise I found this top a little long and veering into frumpy territory:

But since this version is too tight to wear untucked anyway I left as is without cutting it any shorter, but it is something to keep in mind if you are planning to make this pattern.

And in case you're interested, I made this skirt way back in 2008 from a vintage Vogue pattern. It was actually the third blog post I ever wrote - back when my photos were terrible and my writing wasn't so great either! I recently found this skirt packed away in my refashion box, so I refreshed it by taking off the white band that I had sewn around the hem. 

So overall I really like this pattern - the neckline is interesting and a nice feature. I found the instructions ok for a change, but I did have to read them through a few times to figure out that shoulder and centre back seams. If I make this top again, especially if I make the dress version (which is the same pattern just longer) I would make it a little wider through the waist and hips and change those released darts into normal darts to get a better fit.

Check out Two On Two Off and Sew Crafty Chemist for this pattern made up in knit fabrics, including the optional snood thingy that can be worn over the top.