dress number of summer of the dress-athon

Finally got around to taking some photos of the next dress in the summer of the dress saga. I made Simplicity 3874 which looks like it's now OOP even though it is only a 2007 pattern. I used a stretch cotton that I bought in Bangkok at the beginning of this year for some crazy price like $1 a metre (so I bought 5m, I was a little constrained by luggage weight sadly). I fully underlined it with white cotton poplin, which is equally cheap, throw in an invisible zip and some thread and I have a pretty nice maternity dress for next to nix!

Anyway I chose this pattern because with the empire line and bodice tie, I knew it would lend itself to maternity wear very well with only a few small changes. I cut out the top half of the bodice and the back at my normal size, but cut the lower front dress piece out at the largest size (size 16), and added a triangle shaped wedge piece to the waistline by placing the pattern edge on an angle to the fold. This way the dress is still somewhat fitted around my legs, but has enough room to cover my preggy belly. It meant that I had to gather the fabric under the casing for the tie, but since it gets pulled tight when it's tied anyway it's barely noticeable. And here is the final product:

And a shot from the side doing the obligatory 'place hand on stomach pose to make obvious I am pregnant and not just weirdly rotund in the middle' pose:

Yes I am wearing high heels in the photo, and probably will keep wearing them for a few more weeks yet! So far no problems like stumbling or lower back pain, although I am sensible enough to wear flats to and from the bus stop to office (it is an up hill trek). Can't believe how obsessed I was with what shoes I was going to wear when I first fell pregnant, I shouldn't have worried about it at all. I only have about two months work left before going on a year's maternity leave, so I think my current shoe collection will see me through.


A few people have asked in the comments to previous posts how I am managing to sew so quickly. Well it's all in the fitting, or in my case lack of having to do it! I realise now that tweaking patterns, darts, side seams etc to get a nice fit over the bust, waist and hip line is what takes so long during pattern alterations and garment refinement at the end, not the actual sewing of seams. But now that I'm aiming for a loose and easy fit around my waist and hips I'm not spending too much time on that and I'm finding that I can just plow through the sewing in no time. Of course post pregnancy I'll be back to the agonising fitting that takes so long (but is essential to a good outcome) but for now I have a pressing deadline to meet - I need clothes that fit and I need them now! - so I'll keep on with the easy sewing.

can't think of a witty title today, so just read on....

Well dress number 2 of the summer of the dress extravaganza is complete, but due to the crazy hot then cold weather we've had here in Sydney it hasn't been warm enough to wear it yet, so no photograph to show you.

Thanks for all your comments on the last post - I wore the red jacket and black/white check dress to work on Monday and it was a comfortable and colourful combo so a real winner in my book. I don't know how I managed to sew the shorts and jacket so fast on Sunday, I guess it has a lot to do with using simple patterns that I have sewn from before, but I also find that when I'm not trying too hard the garments come together quickly and turn out perfect (as opposed to those I put real effort into and always manage to stuff up!).

And Vicki I know what you mean about tracing out the Burda patterns, I feel like having a nanna nap to rest my brain and eyes after tracing them out. It has to be the task I like least about sewing, it's even worse than washing the fabric and waiting for it to dry, or cutting out the patterns from a new pattern (that's why I like vintage patterns - someone else has already cut them out or they come like that).

Someone in real life asked me the other day how I managed to find so much time and energy to sew, particularly since I'm now edging towards 7 months of pregnancy. I don't know exactly where I'm finding the energy from, but I'd say it's probably got lots to do with all the lollies (red liquorice is a current favourite) that I continue to consume in copious amounts. As for time, well I don't have kids yet, I've stopped watching tv because there is hardly anything worth viewing anymore and remember the housework I made the shorts to wear whilst doing? Well it didn't technically get done on the weekend because I found sewing far more enjoyable than cleaning (yeah funny that). Lucky there's only the two of us plus the dog, who causes the most mess with his dog hair everywhere and his toys strewn from one end of the house to another, and we don't live in a McMansion so it only takes about an hour so I may clean up tomorrow night (hmmm we'll see).

Oh and thanks for all your reassuring comments re falling off the SWAP bandwagon, it makes total sense to me now to treat the SWAP as the bigger picture but continue on sewing other things as need arises. I'm about to sew some simple cotton pyjamas next since even my old friends the drawstring pyjama pants are abandoning me and my rapidly expanding rear end (damn you red liquorice and all your calories), but after that I'll get back on to the dress-athon.

And finally, since I don't like to post without a photo or two, here's something I spied in the fashion pages of the Saturday newspaper a few weeks ago: a gorgeous striped skirt by New Zealand designer Trelise Cooper. In case you can't read the small print at the bottom of the photo, the skirt is $595 and the top is $425. ahem.....

But of course I would never consider buying it, particularly when I found the perfect fabric over at Tessuti's on line fabric shop, Soho stripe 100% cotton which retails for $32/m. If this fabric is still available when my waistline returns (fingers crossed on both accounts there) I will definately break my retail fabric buying diet to get my hands on a few metres of this:

sewing ADHD

I told you all I was hopeless at SWAP - even though I have an illustrated sewing plan, and a dress already cut out waiting to be sewn up do I do the logical thing? No I got sidetracked already.....

Saturday here turned out very very hot, and after a bit of garage sale-ing and op shopping I came home to continue my usual fun Saturday of washing and house cleaning whilst the husband was out and not under my feet (I swear it takes twice as long when he's around trying to "help"). Anyway I quickly realised that none of my casual shorts for around the house fit, and whilst I love the 1950s you won't catch me cleaning the toilet in a dress! So I whipped up some shorts out of some dark brown cotton drill that I picked up in the great op shopping trip to Dubbo a few weeks (a very short term resident of the stash indeed).

These were so simple it only took about 3 hours to make two pairs of shorts from start to scratch, it's amazing how much time is saved when you're not taking pains to get a good fit around the waist but instead whacking elastic on. I used an alice+olivia Vogue 2907 pants pattern because it has such a wide yoke that I knew all I had to do was make the waistband from stretch fabric and I'd be sorted. The first pair I left off the welt pockets, but the second pair I made a little nicer so I could wear down the shops etc, and made turn up cuffs, the welt pockets on the back and some tortoiseshell buttons on the front side pockets and the welt pockets just for a little detail. I also raised the back waistline, but forgot to lift the position of the welts so it looks a little strange 'cos they are a bit low, but I can live with it.

Anyway these are hardly exciting enough to warrant a photo entry, but you're going to get one anyway because I tried these on with a nice jacket I made some time ago and some beads to see how it looks. And I think it looks pretty good (apart from my pasty white legs! note to self, get the fake tan cream out ASAP):

So after lunch I sat down with Simplicity 3874 meaning to make the dress I had already cut out, but got distracted again by the jacket of the pattern and some red linen I knew I had in the stash. And well, another 2 or 3 hours later I have a lovely jacket to wear with the black and white check dress I posted about a few posts ago. I've made this jacket twice before and I really like it, plus it's big enough to wear for maternity without any alterations except that I used french seams since it's unlined, I made pleats around the neck instead of gathers, and added a large button to the front. And here it is with the black and white check dress:

Now, following all of your good advice about leaving this dress big because I'll soon fill it, I've decided to leave it as it is - I figure you all know much better than I, having been there done that so I'll defer to your good judgement. Thank you all for your comments on this one, they were very helpful in deciding. Plus with the red jacket it sort of pulls it in and makes a bit more streamlined, so I can live with that for the next few weeks before I really balloon out!

And the Simplicity dress? Well it's nearly there, I spent Sunday morning sewing it up, my mum helpfully pinned the hem for me since it's getting harder to see past my ginormous belly and now all that is left to do is some hand sewing. I might take it to work with me tomorrow to finish it off, god knows I waste enough time in that place I may as well do something useful LOL!

Summer of the Dress: sewing with a plan

To reassure you all that I don't see always see fashion in shades of grey, I thought I would share with you my planned fabrics and patterns for the summer of the dress challenge. For my work clothes I do tend to sew in neutral colours like grey, black or navy blue because I work in a conservative office environment, I like to wear matching tops and bottoms, and I like to add colour through wearing brightly coloured heels, scarfs and handbags (point in hand - I don't own a black handbag and my coloured shoes far outweigh my black ones). But since I'm pregnant, have 2.5 months left of work for at least another 12 months, I'm trying to make more casual style dresses so I'll be using all the great colours and prints that are sitting in my stash.

Now, I haven't really been one for sewing with a plan (SWAP) even though I have greatly admired those organised inviduals that do, so I'm not sure how successful I'll be in keeping to this, but at this early stage here are the proposals in no particular order:

First up is a simple cotton dress in a white with brown floral print that I already have cut out and will sew up this weekend. I plan to add a little more volume across the front to make it maternity friendly and I already have a white cotton jacket to wear with it, so I guess I'm being a slave to the pattern photo on this one!

A 1960s empire line wrap dress, to be made in a linen in a black and beige/yellow print. This should be large enough to wrap around my preggy belly, and also it is a good style for easy access to the 'girls' when I start breastfeeding.
The 'azalea' dress downloaded from Burda Style, as modelled here by the beautiful Maya511 on the Burda Style site and from her blog at the incurable homebody. I have shamelessly copied her colour scheme because a) I love it and b) I happen to have an apricot/orangey cotton voile with small brown hexagon squares in the stash. This will have enough volume for my belly, and I'll make it nursing friendly by making those straps openable with button attachments at the front.

A simple BWOF dress which I will make nursing friendly by making the straps openable, probably with a button closure, and add extra width to the front if those pleats aren't enough to go around my belly. This will be in a vibrant red floral cotton voile, that has a navy blue border print.

Another BWOF gem, this one should be low cut and stretchy enough to pull down the top for nursing, and should stretch nicely across my belly.

And yet another BWOF (gotta get my money's worth!) with a zippered front which will be ideal for nursing, and I may raise the drawstring section a little higher to sit above my belly and add extra width below that for gathering. To be made in a purple and green leaf print cotton voile.

The Mila dress downloaded from Burda Style, to be made in a blue and purple print cotton that I picked up in one of my recent op shopping sprees, with a contrasting centre panel in white similar to the Burda Style creation photo. This one might have to be post birth and return of waistline, or I'll add some pleats to the front under the bust line to accommodate my current extra girth.

And last but not least, a modern BWOF that I will make in a modern graphic print cotton that I've had in the stash for a few years after buying it off ebay and then not knowing what to make with it. I'll use a bright red cotton for the contrast panels for the pocket, armhole, waistband and central placket. To make it maternity friendly I will continue the pleat that starts below the pocket to the waistband to give extra width across the front. After my belly goes away and my waist comes back (fingers crossed!) I can sew down the pleat and reduce the volume.
Thanks to Suzy and others for pointing out the need for nursing friendly clothes, I'm now looking at all my patterns in a new light but lucky there are quite a few patterns that fit the bill or are easily adaptable.

Summer of the Dress

Alright, I'm calling it quits on the UFOs (unfinished objects for those lucky enough not to have experienced them) because it's just plain and simple draining me. Besides, a new season has rolled in and so it's time for some new creations (and probably a few stuff ups that will lead to more UFOs, but that is another story!).

I’m jumping on the ‘summer of the dress’ bandwagon, kicked off by Erin at Dress a Day with International Wear a Dress Day, taken to extreme by Melynda and her summer of lovely dresses over at Country Girl Couture, and now by Livebird her in Oz has picked up the baton and run with it, coming up with some fab creations over at Sew Retro.

I love all styles of dresses, from fitted shift dresses for work to flowing sun dresses and I certainly have the patterns and fabric to make one for each day of summer if I had the time. But to be realistic, I’m setting a goal of seven dresses – so that I could wear a different one each day for a week if I wanted to.

But to make it a little bit challenging, I’m setting these ground rules for myself:

1. the pattern has to be from the stash but be one I haven’t used before
2. the fabric has to be from the stash (although linings and notions can be bought new)
3. the dress has to be one I’ll wear this summer (ie no evening gowns made for the heck of it, unless I actually do have a black tie event to attend, which is unlikely!)

That last rule I set for myself will be the most challenging I think, given that I’m having a baby in the beginning of summer which means that I won’t have my usual body shape and will have to modify patterns accordingly, and with a new born I’m not sure of where I’ll be swanning off to in lovely dresses – I may be the best dressed (or overdressed) new mum down at the baby health clinic, the library or the shopping centre!

Ok, so the first cab off the rank is a vintage McCalls 3154 pattern, made in the same black and white check fabric I bought a few years ago from Spotlight and used for the BWOF jacket posted about here. Both fabric and pattern are from the stash so rules no. 1 and 2 met, and I will wear this to work shortly when it warms up a bit, so rule no.3 will be met also.

I’m usually wary of using patterns that only have drawings on the front and not a photo of an actual model wearing the garment because you have no way of telling what it will actually turn out like (not that I have a model’s figure and so there is always a degree of this anyway!). This pattern was no exception: it looks fantastic on the pattern drawing, but the dress came out HUGE, and I mean Homer Simpson muu-muu huge that episode when he gained 300 pounds to work from home…. Even my husband asked if this dres was for when I was 'more' pregnant!

So I am in the process of taking in a few inches at the side seams and putting darts in the back to give some shape to it. I know in the past the attitude to pregnant bodies was to hide them in tent like dresses with bows, but fashions have certainly changed and I don’t want to look too frumpy! But since I don't know when the next sunny day will be here in Sydney (the weather has been crazily changeable of late) to take a photo, here is how it is muu muu style:

And now I think I shall call it quits for the evening, I was tracing a BWOF pattern for a friend who is newbie sewist and a BWOF virgin, but I cut my finger so badly earlier this evening it leaked through my bandaid and stained the pattern, and I'm not up to retracing it right now.... Sorry Lisa, I'll get it to you soon I promise!

p.s just for you Veronica Darling: BWOF = Burda World of Fashion magazine. Surely it is only a matter of time before you are obsessed with this magazine too! Check out your local borders or big newsagency to have a nosey in one.

my longest (and most shameful!) UFO

Still ploughing through my UFO pile although it is becoming increasingly boring. I don't know why it is, but for me finishing a UFO is almost as tedious as doing alterations to RTW or mending - something to be put aside for later.

Anyway I found this UFO at the very bottom of the pile and it is my oldest project, because it is one of the first things I meant to do to actually make by myself to learn to sew (up until then my mum had made the majority of the clothes with me observing) when I was about 17 or 18, which makes it about 13 or 14 years old! I can't believe I still have it, but I can know why I didn't make it - I was impatient and itching to get on to the more interesting and complex garments.

The reason that I class it as my most shameful is that I didn't get past cutting out the pattern and it is such a simple camisole style top that it would have taken me no time at all to finish. I cut it from Vogue 1576, now long OOP. But in hindsight it was better that I didn't make it because how this top turned out may have put me off sewing for life: the fit was way too big (it fits my 31 year old 6 month pregnant body!), the style is a a little basic which is a good simple top to wear under a suit but wouldn't have fit into my wardrobe as a 17 year old, and the colour is a little blah, being a caramel beige cotton.

So to salvage it and remove it from UFO list, I hacked into it since I had little to lose. Firstly I cut a few inches off the back because it sat too far down my hips, but I left the front piece long so I could gather it at the sides to create a pouch for my belly. I finished it with a narrow hem using my narrow hem presser foot which is THE most fiddly piece of sewing equipment I have but turns out brilliant hems. Then I cut a new armscye using the highly technical method of guestimation and simply folded it over and topstitched - the pattern is supposed to be reversible so no facings were included. Then to liven it up I topstitched 6 rows of red thread using the twin stitch needle - it's a bit wonky but not too bad. And here you go, the product of 13 years neglect and one hour of attention:

Plus it gave me an excuse to wear this cool plastic leaf brooch I picked up in an opshop ages ago. To make sure that the top didn't become an orphan, I decided to refashion the red pencil skirt you can see in the photo above to wear with it. I made this a few years from stretch bengaline, but since I don't wear red suits (I'm just not that confident) and it's not often that I don't wear a suit to work, I rarely wore this skirt at all. But because it is so stretchy, all I had to do was cut off the narrow waistband, take out all the darts, put narrow elastic across the back and turned down the top and topstitched. And it fits brilliantly! And worn with my most favourite BWOF jacket ever, it now has a place in my wardrobe and in fact I've already worn it to work like this:

In the comments to the last post, Northeast Iowa Mom asked what I meant by the term 'op shopping'. Sorry! This is one of those unique Aussie terms I think, but yes it means thrift shopping - here in Australia charity stores selling second hand goods are called opportunity shops and as usual Aussies always shorten everything.

MaryJ - I try very hard not to go to Crowle House Fabric Cave. Yes I know it's for a very good cause but the times I've been there in the past I've bought so much fabric it's not funny, so now I vow to only go there to buy if I can bring fabric to donate as well! It's what makes the second hand world go around - you donate your old (crap) and buy new (crap) to you!

Jean asked if anyone has been touching my belly yet. The answer is no thankfully, and if they tried to I'd block them karate style LOL. Although my husband keeps interrupting my reading or tv watching trying to feel the baby kick, even though I tell him it's not hard enough movements yet to feel on the oustside!

Anyway it's a Sunday evening and it's all peaceful domestic bliss around here. I have a chocolate cake in the oven (an actual cake as opposed to the metaphor for the child in my womb ha ha), some handsewing to do to finish the things I made over my long weekend and Dr Who is on in a few short hours (yay!). Hope you all had a great weekend too, it's what makes the working week almost worthwhile........

Feeling unbelievably honoured

Man I had a good day today. It's a Friday, and I didn't have to go to work thanks to the marvels of a flex day. It was warm and sunny here in Sydney, and after a sleep in and a leisurely breakfast I took the dog for a walk, had a chat with one of my neighbours and I had a check up with my doctor and everything is going well with the baby. The little monkey has been moving around like crazy lately and I just can't wait to meet him/her, but I know - patience is a virtue and it won't be long before it's here.

I also took advantage of the sunshine to do three loads of washing - now before you think I've completely lost it and am strangely happy about doing washing, check out this photo:

Yes that is a clothesline full of fabric, bought from op-shopping trips in the last few weeks freshly laundered and now awaiting transformation. Didn't do any of the other washing though, that may have ruined my good mood!

And now that I've jumped on-line to see what my favourite bloggers have been up to, I see that the amazingly talented Carolyn from sewingfanaticdiary has bestwowed upon me two blog awards!

This is why I feel unbelievably honoured: Carolyn's sewing is impeccable, she puts so much care and effort into her garments which is evident in the professional and polished garments she produces so abudantly - so for her to be not only interested in what I make but also think it cuts the mustard makes me feel, well pretty good actually!

So the rules for these awards are:

1. Select 6 bloggers to whom you would like to give this award

Well like Carolyn I found this hard because I read soooo many blogs that I love, plus there's a lot of love being shared around at the moment, so I've tried to pick bloggers that haven't been awarded yet

I wanna frock and roll all night - Kitty and Moggy are so funny and make the most gorgeous vintage patterns.

Sew 4 Fun - beautiful clothes and fabrics, plus links to Project Runway Australia which has occupied plenty of my time lately.....

Sewing Along Life's Seams - Jean always has something interesting to say on her blog plus she leaves me little stories in her comments all the time!

The Big Trade Off - another very funny blog, and Karen makes me feel better by showing that you can have kids and still sew and have a sense of humour.

That's Sew Live - Tearsa is a fellow pregnant sewist, is unbelievably glam and has the most show off worthy job, she's on television!

Weekend Crafting - Reethi and I are almost at one with BWOF - trying to make more of 'em!

2. Put the award on your blog and indicate who gave it to you by identifying her/his blog - done

3. Paste these rules on your blog - done

4. Write 6 of your most important values and 6 negative points you condemn. Important values for me and what I look for in the people I choose to spend time with are happiness, gratefulness, generosity, recognition of others, confidence and effort. Negative points I hate in others (and myself when I display them) would be apathy, dishonesty, wastefulness, arrogance, nastiness and constant negativity/whinging.

5. Inform the 6 recipients by leaving a comment on their blog - done, done and done!