Kittys Drawings

Hello everyone!

Apologies for the lack of posting last weekend. We didn’t get back from Blaigowrie til quite late. The big ride on the scooter was quite a success…I won’t tell you how I managed to get more scratches in it (eep) but I will tell you that I got down there and back without anything seriously bad happening. For those folks not from Australia, Blairgowrie is about 100kms south of where I live in the inner suburbs of Melbourne (depending on which route you take)…It’s right at the bottom of Port Phillip Bay and is a popular spot for city people wanting to get away for the weekend. Mind you, it’s hardly ‘country’ or even remotely isolated…Melbourne is such a spread out city that the entire trip down the bay is built up with plush beach houses of varying scale and style.
Anyways, we had a good time – playing board games, drinking and just blobbing about. Yay

So on to this week’s sewing project…

This has been the first project for the year following my new resolution of taking my time and finishing things properly. I’m so happy with this top that I can even show you the insides The pattern is Mccall 6475 from 1946 and I used a cotton blend of some description in a nice orange floral. I don’t usually go for orange but I loved this print as soon as I laid eyes on it. It’s another one from Savers from way back. The fabric has a really great drape to it and is soft and airy. It may be a rayon/cotton blend…Not sure. It washes ok from the little swatch I tested….so who knows what’s in it.

A few notes about the pattern and finishing:

• I made view C which you can’t see on the cover but the only difference from view B is the peplum at the bottom isn’t gathered as it’s designed to fit under a skirt.
• I don’t think this would work with anything but a super drapey fabric. There’s a lot of gathering that needs to fall nicely. I’m happy with my fabric choice!
• It’s VERY blousey – considering how small the size is, and it IS meant to be roomy, but there’s a LOT of room. Tight, structured waist definition is absolutely essential for styling this!
• The cute details are a bit lost in this print but I would love to make this out of a plain, maybe even sheer fabric

• I finished as many seams as I could with rayon seam binding.
• The side seams are zig-zag stitched because I ran out of that colour seam binding!
• I made a narrow hem finished by hand.
• The side closure consists of three snaps and a hook & eye on a placket. This is SO much better than a zip – And yes I will keep going on about that forever.
• I omitted the shoulder pads….for obvious reasons. I guess some light ones wouldn’t look too bad and they are very much essential for the era…One day I will make some and see how they look.

Yay! I’m really pleased with this top and I definitely want to make more versions of it. It took about a weekend to do – The bound seams were fairly time consuming but if you omitted those this would take no time at all to make. Once again, this is another one of those 40′s patterns with neat little details. I love how the sleeves attach to the neckline. Mccall’s patterns from the 40′s are especially excellent. Side note: I’m actually waiting on a heap of patterns to arrive from Etsy, eBay and a super special Mccall’s from Patterns From the Past.

Notice I also got my replacement grey shoes from Asos? The 38 fits much better.

Well that’s all for now. I have to start on a new project…I don’t even know if I’ll have anything new to show for next week! I think I’ll have to actually do some drawing! How bout that!

Heh…

Ciao then!

Hi Everyone

I’m catching up on a bit of sewing posts. It’s been TWO WEEKS since I last wrote. Gosh the time is flying. I really do have less time to blog these days. And draw. Still not getting anywhere with the drawing. I actually have some paid work to do this weekend so right after this is written I’m gonna go and earn some money.

So here is a dress I made a looong time ago now. The one I polled everyone about whether I should go the bare midriff option. And so I did. I loved the dress when I made it but I kind of hate it now. It’s all my own fault though really – I made it with like, zero ease…so while it fits around the waist, the nature of the pattern and these damn side closures means it’s a struggle to get it over my shoulders without seriously stressing the seams. If I made it looser, I don’t think it would look so good since any gaping would be very noticeable.

It’s such a cute dress though and the fabric is so awesome (another Savers find, remember?).

Some notes that usually go with my sewing posts:

• Totally love the contrasting fabrics!
• I made my own bias tape for this. I botched it a bit – just don’t look too closely okay.
• The skirt is from another pattern because I wanted fullness and did not have a wide enough fabric for the semi-circle this pattern calls for.
• It’s 10 gores! Woah. I love them though. And they’re all French seamed. That’s a lot of thread!
• I used snaps again for the side closure. Still much neater than a zip.
• This dress is really falling apart
• Not many bras are suitable! Eep
• The fabric marker I was using stained it. Grrr – those are supposed to wash out.

*sigh* I have such mixed feelings about this. It gets a fair few looks when I wear it out…mostly cos  of the ‘hole’ in it. The Mr doesn’t like it because of this hole. Haha. I dont know if these pale pastels suit me? It’s a bit meh.

Anyways – it’s done now.

Things I’m working on at the mo…. A skirt and a dress. One is green – that really cool Advance pattern with the bustle and the buttons. The other is a purple floral wiggle dress made of cotton. Desperate need of a summer work wardrobe. It’s gonna be a scorcher this year I think.

WELL.

I better go and not faff around so much.

Seeyas!

Hi Everyone!

It’s sewing post time

I’m a bit behind as usual!

A few weeks ago I finished Mccall 7221 which is a square necked dress pattern from the 40′s. I won this through a sewing blog I read but for the life of me I can’t remember which one! If it was you, let me know and I’ll link you in this post The competition was months ago and I didn’t have plans on making this pattern straight away – but then I found this fabric at Savers not long after and deemed it perfect for the pattern. Not sure what the content is exactly, it feels like a cotton mix. It’s really opaque but also super light-weight which will make it good for summer.

I love how it’s casual and it came together really easily.

Some notes:

• I made a proper placket closure. Instead of inserting a side-zip (which I hate as they never sit nice and are a pain to put in), I used snaps and hook & eye. This takes a little more time than a zipper but it’s SO much neater and more comfortable!
• I didn’t need to change the size of the pattern much at all. It gapes a little in the bust still….I’ll have to learn how to fix that properly soon but it still looks okay
• The sleeve/yoke/whatever-you-call-it was a bit of a pain but I got there in the end.
• I pieced the front section because I didn’t have heaps of fabric.
• Shortened it by a LOT as usual

Overall, I’m really pleased with this dress. The fabric hides any boo-boos but I didn’t actually make any so yay! However, the pattern is pretty full on and the scale of it might swamp me a bit don’t you think?

It’s my petticoat hem that’s wonky not my dress

I still hate taking photos as well. I get really bored of posing but I’m still stuffing around with getting the light right so its like – pose pose pose pose – take memory card out of camera – put card into computer – download files onto Adobe Bridge – check, crop and edit some photos – delete stupid poses/expressions – take card out of computer – put card back in camera – set timer……pose….repeat until satisfied…Then edit properly. *groan*

Oh and do you like my bag?? I got it off Etsy a little while ago – Deadstock 60′s! Still had the tag attached. It’s so BRIGHT. I had to buy a belt to match….haha. The colour is right but it’s more of a hip belt not one for your waist so it’s kinda big and chunky. Does anyone know where I can get a good, thin, patent yellow waist belt? Without too much cost expenditure?

Also – These are some recent fabric purchases. All of them are from Savers except for the green flocked one. Isn’t it awesome! I got it from Unique Fabrics on Sydney Rd for $5 a metre (I bought 3m)….I have plans to make another full skirted 50′s dress with it – maybe a circle skirt this time…and underline it with bright yellow cotton lawn. Do you think yellow would work? Or some other colour? I dismissed white as an option because I want the flocking to stand out.
And how do you clean flocked fabrics? Gentle hand wash?

There’s another floral sheet in there – Spring wardrobe planning haha (more circle skirts)….and a huge pile of pink seersucker which I think I will make a ROBE out of. Once I find some really soft flannel/sheeting to line it with. The other patterned stuff feels like cotton – good for a little blouse I think. I don’t have enough blouse patterns….It’s something I always hesitate to buy. Silly huh.

Oh and and!! I want to make a petticoat for myself….a fluffy one…but I hate those tiered ones. I was thinking I would get some soft cotton and a heap of the softest tulle I can find and construct it like I was making 3 circle skirts on top of each other. Then make a tube of fabric for the waistband and fasten it with a ribbon because I also hate elastic as it always stretches. Do you think this would work??

Anyways I better go. I’ve got some drawing planned – One started and another planned. And some dresses to show still. Till soon!!

Hi All!

A bit of a jumbled post today to tell you about a few things I’ve bought and quite a few questions to ask!

Yesterday I popped in to Savers for the first time in a long time (at least two months!) and was overjoyed to find a piece of seersucker (on the far right in the pic) waiting with my name on it Yay! I love seersucker and I’m pretty sure others do too – I don’t know what’s so awesome about it, but I’m sure my eyes bulged out of my head on spying it on the rack. For only $4 too! There’s not a whole lot of it – just 2m and it’s 36″ wide. That’s 91cm by the way – Just so I can confuse you a bit more with my mixing of imperial and metric.

If I’m really clever, I may be able to squeeze out this dress from the amount I have. Absolutely perfect don’t you think? I may need to use a couple of contrast pieces for the waistband and pockets though.

Also – does anyone have any tips on helping me reduce the size of this pattern?

It’s a vintage 15 so I need to shave about 2 inches off the bust and waist. If I take a piece out of the back do you think that will work? I don’t know how the bust is shaped as yet (Still have to wait for pattern to arrive).

Do I dare make the variation with the open midriff?

And one last question – Can I iron seersucker or not??

The other two pieces seem to be almost from the same donation – very similar in style! They’re lightweight cottons in the cutest prints. There’s a bit more length in these but the width is narrower. Not sure what I’ll make of these as yet – they’re quite sheer. Ideas?

And finally – Check out my new sweater guard/clip/whatever you call it. So sparkly and red. If you’ve ever watched Glee you’ll know what these are – they hold together your cardigan so you can have it open without it flapping about. This purchase was required after I got myself a little faux fur shrug that didn’t have any clips to hold it together. And I have been wanting one for a while for my regular cardigans. So you may see this in future sewing posts!
Doesn’t the aqua linen contrast well with sparkly red of the clips? I’m so in love with the colour – it’s not even aqua – maybe azure.

Anyway that was quite the ramble. If any sewists can help with my silly questions it would be much appreciated! Next post will possibly be another sewing one. I doubt I will get my drawing done too soon – It still has a long way to go.

Till soon!

Hi!!

Yay a new post! It’s been fairly quiet around these parts here. On the blog anyways – cos I’ve been all over the place at home! The two drawings I’ve got going on are pottering away very slowly. Doing 30mins here and there which isn’t a lot of progress really. I don’t want to rush to finish because every time I do a little bit I keep seeing how much is left to do and I don’t want to leave any sections behind.
Last night I also started trialling the new Corel Painter 12 which was released just the other day. It’s pretty flash so far – looks quite different and is quite a bit more intuitive to use. However I did notice a couple of glitchy bits and I’m not sure if it’s because I still have the older version on my computer or I just need some more RAM. I really should take advantage of the potential 16GB I could fit into it (GEEK ALERT! I should have forewarned you ) Moar Powah!!

*ahem*

Moving along.

Sewing…

I’ve finished this totally cool wrap dress using Mccall’s 5585 – from the 50′s or early 60′s I’d say.

… ta daa (why so serious?)

It was very easy to make, but also quite time consuming because there is a lot of hand-sewing to do. The construction is quite simple and awfully clever- it just fits over your head and there are two buttons each on the front and back where you can attach it at the waist. You only button one side and then the waist tie passes through the other set of buttonholes to tie it up. The buttonholes are simply gaps you leave in the waist seam. Very very clever! So since there are no side seams that attach, there’s 4 sets of facings down each side. Hence all the hand-sewing. Don’t forget the hem – which is almost a full circle but split in two.

It’s absolutely one of my favourites so far and there’s actually nothing I’m unhappy about for a change! It gapes a little under the arms and there’s plenty of room in the bust which isn’t all that necessary but it makes for a very comfortable dress. THESE are my “track pants” (from now on….yes I do actually wear trackies – but they never see the outside of my house). I made this from a bed sheet too by the way – if you remember my stash post from a little while ago.
So perfect for Fiji! I think I could make a couple of these!

Check out Puss going for a wander. She doesn’t like to sit still very long.

And the back – it’s meant to be reversible but I don’t really like high, square necks so I’ll just stick to wearing it with the V in front. Because of this I’m also considering putting the two buttons that are meant to be on the inside, on the front and outside so I can attach the skirt without the ties. At the moment it has a bit of a habit of sliding back – and two buttons would look cute at the waist don’t you think?

Please excuse the terrible quality of the photos – winter in Melbourne leaves only the most measly skerrick of light to work with at the end of the working day. And it may still technically be autumn but it sure as hell don’t feel like it – Winter’s blown in with full force.
Also – my posing really sucks! I still need some major practice. Boo.

Umm – what else….
I’m about to go finish the hem for a black cotton skirt that will go with my Miss L Fire shoes. I found a really heavy cotton and thought that gathering/pleating almost 2 metres of fabric into my 63cm waist would be a good idea. It works fine, but the result is a rather puffy skirt which is kind of cool but a bit different to what I’m used to. The outfit I imagined in my head has turned out like Where’s Wally meets Alice in Wonderland. Interesting! Photos soon I promise!

AND – A very busy few weeks coming up ahead. Actually, I think I’ll be pretty flat out right til Fiji (which is tail end of June) – I’ll be in Tassie next weekend visiting the folks and friends down that way. I’ll be stuffing my face with lots of food (what’s new!) and trying not to freeze my ass off.  Then the following week I will be partaking in the Love Vintage Fashion Fair as a model for the lovely Nicole at Circa. Tomorrow I have my fitting so I’ll find out what I get to wear! Yay! I really ought to save some dosh for any treasures I might find there.
Somewhere amongst all that I need to get a haircut (see how long it is! hehe). BUSY! Argh!

I think that’s it for now! I better tidy up all these odds and ends because I’m feeling rather restless with all these half finished projects. Ciao!

Hiiii!

I’ve  been busy. As per usual.

These are the things I’ve been talking about in my last posts. I made a simple tank top and a gathered skirt.

(Boof is smiling too!)

The top I used a vintage pattern for. It’s made of very thin purple slub cotton. Not the best quality but this was my “test” go. The size was pretty small – so I ended up removing the darts from the front. It still only just fits in the front. The next time I make this I will give myself a bit more room around the bust and it doesn’t really need to be so fitted as I like my tops a bit looser.
The back of it is nice and I like how low it goes (you can’t see sorry – pics were taken in a hurry today!). I’m thinking I might want to add some kind of embellishments to not make it so boring. Maybe some embroidered daisies around the neckline.
Next time – I will also be lining it. Facings are annoying! I followed the instructions on attaching them which left some hand sewing a the shoulders which was kind of shitty. I’ll do it the other way I know how to line sleeveless garments when I make this next.

The skirt didn’t need a pattern. I just cut a long rectangle of fabric and gathered it into a waistband. Since this was a sheet it didn’t even need hemming. Yay! I only sort of like this – lesson learnt: gathers look better with more at the back then at the front.

So this is one outfit down for Fiji! And I even found a belt and shoes to match.

Also – Check out my new shoes! SO AWESOME! And mega comfy. I don’t have much to wear with them though (shhhh) – But I couldn’t resist the bargain – $50 from Asos for Miss L Fire – that’s pretty cheap!

I can make things to match though can’t I? I do need your help though – I’m not sure if I should make another skirt like this one but in white….or a pencil skirt in white? I have some white cotton drill similar to the khaki skirt fabric. I also have enough of the purple cotton from the top to make a skirt – then I could put the two together and it would be like a dress. All I’d need is some green accessories. Does anyone have any other ideas? I’m a bit thrown off by the white. Help!

Anyways – that’s all for now! Til later…

Lightning fast posting today….

Look what I scored today – from the Salvos and Savers.

Okay so I buy something new almost every week. My stash is getting immense! I’m using it though! I just need storage. Shelves. Not the giant pile spilling out of shopping bags on the floor of my ‘sewing room’ :shifty:
But these were super pretty so I had to show you. I have PLANS for them. Mostly for my ‘resort wear’ collection mwahahahaa – ie. What I Will Wear on My Island Holiday. I have a pattern in mind already for the two on the right. Would you believe they are BED SHEETS? Yes. Yes they are. There’s so much crazy-awesome stuff at Savers and its mostly in the bedding section. I had to restrain myself!

The other two will be tops. I need more top patterns. I only have a simple round neck vintage one (which I am about to start tracing today). I’ve not been that enthused by any modern patterns. I think I need to look at some different eras – maybe the 70′s for the floaty blouses I tend to favour. Like the one in my last sewing post. Anyone that can point me towards something along those lines? The polka dot sheer fabric would be perfect for one of those.

Anyways I promised this would be quick. I’ve been very busy this week….not only is work completely and utterly MAD at the moment, I’ve been doing both drawing and sewing most afternoons. I have a drawing that is about 80% done right now which I am really very pleased with at the moment. The majority of the hard stuff I usually hate doing is complete and now I’m just tidying up details and doing the hair (yay!). Hopefully that should be ready by the weekend.
I also have two dresses that are finished and ready to show you. Wow!

Sooo – all that’s left for YOU to do today is enter my competition - Get a wriggle on peeps! Two more days to enter.

Scratcha later!