Kittys Drawings

Hi Everyone

Short posting today! Today Suzy revealed her first pattern – one which I was testing…Click HERE to see the real deal…and meanwhile, here is my little preview. I’m not wearing it yet as I don’t have the good camera back to take pics…and let me tell you, a happy-snapper doesn’t compare to the Canon 1Ds Mark II in the slightest….It’s so hard to get a non-blurry photo on the Panasonic. Anyways….a pic:

I’ll post more notes on the construction when I have more photos. The buttons are vintage glass from Etsy. I think they’re from the 30′s.

And look – it’s a dress-form! A RED one – Lady Valet too. Yay! I brought her home on Friday. It definitely makes it easier to display dresses. I haven’t sewn anything yet that needs her but I will very very soon. I can list a whole bunch of stuff on eBay now too. That ought to get me a bit of much needed dosh. I’ll have to find where I put it all first. I think a wardrobe cull is in order.

My new project is the Ooh-La-La Pinup Sew-Along, Corset Garter. I made the muslin last night and it will fit without any alterations…apart from grading it down, which was super easy thanks to THIS post. I’m making it with hook & eyes at the back as that will sit flatter than an eyelet fastening. The fabrics I’m using will be some white and purple irregular polka-dot (yep, more dots!) and pistachio green satin for the trims. I’ll be attaching 6 garter clips instead of 4, when they arrive – and I bought some pre-cut spiral steel boning to make it nice and sturdy. That said, I’m still not sure if I should try and track down some featherbone as I’d be able to wash that at least. The Rigiline plastic boning I bought from Spotlight looks flimsy and crap and I don’t think I want to use that at all.

Welllll, till next time folks!

Hi Everyone!
Another dress is complete – another one I am super happy about. LOVE this dress!

It’s Mccall’s 4864 from 1942 I think. I bought it from Patterns From The Past. How quirky is it!? I just love Mccall’s patterns from this era – they have heaps of nifty little details and this dress in particular has more than most. Here are some of those features:

• 4 darts on the sleeves to give them a square shape. This would be more highlighted if I’d put in shoulder pads.
• Low V-neck with contrast bands (also at sleeves)
• BUTTONS on the neckline! I omitted this because it would just be a bit too much with this print
• External darts!
• Top-stitched pleats at the skirt
• Tucks on the back to give a blouse effect.
• Shoulder/neck darts for subtle shaping
• Gored skirt – totally swing style!

Ha! And I chose to make this in busy polka-dot. Typical ;-P I think it’s some kind of rayon-y thing again. That said, I seriously doubt my fabric identifying skills. It drapes nice and was an appropriate choice for this style. Its really really comfortable and will be good for winter and summer.

I hemmed it with some red stretch lace hem tape which I had in my stash.

The edges are trimmed in red cotton voile I bought from Lincraft. I wasn’t going to add it originally but it really makes the dress a bit more special having it there. The red stitched trim is from some rayon thread I found at half price at Clegs. It took me ages to do and it’s a *little* wonky – don’t look too closely (haha!) Yes, I did that by hand.

I made no serious alterations to the pattern at all – Just took about 2 inches out of the length of the skirt.
The side opening closes with a hook & eye and some snaps. Still my favourite method for dresses you can only get into this way
The inside is just as neat as the outside and I’m glad I took my time with this one. My new year’s resolution is kicking along nicely. I’ve been proud of everything I’ve made this year so far.

A couple of silly photos in this shoot ;-P The kitties were hanging around and being adorable.

(In the photo of me below I was squee-ing over how Boofy was so intent on turning himself inside out with sheer adoration, that he nearly fell off the couch!)

Other news – It’s raining outside! Autumn is finally on it’s way. Yay! I much prefer the cooler weather. I’ve already started making plans for winter. Bought a small new supply of vintage seamed stockings. Have grand plans for a fit’n'flare princess coat. It’s going to be a huge project and I should really start it very soon. Ideally I want it made of hunter green silk faille but I’d need over 5 yards, at $65USD a yard, that’s a serious investment – so it will stay in pipe-dream territory for a while yet. Definitely have to think of something more accessible and easier to sew. See if I can find some nice wool without breaking the bank.

I’m also waiting on payday so I can finally pick up the Lady Valet dress-form I put on layby. It’s crazy that I’ve gone so long without one. And I could have gone for a cheaper option but I wanted something that would last the distance. Besides, its RED. And comes with a hem marker…..Handy.

My current project is testing out Suzy’s new pattern. I bought some brilliantly coloured chartreuse linen for the main parts of the dress – and the sleeves and neckline will be out of black lace.

If you’re wondering what’s happened to all the drawing…I’ve had some serious urges to get into it lately. All the best intentions huh! But when it comes down to it, I’m really pressed for time these days and sewing wins out. I’ve got my sketch pad beside my desk which is frequently getting scribbled in – and a couple of projects on the go…but I’d need a ‘holiday’ at home to get into it all. And maybe turn off the internet while I’m at it. Kinda hard to avoid the temptation when I’m on the computer already!  Sometimes I wish I could just shut myself off from EVERYTHING to allow all the ideas I know are lurking in my subconscious to float to the surface…somewhere that’s not in the city! So many temptations here and distractions. We can all dream can’t we. *le sigh*!
And yet on the other hand, I love the city – THIS city. Especially with winter coming up. Melbourne is so much nicer when it’s cold and wet outside. I’m sure a lot of people disagree with me there!

Hmm
Dilemmas!

Anyways!
Better stop dilly-dallying and get to my work ‘Til next time peeps!!

Hi All!
Gosh, it sure has been quiet around here! So sorry about that. To prevent THAT from happening again, I’ve done a whole bunch of photos this weekend for ‘backup’ material should I ever not have time on weekends.

Last weeks (or the week before! Sheesh) preview won’t be what you’re looking at today. Nope. That’s almost done. Just about.

Nope, today you will see the dress I made before that. The reason it took so long to post about? All the mucking around I had to do just to get it wearable! Because it’s WHITE…and I’m silly for making a dress in white – but it’s so great. If you follow my Facebook you’d know some of the drama that went into making this. It deserves being called The Debacle Dress or something similar. First let me tell you a bit about construction etc:

• I altered the bust to make it a bit smaller by taking a V out vertically from the centre (which I’m doing for a lot of patterns now).
• I did the same for the skirt to make the shape more ‘wiggle’ instead of straight.
• The zipper is lapped – using Gertie’s tutorial on Craftsy (from the Bombshell Dress course). I botched it though – not enough seam allowance. Don’t look too closely!

• Shortened the skirt of course.
• Used vintage buttons, the same as from my Dorothy outfit (more on these later!)
• Added rayon seam binding to stabilise the waist and also for the hems.
• The seams are zig-zagged to prevent fraying. I like this method as it’s relatively quick and effective for bulkier fabrics.
• There are three bound buttonholes which I did quite neatly so I’m proud of them. I made them the same as instructed in the pattern.
• The fabric is a white cotton drill picked up from Savers a long time ago.

Now why is it called The Debacle Dress? Okay here goes…..First, the texta (designed for fabric) I used to trace my pattern markings STAINED!! Really quite stubbornly too! I’ve never struggled with such stains either….They took numerous soaks and washes and finally (mostly) came out using a product I found at Coles. I think I did accidentally set the marks by ironing over them BUT, consider this…The pen is designed for marking on fabric….it should be washable and come out easily, and should you make a mistake like ironing your fabric, which happens quite a lot when you are sewing, it shouldn’t be so hard to remove. It’s easier to remove oil and other nasty things that can get in fabric. Seriously.
Lesson 1: Don’t use so called “washable fabric marking pens” to make a white dress.
After all this I finally got the dress wearable and showed it off one Friday at work. Workmates all loved it (yay!) and was feeling quite pleased with myself. That night we went out to St Kilda for dinner and drinks because a colleague was leaving. I told the boyfriend I’d be home by midnight – since it was fairly late notice for me and I didn’t have much cash. But of course, this is my workmates we are talking about – known to party hard at the drop of a hat. I didn’t get home til 3:30am!! It wasn’t until the last hour or so that through a series of clumsy flailings (not my flailings for once!), I ended up with my friend’s red wine ALL OVER MY DRESS. Ha! I wasn’t even phased (having recently becoming quite accustomed to being covered in alcohol – don’t ask!)….I trekked it home in the cab looking quite the idiot I’m sure.

Lesson 2: Don’t go out consuming large volumes of alcohol while wearing a white dress.
Next morning – Not to worry I thought, I’d just nuke the dress in Napisan spray and wash it. The wine will come out no problem!
Ha!!
The wine came out alright. Quite nicely actually. But those lovely red vintage buttons??? Not exactly washable are they. Left lovely pink stains in all sorts of places wherever the fabric was folded over them in the washing machine. *sigh* This time I soaked them in the laundry sink, making sure to carefully keep the buttons OUT of the water. I didn’t want to take them off and put them back on again (lazy)….At least the pink came out really easily.

Lesson 3: Don’t assume vintage buttons are colourfast. Check before attaching them to a white dress.

Do you think maybe I should dye this???
ANYWAY – In summary, I really love this pattern – it fits SO well, especially considering I only made adjustments on the tissue-paper. The variations on it are mega cute and I want to use the transfer for the next one and omit the buttons at the shoulders.

Also – do you like my shoes? Scored these and another pair the same but in bright orange for a measly $28 – thanks to a Myer gift voucher I had. Real suede again too. Yay!

Other news: Nothing particularly exciting…Just the usual. I’m using my scooter to get to work most days now! I like riding, even though it means I’ve had to rearrange some wardrobe matters. It’s good in that I take a change of clothes to work so I can wear shoes I never used to wear as much, because they weren’t comfortable enough for long stretches of walking. Also, Melbourne’s streets aren’t really good on heels and they wear down so quickly. I like the freedom of the scooter – I don’t have to wait for trains anymore.  I do really want to get rid of the big, shiny L plate on the back of my Vespa ASAP though – It really doesn’t aid my credibility on the road. P’s wont be much better I guess but it should be a slight improvement. I can take my P’s test at the end of March and I plan to do it very soon after that.

That’s about all for now. Next week I can show you the polka-dot dress. Another thing I’m super pleased with!

Til then….

Ciao!

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 Guys!

We’re back from WA! What a whirlwind trip that was. Totally forgot how FAR everything is from everything else there. It’s a good 3.5 hour drive to Margaret River from Perth and we did the trip 4 times in as many days. Crazy! We didn’t actually spend that much time in Perth – mostly hanging around Freemantle and then off down to Marg River to sleep. The weather was beautiful and HOT the whole time we were there – so hot that it was perfectly reasonable to go swimming at the lovely and secluded Redgate beach at 8am.

The wedding of course was awesome. The bride wore the most amazing lace dress with little attached bolero thingamabob and elegant fishtail skirt. Dinner consisted of scallops for entree, steak for main and some sort of parfait thing for dessert. All was delicious as to be expected from the winery it was held at. And the wine was great – goes without saying really (even though I just said it) .

As for what I wore…You’ll see that soon enough….

Anyways – Onto what this post is supposed to be about….My “Summer Collection” (haha that’s intentionally wanky sounding)….Of which there is only a couple of pieces so far….Isn’t “piece” a wanky word too? Heh. Oh dear. Carry on. Um. So yeh – I whipped this up using my Butterick 2633 pattern and made view B this time round. I used a purple floral cotton I bought off Etsy (from the same seller as I got the pattern off). It’s “vintage” I suppose – I’ve no idea what era its actually from – it’s fairly thin and I’m vaguely guessing 70′s but I could be totally wrong.

These are the things I changed/added:

• Lined it with a white cotton sheet. It’s super soft and great to wear when it’s hot
• The side zipper I carried all the way up to the armpit cos I hate struggling into dresses and smooshing my shoulders through a narrow gap.
• Took a V shaped wedge vertically, out of the middle of the bodice since the last dress I made gaped a bit at the bust.
• Also narrowed it on the side seams.
• Somehow had to fit the extra skirt into the smaller bodice so added another ‘tuck’ or pleat or whatever.
• Drafted my own kick-pleat for the back as the original pattern has NO vent in the wiggle skirt. I don’t want to wiggle that much – just not practical for a day dress
• Brought the side seams of the skirt in quite a bit to account for smaller hips than the pattern.
• And shortened the skirt of course….

I’ve decided I don’t really like pleats and/or tucks instead of darts in a skirt. Why would I want to make my hips look bigger? They bunch up when you sit down too. I know they offer more freedom of movement but I like to keep things slimmer around that area to try and balance out my relatively narrow shoulders. Despite that little design flaw I’m rather happy with this dress. It’s proved excellent for the hot weather. AND it matches my peppermint lolly Miss L Fire wedges perfectly. I didn’t plan this but realised they would go well together about halfway through making the dress. Add the little white belt I made and my new green bag and YAY, new outfit!

The green bag by the way, is the same brand as the yellow hexagonal one – how’s that for vintage karma?? After my years of trawling the internet, it’s not often you find such things…For clothes yes, but accessories like this are harder to come by.

Other news: I should be able to get back on this blogging bandwagon a bit more regularly now. There’s quite a few things I’ve got in mind for the next few weeks. Including a giveaway – IF I reach 100 followers So when that happens I’ll host something. Not sure what yet. I don’t have the resources to get my art printed at the moment though I could supply something digitally. Even though that’s kind of lame. Is it? Or some sewing bits and bobs – or something else? Clearly I have to think about this a little more….

Also – I’ve decided to become mobile, and get my scooter license. Yup that’s right – I don’t have a license. Any license. At almost 28 years old I think it’s about time I got myself some wheels. The BF has had his bike for a few months now and has been encouraging me to get a scooter. What finally pushed me over the edge from procrastination into action was the news that our People’s Chariot (Trains, trams and buses) are increasing their fares by an average of 8.6% on New Years Day! The scoundrels! That’s more than double the current rate of inflation. In the 8 years I’ve lived in Melbourne, there has been no significant improvement in public transport services, certainly not enough to warrant the guaranteed price hikes every year. It has now become more economical for me to purchase a scooter and drive to work. So I’m off to do my license test at the very end of this year and by 2012 I’ll be joining the ranks of petrol guzzlers (albeit daintily sipping not guzzling – heh) on the roads every day.

Pictures of my new ride when it arrives from Adelaide…For those that aren’t Facebook friends, you can take a potshot at exactly the kind of scooter I will be getting and I’ll bet you’ll be right

(aaand – look it’s Puss)

Till soon!

Hi everyone

Quickie post today to show you two patterns that arrived in the mail today.

The first – Advance 8064 from the 50′s. I was browsing Ebay a little while ago (as you do) and noticed a really cute skirt for sale by popular seller Violetville Vintage . She has an awesome range of really cute vintage clothes but I’d seen this one somewhere before…It was then I remembered a pattern I had put in my Etsy favourites only the week before. I quickly searched and there it was – the identical pattern. No doubt, the skirt was made from the very same pieces. It was exciting to see it made up and how awesome it looked so it didn’t take me long to put it in my shopping cart Just my size too!

And since I have a bad habit of trying to “save on shipping” by buying more than one thing from a seller, I had a look at what else SelvedgeShop had for sale This next skirt was a no-brainer….check out the quirky details: petal shaped waistline curving down to asymmetrical button closure…and a neatly pleated bustle type gathering on the back. How elegant! The blouse pattern comes with it too (like the one above too). I think this one must be from the very late 40′s or early 50′s. Totally amazing – one of the most unique skirts I’ve ever seen.

Now which one do I make first??

My sewing and drawing time has been cut down significantly with the new job. I’m getting home quite late in the evening and rather exhausted. I hope the tiredness is only a settling in phase and it will pass soon. With summer coming, I’m looking forward to more daylight hours too.

Is everyone else looking forward to the change of season?
Melbourne keeps playing games with us all – beautiful and sunny one week and the next its all horrible and cold again. Though I shouldn’t say horrible – because I truly love the cold better….but I’m in that in-between phase where I want warm days. It won’t last though – come mid December I’ll be moaning about the heat already. I predict a particularly long and hot summer too this year. Maybe not as crazy as the year we had the big fires but still hot.

Anyways, it’s late. I better get to bed.

Will post on the weekend if I get the time ))

Hi All!!

Here’s the latest sewing project all finished. I’ve jumped ahead a couple cos this wasn’t the one I was intending to show you, but I was wearing this Saturday (and Friday haha) so I took pics of this instead. This is possibly the quickest dress I’ve ever made, and I even lined the bodice – so if you skipped that, it’s SUPER easy….That said, I think lining is quicker than facings.

Some Notes:

• It’s made from a sheet – Possibly! Nicole from Circa thinks it might not be as the cotton is fairly thick.
• I shortened it a bit
• I didn’t add the scallops on the bottom because I can’t figure out how to shorten the circle skirt without changing the circumference of the hem, thus needing to change the pattern piece for the scallops (hard to explain!)
• Only the bodice is lined
• This has a side zipper but it isn’t closed at the top so it’s really easy to get into.
• It’s the perfect, comfy summer dress!
• I didn’t need to change the pattern at all except the length

(look at the surge of kitties hehehee)

After reading Elyse’s post on her first Spring sewing project, I notice that I have wrinkles on the bodice of my dress too. I answered her question by saying it could be the lining competing for space…Which could also be the case for my dress as I used the same size lining as the outer pieces. I’m not sure? It doesn’t bother me too much though.

Guess what? I made the green belt I’m wearing too Using a kit from A Fashionable Stitch, I covered the belt backing in some green fabric and hand-sewed it all together. Covering the buckle was a bit fiddly though. It comes with a sticky piece of card that you attach your fabric to and then the other side sticks to the metal front of the buckle. Then you jam in the bottom of the buckle with some pliers. I botched it a little bit but you can’t really tell when I’m wearing it. Then I had to rush out and buy an awl and the Mr helped me bash in the eyelets.
I think I’ll be making simpler slide belts next – eyelets are a PITA.
I’m majorly in love with that green fabric I used. It’s such a perfect shade – and matches my dress so well. I have enough left to make a skirt…And the pattern is coming in the mail so it should hopefully arrive shortly.

After making this dress I think I’m going to hold off on all the DRESSES for a while. Need to make lots more separates – so skirts and tops for my new job (staring tomorrow!!! Eeeep)…but first the ROBE in pink seersucker – or plissé – I’m not sure which it is actually. Yes, there is a difference. More on that later ;-P

Okay so I better run!!