Kittys Drawings

Mine Mine Mine MINE

Now I’m off to go try it on – hope it fits! And pics on the weekend

Hi Everyone

Another day, another sewing post. And more crappy lighting for photos. What’s with all these CLOUDS – anyone would think it was winter or summin’

The story behind this dress goes like this….You all remember when I got my Miss L Fire shoes and I was all in a scramble to find something that matched? One day I decided to just have a peek in the local Salvation Army. They usually don’t have a lot of fabric but I’ve been lucky on occasion finding that nice charcoal wool etc. Well, my luck was really working for me that day because not only did I find a piece of fabric that matched the green of my shoes exactly, it also happened to be wool crepe!! This one wasn’t hard to identify – you can’t mistake the smell when you steam it.
And steam it I did! Fortunately, I had the sense of mind to look it up on the web and one of the first hits on Google was about pre-treating your fabric (HERE is the handy link if you’re interested). So I pressed away and I think I did an okay job of pre-shrinking the wool.

There wasn’t all that much of it, but with a bit of juggling I managed to cut out Mccall 6573, one of the patterns I bought in a lot off eBay some months back.

As with many 40′s patterns, this one was deceptively complicated….for a beginner like me anyway! It took a little while to get my head around the treatment of the neckline. After that I just took my time and made sure I basted everything first and tried it on before doing any machine sewing.

Some notes:

• It has bound buttonholes. Which aren’t the tidiest but one of my better efforts.
• Wool crepe is awesome to sew – but it gets a bit bulky.
• I thought I did an okay job of setting the sleeves but since then I’ve washed it and I think the wool shrunk a bit more so they don’t look so tidy anymore.
• You’ll notice a reappearance of the glass buttons
• I used a piece of georgette for the tie which I bought from a little fabric shop on Sydney Rd, for $2 a metre!
• Despite all my best efforts, I tried to do a machine lapped side zipper and I botched it. It’s not too bad, maybe if I have the patience I’ll fix it one day.
• After all that basting, when I got to the waistline I forgot to check THAT for fit – so it’s about an inch too big.
• The blouse type back is kinda cool.
• The skirt is a very “interesting” shape. I’m not 100% convinced about it yet.

Overall, I’m kind of in love with 40′s patterns. They’re strangely flattering despite the features I’d usually avoid, like the pleats around my hips. This style would work with an even slinkier fabric in a solid colour. I had plans on making the belt to go with out of the georgette but I need the white belt to match the shoes.

Next up I have a top to show you and the 70′s halter dress I made for Fiji. I really hope I find a sunny day for that and more light!

I’ve also picked up the black denim(y) sheath dress again. It was threatening to become a UFO (Un-Finished Object) but I’m happy with it again. I’ve fixed the fit and it looks pretty awesome so far .

And guess what! I’ve signed up to this Craftsy lesson: The Perfect Fit Bombshell Dress brought to you by the wonderful Gertie. She actually listened to her readers and created a tutorial and pattern on how to make one of those amazing Alfred Shaheen style sarong dresses! The sarong dress has been an obsession of mine from before I started sewing. Getting your hands on one of those beauties can set you back well over $200. Patterns are also few and far between and they are incredibly expensive. Until now that is! Thanks to Gertie, I now have a pattern AND instructions on how to make myself one that fits perfectly. I’m so excited!! I’m not sure I’ll start this one straight away but now that I’ve bought the lessons, they are there forever and I can watch them whenever I want.
I haven’t been propositioned by anyone to mention this either – Its not advertising! Haha! I am just super stoked and had to share the news. If you’re any way interested in sewing at all, I highly suggest buying these lessons!

Anyways better go – seeyas then!

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!

Hiiii!
So this is the outfit that I envisioned to go with my Miss L Fire shoes….and luck was on my side when I found the exact top I wanted in Savers some time ago. All I had to do then was make a black skirt.

I scored some heavy black cotton from one of those little fabric stores on Sydney Rd and set to work. These kinds of skirts don’t really need a pattern – just cut a rectangle and gather it into a waistband. I got a bit overzealous with the size of my rectangle and ended up with way too much fabric in there. It turned out rather puffy and I had to pleat it to fit it all in. Now it’s an absolute nightmare to iron and I also made the mistake of sitting on the couch to do my hand-sewing so it got covered in cat fur. Oh Boofy! It doesn’t wash out that well either – maybe a few more rounds in the machine and some vigorous application of the sticky paper fur remover thingy and it should be right. Haha.

Well the outfit turned out rather – crazy – don’t you think? Not sure if I’m quite game enough to wear the stripy top out and the skirt makes me feel all frivolous and cutesy.

I may have just enough fabric left to make a pencil skirt, albeit a shorter one than usual.

Now I really must get back to drawing – The portrait I’m doing needs to be finished TODAY. So glad it’s a long weekend so I have the time to finish it. Even though it means chaining myself to the computer. Saturday though was spent shopping for the required things for Fiji. The BF was surprised that I actually invested in practical shoes…..I can be practical when I need to be ;-P I just don’t want to look fugly at the same time. Is that too much to ask? ;-P

Must run then!

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…

Hi All

Yay I have a sewing post for you!

I am so behind. But this is the only thing I’ve been fairly pleased with since I made the charcoal version of this skirt.

I made some adjustments to the pattern, most of which were successful but I still have some things to learn!

Here is what I did:

• Moved the front darts in closer together.
• Shortened the final length by maybe an inch. I did this by folding the pattern in two places – one inch near the hip and one just above the kick-pleat.
• Narrowed the hips
• Gave it a tinier bit more of a ‘wiggle’ shape
• Lengthened the strip I used for the waistband so there is more of an overlap for securing the skirt. I used a largish snap fastener and a hook and eye designed for pants and skirts (so its quite a bit bigger than the tiny ones you get on dresses).

Puss squirming in my arms - look at those paws!

There’s a few things I think still need tweaking. Both to do with my sewing skills and with fitting:

• I went a bit crazy with narrowing the hip and I think that’s why the skirt bunches at my waist. It’s annoying how much the final fit changes once you put the waistband in!
• Instead of taking so much out of the hip, I should have taken that wiggle shape thing further and narrowed the bottom of the skirt more so it cuts in closer to my knees. I really want a wiggle skirt!
• I could still learn a bit about tidying up finishes around the closures. I’m getting better at the hand sewing and this one is fairly neat but could be neater.

That's Boofy mid meow "Mowowowoowwowwwww" he says

I really love this pattern – even though it’s only the bottom of a dress pattern. It’s so quick to make and looks pretty good. I like the length a lot – just at the knee. A fraction more flattering than just above the knee.
I find that skirts that hit above the knee tend to throw out the proportions of an outfit. With a blouse and high-waist skirt combo, the skirt needs to be proportionately longer than the blouse section. Roughly the Golden Mean It’s just more pleasing to the eye hehee.

I can't get over his expressions - always priceless!

Hmm – what else… ah yes, the fabric. This is an awesome, thick khaki cotton I found at the Salvos. There’s tons of it left and I shall one day hope to make a blazer for this one too. Or I will turn the remainder into a wiggle dress. Maybe I have enough for both (there’s heaps!).
I underlined it with some white sheet. The same as I used for the pastel striped dress. The zipper is brown and so is the hem tape I used. Not that you see that but it makes me feel a little calmer knowing the insides coordinate. It’s the same kind of happiness a girl gets from knowing she’s wearing some nice frillies under her dress

Oooh cheeky!

Haha.

ANYWAY – Time to wrap it up. I have so much more to say about sewing than about drawing! Art speaks for itself a little better ….

So I also have some fun stuff…
Tomorrow I will post another GIVEAWAY! Just a mini one! My blog is no way going to turn into an ad machine, but I received some skincare products to sample as part of a promo company I’ve signed up to. Cos I like free stuff. Who doesn’t like free stuff!? They gave me a whole bunch of decent sized samples with the encouragement to give them to friends. So why not share the lurrrve? More details to come

Ciao peeps and enjoy your weekend!

Hi Everyone!
Oh boy, I am sooo behind on my sewing updates!!
I made this skirt a few weeks ago as I was in a rush to make something that would go with my work shirt. The shirt is blue and striped (and is horrible) so I had nothing that matched. I needed to wear the shirt to go see a customer and while I did finish the skirt in time it wasn’t without some hiccups.

I used the base of a dress pattern and just made my own waistband to fit.
Everything was going swimmingly until I got to the waist! I had made it much too wide and it was mega squeezy to get it on. Ugh.

It was still wearable even though I could barely breathe and I used a cream coloured zipper because it was the only one that was the right length. I managed to make it through the day and just covered the dodgy zipper and waistband with a belt. When I got home I was fiddling with it trying to make it more comfortable and of course the zipper went *pop*! Derp!

By that time I was well and truly over it but funnily enough the next day I found I had the energy to fix it. I took the waistband off and removed the broken zipper. This time I made sure I tried it on after every new section was pinned and also managed to find a black zipper. It was too long but I sewed it in anyway and just trimmed and finished the end of it so it wouldn’t come undone.

Now I’m quite pleased with it as it fits fairly nicely and it’s super comfy. I’ve shown the insides of it too as they’re quite tidy if I do say so myself….The seams are finished with a zig-zag stitch and it’s all underlined with a soft grey gauzy fabric. I used satin sew-in hem tape for the hem.

Since this was made I’ve also used the same pattern to make another skirt (which I’ll show later). I made some modifications so that it fits slimmer and is more pencil shaped and I like the new version better.

However I have one question for the sewists out there – Since I am using a dress pattern for the skirt, should I be taking some off the top of the pattern to give more room for the waistband? I find that when I try these on without the waistband in, they fit really great. But as soon as it goes in, the skirt tends to bunch near my lower back as if there’s not enough room for all that fabric between waist and hip.
Hard to explain! But I’ll show you what I mean when I do my next sewing post.

(bwahahaha look at Boofy’s FACE – he looooooves the pats. He’s all like “gimmegimmegimmeMMMMOAR”)

That’s about all for today. Don’t forget the GIVEAWAY of course – being drawn on Saturday so get your entries in quick smart!

Oh and the shirt I’m wearing in these pics was a Savers find – Genuine vintage for $6!! The label inside the shirt still uses the old Australian sizing method – its a SSW ;-P Which I think equates to a modern size AU8-10 or so. And that’s my new hair – Freshly red!

Seeyas!