Pussy bow blouse - Ottobre 05-2015-13

My wardrobe needs more woven tops.  I made a ton of tees a while back but have very few dressier tops. I also do not have enough tops with full length sleeves.  I tend to favour 3/4 sleeves and while they look lovely, they don't work in the middle of a cold, windy winter.

So I went through my Ottobre mags and this is the one I found that appealed to me.  I like the pussy bow as it makes a nice change from a collar.  I also like the soft gathers from the front yoke and the sleeves with a bit of fullness for drama.

In the stash I found a piece of georgette (I think?). It would be a polyester but has a nice drape and weight.  The print is a bit darker than I normally go for but I really liked it when I saw it.  I bought it at East Coast fabrics last year.  The only issue with the busy print is that it is hard to see the details of the bow.

The only alteration I made to the pattern was that I did not make plackets and the narrow buttoned cuffs.  I thought it would be difficult to make the narrow cuff in this fabric so I decided to keep it simple and just sewed a casing at the sleeve-end and inserted narrow elastic.  I quite like the effect.

Pretty proud of the pattern matching across the blouse and the sleeves.

This photo of the shirt was taken before I had made the buttonholes.  I used very small black buttons to blend in with the shirt as I didn't want the buttons to detract from the bow.

The bad news was that my automatic buttonhole failed and would not complete the last return row and last bar tack.  <insert sad face>  So the shirt sat idling while my machine was in the shop (for far too long!)  As the length of the visit away lengthened, I asked a friend if I could use her machine to complete the buttonholes so did end up finishing it and have worn it weekly since then.

I did borrow a sewing machine during this time.  This sewing machine my mother bought in the early 60's.  We cleaned and oiled it and it was quite usable for straight stitch but I could not get the zigzag stitch to balance properly so I am thinking I might take it in for a service soon.  It is really a very fancy machine, which I did not realise when I learned to sew on it when I was 14.  It has all the cogs needed to make a tonne of different stitches and will wind a bobbin while you keep sewing!

I have downloaded the manual for this machine as the manual that my Mum gave me was for a slightly different model.  If I spend some time going through that I might get the stitch balance fixed.

I have a dream to make a frock for myself from a 60's pattern.  A 1960's machine and a 1960s pattern for this 1960's baby.  I like it.  

Ciao kittens, more soon...

Rhapsody Dress Love

I am going to make a concerted effort to get into blogging again as I have been getting into clothes sewing again.  My clothes sewing was in the doldrums a bit as I put on a bunch of weight and was having trouble working out what worked for me now.  I have been dabbling with mixed results but think I am getting into the swing of it again.  So for now I am catching up and will apologise in advance as the photos mostly will be on my dressmaking dummy.  I plan to try and get more modelled shots later but did not want to have that delay me up from blogging about my makes.

In my last post I made the revised Rhapsody blouse which I still love (but haven't worn much as it has been too cold for it).  I wanted to put an entry into my QCWA Division's dressmaking contest (been a member for a bit over a year), so I thought the Rhapsody dress would be perfect because of all the great details - concealed yoke,  french seams, narrow binding, cuffs, etc.... It needed to be a complete outfit and I did not have a lot of time so decided a dress would be more time efficient than two seperate pieces.  I used a rayon I had bought from Spotlight recently when it was on sale.  The fabric is lovely with a sweet floral print but has a dark background so it is a bit hard to see all the details easily.  This is the finished product.

Oh, and I am super proud to say that I did win at Division level in the Smart Casual Garment section.

Sadly though because of Covid, the State level of competition will not be proceeding but it may get displayed at an upcoming showcase of the competitions we hold.  This dress has not been worn yet but I look forward to wearing it when the weather warms up.  

Ciao kittens, more makes real soon....

The newest Love Notions Rhapsody top

I just have to share my latest make.  This is my second time making this top and I like the first version I made but was not sure if I should have sized up a little.  This time I downloaded the re-jigged version of the top and used the full bust piece which is provided with the pattern.  I am on the borderline of needing it going by the sizing and I am very happy I decided to try it.

The fabric is a lovely cotton, maybe a voile? but it has slight crinkle in it.  It behaved very well under the machine and I love the pretty print.  I bought it a few years ago at Russells Fabrics at Sandgate.

My tips with this pattern 

• Note the size printed on your pattern somewhere, as you can't tell what size you have if you have the other layers turned off and you cut the pattern on your size line.  The size is incorporated into that line.
• I made the bishop sleeve at 3/4 length (a new option) and the elastic measurement would have been too small for me.  I think it may be the elastic size for the original long sleeve option.  I added 2" and cut my elastic at 12".
• I put the binding on (I think) the opposite way to that shown on the pattern.  I sew the RS of the binding to the inside of the neckline and then flip to the front and top stitch.  I had the impression in the pattern they start at the outside and flip to the back.

I love all the details in this sew.  It has a burrito lined yoke, french seams and gathering at the front shoulder yoke seam.  The explanations in the pattern are excellent and they encourage you to read the pattern on your computer or tablet rather than print it out as they have hyperlinks that move you to the section needed next.  The only thing I don't like about this is I can't write notes onto the pattern for how I did things.

I hope you are all staying safe in this COVID time and getting lots of sewing, crafting and cooking accomplished!  

Ciao Kittens!

Tried and true... Ottobre faded stripes tee

I have a need in my wardrobe for some new summer casual clothes.  I have well and truly worn out the current ones I have!  I have devised a plan of action to add some more tees and some casual pants to my wardrobe which is my preferred week-end wear.

First off the block my TNT Ottobre faded stripes tee.  I have made this four times already and only one is left in the wardrobe now looking very tatty!  You can see them all here if you are interested ---> Tees.

I have traced off the larger size I need now (oops!) and to make it a bit interesting I have used my new to me cover stitch machine for hemming and for the bindings.

This first one is in a cotton jersey bought from The Fabric Store.  I really like the finished tee, but sewing it was a PITA.  The edges rolled mercilessly and I ended up using a lot of spray starch to try and make it behave.  For this one I added the bindings in the more traditional sewing machine way that Ottobre instructs in their tips section, but chose to use the cover stitch machine to top stitch the binding instead of using a twin needle like I have in the past.  I was pretty happy with the result.

Next up was a cotton jersey which I am pretty sure I bought from Wattle Hill Fabrics.  It is very bright but I think I can make it work for week-end wear.  

This time the fabric was a bit better behaved so I decided to take a deep breath and use the binding attachment I have.  I practised a heap of times and then dove in.  First the neckline binding...

Success!  Then the armhole binding...

Ba-bow... The stitching sat in the binding to start with but went off track and I ended up with one stitching line on the binding and one on the fabric.  I have decided to leave it as it is. With this fabric print I am hopeful it is not real obvious.  Any tips on what I could have done to stop this happening?

Any other cover stitch or binding tips are most welcome my stitching friends.  Ciao for now kittens...

Felt fun!

I have been having fun making some Christmas ornaments from felt,  I have recently joined a woman's group and they are planning to hold a market stall and sell decorations for Christmas so I have been mulling over what I could contribute.

I have had a good friend using felted wool and old wool blankets in her textile art so I started thinking along that line and decided on felting some wool jumpers and making Scandinavian inspired decorations.

I managed to score a 100% wool vest and jumper from an op shop sale and put them through the washing machine at a high heat and then through the dryer.  The grey jumper I bought was already starting to felt so felted beautifully.  I ended up putting the navy vest in for a second run and it has the most gorgeous suede look to it now.

I recently attended the craft fair n Brisbane and got to see and feel some commercial wool felt.  It is way nicer than the synthetic based ones you can buy at the chain fabric stores but still stiffer than my lovely soft felt.  However I am thinking about using it in the future because of the range of colours you can get it in.  Perfect for Santa faces and the like.

I was loaned a Sissix with some cutting dyes and have been able to cut perfect circles and stars.  So much fun to use!

So I trawled the Internet and found some snowflake designs to embroider and just had fun!  I made the cords by the twirling method and love the finish it has given the ornaments.  Some were made into coasters as the circles just felt right for it and the wool doubled up is perfect for protecting furniture.

Is anyone else crafting for Christmas? If you love these but don't want to make your own, I have listed some in my Etsy shop  - SusySewandSew.etsy,com.

Happy Christmas crafting everyone!  Ciao for now!

Vogue 9081 Marcy Tilton Cardigan

I had planned to make this cardigan top to take on the cruise last year and now I am sorry I didn't get to it.

The stretch mesh fabric is from Super Cheap Fabrics and I think cost the whole of $2 per metre.  I bought a few metres as it was not very wide.

The pattern is Marcy Tilton Vouge 9081.  I checked the reviews and found a few of the dress but not of the draped cardigan.  I was worried when I first started making it that the reason might be because it was a confusing make but I followed the instructions methodically and got there in the end.  The only issue I had was the facing band was too long.  However that may have been user error - I might have stretched it a bit when I pressed it perhaps.

The mesh made the sew slow going as it was fine and would melt under the iron, so much pressing cloth action and practice pieces to make sure it would work.  The pattern instructions are detailed and have tips on sewing this fabric which I liked.  I didn't follow all of them but I did follow the one about sewing the sleeve and it worked very well.

Sewing a buttonhole in the mesh fabric caused me some concern and many practices but it worked.  I happened to find the perfect buttons in my stash.

Not a fast make, but a satisfying one... 

Stylearc Eme Dress

Stylearc Eme dress:

Skirt portion shortened by 2" due to fabric restrictions, but I am very happy with the resulting length.

Skirt is a heavier purple linen from Sckafs Fabrics in Brisbane and the bodice is a linen/viscose blend from The Fabric Store in Brisbane.