Kwik Sew 3153 ... Swimmers

I wanted to learn to make swimwear as we are getting a swim spa as part of our renovation/extension. Swimwear is horribly expensive to buy and I figure I will need more (when the Spa actually gets filled) and I am wearing them regularly. I made KwikSew 3239 which contains patterns for a variety of mix and match pieces. Mine worked fine, but I am not going to subject you to pictures of my very white body in a very purple two-piece. Suffice to say it will probably only be worn at home. However it did give me some practice sewing with swimsuit Lycra and rubber elastic.

For the next set I decided I needed more sensible togs, so chose to make Kwik sew 3153.


I made them in black and made the high cut leg option. I also made the wrap in a polyester yoru chiffon fabric, picked up on the clearance table at Spotlight.

This piccie shows the back so you can see the nice secure back.


The only change I made to the pattern was to add an additional layer of lining to the shelf bra. I sewed two rows of stitching down the middle and left the sides open. I inserted bra cups into the pockets. It doesn't add heaps of support but feels a bit more secure and more modest. I copied this off my gym wear tops and crop tops. This piccie shows the inside. You can see (if you look closely) that my machine missed a few stitches sewing the rubber elastic, but this wide elastic is tough and I think it did pretty well. I did not have this issue with the narrow elastic (probably not as thick as the wider elastic I imagine).


I haven't had a chance to try them in the water yet, but hope to soon!

I really enjoyed sewing these - more than I thought I would. Nothing was terribly difficult but sewing the elastic is probably the trickiest part. Overall I am very happy, but I suppose the proof will be when I get them wet!

My review of the pattern is here.

Butterick 5562 - a variety of tops!

Butterick 5562 is a lovely set of top patterns. I was very taken with it. A few people have made View D which I loved so I bought this pattern and think I could get a lot of use from it.

As well as View D, I made View A with the shorter gathered sleeves. The fabric I used is a cotton elastane mix (I think) which has very strong recovery. It is actually a lovely quality fabric but a bit of a strange colour that looks different in different lights.

The top is very long and I have made it as per the pattern length but it is nice for the cooler days as it keeps my hips warm! The only alteration I made was to bring it in the waist seam ( you can see the alteration detailed in Mushywear's review of her delicious version).

I didn't notice those gathers across the back before - interesting what a photo shows up...


A photo to show the sleeve detail...


I also made View D while I was at it. This fabric is from Gorgeous fabrics and is called uber soft rayon blend jersey. A poly/rayon/lycra blend that lives up to its name - it is gorgeous and soft and cuddly to wear. I love it heaps and I had bought another piece but during this reno I haven't been able to find it. If I can't find it soon I may have to buy more!!

This was made exactly as per the instructions with the only alteration being to bring it in at the waist again.

Review is here.

I have one more lot of photos to show you of my new Kwik-sew swimmers - see you next post!

Ottobre Lana 05-2010-10 and leggings

This Winter, I want some comfortable, warm clothes to wear at home that are not tracky-daks. So my plan was to make some leggings and tunic dresses to layer.

I made the tunic from the Ottobre magazine 5-2010 which is No 10. Lana. The leggings worn in those photo are from Ottobre 2-2011 and are No 6 Treviso.

The fabric used for the tunic was a lovely wool jersey which I am sure I bought mail order from The Fabric Store. The leggings are in a beautiful rayon jersey bought from Gorgeous Fabrics.

This is the detail of the pintucks on the yoke and the sleeve gather. I enjoyed sewing these little details, as they provide a little interest to a simple tunic and allowed me to play with different feet on my machine.

I didn't fully understand the instructions to bind the armholes, but I used rayon tape instead of cutting bias pieces and sort of made it up and think I achieved the intended finish. Inside out piccie so you can see the rayon tape binding.

I also made a second pair of leggings in a denim coloured stretch fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics using the Ottobre 2-2008 No. 16 pattern. I find the rayon jersey ones more comfortable to wear but think I will get use out of these leggings too.

I plan to layer the tunic over long sleeved tees when it gets colder. This outfit certainly is comfy, but I am not planning on making any more tunics at this stage as I bought a couple of little knitted dress/tunics when they were marked down at out local Rivers.

Review for the Lana dress can be found here.

Obi Belt BurdaWOF 06-2009-151

When I made my Navy Blue wrap dress, I decided it really needed a belt so I sourced some leather (Nappa leather) from eBay and purchased a roller foot for my Bernina ($$$) and tried out Burda wof 06-2009-151 the Obi Belt. I have wanted to make this since I saw it in the magazine and a few good versions have been made in blog land so I decided it was now my turn.


I am not going to review it, as a couple of good reviews are already out there. I basically followed Dawn's review and made similar alterations.

More piccies....


Interesting this dress gaped last time I wore it - not so bad for this photo shoot as I had the sooper-dooper brassiere on - you know the one girls...


The back view...

Lots of posts will be coming in one on top of the other after this posting drought, as even though it doesn't look like it, sewing has been happening, but what hasn't been happening is the photography sessions. So we had a big-un this afternoon and I have a lot to show you.

Big day out

Friday week ago (the 25th of March) I travelled to Brisbane to visit the Craft Expo with some great sewing buddies. We had a brilliant day out!

The expo itself was OK (not great) with only one real display which was the Qld Quilters Challenge Quilts. Other than that it was mainly stalls but at least some of the good ones you want to see were there.

This is part of my bounty. A kit to crochet a rug from the most gorgeous alpaca wool and some pretty roses trim.


This is the rug pattern by Prudence Mapstone for those crocheters reading this:


A point of interest was that there was not much parking available as a lot of the carparks are still out of action since the Brisbane River flooded. The Exhibition centre is located at Southbank a precinct just next to the river. This must have impacted on the number of visitors to the Expo.

After the morning at the Expo we had lunch at West End at a great Greek Restaraunt and really enjoyed the dips, pita bread and meze plate... yum!

These are my companions for the day... Anna, Lynn and Ros. Sadly Lynn has left to return to the USA and then onto new adventures. I hope we get the chance to get together again sometime.



On our way home we stopped at the Fabric Collection at Sumner Park, where we got a very warm welcome and some great buys!

L to R. denim (for another little skirt - I wear my denim skirt all the time), top-weight linen in green and tangerine (already washed, but not ironed yet), Cotton sateen (with some stretch for pants probably the Jalie classic trouser) and a beautiful olive jersey which I am going to make into the No 1 pattern as voted in the top 10 on pattern Review for 2010...


I have made 5 out of the top 10 patterns and own 3 more of the patterns. I am considering purchasing the other two patterns and setting myself the challenge of having an item out of all top 10 patterns in my wardrobe!

Plenty of sewing has been happening, if not much blogging! When I get photos I will start a round of posts to catch up with the things I have made (including swimmers!)

Happy sewing...