Another piece in the chain - New Look 6150 View D top

I have made View A of New Look 6150 twice now as I love how it emulates a RTW top I used to own (first version blogged here and second one here.)  However when I was going to put the pattern away I had another look at all the versions and noted that version D is a boat neck and this is a style I love.  

I have made a few boat neck tees from Burdastyle 02-2009-108, but if I were to make it again I would probably have to trace a size up as those tops were made back in 2012/2013 and now I need at least one size larger.  I figured as I love the fit of New Look 6150 I really should give view D a try.  

I ordered fabric from Knitwit.  It is a viscose spandex blend from Italy called Ravenna.  I must say I am super impressed with this fabric.  A beefier viscose than I have used lately with great recovery and presses well.  Does not seem to crush either.  *Fabric love*

So with no alterations to the pattern, I made view D and once again I am very impressed with the fit.   

The only changes I made to it were the order of construction.  I sewed the shoulder seams first (with a strip of fusible interfacing on the back shoulder seams for stability), then finished the neckline, then sewed the sleeves in flat and then side/sleeve seams and hemmed.  This is a simple enough tee that this order made the most sense to me. 

Excuse the wrinkles - it does fit well, but I was a bit rushed to get the pic.

I think this pattern is going to replace my Burdastyle as my go-to boat neck tee.

I wore it to the office the other day which is where I got the photos but also took some photos of how I wore it out in the cold.  It is shown here with my Mabel skirt, Vogue jacket and crocheted cowl.  Don't you love when all your me-mades come together. 

And for a bit of fun last week-end my hubby and I competed in an in-house pairs competition at our local Crossfit box.  We were supposed to dress alike.  So we went as hippies which allowed me to have some fun revisiting my tie dye skills from the 70's!

My head band is also me-made - sweatband made from supplex.

We did not win any prizes for costume or for placing in the comp, but were super stoked that two old hippies managed to finish 3 WODs (workouts) at a reasonable pace.

Ciao kittens - one burdastyle top and stylearc skirt to be blogged soon....

How to make a jumper for an Ompa-Lompa

First up before that almighty important lesson I want to show you my muslin (so far) for Burda 7579. I only need to add the sleeves (or sleeve as it only a muslin).

So far I am very happy with the fit straight out of the packet. I will probably need to shorten the sleeve but I will see after I get around to making it.

The funny part of this was that I made the muslin, tried it on (over my clothing) and it fit... put it on Diana - it didn't fit. Diana hasn't been keeping up with the program! I needed to drop her hip size and bust size to match mine. Funny how these things sneak up on you!

About the ompa-lompa jumper...

When I was in Warwick for the Jumpers & Jazz festival, I saw some bags made from felted jumpers and had to try one myself. So I purchased this lovely 100% wool jumper from the op shop.

I like the cream colour but it is not very practical for a fabric bag (for me) so decided to dye it olive green at the same time I was putting it through a hot wash to felt it.

Well, olive green it ain't and shrink! ...eek!... I expected it to shrink but not this much...

DH commented that I had made a jumper for an ompa-lompa...

Now I hope I have fabric left to make a bag. It is also very thick so I am not sure how it is going to go. Maybe it should be a hat?

Oh - and for anyone who may be interested I have resurrected my fitness blog - Fit & Forty *mumble*.

Hot Patterns Fit to be Tied Shirt - making a muslin

This is my current project. (I know, I know I haven't done the photos of the skirt yet but I will get around to it soon).

I have bought a beautiful quilting cotton by Kaffe Fasset. I think it was called a shot cotton. Woven one way in one colour and a different colour thread the other way. I would describe the colour as a deep copper.
As the fabric was very expensive I decided I needed to make a muslin first. I usually prefer to tissue fit but in this case it wasn't going to work.

1. I was too lazy to trace the pieces off the pattern, so copied them instead on the big plan printer at work and cut out my size from the plan paper (recycled - it does actually have plans of buildings on the other side). This paper is too stiff to tissue fit.
2. The pattern is fairly involved with gathered bits, pleats and four pieces in the back. Too complicated to pin together in tissue.

So muslin it was. I had a piece of poly-cotton in the stash bought for this purpose. I did make up the collar and cuff even though I know it is not necessary for the muslin, but I wanted to practice them - another good reason to do a muslin. This is the front and back of the muslin made to the pattern. The only alteration I did prior to this was shorten the sleeve length by 1".

The sleeves are interesting as the shoulders are cut in and there is a pleat at the top of the sleeve on the shoulder. Very nice!

However there is too much fabric around the bust and the back is showing signs of sway back by pooling in the middle of my back. I pinned in the side seams from about waist height up to the bottom of the sleeve and then pinned the sleeve seam in a bit also for about 6 or 7 inches (the sleeves are set in flat - another interesting thing!) This was the result for the front, which I think is much improved.

I pinned in the seam lines in the back and I think that has helped the sway back.

I have marked these changes on my plan paper pattern and have cut it out of my fabric. Today I had planned to start sewing, but ended up doing a walk (climb?).

With some girls from the gym we walked from Picnic Point up to a place called Tabletop Mountain. The day was beautiful. I would put a photo up of the great view from the top, but the photos include the faces of my friends, so don't want to use them without their permission. The walk up and down was about 3 hours. On top of this I did 3 x 45 minute classes at the gym yesterday as they were doing a special release of new Les Mills programs.

I was a wee bit tired this afternoon so had a nap, instead of the intended sewing. Had enough time after my nap to interface the pieces needing it. I may have to try the 30 minute per day sewing so I can get started on this shirt. I am really looking forward to making it.

Fitness Blog

For anyone who is interested I have started a new blog based on chat about health & fitness. It can be found here - Fit and Forty*mumble*. Pop over and have a look!

Ottobre waterfall top

I started a jacket class on Thursday with Felicity of 'For Frock's Sake'. Her website is coming soon so I will link it when it is available. She is a fabulous local lady who is a qualified Palmer-Pletsch teacher with years of experience of sewing and tailoring. Felicity has recently started her own business and this class is the first of a series of classes that are being offered. She also offers a sewing service as well as supplying sewing products, including a beautiful interfacing we used on the jackets. The website isn't live yet but will be well worth a look when you can. I will give you more details on the jacket as I progress with it. So far it is tissue-fitted, cut out and interfaced.

This week-end I decided a simple project was in order so I have made from Ottobre 2-2009, the waterfall top (5). This is my first go at doing an Ottobre pattern. I found the tracing out slightly more painful than the burda wof magazine. The instructions were fine however so it didn't take long to make the top. The fabric is a lovely cotton/poly jersey from Gorgeous fabrics. It is very light weight so very suitable for this top. However I didn't realise until I saw the photos how transparent it is so you can see my black bra under the top. I will have to be careful what I wear underneath it. I quite like it - the only issue is that the sleeves are very tight so if I make another one I will have to watch that.

On the fitness front I have downloaded podcats of the couch to 5k running program and have completed week one - so far so good. I am also serioulsy considering doing my Cert III & IV in fitness so that I can work inthe industry. I will let you know how I go. I am considering starting a different blog to track my progress but haven't come up with a name for it so nothing has happened as yet.

T-shirts

I needed a plain simple t-shirt with a sleeve so that I could do a walk in the sun without burning my shoulders. It should be simple to buy something like this but I didn't want to spend a lot of money and the inexpensive one (still Au$25) fitted terribly in the shops, so I decided it would be easier to make it myself. I even had a piece of black cotton interlock left over from another project, so I got out the very successful Jalie 2566 and quickly whipped up a simple t-shirt that cost nothing (as it was a left-over piece of fabric). I was really happy with that and it really makes me understand why we sew - even simple t-shirts!

I needed the top to participate in a fun run called Peak to Park. I did the 4 km walk but would love to try the run next time. I am planning to use this year to improve my (fairly non-existent) running skills. It was a very hot morning (for the first day of Autumn) but they raised over $25,000 for local charities. Their other aim is to encourage people to exercise and it has really sparked my interest in running. I have started running on the treadmill at the gym and when I feel more confident that I won't collapse in a screaming heap on the ground, plan to try running out doors. There is another fun run locally in two weeks that has a 5km and a 10 km option and I am seriously wondering if I could tackle the 5 kms. Is two weeks enough time to at least get to the stage of running the 5km most of the time? hmmm... maybe not....

I have also made another top from this Jalie pattern. This time I did the view with the mock turtleneck and drafted the sleeve to a three quarter length. This lovely fabric was gifted to me by a good friend who bought it thinking of the black McCall's jumper I made recently. I think it goes really well with it. I am thinking I may have to make the cardigan to wear over this top also, perhaps in a black fabric to give it more options for use. (excuse the stern face - kid photographer's aren't renown for giving you warning before they press the button!)

And as it took so long to prepare this post (waiting on the photos), I managed to finish Burda 10-2008-119 Wrap Top. I am a bit neaaahhh... about this top. I thought I was going to love it but I don't. I don't know if it is the fabric I chose or maybe you need a bigger bust to fill it out or what, but it isn't really working for me.

I had even purchased more fabric to make a second version before I finished this one, but have decided against it and will save the fabric for something else.

Note if you make this top - I spent two days mucking about to get the zipper in just to find I could easily pull it over my head. Maybe if you have a larger bust you may need the zip. I also had trouble with pulls in the fabric so found I needed a brand new needle (I used a ball point as it is a stretch satin) and that improved the situation. Of course all the unpicking while I was trying to get the zip in did add more pulls in the fabric also... neeeaaahhh!

2008 Sewing year in review part 2

The second half of the year was much more successful than the first half of the year.

The first photo collage is a bit of a mixed bag. I love the Jalie twist top but what was I thinking when I made the cougar top? The next one in the top row is BWOF 07-2008-118B which I quite liked and have worn around the house but the back neckline didn't really work for me. I have since read a review outlining how to fix this problem, but I don't think I could be bothered to make another one.

The bottom row shows another more successful Jalie twist top and then Burda wof 06-2008-109 (top) which I love to wear casually and shorts McCalls 5391 - too big!

Next is dresses ... all winners this time! The first is Burda wof 04-2008-116 - only worn twice but I love it each time I wear it. The green dress (McCalls 5039) is made from silk with a silk slip (a New Look pattern) which I have worn twice as well and love also. The brown cotton spot dress is McCalls 5576 and has been worn quite a few times.The second row is Vogue 6343 - a 1960's vintage pattern which I have worn heaps as a lovely casual summer cotton dress (it has been quite hot this year) and then my last outfit for 2008, Simplicity 3833 a reproduction 1960 pattern which I have worn once but love!

Last but not least is my entry to the Endless Combinations contest. All of these have been worn multiple times except the HP tie top. It wasn't a big favorite when I made it and I feel it is more suitable for the office. I haven't been at work much lately but I am sure I will wear it when I go back.

Overall, as this is the start of my return to clothes sewing I am quite happy. I have through the year learnt how to-

• tissue fit & fit as you go (Palmer Pletsch) and am still working on improving this.
• check patterns for size and ease before cutting out!
• press and use pressing tools to give a more professional finish
• better choose fabrics & patterns ( and I am sure this will remain a continual challenge)
• how to make a faux welt pocket!
• fit pants - however I am not sure how I will go without a PP teacher helping me!

Other than that this year I have lost weight and toned up so I feel a lot better in my clothes - that is why belts have been re-introduced to my wardrobe (geeze - even shoes fit better!)

In 2009 for sewing I plan to -

• improve my fitting skills
• learn to line a garment more confidently
• do buttonholes (why do they scare me so much?)
• in general make garments that require a greater level of difficulty
• make more vintage patterns
• enter some more contests on Pattern Review

From a personal point of view I hope to increase my volunteer work. First up I will start visiting the blood bank on a regular basis and then when I see how much time work will allow me, I may take up some other volunteer activity (meals on wheels or community care transport perhaps).

I hope 2009 is a great time for everyone and I look forward to seeing what other sewists are doing this year!

Would you like some cheese with that... (**Warning: cliches abound**)

I have been reading a lot of blogs lately where people have reviewed their year in terms of sewing. I plan to do this also but I have also been thinking about where I stand in terms of health & fitness this year. I think this has been put into my head by a comment one of the instructors made at a class (at the gym) today about the fact that she was considering training to participate in a triathlon next year. It left me wondering what are my goals for next year... and how have I done this year?

I feel I am a bit of a tortoise in terms of tortoises and hares as I have not had made any changes in huge speedy ways. I have been going to gym for a while now (think years) and have been having Personal Training sessions for probably over a year now. However I do believe this year has been a real turning point for me. Even though I have been slowly improving for a while I have been hitting some milestones this year.

From a purely weigh-loss end I probably have lost about 6 kg since the start of the year but I have really dropped size. My wardrobe has had to be totally revamped this year as I don't fit a lot of my of my clothes any more. I never set a goal to loose a certain number of kgs but if I try and think what my goal was this year I would say fitting my clothes better would be one of them and I really feel I have accomplished that - I can't stop shopping or making new clothes as it is so much more fun to shop for clothes when they fit and hang well on the body!

The other goal I had in my head was to get stronger and ...please don't laugh... but I wanted to be able to do a full push-up. Yep, I reached that one and was really proud when I was first able to accomplish my first full push-up (on my toes...yay!)

What are my goals for next year? I am not so sure ... I know that I still want to improve my strength. Maybe increase the number of push-ups and also be able to do a chin-up (not sure If that is the right expression but I m sure you understand what I mean) . A real chin up where you pull your whole body weight up to a bar at the moment I am still doing them reclined on the floor!

My biggest pet peeve this year ... Please don't tell me you want to lose weight when you are not prepared to change...people who tell me that they want to lose weight while they have a mouthful of cheesecake.... "it's just a treat" (sorry not when you eat it all the time!) Yep, just wait a moment while I climb on that soapbox. I read sometime ago in a women's health magazine an article about change. Really it is probably a Dr Phil-ism but if you don't change anything how can you expect change to happen? Yes you will be fit and healthy if you attend gym regularly and eat well but you won't improve unless you push yourself that extra bit. If you continue to work-out to the same level constantly yes you will stay fit but nothing will change - how can it? Go the extra mile... go hard or go home... (yes I read the lorna jane t-shirts!)

Really this year I needed to change my approach to reach my goals. I did it in a couple of ways. There was a big trip planned to visit family OS (and you all know that feeling of wanting to look your best for people you haven't seen in a long time) so to move things along I increased my PT sessions from one a week to two a week for ten weeks - boy did this work for me! I am a big advocate for PT as I don't believe many people are able to push themselves hard enough when they train alone. In those ten weeks I really increased my strength and the weight started to come off! It was a bit weird as it didn't come off until right at the end of the ten weeks and then it just fell off one day!

Then after the trip I did return to my once a week sessions of PT but I added an eating plan. I used the Musashi products and eating plan that the gym suggested. I did not follow it 100% ( I still like the one odd one or three glasses of wine most nights) but did follow it reasonably well and again not a huge kg difference but the body fat seemed to melt away!

Well now it is Christmas time and I am only planning to maintain what I have done this year for now. For next year, I will have to think more about what I should challenge myself with.... I still have a bit of a jiggle around the tummy - I would love to see that go, but maybe I should be setting my sights higher as overall losing weight is not such a big issue for me anymore.... Gwennie's comment about the triathlon has really set me thinking. I am not saying Gwennie needs to become a triathlete next year, but I really like that idea of setting yourself a challenge. I am not really sure what next year's will be... I will have to think on that one a bit longer...

What gym has done for me....

2003 and 2008.

It is hard to find photos of me standing before a camera around 2003, but I came across this one taken in front of my first quilt and couldn't help comparing it with my latest photo. I think going to the Gym has paid off for me, even my posture has improved (and I really used to like that pink top)...

Day off

I was very lucky today and was granted the day off work. I have done no sewing today - which I think I needed a break from - too much lately - need to get my mind clear!

I went to Gym this morning and my only point of interest is that today in our Bodystep class when we got to the push-ups I accomplished for the first time ever in a class - about four full pushups (on my toes) before dropping back to my knees! I have been thinking for a while I must be ready to give them a go and so I was quite happy with doing the few I did. Progress!

The rest of the day has been spent trying to declutter and tidy. This is the state of my filing!

The drawer which used to hold it all has finally broken beyond repair and I have purchased these plastic filing boxes for the files as they should fit in place of the drawer. But doing the tidy up is mind blowingly dull - I can see why it built up to a stage of breaking the drawer! It is very tempting to just move the files over but I am trying to get rid of the unnecessary stuff in them - horrible job but I will persist.

I have also been reading this book today which Caity lent me. It is keeping me absorbed and now I feel I must go and clear out my wardrobe and think a little about what I will buy in the future. I also did some Internet shopping and bought some camisoles from Ezibuy. I need some to wear under open/low cut tops to hide a scar on my chest. Also it will make them more suitable for the office! It should make me gamer to wear some of the new clothes I have made lately with v-necks. I have made an appointment to see a plastic surgeon to see if I can get the scar fixed but in the meantime I will try the cami's.

Just a rolling along...

Not had such a great couple of days - broke a tooth (and can't get into Dentist until the end of the month), have got a uti (if you don't know what it is, you don't need to know). At least I got into the Doctor's quickly and got some antibiotics. However I find that a Doctors appointment is magic for making me feel better...why do you always start feeling better while you are waiting to see the Doctor. Anyway the worst thing is, it is making me feel guilty as I have taken the day off work and I know there is stuff to be done there. I nearly had a bad accident at work yesterday running to the loo, so I don't need a repeat of that!

I just reread that & found a typo 'quilty' instead of 'guilty'! Freudian slip I suppose - however I am feeling guilty enough that I am finding it hard to do anything quilty today!

This is a photo of what I call a Japanese windflower which is flowering in my garden at the moment. I love this plant and thought I had lost it to the drought, so I am very happy to see it back - it must be tougher than it looks!

I am feeling a little better, so I am still planning to go to my Personal Training session today - I think I can hold off for half an hour betweeen visits to the loo. Anyway luckily I am trained by Gwen and she should be pretty understanding if I bolt in the middle of the session. I have already done one PT session this week. I am aiming for five weeks of two sessions a week instead of the usual one session. I am feeling the fittest I have felt for a long time and I want to capitalise on that and get as fit as I can before I take a 5-6 week break in the middle of the year when we go OS.

This week I have done - Monday - Pilates, Tuesday - Power Fit (weights/cardio class), Wednesday - PT session and Body step. Today I will do a PT session and tomorrow I hope to attend Kimax. Probably nothing will happen exercise-wise over the week-end.

I have a busy day on Saturday - TQ meeting and a lesson at Gardams in the afternoon. I have purchased a pattern and the fabric to make a jacket so I am going along to find out how to make it look professional, bound butoonholes, etc. Should be fun!

It's Caity's birthday today -Happy Birthday Caity!

Carried away...

Phew... yesterday was AGM, Management Meeting and Dancing Beijing Award day... what a big day at Quilters... exhausted last night!

Today I had planned to participate in the Peak to Park but was too tired to get out of bed as early as required, maybe next year?

So anyway I looked through the skirt sewing stuff and prepared the pattern for the second skirt I bought (oops!) This is the pattern for the second skirt I plan to make.

I fell in love with this fabric in the shop and had to have it! However one of the other class participants gazumped me on the day and I could not bring myself to make the same skirt with the same fabric as another person, so went back and got this fabric the next day and bought another pattern.

I am not making the variation with the gathered skirt but the other one - not sure what the style is called! Anyway I am hoping it will cement the lessons in my mind by doing another skirt at the same time... plus I will end up with two yummy skirts (that's the plan anyway... we will see how it goes!)

Tiring day...

So far today, I have done half an hour session with a Personal trainer - doing weights , then a class for an hour doing Pilates. After I showered and had something to eat, I went and did the grocery shopping. This afternoon I should be doing something useful around the house - continue the decluttering, etc but I have spent the time completing some more charity quilts. I have decided to leave the string quilt the size it is, so I found some backing and batting - have used some polar fleece for the batting, as I did not want anything too heavy. I have also finished another '1000 pyramids' quilt top, using the leftover triangles from the last one like this that I did. I must have gone really overboard cutting triangles! Anyway they are all used up now and I found a fabric in my stash to use as the backing. I am determined to not purchase anything but use what I have at the moment. So I started looking for batting and I have spent the last little while cutting all my leftover strips of batting straight and then joining them together with a zigzag stitch. Now the batting is patchwork as well ... anyway it all in the tradition of making do!

BTW is it more correct to call it 'batting' or 'wadding'? - that always trips me up!

Monday ... the first day of the rest of your life...

Today I have been toooo busy, but maybe its a good thing. It means I didn't crave my usual glass (or three) of white wine tonight. This morning I went to my PT session - the last one was a killer and I could barely walk the next two days! Today we did some cardio, chest press, super sets of squats and dips and then pilates style ab work. My triceps are feeling pretty stuffed but otherwise so far, so good. I did have an epsom salts bath tonight to try and move the aches on.

After Gym, I came home and rang the travel agent to pay for our flights. Went to Grand Central got my new glasses adjusted, bought an ironing board cover (ripped the old one ironing my shirt this morning), saw to the new phone that was giving us problems and got a travel insurance quote. Left GC and picked up drawings for work. Went to work - worked until 5 pm and then went grocery shopping. Came home and cooked a yummy dinner of fish, gems, salad and asparagus. Is that why I feel so tired now?

Anyway I am glad I have not craved that wine - the first day of an alcohol-free (or at least low-alcohol) life!

Travel on the horizon...

We have decided to go overseas next year to Finland. My parents are going so we thought we would take the opportunity to go with them as they can introduce us to all those rellies we have never met (or knew existed...)

Now I just have to make the bookings - I hope it is not going to be difficult! It surprises me how complex booking these trips can be. I hope we can travel over with my parents but so far have not been able to contact the travel agent to arrange the tickets. I have spent the last few days agonising over whether my son Mr D should take time off from school to come with us... he wasn't sure it would be a good idea, but the Guidance Officer at the school thinks travel is so important that they can work around the time off. Then trying to ensure hubby will be able to get that time off work. He has plenty of leave but I needed to make sure no-one else was taking extended leave at the same time. Once the tickets are booked we are committed.

On the exercise front I am pleased that I attended a Body Step class yesterday and did a PT session today. It was all weights in the PT - chest press, squats with a bar across the shoulders with weights, seated row with alternate arms, dips and pull-ups, shoulders and lateral raises. At lease I think that is what they are called?

I have worked the last few days when I have not been at the Gym so have not done any quilting. Hoping to do some tomorrow.