More Ottobres Faded Stripes tees 02/2015 #17

Just a quick show and tell post... or should I say another one. :) 

My lifestyle dictates casual clothes most of the time and one of my fave tee patterns has been Ottobre 02/2015-17.  Made twice before for last summer and worn to death... in black here.... and in green here.  I love the simple styling of this top with shoulder details.  

In the past I made them in drapey rayon and love them but thought maybe I should size down a bit.  So for coming into this summer I had a cotton jersey bought at 40% off a few years ago from Lincraft and I decided to size down... Bo...Booow!  Silly mistake.  Of course in a different, more sturdy fabric the fit was quite different.  It is a tad small.  I can feel it in the arms and you can see it across the bust, but not so uncomfortable that I hope to be able get wear out of it this summer.

I have also been religiously patting a beautiful viscose piece I bought from Knitwit in the last year.  A viscose print from Italy.  I so loved this fabric and planned a 3/4 sleeved  New Look 6150  from it.   Then I got the flu which morphed onto Strep throat and I was out of it for ages (one reason I haven't blogged so much lately).  My lovely rescue dog Champ felt a little neglected during this time and expressed it by "loving" my favorite piece of fabric...

I had trouble looking at him for a day or two, but took a deep breath and washed the bit of fabric I had left and spent ages trying to lay it out to cut another Ottobre top from it (sans holes)

So another Ottobre tee was born and I love it.

and the back...

I am so hoping I had found all the holes in the fabric and none will form on wearing, but if I get a couple of wears I will feel happier than throwing this gorgeous piece of fabric out.

At least he has shown a very fine taste in fabrics... Ciao kittens an active wear top up next...

All quiet on the sewing front...

I haven't posted for awhile and haven't got a lot of sewing to show, but thought I should catch you up on a few things happening at the moment.

I came 6th in the Pattern Review Activewear Contest!  Pretty happy with that.  No surprises in the winners - they were all ones I would have picked as winners. Results are here if you would like to check it out.

I recently attended a Craft Fair held here locally - Craft Alive.  It seems to be a new group bringing craft fairs to regional areas.  Yay!  It was pretty good, except for the queue for a coffee!  

Some great locally produced yarns and shops were there and I heard a great talk from Pauline of Pauline's Quilters World about quilt as you go and it had me really fired up as I have had some fabrics waiting to be made into a quilt for our bedroom for ages  I was baulking at how I was going to quilt such a large quilt and this seemed to be the answer to that quandary.  I did have to buy one more pack of batiks to boost my fabric for the quilt too.

So I started on the quilt using the handbook and basing the design on a quilt that is featured as an instructional piece in the handbook.  The design it is based on is called Rectangles Rock N Roll.  I am using some batiks I bought in NZ and adding some others.  This is a picture of my trial blocks.

And in non-sewing news.  Our house has been too quiet since Cosmo left us and so we have finally found ourselves a new dog.  

Champ is a rescue dog about 1 year 4 months old.  He is a Australian Stumpy tail cattledog x German Shephard (they think).  He was saved from a pound as a 4month old and then got parvovirus.  Amazingly the wee thing survived and has grown into a lovely natured young dog.  We had to drive 2 hours to pick him up from a neighboring town.

Champ on the drive home

We stopped for lunch in a park on the way home and bonded over ham scraps from our wraps.

And when we got him home we realised he was way too big for Cosmo's old bed (that the cat loves to sleep in) so we bought him a new bed.  However he had to check them all out for size.

... and this bed was too small....

Lulu is not impressed but after a week will sleep in her high bed in the same room.  The introduction is going as well as it can I think.

Ciao kittens... more quilting soon.

2015.. the good and the bad

2015 has been a pretty good year all up.  I started the year participating in the Wardrobe contest on Pattern Review, but didn't keep the momentum up so didn't complete it.  

After that, a real highlight of the year was attending a PRDU get together in Tamworth. I enjoyed that week-end very much and caught up with on-line friends again and met some others for the first time.

What I have sewed has varied greatly and the posts that seemed to generate the most interest highlighted that.  The highest hits were for my ball gown and for a Jalie top made as gym wear.  From one extreme to the other.

I think this might have been the year of the pant as I made a pile of casual pants and a lot of them were for another major highlight of the year - our road trip/ camping / kayaking holiday in North Queensland.

I felt refreshed from the holiday and it fired me up to join the Pattern Review Great Sewing Bee.  I was chuffed to make it through 3 of the 4 rounds.  I really enjoyed this challenge.  It made me do more research and planning than I have for ages.  I also made some items at a higher difficulty rating than I usually would.  

The blouse has been worn quite a few times, but not the dress (need an occasion) or the jacket (need the cold weather), but I am happy that the pieces I produced will get some use.

Nothing bad happened this year but something sad.  My little dog unexpectedly had to be put down at the end of October.  It was a complete surprise as even though he was 15 years old his health had been really good to that point.  However he passed peacefully and had his family all around him.

Cosmo the wonder dog

Now to 2016.  I have my first make under my belt (finished today) and plan to join in the active wear contest on Pattern Review which starts in a few weeks.  I plan to make some more bags this year (got the bug!) and hope to keep the momentum going from the PR Sewing Bee to keep improving my fitting skills and pushing myself to try new techniques.  I do plan a denim jacket and will see what else hits the radar.

Happy new year kittens, Ciao for now.

Questions & answers

I have had some questions lately so thought I should answer them as best I can in this post.

My post on Simplicity 2451 skirts had the following queries:

Imaan said...

Looks like a great pattern Sue! Very nice. I have a question about the facing on the second skirt, which you did with the rayon tape. Is that the same as Petersham? And if so, where did you buy it? Is it available in Australia, or did you source it from O/S?

Imaan - it is not the same as Petersham, it is much lighter in weight and not woven in the same way. I bought mine from this ebay seller. It is called Hug Snug. Belinda is the one who got me interested in using Rayon tape and who recommended this seller to me.

Gail said...

I love the grey skirt. Do you know where I can buy some of that hand top stitching measuring tape? Also the tab for the invisible is a great innovation - Could you do a tutorial?

Gail, I received that tape as a gift in my quilting days. I would try quilt shops. Good luck! On the tab, you can get more info and piccies on how it is done in this post. I have this on my side bar under 'My skirt sewing tips'. HTH!

Julia said...

these skirts look great on you! Has Queensland dried out yet?

The water has gone but the clean-up continues. Sadly I think there is still about 3 people missing locally and they are continuing the search for them.

From the post on the Ottobre Katherine top:

Sewingelle said...

love, love, love these tops! Green suits you too.

Did you finish the edges of the ruffles or just let them curl under?

I considered leaving the edges un-finished, but the instructions say to roll-hem the edges, so I used it as an opportunity to make better friends with my Overlocker (we have an un-easy, volatile relationship). Leaving the edges raw would be cute, but the roll-edge gives you the opportunity to use a contrast thread or perhaps a shiny thread to add some more interest to the top.

and from the review on patternreview.com (not sure that o3b will see this, but I thought others may have wondered the same):

o3b said...
I love your tops. I can see the results of your other pasttime love - fitness. You look fabulous in both of them. Did you do an alternate neckline shape on the floral one?

The neckline does look slightly different in each top but it is the same. I think the different fabrics used has affected how the neckline sits.

And on the post on the Navy dress:

Carol said...

What, no picture of the dress styled with stationery? Only yesterday I styled my low wrap-front dress with a large red paperclip. Perhaps we can start a new trend? Navy is a nice colour on you. I always avoid it because it reminds me of uniforms, but I'm seeing so much of it these days I might have to make something navy.

Carol - I thought about showing the fold-back clip in the photo, but mine was a very dull black!

I also had some comments on the review about trying elastic on the neck edge. I do think this would help, but I am reluctant to un-pick two rows of stitching in dark navy jersey fabric, so will not be trying it on this version.

I also had some suggestions to try it with necklaces and those people will be very happy to know that they totally enabled me to go shopping at the Elk website - love the new necklaces, but I haven't tried them with the dress yet!

I have done some more sewing, finishing my Hot Patterns Sunshiner top and will try and get a photo this week-end. I am also moving onto Autumn sewing as the weather is definitely cooling down. First up are a few pieces to wear at home - comfortable & cute (I so hope!)

And so this post has a photo... who needs a cushion when you have a dog to lean on?

Sewing for others... this time the dog...

As I have participated in a couple of contests on PatternReview.com, I decided it was time to return the favor and I volunteered to manage one. The one I scored was a fun one - Sewing for your pet!

I decided to sew along and join in the fun, so my dog Cosmo now has a new coat. This is good timing as I just had him clipped and it is not real warm yet.

The coat is based on one that I bought for him previously and the only real change I made was to lengthen the coat for his long body.

I asked the family what colour I should make for him and was told 'black leather with studs at the neckline'. Well if I sew leather it will be for me not the dog, so he had to settle for black cotton drill. I was going to embellish it with some studs but when I tried them on the jacket, the look was more gay dog (not that there is anything wrong with that) rather than the look I was going for which was tough biker dog, so I left them off.

This is the coat laid flat - you can see it is a very simple shape with a belt attached and velcro attached at the belt and neckline.

I put green fleecy inside the coat to make it snuggly and the velcro is attached so that the soft fuzzy side is the only one that will ever come into contact with the dog.

He had enough of posing for the camera and decided it was time for dogginess like watering the flowers.

Photoshoot of the cardi to come next...

Deco Vibe Flippy Skirt ... take 2

I have not had much sewing success lately - in that I haven't finished much lately (as you can tell from the lack of posts!)

I am still working on the MacCalls top (and the ruffle isn't on the agenda any more). My reason for not finishing this top is my thread mysteriously vanished (think brown cat) and after I bought a new reel of thread, it did re-appear!

However in the meantime I started sewing another Deco Vibe Flippy skirt. Pattern cover pictured at the end of this post or can be found here. This one in a 'cheaper' double knit (than the last one). Ponte de Roma from Spotlight in a lovely dark brown.

Also in a size smaller (woo hoo!) The fabric seems lovely but is quite spongy and that made it difficult to match the seams. I do not have any detail photos of this skirt here but you can see details of my previous version here. See the puppy working his way into the photo..

I made the yoke lining in a rayon lining called Gold liner from Gardams Fabrics. This time though, instead of stitching it down to the yoke I used a rayon seam binding to finish the edge and left it loose. It has a more RTW feel - I will try and get a photo for you (sorry, still wearing the skirt now).

Back of the skirt (excuse the wrinkles - I have been wearing it at work all afternoon)...

and the pattern in case you don't remember it...

I love this skirt and will be making at least another black one in a double knit (yes, like the last one BUT a size smaller). Hopefully my next post will happen much sooner and I will show you my finished McCalls top (which looks like it will go very well with this skirt. After that a Burda skirt - I would give you a link but since they changed the site - I cannot find one)..

Tell me - the shoes I am wearing are cream and brown - can I wear them with this skirt, even if the brown in the shoe is lighter than the brown in the skirt?

Bored yet?... more tops...

First up, Jalie 2787, the criss cross top...

I made this top in a poly/rayon/spandex blend purchased from Kerryn's fabric world. I love this fabric and this is the third time I have used it - once in blue, once in green, now I have expanded my colour range to include red:

This was difficult to photograph true and is slightly brighter than it shows here. However I have been searching for reds that I can wear because a lot of them make me look red and flushed in the face - this one doesn't - love it!

The review for those interested. I am very happy with this top. It looks like it is pulling a bit across my bust here but it wan't noticeable in real life so I will check that out next time I wear it.

However next time I would widen the sleeve at the bicep. It was also too tight on my green scarf top that I made in this fabric, so I am wondering if it is the fabric or the draft. I have a 3/4-length sleeved sweetheart top made from a Jalie pattern and the sleeve isn't so tight, so I must compare the width of the sleeve pattern to see if maybe the fabric is affecting it or if the pattern does need adjusting. I also look a bit lumpy about the waist but I have a leather belt on with a pedometer clipped on, so you will just have to excuse the lumpiness.

And another version of Kwik-Sew 3740. My first version was in bright orange bamboo jersey. This time a polyester (again from Kerryn's). It is a beautiful goldy-browny uneven knit.

As you can see the cowl still drapes beautifully. As this fabric unravels I had to over lock the hems before turning up so they don't have a lot of stretch but it still works really well.

Cosmo was whining at me while I got my photo taken - he wanted to be included...

Now that I have broken into a few new colours in my wardrobe, what do you think of this fabric..

I don't think it helps that the background is busy with one of my quilts, but can I get away with this busy bright fabric in a dress (perhaps Burda magazine 10-2008-115)?

What do you think?

Too much???

Mini Wardrobe - Vogue 2980 top

I have finished two items out of the four for the mini wardrobe contest. One is reviewed and photographed. The camera battery died before I could get the photos of the second item.

So my review of the Sandra Betzina top is here. I won't repeat all the details here but the summary is that I love the top and SB's tips on using Steam a Seam lite 2 really help to make great twin-needled hems!



Without any further chat - the top modelled by Diana...

Here the arm is pinned out of the way so you can see the pleats in the 'bolero'.

And a sneak peek of the skirt with the Hot patterns skirt which will be photographed and reviewed next.

I will be putting up photos of the outfits on me when I get all the items made.

And now onto gratuitous photos of my pets - my two animals found the sleeping bag I had washed and left on the futon so it would be out of the way until I got the bag washed (I didn't think anyone used this area at the moment)...

No sewing yet... but shopping (...and catching up with reviews...)

I haven't got my machine back yet, but at least I have been able to catch up with reviews. At the beginning of this month I made Vouge 8486. I don't look very happy in these photos but here it is... My review is here. I am not overly fond of this dress but will use it. It looks better belted and I did buy a new belt today that looks better than the belt it is photographed with (more shopping... *sigh*) I wore it today shopping and it was quite comfortable to wear. At least I can add one and a half yards sewn to the stash contest.

Caity & I got together today. After a Powerfit class at gym (go Caity!) we went out for an excellent brunch at the Oxygen Cafe and then some shopping at our favorite fabric heaven Gardams to get the following -

The top three pieces were on the remnant table - a gorgeous wool/silk (1.5 m) to make a skirt/trousers/something for winter, a brown silk (1m - perhaps a cami) and a poly satin (1m - a top?) that is to die for.

The second row a poly/cotton/elastane mix to make BWOF 10-2008-106 (skirt) and the next another silk to make BWOF 08-2008-103 (top - I hope). All so yummy and totally irresistible to me!

Then we decided more shopping was in order so we went to our local major shopping centre and hit the shops. I bought a great brown curved belt from Cue and then we hit the jackpot - BNT has a sale so I got a pile of prettys for a bargain. I spent $116 and got the equivalent full retail value of $265 - so if you want to see my undie bargains here they are (all but the white & black lace undies in the corner are Elle McPherson) -

And yet another parting shot... we bought a bed for our dog to encourage him to not sleep on the furniture. We have not had heaps of success yet to get him to use it and not the sofa but I did catch him sleeping in it of his own accord the other night - success! Let's hope it continues...

New dog

Dog has lost his winter coat. This is him before his haircut. I think he looks like Grover off Sesame Street around his mouth. And this is him after.


He is so excited after his haircut that it is difficult to get a good photo. He is all energised and renewed after a haircut! The worst thing is that just as I was going to put his collar and leash on to take him to the groomers, I noticed a terrible smell. It was the dog. He had gone and rolled in something super gross 5 minutes before we had to go. He smelt so manky I had to put a towel underneath him in the car and drive there with the windows open! It was really embarrassing to walk in with him so fragrant! Anyway they were very nice about it and even washed his collar for me.

I made a replacement for my favorite T-shirt form the Hot Patterns T-shirt pattern.

I am not jumping with joy with this pattern. It is OK but the main issue is that it is too short. Obviously I should have measured it before I made it. I do consider this shirt a wearable muslin though so made it directly form the pattern. I used a cotton interlock from Spotlight which has a nice feel but only cost about $7/ metre. I will still use this top but when I make more I will definitely make the top about 2" longer.

Review is here.

Fashion canine...

Puppy's new haricut is lovely, but with Toowoomba's chilly evenings we tend to find him shivering, so he has had to start using his wardrobe of coats again - this is his aztec puppy outfit...

Day out at the show

Had another lovely day with Caity at the Stitches & Craft Show. We watched three separate fashion parades - see Caity's blog for more info on those. I wanted to show the lovely fabric I bought from the Japanese fabrics & beads stand.

The Japanese girls were lovely and when they told us to 'see the shiny man' to arrange payment for the fabric we just cracked up as they meant the bald'ish man who was sweating under the hot lights! They were really thrilled when Caity spoke in Japanese to them!

I also bought these trims. I have decided you buy trim first then match fabric to the trim as it is about impossible to do it the other way. Anyway some lovely use of trims in the fashion parade got me inspired to buy these.

When I got home I was overwhelmed with the epiphany that instead of randomly making items of clothes and then hoping I can wear them together that I should plan a SWAP - sewing with a porpoise (as Hubby puts it!) So I stayed up late researching the idea and started putting together a storyboard of ideas for a wardrobe to take on holiday to Finland this year. I will post it next when I finish getting my ideas together.

My puppy had a haircut on Thursday and is acting very strangely - maybe we brought home the wrong dog?