Active wear - Kwik Sew 3115

I have been participating in the active wear sewalong on Pattern Review.  I have made a couple of tops and one pair of pants.  I am finally getting some photos taken and will start reviewing what I have made so far.

The first to get a successful photo is Kwik Sew 3115 View A top.

The fabric is a TDF supplex bought from Runners Fabrics.  It isn't cheap but you can get a couple of tops from 1 metre so not bad value.

The main changes I made were to lengthen the pattern by 4 inches and cross the straps at the back.  I did also cut the bra liner a little longer as a cheater fba.  (one size up in length).

To make it more like my RTW gym tops, I sewed the built in bra (shelf bra) from powernet but added pockets in supplex to hold removable bra cups.

I hope you can get a sense of how I did this from these photos.  

This is the top inside out.  The powernet is white as is the elastic.  I cut the supplex pockets from the bra front pattern piece, but trimmed it at the top and the sides.  I sewed it to the powernet with a zigzag stitch (across the top and  a few centimetres from the CF, then trimmed the middle part out.  Probably not absolutely necessary but I was copying my RTW top.

This is the back inside out.

And this shot shows the pocket is formed as the side edge is overlocked shorter than the front bra piece and left open on the side.

The only change I would make if I sewed another one, is to raise the front neckline a little as the top is very comfortable but I realised when wearing it to a yoga class that the top feels too low cut when adopting postures upside down like downward facing dog.  Not a huge issue as no one is really going to be looking at your cleavage as they are all busy being upside down too, but for comfort I would prefer it to be a little higher (about an inch).

Pretty happy with this pattern and I would recommend it.  The built-in bra is fine for activities like yoga or weight-lifting but probably not enough support for cardio or running.

My review is here.

Ciao kittens, back soon with some more successful active wear.

House warming - log cabin quiilt

My DDH comes from a mixed ( is that the right terminology? - two marriages ) family so one of his brothers is much younger than him (considering he is the eldest).  Andrew  (the youngest) is from a second marriage and born about the same time as our first born.  Such a great young man... and he has paired up with a great girl that you can only take to your heart. They live in our local town and have recently bought their first house.  As celebration of this major event I made a quilt as a gift....Log cabin as it is their first house (timber too) but not  in traditional colours via this tutorial

  

Not much else to say - all from stash but bought some more reds/ oranges as did not have them in stash. Very simple quilting following the diagonals. Some more photos...   

Love log cabin style as you can fussy cut blocks...

pieced the backing and it fell in line with the quilting (happy about that)

Loving this quilt and loving when you make a gift that seems to have gone down well. :)  Active wear sewing next....

Brisbane bloggers meet-up

I am going to go to the sewing bloggers meet-up in Brisbane even though I am not a Brisbane blogger :)   

Love to hear if anyone else is going.  Here are the details for anyone who wants to know more about it.

Sewing for a heatwave... Burdastyle 06/2013-117

The extreme weather seems to be affecting everyone, no matter what part of the world you are in.  Here in Australia we are having extreme heatwaves.  Thankfully we have not had such extremes as the bottom part of the continent, but still much worse heat than we usually get. Generally the climate here is pretty temperate, so I do not have enough clothes to cope with the heat we have had.  On one of the days we were predicted to have high temperatures, I had a couple of appointments to attend in town, so needed a presentable but cool option for the day. I have eyed off 06/2013-117 for awhile and this was my opportunity.  The leader for that collection of clothing even says "Keep looking stylish, even in the heat..."

I ended up cutting a 40 through the shoulders and went to a 42 through the bust, waist and hips. I did not want this dress to be too close fitting.

These pictures in front of the orange wall are closest to the true colour.

The fabric is a stretch linen purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics in 2009/10 and is a lovely colour.  However I believed the stretch would help with the wrinkles but I was really wrong.  This dress mega-wrinkles!  However the stretch does make it comfortable to wear.  I am ever hopeful that it may soften and wrinkle less after a few washes.

The side panels are not easy to sew in and probably why this pattern gets the 3 dots meaning intermediate level.  Other than that it came together beautifully.  I was pretty happy with my zipper insertion as I managed to get a reasonable match between the front and back side panels.  

I loved the hand stitching detail and used an embroidery floss for this in brown.  I have a tip I have shown before on how to get even straight stitching - here.   

The only dOH! moment is when I was climbing into the car with this dress on and I could hear the stitching on the hem snap!  I should have known better than to use the stitching on an area the stretch would affect.  For the moment I have dabbed it with fray stopper in the hopes of holding the stitches, but if it breaks again I will remove it from the hemline.  No such issues around the neckline and armholes, which is where you mostly see it anyway.

So far a very useful dress to have in the wardrobe regardless of the wrinkling.  I really need more dresses in more wardrobe - they are so easy to throw on in the morning and go... 

My review is here. 

Ciao for now another heatwave dress next up...

Tessuti Chloe pants (finally)

I made these pants last year, but have only just managed to get photos for you.  The pattern is the Tessuti Chloe pant and the fabric is a very heavy weight linen bought from The Fabric Store in Brisbane.

I made a size 12 and the alterations were pretty much what I normally do for pants.  Shortened the leg length by about 5", took in the side seams at waist level, scooped the crotch (front & back) and took some fabric off the side seam at thigh level from the back piece only.

The only other change I made to the pattern was to put the zip in the CB seam instead of the side seam.  I have put on weight last year and am hopeful I can get it back off and get back to where I should be, so figured that would make taking them in later easier (hopeful?).

I am petty happy with them and really like wearing them.  

 

My only comment on them is they are very high waisted.  The pattern description states it sits on the high hip... well not for me...  

However brilliant instructions and the finish on the facings is really neat.  I would highly recommend this pattern.  BTW the top is the  Mandy boat tee (pattern also from Tessuti).  Review is here  Ciao kittens - more photos of finished items soon.

Forgetting seam allowances!!

Well I have been enjoying my freshly painted sewing studio very much.  The reorganisation was well worth the time and pain.  I have been working on a quilt but need to hand sew the bindings and gift it before I can show you pictures.

This week-end I decided to do some quick and simple clothes sewing to clear the palate after the quilting. 

I bought 1m of fabric of the clearance section of Spotlight for $5.  However it was not as noted on the tag.  I did realise the fabric was not nylon/poly as noted on the tag.  I could see and feel that it is a nice soft knit - I suspect rayon.  However it was folded double on the roll and I wondered how wide it was and believed the swing tag that it was 150cm wide... why??    I had planned to use it to muslin a Kwiksew tee shirt pattern, but of course as the fabric was not as wide as needed so I had to look for another pattern - Ottobre 02/2010 -1 the Linnea top to the rescue.  I have made this top twice before but one version shrunk so as this top is a similar colour it will replace it.  

Sad tale continues... I forgot to add the seam allowances as I cut it!  Sooo... I have a nice top which I have sewn the smallest of seams on and I will wear it even though it looks a little tight over the bust.  I get a few of the pull wrinkles there... *sigh*.  However for $5 I am declaring it good enough so this is my finished top on Diana... fits her a bit better over the bust as I have put on weight, but Diana hasn't...

This is a great top to wear with the Tessuti Suzy pants I have made.

And while I was on the theme of forgotten seam allowances I thought I would fix a top I made back in April of 2012.  It is a another Ottobre - Cool Hippie from 05-2011.  

It was made sleeveless as I didn't have enough fabric for the sleeves but had a big opps moment with the collar.  I cut it the wrong way the first time, then when I cut it the second time I forgot the seam allowance... and of course, did not have enough fabric to cut it a third time.

I did wear it a few times but the collar was way too tight and uncomfortable so it was relegated to the 'to be fixed' wardrobe.  Finally I have got a around to it.  I cut the collar out and used chalk to mark a new neckline which was based on the neckline of the Linnea top's sister Morning Blush 02-2012-18.  Same pattern as the Linnea but with a different neckline.  Then I turned under and stitched... new top in the wardrobe.  

I am really pleased to have it back in the wardrobe as I find this teal/turquoise colour works really well for me.

Well thank you for listening to my tales of woe... Hopefully more successful sewing results to show you next time...Ciao!

Bring on the New Year!

I have been a slack blogger!  Never mind I have had good reason.  My sewing room has been out of action since the New Year while it has been emptied, cleaned, painted and then re-organised, re-arranged and now I have a lovely, shiny, bright sewing studio!

The other wall I haven't shown is a wardrobe with mirror doors.  It is better organised than it was, but still needs a little TLC.

So what about 2013?  I am pretty happy with most things I made.  Some things have been moved on (the green hi-lo dress, but I do love the navy one).  I had one top that I loved, shrink on me - a wool jersey ottobre top.  I am used to merino jersey which is obviously a lot more hardy than wool jersey.  It was a shame as I really liked it.  Apart from that everything is still in the wardrobe and I pretty much love them all, some I wear more than others, but I couldn't pick a top 5.

I have also enjoyed sewing with the Tessuti patterns and have made a few Suzy pants and one Chloe pant which have not been blogged about.  These were worn before Christmas but I didn't manage any photos as it was such a hectic time.  Since then we have had a heat wave and I haven't been inclined to wear pants even for a photo!  I hope to still show you these as I do love the patterns, particulary the Suzy pant.

The first garment for 2014 is a muslin of the Fehrtrade XYT top to wear to the gym.   I am loving the top even though I did not have success with the built in bra.  I plan to get some supplex and make some 'real' versions of this top and will show you more then... This is the back of the trial to show you the lovely details...

Well I may not be doing a lot of clothes sewing for the next while as I had a shocker of a year last year and managed to stack some extra kilos on.  I am hoping these new tops will help me with my goal of picking up my exercise plan and getting back to 'normal'.  If I don't I will have to seriously start sewing to get more clothes that fit me!  

Ciao kittens!  I wish you all the best for your 2014 sewing and look forward to sharing more of my sewing and crafting with you this year!