Autumnal Beignet

This skirt has been a while in the making. I cut it out in January (I think) with an idea for it to be ready for me to sew in March. It was to be part of Cindy's and EmSewCrazy's impending seasonal change theme for the Stashbusting Challenge.

And so the fabric sat there in it's bag in my sewing room all cut out with no one to sew it. It was a while before I felt like sewing, let alone being capable of walking down the stairs in our house to the sewing room!

When I eventually started sewing, it was still difficult to get up and down the stairs and so pressing seams did not happen as frequently as it should. I managed to finger press some bits, which is possible with linen.

The fabric I bought last February time from Global Fabrics here in Wellington. It was one of my first fabric purchases here in New Zealand, so I will for a silly reason always have a soft spot for it. The lining also came from the same store, but at a later stage, with the prime purpose of lining this skirt.

Not the best photo of the lining and fabric, the red is a real raspberry red and the lining is similar. All the seams (both shell and lining) are French seams, bar the side seams where I couldn't work out the pockets with French seams! However, due to my lack of pressing, some of the seams in the lining did not completely encase the first seam (as above). A wee bit of seam trimming had to take place!

If you haven't worked out already, the pattern is Colette Patterns Beignet, a high-waisted button-through skirt.

I didn't really have any major issues with the pattern, it's pretty simple to put together. I think the frustrating part (not difficult, just frustrating) was attaching the skirt lining to the facings, which are made in the shell fabric. My curves were not perfect on the inside, but no one can seem them, so I'm not worried.

The pattern suggests making the belt loops by stitching them and turning them inside out using a bodkin or threading a needle through, but this was impossible with my fabric, I ruined one.

Consequently, I chucked them all and started again folding them and sewing on the outside. I don't honestly think it shows on the finished skirt.

I added 2 inches (I think) to the length of the skirt. The skirt would have been a tad to short for me otherwise. I like the finished length.

I also used a bit of poetic, ahem, sewer's licence and didn't sew as many buttonholes as on the pattern.  I've got nine. This may seem a strange number, but I had ten buttons and thought I'd keep one spare, so I re-measured and sewed nine buttonholes. These weren't all without a hitch. For some reason my machine decided to stay still as I stitched one and ended up with an enormous thick stitch. I had to unpick it (something I am not a fan of, since my seam ripper and I generally part after an argument!)

What do you think of these buttons though?

I got them at the Christmas market here in Wellington. They're wooden and I think they look great, but then I might be slightly biased! :-)

If I did anything differently next time, I would consider making the pockets from the shell fabric, depending on what fabrics I was using. The pattern uses the lining fabric, but with this mix of fabrics, I don't think they lay flat enough.

So, the details
Fabric:  Raspberry red linen for the shell bought February 2012 from Global Fabrics, red polyester lining fabric from Global Fabrics, October time
Trim:   Nine flowered wooden buttons from the underground market, Frank Kitts car park, Wellington
Pattern:  Colette Beignet
First worn:  Thursday for work and lunch with a fellow Wellington sewing blogger, Melissa, where we found time to suss out MrsC's new off-shoot from her craft shop, Made Marion on Lambton. Well I needed some thread, a zip and also an invisible zipper foot!
Worn with:  My sparkly Sorbetto (made in September 2011), black belt from Glassons, black cardigan from Glassons, Everybody black pumps from a shoe shop in Edinburgh (UK). Oh and of course the added sexy moonboot and crutches :-)

 I'd been to work sitting down and the nature of linen means it's a tad creased, but who cares, don't those buttons look cute?

 I would say this is closest to the real colour.

Simplicity 2444

Since there is a slight lack of sewing around these parts (for reasons why, see my previous post here...), I thought I would post about a dress I made the summer before I started this lowly blog, ie about 2010.

The pattern is one of the Simplicity Project Runway patterns 2444.

I directly copied the blue and white dress in the top right. At the time, I still wasn't really aware of the fact I have a longer waist than most patterns state. I also didn't check the length of the skirt before cutting out. I'm sure the overall length would have been perfect if I'd lengthened the waist my usual inch.

The fabric was a Tanya Whelan fabric which came from John Lewis. I think the pattern is called Dolce. It's also the same pattern, just a different colour way to Simplicity 2588, which I made in August 2011.

I don't honestly remember having any issues with the pattern at all. There are darts back and front for the bodice. The two in the front give it a lovely shape. The skirt is pleated on. The collar is gathered in the front in the middle and this has a band stitched around it. I can't believe I didn't have problems with the thickness of material at this point, but I don't remember it. The dress also has pockets... :-) The zip is a normal centred zip up the back of the dress.

I would normally have hemmed the dress by hand, since I'm not really a fan of stitched hems, but the skirt was so short, it seemed easier at the time to do a small machine stitched hem.

The dress was worn for the first time when we took Mum to Paris for a big milestone birthday in 2010...

Me and my Mum, Paris, June 2010

I also wore this dress to the Wellington Sewing Bloggers meet-up in February. The lovely Melissa took these photos at the Wellington Museum of City and Sea where we took over the Museum cafe and tried on the crowns and generally had a good time.

 Trying on the crown...

 Trying to look regal

I give up, I'll just curtsey instead :-)

Details for this shoot...

Fabric:  Tanya Whelan cotton from John Lewis in 2010, probably about 12GBP a metre at the time.

Trim:  Just a white zip for the back of the dress, apart from thread of course :-)

Pattern:  Simplicity 2444

First worn:  Summer 2010 in Paris

Worn with on this shoot:  Lime green belt from Glassons, bright pink mule sandals from Mischief (yes they are the same as the blue ones worn in this post...) These pink ones were even more of a bargain and I couldn't resist. Have you shoe envy?

If you're wondering what they're being modelled on, it's my circle skirt - good match, eh?

Feedly/Bloglovin'

Well, I'm a bit late joining the bloglovin' party... Normal service will resume shortly!

Anyways, since the demise of Google Reader, I have currently decided to use Feedly for my blog reading, but I realise there's lots of you out there using bloglovin', in which case, I hereby claim my blog...

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

With any luck this will work :-)

St Patrick's Day fun

Our merry band is growing!

The Wellington Sewing Bloggers Network met up again today. It's now a regular thing in our diaries, organising something once a month. On a purely selfish note, I love it, we always have a great laugh, there's always lots to talk about, we even get to see new creations from pattern testers...

Today the plan originally was to have a picnic in the Botanic Gardens, but the forecast for rain (the first in nearly two months!) meant we changed our plans and at the request from one member, we went on the hunt for yum cha as we call it here in NZ, or dim sum.

So a merry throng of eight, plus our two mascots in the form of Ash and Drake, stuffed our faces with prawn dumplings, steamed pork balls, chilli beef, spring rolls, etc. Finishing with mango pudding...

From the Chinese restaurant we all decamped to Made on Marion to swap patterns, fabric and for a show and tell. Look at all these goodies...

The fabulous Joy had LOADS of patterns for us to look through

The best thing about swaps at Made on Marion means we can shop and/or finish off anything we're making. It's great and MrsC is the perfect host.

I succumbed and this is what I came away with from the swap.

Two lots of upholstery fabric which may become cushion covers.

Three patterns to add to my collection

I even bought some buttons from the shop...

And the team photo...

So from left to right on the sofas

Wendy - in a great top which she'd made.

Me - my old favourite dress made in the mid-90s! It was almost made to go with my cast :-)

FlossieFT - a dress she finished off this morning!

Curious Kiwi - in a fab Rooibos

The Girl from the Naki - just check out the colours in this latest creation

Piccolo Presents - with our latest mascot, baby Ash

The Ccrazy Gypsy - she even brought along the green jacket for us to check out

The Dreamstress - the expert on all things historical

PolyCraftual - in her latest infinity dress 

Sat on the floor are

Kat - with baby Drake looking so cute holding his toes!

Joy - the bringer of masses of patterns and fabric!

MrsC I think was busy with customers at the time and missed the photo :-(

Excuse the change of font size. Blogger is misbehaving and I've not the patience to sort it out at the moment!  

Enforced absence...

It's about a week since my last post and it's likely to be another few weeks before the next.

Sewing around these parts is a bit non-existent at the moment. It's not for not having things to sew - I've loads, but I can't really get to do it very easily...Reason is this...

Nice colour of cast isn't it?

Mm, not really what I had in mind! I mentioned we went down to Queenstown for MrN's birthday. We had a great time. The hotel was close to the town, so it was easy to get into town for meals, etc. If you ever get the chance to go, I recommend it, yes, it's touristy, but it's fun for a weekend and there's loads to do. There is a gondola which goes up one peak, but we've done that before! So we...

Played crazy golf :-)

 

Had a lovely Thai meal

Went on the TSS Earnslaw on Lake Wakatipu

 

Where I took arty shots with the camera

Did some wine tasting...

Went to Arrowtown

And watched the PGA ProAm golf at the Hills (yes, that's Lydia Ko)

The Hills has lots of arty sculptures around the place

 

And that's where it ended... I slipped while walking up a hill and managed to break my ankle. Straight to the hospital we went. Since then, I've been sat at home on the sofa with my leg up and in plaster. It's likely to be like that for sometime to come... Sewing is not easy, since my leg really needs to be kept up for now and strangely, you get used to using the non-driving leg to balance somehow when sewing.

So I've not got out much the last week or two, but I do have a bloggers meet on Sunday to look forward to - yay, the WSBN (Wellington Sewing Bloggers Network) are meeting again! There's more information on Melissa's blog and if you ever feel like joining us, you'll get this cool image to add to your blog too :-)

Burda 7767 - Pirates ahoy!

Finally I can post about this shirt.

This is my February contribution to the Stashbusting Sewalong, the creation of the lovely Cindy and Emily. February's challenge was aptly named the "Love challenge" and so I decided to make a shirt for Mr N. Which he challenged me to make last year some time.

Encouraged by the two rogues galleries from the amazing Carolyn, I used Burda 7767

In my stash, I had some dark grey cotton with a thin white stripe. The fabric has a slight stretch, which I hoped might help with the fit. I also love to sew these fabrics.

Having taken Mr N's particular measurments, checked those against the pattern as well as against a favourite RTW shirt in the wardrobe, I finally decided which size to make. I definitely measured twice, if not three or four times before cutting.

This shirt was definitely a labour of love. One of my own aims for the year was to produce clothing which was more wearable and with a better quality of finish. Consequently I decided to make this with lapped seams. No pinking or French seams, let's make it like any other men's shirt and finish it with lapped seams. I've never used these before, so it was quite a learning experience, particularly when there's a curve in the seam.

This is the underarm seam, check out those lapped seams all joining together.

I also followed MrsC's instructions and made sure the pocket lined up exactly.

 

I wish I'd used slightly stiffer interfacing. I had a lot of interfacing in my stash, but some of it was so old and after a panic email to local friends, I decided to cut my losses and chuck out the old stuff that wasn't sticking. This delayed the construction somewhat, as some of the main pattern pieces needed recutting.

Mr N knew I was making the shirt (it's not easy making things without him finding out!) and so we went button shopping together. As you can see we chose some plain white buttons for the front. These were going to be used for the cuffs... Until Mr N saw these...

Yep, some jolly roger pirate flags! :-) I guess I could have tried to make these with a double cuff so he could wear cufflinks, but these buttons negate the need. Aren't they fun? You like? Well even if you don't, we do and more importantly Mr N does, so...

The shirt was a double love challenge in one way, since the end of February was Mr N's birthday and I made the shirt so he could take it with us for his birthday long weekend in Queenstown. This was why the picture in the last post showed the shirt on a hanger. So for your delight and delectation, here is the man himself modelling the shirt I made...

 

Like me, Mr N is not of the modelling persuasion and we took these the evening he wore it for the first time, but he's happy with the shirt.

The only problem are the sleeves... They are too long. If I make the sure again I will probably shorten them, but I think what I could do for now is to move the pirate buttons across to ensure the cuffs do up more tightly. This will at least keep the sleeves off his hands. I'm not touching the buttonholes, trying to make buttonholes sized to fit those flags was not easy!

The nitty-gritty
Fabric: Grey cotton with a slight stretch, bought from Global Fabrics last November/December time (not sure if this counts as stash or not, but it certainly went in the stash pile before I considered cutting it...)
Trims: White buttons for the front and jolly roger flag buttons for the cuffs, all from Spotlight.
Pattern: Burda 7767
First worn: An evening out in Queenstown, South Island for Mr N's birthday
Worn with: Black trousers from Rodd and Gunn, Wellington.

Stashbusting - the love challenge...

Just a quick post to get this in before the end of the month...

This is my February contribution to Cation Designs Stashbusting Challenge.

I've made Mr N a shirt! This is the first men's shirt I've made so it took me some time, but it's finished in time for Mr N's birthday which is today! I was sewing the last few buttons on at work today!

As he still hasn't tried it on it's perhaps a tad unfair to write a full post... Plus we're away for the weekend in Queenstown, so I'll write a full post when we get back.

In the meantime... What do you think of my handiwork?

The giveaway winner and why I'm grateful...

At last the winner of my giveaway. I've had problems with my laptop and I think it knows I'm frustrated as it continues to cause problems... Time for a new one methinks!

So the winner is...

 

Sewpapillion

Congratulations! Sewpapillion is new to the blogging world and hasn't written a post yet, so welcome to the blogging world! What a great way to start! I shall be in touch soon!

So why am I sew grateful?
Both my grandmothers knitted and sewed, one being mad on patchwork and quilting. My mother also sewed a lot of her own clothes.

Mum made her own wedding dress as well as the two bridesmaids dresses. She was apparently hemming the bridesmaid dresses the night before they got married! She's amazing. I decided it would be far too stressful to make my own wedding dress.

How's this? It's 1961 for those interested. Doesn't my Dad look handsome! :-)

I was lucky because as soon as I was able, I'd watch Mum sewing, learning from her, probably from about the age of 8 or 9.  When I was big enough, I got to play on the hand Singer machine. As far as I know, this was her mothers and I've now got it. It's in need of some TLC, but I still love using it. It has a satisfying sound sewing with it!

The first thing I made was a drop waisted dress when I was about 10. Then I made clothes for my dolls which I self-drafted. Yep, I still played with dolls aged about 10 or 11... I was a real girly-girl. Mum encouraged me with this sewing and I'm glad she did. OK, the dolls clothes may not have been perfect, but... My dolls were the best dressed in the neighbourhood! And still are :-)

 I copied this pattern from a dolls pattern book for New Dolly (she never had a proper name!)

 Carol (she was a Christmas doll!) is standing on the dolls bed which was my mothers dolls bed. That means it's about 70 years old! How could I ever get rid of that?

 Believe it or not, I did that embroidery too!

[You're probably wondering why someone of my age still has her dolls... well they were meant to be sold on in the UK, but I didn't have the heart and they kind of followed me all the way to NZ. Funnily enough, I still haven't the heart to get rid of them, unless I know where they will be going. How selfish and silly is that?]

I continued to sew until I went to uni, then I didn't really sew much for about ten years. The Singer machine was given to me in my late 20s and that's when I started to sew again, mainly curtains and soft-furnishings for my various homes.

My sexy Singer. In need of some TLC and an overhaul, but isn't she a beauty? A traditional hand crank machine. No electrics with this one!

I made dresses for weddings, etc, then about seven years ago, I finally bought my own electric machine. I began to sew lots more and I think it was once I discovered the blogging world that I began to sew quite a lot. This is about three years ago. I've never looked back.

I been lucky to meet-up with bloggers, such as Sew incidentally, Stevie and Dibs in both the UK (about 18 months ago) and now have a great group of bloggers here in my adopted home of Wellington. We've met three times in about four months and regularly keep in touch and will help with even the smallest of problems we may have (such as why interfacing won't stick!)

I have so much to be grateful for... my grandmothers, Mum in particular for keeping me going, but not forcing me and the sewing world, particularly bloggers I've had the privilege to meet.

She now exits stage left very quickly before showing gushing tears to the masses :-)

Thanks all and particularly to Debi for another great Sew Grateful week.