SEWN: Flying squirrel dress! V1482

I love this dress. I really do. Gabrielle's antipodean flying squirrel dress, the aquatic sugar glider is one of my most loved inspirations. Everything about it, the amazing abstract seaside creature fabric and it's sheer statementness is perfect. I have an equally loved piece of silk, with an abstract leopard image from Prada's 2009 resort collection, that's been waiting patiently for it's time to shine.

I asked Gabrielle for her thoughts as we browsed The Fabric Store in Sydney, which is where I bought it several years ago. It's a weighty silk, not as compact and drapey as the recommended crepe de chine or silk jersey, but I do like a structured drape... Might V1482 be the pattern for it?

I decided to test V1482 with some rather lovely weight tencel from Darn Cheap Fabrics. I'm rather glad the staff warned me that it would bleed a lot for it's first wash, it did, but has been very well behaved since. I'm still a tad scarred by the dark denim I used for my Genoa tote - it's still bleeding onto pale shorts (and this is after synthrapol, and in desperation, boiling it with vinegar and salt), it's one of those things... ;(

I did my research and as well as Gabrielle's, I took particular note of Lara's version. I fit a size M (14) by the envelope measurement, and didn't hesitate to sew the S (8-10). I do wish I'd paid extra attention to her GOMI source who outlined some excellent steps, that I incorporated after the fact.

Ok, since I made this straight from the envelope (without the sleeve bands), let's outline my thoughts:

#1 I adore the length. I was tempted to shorten it, but when pinned up, I lost the pegging that makes it work.

#2 Size - I chose well - Thank you my fellow seamstresses who made this before me and blogged about it. The hip is perfectly snug when getting in and out of it, I couldn't have gone any narrower on the hem. The neck opening was wide enough, that cutting the back with a CB seam was never an option.

#3 I hate the neck. There, I've said it. I do like a straight boat neck, and I do like a scooped V or U neck, but this is not quite one or the other and it simply doesn't work for me in this solid colour. I trialled every chunky necklace and silk scarf in my wardrobe, they all look better than the naked neckline.
I adapted the neckline by unpicking the facings (yes, I used ordinary facings in self fabric). I then resewed the neckline while taking an inch out of the shoulder seam at the neck, tapering to nothing on each side over 3 inches. It would have been much neater if I'd made the adjustment (as suggested on GOMI), at the time of cutting out.

#4. The denim tencel - it was absolutely gorgeous to sew. I was worried that I'd be a bit too shiny (cue an earworm from Jemaine the scary Moana crab...) but that aspect is ok - well, apart from the moire effect in untouched photographs (sorry DH). I adore the colour and the drape - not quite silk crepe de chine or rayon, it's a substantial fabric after all - but the solid colour is a bit too solid for me and sometimes I feel the dress wears me.
It's also rather warm. I find silk warm, and polyester sweaty, so that shouldn't be a surprise, but it was. On the plus side, I can see myself popping it on with bare legs through autumn and spring, and it should work well with boots for winter.

#5. I omitted the sleeve bands. If anything, I could have made the sleeves themselves more narrow/shorter, but I do like them at the end of the dolman extensions.

#6. I didn't french seam - quelle horreur!! I did french seam the pocket - and what a perfect sized pocket it is!, but there is extra bulk that isn't necessary with this heavier fabric. Being a solid and shiny fabric, every imperfection in my stitching feels accentuated and I wanted the seams to lie as flat as possible.

#7. I enjoyed using a gorgeous pale green as my top stitching thread - it matches my favourite Wonders heels and Elk bag.

Overall, DH isn't a fan, but I like it. It's big and loose and super comfy while being vaguely polished, especially with heels.
and it has a proper sized pocket - and that's always a win.

I had the very best lunch and photo shoot with DH and Helen - the graffiti was brilliant and Helen's got some amazing examples over on her Funkbunny blog!

Listening to the fabric - Felted Wool Jacket

I love this jacket.
A couple of years ago, Helen mentioned that a small local fabric store was closing down. I managed to go in during its final days and after chatting to the lovely proprietress, I left with some very lovely pieces of fabric.
And every few months I pulled the fabric from my special stash, patted it, dreamt of what it would like to be, and tucked it away again in its tissue paper.

This amazing felted wool is part of that small collection.
I finally settled on a cape last winter, and amped up my collection of all the cape patterns, vintage and contemporary, Japanese, French and English, jacket-cape styles, raglan or circle, arm slits or arms underneath, I have them all.
None of them were 'just right' for this wool though.

So I made my own.
I love that I have raw edges wherever I could. I especially love that the entire jacket is cut from one piece, with zero waste and no interruption to the border print.
Want to know what I did?

It's simply a rectangle of fabric, with 2 slits vertically at my shoulders. I then inserted 4 triangles, cut from a rectangle along the non-border print edge, as raglan sleeves along this slit. I have considered inserting godets in the diamond shaped underarms, however the open diamonds are working very well.

Ok, so I do have 2 spare triangles, but they aren't waste ;)

The felted wool isn't perfect - although it's perfectly striking. I had to reinforce each seamline as it's not particularly strong. I started using rayon seam tape, then changed to strips of charcoal silk. The back neckline is faced with silk as well. Each seam is top stitched on each side for added stability.

Apart from a rather high level of satisfaction that my concept worked (YAY!), what I adore and makes this a 'throw on every day' jacket is that it's perfectly versatile. It is delightfully snuggly when pinned closed high on my neck, perfectly warm when worn with a V-neck - with either a casual exposed facing collar, or with them tucked in for a neat version - or open and breezy when I only need my back and shoulders covered. I've not put any permanent closures on, my everyday bag style is a messenger bag/cross body satchel and it holds it in place perfectly when I'm not using a shawl pin.

And the fabric, I am SO glad I took that deep breath and nabbed my 1.5m of felted grey wool with felted black foliage.

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Liberty Linden Love

Ok, so I wear, a lot, of Melbourne Black, 

and navy....

and some other colours..... 

which escape me at the moment...

One colour that's pretty much missing from my wardrobe is shocking pink.

Of course, it's the perfect colour to add a bit of brightness to my winter palette. Primarily as it can't clash with anything ;)

I'm not usually a huge Liberty print fan (sacrilege, I know), I adore the feel of their Tana lawn, but the prints don't often grab me. This is Kindle* a tonal print with subtle little florals and foliage, totally gorgeous, and, well, yes, very, very pink.

*(from the Liberty of London website): Kindle Liberty print was sketched while listening to the Elysian singers perform at The Royal Festival Hall. The final hand drawn repeat has the design Elysian woven into its sound waves.

I actually had a shopping cart open on The Fabric Store's NZ  site when the word went out that it had landed in the Melbourne store... I blame Instagram (you know who you are... yes ... you... and yes, you too....)

And yes, a family trip was made the next morning so I could feel it IRL and once patted, it came home with me.
It's very perfectly fleecy, and even more so after a trip through the washing machine.

Essentially it is a woven though. I considered making another drop shouldered top, in the style of my much adored black wool awesome thing:
And then my love for my new vintage wool woven Linden won out and I made View A.
This is the size 8, with 2cm taken out of the back raglan seams, reducing to nothing by 7cm.
The sleeves are simply turned and stitched. I know much has been discussed of the long arms of the pattern as drafted and I didn't include the cuff. I do like warm hands however and would use the same arm length if I made it again (with added cuffs)

Silliness prevails. The weather conspired against this photoshoot for nearly a month.

Removing 4cm from the back neckline has brought it in nicely as well, as drafted, the Linden is a tad wider than I prefer in a rounded neckline. The boatneck on my black top is just a bit wide for many layering options and I wanted this top to be a non-drafty winter staple.
I felt very indulgent as I cut my neckline on the bias - such an inefficient use of fabric! It was worth it though. I had previously stabilised the entire neckline with iron on stay tape (yes, I love it!) and after carefully stitching the bias on, it was 'sticky-uppery' ;( I nearly cried.

I do love the cross over of our fibre arts though, I channelled my inner knitter, went into blocking mode and ignored that I wasn't playing with wool . I simply saturated the neckline pieces and patted them back into shape. After some steaming with my iron, the neckline was perfectly snugged - yes, I'm rather chuffed with my neckline.

The hip hem is taken straight from my black jumper. It's a piece of straight grain fabric, the circumference of my hips, folded and sewn to a slightly gathered bottom edge of garment. It keeps out any winter breeze and allows the top to blouson over a belt or winter padding.

Silly poses aside, it's the first top in a while to have elicited random unsolicited compliments - although, they were mostly on how lovely it was to see me in pink....

*For a hint on my previous (BL, Before Liberty) pink aversion, I mentioned a pink 80's windcheater with koalas in my 2014 black post...

Autumn 2016! : Woven Linden for the win

My most loved and frequently reached for winter top is the black/grey boxy felted wool top with the cool tree design.

This is a lighter weight and colour alternative to keep it company. It's also a test for me of the well loved Grainline Linden that took the sewing world by storm on it's release in 2014.

This is a straight size 8 Linden, view B in non-stretch woven fabric 

Sewn with 70cm of opp shop sourced vintage wool, washed (read as mildly felted & pre-shrunk) & slightly itchy. It's all good though as I love the speckled wool and it's a layering piece, part of my armour against the winter winds that come straight off the Antarctic.
*Update after wearing this almost every day for the past 5 weeks - it's not itchy IRL! And the neckline lets everything layer well, I adore this SOOO much!!

I was pleasantly surprised at the swiftness of putting it together and of the fit straight from the pattern. I've knitted a raglan sleeve cardigan, but never sewn one, being of the belief that they 'don't work' with forward shoulders. News flash, they do, and I can't believe I've dismissed them for so long! The sleeves are 3cm shorter than the view B pattern to fit on my wool remnant, and in this woven fabric, they'd not have worked any longer without darts and shaping.

I did take in the back raglan seams by 2cm at the neckline, grading to nothing by 7cm. Amanda gave the heads up on her rad quilted Linden & back breeze from Antarctic wind is not welcomed down here anymore than it is in Canberra. It also has snugged the neckline nicely, so I'll continue with this for the next version.
*photographic evidence is in the pink version, up next!

Such a gorgeous paisley match

I used a lovely vintage Liberty to face the neckline, it came from my $10 bag at the first Phillips Shirtmaker sale.
The sleeves and split hem are simply pinked, turned and hand stitched, invisibly in the wool, giving me the option to adjust them if I wish.

Woven vintage wool = swing!

A wildly pink Liberty in Kindle, view A, is up next to brighten my winter.
Yes, you could say my sew-jo is back ;)

More mad and crazy antlers in the next Linden post!

SEWN: Hannah by the seaside

Victory Patterns' Hannah Dress

I've really enjoyed being able to wear my latest summer dress so late into Autumn. Today was another perfect example, so we meandered down to Williamstown, chatted to some divers and fishermen and had a lovely lunch - and jumped at the chance to take a few snaps of Hannah, even though we only had a phone - I'm very appreciative that I have a very talented photographer.

Hannah, of course, is Victory Patterns' newest dress and 'not a shift dress, shift dress'*

*yes, I am possibly the only one who makes such a strange comparison between straight +/- A-line shift dresses that I adore, but don't adore me, and ones with amazing seamlines and non-shift dress details. It reminds me of the Dandelion dress that I made twice & loved to death.

Hannah is described as an intermediate pattern, and that's an accurate statement. Precision marking and sewing isn't my strongest point and there are 4 darts, and those fabulous angled side seams that flow into the generous pockets - ohh how I adore the proper sized pockets! 

Other makes: 

Corrine Appleby in a lovely herbaceous sketch print - definitely my kind of a floral. I can relate to her comments on precision sewing, it's not my strongest skill either and basting might be a very good idea. Her Hannah looks lovely in 2 fabrics, I especially love the exposed binding.

And of course the fabulous Christy of CleverTinker who whipped up a gorgeous black rayon-linen-poly version the second Hannah was released, and swayed the world towards adding Hannah to our 'must make' queues ;) As always it's gorgeously styled and she sealed the 'sew Hannah now' deal for me.

All of our dresses are appropriately short. Mine feels fine while I'm walking, I think it's the faced shirt hem that holds it in place. Sitting however is another story, it's definitely a 'napkin on lap' length.
For the record, I'm  5'5" 165cm and made the size 37, a 37 5/8" or 95.6cm length, measured (by the pattern info) from shoulder at base of neck along the front.

My bust measurement is size 6, (with hips of an 8), however I'm glad I didn't try to grade between sizes and just made the 8, as the front bodice is tight across my forward shoulders. I'll do my usual adjustments and cut away at the front armscye next time.

And the elephant in the room - yes, I stuffed up the concealed front placket. The instructions are detailed, full of images and take up 3.5 pages. I clearly didn't fold accurately enough as the front looked great, but the back was off by the time I reached column 9 of 11.

I had forgotten how wonderful Victory Pattern's instruction are, despite my placket troubles, they are illustrated, detailed and nicely laid out. The pattern booklet is 17 pages long.

I love the faced hem, I love the generous pockets and I love the side seamlines and the back detail.

I didn't have any difficulties sewing through the 6+ layers at the shoulders as my fabric was lightweight. I did have difficulties with seam finishing as my fabric frayed easily. All seams which are enclosed, aren't finished separately. This would be ok with almost any other fabric. Mine has wriggled and shifted and I've cursed as it threatens to fray through the seams. It's a slubby linen look poly blend in the most divine true blue (according to Dulux), from Kinki Gerlinki in Brunswick.

I'm now plotting how best to make a version suitable for winter layering - a light wool blend with a slip underneath I think ....

70's Splendour at Frocktails Melbourne

Yes, I do spend my life swanning about at all the most fashionable functions ;)
No?
Well, in my dreams I do...

Photo Credit Poppykettle

After a wonderful weekend in our nations capital for #cbrfrocktails, I set about planning for '#Frocktails', here in my home city of Melbourne.
Now, I knew Canberra would be frosty cold, but somehow the Antarctic winter that Melbourne was experiencing was more 'real' and caused more angst about 'what to wear to be warm'. Well, that and the reality that I was staying next to the venue in Canberra, but would be waiting on open platforms and catching trains in Melbourne.
Jenny Rennous-Oh-Glennus had the most brilliant of solutions - pop over to her post to see not just the best full skirt ever made, but also, her hidden source of toasty warmth.

 I accompanied her on the train to Frocktails in a full length wool coat, appropriated from my mum's "AFL games at the MCG" attending wardrobe - I felt very Sherlock Holmes. I will be making one for next winter. My headdress was the source of much fascination for a young girl also on the train, clearly we were going to a ball.
And what a ball it was! 51 gorgeous ladies from as far afield as NZ & Brisbane, all in handcrafted magnificence. My photos of the evening aren't mine and all credit goes to Mel Poppykettle, Helen Funkbunny and Gabrielle UpSewLate, they have many more in their posts.

Photo Credit Poppykettle

Keeping up my tradition of sewing my way through my silk stash, I paired this very tactile, almost peach skin silk with a classic 1970's pattern. The Tuesday before Frocktails I was full of 'the flu' & my wonderful mum drove me around some opp shops, as we like to do. There were 5 perfectly 70's patterns in a little shop that simply said 'take me home' and this one then said 'make me, in silk, tonight'. I did mention my raging fever? Anyhow, I was sensible enough (for a change) to soak the silk in a gelatine mix before laying it out and cutting the dress as long as the crosswise width of my fabric allowed.

I've reinforced the channels at the top and along the CB zip with silk organza. SewSquirrel is my online & local supplier. This silk is divine, but really doesn't like being unpicked and even with a new microtec needle, threatens to run on the stitch lines. That invisible zip, it's white, shhh, don't tell anyone ... A perfect excuse to buy a new summer shade of nail polish really ;)

DH had understandable reservations when he saw it in it's full 70's glory, it was quite Aline and made a strong 70's silhouette statement. My concerns were more along the undergarments line, its not an opaque fabric, and in it's original styling, bras were rather optional.
Mel reassured me early on in the night that the paparazzi flash wasn't showing my undergarments, phew! (I'm still wary after my first Frocktails experience where my understated burgundy slip became the main event, rather than my black lace dress). For those curious, this has a black halter neck slip ;)

Photo Credit Funkbunny

It was a truly magnificent night and I managed to escort the last ladies standing down Collins St to hot chips after 2am, so that's a definite achievement!

A Canberra Capsule Wardrobe #CBRFrocktails

I recently flew up to Canberra for the inaugural #CBRFrocktails and after a few false starts landing through the fog, was warmly greeted by the local sewing spoolettes, coffee and a sunny sky. 

Seven items proudly made by me ;)

Most importantly, what did I wear! Well, I took great delight in packing a small case with a co-ordinated selection of favourite RTW and new and favourite me-made items. Basing my daytime outfit around a pair of dark denim mid-waisted boot cuts (I found my 'perfect' RTW jean at the 11th hour before sewing a pair), I simply required a top each day to go under my Named Patterns' Saunio +/- layered with my teal Swoon cardigan. Two perfect workhorses that, conveniently layer beautifully together.

Named Saunio

Such an unassuming blog post title for such a little workhorse of a cardigan.

Named Patterns released the Saunio cardigan in their SS14 All Things Nice Collection well over a year ago. I've seen it made up, by the always on-trend and stylish Kirsty of Top Notch, three times, however I never really noticed it, until now. Her third version, and Blogless Anna's, combined with Named's discount code for The Monthly Stitch's separates competition, tipped me over the edge, I wanted one, and I wanted it now.

Sea Change Sea Change One Two Three !!!

I do love a top with interesting details, especially one that has fabulous drape from big pattern pieces, fits me without headaches, and where I can move about freely without readjusting it over the day.  Having bands to finish the hem and sleeves neatly and making it both woven and knit suitable ... I'm sold!

Introducing Lily Sage & Co's Sea Change Top.

The Sea Change top is loosely fitted, with wide kimono sleeves. The hem is designed to fall just below the natural waist for a modest, cropped look that will both complement and showcase high waist pants and skirts.

The top length can easily be lengthened through the top. The armbands and bottom hem band can also be altered in length for different looks.

Recommended fabrics:

Light to medium weight, drapey fabrics will be the most flattering choices for this top.

Options include knit fabrics like jersey. Cotton, viscose, and rayon are fibres that will all work well. Woven fabrics like silk satin, silk crepe de chine, and habutai will also suit this pattern.

Dyeing for a Sea Change 1 - my experiment in dyeing rayon

I have just had my first experiments with procion dyes. (in contrast to hot water dyeing which I've never been terribly good at)

This glorious yellow rayon was the first solid rayon I found at Spotlight a year or 2 ago. I had great visions of a summery dress, however it is, rather, yellow-gold... Lovely to feel, nice and drapey, but, far to overwhelmingly yellow for a dress for me. So, inspired by all of the indigo workshops that have been filling my Pinterest feed, and Nicki's solar dyeing for One Year One Outfit, I set out to learn a little bit about dyeing.

Sunny Summer in the Seventies

This is a dress of my childhood, a vintage pattern, sewn in fabric possibly older than it is ;)

I can imagine my mum, grandmas & aunts wearing lightweight loose dresses like this during summer in the 1970's. They're not common in family photographs as most pictures were taken during celebrations when everyone was more dressed up, but I'm sure I remember dresses like these as 'house dresses'.

I was given this lightweight yellow cotton from my lovely MILs stash. I think it's from when they were living in the tropics in the early 1970's. It's delightfully smooth and cool to touch, however it's been maturing for a while as I couldn't picture it as anything. Then, I was browsing my shirt dress collection, the sleeves on view 2 of Style1578 circa 1976 jumped out at me and declared, "our time has come again, make us now!" So I did.

I made View 2 sleeveless, size 12, 34" bust