Candy stripe skirt

Yesterday Mr C was being crafty, so I decided to make good use of my own time and make a skirt. I'd had this fabric cut for over a year but never bothered to sew it, which meant that it only took me a couple of hours to pull the skirt together.

This is the same pattern I've used half a dozen times. It's easy to create a unique look with each one by customising it with different fabrics, buttons, zips and pockets. This candy stripe fabric was given to me by a friend (I've used it to make a summer dress previously). The buttons are from Skull Buttonry (where all of your button purchases help to feed kids at the Foundation18 orphanage in Indonesia).

Project: Minnie Mouse blouse

I spent a bit of time last week trawling through the huge stash of Make It Easy sewing magazines and patterns that my Nanna gave me. Make It Easy was one of those weekly magazine series in the 1980s, and I now have the whole set. While there are some rather, ahem, scary-looking fashions (triangle-covered dungarees, anyone?), there are also some really cute ones.

I found this blouse pattern in magazine 3, which implies that it's an easy design. It's not. In fact, I wouldn't attempt this without at least a year of sewing experience. I did ignore some of the instructions and make up my own (like using an overlocker stitch to finish the neck hole and cuffs in the inside instead of hand-sewing them).

The sizing with these patterns is a bit weird. According to their measurements, I am a size 8 in the tops, and a size 10 (!) in the pants and skirts. This blouse is quite generously sized (as per the style in the 1980s), but the neck hole is weirdly small (I had to squeeze my tiny head through). Next time I'd simply cut the slit in the front of the blouse a little bit longer.

In these photos I'm wearing the blouse with a black skirt I made at the start of 2011 (also made from the Make It Easy Patterns, but before I had the instruction magazines). I think it looks best with a skirt, but could also be worn with skinny jeans (either untucked or not). I think I might redo the hem before wearing it untucked, as it looks a little wonky (the tension on my machine went a bit weird after I'd done some gathering stitches).

This was easily the most complicated thing I've made, but also probably the cutest. I mean, I look just like Minnie Mouse!

Latest sewing projects

A couple of months ago I decided to tackle the Miss  Marlo dress in Pip Lincolne's Sew La Tea Do book. I'd been wanting to make it for a while, but hadn't bothered to print out the updated pattern from her website. (Note to people with the first imprint of the book: there was a printing error on the Miss Marlo pattern, so you'll need to get a new one here.) I also decided I wanted to scale the pattern down a little bit, as the smallest size was S to M.

It's a really simple dress to construct. Pip's method of doing facing is really easy, so if you've never sewn anything with facing before it's a good place to start. It also tucks in neatly with very little fuss (I can't say the same for facing on many other patterns). In scaling down the pattern I must have done something weird, because the front ended up 6 centimetres longer than the back. I was able to easily fix the problem by adding a feature strip of red fabric to the bottom. The pocket is made from some Robert Kaufmann fabric I had in my stash.

I later decided to try my hand at turning the dress into a top. I scaled the pattern down further, and used a larger seam allowance for the facings to get a more fitted look (using a black fabric that has a little stretch).

The buttons are just some of the many I bought from Skull Buttonry. The Skull Buttonry Etsy store is run by Cate, who many of you many know as the brilliant woman behind the Foundation 18 orphanage in Indonesia. In addition to her other Etsy stores raising money for the orphanage (see Foundation 18 and The Giving Bowl), Cate now sells buttons to raise much-needed funds (with ALL of the profits going to the cause).

New art in the house

This is Bingo, by Erk.

This is Sexy black hamburger, by Maya Hayuk.

And if you're wondering where the Hawaiian postcards went to, they're now in the bedroom.

Finished striped tulle skirt

Remember my planned birthday skirt? After consulting with a few people about how to tackle it, I made a start a few weeks ago. I've been chipping away at it a little bit at a time since then, and finally finished it today.

In the end, I decided to use a cotton voile for the lining, and attached the gathered tulle about a quarter of the way up from the bottom of the lining (so that there would be something between the tulle and my legs). The lining was then hemmed half a centimetre shorter than the outer skirt so that it wouldn't be seen under the exposed part of the tulle.

I ended up using a metal jean zipper as I realised at the last minute that it was the only one I had here that was long enough. That worked out ok, as I it exposed and didn't sew across the metal teeth like I normally do. It seems popular to sew the zipper tape for these to the outside of garments at the moment.I have no idea why, because it makes it look like someone's made a stuff-up.

I wanted to sew a feature bow as well, but for the time-being I'm just using this ribbon I had lying around. I think it works well in any case.

I might make a few more tulle skirts. It takes twice as long (as you're effectively sewing two skirts together), but I think the result is worth it.

The birthday project

A couple of months ago, I purchased some lovely material on sale at The Fabric Store (and made this top with some of it). In addition to the green-and-white checked fabric, I also got this very lightweight striped cotton.

My intention was to use it for a skirt, but any skirt would need lining (which I've never tackled before). I'd forgotten all about it until today, when a lovely friend gave me some spare tulle she had in her garage. Now, my plan is to make myself a spectacular gathered skirt lined with a tulle underskirt in time for my birthday!

After trawling through my patterns, I've decided that the best design to use would be the tried-and-true gathered skirt that I've made a few times (including for my first ever sewing project).

I don't want the tulle lining to go all the way up to the waistband (because it will be bulky to sew into the band, and probably scratchy to wear), so I'm planning to sew some black cotton lining the same as the main skirt piece, but at half the length. I'll then sew gathered tulle to the bottom of the lining so that it will show around 10 to 15 centimetres below the main skirt.

I'll then tack the top of the cotton lining fabric to the outer skirt piece, gather both layers and sew them into the waistband together. The bottom of the skirt should, when hemmed, look something like this.

The question I now have for others now is: will this work? Or is there a better way I should go about adding a tulle underskirt? Maybe I should use a different skirt pattern altogether! If you have any thoughts, please leave a comment. I'm not planning to sew this skirt in a day like I normally do. I'm going to chip away at it a little bit at a time over the next couple of months in the hope of having a finished piece for my 30th birthday. 

Hurrah!

My latest sewing project...

I'm at home sick today (mostly to rest my back which I put out last week), so I thought I should post a long-overdue update on my sewing activities.

A few weeks ago, Rebecca and I went to a 30 per cent off sale at The Fabric Store. One of the prints I came away with was this pale green check, which I decided to make into a sleeveless top (using the same pattern I've used to make this, this and this).

I had quite a few issues making this top, but they were all entirely my own doing. I made the mistake of thinking I could 'switch off' because I'd worked with the same pattern before, but anyone who sews will know that this is a stupid approach to take. (I also partly blame Michael Tunn for distracting me with his excellent Australia Day online radio playlist.) The first big mistake I made was joining two wrong edges of the back (and not realising until after I'd added a zip). The second mistake (after I'd corrected the first one) was to sew the front to the back so that one side was inside out. Oops. Consequently the project took a lot longer than the 'two hours' mentioned on the packet (as they always do anyhow).

While I don't yet have any photos of me wearing it, here is the finished product. As you can see, I decided to omit the planned button details and instead made a bow out of matching fabric. It also goes nicely with the Snug brooch that Rebecca kindly gave me.

The top is very comfortable worn untucked with jeans, and can be dressed up for a more 'corporate' look with a skirt. Here it is with the black skirt I made last year.

I'm not entirely happy with the fit of the top (it would be ideal if it was a little bit more fitted under the arms), but overall it's not bad. The really great news is that I've just received these three sewing books, which will teach me more about how to adapt patterns to suit me (rather than just making the smallest size and hoping for the best). It will take a bit of practise, but I think it will be worth the time investment.