PINK

The other week my 14 yo went to see Pink in concert with a group of her friends. She had an outfit in mind that revolved around her new boots but the dress was a cotton summer dress, so we self drafted a version of it for this dress. I used some silver satin and black double knit I had in my stash, I lined the bodice with bemsilk lining. I did have to do a FBA though if you can believe it, my darling has grown since the summer (she loved this) the girls had a great time and Pink game them a great show. Us mums could only hear from outside as we sipped hot beverages and flicked through magazines. There is a posse of us that head off together when the younger ones want to go to a concert. Sometimes the bands let us in for a few songs as Coldplay did the other month. I guess some artists are more parent aware than others.

The Ethics of Home Sewing

Last night I stumbled across this doco on the BBC Knowledge channel called Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts. It highlights 6 young British fashion addicts consisting of a budding fashion designer, photographer, shop assistance, etc who are sent to India to track exactly how the clothes they wear are made and by whom. They experience a series of situations that real Indian workers do day in and day out to produce fashion that sells world wide for far more than these workers are getting paid for. They try their hands at sweat shop sewing trying to churn out two garments per minute, picking cotton, cleaning it, bundling it to be sent of for spinning and seeing the finished denim become jeans that will have high fashion labels sewn on to them. The conditions are absolutely shocking and I drew breath when I saw a child involved. Of course this is known to all but it is still confronting to see it. These exploited workers take working to a different level and many of them live in terrible conditions and only have time to eat , sleep then get up to do it all again. Of course the group of 6 British young people struggled immensely and had trouble keeping up at each task. They were paid the same as other workers and barely survived.

I do not want to pat my own back and be all lecture like, but I have told my son for many years now that we will not be buying a certain sporting label because of stories such as these, but I realised it gives home sewing a whole new level too. Each garment that is made at home is one that is not bought off the rack at the expense of sweat shops and the like. Check out this link because if you can't see the whole show it has enough info to get the picture and if you are in Australia, search for the next episode, screens here on Foxtel next Wed night 6:30 BBC

Knowledge

here is a link to the facebook page Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts that has clips of interviews the young Brits did with Indians.

Rags to Riches

The other day I was flipping through a few magazines at the checkout and saw some great pics of Princess Mary. I really like her, especially as we are only born a few days apart and she is a Princess and I am well.....not. I think she carries herself so well and always looks fantastic. This is an ordinary Australian girl from Tasmania that happened to stumble across a Prince at a pub and now just happens to be the next Queen of Denmark. Not only has she completely adapted to the role but she gets to wear great clothes and I think she does a very stylish job of it. 

This is how you wear polka dots

Loving the cape/shrug 

Off the shoulder is always chic

SImply elegant

I love everything about this.

Winter today.

Today is officially Winter and as much as I don't want to accept I don't really have a choice do I? I shouldn't complain as we have only had to wear a jumper late in the evenings for the last few weeks, it has still been warm enough to wear summer clothes during the day. But, the sunlight does not last as long and the rugby season is well and truly under way. I think what really cheeses me off about winter apart from the obvious cold is the shorter days. I absolutely detest getting up in the morning when it is still dark. Especially for Saturday morning sport! Anyway, I have been working on the butterick 5252 jacket this week and got some good sewing in today. I have got the back all sewn together, both front panels and the pockets are done. The pockets were what attracted me to this jacket initially then with further investigation I discovered the flattering princess seams, sleeve variations and length options. I am making view A in a gorgeous charcoal woollen blend of something( I have forgotten what exactly this fabric is) but it is soft and buttery.

View A

I got the pockets on today after some fiddling around. It is not a hard process just one that needs patience. You have to gather the pocket and sew a stay to hold the gathers in place. Snip from the side edge and hem the top part of the pocket (this was the fiddly part) then fold under the bottom seam allowance and sew onto the jacket front.

I am having major trouble uploading pics with blogger, is anyone else?

I was trying to post this post yesterday and just can't get things right. I will update the jacket pics as soon as it works properly again.

Zipped up...

I threw a project away today. It was a skirt I had made using a layout suggested in The Easy Guide To Sewing Skirts, I cut a few out at a time and the others all came out great. They hung well and I was generally impressed, however with this particular fabric nothing was working. I put in the zip and when I tried it on the zip was not sitting vertical but more like a snail ambling around the garden. Ripped it out and tried again, same! Finally I thought I had it right. I then attempted to hem this fabric. Nightmare, I fused 6mm Vliesofix tape to the bottom edge and then pinned up 2 cm. Pressed, handsewed and tried it on. (scream) The hem was wonky even though I had let the skirt hang for a whole week (mainly because I didn't want to deal with it) I had tried it on many times when pinning and all seemed ok. It was then I noticed that the zipper had gone back to its rebelious behaviour and was heading an all directions. I really did love this fabric when I got it and you might remember it from a previous post. It is now the stuff of nightmares and I promptly threw it in the bin, but not before considering recycling the zipper. I unpicked the zip got rid of all loose threads and peeled of what I could of fusible tape and placed it with it's cousins in the drawer. The question is do you recycle notions from old garments?

The offending fabric

What is Vogue thinking???

I hope I don't offend anybody but what is Vogue thinking. Apparently the pattern companies produce their lines due to consumer demands and current trends.

Who is buying these?

V1106

V1116

V1115

V1113

Having said that, I am feeling these two.

V8581

V8576

Sewless weekend...

I am bloody annoyed. Actually I am annoyed (G rated version) at the moth. You see, I live with a man who think he is Tiger Woods. EVERYDAY he plays golf, has golf related conversations with any willing member of the household. The only books he reads are golfing books. (No joke) he is actually very good and plays off single figures (duh, you play that much you ought to be!)
We desperately needed to re-do our guest room. The pressure was on this weekend as the Moth's twin brother phoned last Thursday to say he will be here Monday (tomorrow) and stay till friday. I made a mad dash to Ikea on Friday as I could not let him sleep on the floor. So Friday was gone. Yesterday I spent the whole day assembling the bloody boxes while the moth played golf all morning( I also ferried the children to their various destinations, made food, did washing etc) Moth comes in for lunch, then turns on his heels and heads out the door for 18 holes he has organised with some friends. I made it very clear that tomorrow(being today) will have to be golf free as we have alot to do. He says "no worries". This morning we get up, breakfast and all that. Tear the spare room apart and clean it then start to load everything in blah blah blah. In the Moths frenzy he also decides to pull the garage apart and have a HUGE clean out. Great idea as it was overdue. Of course we are working hard at it, I am also supervising an 11 year old trying to hot glue some bloody project, run this daughter to work, another somewhere...get washing in, make food again. When the garage is done, there is still the mess in the house to deal with, vacuuming, dusting and all the organising, not to mention a trip to the supermarket....moth says' see ya, I have some daylight left so I need to go hit some balls as I have worked so hard today" I am thinking murder but manage to speak with a calm voice." but what about the inside of the house, all this work has to be done and I still have to the ironing for tomorrows' school clothes, get dinner, pick Max from work" He starts babbling on about the whole day can't be just work so he needs to hit balls. I say well I am not sitting down to sew for a few hours just because I would like a break. he says."you can". He says this just to make a point and be a smart ass, he knows of course it can't be done. His bloody brother is arriving before breakfast and you know what, they will play golf tomorrow.
Needless to say I am not talking to him ...probably for a long time, I am tired of competing with golf. I am going to just do my thing and not talk to his fat ass.

Weighting around...

I recently stumbled upon a post that made these great pattern weights. I cannot find that post now so thank you to whom ever it was that gave me this nifty idea.

I had trouble finding round washers but a kind man called Wally had two left in his dusty old shop and gave them to me along with the square ones I had to settle for.

With two weights together, I used the hot glue gun and about 2.5m of ribbon to cover each weight.I think they came out great. I have used them already this morning and they work a treat. I was tearing my hear out using pins!

My apologies for the date on the pics, I can't find out how to get it off or change it. lol

Saturday morning thus far...

Charlie is at cricket, Lauren at Seaworld, the older girls at work and the moth at golf, it is Saturday morning and what is a girl to do with spare time and an empty house. I headed to Spotlight and grabbed some fabric of course.

I had to have this silk broadcloth. Of course it looks better as a larger piece. As soon as my eyes landed upon it I knew I had to follow Erica.B and make this gorgeous top she recently finished.

This is a lightweight cotton that I will just make a simple summer top. Not sure what pattern yet, I have a pile next to me as I type to decide.

I wore a top recently that was made with a printed knit and got a MILLION compliments. I realised that I wear prints well so I was on a mission this morning to get some more. I am thinking a skirt for this one.


So I am waiting impatiently watching an episode of 'Medium' as the washing machine is doing its thing with these fabrics. Thankfully it is a glorious day and they will dry quickly so I can get started on something before the sun sets.

Random cool stuff.

I know some of you lucky people got to be there for real, maybe with this pic you can see yourself up close and personal! I would love for one of you to find yourself in the crowd, a sort of where's wally adventure.

This is the MOST AMAZING picture..... ..... Click on the link at the bottom to open picture. The control for the picture is in the upper left. Press the + sign to zoom in, or the arrows to move right, left, up or down. If the picture looks fuzzy give it a second to clarify. This is a remarkable panorama of the inauguration. You can actually zero in on faces 1/2 mile away!!For fun, focus on Obama (center stage) and then look behind him. There's Clarence Thomas seemingly asleep, Dick Cheney in his wheelchair, Clinton, Gore, Bush 41 and even Dan Quayle! Scalia is sitting there looking like the Grand Inquisitor. The clarity is amazing!

http://gigapan. org/viewGigapanF ullscreen. php?auth= 033ef14483ee8994 96648c2b4b06233c

Ageless...

I have never been a fan of Demi's, nothing I can put my finger on nor justify.

I did however love St Elmo's Fire, I am a girl of the 80's.

Anyway, I saw this pic of her taken in Berlin at the biennale film festival, says 2009 so this is very recent.

I know there is an abundant amount of pressure in Hollywood to remain young and fabulous but this woman has it down to a fine art. The dress is so flattering on her but yet quite simple. I am guessing it is strapless as her hair covers any straps that might be there.

I have always have an internal debate over wearing spots or not, Demi has just sold them to me.

By now everyone is aware of the horrific fires spreading across Victoria.

This is officially Australia's worst natural disaster and it is simply devastating.

People are dying from these fire storms while trying to escape.

Cars full of mums and dads with their kids and pets.

173 to date..

Please help here in anyway you can.

Pattern Sales...

Spotlight is having a $6 sale on all Burda, New Look and Simplicity patterns. You all know that one can never pass by such temptations um, I meant opportunities. Burda 7758

I am always on the look out for different tops. My lifestyle dictates alot of casual wear so this one will add to the collection.

Simplicity 3676

I know these envelopes can seem rather messy but I like the potential combinations that can be born from this pattern. It is the neckline/sleeve detail that sold me.

New Look 6823

I love a good knit as much as the next person and this foldy/creasy neckline had me at hello.

New Look 6736

I like the one button closure on the short jacket here. The model in the catalogue looked far more flattering that this sketch does. I have not made a coat of any sort yet and thought I might give this simple version a shot. After getting the pattern home I am also drawn to the longer version. You just never know.

I have to admit to getting my addictive dose of retail therapy by pattern/fabric shopping. Sometimes I feel that the very act of just purchasing either one gives me the same satisfaction as buying RTW. Of course I have to yet make them up and I know at times the thought of it is somewhat dissapointing because the satisfaction of having the item has already done it's work with me (although its form is folded fabric and tissue paper). At times I have to really rank up the discipline and make these garments. Does anyone else feel like that have been clothes shopping after a day at the fabric shop?

Making an A-line

I have been trying to add basics to my wardrobe. I have started with these simple A-line skirts.

I made three in all and none of them are in plain fabrics. I have a habit of always chosing plain material and I need to add some prints.

This pattern is so easy to put together and probably would take an hour as it bodly states. I do add a light cotton lining (to hot for anything heavier) and this bumped the time over an hour.

For some reason the pic is grainy (I am no photographer, and neither is my 14yo it seems)

Excuse the lack of makeup and hair not done, this was taken in a quick walk by from my daugher as I was getting everyone ready for school and had not yet finished getting ready myself.

New Look 6843

I make bias binding from the leftover fabric and use this to cover edges on the waist and in turn forming a waistband. I lined the skirts with a really lightweight cotton as I prefer my skirts lined. I used the method of inserting a zipper from the book "High-fashion sewing secrets" by Claire.B Shaeffer. I loved this method so much. I have had this book for ages and cannot understand why I haven't stumbled upon it before.. Anyway, it is a little more time consuming but well worth the effort.

Here is the fabric from one of the other skirts. I have been doing alot of reading about proportion and such and this pattern suits my frame I, apparently cannot wear dainty prints. This fabric was interesting as it looks like linen but it is fact a synthetic blend so it doesn't crease as linen does, and it hangs beautifully.
I tried to take a pic of the third fabric but it just won't show correctly. It is a fawn/beige coloured middle weight cotton with white pin stripes. Looks good anyway.

Back to School- Term 1, Week 1, day 1.

Firstly, Thank you to Cindy and Julia for this award. I had taken a long break from blogging and had missed it. (teenagers aaaaaaaaaaaah!)
So I have got back into the swing of things and was chuffed that this headed my way.

I visit alot of blogs and have seen this award being passed around. I love checking out everyones sewing and it often prompts me make something from being inspired by you all.

First on my list of nominations (in no particular order) is:

Tearsa from That's Sew Live . Tearsa is a news anchor from Knoxville in the states. She and her hubby are expecting their first baby next week so I hope this does not keep her from her sewing for to long! (all been there) I love her style !

I also enjoy checking in on Behind the Seams, this sewing room has great dresses recently and always in styles that I admire.

Allison lives in Hong Kong with her hubby and cats, she recently made a trip to Melbourne and added to her fabric stash. (not sure if she is Australian ) Check out her blog AllisonC Sewing Gallery Right now she is working on a BWOF waistcoat that is fab!

Tany is out of this world. This girl can put together a jacket with skill I can only dream about. She is so clever as being Portugese all posts are written in Portuguese and English. Check out her latest gorgeous creation here with envy, like I do.

Carolyn is another gifted gal. This lady whips up garment after garment, perfect fit each time. She looks great because of this as each piece fits her shape perfectly. Each time I read her new post it reminds me that I am not utilising my time properly. LOL

From what I can gather this blog has three contributors who all appeal to me. I have only found them recently and they are Australian too!

Laura is also another clever lady who has just completed the most gorgeous Black and white trench coat.

Thank you to each of you keeping my creative juices flowing.

Apparently you need to copy the award and paste it to your site with seven blogs you nominate. All approprately linked and such.

All the children were back to school today. Everything went smoothly, lunches made the night before, appropriate bedtimes, new haircuts. lets see what a few weeks brings. I had time on my hands and went and wandered the shops. Grabbed this copy of BWOF as it was the only one available, I have not yet made anything from their magazine. Did some food shopping at the asian grocer, I can spend hours in shops like that. I did manage one load of washing....

AUSTRALIA DAY

The most beautiful harbour in the world...

We had a wonderful Australia Day with close friends. You know the type of friends that become family after years and years. We had a BBQ with lamb chops, sausages, onions, damper, beetroot salad, prawns, lamingtons, tim tams and an Australian cake I made with my daughter Lauren.

It was a stinker of a day, humid and bloody hot. There were a million flies, as if they knew it was Australia day and just had to make a point. Thank god for the swimming pool and endless games of pool volley ball.


Lauren with our cake feeling very pleased with her decorating efforts.

It is time....

Are you getting out the champagne like we are? Although it is our night time while all the action is happening I will catch as much of it live as possible.

Skirts

I have been cleaning out my pattern draw (oh dear, there were to many of those 'what was I thinking' patterns) I stumbled across this New Look 6843 and recalled I had had success with it ages ago.

I am a big skirt wearer and am always wanting more in my wardrobe. I cut two out and am just finishing up on the second. Will post when done.

New Machine Update

I thought I would show you all how this machine works without a foot pedal as a few of you asked about it. The buttons are highlighted below in green so you can see they are easy to access and close to the action to make the pressing of the buttons practical as you don't have to move away from your work, this is obvious I know, as why would it be a feature if it wasn't practical, we would just stick with a foot pedal.

The button highlighted in purple gets the machine sewing and also stops it, you simply regulate the speed with the slide tab highlighted in pink. The green highlighted button reverses the stitch and the yellow highlighted button changes the needle from an up or down position, eg, if you want the needle to always be in the down position when you stop sewing. When I was doing my shopping around for a new machine the woman who demonstrated this one for me said this feature is always a seller. I have only used it for a few days and so far it works great. I just had to get used to the different coordination as I am so used to a foot pedal.

x x x

Sew Excited!

Today I got myself a new sewing machine. I have had my eye on this Brother for a while and have done a stack of research and asking around. I got the best deal you can imagine. This machine retails for $599, I got it for a sale price of $399 BUT because I donated my old machine (the dinosaur) to a World Vision charity that revamps sewing machines for Africa, I also got $75 towards a new machine, overall I parted with only $324!!! So chuffed about that. Anyway of course I tore it out of the box, tried every stitch and got nothing else done basically. The coolest feature about this machine is that there is no need for a foot pedal. Will see how that goes but it does seem practical so far.

BC-2500Easy to use Computerised Sewing Machine


The BC-2500 is a mid-range computerised sewing machine. Featuring an LCD stitch selection screen, all stitch settings are automatic but you can over ride settings. A larger bobbin and a needle threader will assist to sew fast and for a longer time before having to change the bobbin. The range of features include:·

60 built in stitches·
7 one step buttonholes·
Decorative, Heirloom and Quilting stitches·
Patchwork (piecing) stitches·
7mm stitch width·
Auto stitch adjustment settings·
Electronic speed control·
Dual LED lamps for day time sewing·
Needle and bobbin threaders·
Presser foot leveling button·
2 spool holders for twin sewing·
Drop feed button ·
Free arm for sleeves and cuffs·
Needle stop position button·
7 feet included ·
Many optional feet available
RRP $599.00* incl. GST (not for me!)

x x x

Sewing for Teenagers

Our house (the girls) have been watching Project Runway and this prompted my 16 year old to go through the pattern catalogue online. After another trip to spotlight and flicking through the Simplicity pattern book Rebecca fell in love with the design studio for Juniors'/Juniors Plus Simplicity 3807, because she could choose from all the options. After promising that she would sew the whole garment herself I relented and we went and chose fabric. (I have a thing about only sewing for myself) Of course the fabric had to be pink, she was the kind of child that spent hours with Barbie and had the pink Barbie car, and would go food shopping in a princess outfit.

After two days of cutting out, ironing on the interfacing and all kinds of laborious tasks, she was ready to park herself in front of the sewing machine and get on with it. This is where it all started to go downhill and I am convinced it was all part of the plan.

"mum, it won't sew properly"
"Mum, the instructions don't make any sense."
"Mum , I have to unpick this ...again!"

Then, all of a sudden it was test block and she couldn't possibly spend a few hours on the project. Study was a huge priority........sigh.....of course! lol

So I finished it, simply to get the cotton off the machine so I could get back to my own top I had interrupted.

Anyway, she loves it and we laughed that she looks similar to when she was four years old and just needs patent leather shoes and frilly socks. She wore it last night when we had guests over for dinner and proudly announced to all "I made it myself!" My jaw hit the ground, but in all honesty, if this sews the seed of a burgeoning passion for sewing, I cannot complain. I will firmly lay the ground rules next time(if there will be one) that I am here to help only.

We made this view and the instructions were easy and there are heaps of options to play around with. The only gripe I had was sizing, Even after taking rebecca's measurements the patterns pieces were grosly oversized and just as much dress ended up on the cutting room floor that made up the dress.

x x x

EARTH HOUR

Did you sign up?

x x x

Easter

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We kicked off the loooong weekend with a friday night fondue evening with some friends. It was such fun to have dinner dipping all kinds of morsels into velvety delicious cheese. Saturday was relaxing around the house with children having this friend and that friend over. Sunday we had family at out place for the day then we headed off to some close friends for an Easter feast. I like to have traditions and they usually revolve around food. My Easter sunday feast includes slow cooked lamb with beans - and I mean slow, 10 hours - and a gorgeous chocolate easter cake that is flourless and very mousse like. I also make loads of pickled fish. Might sound extreme to some of you but believe me it is devine! Of course we had enormous amounts of chocolate and the obligitory easter egg hunt that still makes teenagers squeal with delight believe me! I have put some of the chocolate stash in the cupboard because trust me when I say our collection of Easter chocolate is criminal.

I have really been hooked on Project Runway. We are at the end of season 3 and I so want Michael to win. I know we are a little late so no one tell me who the winner is. Season 4 starts next week. Australia is calling for contestants to audition at the moment for out own version and I cannot wait to see the results. I read somewhere that due to programs such as Project Runway, home sewing in now once again in vogue and everyone wants to do it. Go for it I say!

I found this cute link from Adrienne's blog and this is the recipe for my personality.

The Recipe For meg

3 parts Difance 2 parts Humor 1 part Genius Splash of Fearlessness Limit yourself to one serving. This cocktail is strong!

What's" the Recipe for Your Personality?

Hope you all enjoyed your break, I am off to the sewing machine...

x x x

Pay It Forward

I got a wonderful surprise yesterday when I checked the mail and discovered this package, just for me! Lisa from Plain Jane Creations had participated in Pay it Forward and I was one of the lucky recipients. Go check out her site as Lisa is a clever girl and has just had some felted bag patterns developed and up for sale. She has also had one of her designs featured in Yarn magazine, it must have been the fact that Lisa's design featured on the cover that Yarn Magazine have celebrated their first ever sold out issue.

I loved that after I unwrapped the first wrapping there was another inside!

How gorgeous are the colours? I loved this before I even looked inside.

Just gorgeous. I have already bundled some embroidery floss inside and my current project.

I really like the idea of Pay It Forward and if any of you are interested, just mention you like it too and the first three will receive something from me. :)

x x x

Autumn

AARG! I hate the cold weather but as it is now officially Autumn I have decided to embrace the colder months this year. (just wait until it hits winter and ask me if I am still embracing) It was the 1st of march yesterday and I swear the windy weather arrived on the dot with a hint of coolness in the air, lending me to think about sewing for the cooler times ahead. I have a reliable 3/4 length sleeve cardigan in my wardrobe in neutral colours. I dragged it out last night to go to a school musicals competition that one of my daughters was in. (her house won by the way!) I recalled seeing a pattern for a cardigan while flicking through the store catalogues a while ago and being rather impressed as I had not seen a pattern for cardigans before. This morning I spent ages going through the big four until I stumbled upon it. I am really happy with this pattern as there are so many versions of a cardigan you can have in your wardrobe, without the granny factor of course, they are such a versatile addition to your wardrobe. I recently got my hands on a book by Sarah Foster and she takes you page by page through building your wardrobe to suit your lifestyle, of course. I like her take on the classic cardigan, she has a version in gorgeous lurex knit with threads of sparkle through it that looks amazing for evenings. So today I am going to get my hands on this pattern and start searching for the fabric for cardie no:1. I love the option of a three quarter length or below the hips. I would probably leave it open at the front but there are options for a tie or front closures.

Simplicity 3634

This issue of Sew Stylish is on the newstands nere in Australia and I have been collecting these magazines since I discovered them. I am not sure about this one though... It has alot of projects that I am not sure I would actually use. Has anyone got this issue and do you like it? What suggestions do you have as to applying the projects to your sewing? Your comments would really be appreciated as I am not sure if I should spend the $15 + on this mag.

x x x