Iris shorts

Product Disclaimer: Consumers should be advised that these photos are horrid because its about 12 degrees outside so I had to take them inside.

*Clears throat*

Here we have yet another faithful pattern from Colette, which I might add has nominated me in the top 20 for the Reader's Choice catergory of their Laurel Competition! Woo!

My first pink pair are made out of a heavy textured cotton remnant and floral cotton for the pocket lining.

I chose to do a lapped zip instead of invisible because, well, I hate invisible zips. So. Much. They never sit right and I can never get them past joins in the fabric. And when I try they break. Hate. Them.

The lapped zips I've made in the past haven't been as perfect as I'd like, so in my second pair of shorts I followed this tutorial. For the second pair I also added 1 inch to the crotch as the pink pair were a little tight around there...

This black is made from a bit of left over cotton sateen and spotty cotton for the pocket lining. I also scalloped the hems because its a very cute finish! Only downside to this pair is that I was concentrating so hard on making the lapped zip perfect that it's facing the wrong way..

 

I will be graduating in about 2 months so next I be working on my dress for the ceremony! Very excited!

Sunday best

To close this week I've got the last two entries for the Laural competition. Some of the other entries are really impressive and have given me lots of ideas for future projects!

This blue version is a cotton drill nautical look, with wide collar and grograin ribbon embellishment.  I drafted the collar myself, normally I shy away from drafting my own alterations but it turned out well and I am happy with the finish, particularly the way it sits at the shoulders. The sleeved I used are from the Colette Macaron pattern - which I couldn't for the life of me get to not pucker at the armhole. I hate easing in sleeves but think I might have found a way to take out some of the ease for future attempts.

My last entry was following the instructions of the original pattern with a paisley print and a contrast bias edge for the neck and arms. This pattern really is a stash buster, as I was able to make this paisley dress with a scrap piece that wasn't enough to make anything else.

To round out the week my friend Anita and I hit up the Flemington Market. While the crafts and preserves were great to look at, turns out we were only really in it for the food. And the dutch pancakes were the.best.thing.ever. Will definitely be going back for these! It was also great to get an idea of how people present their product and what people are interested at purchasing at markets (food mostly). I've always had a keen interest in doing a market stall with my own crafts but finding a product and niche market is half the battle so as Anita said, I was doing "Market Research".

Mad men challenge 2

It was a bit of a last minute decision to enter Julia Bobbin's contest this year but with an extension until tomorrow, I thought between then and Friday was enough time to whip something up.

I based my dress on the gem tones of Joan Harris in this outfit.

I really envy this woman's wardrobe.

This dress is based on the Colette Laurel pattern and also doubles as an entry into their competition. I added the pockets from the pattern and the extra pink welt. I lengthened the sleeves from half to 3/4 for a winter friendly design and also manipulated the original collar to include the pink contrast and bow.

Tessuti Cape

It's been a while since my last post, but this just means I've been doing a lot of sewing, rather than having nothing to post about. I'm working on three pieces for the Laurel Sewing Contest and that has been taking up most of my time designing and sewing.  

All will be reveled closer to the end of the month!

In the meant time you can marvel at my Tessuti Cape! I used a BETTINA LIANO black wool for the body and a wool/polyester for the lining. I was inspired by Julia Bobbin's beautiful cashmere cape and really wanted to be prepared for Melbourne's 80%-of-the-year winter. 

I loosely followed her suggestions on Pattern Review to line the jacket rather than doing the wool binding technique suggested in the pattern. I am really happy with the result, especially seeing as I spent several hours hand sewing it in. I also understitched the facings very carefully to hold the shape better. I'm not sure if Julia did that or topstitched but I'm very happy with the clean look the understitching gives. 

I chose to use toggles closures on this cape and a tartan lining, both features reminiscent  of a jacket I had a child. The patches holding the toggles were going to be leather but it was difficult and costly to get my hands on anything decent so inside I opted for using the wool remnants and sandwiched the cord in between two patches.

The sides are closed using 18mm snap fasteners - I was a bit nervous about buttonholing the beautiful designer wool but these are very strong and do the job perfectly.

Terrific Tartan

With the heat that has been plaguing Melbourne in recent weeks, wool tartan wouldn't really be what you want to wear - but I've made 101 summer dresses and skirts etc - it was time to improve my winter wardrobe.

I started with a fitted number from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing, the square neckline variation of the Sultry Sheath dress, The Wintertime Jumper. I was very excited about this dress, matching as many lines as I could and trying a lapped zip but I can only really give my efforts a 7/10. Unfortunately the neckline I drafted doesn't really cover my chest properly which makes it very awkward to wear without a top underneath. The turtle neck in these pictures left me struggling for breath because there wasnt quite enough between me and the dress for a thick wool jumper.

The dress is fully lined and I used a lace trim to hem the skirt lining.

Second was a pair of tailored pants from a vintage pattern, Butterick 9469.

This pattern was a pain the arse. Basically because when I first tried them on it was like wearing a pair of clown pants. Even though the pattern measurements were smaller that my actual hip measurement. After taking a significant amount of fabric out of the leg width I am quite happy with them. Could improve my posture though to make my rear less enormous. I'm quite small in real life. I have never used a pattern as vintage as this - the entire instructions for all four pieces of the pattern are on the back on only 1 sheet of paper and all the pieces are pre cut and use hole punches instead of markings.

The lines are matched as much as I could without giving myself a migraine. And the pockets are called "Western Pockets" something I've never seen/heard of before.

Ps - It was about 100 degree in the turtle neck and long pants!

Finally!

Even though I haven't been blogging I have been sewing like mad! This summer I've done a lot of projects for my aunty, making some skirts and tops and some dresses for my nieces. Amongst this I've done some items for myself but working my summer job has meant that time has been limited.

Nevertheless I've whipped up both versions of Colette Violet because all I have is t-shirts and I desperately need to fill holes in my wardrobe.

Both versions were made in lightweight cottons and were very straight forward. The most challenging part of this top was getting the sleeves to ease in without sewing any pleats. This worked out much better on the long sleeved version.

I am particulary proud of my line matching! Love the peter pan collar!