Three skirts, a dress and a pair of yoga pants for the whole of May?

Better get cracking !

Thanks to this post on sew retro I now have 15 (yes that's right fifteen!) patterns to add to my wardrobe.

Plus because I got excited with all the money I saved, I bought the Colette Beignet skirt from modernretrotextiles.com.au.   Which I'm very excited about because everyone who's ever used a Colette pattern raves and raves about it.   And all the photos of the finished items on peoples blogs etc. always look great.

But funny really, because I need tops not bottoms. 

And if you havent joined Me Made May you should.   Talk about motivated.   Can't stop... must sew...

lore
x

I've joined Me Made May

Thanks to Zoe for kicking off a challenge on her blog here.

Its basically a push to create garments and try as best as you can to go hand made in May.   I'm riding on a high after my red dress, so getting all those patterns and fabrics out of my stash that have languished after the initial burst of enthusiasm.

This one isn't exciting at all.  Just a pencil skirt with a nice if corporate-dull fabric, but if successful is destined to become a work staple.  And for my personal indulgence a hot pink lining !   I can see it happening with boots / heels / flats.   I'm doing knee length as my mini skirt wearing days are over.   But I did have a successful version of the above knee version of this skirt many years ago.  The pattern is dated 1996 so it must have been then, I would have been 31, how long ago that seems. 

Simplicity 6171 shift dress circa 1965

Thank you so much to the generosity of Kaye who has been giving away patterns on the Sew Retro blog.

I picked up this great simple shift dress from her giveaway

 I decided to go with the sleeveless dress on the right.

The pattern offered fitting challenges.  It appeared originally that I was the right fit for this patten but I ended up bringing the sides in by another 3cms, extending the darts in the back to higher up on my shoulders and increasing and lowering them to to account for my swayback.  apart from that it was a good fit!
The fabric I used was one recently added to my stash from Spotlight.  A 1.5 metres of a 1.5 metre wide stretch polished cottonny looking thing.  Not sure of the composition.  Whole lot cost me about $12.

This is my side seam altered after many backwards and forwards to my mirror -  in 1.5 centimetre increments.  And the back dart increase by about double at this stage.  Further changes were made to this dart.

And the final look

Thanks so much Kaye for the pattern.

I hope to attack the others I got  from you next!

lore
x

New Look 6933 - Girls cape

My daughter has been invited to a ghost party at Quarantine Station.   What to wear?

hmm

After a bit of brainstorming we decided that any great costume may end up being covered up as its late at night and they have to wear something warm.  So how about a huge cape?  Black ?  With red lining ??

 

I posted this to pattern review:  

Pattern Description: Girls dress and cape. I made the cape.

Pattern Sizing: Multi size from 3 to 8. My daughter is 10 1/2 though, so I upsized and altered a little.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Its such a great cape - I couldnt have bought anything like it anywhere.

Fabric Used:Panne velvet. Lining is polyester.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I lengthened it as we were going for a floor length cape. I simply used 1/4 inch seams rather than the 1.5cm seams on the pattern. This upsized it big enough for my daughter. I stinged on the fabric and only bought 2.5 metres of velvet. I knew I was making it far longer than the pattern and even though I made a toile and measured it I got it a bit wrong. The inside facing is supposed to be the same fabric as the cape, but I just used black cotton from my stash.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?I'm sure I'll get a request to make it again from my happy customer (daughter)

Conclusion: Even though this pattern is out of print, I did find it still available on the internet. Its a great pattern for a fancy dress party.

We're loving twirling in it !

Isn't it a great cape?

Now I just have to hem it and finish off the armhole slits.   And make something nice for underneath!

l
x

PS This is the pattern:

Peanut butter chocolate pillows -Vegan cookies invade your cookie jar

I seriously love this book.  This is my best yet recipe.   And I thought my peanut/oatmeal ones were the best.

These have totally superceded them.

 

 Seriously the most yummy biscuit out there.   Straight from the oven.  Hot and delicious.

They have been kind enough to reproduce the recipe on the web here, but get yourself the book because you will become the best damned biscuit baker that ever lived.

These were a only a tiny bit fiddly - but the result!

roll the fondant into a ball and flatten out some cookie dough,  wrap the dough around the ball.

put on tray and bake

When they turn out PERFECT, scream with joy and share them with everyone saying, have one these are divine. 

Pattern love - Kwik Sew 2705 - dressing gowns (bathrobes) for kids

I've made this pattern a gazillion times and I just added a review to patternreview.com. (you may have to join... but if you're not a member already - why aren't you ?!   Its a great resource for getting tips on commercially available patterns.  Sometimes I've looked at the results of peoples attempts and said 'um, I don't think so!')   But this is definitely not one of those patterns:

I mean bathrobes aren't high art, but they are functional and my kids love 'em.  I have made this out of fleece:

and satin

and assorted cotton prints / broderie anglaise... unfortunately no pix.  Made it in one of those awful slippery hologrammatic sequin shimmery fabrics.  Now THAT was a disaster!   Daughter who requested it hated it and it was like sewing deflated balloons.  NEVER AGAIN!

But if you've got any young children buy this pattern now and trace it off however you like to do it.  Kwik Sew patterns don't come on that flimsy brown tissue that every dressmaker has learnt to despise.   No way, these suckers come on full on hard white paper that is meant to be traced.  They know you want to use this pattern over and over again or their very reason for being is called into question.  That's why I love Kwik Sew so much.  No multi sizes like 4,5,6, then 6,7,8 tthen 8,9,10 then 10,11,12, then 12, 13 14 for them.  Nuh uh!  You get the whole lot on one pattern 4 (toddler) through to 14 (young lady or it happens, my very petite favourite fiend Ngaire).   Now that's value for money.

Personally - I trace onto sew in interfacing.  Its stiff and sits on the fabric nicely to rotary cut around the pattern pieces over and over.  I do this with all my patterns.  What if you cut into size 10 and you're a 12 in that pattern?  Too late, you've cut off the variations.... drama.    I bought a 50 metre roll of the cheapest nastiest interfacing for $50 from mrecht.  You don't want anything hard to work with.  This stuff is stiff, easy to see through and INDESTRUCTIBLE!!     

But I digress.

The pattern lasts until 14 years old and [maybe] too cool to wear a dressing gown that mum made.  I doubt that though, you can do this in so many gorgeous fabrics - unlike your choices in the shops.

It occurs to me now that a glamorous version for a young lady to wear would be this done in a red silk with black silk bindings and cuffs?!  Oh my girls are growing up... cue adolescent tantrum.  Well hopefully 2 more years before then.

l
x

Scaring the birds off !

We've been seeing a lot more birds in my backyard lately.  Not the nice variety.  The Indian Myna variety.  Squawk squawk.

AND

They've been sitting on my washing line and crapping on my washing.  And leaving poop on my pavers.

ENOUGH!

A quick google was in order "how to scare birds off my washing line / discouraging birds / birds pooing on my washing".  These finally led me to someone who suggested googling "bird scarer".  wow.  did that pay off!   Apparently all you have to do it discourage them by hanging some bright mobiles and a picture of a hawk.

 

I laminated a sillhouette image of a hawk on A4 paper and stuck it on the water tank which the birds will see as they're coming in to take up position.

I  made a mobile out of old cds stuck together so they're rainbow sides are out - always beautiful - and a bit of fishing line.  They spin and catch the sun.  I had nowhere to put them actually over the washing line so I hung it in a tree beside the line and formulated big plans for a wire that would run over the top of the line with some hanging every few inches or so.

But you know what?

NOT ONE BIRD HAS COME SINCE.

The outcome was absolutely instantaneous !

Stoked

lore