Bellatrix Blazer (and some not-so-quiet pants).

Oh hi! It's been a while. I've been really sick this winter. Laryngitis, pharyngitis, tonsillitis, Influenza A and a sinus infection. It's been horrible, including a visit to emergency at hospital when I couldn't breathe properly. Blogging has simply been beyond my head space, but today, on this gorgeous Fathers' Day, I decided it was time. Michael and Little M are doing some sticking and gluing in the back sunroom and I'm taking some time to update you on one of my favourite projects of the year.

This year has all been about jackets and coats. After I finished my French Jacket I decided I wanted to sew a classic blazer. I bought the Bellatrix Blazer by Papercut Patterns as I thought it fitted the aesethetic I was after. Classic, with a bit of funk.

I made it in a very heavy linen from Rathdowne Fabrics, with a remnant of green silk-satin lining from Tessuti.

I made the size small, with two adjustments. One, I did a 'full bicep' adjustment (yay for my gym work paying off, I love a good toned arm). I followed the method in 'Fit for Real People' by Patti Palmer and Marta Alto. An excellent, clearly written book that I would recommend in a heartbeat. My second adjustment was to take in the upper centre back by approximately 2cm. I had some minor gaping.

The pattern calls for pretty much each piece to be interfaced. For this version, I only interfaced the collar and under collar. This linen is really heavy and I wanted it to be able to get all creased and soft like a linen does after some wear.

I added shoulder pads and reinforced the sleeve head (the pattern doesn't call for this). I used very slim shoulder pads from Tessuti - these are the only shoulder pads I will ever use. They are very soft and easy to shape to a coat or jacket.

The button is from my stash.

Check out that green lining! I do love a silk lining. So soft against the skin. I had this dry cleaned before wearing it to bully that collar into submission - I really think it needs it so you don't get a sharp edge on the collar.

I highly recommend this pattern. It is a surprisingly easy make. All the pattern pieces just come together so well. I've actually made two more - one in this style and one with the shorter peplum.

I wore this yesterday to my birthday lunch. We went to Cafe Vue at the Heide Modern Museum. It was excellent. I had a lobster roll. Yum!! I wore it with my new Clover pants. I am still somewhat unsure about these pants. I posted a picture on Instagram asking people whether it would look good as cigarette pants. I got a resounding yes! They are extremely loud pants, but I guess that is the trend at the moment. I've got enough leftover of this fabric to make a simple skirt.

Look at that young girl's pose there. She is in full 'threenager' mode at the moment. Never a dull moment for me - so much negotiation and attitude.

What's next on your sewing list? I need to get sewing the dress I'm wearing to the nurse's ball I'm going to as my sister's date in October - her fiancé has opted out - hehehe.

Anise Jacket (and bonus Papercut Pleated Pants)

About 14 months ago, I started an Anise Jacket. I muslined it, bought the wool/cashmere fabric, silk lining, thread, interfacing etc. I started sewing and trialled bound buttonholes on scraps (my fabric was far too thick for bound buttonholes - at least at my skill level). I decided I'd get do something else with the buttonholes. I basically sewed the jacket to the point of buttonholes and buttons. I put it on my dressmaker's form and admired it for the next 12 months. That's right. I didn't touch it for 12 more months until I decided it was cold, and I needed jackets.

I investigated getting the buttonholes done professionally. There is one person in Melbourne who offers that service that I could find, and I was informed by someone who is 'in the know' that that person has been known to completely ruin garments people have paid them to sew buttonholes in. That meant one thing only.... I would have to sew these buttonholes myself.

Cue a few sleepless nights (joking... sort of), me reading every internet resource available, talking to Kate at Buttonmania (and buying required resources for hand stitched buttonholes), and obsessive reading of Claire Schaeffer's Couture Sewing Techniques. I then started them. Only to absolutely hate my first four attempts. Let me tell you, unpicking silk thread on a very thick wool/cashmere is not fun at all. I may have had a small hissy fit. I left them for about a month. And then picked everything up again, wore a small running head torch on my head (doing fine stitches on that bloody wool/cashmere was really, really hard to focus on) and got them done.

I now have an Anise jacket that has been serving me well on these cold Melbourne days.

The fabrics were purchased from Darn Cheap Fabrics. They actually have a very nice selection of wool coatings. This is a wool cashmere blend and was only $20/m. The colour is lush.

I really like the 60's vibe this jacket gives off.

Awesome silk lining. I am slightly obsessed with silk as a lining.

Back view. If I knew what I did now when sewing this, I would have adjusted that under collar piece to account for turn of cloth. Ah well, you live and learn.

The buttonholes. They're not perfect, but they're okay. Liveable. The buttons came from Clegs.

I did not keep notes around making this jacket. The only adjustment I remember doing was to take some out of the CB. Apart from that, I made a size 8. Other things I would do in the future is to add in a sleeve head piece, maybe use a slim shoulder pad, and investigate why there are odd wrinkles coming down from the top of the sleeve (I have seen this on every Anise made - something weird with the pattern?).

My Anise was an odd make, mostly due to the extremely disjointed sewing process, but I enjoy wearing it now. I receive compliments every time I wear it - I think mostly due to the lovely colour. I don't think I'll make it again though. It is a fun jacket, but not a style I am totally gaga in love with.

Speaking of being gaga in love, meet my new Papercut Pleated Pants. I won't bore you with the details of these, seeing as I have made them before, but I absolutely love these. They're made from a black viscose-blend suiting remnant I got from Tessuti, and they are my perfect pants. Slightly slouchy, they sit at the perfect point on my waist, are very comfortable and look awesome with my patent brogues. I'm so glad I revisited this pattern, and will be making more.

I better get back to the Bellatrix Blazer I'm making for a special event coming up though - what are you making at the moment?

Red Moneta

Like everyone else in blogland, I decided to jump on the Moneta bandwagon. I almost didn't as last year I made the Dixie DIY Ballet Dress twice. To be truthful however, I have never been super happy with either of those makes, primarily due to the skirt almost hugging my tummy. There is nowhere to hide in those dresses, especially when you've eaten. I don't like feeling like I have to suck my tummy in. So I thought I've give Moneta a shot, given it has a gathered skirt.

I REALLY should have edited this photo before uploading it. Untidy bedroom in the background ahoy!

I used a very soft cotton knit from Clegs. The pattern asks for too much fabric -  I made this out of about 1.6m of fabric.

I made a size Small, and lengthened it 2cm at the waist, and 2cm in the skirt. I did this as the cotton knit is not at all weighty, and other sewists had noted heavier knits pulled the bodice down, eliminating any need for lengthening. Obviously, I had the opposite problem. When I made my Jaywalk Moneta/V1027 mash-up, I didn't lengthen the bodice as the viscose Jaywalk fabric is quite weighty.

I also used the extra-large width at the shoulders only - using a larger shoulder width is a standard adjustment for me now.

I am pretty happy with this dress. There is one area I'm not happy with - the excess fabric in the upper-side-bust:

I've noticed this issue on almost every Moneta made up. Anyone know why this is happening? It's not enough for me to really worry about it in terms of wearability, but I am fascinated regarding why this is happening.

I've got two more of these planned. They are just so easy to wear and are a pretty cute silhouette. Are you going to get your Moneta on?

A Liberty Laurel

Thank you everyone for your well wishes on my last post. Unfortunately things have gotten worse around here... I ended up in the Emergency Department on friday with stomach ulcers and oesophageal spasms from prolonged antibiotic use (damn you sinuses!). I thought I was having a heart attack! Awful times. Luckily my lovely friends were able to take Little M for the night - I'm so glad she didn't have to see me in that much pain.

While I'm still feeling pretty unwell, I summoned up the energy to attend Mr Sew Brunswick's 40th Birthday Party on saturday evening. I was back and in bed by about 8.30pm though!

Luckily I had a new Laurel to wear that I had finished before my emergency visit - it was a special birthday party after all!

I made it in Liberty Tana Lawn called 'Caesar' that I bought from Shaukat.

I paired it with another Red Phonenix necklace - the one with the red beads, and a jet beads necklace I bought ages ago from an antique shop in Paddington in Brisbane. I got the Red Phoenix one for Mothers' Day - Little M has excellent taste!!

I made the view with the cute little ruffle on the sleeves:

Pretty sweet huh? I made the size 8 in exactly the same way as I did my Lace Laurel, however I find the sleeves on this version much tighter. I don't know why - I guess different fabrics behave in different ways?

I underlined the dress in silk cotton, but I find it stuck to my stockings and the singlet I wore underneath. Annoying. At least it will be good come spring/summer.

So - that's my newest frock. I am now taking a break from pretty things like Laurel dresses and sewing myself some long-sleeved t-shirts, jumpers and thick Anita Ponti Pants. Because Melbourne is FREEZING at the moment!!!

What are you sewing for winter? Or summer - you lucky ducks!

Lace Laurel: My Sewcie Tea Dress

Quite some time ago I bought a remnant of blue lace from Tessuti. It had been sitting in my stash, as I didn't really know what to do with it. And then Melanie announced that Sewcie Tea was taking place! A high tea event with sewers - what a perfect opportunity to wear my blue lace!

I ummed and ahhed over which pattern to use. I had visions of a fitted bodice with a circle skirt, but the reality was that I didn't have that much fabric. I was also really reluctant to have the hem of a circle skirt show through, as I knew I wouldn't be able to use the selvedge.

Then Colette Patterns released Laurel - a shift dress. It was a pattern-fabric match made in heaven. The bonus is also that I know I will get a lot of wear out of this lacy dress.

I made the underlined version. I used anti-static lining from Tessuti in a antique-y silver colour. I found choosing the lining colour very difficult - thank you to Bree from Tessuti for helping.

I made a muslin and made the following alterations:

• I made a size 8 at the shoulders and in the sleeves and a size 6 every where else. Maybe a size 4 through the waist - I had to take it in quite a bit there, but I did it on the dress rather than on the pattern, so I don't have an accurate record of the sizing in each part. 
• I also had to take 6cm out of the neck at the back. I did this by taking 1cm out each side of the zip, and then folding the rest out above the back dart by creating a small dart (I don't actually have a neck dart on the dress, I just folded it out like a dart). I had to slash the back dart up a little (essentially making it a wee bit longer) to get the pattern piece to sit correctly. 

I wore it with my wedding shoes and jewellery. My shoes almost cost as much as my wedding dress (!) - they are Guiseppe Zanotti shoes and are divine. I bought them at Jean Brown in Brisbane over 5 years ago now! My jewellery was made by a local Brisbane designer, Chelsea De Luca (I believe she has a website), and are fabulous art deco pieces. I love being able to wear them again.

Sewcie Tea was fabulous. Here are a few pictures I 'borrowed' from sewbrunswick.blogspot.com and Melanie:

All 26 of us - didn't we look fine!

Lara (thornberry), Anna (blogless Anna), me, Leith (Sew Brunswick)

Our table - what a gorgeous bunch! 

Mingling - me, Kat, Lizzy, Rachel

All the details of yesterday are on Melanie's blog - thank you to Melanie for organising such a wonderful afternoon - I had a blast, and I know everyone else did too! 

Mmmmm~Meringue

Most of my clothing these days has to be play-friendly, dirt-friendly, and most importantly, comfortable. I can't be swanning around in beautiful frocks anymore unfortunately, because they're likely to end up covered in banana, drool, and all manner of other tasty substances. Bless Little M's cotton socks - I love that little messy bub to bits.

I got the Colette Pattern's Sewing Handbook for Christmas, and am itching to sew all the garments - especially Pastille, but I am going to wait until I stop breastfeeding, as I'm sure my bust size will change. So, in the mean time, I sewed the Meringue skirt - it ticks play-friendly, dirt-friendly, and comfortable.

I made it in a heavy dark denim (no stretch) that I got from Darn Cheap Fabrics for $5/m. I used well under a metre. I had a bit of a fitting debacle with this one - I thought I was a size 8 after the fit of my Ginger Skirt, so I traced off and made the 8. It was rather large on me. So Ruthy got it. I made a 6, and after increasing the back darts slightly and lengthening all the darts, it fits beautifully. And I lengthened it by 4cm.

The skirt is simple to sew. The only challenging aspect is the scallops. I think a beginner might find them difficult. I didn't follow the instructions regarding clipping and grading them - I trimmed the seam allowance right back and zig-zagged them. I think  it is also important to keep in mind that you need a very stable fabric for the outer, and a light-weight fabric for the facings. Otherwise the scallops will not hold their shape or press well. I used cotton voile for my facings.

So... a very simple skirt to play in that looks cute - what do you think? I wore it to a picnic down at Merri Creek last weekend. Little M had a lovely time - she loves being outdoors and loves playing on grass. We're heading off down there this arvo too - hope you're getting some outdoor time this weekend too!

P.S. - the shirt is another Sorbetto, made in cotton voile from Rathdowne Fabrics.

Ginger and Sorbetto - perfect summer wear

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my last post - I'm feeling very loved. If I was more organised, I'd have loved to take part in Debi's Sew Grateful week, but darling Little M is teething like nothing else, so I've been busy holding what is usually a very active and non-cuddly baby this week. Kinda blissful for me given she's usually not so cuddly (just a pity it's cos she's in pain!). I do have a giveaway planned for very soon though, so listen out.

Prior to this week however, Little M has been very obligingly having huge lunch time naps. Which means sewing time for me! I bought this lovely orange cotton sateen from Spotlight a while ago for $5/m, and thought it would look wonderful as an A-Line. So I made up the Colette Patterns Ginger skirt.

I like this skirt. It came together easily, though I found I had to go up a size -- did anyone else find it runs a smidge small? Usually I'm uniformly the one size in Colette Patterns.

I love the way the facing is attached in this skirt, and after reading the instructions some time ago, have been using it on all my skirts. You sew the facing down next to the invisible zip using a regular zipper foot. Am I dumb that I didn't think to do this before? I'd been hand-stitching the facing down. Ah well.

Do you like my personalised clothing tags? Michael got them for me for Christmas! Aren't they awesome? And extremely useful for telling which is the back of a skirt! Thank you my love - I'd been hankering for some for quite a while.

I also made this black cotton voile Sorbetto. I made the bias binding in the same fabric, and used french seams everywhere. It is very light and breezy. I got the voile from Rathdowne Fabrics and Remnants - I think it has some bargains, but feel it has gotten more expensive now that it has exposure via Project Runway.

In other news, I am thoroughly sick of my hair. I am thinking about cutting it very short - a la Jean Seberg - what do you think? My reservations are that the last time I had my hair that short I weighed a good 6 kilos less and my face looked quite different. Will it suit me?

Isn't she gorgeous? Pity about the cigarette - though I guess it was the done thing at the time. 

A Very Swanky Sorbetto

I've recently jumped on the Sorbetto bandwagon - have you? It is such a cute and easy pattern and is free!

I made this in a beautiful black eyelet from Tessuti that I bought two weeks after Little M was born. I needed to line it, so I used some magenta chiffon from my stash. The binding is the same gorgeous Mokuba wool binding I used for my NY Cape.

I didn't have quite enough of the eyelet to make the full pleat at the front, so I decreased it by approximately 1.5cm. I also stitched the pleat down as the thickness of the eyelet, and the double layer made it stand out from the body too much. I basted the eyelet and chiffon together and treated it as one piece of fabric - I thought about doing a separate lining but thought it would look funny through the eyelet. I made a straight size 6 with no alterations bar decreasing the pleat and stitching it down - though I did hand-stitch on the binding so it looked neat.

Next time I was thinking about lowering the neckline a smidge -what do you think? I really like the Sorbetto top - so easy and cute - I think I'll be making more - perhaps in cotton though so it is more airy for this crazy heat we've been having!

Clover Pants and Jasmine Blouse

Ah, home sweet home. We've been back about two weeks now, and while I really didn't want to come home, now that I'm here it is lovely. I'm reunited with my pup, have been to Brisbane to see my old friends (had a great engagement party to go to) and see my family, and have caught up with my Melbourne friends. And it's Christmas time! I love Christmas, and this year will be especially exciting with Little M.

Since we got back I have repaired the zip on my Clover pants. What a mission! So.. here is my review.

These pants are easy to put together, but challenging to fit. I ended up making 3 muslins before sewing the 'good' version. In the end I gave up trying to get a completely smooth look. I think I'd still be going if I did. 

See the wrinkling around the crotch? And around the knees? I tried like the devil to fix that, but no dice. I made a size 6 for my first muslin, out of material that had stretch. I didn't like the fit, so I cut another muslin out of different stretch fabric to see if it made a difference. The size 6 were huge. So I cut a size 4, and made the following adjustments:

• Lengthened both the front and back crotch by 3.5cm each. 
• Graded between a 2 and a 4 for the waistband.
• Added a smidgeon (probably about 0.5cm) to the inner thighs, tapering to nothing at about the bottom of the knee. 

The fabric I used is a grey stretch (2%) denim from Tessuti, with a bit of a stripe in it. I love the fabric. These pants do stretch out quite a bit after a day of wear, but I think they still look fine.

I desperately want to make a black pair (got a lovely remnant from Tessuti that will be perfect) -- but am thinking of reducing the crotch length by about 0.5cm to only 3cm. What do you think? At the moment they sit on my belly button - I think they're meant to sit below?

I also made the Jasmine blouse to go with these pants. It is a lovely blouse and easy to construct. I made it from a very sweet and very sheer swiss dot cotton (also from Tessuti). I made a size 6 -- I love breastfeeding, but I do not love the increase in my bust size. I'm hoping when I wean Little M that they will go back to my normal size and this blouse will be a bit looser across the bust.

I'd love your advice regarding the pants - I've never had to fit to such an extent before.. and while the Colette Patterns' sew-a-long for the Clovers was wonderful, I found it hard to 'diagnose' my fit issues. I think I need someone there with me to say 'oh yes, those knee wrinkles are due to (insert fit issue)'. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Black Bow Beignet

I've made the lovely Beignet pattern before in red linen. But I need some wardrobe basics, and a black skirt was on my list. So I got Beignet out again and made it in the same heavy black linen from Tessuti as my 40's wide-leg trousers are made.

I used a green cotton poplin from my stash to line it, and some buttons from good old Spotlight. I made it in a size 6 with no alterations - a bit of a surprise as I usually have to add length.

I don't really have anything new to add regarding this pattern. The most difficult thing about it is sewing the lining and the skirt together at the front facing - there are two opposing curves that require careful pinning and a lot of patience. Apart from that, there are many pieces to put together, but they are not difficult.

I did two things differently - instead of sewing in the cotton tape around the waistband the pattern calls for I sewed a wide piece of grosgrain ribbon. I did this as the waist of my red linen Beignet stretches out quite significantly. The wide grosgrain ribbon seems to really hold it in place.

The second thing I did differently was sew one of Tilly's bow belts using her excellent tutorial. I think the bow belt makes the skirt all the more cute!

This skirt will get a lot of wear - a black skirt is so versatile. I am really loving all of my Colette patterns at the moment - do you have patterns in your collection you faithfully return to?