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.

Handmade Christmas (and Birthday) Gifts for Little Girls

I decided (in a particularly silly moment) that I would sew as many Christmas and birthday gifts as possible this year. This culminated in me cutting out:

• 12 Oliver + S Popover Sundresses
• 6 Oliver + S Bubble Dresses
• 3 Softie Dolls from 70 Piggies
• 2 Gabby Dresses
• Numerous elastic waist skirts.

I don't know if that sounds like a lot, but considering the 12 Oliver + S Popover Sundresses, 5 of the 6 Oliver + S Bubble Dresses and one of the softie dolls were all made in November, it feels like a mammoth amount to me!!

I don't have pictures of the other stuff, but here are the pictures of the ones I made in November.

First up, a little dolly called Bonny (Little M named her after one of her little mates at daycare) for my niece's first birthday.

It was very difficult to convince Little M that Bonny was actually for her cousin. Bonny lived in my sewing room until she was ready to be sent off to my niece, but one day I noticed she was missing. I asked Little M where she was, and got led to her bedroom, to find this:

I asked Little M what Bonny was doing. 'I'm just keeping her safe for A (her cousin), Mum'. Hmmm. Hilarious given she has her own version of this doll that I sewed for her before she was born.

Now onto the Popover Sundresses. This is about half of them:

The one in front is a Liberty version for Little M, the rest are gifts for my nieces, one for my neighbour's little girl, and a birthday present for Bonny, Little M's wee mate from school. I have to say that these tiny dresses are extremely satisfying to make. They are very cute, take minimal fabric, and once you get going, take about 45 minutes to make. I used Liberty, linen, Japanese cotton, and polished cotton.

Now for the Bubble dresses. I've got three to show you. This one is for my little one-year-old niece for Christmas. The smallest Bubble Dress size is a 2, but my sister isn't fussed. I used 2cm seam allowances in the hope it might fit her now. The fabric is from Rathdowne Remnants, and I had just enough left over to make Little M a simple elastic waist skirt. I don't have a picture of that.

 

This one is for my seven-year-old niece. I really wanted to make her some dresses for Christmas as for her last birthday I was running a bit behind and just bought her a dress (in my defence, her birthday is in April - I have 6 birthdays in April, including Little M's and Michael's). It was a Little Leona Edmiston dress, so it was a special one.  I sent the present with Ruth to give to her as she lives in Queensland. She opened her present, took out the dress and said 'I knew Aunty Rach would make me a dress!' Cue extreme guilt on my part. So an awesome Bubble Dress (and a Popover Sundress) for L. L is 7 but a skinny minny, so I made her a size 5 with some extra length and scant seam allowances. This fabric is also from Rathdowne Remnants.

 

I also made one for Little M to wear to Mr H's 3rd Birthday Party. I mean, a girl needs a party dress right? That and she's had a major growth spurt and desperately needs new clothes. I made this one in a size 3 and it fits her perfectly. I wonder if this means she's going to get limited wear from it. Sigh. This fabric is a remnant I picked up from Tessuti a while back. I had enough to also make my littlest niece a Popover Sundress - you can see it in the top photo.

Finally, I made Little M a little elastic waist skirt, and, at her request, one for her favourite dolly Anna.

Unfortunately Anna's skirt got cast aside for some store bought dolly clothes my Mum gave Little M for Christmas this past weekend. I shed some tears for the lack of appreciation of my toiling.

I just have one more Christmas present to make - Little M's Christmas day dress. I've decided it will be my tradition to make her a frock out of Liberty each year. I'm making it at Sewjourn this weekend, but here is a sneak peak:

I ended up choosing the buttons down the bottom. It is going to be extremely cute. Extremely.

Are you making Christmas gifts this year? Not sure I'll ever repeat it on this scale, but I have enjoyed seeing all the lovely little dresses lined up together.

Papercut Pleated Pants Pattern

Let me begin by saying I love my new pants. I really do. But I do not love the process by which I arrived at them. Here is the tale of the Papercut Pleated Pants.

A few months ago the lovely Anna of Blogless Anna Fame was at my house for a sewing afternoon. We held a bit of a fabric/pattern swap (Leith and Lara were also there so there were lots of swapsies going on). Anna gifted me the Papercuts Pleated Pants pattern, which had been on my 'to-buy' list for a while. I cannot lie, I squealed with delight when she gave it to me.

I was pretty keen to sew them up straight away, but 2 year old birthdays and ponti dresses got in the way, so I have only just made them. I made them in a Bettina Liano denim from Rathdowne Remnants. Lovely denim.

See my dubious expression? There is a reason....

My hair is so gross in these photos. I got it cut today. 

I made a muslin, and thank goodness I did, because the sizing is so off on these pants it isn't funny. I cut the small, and made the following adjustments:

• I took THIRTEEN cm out of the waistband. 
• I tapered in the outer leg by 4cm on each leg.
• I tapered the inner leg by 5cm on each leg. 
• I faced the waistband with leftover Liberty Lawn.
• I did the pleats the opposite way to the pattern. 
• I used 3 hooks instead of 2. 

I also did not use the instructions for the fly front. I used Grainline Studio's tutorial - I discovered this when making my Moss Mini Skirts and it is simply the best tutorial for a fly front I have ever come across. Give it a go - I highly recommend. 

Grrr... you can see the tiniest bit of facing poking out

Do you think it is simply crazy that I had to take 13cm out of a size small waistband? I do. I am usually about a size 12 in patterns - sometimes a 10 for a knit - or a size 6 for the American independent patterns, which I think equates to a size 10-12 Australian. So I'm not a 'small', and certainly not an off-the-size-chart size. I honestly don't know what actually small women would have to do - maybe draft a whole new pattern? 

So ... a reminder to me that muslins are important! Despite the fitting nightmare of these pants I really do love them. I wore them today and they are incredibly comfortable. They are like wearing jeans but more comfortable. I have some suiting in my stash I think I'll make a pair from - what do you think? 

Denim Clovers, Silk Sencha and Meet-Up Details Update

I recently went to the Tessuti sale and bought a very funky ribbed denim that is navy blue backed with a bright green. Pretty cool. I bought 1.5m and made another pair of Clover pants:

I really like this fabric, and they make a cool pair of Clover trousers. Unfortunately though, they are quite a soft denim, so after wearing them for morning tea at Leith's last sunday they were waaaay stretched out. I don't know what to do about that - I wouldn't want to make them too much tighter otherwise I won't get them on!

I also made this Sencha blouse ages ago with a remnant of this lovely silk from Rathdowne Fabrics and Remnants:

Can you see that I missed a button?

I like this blouse, but it is too short in length. It doesn't really do my figure any favours with these trousers, so I think it will be resigned to being tucked in. Ah well. I've learnt my lesson. Lengthen lengthen lengthen!! The little flower buttons were from the Camberwell markets while I was still pregnant. 

I feel like I've gotten a little of my sewing mojo back - I'm making a wearable muslin of the frock I am making for a wedding in New Zealand we are going to in September. Pictures of that soon. I'm enjoying making a flouncy, fitted frock. 

In other news, our sewing meet up now has interstate visitors! Christy and her mate are in Melbourne from Sydney for the weekend and are joining us! At the moment we have 20 people coming - there is no way the cafe I originally thought of will accommodate that many of us, so I booked Time Out Cafe in Federation Square for 3pm. The only catch is that because we're not booked in to eat lunch or dinner, they won't guarantee that we'll all sit together - we might have to have a few tables of 5-6. What do you think? If you can think of another cafe that can house 20 of us and isn't too far from Tessuti please do suggest!

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.