Skull & Crossbones - Chrome Cover

My lovely sister-in-law Sharon recently bought a Samsung Chrome, and as a Christmas gift I made her a padded sleeve to help protect it from scuffs.  Needless to say, it was made just before Christmas, wrapped and put under the tree and I did not get a photo.  Sharon was thrilled!  Just after Christmas, Mr. SDSC also bought the same computer, and he requested a sleeve as well - and this time I took photos!

I used two fat quarters and quilted some batting to the outer fabric using straight line stitching about 1" apart.

I attached a black elastic hair tie in between the two fabrics to act as the loop to close the sleeve (see above) and stitched one of my labels on the bag - just so Mr. SDSC knew where it came from!  Now, don't look too closely at the stitching, it looks as though my straight line stitching was not very straight!!  The button is a standard self covered button - unfortunately this sleeve used up practically all of the fat quarters as I would have liked to have covered the button in one of those two fabrics.

The fold over flap added another 4" to the length of the sleeve - I wanted to keep this an easy project!

Ta da!  One happy Mr. SDSC and one protected computer!

Fleece Jacket - Simplicity 2482

Here is the jacket that I finished this jacket last weekend, and just so that you know, I was going to take photos outdoors, but as it was -25c outside (-34c with the windchill.  Seriously, who cares about another 9c when it is this cold??!), I thought that I would just show you outdoors, and take the photos indoors!!

Brrrr!

Now, onto the jacket details!  I used Simplicity 2482, a simple dressing gown/jacket pattern.  I liked the high collar, zippered opening and big pockets.  I used some fleece that I bought in the sales on New Years' Day - about $7/m, and it used less than suggested on the envelope.

I wanted to share a quick photo of how I marked the location for the pockets on the jacket fronts - as the fleece is so thick, tailors tacks would be hard to add accurately, so I used thread to mark the corners:

It actually worked out really well, and the pockets went on very easily.

I know that the color of the fleece is a bit 'blah', but it will work really well as a neutral - look how great it is with these scarves I made.

The only changes I made to the pattern were to shorten the length by a couple of inches (I think that I must have bought a slightly shorter zip that I should have), and I used 'fold over' Lycra edging for the cuffs and bottom of the jacket - I used black, and I think it ties in nicely with the zip.

If you would like to see the PatternReview - take a look here!

5 for 5 - and Wearing My PJ's to Work!

Here we are on January 5th - back to work tomorrow, and I have now completed five garments!

I thought that I would use some of my time off work over Christmas/New Year to make a few items for work. I work in an office - business casual, but we can actually wear denim if we like as long as we have no meetings with members of the public on that day. However, having attended school where I had to wear uniform, then spending a number of years wearing Police uniform, I like the idea of having clothes in my wardrobe that are effectively a uniform. I really dislike fumbling around in the morning having to choose clothes to wear - I want them to mix and match, I want to be able to walk into my closet, and pick out two or three items that work together fabric/design/color wise. Easy!? Well, it is a work in progress!

To help this along, I have made two pairs of trousers (McCalls 5239, my TNT pants pattern) - fully lined, and two more ponte cardigans from McCalls 6168 . . . . to go with the other 5 that I have made!!  Here are some photos starting with the royal blue cardigan and the houndstooth trousers:

And my Christmas double chin . . . . !  I used silver colored metal buttons from my collection.  Over the last few years I have picked up some jars of buttons at auction and there were lots of buttons in the drawers of my Singer treadle machine when I bought that, so it is great to be able to use them.

 I am thrilled with how well these trousers hang from the back, well, certainly in the picture below!

Now the red cardigan with the same trousers:

It is very 'swishy'!  I love swishy!

I am suprised at how much bunching up of the fabric there is in the legs at the front of these trousers, but I suspect some of that is due to my appalling posture . . . .

And here are the second pair of trousers - a heavy but very drapey tweed fabric.  I love this, and have made a couple of skirts out of it already.  I managed to get another 5 metres in a recent sale.  Love it, love it, love it!  Look how well they hang!

Just love the way they hang!

Looking at the picture above, I wonder if I have one hip lower than the other and that is what causes the bunching on one leg.

And the pants look pretty fine with the blue cardi!

The black top, just peeking through the 'v' neck of the cardis is a a RTW tank that I bought about 3 years ago.  I have noticed that it appears on loads of my photos as a neutral top with various ensembles.  So, guess what I am going to be making next?  Yep, some plain, black tops, probably Sorbettos!  I know that I have some black linen, so that will do for 'starters!

Now, what is all the PJ talk about?  I hear you ask.  Well, would you believe that the pattern I use for the trousers (McCalls 5239), is also the same one that I have used for my PJ bottoms.  The only difference is that I take a 1" side seam to get rid of the bulk around my hips/waist.  I know that a lot of sewists really do not like 'pull on' pants/trousers - but as far as I am concerned, if they fit well, look good - who cares what the waistband treatment looks like! 

This posting is already really photo heavy, so I will show pics of the lining and hem finishes in a later post.  The lining is Bemberg rayon - sooooo silky, and it hangs loose - like a tradition lining rather than the trousers being underlined.  I will be interested to see how the lining wears.

My final garment that makes the 5th garment completed by the 5th of January will be featured during the week - I really don't think that you can take more photos!

So, how is your New Year sewing coming along?

And We Are Off!

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for the lovely comments that were made about the garments that I made in 2013 - I really do appreciate them all.  Most kind!

Yesterday was New Years' Day, and I received an (automated) call from the large fabric chain in Canada (Fabricland).  They were having a huge sale - 50% off pretty much everything - so off I went!  I managed to pick up some more Ponte for another cardigan or two, as well as the same fabric that I made the skirt below out of:

It is a poly/rayon woven fabric, quite heavy but with great drape.  I am going to make a pair of trousers out of this fabric, as well as another pair out of the herringbone fabric (from my 'collection') that I made this skirt and Sorbetto out of:

I am thinking of lining both of these trousers down to about the knees - maybe longer, as I love the feel of rayon lining (and it was only $2.50/m in the sale!) against my skin.

So that is my starter for the New Year.  I am not back to work until Monday, so I will hopefully have these done by then, and I will have something new to wear.

What about you - what are your first garments of 2014, and did you pick up anything in the sales this season?

Happy New Year - and my resolutions!

Any sore heads this morning?  I hope that 2014 finds you safe and well and that you managed to have some time over the Christmas/New Year to indulge in some sewing!

As with many others, I have been thinking long and hard about resolutions for this year.  2013 was a great year sewing-wise for me (see my review post) and I really want to capitalise upon the great garments that I now have in my wardrobe and fill in the gaps that I have left.

So these are my sewing plans for 2014:

1.  Sew a Chanel style jacket.  One of my Christmas pressies was Couture Sewing: The Couture Cardigan Jacket- Sewing Secrets from a Chanel Collector by Claire Schaefer.  I have also signed up for the Craftsy Class Sewing an Iconic Tweed Jacket - so I think that I am good to go!  I have some fabric in mind, and I am excited to get started!

2.  Proper, fitted trousers.  Like these ones.

I want to try a front fly, and I like that these have a lowered, quite wide waistband.  I plan to make some work trousers as well as casual ones and a pair or two of jeans.

3.  Wrap dress.  I picked up this pattern in a sale a few weeks ago.

I like that it has a few different sleeve options and is sized for different cup sizes - I am a 'C', so I am interested to see what difference this kind of pattern will make.  It has a centre back seam so I can make adjustments to accommodate my curved upper back, and they seem to be so flattering on ladies of all shapes and sizes.

I will continue my 'RTW Fasting' through Goodbye Valentino  - last year I only purchased one t-shirt that I picked up whilst on vacation in New Zealand.  And I'm good with that!

A couple of other plans I have for this year are to knit more socks.  I love handknitted socks and had to pretty much eliminate knitting last year due to a tendon issue called De Quervains syndrome, however, cortisone injections (and maybe surgery) are my friends, and right now I can knit!

And finally, Mr. SDSC bought me a spinning wheel - a very cute Ladybug.  I went to a summer show in 2013 and tried my hand at spinning - it was great fun.  So, I want to play with more fibre in the future.  And talk Mr. SDSC into buying some sheep and a couple of alpacas!!!