Your Wish is My Command (Part 2)

My last post showed quite a few of the new pieces that I had recently completed - and here are the rest of the garments.  To date . . . . . I may have another 3 or 4 planned!

White Kika Dress with Sorbetto Bodice
Dusky Rose Jaqueline Pants

White Kika Dress with Sorbetto Bodice
Dusky Rose Jaqueline Pants
Dusky Rose Phoee Jacket

White Kika Dress with Sorbetto Bodice
Dusky Rose Jaqueline Pants
Off White Phoebe Jacket

Dusky Rose Zelda Slip
Dusky Rose Jaqueline Pants
White Phoebe Jacket

Dusky Rose Zelda Slip
Dusky Rose Jaqueline Pants
White Phoebe Jacket

Dusky Rose Zelda Slip
White Simplicity 4221 Skirt (unhitched!)

Dusky Rose Zelda Slip
White Simplicity 4221 Skirt (hitched!)

Dusky Rose Zelda Slip
White Simplicity 4221 Skirt (hitched!)
White Phoebe Jacket

Dusky Rose Zelda Slip
White Simplicity 4221 Skirt (hitched!)
Off White Phoebe Jacket

Dusky Rose Zelda Slip
White Simplicity 4221 Skirt (hitched!)
Dusky Rose Phoebe Jacket

White Zelda Slip
Dusky Rose Pants
Brown Peplone Jacket

Now, somewhere amongst the garments from this post and the previous one are my entries for the Artisans Square Summer 6PAC!  Just need to identify them and create a collage!

So what is next?  I picked up 3 patterns from the recent Tina Givens sale, and I am ready to try some different styles.  Fabricland is also having a pretty good sale so I picked up some more linen mix (I have been using a linen/rayon mix) really cheap, in the light blue that I used for a jacket on my previous post, as well as a gorgeous 'jewel' sapphire blue.  Watch this space!

I just wanted to comment on a reply that was left about the fabric that I use and ironing.  I am embarrassed to say that I have 'misplaced' the comment, so will reply here!  It would appear that Tina Givens (my here - not that you would have noticed!) throws her linen garment in the wash, and once dry . . . . they are ready to wear.  Personally, I need a little more structure to satisfy my OCD tendencies, but I also don't want to lose the soft edging that raw edged bias binding and the patches leave, so I have only been ironing those garments that look really rough when they are dry!  My off white Jaqueline pants needed ironing as they looked a mess when they were dry, but the white Jacqueline slip (the one with the lace patch on the front) can go straight in the closet.  I suspect that the fabrics have slightly different compositions and that is what the difference is.

How is your summer sewing?

Your Wish is My Command (Part 1)

I've been a little lazy of late - I took photos of recently completed clothes on my twin - and bless her, she is a different shape and size to me.  So I buckled down (having listened to the comments - thank-you!) and took some proper pics of me wearing my TG clothes.  They are indoor pics as the  mosquitos tend to find me very tasty . . . . so here we go!

Dusky Rose Phoebe Jacket

White Jaqueline Slip

Off White Jaqueline Pants

Dusky Rose Phoebe Jacket

White Jaqueline Slip
Off White Jaqueline Pants

Dusky Rose Phoebe Jacket

White Jaqueline Slip

Pale Blue Phoebe Jacket

White Jaqueline Slip
Off White Jaqueline Pants

Light Blue Phoebe Jacket

White Jaqueline Slip
Navy Jaqueline Pants

Coral Jaqueline Slip

Coral Patterned Jaqueline Pants

Coral Jaqueline Slip
Coral Patterned Jaqueline Pants
Off White Phoebe Jacket

Dusky Rose Simplicity 4221 Skirt

Off White Zelda Slip

Dusky Rose Simplicity 4221 Skirt
Off White Zelda Slip
Dusky Rose Phoebe Jacket

Dusky Rose Simplicity 4221 Skirt
Off White Zelda Slip
Dusky Rose Phoebe Jacket

Dusky Rose Simplicity 4221 Skirt
Off White Zelda Slip
Dusky Rose Jaqueline Pants

Phew - that is the first batch - the next post will have the rest of the photos.  It is interesting seeing how the garments look as different combinations, some of these I will replicate, some are not so good!  I notice that the pics are not as sharp as usual although I did use a tripod and the remote app on my iPhone.  I think it may have been a little dark and that the exposure was a long one.  In a couple of weeks time I should have a better photography location, so will have clearer pics!

I think that some of the garments make me look 'hippy', but I am not too concerned about that - I am pretty my much a cylinder, perhaps a potato at a punch, so to look as though I have hips is rather fun!  I think that this is due to all the pockets that I have added - most of the pants, slips and jackets have pockets, that that can mean 6 pockets in one outfit.  Pretty impressive!!!

Ughh.  The 'preview' button is not working tonight . . . . I hope that this is formatted OK . . . . .

Adding to the TG Wardrobe

I am happy to say that I have been wearing my TG (Tina Givens) wardrobe as often as possible - I am still struggling with what to wear when it is cold or wet (fortunately that does not happen very often at this time of the year), so the clothes have had a good workout.  One interesting result of this was that it identified gaps, and what I needed to flesh out the collection.  So I made a few more pieces . . . .

First off was another jacket from the Phoebe pattern in a light blue linen:

The only changes to this version was that I made self covered buttons and used the raw edged bias binding on the front, as well as the hem and neckline.

By now I was on a jacket drive . . . . and I made one in white linen with some metal buttons.  This time I faced the front edges with ribbon:

And what was that you could see peeking through on the first photo of this jacket?  Yep, you are quite right . . . . a dusky rose skirt (Simplicity 4221)

I should mention that my twin is somewhat skinnier that me - ans when I wear this it does not bunch up so much at the waist . . . . !

I managed to use up a scrap of Bemberg fabric for the lining part of the skirt, and free-hand pleated three widths of fabric for the underskirt frill.  It gives a lot of volume, but also adds weight.  If I make this again, I will not use so much fabric for the frill - but as I had serged and triple stitched the frill on - it's not going anywhere!  I used snap on poppers and ribbon to gather the skirt up, and all in all I am very pleased with these garments.  I know that I will be making at least two more garments - a pair of light blue pants to match the blue jacket above, and another off white jacket.  I did make one previously, but I did not put in a back seam, and I really need one to make the jacket fit me better.

What have you been up to this month?

Summer Skirt - a New Take on an Old Favourite

I needed to make a skirt to complete the challenge for the Spring 6PAC on Artisans Square, and although I was a little hesitant about how a skirt would suit my burgeoning Lagenlook aesthetic, a skirt was made. I used Simplicity 4221, a pattern that I have used many times before for more 'dressy' skirts. I like a swishy skirt, and this 4 gored skirt that flares towards the hem, was just perfect. As there is only one pattern piece, I like to wear this design with a full panel front and back, and one on each side, rather than having a seam centre front, centre back and over each hip - and that turned out to work perfectly for my LL version. I knew that I needed two layers as the bottom layer would peek though, and I did toy with the idea of making two different skirts so that the underskirt could be worn with other outer skirts, but in the end, I went with the one skirt.

Yes, I know, would have been good to have taken a pic of the skirt on it's own . . . . . .

Here you can see the skirt in 'formal grown up' mode - lovely white linen, mid calf length. And here is the under layer.

I used some off white Bemberg lining as the top portion and a textured white cotton for the bottom portion. I cut the pattern off about 11" from the bottom, and that made the Bemberg portion, and I then cut three widths of fabric, 12" deep for the frill, and 'roughly' pleated it to make the inner layer. Simple right? I then joined both pieces at the waist, served the elastic onto the wrong side, folded it over so that the elastic is on the inside, and sewers it down with a triple zigzag stitch. Now I really wanted this skirt to be Vogue 9114 but didn't have the pattern, and I'm not sure how the bunching works, so for my skirt, on the four seam allowances, I attached a small piece of ribbon with a 'Babyville' popper/snaps. One was placed at 3" and the other at 12" - I didn't want the Bemberg showing through when the snaps were attached to each other.

I hemmed both layers with raw edged bias binding for that TG finish and top and edge stitched all the seamlines. I like the faux 'flat felled' look and ai think it adds a smart, professional touch.

So now I can have a plain skirt, or any combination of the four snaps attached . . . . . Here are a couple of views:

I cannot tell you how pleased I am with this. I think that a black version for winter would be fun, or even a plain coloured outer skirt with a really wacky coloured pleated piece underneath. This pattern is a bit of a fabric suck - about 2m for the outer layer, and 1m for the frill on the inner layer plus some lining - but it is really worth it. It would be a great usage for some leftover fabrics (for the underlayer anyway!)

I am glad that I made a skirt - as you can see it looks great with a dusky rose Zelda slip that I made at the weekend.

How about you? Have you made any garments through gritted teeth, that you then loved when you completed them?