And Three Makes Five!

When I like a pattern, I like to make multiple garments out if it. Cases in point?

1. Sorbetto
2. Butterick 4877
3. Kwik Sew 3752

etc., etc., etc.,

When I mentioned in the last couple of posts about McCalls 6168, and showed you a magenta one and a winter white one - I knew that there would be some more.  So without further ado - please welcome black, chartreuse and brick red versions.

Cough, cough.  Headless shot due to face expression that does not need to be shared with the world!

I put some buttons on this cardigan, and they were an absolute pain.  I used my Singer Featherweight, and the fabric kept wanting to move and stretch.  Grrr.  I needed more stabilizer (didn't have any) so used the paper I have for pattern making.  It is a roll of medical examination paper and it worked a treat!  This fabric is ponte knit (same as the magenta and winter white versions).  I can pick it up quite cheaply in my Canadian big box fabric store, and it feels very soft and lovely.

Next up is the chartreuse one - it is a bit of a dirty green, but the color is surprisingly flattering (not too sure what that says about my coloring!)  This is also a ponte, exactly the same as above.

You may have noticed that the photos are clearer.  I took your advice - and am now standing in direct light.  I'm actually in the en-suite, so had to move towels and in some of the photos you can see the thermostat for the underfloor heating.  Sigh.  I will work on a better locations!  But the most important step was to select a higher resolution picture - turns out I was using a really low resolution for the other photos.  Oh well, you live and learn!

And finally - the brick red version.  This is made from a 100% cotton jersey fabric that has a thick/thin ribbed pattern.  As it does not have any spandex/lycra, it is not super-stretchy, but more stable, like the ponte knits.

You can just see the ribbing in this last picture.  The trousers (pants) are my first pair of lined wool, and they are heavenly to wear!  I will have a post on these during the week.

Want to see the five cardigans together?

And how about a few ensemble ideas?

Brick red cardigan, houndstooth Sorbetto, white corduroy skirt.

Black cardigan, white corduroy skirt.

Black cardigan, target skirt.

Chartreuse cardigan, target skirt.

I love this cardigan pattern (McCalls 6168) and although I will probably not need another one in my wardrobe - never say never.  Oh, who am I kidding, they are great and I will be making more!!!!!

My review of McCalls 6168 can be found here.

More, More, More and a Target?!

Whilst I was hunting through my closet for the clothes for the last two posts, I came across a skirt that I hadn't blogged about as well as my houndstooth skirt and matching Sorbetto that I had not photographed together.  In fact, I don't think I blogged about the Sorbetto.  So, I have now :)
 

The next skirt I would like to show you is from a metre cut that I bought from the craft section in Wal Mart.  It is duck cotton, so a slightly heavier fabric, and the colors are just fabulous:

The centre of the flowers is a lovely chartreuse colour - the colour of another McCalls 6168, - it is cut out and just needs sewing.  But what is that I see on the rear view?

Yep, target practice :)  Oh well, I can live with this, but I will crtainly be a bit more careful with pattern placement in the future!

Ooh.  I think I have resolved the photo clarity issue - I think that my new camera has the resolution set pretty low.  I'll take some more with a higher resolution, as well as looking for better lighting, and we should be good to go!

McCalls 6168 - Oh How I Love Thee!

These cardigans are from McCalls 6168 and I used view B, a straight size 24 with no alterations.  I probably could use a centre back seam and make an adjustment for my rounded upper back, but hey, sometimes you can get lazy and it pays off!  Both the cream and magenta fabric are rayon mix Ponte de Roma from Fabricland.  The fabric has a great drape, is lovely and soft, but does tend to pill a little after (ok, ok, quite a few wears!), so I will need to watch out for this.  I have purchased the buttons for these two and will get the buttonholes put on in the next few days.

Firstly, here is a 'winter white' version:

I also made a magenta pink version, same fabric:

It looks a little tight across my shoulders here, but it really is a pretty good fit.  I think it looks stretched as I had me arms forward, fiddling with the remote for the camera!

The skirts are all from my previous post.

The trousers are McCalls 5239, and look a little baggy here - I'll have to take the legs in a bit on the next version.  I plan making some up in wool as winter is about to descend upon us in Southern Alberta!

I am particularly pleased with the pink cardigan - I think the color suits me rather well, and it goes with an awful lot of other garments in my wardrobe - probably because I have many black and grey separates!

How much do I love these cardis?  Well, I have another three cut out, a black Ponte, a dirty green Ponte (the colour looks surprisingly good against my face) and some brick-red, rib-pattern, cotton jersey.  Photos coming soon!  And of course . . . .they all work well with my Birch Tree Collection!

Fashion Shoot - Catching Up!

Well, it looks as though I may have solved my photographer issue, and now do not have to worry about relying on my Father or Mr. SDSC (fabulous photographers that they are!)  The solution?  Cashing in some of those Air Miles and turning them into a camera that I can work remotely through my iPhone,  It is a Lumix 'point and shoot' - nothing fancy, and in fact the spec is a little less than my current camera.  However, as it has a wireless thingy (hey, if this is getting too technical, let me know!!)  I have downloaded an app for my phone, and the phone acts as the remote - I can even zoom in using the phone.  Pretty freaky, right?  The only downside is that I have to hold the phone to take pic, but I am not complaining about that!  So here we go, modeled photos of the garments that I gave you close ups of here.  There are five skirts to get through (Butterick 4877), so I hope that you are sitting comfortably!

Let's start with the purple ruffle skirt made from fabric from Vogue Fabrics, and worn here with a RTW black tank, a black ponte cardigan (based on McCalls 4466.  I've made a few of these cardis but don;t seem to have blogged about this one) and shoes that I would usually wear with trousers (my heels - and I don't actually have many pairs - are at work!)

Hmmmm. The photos are not as sharp as I would like, I may need to play around with this camera.

Next is the white corduroy.  Same black tank and cardigan as above:

Want to see some color?  How about the red Butterick 5687?

I tried to get a motion pic (see above) to show you how flippy the ruffles are.  Love them!

Do I look like I'm thinking?  Working?  Checking emails?  Actually, this is me setting up the camera using the phone app.

The next skirt is one of two that I made from the same rayon/poly tweed fabric.  One is plain ans straight, the other I went a little crazy and added hip pockets . . . . . that ended up a little small because of how I finished up the waistband.  No matter though - I can still fit some lipsalve in or a $1 for my morning coffee!

The last set of photos are of the brown corduroy skirt:

I am wearing my Kwik Sew 3752 from 'Comfortable Dressing'.  I'm not too sure if I like the top with this skirt as I don't think the proportions are very flattering - I think that the top looks better with the longer skirt in the original posting.  I need to think about this combination!  Feels good though!

I have quite a few more outfits to show you that I photographed today, but I do rather think that 17 photos is enough for getting on with!

Oh, one thing that came to light as a result of these photos - I think that my right hip is higher than the left.  I know that my posture is appalling, but when I did stand up straight, the skirts did not hang straight unless I hoiked them up on the left-hand side.  Certainly something to consider for the future.

So, these form part of my Birch Tree Collection and they will be great workhorses in my wardrobe!