Chartreuse Sorbetto Dress

Following on from the success of my Pointer Sisters Dress, I decided to make another, this time with sleeves, some embellishment and in a solid color.

 

Here is my 'teaser' pic!

And here are a few photos!  I know it does not look like it, but I had showered and brushed my hair . . . . . but onto the dress!  I used a very lightweight crepe and a charcoal Bemberg lining.  I bound the neckline with some black cotton/lycra home made biased binding.  I did not insert a zipper as I was able to pull the dress on over my head without any issues (perhaps that is why I am having hair issues?!)

The pattern was very simple.  I used my Simplicity 7740 dress pattern and 'Sorbetto'd' it!  I sewed the black ric-rac down either side of front pleat (I copies this idea from someone - if it is you please let me know so that I can give you credit), holding it in place and added three buttons to the front.

It would appear that due to the lightness of the fabric, I could have made a few more tucks in the back to enable it to sit better, however, when I am actually wearing it, that excess does get used as I move about.  Despite this excess, I still like the shaping that it gives.  There is not so much shaping at the front, and Mr. SDSC tried very diplomatically to tell me that it was not his favorite because of (a) the color) and (b) the shaping - he said it looked sack like.  I am a little disappointed that he does not like it, but appreciate the feedback.  He preferred some separates that we also photographed during this session.

So, where to go from here?  I have to say that I love this dress, and will most likely wear it to work with a little black cardi that I have made (oops, forgot to take a photo of that!)  That will also take care of the spare fabric round the back!!  I have pinned a lot of inspirational dress photos on Pinterest and have bought some fabrics to try out some of the color blocking.  Maybe by introducing some shaping with color, I may gain some positive feedback from Mr. SDSC!

In the meantime, I need to work on a collection for my Antipodean Adventure in September.  Yep, I am lucky enough to be going to Australia for a month, and want to make some clothes to take with me.  Whadaya mean 'it's only two months away'????  Well, if I get some clothes made, all well and good.  And if I don't - I'll just have to use what I already have in the wardrobe!

A New Shirt for Mr. SDSC

I have been promising to sew a shirt for Mr. SDSC for as long as I can remember.  He really is a good sort.  He built me some great units in my sewing room to house my fabric collection/patterns etc., he doesn't complain when I disappear into said room for hours at a time, he is the main photographer on my 'shoots', and even helps me pin garments in areas I can't see/reach.  So, after many pleas from him, I splashed out the cash on the Tailored Shirt Class from Craftsy which included Kwik Sew 3422.

I dipped in and out of the Craftsy class (I haven't seen it all the way through yet!!) and also referred to a fabulous You Tube video by a great lady called Jacqueline Johnson.  Her way of attaching a collar is fabulous - I had really 'tight' edges.  Thank-you Ma'am!

A request was made for this shirt to just have a collar stand - no actual collar, so I was happy to oblige  I also decided not to add the front pocket.  I'm like that!!  The fabric is a woven cotton that I bought from Marshall's when I was in Edmonton on a business trip.

I am really pleased with this shirt.  It came together surprisingly easily and looks rather professional.  I used the seam allowance that the pattern had built in - 1/4" and my 1/4" foot - easy peasy!  Some of the seams (adding the sleeves to the armholes and the side seams) I serged and then sewed down those seams.  That gave a 'faux fell' seam look that is great for this wearable muslin.

Comments from the man himself?  He loves it (phew)!  He likes that it is longer than most of his other shirts - which is good as he is just over 6ft and needs the length.  The thought that the sleeves were a little baggy in comparison to his RTW shirts, so I will take a look at them and try a slimmer sleeve next time round.

My thoughts?  I would like to try fitting the yoke to his shoulders and upper back.  I think that would make the shirt hang better.  I need to be more aware of lengths - for example the plackets were fitted, the cuffs added and then I realized that the placket lengths were a slightly different - not enough to cause a problem, but I just need to measure the length prior to attaching the cuff.  Other than that, I can't recommend strongly enough Kwik Sew 3422, the Craftsy class, the Jacqueline Johnson video and also David Coffins' Shirtmaking book.  I will certainly be making this again and although this took quite some time, I am sure that I can shave a lot of time off the process next time round.  I have a lovely black cotton poplin with just a touch of lycra in it and I think that would look great.

Outtakes

This was Mr. SDSC's first photo shoot - he is usually on the other side of the camera, so he found it kind of hard to concentrate . . .

More info can be found on Pattern Review and I've loaded and more photos on Flickr.

Final view:

Mr. SDSC asked for a label to be inserted.  Your wish is my command, Sir :)

Poppy Tote and a Top Tip

I have been following a great blog by a young seamstress who made a very cute tote bag.  Do pop over and check out her blog - she is hugely talented :)

So, I knew I had to make me one of these totes, so I hot tailed it over to Megan Neilsen's blog (the designer of the tote) for the details.

And here we have it - pretty cute!
 

The fabric is a gorgeous duck canvas and I added a bit of plastic canvas in the bottom to give it some shape.  I wanted to share a Top Tip (argh, I really can't remember where it came from - did I read it somewhere, or was I told it - if it is your top tip, please let me know so that I can give you credit!) that I have been using for years.  It is a foolproof way sewing straight, accurate stitches and all you need is a Post It pad.  I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Yep, pretty simple isn't it?!  Simply take the back off a pad of Post It notes, and stick them on your machine to act as a guide as you sew.  All you do is butt your fabric up against the pad and you will sew a perfectly straight row of stitches.  I find it really helpful when I am sewing two rows of stitches close to each othe (no need for a double needle) and when I need to stitch a distance that is not marked on my machine.  When you are done, remove the pad, and next time you want to use it, take off the bottom 'note' and you have a fresh (non-sticky) sticky strip to stick to your machine.  I find that to get the best results, have the sticky strip on the left of the pad where your fabric run along it.

Well, that is my top tip - what is yours?

Spring Sewing Swap - 2013

I can't resist a swap - purchasing/making/selecting goodies for someone who, like you, just loves to sew as much as you do.  It is waaaay to much fun!  So when Kerry of Kestral Makes announced a Spring Swap - I was all over like a rash.  Yes indeedy!  The lovely Philippa of Gloria & Me was selected to be my swap partner, and I couldn't have been more thrilled!  My parcel of goodies arrived earlier this week, but due to the terrible flooding we have had in Southern Alberta (I wasn't directly affected other than being advised by our fantastic Mayor, Naheed Nenshi, that downtown Calgary was closed for the best part of a week so no driving into the office!) I didn't pick it up until yesterday.

So without further ado, here are the fabulous goodies that I received:

 A quick peek inside that lovely sparkly bag . . . . I see beads, fabric, chocolate . . . .

Magazines, thread, beading wire, lavender . . . . .

Just look!  I am so excited about this magazine. I have seen it on the newstands, but UK magazines are exorbitantly priced over here, so this is a real treat!

The fabric is so cute - I love seasidey things, so I will have fun playing with this gorgeous fabric.  Philippa also included matching thread (oh, she is gooood!) as well as a plain co-ordinating fabric.

And did you see how everything was color co-ordinated. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Oh, and the chocolate?  Well, it is my favorite and I can't get it here in Canada.  Mmmmmmmmm :)

Love it.  Love it all.  Thank-you Kerry for organizing this fabulous swap, and thank-you Philippa for your thoughtful, fantastic gifts xx

And what did Philippa receive?  Well, I know she has received the parcel, so as soon as she puts up the post, I will link to it from here.

Pointer Sisters Dress

Oh yes, 'I'm So Excited, and I Just Can't Hide It', etc, etc, etc!!

After posting a muslin that really did me no favours at all, I received some great suggestions and comments from my lovely readers - thank-you so much!  And then we moved house, and I made some other garments and all the time felt terribly guilty that I did not follow up on these suggestions.  So here we are!  Based (very loosely) upon Simplicity 7740, I made a wearable muslin and I am toltally thrilled with the results:

Pretty cute huh?!  OK, so you can't really see much here - but that was the point of using a busy print!  So here are a few more photos:

Just look how short it is - you can almost see my underwears!!  I cut off about 6" (thanks gMarie) which is huge for me!  I am an 'ankle skimming' kinda-girl, but this length is certainly much more fashion-forward with this style and a lot less frumpy!

I had to add darts on the back neckline and make an adjustment to the back centre back seam to account for my promising dowagers hump (sigh), my parents were right - stand up straight and stop hunching your shoulders, they kept telling me as I was growing up . . . . .

I really like the way it fits round my waist and butt - I took loads in on the side seams and there is a sway back adjustment as well.

Apologies for the headless shots - either my hair was not behaving or Mr. SDSC managed to catch a less than flattering expression (obviously not my fault!!)

I know that there is still lots of room for improvement, but I am so pleased with this.  I ended up with just bust darts in the front (thanks Carolyn!) but added a very long vertical dart from my hips almost up to my shoulder blades in the back.  I bound the arms and neckline with bias binding, used an invisible zip and lined the dress (with a rather cheap lining - it is a wearable muslin after all!) and I feel very summery in it!

Here are a few close up photos:

I do like to add something in the inside of a vent like a button, or the eye of a 'hook and eye', as this helps stabilize the vent and prevent it tearing during wear.  I had a small shell button that fit the bill perfectly here!  I also like to sew down the lining either side of the vent to hold it all in place - elsewhere it just hangs free!

It is likely that I will wear a cardigan with this - I am not totally comfortable with flashing my upper arms:

So, what do you think?  I am ready to try another dress - in a solid color, and it will interesting to see how that works out.  This is what I have chosen:

Finally - thanks for the comments,past, present and future!  I learn so much from what you all say :)

And Now for Something Completely Different!

I have been really busy with my dressmaking and have made a number of lovely skirts and trousers as well as (almost) finished a blouse/top that just needs buttons and buttonholes.  Unfortunately, due to work schedules, Mr. SDSC and I haven't managed to get it together for a photo shoot, and my other photographer, the 'Old Folk' (my father), has taken himself off for a one month 'European Tour' (well, the UK and Tenerife!), as that leaves me somewhat high and dry, I decided to sew something that I could photograph myself!

I totally copied was inspired by Svetlana's patchwork place-mats and knew that I had to sew me some of them!  The fabric I bought about 8 years ago when we first moved to Canada.  I spent about 6 months working in a quilting shop and built up a rather impressive collection of quilting fabric - including this:

The fabrics were purchased for a quilt top (the pattern is somewhere safe!) and I really need to start using up all the lovely fabric in my stash instead of 'saving it for something special' - because everything we sew is special, right?

It took me quite some time to get my head around purchasing fabric in the $15-$20/m range, cutting it up into small pieces to then sew it up again into something larger (although it does sound like dressmaking doesn't it!!), but I persevered and overcame, and I do like making small quilted items.  I really like the precision aspect - using my 1/4" foot on my machine, straight stitching only, lots of pressing and trimming, it satisfies the OCD streak in me!  I made 6 place-mats, two in each design using the dimensions that Svetlana mentioned in her tutorial.  And I love them!  I kept the quilting simple - 2" (approximately!!!) squares with a hand-stitched border.  I did try a machined border but I wasn't too keen on the look.

I backed the place-mats with rectangles cut from some Ikea pillow cases.  I use Ikea duvet covers and the cheap duvets as dog beds, but have a surplus of pillow cases!

And guess what?  Svetlana has added another post with more place-mats . . . oh well, I wanted some in Christmas fabric as well, the temptress!!!

I Reserve the Right . . .

. . . . to occasionally talk about things other than sewing, knitting and dogs.  And this is one of those times.

I bought some face cream at the weekend - I always get sucked in by the blurb - you know the stuff:

• Reduce Wrinkles
• Brighten Skin
• Even out Tones
• Blah, blah, blah
• etc, etc, etc

And I know that they don't really make any difference - well, not to me anyway, and that is OK - the way I look at it, my skin would look much worse if I didn't use these super dooper creams!.  What really ticks me off with this product is the packaging - and this was rather shocking.  Let me show you what was in the box:

Looks good, right?  It happens to be my usual size - 50ml (any bigger and I get fed up with the smell, consistency etc.)

But look at it alongside the box:

Hmm, perspective is a little off, but the jar is HALF THE SIZE of the box.  Seriously - is this 'settling', just like with Corn Flakes that 'settle in transit'?  Or maybe the jar has evaporated a little?  I was really disappointed in this - not because of the size of the jar, as I mentioned above, I usually by my face cream in this size, but the fact Garnier appear to think that I need to be duped into buying a large, half-empty box in order to use their product. 

Shame on you Garnier - just use properly sized boxes so that this customer does not feel conned.  

Oh, and the face cream?  It is actually rather good . . . .