Roksanda Ilincic Inspired Dress

I have long admired the fabulous 'inspired' designer dresses made by the lovely Carolyn, amongst others, and have finally dipped my toes in the water.  Here is my inspiration:

 

Now, I know that you probably think that I am a little late to the colour-blocking party, but I am here now, so see me through!

This lovely dress was designed by Roksanda Ilinic, and boy, don't those colors pop?  So, after the success (in my mind) of my Pointer Sisters dress, I thought that I would jump in with some short lengths of linen that I had recently purchased.  After all - what other fabric would you be thinking of using in the middle of Autumn and the threat of snow storms at the weekend?!  Whilst I really like the look of the white, I was concerned that I may have some seams showing through, so I decided upon black, fushia and tan, with a soft dusky rose Bemberg Lining (for my Canadian sewing sisters, check out the 'bargain fabrics' wall in Fabricland - they move the old stock there quite frequently, rip the label off the bolt and sell it for $5/metre.  Bargain!)

I chopped up my pattern, trying to ensure that any vertical seams did not interfere with the darts, and that the horizontal seam on the back was as flattering as a vertical seam near your butt can be, and I was off.

I chose to overlock (serge) most of my seams, and then top stitched them down so that they looked like felled seams.  I should mention that this was done after basting the seams together and checking for fit (thank-you Mr. SDSC for being such a dab hand with the pins!) - I had to take out A LOT of fabric on the side seams of the fashion fabric, but not so much of the lining.  I used an invisible zip - I find them so quick and easy to set in, and left off the vent at the back.  The dress is hemmed rather short (for me) and did not need any extra walking ease.  I hand stitched the hem so that I could change thread color as I went round, and used self binding for the neckline and armholes.  Holy cow, doesn't linen bias binding fray?  So much for the 'bias' bit preventing that occurring!

Have you noticed how scandalously short this dress is?  You can almost see my knees . . . . !

Hmmm.  The back is a bit wrinkly in some of these pics.  I think some of it is due to my modelling (??!) posture, but I did make a bit of a pigs ear on the right shoulder (see below).  I may have to revisit the pattern and double check the back to smooth it out a bit.

I am really quite pleased with this, and have been busily pinning inspiration for more clothes.  I like that for color blocking it can be a great way to use up scraps (as long as I can work out grainlines!)  I did have a bit of issue with one of the shoulders where the lining does not quite hang properly - but not enough of an issue for me to remove the lining, re-cut it and attach again!!

Next up will be a dress with sleeves and a different neckline finish - but for now, I am rather pleased with my first designer inspired dress!

Dearest Sewing Machines - Oh How I Have Missed Thee!!

Phew, I am just back following a most fabulous trip to Australia and New Zealand.  Almost a month away from home and my machines (OK, and Mr. SDSC and the houndies!!) and I can't wait to get back sewing!

I have some sewing related incidents - not as many as I would have liked, so let's press on and talk about it!

First off, 'me made' clothes.  The majority of the clothes that I took were ones made by me, and I blogged about it here.  I did not get to wear them as much as I thought as some of the days were cooler than anticipated and I had to wear a pair of (badly fitting) RTW jeans.  Here are a few combinations though:

 

And yes, I do have toes on my left foot!  Most of the photos show me wearing Sorbetto tops, summer skirts, and some shapely blouses.  And yes, I know.  The photos were taken to show off the scenery rather than my clothes . . . . but at least you get to see that the 'wardrobe' worked really well!

Interestingly, the very first photo (or two) shows a skirt that I love.  And now seeing it in the print makes me realize that the lovely polite comments that I have received from you all are actually quite correct.  I should be wearing shorter skirts . . . . I foresee some time taking up hems in my future!!  Thank-you!

So, purchases.  Of course, as I was flying, weight was an issue.  But do you know how lightweight silk is?

These two lengths will make some lovely shells (oh, who am I kidding?  I will make Sorbetto's with them!) to wear under jackets.  And look at the gorgeous bags they come in:

 

They were from a lovely shop in Adelaide called Eastern Silk.  Look what I could have bought:

I also visited a quilt shop called Country Bliss in Alice Springs to purchase some fabrics in traditional (and some not so traditional!!) aboriginal prints.  They will be used to make box bags.  Perfect!

 

And from the lovely ladies from A Quilters Odyssey I got a couple of fun patterns and some gorgeous variegated thread that I will have fun using!

  

Phew, that was a longer post than anticipated.  I now have lots of other blogs to read and comment on - unfortunately a lot of the hotels we stayed in had minimal internet connectivity - a massive hardship for this 'intertubes' junkie!  I also need to plan for Fall.  Exciting times!

Box Bags

I love bags - handbags, shopping bags, wash bags - they all hold some inexplicable excitement for me, so I thought that I would make up a couple for my travels.  I find them so useful - they hold my knitting (I am a sockoholic), wash kit, electronics etc., etc.,!

First up I thought that I would use one of the fat 1/4's that I received from the lovely Phillipa of Gloria & Me as part of the Spring Swap this year.  I couldn't resist this gorgeous seaside fabric:

And this is what it became!  

A lovely little 'box bag' with iron-on batting for structure, 

And fully lined in a great, co-ordinating Amy Bulter fabric.

As you can see I bound the inside seams - I have seen (and made) some of these bags with overlocked/serged seams, and that seems such a shame - if you are going to line the bag - let's make it look good inside too!

And then I made another one.  From some more Amy Butler fabric

Love it!

I showed these to Mr. SDSC and he laughed.  Somewhat perturbed, I asked him what the problem was, and he said that he found it funny (and endearing) that I never make just one item - I make multiple versions of the same items.  Now then, let's think . . . . Sorbettos, 4-gore skirts, Singer Shapely Blouses.  OK, he may have a point!!  Oh, and I have since made another 4 of these cute bags - two I have given away, and two more are tucked away in my suitcase . . . . .

How about you - are you a 'multiple maker'?

Pillowcase Madness

OK,I admit it.  I can be a bit obsessive.  And once I start on something . . . I just can't stop.  Well, that is what has happened with pillowcases.  Here are my most recent makes:

 

I have a matching set of four here, and they will probably be auctioned off in support of Galgos del Sol, a charity in Spain that rescues the gorgeous Galgos dogs that are so badly treated and get abandoned on the streets.

And then I went Crazy!!

First up are pillowcases made from some leftover Laurel Burch fabric - I love her bright, saturated colors.

The above two photos are of some more Christmas fabrics from both mine and my Mum's collections.  These will hopefully end up at the Children's Hospital in Calgary - I plan on contacting them on my return from my holidays in Australia (what, I didn't tell you I was going to Australia?!!)

The two photos above are of a gorgeous mermaid fabric I bought from Fabricland, and matched it up with some batik that I had in my collection.  I made them for the two young daughters of friends.  They really are too cute for words (both the pillowcases as well as the recipients - Charlotte and Libby)

And these have ended up on our bed - they are a little loud, but I wanted to try them out for size as we have a king size bed and so the measurements are slightly different.  I am very pleased with these, and will be making some more (surprise!!!)

How about you - do you get obsessed with your sewing?

Travel Wardrobes - and Plus-Sized Pattern Pyramid Update

It seems as though I have been sewing lots of items, very few of which actually work with each other, and I am really not sure why.  Faced with having to choose clothes to take with me on my month long trip to Australia, I was a little worried about how much I would need to take with me.  I was also a little disappointed in myself for not having planned this out more carefully - after all, the tickets were bought a few months ago and I have had plenty of time to plan.  Having said that, I have spent some most enjoyable time reading the Vivienne files, which discusses wardrobe planning as well as Design Seeds for color inspiration and with the principle of making my clothes 'work', with that in mind, I tackled my wardrobe and selected some garments . . . . . 18 in total of which 7 are bottoms (6 skirts, one pair of cut off trousers), the rest are tops such as shirts, cardis and vest tops (shells).  In order to decide how well these clothes would work together, I had fun drawing rough diagrams on the back of an old 'page a day' calendar - and this is what I ended up with:

I am calling this my 'green/blue/orange' collection (above), from which I can make 7 'looks' - and that does not include doubling up by adding the cardi as an extra layer.  There are 3 RTW garments here - the blue sleeveless top, the orange sleeveless top and the blue cardi.  I have already blogged about the chartreuse shirt and Sorbetto, as well as the cabbage skirt.  The blue/green skirt is a simple 4-gore skirt made out of summery cotton, with a white cotton lining.  I was really pleased when these all came together - maybe this packing malarky may work out!

 

Next up is the 'pink and natural' collection'.  Again, 3 RTW items (pink cardi, pink sleeveless top, brown cardi) and from these 7 items, I will get 10 looks - also, not including adding the cardi's as extra layers.  The pink striped skirt was worn during Me Made May, and the natural shirt and Sorbetto are the same links in the first collection.

By now I was feeling pretty good, so I threw in two more skirts (brown RTW - 10 additional looks, white RTW - 10 additional looks) and a pair of cut off trousers in navy (RTW, 8 additional looks) - see below.

I now have more 'looks' that days, I really can't believe this!  I have thrown in 4 RTW white t-shirts/vests, my undies, a cream canvas jacket and a few lightweight scarves and I am WELL under my luggage limit!  Woohoo!!!  You know what that means . . . . . I can bring home lots of fabric :)

So, contrary to what I thought, my clothes have been co-ordinating rather well with each other.  What is very interesting is that this exercise highlighted the gaps in my wardrobe which I have filled with RTW clothes - I will focus on those items (cardis, skirts, cut-offs) in Spring next year as these collections are ostensibly Spring/Summer wardrobes.

Due to the nature of being on holiday - I hope to get lots of photos of these garments 'in action' . . and I hope to goodness that the weather holds otherwise I will be wearing all these tops with the jeans I am traveling in!!!

I am intrigued to know how you all co-ordinate your wardrobes - travel/work/play wardrobes - whichever ones are applicable to you?

A quick housekeeping update about the Plus-Sized Pattern Pyramid that I was lucky enough to win in May.  Unfortunately, I mislaid the winners address, and have been unable to make contact with her (Laura, if you read this, I have LOTS of patterns and will get another pyramid sent off to you!) and so I have been in contact with the runner up - the lovely Anne of  Pretty Grievances, and the patterns are on their way to her - so make sure you stalk her blog for a chance to win!!!

Summer Sorbettos

When I buy fabric, I often get a little more than I need.  Either that or I buy an amount that I think I will get a skirt and top, or trousers and jacket etc., etc., and it usually means that I have a half or full metre left over that ends up in a pile of 'not sure what to do with this but I don't want to throw away' fabric - do you have one?!  Well, after making these shirts, I found myself in the same predicament.

But this time . . . it actually worked and I had enough to make some more Sorbettos.  Yay!!

What do you think of the daisies at the bottom that form the hem?  They are actually one of the built in stitches on my Pfaff - it does not have very many, but it certainly makes up for it with this one,  Although you can't quite see it in these photos, the centres of the daisies actually form a small hole, so they look like eyelets.  Love them!

Here are a couple of photos of the chartreuse top.

 

I also have a charcoal grey shirt and Sorbetto cut out and had hoped to have them finished before my Australia trip . . . . unfortunately that was not the case - but it does mean that I will have some sewing ready for me when I return!!