MUST SEW #1

Remember my first disastrous attempt at the Butterick 4699 (mid 1960's) for my Must Sew #1? I wasn't going to let this pattern get the better of me!


This is my second attempt....






I kind of butchered the pattern a little. Although I made the original dress according to my measurements, it was too big and sack like. So I took it in about 2cm in all off the width, lowered the neckline a little (about 1.5cm), so it didn't feel like it was choking me so much, and shortened the dress by 8cm (I felt the length was a little dowdy).

I thought when deciding what fabric to use, I could go for a cross between a coat and a dress. So I chose a pinwhale cord in black and faced hems and sleeves etc. with bias binding. Because it was cord, I had to make a side seam so that I could cut the pattern with the nap, instead of on the crosswise fold.

I have to say that this isn't my fondest adventure with vintage patterns. I will wear it though, and am on the lookout for a hot pink skivvy and matching tights to brighten up the black!

GUITAR CASE NAME TAG

I love listening to Bec play the guitar. She's pretty darn good for a 12 year old! In fact, the other week her teacher phoned me and said that at her level, we should seriously think about getting her a better guitar. So we did! If it makes her enjoy playing the guitar even more....I'm all for it.

I had some guitar fabric in my stash, so this afternoon I made her a name tag for her guitar case.

My inspiration came from Lisa from A Spoonful of Sugar with her crafty tutorial in the Jan/Feb issue of Silver Magazine, although I used a slightly different method.

I used some iron-on vinyl that I bought at Spotlight (this is a bargain on ebay as I paid around $30 for my roll!) You just iron the vinyl onto the right side of your fabric and it coats it and makes it water proof...and pretty and shiny! I used my trusty old tag templates that I've had about a million years.

*Just iron the vinyl onto the right side of fabric and cut out 2 tags (front and back) mine were about 12cm by 6cm.

*Iron on some stiff interfacing to the wrong sides of both tags.

*Cut some clear vinyl (non iron on) to make a pocket for the name tag to slip into. Bind the top edge for neatness if you wish.

*Place this clear vinyl on top of one of the tags and baste really close to the edge.

*On the other tag, sew on a D ring using some tape or ribbon. Then attach a split ring.

*Place both tags wrong sides together and sew around all edges (about 5mm in from raw edge). Then unpick the basting from when you sewed the clear vinyl pocket on, and sew another row of stitching around all edges.

*Trim and neaten edges (they may slip a bit because you can't pin as it makes holes in the vinyl.....that's the downside).

*Place name and address details on co-ordinating cardboard and insert into pocket.

TA-DAAAAA!

MUST SEW #9.....again

Here is another skirt I made from New Look 6594. I was going to make this up in a corduroy, but I couldn't find a nice chocolate colour, and I wanted another skirt in a hurry, so instead I bought this fabric from Textile Traders . It has a teeny bit of stretch to it (I don't think it matters in this skirt that the fabric is stretch as it's not a firm fit anyway). No alterations again, which is way cool!

Oh, and I had to buy some chocolate coloured boots to match......just don't tell my husband (shhhhhhh)

I can see myself making a whole pile of these skirts. They are so easy to make and comfortable to wear.

I do think I'm starting to have a bit of a boot fetish though......

ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD

Well, today I received my very first award...."One Lovely Blog Award".

Thank you so much to Susan from Stitch Scrap Sew and DJStoreRoom for nominating me for this award.

Apparently I have to nominate 5 Blogs.....I nominate the following because I love to read these lovely Blogs on a daily basis - I find them inspiring and interesting, I may not always comment, but I do enjoy a daily dose.

1. Texmorg

2. Stop Staring and Start Sewing

3. A Spoonful of Sugar

4. The New Vintage Wardrobe

5. Norma Tika Designs

I'm currently making another skirt (I'd have it finished by now if I stopped snooping around Blogland!) I'll post pictures soon.

Have a great week!

MUST SEW #9

Here's my latest project that I made this week. It's New Look 6594 View E. I like border prints, but never really liked one enough to make a dress or skirt out of. Last week I spotted this cotton fabric at Textile Traders and had to buy it! I then had to get a cute little skirt pattern to make it up in (and don't even go near that horrid skirt on on the left! I didn't like those puff skirts in the 80's and can't believe they made a come-back!). The only alteration I did to the pattern was to insert an invisible zipper instead of a lapped one. Everything else was as per the pattern, and it was quite easy to put together. It looks super cute with my favourite boots! I'd like to make another one out of corduroy...nice for the cooler weather that's upon us.

A close-up of the fabric.

Anyway, so I can tick off number 9 on my Must Sew list (See side-bar..I think I've neglected this list for a while and must get right back on track with it).

PS. Have a look-see at Linda's blog and wish her a Happy birthday for Saturday!

Have a great week!

70's DENIM DRESS

I have wanted a denim dress for such a long time, but have never seen one that I liked...until now! I was afraid that I would look like a biker chick in a denim dress (not that there's anything wrong with that!!!).

Anyhoo, I bought this pattern a few months ago from this seller on OZtion. This is a really good site for vintage patterns, similar to Ebay, and they are usually quite cheap, not quite the same selection, but you could be lucky like I was!

I chose a black denim from Spotlight (to match my black boots that I HAD to buy for my 40th, which was a few years ago now). The fabric has a slight stretch, and a bit of a slub through it, so it doesn't make the dress too plain. View 2 (far left) was the one I made and I'm really loving it. I may just make the pant suit too!

I didn't have to make any sizing alterations to this pattern which is wonderful, and because the denim was on the "stiff" side, I made the facings with black poplin to reduce the bulk, and used bias binding around the armholes.

And in case you think my right leg looks kooky, it is. I had the 'big C' about 15 years ago and lost my knee joint in the recovery process! Those close to me know I usually wear pants or dresses/skirts below the knee, but I liked this pattern so much I didn't care. Quite liberating, really!

Anyway, this was my first 70's pattern, and it certainly won't be my last!

And I almost forgot, I tried a new method for backstitching seams which I discovered on this great blog. It really works a treat, and I really wanted to try this method to reduce the bulk with the denim. Give it a go!

Enjoy your day.

MY NEW TSHIRT

I'm not really into Tshirts - especially those with silly sayings on them, but I just couldn't resist! There is a whole lot more on the Australian CafePress Site (although I think most are sourced from the U.S.). You can key in just about anything that interests you (scrap booking, quilting, sewing, soccer etc.) and there will surely be a Tshirt for it, or you can even design your own!

I am also coveting this....