Original design Shorts suit and cape
Posted: January 12, 2013 Filed under: Dressmaking | Tags: clothing, Dressmaking, fashion, Vintage Singer Machine 5 CommentsI confess I have not managed to get any work done for myself again this week – I am still much too busy feeling sorry for myself. It has been a major effort to keep pace with the work I had to finish to load on anything optional. I went to the dentist yesterday who has referred me to an endodontist(?) and loaded me with more antibiotics. Fun times.
One of the things I have managed to finish this week is an outfit for a lovely lady who is competing in a hairdressing competition next week. She brought me a sketch of what she had in mind and after making a couple of suggestions, and working with the fabric provided, this is the result. Lucy was kind enough to give me permission to post the result here. Thank you Lucy! (And good luck).
The patterns for this outfit were all self drafted to fit the model who is very tall and slim. The shorts suit is made from a polyester jersey with a metallic coating – very effective but does tend to ‘craze’ if stretched too much width-ways. The seams are all mock flat fell, and I didn’t need to make any special efforts with neatening as this fabric doesn’t fray at all. I used the ever dependable Harlequin to make the buttons and belt which were lovely. The cape was made from a transparent PVC type fabric which was not a lot of fun to sew. At all. Thankfully Molly stepped up and made a splendid job of stitching the binding around the edge, and the hand crank made the whole operation slow enough to be very controlled. Am I ever glad I invested in that little treasure!
The lovely model, Sophie, said it was very comfortable so I am happy with that.
Everything I need to get on with the Pattern Magic shirt is collected into one spot so I hope that will be the next post.
New Year plans
Posted: January 5, 2013 Filed under: Dressmaking, Life, Pattern Magic | Tags: clothing, Dressmaking, kim hargreaves, Knitting, morley college, Pattern Magic 7 CommentsI have spent the past few days lounging on the sofa – but not in a good way. I followed the fantastically swollen mouth (due to the abscess) with an equally annoying cough and cold. It has meant that I have not been able to sleep so anyone checking their comments and thinking the time of my comments was wrong – no, I really was online at stupid o’clock.
The benefit of not being able to do anything noisy through the night for fear of disturbing The Management is that I have finished the back of the cardigan I am knitting. I always like knitting in winter. I am making ‘Harriet’ from Kim Hargreaves ‘Quirky’ book which hadn’t been going too well but is accelerating away now. The yarn is an all wool Rowan Felted tweed in a colour I think was called Avocado. It very nearly matches my sofa.
Kim Hargreaves ‘Harriet’
As I have been so tired I have barely been keeping up with the sewing I have been obliged to do for clients so I haven’t started any more sewing for myself. However, after looking at my output last year and comparing it to the wardrobes produced by some of the bloggers I follow I am determined to make more – but only things I am pretty sure will fit into my now meager wardrobe (after my October clear out!) and more importantly life style. In common with an awful lot of people I seem to like sewing for the life I would like to have rather than the one I do. Boo hoo. I also want to do things that although they will fit my needs will also challenge me a bit.
The collar with two distinct expressions
Step up Pattern Magic 1 , the collar with two distinct expressions. You might remember I attended Morley College late last year to attend their Pattern Magic course. I came back all enthused, determined to make something I could actually wear, and then life took over. Well, I now have the Bunka block drawn out in my own unique (!) size rather than the standard ‘person in miniature’ sizes provided in the book so all I have to do is complete the pattern and start sewing. Easy! I am slightly ashamed to say that I have been stroking and admiring the garments in this book since December 2010. Definitely time to make something.
Victorian underwear pattern and DVD!
I must also take the opportunity to thank Anne from Tulle and Tweed who sent me the wonderful Laughing Moon Ladies Victorian Underwear pattern and DVD. I feel so lucky! If you haven’t been to Anne’s blog go and look now. You wont fail to be impressed I’m sure. Whilst the patterns as pictured are not likely to be needed very often I am quite certain that elements from this will be very useful. Thanks again Anne!
Oh yes, the pirate shirts. Only one person stuck their neck out and declared which shirt she thought Molly had made – and she was right! Good guess Sheila C. It was probably a bit unfair of me to have even put the question out there as I was both surprised and delighted at how well a sewing machine with so few ‘bells and whistles’ compared with my computerised machine. I think the whole exercise showed me how little we really need to turn out really good garments. Much better than the mass produced cheap clothing so many people have to cope with. Aren’t we lucky we can sew.
The Material Lady 