Ottobre 3/2007 Sleeveless Hooded Jacket

I don't sew much winter clothing as the weather here is rarely cold but we've had a cool year and Jess has grown out of any warm clothing that she did have. Rather than go all out and make her a jumper I thought that the Ottobre sleeveless jacket would get more use being a somewhat transitional piece. I cut out and made up the 170cm size ( the largest the pattern goes up to). I thought that the largest size would be fine but failed to take into account that Jess is now taller than me at 171cm. Therefore the jacket was actaully a tad too small and ended up being given to Sarah.

The main fabric is a Cotton lycra French Terry and the binding fabric a cotton lycra blend, both of which I purchased from Crafty Mamas. This was an easy and quick sew my only frustration being that I could not get the plastic snaps I bought for it to stay together. I've decided to leave it without any closures.

Happy New Year

and hopefully a better blogging year! Obviously I'm not the greatest blogger and over the last few moths have thought about why I have a blog. My main purpose was to keep a record of the things I've made this year but between work, family committments and the random accidents I seem to be a magnet for my blogging has fallen by the wayside.


Whilst I actually finished this Ottobre Women skirt a few weeks ago I'll post it now to start off a new year of blogging. I originally intended to make it for myself, but somewhere between measuring myself and reading the pattern sizing I cut out a skirt that just fits my reed thin twelve year old daughter - hmm ....not sure where I went wrong there (wishful thinking maybe?)

It's the denim skirt from Ottobre Woman issue 05-2008-2. Its made out of a cotton drill that I purchased from Crafty Mamas a while back and has been sitting in the stash. The directions were quite clear and easy to follow though I attached the waistband differently to how was described in the pattern instructions. Size -??probably the smallest, lol.

Oops - can still see the guide lines I drew on for the top stitching - I wanted to get a photo of this before the clouds and rain set in again. Looking at the skirt now I wish I had of gotten some buttons for the two front and back pockets - I think it would have given a better overall finish to the skirt.

I'm working on my first quilt at the moment so will hopefully have something to show before I head off to Tassie with the family in a weeks time - I'm looking forward to some nice cold weather - which may sound crazy to most but living here in the tropics where the tempreture sits around 38 degrees centigrade for 3/4 of the year, cold weather is what I'm dreaming of!

Farbenmix Olivia - color blocking experiment

It looks like I'm getting two posts in this month - amazing,lol.

Pattern: Farbenmix Olivia - underdress
Fabric: Stenzo(?)red & white dot knit, Busilis pink & red dot knit and Colorado red knit, all purchased from Crafty Mamas.

I saw a really cute knit dress that had been color blocked (?) with diagonal lines of pastel colored fabric. I thought that the Olivia would look cute like this so headed off to the fabric stash with the idea of trying color blocking out to see if I could get a similar effect. Unfortunetly there was not much in the way of pastel colored knits- everything either had a print or was bright.

I love red and had a few different types in the stash so this is what I ended up with.

I'm quite happy with how it turned out though I should have started the second panel slightly higher up. To make the different colored panels I just cut the dress front into thirds, added 1cm seam allowance to the bottom of the bodice, 1cm either side of the centre panel and 1 cm to the top of the bottom panel so that it would be the same length as the back. Unfortunetly I didn't have enough of the pink dot fabric to make the tail section so it's just a regular old hood,lol.

I'm not sure that I've sewn the knits together in the right manner. I just cut the panels on the grain line and then matched up the seams. Whilst sewing the panels together I wasn't quite sure that the grain lines were still straight - if that makes sense? I couldn't find much info on the web on how to color block knits (hopefully I'm using the right term for it??)

Anyhow, Bel loves it and that's all that matters.

Front

Back

Trying out the twirl factor

Favorite Things - Hip skirts

Wow, it's March already and I was hoping to get in more than one post a month - it's my goal this month to at least get in two,lol.

I doubt it would be right to call this a UFO as I actually did finish it but absolutely hated it and tossed it in a drawer where it remained for the last six months. Why? Being somewhat scatterbrained at the best of times I measured myself and then proceded to used my bust measurement as a guide to which size skirt to make. Being somewhat top heavy (my chest size is two sizes larger than my hip size) I ended up with a skirt that was way too large and at the time somewhat uninspiring. After a complete deconstruction which resulted in four centimeters being cut off the back skirt peice and 2 cm from the sides of both skirt front peices it now fits beautifully.

The other reason it got tossed aside was that it was just plain boring. The photo's don't do it justice (especially since I wore it to work today and its a little wrinkled- but if I did not post about it now who knows how long it would take to get back to it). I added some ribbon to the bottom of the skirt and some cute buttons which are hard to see in the photo and I'm now actually quite liking it

The pattern was really easy to follow and went together quite quickly (apart from the 6 month "rest" in the cupboard). I think the sizing is quite generous despite my blunder. The only thing I don't like about this skirt is the use of elastic in the waist band - it kind of gives it a bunched up look - next time I think I'll try and put a zip in the side and see how that turns out.

January challenge - better late than never?

Ok it done, two days late but for me that's almost on time. I think I was being too optomistic when I thought that I'd get it done in time, 2 weeks in Bali and a zip that did not turn up until the day we were heading out the door should have made me realise, but here it is anyhow.

Pattern: Amy Butler Sophia Carryall
Fabric: Jane Sassaman Prairie Gothic range.




I'm having a love/hate relationship with this bag. I really like the fabric but I'm not sure that I like it made up as this bag. I originally wanted the Teasel & Lace fabric in Midnight but it was all sold out so I went with this - I think I should have persevered in looking a bit longer for the other fabric.

The bag went together quite easily though it is the most structured bag that I have made and the base was somewhat of a challenge. I also made the lining slightly too large and had to adjust it to fit. The bag actually holds a fair amount and I think I might actually have a go at trying the Weekender bag next - but that can wait a little while...

Next up - February challenge - something in knit. I think I'll make something for me again!

Amy Butler Sophia Carryall

Part of the Twelve projects in twelve month challenge is to blog about the progress of what you are making. I was making great strides in getting this done but have hit a wall as I need a 22 inch bag zip to put in at this stage - the only problem being there is nowhere here in town to buy zips (or anything other than the basic sewing items that the local supermarket supplies.) So whilst I'm waiting for Spotlight to send a zipper out in the mail I'll work on the lining for the bag. I'm still hoping to finish in time if it gets here before the end of the week.




Whilst on the subject of WIP I was not entirely craft free while in Perth. I thought I'd take advantage of the fact that my mum was staying with me and got her to help me with my first full scale crochet project - an afgan made out of granny squares. I don't know why but for some reason I have never been able to work out how to crochet (and I have been trying for years...) when it just clicked. I bought a copy of the Happy Hooker, some thick yarn and a large crochet hook and finally got the idea of what I needed to do. The afgan is almost done as I only have the finally round of crocheting to go on a couple of squares and then I can put it all together. Then it can sit around and look pretty until it gets cold around here (which will probably be around June for a period of a week or so - at least it won't wear out from overuse lol.)

I've decided to join Carolyn's from My Favorite twelve projects in twelve months challenge. Apart from the motivation to sew it will also be great to make sure that I keep up with posts on my blog. I've been rather tardy of late with it as I had a six week uni placement in Perth where I was without a computer (or sewing machine for that matter) so there was little blogging happening. One of my resolutions for this year is to keep my blog more up to date.

The first challenge for this month is to make something "for me" - I'll be making an Amy Butler Sophia carryall which I hope to finish in the next ten days so I can use it when we head over to Bali for 14 days.