Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from January, 2012

Things I didn't get around to posting yet #4 - made up maxi skirt

I have wanted a maxi skirt for a while now.  I tried to buy a cheapy one in Target but they didn't have the colour I wanted in my size.  Then I kind of remembered I could just make one up!  So here is the made-up maxi skirt: I took the leftovers of this top and this dress and decided to sew them together for a stripey pop of colour.  I had to work with tiers made of whatever width remained of the fabrics (I didn't have much left) and similarly the design was somewhat dictated by which fabrics I had more or less of. Despite the restricted choices the process of making it was simple and it felt good to be thriftily using up the remains of other projects (plus I love the teal and the stripe and they worked really well together too).  I  just made up a rough plan as follows: Measure waist.  Add a couple of inches.  Divide by two and then add 1 inch (for seam allowance - 1/2 each side).  This is the width of all the tier pieces except the top and bottom tiers.  Not

Things I haven't got around to posting yet #3 - Vogue 8724

It's like I am on a dress making spree!  In fact the spree happened in the last three or four months of last year, but hey - I was busy and never got to posting things.  I also felt like I needed to let the dresses (and a skirt, yet to come) "sit" for a while.  I am not really sure what I mean by that, but it didn't seem like I wanted to photograph and post these as soon as they were finished, like it does with clothes for the kids or quilts I have made... Anyway - next in line was Very Easy Vogue 8724. I bought this pattern for a number of reasons: I had the fabric already but didn't have much, and this one only needs 1.5m (I think I had a bit over, but not much). I liked the look of it and have a few cross over tops which seem to work I wanted something to wear to a wedding and later to reuse and wear to work - it seemed like this style could cross over for both It is specified as very easy - important when trying to get it done quickly! It

Things I hadn't got around to posting yet #2 - McCall's M6074

So this dress was supposed  to be my first attempt at a stretch fabric dress for me (before Vogue 1250 came out and jumped the queue).  It's McCall's "1 hour dress" - M6074. I have been hankering after a maxi dress and my one from last summer was too big for me (woo-hoo!) so I decided to make the longest version of this dress (sleeveless).  However, I couldn't possibly just be happy to have found a one hour dress and make the thing...I had to decide to make the thing in a much more complicated way (partly to get the look I wanted, partly because I didn't have enough fabric anyway). So here it is (I am looking very stern): I cut the shortest view (A) out of the pattern pieces.  Then I cut the difference between shortest (A) and second shortest (B) out of black, with added seam allowances on each long edge.  Then the difference between B and C out of the striped fabric, and finally the difference between C and D (which actually I changed a bit to

Things I hadn't got around to posting yet #1 - Vogue 1250

It seems ridiculous that I haven't got around to posting this yet, particularly when I managed to post the version where I altered the pattern to make it a top over four months ago and I made this first!  I guess so many other people had posted this that it almost seemed pointless but it was the first dress I made for me, one of the first knit / stretch patterns I ever took on etc so I really feel I should include it. I love the casual yet smart look of this - she looks comfortable and stylish.  See below for how I look :) So here it is: I have to say, I really like this dress.  What I really don't like, are these pictures.  In my mind this dress is quite flattering, though seeing these didn't make me so sure!  As you can see, I cut the dress longer than the pattern required and I went with the red like the pattern picture.  I didn't really consciously decide to cut it longer - I knew being tall it might be VERY short if I actually cut the pattern

"Vision" Scarf - new, finished and totally yummy!

Introducing...my Vision Scarf! This scarf started out as the leftovers of an offcut I bought at last year's craft fair from Duckcloth  (how thrifty!).  That bit is the stripey trim.  I bought that linen to make Marcus a pair of shorts (done, not yet blogged) and I had some left, though not much.  I started seeing a scarf out of all the remaining scrappy bits, paired with some plain grey linen I had.  I wanted to add a lacey trim but was wavering as I am not really a lacey sort of person.  Then I stumbled across the grey lace fabric in spotlight for $4 a metre and it was perfect - still lacey, but also still me. So I got all the pieces I had and worked out how long it could be and how wide I wanted it and how much of each fabric I could have in the mix and then I just got into it and cut and sewed!  I created a kind of binding strip from the stripey linen (cut 2 inches, fold in half, fold edges into the middle - binds 1/2 inch along the edge) and sewed it along one of