Sew Me Love

Finished Project & Pattern Review: Butterick 6582 Retro 60s Dress.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Finished project, yay.

The Butterick 6582 Retro 60s dress was conceived in my "sewing room" about 5 weeks ago and I put the finishing touches on it tonight.

I absolutely love my sewing room (though my gas bill won't!!) it gets cold in there so to heat the room up I crank the heater up high during the evening. During the day it gets awesome warm sunshine so it's a really nice space to kick back and sew!

Last weekend I finished the bodice. The bodice is fully lined - no facings. I didn't have time during the week to sew so I had to wait till the weekend.

On Saturday after a day of kettlebells, brunching and a four hour nap; I cut out my gathered skirt, gathered it and attached it to the bodice.

On Sunday morning I woke up early and hand picked the zipper. I used a black 18" dress zipper I found in my stash... you could say I was 'stash busting'! Haha, not really, I just didn't want to go all the way to the shops for a $2 zip.

I love the handpicked look. I still have to work on my 'zip positioning' technique - the zip is not dead centre so the pricks are not even on both sides.

Waist seam matches, clap clap!!

I love the faux wrap bodice and the gathered shoulders. Too cute!!

The one feature of this dress that I liked was the fact that the front bodice was one big pattern piece, and one small shoulder piece, which joins the main bodice piece to make the "faux wrap".

Because of the way the pattern pieces were designed, I had the option of laying the pieces out on the fabric to choose where the flowers would end up (like I did with my V8511 floral/collared dress and my M8545 floral dress) and the with the small shoulder pattern piece, I chose a big flower to sit in the centre, like a corsage! Ahh.

Gathered skirts rock but next time I want to make the wiggle skirt.

Butterick 6582

Faux wrap baby!
Faux corsage too, hehe!

Yes, my dress form is wearing a bra. Haha.

Gathered shoulders.

Nice, evenly gathered skirt.
I always sew three lines of gathering stitches.

Bodice lining - white sunsilky polyester.
You can see where the small shoulder piece joins the main bodice.

No waist stay this time.

Shell: Cotton Sateen
Lining: Sunsilky Polyester

I know I said I'd hand sew the hem... forgive me!!
The shoddy looking stitch above is enough to scare me back to handsewing my hem next time.
Shudders.
I think my machine needs a service.
Or I need a new machine....

Can you believe that I still don't have my camera back??
#Dodgy iPhone mirror #selfie!!

I like the back. It's perfect.

Pattern Review: Butterick 6582, View 3

Size: 6 all the way! Usually I have to grade out to an 8 waist, but not this time! Either the pattern has more ease... or my healthy lifestyle is paying off!

Fabric: 1.5m cotton sateen (Darn Cheap), 0.7m sunsilky lining (Spotlight)

Notions: Dress zipper 18" , Gutermann thread

Time: Can't remember the hours, but it was 4 sessions over 5 weeks

Cost: Fabric $20, Lining $7, Zipper $2

Pattern Modification/Adjustments:

Fully lined the bodice instead of facings for the bodice

Techniques Used:

Darts

Lined bodice (bagging tutorial here)

Gathering

Handpicked zip

Retro 1960s dress with full gathered skirt <3

I love this print! I thinks it's "autumn-y" so I'm keen to experiment with stockings and boots and see if they will suit this dress. It's way to cold in Melbourne to get around bare-legged.

Has anyone else (besides Laika Doll and Dapper Duds) made this dress?? It is such a beautiful dress!

If I had one piece of advice, I would recommend making a muslin/toile because the finished measurements on the pattern seemed large for my bust, but when I tried on the muslin it fit perfectly.

WIP Butterick 6582 Retro 60s Dress.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Hi all!

How's it all going? Just a follow up from my old post about the death of Google Reader and the confusion about finding a replacement, has everyone made the switch to Feedly?? That's what the whole internet is doing, apparently!!

I made a Feedly account, but haven't used it much. Even though I have dissed Bloglovin' in the past I've found that I'm still relying on Bloglovin' to follow all my blogs.

Now on to sewing!! Three weeks ago (seems like forever-ago) I set up my sewing room and started a new project - B6582. I got as far as putting the shell together and cutting the lining out one Saturday afternoon after kettlebells - last time I will attempt to sew after strenuous exercise!! My hands were shaking so much that my cutting ended up being jagged and so off! Since then, Saturdays are my kettlebells, brunch & nap days. I haven't even been going out that much on Saturday nights cos I'm so wrecked from my work out. So. Un. Fit.

Today was a public holiday so I made the effort to do some sewing. I'm kind of embarrassed that every Monday when I come to work and my friends ask if I did any sewing, my reply has been "um, no.." and that new friends I have made in the last few months don't even know that I sew cos I haven't been doing much of it!

This is what I managed to do today in 6 hours... (a lot of the 6 hours I was texting and tweeting, lol).

#selfie

I sewed the darts on the lining, put the bodice lining together and sewed the lining and the shell together using the 'bagging' technique (tutorial here).

Bagging this bodice, finally.

The pattern actually has facings not lining, but of course I had to be a smart ass and go with lining and put myself through the torture of sewing a bunch of darts on stupid fraying polyester!!!! Grr!!!!

I spent the afternoon swearing my head off because there was shit fraying everywhere and thread flying all over the place. My sewing machine was making strange noises (turned out it needed a new needle).

Bagged. Now to sew up the side seams.

The lining I bought was sunsilky polyester (the best kind of polyester lining - it's treated so it's breathable) but for some reason my sunsilky felt stiff, cheap and nasty. Who. Knows.

Here is the end product.

Faux wrap.

Cute gathered shoulders.

Butterick 6582 bodice.

I am so glad this step is over! Next up is the skirt. Full gathered skirt has not failed me so I'm going with that style again. Unlined, thank Christ.

I'm so keen to do a finished project post and have a new dress to wear!!!!! Hopefully finish it this month.

To be continued...
PS. Hope the Aussies had a good Queens Birthday :)

My New Sewing Room & Mothers Day.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

After almost 2 years of sewing in my lounge room next to the heater with the TV playing back-to-back episodes of Gossip Girl and Desperate Housewives in the background; graduating from the dining table to a sewing Horn; I have finally moved my sewing machine into my spare room! I finally have a sewing room!

It's much colder sewing in the spare room now that it's freezing in Melbourne, but I'm more motivated to start projects because I know I can leave my shit every where.. because it's my sewing room! When I was sewing in the living area, I had to tidy up after every session and sometimes I just cbf'd so I'd skip sewing altogether. Or I'd start a project late at night, nod off then have visitors the next day getting stabbed by pins in the carpet. Zz.

Another huge plus is the light-coloured table I now use for cutting - it's awesome! I can easily see the pattern when I'm tracing.

I'm currently working on the Butterick 6582. My favorite versions are by Dapper Duds (love, love, LOVE the fabric and the alteration to the back) and Laika Doll (pink elephants, nuff said!).

The fabric is cotton sateen from Darn Cheap. I'll of course be making the full skirt version. I was very close to making the wiggle skirt, but I am still not confident with alterations around my hip/bum area.

Last week I made a toile/muslin to check the fit because the finished bust measurement was 91cm (size 6) and I'm 80cm. Muslin fit perfect though. To help gauge the fit, I basted a zipper on to the bodice and zipped myself up. Great solution when you live alone.

The dress has facings but I'm going to fully line the bodice cos I find lining a dress easier than ~~facing~~ facings. Hehe. I'll see if I still feel that way after marking and sewing another six darts. Damn.

To be continued....

Mothers Day! I didn't get up to much with mum (compared to last year), this year I just took mum out for dinner at Simon's Peiking Duck Restaurant (thank you Pork Chops Nest for the recommendation!) and made her a card. I love Hallmark's personalised cards! Get on it.

Mum loves Asian cuisine (don't we all!) and I've never had peking duck (only roast duck, which up until last year I thought was peking duck) so I was really excited to try it. Mum loved it! We were hoping the owner Simon would come and throw pancakes at us but sadly he was busy with the larger tables. We did get to chat to him at the end of the night though, and got a photo too!

Mum, Simon (owner), little sis, me.

Look at mum all rugged up!! It's seriously cold in Melbourne right now!!! My sister and I were freezing our asses off! I would share delicious food pics from the night on here... but they're on my Instagram... and this is a sewing blog so I'll try and stay on topic hehe.

I hope all you mums got spoiled on the weekend, breakfast in bed and the works :D

And to my own mummy - HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, LOVE YOU LOTS!

Away from Sewing: Surprise gift from I-Heart-Fabric, Kettlebells, Me-Made-Saturday, New Cotton Sateen.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sat, 04 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Me-Made-Saturday, Megan Nielsen, #FMSphotoaday, Kettlebells.

It's Saturday night and I am buggered!!!

I really wanted to start on a muslin for the Butterick 6582 but the hot water bottle and bed is so much more inviting. In my defense I've had a busy week... so busy that a package arrived on the 26th April and I wasn't able to collect it until today!! Nine days later!

The package was from sweet Erin of I-Heart-Fabric. This girl is a sewing machine! Pun intended??

I met Erin in February when she came to Melbourne to see Swedish House Mafia concert. We really hit it off and keep in touch regularly via text, Twitter and Instagram.

Erin has sent me a Megan Nielsen dress pattern!!

I love it baby, thank you!!! I will step out of my comfort zone and finally make something with sleeves, just for you. Keep an eye out in the post this week for a little something-something to show my appreciation ;) Hint: We will soon be dress twins!

Me-Made-Saturday: M5850, cotton sateen version blogged here. Worn for the first time today.
Floral linen blend version blogged here.

Time got away from me and I wasn't able to officially pledge to take part in MMMay13 however I've decided to sporadically take part and pledge to wear at least one me-made garment on the weekend. Weak, I know, considering I wore 16 outfits last year however I simply do not have any me-mades to wear during the week at work :(

Along with the #MMMAy13 challenge, I'm also doing the #FMSphotoaday challenge for the first time on Instagram. Really enjoying it so far. Tomorrow's prompt is 'paper'... I predict I'll be snapping a pic of some pattern tissue paper!

Fitness time! I've started kettlebell classes on Saturday mornings, it's a great work out, I should be able to get into those Burda pants in no time, haha. I was highly amused last Sunday when I woke up and could not move a muscle in my body. I literally rolled out of bed. On to the floor.

After today's kettlebell class, I rushed home to get ready for a BBQ at SixInchHeel's for bub D's 4th birthday. Her two boys are super adorable and so well behaved.

Hrm, how is it that two girls that have 1000s of pics of dumprings and coffee on their iphones have never taken of photo together... SixInch, we're doing a selfie together next time!

Lamb rubbed w/ afgan spice, Aunty Neeno hanging with D,
L & D pointing at Spiderman birthday cake, NOM #lunch.

After the birthday, SixInchHeel and I headed out to Darn Cheap. Seriously, this woman is like my muse. Every time I see her, I have the urge to go buy fabric and go home and sew. Today I bought 5 meters of cotton sateen. Florals, of course!

The top floral I bought so I can be fabric twins with Erin, see her dress here. The other floral below, is same print as this (I bought few weeks ago after lunch with SixInchHeel), but in brown.

Can't wait to cut you all up!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far. I'm looking forward to the Julia Bobbin Mad Men Challenge reveal tomorrow! Can't wait to see all the dresses.

RSS? Feedly, Flipboard, Newsify & Pocket (formerly known as Read It Later)... help.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Who's overwhelmed and freaking out about Google Reader shutting down?

I wasn't. Not really, cos I never used Google Reader before!

I "follow" blogs on Google or Blogger (wevs it's called) so I can be Google friends with my fellow bloggers but I stream all my blogs into Bloglovin' and read them there.

I admit I got a little concerned because I've recently started ~~trying to figure out~~ using Flipboard on my iPhone. I use sooo much social media that it's exhausting.

Every day I have to catch up on tweets from two profiles, Instagram, Facebook, Foursquare, Kik, Tumblr, Pinterest, YouTube, Bloglovin'... my goodness.

Figured it would be easy to have at least one Twitter account, Facebook, Instagram, news and blogs feed into one app so I don't develop severe RSI on my thumb. This is how I discovered how important "Google Reader" was to me. I found that I couldn't add single blogs/URLs but had to use my Google Reader.

What a headache. I have so many blogs on my Google Reader that I don't actually read anymore and I certainly didn't want that clogging up my feed, getting in the way of finished projects and pattern reviews and MMMay!

Up until today, I didn't even know what RSS is... still don't actually.
Here's what ~~I think~~ I know about the apps... feel free to comment and educate me. I beg you too.

FEEDLY:
Uses Google Reader to feed in content, can use on desktop, yay can read blogs at work.
Not sure what is going to happen when Google Reader is phased out...
I'm re-adding all my blogs by going to each one and clicking on RSS option.
I've installed Feedly for Google Chrome which has been working well at home and work, syncs with the iPhone app. Finding that it's feeding same content into Newsify.
This is my pick at the moment simply because I can easily use it on the desktop, same way I use Bloglovin' and the iPhone app is not too bad.

FLIPBOARD:
Feeds Google Reader content and every other social media site you can think of!
Again, not sure what happens when Google Reader is gone... not actively using Flipboard for blogs right now, just for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Would be great if it could feed multiple Twitter accounts into it.

NEWSIFY:
Syncs your Google Reader (Google Reader transition info), RSS feeds from news sites and blogs with RSS option...
Finding that it's feeding same content from Feedly. Not sure how they are linked. Prob through Google. So confused.

POCKET formerly Read It Later:
This is the only app I am 100% confident about.
You link it with your Twitter and RSS/Feeder apps and articles/posts/links that you want to "read later" you save into this app. Genius. Why did I never use this before?!

RSS:
I think my RSS thing has been broken for the last two years?
Not sure if anyone has been able to subscribe to my RSS feed for posts and comments or able to "+" my blog to the apps above, but it's now fixed.

To fix this, I had to go into my blogger -> settings -> other -> add my "Post Feed Redirect URL" which I got from Feedburner.

Subscribe by email was working fine though.

Found out my RSS thingo was broken when I was trying to "+" my own blog to Feedly, and it kept saying my URL didn't exist. Fixed now, go on, click on "RSS Feed" on the side and let me know if it works, LOL.

I'm testing out all 3 of those apps, logging into them using a different Google account, and refollowing all my blogs.

Mammoth task... so far I've only added about 10 blogs that I read frequently and know URLs off the top of my head. Basically I'm going to manually sort through my Google Reader and Bloglovin' account to find the blogs I want (still read) and build from the ground up again, what a ball breaker!

And if all I'm doing when I "+" these URLs to Feedly and Newsify is adding them to my Google Reader (which is getting phased out) I AM GOING TO CRY.

This post was not intended to be useful... more of a cry for help I think. I don't even know if I have made sense :/

What do I do? What are you guys doing?

Finished Project: A self-drafted asymmetrical collar.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Pattern Review: V8511 (bodice only)

Size: 6 bust, 8 waist

Fabric: 1.5m cotton sateen (Darn Cheap), 0.7m bemsilk lining (Spotlight)

Notions: Dress zipper 22", Gutermann thread, 0.8m grosgrain ribbon, 1 bikini hook

Time: 10-12 hours, over 4 days.

Cost: Fabric $20, Lining $7, Zipper $2, Grosgrain Ribbon $2, Bikini Hook 0.50c

Pattern Modification/Adjustments:

Added self-drafted asymmetrical collars
Replaced tulip skirt with full gathered skirt

Techniques Used:

French seams (skirt side seams)

Princess seam

Lined bodice (bagging tutorial here)

Gathering

Handpicked zip

Blind catch stitch on the hem

Waist stay (tutorial here)

WIP

I am head-over-heels for this fabric!

Sometimes all you need to get you out of a sewing rut is some oh-hot-damn floral cotton sateen.

This is my jam. Definitely.

I found this baby last Saturday. After having lunch with @SixInchHeel and fam bam I decided to do a drive around town looking for fabric. Ended up taking these four home.

I was in love with the it because it reminded me of the forest, foliage, butterflies? When I got home I washed and ironed and got to work cutting out the V8511.

Favourite part of sewing process - stepping back and admiring the perfectly cut pieces.

Like my 'corsage floral dress' I didn't cut the bodice on the centre fold. I wanted the perfect butterfly to adorn the centre of my princess seamed bodice.

Same deal with the collars, I wanted a nice big flower so this meant that the collars used up a chunk of fabric I reserved for my skirt so the skirt ended up not as full.

The skirt length was 19" (SA and 3cm hem included).
The finished skirt hem measurement was 62".

Stay stitched around neckline and arm hole curves.

I re-used the collar pattern I drafted when I made the red V8511 work dress.

By midnight Saturday I finished the shell and collars. Rewarded myself with back-to-back episodes of Californication and some wine :D

Hard at WIP on a Saturday night.

Sunday afternoon, I cut out the lining, bagged the bodice, understitched and prepped the skirt pieces (side seams frenched, three rows of gathering stitches).

Bodice lined with cream bemsilk.

Side seams matching perfectly.

Parfait!

Monday night I attached the skirt to the bodice. My unpicker was my BFF that night cos fabric kept getting caught, zz.

Green grosgrain ribbon waist stay went on, and final fitting. Hurrah it fit.

I took a couple of days break to focus on work and gym (went twice this week, yay... dined out 7 times, lol) and Wednesday I handpicked the zipper and handsewed the hem.

I love handpicking - more control and it's therapeutic.

Love those pricks!

I finished the dress in time to wear to my friends 30th birthday dinner last night at Rosetta.
All the bread, pasta, potato, pannacotta and wine I consumed was nicely hidden under the full skirt. DRESSES FTW.

#OOTN
ASOS Linen blazer, ASOS glitter skinny belt, ALL THAT JAZZ handmade vintage look clutch.

Waist stay!

#selfie :P

I love the V8511 bodice. I've perfected the fit and have used it to make many dresses. This is almost overtaking the McCalls 5845 as my favourite because it has no darts (I don't like marking darts!!)

Collars - Slit & Cummerbund - Scooped Back & Full Circle Skirt 1 & 2 - Gathered Skirt - Full Gathered Skirt & Collars.

Once I find a pattern that works, I tend to get obsessed and addicted to hacking it... nothing wrong with that hey, and I'm not the only one, my interstate blogger mate Erin of I-Heart-Fabric is currently in love with beautiful BurdaStyle 120 and has made soooo many versions of the same pattern.

I didn't even realise they were all the same pattern cos the fabrics make each dress look completely different. Go check out Erin's dresses, they are to die for <3

I hope you all had a fun weekend. I definitely did. I ate way to much good food (blogged here), caught up with a few of my friends and to top it off the Melbourne weather was marvelous :)

I have a long weekend next week so I'm planning to make another dress... don't be surprised if it's another V8511 with self-drafted collars and a full skirt.

If it ain't broke....!!

#MMMay13 & a preview of my asymmetrical collared dress.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 02:35:00 +0000

It's that time again... the time I contemplate whether I should participate in MMM'13!

Me-Made-May is on again... read more about it on Zoe's blog.

Last year I took part, and I personally believe I smashed the challenge :P (blogged here) but this year I'm not sure if I have enough outfits to go around :/

The challenge was a lot of fun, it encouraged me to accessorize and also helped me identify gaps in my wardrobe. That "gap", sad to say, is still there. Oops.

I'm sure since May 2012 I have sewed heaps but it's all a blur!! One think I know for sure is, the majority of my me-mades are floral dresses. I did make pants, but they are also floral. Oh, and don't fit, hahaha.

I'll have to take a peek at my me-made wardrobe this weekend.

Who's taking up the challenge this year? And how many outfits are you pledging to wear?

I'll leave you with a preview of my next blog post... collars yay.

Finished Project & Pattern Review: Burda 7371 Pants.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:30:00 +0000

My blogging and sewing efforts have been totally pathetic this year, I apologise!!

These pants were finished a while back but a few 'issues' have stopped me from blogging about them:

no camera (iphone mirror selfies, facepalm)
pants don't fit any more!!

Note to self - don't bother making pants because your weight fluctuates constantly and your problem areas grow a crazy two inches on your fat days!

Grr.

How annoying!! The muslin fit fine. Who knows what happened with this one. They fit, but I'm afraid to wear them out in public for fear of my ass seams splitting or dying from severe camel toe.

It's a shame because the print and texture of the fabric is heavenly!

I don't wear pants at all so if these pants had fit, I would have had trouble styling them.

Pattern Review: Burda 7371 Pants

Size: 10 with adjustments, naturally

Fabric: 1.5m cotton sateen (Darn Cheap)

Notions: Invisible zipper 8", Gutermann thread, whisperweft interfacing

Time: Not long at all, maybe 8 hours? I took my sweet time with these
Cost: Fabric $20; Zipper $2; Interacing: stash

Pattern Modification/Adjustments: See this post :)

Not much to say bout these pants except that I'm glad I made something other than a dress for once.

I think dresses are my calling though. I've decided to stay home tonight, get on the red wine, pump up some music and get into some serious cutting and bodice bagging.

Went shopping today and bought some cotton sateen and notions.

I'm going to make a dress for work using the 'top right' fabric, something with collars and a full skirt to accommodate my forever fluctuating waist.

I am taking a break from my weekly dressmaking class this term. I've been struggling to get myself to class and now that daylight savings has ended and winter is coming, I know my motivation to leave the house will be zero. Also, I am going to shift some of my focus back to fitness (gym was what I used to do with my spare time before sewing) so I have and find a balance for the two.

Gym is not a hobby at all, I enjoy running as it clears my head, but it's no where near as fun as whipping up a dress however I need to look after my health, and maybe after a few months I'll be able to fit into these Burda pants :P

My blog will probably be very quiet compared to last year, but I will endeavour to blog at least every fortnight.

I'll work on my New Look 6570 coat next term.

In the meantime, keep in touch via my Instagram.

'A return to normalcy' - a new sewing project New Look 6570

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:30:00 +0000

I'm hoping this is the start of a return to normalcy for me.

I've been going through a weird patch and haven't been blogging or sewing much. I was working on pants but haven't actually finished hemming yet... there was a WIP pic on my Instagram, they look really good!!

Family, work, & personal relationship issues have been getting to me, if you follow my personal Twitter account you would have seen my emo tweets... but I'm over it now and slowly returning to last year's routine which will hopefully mean that I will blog more often and actually finish projects!

Anyway, here is my latest project at my weekly sewing class, View C coat (the one on the model), New Look 6570.

I decided on this pattern last minute, it was in my sewing bag, borrowed from a classmate.

The coat is just gorgeous. I was intimidated at first thinking there would be a lot of pieces but it's got about the same number of pieces as a dress.

I haven't decided on a fabric yet, was thinking a linen blend? Not really leaning towards the winter fabrics yet since Melbourne weather is still warm and I prefer wearing lighter clothing and layering.

I traced and cut out the 'jacket front' 'jacket back' and 'side panel' of the jacket in the smallest size - a 10, which has a finished bust measurement of 94cm (37") ... um, I'm a 78cm (30") bust!

Butttttt, it actually seems to fit???

Yes, still haven't got my camera back from dad!!

I don't understand, the finished measurement is 94cm however it's sitting at centre front and back properly and it fits!

Thoughts?

Next week, I'll be tracing out the 'front facing' 'jacket back' and 'sleeve'. Hopefully I'll have some fabric too :)

My First Melbourne Social Sewing.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 21:00:00 +0000

Ciao!

Hope your weekends are all going well!

Yesterday I attended my first Melbourne Social Sewing meet-up hosted by Rachel of My Messings.

It was a very productive day and it was wonderful to finally meet some of the sewing ladies of the Melbourne Sewing/Blogging scene. Also meet some new faces, which was lovely cos I love meeting new people.

Unfortunately I am very bad with names so I do not remember everyone's names :( Oanh is putting together a contact list, so that will be helpful.

I do remember 'Poppy Kettle', 'Sew Squirrel', 'Belle Belle'... and 'Jorth' who dropped in with her gorgeous daughter to say hello (Jorth was the first Melbourne sewing blog I found. I was/am obsessed with her V8511 dresses! I felt like a rock star had walked into the room when she arrived!).

Yes, I am still referring to the ladies by their blog names/Twitter handles I apologise... it was only my first meet, I get better with time :)

I was amazed at what everyone was working on and can't wait to see them finished and blogged. Definitely will try to make the next one.

Most of my time spent at Social Sewing, I worked on tracing and cutting out the pattern for Simplicity 2392 and Simplicity 2264. The URL is correct - I am working on babies patterns! My aunty Tia is about to have her second baby, a girl, and it's inspired me to work on some cute outfit for baby girls.
Something different, however I think I have under estimated how hard it would be! Buttons, rick-rack, embroidery, oh my! On the plus side, there were no darts on the patterns, woot.

Can't wait to show my mum these baby outfits once they're finished - when she encouraged me to take up sewing two years ago, her reason was "Learn to sew, so when you have a family you can make clothes for your kids" LOL.

Overwhelmed. Collars, Yokes, Bibs, Straps, Leg Elastic Guides, Embroidery Guides... OMG.

Simplicity 2264 - View C in cotton.

I made good use of the large tables and natural light and managed to trace cut and out both patterns as well as cut out fabric for the skirt (front and back), bib and straps for Simplicity 2264. Still need to buy white cotton for the bodice (front and back) and elastic and buttons! I'm telling you these baby outfits are more detailed than mine!!

I have all day Sunday free so if I have the energy I will work on my floral pants. Really keen to have them finished so I can wear them next weekend.

A girl can dream.

Burda Pants! Muslin finally finished.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Hi all!

Sorry I have been absent from my blog. I've been away for a few reasons:

1) No finished projects to share - sadly have not had the time or inspiration to work on any projects at home. I'm over making dresses and need a challenge... thinking a jacket or swimwear next.
2) No significant progress at class (till tonight that is!!) - just been making adjustments to my muslin, nothing photo worthy, and the olive fabric is so hideous, looks shocking on camera.
3) No camera - gave dad the camera over Christmas and haven't grabbed it back so you'll have to put up with my dodgy selfies taken on my iPhone 5.

I can't remember when I started these pants, it must have been November 2012? I missed two sewing classes so these pants that usually take 4 hours to whip up (so I hear) have taken me waaaay longer.

Last week I finally got somewhere with this baby! Somehow over the holiday period I lost 3cm off my hips. Wow, I been exercising for years and never lost any centimeters! We took the pants in the at hips and thighs, down to the knee and the pants stayed up! Woot!!

First pair of pants.
Burda 7371.
Muslin V1.0

Adjustment to the hips and upper outside leg.

When I was at home, I tried them on again. The fit on the bum was pretty good... I think!

But I noticed that my pants bunched at the front, worst when I had my legs together.

I don't wear pants (except tight jeans) so have no idea how pants are meant to sit on your body.

I spent the next 24 hours checking out strangers' crotches and consulting Twitter.

Got told by SixInchHeel they looked like MC Hammer pants. She was joking. I hope :/

Fit great at the hips and bum.
Standing with my legs apart cos there was bunching at the front when I close my legs, lol.
So much bunching I didn't even want to look down, or take a pic for the internet!

Tonight at class, I tried the pants on again. Everyone agreed there was looseness in the crotch area. Hrms. Anyways, unpicked the crotch and took the inside leg seams in.

Adjustments to the inside leg.

Cut off the excess fabric from my muslin and transferred adjustment to my pattern.

I think they look much better. Look! Legs together! The photos and olive colour don't do the pants any justice, I'm really happy with how my muslin turned out.

Muslin V1.1
Legs closed! Looks much better!

Up close.
Quite wrinkly, I have no love for this olive pair.

Once I transferred the adjustments to my pattern, I abandoned my muslin (crotch still needs to be stitched, hemmed, facing hand stitched down) and started cutting into my gorgeous, gorgeous floral cotton sateen that I bought from Darn Cheap on Australia Day when I was hanging out with Ling.

What I'm making this weekend! The real deal.
Floral cotton sateen pants!

During tonight's class, I made adjustments to the muslin, cut into my floral cotton sateen, and interfaced the facings. Very productive evening :)

I might join the ladies at Sewing Social this Saturday! Who's coming?

Last few weekends away from sewing...

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Howdy!

I must apologise for being so slack with my sewing and blogging!

On Australia Day weekend, I planned to sew a full circle skirt for my little sister which would later become my second blog post for 2013 but I ended up inviting myself to Six Inch Heel's Australia Day BBQ!

On Australia Day, I travelled to the other side of the city to Six Inch's leafy green neighbourhood, such a nice change from the dry and burnt out west side of Melbourne!

Six Inch Heel was the first person I met from the internet (Twitter). We share a love of duplings (sic) from Shanghai Street and our first meeting was over a bowl of noodles at Melbourne Central, next to both our offices.

It was a great day, we ate BBQ, drank wine that was made by Six Inch's hubby and I met Vita of Making Up For My Age. Inpromptu blog-meet, woo.

After the BBQ, we all chilled and chatted then Six Inch Heel and I went for a drive to The Cloth Shop (unfortunately closed) then to Darn Cheap where I bought some amazing floral cotton sateen.

26th January 2013
Shh, don't tell hubby...!
Picked up Jam, Creme & Chocolat Beignets and Pane Au Chocolat for Six Inch and her beautiful boys
Pickle and D from the best patisserie in the
NW suburbs of Melbourne - Parisian Patisserie Boulangerie

Dessert: Home-made chocolate gateaux and home-made ice
cream! Ice cream people! Ice cream!
Oh, best part, it was made by Six Inch Heel's hubby!
Recipe here.

I have to say, this was one of the best glasses of wine I have had in my life!
Grapes were from a vineyard Mick used to manage.
If I wasn't driving that day I would have definitely had a second, third and fourth glass!

1.5m cotton sateen from Darn Cheap, Heidelberg.

More! 1.5m cotton sateen from Darn Cheap, Heidelberg.
I have an obsession with florals!

27th January 2013
As if I didn't indulge enough on Saturday, I met up with work hubby Dale and stuffed my face with
Toblerone Cheesecake from Blue Train Cafe, Southbank.

2nd February 2013
Coffee, coffee, coffee.
Visited Market Lane Coffee to try their *mind fcuking* coffee and also had my first 'pour over' coffee. Loved it.

After my second coffee, I wandered around Chapel St feeling like I needed to head to a recovery club.
The coffee got me so buzzed!

I am very into fritters and have made it my mission in life to eat fritters at every breakfast establishment.
The corn fritters at The Mission Cafe are the best, in my opinion.
Brunch buddy had smashed avocado on toast with poached eggs. Nom.

Sunday 3rd Feb 2013
I met the gorgeous Erin of I-Heart-Fabric!
Erin and her partner were in Melbourne to see Swedish House Mafia so I suggested we meet up for coffee.
We had both joked to people that "Erin" and "Neeno" from the internet
might actually turn out to be a couple of middle-aged men, not sweet little chickas like us!
Erin was awesome, we got on like a house on fire!
Definitely going to hang out with Erin if I'm ever in Brisbane.

So guys, this is what I've been up to while I've been away from sewing.

My sewing class started last week, but unfortunately I was unwell so had to miss it. Will be there this Tuesday night for sure!

Even though most of what I have been doing is food-related, I'm glad I squeezed in some fabric shopping and meet ups with other bloggers.

Catching up with Erin got me all excited and motivated to sew again! Thanks baby!

Hopefully my next post will be 100% sewing related and maybe even a finished project!

How was your Australia Day weekend?

First Post for 2013! A Finished Project on a Sunburnt Body.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Wow I have been slack! Has been over one month since my last post.
I had a great Christmas and New Years, I hope you all did too!

I had two weeks annual leave from work and enjoyed it very much. It's summer in Melbourne Australia, which meant I spent many days at the beach working on my tan, laying by the pool, drinking on rooftop bars, brunching and having BBQs. Pics on my Instagram ;)

I didn't want to spend my time off work eating pasta and re-watching Desperate Housewives again, like last year, so I made a promise to make at least one dress.

My lovely friend from my sewing class let me borrow the saucy Butterick 5209. She recently made View B with the cap sleeves in a beautiful satin.

I chose to make View A because:

a) I like the backless look
b) I ceebs with sleeves, I figure I'd get the dress finished quicker if it was sleeveless/backless. Lazy ass.

I didn't go fabric shopping, instead I dipped into my Vietnam fabric stash that dad got me and pulled this gorgeous cotton out. Trusty old cotton.

Unfortunately there was not enough fabric for me to make the skirt as per pattern and not enough for me to make a full gathered skirt, so I had to made a narrower gathered skirt.

The bodice self lined, a feature which I love, with a side zipper which I omitted and went with a handpicked dress zipper at the back instead.

It's been so long since I made the dress (made it around 22nd/23rd Dec??), I can't remember the important details... I know it only took one day to put the bodice together, another hour to add the skirt.

Most of the hours spent on this dress was to make alterations to the halter straps, adding a waist stay, handpicking the zip, and handsewing the hem.

I also mustered up the courage to un-thread my overlocker/serger and re-thread the whole thing from scratch! I "broke" it in November and left it sitting in my Horn, waiting for the threading fairies to come fix it.

I cut a size 6 bust, size 8 waist - the usual size for me. Fit okay - the bust was too big (5cm bust ease in a halter dress, really??) and the waist was too low for my liking - it made my hips poof out at the wrong place.

To fix the issue with the waist, I unpicked the halter strap and added long straps to it so that I can tie it up myself. By doing that, I lost the gorgeous 'v' at the back of the strap, but it was the only way to make it wearable. If I simply shortened the halter then I won't be able to get my head through the hole, lol.

When wearing the dress today to take dodgy selfies using my iphone (haven't got my camera right now) I think I might have lost some weight in my bust because the bodice is even looser. I had to 'twist' the straps to make the cups smaller and more snug.

Apologies for the photos, so so dodgy! And yes, my back is terribly sunburnt - I spent 4 hours at the beach on Saturday afternoon and didn't apply sunscreen properly. Dodo. Only left the beach because my 4 hour parking was up.

Despite multiple fitting issues with this dress, I quite like it. It's a dress I imagine I will throw over my bikinis when I hit the beach. It's not perfect, but good enough for a wearable muslin.

Best part of all, I only had to spend about $5 to buy a zipper and grosgrain ribbon.

What are your thoughts on the dress? Do you think I should attempt it again?

I'm slowly getting back into sewing and blogging. Am going to make my sister a full circle skirt this weekend and have also started another blog called "#nom #foodstuffs" - a blog where I can upload my food photos. No reviews, just photos. I only blog about cafes and restaurants that tweet!!

Check it out :) www.nomfoodstuffs.blogspot.com (soon to be .com).

So ladies, have you been able to slide right back into sewing after the holidays? Or were you sewing up a storm the whole time? I start sewing class again next Tuesday! Yikes! Pants!

Finished Project: A Viscose Dress, EOY-Dressmaking Class Party, Belated Me-Made-Weekend #OOTD #OOTN & Burda 7254.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 08:30:00 +0000

Two weeks since my last post... sorry!! I'd like to say that I have been really busy with important stuff, but truth is I've just been lazy! It sounds bad but I've been spending up to 7 hours a night watching TV! The life of a single gal!

Thank you all for the very helpful advice on stain removal, I tried it all and the stain is almost gone, it's now a very light colour that is only visible when you look closely. Most of the stain is amongst the gathering of the skirt, thank God! I spent most of that weekend in the laundry aisle at Coles Supermarket and I now own every single stain removal product available which came in handy when I dropped beetroot on my white dress last night. I'm a stain removal queen now - I sprayed it with Preen Vanish then chucked it into the wash :)

The only sewing I have been doing has been at my Tuesday night sewing class - pants coming along nicely. I tried them on the other night, everyone in the class said they look good, but I am not used to wearing pants, I spend my life in dresses, skirts and occasionally jeans (which mould to my body) so having pants that just skim my body is a new feeling that I have to get used to. I'd love to master the pants so I can make some floral ones.

This post is dedicated to Candice (@Candyhi5) who tweeted me saying that she missed my blog and hoped that I would make something new soon or just blog about something. Aww, it's nice to be missed :)

So here is a finish project that I finished on the 29th November 2012. I remember the exact date because it was the night before my work Christmas party and I decided last minute to add a zipper to the dress so I could wear it during the day on casual Friday then change into my 'corsage' floral dress for the function.

I give myself 5/10 for effort and care put into the making of this dress. I seriously CBF because the viscose was a real pain to work with. Fraying and warping and stretching... gahh!!

I only lined the bodice and haven't even got around to handstitching the lining down.

The hem is overlocked. And that's it.

The bodice must have stretched because the waist line is about an inch lower than is usually is.

Ah well. I still wore it at work and everyone said it was nice and really liked the fabric.

FINISHED PROJECT: A viscose dress...

I like print and how drapey the fabric is, but dislike all the stretching and warping and fraying.

The bodice is a modified version of V8511, skirt is a full gathered skirt. Basically the same dress that I made here and here but with a full gathered skirt instead of full circle.

EOY-Dressmaking Class Party...

What I wore: Vogue 8469 in Floral Fantasy Cotton Sateen (blogged here).

What was there: Ladies in their gorgeous me-made outfits, handmade outfits displayed on hangers & dressforms,
a millinery demo by Helen of All That Jazz, patterns & fabrics for sale and heaps of yummy food for afternoon tea.
For the first time ever I forgot to take #foodgasm pics! Oops!

What I bought: A Simplicity Trims Wrights pattern from Helen for $10!
She bought this pattern about 15 years ago and it's in mint condition, unopened.
It's going to stay in mint condition as I don't think I'll be able to make this dress!
Looks gorgeous but there's like 28 pieces to cut out!

Belated Me-Made-Weekend #OOTD #OOTN...

OCTOBER: Halloween Party at Randy Dragon - stripper in a gimp mask!
Wearing my Dorothy costume and DIY Red Glitter Heels.

Stripper in the gimp mask picked me up unexpectedly for a photo, I think he wanted to show off my heels?
Not a Anne Hathaway moment because I was wearing underwear (!!!!)
...but better to have the pumpkin there for the internet :D

This is a cute photo, I was dancing and twirling with my colleague and out of no where the other ladies photobombed!

2012 Christmas Party - I love photobooths!

Girlfriend from work, we look like sisters in this pic <3

All smiles before the red wine catastrophe!

Vintage Burda 7254...

I've decided to take about ten inches off the length of this dress. As much as I love the vintage below-the-knee look (blogged here), it simply won't get enough wear at that length, so that's my project for this weekend.
What do you think?

I don't know how much blogging I will do between now and new years so I'd like to take the opportunity now to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe & Happy New Year. Don't party too hard!

Love you all! Keep in touch via Twitter and Instagram!

I will never drink red wine again!

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 04:00:00 +0000

I knew it was going to happen, I just knew it. I copped a red wine stain on my beautiful 'corsage' floral dress.

I was about to wear a different dress to my Christmas party because I didn't want to risk red wine stains, cigarette smoke and burns - so many reckless people at these events - but at the last minute, I decided to wear this dress because I cbf finding the right shoes/bag/belt for the other dress.

Plus, this dress is much nicer.

I wore my dress with blue suede heels and a red leather clutch.

My very fit & healthy bestie from work - awesome body!
She's in her 40s but does not look it at all.
Her beautiful claret dress is ten years old!

My work hubby- 5 years & going strong.

I got heaps of compliments for my dress even from people I had never even seen in the company, which made me feel really good about my progress as a dressmaker.

About 1.5 hours into the party, I switched from white wine to red wine - worst decision of my entire life!!!! Within 5 minutes, some guy knocked me and spilled my my wine. Rude bastard didn't even apologize!!! So mad!!

I have no experience with stains so I didn't know what to do. The fabric soaked the wine up so quickly so I left it. I soaked the dress in soapy water when I got home at 3am - by this stage the stain had already been on the dress for about 8 hours.

This morning, I went to the supermarket and bought soda water and VANISH PREEN thanks to the advice I got from Twitter this morning. Thank you again ladies for your advice.

I poured soda water all over the stains, not sure if it helped because the stains were already dry, then sprayed the VANISH PREEN spray on them and let the spray sit for 5 minutes then put it in the washing machine.

I really hope I can get rid of the stains. I've already washed the dress twice with the VANISH PREEN spray... waiting for it to come out of the third wash now.

The stains are lighter than what it was, and it's mostly on the gathered skirt, so it may not be so noticeable... but still.

Saturating the stains!

I will keep spraying this stuff on the stains till I use up the whole bottle.
Is there anything else I should use on the stains? Is it worth taking to the drycleaners?

Finished Project: A bodice NOT cut on 'centre fold'.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I have always cut my 'front bodice' pieces on the 'centre fold' as instructed by the pattern, and so far have not had any issues with prints landing on awkward places. Example...

Source:

Carrie Bickmore got flack for wearing this dress on the @theprojecttv last night.

Do you see something rude? pic.twitter.com/el630J0e

.... I'm thinking the designer intended it that way cos I doubt they would miss *that*! I also see a crab and an alien.

Gorgeous dress.

When I started cutting out the bodice for my 'Christmas Party' dress, I had my front bodice on the centre fold but could not find a flower arrangement I was happy with. The flowers on this fabric vary from small to large and are scattered about.

I didn't want to end up with a front bodice with mostly 'white' and little flowers, or flowers smack bang on my lady lumps so I did something different - I didn't cut on the centre fold!

The collage below shows:

Pic 1 - My fabric
Pic 2 - Option 1 if cut on centre fold - not enough big roses, bit meh

Pic 3 - Option 2 if cut on centre fold - three big roses... but something still not right
Pic 4 - Bodice if cut away from centre fold. Me likey.

To do this, I had to trace out another pattern piece as if it were the actual front bodice, use the 'centre' of the bodice as the grainline, un-fold the fabric and measure-measure-measure my grainline.

It is trickier than cutting on the fold, but I am far happier with how the flowers are arranged on the front bodice now. I deliberately placed the large rose up on the chest/shoulder so it looks like a corsage.

I didn't have enough fabric to play around with the pattern placement for the back bodice because the remainder was for my gathered skirt so I had to make do with the fabric left over from the front bodice.

Doesn't look too bad though.

The pattern I used for this dress is old faithful M5845 (oop). I've made this bodice many times with a circle skirt, wiggle skirt and it's original skirt for myself, but never a full gathered skirt.

I did make a version with a full gathered skirt once, but that dress was for my sister and I always envied her version, so I decided to make myself one too!

Isn't my sister gorgeous! Dress blogged here.

I used the same size pattern pieces, except I made an adjustment to the shoulder line. I took off 1cm.

I followed this tutorial by Anna (::Paunnet::).

The M5845 bodice is dart central. A total of 16 darts on shell and lining. I used this tutorial by Rochelle (Lucky Lucille) to trace my darts the easy way.

It was a bit hard to do this technique on the lining because the chalk didn't stay on the polyester, but on cotton, it's perfect. My darts have never been so straight!

The fabric I used for the shell of the dress is a cotton sateen I bought from Spotlight. You know by now how much I love florals, so I just had to have this.

The lining is red sunsilky polyester.

I decided to line the bodice only. I think I'm going to skip the skirt lining from now on unless it's a fitted skirt.

Inside the bodice lining...

I handpicked the zipper, french seamed the side skirt seams...

...lined the bodice, added a white grosgrain ribbon waist-stay,
hand sewed the hem (yes!! I hand sewed 2 meters of hem, took 1 hour).

#selfie :P

Summary: Floral 'corsage' dress.

Pattern: M5845 bodice, self drafted full gathered skirt

Size: Size 6 bust, 8 waist

Fabric: 1.5m cotton sateen (Spotlight), 70cm sunsilky lining (red)

Notions: Dress zipper 16" (hot red), Gutermann thread (800, 156), 1m grosgrain ribbon (white), bikini hook (1)

Time: 8-10 hours over 3 days, didn't really keep track, only remember that the bodice was finished in record time of 3.5 hours
Cost: Fabric $25; Lining $10, Zipper $2; Grosgrain ribbon $2; Bikini Hook 50c

Techniques used:

French seam
Darts
Lined bodice
Gathering
Handpicked zip
Blind catch stitch on the hem

Pattern Modification/Adjustments:

Shoulder line adjustment
Side seam allowance 2cm
Raised back by 5cm
Lowered front neckline by 2cm

I'm so happy with how the bodice turned out, my favorite feature of the dress is the huge 'corsage'.

I read somewhere that the only reason the pattern companies design the pattern piece to be cut on the centre fold is so they can save paper (and money).

If I ever work with fabric that has scattered prints everywhere, I will use this technique to cut out the pattern pieces so I can control where the prints end up.

What about you guys, do you ever not cut on the fold?

Finished Project & Pattern Review: Burda 7254. Un-picking black knits is a bitch!

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I started this dress in September and two months later here it is, all finished!

This was my project for my weekly sewing class, my first Burda project and first time with jersey.

Jersey was a big challenge. Encouraging words from classmates and bloggers got me through... "jersey is great to sew with"... "jersey doesn't fray"... "jersey is forgiving" ...

And you are all right, it definitely is forgiving, and doesn't fray and is great to sew with once you get used to it. I forgot to stretch the fabric a few times, whoops.

The hardest part was tracing the Burda 7254 pattern on to "paper". I never cut into the original pattern, always trace it on to sew-on interfacing and use that as a pattern piece. The Burda pattern confuses me, the "lines" for each size are busy looking, not like BM&V.

Marking the hundreds of pleats on the bodice was tedious but I made it through, pleated the side bodice pieces and sewed it to the interfaced centre piece, then the fun began ;)

The rest of the dress was easy peazie. Four darts on the back, some pleats on the sleeves, facings.

This dress is not lined, instead it has facings which are stabilized using McCall's textureweft (iron on) and raw edges serged. The centre piece and centre back is interfaced.

The dress is closed with a 22" black invisible zipper.

I hemmed the dress by hand, using a 'flat catch stitch' - I think that's what the stitch is called, my tutor showed me this new stitch and I missed the name of it so I Googled and found this handy document on hand sewing. Have a look at my pic below and let me know if I'm right.

I was suppose to finish the sleeve by hand as well, but I got lazy, went and bought myself a twin stretch needle and finished it by machine. I think the sewing-gods were watching and decided to punish me for being lazy, cos I stuffed up one sleeve and spent a good half hour unpicking, grr, hence the title of this post.

TOP: Inside view of bodice & facings

MIDDLE: Zipper & darts, Outside bodice

BOTTOM: Pleats, 'Flat catch stitch' on hem

Pattern Review: Burda 7254

Size: Size 10

Fabric: 1.75m jersey from Rathdowne Fabrics

Notions: Invisible zipper 22" (black), Gutermann thread (000), Textureweft interfacing,

Time: 2 months worth of sewing class aka 16 hours
Cost: Fabric $30; Zipper $5; Textureweft $10, Pattern $10,

Techniques used:

Flat catch stitch
Darts
Pleats
Sewing with stretch fabric

Pattern Modification/Adjustments:

No modifications or adjustments! Fits perfect everywhere.

I am extremely pleased because I don't have those terrible drag lines in my butt area that I usually get with a fitted skirt (handmade and RTW). I'm putting this down to either me being a 10 in the butt and should start cutting a size 10 or it's the jersey's beautiful drape, bless you jersey.

If I make this again, I'd like to make a small adjustment to the back, gapes just a tiny bit near the top of zipper.

Not a very photo heavy post, but you can see that this dress is awesome! I feel like such a lady in this dress. I don't own any dresses that are below the knee.

Hello skirt vent!

This dress is definitely "figure enhancing" and "surprising stylish" - quote PatternReview.com.

Another reason why I'm watching my photo upload on Blogger is because I found out the other week that Blogger has an upload limit and once you reach that limit you won't be able to upload more. Wah. Check out Miss Directions post for tips on uploading pics on to Blogger (here).

So now I make sure that I don't upload duplicates and resize my images using Pic Monkey so I don't exceed my storage limit.

My next project at class with be Burda pants. I can't wait. I'm also working on a dress for my work Xmas party (30th Nov) which I am on track to finish. Have already finished the bodice, took only a few hours. If you follow my Instagram (Neeno_24), you can see some progress pics :)

Speaking of Xmas, is anyone sewing a 'Christmas' dress? I'm tempted to sew a dress in Christmas fabric, with reindeers or elves on it...

Finished Project: Handmade Floral Skinny Belt & Full Circle Skirt Dress!

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 02:30:00 +0000

I think handmaking belts is my new "thing". This is belt #3.

Belt #1 was the floral cummerbund which was part of the vintage Simplicity 3222 dress. Conveniently, that cummerbund can also be worn with my V8511 floral dress cos they are the same fabric :)

Belt #2 was the blue and red bow belt I made for my blue satin party dress using the free Lisette pattern. It's free, get on it!

Belt #3 is this (ok I'm gonna use this word for the first time) amazeballs skinny floral belt for my floral and full skirted dress.

It's almost camouflaged amongst the flowers on the dress :)

I spent about 3 hours reversing the long tube of fabric to the right side. When I was done, my fingers were swollen. The reversing of the belt took almost as long as the time it took me to finish the bodice. Crazy.

I can't explain coherently how I made the 'bow' feature on the belt so forgive me for not giving a mini "how-to" but it was very easy. The whole belt is made using the same length of fabric folded on top and around itself to secure, then hand sewed.

Check out my sew-on snaps, looks much neater than last time.

The making of the dress took about 8 hours all up (over two days). The belt took another 5 hours. I finished it in time for my work party. Phew! Now that my work colleagues know that I sew, I can't turn up in RTW.

My colleague's wife is also into sewing and quilting so when we see each other, we chat about sewing which is awesome. I love meeting other ladies that have sewing and craft knowledge..

For this dress, I used the V8511 bodice and modified the back to a scooped back. I replaced the skirt with a full circle skirt.

I added a pink grosgrain ribbon waist stay and lined the bodice using the clean machine finish technique. The lining is purple sunsilky polyester.

I was short on time (and lining) so I skipped the skirt lining. I felt pretty safe cos the cotton sateen is quite heavy so you can't see my underwear through it... but you could see my underwear when I twirled, I did that a few times on Friday night at my party. But that's a different story, for a different post.

I handpicked the zip and finished the hem on the circle skirt by serging the raw edge, pressing the serged edge over then stitched a narrow hem.

This full circle skirt has a giant hem which took 5 minutes to sew on the machine. So get this, I finished the hem, decided I didn't like the dark green thread - then spent 2 hours unpicking the 3.6m hem. I'm a sucker for pain. The hem looks great now with a lighter green thread, it has that "top stitched" look.

Even though this is a TNT pattern, the dress ended up being too big and gaped at the back. I discovered this after I had handpicked the zip. Annoying. I had too unpick the zip.

Because of the way I took in the back seam, I think the CB seam ended up "off-grain" (is that the correct term?) and as a result, I had drag lines starting from the lower side seams pointing towards the zipper tab. I was once told that the drag lines point towards the "problem" area so in this case, it was definitely caused by the inches that I took in at the CB.

Can you spot my belt?

The drag lines are the only thing that bother me about this dress, it's barely noticeable to others, but I'm really OCD about things. I'm annoyed that my trusted TNT ended up being not-so-TNT. And I know I have not lost weight... so what the!

Here are some pics I quickly took before leaving the house on Friday. I was going to get an up-do, but my regular hairdresser was sick so I ended up getting GHD curls instead. It was a windy day so the curls got bit messy before I even left home.

Can you see those drag lines on the back bodice?

Yardage for dress and belt: 1.5m of cotton sateen.

Summary: Frankenpattern dress & skinny belt.

Pattern: Vogue 8511 bodice with modification to back, self drafted full circle skirt
Size: Size 6
Fabric: floral cotton sateen
Notions: Dress zipper 14" (hunter green), 1m grosgrain ribbon (pink), 1 bikini hook, Gutermann thread, Birch snap fasteners (1)

Time: approx 17 hours over 3 days.

Day 1 - bodice, 3.5 hours
Day 2 - full circle skirt, handpicked zip, hem, 5 hours
Day 3 - belt, unpicking hem and re-doing zip, 8 hours

Cost: Fabric $15; Lining $10; Zipper $2; Grosgrain Ribbon $2, Bikini Hook, Snap Fastener & Pattern from stash.

Techniques used:

Handpicked zip
Waist stay
Narrow hem on the sewing machine
Princess seams
Bagging technique to line bodice

Pattern Modification/Adjustments:

Graded out to 1cm seam allowance at the waist on the side seams
2.5cm SA on back bodice, graded to regular SA at waist when inserting zipper
Replaced skirt with self drafted full circle skirt
Modified the back bodice to create a scoop

I'll let you in on a secret: this dress is the exact same dress I wore to the last work function, but in a different fabric.

I had an awesome time on Friday night, the food was delicious and so was the wine. Both the red and white, haha. Needless to say, I woke up on Saturday evening (yep, evening) with the biggest hangover, ever.

I'll put together a Me-Made-Weekend post once I get photos from my friend. TBH, I'm a little afraid to see the photos, I hope I didn't disgrace myself :/

What did you get up to over the weekend? Sewing or mischief or both?

Hope you had as much fun as I did :D

Goodbye invisible zippers & hello handpicking!

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 07:00:00 +0000

For the first time in a long time, my internet was capped for a few days! Soooo 2001...

I was devastated, I couldn't watch new Homeland, Revenge or Gossip Girl; download Justin Bieber's song (don't laugh but I really like the song 'Beauty and a Beat' after hearing it on X Factor Au) or reply to your comments on my last post about zippers, accidentally cutting my hair and ~~not~~ oiling my machine.

My sewing teacher oiled my machine for me last week, and when reading my manual to see where to oil, it said "make sure to oil the machine once a week if you use it more than an hour a day"... hrm. Thoughts?

Re my paranoia about cutting of my hair and measuring tape, I'm glad you guys can relate to my fear of chopping things off accidentally. I always make sure I am at my most alert when I am cutting my seam allowances and clipping my curves. And when using my rotary cutter :)

A lot of you guys commented and said that invisible zippers are not as strong as dress zippers but most tend to use invisible zippers. I'm the same, I like invisible zippers because they are "easier" (read: no hand sewing) to install, give a cleaner finish and hand sewing can be a ball breaker sometimes. But there's no denying they are not as strong as the old dress zipper.

I still remember last year when I wore my handmade 'cobalt' skirt to a NYE party and halfway through the festivities, my invisible zipper broke! Luckily it was still holding together at the waistband so my skirt didn't fall down. In public. OMG :(

A week later when I wore my 'burnt orange' dress out on the weekend, I packed spare clothes in my handbag incase I had a wardrobe malfunction. Mind you, the zipper on the dress was an exposed metal zipper, but I was so traumatised by what had happened on NYE, it made me question how durable my handmade garments were. It took months for me to trust my sewing again.

Then the zipper tab broke off my 'Squiggle' dress. FFS.

I then realised it wasn't my sewing, it was those stupid Birch invisible zippers! I even had one break on me during installation.

People have told me to use YKK zippers as they are most durable and used on most RTW clothing. So far I have had no luck finding these YKK zippers :(

Sewaholic and Cation Designs were the first blogs I followed religiously when I started reading sewing blogs.

I am obsessed with Tasia's Simplicity 3965 dresses and love the handpicked zip on her picnic dress.

When stalking Cindy's blog archive and drooling over her M5845 and NL6723 dresses, I always stop to admire the handpicked zip on the Hippo dress.

Now for some handpicked zipper p o r n...

Tasia's 'Picnic' dress.
(source)

Cindy's 'Hooray for Hippos' dress.
(source)

Gertie's 'Lemon Tree' dress.
(source)

So beautiful <3

I tried my first handpicked zipper when making my Mad Men dress using Tasia's very awesome tutorial.
It turned out OK for my first try. I tried it a few more times on my M6331 strapless dresses (here & here) and on one of my skirts and my 'meh' lace dress the other week.

Most recently, I handpicked a zipper on this beautiful floral dress...

Practice makes perfect, I've finally got it right. My stitches are more even and straight. Woo hoo prickstitch!

I'm so confident with my skills that I've offered to repair the zipper on my cousin's handmade dress from Paris! Only concern is my 'stitches' aren't as visible (therefore aren't as strong?) as Tasia, Cindy and Gertie's... something I'll work on next time.

I am so in love with the little 'dots' of thread peeking through the fabric. Ahh smitten.

It is much easier to control the zipper when handpicking, and easier to unpick too. I had to re-do the zipper on this dress and take it in an inch on each side - unpicking the prickstitch (on the zipper tape side) was sooo much easier than unpicking tiny stitches next to the teeth of an invisible zipper.

From now on I will handpick (most of) my zippers because it makes the dress extra special to me, hand sewing can be therapeutic, and dress zippers seem to be stronger than invisible ones.

Oh, and dress zippers are much cheaper too, and since I'll only be buying one zipper from now on, I'll be saving so much $$. More money to spend on fabric!

So ladies, have you handpicked a zipper?

New Fabric, WIPs & some very personal questions...

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Part 1: New Fabrics.

Today I welcome 9 new members into my fabric stash. All approx 150cm x 2m and I believe all are cotton.

Dad came back from a trip to Vietnam on Saturday and even though I said not to buy me anything, he came back with one suitcase full of stationary (for my sister) and fabric (for meeeeee!) Yayayya!

Dad's sister did the actual buying, so thanks aunty! There are some cuties in this bunch - third from top is my fav so far, mmm fruit. The ones that aren't my style or whatever can be used to make wearable muslins - nothing goes to waste :)

For a closer look, I've posted pics at the bottom of this post.

Part 2: WIPs

I've been banging on about these awards nights for months now so you probably vaguely remember that I have one coming up this Friday. Well, the last dress I made (here) turned out to be a thumbs down for me, so that meant that I had less than a week to get an outfit together.

I went shopping at Darn Cheap again during the week and bought "silk viscose" - now, how much should I trust those labels on the bolt of fabric? Is there such thing as "silk viscose"?

Viscose is not my friend from way back. I used to shop on ASOS and bought a few items that were viscose... they annoyed me cos they would get so fricken wrinkly after the wash and I'd accidentally destroy them with the hot iron (pre-sewing days).

With that history, not sure why I bought viscose. It looked good at the time, plus I drove an hour to Darn Cheap, I wasn't going home empty handed.

After some hours on Saturday night and a couple of hours on Sunday morning, I ended up with this mess...

Not what I had in mind. It's too casual for my function, too flimsy... and that viscose did my head in!!! It stretched and warped every time I touched it... nightmare.

This hem line has no chance of being even!

I managed to finish the bodice (fully lined) and attached a full skirt to it before casting it aside and going to a family BBQ.

After the BBQ, I started on another dress using beautiful floral fabric from my stash - cotton sateen is such a joy to work with. Even the sunsilky lining is a godsend after my weekend with viscose.

After 3.5 hours, here's what I have... TBC!

Part 3: Very personal questions

Okay, they're not that personal. Just some questions that I have been meaning to ask other sewists...

I always buy an invisible zipper and a dress zipper for each project, incase I decide to hand pick. Does anyone else do this or is it just me? I'm so indecisive!
When cutting your fabric, do you get paranoid that you will cut off your hair!?! Or your tape measure? I started wearing my hair in a bun when I'm cutting cos I'm sure one day I'm gonna slice off my pony tail.
How often do you oil your machine? I oiled mine for the first time in one year! Bad girl.

It's almost 3AM in Melbourne so I should get to bed soon.

Lucky for me I have no work today and Tuesday is Melbourne Cup (public holiday for a horse race) so I have 2 more days to work on my dress for Friday.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Enjoy my fabric babies x

Me-Made-Halloween!

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Happy Halloween 2012 folks!

Firstly, to my blogging/sewing/internet friends in New York/affected by Hurricane Sandy: I am thinking of you all <3

I hope the storm hasn't caused too much damage and that your family and friends are safe xox

Here are some photos my Halloween weekend.

I had a tonne of fun in my me-made Dorothy dress and red DIY glittered heels.

Everyone's costumes were fantastic!

I started at a friend's house party then went to Randy Dragon's Halloween event.

Check out the Mr 305 look-alike!

Hope you all had a great Halloween and got lots of candy! Can't wait to see all the costumes on your blog!

xox Neeno

This was in a TV Guide... Hahahah...

Finished Project: The 'Mixed Print & Feelings' Dress.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:30:00 +0000

I love this dress but at the same time I don't

This is the same pattern I used for my Halloween Dorothy costume but for some reason I'm not loving this version as much as the gingham one.

It could be because of the mixed print. Or the lace. Or the 'cream' color which I am paranoid makes me look washed out.

Or maybe I picked a really shit time of the day to take photos and the lighting is crap.

When I wear this dress and look in the mirror, I'm very happy with it... but it does not photograph well - even Instagram couldn't make me happy with the photos... and Instagram always makes me happy.

I spent about 13 hours over 3 days on this dress and it was my first time sewing with lace and underlining. I got a lot of helpful tips from Gertie's blog.

The effort that went into this dress is priceless - I measured each pleat on the skirt carefully, handpicked the zip, hand sewed the lining to the shell, trimmed the skirt and lining with lace, added a waist stay, french seams.

I have mixed feelings about this dress... I made it with the intention of wearing it to a work function next week, but now I'm not so sure...

What are your thoughts?

Fabric:

0.5m lace (bodice)
0.5m satin underlining (bodice)
1m cotton/lycra (skirt and midriff band)
1m bemsilk (lining)
Whisperweft interfacing

Notions:

14" dress zipper
2m cream lace
2m black lace
1m grosgrain ribbon
Bikini hook
Gutermann thread

Techniques:

French seams
Underlining
Handpicked zip
Waist stay
Sewing with lace (got tips from Gertie's blog post)
Pleats
Bodice lining

Hours: 13 hours

Total cost: about $40

I think I'll be spending this weekend sewing up another dress!

Dressmaking Class WIP: Burda 7254 & Burda Pant Patterns.

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Would you believe me if I told you that I will not need to make any adjustments to this dress?
It fits perfectly, what a miracle! I am so happy with the fit. Jersey rocks!
All that's left is to insert the zipper, finish back seam, add the facing, finish the sleeve, hem.

Once this dress is finished, I will take on another Burda. Either the Burda 7371 or Burda 8341 pants.

My sewing class mate has kindly let me borrow these patterns, has anyone else sewn these up?

What's in the box? My beloved fabrics!

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 03:00:00 +0000

I have a very, very small fabric collection compared to other dressmakers out there.

On Saturday I spent the day out driving about, visiting my favorite fabric stores in Brunswick then drove out to Heidelberg to visit Darn Cheap. It was worth the trip!!

I'll share with you what I bought this weekend:

Darn Cheap, Heidelberg
Cotton 140cm x 2m

Darn Cheap, Heidelberg
Cotton Lycra 130cm x 1m

Darn Cheap, Heidelberg
Poly Spandex 140cm x 1m

Darn Cheap, Heidelberg
Polyester 140cm x 1m

Brunswick Fabrics, Brunswick
Lace 140cm x 1m

Brunswick Fabrics, Brunswick
Polyester 110cm x 1m
Previous project using this fabric blogged here.

I also bought 1.5m bemsilk lining (cream) from Spotlight and some unknown lining and cream satin from Brunswick Fabrics that I will use to underline the lace.

Total spend for the day was only $60!

After buying all those beautiful fabrics, I was motivated to tidy up my fabric stash and create an inventory. Might as well start now before my collection becomes enormous.

Here are my favorite fabrics from my stash:

Unknown Store, Footscray
Cotton Sateen 140cm x 1.5m
Previous project using this fabric blogged here.

Spotlight
Cotton Sateen 120cm x 1.5m

Brunswick Fabrics, Footscray
Lace (?) 140cm x 1m

Here are some fabric scraps that I could use to make a bodice:

Spotlight
Cotton Sateen 120cm x 0.5m
Previous project using this fabric blogged here and here.

The Fabric Store, Fitzroy
Polyester 140cm x 0.7m
Black
Previous project using this fabric blogged here and here.

Here are the not-so-favourites from my stash, but had to include in this post, for inventory purposes:

Spotlight
Cotton Sateen 120cm x 2m
Olive

GJ's Fabrics, Brunswick East
Poly Spandex 130cm x 0.6m
Hot Pink
Previous project using this fabric blogged here and here.

GJ's Fabrics, Brunswick East
Poly Spandex 130cm x 2m
Cream

To be honest, I don't think I will ever use the 'olive' cotton sateen. It's not even a colour I like. Why the hell did I buy it?? The poly-spandex from GJ's gets very wrinkly, so it's a turn off and I probably won't use that either. Eventually these might make its way to my 'scrap fabric' pile which currently lives inside a plastic bag.

I also have lining in my stash, these notes are boring, purely blogged for my reference when I'm out fabric shopping and need to know what I have at home:

Sunsilky, 120cm x 1.2m (red)
Sunsilky, 120cm x 0.4m (blue)
Bemsilk, 120cm x 1.5 (cream)
Acetate, 120cm x 0.4m (pistachio)
Unknown, 120cm x 0.5m (cream)
Oh, and some cotton sateen scrap 120cm x 0.6m (black)

My fabric box is neat and tidy, now what to do with my fabric scraps?

How do you organise your fabric collection? What do you do with your scraps?

Oppan Gingham Style Halloween Costume!

noreply@blogger.com (Neeno) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Finished Project: Halloween Dress & Sparkly Heels!
Coming soon in technicolor :D

Ehhhhhhh sexy lady! Psy is touring Australia right now and his appearances are all over TV as well his very catchy song Gangnam Style which I have to admit I really love! Hahaha. Have to learn that dance!!

From Gangnam to Gingham, here is my latest handmade dress.

It's my take on Dorothy Gale's dress from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

The dress also serves as a muslin for the dress I will be making for the HIA Awards night that I will be attending in November. Muslins aren't as painful to make when I know that I get to rock the dress at least once.

The pattern I have 'hacked' to make the bodice is my trusty old V8469.

Modifications made to the V8469 bodice:

Lengthened the midriff band by 1" to avoid that dreaded babydoll look - I only realised yesterday that this bodice is not long enough... yes, I have made this bodice many times and didn't realise, don't even ask...
Used the front midriff band as the back midriff band so midriff band is same all the way round. The original pattern has the back midriff band dipping down, which I do not like!
After a lot of paying around, I trimmed off some of the back bodice piece to ensure the back seam does not 'dip' at the centre. Those that have made V8469 will know what I am referring to.
Side seam allowance - I had the fabric right next to the foot... 1cm?! Help.
Raised the front neck so it is more of a boat neck.
Scooped back :D
Instead of the gathering under the bust, I have 'box pleated' the excess fabric instead.

I know my dress does not look exactly like Dorothy's dress (or apron??) but neither do the sexy ones on eBay :P

Her dress has a pinafore or apron-like thing and has sleeves and certainly does not have a scooped back!

When it comes to dressing up, I like to be subtle so I don't look too costume-y. If only gingham was in style, I would wear this dress everywhere!

I didn't use the skirt from the V8469, instead I replaced it with a short-full-pleated-gathered-skirt.

I cut two rectangles that were 17" long (SA included in that) but instead of gathering it like I usually do, I pleated it. I eyeballed the whole thing, each pleat was about 1". No pressure for perfection cos it's only a costume after all :)

I didn't worry about matching the little squares up, but hey there's a bit of a chevron happening at the side midriff!

I used white poplin for the bodice and lining. The skirt and midriff band is cotton gingham.

I french seamed for the first time. Wow I can't believe how easy it is and the result is amazing! I french seamed the side and back seams of the skirt. Once I worked out the 'fractions' component of it (5/8" 1/8" blah blah), it was a breeze. I wish I had learned this technique earlier.

I had some gingham cotton left over so I made ties to wear on my hair.

Summary: Dorothy Gale inspired dress/Halloween Costume aka wearable muslin.

Pattern:

Bodice: V8469 with many, many modifications to it
Skirt: Self drafted

Size: 6

Fabric:

1.2m cotton gingham (skirt and midriff band) $4/m
1.5m top pop poplin cotton (bodice and lining) $3/m

Notions: 16" dress zipper, thread

Techniques: French seams :D

Hours: 6 hours on a Friday. Easy, relaxing project.

Will you make it again? Yep!!! Not the costume, but will be making this dress again. The fit is great, I am wearing it as I blog (to test fitting). I will be making one for my awards night coming up in 3 weeks.

Total cost: $10!

$10 for a Halloween costume is a bargain!! But it's not about saving dollars, I actually really, really enjoy making my own costume rather than ordering ~~some lingerie~~ outfit from eBay, plus it gives me the opportunity to try out new patterns (like I did with New Look 6723) and hack up some TNT patterns.

I have also made my own pair of sparkly red shoes to go with my dress.

You need:

Shoes
PVA glue, that's what we use in Australia.. it's white and dries clear
50grams glitter
Pot and brush - I used a hair dying kit

I simply mixed some glitter with PVA glue and painted it over the shoe.

If you want to be neat, you can tape off sections of the shoe you don't want spillage on. I didn't bother.

I painted two coats (letting dry in between) then left it to dry over night.

I just applied the third coat today and have sprinkled the remaining glitter over the wet PVA glue.

Make sure you use a glue that dries CLEAR!

I'll let it dry over night and tomorrow I'll shake all the glitter off.

It better not rain next Saturday cos I think the glue is not waterproof :/

Total cost of glue and glitter: $8.

Halloween is not big in Australia, but over the last few years I have noticed more and more people embracing the day. I love to dress up so I am excited that friends hold Halloween Parties and night clubs have events to celebrate it.

I'll leave you with some photos from Halloween 2011. I dressed up as a zombie school girl - costume from eBay. I wasn't skilled enough to make something myself. I did take the side seams in on my shirt though :)

If you haven't got your costume sorted yet, maybe you can get some inspiration from these pics.. my friends are a funny bunch.

Are you ready for Halloween? What will you be dressing up as???