NewLook 6007: Finished! Plus a giveaway

All done!



I'm happy with how the elastic turned out at the waist and its surprised me how comfortable it is to wear and how much arm movement you have!



I used some wooden buttons I found in a bag from Judith (my hubbies Nan), they're a bit beat up but I like that about them.



I bagged the hem out using this method again, it's so easy and ends looking so neat!



I mainly made this to wear out to my Mum's in winter - she lives out of town on a bit of land so staying there means I go with her to walk the dogs through the paddocks and we sit around a campfire or bonfire at night time. So this is very warm and easy to chuck on over top of whatever I'm wearing, plus the wool fabric is slightly rain resistant.

Now for the giveaway! I originally bought the Minoru jacket pattern for a casual weekend jacket and to wear out to my Mum's but after a couple of muslin's decided I didn't like it on me, so I'd like to give it away. Please leave a comment and make sure I can contact you through your profile/blog. I'm happy to post internationally and I'll pick a winner randomly on Monday :)

Newlook 6007: Progress

So capes, I'm still not sure if they're a bit costumey to wear or not but I have to admit I love them! I was a bit put off by how shapeless they are so when I found this one at Modcloth I decided to copy it.


I started off with NewLook 6007 and made a couple of toiles. Once I pinned the sides together it was going to be too small so I added a lot to the arm pieces and some extra to both the front and back panels.


I added bound buttonholes and single welt pockets again. The fabric is a thick springy wool I got from Rathdowne Fabrics in Melbourne last year (great place btw, fantastic fabrics and great prices). The lining is from my hubbie's Nan, so its the old thicker lining.



It took a bit of fiddling around but I decided the best way to add the elastic was to sew a channel around the waist like in the Minoru jacket. So now the lining is added, I'll sew the channel, thread the elastic through then sew the sides together. I thought about a bias band around the whole inside but I really wanted a lining and for it to look nice and neat inside.

You can see the difference just with one side having the elastic pinned on. I kinda wish I hadn't put that top buttonhole in now, it would have folded nicer without it, but too late now!

Sewaholic 1102: Lonsdale dress in silk

Another Lonsdale dress for my Mum :)





I got a heap of silk on clearance at Spotlight a few weeks ago - some of it was this Silk Dupioni. I've never been a real fan of the stiff feeling of dupioni so when I read about washing it I figured I didn't have anything to lose. It came out feeling like butter :) It still has some crispness to it but is more drapier now and feels lovely.

It's a fancy enough fabric that I kept it very simple - no piping or extra details on the outside. I lined it with silk satin (that I also got on clearance, lol, well when I saw it all down to $3m with 30% off I came home with a lot!!) I was a bit iffy as I've read that sweat can stain it, but this version isn't really a summer day dress so I figured I'd go with it and if I have to, I'll replace it later.


Its a straight size 10, with 1" taken out of the bodice length and 3" off the skirt length. I added 6" in total to the back to shirr it, the dupioni pulled up a lot tighter than a cotton and I could have got away with adding 8".


The seams are mostly french seams except for the back seam which has bias binding on it. I used bias binding on the pocket seams and the hem too, I really like how neat it all looks inside.
The silk is lovely - inside it has quite a muted colour but outside when the sun hits it, it has a beautiful sheen

McCalls 5525: Violet Trench

I've been thinking about a trench coat for a while, I started this pattern ages ago with a grey polyester peachskin and sew-in interfacing and ended up hating how it looked, then I saw Marie's and this this one on the city chic website I was convinced! I particularly liked the pleats in the back which flare out into the coat skirt.

So first things first - I started with McCalls 5525, traced out the 18 with a 1.5" FBA. The material is a stretch drill and a polyester satin lining. I interfaced the front pieces, front facing, upper back yoke, collar stands and collar with armoweft fusible and the side fronts with a medium knit fusible interfacing.

Pattern changes - Added a upper back yoke and a back facing and then marked and slashed the remaining lower back piece for the pleats which are 1/2" wide and then top stitched down. I pinned them and then hand basted them with silk thread. First time using silk thread and it is so great to use, so easy to sew with and just slides out when removing the basting!


I also changed the position of the front buttons/buttonholes to make them sit a lot closer which seems to be more flattering on larger bodyshapes, and cut off the excess (about 1" wide) from the front of the pattern piece, from the lapel fold line down.
I used the sleeves from M5969 as they are 2 piece sleeves which I already know fit me.
I was hoping to add more details like epaulets but ran out of fabric, infact it got real dicey for a bit, I used a satin for the undercollar because I had no spare fabric!
I'm still not sure if I attached the collar and band properly, I managed to lose the pattern instruction and have never sewn a collar like this before!

Bound buttonholes on the front (don't mind the chalk lines - is there any trick to getting them out other than washing them out?).


I changed the pockets to single welt and added a double welt pocket to the lining - I should have interfaced it a lot more though because its a bit floppy!



I added self drafted sleeve heads from this tutorial and shoulder pads, they still seem a little floppy but look ok when I'm wearing it.


Satin lining - I love how it feels but geez I hate cutting out and sewing it!


I'm really happy with how its turned out and its so comfortable to wear!

Simplicity 2369: Button wrap top and Pants

Another version of 2369, this time I wanted to copy a RTW wrap top I had seen that buttoned up on both sides. After looking through my patterns I picked this one and decided just to do the buttons on one side. So I left off the tie and added a placket that I stitched the buttons to (they're non functioning).
I'm a bit iffy on it - I think the original wrap version is more flattering than this one, but its still wearable and it was only fabric from the Op-shop so no major loss.
Adjustment wise it's the same as the first time I made it , so a sz22 with a 1" FBA.



The fabric's a double knit that's a dusty purple, I used the back of the fabric as it was a bit darker and I like the zig-zag pattern that you can see if you look close. Buttons are a plastic pearl from my stash.


I made up the pants from this pattern as well.....I made the sz24 and didn't like the standard waistband at all, its just a sewn channel with 1" elastic in it. I never find elastic waistbands like that very flattering, so I cut them down a lot lower (about 3") and tried a contoured waistband with 3" elastic inside.
I'm not sure about them, the fabric's a bit too thin and I don't like the hip/waist area, too clingy and a bit lumpy - I've got enough lumps without pants making it look worse! The pattern itself is just a basic very wide leg pant, I think if I'd used a slightly thicker material they would be a lot more flattering, but they'll be ok as trackpants for at the gym and weekends.

Vogue 7975: Chanel style jacket - Finished!

All done! After so much hand sewing its finally done! Its funny, not long after I started I was thinking about giving up it just seemed like so much work but by the end I was really enjoying it. I've been doing the hand sewing inside watching tv each night which has been nice, gives me something to do with my hands.



Things to remember for next time;

Use a wool boucle - the silk tweed is lovely but I think the quilting would have felt a lot more luxurious with a bit more thickness behind it.

Make sure to stop at least an 1" before the stitching lines and a couple of inches before the hem lines, including when fell stitching the lining. I went too close in some spots which made it really awkward when cutting the seam excess off or trying to shorten the sleeves/hem.

Don't just double knot the thread ends, triple knot them as I found some had come undone when I was sewing the trim on.

I read somewhere that its meant to take 70hours to make a Chanel jacket, I didn't do 70 it was roughly around 45hrs, which seems like heaps of work but it was only a couple of hours here and there with a couple of full days.
I can understand now why you use the best quality possible fabric though, after all that work its kind of disappointing to have used a polyester lining, but in some ways this was a practise go at the different techniques and I know I'll make more...eventually!




So the pattern info;
Vogue 7975
Size; 12
Adjustments; I did minimal adjustments on this jacket - a 1" petite adjustment and a 1/2" narrow shoulder adjustment. I cut the under sleeve on the bias to help with arm movement.
Would you make it again: Yes, I have one planned for me next!
Would you recommend it: Yes! I really like how it has the princess seams in the front and back for that extra shaping. I do see however that one of the new Vogue patterns (8804) is a Claire Shaeffer Chanel style jacket so I want to get it to compare it to this pattern.


All in all, not as scary as I thought! All the techniques are very easy they just take so much time, but I am very happy with how it turned out and Mum loves it!