NewLook 6821

Just a quick project for my Son and as a bonus got to use some of my stash up.
Its a pattern I got at the op shop, blue fleece from Lincraft and a satin from Spotlight for the collar, cuffs and lining of the pockets.

A couple of tricks if anyone wants to sew satin to fleece
1. Don't! I had to unpick a couple of times because it just kept stretching out the satin and bunching the fleece even when using the walking foot
2. Use a walking foot, lots of pins and really hold it firm/stretch it with a hand behind and a hand in front of the needle.

The stitching certainly isn't gonna win any awards but eh, he doesn't care and really its only a dressing gown.



All in all though it was a really quick project and my boy loves it (even if he hates getting photos taken!)

Vogue 7975: Chanel style jacket - trim

So far so good, I got to try it on Mum last weekend and noticed it had some excess in front of her arms. According to FFRP its from narrow shoulders so I unpicked the arms and moved them over as far as I could, which was only about 1/2". So fingers crossed it looks better.
I have one armhole lining stitched down. I see a lot of people have trouble with it but I found if I sewed the bodice lining over top of the sleeve lining it sat very smoothly compared to trying to sew the very curved sleeve lining over top of the bodice lining.


Trim wise, I went with plain satin bias binding. I would love to have used a wider binding, you can see the machine stitching around the inside which should have been covered up, but I'm on an enforced no fabric/trim buying diet at the moment so had to go with what I had. After moving all my fabric and bits and pieces into the new sewing room I still have piles of it sitting around that won't fit in my cupboards or the new shelves I bought! So next couple of months need to be stash busting sewing!

You can see the bias undersleeve in this photo.


So - I've got half the trim left to stitch on and the other sleeve left to unpick and resew in plus the pockets to go the front. Getting there!

Vogue 8751

You might be getting a bit of deja vu with these pants. I made this pattern originally with this exact material and wasn't happy with the fit or the inseam pockets. In a bit of a crankypants mood I ended up unpicking them, resewing them into capris and have never worn them since.....

I keep on calling them my Prodigy pants because they remind me of the ones that Keith use to wear back in the late 1990's

(Source)

I did the same adjustments as last time But this has to be the stretchiest bengaline I've ever worked with. I took in the side seams by 1" on either side and really should have taken 1/2" to 1" from the very top of the pants so the waistband would sit lower as I'm getting bunching under the back waistband and at the front crotch which is just from excess fabric. But I'm feeling pretty damn lazy lately so it will probably just stay like that!



The main fabric is a Bengaline from Lincraft and I used a Pink Sateen for the waistband facing, fly and pocket lining.


I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned the fly tutorial I use?It's Debbie Cook's jean's fly tutorial and its bloody fantastic! It always turns out perfect and neat.


And in honour of Anzac Day today;

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Lest we forget

Urban Zoologie Birthday quilt

Its my son's 9th birthday tomorrow so I thought I'd better get a move on and make his quilt!


The pattern is based on this cot quilt, with the sashing double the height and 6" charm squares.



The main fabrics are from Robert Kaufmann's Urban Zoologie range and the sashing and bindings are a poplin from Spotlight. I thought it was 100% cotton, but after I bought it I realised its a poly blend. It still washes up nicely, but it seems harder to free motion quilt over and tends to bunch up a bit. I'll make sure I get 100% cotton next time.



On other sewing notes, the chanel style jacket is ready for the trim and pockets and I have a silk dupioni Lonsdale dress to blog about as soon as I get photos of my Mum wearing it. The chanel jacket has some bunching in front of the arms that wasn't on the muslin thats got me a bit annoyed, I'm not planning on taking it apart again (it took a couple of goes to get the sleeves in) but I'd like to work out why its happening.

Burda 6011: Bella jeans

Another pair of Bella jeans.

I used a stretch drill this time, its a bit thinner than a denim. I did mock flat felled seams and used my singer to top stitch it, I still getting used to using that machine (it has a knee pedal which is taking a bit of time to get used to), so the first bits of top stitching are a bit dodgy!

The waistband on the Bella jeans dips to a low V at the back, so I turned it into more of a classic jeans yoke.



I'm happy with the construction of these, but....they're too bloody small!! I always use a stretch sateen for the waistband facing but this time because the drill was so lightweight I used a quilting cotton, which of course has no stretch so they were way too tight in the waist.

I unpicked and let out the side waistband seams which make them wearable but still no where near as comfortable as the last pair of Bella jeans I made. Not sure if I'll wear them a few times and see if they'll stretch out or unpick the whole waistband (I've already done the button and buttonholes so I can't unpick just the facing), or if they'll end up in the corner for the next few months (most likely, lol).
Ah well, it was good to practise my topstitching!

Sewaholic 1201: Renfrew top - Cowl version

Another Renfrew! This is view C with the cowl neck (I needed a break from the Chanel Jacket!))
I used a wool blend knit and made the same size as last time - a 16 through the neckline and graded out to a 18/20 on the waist/sleeves.
I noticed a fair bit of swayback pooling on the last version and since I've had no success with the FFRP adjustment I tried a different method this time;

Source

I scooped out about 1/2" extra on either side of the back piece only and I can notice a tiny difference but that could just be the material too.


I haven't had a cowl neck top before and I really love it, it's so snuggly and just perfect for winter.


I'm still playing around with photographing in my new space so apologies if the photos aren't that clear or I look a bit deranged, lol!

Vogue 7975: The Chanel style jacket Progress

I've been a bit obsessed with Chanel style jackets ever since I read about the hidden luxury of them. Supposedly with the quilted lining and no interfacing they feel just like a sweater/cardigan to wear.

I decided to make one first for my Mum using this silk tweed from Fabric.com I got in my first international fabric order and ended up using a polyester satin for the lining as it was the nicest colour match in my stash.



I followed these tutorials for all the work - I made a muslin first, then used that as a pattern, thread traced the stitching line on the material and cut it all out with big seam allowances (about 2"). I used a walking foot to quilt it and what an amazing thing that is! Then I sewed the main fabric together, trimmed the seam allowances and ended up stitching down the seams to help them sit flat and have been stitching up the lining seams by hand...... It is the most amount of hand stitching I have done in ages (and to be honest I'm not sure if I would have started if I'd known!)

(Catch stitching)

So the progress so far: The body is nearly constructed, I have a couple more lining seams to sew down tonight then ready for another fitting on Saturday before I insert the sleeves.

Urban Zoologie cot quilt

A quick quilt for my Dad's girlfriends daughters son (did you follow all that, lol)!


It's definitely getting quicker each time I make these - it only took about 2hrs to quilt this time.


I've been having a bit of trouble with my Janome feed dogs not raising again properly after I free motion quilt so I thought I'd break out my Singer, I got it at an auction last year and haven't used it, I was a bit scared of it to be honest! Once I finally worked out how to thread it (I printed out a manual), and found how easy it was to lower the feed dogs, it worked great! Its got a lovely big flat area to move the fabric on, I found it got a bit stuck on the thicker seam lines compared to the Janome but I think bigger needles will help with that.


The main fabrics are Robert Kaufman's Urban Zoologie - I cut them into 6" squares and its just plain cotton as the border/binding. I used this pattern again.


I love the little monkeys and owls :) I have heaps of this left over so it will end up being a full size single bed quilt for my son.

This will be my last quilt for a while - I'm part of the way through a Chanel style jacket for my Mum (and geez, its taking forever with all the hand sewing, not sure I would have started if I realised how much time was involved!), halfway through another Lonsdale dress also for my Mum. Then I have a couple of jackets, jeans, more renfrew tops and the couture dress still to sew - Yikes!

Moda Freebird Quilt

Yup its another quilt! Sorry guys, I know they're probably not very exciting to read about!



This one is from Moda's Freebird, its just a jellyroll that I've sewn into a strip quilt - I've actually had the topper sitting in my cupboard for ages, but after having a go with the free motion quilting I thought I'd do this one too.
Its very simple, but the colours match in well with our kitchen/loungeroom, so it will be living on the back of the couch.


I made the free motion swirls a bit bigger and looser with this quilt - it went a lot quicker and didn't use as much thread which was great - it was about 4hours to quilt this which is the same time it took me to quilt the small cot quilt last time!