A little giveaway

I love to give presents! I reached 100 followers this week on my little blog and thought I'd say thankyou to everyone for reading my blog.
I've got two little prizes, just some of my favourite things at the moment;

The first has a twin needle, 5mt of hug and snug seam binding, 2m of clear elastic and a roll of silk thread

The second has the latest issue of Threads, 5m of hug and snug, 2m of clear elastic and a roll of silk thread.

Just leave a comment with which one you'd like to win and I'll draw a random comment on Tuesday 2nd of April.

Goodluck and Happy Easter!

Lekala 4177: Peplum top remake

There are so many peplum tops in the shops lately and I love them!
A couple of changes from the last version, heightened the midriff band and lengthened the peplum plus made the neckline lower. Makes the proportions nicer and its such an easy top to wear I made it in grey and purple!
I'm still stuck on a twin needle sewing thing so I did it around the neck band, arm bands and hemline.
 

The fabric out of my stash, its just a cheap ponte knit from Lincraft. It pills really quickly but is a nice weight and stretch.

Style Arc: Riva T-shirt and Becky Yoga pant

I got a lovely package of patterns in the mail last week, this top and 3 pants patterns (Becky yoga, Wendy pant and the Tori pant). I like buying from StyleArc, makes me feel all good supporting Australian pattern makers plus I really like their patterns!

Riva Tops:

I got this in a sz20 (about a size up from what I would normally order), it has zero ease and I wanted it to skim not fit too tightly. The only alterations I had to do was remove about 1cm from the front bodice shoulder seams and lengthen the sleeves and lower the neckline, otherwise this fit is straight out of the packet! It fits very similar to RTW on me, a bit of excess at the lower back and at the front of the armholes but nothing too major.

The grey material is Supplex from a recent fabric.com order, its a surprisingly thick knit and sewed up beautifully, the black is a pique from Lincraft that I've had in my stash for ages. The pique isn't quite stretchy enough so tends to ride up at the neck a bit but the supplex fits really comfortably.

I always thought you needed a specific machine to be able to use a twin needle but on our Brisbane meet-up I learnt that as long as your throat plate will allow it you can use one in any machine (thankyou!). I thought it would be a fiddle around to use but it was so easy. I truly love the finished look and the stretch that it gives, no more popping stitches and its so quick to sew!
I was lucky enough to win a prize from Maria Demark for blogging  about the Day to Night drape top and part of it was a packet of twin stretch needles - bonus! She also sent some lovely knit material.

 

Becky Yoga Pants;

 

I had a beloved pair of Running Bare Yoga pants that have slowly disintegrated over the last decade. These are the closest fit I've found since so I'm pretty happy. I made these out of the leftover Pique from the tops, its kind of crappy, very shiny and not quite stretchy enough so I had to add to the sides. These are a sz20 with about 1' added to the inner leg on the back pattern piece and the crotch curves scooped out more. The original pattern has an elastic waistband, I did do it but didn't like the fit as much as a foldover one so I cut it off and added a wide band.

I did make another pair out of the supplex which fit a lot better (the fabric has a lot more stretch), but I can't find them at the moment so I couldn't get any pics! I swear I put them in the wash but for the life of me I can't find them.

Banksia Top double up

 

I feel like I'm just using the same patterns over and over again lately! My daughters best friend came and stayed and fell in love with the Banksia top so they both plotted to have matching tops for their upcoming school camp.

 

They picked out yet another cutesy fabric, little yellow duckies this time around. I still think they look like pajama tops but got outvoted!
My daughters top is a Small, with a sloping shoulder adjustment and the darts raised by 1". Her besties is a sz XS with the darts also raised by 1" and a 1/2"SBA.
The placket is a lot easier to sew this time around, I know it has to be really well marked and measured for it to turn out evenly.

I like the inside finish, I used self fabric bias binding to finish the armholes and collar and serged the shoulder and side seams. It makes a nice neat and hardy finish.
Now these are done I have a pile of new StyleArc patterns that are calling my name :)

Tiramisu take 2 and Brisbane catch-up

I cut out this version straight after finishing the last one, I love this pattern!

I've had this fabric in my stash for a while, it was one of those preshirred fabrics that are hemmed on one end and shirred on the other, I suppose its so you could make a really quick strapless dress out of it. I chopped off the shirred bit and just used the bottom half. I had plans for this to be a teal knit on the top and the stripes on the bottom to break it up a bit, but the teal ended up too tight and got chucked aside. Luckily I had enough to cut out the bodice from the leftover stripes! I always seem to struggle with knits being either too stretchy or not stretchy enough!
Same sizing as last time, I did add about 1cm to the bodice front though and it sits nicely underbust now.

I love the stripe layout, the pattern makes it really easy, I cut everything in a single layout using this technique. It means the stripes are identical and makes it so much easier to sew.

I read a blog post the other day about the perfect hem length. My thigh and calves are the same length oddly enough so I need my skirts to hit straight across my knee. I don't usually hold too much stock in things like this but it does seem to work and I look less frumpy with this length skirt, so take it FWIW.

The Brisbane catch-up

 

 

Even though it was very short notice Judith and Summer Flies managed to meet me for a cuppa and a chat. It was fantastic meeting them face to face even though it was absolutely bucketing down with rain! I really enjoyed Brisbane, it's such a well laid out city and so easy to get around in. I did get a chance to drop into The Fabric Store and got some nice material for a future StyleArc polo top (I found the sales assistant a lot nicer/politer than the Melbourne ones!). On the way home I stopped in at Ballarat Patchwork and got some lovely material. If anyone is going thorough Ballarat stop for a look, the shop is such an explosion of colour and the most beautiful quilting fabric!

Kimono Dressing Gown.

 

I made this using a great tutorial here. I've used it before I started blogging and was really happy with how well it works.

I've had this fabric in my stash for ages, I got it thinking to make a dress out of it but its way too bright for me! Great for a dressing gown too, and being cotton its so much nicer in all this hot weather we've been having than the current polyester one I've been using!
'

Because its such simple shapes and no fitting I spent a bit more time on the seams finish. I flat felled all the seams, including the side seams which are on a right angle under the arms. Not sure what the proper method is in dealing with it so I cut them on a 45degree angle and then satin stitched over the raw edges.

 

I'm not really sure what the seam finish is called that I used on the neck and hem bands, its the same way that you sew the placket on the banksia blouse, and the same as sewing the waistband onto the Jalie jeans, makes a really nice neat finish and encloses all the raw edges as well.

 

I added a couple things on - pockets, belt loops and a belt and satin ties at the waist to keep it closed. It was a nice easy project though and another thing from my Autumn SWAP drawings plus it used up some stash fabric.