lower your presser foot

Thank you to everyone for your feedback on how you best like comments addressed - the overwhelming answer was that you all appreciate a response but don't necessarily expect one. I've installed Disqus because it seems to be the most effective way of responding both here on the blog and by email to the poster directly - my apologies though because if you're not registered with Disqus you do need to enter an email address (which isn't visible though), but there's no annoying Captcha to try to decipher.

As promised, I did a random draw to see who the lucky sewist would be to try out the Style Arc pattern. The random number generator threw up number 24,

which starting from the oldest comment to the newest is Kezban Boyla who said:

Kezban please email me at Kristy_Idle "at" hotmail.com with your address and I'll post the pattern out to you. I think this Style Arc pattern would be perfect for a beginner sewist.

And a big thanks to Ingrid who spotted the jacquard fabric that Burda used for the jacket that I love so much for sale at Tessuti's, which is delightfully called Mint Boiled Lolly Brocade:

image from Tessuti-shop.com

Unfortunately it is $89/m - it is 135cm wide and it is Italian designer fabric. I need to really decide whether I'd wear this crazy pattern enough to justify spending that much money on it!

At the risk of sounding like a belated Thanksgiving post, a huge thank you to everyone who offered fitting comments on the jacket in the last post. I don't usually post works in progress but now I realise how incredibly helpful it is to get perspectives and advice from fellow sewists. Fitting wise the jacket is looking pretty good, and it just needs a little further tweaking on the shoulder curve because it still sticks out a little. For those of you still contemplating whether to make this with or without the caps on the sleeve, I took a photo of both so you can see what it's like to help you decide.

Without the caps on the sleeve:

With the caps on the sleeve:

Apologies for the non-plussed look on my face - it's not the jacket at all but rather my husband who was the photographer for these photos and behaving like he had never used a camera before! Seriously, how hard it is to take a few photos?

As you can see I need to do further work on the sleeves but the fit has improved greatly as I took in all the princess seams and side seams by 1cm which really helped not only with the excess fabric but also raised the underarm as predicted by Sharon.

Hopefully I'll finish the final version this week, in this fabric which I'm still tossing up whether to make those barcode stripes vertical or horizontal:

Happy sewing everyone!

So here we are on the last day of February and I've finally finished by Burda of the month project. It feels like I've been sewing this jacket for the entire month, and it was basically clogging up my sewing time and enthusiasm for anything else so I had to get it done. And in this case I'm settling for the close enough version - sure there could be more improvements but I think it's ok. As a reminder here is the pattern I used:

I didn't actually make the silver satin version, mainly because I couldn't be bothered making yet another version of this pattern but also because the second muslin I made was actually in a rather nice linen that I was hoping would work out as a wearable muslin. So I did the best I could to improve on the version you saw in the last post, and this is what I've come up with:

Sure the fabric is a boring cream colour, but it feels quite nice and I think the jacket has turned out to be a simple and lightweight jacket that I can wear over some of my more colourful summer dresses. I ended up letting out the seams a little because it was really tight when I wore it over various clothes which means I've got a bit of excess fabric appearing again at the back but there's no point wearing a supremely fitting jacket if you move as stiffly as a robot!

I didn't have enough fabric left to re-cut the sleeves, so instead I just took in the sleeve seams slightly and let out the cap sleeve dart as much as I could to try to make that cap sleeve stand out more.

For the front closure instead of doing a row of hooks and eyes I chose to use a zipper instead - I just thought that hooks and eye might slip open and they would be too fussy to do up. I found at Spotlight a lightweight separating zip in a cream colour that was perfect for this fabric. It looks like an invisible zip but the tape wouldn't roll over so I couldn't sew exactly next to the zip coils which means a little bit of the zipper tape is showing but it looks ok.

And because I was really really over it by the end I didn't even bother to line this jacket but I didn't make that decision until the very end so nor did I do any neat finishing of the internal seams like binding them or making French seams. The inside seams are fully overlocked so it's ok, but it's not a particularly professional finish on the inside I'm afraid!

This fabric has been in my stash for about 14 years - it's lovely fabric and it's only crime was to be unbelievably bland and boring. I thought about adding some trim or decorative stitching to this jacket to liven it up and to emphasize those seam lines but in the end I figure accessories would probably do a good enough job. I quite like this classic black on cream look:

I particularly like how the belt makes the peplum bit stick out and gather a bit more, this jacket has quite a lovely shape really.

Conclusion: a pretty good pattern - sure it needed a fair bit of fitting work to fit my very narrow, rounded and forward shoulders but it is a pretty simple pattern to sew, the sleeves are interesting and the waistline + peplum are quite flattering. If you're up for a possibly fiddly fitting experience I'd say go for it!

I've sat down to write a blog post this week several times but I am feeling rather unexcited about my latest completed garment so it's been hard to actually write anything! So I'm hoping that by putting it here on my blog I can get some 'closure' (to use a silly cliché) and move onto a more exciting phase in my sewing.

Two weeks ago, when I was in the middle of sewing that annoying-but-turned-out-good cream linen jacket I had my sewing day at my local ASG for which I needed a simple project that I actually wanted to sew. So I decided to make a pencil skirt out of some stretch cotton I had in my stash in brown to go with the cream jacket, using Vogue 7937 mainly because I've sewn it several times before and I knew it fitted (most recently this blue floral version which turned out great) but also because it has six narrow pieces that I could squeeze out of the fabric which was left over from another project.

The reason I chose to use the brown cotton is because it matched some brown and cream stripe grosgrain ribbon that I was going to sew on the cream jacket as trim. I ended up leaving the jacket plain but made a ribbon belt instead from the grosgrain ribbon, and here is the finished outfit:

brown pencil skirt and cream linen jacket

There's not much to be said about the skirt - it has three panels across the front and back, with two walking vents at the back. The overall outfit looks ok in these photos, but nothing great (probably better if I stood up straight and took a photo at the beginning of the day rather than the end!). The fabric is a bit stiffer and heavier than the fabric I used for previous versions, so the fit isn't as slim or close fitting but mainly it's the colour. I've seen Sharon of Petite and Sewing sew and wear many clothes in brown (because she religiously sticks to her colours) and always looks wonderful but I find it very difficult to pair clothes with it or get excited about it unfortunately.

Anyway, more fabric out of the stash and into the wardrobe which is always a good thing. And speaking of the stash, I finally committed to purging the fabrics that I didn't like so much that have been sitting in a big pile on the floor in the corner of my sewing room for months now. I kept alternating between wanting to declutter the stash on one hand and on the other hand keeping every bit of fabric I have 'just in case', but in the end I kept some basic cotton pieces for future muslins and got rid of those pieces that were lovely and other people may like but I know I would never sew. I took this big and extremely heavy bag full of fabric to donate to the Fabric Cave at Meadowbank this morning and what's more I didn't go in the shop and bring home anymore fabric either!

big bag of fabric to donate to the Fabric Cave

That big bag is only the first part of the purge of my stash - it was too heavy to add anymore to it and I think I have at least one more bag of that size to go as well! Mind you there is hardly a noticeable dent in the stash and I'm still only half way through folding and measuring the stash.....

Last weekend I had a fantastic lunch with other lovely sewing bloggers, chatting about all things sewing and doing only the smallest bit of fabric shopping - I limited myself to two pieces only! I must be changing my hoarder ways, although I'm not deliberately on a fabric diet I do have a long line of projects I want to make completely from stash items, so now I look at new purchases as being more obstacles in the way of those projects which helps me buy more prudently.

So I hope to be back next post with a more enthusiastic write up of a finished garment - since I'm not sewing out of necessity sewing should be fun and enjoyable so I need to get over myself and back into the groove.

Everyone has their sewing nemesis - for some people it's installing zippers or doing buttonholes, for me it's sewing pants! It's not difficult to sew pants, it's just that I haven't had the energy to do all the muslins and fitting required to make a decent fitting pair to be honest. I have however signed up for a two days pants fitting and sewing course at the Australian Sewing Guild convention later this year which hopefully should set me on the right path.

In the meantime however I've had reasonable success with Burda 10/2013 #127 given that I've done next to no fitting changes to it. The pattern looks like this:

The first pair I made last October were from a cotton linen blend that stretch and bag out so much after wearing them for barely an hour so it was lucky I added belt loops otherwise the pants would end up around my ankles! The legs were also much wider than the model's photograph or the line drawing suggest. I still wear them though, in a casual slouchy kind of way.

The second pair I made last December were cut off at the knee to make shorts out of a stretch cotton drill I bought from Spotlight. I made these a little smaller to account for the stretch fabric but it turns out the drill doesn't stretch out or sag so these fit a little firmly and are a bit high waisted for my liking. Once again though I still wear them! They are good for getting around the playground and being high waisted there's no display of underwear when I kneel down.

But the third pair have turned out not too big and not too small but just right (hence the goldilocks reference in the title!).

blue and white graphic printed narrow pants

I think the fabric is a cotton twill (can't quite remember the exact fabric type or composition now) that I bought from Tessuti in January when I had a sewing day there. The print is actually a dark navy blue on cream. Both Beverley and I had our eyes on this fabric the entire day and between the two of us we bought the last 5 or 6 metres of it.

For this pair I narrowed the legs to make them look more like the Burda model's version rather than what the pattern actually makes but not so narrow that they are too tight because this fabric doesn't have any stretch. I also lowered the front rise a little because I just can't stand things sitting anywhere near my waistline.

blue and white graphic print narrow leg pants

The very busy pattern hides the fitting faults which aren't significant, just a bit of excess fabric underneath the seat but if I walk around with my hands in my pockets you can't tell anyway!

I love this fabric so much that I've already cut out a dress from the remaining piece of this fabric and I think my case of the sewing blahs have gone away!

I have hardly sewn a stitch in the last two weeks, which is highly unusual for me. Sadly my father in law is critically ill and my husband has been interstate visiting him, so it's just been me and the kids. Let me tell you it's exhausting looking after kids by yourself - single parents you definitely have my respect. And since my sewing room is above our garage which is separate to our house I can't go in there when the kids are finally in bed asleep. But I haven't been completely slack - I have cut out and pinned four projects and have unpicked several previous makes for a reworking (ie fixing up previous shockers!) so hopefully I can start being more productive soon.

But like any frustrated sewist who isn't sewing I've instead been buying more fabrics and adding to my already extremely long to do list. In order to shame myself in to using them soon and not just adding them to the stash I thought I'd confess here on my blog.

First up I bought several pieces from fabric.com because I discovered the postage cost for four pieces wasn't much more than it was for one (around $25). I haven't purchased from them before so fingers crossed the quality is decent and it doesn't take too long to deliver.

I have been searching in all the fabric stores here in Sydney for a dark denim chambray to make a shirt, but have only been able to find really light blues. So I purchased this Robert Kaufman dark indigo chambray:

image via Pinterest

After seeing so many great pieces during Jungle January I decided to buy my first ever piece of animal print fabric, this leopard print cotton that I intend to make a pencil skirt:

image via Pinterest

I also bought some navy blue and white jumbo polka dot cotton fabric (well I hope it's more navy blue than the colour of the photo below) also to make a pencil skirt:

image via Pinterest

The final piece is this mint green and white mini polka dot cotton possibly to make something for the kids but more than likely a shirt for myself!

Image via Sportscraft

Then of course there's been a little bit of real life shopping. I broke my cardinal rule of never buying anything from Spotlight full price because I saw some gorgeous tan and black chevron stripe cotton Japanese duck fabric that only had a little bit left on the bolt. I didn't want to risk it selling out so I bought it then and there - and of course less than a week later they had a 30% off sale! It wasn't too expensive though, and I do love the fabric so no harm done I guess. I've already cut this out so hopefully I'll have something awesome made soon from it:

And the final act of fabric gluttony occurred a few weeks at a pre sewing bloggers lunch meet up at the Remnant Warehouse. I swear I wasn't going to buy anything (unless I found the mythical dark chambray) but after I spotted some bizarre but cute ponte knit with puffy giant polka dots and some dark charcoal 100% wool suiting both for only $9.95/m I decided to pick up a few metres of each.

I was going to end by saying I think that's enough fabric purchasing for now (ha! as if), but I've just received an email from one of the ASG ladies revealing that the Fabric Cave is having a sale on the 4th - 11th April. Their prices are insanely good value to begin with, so I cannot imagine the bargains that will be had at one of their sales. And since I dropped off a huge bag there recently I'm sure I can rehome some other pieces instead!

And a big hello to Gabrielle from Up Sew Late - we met up today in the city to take some photos of her lovely new silk top and had a great chat/rant about sewing, blogging and children who are too unfocused to learn how to sew from their mums. I love meeting up with bloggers and fellow sewists in real life, I feel like we're all part of a secret society!

Happy news - my fabric.com order arrived the day after the last post which was a speedy 7 days delivery, very impressive! The fabric colours are exactly what I wanted, and the fabric quality is not too bad either.

And even happier news is that my father in law has improved - he's gone from being unconscious on life support with only a few days to live after having a heart attack and a mini stroke on top of the pneumonia he was already in hospital for to now being awake, lucid and surprising everyone with his recovery. He can't walk at the moment, and eating and drinking is very difficult because he can't swallow properly, so we're in a bit of limbo now waiting to see if he improves enough to go home or into a lower level of care or whether he'll take a turn for the worse. Either way we all got to see him at the weekend and spend some quality time with him, and I think the children cheered up a little - hospitals are so incredibly boring when you've been there a while!

And I even managed to get some sewing done. Since we are slowly but surely slipping into the cooler weather (finally) I thought I'd squeeze in one last summer dress using the rest of the cotton fabric I bought from Tessuti and used for the Burda pants two posts ago.

I actually started this dress several weeks ago, at the same I cut out the Burda pants but it took a while to finish off the hem. Happily though it's completed, and here you are:

I decided to use Vogue 2783 again, a pattern which sat in my stash for many years uncut and unloved until last November when I made it in a cotton floral sateen to wear to a Pattern Review high tea organised by the lovely Maria and discovered that it's actually quite a nice pattern after a bit of fitting work of course. And since I had made quite a lot of fitting changes - taking it in substantially and shortening he dress it made sense to make it again.

I had planned to make this version slightly different to the previous one by adding cap sleeves, a piped waistband and changing the flared skirt to a pencil skirt so that this version would be more corporate than casual - there's just something about a sleeveless dress with a flared skirt that says 'sun dress' more than 'work dress' to me. But as you can see I only got as far as adding cap sleeves to it before my enthusiasm for drafting pattern changes wore out!

I figured that a belt around the waist would do instead of a piped waistband and also be more versatile in terms of being able to wear different colours. I've worn it here with red accessories but I actually think the yellow shoes from the previous post look better against this fabric.

Although the fabric is fairly densely woven I fully lined this version with a white cotton batiste to prevent any risk of sheerness, which also neatly finished the neckline and underarm area without having to fiddle about with bias binding.

I used some nylon piping along the front and back vertical seams but the fabric is so busy you can barely see it - the piping is more noticeable in real life though. I think the previous version I made with navy blue piping against the floral fabric was more striking but I still think it's an interesting touch:

I can see this working in the office worn with a white blazer (which I happen to have one about 75% made!) to make it look a bit more serious but it would also be a nice dress worn casually, so in the end my laziness paid off and making it like this is probably more versatile.

And now to get on to making some clothes from my recent delivery - I'm really looking forward to making some cozy autumn and winter clothes.

At the very beginning of February I traced off three patterns thinking that I'd get not one but three February Burda projects done. Ha ha wishful thinking! Real life got in the way last month and here we are few days into April and I've only just finished one and it was such a simple skirt that I managed to cut it out and sew it last night and took photos of it today. In the end I made a skirt (3/2014 #117) from the "Pretty Grunge" collection of the March issue - having lived through grunge the first time around I was a bit hesitant but without Burda's crazy styling (socks and high heels, really?) it doesn't look too bad:

I did trace off a double breasted blazer with ginormous lapels in this issue too (3/2014 #101) which I thought looked interesting in a nice way and even made two muslins because it was a size 36 and I knew I needed to grade down a size. But when it came time to making it I discovered the fabric I wanted to use was too small a piece - it was left over from another project and I wanted this jacket to make a matching suit. So I've set it aside until I can decide on another piece of fabric (no shortage of that around here, I just need to wait until inspiration strikes). The other pattern I also traced is just a pair of tracksuit pants (3/2014 #112) which I haven't made yet because it's just so hot here still, and they possibly won't warrant a blog post anyway.

I used a piece of fabric from deep within the stash - literally it was at the very back of the shelf and I had to dig through to piles of other fabrics to get it out. I can't remember it's origin, probably an opshop I'd say. It's a crisp cotton in dark tan with a weird print. I was careful not to place one of those dark pink bits of the print at ahem, crotch level on the front:

but didn't give the same careful print placement consideration for the back view, so now it looks like I have a target on my butt:

And for the side seams I didn't even attempt pattern matching, or the waistband either out of pure laziness:

Ah well, I'm convinced that absolutely no one except for us sewists pay any attention to matching patterns at seams or print placement. Have a look at this lovely lady wearing a jumpsuit with questionable pattern placement that I pinned from whowhatwear.com just because it made me laugh out loud:

image source here

Obviously this pattern placement was very deliberate but I'm not convinced it's a look. So we should all be a bit easier on ourselves I think!

Overall I found this pattern to be pretty good. It has inseam pockets on both sides seams which are useful, the back is fitted with two darts so it's a sleek fit at the back but the slightly angled pleats on the front don't add an unsightly amount of volume either. I don't think the skirt is as narrow as the one worn by model in the photo suggests but any narrower and you wouldn't be able to walk because the skirt doesn't have a walking vent. I also lopped about 5cm off the hem but looking at these photos it could probably be a bit shorter. You do need to remember to flare the hem allowance out because the skirt is quite pegged, which I forgot to do and so have made a super narrow hem instead - I've made many skirts like this in the past so I really should have known better.

And speaking of my past creations, can you believe it that Toby is 2 years old tomorrow? The time has just flown by. Tonight I need to put in some hours to make him a birthday shirt, I don't want him to feel neglected as the second child!

I caved in and went to the Fabric Cave sale today - so did a lot of people too judging by how busy the store was! The funniest thing was seeing the fabrics I donated a few weeks ago on the shelves, but I made sure I didn't buy any of them back. Unfortunately Toby fell asleep in my arms just as I arrived in the store so I was rather restricted in what I could get having to lug his 13kg around in one arm and dig through their packed shelves with the other. In the end I picked up these pieces for the bargain price of $15.80:

I do actually have plans for these pieces so I feel no shame in picking up yet more fabrics, especially as the proceeds are going to such a good cause and it's much less than my recent donation to them.

So as I said last post, it was Toby's second birthday last Saturday. It sort of snuck up on me with all that's been going on lately, but I did manage to make his birthday shirt last Friday night. Luckily I've made this pattern before so it took less than 3 hours which isn't too bad for the fiddliness that little people clothing involves!

I used view B of Burda 9505, which was gifted to me by Steph and I used View A for Toby's first birthday shirt too (here). This will probably be the last time I use it too since it only goes up to 18 months in size and this shirt is rather a slim fit on him. It's actually quite a good pattern, drafting wise, because I have found that kids patterns are usually way too big but this one is spot on. Unfortunately it's now out of print, but if you have this in your stash I can highly recommend you use it if you have a little one in your life.

I chose to use an elephant print cotton poplin that I bought from Spotlight a while ago mainly because I figure he has the rest of his life to wear stripes or plaid or solid colours and when you're two you should wear a really fun print! Plus I wanted to use up the rest of this fabric in case there wasn't another occasion for it in the future and it stayed in the stash forever.

The pattern is pretty straightforward - it's just a normal shirt sewn on a smaller scale. I noticed that the instructions for view B aren't as detailed as the instructions for view A - there aren't any instructions to finish the sleeve or the tab other than doing a narrow hem to the edge. It wasn't difficult to figure out, but it just seemed odd to leave it out given that the other steps are spelled out. I also French seamed the sleeve edge because the seam edge would be visible when the sleeve is rolled up, which the pattern also didn't suggest but looks much better than having a serged edge showing.

I used snaps instead of buttons because they not only took less time than buttons but they also make it easier to get Toby into and out of this shirt because he can be very squirmy sometimes. I left off the back yoke and instead cut the back as one single piece so that I didn't have to match those elephants at the back - pure laziness but it's not really a noticeable feature in this fabric anyway:

And how good is my pattern matching at the front edge! The birthday boy seems pretty happy with his shirt and his birthday presents - he's a bit obsessed with Peppa Pig, dinosaurs and soccer balls at the moment so he was quite easy to satisfy. If only they stayed so innocent and little for longer!

And this is last year's shirt when he turned one - I can't believe how much he's changed!

We've had a whirlwind two weeks around here, hence the blog silence. All the usual things - busyness at work in a new job, school holidays, Easter and then Anna does this to herself:

She slipped from the monkey bars whilst at vacation care and landed awkwardly, completely snapping the humerus bone above her elbow. You know things are going to be bad when you get a phone call at work that begins with "don't panic, Anna's fine but she's gone to hospital in an ambulance...."! She ended up needing surgery to insert wires into her arm to align the bones so that they regrow together correctly.

But kids are pretty resilient, and she's managed it pretty well so far. At the moment it's only a half cast with a bandage around it to allow for swelling to subside and the wound to heal, so it's pretty bulky and difficult to get clothes on with it. Luckily it's her left arm so she can still write and draw with her other hand, but she's quickly finding out how difficult it is to do things one handed!

And sadly a few days before this occurred, my father in law passed away after his condition rapidly deteriorated. It wasn't totally unexpected given how frail and ill he has been these last few months, but when we visited him just a few weeks ago he was doing remarkably well and preparations were being made for him to go home so it still came as a surprise. We've spent the last week with my mother in law doing funeral preparations and going through the Chinese cultural customs associated with death. I'm not particularly religious but I found the Buddhist customs quite comforting - there were monks chanting and praying at the funeral service, and before hand we burned incense money and clothes for his spirit to take with him to his next life.

I also had to quickly make some funeral appropriate clothes for Anna and Toby since their wardrobes are pretty much all brightly coloured and casual. For Anna I refashioned a dress that a friend had given to me that was made from some quality stretch textured fabric but in a horrible design - a wide, mid calf length skirt with an asymmetrical hem, ruched bodice and a bandeau style top. So all I did was shorten the skirt keeping the asymmetrical hemline, made a tube for the bodice and sewed on some gathered straps. I also added a ruffled band to the front neckline, and a gathered elastic belt. Mostly all sewn on the overlocker meant it took less than two hours to finish, and Anna loves it although worryingly she refers to it as her funeral dress.

For Toby I quickly made a pair of pull on pants in black cotton drill from McCalls 6061. There's nothing special to say about these, but a note for my future self (and anyone else thinking about making these) is that this pattern is really wide but really short! It's sized for up to 18 month olds, but the pants are really baggy so they still fit Toby even though he's now two and not a small child either. They are also really high waisted, so I lowered the rise by 4cm, and lengthen the leg by 5cm although looking at these photos I could have made them longer. I added the band around the knees for decoration, copying a pair of RTW pants that are too small for him now. The pockets are just patch pockets and there is a faux fly although you can't really see it in black.

Nearly all of Toby's pants are now too short - he's somehow shot up in the last few months without me noticing at all! Now that the weather is finally starting to get cooler in Sydney I'll have to pause in all my selfish sewing to make him some more clothes - hopefully the dramas are over around here for now and we can get back to our usual busy but ordinary lives.

I finished my April Burda of the month project a few days ago but haven't had a chance to photograph it yet. Honestly it turned out rather bad so I was tempted just to bin it but I wanted to reassure you all that I'm only human and make my fair share of wadders too! I did intend this to be a hopefully wearable muslin and I do have extra fabric to fix up the issues and remake it, but sadly I'm lacking enthusiasm for spending anymore time on it right now.

In the April issue of Burda I was immediately drawn to dress #117 which has a flattering cross over front and three quarter raglan sleeves. Doesn't the model look angelic in her white dress with her handsome boyfriend in a white kitchen?:

Too good to be true in the way only Burda can achieve! I made my version in a teal green ponte knit that I ordered on line from Girl Charlee fabrics. When it arrived the colour was more subdued than I had hoped from a fabric described as teal green, but the fabric felt weighty with a good amount of recovery so I thought it would be well used as a first version of this dress that I was hoping would be a wearable muslin but no harm done if it didn't turn out well. And turn out badly it did!

Shall we start with the good before moving on to the really bad? I love those diagonal darts in the back - they are unusual but still achieved a close fit for me so I may frankenpattern this back onto other patterns so I can used this feature again. The back pattern pieces are drafted well and those darts align perfectly:

The front however is just terribly, terribly sad. I made the smallest size at the bust line, size 17, but there is way too much fabric causing ripples and folds in all sorts of unflattering spots. I need to pinch out a fair amount of fabric in the triangle area underneath the bust darts which extend from the centre front to the side:

Even lifting my arms up didn't help with those folds and bulges of fabric along the dart lines:

So I need to completely re-do that bodice to pinch out the extra fabric because this version is totally unwearable. The neckline doesn't gape too badly though, and although it's low it doesn't reveal my bra so really it's not that low for Burda standards.

I found the instructions to be completely baffling, and I really tried hard to follow them this time. I think their method meant the top cross over piece was left unstitched where it crossed over the under cross over piece, with the seam allowances folded under, which now that I look closely at the line drawings might actually be what they meant. Their method didn't make any sense to me at all and in the end I followed the photo instructions that Sigrid helpfully has in her pattern review - this way was much better but it still involved a small bit near the triangle top of the skirt at the centre front unsewn. I just used a bit of steam a seam to glue the bits together! Inside of the dress is a complete mess because of the overlapping facings and darts of the complicated front.

So will I make this again? Probably not - I like the idea of the pattern but the arrangement of the front pieces is just messy, even if I did manage to get rid of the excess fabric. Onwards and upwards to the next pattern! And the added bonus is that this fabric didn't even make it to the fabric stash from the letter box. I might just cut it in half and make a straight skirt from it, if I can think of a suitable top to wear with it - it's a very difficult colour to find a complementary colour top.

Finally thanks for all your wishes regarding my father in law and Anna. Anna's arm is healing very well and she has a brand new purple cast which she not only loves but weighs less and is slim enough to wear under her normal clothes which makes it a bit easier.

Yes, that would be little old me in the bottom left hand corner of the German issue of the June Burda magazine! Anna said "mummy, you're a sewing superstar!". Well not quite, but it is rather exciting/amusing/flattering all at the same time. I wish I had uploaded a better photo though.

I received an email from someone at Burda Style a few months ago, asking my permission to use a photo I had posted on my Burda Style projects page, potentially for use in the magazine. Of course I said yes, not really expecting it to happen, but there I am.

I must say I am impressed by the German version of the Burda Style magazine - it so much more like a fashion magazine than the English version I receive. The patterns and instructions are in a separate supplement at the back of the magazine, and the main part has an editorial from Dagmar Bily, ads for various products, fashion exhibition listings and styling tips in among the pages of photographs of the patterns. The patterns are the same though - and we all know how good, bad and just plain ugly they can be!

The other interesting thing is the mix of English words amongst the German text - there seems to be no reason for English headings to be followed by text in German, but I guess it makes it a bit more eccentric and interesting.

Not much sewing for me to show this week - I have finished an awesome jacket but haven't had a chance to photograph yet due to the short winter days, and the other sewing I've done is boring but necessary repairs - replacing a lining in a dress, replacing a busted zip and fixing up a fallen hem. But this weekend I'm off for a glorious several days of uninterrupted sewing with quite a few other sewing fanatics so I'm hoping to make up for lack of sewing and then some!

Thanks everyone for your excited comments about my debut in Burda Style - I was a little bemused by the whole thing and didn't think much of it until a sewing friend pointed out on the weekend how many people sew Burda patterns and how few people make it into the magazine so I do realise that it is quite special and I feel properly flattered now.

Speaking of sewing friends, I had an unbelievably productive and fun weekend away at the sewing retreat that was organised by Sharon who blogs at Petite and Sewing. Thirty-eight or so ladies in one big room sewing, chatting, laughing punctuated by meals and sleeping of course but uninterrupted by cute but demanding children is my idea of a great weekend away. Plus I managed to get so much done: two shirts, a skirt and a dressing gown for Anna. Now I'm in the rare position of having finished projects that I need to catch up on my photo shoots.

But to use that old cliche - here's one I prepared earlier! The lovely Gabrielle of Up Sew Late graciously met me at lunch time today outside my office to take a photo of jacket I finally finished early last week, many weeks after I started it. And the good news is that I love it so much that I've already worn it twice.

This is the jacket pattern with the funny sleeve caps that I spent a fair bit of time fitting back in February before getting so sick of doing muslins that I didn't go on to make it in the 'good' fabric, although the last version in a lovely cream linen is a wearable muslin. It's jacket #115 from the 2/2014 issue:

This time I left off the sleeve caps not because I didn't like them - in the end I thought they suited the style of the jacket- but mainly because the fabric I chose was very busy and the details would not only have been lost but probably would have disrupted the pattern. The fabric is cotton duck in a black and gold chevron print bought from Spotlight:

I tried really, really hard during cutting out and sewing to match up those chevrons which not only made my eyes go funny but seriously tested my patience which is why it took so long to finish. With two piece raglan sleeves, a waist line seam and princess seams it was impossible to match the seams perfectly, and once I accepted that I was able to quickly finish sewing it and get over myself and my crazy perfectionist ways! I managed to get the seams down my right hand side of the sleeves perfectly matched:

but not so the other arm or back seams, although they aren't too bad to look at:

Like the cream linen version I used a lightweight open ended zipper at the centre front instead of hook and eye tape because it is much easier to wear - no snagging or falling open. But unlike the cream linen version I finished this jacket properly and lined it with bemsilk lining which makes it more comfortable to wear because it slides over the clothes underneath much easier.

As I said on the post for the previous version of this jacket, the pattern drafting is really good and the fitting changes I needed to do were mainly caused by my narrow shoulders and non existent bust line. The only issue I have with this jacket is that the neckline is quite low on the front and back, and a lot of my dresses didn't go with this jacket because they peeked out a little bit at the neckline. I think it would look good with either a roll neck top deliberately poking out of the top or something that has a low neckline so that it stays hidden underneath to make it look clean at the neckline.

And even though I'm not doing me-made-May (because I'm too lazy to take photos each day, not because I don't wear something hand made every day), today I wore with this jacket a handmade dress made from Vogue 8280, the Roland Mouret galaxy dress knock off that I don't seem to have blogged so I must have made it so long ago, but still looks good. But to all of you doing me-made-May you have my congratulations because taking a photo each day let alone thinking of outfits to wear must be a huge undertaking!

I finished my Burda of the month project last weekend at my sewing retreat, and here I am even posting it before the end of the month so I'm well and truly within my self imposed time frame and not late as I usually am. There were quite a few patterns I liked in this issue, but in the end I decided to go with a blouse, made in a (shock! horror!) polyester with a fun black polka dot print from deep within the stash. I don't normally sew with polyester as I prefer to wear natural fibres, but I had this fabric in the stash needing to be used and I wanted a cute polka dot blouse so for once I decided to go with it:

It's pattern 5/2014 #131, which is shown in the magazine in both satin (version A) and cotton (version B) - is it just me that thinks it's a bit cheeky of Burda to count these as two patterns when the only difference is the fabric and a few pieces cut on the grain differently?

The Burda pattern is a size 36 so I figured it might be too big since I usually sew with a size 34 due to my narrow shoulders and lack of bust line, plus this has gathers front and back so I knew there would be excess fabric. Looking at these photos the fit seems ok. I did a narrow shoulder adjustment but not a forward shoulder adjustment because frankly I didn't know how to or if it needed it at all since there is no seam on the shoulder because the yoke extends to the front. Width wise though it's pretty good, not too big around the bust and a perfect fit over my hips:

It looks far better tucked in I think than worn out.

I decided to make the collar from a plain black mystery fabric from the stash in the same weight and slipperiness as the polka dot fabric (probably polyester too, I'll have to remember not to stand too close to a naked flame!). I think using a solid black for the collar instead of the polka dot fabric makes it stand out more, although this shirt is obscenely low cut in true Burda style so I don't know if I want to draw attention to that.

This shirt didn't take too long to sew, but I do admit that I took a few shortcuts. I didn't finish the insides as nicely as I could have. I wasn't entirely sure that this pattern would work first time around, so I was treating this as a hopeful wearable muslin and was sewing it mainly to check the fit and the secondary aim of adding it to my wardrobe. I just overlocked the raw edges instead of using French seams which would have been a better choice for this fabric because it's a bit sheer, and I also didn't finish the neck edge properly as per the instructions by sewing on bias strips as a facing to join up the short stretch from the centre front button band to the shoulder yoke - instead I've left it raw which I'll probably just cut with the pinking sheers:

But all this is on the inside which no one sees and I'm usually too lazy to make the insides that nice - as long as it's not fraying I don't really care! I do admire those who do wonderful work on the inside too, but it's just not me. The other shortcut I took was to leave off the opening placket and buttons on the sleeve hem - I just made a simple cuff and left it at that.

Speaking of the sleeves the technical drawing doesn't show that the sleeve has any gathers at the shoulder seam, but when I was sewing this up I had so much excess fabric that it was not possible to ease it in so I went with a few pleats on the shoulder cap. Not my usual style but I think it looks pretty and in keeping with the style of the blouse:

Burda describes this as a straight cut blouse which it certainly is because it has no darts and minimal shaping. I was highly tempted to put some vertical darts in the front and back to take out some of the puffiness, but I thought I'd wear it a few times before deciding whether it needs it or not.

The gathers at the front and back at the yoke seam are lot more subtle than the technical drawing suggest, but looking at the model's photo I can see that her blouse doesn't have any obvious gathers there either.

So overall I think this is a nice enough blouse that I may make again in a lightweight cotton or possibly a silk. If I do make it again I would raise the centre front because no one needs to see that much of my bony, freckly decolletage, and I would also reduce the excess fabric in the sleeve so that it doesn't have any puffiness. And apart from my usual narrow shoulder adjustment the fit is pretty good - I can recommend this pattern to anyone who is looking for a simple but pretty blouse.

A few months ago I searched and searched for dark chambray fabric, which I ended up buying online from Fabric.com (with a few other pieces of fabric too). It arrived really quickly, and was the perfect colour, weight and stretchiness. So I cut out a shirt pattern really quickly. And then it sat in my sewing room, untouched. And then it sat some more for good measure. Sadly I have a tendency to do that sometimes.

But I did manage to sew it up at my sewing weekend away - it's amazing how much you can get done when you're far far away from those time monopolisers otherwise known as children, husband and real life!

Actually it is pretty remarkable that this one got finished at all, it was just mistake after mistake. I chose a really simple button front shirt from an old Burda, 4/2011 #105 which isn't that old but doesn't seem to be on their website for download:

It fits really well, which is good but funny at the same time because I was aiming for a looser fit that I could layer this over other clothes! I cut a size 36 for this shirt where I usually wear a size 34 in Burda but it turned out just right, except for needing a bit of a sway back adjustment. The first mistake I made was cutting the yoke with the fold of fabric not at the centre back where it should be but at the shoulder line. So I had to cut the yoke in two and sew it back together to make it the right shape, except then foolishly I sewed it together at the armholes which meant I had to unpick and resew! I got there eventually, and the centre back seam of the yoke is barely visible and looks like it was meant to be there anyway:

Actually the first mistake occurred when I ordered this fabric - note to self when ordering fabric in the future: one yard of fabric is much less than one metre! I didn't order enough fabric to have any left to recut the yoke hence all the fiddling with it. But it turns out that losing some width in the yoke due to the unexpected seam in the centre helped get a great fit (seeing the good in the bad, people).

I also didn't have enough fabric to cut out the cuffs, but since I usually wear my long sleeve shirts folded up to the elbow I figured I could leave off the cuffs and do a tab on the sleeve instead (seeing the good in the bad again). So I sewed the sleeve seams with a French seam because they would be visible - yay for me, taking care to make sure the inside is nicely finished for a change! But here comes another mistake - the sleeves are so narrow I can only just fold them up above my wrist to hide the fact there's no sleeve!

I could unpick the beautiful French seams to let out the sleeve as much as possible but I'll probably just leave it as is. The sleeves are really long even without the cuffs, which I can see on the version that the model is wearing in the magazine photo.

After all those sagas the shirt turned out pretty great and I'm really happy with it. The Robert Kaufman fabric I ordered from fabric.com washes and wears really well. And here's how I wore it last Saturday on a fabric shopping expedition with the Sydney Spoolettes last Saturday:

This is a simple dirndl skirt I made from some vintage cotton a long time ago (way back in 2010!) that I don't actually wear that often, so it was nice to wear it out while the autumn weather here was still doing its best impression of summer.

For many years sewing for me was a solitary hobby - I didn't know anyone that sewed and when I was younger I was in fact rather embarrassed to admit that I sewed my own clothes! Which is why it's really great these days that not only do I know loads of like-minded sewists in real life and on-line, but sewing isn't a solitary thing anymore since I sew with the lovely Australia Sewing Guild ladies which has been immensely helpful in expanding my skills and shop with the Sydney Spoolettes (for which I need no assistance or encouragement but it is fun sharing the guilt!).

Nor am I embarrassed anymore to admit that I sew my own clothes either, in fact I'm rather proud to be part of this great community of creative and skilled people. So it is extremely flattering to be recognised first in Burda Style magazine and now by Pattern Review as their current featured member. The Pattern Review thing came completely out of the blue and was really something I wasn't expecting - there are so many members doing wonderful things and I've really only been active in the last year after being a very slack member for many years. So thank you Pattern Review!

Ok, enough showing off from me I think - on to my latest creation. Would you believe that until a few months ago I hadn't ever owned a piece of jungle print fabric or RTW garment or even an accessory? Even Anna managed to rock a leopard print faux fur jacket when she was just two years old!

But that might all be about to change with my latest skirt:

This is made from yet another Burda magazine, this time quite an old issue - 3/2008 #114:

I bought this leopard print fabric from fabric.com back in March, and it is quite a stiff cotton, a bit like quilting fabric which is the perfect weight for a skirt. The fabric faded quite a lot after the first wash, which at first annoyed me, but now I think the faded, worn in look makes this skirt look a bit more casual and less va va voom which is what I traditionally think of when I think animal print.

The pattern is really simple - a pegged skirt with no walking vents so it's quite fitted but still reasonably ok to walk in, with angled pleats at the waist to give a slight tulip shape, although those details are pretty much lost in this busy print. The pleats at the front don't puff out too much, so the side view is still quite streamlined:

It has a wide waistband and a centre back zip which I used an invisible zip because that's the easiest and neatest looking finish:

The pockets are nice and deep which is useful not only for standing around in a slouchy pose whilst taking photos of the side of the road while motorists drive past staring at you, but also for carrying all the bits and pieces that end up in the pockets of a mum to a little boy - rocks, feathers, snotty tissues and the like!

I took these photos about 2 weeks ago when we were still having extremely warm weather which is why I'm dressed like it's summer and not winter! But I can see this skirt being quite versatile, perhaps with a chunky polo neck jumper and opaque tights for a winter outfit, or keeping it simple with my denim jacket which is also a Burda pattern - (4/2009#116) which I made back in 2011 and still wear all the time:

So if you have this issue of Burda I can thoroughly recommend digging it out to make this skirt. It has the streamlined look of a pencil skirt with that added extra casualness and quirkiness of the angled pleats and deeply curved pockets on the side front. If you want to wear a pencil skirt style but don't want to feel like like you're wearing office wear, then this is the perfect skirt style.

And happily I can report that we are now experiencing proper winter, albeit Sydney style - no frost, snow or extreme cold temperatures of course, but cold enough to finally get out some lovely wool and tweed and make some winter clothes.

Wow, has it really been 2 weeks since I've posted some ramblings on here? I wish I had a good reason, such as having a vacation to some exotic locale, but unfortunately its just been a case of real life busyness.

Anna had a school athletics carnival last week that I had to sew a plain green tshirt for her to wear because it turns out to be impossible to find one to buy when I needed one. Luckily kids clothes don't take too long to make! I volunteered to help coordinate on the day and I was in charge of the sack races - I tell you after a day of herding small children into sacks larger than they are for many races I was as exhausted as if I was doing the jumping around! But it was a hot sunny winter's day and loads of fun.

Anna's school also had a school fete as their major fundraising activity which I also volunteered to help. I didn't actually make anything this year because so far I've kept my sewing talents a secret for fear of being inundated with requests, but I was still pretty busy on the day.

We've also been painting and wallpapering our house to hopefully sell in a few months time, which has also required massive amounts of purging and decluttering. Practically every week I've taken several bags worth of stuff to the op shop and yet there is still more! Living here for 11 years has given us plenty of time to accumulate way too much stuff.

I've also been trying to clean up my sewing room because it's a bit out of control at the moment and also because I'll be packing up my sewing room before we sell so I need to refine the stash further. Even though I took a big bag to the Fabric Cave in March and I've now managed to cull another huge bag of fabrics to donate there is hardly a noticeable dent in my stash at all! But just for the record, here is the bag of fabric that is going out:

Now to actually sew something from my stash instead of just giving it away!

I don't think my social life has ever been this busy - I have a party to attend every weekend this month and next, and in fact this weekend I went to a party both on Saturday and Sunday. Sadly I'm not talking about swish cocktail soirees or black tie events for which I need to sew some beautiful party dresses, but rather six year old birthday parties! We are well into the birthday party season around here, and every child in Anna's class seems to be invited to each of these parties, which is very nice and inclusive but it means that these parties are huge and very loud, energetic and tiring. The kids aren't at an age yet where you can do the drop off and run thing, especially since none of these parties are in people's homes but rather at indoor play centres or other party venues so at the end of the three hour or so parties there are a lot of parents gripping their coffee cups with tired looks on their faces!

Anna and I have had many discussions (aka arguments) about appropriate clothing to wear to these parties - it has turned quite cold here in Sydney lately and yet all she wants to wear her summer dresses which are now way too short thanks to a growth spurt that seems to have occurred unnoticed by us all. So after Saturday's discussion about what to wear which involved threats of not going to the party if something more appropriate wasn't worn, I promised to make her a new dress that night if she promised to wear it to Sunday's party. Deal.

Japanese-sewing-book-dress-pattern-for-girls-purple-stripe-knit-dress

I let her pick the fabric, a purple and grey knit 4 way stretch knit from The Fabric Store which is a lovely soft knit with great recovery although it was one of those knits that curls at the edges when cut which was very annoying to press flat and sew. I chose the pattern - a simple and sensible dress from the Japanese sewing pattern book from the "Fashionable Dress for Girls" book (ISBN 978-4-529-04816-3), which I've used before for these very cute puffy pocket shorts when she was just a little (but still highly spirited) toddler.

This post has details about where to buy Japanese sewing books and a mini review if you're interested.

The dress has sleeves and is knee length, which when worn with stocking or leggings is perfect for Sydney's version of winter (cold, but not really when compared with other places!). And the stretch factor is perfect for meeting all the needs of a bendy and wiggly 5 year old. It took less than two hours to make, including tracing the pattern out, so it's quite a simple project if you know what you're doing - those instructions in Japanese are as helpful as those in Burda (although there are little diagrams so they are still easier to understand than Burda!).

I made the pattern for 120cm height and the fit is perfect - I find these Japanese sewing patterns and others that do patterns based on height like Ottobre and Burda are perfect fit for Anna's tall and slim frame, much better than the commercial sewing patterns that base their sizes on chest measurements. The only changes I made were to add a narrow elastic band around the waistline instead of sewing a trim around the dropped waist level to give the dress a bit of shape. Check out that stripes matching at the side seam - you can barely see the seam line (but don't look too closely at that not so straight hem though!):

The pattern has a bound neckline with a keyhole opening at the back, but I left this off purely because I was too lazy to fiddle about with that in a knit fabric, plus I figured (hoped) that a neckline made of 4 way stretch knit would be ok without it. It is a bit of tight stretch over her head but it works.

You might also be thinking that I left off those gathers at the front neckline? Well, they are there - I just didn't notice until I was taking these photos that Anna had the dress on backwards. She might have kept her part of our deal to wear the dress, but she still did it her own way!

And now I've probably set myself up for more last minute sewing sessions, because with another 5 birthday parties in the next 5 weeks she'll probably now want a new dress each time!

How I wish I could come up with witty or even mildly interesting blog post titles! But at least you literally know what you're going to get from one of my blog posts......

So, as my blog title ~~suggests~~ clearly states, I've made a skirt. In navy blue polka dot cotton. From a Burda pattern. Surprise!

navy-blue-polka-dot-pencil-skirt-burda-3-2010-#106

I actually made this at my sewing weekend away in May, but just haven't got around to taking a photo of it as yet. Taking photos for this skirt yesterday afternoon was quite difficult too because it was blowing a gale outside even though it was bright sunshine, so I've had to settle for some rather ordinary indoor photographs in front of a freshly painted wall (ignore the skirting boards though - they're next to be painted) in my bedroom where my beloved shoe cupboard used to be (those indents in the carpet). As part of our decluttering we've dismantled it, I've thrown out a good many pairs of worn out shoes and packed the rest into my cupboard. I can't wait to move - one of the things I'm looking for in the next place is a nice big walk in robe!

Anyway, this is a pencil skirt pattern from a 2010 issue of Burda that I had overlooked at the time but found it recently when I was looking for a pencil skirt pattern . This doesn't seem to be available for download on the Burda Style website, but the pattern looks like this:

The navy blue polka dot fabric is a 100% cotton that I bought online from fabric.com back in March that was quite stiff much quilting fabric. After I prewashed the fabric, it lost some of the glossiness but not the stiffness, which actually worked ok for a fitted skirt like this but probably wouldn't be so great for other types of clothing unless you wanted some stiffness and volume to it. I made the welt pockets in a white cotton sateen to make them stand out - they look much larger than the pattern drawing suggest but I'm pretty sure I followed Burda's instructions for them.

It's supposed to have a fly front zipper at the centre front but I changed this to an invisible zip at the side purely because I forgot to take a normal zipper away with me on the weekend and I really wanted to finish it that weekend. But it turns out that was actually a stroke of fortune because according to the others who have made this skirt finishing the waistband with a facing and a fly front zipper was a bit awkward (see KBenco's post on how she dealt with it). In the end I just lined this to the finished edge, and sewed the waistline seam using some twill tape that Sharon graciously gifted to me on the weekend because I didn't have any of that with me at the time either.

The back is cut on the fold so no pesky pattern matching with the polka dots was required,and I chose to leave off the welt pockets on the back view:

And I think I did a pretty good job almost matching the polka dots at the side seams:

But now for the moment of truth - this skirt might look ok in these photos, but it is unwearable at the moment. I should have taken these photos 2 months ago when I made it, because it fitted perfectly then but unfortunately I've put on a few kilos since them due to my normal winter weight gain (and not all related to a fondness for rich self saucing puddings and a preference for inactivity!) and now the skirt is way too tight to wear.

I don't think the weight gain is noticeable, but the weight has gone straight to my hips and thighs which is typical for a pear shape body, and now the skirt slides upward and twists around with each and every step I take. In fact even just posing for these photos I had to keep tugging the skirt down, and you can see in a few photos the horizontal wrinkles across the front indicating that it's too small.

I suppose I could let out all the seams and hope that I could make it fit. Or I could just wait until spring or early summer and hope my weight drops back as it usually does! I fully lined this skirt so that I could wear it to work and casually in winter (ie over nude pantyhose), and even had some outfit ideas lined up:

red wool crepe jacket made from , red Nine West slingbacks

red cardigan from Target, red flats from Nine West

navy blue Cue blazer, red Nine West slingbacks

Hmmm, perhaps I should dust off my runners and do some exercise so I can fit into this skirt! (And clean the dust off my camera lens too - those white bits of fluff aren't actually on the carpet despite how bad it looks in the above photo!)

I'm slowly coming around to the idea of tried and true (TNT) pattern. I own so many patterns that I like using a different one each time and I do have my Burda challenge which also means using a new pattern each month, but I do see the value in using a pattern that you've got the fitting issues worked out and know the finished garment will fit without having to make a muslin. And of course it doesn't mean making the same thing over and over again - you just have to see the amazing variety of dresses that Carolyn over at Diary of a Sewing Fanatic has made from her TNT dress pattern as proof of that.

New Look 6968 is my favourite pattern for a fitted sheath dress - I can't believe it's now OOP because it really is a great pattern. The waistline seam means I can get a perfect fit on my swayback and pear shape, and it has a number of different neckline and sleeve variations as well. I've made it five times already (from left to right, here, here, here, here and a version not shown here), and since I own some red and white fabric exactly like view D on the envelope I'll probably make it again! In fact if you google New Look 6968 my happy face features quite prominently in the results.

Burda 11/2012 #124 is my go to pattern for an a-line skirt - simple but with interesting details such as welt pockets on the front and a topstitched centre front seam. I've made it in denim, velveteen, cotton drill and cotton sateen, and I still wear all the versions quite regularly:

And I thought that Burda 10/2013 #127 going to become my TNT for my achilles heel - a perfect pants pattern. I've made it three times so far, and even though I don't particularly sewing or even wearing pants I quite like these:

The first time I made this pattern in a cotton linen, it was very baggy to begin with and stretched out terribly, meaning the waistline and crotch hung very low. The second time I made them into shorts using a stretch cotton drill that didn't stretch out so the pants fit well but a bit too high waisted for my liking. Third time lucky with some gorgeous cotton from Tessuti and the fit is pretty good, and the fabric wears well.

So when I had a recent girls night out planned in wild and windy weather (ie not dress wearing weather) and Pattern Review were having their pants competition I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and make this pattern in a dressier fabric, with slim legs, ankle length and exposed metal zips at the hem. And I figured I'd be able to get this done two nights before the night out and the competition closed.

Well the sewing gods decided to teach me a lesson because this is what happened:

Way too much excess fabric there in the back legs that looks really bad (but probably no different to RTW pants though!). I've read somewhere that the wrinkles in clothes point to the problem - clearly my problem is the way the pant legs are hanging from my saddlebag thighs, although the front doesn't look too tight:

Actually when I look closely at the photo above I can see the fabric at the back rippling at those inside leg seams. I pinned the excess fabric in a long dart at the top of my thigh on my left leg which makes the pant leg seem to straighten and sit much better:

A change like this really needs to be done pre cutting out the pattern though because the excess taken out needs to be distributed around the pant leg. But the danger in over-fitting is creating a pair of pants that you can't bend or sit in. Since I don't walk around stiffly like robots it is a problem and nor do I stand posing like a model all day, I do need some ease there but I don't want too much either - I'm not sure I know how to fix this problem to be honest. The fabric I used is a metallic jacquard, which is quite firm with no stretch so I don't think I will be able to get such a close fit in a fabric without stretch. It's a pity because it's a fabric that's been in my stash for a long time just waiting for the right use to come along, and now I've wasted it on this wadder.

I think this fabric sits differently to the cotton versions I've made previously, which draped better and hid this problem which is why I was fooled that this pattern was really good on me. But I've come to the conclusion that this pattern is not my TNT, and it's back to the drawing board for the perfect pants pattern. Luckily I have a two day course on pants fitting in October at the ASG sewing convention so (maybe) I'll get there in the end I hope. I'm just definitely not there yet!

Thanks everyone for the great tips on pants fitting - it's all very useful which I will have to try out. I shouldn't be surprised that my pants had such huge fitting issues since I've never really put any effort into sorting them out and I don't have a particularly easy body shape to fit. I have watched others blogged their slow and steady progress towards pants fitting nirvana, now I guess I need to find the energy to do the same.

Not this week though, I've come down with the 'flu and have taken up a position on the lounge under a fluffy blanket drinking lemon and ginger tea. But last weekend before getting sick I started dismantling my sewing room so we can move the kids playroom into it and then the playroom will revert back to being a bedroom when we sell the house.

Some of you may remember when I posted a picture of my fabric stash - some people IRL still mention it to me so I know it was memorable! This is how it looked a few months back before I started the Great Fabric Stash Refinement (aka a massive cull):

On Sunday I took this photo:

Look Jane - there's that red and white cotton sateen from Spotlight from the New Look 6968 pattern cover peeking out!

Astonishing, right? I managed to further cull fabrics by holding each piece trying to visualise it made up into something and being honest with myself as to whether I would ever wear something made from it. And the answer to a lot of the prints and colours in my stash was a surprising no, and so a third big bag which has some really nice, quality fabrics will also go out to the Fabric Cave shortly:

So what has happened to the rest? You didn't think I had gotten rid of all that fabric did you? The answer is that 24 jumbo size vacuum space saver bags later, my stash is now packed and ready to go into storage before our upcoming house sale:

Even when I've vacuumed all the air out and shrunk those bags down as much as possible, it's still an impressive pile (which of course fell over a few seconds before I took this photo):

To be totally honest though, this isn't my full stash in those space saver bags. There is still a big bag of fabric scraps to deal with, two boxes of UFOs/refashions, lengths of curtain lining and these rolls of fabric too:

Those fabrics still left on the shelving I've kept out with the intentions of sewing them in the next 6 months or so. No particular projects in mind, just a general desire to use the fabric - sort of sewing with half a plan I guess! I can still access the fabrics in storage but it will take some pre-planning since my parents live over an hour away. And yes, I'm aware that the small amount of fabric I've kept out is actually larger than some people's entire stashes!

But overall my stash is now greatly reduced and I'm actually feeling good about that. I've never really felt any guilt about my fabric stash, mainly because I had the space to store it, I had the money to purchase it, and I do use stash fabrics frequently. Plus I really liked being able to find an appropriate fabric in my stash no matter the project, and I cannot recall the last time I had to purchase fabric particularly for a project for myself. But I must admit that while I was packing this all up I was feeling slightly overwhelmed and a little bit disgusted at my greedy hoard of fabrics! And questioning whether we really should sell our house and move.....

Anyway I've shared this with you all as a public service - for those of you with a small but growing stash you can take comfort that you're not as bad as me yet! And for those of you with a sizeable stash too, well at least you know you're not alone.

And the winner is...

February Burda of the month done: Burda 2/2014 #115 cap sleeved jacket - the close enough is good enough version

A serious case of the blahs: Vogue 7937 skirt in blah brown.....

Goldilocks pants: Burda 10/2013 #127

When not sewing....buy more fabric!

The last summer dress: Vogue 2738 in graphic navy and white

February Burda of the month: 3/2014 #117 pleated skirt

Burda 9505: birthday shirt

The latest accessory in white (and clothes in black)

Burda of (last) month: 4/2014 #117 - the criss cross dress

I'm in Burda Style magazine!

Burda 2/2014 #115: print matching to make you cross eyed!

Burda of the Month: 5/2014 #131 in polka dots!

The elusive dark chambray shirt: Burda 4/2011 3105

Pattern Review Featured Member! and old school Burda: 3/2008 #114 skirt

Cull and purge

Party season

Navy blue polka dot skirt: Burda 3/2010 #106

When a TNT is no longer your friend.....

The Fabric Stash, refined