lower your presser foot

The arrival of the August Burda magazine in my letter box the other day quickly made me realise that not only had July slipped by in blur of sickness, lethargy and general busyness, but I hadn't made a project from either the June or July issues of Burda! Even worse is that I have actually traced out the patterns from each, but haven't got as far as actually making them - but the good thing with self imposed challenges that it matters to no one else if I'm a little late.

My sewing room is now pretty much completely deconstructed and all that remains in there is my sewing desk with my machines and a box of fabrics and notions I think I'll need frequently. The rest of my sewing stuff is stored at my parents house - an hour and a half away so I need to get organised with my projects now! My sewing room is now a shared sewing space and children's playroom - a recipe for disaster I'm sure. But to sell our house we had to turn the kid's playroom back into a fourth bedroom so it's for a good reason even if it is annoying to have my sewing supplies so spread about the place.

Of course there has been sewing though - birthday party dresses for my social butterfly, as well as a dress up costume for Anna's school Education Week book character parade. I have to admit to being pretty excited about sewing a costume for the dress up parade, because I have fond memories of my parents getting very creative with costumes for me as a child. I tried to talk her into a cool or quirky character, but unfortunately for the kindergarten set it seems that Disney characters rule the day.

Anna demanded a Cinderella dress - not just any Cinderella dress though, it had to be a faithful reproduction of her Golden Book version. The ones available for purchase just weren't good enough for Anna's liking because they weren't authentic enough! So instead I spent just as much money on ice blue and white satin to make this:

Happily though Anna really loves it and it is better quality than the costumes available in the stores - those were so plasticky they looked like they would spontaneously combust!

My version met with approval because the skirt is full length and very full - look at it twirl:

I got another tick for making the waistband at the centre front come down in a point and not straight across, which was very important:

Although I did get a little reprimand for adding that trim to the neckline and princess seams because it wasn't on the picture in her book.

And the pouffy hip thingies are made of white satin to match the sleeves, and not of tulle like the ones we saw in the shop:

I wasn't sure how to make those hip things, so in the end I just made them a rectangle the full width of the fabric with rounded edges, and then just folded it and pleated it to fit the waist (leaving a little gap in the front of course!). Seems to work I think.

Of course I had to make the black choker necklace and headband to complete the outfit:

All in all I think someone really enjoyed their day as a princess!

Very handily I managed to find a girls dress sewing pattern in my stash that was perfectly designed for this style, although it wasn't a costume pattern. Sewing was rather fiddly dealing with all that slippery fabric and trying to get my hands in small spaces like the sleeve head and hem. Annoyingly the fabric puckered a little bit even though I used a sharps needle, which is most obvious at the neckline, but it's only a dress up costume so I can live with it.

Now to get on with some sewing for me! I've got a few fabrics and patterns out so it's time to get productive.

Hello dear blog readers - it has been a long time hasn't it? It's amazing how easy it has been for me to fall out of the habit of blogging when I've had so many other things on at the moment. I've always found people who carry on about how busy they are incredibly tedious because they're usually speaking in code for "I'm so important/so popular" - but in my case life is just so incredibly busy at the moment with incredibly tedious things! The good thing is that our house will be on the market in a few short weeks with a sale hopefully by the end of October so the end is in sight.

Of course I've managed to fit in a little bit of sewing in my now dismantled sewing room. I hemmed some curtains that I purchased (yes, purchased!), made a dress for my sister who went to a theme party as Wednesday Addams and made some boring black track suit pants for Toby who seems to have shot up several inches over the last month.

Our winter was rather late in coming this year - so warm and sunny for more than the first half of it, and we now seem to be back in warm weather again. But the previous few weeks were very windy, cold and rainy and the perfect weather for staying indoors wearing cosy dressing gowns.
And to use a cliche, here's one I prepared earlier!

This was another project made on my sewing weekend away many months ago now, and it turned out to be super quick to make which is good because she only really got a few weeks wear out of it this winter! I used a vintage sewing pattern, Simplicity 2320, which is from the 1960s I think:

The fabric is a polar fleece by Prints Charming, which is a Sydney based design company that make the most wonderful designs. Spotlight stock quite a large range of their fabrics in cottons as well, and they are all really cool. I let Anna pick out the fabric herself during one of their many frequent sales. Even with the fabric on sale this cost more to make than a dressing gown I could have bought from Kmart, but we all know that we don't sew to save money don't we? But I did make this dressing gown is pretty big so hopefully it should last a few winters.

She likes it I think!

And now on to some spring sewing I think. I didn't even get started on my winter sewing list this year, and I'm 4 issues behind now on my Burda challenge so I've got a lot of catching up to do there but fingers crossed I'm back in the blogging habit!

Spring is in the air around these parts and a spring is finally back in my step! The return of my sewing mojo has coincided with me finishing up a few things that have been keeping me busy lately so I'm hoping I can now get busy on my sewing once again. We've finally finished the work on our house and it's now on the market for the next month before being auctioned in early November (the link is here is if you want to have a look at what the rest of my house beyond my often photographed lounge room looks like). It's going to be a challenge keeping it clean for the next month, but at least the hard work is over and done with.

So if you've been paying attention, you've probably realised that I haven't made a Burda pattern for quite a while and yet here I am skipping ahead to the October issue. Very true, I haven't made my Burda of the month project since the June issue. My love for order and logic means that I really wanted to go back to the June issue and make them in order, but the October issue is such a great issue that I wanted to make this dress right away:

This is pattern #111 from 10/2014 issue, which is a super simple knit dress with an interesting cowl neckline - the drapes are stitched down in three little folds on either side of the neckline.

I used a stretch polyester crepe in a black and cream print that I picked up from Spotlight last week (during one of their sales of course!):

Usually I prefer dresses made out of woven fabric because I like the structure and crispness, but I have to profess my love for this dress. It was really difficult to get a flattering photo of this dress though, and it does look better in real life. I think I need a dressier pair of heels, perhaps something high and strappy to wear with it (but all my non-necessary shoes and accessories are packed away at the moment too!).

Being small busted I quite like having a bit of excess fabric draping across the front, although mine doesn't seem to drape nearly as much as the dress worn by the model in the photo in the magazine.

I made this mostly on my overlocker so it was really quick to make, being just a front, back and sleeves. The neckline is wide enough to not need a zipper, and I cheated by using that iron on Steam-a-Seam tape to do the hems and the back neckline mainly because I couldn't find a twin needle abut also because it looks neater.

The only change I made to the pattern was to sew two vertical darts in the back to reduce the amount of fabric pooling in my swayback. I didn't want to do a centre back seam so I could make a sway back adjustment, but the darts seem to take care of most of the excess fabric so I could get a neat fit.

I contemplated making this dress with short sleeves since we are now coming in to summer, but in the end I stuck with the long sleeve option because the fabric is stretchy enough to scrunch the sleeves up above my elbow for those hotter days.

So overall I can highly recommend this pattern - it's really simple to make and has lovely lines and drape. There's also a pattern in this issue for this style as a top which has a slight variation at the neckline by including tabs to hold the cowl back at the sides which I can also see me making in the near future if I can find the right fabric.

Speaking of fabric, I popped by The Remnant Warehouse to buy some black jersey to make a Halloween costume for Anna and since they are having a 25% off sale I may have accidentally picked up a few extra pieces!

I really don't know how that happened, honestly!

June Burda issue - am I glad to see the back of you! Nothing in particular caught my attention in the June issue, and I was having a real mental block in trying to visualise something to make for my Burda of the month challenge. Honestly, if I wasn't making myself do one from each issue this one would have been put on the bookshelf and forgotten about. But it's not you Burda, it's me! I've come to realise how incredibly difficult it must be for the Burda designers to come up with so many patterns each month that cater for people of varying ages, sizes, styles, sewing skills, seasons, and whether they are new to Burda magazine or whether they have been collecting them for years.

So when I received the June issue we were in the depths of winter, which probably didn't help me pick a project from it. But now we are heading into summer with a few hot days already, I finally decided to make a pair of shorts, because every summer I need a few pairs of shorts to survive hanging out at the playground and yet I never seem to have any! Here's my interpretation of Burda 6/2014 #123 sailor shorts:

The pattern and model photo looks like this:

Kwik Sew do a similar version which I've seen made up by a few people around the internets and I really quite like the look. It's an interesting pattern because essentially the outside front section is a decorative flap that is attached at the inside leg seams and the side seams below the buttons, and underneath is another layer that is basically a short band across the front only as long as that zipper:

There are no pockets which is not very useful in shorts, especially when it looks like there are side pockets. I guess you could put some pockets in the side seam, but it might add extra bulk of which I certainly don't need. I think the back could certainly use some welt pockets to break up that expanse of fabric, because the back view is quite plain:

Now obviously I do not possess long, lithe or tanned legs such as Burda's model, so I took the sensible option of adding quite a bit of length to the shorts, about 10cm I think. These are still pretty short by my standards, but they are almost veering into frumpy territory, as the front view is not always very flattering:

I'll just have to make sure I stand around posing instead, and develop my own "blue steel" type pose!

The fabric I've used is a heavy stretch cotton bought some time ago from possbily the Remnant Warehouse. It's a printed fabric, light grey with a black cross hatching that gives the impression of a linen type weave, minus the annoying wrinkles. And it goes great with my favourite Liberty cotton shirt too, which is a summer staple for me.

Now onto the July issue - I've already traced out the pattern and cut out the fabric so I'm well on the way to catching up on my missed issues.

And thanks for the well wishes on selling our house - there has already been a great deal of interest in it, with a lot of people attending the first open for inspection. One down and three more weeks to go before the auction......

Powering on with my catch up of Burda of the month projects, I made a quick knit top from the July issue. Admittedly I did trace this pattern out a few months ago, but as we all know actually getting started is what takes the most time sometimes!

Similar to the June issue, not much in this issue caught my eye but I always seem to be in need of short sleeved tops in summer, especially those that are little bit different from the standard tee:

I made the contrast v-neck raglan tee 7/2014 #114:

Burda has styled this pattern as a sporty look and I did see that Allison C recently made this pattern in a funky black and purple for gymwear. Unfortunately the closest I get to sporty is tying my hair up in a pony tail - I don't even own a pair of exercise shoes! But this top goes well with a pair of shorts I made last year for hanging out barefoot around the house on a lazy Sunday afternoon:

Burda rates this as an intermediate skill level pattern which I'd agree with. It's essentially a raglan tee which is simple to construct, but getting that bottom point of the v shaped band at the front was really difficult. I re-did it several times before it got close to being acceptable, and whilst I'm calling this top done there is still a little bit of bulging there at the point:

This could be due to the difference in stiffness between the solid fabric (a thick ponte knit) and the stripe fabric (a thinner ponte knit), but is probably just the way I sewed it. In her review Allison mentions that the instrucitons are really good to get a nice finish on that point, but I have to admit to not reading the instructions - the magazine is in storage somewhere with the rest of my sewing stuff so I had to wing it. Lesson learnt - one should at least glance at the instructions before sewing, even if they are Burda instructions!

Because I used a striped fabric I decided to cut the back on a fold rather than have a centre back seam to save on stripe matching. Of course this means that I have a lot of fabric pooling in my sway back which sewing that centre back seam would have resolved, but I realised that all of my RTW tshirts do the same so I'm not bothered by it:

I didn't find this too low at the front which Allison mentioned in her review and which also seems to be the case in this version made by an attractive Russian sewist over at the Russian Burda Style site, but looking at these photos my band seems extraordinarily large, particularly there at the front. Maybe it was a case of dodgy tracing on my behalf but it seems to have avoided that problem for me at least.

Overall I don't mind this pattern at all, and will make it again if I can find two complementary fabrics - I'm hopeless at colour and print matching. If I make this again I will read the instructions to do that centre v neck point a bit better, and would also cut the v neck of the band on a fold rather than have a centre front seam there - I couldn't see the purpose of it at all. I would also use a softer knit than a ponte knit, because the band is doubled it gets quite thick and didn't press well at all so I had to topstitch around the edge of the band to get it to sit flat.

And now onto my next project - I feel a dress coming on, since it's been a while that I've made a dress and now that it's spring I definitely need something cute and comfortable to wear.

Earlier this week I received an email from a reader asking if I could publicise her pop up fabric blog store here on my blog. I don't often do this sort of thing, but after looking at the beautiful fabrics over Designer Fabrics Australia at I decided that I just had to share the link.

It turns out that the blog owner, Liz, is a fellow fabric hoarder who has amassed a huge amount of very beautiful and designer fabrics on her travels around the world, including from Paris and the New York fashion district. Unlike myself though, she has acknowledged that she has too much fabric and will probably never have the time to sew them up. So very smartly she has decided to refine her stash and make them available to us fellow fabricholics (provided you're in Australia though).

There is quite a range of different colours and fabric types, in various lengths and some designer and some not. These are all one off pieces, so when the fabric is gone, it's gone. And postage is via Australia Post envelopes so it's quite reasonable (cheaper than buying these fabrics from New York I'd say).

Even if you're not in the market to buy some fabric I can recommend having a sticky beak because Liz has posted some lovely inspiration pictures to go with the fabrics which are interesting enough on their own.

I haven't bought anything yet, but am seriously considering the length of Marc Jacobs exotic birds silk crepe de chine - it's not my usual style but it's very cute. Plus Spotlight is currently having a $5 Vogue pattern sale at the moment which means I could pick up the perfect pattern to go with it too!

Photo from Designer Fabrics Australia

Apologies to everyone's wallets and stashes in advance, but I thought that some of you might like to know!

Halloween is certainly growing on me. Before having children I used to be firmly in the bah humbug camp ("it's an imported tradition"/"no relevance for Australia"/"begging for lollies is unseemly"/etc) but now I realise that it's just an opportunity for the kids to dress up and have fun with their friends - but I still am on the fence about the trick or treating part, it just seems to go against everything we tell our kids (don't each too much sugar! don't talk to strangers! don't go around demanding food!)

Halloween in Sydney is generally quite hot, which rules out quite a lot of costume so this year I opted for simple and sweet. Those sexy Halloween costumes make me shudder, especially when seen on young people. Since my kids are still young, I decided to go with cute and sweet instead:

Anna wanted to dress up as a cat, but in a nearly six year old's mind every dress up costume must involve a tutu or twirly skirt, so her cat costume consists of a black t-shirt that I quickly made up using a simple Kwik Sew t-shirt pattern and an elastic waist skirt made of six layers of black polyester organza (because I have a huge roll of the stuff) with the edges rolled stitch to try to make them stick out even more. A tail made of the same black knit fabric, strands of white wool at the tip and stuffed rather lumpily was safety pinned to the back of the skirt (so she can wear the skirt again in future separately) and a store bought cat ear headband. And how could I not mention the face painting? It was what sealed the deal:

Of course whatever big sister gets, little brother wants too. So I made Toby a mouse costume by sewing an oval of white felt to the front of one his grey t-shirts, a stuffed tail pinned to the back of the shirt, and a mouse ear headband made of felt and hand stitched for that twee look. Worn with a pair of grey cotton knit pants and matching face paint he was good to go too:

Don't let these very cute photos fool you - these two can be quite scary when they choose to be!

When I accidentally came home month last with a few unplanned purchases from the Remnant Warehouse during their recent sale (admitted to in this post), I thought about making a boat neck tulip shaped dress from the vibrant cotton sateen I had purchased. Much like this short sleeved version I made in fuschia cotton drill using one of my most favourite Burda patterns - #128 of 8/2009 (which I've also made in elbow length sleeve version and even a maternity version!)

But of course since my sewing supplies are now spread between my house, my parents house and the back of my car during open house inspections (where I stash lots of bits and pieces actually!) the pattern was proving a little hard to locate. Then out of the blue I received an email from Kennis Wong, the designer behind Itch to Stitch patterns, offering me her Marbella dress pattern to try out (and presumably publicise here on my blog). And it turns out the Marbella is a boat neck tulip skirt dress, exactly what I was after so of course I accepted.

Image via Itch to Stitch

Now you've probably noticed I don't sew many indie patterns, or get involved in pattern testing. To cut a long rant short, while I think it's great that people are following their dreams to make a sewing pattern, I'd prefer to buy patterns that have been drafted by properly trained pattern makers. I also don't want to pay a lot of money for basic patterns - wrap skirts, shapeless shift dresses and tracksuit pants are just not unique enough for me to part with top dollar. I also don't like pattern testing because I don't like the pressure to make something in a given time and I find it awkward giving criticisms.

So why have I done it this time? Well, Kennis has been sewing for more than just a few years, and while she's not a trained pattern maker the Marbella dress has been pattern tested and reviewed (by more generous bloggers than me!) so I thought I'd give it a chance. Plus it was exactly the pattern I was after so I took that as a sign. And here's my version:

Marbella_dress_pattern_floral_cotton_tulip_dress

I have to say, I think this fabric is so pretty that it wouldn't matter what pattern I used it would still look good. But that said, I do quite like this pattern although it took quite a bit of work to get it fitting right and it's still not quite perfect but acceptable enough to wear.

The good:

the pattern not only comes in sizes 00 to 20, but also comes in cup sizes A to D which hopefully means that for most of us there's no need to do a fiddly bust adjustment. I made an A cup and the fit at the front came out perfectly:

the PDF is better than most I've seen - it has layers built in so that you can select what size to print so you don't have numerous confusing lines. I printed out two sizes so that I could grade between my bust and hip measurements, and only having two lines made it much easier. Also the pages are watermarked to help make it easier to put together, and the pattern pieces are well located on the pages so that you don't get a pattern that is on four corners of four separate pieces of paper.
the dress has a yoke at the front and back plus side panels which would really look great colour blocked or piped, although I've gone with a fabric that mostly hides these details!

The iffy:

fitting patterns to our bodies is such an individual thing that no pattern could ever be perfectly drafted for, so it's almost silly to criticise on a fitting issue. But I'm about to anyway, mainly because I did notice the same issue I had on a few of the tester's versions. I used an A cup pattern for the bodice, and the fit on the front was perfect but the back was really quite large with a bulge in the centre of my back. And unfortunately you can't discover that until the dress is pretty much fully assembled so I had to unpick the yoke, princess seams and side seams as well as the invisible dress to take it in 1cm at each seam line at the back. And as for the bulge at the back, I noticed that the pattern piece for the back princess seam is as curved (if not more curved) than the front:

I didn't have any other princess seamed patterns around to compare it to see if this is normal, but even though I have quite sticky out shoulder blades I don't have any boobs on my back so I couldn't quite understand why the curve would be so pronounced! Anyway I straightened the curve out and it then fitted much better.

I had a huge amount of excess fabric at the top of the skirt at the back. I tried pinning it out in another dart to get a better fit but then it was too tight to sit down so I had just had to leave it as is. It is noticeable though (the wrinkles below my belt there at the back):

I think it's happening because there is so much extra ease in the front due to the pleats, that it gets pulled around to the back when I move because the back skirt is quite fitted. When I try on my other tulip shaped dresses I can see the same issue (although to a lesser extent) so it's not a criticism of this pattern specifically, just an observation of this style of dress.

My verdict:

I quite like this pattern, despite my complaining above! I didn't make a muslin so it was to be expected that some fitting alterations involving substantial unpicking would be needed. But now I've got those bits sorted out the next time should be much easier and quicker to sew because this pattern isn't complicated or difficult. So I probably will make another version eventually, in contrasting fabrics if I could ever decide on what fabrics to use.

Want to try it yourself?

So hopefully I havne't put you off this pattern, it really is a lovely style and having to work on the fit is no different from practically any pattern. I see that the pattern is currently on sale over at Itch to Stitch, but Kennis has graciously given me a pattern to give away to a lucky reader as well. It's a PDF pattern so it's open to anyone living anywhere with an internet connection! Just leave a comment about what you like on this post by Wednesday 12 November, and I'll pick someone at random.

Disclaimer - I was given this pattern free of charge to try with no strings attached and I think I've given an unbiased review. I was offered an affiliate link for patterns purchased via my blog but I declined the offer - if you choose to buy it, good for you and Kennis!

Thanks everyone for leaving comments on my last post - and particularly thanks to Kennis the designer of the pattern who left a comment clarifying the fitting issues I had with the pattern.

As promised, I did a random number selection for the winner of the pattern which came up as Busy Lizzie who said in her comment that she already has this pattern, so I did it a second time:

Number 8 comment is from Rachel who said:

Thanks Rachel, I'm glad you liked the review! And now I hope you can make a version that you'll get much wear from too and many compliments as well. Please email me at KristyLChan "at" outlook.com so I can email you the details.

And because this post would be extremely boring to everyone other than Rachel, I'd thought I'd share this infographic from Terry's Fabrics website on the history of the sewing machine - the thought of a sewing machine war is very funny!

History of Sewing Machine by Terrys Fabrics.

I've almost caught up with my Burda challenge projects that I fell behind on earlier this - only one more past issue to make. And of course the current issue but I'm catching up. It probably doesn't help that I take what should be a simple, quick to make pattern and work on it for a while until it's quite complicated and detailed! But I'm really pleased with the outcome of this project so the extra work was definitely worth it.

So after lamenting that the June and July issues weren't much to my liking, I found picking a project from the August issue just as hard but because I really liked quite a few projects. I've already traced out this cropped blazer with the interesting seam lines, and was highly tempted by this panelled dress and even this kimono style top interested me. But instead I went with this long sleeve gathered knit top, 8/2014 #132:

But I proceeded to change it quite a lot so that my version looks like this:

So what did I change? Apart from the obvious changes - sleeves cropped to the elbows and the gathers on the opposite side (don't know how I managed that!), the other changes are more subtle and arising from my fabric choice and fitting needs. I'm listing them here mainly for my own purposes in case I make this again in future, but if anyone else is thinking about making this top it might be useful too.

1. Raised the gathering line by 10cm so that it sat at my waist line instead of my hips, and shortened the length of the top overall to make it less like a tunic. I could see from the model photo that those gathers sat low on her hips, and I just figured it would be more flattering at my narrowest part so I reduced the length of the bodice above that gathering line until it sat at my waist. This also had the effect of shortening the top which is good because anything finishing mid thigh on me just feels dowdy. I didn't change the asymmetrical hem line, though it does seem less angled across the front, but at the side under those gathers the hem still rises upward:

2. Took in the side seams quite drastically to improve the fit. This pattern is quite shapeless aside from those gathers, and since I've made my top in a wonderful soft but firm white ponte knit instead of a thin drapey knit the pattern was just way too boxy for my liking. So I took the top in 3cm on both sides to get a closer, body skimming fit.

3. Added a centre back seam for a swayback adjustment. Unsurprisingly, I had a lot of fabric at the back because it was way too big and the fabric too stiff for it to pool in my swayback area like a thinner fabric would. Look how much excess there is in the back to begin with, even with the new side seams pinned in:

I cut it open down the centre back and pinned out A LOT of excess, mimicking the curve of my back (and my slouchy posture):

The final product is not perfect as there still are a few wrinkles and ripples, but it's a much better fit:

4. Added an exposed neckline zipper. Before I even cut out the fabric I pinched out 3cm from both the front and back necklines because by the looks of the model it was a very wide neckline. I added an exposed zip to the newly created centre back seam partly to make the centre back seam look like a design feature but also to help get the top over my head! The neckline is probably still wide enough to fit easily enough, but I like the look of exposed zips anyway and I think it gives the back view of this top a lot more interest.

5. Sewed down the pleats. I sewed each pleat down for a few centimetres away from the seam line instead of just folding them down because I found that it sat flatter at the waistline seam line that way. I didn't quite line up those pleats though, as this close up photo shows but no one else will ever notice:

So overall I like this pattern - albeit with the changes I made. I think the original pattern would work fine if you made it in a slinky knit and like the slouchy, tunic style top but I prefer structure and form to my clothes and I think the changes I made really helped that. If you are looking for a simple top with a bit of twist then I can highly recommend this pattern.

A quick house update for those who are interested: our house didn't sell at auction unfortunately and all the offers we've had since have been a bit too low, so we've decided to take our house off the market and stay where we are for now. That may sound greedy, but in our area old houses on reasonable sized blocks of land have just skyrocketed in price lately, so for us to be able to afford to buy another place and build we really did need to sell for a certain amount or we'd ben in serious financial debt. And since we didn't achieve that price, we've decided to be sensible and live within our means.

But looking on the bright side, we've decluttered and finished all those annoying little jobs around the place so we can sit back and enjoy the place. And best of all I get to set up my sewing room again so I've decided to give it a makeover before bringing all my fabric home again. Plus all that fabric destashing I did means I will feel absolutely no guilt whatsoever if a few more pieces make their way into my stash in the near future!

Ok, back to the sewing. I made my November Burda project last weekend, but have felt rather ordinary all week with a pesky cold and an annoying cough and not in the mood to take my photograph. But I slapped on some makeup today (maybe too much judging by my orange face in the photos below) to cover up my pasty face and red nose and forced myself to take these photos so I could post November's project in the actual month of November and before the next issue arrived (which it did today).

And here it is:

It's Burda 11/2014 #105 - a pleat neck, three quarter sleeve top. Burda's version looks extremely elegant, from their so called 'high society collection':

photos from Burdastyle.com

My version is a lot more casual than Burda's, but it's exactly what I need to wear during our extremely hot summers. I made it from a lightweight linen blend that has been in the stash for ages just waiting for the right project. I'm not sure what the blend is, but it feels soft and it doesn't wrinkle as much as pure linen so maybe it's got a bit of polyester blend in it. Whatever it is, it's light and airy enough for a hot day but still gives my arms and shoulders coverage. And can I say how glad I am that none of those large polka dots ended up in appropriate places?!

This top couldn't have been more simple, it might have taken about 2 hours at most. Yet another raglan top! I've lost track of how many I've made this year but it's quite a few. As usual with Burda raglan sleeves, the pattern is drafted with a shoulder dart that I really should have increased and rounded a bit more for my narrow shoulders because it does poke out a bit at the shoulders, but decided to leave it be because I don't really want this top to be fitted.

Burda_11_2014_#105_pleat_neck_top_polka_dots

There is a slit at the back neckline, which I will make a little longer next time I sew this pattern as I can only just get this over my head. I don't think I have a particularly large head and it doesn't feel constrictive when I'm wearing it, but I don't want to stress the point of the slit every time it gets stuck on my large forehead.

That wide facing that shows through the fabric at the back neckline extends around to the front, and the neckline is just a simple box pleat:

This is a bit different to my usual style - a bit loose and shapeless but I think my lightweight fabric drapes nicely so it doesn't look like a sack. I plan to wear it with slim fitting seperates on the bottom to counter the volume at the top.

That side view looks a little strange though - the hem line at the front seems to rise quite a bit even though the pattern doesn't indicate it and I didn't do it intentionally. And it probably finishes at the wrong point for me, just above my widest part but hey it's casual wear and I can't always look streamlined and professional since more than half of my week is spent out of the office chasing a crazy little boy around.

Speaking of which, if you're thinking that these photos look tightly cropped, you would be right. I was trying to get these photos done without being photobombed by an exuberant 2.5 year old. This is what you can't see in these photos:

My verdict: love it! I wore this today to the school pick up and another mum who is extremely stylish asked me where I bought it from and couldn't believe it wasn't an expensive designer label when I told her I made it. I think it needs the right fabric though - anything too stiff or heavy weight might just look bulky and with that centre front pleat it certainly has potential to have a maternity look. Actually if you were preggers it would be quite easy to adapt this to a maternity top so I guess it has that added bonus.

This pattern is the illustrated sewing course in the November issue, so if you truly are a beginner sewer or are new to Burda patterns this one would be a good one to try. I'm already planning another one, perhaps in a drapey rayon fabric. But not right now - I've got a sewing room to set up!

Isn't it funny how sometimes the simple projects can cause you just as much if not more grief than complicated ones? I've spent more time than I care to think about trying to make a simple unlined cropped jacket in a white stretch denim but it is causing me huge fitting issues and after unpicking it for the third time I had to step out of my sewing room for quite a few days. I was completely over sewing which is unlike me. I even had a sewing day and lunch with some friends from the ASG where I did little more than eat, chat and watch others sew!

As much as I don't want to create any new UFOs, I just had to put it aside and move on with something else, which I did:

Hence why I'm calling this skirt a circuit breaker - I just wanted to make something simple that I could wear straight away to get back some of that instant gratification of sewing and lose some of the frustration. And it worked, because since finishing this last week I've made three more things, including my last Burda of the month project (all yet to be photographed though).

So there's nothing terribly special or different about this skirt, but I've blogged it mainly as a note to my future self about the changes I made to the pattern in case I want to make it again. I used an old Burda, 1/2011 #112 which looks like this:

A few years ago I made a skirt using the alternate pattern (#113) with the little godet at the back hem in a grey glenplaid wool. It is one of the best fitting pencil skirts I've ever made, although I think the waistband yoke is too wide, the skirt was way too long for me and the godet sticks out in a funny way. So for this version I shortened both the lower skirt portion and the yoke, although of course in the floral fabric I've used you can hardly see the seam lines:

I also shortened the yoke at the back so that the seam lines matched at the side but I cut it down the centre back instead of on the fold so I could use a centre back zip instead of a side zip. Since I have curves and bumps at my sides in the hip area I prefer not to use a side zip as they tend to ripple or stick out a bit. I also made a mitred vent at the hem instead of just a split, it just seems more finished to me but again you can barely make out this detail due to the fabric I used.

The fabric I used is a cotton sateen bought from Spotlight several years ago now. Because I know that sateen tends to bag out after a few hours of wear and wrinkles terribly, I underlined the skirt in a thin lilac cotton that was a long term stash resident, and handstitched the yoke to the lower skirt portion at the seam line. The insides of my garments are all about function - I never have enough patience to make it pretty with French seams and lace around the hem line some other more attentive sewists!

So I don't want to jinx myself, but this altered pattern could well become my TNT and holy grail of pencil skirts! I've already worn it twice in a week and a half and it is really comfortable. With my pear shape, I find that skirts are usually too tight across my hips and thighs so it rides up at the waistband, or I make them looser to skim over my hips but it means that the skirts twist around when I'm walking. This one stays just where it should and even thought it looks very fitted I could sit comfortably in it.

And even though I've worn it all wrong in this photo - I should wear darker colours on the bottom not the top - this skirt goes well with quite a few lighter coloured tops in my wardrobe so I can me wearing it quite frequently this summer. If only I could finish that white cropped jacket to wear with it though!

I was all primed to give myself a high five for finishing my December Burda of the month project but it turns out that instead I'm doing a public service by giving you all some probably much needed mirth in this crazy pre-Christmas period with all the associated stress, tiredness and general frantic running around trying to do everything and be everywhere.

So not much took my fancy in this issue, there is a lovely panelled peplum top that I considered but since I'm on holidays and not at work for a few weeks I instead decided to make another casual loose-fitting drapey top in a lightweight fabric, trying to duplicate the success with last month's Burda project. And I admit to being thoroughly swayed by the cool and insouciant model! So very unwisely I made the v-neck drawstring blouse 12/2014 #107:

I bought a colourful rayon from Spotlight (bought during a recent 30% off sale of course!) and made my version. I think the look on my face says it all, despite my best efforts at hiding beneath a hat and sunglasses:

Burda_12_2014_#107_v-necked_drawstring_blouse

So where to begin? It turns out the reason that the model in the Burda photo is standing with her hands in the pockets of her sequinned wide legged culottes is because the sleeves are set in so low and the top is so wide that if you move your arms in an upward direction the top does this:

Highly unpractical and very uncomfortable. Aren't those sleeves ridiculously big? I could probably make clothes for each of my children with those sleeves alone:

I thought the placement of the drawstring on the pattern drawing looked too low and would probably look better higher, but it turns out that it couldn't be any higher because of those sleeves. But it makes the back billow out hugely above the drawstring at the back, and the side view looks completely crooked.

My verdict: an easy pattern to sew, but save your time and your fabric. Oh, won't someone think of the fabric!

For my crime against this innocent and undeserving fabric, my punishment is to unpick those overlocked seams and make this into something better and wearable.

I did use the leftover fabric though to make a simple elastic waist skirt for Anna which she is very happy with so all is not lost. I sewed this skirt after I cut out the top but before I had made it, so now there is practically no fabric left so hopefully I can do a remake from the top along (there is a lot of fabric there to use!). But Anna is happy, and that's all that matters:

Thank you to all of you that have read along with my adventures this year, especially those who took the time to comment whether it was to compliment my successes, laugh with me at my project failures or to offer some advice - it was all gratefully accepted and appreciated!

We've just finished a late night Christmas present wrapping session - I don't know why we leave it to the last minute every single year, maybe it's become our Christmas tradition?! At least we didn't run out of sticky tape or paper, and all is now done ready for the crack of dawn when small children like to wake, particularly on Christmas morning.

I've leave you with some vintage Christmas loveliness, mainly because I didn't want to leave that embarrassing last project as my last post for the next 2 weeks!

image from poshtottydesignz via pinterest

We're finally home from our annual holiday northwards to sunny Queensland to visit my husband's family and to have a beach holiday. As much as I love going away for a holiday there's nothing quite like being in your own home either.

Whilst I was away, I received an email from Maren over at I am Ms. Frizzle telling me about an index of Australian sewing bloggers she has set up. What a great idea - I read blogs from all around the world because we all speak the common language of sewing but when you need inspiration for something to sew right now a local blog is most relevant in terms of the season. Go and check it out when you have time, and if you're not on the list email Maren to be part of it - the more inclusive the better I say!

So I'm not planning to do an end of the year roundup / Top 5 post because it's all been documented here already - I know I had some great hits, a few hilarious misses and no resolutions to break so this year I will keep on with the same. But I will blog one of the last things I made last year. My husband complained that I never sew anything for him and also complained that the elastic had gone in several of his sleep shorts which I had made for him quite a few years ago (see I do sew for him!). So to kill two birds with one stone I decided to make him a few more pairs.

I don't normally blog the boring basics I sew - there's nothing new to say about tracksuit pants or simple pull on shorts for the kids, even if I can get a cute photo of them wearing it. But I decided to blog this to officially record that I do actually sew for him and also to give a shout out to the pattern I used because not only is it free but it's also simple and great.

I used the Darcy boxer short pattern available free to download from the pattern designers site and from The Sewing School at Peppermint Magazine. This pattern is developed by the lovely Susan at Measure Twice Cut Once, who I have had the pleasure to meet quite a few times through the Sydney Spoolettes group. Now I know I have been a bit critical of indie pattern companies in the past, but Susan actually does have industry training and experience so I knew the pattern would work perfectly. And it did.

Since my husband looks more like Yao Ming the giant Chinese basketballer than the delightful Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, I'll spare you a photo of him modelling them. But I made a few small pairs of simple shorts for Toby from the same fabric so here's a cute clothesline photo of the matching daddy and son shorts:

There's not much to say about a simple boxer short pattern, but the fit is spot on and the instructions are very informative with helpful diagrams. I made a few small changes - I did a faux fly instead of an opening button front fly because I was a bit lazy and pushed for time, and I also didn't have any white elastic so instead of an exposed elastic band waist I made a casement for the crazy rainbow elastic I did use. The only small quibble I had with the pattern is that there are separate pattern pieces for the left and right fronts with the only difference being the fly extension on the left front. It just means printing out more paper and extra cutting out which you could probably do without.

If you're in need of new boxer shorts the Darcy pattern is good for ladies as well, and comes in a range of sizes. In fact Susan has a whole range of patterns for essential and pretty underclothes in her shop along with sew-a-longs and handy tips on her blog as well.

It turns out I had a lot to say about a pair of simple boxer shorts didn't it?

Well it's that time of year again that I made another birthday dress for first born child - I simply cannot believe that she's already 6 and finished her first year of school! I'm sure I say this every year, but those of you who have been reading my blog since before I was even pregnant with Anna will have to agree that the time has simply flown by.

I wasn't sure if I could get away with making a birthday dress from a pattern and fabric of my choice, as she's developing some strong personal fashion choices (to put it mildly!) but this year she's still happy with what I made for her. I used Burda 7/2014 #137 to make a simple ruffled neckline, elasticised waistband dress:

Helpfully Burda has made a matching ladies dress pattern (7/2014 #119) if dressing like your child / significant young person in your life is your thing, but it's not mine so I don't plan on making one for myself anytime soon!

image via BurdaStyle

I made this version in a neon pink polka dot cotton bought from Spotlight which is a great fabric - it doesn't crease too much during wear but pressed well when I was sewing it and hasn't faded yet despite being washed a few times now.

The pattern is super simple - the front and back are basically the same except that the ruffle is more gathered at the back (not that I can see the difference). The sizing is spot on given that Burda's children patterns are done by height, and this is a dress fitted only by elastic really. The ruffle is gathered across the bodice, and there is elastic in the top of the ruffle to cinch it around the shoulders. I suspect the main reason that Anna likes it so much is that it can be worn with the ruffle pulled down around the upper arms, for some reason she thinks strapless tops and dresses are the most fantastic thing around (even though I pull up the ruffle if I catch her wearing it out like this):

And of course it passes the compulsory twirl test, I guess that 6 isn't too old yet for the odd bout of twirling and swirling:

So I have one more thing sewn last year to blog about before starting on this year. Although to be honest I haven't sewn yet anything this year because happily my sewing room is currently being painted as part of my sewing space makeover. But I did have a lovely sewing day on Saturday with some friends at Tessuti in the city - of course I couldn't not buy any fabric during their sale but I did control myself and only came home with 5m. This is why I never make any fabric diet resolutions - it would never last!

Isn't it funny (and annoying) how you can take a pattern that you've used before successfully only to have it turn out badly? If I use a pattern a second time I expect to able to whip it up without needing to try it on and make fitting changes during the construction - silly me! Lesson learnt: no matter how many times I've used a pattern I will try on and check before finishing it.....

Just before Christmas I bought some vibrant chilli red stretch cotton drill from Spotlight and immediately cut out a pair of the Burda sailor shorts from 6/2014 #123 I made back in October which look great and I wear quite often. I didn't get it sewn before Christmas but I did finish them last week when I finally bought some buttons for them, and well what a disappointment:

The only change I made to the pattern was to lengthen the legs from mid thigh to above the knee, but the stretch in the fabric made a huge difference to the fit. I had to take the shorts in all over, but those horizontal lines at the front aren't the usual crotch 'whiskers' caused by it being tight but rather it's the bottom edge of the panel that goes across the stomach underneath the outer layer with the end of the zipper in particular sticking out. When I look at the photos of the previous version I can see it happening slightly, but because that fabric is thicker and non stretch it isn't as obvious:

Oh well, maybe I'll think about what can be fixed, but I have worn the red pair a few times already and since they're just casual shorts they don't need to be perfect. I have too many other things on my sewing list that I want to make instead of spending time obsessing over these minor details.

I've been doing a bit of a wardrobe audit and realised I don't have many tops at all so I decided to make something to wear with these, otherwise I would probably just always wear a black and white stripe tee with them. I pulled out a vintage pattern picked up in the past from an op shop - Vogue 8291 which is undated but I think may be 1980s judging by the style?

It's just a simple boxy top but is perfect for a casual summer top and it didn't turn out as potato sack like as I had expected. I used a blue printed cotton fabric that was a long term stash resident, also bought from an op shop long ago that to me also has an 80s vibe to it. And to top it off I've got on some terribly 80s plastic beads that my grandma used to wear all the time that I always thought were hideous but couldn't bring myself to chuck them because of sentimental value.

The squared neckline has a wide facing that I topstitched down for a bit of interest. I think the neckline is lovely, but ironically it shows a little too much skin for me because getting enough sunscreen on the back of my neck is always fiddly.

One side has a sewn on tab to put the buttons on, and this side of the top the sleeve hems are just an extension of the hem of the body of the top - folded under and stitched.

I did lengthen this top by about 5cm which was lucky I did because it turned out quite short. You can see in the photo above that I had to sew an extra bit on button tab to get that top button on - carelessly I cut the extra tab with the grain going the other way which you probably didn't notice until I pointed it out right? Those buttons also originated from an op shop and have been in the stash a long time, so overall this top was very cheap and sort of good for the stash (it barely used a metre of fabric).

Surprisingly I quite like this top and I'm already thinking of another version in a stripe fabric or one perhaps with a contrasting neckline by sewing the facing on the outside. So many possibilities for such a simple pattern!

Lastly, that wall you can see in the background of these photos is a sneak peek of my newly revamped sewing room - it's about 75% done and it's going to be fantastic when it's all done and my sewing supplies have come home to me.

I've finally brought the last bags of my fabric stash out of storage and back into my sewing room where they belong. I have to share a photo of the shelves while the piles of fabric are still looking so neat and tidy:

Despite culling a lot of fabric from my stash last year I still have quite a bit. Ok, I freely admit it - I have a huge amount of fabric!

I got so much inspiration from folding each piece of fabric, my mind is so full of projects that if only I had the time to sew everything I want to I'd have the wardrobe of my dreams.

My next step is to cover up these shelves with curtain fabric to keep the sun and dust off the fabrics because my sewing room is quite bright with long windows on three sides. As much as I love looking at these shelves every time I come into my sewing room, the thought of my fabrics fading is the stuff of nightmares.

Funnily enough, going through my old posts I've just discovered that on this day 5 years ago I also posted a picture of my stash - must be something about having a long weekend in January! Unfortunately the neatness of that stash degenerated into a terrible mess (see this post) which took me months to sort out but happily I'm back to square one in terms of an orderly stash.

And now to get on with the actual sewing - I took the kids camping this weekend just gone and then to a bbq at a friends house today so no actual sewing has been done, but you can't get more Australian on Australia Day than camping and a bbq right?!

Firstly some sad news - our beloved crazy dog Oscar has sadly gone to the great dog park in the sky. It seems a bit strange to share such a personal thing on a sewing blog, but since he always got comments whenever he photobombed a blog photo I thought I would share the event. He was 14 which is a very long life for a big dog like a dalmatian, and he spent each day of those years running around like crazy, wagging his tail so enthusiastically his whole body would wiggle and generally just acting like a puppy right up until the day his old body finally gave up on him. It sure is going to be quiet around here without him.

Switching gears back to my normal blog content.....

Until last year when I made this leopard print skirt I didn't own a single piece of animal print, so I've always just watched Jungle January hosted by Pretty Grievances each year with some amusement but no intention of joining in. But I've just made a few pairs of shorts for Toby using some fun cotton prints that were in the stash, two of which just happen to be lion prints. What can be more jungle themed than the king of the jungle?!

I used a pattern from a Polka Drops Japanese sewing pattern book which I think is called Easy Children's Clothing (ISBN 978-4-529-04837-8):

I quite like the aesthetic of the Japanese kids clothes, but I find the patterns are a little too simplistic - there are no zippers and very few buttons, everything is pretty much elastic waist and loose fitting styles. Which is fine for some clothes but sometimes jeans and pants need a little bit more tailoring. That said though, I do like this pattern because it has a slim leg and a much better fit than I can usually get from the commercial patterns. And now that Toby is out of nappies he doesn't need the big baggy legs and low crotch that the kids patterns usually produce but he does need an elastic waist to be able to get his clothes on and off by himself, so this pattern suited me needs right now.

The only problem is that the waistband sits rather low - it is designed to have two layers of waistband but I can't quite decipher from the pattern book how the inner waistband is supposed to be higher because both are cut from the same pattern piece. Note to future self - increase the rise of the pattern by at least 5cm!

The first pair I made from a blue lion print with pockets on the sides of the shorts using the waistband piece from the pattern - it's quite narrow and too low so I'll need to replace it eventually.

The second pair I made from a red lion print that I didn't bother with any pockets, but made the waistband much wider and used wider elastic too. These are the same size as the blue pair but look more baggy because the waistband is tighter.

The third pair is my favourite pair, made from a blue elephant print cotton that has been in the stash a long time. I used ribbing for the waistband and patch pockets on the back. Too cute!

I finished my first Burda of the month project yesterday on the very last day of January (already?!) so I managed to meet this month's self imposed deadline just in time. I found it hard to choose this month between a boxy top with an attached draped scarf across the shoulders that I could see made in a nice midnight blue silk or satin or the vintage dress pattern. In the end my fabric stash determined my choice because I have plenty of dress fabrics but not much in the way of silk or satin so I went with the dress, although with a few modifications:

My apologies - between the wallpaper and the print on my dress there's a lot of pattern going in these photos!

For some reason this pattern isn't available for download on the Burda Style website, so you'll have to track down a copy of the magazine if you want this one I'm afraid.

original images from Russian Burda Style

The obvious change I made to the pattern was to swap the full skirt for a fitted skirt, using the lower part of my trusty TNT fitted dress, New Look 6968. As much as I like the look of a full skirt on a dress, when I'm wearing one I feel like I'm in fancy dress but a fitted skirt is much more my style. I went to the effort to shift the darts on the skirt so that it aligned with the darts on the bodice, but of course you can't see that because the fabric is so busy!

Also obscured by the busy print are those gathers on the sleeves - it's the main feature of the dress so it's a pity I didn't think a bit more about it when I chose this fabric. I do like the extended width of the sleeves though, a bit of shoulder coverage always makes me feel a little less casual and better dressed.

The size range for this pattern is 36 - 44, so I had to grade the bodice down a size since I usually sew a size 34. I don't think I did a great job in the sizing down because it looks a little too big still with some excess fabric around my bust. Plus the sleeves turned out to be very low cut to the point where there are glimpses of my bra strap if I lift my arm. But looking closer at the pattern drawing and the model's version it looks like that side seam stops at the top of the waist darts which means it is below the bust line.

I did contemplate pulling it apart and taking it in at the side seams and gathering the width of the sleeve a little more to make it narrower, but that join at the underarm between the fabric and the lining was really fiddly so I've decided to leave it be, I just need to remember to wear a nice bra with this dress in case anyone gets an accidental peek!

Because I made the lower half from my TNT dress pattern I managed to get a close fit with no fabric pooling around my swayback:

I switched the size zip to a centre back invisible zip because I wanted to keep the walking vent of the skirt at the centre back. Doing this also meant I could fully line the bodice using the method where you sew the neckline and sleeve edges , pull the back pieces through the shoulder area and then do the side seams and centre back seam last - it's a much neater finish and easier too.

The fabric is a printed cotton bought from Spotlight quite a few years ago that I've been wanted to use for a long time because I really like it even though it's a weird looking flower print and the colours are bright fuschia with lime green micro polka dots. I'm not sure if the print is deliberately on a slight diagonal or if it's printed off grain, but that hem is straight even it doesn't look that way. But the good thing about the busy print is that it hides the bad with the good!

My verdict: I like this style, it has a vintage vibe without being too over the top and therefore wearable in everyday life. The pattern is ok but I do think the sleeves might be drafted quite low under the arm and I would fix that if I ever made this pattern again. I should have muslined the bodice first to find that out and fix it, but life is too short to make a muslin for each and every project. I probably also should have also picked a solid fabric to show off those sleeve gathers better, but I am glad I've finally made something with this fabric, so despite the faults I'll definitely be wearing this dress,

The authentic Cinderella

A cosy dressing gown

Burda of the Month: 10/2014 # 111 Cowl Neck Dress

June Burda of the Month: 6/2014 #123 - the not so cheeky shorts

July Burda of the Month: 7/2014 #114 Sporty top for the non sporty type

Fabric Pop Up Store (Warning - fabric stash enabling post!)

Halloween sewing - the simple edition

Itch to Stitch: The Marbella Dress in spring floral and a pattern giveaway!

The good:

The iffy:

My verdict:

Want to try it yourself?

Winner of the Marbella dress pattern and a history of sewing machines

Burda of the month: 8/2014 #132.....sort of

Burda of the Month: 11/2014 #105 pleat neck blouse in barely there polka dots

The circuit breaker: Burda 01/2011 #112 pencil skirt

Burda of the month 12/2014 #107 blouse: finishing the year on a hilarious note!

Merry Christmas to you all

Index of Australian sewing bloggers and Mr Darcy's boxers!

6th birthday dress

Same but badly different! Burda Sailor Shorts and retro Vogue boxy top

The return of my fabric stash

Inadvertent Jungle January make

January Burda of the Month: vintage dress 1/2015 #126