Giveaway 1

To mark my first 3 months of this blog and to thank everyone who joined this blog, I'm doing my first giveaway. I hope you like it. Its a piece of Kashmir handmade embroidery crewel. It's has an off-white 100% cotton base and 100% wool coloured floral embroidery. The piece is about 140cm x 85cm.

It's a mid weight fabric and would be perfect as a cushion. Please note, this was fabric provided sourced from India and does have some slight marks on it which doesn't detract from the overall effect.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment and let me know what you enjoy most about reading other peoples sewing blogs. I'll close entries on 5 March 2011 EST (Australia) and randomly select the winner.

Good luck and I'll look forward to your entries. Bye for now.

Walk Away Dress - any ideas?

I purchased this pattern recently because I'd read so much about it and I thought it looked fantastic and would be a great summer dress to whip up.

However, I've seen a number of versions complete by people generous enough to post photos of their dress and I must say they don't look as expected. I can't quite work out why.....

- is the photos unrealistic with the tiny waist?

- are the shoulders too wide?

- is the neckline too high?

- does it need a petticoat?

Any ideas anyone?

Drape Drape 2 No. 4 top

My weekend project - the No.4 pattern from the Japanese pattern book Drape Drape 2. I made it from a poly/elastine remnant from Tessuti. The construction was very straight forward. The only problem I had was handling the fabric and the self-binding is something I need to improve on.

I love the asymmetry of this - it makes it a really interesting and flattering top. I'll definitely be making it again.

Front view

Back view

Boat cushions project complete

From my earlier post, you would have seen I was starting to make cushions for the cockpit to make things more comfy at anchor. Well, I've finished the set of cushions for the seats. For the technically minded, they have been made from Sunbrella marine grade canvas with 'leatherette' piping and zips at the back of the cushions. The foam is mostly dry cell foam to allow water to drain away quickly with a layer of closed cell foam for comfort. There was some wrestling required to get the foam into the covers but this give the cushions a fuller look. 

All materials were sourced from Sailrite in the US, who have a amazing range of materials for canvas projects and sail work. Fulfilment and delivery is very speedy. The also have a great DVD which made this project much easier. 

Must say I'm happy with the result for a beginner cushion maker.

In response to  question about how I did this at home, I've added some further information that may help others. I used a domestic Husqvarna machine (surprisingly) which coped well. I bought a piping foot but it couldn't cope with the thickness of piping, so I ended up using a basic foot for straight sewing and a zipper foot for the piping. If I did it again, I would try using a welting foot and I think a walking foot would be helpful also.

The needles which did a great job were Schmetz 110/18. I also used a thread stand to manage the larger spools of speciality polyester thread for outdoor use.

I purchased very thick T pins and basting tape, both of which I ended up using occasionally only as the materials were reasonably easy to handle.

Finally, the zips were continuous zips (Sailrite #5) with locking zipper pulls. These were installed using the "invisible zip" technique.

Jacci Jaye's Corset Pattern – Sewing Projects | BurdaStyle.com

Jacci Jaye's Corset Pattern – Sewing Projects | BurdaStyle.com

I saw this today on Burdastyle and loved it. Very rock and roll!  If you follow the link, there's instructions on how to make it. I seems the fabric may be Alexander Henry, which is a fun new find for me. What do you think?

Ricefields - Colour and fabric

While slogging away at the outdoor boat cushions, I've have amused myself with some more "colour creativity" by creating a colour and fabric mood board from one of our photos from Bali and some gorgeous Tessuti fabric. I'm wondering whether I should include a suitable sewing pattern to complete the board?

Boat cushion project

Here's my latest project - cockpit cushions for our boat  - not too sexy but a challenging job none the less. It's taken a while to get to this stage and this is what I had to organise to get started....

1. Create a pattern for the cushions. Nothing sophisticated about this - just paper and tracing on the seats.
2. Identify the most suitable foam, locate a supplier and get the foam cut to shape. There's two type of foam by the way, a dry flow foam for any wet weather and closed cell foam for comfort. These two foam types had to be glued together.
3. Order the materials to make the covers. These were marine quality canvas, continuous zips, pre made piping, under cushion material (non-slip), #18 needles, thread stand for large thread comes and exterior grade, polyester thread. All these materials I sourced from Sailrite who are essential a one stop shop for exterior canvas type projects. They have a great range of exterior canvases should you be making outdoor cushions. Their delivery timeframe is fantastic (at a price). They even have tote bag packs.

So got everything cut yesterday and will start assembly later this week - wish me luck. It will be interesting on my home machine.

Back to colour - Bali sunset

Despite my best intentions, I've quickly realised that I can't sew speedily enough to provide you (who kindly follow) with regular posts. I'd like to post regularly to keep it interesting, so after getting inspiration from other very creative bloggers, I've decided to take some of my posts in a slightly different direction. Not too long ago, I ran a colour consulting business for homes and businesses. I love colour! So I'll combine my love and knowledge of colour with my love of sewing and fashion.

Hopefully, you'll find these inspiring and useful. I know I've had a lot of fun creating this palette and first mood board. In many cases, I'll try to use inspiration photos that are mine (or my husbands) - I feel this makes it more personal. In order to make this practical, I've selected some Tessuti fabrics that reflect the colour and feeling of the photo. Let me know what you think?

Vintage Vogue pattern V2903 finished dress

This Vintage vogue pattern is an "Orginal 1957 design" reissued pattern - here's the final result made up in the Japanese cotton (pending some hand finishing and hemming). Not too hard, just a little patience required a round the pleating, yoke and sleeves. 

A few notes on the pattern:-
- the sleeves are well fitted, so if you have fuller arms, check the sizing before cutting
- the dress is very long. I shortened it by 5cm and am still debating the length of the hem - right now it's cocktail length
- pay attention to yoke, facing and sleeves as the final effect is only obvious during the last few steps of assembly

The dress is reasonably fitted dress, not obvious on the dress form as it's not adjusted to size in this photo. Also the neckline sits slightly wider on the shoulders that it appears on the dress form.

Front

Front - close up

Not quite as glamourous as the pattern pic but a great dress none the less. I love the fabric and really enjoyed sewing it it. Overall, I'm happy with the result. Let me know your thoughts on what length you think it should be?

Progress report - Vintage Vogue dress

Spent a good part of the day on this dress and so far so good. A few things I learned through the day....

- the Japanese fabric is an absolute dream. It's easy to work with and has a great weight and feel. I'm already happy with it's selection for the pattern

- I used pattern weights for the first time for cutting from Judis Studio. Made placing, replacing and cutting the pattern so much easier. I don't know why I persisted with pins for so long. These weights aren't cheap. I bought one set (two may be better) but it saved a heap of time

- I also used basing tape to insert the zip. I'd been dreading the zip, not having done one for so long and I always find them a pain. I'm not one for doing a lot of basting so any short cut  is welcome. I found the tape really useful to use with a great result. I'd does make the needle sticky and you have to make sure you don't get any adhesive on the zip. Will see how it goes in the longer term...

Double sided basting tape in place

Zip stuck in place on tape an fabric

Final result - not too bad!