melbrennan.com» Sewing

June Capsule Contest

Melinda — Sun, 25 May 2008 10:06:00 +0000

I’ve signed up to be a part of Stitcher’s Guild June Capsule Contest. The idea is to make a wardrobe capsule of four garments and one accessory during June. One item must be a top, one item must be a bottom and no black! I’ve already decided what I’m going to make:

Skirt – choc brown wool blend fabric, with a split centre front and back to show a gathered underlay of chiffon (or similar). I saw a skirt like this last year, asking $$$$$, and decided to make my own but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Trousers – I need heaps more trousers for work! At this point I’m planning on making them out of a gorgeous dark olive green fabric I’ve seen at Addicted to Fabric. I’ll be using Vogue 1040 as the pattern.

Top 1 – A knock-off of a top I saw in the latest Undercoverwear catalogue. I have to draft the pattern myself for this one, a v-neck tunic style top to just under the bust, with a fitted ribbing body in a contrasting colour. I have an orange/pink/tan fabric that matches perfectly with a choc brown ribbing I have.

Top 2 – A blue/purple/cream almost-paisley patterned fabric, using a crossover top pattern Butterick 5084.

For the accessory I expect (although this could easily change!) to make a necklace using brown, olive and cream beads.

I really need more office clothes for work, so this will be a great opportunity to make some and have some fun with others sewing at the same time!

Recent Sewing

Melinda — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:02:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I made two tops, out of cheap fabric to check the pattern fitting. The first one was a disaster, waaaay too big! (Silly me, I followed the pattern sizing!) The second one turned out well, after I ignored the pattern sizing and just made it in a size that looked right!

I had to add a ‘modesty panel’ partly to cover up and partly to keep the crossover front pieces sitting nicely. The fabric is very stretchy and drapey. I bound the edges, including the hem and sleeves with a coordinating plain purple jersey.

I quite like this top and will be making this pattern again, with a better fabric, now that I know it fits!

30 days of Handmade gifts

Melinda — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:00:00 +0000

Found this great blog that is posting links and tutorials for handmade gifts every day in November. Sew! Mama! Sew! Brilliant!!! I want to make one of the rag rugs, just need a lot more hours in my day….

I need to get a grip…

Melinda — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:26:00 +0000

Here I am whinging because I can’t subscribe to a magazine immediately (luxury item, not a need!) and I’ve just read on a friends blog that she and her hubby are short their rent money because she had to replace her glasses. Kind of puts my ‘issues’ into perspective! Ok, I feel like a worm, extremely selfish, low-life human being…..

Especially in light of this…. I bought fabric today! I needed some other colours of floss so I went to spotlight and came home with two lengths of fabric to make some summer work shirts out of… What I should have done, being that I only have a few summer work shirts (hang on, I’m only going to be working two days a week, how many do I need???) is buy them secondhand. I really suck at this Compacting… Bring on April and freedom!!!

This all doesn’t say much about my self-control or commitment does it…. Nine days into Compacting and I’ve broken the pledge already. I can sook, flagellate myself, or get over it and move on. I think the last option is the best one.

I guess the best thing now is to actually make the shirts, instead of having the fabric get lost in my stash, like 90% of the rest of the fabric I’ve bought in the last year! Hubby agrees… He’s on my case too. Sigh…

Twist top Mk IV

Melinda — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:02:00 +0000

This is my fourth go at making this twist top, and finally I have one that fits! Yay!!! The first top was great, just too small so I gave it away to a petite friend, the second one was HUGE, could have fitted two of me in it even though I made it according to the pattern sizing, the third one was a test sample, sewed up really really quickly to check the sizing (it fitted, mostly) and this fourth one actually fits well! I’ve had this fabric in my stash for about two years now, waiting until I could get the pattern to fit so I didn’t ruin it. I like it.

The pattern is Simplicity 4076, and there are two other styles of tops in this pattern, both of which are really nice. And four sleeve options, long, short, floaty or sleeveless. I’ll definitely be making more tops from this one!