Clever Chook

Well, I'm feeling quite the clever chook.  I always feel clever when I sew bras but I feel especially clever this time because I developed the pattern myself.  I say "developed" and not "drafted" because I made the pattern from an existing bra.

Here is a picture of the original bra.  I don't know what the brand was (maybe Yves St Laurent??) as the tags have long since faded.  I bought it years ago from a little boutique in Perth.  I know I didn't dress particularly well in my twenties (think baggy t-shirts and elastic waist shorts), but when I went to purchase it, the shop-keeper went and rang my bank to check my credit card, which is the only time that has happened to me!

Originally I purchased this Garnet bra kit from Booby Traps (not on their website but featured in Sewing with Australian Stitches magazine) to make up a Sew Easy pattern for a full band bra.  All my other patterns are for partial band bras.  Before cutting, I referred to the section in Beverley Johnson's book "The Bra-makers Manual" entitled "Evaluating a Bra Pattern"  (p 66).  There seemed to be too much to correct in this pattern, so I put it aside and got out a pattern that I had made last year, but never sewn up. 

I got a lot of help from Beverley's book in developing in the pattern, especially for working out what seam allowances to add where.  The pattern pieces are shown below.  The pieces to the bottom right are the padding pattern pieces.   For those in the know you will see that it is a full band bra with vertical seaming in the cups.  I would say the cup is a demi-cup.  The band features the "downward hike".  The front of the band is cut in a single piece, from lace fabric.  The cups are from lace.  The back is from power-net.  The cups are padded.  I used seam binding to seal the edges of the padding, instead of re-threading my overlocker and doing a rolled hem.

To me, the end result appears the same as the original.  I find the framework feels very supportive, so I am thinking of adapting this pattern to make a strapless bra.  Strapless bras don't seem to come in my size, unless I want a couple of inches of padding.  I would increase the width of the band to 3 hooks.  I would use the padding pattern as the basis for the pattern for the cups, only making them curve much higher.  I would probably raise the side curve of the cup and use a longer wire.  Hmmm, someday.

Night & Day

I love left-overs.  Left-overs from dinner mean quick and healthy lunches.  Leftovers from sewing mean a little creativity to end up with fabulous garments for only an incremental value.  I often love the left-over garments more than the original, I think because usually involves some creative combination of fabrics or pattern making.  Well, I didn't need to match fabrics for this...I had plenty of fabric left-over from this dress after I lost the original planned pattern and replaced it with a straight-skirt version.  (I have just this week found the lost pattern when I was rifling through the "to-file" drawer with a vague notion of collecting documents to start preparing my tax.  Shame there is no tax exemption on sewing patterns).

I am going to write this post without using any...um..."delicate" words as I have been getting a lot of spam comments lately and don't wish for it to escalate!

The "Night" version was made using Jalie 2564, which I will review on PR.

The top of the "Day" version was made using a pattern reviewed previously and the bottoms using Jalie 2564.

I think that I have ended up with some totally gorgeous under garments for only a couple of dollars worth of elastic. 

She gets to wear the pants

I think the whole harem pants trend is goig to pass me by...although I have made some for my daughter.

I'm having to eat my words here.  In a recent email correspondence with Jacqui, I was saying that I don't buy many children's patterns, instead just use the same few over and over again with different fabrics.  Then I saw on the Ottobre blog that they were reprinting the Spring 2008 issue because it was so popular.  Well, I thought I had better have a look at it.  It is choc-a-block full of very simple clothes, many with a Japanese aesthetic.  So I bought it, and the day it arrived I was so impressed with the designs that I made these pants up straight away.  Not too hard given that it only required tracing off 1 pattern piece.  For the pants I used a Japanese cotton from Tessuti that I actually purchased for myself.  The Selfish Seamstress would not be impressed.

 

The blouse is made from a remnant of Liberty print cotton lawn.   It is a raglan sleeve peasant-style blouse, which will be great for the summer months here.  I rushed to complete the embellishments and take photos yesterday because I thought the deadline for the PR children's wear competition was closing.  Turns out I go the date wrong.  Anyway, one of the requirements is to show photos of any embellishments. 

The flowers were made by ironing Vlieseline® Vliesofix Double-sided fusible web between 2 pieces of fabric and cutting out the shape.  I didn't know if it would handlethe washing machine so I made it removable.  The flower on the front is attached with a snap.  Yes Kristy, my snap envy got the better of me and I finally bought my own snap press.

The sides of the legs are gathered with elastic at the hem and embellished with a ribbon.

As you can see, these clothes are very comfortable to wear.

Cardigan Refashion...(or, if everybody else is doin' it)

This is a project that has been inspired by the many other bloggers who have posted their cardigan refashions.  It would never have occurred to me to cut this sweater down the middle and decorate it, so thanks fellow bloggers!  I bought the sweater on sale from Cue because I liked the colour, but I never wore it because the neckline didn't suit me.

I have decorated this cardigan with lace, satin, chiffon and a vintage covered button.  I really enjoyed a  creative afternoon of sewing in the midst of some other "production-line" projects.  The chiffon bow was tea-dyed.  I'm not certain if I like this bow.  I may cut it off and leave the cardi open.

The other thing that makes me happy is that it matches a Liberty tank that I made 6 or 7 years ago but have only worn about 3 times.  I'm expecting to get a lot more wear out of both of these items now.

Cold Snap

My sister and I laughed and laughed when I brought out this fabric.  I had been doing a show-and-tell of internet purchases that hadn't been quite as I expected.  This one was the last to come out, because it is all very well to admit a mistake, but who wants to admit to an expensive mistake...yes, the tell-tale zig-zags and divine colour combinations give this away as Missoni fabric.   The fabric is gorgeous and covetable, yes, but standing in the hot climate of Townsville, I felt like I was holding a horse blanket. 

A few weeks ago I was preparing to visit Brisbane for the christening of my nephew.    Two days before we left I decided that I needed to make up the fabric if I was ever going to wear it before the silverfish got to it.  I climbed out of my bed, where I had been languishing since having my wisdom teeth removed, and sewed the main peices together of a Twinkle pattern for a dropped shoulder minidress.  I looked in the mirror and was devastated at the result.  The weight of the wool and zig-zags across the shoulder made me look like a front-row forward.  The dress fell to the floor and I fell back in bed.

The next day I attended "nursery-rhyme day" at school, visited the dentist, ran around on errands and then found myself with half an hour to spare before school pick-up.  Could I salvage the dress in half an hour?  Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, and I pulled out my Ottobre t-shirt pattern and starting snipping away and stitching up.  The result was promising.

Late that night, halfway through packing, I added the cowl.  The Twinkle pattern had pleats around the neckline as well as the cowl, but I found I had only cut one length for the pleats instead of two, and short of time, I decided to do away with pleats.  I guess I could go back and add them in now?  I finished all the little handstitching bits when I got to Brisbane.

I got to wear this dress a-plenty during my holiday because it was so cold.  I was freezing whilst Peter snapped this photo, and went out and bought a singlet and thicker leggings to wear underneath.  Back here in Townsville, cold weather is so difficult to comprehend!  However, we do usually get one or two more cold days, so I just may get to wear this dress again before I pack it away for the summer.

I did have a little bit of fabric shopping success whilst in Brisbane.  I stumbled into a dress shop in Paddington to find a table of remnants left from seasons past.  Beautiful linens and silks at great prices.  I bought up most of the remnants for less than the price of a single garment in this shop!