Knitting up some vitamin d

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It's been a bit rainy here lately - so when the sun finally emerged it was time to soak up some Vitamin D! I finished this one recently and wore it for the second time today. I'm slowly discovering the occasional dropped stitch as I wear it (found one in the elbow area as I took these pics!). This is the Heidi Kirrmaier Vitamin D pattern made in Madeline Tosh Merino Light, Candlewick colour.

Ok admittedly I started this last year, about mid-winter and only just finished it BUT it was my first cardigan and the wool is fairly thin. I'm chuffed how it turned out. The colour is lovely (mustard anyone?) and it fits like a glove. I should have probably done a super stretchy bind off around the neck as it does pull up a bit.

The pattern is quite easy to follow and I love the effect of the yarn-overs, it just adds that tiny detail. Can anyone spot the extra hole though where I dropped a stitch?

The front pieces also have a lovely drape to them. I'd definitely recommend this pattern if you're new to knitting larger pieces, the instructions are really clear and it's easy to google acronyms you don't understand.

Volia! One more warm, knit piece to add to the wardrobe.

The shift of seasons

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Gosh'o'golly is it cold here at the moment. Winter's really set in and my fingers are slightly numb as I type this from the non-heated room.

The start of winter's a great time to reflect back on your wardrobe and figure out the summer clothes that could possibly translate to winter - and if you actually have any winter clothes still around!

I've actually completed a fair few garments lately but the change in seasons has meant I haven't actually worn many of them. It took a bit of time to realise I should probably start sewing for winter!

A few months back I bought this gorgeous flowery black fabric from the Fabric Cave. There wasn't heaps, about 1.3 metres I think, and I wanted to make something that kept the pattern so settled on this Burdastyle Shift dress. 

I extended the darts slightly and then removed some of the width at the back neck when inserting the zipper. I also have a bit of a confession to make - I was in such a rush to wear this dress that I didn't really finish the seams properly. Naughty, naughty and I ended up paying for it later on when the fabric started badly fraying, so the other day I went back and overlocked all the edges. A lesson for all - finish your seams!

I took these pics in the backyard with a tripod and ran in and out of the house in various new dresses to photograph! Our neighbours have quite a clear view of the yard so here's an outtake of me trying to avoid being seen. Quick, duck!

Not so Drape Drape

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Found my camera charger! So you can now finally see these pics of the Drape Drape dress. I had seen the Drape Drap books around the interwebs but hadn't thought much of it, the styles just seemed a bit out there for me. That is until I saw Dixie's version of this dress.

Pic from Dixie's blog, click the pic to go there.

SUPER CUTE. So I decided to give it a go. 

Might as well mow the lawn while I'm at it.

I ordered the book and then decided to order a bunch of knit fabrics from Fabric.com, for some other knit patterns I have around. Not wanting to wait until the book arrived to order fabric, I emailed Dixie to ask about sizing and how much fabric would be needed. Thanks so much Dixie!

I ordered some cheap brown double ponte knit. I'm still coming to terms with all the knit fabric names out there, but knowing this was an unusual pattern I thought I'd start with some cheap fabric, get the fit right then order something nicer if I liked the pattern.

The dress turned out really nicely. I added about 3 inches to the length (tall gal) and it still turned out pretty short! and not really dropped waist. There are just two things that have turned me off this dress:

1. Armholes. As I've mentioned before I've discovered I have giant shoulders (by pattern standards) and given the wackiness of this pattern I need to figure out how to add some space in there. I ended up cutting the armholes down too as they literally came up to my armholes. Like right up and under. Despite this I still have a bit of difficulty lifting my arms, without the whole dress lifting up like it's about to rocket launch off me. 
2. Fabric. Polyester stinks. Given the above armhole position it stinks even more. I've since made a top out of this pattern and added a bit more space in the sleeve caps which fixed the rocket launching issue, now I just to adjust the back space and stinky fabric.

All in all I actually really dig this pattern. It's funky, super easy ( like 2 hours max to make) and comfortable. I hope to order some nicer fabric, adjust the back, sleeves and drop waist and have another go at this. 

Frutti Tutti Lonsdale

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This little number was actually finished up in time for Christmas but I'd since lost the photos and just managed to find them again!

This is the Sewaholic Lonsdale I was working on in the lead up to Christmas. I took the time to make a muslin, which I'm glad I did, as I ended up taking off a bit of room at the bust and centre.

In fact, it was actually very similar adjustments to what Sunni, at The Fashionable Stitch made to her muslin. On another note, I think Sunni and I might be body twins! I discovered this great post on upper should back adjustments and have finally adjusted dresses so I can lift my arms! Hooray!

The fabric was on sale at Spotlight in Nowra a while back, I just couldn't resist the retro fruit vibe. I know so many sewers out there have tried the Lonsdale, but it really is a great pattern. Relatively quick, looks stylish and oh those pockets.Only change I'd like to make next time is to add padding to the bust, I'm not one to often go without a bra. 

And of course I sing this every time I put this dress on!

 

Pear it up - the Washi Dress

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To be sung to the tune of Stir it up. Or alternatively 'Hold me closer tiny pears' *. Either way, here 'tis - the pear dress! 

This dress came together so easily, I was actually surprised. I've had a few dress fails (or stumbles at least) lately so it was nice and refreshing to be able to whip this little number up. The pattern is the Made by Rae Washi dress and the fabric is actually from Spotlight, purchased with a Christmas gift voucher.

If you look closely you can see the fabric is actually made up of tiny tiny pears.

 

I had to do almost zero alternations. I made a quick muslin of the top section just to check the bust wouldn't massively gape. The ruched back works wonders in creating something that's incredibly comfortable yet fitted. I brought the waist in by about 1/2 inch and the hips by about an inch as the fabric kind of kicked outwards. Oh and took up the length by about 3 inches as with the sleeves I looked a bit like a giant blob of blueness!

I plan to make many more of this dress, definitely a brilliant wardrobe staple. 


* I'm not the only one who takes words and merges them into songs in her head and then walks around all say singing said songs with new lyrics? Or am I....

A running start

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Happy new year!

I know, I know, we're almost halfway through it! Sorry I may have a been a bit distracted melting, watching new/old tv shows, and thanks to this creature:

May I introduce you to Neika. Neika, my blog readers. Neika is Ben's dog that he bought as a puppy and has been living out his folks, next door to a dairy farm where she would sneak off to and drink/eat the cream, hence the slight chubbiness.

She LOVES pats and will roll over onto her back anytime anyone comes near with a look in her eyes 'pat me pat me pat me pat me'.

I'm not one for new year resolutions but reflecting on my sewing from last year, some of my most worn pieces were the least expected. I discovered a real love of all things stretch and knit my first jumper (and discovered just how warm real wool is!). For 2013, I'd like to sew a few more plain colour pieces that I can mix and match. Perhaps some knit tops and some skirts.

On another note a small confession - I may or may not have gone on a small online shopping spree. It was 2nd Jan, I was back at work, life was tough, y'know?

So many delightful goodies. I'm currently working on 3 (!) dresses, so eventually I'll get one finished to share. I also have Lonsdale dress pics which are in Canberra and I'll try to get and post soon. Picture a tropical fruit lady.

In other quick photo updates, we had a crafternoon with a bunch of friends. Look bunting!

We also grew a bunchload a basil, made jars and jars of pesto. I fit in a quick sewing project makin a Colette Meringue out of fabric my ma got me a while back. Hope you all had a swinging start to 2013!

Button-up in blue

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Here's a dress I finished up actually while we were at the old house but hadn't had a chance to grab pics of until now.

The pattern is Simplicity 6294 and the fabric is some kind of polyester slippery fabric from the Fabric Cave. I've had it sitting in my stash for a while but was never quite sure what to make with it. In fact, I think this is my first dress made from a plain coloured piece of fabric!

The pattern was for a 36 inch bust so I spent some time learning how to grade the pattern down using this handy tutorial from A Fashionable Stitch. I didn't both with the skirt pieces though, I was more worried about the top fitting. After finishing the pattern grading a made a quick muslin and ended up having to adjust the armholes (as always!). You may also notice the darts are slightly misaligned. whoops!

The buttons are just come left over ones I think I got from Reverse Garbage for 50cents a few months back.
I actually really like this dress and it's ended up on high rotation in my wardrobe. Only downside is it definitely needs a belt with it because the waist seam is a tiny bit wonky. The black belt (of the dress kind not the hiiiii-ya karate chop kind)  is the only one I own, but I think it would work quite well with brown, what do you think?

A few weeks back I also had a bunch of friends up from Canberra for the weekend and we had a bit of fun taking jumping photos off the back step. Isn't it funny how differently everyone jumps?!

Freaky Tiki

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I received Gertie's new book (Gertie's Book for Better Sewing) in the mail a while ago now  but wanted to wait until I'd had the chance to properly read it and make something before I followed up again.

There are tons of great projects in this book, some of my favourite are the the Portrait Blouse, Wiggle Dress (below left), Shirtdress and, the one I made recently, the Tiki dress (below right).


Picture source. 

Here's my finished version of the Tiki Dress. I decided to go with two straps rather than the halter neck because there's no way I'd ever really actually wear a halter neck. I just love bras too much.

Overall I really like this book. It's definitely not a beginner book, the instructions can be a bit vague and you need to know the basic construction of how things fit together. There are lots of useful techniques in here but to be honest the only one I used on this dress was the lapped zipper, and even with that I had to do a bit of googling.

 I think the range of patterns are the main drawcard. If you like vintage style and shapes then these patterns are for you!

With the Tiki dress, I did make a rough muslin but I probably should have spent a bit more time fitting it. The bust was gaping a bit and particularly at the sides is a bit loose.

Gappy bust

I think this may be due to the shirred back bodice moving apart slightly at the top. I had some difficulty with the shirring at first, it just would not come out tight enough but then I did some more google research and discovered this great post on how to fix it. After tightening up this bolt it worked like a dream!

Sides not quite sitting flat. On me they stick out a bit more.

The shirred back. My first time shirring!

Finally, instead of sewing the straps in, I left them off until last so I could place them in the right place to hoik up my boobs. I attached them with two buttons at each join. It worked pretty well, although I wore it out last night for the first time and I did have to put some safety stitches through the straps to my bra to make sure it held up! Especially when dancing was expected!

the inside of shirred back and the button-joined straps.

I discovered you can embed songs from Spotify (btw, do you have spotify? Do you like it?) which I'm going to try do with each post. I listen to so much music when sewing it's a good chance to spread the music love! First up, a song that's good for ze dancing:

Put a bird on it

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What's this? I finally finished a dress?! About bloody time.

I've been in such a sewing funk lately and finally got my sewing mojo back. These past two weekends have I've gone sew crazy.

I'd seen a few versions on Simplicity 2444 floating around the blogsphere that I really liked so I ordered the pattern a few months back. This fabric is actually an old bed sheet I picked up at an op-shop during our Walcha trip, for about $2. I really loved the patterns on it and although generally white and brown colours don't look these best on me, I just couldn't walk past it.

It's finally spring! I was actually warm in this dress and sandals today. Hurrah for warm weather!

To try break up the print a bit I put some leather bias piping in the waistband (picked it up from fabric cave months and months back and finally had a chance to use it!). I also purposely centred the bird on my chest, it was just my favourite part of the print.

For this pattern I made a muslin and ended up having to take about 1.5 inch out of the centre front and another 2 inches from the back, sloping down to nothing at the waist. I'm still working out this fitting thing but I think I have a small chest and potentially rounded back? Either way I'm really chuffed with this fit, it's a tiny bit tight (particularly in the armhole), I think because I chose to put an invisible zipper in but decided to handpick it, to try that technique and because I just wasn't feeling up to the invisible zipper sewing challenge.

Inside the dress (unironed and straight outa the wash) and the picked zipper.

My favourite thing about this dress? The insides! So neat and tidy. I decided to line the whole thing with some left over fabric I had and boy oh boy and I glad I did. The bedsheet had that slightly see-through thing happening so it's great to know it's not at all see-through now!

My boss at work has this thing about hipsters putting birds on things. He always says to make something hip just 'Put a bird on it'.

Voilà!