Notions Of Fabric

This fabric has been long lingering in my stash - I bought it years and years and years ago (I think I was still living in Canberra at that point, which makes it about 7 years ago?!) from Spotlight. I was drawn to the blue and white aethestic that reminded me of Delft pottery with the lovely colours and patterns, and the lightness of the lawn. However, the problem was that as it is on a white base, it was a little bit too see through for me to use at that point. So into the stash it went for a while - a long while! When I decided to try wrap dresses, there were 2 patterns I had in mind. The first was the True Bias Calvin, which is lovely but a bit of a departure of my usual style and which I have already made a top and dress with. The other was much closer to my style, but still a wrap - the By Hand London Hannah dress. I made a size 12 with no adjustments, using the regular sleeve for the toile. The fit is quite lovely - I feel like I may be between sizes and could maybe go down one, ...

This is the last project from my big photo taking session! I took photos of 18 garments all up which was actually quite a good way to get photos, particularly during the new lockdown normal. After this we'll have to see about when this goes up, what life is like, can I go outside? Can I persuade the husband to actually take photos for me again? We'll see. (After originally writing this in April... Well, you know what else happened... Here's hoping we can be back to normal sometime soon!) This is one which I am still not sure about - it doesn't get much wear and I'll explain more in a bit. This is another Lady Skater, in my usual size 5. It fits nicely and I really like the look of this embossed mystery stretch fabric - I found it at a store in Goldhawk Rd (I think) and it was definitely in the single digits per metre. I also bought it at a time where I didn't know better - if I saw this now I wouldn't get it! The colour is perfectly me, but as ...

Here is a real wardrobe workhorse - these Maritime Shorts must have been worn hundreds of times since I made them! These shorts were made before our trip home to Australia for Christmas 2018. It turns out that it was perfect timing - I had already made the Ogden which I am wearing in these pics, and I knew that a navy pair of shorts would be perfect for my wardrobe. This linen  is a fabric I picked up from Guthrie and Ghani, and the lining in the pockets is the scraps of Liberty lawn from the dress I made for the bbq the day after my wedding. I actually still have enough to make another set of pockets out of it, so I will be keeping it and making it last as long as humanly possible. It's such a nice lining and of course compliments the linen perfectly. These were the 'real' shorts that my starry print ones were the test for. Making those, they came out a little bit big so for this pair I went down a size and they were perfect! They fit really well, and I got ...

This dress we actually took photos of once before, last year. We were in the gorgeous town of Zell am See in Austria for the Husband to do his first half ironman race, and we stopped one evening under the picturesque town church for photos. Unfortunately, it was a bit too late in the evening and the photos turned out unsalvageable due to the dimming light, so you get photos in my sewing room against the blank wall again. Sorry? This pattern is one of my favourites - New Look 6048. One of the reasons I like this pattern is that it is a great canvas for making a dress when you only have a small piece. The bodice fabric I used for this dress I picked up at my favourite fabric store in Sydney - Achieve Australia. I had just enough for the bodice (and remnants which will make lovely pockets in something else!) and used a matching light cotton for the straps and the skirt. It is quite a light cotton so the dress is fully lined using the matching lawn for the bodice and a sligh...

This is my first ever pair of bottoms that wasn't a skirt! My first shorts. These were definitely a test of this pattern, a wearable muslin as it were. And they are still hanging around years later... I bought this fabric in Paris (oh, I am planning a stash filling trip to Paris once things go back to normal!) from one of the coupon shops at the base of Montmatre. I don't remember which store it was as I had that fabric for a few years. I think I bought it on my first trip to Paris after arriving long term in the UK? That would make it 2017, I guess. I snapped up a 3m coupon for a great price, and I still remember at the time being really really pleased with my purchase The original plan for this fabric was to make a dress with it, but I released as soon as it was washed that it was too heavy for that purpose. So instead I made shorts! It does mean I have a lot left as I had 3m to start with (shorts don't take much!) These are the Maritime shorts by Grainlin...

Hi again guys! Hope you are all doing well - or, well enough. Another post of something from the wardrobe today. This fabric is one I picked up in a bulk order from fabric.com when I bought the twill for my Luzerne Trench - so I've had it for a while... But I have also had this top in my life for a while and wore it quite a lot last summer. It comes from right at the beginning of my Ogden cami making run, after the first one I made. But every version has turned out slight different, and this one was no exception. It is this gorgeous cotton lawn in the massive electric blue check. I have used lawn before to make several Ogden camis, but this behaved quite differently to the Liberty one which I have made. This lawn is lighter but not as drapey. It's perfect for hot sweaty summer days where you don't want to have the fabric against your skin. So it sticks up a little bit when wearing, as you can see in the photo, but I really don't mind. As with all m...

After the busy time making my last dress (see my last post), I then had a period of about a month when there was no sewing or even thinking about it, because I had family visiting and lost my sewing room because it became a spare room instead. An amazing time, but no sewing involved! When I got my sewing room back, I wanted to sew something new, but nothing too complicated. And then I remembered one of the things on my Make Nine was a Colette Moneta, and figured, it should be easy! I had set aside in my head this striped knit for ages - it's not too thick but the white is opaque, which I was very excited about when I purchased it. I have made the Lady Skater in the past, and while I liked that pattern it didn't feel like it was something I could wear to work, and I was hoping to add some knit dresses to my wardrobe which were a bit more work appropriate. It turns out that Moneta is perfect for that! I chose the 3/4 sleeve option for some cooler weather  wear (a...

No, you’re not imagining it - I am back with another  Ogden cami  with photos taken in Mallorca! I actually brought almost all handmade on that trip, including my  Sophie Swimsuit   but I didn’t get the chance to photograph many things due to pretty atrocious weather. In the end I only got these three sets of photos done, but better than nothing! This cami was one of the first I’d made, using a Liberty Tana lawn. The Ogden is perfect for when you love a fabric but it’s a little pricey, or you’re not so sure about how the colour or pattern will work on you. In this case it was the pattern I fell for and the fabric that was pricey! So I got 1m - and this was about a year ago, actually. It wasn’t until the Ogden pattern came out I realised that this was the best use of this fabric! Again, I made my usual size (8) with the extended lining. And again (limited holiday wardrobe!) I am wearing my beloved  Grainline Maritime  shorts. As you might be able to spot, th...

This is the first of several posts featuring an  Ogden cami   While that might not be so exciting, seeing as I’ve made several (up to 5 in my wardrobe?), I do feel like I should be realistic about what I’m both sewing and wearing - and these got a lot of both over the last few months! This Ogden I made with a lovely rayon I bought in Barcelona on my girls summer trip! I totally detoured us away from Casa Battlo (after we were finished there, of course) to a local Ribes y Casals to check things out. There was lots I liked, but I picked up this rayon-esque fabric as well as another. I think they’re rayon but all I think it said was 100% cotton - also, I don’t speak Spanish. I was drawn to the print because I thought they looked like moons, and they were beautiful! In a nice twist, these photos were taken in Mallorca on our half term break, so back in Spain! This was simply my regular size (8), with the lining extended again to go past the apex of my bust. Otherwise I find you ca...

My next big project for the summer was always going to be a swimsuit. I do find shopping for swimsuits hard, because I am bigger up top and want sufficient support, plus coverage on the lower half. In the past I have just kind of avoided shopping for bikinis in particular. I currently own one RTW bikini, which I adore but took me a lot of effort to find and which I have had for years. Enter the  Sophie swimsuit   This is my perfect silhouette - plenty of support up top and a gorgeous high waisted lower half. I earmarked it as soon as it came out to make at some point. Then I began to gather supplies. But the real reasons it took me so long to make were twofold: firstly that it was another new skill (and that’s scary), but also because I suffered from some extreme fabric indecisiveness - firstly over the fabric colours, then over the fabric placements! There are just so many possibilities, and I really wanted this first suit to be actually wearable and not just a toile. I bough...

This is another oldie but goldie today. I have blogged a long time ago about my favourite Datura, which is black with stars in, but this version actually came first! I made this version with the peter pan collar first as I knew that it would be a good confidence booster - even though I preferred the version with the cut out triangles, I also knew that I was such a newbie sewist that that version would be harder and I wanted to make sure I liked the style first. This was made based on a gorgeous remnant I bought back in Sydney from Achieve Australia (back before it moved, it used to be in Meadowbank 5 minutes from my flat. That was a great but dangerous time!). I believe it's a rayon (but not 100% sure about that if I'm honest), in this lovely navy-based floral. I was drawn to the colors in the print and the lovely feel, but there was only a small amount, not even enough for a top! But with this pattern it’s perfect, as it’s great for small or odd shaped pieces. Instead, I went ...