Notions Of Fabric

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 ...

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...

Way back when I first started sewing again, this was my first creation. It has a few flaws, but I still love wearing it. I am still working on developing my skills (practised and used my first french seam on my latest dress, and my zipper skills are much better than before!) and love learning new things. The fabric is Spotmania, a line from Lincraft (one of the 2 major sewing stores here in Australia). They have some available online, but not the colourway which I used. It's not expensive and perfect for someone like me, getting back into the groove and practising almost-forgotten skills!  The pattern is New Look 6208, a lovely high fitted bodice with a pleated skirt. It has 4 variations (this is View A). I used the measurements on the envelope back and hesitantly cut a size 16. It was almost a perfect fit (I only took 1" off the waist afterwards), and hemmed it 5" to hit just above my knee. New skills: pinking, inserting a zipper.