Notions Of Fabric

Yes, it's another Ruby dress! I was browsing Minerva Fabrics for other things a while back, when I spotted this wool blend fabric. And I love a wintery plaid! When Minerva then emailed me to say that it was only available in 2 separate lengths, no problem! It was easy to fit the skirt pieces on one length and the bodice on the other. I went with my usual size (M with a dropped bust dart), but used a lining. I personally really don't like a facing so I cut 2 bodices and line it, hand sewing it to the skirt to also enclose the waist seam. For this, making the entire bodice out of wool seemed, well, inadvisable, so I lined it with some of the black sandwashed silk left in my stash. It is a bit easier to sew than some of my other liing facrics and I like the feel of it. The other thing I bought to make this project was some bias binding. I decided that for the wool it needed a bit of nice bias, so I bought some black satin bias binding to go around the hem. Every time I make a Ruby...

This skirt is really a winter exclusive, due to the fabric. It is a wool blend, I think, and is a very warm fabric with quite a lot of body. It gives this skirt a really cut look and holds the shape of the skirt. I picked it up from Walthamstow at Saeeds, loving the winter vibe and the purple colour. I used it to make a self drafted 1/4 circle skirt. I used the By Hand London circle skirt calculator with the 1/4 circle and the mini length. It is hemmed using bias tape to keep as much of the length of possible. After finishing it and trying it on, it was gaping at the waist, so I took the zipper out and reinserted it, taking a diagonal wedge out towards the top. In retrospect, I should have made a shaped waistband instead of just using a rectangle. Since I made that waistband adjustment, I have lost a little bit of weight so the skirt is a little loose. However, it actually make it perfect for winter wear, because it fits perfectly when you take a winter sweater and...

I ummed and ahhed about whether to post this dress or not. I don't usually talk about my fails, which I think is totally normal. People don't want to embrace their failures, but this I think it an interesting failure, and for a few reasons. The first reason is the pattern. This pattern is McCalls 7504, which looks really lovely on the envelope. I sewed it up in a size 14, using the finished measurements to choose my size as I typically like less ease than most patterns are designed for. I did make the correct size and it fits decently. This was actually not picked by me, but was chosen by the Husband as something I should try in order to branch out and try new silhouettes. Normally his complaint is that all my dresses are "the same" - by which he means - they have a fitted bodice and a flared skirt. Which yes, they do, because this is a look that not only works on me (I think) but is something I feel comfortable in. But in the effort of branching out, I thought...

Hello lovely people! It's finally getting nice here in Sydney (although I believe it will rain again later in the week), and I have another dress to show you! I think we've allworked out how this works by now. I love to wear dresses, pretty much no matter how cold (well, in Sydney, anyway). And sorry, but this is a quick post - I'm swamped with work today, but wanted to share this one with you anyway! This lovely is another Deer and Doe Belladone . I've already made this gorgeous pattern a few times, but this one has a few small alterations to the previous one (and I have one in the 'to-take-in' pile as well!). I've gone down a size from my first (to a 42), a pleasant side effect of running, but I have also added little darts on the upper back overlap pieces. I find that the back can gape otherwise, which is a problem I have with a few patterns. Maybe I have narrow shoulders? Anyway, other than those few changes, this is exactly as is. I l...

Hello lovely people! Hope everyone is well. It's been a great few weeks off for me on school holidays, but it'll be back to work tomorrow for. me. At least it's supposed to be warmer this week - I'm looking forward to  a day or two with no stockings! This dress is a stockings dress though. It is one I made late last year, actually, but I haven't worn it all that often. It is a departure from my usual style, but I like it.  This a Tilly and the Buttons Francoise. It's not my first, but I think it's my favourite. In terms of construction, this was made exactly the same as the first (in a size 4). I was planning on having sleeves, but the wool I chose doesn't have enough stretch for sleeves. Or enough fabric in the piece I bought. The main reasons that I don't wear this dress a lot is the length and the fabric. It's a great wintery dress to be worn with stockings! However, here in Sydney there isn't a huge amount of stocking weath...

Hello again lovely people! Today I come bearing a pretty dress, a tale of happiness and wild despair and then returning happiness. This dress has been... a saga, to say the least. And just as a heads up, this is a picture heavy post. And... it's long. Very long. You've been warned! Let's get the particulars out of the way first though, shall we? This is McCalls 6696 , a gorgeous button down shirtdress everyone and their cat has already made. Yeah, yeah, once again I'm late to the party. But I am glad I waited this time. This is View B, with sleeves and gathered skirt, in a size 14. It fits perfectly. And I adore it. It started off so well. I had 4 yards of this lovely Kaufman Essex Linen Blend fabric in a lovely light blue (they call it Water) from fabric.com which I had originally intended to make a Victorian style dress from Black Sails. However, after not finding a pattern that already worked, and fully realising that I wouldn't wear the dress, or have ...

Evening guys - this is a very exciting post, but will be short. It's Thursday night (technically Friday morning), I have work tomorrow, my alarm goes off in 5 hours. I should be going to bed, but I needed to get this post up now before the weekend. So, last year Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots and Lauren of Lladybird  hosted the first ever Outfit Along, or OAL. I loved the idea, and also the dress (it's still in the queue - soon, soon...), and so I tried, but my knitting skills were not even nearly up to scratch! I failed before the first hurdle, as it were. But when they announced it was going to happen again this year, I was ALL. OVER. THAT. Because now I can actually knit things! (So my hair is a bit crazy in all these shots - it was super windy! Also it bothers me that the bottom of the ribbing doesn't line up properly - I think that was my blocking. What a noob.) I actually didn't follow the OAL exactly, but that's part of the beauty of it - y...

Hello again. How are we all doing today? I loved the last dress I made, Simplicity 2444, so much that the very next thing I made was... another one! The fabric is really nice, actually. A family friend heard from my parents that I was sewing things, and mentioned that she had a HUGE amount of fabric she wanted to get rid of. I very happily went around to her place to take a look! She mostly did quilting, so many pieces weren't the right size for the job. But I picked up a few, and this one I wanted to use first. I looked it up based on the selvage, and it's actually a curtain fabric, 100% cotton, and quite sturdy. It gives the pleated skirt a really lovely shape.  I cut a 16 again, and pulled it in 2 inches before sewing it up. I (obviously) made the sleeveless version with pattern skirt this time. I learnt a big new skill for this one - bias binding! I used binding as a facing as well as on the inside of the dress - see, so nice! (Looks so nice...) ...

And finally, I'm back! Hi there. Now, I know it's been ages - but I have excuses. They're even good ones. We moved house, I had to find a new job, and when I finally had some things ready to photograph, the boyfriend lost his camera (he's my photographer) and he had to buy a new one. So yeah, there's that. And now, we're all settled in the new apartment. We've moved from Canberra to Sydney (3 hrs by car), so it's kind of an upgrade. And now I have work too, and the boyfriend has a new camera... So we're all ready to go! I have 4 FO's to show you, but they'll be spread out, I won't post them all at once. This first dress was actually the last thing I finished before we moved. I saw the fabric in my (old) local Lincraft during the half price sale back in June (so, ages ago). I actually didn't buy it when I saw it originally, I walked away, thinking that it wouldn't work properly. But the more I thought about it, the more ...

Hi there! I can see some people have found my little blog through the Sew Dolly Clackett competition (now closed, and good luck to everyone who entered!), so an extra special welcome to everyone today. I got back home Friday night from a week in Melbourne with one of my bestest friends. We shopped (RTW stores), ate a lot, drank a lot (we're both a bit fan of the 7-11 slurpee), and generally had an amazing time. While in the city, we popped into Tessuti's, but as I suspected it was a little too expensive for my taste. I loved seeing all the Liberty lawns and japanese cottons though - one day...  I really wanted to be able to go fabric shopping while we were there though. My friend was totally on board with wandering the outskirts of the city and browsing fabrics, thank goodness. It took a little research, but it turns out that we could visit 3 stores using one tram line from the city (#1)! Our first stop was Rathdowne Fabric and Remnants, which I loved. The ladies there we...