September 2018.

September (and October) are proving busy months at work, which severely impacts the amount of downtime I get at my sewing machines – WAH! I’ve also had a lot of performing on recently, and learning repertoire takes longer as my brain ages. But I did get a few things made in September, and they were all lots of fun to make!

FAB

FAB stands for Fetu – Alex – Bill, the name of the team who will be running the Media Studio at Tūranga (the new library, opening October 12!) where Alex works. He asked me to make them a mascot. Years ago I took a pattern off my beloved childhood teddy bear and have used it to make presents for various friends when they have children.

I think FAB is very cute. I tried to make FAB non-gender specific as well as appealing. Fetu’s Mum is going to make FAB some accessories apparently, so that will be fun!

More bears

One of my friends is currently pregnant with her first child. At the same time as making FAB I batch cut another bear for her. And then I couldn’t resist making a Joey Bear (if you don’t know what that means, a Joey is a baby Kangaroo).

I liked using the leftover corduroy I had in stash (see the skirt below!) as I know it’s nice for babies to have toys with tactile qualities.

She is a very creative, artistic person and when I gave it to her she loved it, and said “But you didn’t make this…did you?” And when I told her I had, she replied “Thank you for your generous creativity”. Isn’t that just the loveliest compliment?

Victoria Blazer

I had some leftover fabric from my recently made hacked Lander Pants and decided that my wardrobe really needed a pale green paisley pant suit – because why ever not?! I made the cropped version of the pattern this time, lining it with pink silk recycled from an old vintage dress.

I made all the same modifications I made from the last time I made up this pattern, but this time added a full facing. I’m really happy with how this turned out.

I haven’t yet worn both together, but have a few opportunities that might be beckoning soon. Stay tuned!

Perry Ellis Vogue 1161 Trousers – View A

So I finally found the Perry Ellis for Vogue pattern I’d been lusting after all year in Canada (at almost the same time Abbey DMd me to say she had found it too!) I made up View A as a wearable muslin to see how it all would go.

I definitely had to make some modifications:

1. Replace the pleats on the back with darts – I always give the pleats the benefit of the doubt, and ALWAYS regret it. MENTAL NOTE: pleats do not suit my ass!
2. I found there was quite a bit of pulling in the front of the pants – you can still see the top of the zip pulling. To try to mitigate this, I changed the front pleats to come in to the centre, rather than to go out to the sides.
3. What I will do when I make the culottes is to make the front waist of the pants straighter by decreasing the waistband curve on the front of the pant, and decreasing the side seam curve on the front of the pant only c.f my waistband epiphany of last month.

The fascinating thing about this pattern was the shape of the waistband. If you’ve made anything with a curved waistband before you will know it usually sits like a smiley face on top of the garment. This did the opposite! The curve was like a sad face instead. This allows for the top of the very deep waistband to sit above your natural waist without cutting you in half. I’ve never seen this before and it did mess with my brain a bit!

While these pants aren’t perfect, I have worn them every week since I finished them and there is sort of an understated chic that I really like about them. I can’t wait to make the culottes!

Bits

I’ve also done some alterations on my lovely friend Rocio’s wedding dress. Just some small bits but Mrs Mole’s blog has proved a great resource! It was from her that I had the idea of sewing Rocio’s strapless bra inside her dress to prevent it from being visible above the lining of the dress.

I’ve also changed the way her sash does up which has meant adding a button which she chose from my stash. That’s now her something old!

Next month

I still have some corduroy to make into jeans for Alex, as well as making some Scrundlewear undies for my niece’s birthday. I’m hoping to get a few Perkin’s shirts made and of course the long-awaited culottes from V1161.

I’ve recently taken my spring wardrobe out of storage and I’m so looking forward to wearing some of the great things I made last year again soon.