A friend of mine from work asked whether I'd make a couple of basic summer skirts for her.  Now, skirts are my favourite thing in the whole wide world to sew, I just love the embellishment opportunities they present, so I jumped at the chance.  (Ever since my horrific accident almost 3 years ago I haven't worn a skirt.)  Another plus with Jane is that she's tall and slim and a knee-length A-line skirt shows off her fantastic pins to advantage.

I chose a basic McCalls pattern I had in my stash, pattern #3341 and chopped off the top 7cm of the pattern because this is where Jane wears the "waist" of her skirts.  This made the darts pretty short and sharp but I went with it and when I tried the first skirt on her it fit perfectly - not one alteration!

I ended up making 3 skirts within the budget Jane had given me plus one from leftover scraps of Amy Butler fabric that I just couldn't bring myself to throw out.

Skirt 1 is a cute pink number made from Japan cotton, which has a lovely heavy drape to it.  This was the test skirt and seemed a bit short on Jane so I added a self-fabric band at the hemline and edged it with braid as a feature.  The other colours in the fabric - red, sky blue, yellow and grey - are some of Jane's favourites so she shouldn't have any problems finding a t-shirt to go with it.

This close-up of the band shows the braid detail and my Hells Bells label.  I topstitched around the label using a 90 needle so that it would punch a hole big enough for the thicker topstitching thread to go through.

Skirt 2 is made from an embroidered cotton voile.  The fabric is lovely and light but a bit thin for a skirt so I lined it in rayon, nice and natural for our hot summers here.  When I was finished I thought the skirt looked a little plain so I crocheted up some colourful doilies and scattered them at random down one side.

Here is a close-up showing the doily detail.  I really like the look of crafty embellishments added to a garment and I was pleased with how this turned out.

Skirt 3 is made from a stretch cotton.  I added a self-tie belt in the same fabric and a fabric rose, also in the same fabric using this tutorial by Tristan.  A couple of things I would add, though, such as you need quite a long length of fabric, at least 75cm, to make a decent size rose and I would overlock the raw edges for a neater back.

In this close up of the flower detail you can also see the pintuck detail that I sewed instead of sewing the front darts.

Skirt 4, as I mentioned before, is made from scraps of Amy Butler fabric.  I love the quality and depth of pattern in her fabrics, perfect for a summer skirt.  I hemmed the lower edge of the skirt with white bias binding and added a Hells Bells label.

You can see the hook and eye closure in this close-up of the back of the skirt here and a close-up of the invisible zipper below that.  I must admit I do like the look of an invisible zip!

Wish I could slip on a nice cool cotton skirt as I speak, humidity here's about 90% and has been all day, must be a thunderstorm coming soon...



Hooray the quilt's finished, hooray!

It's been a long, hard slog but the quilt is finally finished!  See the original post here.

My daughter Claude's birthday is this Sunday, the 26th of September and here it is Friday the 24th and I've just put the finishing touches to it - a 'Hells Bells' label and embroidered date on the back.  It's been a fun project, a loooong project, can't wait for her to open it up on Sunday.

I wouldn't say I was hooked on quilting but I guess I must have enjoyed it somewhat, have ordered some Amy Butler fabrics to make a throw just for me.

Bias Binding on Puffed Sleeves

This top (McCalls 5388) has become a favourite for me, it offers lots of design possibilities and can be made from both knit and lightweight woven fabrics.  The only thing I'm not loving about the pattern is that the little puffed sleeves are finished with elastic in a casing.  Hmmm, shouts cheap to me.  Time to change construction methods and gather them onto bias binding.

First things first, the pattern is the same, there are no alterations.  Hem the lower edge as usual then stitch a row of basting stitches 1/4" from the fold.

Tie off one end then gather the lower edge of the sleeve from the other.  Measure your bicep and gather according to this.  Knot off this end as well.  Spread the gathers evenly, keeping the seam allowances at either end flat.

Lie the gathered edge along the centre fold of the bias binding, encasing the edge between it's two layers, and pin then topstitch in place.

This photo shows a close up of the finished bias binding.


Construct the rest of the sleeve as per the instructions.

How to make yo-yo's

McCalls's 5388 lends itself to quite a few design possibilities.  Having already made the necessary fit changes (you can see my review of the original version) I decided to play with fabric and details (see this review here).  One of the details I eventually decided on was yo-yo's, they're easy as pie to make and give the garment a bit of a crafty, country feel.  They tend to look best when grouped together in clusters.

1. Start by making paper templates with a diameter twice as wide as the finished yo-yo.  My largest yo-yo template was 16cm across (finished size ~ 8cm), my middle yo-yo 8cm across (finished size ~ 4cm) and the smallest yo-yo 4cm across (finished size ~ 2cm).
2. Cut the fabric circles out.
3. By hand, turn under ~ 1/4" narrow hem using a 1/4" gathering stitch to baste close to the fold.

4. Pull the gathering stitch up to form the yo-yo, centre the gathers and tie off.  Fluff it out a bit to get the effect you want.

5. Sew a button to the centre, if you wish.

Butterick 5223 Jacket

I've got a bit of a thing about short jackets at the moment and this one, Butterick 5223, caught my eye.

I like the pleated neck detail and the wide collar - almost a 50's feel to it.

For the hot Australian summer these jackets are a dressier option while still being cool. I know they're not on the list of 'best' shapes for my rectangular figure but I sometimes get a little sick of making the same styles over again.

Whenever I finish a garment I like to add a label from my collection, usually to the back facing but occassionally somewhere on the right side of the fabric.

With this label I stitched all the way around using my edge-stitching foot, surely the most useful foot on the machine!

This is how I like to take up a hem, no matter how wide or narrow it is.  First of all I sew a line of basting stitches where the hem fold will be.  I usually do this with contrast thread and find quicker, easier and more accurate than the traditional measure and pin method.  For deep hems I place a piece of tape on the machine bed the required distance from the needle and use this as a guide for the line of basting stitches.

I then iron the hem up along the basting line, give it a good press then remove the basting stitches. From there it's just a matter of hemming it in place on the sewing machine.

How to draft a pleated pocket

I'd like this tutorial to include a whiz-bang photo collage thingy that jumps out at you when you roll your cursor over it but, well, for the moment these photos will have to do.  I have searched the internet looking for ways to format the photos but so far haven't had any success.  If anyone has any tips they'd be much appreciated!  This is the pleated pocket I drafted for my 'retro-style' jacket (Vogue 8472) and I thought I'd share the process with you.

You can see the close up of it here.  Notice that as well as binding the top of the pocket with self BB I also added a self-covered button.

Start with a template of the finished pocket. Measure the top width so you know what it should be after pleating the pocket fabric.

Draw vertical lines where you want the pleats to go. Keep in mind that thicker fabric will require more space to pleat so limit the number to just a few.

Cut through the lines, almost to the bottom of the template, and spread the top of the pocket the desired amount.

Redraw the template, including the slash-and-spread area, then add seam allowances. This is the pattern piece you will use to cut out your fabric. If you like you can draw the pleat lines onto this piece.

When I made my pocket I trimmed the top edge with bias binding (so I actually cut the top seam allowance off) and added a self-fabric button.

Vogue 8472 Jacket

This is the second time I've made this pattern, the first was made from cotton ticking as a muslin (read the review here). I was happy with the muslin, the fit changes I had made to accommodate my brick-like figure, so this is my 'real' jacket. The fabric is a jap cotton print with brushed cotton contrast panels.  It's a little hard to see the details but I have added pleated patch pockets and covered buttons on the front.

I really like the whimsical Audrey Hepburn feel this pattern has, it's kind of timeless but also of the moment. I'd probably front up to make it a third time, maybe with different details. I can definitely see this in a metallic nightclub shimmer!