A cat in Adelaide & a drift of pigs in Sydney

Last weekend we were fortunate to take a quick trip to Adelaide without the kids.  We lived there for a year about 5 years ago so it was really nice to visit old places and catch up with good friends.  While it rained all weekend in Sydney, we were enjoying this kind of weather.

Henley Beach, Adelaide SA

Having been sewing again in ernest for about a year now I try to take the opportunity when I get away to visit fabric shops.  I really wanted to check out Catwalk Fabrics as I had heard about it when I lived in Adelaide but never visited it.  The shop is located in Brompton and has a lovely selection of fabrics.

I purchased 2 pieces, both are knits and I unfortunately can't remember the exact fabric types.  I really should pay more attention to the fabric type when I buy them so I can detail it on here!

According to the receipt the multi coloured fabric is viscose.  Its light weight and I imagine will be a bit clingy, but I love the colours.  Am thinking I might make another drop waist kirsten kimono dress similar to this.

The blue on blue spots is a medium weight stable knit which has stripes on the back of the fabric.  I got enough to make a top and am thinking I will use the stripe side for some bindings.

 

Adelaide often gets a rough time in Australia as not a great place to live or visit.  But don't believe it.  It was fantastic to see Kristiann from Victory Pattern's great blog post a couple of days ago saying how great SA is - check out those pics! If you haven't been there you should.  Just one more pic of me and Mr Ernest Flagg this time at Glenelg - look at the colour of the water!

 

This weekend was the complete opposite - Elvis and I and a couple of friends from Mum's Group went to Peppa Pig at the Sydney Opera House.  Elvis was most excited and loved the show.  The night before I decided to make him a new shirt to wear as a surprise.  I made a long sleeve tee - the Flashback Skinny Tee as it fits him well.  He's 3 and a half, but small for his age.  Currently the size 2 fits him quite nicely, although looking at the pic at the bottom of this post it could do with a bit of extra length in the sleeves and at the hem. 

 
I made the front from some mustache knit from Girl Charlee that was in my stash and used a black combed cotton knit from Spotlight (also in my stash) for the back and sleeves.  I thought the mustaches suited the Peppa Pig occasion.
 

I used black ribbing for the neck binding and added an inch to the recommended length for size 2 to allow for my sons quite sizeable head. I used my twin needle for the neck binding, hem and sleeves. 

This is such a fantastic pattern, it goes together easily and quickly.  Here's a pic of Elvis wearing his new top on the way to see Peppa.

emma

Stripey Lady Skater & scrappy Flashback tees

This is the first Lady Skater I made.  I got the fabric from The Remnant Warehouse during a 25% off sale.  Its mid weight and stable, perfect for this dress.  I purchased this as I was after something stripey to recreate an inspiration dress originally posted by Portia (being new to blogging, I must say it is quite weird creating this personal link to someone I don't know).

I can't quite remember how much fabric I purchased - I think maybe 2.5m which was enough to cut the skirt on the bias with a centre front and centre back seam.  I cut a size 4 which is pretty much consistent with my measurements.  I followed the instructions of basting the side seams once I had the bodice together to test sizing as I didn't make a muslin.  I then went ahead and sewed the straight size 4.

I am new to sewing knits, but this went together easily.  Most of the care was given to stripe matching which worked out quite well in the end.

Stripe matching at front centre seam + water stain I somehow managed to get from the plants just before this pic was taken

The stripe matching didn't start so well for the sleeves.  Not having sewn stripes much before I originally cut the sleeves matching the stripes at the shoulder seam.  When I started pinning I realised this was a problem and luckily had enough fabric to cut some new sleeves.  This time I chose a stripe to match at the upper bust area and it all worked out OK from there.

Sleeve stripe matching

I used my coverstich machine for the neck, sleeves and hem.  I have never used an overlocker so it is a bit of learning curve with the differential.  Here's another stripe matching pic, just cause.

As I was pretty happy how this turned out I went and cut 2 more, but with short sleeves.  I didn't consider it at the time, but the fabric for the new dresses was lighter weight and not as stable.  I should have shortened the bodice a bit due to the pull of the fabric, but in the end I just gave the dresses bigger waist seams.  I still wear the other 2, but do think that I should unpick the seams and elastic and shorten the bodice marginally.  The only problem is I have way too many things on my to sew list so I doubt this will happen.

I also had some small scraps left over, perfect for some little tees for bub presents.  This is the flashback skinny tee pattern, which is a great pattern that goes together easily.

The second tee is made from a few tees I got for myself on sale, but when I got them home I realised I was tempted by the sale and they were just a bit tight...