darn cheap fabrics seasonal challenge - summer 15/16 the leap year edition

welcome to the dcf seasonal challenge - summer 15/16 edition. both lara and i were a bit tied up with lots of fun festivities over the summer months, so we are just getting in our posts on the last day of summer which this year is the leap year day!

lara and i bought the challenge fabric together in late january.  we were both very tempted by some beautiful bright coloured silks, but decided against buying them in the end as we both needed a bit of meterage for what we wanted to make and the cost was starting to add up.  instead we chose a beautiful quality viscose with lovely drape.

i originally thought i would make the style arc olivia dress as i bought the pattern in a recent sale. Though the day after we bought the fabric i met up with crafty jane who generously loaned me the japanese pattern book 'clean and natural' and i really wanted to try out a pattern from the book.

i considered the peplum top on the front cover but in the end i decided to make 'G' the key neck pullover.

i have only used a japanese pattern book once before, when i recently made school shorts for my son.  That book had english instructions, while 'clean and natural' is all japanese - a first for me!  when i pulled out the pattern sheet to trace i was a little bit daunted, but once i located all the pattern pieces i was feeling pretty good!
 

when i found the general where abouts of each piece i put my tracing paper down and weights in the 'corners' of the pieces to help keep me on track with the tracing.  in the end the tracing was quite easy.  in terms of sizing i had decided to make size LL based on my measurements, but after tracing about 3 pattern pieces i noticed that it seemed to be one size 'fits all'.  had i been able to read the instructions i may have worked this out before i started tracing! anyway i decided to push on as LL is the largest size so i figured the top would hopefully not end up too big.

i loved the challenge of looking at the pictures in the instructions and working it out.  the construction was pretty straightforward and the pieces all went together perfectly, so it was a really good introduction for me to japanese ladies patterns.

i do feel a bit like i am wearing a tent, but the fabric drapes beautifully and its a nice breezy top to wear.

to take the photo below (well most of the photos really!) i had to carefully hold the key opening in place. i used a light weight interfacing to match the weight of the fabric, but the end result is quite floppy.  if you are planning on making this top i would recommend giving a bit of consideration to the type of interfacing you use for the key hole facings.

 

one of the main disappointments for me with this pattern is the sleeve cuffs, mine do not look like the ones in the pattern photograph.  mine sit on an angle and are not horizontal like the ones in the photo below.

i could fix the sleeves, but really i'm happy to move onto the next project.  it may be something to bear in mind though if you want to make this pattern up. overall this will be a nice easy top to wear with shorts or jeans, so a great trans seasonal piece now autumn is just a few hours away!

 

 

now i'm very keen to check out lara's make.  til next time,

emma

darn cheap fabrics seasonal challenge - summer 2014/15

welcome to instalment no.2 of the darn cheap fabrics seasonal challenge - summer 2014/15.  for background info on the concept see my post on the first challenge.

my family had christmas in melbourne which gave me a chance to visit dcf with lara (and a bunch of other great melbourne bloggers) to choose our challenge fabric. it was really fun shopping trip!  lara and i settled on a summery linen printed with pineapples, toucans and zebras.  we could have actually settled on a few fabrics as we purchased 3 of the same fabrics and a fourth that we both bought in a different colour.

i went for another megan nielsen kelly skirt lengthened to be a midi.  i made one in pineapple linen from darn cheap fabrics recently and really like it so i decided to make another - actually it's my third as i have made another from the african wax print i bought in johanesberg shown at the bottom of this post, yet to be blogged.

there is not much to say about the construction of this skirt that i haven't said in previous kelly posts.  i am just really rapt with how it looks.  one thing i didn't mention in my pineapple kelly post is that the black tee is a maria denmark kirsten kimono tee (a free pattern!) that i made to wear with the pineapple skirt.  the fabric is a soft dkny jersey from the fabric store.

as with my other kellys i bound the pocket seam, in purple bias this time and did french side seams. 

this is my second last kelly midi for the moment. i've got another in black that i am nearly finished, i just need to sew the buttons on.  but my midi love affair is not ending as i am eyeing off the sewaholic crescent skirt which i want to lengthen to midi.  i also want to start making a few shorter a-line skirts for winter too. skirts skirts skirts!

i saw a sneak peak of lara's make on IG but am very keen to see the full dress and make up the pattern myself!

i'm already looking forward to the next challenge - autumn 2015.

emma

darn cheap fabrics seasonal challenge - spring 2014 (+ giveaway winner)

in august i took a trip to melbourne and went to lunch, drinks and fabric shopping with a bunch of melbourne bloggers.  i got to meet lara from thornberry. i've always admired lara's style, envied her output, but best of all we both share a love for darn cheap fabrics.  even though lara lives in melbourne and i live in sydney and we have always shopped at dcf separately we have actually bought quite of few of the same fabrics in the past.

lara kindly bought and posted me some fabric from dcf that wasn't available online after we both liked the fabric on instagram.  when talking over email about this purchase i asked lara if she would like to do a dcf seasonal challenge, where each season we collectively choose a fabric, make it into whatever we want and then post on our blogs.

so here's our first challenge - spring 2014.  lara bought the fabric as i haven't been down to melbourne for a few months.  the plan was for lara to take a few pictures of fabrics she liked, sms them to me and we would choose the challenge fabric.  unfortunately lara's phone battery went flat at dcf (i totally know the feeling - it happened to me when i was looking at some merino for kirsty one time) so lara chose the fabric and i decided to wait til it arrived in the post to find out what it was.

lara chose 2 fabrics, but i decided to go with the knit and make a matching top (simplicity 1366) and skirt (new look 6228) both of which i have made before here and here. am sure lara will have better details on the exact fabric type/content on her post - she has great fabric knowledge, needless to say i love her selection.

there is not much to add about construction and fit for these versions.  i made an 8 in the top, added 2 1/4" to the length and shortened the sleeves the same as my previous version.  i made the skirt with 1 piece for the front and 1 piece for the back, rather than cutting it in panels, as per the pattern.  to do this i cut out the panels using an old sheet, sewed them together so i had 1 piece for the front and 1 piece for the back and then used this as my pattern.  i also added 4 1/2 inches to the length.  

i'm pretty happy with how it turned out, the one thing i am a bit disappointed with is the way the top pools near the hem at the back - you can kind of see it in the photo above left. none of my other versions have done this, but they are made from heavier knits.

i am planning on wearing the skirt and top together at times, but will also get a lot of wear from the pieces as separates too. below is how i wore the top to work today.

here's another pic showing the pooling at the lower back.

i had to cut the waistband across the stretch as i didn't have enough fabric to cut it with the stretch, so i didn't need to use any elastic in this version.  i can't remember how much fabric there was but i think it was around 1/1.5m or so, so am very happy i was able to get 2 pieces from it.

i'm really looking forward to seeing what lara has made, i have seen a few progress shots on instagram - but am looking forward to seeing the final product.

finally if you got this far, the lucky winner of the fabric from my giveaway is Christy - whose name was pulled out of a hat by the other mr flagg. congratulations!! i will send you a message on instagram to get your postal details.

thanks for sharing the fun of the challenge lara!

emma