scout pops and boo

i saw this new season spring 2015 liberty called pops and boo on tessuti's instagram feed recently and decided there and then that i really wanted some.  i quite like the colours and design, but am wondering if i am drawn to it because it reminds me of my kids drawings?! given the busy pattern i thought a grainline scout would work well.  i've made a few scouts previously, but have only blogged one of them.

for this one i used the same modified pattern that i used for my lurex one, which is just a bit tapered at the waist so its not as boxy at the original pattern.

i cut a size 4 and taper the the sides, although my measurements fit with size 4 for bust and size 10 for waist.  the fit i get is pretty snug, but i'm happy with it.  the pattern suggests you need 1 2/3 yards for a size 4, which if my google converter is correct is about 1.5m.  I bought 80cm of the liberty and comfortably cut the pattern with left overs for future facings - NOTE: see below for discussion on using contrasting bias binding.

 
the skirt is my last (for now) megan nieslen kelly in midi length.  its made from some fabric i bought at clear it at a melbourne blogger meet up.  i originally made it up into simplicity 2215, but found that the medium weight of the fabric was not great for the amount of pleats in the simplicity pattern, particularly around the hips.  so i cut it apart and re-made it into this skirt.  i am really happy with how it turned out and am glad i persisted.  the only reason i persisted though was because i bought the fabric at a fun meet up and wanted to make sure i put it to good use!

 
for my scouts (or any garment that requires bias binding finish really) i use a contrasting fabric, usually left over lawn or rayon or something similar.  i do this so i can keep my left over fabric of the garment i am making in a large usable size without a big bias cut in the middle of it.  for this one i used some lemon coloured lawn.

 
for the neck bias binding i used the pattern piece, but instead of making double fold bias binding i made single fold.  it worked out fine, however the bias binding finish is narrower than intended.  i also finish the sleeves with bias binding on the scout as the curved hem on the cap sleeves makes it a bit fiddly to hem - i find the bias binding easier.  all seams are finished with french seams.

i am sure this will get lots of wear for the rest of this summer and then SS2015 and sew on and sew on!


emma

this that and the other: blog hop, lisette 2245 & giveaway

this blog hop has been hoping and hoping – it seems like quite some time ago i read an early post and its still going.  thanks to leith from sew brunswick for nominating me.  i love her style and envy her alteration skills – she always gets a fantastic fit. she's also loads of fun, recently we met up in sydney and had a great afternoon of sewing chat while our 4 boys (2,3,4&5!) played at the park.  perhaps i did a bit of play too.

why do you blog?

1. contribute to the online sewing community, as i find pattern review blog posts invaluable when sewing a new to me pattern.

2. meet people who share the same hobby as me.

this is the first dress i made after i started reading pattern review.com and then blogs around 2 years ago - simplicity lisette 2245.  i wore it to a grand final party in 2012 for sydney swans v hawks and this is me wearing it again a few weeks ago at this years swans v hawks grand final.

after reading more and more blogs i decided i wanted to become a blogger - then it only took me about a year longer to start one.

what are you working on?

i have just finished a linen camber dress, but it doesn't actually look much like a camber.  in the past i was a bit less persistent with my sewing and would throw something that wasn’t working in the ufo pile.  now i try to get a wearable outcome so i will often change things in patterns as i sew.

how does your blog differ from others of the same genre?

my blog is a pattern review type blog, in that i try to give key info about a pattern for a sewer who is after some info before sewing it.  having said that i find it pretty exciting that a bunch of people have decided to follow my blog too!

the main difference is probably that my blog does not look nearly as slick, fun and inviting as so many others as i am very low-fi on the tech front. i hope this improves one day!

what is your writing process?

i take some photos, upload them, order them and then write a couple of paragraphs between each photo.  i would like to say that the focus is on a reasonable photo of the garment and not me like lara – but that would be a lie. i try to provide key info eg, pattern, where i got the fabric, the size i cut, construction info and alterations.

where does your blog name come from? (i added this question after seeing it on funkbunny!)

when i started my blog i turned to google for name inspiration.  i googled ‘singer sewing machine’ as my first sewing machine was a singer and came across ernest flagg, an architect who worked for the singer sewing corporation in the early 1900’s. he worked in the real estate part of the corporation and according to wikipedia was responsible for some of the first planning zoning and height controls for manhattan.  my day job is an urban planner so i was sold as soon as i read about him.  i also like that my blog name is masculine, but sewing is mainly a female hobby.  i don’t think i will ever tire of getting introduced as ‘ernest’ either!

back to a bit more sewing here’s 2 other lisette 2245’s i made quite quickly after the first red one.

i quite like the black one made from sateen and with short sleeves - it has had quite a bit of wear.  the colourful one is made from liberty but unfortunatey I find it pretty blah and don’t wear it much.  the bummer about the dress design is that it is made from smaller irregular shaped pieces so i am yet to work out how i could cut it up and sew it into something else.  its my first and only liberty piece to date and it’s a bit of a thumbs down for me.

as i said above i am genuinely chuffed that a bunch of people out there on the www have decided to follow my blog and recently i reached 100 followers on blog lovin’.  to celebrate i am having a giveaway, open to anyone and i will post the loot anywhere.

i have a tessuti remnant of about 1m (cotton voile?), a butterick jacket pattern and if you or someone you know happens to be pregnant a kwiksew maternity dress pattern up for grabs.  both patterns are unused.  all you need to do is leave a comment and say which one/s you would like.  the giveaway will close on sunday 2nd november 2014 and i'll announce the winners soon after - should more than one person want the same item the lucky recipient will be selected randomly.

thanks for reading! lastly i would like to nominate renee from nearest the pin for the blog hop. i was lucky enough to meet her recently, always love her fabric choices and would love to hear more about her.

emma

simplicity 4047 wool skirt

today's make is a simple pencil skirt.  i was given this absolutely beautiful italian wool from tessuti for mother's day.  when i first opened the present i wasn't sure what i would make, but mr flagg suggested a straight skirt and i was sold.  i have never sewn with real wool before so went to IG to seek some fabric prep knowledge. thankfully rachel suggested that i didn't need to do any prep if i was going to dry clean the finished item.  simple.  like.

the pattern is simplicity 4047.  i had a few straight skirt patterns in my stash to choose from, but i chose this one as google images collated a few examples for me that looked good.  in terms of sizing my waist and hips correlate with size 16 but i cut a 14 - basically because my pattern was only size 6-14.   i basted the side seams first and then ended up taking it in and cutting my lining as a size 12.

the sewing of this make was very straight forward, although i found the bulk of the wool a bit tricky for two aspects - the zip and the back vent.  i used a conventional zip and needed to do my exposed stitching line quite wide given the bulk of the fabric, so i also hand stitched the zip on the inside closer to the zip teeth so my zip opening does not gap...too much.

the other area i have a bit of bulk is the back vent.  i have only made lapped back vents before so i didn't even check the pattern for construction of the vent.  when i got to this stage i had a look at the instructions and found that the vent was constructed using an additional piece called a 'pleat underlay'.  grrr i then had to unfold all of the tissue to locate this small piece.  i do actually like how the back pleat works, but on this skirt it is a tad bulky given the weight of the wool.  to do the top stitching of the pleat i used some quilters quarter inch tape as a guide.

this skirt is super warm and great to wear.  i lined it with black radiance from fabric.com as i couldn't get any more elegance from martha pullen.  both fabrics are sold as 55% cotton 45% silk, but the elegance is easier to sew with, not being so slippery.  regardless both are great linings and the radiance makes the skirt feel great on.  i like the contrast of the mustard wool and black silk/cotton too.

and a few more pics...

back and front.

back darts and lapped zip.

lining.

i seem to be into skirts at the moment and am just about to cut two more of these out in spring fabrics.  having said that i am definitely keen to give the myrtle a go for summer too - it looks like a perfect work and play dress.

hello too to all the victorian bloggers and non-bloggers i met up with recently in melbourne.  it was fantastic to meet you all - i had a super fun arvo!  thanks again for organising rachel.

emma

jaywalkin' & some new duds for elvis

on friday 13th june i was overwhelmed to find that i won the tessuti jaywalk competition.  as i said in my last blog post there were some fantastic entries and i am over the moon to be named the winner.

i had never entered a sewing competition before and i am really grateful to tessuti for putting on the competitions they do and offering such generous prizes. there are not many opportunities to enter australian sewing competitions and the tessuti competitions are great in offering a challenge to sewers, as well as showcasing the amazing support and positivity in the australian online sewing community.

on to some recent makes (er well, maybe from may…).  first up some oliver + s raglan t-shirts for elvis.  i'd never made raglan sleeves before, but am a big convert, given it eliminates the need to set in the sleeves.  i combined a variety of sizes for arm length, torso length etc based on elvis' measurements.  all of the printed fabrics came from either fabric.com or girl charlee.

i also used the oliver + s pattern to make a jumper from some fleece from spotlight.  for this i used smaller seam allowances and added cuffs to the sleeves and hem.

in this pic he has teamed the jumper with pj pants, made from some japanese cotton with bullet trains, purchased at pandora house in narita by mr flagg on a work trip. 

and this time with some different pjs, made from flannelette from either spotlight or lincraft - can't remember.  i also made him some black cords and one more pair of pj pants, all using my TNT kids pants pattern OOP simplicity 3584. phew that's enough sewing for him for a while. 

are you getting the picture that my kid has a thing for 'transport'??

lastly can i say a big hello to all my new readers, i hope you find some interesting things in my posts and thanks for all the lovely comments i received on my jaywalk dress!

emma

tessuti 2014 jaywalk competition - my entry

wow may is a busy month at our place - my eldest son (elvis) has his birthday and thanks to having a great bunch of friends from mum's group when our first bubs were born may is one long party month.  added to that a few kids from elvis' day care also have may birthdays, meaning at least one weekend day and sometimes both are taken up with parties.  i did get a chance to do a bit of sewing during may but not as much as normal.

one of the main things i worked on was my entry for the tessuti 2014 jaywalk competition. here's my entry, a close fitting dress with three quarter sleeves.  i used simplicity 2054, similar to the one i made in my recent post.

i made the front by cutting the black/neutral jaywalk into strips of various widths and sewing them back together.  i also used some black ponte for the sleeves and one horizontal stripe.  for the back i made a yoke and used the contrasting white/neutral jaywalk. similar to last time i made this dress i added back darts.

i sewed the strips together on my regular sewing machine using a small zig zag stitch.

i also used my regular sewing machine for all of the dress construction.  the one place i ran into a bit of trouble which i hadn't considered was at the neckline due to the bulk of fabric i created.  i used a walking foot here and it went together ok.

i am pretty happy how this turned out.  its great to challenge yourself and try something new.  i'm enjoying checking out all the other great entries - good luck everyone!

hopefully i'll be back soon to blog a few of the other things i made in may.

emma

gekkeiju (japanese laurel)

'gekkeiju' as i am reliably informed by google translator, means laurel in japanese.  this is a sleeveless colette laurel in a soft japanese cotton from tessuti.  one of the things i love about a sleeveless shift is the ability to wear it all year round - when it is cooler i wear them with a long sleeve tee, tights and boots.

i bought this fabric during the recent sydney sewcial - a fantastic day of eating, drinking, chatting sewing and fabric shopping.

here's an awesome pic taken by susan from measure twice cut once inside tessuti's surry hills store of little betty, sew amy sew and i having a great old chat behind these amazing japanese cottons.  i loved them all but decided on the blue.  actually looking at this pic i wouldn't mind getting the pink for a laurel top.

here's another one of susan's pics of me purchasing the fabric.  i had no idea she was taking these - i was too engrossed in the sewing chat and buying fabrics! i do love having a photographic memory of purchasing the fabric - wish i had susan out fabric shopping with me all the time.

on to the dress.  i hadn't made the laurel before, i bought it recently as i like the sleeve and top options.  i was a bit turned off previously that colette patterns are drafted for a c cup, but decided i really should just buy the pattern and do a sba.  i didn't realise it before i bought the pattern but the front does not have waist darts, meaning the pattern on this fabric remains intact.  like.

you can see the back waist darts here which mess with the look of the print.  overall i am pretty happy with the fit - i can still do some slight tweaking for future versions, but in general am pretty happy. particularly as the photo below shows my first muslin.

according to the pattern size chart i am a size 4 bust and size 8 waist.  i hadn't read anything on any of the blog reviews i read saying the pattern ran super large for them so i cut a straight size 8 and did my first sba. though i must admit i mainly just checked out the photos and scanned the reviews.

looking back i really should have flat measured the pattern and paid a bit more attention to the clues in the blog posts i read, particularly posts from similar sized sewists noting that they cut size 0 - 2.    after a couple of muslins i finally settled on cutting a size 2 bust (no sba) and graded down to 0 for waist and hips, with the following alterations:

• 3/8" forward shoulder adjustment (next time i will do 5/8" - this alteration was a first for me)
• redrafted armscye for a sleeveless version, i did this using style 2622 as a guide, as well as trial and error - as i wanted to be able to wear this dress in winter with a black tee underneath
• i also tapered the side seams further from the waist down when sewing up the dress.  i will probably taper a bit more next time.

i lined the dress with 'elegance' from martha pullen - 55% cotton and 45% silk, which i purchased online for $5m during a sale.  i read about this fabric on gertie's blog when the topic was suitable linings for summer dresses.  it was great to sew with and feels really nice on.

i finished the neck, arms and hem with black bias binding also from tessuti.  i sewed it on with the sewing machine and hand stitched it down.  it was a great job to do in front of the tv, particularly as the opening round of the afl took place over the weekend.

it's great to have a dress to remember the fun of the sydney march 2014 sydney sewcial by. 

just one last pic of the first outing for the dress - billy bragg @ the sydney opera house.

emma

when lola became suzy

i have been meaning to sew a pair of loose elastic waist pants all summer.  i had been eyeing off the lola pant by style arc.  i like the waist detail - being a flat front and elastic back and also the elastic at the back cuff.  from the art work they look to be a narrow'ish fit, plus i haven't sewn style arc before.

when i finally decided elastic waist pants would be next up and looked into buying the pattern and i realised how gen y my sewing can be - even though i am clearly not gen y!  i was actually shocked when i couldn't find a pdf option - what wait for postage?? how could i?? this is something i haven't really done for patterns before since my return to sewing. i therefore made a last minute switch to suzy.

the suzy pattern from tessuti comes in pdf.  it seems i am in a minority in the sewing blog world, but i really like pdf patterns.  they are so now!  i don't mind putting them together at all.  i do all the cutting in a comfy chair then move to the floor or table to put them together depending how big they are.  lately i seem to be doing a better job at matching them nicely.

according to the tessuti website the suzy pant is a fun and relaxed pleated front pull on pant.  i used a rayon from spotlight but cut the pattern pieces on the cross wise grain so the wiggly lines of the pattern are vertical not horizontal.

the only thing i did different to the instructions was to use 25mm elastic, instead of 12mm.  i did originally use 12mm, but found that the pants dragged down a bit and therefore looked quite large around the hip area - perhaps this is because the rayon is a bit on the heavier side.  the 25mm elastic keeps the pants higher up and less baggy around the hips, but the trade off is the crotch seam sits a bit high.  next time i will consider lowering the crotch seam and lengthening the leg a smidg.

i went with the in seam pockets and was a bit confused at first by the instructions, but if you read them carefully and thoroughly (which often i don't do) it all makes sense and is quite easy.

i constructed them using my sewing machine with straight and zig zag stitch. am happy with this make - would like to try lola sometime, but have a feeling i will make a few more suzy's first.

am getting the itch to get stuck into some autumn and winter sewing now, is anyone else??

(lastly i should also say for a beautifully made and presented pattern from a great indie company i would be happy to wait for a hard copy in the post, but a quick pair of elastic waist pants really appeals to me in an immediate pdf format!)

emma