New Sewing Table

Look what my gorgeous Husband made for me for Xmas.


I had the design in my mind, however DH did the measuring, drawing, cutting, estapolling and construction and I am one very happy sewer.

We purchased the two Condo Pedestals from Officeworks and as you can see they fit snugly underneath the table when I need to pack up the sewing room for guests.

These drawers hold a large amount of sewing goodies.

There is also a leaf that can be raised on the side that fits under the window for more space to spread out or even have a machine on it so I can, if I want to, have all 3 machines set up ready to sew (which can be the case when sewing knits).



For me this is a much better use of space and a lot more storage than my original set up.



Now to test it out and get some sewing done.

Ski boots in Summer

I've had this fabric for a few years (purchased from Quilt Fabric Closeouts) and have always planned on making boxer shorts for DH as this is his sleeping attire when we are in the lodge in Thredbo, so they are wrapped and ready for Xmas.



I have used Jalie 2326 with the centre back seam, however I didn't do the split side seams and made a casing for the elastic (the elastic is held together with a safety pin, until I get him to try them on).



This is my first sewing project for DH so I will be interested to see how his measurements equate to those from the pattern companies.

Black Jeans from TNT Pants Pattern

The final piece from the ASG Conference is completed.



As I said earlier, these started with my TNT Pants pattern using Vogue 9537 (OOP). This pattern was adjusted for me quite a few years ago now and the toile is now the pattern. Here is a collage showing how these look and maybe I should have had a look at them like this before I started the Jeans conversion, I think I need to go back to the drawing board for a TNT pants pattern with those back wrinkles.



I traced off a new front and back piece (including seam allowances) to take to the Convention.

Back Pattern

Here is what the back piece look like compared to the original pattern underneath (the pink original is without seam allowances).



You can see the yoke is missing and the dart has been folded out from the original. The large curve on the inner back leg is the result of the change that Sue made when I tried the Jeans on on Tuesday to check the fit. As you can see it was quite a bit and then I sewed 2cm seams as well.

Front Pattern



Again you can see the original pattern underneath and the only change to this was to fold out the darts, add the fly front and this is after we had taken the 1.5cm off the waist so I need to redraw the pocket placement before I start the next pair.

Other Pattern Pieces



Sue's wonderful instructions gave us directions on how to draft these pieces, although I did borrow the back pocket pattern from the Jalie Jeans pattern I have.

One of the great things Sue showed us was the Pocket Front Extension, it effectively is a control panel and looks like this once the jeans are completed, and can be used for any pair of pants that has a front fly.



So here are some other views:

Back view close up:



Side view:



The waistband now sits nicely into my back, I took out a small wedge from the wasitband, lining the stitching up with the stitching on the centre back of the yoke and then topstitched.



Clearer picture of the back pocket details:



I have worn these a couple of times now and they are quite comfortable to wear.

Sue also suggested that I copy the 550 Levis I was wearing at convention and after reading Lindsay T's post about Glad Press 'N' Seal this might be the way to go, I just have to find it in Australia (in some Reject Shops I believe) or order from the US.

Rust Shirtmaker Dress

I can't believe I have had nothing to show you since October, I've been sewing but nothing has been finished until now.

The Rust Shirtmaker Dress is completed.

At the Armoury Cafe at Newington after our ASG Christmas Lunch

As promised in my earlier post here are the details:

Back Adjustments

• Added 1.5cm at the neck edge of the shoulder and increased this to 2.6cm at the shoulder edge
  

• Added extra to the side seams starting 5cm down from the armhole to end up with 2cm extra width at the hem line (you can see this on the front pattern piece below).


• Added 3cm to the length (you can see this on the front pattern piece below).

Front Adjustments

• Added extra to the side seams starting 5cm down from the armhole to end up with 2cm extra width at the hem line.
  

• Added 3cm to the length.

Collar and Collar Stand Adjustments

• Added 1.5cm into the collar and collar stand.

Note: The patterned sticky tape on my patterns is to remind me to turn my pattern over when I go to iron the pattern after it has been folded, so I keep the iron off the sticky tape, a tip from Pam.

Construction

During construction, Pam decided to reduce the collar length by 1.5cm as the collar was a bit large for me.

I also decided to use the shorter sleeve and found that the shoulder width needed to be reduced by 1.5cm at the shoulder edge reducing back to zero by the time I got to the notches.

Embellishment

Rhona Feeney, who I sew with at the Alexandria Achievers, suggested that I put half circles on the back of my Shirtmaker dress to cover the side ventilation.

• I traced off a circle using my bobbin keeper and then folded it half and cut out two in the rust linen.


• Sewed a line of stitching the width of the machine foot from the edge around the half circle and then a gathering stitch between this stitch and the edge.


• Drew up the gathering stitch and then pressed the seam allowance down along the line of the first row of stitching.


• Unpicked the side seams of the Shirtmaker dress and put the long edge of the half circle into the seam and then I pinned and basted the half circle in place.


• Very slowly topstitched the half circle in place.

Also at this time Rhona took out a 1.5cm fold from the middle of the back darts to the hem, effectively taking out 6cm of fabric out of the back of the Shirtmaker.



I tried to do the buttonholes myself, but wasn't feeling too confident with 9 of them, so on my way to work the other morning, I dropped this into Mick of Quick Buttonholes at Alexandria for him to do my buttonholes. I had pinned the button placement on the button band, and left him a reel of my cotton and a button attached in a small zip lock bag to the Shirtmaker. The next day, again on my way to work, I collected this from Mick who charged me $25 for the 9 buttonholes on the Shirtmaker dress and the 1 he did for me on my Jeans. Money very well spent.

This is a very comfortable dress to wear and I can see a few more versions in my wardrobe over the various seasons.