Interfacing and Bluffed Patch Pocket

Now if you attended the ASG Industry Day at Niagara Park last Saturday week you will know exactly what I am talking about.

Martyn Smith, the Sales and Marketing Manager for McCall's was the guest speaker for the afternoon session to talk about "using the correct interfacing" and this was the main reason that I attend this Industry Day.

Martyn has an extensive knowledge base and has over the years has written some very informative articles for Australian Stitches.

So it is time to dig out some of your older Australian Stitches magazines and using the indexes I have here it was very easy to find Martyn's article in Volume 16 Issue No.4 "Blissful Bonding".  This article is pretty much the information that Martyn shared with us as well as showcasing the new interfacing's that McCall's have launched.

One of the items that Martyn strongly suggests you own is an "Elna Press".  Do you have a one of the many domestic ironing presses?

When my sewing teacher moved I purchased one of the ones that we used during class, it is a Singer Magic Press II and use it for all of my interfacing pressing as it makes any bonding so easy.

There it is bottom left standing to attention!

So what is a Bluffed Patch Pocket that had quite a few of us intrigued about last Saturday when Martyn showed us this jacket front during his talk.  Martyn explains it beautifully in Australian Stitches Volume 11 No.5 "Bluffed Patch Pocket".  I had to flick through the actual magazines to find this one!

You can just see the edge of the pocket above!

I have been busy sewing, but you will have to wait a bit longer to see the results.

Rachel Comey Skirt - V1247

This is another pattern that has been extensively reviewed at Pattern Review for both the top and the skirt and I have fallen in love with the simplicity of the skirt with its interesting pockets.

I have used a chocolate brown denim that I purchased from Kerryn's Fabric World in March 2012 and made the following changes to the pattern:

• added 15 cm (6") to the length as this skirt is very short
• checked that the hip/waist shape was the same as my self drafted skirt
• since this was stretch denim, I took 0.5cm (1/8") extra in at the waist.

This skirt is very quick to make, well with my limited time anyway, it was less than a week from when I cut it out to when it was completed, although I didn't add the bias binding to the seams as I was lining this skirt.

Lining and twill tape waistband.

Invisible zip and seam matching

Quilting cotton for the pocket lining.

The pockets are wonderful, they don't gape and it is so easy to slide your hands into them.

This skirt is my for my Everyday Collection of my SWAP and is my 7th piece.

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For those interested, I have added some additional photos for my lace top.

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Stash Out:  7.45m

Stash In:  0

A lacey top

The last month has been absolutely crazy due to work however I have been able to get 10 - 15 minutes most mornings in my sewing room and this is the result.

This fabric has been in my stash since 2009 when my sewing buddies and I  headed to Melbourne for 4 days of fabric shopping.

Then when I decided to do an "Evening Collection" for my SWAP this fabric just had to have its day.

I took me a while to work out what design I wanted to use and it was during one of my Pinterest sessions I found this wonderful top by Lover and realised that the lines were very much the same as my TNT blouse pattern.

Luckily the lace has a two way pattern, so I could use the scallop edge effectively for all the pieces.

Again there is not much to tell on this blouse, except I have used French Seams, a purchased satin bias tape for the neckline, Hong Kong finish for the armholes using sun silky, with an invisible zipper in the left hand side seam.

And here it is:

Nearly the same pose!

Satin bias tape binding on the neckline

Satin bias tape handstitched to the wrong side and french seams

Hong Kong finish on invisible zip and armholes

This is my 6th piece for SWAP, I really need to find some more time to sew, especially as the Trench has only been cut out!

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BTW, due the amount of spam comments I have been receiving I have changed my comments to be moderated and may have to stop allowing Anonymous comments. Deleting the spam comments is not a fun part of blogging.  

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Stash Out:  6.65m

Stash In:  0