Flannelette Tofino's - Make a Garment a Month - June completed

I did it, the Tofino's are completed, yes there are two pairs.

This is the fun part of the Tofino's you can play with the panels.  I also had in my stash some pale lilac flannelette which was close enough to the pale pink in the flowers for it to work.

I didn't do any further changes to those I made originally, but realised after I had put them on that I had meant to raise the back rise for a bit more length as I find this a bit short in my owl Tofino's when sitting.


Above I have used the floral for the front and back with the plain for the side panels and tie.

This pair is the opposite, the plain for the front and back with the floral for the side panels and tie.

Now I need to get organised like Carolyn and get some tops made, I get too hot for flannelette tops however at present my older t-shirts are doing a great job until I find some knits fabrics that will work with the floral.

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2014 Stash Out: 17.5 m
2014 Stash In: 45.75 m

Make a Garment a Month - June Plans

It is rather late in the month to be making plans, however I really do need this month's garment, it has turned cold all of a sudden and my spotty pj's acquired some additional ventilation last week due to fabric failure!

Now this fabric has been in my stash for a while and I did earmark it for pj bottoms during the Pyjama party last year when I made my owl Tofino's.

I have just under a week left and I did cut them out last week, so with my ASG Sewing meeting on Saturday I think this is doable!

Cream Boat Neck t-shirt - May Garment a Month - Completed

So much for my commitment of finishing this top in May, it has been sitting on my ironing board waiting for the hems to be done for quite a few weeks.

I have previously made this top a couple of times and found that I needed a plain cream top (or two) in my wardrobe.

One thing Burda tells you do with this top is to turn and hem both necklines, then join the shoulders. Now trying to get the topstitching to line up this way has really given me a lot of grief.

This time I sewed the shoulders seams, pressed under the hem around the neck edge, hand basted it in place and then used my coverstitch to do the topstitching.

To turn the corner, you hand raise the needles, so that one of them is free and the other is just in the fabric, this lets you turn the neckline around that sharp corner (sorry I forget to take photos).

Roscoe has managed to be in all the photos, he would not leave my side as I had said the magic word to him "work" which means he comes with me to the office for the day and just loves it!!  I need to remember to tell him after my photo session!

This photos does show that I need to a FBA on this pattern and stop denying it, but it isn't as noticeable in the patterned fabrics.

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2014 Stash Out: 14.7 m
2014 Stash In: 45.75 m

Navy Marfy 0757 skirt

This skirt has been finished for a few weeks now as some of you may have seen it during Me Made May 2014.

I cut this skirt out back in February and then soon realised after reading the wonderful notes by Leisa for the Sew-Along that this would take quite a bit of work to complete.

The skirt is underlined with cotton voile which was cut out the same as the skirt pattern and basted to the wool fabric and treated as one for the construction.  This let me catchstitch the seam allowances to the underling.

I have inserted by first pick stitched zip

For the waist I used my usual technique and then pick stitched the final seam.

Catch-stitched the hem and mitred the corners on the side vents

Handstitched the lace to the lining, finally adding lining thread bars

And here it is being worn,

This skirt has a lot more detail in it than any of my other skirts, I really enjoyed the handsewing and surprised myself by attaching the lace to the lining hem by hand, it just felt like the right thing to do.

I am planning to make the jacket later this year using the same navy wool and the final post has just been posted by Leisa for the Sew-Along. This gives me access to so much detailed information that will help me use some new and refresh some techniques with the jacket.

First I need to finish up the garments I took away for my sewing weekend!

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2014 Stash Out: 13.35m
2014 Stash In: 45.75m

Burgundy Track pants

These are the track pants that I took away with me in April.

Now track pants aren't part of our normal holiday attire, however when DH packed his I asked why and he said to be comfortable whilst visiting his Mum.  Well my track pants are not fit to be seen outside at the moment so this is where I really appreciate my stash.

I had purchased 5 metres of this tracksuit fleece from Standard Knits in April 2012 for the sole purpose of some track suits for dog walking and to wear of an evening when I get home from work when it gets colder.

It was also lucky that I had used Simplicity 3640 (OOP) track suit pattern before for my cargo pants so I knew they fitted as the pattern had already been adjusted.

3 hours later they were finished and packed in our bag.

I am really happy with the fit of these,they are a slim fit which I prefer.

They are high waisted but that suits me fine so no cold air can creep in when I am sitting down.

I also put a piece of fabric in the back waistband for easy identification.

This is not the true colour, the pictures above are.

Now they aren't perfect for dog walking as there are no pockets so Roscoe now has to carry his own bags, but I plan on making another pair and they will have pockets.

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2014 Stash Out: 11.75 m
2014 Stash In:  43.75 m

MMM'14 - Days 29 to 31

The last few days of May, where has the month gone and Sydney has had its warmest Autumn in 150 years or since records began.

Thursday - 29 May

Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 in brown/coffee/cream knit, previously worn on days 7 and 19
Skirt: McCall's 7244 in grey wool flannel, previously worn on day 5
Accessory: Purchased necklace and earrings
Hosiery:  Voodoo Nightshade
Shoes: Circa Joan & David Black Calalilly pumps

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Friday - 30 May

The final photo theme this year is "Your Stash of Fabric" so here I am in front of my main fabric stash hehe!

Dress: McCall's 5433 in orange linen, previously worn on day 2
Cardigan: Simplicity 2603 in brown mercury jersey, previously worn on day 8
Accessory: Purchased necklace and earrings
Hosiery: Voodoo Celestial 
Shoes: Circa Joan & David Brown Calalilly pumps

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Saturday - 31 May

Today I am attending a Regional Day sewing with the Australian Sewing Guild making Quillows.

Photo by Deborah

Top: Kwik.Sew 3740 in chartreuse/grey/navy, previously worn on days 5 and 20
Jeans:  Jalie 2908 blue denim jeans, previously worn on days 9 and 17
Vest: Shona knitted vest in chartreuse, previously worn on day 17
Accessory: Purchased necklace and earrings
Hosiery: Voodoo Nightshade 
Shoes: Black loafers

Here are the two quillows I made, I don't think my crazy patchwork skills are quite up to scratch.

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Wrap-up

This year threw some new challenges, unusually warm weather for the majority of the month and it highlighted my need for cardigans as the mornings and evenings were cool, but during the middle of the day short sleeves were quite possible. I did cut out a cardigan for our sewing weekend, but first I need to finish the skirt and dress that I started on the weekend which are pretty close to being finished.

It did get very hard this week not to repeat an outfit and I keep saying I need more tops, so why do I sew so many skirts!