A Special Birthday present!

My DBIL is a keen Ducati lover and rider and he celebrated a big "0" birthday in April with friends and family.

I had been racking my brain what I could do for a present that was a bit different.

Then I started to see some patterned mens t-shirts about and was seeing a lot of fabric printed at Spoonflower and an idea started to formulate.

My BIL loves to wear t-shirts and also likes to have a pocket, which most RTW don't have, so after making 2 Strathcona Henleys for Mark, I decided this is what I would do.

I found a picture of his 900 SS Darmah and then used the feature in PowerPoint to "remove the background" and with a bit of fiddling I had a pretty clear black and white jpg of this bike.  I uploaded it to Spoonflower and chose a half-drop layout and then ordered a sample in their Organic Cotton Interlock Knit.

This arrived just before Christmas and gave me time to think about exactly what I was going to do. So at the end of February I ordered the Ducati fabric as well as a metre of the plain Organic Cotton Interlock knit in case I wanted to use it on the Henley.

Now this is where I had a bit of a shock, the sample I received the bikes looked like this

and the real fabric they looked like this.

I did pop back onto Spoonflower to double check what size I had chosen, and it was the 5" size.  I completely forgot to the check the size of the bikes on the sample because if I had I would have reduced the size of the bike to 2.5" only if I could have spaced them out a bit more.

Now I wasn't sure if this would look like a t-shirt or a night shirt but I decided to go keep going.

It did take a bit of head scratching to cut it out, Roscoe was locked outside and the fabric was spread out on the floor so I could get a better idea of the positions.  I soon realised that I would not be able to pattern match the sides so I decided to have a

• full bike at centre front

• a full bike at the side seams on the back.

The first thing you do is the placket, so I chose to use the white organic cotton interlock knit for this and it went together very well with the help of the Olfa Rotary Point Cutter.

Next up was the pocket.  Now I wanted this to be invisible so I traced of a pocket pattern

and then laid it on the fabric to get the design and placement correct.

I've never installed a knit patch pocket before and found this great tutorial over at Seamwork.

Next the shoulders and then the neckband.  I have tried the method that Thread Theory suggests but I just don't like the overlocking on the neckband and this is the way I did the neck band on Mark's but didn't document it.

I sew the ends of the neckband together as per the instructions, but that is where it stops.

Then I pin the neckband to the neckline like this, and sew it in place.

Then I turn under the other neckband edge and pin in place and handstitch this in place, remembering to add the label.  Thinking about this it is like attaching a waistband.

oops I forgot the label!

The final step is to add some twill tape to the inside neckband just like RTW and I did this for Mark's Skiing Henley but found more information over at Baste + Gather and her T-shirt Neckline Twill Tape Tutorial.

The rest of the t-shirt went together very smoothly.

My final decision was what I was going to use on the placket:

• black buttons
• white buttons
• smoke open prong ring snaps

The snaps won and I got to use my new toy, the DK-93 snap press which you saw happening here!

The problem with a surprise gift and your sister telling you not to make the t-shirt because you are so busy, is the Henley was a bit too tight for my BIL's liking, it did fit him and in fact it is the best fit across his shoulders he has ever had but it was just a bit too close fitting for him to be comfortable in.

So it came back home with me so I could adjust the fit.

Luckily I had some left over fabric and manage to cut out two side panels of  8cm width that ended up in a point into the sleeve hem.

And look at this cool card I found when we were in Canada!

When he opened his parcel he thought I hadn't done anything to his Henley until my sister showed him the pattern matching at the front side seams.

He is very happy with his Ducati Henley.

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2016 Stash Out: 8.1 m
2016 Stash In: 18 m

Shorts for the man

Every now and then I plan to make a garment for Mark and seeing I had already made him two Strathcona Henely t-shirts and had purchased the Jutland Pants from Thread Theory, I thought a new pair of shorts was in order.

Mark does own a pair of red shorts so I didn't feel that purchasing this burnt orange would be too much except my sewing buddies keep telling me it is my colour.

I then had some fun finding some manly cotton fabric for the pocket bags, waistband lining and bias binding.

My madness is based on the fact that Mark has a 30" waist and last year I found it extremely difficult to find pants/trousers in this size and as he prefers not to wear a belt it looks like I could have a new job.

So I cut out a size 30" and then couldn't make up my mind if I was going to do patch pockets or welt pockets.

Welt pockets won, but it has been a long time since I have done these and I'm glad his RTW shorts have the bar tacks at the end of the pockets as this has helped cover my overcutting.

Even though I wasn't completely happy with the welt pockets I decided to still make these as I wasn't sure that the pattern 30" waist would be equal to Mark's real waist.

All seams are flat felled and I have used bias strips for around the edge of the fly.

Again my sewing machine didn't like the buttonhole so I have again used the tutorial I used for my Jeans.

I found this button in my button jar and think it works perfectly for these shorts.

Mark found the waist to be very comfortable but did comment that these are a slim fit in the legs.  So next time I will add a some extra width in the front leg and see how that goes.

This is at the end of the day.

Now the fabric for these shorts were counted in the 2015 totals, but I attended the Sydney Spoolettes Fabric Destash event last Sunday and donated the green/black mesh knit that you can see at the top left hand of the picture below.  This was purchased during our trip to the USA back in 2011 and now I can only see the black in it so I am very happy it has found a new home.

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2016 Stash Out: 2.9 m
2016 Stash In: 15 m

What happens when you travel

you have parcels waiting for your arrival at your accommodation!

Our first stop was at Fife, in Washington State which was 10 minutes from the Sewing & Stitchery Expo.

When we checked in the front desk has 3 parcels for me which I had ordered before leaving home and knew I would not be able to easily source them myself during my 3day stay in the USA.

Parcel No. 1
You know about the purchase of my Juki M0-1000, well I also learnt that like the Bernina oerlocker it has a number of specialty feet available.  I can purchase them here in Australia, however the cost is pretty high so for the cost of say 3 feet here, I have

but wait,

There are actually 8 feet,

Blind Stitch Presser Foot Part No. 40138091: (for Right Needle) for making blind hems.

Elasticator Elastic Metering Presser Foot Part No. 40138095: To attach elastic tape to stretch fabrics

Cording Presser Foot Part No. 40138099: For attaching nylon string or wire on edge of fabrics.

Piping Presser Foot Part No. 40138103: For sewing piping.

Beading Presser Foot Part No. 40138106: For attaching pearls and beading with overlock stitching,

Gathering Presser Foot Part No. 40138121: For gathering and sewing with differential feed

Universal Blind Stitch Presser Foot: For making right/left needle blind hems and flatlock.

Curved Beading Presser Foot: For attaching pearls, sequins and beading with overlock stitching

Now I need to do so some serious playing.


Parcel No. 2
This next parcel might seem a bit odd, but one of my Christmas presents was the Dk-93 Manual Snap Press which I just had to have after reading about it on Lena's blog.

So this parcel from Minkus Margo (at Etsy seller) was 2 sets of dies - a 9.5mm nipple rivet die and 9mm cap rivet die. This is the actual size of the rivets.

Parcel No. 3
Two pieces of 1oz HpyerD Diamond Ripstop in Moroccan Blue and Burnt Orange.

The ripstop I purchased for my Minoru is not water proof and after reading about Morgan's Denali Vest  over at Thread Theory I decided to place an order with Ripstop by the Roll and purchased enough of the blue for another Minoru and the burnt orange for a vest.

Now I have them home, they are very light so my plans may change.

I also dragged Mark along to Jo-Ann's to have a look around and this is what followed me home

Not my normal fabric, but a pair of Carolyn Pajamas will make me smile every time I wear them.

Then we headed to visit family and friends in Canada, so two more Canadian suppliers packages were waiting for me.

Parcel No. 4
I have dabbled in bra making with a Watson and really want to make my own bras for various reasons.  I already have the three  current Beverly Johnson's Bra Making Classes on Craftsy and had heard that her manuals were very good.

Parcel No. 5
I have made Mark two versions of the Strathcona Henley t-shirt by Thread Theory and Morgan had talked about this luscious Canadian-made 100% cotton interlock fabric so I thought I would purchase a kit to see what Mark's thinks of it.

Of course since I have returned home there were a few more packages I could have had organised but there will be a next time I'm certain.


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2016 Stash Out: 0 m
2016 Stash In: 15 m

Sewing & Stitchery Expo, Puyallup

When Mark first mentioned our ski trip to Canada he didn't quite understand my enthusiasm as the dates worked out perfectly for me to spend the weekend at the Sewing & Stitchery Expo at Puyallup in Washington State, which I had last visited back in 2011.

 I booked myself in for 4 classes over the 2 days:

• Best Tools & Notions of the Trade.
  I just love this sort of thing you always find out about a new notion or two.
• The Three Crotch Figure!
  Wow this was amazing!  One of them is the one we are all familiar with but the front and back armscye are the other two.  Lorraine Henry is an amazing teacher and she spent more time with me after the class which was very generous.
• The Sheath Dress and Upper Body Fit.
  Again a lot of information that I need to take some time to review.
• Sheila's Knitting Techniques and Tips.
  This was an informative class and again have quite a bit of information to review, however there were 50 attendees which was just too many.  I did submit this feedback to the event management.

This venue is huge and I did find that I needed to plot who I wanted to see to make sure that I managed it in the time frame I had.

This is late in the afternoon, and I am standing at one end of Row 4 (8 Rows in total plus some stands like Vogue Fabrics that are at the very end) with approximately 70 exhibitors.

Now for the goodies that followed me home.

Wraps Per Inch Knit-Kard and WPI Took Kit

Magnetic screwdrivers for your sewing machine- computer safe

2 skeins of Tiger Merino wool Fancy Image Hand-dyed Yarn

4 yards of Eggplant zipper chain with 16 pulls from byannie.com

Clover Press Perfect by Joan Hawley

Kai Scissors Model 7250SE 10"/25cm Tailoring Shears

Cutting Line Designs - One Seam Pants

and My Hearts a'Flutter arrived home separately

BravoBella underwires

Lorraine Henry Measuring Made Easy

3mm masking tape

I attended the Cutting Line Designs fashion parade and have always thought this pattern line was a little bit too boxy for me.  Louise had very cleverly selected a range of models and one was a slim petite lady who looked very stylish in these designs, so I thought I would try them out.

I also purchased a 3 pack of fabric from Marcy Tilton in a dark navy colourway.

Before leaving Australia I had been in contact with PattiB from PatternReview who I had met up with previously in 2001 and we organised to meet up again this year.

Whilst Patti and I were sitting and chatting I spotted Carolyn, Dairy of a Sewing Fanatic who had told me she was attending and said she would like to catch up.

PattiB, me, Carolyn

The photo was taken by either Niema or Gaylen

Niema, Gaylen, Carolyn and I

It was a such a treat to meet them, I have followed Carolyn's blog for many years and it felt like friends catching up, we all chatted and laughed and now I have two more blogs to follow.  Oh and you can see what Carolyn got up to here.

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2016 Stash Out: 0 m
2016 Stash In: 4.5 m

Canada and the USA - travel wardrobe

We have just arrived home from our trip to Canada and the USA and thought I'd share my wardrobe as this time I had to pack ski gear as well.

Time away:
16 days

Where to:
Canada and Puyallup in the USA.

Season:
Winter heading into Spring, however it was still snowing in Silver Star and Revelstoke when we visited and I planned for a temperature range of -2c to 17c.

Activities:
For the first two days I got to explore Vancouver checking out the various fabric shops that I could find, before meeting up with Mark and then driving the 2 hours south crossing the border into the USA to spend the weekend at the Sewing & Stitchery Expo, at Puyallup, Washington State.

Then it was back across the border to Silver Star where we stayed with Mark's sister. Unfortunately I had a skiing accident which thankfully only resulted in a bruised calf but this put a stop to my skiing activities.  Mark had plenty of runs both at Silver Star and Revelstoke with family and friends.

Colour scheme:

What I packed:
(each garment is linked to its original construction post - left to right, top to bottom)

McCalls 8522 coat in aubergine wool (never blogged)

Simplicity 2603 cardigan in brown merino wool (to be blogged)

Grey leather gloves

Jalie 3022 brown yoga pants

Seamster Patterns, Avocada Hoodie

Gap-tastic cowl using Nundle Chaffey wool

Taupe loafers

Kwik.Sew 3740 red/coffee cowl top

BWOF 02-2009-108 boat neck top

Jalie 2908 brown denim jeans

Kwik.Sew 3740 coffee/cream/grey cowl top

Vogue 1247 brown denim skirt

Brown boots

Kwik.Sew 3740 Orange Swirls

Kwik.Sew 3740 Sandra Knit

Jalie 2908 navy denim jeans

Orange gortex ski jacket

Black ski pants

Black boots

Black snow boots

Not pictured are my pyjamas, lingerie and my thermals for skiing.

I also had a separate boot bag for my ski boots and helmet.

Oh and I did purchase a puffy jacket on sale which turned out warmer than my McCalls Coat.

Silver Star Village, look at the snow depth!

Verdict:
Again this wardrobe worked very well for me, all tops went with the bottoms and the yoga pants and hoodie were perfect for breakfast in the morning with family and friends and good to get into after a day out to wind down after a full day.

We did wash twice whilst we were away and this is part of our trips so no bother at all.

A selection of jewellery did accompany me and feel this changed the look of some of the combinations.

Vancouver:
Before I left I found The Sewaholic Guide to Fabric Stores in Vancouver  and had this printed out for my 2 days in Vancouver before Mark arrived.

Some of them were a bit further afield for public transport but I did manage to find:

and these two pieces of paisley rayon followed me home:

and across the road was Atex Fabric Store which had some gorgeous wools but I did behave myself trying to remember all the wools in my stash at home.

Then around the corner was Button Button,

where some special buttons came home with me, you will have to wait for these.

I will be back soon to share the rest of my trip.

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2016 Stash Out: 0 m
2016 Stash In: 3 m

2015 in Review

Happy New Year!

I am a bit late to the party but once again Gillian from Crafting A Rainbow has again encouraged us all to have a look at what we have achieved in 2015 and where we would like to go in 2016.

It has been another quiet year for me for my sewing, I seem to be missing the time in my sewing room before work, part is due to exercise but that is not every morning.

Sewing Hits

These are the pieces that I have constantly worn, or are favourite makes that due to the weather has resulted in very little wear so far.

KS 3740 long sleeve in orange swirls and short sleeves using yellow slub jersey

Rose Hip Tights by Seamster Patterns

Jalie 2908 Jeans

and this one I can't wait for it to get cooler to wear

Jalie 2320 cord jean jacket

Sewing Misses

There is only one and that is due to more adjustments that need to be made to make it more comfortable to wear, the Diane Von Frustenberg wrap dress

Highlights, Reflections and Goals

Highlights

There are a few highlights this year, all sewing related but that is what I love to do.

1.  Spending a week with Claire Sheaffer for a week of Couture at Armidale

2.  Being a joint winner for the Pattern Review Jeans Contest which are above as I just love my Jalie Jeans.

3.  Having a fantastic week with my sewing buddies at the ASG Convention in Brisbane!


Reflections

I have again this year taken my time to sew and after spending a week with Roberta Thompson at the ASG Convention in Brisbane this year, I know that I need to go back to some of Roberta's notes from years ago.  Going back to basic steps when I want to work on a new pattern long before you cut the fabric e.g. the DVF wrap dress for instance.

I am also addicted to fabric, thankfully not as bad as last year but still too much fabric came in 32.8 when only 25.55 went out.  These figures are quite different to what was on this last sewing post as I have two items for hubby which I need to get photos of and then there are a number of new pieces in the stash that I haven't shared, so it is time to come clean.


Goals

My goals for 2015 weren't semi successful:

1. Pants - well I am closer to what I want but not there yet.
2. Sewing basics - short sleeve summer tops, well I have made two but they aren't really work appropriate.
3. Enter a Contest - two this year at Pattern Review, the jeans above and the Kate Top which I entered for the last contest of the year.

and for 2016,

1. Yes pants again this year!
2. Lingerie - I really want to make my own.
3. I enjoy entering contests so lets see if my plans can be completed.
4. Not sewing but knitting it is what I do when I can't take my sewing machine so I want to learn Picking (Knitting) instead of Throwing and to have a garment knitted.

Most importantly I want to thank everyone who visits my blog and leaves comments.  If you are having problems commenting please let me know as I believe there have been some issues with Blogger, my email address is under my complete profile.

Finally here is the annual collage of my makes for 2015.