Metalicus-inspired tank dress: a mini tutorial

If you read my blog regularly, you will know that I love Aussie designer Metalicus. This is another dress inspired by one I found last year on the Metalicus website. The dress has a ribbon-embellished tank-style top and a lightly gathered skirt. This particular dress is no longer available - unless you make it yourself that is! 

This is a mini-tutorial that should contain enough details to make this dress yourself if you have some basic sewing skills. What are you waiting for?

I wasn't inspired to try to replicate that complicated ribbon design, so I found some textured jersey fabric to use for the top. I just used a basic tank pattern and chopped it off a little bit below the bustline.

I finished the edges with fold-over elastic (FOE). Lightly stretch the FOE as you sew it down (more details here). The skirt is just a rectangle of fabric (mine was approx 150cm wide by 77cm for the skirt length) sewn down the back and lightly pleated. I just eyeballed the pleats and pinned them in place before sewing. The skirt is attached to the top using a serger (or use a stretchy stitch on your sewing machine). I used a light jersey fabric for the skirt that I bought in Bali.

I added a tube of the skirt fabric to cover the join between the top and the skirt. I attached it with a few hidden hand-stitches in four places so it could stretch easily when dressing.

It was a quick and simple dress to make and it's a dream to wear.

I apologise for the grainy photos. My good camera got sand in the lens and is out of action. Here is a close up of some of the detail.

I would love to see pictures if you try to make this yourself. Please only make it for personal use and link back to me if you blog it - thanks!

Skinny cargo style Jalie jeans

Here they are! They are not perfect, but I am so pleased with my first attempt at making jeans. I used some medium weight grey stretch fabric that I bought in Bali. I was worried that it might be too lightweight for this pattern, but I think it is fine. I reinforced the back pockets and fly with interfacing.

I made the higher waisted version but it is still below my belly button by a couple of inches - not sure why! I used my hip measurement to choose the size and decided on size S on that basis. However, my waist was bigger than a size S and next time I will trace the pattern with a size S hip blending into a larger size waist. The jeans fit me at the waist, but I suspect this is because I realised they were going to be tight and inserted the fly with smaller seams to give a bit more room at the waist. This now means the fly isn't as neat as it could be, but my t-shirt covers this small problem!

I also changed the leg shape from bootcut to skinny, by tracing some pants I had, and lengthened it by 6cm (3cm above the knee and 3cm below). I added the side pocket as well, so I did the outside leg seams first, attached and finished off the pocket and then sewed the inside leg. The pattern suggests doing the inside leg first, but the other way round worked fine for me. I inserted the fly according to this method, which worked well, although it is my first fly so I can't compare this method to any other.

So overall I say YAY! I have already bought some stretch denim to make my second pair. I would love to hear comments from anyone who has stumbled across this post while they are researching Jalie jeans. I spent ages reading reviews of this pattern and trying to find bloggers with my shape who had also made it. Thanks must go to Tanit-Isis for her useful article on making jeans.

Do you like the pocket stitching? I used the design from the Faberge jeans I used to live in during the 80s!!!

Shared with some of the lovely link parties listed at the bottom of this blog.

I'm making jeans. Eeeeep!!

I have never, ever, ever made jeans before, never even considered the insane possibility of doing so and I can hardly believe that I am now! I stumbled across the Jalie jeans pattern in blogland recently and the more I read about it, the more it sounded like something no sewist worth her weight in fusible interfacing can do without.

So I bought it, altered it to what I hope is a skinny cargo shape, grabbed some grey fabric from my Bali buying spree and I'm off and racing.

I can't wait to tell you how I get on. I think they are actually going to work!

A home for my Bali ducks

While I was in Bali earlier this year, I fell in love with the sweet little Balinese ducks. They waddle upright through the rice paddies in long lines, quacking all the way. Occasionally one might fall down a slope away from the others and will quack loudly until its friends come to help it!

So when I found some handmade wooden Bali ducks at a market in Seminyak, I just had to have them. I love how they are so rustic and each has its own unique character. I was worried that we may not get them through the strict Australian customs, but we declared them and they were fine.

Last weekend, I put up a 'Lack' shelf from Ikea for my ducks to live on. I had to cut the shelf so it would fit into the alcove in my wall. This worked fine and the cut edge is hidden by the wall.

Metalicus inspired dress with a gathered neckline

Today I am going to show you the finished dress I made using my recent tutorial for a gathered neckline. I made the dress using fairly heavy textured jersey fabric that I bought in Bali.

The dress is a loose-fitting, long-sleeved style which finishes above the knees. This is such a comfortable, flattering and forgiving style as it skims and lumpy bits (!) and the sleeves balance out the proportions nicely. So nice to wear with leggings and boots on a cold day.

I was inspired by this Metalicus 'Saucer tees' dress. It retails for around AU$170.

I am so happy with my version, which I made for under $10.

I drafted the pattern myself from a combination of other dresses and tops which fit me well and had the style I was looking for.

I cut the pattern out to allow for the gathered neckline as I showed in this tutorial. Then I finished off the raw edges (neckline and cuffs) with fold-over elastic (FOE) that I had bought on ebay. I stitched the FOE down on the right side with a narrow zig-zag. You can also use a straight stitch close to the edge as long as the elastic doesn't need to stretch too much in that area (stretch it a bit as you sew a straight stitch to help with this). I cut the elastic approximately 3/4 the length of the neckline and stretched it to fit. This technique prevents sagging of the finished elastic. I finished the lower hem by folding and using a straight stitch.

Bali holiday

Cocktails on Legian Beach

This isn't a travel blog, but I can't resist sharing some photos from our holiday in Bali. We had 12 days there in mid-May and it was absolutely glorious. Unlike many Perth people, we don't travel to Bali often and I had only been once before, 15 years ago when I was young and single. That was a totally different holiday! This time we wanted to spend some time discovering the country, so we travelled around a bit and stayed in four different places - Sanur, Amed, Ubud and Seminyak. Driving around Bali takes a long time, even short distances, but I didn't mind at all as there is so much to see on the way. All along the roads, even in remote villages, are houses, shops, fields and mountains, full of people going about their daily life. I loved catching glimpses of Balinese life as we passed by. What struck me the most was how creative the Balinese people are. It seems that everyone is making something beautiful all the time, from the simple, but beautiful floral offerings everywhere, to beautiful stone and wood carvings, paintings, silverware, batik, clothing and more. Not to mention the stunning modern wicker furniture and water features - I could have furnished my house and garden many times over if only I'd had a shipping container!

Sanur was a lovely place to wander and explore. Everything is easily accessible there and the people were charming. Our driver, Nyoman, was bursting with personality and we had some fascinating conversations with him about Balinese life.

Sanur Beach

We loved the fruit smoothies and cocktails!

We had a fantastic day at the Bali Safari Park

From there we travelled to Amed on the north coast. This is a quiet village where you can really get away from it all as the tour buses are too big to navigate the winding mountain roads to get there. It is beautiful with the mountains rising up behind the beach. We had a relaxing time and did some snorkelling from a Balinese wooden boat.

Matagiri restaurant and hotel on the way to Amed. Stunning view and delicious buffet lunch

Part of the Amed coastline

Off snorkelling on the Balinese wooden boat

Balinese boat

Sunrise from our hotel

We stayed in Ubud next, in central Bali. Ubud is an interesting town with a very lively market in the centre, where we bought all sorts of interesting handicrafts. The surrounding villages and rice paddies are beautiful, but it looks like a hard life for the rice farmers. We had a brilliant time white water rafting through tropical jungle on the Agung river. One of the highlights was when four Balinese women hitched a ride across the river on our boat, balancing their baskets of washing on their heads the whole time!

Ubud market

It was 400 steps down to the river. The jungle was beautiful. My legs were jelly! Yep, we had to go back up 400 steps at the end!!

The fish doctor in Ubud - what a weird feeling, like a strong electric tingle.

Last stop was Seminyak for some shopping. We loved the Legian and Kuta areas for fantastic shops and markets. I had a leather jacket made by Cahaya tailors on Poppies Lane II in Kuta. They did a wonderful job of copying a Burberry coat I wanted and the fit was perfect. They made two jackets (one also for my husband) in just over 24 hours then delivered them to our hotel. They were prepared to fix any problems with fit or style until we were completely satisfied. I highly recommend this warm, friendly, helpful and talented group of guys (I'll take a photo of the jacket when I have time).

BB gun and bracelets on Seminyak beach

The boys were very happy to have a real BB gun each and as many Pokemon cards as they could carry. Look out for a larger Pokemon bag in future posts. The Balinese love boys and everywhere we went, adults were playing gun battles with them.

I could write so much more about this beautiful country and it's charming people, but for now I need to get back into the sewing room. That lovely Balinese fabric is calling me...

...oh yes, and the food was amazing too!

Fabric shopping in Bali

I've been a bit quiet over the last couple of weeks as we have been away having a fabulous holiday in Bali. Before we left I had written down the addresses of fabric shops that I'd hoped to visit - there is apparently a whole street full of fabric shops in Denpasar. However, travelling with two young children didn't make it possible to get there :(

On the last morning of our trip I decided that I would just be too disappointed if I didn't see any fabric at all, so I left hubby and the boys in the hotel pool (that's our room in the picture - gorgeous!) and hired a driver to take me to nearby Kuta to a large shop there called Alta Moda (in the new Galeria mall). I was able to spend an hour browsing the three floors of fabrics (I could have easily spent longer there). As soon as I entered, an assistant came to help me. I had expected this from reading about the store, so I was quite happy to ask her to help me find what I was after. She was very helpful and polite, as all the Balinese seem to be. I had hoped to find some Metalicus-like fabric (two-way polyamide stretch), but they didn't have exactly that. I did find similar and lovely stretchy fabrics though, which I bought. Most of the fabrics there are medium to light weight, nothing really suitable for winter, but a massive selection for spring and summer. There is also a large selection of suiting and evening fabrics, which I hardly looked at. There were loads of patterned fabrics and I'm sure a quilter would be very excited in there. There were certainly loads of fabrics that I have never seen here in Perth.

The shop is very fancy, with mirrors everywhere. I wandered around the three levels and chose various fabrics that caught my eye - several stretch knits, lycra, linens, an interesting cotton with patchwork and ruffles, a lovely large net-type fabric and more. The fabrics I chose were priced between AU$2.50 to $7 per metre. So cheap! Every time I chose a roll, the assistant would take it downstairs for me. When I had finished choosing, I sat in a fancy chair and a flurry of activity began. I was brought each roll of fabric in turn and asked how much I wanted of each. Then seven assistants worked to measure, cut, package neatly in individual bags and record the details of each fabric! I ended up with 11 fabrics, mostly 2 or 3 metres of each, for a total of AU$82. I was pretty happy with my morning's efforts.

Next time I go to Bali I will definitely be going to the Denpasar fabric strip. Now I've had a taste of what's on offer I want more!!!! I hope this post will be useful for people interested in buying fabric in Bali. I searched the internet for hours before we went away and found very little information. If anyone has comments, questions or more info about fabric shopping in Bali (or anywhere), I would love to hear about it.

Stay tuned for the creations I make with my lovely new fabric.