Perth Frocktails 2015 - Burdastyle 12/2012 #112

After whirring themselves into a frenzy, the sewing machines of Perth fell silent last Saturday evening. It was a very special night - the first ever Perth Frocktails - where the sewers of Perth donned their handmade best and strutted forth to meet each other in real life!

There were 17 of us and it was so lovely to meet and chat about sewing without feeling like you were a total bore! It was also great fun to examine everyone's outfits and get the lowdown on their construction. We had food and cocktails and I just had the best time ever.

I decided early on that if I was going to a Frocktails event (something I'd read so much about on the east Aussie blogs), then I was going to go all out and wear something a bit out of my comfort zone! I first trawled through my patterns and came up with a shortlist. Then I searched through my stash. When my hand alighted on a gold curtain from Remida (Sound of Music anyone?), I knew I was going to attempt to recreate the cover of Burdastyle 12/2012 and make this asymmetrical, draped dress (#112).

Burdastyle 12/2012

This was quite a challenging pattern, but luckily there was a sewing course in the magazine, which helped. Towards the end I got confused and just did my own thing.

My drape doesn't quite look like Burdastyle's, despite lots of fiddling and a few invisible hand stitches. The drape on my dress seemed to emerge from the chest apex area, while the model has none of that and more of a sash effect. This served to provide me with a rather alarming bust profile when standing side-on (below). I decided to just not stand side-on.

Or facing backwards.

I was very disappointed to discover, after sewing my back pieces together, that the fabric had a nap. The pieces of this dress are all cut as a single layer as they are asymmetrical. I had to play with the layout to get them all on the fabric and unfortunately I cut the upper back piece facing differently to all the others. You can see how the light falls on the skirt differently to the bodice. Bummer. Still, I was glad it was only on the back. There were also a few wrinkles along the back, but it was school holidays and I had neither the time or inclination to fix them. I was just happy my invisible zip was invisible!

I made the dress in a straight size 40 with no changes, so the fit was pretty darn good. I didn't have much time and got this done in two days just before the school holidays started. I hung it up for the bias cut hem to do its thing, then hemmed it by hand a few days later.

Despite the issues I mentioned, I was very pleased with this dress. I love the draped part and the way the dress forms natural folds underneath that look like gathers, but aren't. It looked nice without sleeves, but I added them as the evenings are still cool here. It's hemmed to just below knee length. I didn't want to be too wild, what with wearing gold and everything!

Speaking of wearing gold. I have to say, it was a bit nerve wracking, walking through the busy Saturday night crowd in this get-up. I strategically opted to arrive with Carolyn and Sue so I wouldn't feel too self conscious. Good decision. I was even more grateful to be with them when we left at midnight as some drunk bogans sewing fans in a passing car got a bit excited and propositioned us in the car park! Well, who can blame them really?

 

Frocktails. If you haven't got it near you, book a venue and make it happen. You won't be disappointed.

Thank you so much to Nat of Sew Outnumbered for taking the initiative to organise this one. It was fab.

Bye bye winter! The last of my winter sewing for the year.

As a last hurrah before things really heat up down under, I made a warm, winter outfit consisting of a jacket, jeans and long-sleeved top.

Oh, and meet Bubbles! He is a two year old toy poodle and we are looking after him for a month. This was my compromise to (temporarily) appease my nine year old, who wants a second dog. We don't even know the owners, they were strangers who advertised for a dog-sitter on the online classifieds. The things I agree to!

Anyway, back to the jacket. I found this remnant of fabric at Knitwit for $10 (usually $25.95/m). There was a metre, but it was unravelling a bit, hence the low price. It was described as 'an exclusive import from Italy...not a knit, not even a normal woven fabric but it has loads of Italian style; some would even say Missoni style.' I was sold. It is beautiful.

As recommended by Knitwit, I used dark interfacing to strengthen the delicate weave. This fabric is not machine washable, so we'll have to see how it goes. I have never been to a drycleaners, preferring to risk all in the washing machine!

I wanted a simple, boxy style to use up all the scrummy fabric and not have to worry about matching the pattern too much. I flicked through my Burdastyle magazines and chose jacket 122 from the February 2015 issue. 

Burdastyle 02/2015 #122

I had enough fabric for the back and fronts of the jacket, omitting the back vent and cutting the back on the fold. For the sleeves and collar I used some black wool remnants from Potters Textiles. The pattern is unlined, so I drafted a collar, front facing and lining to cover up that interfacing. The lining was silk dupion from the stash.

Pattern matching was impossible at the sides due to fabric restrictions, but I'm still very happy with this as a simple throw-on 'Missoni' jacket. 

I'm just trying to decide if it needs a front button closure.

The next part of the outfit is the jeans. No prizes for guessing that I made my favourite Jamie jeans by Named Clothing yet again!

This time I used a medium blue denim with minimal stretch from Spotlight. I topstitched with bronzey yellow topstitching thread.

There's not much more to say about these jeans as I've said it all before. I love them and have worn them lots already.

The last part of the outfit is this top. Another Presto! Popover Top by SavageCoco. I love this pattern. This one was made using another Knitwit remnant for the front and purple knit fabric from the stash for the back and sleeves.

The Knitwit remnant was a panel print and had two repeats. I placed the pattern in such a way that each front was cut from one panel repeat. The result was a replica of the whole panel right across the front with the centre front seamline being almost impossible to see. This is a bit difficult to describe, but if you've made this top you will get what I mean. Maybe!

I like the effect this gives with the print extending up the neckline. The other benefit was that the fabric was a bit sheer, so this pattern, with its double layer front, was perfect.

The clingy purple knit gives a great fit at the back.

So there we are, a top, jeans and a jacket. OK, bye winter!

Burdastyle Dress (02/2015 #129) - Opinions required!

This is the descriptively named Shift Dress with Slits from the February 2015 issue of Burdastyle. I liked the picture in the magazine and, despite having some reservations, leapt on the cocoon-shaped dress trend bandwagon.

Burdastyle 02/2015#129

The final result has me feeling rather underwhelmed. Actually very underwhelmed now I compare my dress with the magazine picture. Images of Moomintrolls spring to mind...

A Moomintroll Source

Oh dear. The poor lighting isn't helping either. I had a camera problem, combined with a dog barking at new Guinea pig problem resulting in a rather shouty neighbour and a less-than-stellar photo session.

I wanted a winter dress, so chose some ponte pieces from my stash that went together. The grey was used for the main part of the dress, some black and white spots for the under sleeves and front neckline facing and some grey spots for the shoulders, upper sleeves and side panels. The grey spot with random black lines was a very thick and weird fabric I had bought at an op shop ages ago. I have no idea what I was thinking as it's more like something you would cover car seats with than make clothes from. Anyway, the colour went so I used it. I probably should have given it back to the op shop instead.

The lines of this pattern are quite interesting. I like how the side and shoulder panels meet under the arm (below) and how the pockets are incorporated into the side panel.

I incorporated the slits in the front hemline, but omitted the ones in the sleeves as I wanted this to be warm. I added small cuffs instead.

Now, I don't hate this dress, but I don't love it either and I can't quite decide why. I think the shape is not the best on me and looks oversized, even though I went down a size from my usual Burda size for this dress. I have this urge to take in the side seams, but that would spoil the nice seam lines at the sides. I also wonder about the colour. It's a bit bland and pale-looking, although this could be the fault of the black tights and boots. 

I am on the verge of chopping it off into a jumper. I would lose the pockets, but keep the shape and seam lines. I could put a band around the hem to match the cuffs, or not. I wonder whether it would look more sporty and less Moomin as a jumper. I would love to hear suggestions and I will post an update with the final decision.

Hmmm, what to do?

A pinch and a punch - modified Jalie jeans and Burdastyle top (07/2013 #103)

One of my favourite Aussie designers is Sass and Bide (no special links, I just like them). Now and then I will waft around their airy shop, touching and examining and committing to memory my favourite designs, not to mention feeling horrified at the price tags! A couple of years ago I saw some skinny jeans called 'The Pinch'. All S&B clothes have arty farty names. I liked the interesting lines created by the white stripes. Anyway, when I saw that Pattern Review were holding a Bargainista Fashionista contest involving the creation of a garment inspired by RTW (ready to wear), I decided to have a go at making a Pinch, or perhaps a pair of Pinches, of my very own.

Picture saved from Sass and Bide website. No longer available.

Were $190 on Polyvore

I didn't want these super skinny, so I went back to an old favourite pattern, Jalie 2908. I used a modified version of the jeans which I have made before (changes explained here) and which I wear often.

I used a stretch sateen for the jeans and shop-bought bias binding for the stripes. The total cost was $17, so a saving of $173 on the original!

Just imagine the photobombing dog is a luxurious rug!

I had to think about the placement of the stripes and change the order of construction a bit so they went where they were supposed to go, under the back pockets and, the trickiest bit, across the side seams. I also redid the front stripe as I didn't like the placement when I first tried the jeans on. It was difficult to get the stripes in the same place on each leg, but I got pretty close in the end. 

The shiny fabric highlights all the wrinkles, but I quite like the effect actually.

Still imagining that rug?

I'm pretty happy with the fit, although I think my Jamie jeans provide a smoother and better fit overall, for me anyway. I'm just hoping that those stripes lengthen the legs rather than widening the hips!

Once the jeans were done, I needed to find something to wear with them. What goes with gold? Why more gold of course! Enter the twisted tank from Burdastyle 07/2013 (#103). This pattern caught my eye when I first received the magazine, but it's taken me over a year to make it.

Burdastyle Twisted Tank

Part of the dilemma involved the fabric choice. The top required two layers of light fabric. I eventually settled on the gold with a nudy brown colour for the under layer, which peeks out at the shoulders, along with my bra straps. Both fabrics are polyester chiffon.

I had read on other reviews of this pattern that the construction could be a bit tricky. I just followed the instructions and didn't have any problems. The only issue I had was that my fabrics are so delicate. This top is only for gentle outings!

I am naming this 'The Punch' to remind me not to punch anyone while wearing it and because it goes well with 'The Pinch'.

A pinch and a punch for the first month of the year. Or something.

I am very happy with both items, apart from the top being a bit delicate. I definitely feel more of a fashionista than a bargainista in this outfit. I just hope I'm getting away with it!