Pietra pants, Sadie tunic and Sorrento bucket hat

Summer is on its way and I was determined to find some time to sew. Time to sew, for myself at least, has been rather limited for a while, but it is always such a joy. This outfit began with the Pietra pants by Closet Case Patterns, which I was inspired to make after seeing the gorgeous versions on the Tessuti blog.

I had one metre of navy sandwashed linen from a recent(ish) sale at Morgan and Marks, a local Perth designer who sometimes sells off their excess fabric. There was just enough for these pants with some creative cutting, but I had to use a different navy fabric for the pocket lining, which does not show at all.

This was my second pair of Pietra pants. The first was a wearable toile in beige linen. I made these exactly according to the pattern. They are a bit baggy for my liking and the waist is very high, which I find a bit uncomfortable, possibly because I'm not used to wearing such high waisted pants. For the navy pair, I decided to remove 5cm from the rise of the pants by folding in the front pattern piece at the lengthen/shorten line and folding the top of the back piece, facings and front pocket pieces over by 5cm. 

I feel much more comfortable with the rise of the navy pair. I also took in the side seams of the navy pair for a closer fit.

The blouse is the StyleArc Sadie tunic, which I have made before. Both times I made it I shortened the length, but I can't remember by how much.

This Sadie is made in a light cotton voile with an embroidered flower pattern. I think this fabric came from a designer sale as well, but I've had it for so long I'm not sure!

The top worked quite well in this slightly sheer fabric, but the neck and hem facings are very visible. I was careful to make them as neat as possible! A flesh-coloured bra is also essential.

And finally, the hat. I was recently invited to the launch of an Image Stylist business at Garden City Shopping Centre by B, my friend and ally in all things sewing, fashion and food. B had won tickets to the event and we had a very decadent time drinking pink cocktails and surreptitiously inhaling the grazing table. The stylist, Peta Preston, showed us her picks for the upcoming season, which included a bucket hat! The model is wearing one made from white broderie anglaise, which I may copy. I made mental notes of all the pieces I liked and the patterns I would use to make them. The bias cut skirt (same model) was on my to-make list.  

I used the Sorrento bucket hat pattern, which is free from Perth designer Elbe Textiles and which came to my attention after being made extensively by Sue from Fadanista. This is a fab pattern and I highly recommend it. There will be more! Cheers x

StyleArc Sadie Tunic and Closet Case Patterns Sasha Trousers

 

I've had my eye on both these patterns since they were released and they did not disappoint! I bought the StyleArc Sadie Tunic pattern after seeing Blogless Anna's gorgeous versions here and here. I've had this silk for quite some time after snatching it up at a local Morrison sale. I think quite a few of the Perth sewers have the same fabric. It is soft and dreamy to wear. I'm not even going to tell you what my teenage son said about the print. I think it's rather elegant!

The standout feature of this pattern is the sleeve design. It is so cool and interesting and I should have got a better picture of it. I was careful to follow the instructions and it was fairly straightforward to put together.

I also love the curved hem and the neckline and just everything really. The proportions seem to work very well together.

The back has a centre seam to accomodate a button and loop closure at the neckline. I ended up skipping this as I can easily fit the top over my head without it. Next time I may cut the back on the fold.

OK, now I'll just tuck that tunic in so you can see the pants. These are the Closet Case Patterns Sasha Trousers. (Embarrassingly I always have to stop myself saying that name in a Canadian accent since I heard Heather Lou speaking on the 'I love to sew' podcast! By the way, that episode is worth a listen if you haven't heard it yet).

I spent ages examining the sizing of these pants before cutting them out as the ones in the pattern pictures looked too tight to me. I wanted mine fitted, but not super tight. I read the blog posts, I looked at the size charts and got myself into a bit of a tizz. In the end I decided I was overthinking it and just made the size according to my measurements.

I made a toile and did a couple of fit modifications according to this very helpful blog post. I could have been fussier on the fit, but I had had enough of taking back selfies over my shoulder so got started. 

I am very happy with the result. These pants are so comfy and look smart and modern. The fit is just right and the stretchy bengaline allows easy movement. As an added bonus they go with my new blouse. I'm ready for an outing!

Sophie Swimsuit with custom-printed fabric

I am very excited to show you the second garment I have made using fabric printed with one of my Mum's own paintings. You may have seen the dress I made a few weeks ago with a Eucalyptus design.

Painting by Chris Oxberry

This painting depicts masses of everlastings (flowers) on a red-earthed, Australian outback landscape. I chose the lower part of the painting for the design with just a bit of the tree at the top.

I had the fabric printed by Contrado UK. This is the 'Slinky lycra matt 210gsm' and I absolutely recommend it for a swimsuit. The fabric is beautiful quality, soft but firm with good stretch recovery. The printing turned out really well on this fabric too as the colours are accurate and very vibrant. I have spoken about ordering from Contrado in this blog post.

I ordered a piece of fabric 100cm wide by 60cm long and just squeezed this swimsuit out (size 8 body, size 5 cup) with only tiny scraps left over - perfect! I had worked out my exact fabric requirements before ordering so I didn't have any waste. I cut the pieces from a single layer of fabric, which meant more cutting, but much less wastage, so totally worth it when working with special fabric.

The pattern is the Sophie Swimsuit by Closet Case Patterns. I have made this before and loved it, so the choice was easy. This time I added an inch to the torso length as my last one was just a bit short in the body causing a rather unfortunate chesty wardrobe malfunction on a very crowded beach! I think now this one might be a tad too long as there is some wrinkling at the back, but it's definitely to be better safe than sorry. The swimsuit is lined with orange lycra from my ridiculously extensive lycra stash. Other than that, everything was the same as for my previous Sophie Swimsuit.

This project took a lot of plotting and planning with my Mum, detailed measuring of fabric requirements, designing and ordering from the Contrado website, super careful cutting and slow sewing. 

I loved every minute!

I'm thrilled with my one-off swimsuit and can't wait until it's warm enough to actually swim in it. Maybe I need to plan a tropical holiday...