I think I almost have too many clothes now....

 Where does the time go? Winter is now upon us down here in Melbourne, and I've been sewing some warmer clothes. I didn't end up participating in the whole of Me Made May, I did a week in the middle though! I was sick of selfies after a week, I tell ya! Watching everyone on Instagram and their blogs is so inspiring though, I've found patterns I'd never thought Id try. Here's a few...

The Rigel Bomber- I first saw it over here, and fell in lust! I don't have a jacket of this style, I tend to go for a coat, but I'm hoping to change that! I made my first one up in a polka dot denim from Spotlight, and pick rib.

Here's the 'fail' welt pocket....not easy. I also went a thinner cotton pocket. Unfortunately it's not lined, and my inside of the jacket showing the pockets looks like a dog's breakfast! So my second one (fabric picked already) will be lined. More for the warmth factor, denim can be a bit cold.

You can probably tell I like pink...

and hamming it up with some 'double denim polkadot' combo.

I loved a bit of fluoro at the moment, so snapped up so duck from Spotlight and made a 2nd large slouch, a real tried and true favourite. Unfortunately it is no longer available, so I'll treasure my copy....

 I definitely wear these 2 out together...

 

I ordered some fabric a while ago from Girl Charlee. I made my first cardigan! I was really happy with their service, and buying without 'touching' the fabrics was a bit scary, but I'm happy with what I got. I've even put in a 2nd order....to make another cardigan!

This is called 'sweater knit', and is so cosy and soft. Really simple to sew as well, I'm so much more confident with knits these days. Though I think I've worn out the overlocker and it needs a service...

 

Styled for work...

 I also 'drank the Kool Aid' and snapped up this pattern. I've made a few of the Portfolio dresses, and the pattern was discontinued...but came back with a V neck, and a new name! I really like this, so comfortable and easy. The fabric is from the Lisette range currently out at Spotlight, a drill.

This (summery) top  has been worn a few times, not sure for the colder months though! I got it as part of the Perfect Pattern Parcel, which is a great initiative. I'm already planning to get the 3rd parcel, just for the bathers alone!

 And last, but not least, the Kimono Tee, a free pattern which you get by signing up to the newsletter. My first one was a bit small, but it found a new home, and my 2nd one is a firm fave- and heaps of comments! The lady in the pet shop loved this fabric! From Spotlight, I've never tried the cotton jerseys, always going for 2way stretch, what was I thinking? They are excellent, when on special they are a cheap, original tee shirt. Washing and wearing well at the moment too.

I see leopards....

There's a bit of sewing and non-sewing going on over here. I want to try and participate in 'Me Made May' this year, where I can wear 'handmade by me' for the month of May, so I'm trying at fill the gaps in my wardrobe! More on that later though, I'll show you what I've been doing for everyone else...

I gave the girl free choice of fabrics at Spotlight to make an outfit for her bestie's birthday party. (We'd actually bought a long sleeve denim dress from Target she'd had her eye on, but was too hot and uncomfortable!) This light top (not sure the fabric, but a pain to sew and heaps of thread pulls, grrrr!) suited the day much better! I used a pattern, but ended up taking it in and adjusting so much, I may as well have cut a rectangle with a whole for the head!

I made the leggings too, from a tried and true pattern. It's a ponte stretch (from Spotlight as well) and she adores them! They have the gathered elastic bit on the outer leg, gives em an extra bit of cute. Hmmm, something about this outfit makes me think in about 20yrs I'll hear 'How could you let me go out in THAT?? It's pretty out there!

We ended up buying a denim jacket, as the fussiness and umming and ahhing over styles, fabrics etc was doing my head in! Gone are the days when I can whip something up and she wears it regardless- I have a pile on non-worn handmade stuff to prove it! I made the leggings again, though, she's pretty mad on leopard print at the moment.

I also made some bags for a happy customer, she chose some great fabrics, definitely not my colour schemes, but a real pleasure to sew with. Another fave pattern by You Sew Girl (but unfortunately discontinued)

 A little extra pillow for her son...is that the cutest pillowcase you've seen? I joked that they would all have names within a day!

We had a lazy long weekend a few weeks ago, and we joined Cam for another basketball game- and another Tigers win! We're officially fans!

  

We had a great long day out, with dinner and a play at the park on the way home. The perfect weather made it easy to chill out!

I finally dug into my wee Liberty stash and ran up this pattern, which I'd printed forever ago and hadn't made up! I'd also been after a cute pincushion, similar to these.

 

I also cut up some scraps and made a bigger one, gosh, it is sooo cute! 

I've been carrying the bigger one around all week, despite not having a minute in the workday to do any knitting at the moment. It makes me smile!

Hope your last few weeks have been stitchy and smiley too!

Back soon to show you some clothes.

Grainline Moss skirt

So now I've shown you my 'disatser', time to you show you the successes! These are ones I've titled 'it wont happen overnight, but it will happen'! 

I bought this pattern, as I've tried a few other patterns, but the real reason I made it was it made everyone look skinny! Lets face it, isn't that why we chose a pattern as we want to look like the model on the cover ? Well, I do, apparently!

So I used some sparkly denim Ive had in the stash forever, and completely stuffed it up the first time- I managed to put the fly in back to front! and couldn't face the unpicking, so onto the UFO pile it went!

Luckily I decided, as I'm sure most of us do, that the beginning of 2014 is for finishing of the UFO'S! And I'm actually enjoying it! Take this skirt....

I persisted with the unpicking- and the zip went in surprisingly easily! The the waistband, and before I knew it...

  

I'm a bit in love with the pockets! Ahh, Liberty....

Sneaky late night shot. I added the bottom panel, I don't think anyone needs to be subjected to my thighs...

And the day time photo shoot! These little slides are amazing, and stay done up well. It's been on high rotation and is super comfy for work...I do tend to leave a glittery trail on any chair I sit on, but that's cos 'I'M A FAIRY' hehe

So then I had a plan. I'd made a green fluro denim skirt when I was procrastinating about mending the other one (yep, I'm fickle like that) but didn't 'love' it- I didn't add the bottom band, so it was a bit short, and I had a cunning plan with some cut up denim I had from jeans...

  

Ta-Da! Unfortunately, I don't have the grain of the bottom panel going the right way, so its a bit bunchy around the hem.

  Another masterful zip! (I did this one right first time, Go figure!)

And added some cute back pockets. I realise this breaks up the expanse of 'green butt' that was the other reason I didn't love it!

Some cute pockets too.

Got time for one more? I had a Laura Ashley brand skirt from the op shop that I was wearing to death...it started getting a bit loose, so I thought I'd take it in so I could keep wearing it. after it sat on the mending pile for about 6mths, it fit perfectly again! But the waistband was a bit stretched, so an unpicking unveiled the truth.

  No interfacing on the waistband! I added some, of course, and put it all back together.

And added the nifty slide thing. The buttonhole was all stretched, and I ended up shaving about 1/2inch of each end of the waistband.

I won't bore you with the details, but I also whipped up this one as my 'first day back at work' outfit.

Problem is, I have this in my head the whole time I wear it!

Keeping Out Of Trouble Part 1

Spring is in the air! I was a bit tired of the old winter wardrobe, and the beautiful week of spring weather recently spurred me to update the wardrobe a bit. I dove into the stash and found some nice medium weight denim, and 2 hours later....

a skirt! Pattern by this chickie, and you can buy it from here. I'm lucky (or unlucky, depends how you look at it!) to be the same size as I was the last time I made it, so I had the pattern all ready, and have made a few now so  it was a great quick make.

The top is another Alma blouse, the seersucker gingham *sigh* was bought specially for it- a few weeks prior! I love this fabric....I cheated this time and didn't put a zip in, as it fits easily over my head, and I could have taken a bit in the shoulders so the tight cardi doesn't sit a bit funny- but I'm hoping for less need for the cardi in a few weeks!

The warmer weather has (temporarily) altered the need for the knitted cowls; I threw together a quick 'infinity' style scarf, a long tube twisted and stitched together. I used some lawn from Spotlight as a practice, trying to get the guts to cut up some Liberty lawn!

Remember the Triple Zip swap I mentioned a few posts ago? Mine was very well received, with a wonderful blog post about it over here. I also received a gorgeous pouch, from manybooks4u (on flickr).

It was full of yummy goodies, I've never seen coloured magnetic snaps, and have fallen in love Glamping now I have a mini charm pack!

 And last update- the scrappy zig zag is pieced and ready to go....when I get to the Spotlight sale and pick up some batting!

This one's a keeper, that's for sure!

             Stayed tuned for part 2 where I reveal a special little job I was asked to do....

Flat Cap

I kept forgetting to blog this one, and Carmel reminded me today! Cam made one too, and a few others I don't think have blogged it yet.

It's available as a instant download, which I've found is a great quick way to get a pattern! No trawling the shops/ordering online and waiting for postage. 

This took me a few hours, mainly fabric choice being the hardest decision, of course! Not having made one of these hats before, or worn one really, I went with a medium/heavy denim- in hindsight, not the best fabric! It all worked fine- eventually! But I love how it turned out, so worth persisting with a heavier fabric. Just throw on your walking foot and use a denim needle.

This pattern also uses my fave new obsession- this stuff is the bomb! I've used the Birch brand one before, and it was really smelly and sticky- this is the opposite. I even basted all of Henry's quilt with it- inside! Amazing stuff.

Anyway, back to the hat! 

  

She's such a better looking model than me!

The lining was a repurposed shirt from the stash. A bit of poly/cotton/rayon-ey stuff, worked perfectly.

 Thanks for the challenge and all the tips I learnt with this one, Nikki!

For Sale (finally)

Yay, it's finally happening! 

I have listed these bags on my Facebook page, 'For sale'. I decided to start small with something with no fees, as I have no extra money at the moment, and hey, we all have to start somewhere, right?

Descriptions and more pics are over 

here;

here;

 and here.

I was thinking the other day, though, that all my pics seem to be of 'finished' things, and this isn't really what a blog/ my blog is about, I need to blog the process more! Unfortunately, all my fellow 'Instragrammers would have seen these before, but a lot of people aren't on Instagram, and are missing out! (on my pics, I mean, haha)

I'm going to try and blog more 'in process' pics, the finished item is good, but it's fun seeing the 'behind the scenes', isn't it?