Sailor blouse progress..

My Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing arrived in the mail the other day so I'm back on track to make this sailor blouse after some early frustrations.  I'm enjoying watching Gertie.  She's so lovely on the Creative Bug video for the making of this sailor blouse - which is just as well, as I must have watched the 'Drafting a collar' episode at least 5 or 6 times.  I'm clearly a person who needs some written instructions as well as the video as I easily loose track of what my next step is.  Anyway, the collar is now drafted (a bit nervous about this), the pieces are now cut and interfacing ironed on, so I hope to make some good progress on this over the weekend.  Who am I kidding, I'm hoping to finish the damn thing.

I'm also hoping to have a go at making the Perfect Zip Bag by Elizabeth Hartman as it won't be long before I will have to open my sweat shop up for some preschool fete making so I better get in some practise. I've been so inspired by all the lovely recent versions from Gail at Today's Agenda that I'm hoping to make a few of these for the handmade stall.

A sewing dare

Back at the beginning of the year, I watched as Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow dished out dares on twitter to anyone game.  Since then there have been so many fabulous sewing dares given and achieved.  My favourite completed dare is the Shibori Romper by Morgan. Do check it out if you haven't - it is just stunning. 

Anyway, at the time I felt I had too many things on and too muc sewing that I wanted to get finished prior to going overseas. Now I feel up for the challenge so I asked Gillian to dare me and egged on a bit by Velosewer on twitter I agreed to:

"To draft a pattern using a new to me fabric and then find an occasion to wear it "

Now the dare itself doesn't seem too hard I suppose, but I have in mind to try and make this dress by Claudie Pierlot that I saw in France and commented on back then.  What am I going to do with a sweatshirt dress with sequins? Who knows!! That's part of the challenge!  Velosewer suggested perhaps a date night and yes, with the imminent re-opening in October (hopefully) of my favourite Canberra spot, Parlour Wine Room, it could get a run at that.

I think it looks straight forward enough but I'm not underestimating this.  And the fabric? Getting the right fabric will be tricky.  I'll keep you posted!
Oh and if I get cracking I could enter Erin and Ping's Copy Cat Challenge.  Anyway, lets not get ahead of myself.  For now I'll have to keep my eyes open for sequins fabric!!?!

FINISHED! Sinbad & Sailor O'Keefe skirt

This was my first foray into the world of Sinbad & Sailor patterns. All the patterns are really cute but this is their latest release, the O'keefe skirt and needing some new work skirts in my wardrobe was taken by the pleating and pocket on one side.

This is a relatively quick and easy make. Sometime ago I had printed, taped and cut the pattern pieces out. Friday night I cut the fabric and threaded the machines and then Sunday,over about 3 hours I made it up.  I found the skirt too short for the style I like to wear to work so ended up attaching a 4 inch panel at the bottom, a la the moss skirt.  Hindsight says I should have just lengthened the skirt in the first place, but the panel works ok. It's not perfect but it is ok.

I didn't line the skirt either. The fabric I bought at Tessuti is a heavy navy twill (42% cotton and 58% polyamide) from Germany. It has a slight shiny and papery (?)  feel to it and I felt like it didn't really need lining... or maybe I was just being lazy.

Despite the pleating on one side, it is reasonably fitted.  I made the size 10 right out of the packet without any adjustments (except for the length). The fit is good. The waist is a teensy bit tight, but I'm hoping to squeeze into it regardless and with the onset of Spring hope for a little bit of weight loss around that area :)

 

Overall I think it will get some good wear to work during Spring and Summer and the pleated pocket on one side?  Great! It is a lovely design feature and is the perfect size for my hand.