Sometimes it is a matter of priorities and at the moment my focus is on making a dress for Miss O. It will be our gift for her 8th birthday next week. This is the pattern and fabric that I have chosen to use.
Category Archives: Sewing
A Simple Storage Solution
4 CommentsSeveral years ago we bought 2 free-standing hanging racks. They were for our daughters who were both living in accommodation that had no built-in wardrobes.
Fast-forward a few years and their circumstances changed and the hanging racks both ended up at our place. One was boxed up in the garage and after a while I sold it on Gumtree. The other was quite useful as I had it in the spare bedroom/sewing room. I also use it to hang clothes waiting to be ironed or wheel it into the lounge-room to dry clothes in front of the fire during winter.
I am working hard to streamline my sewing room and reduce the general clutter. When I sold the small chest of drawers that had previously lived in the wardrobe it meant that I could use the hanging rail in the wardrobe for the ironing that was yet to be done.
The hanging rack can be dismantled but it is difficult to store. I am not ready to part with it yet as it is useful during the winter months.
I decided to make a storage bag. I found some pieces of very strong cotton fabric in my stash and fashioned a bag which was big enough to hold all of the pieces. I added a couple of ties and it was finished.
Here are a couple of photos showing the finished article doing its job – holding the disassembled hanging rack. I simply tied the ties in a knot over the rail at the desired length.
Now I am off to do some more sorting in the sewing room.
Have you got any creative storage solutions? Please share.
No Visible Change
2 CommentsI have finally made it to my sewing room and done a small project.
This is one of 4 dresses that I own which are all the same style.
They are perfect in every way – except one. The do not have any pockets.
I have another dress that I bought recently and to my delight it has 2 large set-in pockets which are really handy but totally invisible. This made me realise that it would be a simple project to add pockets to the existing dresses.
The first pocket is done and I am very happy with the result.
Here is a view looking into the pocket.
Finally, this is the inside of the dress.
While this may not be feasible in a tight, fitted dress it is certainly easy in a dress with some fullness below the waistline.
I wear these dresses to work and as I am in an open office I tend to listen to music with earphones on my iPod. I can leave the iPod on the desk but it is much easier to have it in my pocket so that it comes with me whenever I jump up from the desk to go to the printer/photocopier etc. Handy to pop a handkerchief in, too.
Do you look for pockets in garments?
Red, Recycled & Revamped
6 CommentsIt is definitely spring-cleaning time and it seems that many of us are taking a long, hard look at what is in the wardrobe.
This is a gorgeous, lightweight trenchcoat that my sister retrieved from her wardrobe recently. She offered it to me as she admitted that it was really a bit too big for her and she had never felt entirely comfortable with it. The coat fits me perfectly and being the perfect shade of red made it doubly attractive.
She did point out that the buttons on one sleeve had been damaged with one completely missing and the other one broken in half.
I went to Lincraft in the city today and found some buttons to replace them with.
They are the same size and style as the originals but are plain red rather than a variegated red/black as the others are. I am going to replace all 4 buttons on the sleeves and while they will be slightly different to the ones on the front opening, I don’t think that is going to matter.
I am looking forward to doing the necessary repairs so that this coat is ready to be a really useful addition to my wardrobe.
This is the sort of positive story that is happening every day when you choose to let go of things that are not quite right and languishing in the cupboard. There is someone out there for whom it will be perfect. They may be a family member, an op shopper or someone looking on eBay or even a Facebook Buy, Swap, Sell page.
Some Sewing
Leave a commentYou may remember that earlier this year I ran a series of posts titled “Sew My Stash Sunday”. Well I have finally got back to my sewing room and continuing to sort and cull. Of course, I did not get too far as I was inspired to actually sew. I have made 2 little t-shirts (Size 1) from a piece of fabric that I found last week when helping my mother sort through some excess fabric. I just have to put the ribbed neckbands on and they will be complete. There was some blue ribbing that was with the fabric so that is what I will use.
Next, I found a couple of pieces of fleece and have cut out some tracksuit pants.
The black ones are a size 2 and the red spotted ones are a size 6. The spotted fabric would not be my first choice for tracksuit pants but it was a piece leftover from a dressing gown I made for my grand-daughter a few years ago. They might make a snug pair of pyjama bottoms that will keep someone warm.
That is a couple more pieces of material gone from my pile and hopefully will be of use to someone.
An Antimacassar
1 CommentI recently made a new antimacassar (headrest cover) for an armchair which belongs to my mother.
The original concept of these linens dates from the Victorian era and you can read more about them here. They were draped over the headrest of a chair or sofa but I chose to use some elastic to hold my handiwork in place.
I cut up a brand new pillowcase which had some promotional printing on either end. It was in Mum’s stash of new linen but was unlikely to ever be used as a pillowcase and it was perfect for making this. In fact, this is only half of the story as there were 2 pillowcases and I made another for a second chair.
It is easy to forget how much wear and tear the headrest of an armchair takes. The other chair is also leather and the ptch at the centre of the headrest had actually worn right through some time ago. Mum had made an antimacassar for that chair using a small linen table runner but that had subsequently worn to the point where it was almost worn out.
Now the two chairs have new antimacassars, there are two less pillowcases stashed away and I did not have to buy anything new for this simple but effective sewing project.
Sew My Stash Sunday – 15
Leave a commentToday I made a start on sewing a shirt I cut out a few weeks ago. It is a piece of material that was given to me some time ago and I am making a shirt for my daughter. This is an illustration of the pattern I am using.
I am using flat fell seams wherever possible on the shirt. This is the type of seam that is generally used in purchased business shirts, boxer shorts and jeans. This article explains the method very clearly. I like to use them as they provide extra strength and there are no raw edges inside the garment.
Here is a close-up of a section of the finished side seam. The triangular section on the right-hand side is the side dart on the front.
I have sewn the side darts in the fronts as well as long darts in the back which will create a nice fit. The shoulder seams and side seams are done.
The shirt has a two-piece collar – collar and band, but I think I overlooked drafting the piece for the band. I got side-tracked while I looked for the other piece and the sewing ground to a halt. Hopefully, I will get some more done this week. In the meantime I will need to buy some buttons as I do not have anything suitable in my collection
Sew My Stash Sunday – 14
Leave a commentI have a completed garment to share with you this week.
This is the top I have made to take to Singapore later in the year. I bought the fabric a couple of months ago at Sckafs Fabrics at Indooroopilly Shopping Centre. The prices are not cheap but they have a range of top-quality fabrics that you won’t find in Spotlight or Lincraft. This is a lightweight 100% cotton fabric but it looks luxurious and would be suitable for wearing in the evening.
I made a prototype here and the only adjustment I have made is to make the sleeves a bit longer so that they are elbow-length.
Remember this skirt?
Weeks ago I said that it was finished apart from the handsewing – yoke facing and hem. It has remained in that state for several weeks but today I did the hem and hopefully the facing will be done by next week. It was this skirt that I had in mind when I chose the fabric for the top. There are many colours in the floral pattern, including mint green. I think the top will look equally good with black or white trousers.
This skirt was even less advanced so today I attached the yoke and facing, inserted the zip and hemmed it. There is now only the handstitching on the facing to do.
The reason I did not finish the skirts completely was that I ran out of daylight. I find handsewing in artificial light quite difficult so prefer to do it during the day. Even though the skirts are not quite finished, I am pleased with my progress this week.
Sew My Stash Sunday – 13
Leave a commentThe black lawn to line the yoke of the blouse has been bought, cut out and pinned to the yoke pieces. That is where the sewing stopped for this week. A birthday celebration and houseguests, including grandchildren put paid to any more sewing.
However, there has been some activity in the sewing room.
I found a use for this set of mini-drawers which came from my mother. They are now on my sewing table and contain various small sewing items.
Next, I repositioned this chest of drawers to sit under the table. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of that before. I previously had to move them, and they are very heavy, every time we needed to pull the trundle bed out.
Finally, I did do some fabric work this afternoon, although it was not strictly sewing. I started cutting some old t-shirts that i got on Freecycle into strips. My plan is to make a plaited floor rug like this.
I have plaited this piece which is about 8 metres in length, so far. I will need quite a bit more before I have enough so keep watching for the finished article.
The stash has grown rather than shrunk this week as I was given some fabric by a work colleague. More about that another time.
Sew My Stash Sunday – 12
2 CommentsI am pleased to report that I have actually finished something. Remember this trial from a couple of weeks ago?
Well, I went and bought the silver/grey lawn to line the front yoke. It cost me the princely sum of $1.80. I then made the top with one slight alteration from the original pattern. I made the front 8cm narrower as I felt there was too much fullness in it for my liking.
It was simple and easy to make and has no fastenings of any kind. I am really pleased with the look of the finished garment and am looking forward to wearing it. It is easy to forget that this was only ever a prototype so it is an added bonus that I get a pretty top to wear as well.
Buoyed by the success of my trial I was ready to cut out the next top. Here are the pieces cut out and ready to sew.
As with the first top, I need to buy some lawn for the lining of the yoke and the back neck facing so that is on my ‘to do’ list for this week. I would normally use the same fabric for the lining and facing, however, in both of these instances the fabric is so fine that the pattern from the lining pieces could show through and disrupt the look of the finished garment.
organised castle 