“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.”
To those of you who celebrate, Merry Christmas! And to those of you who don’t, best wishes for a wonderful holiday and festive season. Much love from my family to yours.
Let’s see if I can remember the details of sewing this outfit – it was way back in September that it was sewn!
The pattern is the Oliver + S Pinwheel Tunic and Slip. The pattern description from the website is as follows: The two pieces in this versatile outfit can be worn together or individually. The short-sleeved, bias-trimmed tunic has a keyhole back-neck opening with ribbon ties. The narrow-strapped slip dress looks adorable as a simple summer dress or as a nightgown. Both pieces feature a bias-trimmed flounce that overlaps at the inverted V-shaped front bottom edge. Worn together, the pair makes a spectacular flouncy dress. Suggested Fabrics: Light- to medium-weight woven fabrics like quilting cotton, shirting, poplin, broadcloth, lawn, voile, batiste, rayon, and linen.
http://oliverands.com/images/product/OLV-OS039PW/OLV-OS039PW_Detail.jpg
The fabric came from Spotlight, and is a woven rayon. The print is from the Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy line – apparently there was some sort of collaboration with whoever supplies Spotlight with fabric to translate some of the quilting fabric designs to garment fabric. It has a beautiful soft handle. I made bias binding for the edges from silk/cotton from Darn Cheap Fabrics.
Size wise I think that I sewed size 7, and it’s still fairly roomy. Stella is pretty skinny for her age, but almost average height, but I usually find that Oliver + S patterns appear to be cut more on the slender side than the wider. Not in this case! Rather than using ribbon to tie the back of the tunic closed, I simply extended the neck bias binding into ties. Easy peasy! By the way, this slip and tunic requires HEAPS of bias binding – make certain that you make plenty!
This wasn’t a difficult outfit to sew. You do need to pay attention to reinforcing the centre front point where the flounce attaches, and take your time a little to ensure that everything fits together nicely. I used my overlocker for much of the construction, but basted some pieces by machine.
Stella wore this outfit to her cousin’s wedding in September and was very happy in it. Stella is quite sensitive to textures and irritations and a soft fabric like viscose is perfect for her (she will absolutely not wear any clothing that she perceives as annoying in any way). The slip slips on over her head (as expected!) and the tunic is also easy to get into. The soft silk/cotton bias binding around the edges, combined with a ribbon tie rather than a hard button, also meets with her approval. I aim to please!
This is another pattern repeat. I last sewed the Simple Tunic from the book Bold and Beautiful Easy Sew Clothes back in early 2014. I found that I wore it fairly regularly, especially once the weather got hot, so decided to sew another before our Queensland/NSW trip in September.
Once again I sewed the smallest size – which as you can see is still very roomy – in linen. This is an enjoyable garment to sew. Seams are topstitched after overlocking, and the hems and neck facing are topstitched in place as well. 
There’s not much to say about it – it definitely is simple! If you are tall you might want to consider lengthening the top a little, as the front is shorter than the back and curves up quite high in the centre. As always, it just depends on what look you are after.
I have one of the jackets from the book cut out at the moment that I hope to sew over the summer break. More detail about the book is in my earlier blog post.
Laura asked about the black and white striped top that I was wearing in one of my Sewvember photos. This is it!
It is the Tessuti Mandy boat tee (free single sized pattern) sewn pretty much as per the pattern. The was a remnant from Darn Cheap Fabrics, and I had just enough to squeeze out the top.
This pattern is my go-to for when I want a quick but satisfying sewing experience that I know I will wear. I find that the Mandy tee works beautifully in Melbourne’s weather, where it is often between seasons. Construction was almost all on the overlocker. The neckline is finished by turning it to the inside and topstitching it in place before the shoulder seams are sewn. I use a twin needle for the topstitching, which I also use to secure the bottom and sleeve hems. All are secured with Vliesofix tape before stitching.
The skirt is the Colette Mabel. Like the top, this is a quick and satisfying garment to make, and always gives me the results that I am after. I sewed the longer version of the skirt, with panelled front and back centre kick pleat.
Construction was mostly on the overlocker for this as well. The fabric is stretch denim from M. Recht. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to use the selvedges as a detail, and inserted them into the side front panel seams, then topstitched them down. The hem is simply secured with Vliesofix tape and not even stitched in place. Sometimes stitching across the grain with fabrics that contain lycra can result in a bit of a wobble. I decided not to risk it and take the easy way out!
So here I am with a basic everyday outfit that is easy to wear. Each item works with other garments from my wardrobe, which is also handy! Both were sewn at Sewjourn in November. Now I’m into summer dresses!
Tessuti have released a few new patterns over the past month or so. As most of you are aware, I really like their patterns. They generally work quite well for my body shape, and the Kate top is no exception.
Tessuti describe this as follows: this cropped, boxy sleeveless top comes with two neckline variations, a wide hemline with side split feature and exposed neckline and armhole binding. View A features a scooped neckline. View B features a higher neckline with keyhole back opening plus button rouleau loop. This style is the perfect wardrobe staple and can be worn underneath jackets and cardigans or on its own during the warmer months. Suitable fabrics for the Kate Top include light to medium weight linens or linen blends, cottons, viscose and silks.
I sewed view A with the scooped neckline, but most of the Kate tops that have popped up on Instagram and the Internet have been view B with the higher neckline. I used a rayon batik sarong that I brought back from Bali. This top has many happy memories for me! I cut and sewed size Medium, which corresponded best with my bust measurement and is my usual size in Tessuti patterns.
This is a very straightforward garment to make. Bust darts, shoulder seams, side seams with a little more time spent on the side vents to ensure that they are even and nicely mitred, then bias binding for the armholes and neck opening. I made my own binding from the same fabric as the rest of the top and applied it to the wrong side like a facing, then turning to the right side and topstitching.
I am quite short at 158 cm (5’2″) and think that this top is a good length on me. You might want to consider that if you are taller, but as with most clothing it really depends on the look that you are after. The pattern does describe it as cropped. When I look at some of the photos the armhole appears a little lower than I would prefer, but it sits close to the body and doesn’t expose my bra.
This should be a nice cool top for the heat that will be coming over the next few months. I tend to wear dresses more than separates once the weather warms up, but it’s still nice to have a few tops in the wardrobe. I am planning to sew view B in some Merchant and Mills linen that I recently purchased, maybe with raw bindings and/or some hand-stitching to highlight. Maybe….
Sometimes I feel as though no matter how many times I type it, I will never remember how to spell “asymmetrical” correctly. I always get that wriggly red line the first time I try – and I pride myself of being able to spell quite well! We all have a mental block about something, I suppose.
So, it’s another repeat. This is the fourth time that I have sewed the Asymmetrical Drape Top for Clare. The pattern is by Everything Your Mama Made, who design patterns for women and children. Many of the styles are fairly simple and go right through from child to tween to adult sizes.
I sewed Clare’s top in size 8 as per her hip measurement. It’s a very loose style. The fabric came from Clear It, and feels like a viscose/lycra. I adore those doggies! This is SUCH a fast and easy garment to sew. Same pattern piece for the front and back, with the front neckline cut lower, band for the hips and neck, and sleeve edges just turned and hemmed. I used a zig-zag stitch on the machine to secure the neckband after stitching it on, and to hem the sleeves, but all other construction was on the overlocker. I don’t really follow instructions much for this type of garment; it’s pretty self explanatory.
This was a great palate cleanser garment between other more complex ones, and Clare was also very happy about it! Early renditions of the pattern are here and here. Fabric selection is key with this top – it really needs to be soft and super drapey. Viscose knit is ideal.
I don’t think I’ve ever gone this long between blog posts. I have still been sewing, and as a result have plenty of blog posts to write, but don’t seem to have found the motivation to actually get them out of my head and onto the internet. However, I did participate in #bpSewvember over on Instagram, which was a terrific sewing-themed meme run by the lovely Amanda of Bimble and Pimble. Each day had a word to prompt a photo. I thought that those of you who don’t follow me on Instagram might be interested in seeing the photos that I took for each day. So this will be a very photo-heavy blog post! I’m leaving it to you to figure out why I took each photo for each prompt.
1. Three facts.
2. Like a boss.
3. Inside.
4. Inspiration.
5. WiP.
6. Slow or Fast.
7. Stash.
8. Why sew? 
9. Game changer.
10. View.
11. Tools.
12. Community.
13. Style.
14. Help!
15. Heirloom.
16. UFO.
17. Print or plain.
18. Dream project.
19. Workhorse.
20. Tried and true.
21. Best part.
22. The vault.
23. Essentials.
24. Skill up.
25. Oh no!
26. Best make.
27. Detail.
28. Sewing space. (this is a short video)
29. Confession.
30. Next up.
Huge thanks go to Amanda for running the meme – I didn’t originally intend to take part but really enjoyed the entire month. While the rest of life kept me very busy I could still participate in my favourite hobby – sewing.
Now it’s time for me to get onto some of those well overdue blog posts!
