Month: January 2019

adult's clothing, sewing

Another striped draped t-dress

I first sewed the You Sew, Girl! Draped T-dress back in January 2011.  Yes, that was a while ago!

You Sew Girl Draped T dress in viscose knit from The Cloth Shop

And wouldn’t you know it – this is my sixth version, the fourth in a stripe! You can see two of the other striped ones here and here (there was also a red/white striped version but I don’t think it was ever blogged). I’ve sewn it in a solid once, and in a print once. (And actually, since I wrote this blog post I’ve sewn a seventh dress, this time as a gift).

You Sew Girl Draped T dress in viscose knit from The Cloth Shop

This fabulous stripe is viscose spandex knit from The Cloth Shop Ivanhoe. I needed 2.5 metres in order to be able to match the stripes along the edges. This is a one pattern piece dress – the front and the back are the same, then the front neckline is cut deeper. I cut a strip for the neckband a little less than two inches wide. When doing neckbands from stripes the finished neckband width really depends on the width of the stripes and what I think will look best.

You Sew Girl Draped T dress in viscose knit from The Cloth Shop

As always I determined the length of the neckband by following the method described in Gillian’s tutorial. Construction was on the overlocker, with the hems finished by machine with a twin needle. I also twin needled down the neckband seam allowances to secure them.

You Sew Girl Draped T dress in viscose knit from The Cloth Shop

I used double sided Vliesofix tape on the dress hem before stitching, and I think that it’s actually stiffened it a little too much and has made the hem a little wavy. That might ease up with washing. I sometimes attach a fishing sinker or washer to the inside seam allowance of the point at the side drape so that it falls nicely, but haven’t done it yet with this version of the dress and the folds seem to be draping as they should.

You Sew Girl Draped T dress in viscose knit from The Cloth Shop

Stripe matching required lots of careful cutting – I cut one side of the dress, then laid it exactly on top of the fabric right sides together to line up the stripes accurately before cutting the other side. That had the added advantage of having the front and back all ready for the stripes to be carefully pinned together. Sewing this in a solid or print makes it a very fast dress to sew, by the way.

You Sew Girl Draped T dress in viscose knit from The Cloth Shop

My dress is size Medium. It’s extremely comfortable to wear, and I think we all know that there will be more versions of this pattern in the future!

sewing, teen

Yet another Ogden Cami

Clare and I spotted a piece of floral printed rayon among the remnants at The Cloth Shop Ivanhoe and pounced.  We both knew that it would work beautifully for yet another True Bias Ogden Cami!

True Bias Ogden Cami in rayon from The Cloth Shop

I used our altered pattern, cutting the smallest size but moved over the fold another 5/8″ and joyfully sewed it up. I then wondered why it seemed to come down lower at the back to the point where it was showing her bra back strap a little.

True Bias Ogden Cami in rayon remnant from The Cloth Shop

Clare then popped on to Instagram and read the details on the posts about my earlier adventures in Ogden sewing, where it fitted well. I had forgotten to shorten the shoulder straps! Out came the unpicker, and I shortened the straps, then redid them.

True Bias Ogden Cami in rayon from The Cloth Shop

This outfit has been in heavy wardrobe rotation. These photos were taken on an incredibly bright and baking hot Melbourne day. It appears that denim skirt and Ogden Cami is the combination of choice for the sixteen year old.

adult's clothing, sewing, teen, vintage patterns

Vintage Style 4728 shorts

Clare and I had fun trawling through my stash of old patterns late last year in search of skirt patterns.  She’s a mix of sizes, but for skirts will generally fit into a women’s 6 or 8.  She was looking for fuller skirts, that ended above the knee. Then we spotted this one:

Vintage Style 4728 shorts in double gauze from Clear It

This pattern is from 1986, and I do think that the cover art is a perfect example of the fashions of its time. The pattern description is as follows. Misses’ Skirt, Trousers, Culottes and Shorts: Flared skirt, slightly tapered trousers, culottes and shorts are gathered front and back onto waistband with side-front pockets which form buttoned opening.

Vintage Style 4728 shorts in double gauze from Clear It

So as you can see, we decided on the shorts! The fabric is double gauze from Clear It, left over from an earlier project.

Vintage Style 4728 shorts in double gauze from Clear It

I do rather enjoy working with printed patterns from this era. I learned to sew using them, and they really do give me pleasure. They are SO familiar to me! We cut straight size 8 for Clare. The pockets tuck into the side seams but form part of the opening at the front.

Vintage Style 4728 shorts in double gauze from Clear It

The buttons are also vintage, from stash, and are the only closure. You can see the slanted front pocket edge in the photo. Because of this opening method, the pockets aren’t actually as deep or as secure as you might think. The teen does keep on putting her mobile phone into the leg opening rather than into the pocket!

Vintage Style 4728 shorts in double gauze from Clear It

The gathers at the front and back provide lovely fullness to these shorts, and they really do work in the same place as an equivalent skirt. Clare tie-dyed the tee with a friend as some school holiday fun. She also dyed her hair!

Holiday hair - Clare

Clare’s hair is waist length, so she needed a friend to help her to get the ombre pink to purple effect! They’re just temporary colours that wash out after around 8 washes (Schwarzkopf Live Colour range; we get them from Priceline) and it’s become a bit of a school holiday tradition to have ‘holiday hair’. If it’s done right at the beginning of the holidays it is all gone by the time that school goes back – Clare’s school is quite strict about ‘unnatural colours’ in hair.

Holiday hair - Stella

Of course, Stella wanted to be in on the action as well. Her choice was ombre blue ends! They really do enjoy this bit of holiday fun. I’ve still got a few of last year’s projects to get up on the blog, so will try to get that done over the next few days. I’m between jobs at the moment, and as you can see we haven’t gone away on a ‘big’ holiday this summer. We’re all enjoying the time at home, pottering away and getting lots of things done that we never usually have the time for. Yes, there is lots of organising and sorting and tidying up and throwing out going on! As well as reading, watching movies and Netflix, and from me, sewing.

Vintage Style 4728 shorts in double gauze from Clear It

hats, sewing

A Flat Cap for summer

My dad will be 92 in March.  Yes, you read correctly.  And we’re all lucky – other than hearing loss and some comparatively minor age-related issues, he’s in pretty good shape.  Dad still mows the lawns (not in the summer heat) and does basic garden maintenance.  He’s only recently handed in his driver’s license, and he spends his days alternating between pottering with wood in one of his workshops, reading the paper, having a nap, and reading books.  When I think of my dad, I think of a man with a hat.  In summer it’s usually a brimmed hat; in winter it’s a flat cap.  Each time a birthday or Christmas rolls around, I wonder what to give dad – after all, what would a man of that age like?  He’s not a drinker and doesn’t have an interest in sports.  So how about another hat?

Flat Cap pattern by You Sew Girl in textured cotton linen from The Cloth Shop

I figured that this time I’d sew a flat cap in summer-weight fabrics. The main fabric is textured cotton/linen from The Cloth Shop. I lined it with quilting cotton (sorry, no photograph of that).

Flat Cap pattern by You Sew Girl in textured cotton linen from The Cloth Shop

I’ve now sewn The Flat Cap pattern by Nicole Mallalieu of You Sew Girl four times. It’s an excellent pattern. The instructions are great, everything fits together beautifully. You really can tell that the pattern has been designed by a professional with loads of hat making experience.

Flat caps

I did a little trawl through the archives and found the other caps.  One in wool, one in denim, and one in leather.  My dad is a small bloke, with a small head.  His cap is size Small, and as it happens it fits me too.

Flat Cap pattern by You Sew Girl in textured cotton linen from The Cloth Shop

Not sure that I can carry it off with the same aplomb as dad!  Those of you who follow me on Instagram will have recently seen a photo of my broken handled pinking shears. It was trimming back the seam allowances on this cap – through a section with about six layers of fabric plus template plastic – that resulted in that sad occurrence. However, I had no issues trimming the rest of it back with sharper scissors from then on. Moral of the story – make sure that your pinking shears are sharp, and don’t try to cut six layers at a time.

Flat cap - grandparents and granddaughters

Actually, one of dad’s favourite things to do is to see and spend time with his granddaughters. My two are the only grandkids, and dad never thought that he’d be around long enough to see grandkids at all, let alone see them get to this age. We’re pretty blessed.