2015 sewing roundup

Happy new year! This is one of my favourite things to do- look at what I've made all year, and decide what to make this year. Not that I'll stick to my plans- I never do...but it's nice to have some goals.

So, here's what I made in 2015.

From top: Blue Jays shorts; Gallery dresses; Blue Jays shorts; random stuff.

Girl skater dress; Boo Pins.

Blossom skirt; self drafted blanket and cushion cover; self drafted cushion cover; Mem Rose skirt; Firefly dress.

Blossom skirt; Gallery dress; self drafted gypsy skirt; self drafted skirt and cushion cover; Gallery dress.

Self drafted gypsy skirt; Gallery dress and self drafted skirt; Blue Jays shorts; Gatsby cap; Honey Gum dress.

New Look blouses; hat from Sewing Children's Clothes book; Gatsby cap.

All of the above items were for other people. I'm pretty happy with my handmade gifting this year, even if it wasn't always appreciated or acknowledged. What matters is the way I feel inside when I take the time to make something instead of buying some cheap plastic crap from K Mart.

Now, the things I made for myself...

Pacific leggings; new Look dress; Lady Skater dress.

New Look dress; Lady Skater dress; Lisette Round Trip dress.

New Look skirt; Renfrew top; Lisette Traveller dress.

I was MUCH more selfless last year than I was for the last couple of years! Most of the items I made for myself have had frequent use, with the exception of the last three- the leggings due to their terrible fit, the Renfrew due to its high level of polyester, and the dress...dunno, I just don't like the skirt fabric. 

One of my resolutions last year was to use up the fabric in my stash. Not only did that not happen, my stash is actually bigger than it was this time last year. How on earth did that happen???

I'll be back in a few days to blog about what I want to make this year.

Merry Christmas!

This is just going to be a super quick post. We've had a huge day, full of food, presents, family, and fun!

Here are two gifts I received- my first ever Bernie Dexter frock, which I love. I picked it up on EBay for $60, brand new with tags! They are normally about $200 in Australia. I asked hubby to buy me a dress and then I saw this one and nabbed it. 

It fits me perfectly. These dresses definitely aren't worth $200- I'm not saying they aren't well made, because they are...but they're not so amazing that I'd pay that kinda money!

I also got this awesome book from my mother in law, which I specifically asked for. It's great! It has lots of different bodice, sleeve, skirt and neckline variations to make a gazillion different dresses. I can't wait to get tracing!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas Day!

Sewaholic Pacific Leggings and New Look 6344

I'd decided this year that I was going to give handmade gifts wherever possible. My mother in law was easy- she specifically asked for a couple of woven tops as all of her summer tops are polyester (yuk!). We went to Spotlight and chose this pattern.

It's very simple but stylish, with pleats at the neckline and a simple button opening at the back. She chose this very lightweight fabric which was tagged as 'cotton feel polyester'. If I didn't know better, I would say that this stuff is all natural- it does not feel like it has any polyester at all! It wasn't super fun to sew with though, as it it very thin and doesn't crease well. However, it turned out well.

I didn't have to make any adjustments to the pattern- I simply cut the size 20 based on her measurements and it fit her fine (we had a fitting session before I started on the second one).

I told her that the second one would be made from a surprise fabric. I chose this lovely rayon, which was much more pleasant to work with!

The first top took me about two hours, but the second one was much quicker. I will make some for myself soon as I really like the style.

I was umming and ahhing about what to make for my sister. I'd thought about making a yoga mat bag, but then I was reading a Sewaholic blog post about their new Pacific leggings, and thought I could make some awesome yoga pants.

I went to Fabric Frenzy as I knew their dance/ sport fabrics were on sale. I got a metre each of groovy tropical print Lyrca, and dark purple Supplex. I made myself a test pair first to see how difficult they were.

These leggings have a crotch gusset, and I've never sewn any type of gusset before. The instructions were very scant, so I asked Tasia from Sewaholic a question about it on her blog post. I also emailed her, and asked a question on the Sewaholic facebook page. Not a single response. I appreciate that the business is very busy, but customer service shouldn't stop once a sale has been made. 

Anyway, I digress. I just sewed the gusset as best I could, and I guess it doesn't look too bad.

The inside is a bit dodgy, but oh well!

So here are my finished pants. They look amazing on and are super comfy. The supplex is extremely comfortable and a dream to sew...the Lycra, not so much.

I wanted to make my sister's pair exactly the same, but the front panels take up quite a bit of fabric so there wasn't enough purple left. So hers have a funky waistband.

No idea why this is sideways, and can't be bothered fixing it. Sorry!

I did a groovy little faux flat lock effect on the back. See it? I stole this idea from the Sewaholic blog.

I used neon green to make it really stand out. I wanted to use it on the waist seam as well, and started to sew it, but my machine spazzed out. And it chose to spaz out when I got to the centre front, so I had to unpick it all. My machine wasn't cooperating so I just left the fancy stitching out.

I really like these leggings, but I'm not so sure about the gusset. It's visible from the front when they are worn, and it kinda looks like a weird fabric vagina. None of the leggings I have look like this- the gusset is hidden right between the legs. I'm going to have to modify the pattern next time I make some.

Now I can relax because all of my Christmas sewing is done! Yay!