Ripping off RTW

A Mod cloth dress from 09/10. I didn't buy it due to the length or lack of it.

Silk from Alannah Hill $20ish p/m. Bought a while ago.

However, I was reorganising my fabric stash and came across this, 3.5 metres of purple, cream & black silk, purchased from clear it in Fitzroy st, a while ago. I think the fabric would really compliment this style although there is a possibility that the ruffles could be overwhelming with the busy print.

As for the pattern I had a quick look in my stash and I came across a few possibilities namely New look 6776 view D, New look 6935, then I went to the web and came up with New look 6885 G+I which I don't have, and a another 2 possible solutions, but I forget the pattern details.

I really like it but I've never had anything similar, so I'm hoping it will flatter my pear shaped body. Do ruffles make your bust look the same, smaller or bigger? 

So do you think this would work?

Thanks for reading.

Kat x

Thank you Santa.

Look what I got for christmas...................................

An over locker! Its a Janome My Lock 644D.
 I'm so excited to finally get an over locker, I think it will help improve my skills, although I must admit as I was reading the manual, I felt slightly overwhelmed, its so much more of an intensive read than my sewing machine manual. I'm hoping to do this course as I think I'll get a lot out of it, has anyone done one? Did you feel like it helped you?  I'm really hoping to make a dress on the over locker soon, Liz my sewing teacher is going to lend me a pattern, but does anyone have a suggestion for a quick and easy summer dress pattern?

On to other news, I have finished 2 dresses, 1 skirt and an apron. I made the clover skirt by Colette patterns, I had to finish of the hem, when I noticed a big gaping hole on the front, I had accidentally cut into the fabric with a pair of rotary cutters! I was so disappointed, I tried hand sewing to no avail, so the skirt is in the bin. On the upside I know the size fits, it was a relativity quick make, so when I find the right fabric from my stash (no more buying!!!) I'll try again.

I recently had a friend from sewing come over, so I took some photos of my sewing room to post up. Keep your eyes peeled......

Kat

PS. If you have ever commented on my blog, Thank you, unfortuanly due to blogger I have not been able to comment, so please don't think I've ignored you. :)

Have a safe and wonder filled New's Eve.

And The Winner Is

Little Betty. Congratulations!

Thank you so much to all the lovely ladies and your very interesting comments. It gave me a lot of thought as what to make, I think I have found a solution for the lace. Although I don't think I'll add it to the sewing queue until January. I'll try to make it in time for my overseas holiday in February. If you liked the lace then try the Clear It Outlet in Brunswick St Fitzroy, two stores down from The fabric store.

Thanks for reading.

Kat

Giveaway: if you want the notion, I've got the notions!

Its Give away time again, I have to say that I'm quite lucky to have a very nice erm full sewing stash, accumulated by me and given by others. I've been on the receiving end lately and would like to pass it on! This time I'm giving away some notions that will come in handy for any seamstress, beginner or experienced.

The giveaway contains; 2 x birch berry pin packets, 20 reel sew all thread 100m from gutermann (staple colours), 250m gutermann thread in colour 6745 and 2 x packets of Dylon Bahama Blue Dye & 10 cream/white buttons.

The Catch: I would like some advice with what to do with this Alannah Hill lace.  It's really pretty and I'd like to make an interesting feature of it.

1 metre.

For a bonus entry: recommend a pattern for this linen fabric. It has to be versatile, to be able to be worn at a wedding, work days (casual wear) and weekends.

3.5 metres (150cm w)

Rules:
You must be a follower.
You must be contactable via a blog or an email address, if you don't leave one, you can't win, and I'll redraw 3 days later.

The give away will end next Tuesday. I will send anywhere in the world.

If you win and I don't contact you within 3 days please email me at allegravintage@gmail.com

Good luck!

Kat

You can't stop progress.

So my sisters wedding was a few weeks ago, it was a beautiful wedding, I don't believe I've seen a more happier bride then her, love and happiness were radiating from them both, I had to stop myself from crying like a baby, I get very red and it doesn't look good in photos I've been told! My sister also managed to keep it together, until her speech later that night. It was really beautiful and I wish that I wrote it down. Here is a photo of her, sadly we didn't get any photos together, which is a shame.

Here is a photo of my dress, it was lovely to wear, although a tad long. So I wore my highest wedges and thankfully didn't fall over from the steep hill we had to walk down.

I have made lots of progress on my other dresses, I have started and almost finished Vogue 8701, I have to bag out the top and attach the skirt, add the zipper and hem the skirt, so I think it will take about another week to complete. I'm taking it to the dry cleaners for a pressing when its done as my skills are limit and there is a lot of fabric. Pictures to come later.

For Vogue 2960,I have traced it out, added a FBA, done a calico version, which apart from my usual fitting issues went very smoothly, I have cut out the bodice and sewn it together completely, I've put this on the back burner as I don't need to wear this till febuary and I need to get Vogue 8701 finished.

back piece

Vogue 1174 is off the table completely, I'm not sure what to do, I want a fabulous dress to go with my beautiful fabric (see below) but I'm heading towards a more casual dress so I can wear it often rather than special occasions dress. I hope I make up my mind soon, as its driving me crazy!

New Look 6048 has been traced out, but yet to be cut. Progress will be made soon!

I know I'm making good progress but I feel that I might be running out of time. What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

Kat

Scrap Fabric

So I had a bit of fabric left over from a dress I made at christmas, I wanted to make something else, I couldn't squeeze a skirt of what I had left so I made an apron & cushion. It was my first time making a cushion, and I stuff it up, I put the zipper in last, which I found out later is a big no no. Oh well, lesson learnt. It's still pretty and I enjoy it. I just need to get a bigger cushion for it.

I love the apron, I copied the style from one of my mother in laws aprons as we have none. I ended up shortening the neck strap considerably, if I were to make the apron again, I would double the length of the back tie so I can wrap it around twice for extra support. The pocket just fits my phone as I was seriously running out of fabric at this stage, I really like that I put the pocket in, its handy and a nice touch. The ruffle at the bottom was cut upside down on the bias, If I had enough fabric it would of been done properly but no one has noticed and it worked.

I'm happy as I now have no extra fabric, when I always seem to have heaps at the end of a garmet. Do you have any special things you make with your left over fabric?

Thanks for reading.

Kat :)

Tis the wedding season

Is that wedding bells, I hear? It certainly is.

This wedding season (September to March), we have been invited to 4 weddings and 2 engagement parties! While to some that may not be a lot, to date I have been to 4 weddings & one was my own. I always like to make a big deal out of getting dressed up for formal occasions, as you always look great in photos.

This wedding season I like to do things a little differently, I want to make everything* I wear, what girl doesn't need an excuse to make fancy dresses?

So here's the plan:

For the first engagement party dress, I want to make is New Look 6048 in a polished cotton that is a dark blue with polka dots.

For the first wedding, I'll be wearing a *store bought dress as it is my sister's wedding and I am matron of honor. Its a flattering dress in deep navy.

For the second wedding I want to make Vogue 8701 in silk dupion, the colour will be cobalt. This wedding will be on the weekend of the Melbourne cup, so I don't want to be confused with someone who was supposed to be going to the races.

For the third wedding, dress I want to make will be vintage vogue 2960 in a colourful palette of black, grey, purples, turquoise, white, blue & pink in cotton sateen. I picked it up from spotlight for $1.50 per metre ages ago but i couldn't find a pattern that i was comfortable with as i really like the fabric.

The fourth dress for the fourth wedding will be Vogue 1174, my friends wedding has a white & red theme. I bought 3.5 metres of red & white linen at the cleggs sale yesterday, its currently drying on the line, the only difference I'll make, is to add straps and add a full skirt, I'm going for a vintage look that I'll be able to dress up and down.

I don't have a plan for the second engagement party dress yet. I would like to use some linen I have, so if anyone has an idea please let me know! :)

So do you think I'm aiming too high and being over ambitious or do you think its a reasonable challenge?

Thanks for reading!

Kat

And the winners are....

Apologies Followers, due to technical difficulties (thank you Telstra) the drawing was delayed, but not forgotten.  I'm not creating a good impression, am I? Any hoo, now onto drawing of the winners.

The Winner of the Simplicity Patterns is: Beata!

The Winner of the Tessuti Fabric is: K!

Congratulations ladies! Thanks to all for following me. Best of luck next month when I give away 3 meters of  silk satin in a lovely autumn print!

Stay tuned...

Thanks for reading!

Kat

Second give away - simplicity patterns

Here is the second give away! Two Simplicity patterns 5148 & 6177 – I think I subconsciously picked these as it’s so cold at the moment.

I am happy to post to anywhere in the world. If you make something from it I just ask you to send me a photo.

The winner will be drawn next Thursday; you just have to be a follower to enter, then leave a comment. Good luck!

Give away #1

The first give away!

Silk fabric from Tessuti's called leaves n things, I think it would make a great Pendrell blouse or Sorbetto top. There is 1.5 meters of it.

I am happy to post to anywhere in the world. If you make something from it I just ask you to send me a photo.

Winner will be drawn next Thursday; you have to be a follower then leave a comment. Good Luck!

Check out - Minimoz blog & stay tuned for a give away.

Check out my friend Danielle's blog  Its called Min Moz- She's new to the blog world, but she's making up for lost time with all for sweet crafting and sewing.

I met her when we were sewing at spotlight classes together last year. She mainly sews for her daughter and she makes some really nice things, including fabulous reversible jackets. If anyone sews for children I'm sure she'd love to see your blog! Just leave her your blog name.

On wednesday I will be putting up a give away. I am giving away some fabric I bought from tessuti's it would be suitable for the sewaholic's penderall blouse or something similar & a vintage pattern or two. Its open world wide and it will close sunday or monday. You only need to be a follower to enter.

Thanks for reading
Kat

I'm not dead, I'm a home owner.

Sorry for the 2 month long absence in blog land, how ever things in real life are steaming ahead. I have happy news that we have finally bought a house in a country town!

We had a very short settlement of 28 days and moved in over the Queen's birthday weekend!
I had been on annual leave to set up the house (which is going really well), when last Tuesday, I found out I was losing my job . The head office is closing down our division, so the store has a maximum of 10 weeks left but I expect it will close very quickly.

On the sewing front I have set up my new sewing room. I have decided to paint the walls to a soft purpley-blue colour.  I am working on two dresses at the moment, but I can't find enough time in the week to make much progress except at my sewing class.

Recently I went on a shopping trip with the ladies from my sewing class, it was a great day, and I plan on doing a blog post on it soon. One of the highlights of the day was buying some fabric from Alannah Hill section of "Clear It" in Brunswick. I plan to make a pendrell blouse with the fabric, when I receive the pattern.  

Thanks for reading.

Kat

Foot Note: as of the 14/7 my store was closed down. I have been transfer to another divison with is so much closer to home. I start on the 2/8 so I have 20 days off. Woohoo.

I have been doing heaps of gardening as our  back garden is massively overgrown.  Just to give you an idea of how over grown the yard is (the front doesn't compare), we discovered an established lemon tree amongst lots of over grown plants bushes and trees. I never thought I would get so excited about gardening or going to the hardware store, i can see the potential in our house & yard, for me it's quite exciting.  I think if you own a house, you'll know what I mean. :)

Introducing a new man in my life.

I am smitten, I really am.

Last month when Ben didn’t give me an anniversary present, he said that I could get anything I wanted but had to stick to a price limit. That was Friday night, while relaxing on Saturday morning I googled “cocker spaniel puppy Melbourne” I found a beautiful boy, he was 10 months, very playful and not desexed. I have always wanted a young dog but not a puppy so 10 months old worked for me.

I quickly rang Ben who was aghast to say the least and really didn’t want a second dog but conceded that he did say I could get anything  so if I did like him, then I could get him; I had already rung the owner by that stage. Once she rang back and we had a good old chat. I then arrange to visit that very day, as there were people coming on sunday. My mum and I drove about 1 hour and 40 minutes to have a look at Jack.

 It was love at first jump, he is so beautiful, although he was so much more taken with my mum than me. The current owners are going live in china for a year and Jack (I gathered) was a lot of work for them. We took Jack home with us about half an hour later. I really don’t like the name Jack for a dog so we renamed him to Basil. On the way home I found out that I had a great uncle whose name was Basil Bugg. Does anyone else think that was cruel?

He is turning 1 on the 5/5; he is a very happy addition to our family, now that we have all had a chance to get use to the new arrangement. He requires a lot of work, walking him at least once a day; we now unfortunately have to keep both basil and caramel (our jack x foxy) inside due to the walking track next to our house due to complaints of barking, he is now going to obedience school which is helping to calm him down as he is so happy and excitable. Ben and I both think that having two dogs is enough due to how much work there is. I haven’t been sewing for a while due to spending time with Carmel and Basil, I enjoy having them both around and their antics.

Look out for more post and photos about them.

Thanks for reading.

Kat

A special day and a handmade dress.

Two Years Ago Today....
 

I married my best friend my darling Ben. I love him so much and two years have flown by so fast. I can’t wait for the next 50+.

I thought you’d like to see some pictures of our wedding; my dress which is a combination of 3 patterns, was handmade by a friend of Ben’s mum. For my dress I wanted something that wasn’t white, but was talked out of it, something classic and elegant and simple and had a modest neckline. I received all that and with a little twist.

 

What do you think?

I married my best friend my darling Ben. I love him so much and two years have flown by so fast. I can’t wait for the next 50+ with him, to see what our future hold for us.

And I’m back

Well its been awhile but I have returned to blog land. We still don’t have the internet but I do have a sewing room, which has been getting a work out. I have sewn a small bag and two dresses in my time away and then stained one of them, such a shame.

 I am currently working on simplicity 2257 view D, I found the most beautiful silk satin from spotlight of all places! I think it will suit the autumn – winter period but has to be lined as its sheer. I am working on it very slowly as it was $30 per metre and I needed 3 metres. I know it doesn’t make it the world’s most expensive fabric but it matters to me. Just for curiosity sakes how much have you spent on per metre of fabric?

I am also working on another simplicity summer dress, its not summer anymore but theses days you can put layers on so it doesn’t matter.

We have been invited to a wedding in October this year and I have found a really good excuse to make a dress I’ve been wanting to make for a while so I’m going to start it around May and use my cobalt silk dupion, to make a baby doll style dress. I’m really excited to be making a dress like this as I had one a few years ago that was damaged after being dry cleaned, so we’ll see how it gets off the ground.  

I have decided to have a giveaway, it will start of Thursday and will be drawn Monday next week, all you have to do is follow or and subscribe, just leave a comment, when I do announce what it is, but there will be fabric from tessuti’s included.

Thanks for reading,

Kat

Ekk no sewing for a while.

Alas I was wrong, we do have to move. We have one week to vacate, so that means all my holidays will be looking for a new house/unit to live in. So no sewing - I am very disappointed but it means next house/unit we will have complete freedom and a binding contract, which I'm looking forward too. So I won't be posting for a while, hopefully I'll be back in February. Till then take care.
I'm  off to pack up the sewing room. Hopefully in our new house/unit I will still have a sewing room.
Kat

Sewing Goals

I was pondering what goals I wanted to plan for this year and this is my list for sewing. I am a born list maker. I always feel better when I sit down and write lists, it cathartic for me.

This year:

Blog more, less about patterns more about my actual sewing.

Use more of my stash and use it regularly.

Sell unwanted patterns

Have the skills to use stretch knits, silks and gorgeous linens

Clean out the sewing room and reorganise storage

Aim to make 20 items this year.

Have more confidence -sewing wise.

If we buy a house make the bedroom curtains – now this may sound easy but for the house and curtains I have in mind I want to use a really heavy silk as the windows are a big feature of the bedroom, I think with a neutral wall colour this will look quite striking. I may change my mind before then.

Some personal goals:Reorganise/ streamline my wardrobe ( get rid of a lot of clothes).

Develop personal sense of style.

Do a course in makeup.

Be better groomed.

Summer Sewing:

For my summer sewing projects, my theme will be blue fabric. I realise I have only two blue dresses and no blue skirts. There is a major gap in my wardrobe – colour wise, not clothes wise. =P I seem to have lots of blue fabric in my stash so that will be put to good use.

I noticed that spotlight had 50% off all patterns - I just couldn't help myself so here's what I bought:

Simplicity :2588,2359,2362,2587,2694 and 2886.

New Look: 6805 and 6996 

Good news on the pattern front, I'm going to ease my conscience and open an Etsy shop! I know I shouldn’t feel bad about having lots of patterns but I know that I won’t use some of them. Normally I hate people shamelessly plugging their stuff on their blogs, but I am only going to mention it now and when I get it up and running. Although I may do a giveaway before I do that. Any takers?

Kat xo

Sewing Summer Holiday Goals

What do you think is an ideal goal for 3 weeks of holiday, sewing wise?? At this stage I have nothing planned socially and we may be moving house, but its unlikely at this stage. I want to make some casual summer day dresses with pockets and at least two skirts. I have some fabulous silk dupioni in indigo that would look stunning in this skirt tutorial, so that's a must make! 

I also want to sell or give away some vintage patterns that I have no plans to use. I may open a etsy shop, but I really don't want it to become a hassle. Any tips on what to do?
Have a lovely evening.
Kat