Style Arc Rosie Elevenses Top

This top was sewn a wee while ago and posted to England in plenty of time for Christmas.  Now Christmas is well and truly past I can share the top.

I know, it wasn't very sensible to make a short sleeved top in Liberty Tana Lawn for an English winter. In my defence when I first saw the fabric I thought "Cath" so I ignored the seasonal incongruity and forged ahead.

The finished garment

Dorothy had to be pressed into service as the stand in for Cath.  I really hope it fits better in real life than in does on Dorothy.

I was trying to be artistic taking the photo amongst the rhododendrons completely ignoring the shadows cast by the flowers. Luckily the pink one flowers a bit later than the white one so provided a better backdrop.

The fabric

Another great Liberty Tana Lawn from The Fabric Store. The design is Elevenses in colourway dusky blue.  The Japanese feel, cups of tea and in this colourway seemed just perfect for Cath.

The sewing pattern

The Rosie top is described as a great top for all occasions.  The slight cap sleeve is very flattering and the back inverted pleat gives this top a point of difference.

If you are looking for a sewing pattern that doesn't take much fabric I can recommend this one.  For the size 10 (as is without alteration) it uses less than 1 metre of fabric.

I am glad I bought this as a PDF, even though I hate taping them together, because I can use the size 10 for Cath and the size 12 for me.

The pattern alterations

I made the size 10 without any alterations. I did omit the button closure in the back and cut the back piece on the fold.   The neck opening was big enough to get the top over your head without needing the button.

If I made this top for myself it would need: a full bust adjustment; lengthening in the body; and a forward shoulder adjustment.

The sewing

As this was a gift I was extra careful with the sewing.  French seams were used throughout but still only with a 3/8' seam allowance.  This gave me 1/8" for the wrong sides together seam and 1/4" for the final right sides together seam.  This gives a much nicer finish in my opinion than having a 5/8" seam allowance for such a fine fabric.  For a thicker fabric I do use a 5/8" seam allowance for a French seam - 1/4" for wrong sides together and then trimmed down, 1/4" for right sides together and 1/8" to allow for turn of cloth.

The inside of a garment always looks as good as the outside with French seams.

For the armholes / side seam StyleArc have you sew a narrow hem around the armholes then sew the side seam. Apart from the worry that your side seams won't match up under the arms this is a really neat (tidy) idea. Luckily my side seams did match up.

There were some strange folds as you can see in the picture above around the armhole / princess seam. Also I got a strange puffy bump along the shoulder seam which can clearly be seen in the picture below but it didn't appear an odd shape when flat.

I worked on the premise that these are just because Dorothy is the wrong size and they won't appear when Cath is wearing the top.

I stay-stitched 1/4" away from the neck edge then used this as a guide for a double fold to get a really narrow hem. Once the neck edge was sewn I removed the stay-stitching. For the sleeve and garment hems I used the same method but with the stay stitching 3/8" away from the edge. I just love using 3/8" because it is the width of a standard modern presser foot from the needle, so you can just whizz round keeping the edge of the fabric at the edge of the foot. I say modern presser foot because my Singer Featherweight is only 1/8" from the needle to the edge of the foot.

So there it is another successful StyleArc pattern that one day I may sew for myself.

Silhouette Traditional Red Flower Dress

This dress was made a few months ago and has been worn many times but for work a long way away from the photographer. I did photograph it eventually in late Spring on my dress form but it still didn't make it into a blog post. Over the Christmas holidays I made a special effort to wear make-up and get some outfit of the day pictures. Now in the middle of January I am finally writing the words.

I have noticed with the limited time available that I either sew or blog. Not that a great deal of actual sewing is happening at the moment just a lot of thinking about it.

The finished garment

I really love the shape of this garment with its drapey skirt.  The fish eye darts both front and back really enhance the fit. It is the same basic garment as my Ahipara dress changed up with a different skirt.

The fabric

The fabric is a designer fabric from The Fabric Store.  I can't remember who the designer was but the fabric is a gorgeous medium weight cotton pique, with a slight stretch.  I was worried that ironing the fabric would flatten some of the texture and I think it has. The dress is slightly larger than other versions using this pattern and even after washing it didn't really return to its original texture.

When I washed the fabric for the first time some of the red from the flowers bled into the surrounding white bits. Luckily it came out with subsequent washes.

The pattern

The dress is Silhouette Patterns Traditional blouse, number 400 view 2 extended to knee length using Silhouette Patterns Three Piece Yoga skirt, number 2010. It is a favourite blouse pattern for woven fabrics used many times and I thought the Yoga skirt would provide a bit of flare to the skirt.

The blouse pattern is described as offering a variety of optional looks with basic results. Mandarin, jewel neck or turtleneck collars are available with woven or knit fabrics. Long or short sleeves are also options for each view. These blouses are the greatest basic to any wardrobe!

The pattern alterations

The dress top is based on the size 2 D-cup pattern; graded down to the size 1 at the waist and hips; wider waist darts in the front to provide more shape; shoulders narrowed slightly; and a 1/2 inch forward shoulder adjustment. The neckline has also been lowered as I often find that jewel necklines are a bit high for me and they make me feel as though I am being strangled.  I just lowered the neckline using a french curve on the actual fabric.

I like the length of the yoga skirt and have made it in a black wool in pre-blogging days. For the black wool version I had added the waistband onto the skirt pieces, as I dislike separate waistbands because on me they often create an obvious line with a bit of tummy pouf below the stitching line. This made it easier to match the top and the skirt at the waist for both the front and back and I could then trace off the new dress pattern pieces. There was a slight bit of finagling at the side seam to match top and bottom but the french curve makes it relatively easy to blend the two together.

The sewing

I was a bit short of fabric because I wanted the wider drapier skirt so I had to piece in a bit from my scraps at the back left shoulder. You can see the piecing quite clearly in the photos below but it is not that obvious when I am wearing the dress, or everyone around me is too polite to comment.

I decided not to line this dress as the fabric is relatively thick already for a spring / summer dress.  Because of this I opted to use facings to finish the neck edge. The facings were cut out using the front and back pieces as a guide and a width of 3 inches. The facings were not interfaced and I just overlocked the raw edge. The facings were under-stitched but I still decided to hand sew them down as I hate facings that flip out, even when they only flip out as you are putting the garment on.

The fabric was a bit odd as whilst it didn't fray excessively the edges got fluffy and I was worried what it would do over time.  So I decided to sew this on the overlocker. The sewing machine was only used for the under-stitching on the facings and to sew on my label.  Both the sleeve and dress hems were hand sewn as I didn't feel the dress was suited to machine stitched hems.

The dress was taken to work with the hems pinned in place and I had to sew them so I could wear the dress that week. Packing one less garment for the week and an item to sew is really good motivation to get it finished.

Outfit of the day

The winter version with my interpretation of The Sewing Workshop Opal jacket in a wool cashmere and Mi Piaci Jordan over the knee black leather boots.

A warmer weather version with my Untouched World wrap and United Nude Zen bootie in colourway merlot.

An alternative warmer weather version with an Untouched World Queen Bee jacket in black and Andrea Moore Geisha Point shoes.

There is a tell-tale sign that the photos were taken at Christmas - I am wearing my Christmas Pandora bracelet which only gets worn during the month of December and is my token gesture for the festive season. Not all of the charms are from Pandora.  There is a New Zealand version called Evolve which I personally prefer as they represent our NZ story. The Christmas kiwi (second from left) and the red pohutukawa (NZ Christmas tree, fifth from left) are both from Evolve.

The pohutukawa is called New Zealand's Christmas tree due to its blazing red flowers which flower at Christmas time. It is too cold in Christchurch for the pohutukawa tree they prefer the warmer climes of the north island although you do get them at the top of the West coast of the south island (and their cousin Rata) in places near the coast which don't get a frost in winter.

They make a wonderful display in December along the coast in the Coromandel but despite having been there a few times in December I could only find one photo from 2004. There are some much more spectacular versions on the web.

The pohutukawa is important in Māori tradition.  The legend is that a young Māori warrior, Tawhaki, who sought heaven for help to avenge the death of his father, fell to earth and the bright red flowers represent his blood.

There is an 800-year old pohutukawa at Cape Reinga (the far North of NZ) on the cliff top. For Māori this is a venerated tree known as "the place of leaping".  From this tree the spirits of the dead leap off the headland and climb down the roots to begin their journey to their traditional homeland of Hawaiki.

Outfit of the Day Bargello Quilt Kimono Jacket

On a fine spring day we decided to take a walk along the prom at Sumner and of course have an ice-cream.  What else would you do on a trip to the seaside?

According to the Christchurch City Council website the stroll along the promenade and return is 1.25km long - not quite far enough to burn off the ice-cream calories. Luckily I didn't have one due to the blustery easterly wind blowing in off the sea. It seemed more coffee than ice-cream weather.

I wore a recently completed jacket for our walk along the prom.  It is made from a bargello quilt which was always intended to be a garment it just took over fifteen years to finish. We took photos for the blog using the mosaic taniwha as a prop but the blog post never happened.

The outfit

It is worn with an Icebreaker merino tee, French Dressing Jeans and United Nude Jacky Lo Black, Blue and Silver ankle boots.  The FDJ Olivia straight leg jeans were altered by me many moons ago to be a slim leg.

Sumner

Sumner is a  coastal seaside suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand and was surveyed and named in 1849 in honour of John Bird Sumner, the then newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and president of the Canterbury Association.  The Māori name for the area is Ohikaparuparu ("o" means place of; "hika" means rubbing, kindling, or planting; "paruparu" means dirt, deeply laden, or a preparation of fermented cockles).

Trip Advisor rates Sumner as number 20 of 249 things to do in Christchurch.

Aptly named Beach Bar which thoughtfully provides a lap rug if you sit outside on a blustery day

Looking along the beach to Scarborough head

Majestic Norfolk pines

The mosaic taniwha has lost some of his mosaic but is still an impressive sculpture.  Taniwha are supernatural creatures in Māori tradition, similar to serpents and dragons in other cultures.  They were said to hide in the ocean, rivers, lakes, watery dens or caves.  Some taniwha would eat and kill people, or kidnap women.  Others were believed to be guardians for a tribe, and people would offer them gifts and say a karakia (a prayer).

Sumner is also a haunt for surfers - maybe you can spot a few in these pictures. There were some out on the water honest.

Cave rock, a small tidal cave, can be explored at low tide and scrambling to the top is a favourite past-time for kids.  There is a plaque on the tower at the top which remembers the (ship) pilot Joseph Day who saved many lives between 1867 and 1880.  There is also a Māori legend associated with Cave Rock.

Tuawera is the Māori name for this large rock.  Tuawere figuratively means cut down as if by fire and refers to the many people who died from eating the flesh of a great whale that was stranded on the shore. It is said that the rock represents the carcass of that deadly whale which was beached by means of black magic.

The Story of Tuawera - Tūrakipō, a chief of Ōpawāho sought Hineao, a daughter of Te Ake of Akaroa for a wife. She spurned his advances so Tūrakipō cast a spell of death upon her.  In revenge Te Ake her father went to the hill overlooking Sumner and sent forth mighty karakia against Tūrakipō and his people.  In answer to his prayers a whale was stranded on the shore which the people of Tūrakipō eagerly cut up and feasted upon. Those who ate the whale fell asleep and subsequently died.  Tūrakipō, feeling that the stranded whale was the result of makutu (black magic), did not partake with his people. However, later, having few followers left to help him he was duly slain by Te Ake’s party.

The Earthquake - On 22 February 2011, the 6.3 magnitude Christchurch earthquake destroyed or made uninhabitable a large number of the local houses and commercial buildings. This was followed my many smaller earthquakes including another 6.3 magnitude earthquake on 13 June 2011. These two earthquakes caused many of Sumner's iconic cliffs to collapse, and many areas to be cordoned off using fencing and shipping containers.  Since these earthquakes a lot of the cliffs have been further dismantled to make them safe. The shipping containers have finally been removed and vegetation planted so overtime the large scars in the cliff face blend back into the natural environment.

Sumner container wall c.2015

Summit Road - As the weather was nice we decided to drive along Summit Road between the Gondola and Godley Head, for the first time post earthquake, to be reminded of the amazing views.

Sumner

Heathcote Valley

The Estuary

As luck would have it when I flew to Wellington on the Monday morning we took off to the south and flew over the city going out to sea at New Brighton with Sumner just visible at the top middle of the photograph.

The making

The idea was to finish the quilted jacket in time for Symposium in October but that plan didn't quite work out.  Now that the garment is finished I can't see it having a life in regular wardrobe rotation.  It would have fitted in really well at the quilt symposium but not sure it does anywhere else.

When I signed up for the bargello quilt class at Bernina Dress Sundries in the early 2000s I knew that I wanted a brightly coloured quilt based on the colours in a bundle of Laurel Burch Fantastic Felines fabrics sent to me by Cath. The strata of my quilt ended up being the colours of a rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) and these five Laurel Burch fabrics just blended into that theme.

I started making this jacket quite quickly after finishing the quilt using a kimono quilt pattern from a book. All these years later I have no idea what the book was or even where the pattern I traced is.  It never made it to completion for two reasons: (1) the kimono sleeves resulted in a lot of fabric under the arm which looked ugly and was uncomfortable; (2) I was obsessed with making double sided garments and I could never decide what the second side should be. So the original jacket was reverse sewn and the pieces put away in a draw for maturation.

Roll on 2017 and I looked at a number of different jacket patterns but was really limited by the fact that I didn't want to chop up the quilt more than I had to and the shape of the previous kimono jacket.  After much head scratching I remembered a Laura Lee Fitz garment quilt pattern "Fruit Garden" bought at either my first or second trip to Houston International Quilt Festival back in 2008 or 2010. This worked perfectly having more shape whilst still blending well with the original garment. I created my own facing and lining pieces and used pattern 1007 Kimono Jacket and Vest by Purrfection Artistic Wearables (now called Dana Marie Design) for the kimono style collar band.

The quilt is quilted really simply, going corner to corner diagonally across each segment of fabric, using invisible thread. It is quilted onto a heavy cotton flannel.  This was before I discovered heirloom cotton quilting flannel which is fantastic for garment quilts.  This heavy flannel makes the jacket quite heavy (but warm).

As the quilted fabric was thick I used herringbone stitch (embroidery stitch name due to old age mental blank on its sewing name) to catch all of the seams down.

One of the challenges with completing a project so many years after it was started is having enough fabric.  I had stitched the embroidery designs on a Jinny Beyer fabric and always intended to use the same fabric for the kimono collar.  Now of course I wanted to use it for the facings as well. Even the quilt shop that used to stock all of the Jinny Beyer Palette Collection is no more. So I popped into Bernina in the hope that they still had some left and yay they had a lonely fat quarter remaining. With this fat quarter and the other remnants from my original purchase I managed to cut all the bits I needed with some judicious piecing using left over bits of the bargello patchwork.

The lining came from The Fabric Store, a lovely silk satin.  I did try to find a cheaper fabric but none of the other lining suitable silks worked nearly as well as the snakeskin print.

The machine embroidery was the other feature of the garment. All of these designs were from the OESD Laurel Burch Fantastic Felines Collection.  This took ages to sew out on my previous Bernina Embroidery machine (Artista 180).  The biggest hoop I had was 200 x 155mm (roughly 8 x 6 inches). So the fabric had to be hooped many times and everything carefully positioned to line up with the previous stitching, to get a strip of fabric long enough to go around my hips.

As an art garment I love the look of the finished item.  From a sewing perspective there are a number of imperfections and I would give myself a "could do better" rating.  It will be interesting to see if it gets worn as an everyday garment when the cooler weather comes.

Goodbye 2017.....Hello 2018

I seem to be about a week behind everyone else doing my year in review post.  I don't intend to categorise good and bad makes just show a photo montage of this year's garments, because the reality is I have enjoyed sewing all of this year's garments.

Those garments that have left the wardrobe involved some dubious choices - wrong fabric for pattern, wrong garment for me, incorrect sizing - but they did all provide an opportunity to learn.

In sewing we don't always learn quickly from our mistakes sometimes we have to repeat them many times before the lesson sinks in. Maybe this is true of life too I am just more conscious of it with sewing!  I have got better at knowing what garments I like for my shape and how those garments should fit - how much ease they should have.  My number of sewing mishaps has diminished significantly over the past two years.

Dresses have been re-discovered and this category of my wardrobe has expanded significantly.  Because I wear trousers so much my tops never seem to be quite suitable to wear with skirts. The proportions never seem to leave me feeling I am looking my best. With dresses I don't have to worry about the combination being wrong I have the top and bottom in one garment.

My overlocker and I are also now friends.  I feel confident using it, more able to manipulate the fabric around the corners without chopping some vital part off.  The blog has also helped focus my attention - enabling me to sew consistently, be less sporadic.  So I think all in all it has been a good sewing year for me.

Taking photos for the blog is still something I am getting used to and I am no less wooden at the end of the year than I was at the beginning.

In the photo montage I haven't necessarily chosen the most obvious picture to showcase the garment and the way some of them came out it actually shows other parts of my outfit more than the self-made item. But it does capture my outfits and what I have done sewing wise over the year.

Left to right/top to bottom are:
Silhouette Patterns Traditional red flower dress

Vogue 2494 double faced little brown jacket and Vogue 1250 DKNY teal burnout velvet dress

Bargello quilt kimono jacket
Vogue 1454 DKNY Gorgeous butterflies top
Megan Nielsen Briar sweet bubbles tee
Butterick 6232 morse dot sun top
Style Arc Rosie Elevenses top

Left to right/top to bottom are:
Silhouette Patterns Ice-cream shop sweater
TSW Odette zebra top
Home Sewing Windswept swirl top
Ready to Sew Janis Two Ronnies top
Style Arc Maris moon top
Self drafted leggings and Vogue 8976 tree top
TSW Odette tundra top
Silhouette Patterns peach rayon knit sweater

Left to right/top to bottom are:
Home Sewing Meandering chrysanthemums swirl top and Scottie bag
Silhouette Patterns Giorgio's busy city dress
Ready to Sew Janis feather top
Self drafted Tessuti leggings and TSW Bristol top
Papercut Patterns Bowline NY circuit sweater
Vogue 1250 DKNY Elevenses dress
Vogue 1836 Issey Miyake Gorgeous raincoat
Silhouette Patterns Traditional Ahipara dress

Left to right/top to bottom are:
Self drafted Tessuti leggings
Ready to Sew Janis sand bar top
Vogue 1203 Tracy Reese zebra cowl top
RTW alteration Moochi revel tank
Vogue 1203 Tracy Reese blue wavy stripe cowl top
Vogue 1250 DKNY Meandering chrysanthemums dress
Style Arc Hedy Liberty dress

I wanted to include the photos for my year in review in arty montages. I found a review which recommended a piece of free online software called Fotojet. You make your collage and then save the result as an image. You can determine the size and quality of this image too. So I decided to have a play with it and have spent many a happy hour manipulating photos in it.  Only to go back to the automated collage tool in Google Photos.  Here is one of my attempts with Fotojet.

The reason I went back to Google was because Fotojet only gave me the appearance of control so I got frustrated when my montage didn't show the bit of garment I wanted to show or I couldn't make it small enough to fit everything in. Google Photos doesn't always show the images as I want them but I start off knowing this so am more accepting of the results.  So in the interests of doing a year in review post before the end of January I gave in and settled for the Google Photo montages.

And what about the year ahead?

The idea of choosing a word to represent what I want from the coming year appeals to me but I can't come up with a word that really resonates. Probably because my life was so work ruled last year the only word that I keep coming back to is BALANCE. Not sure it is multi-dimensional enough for what I want of the coming year.  Yet if you think of it in a wider context of social balance; balance and harmony; emotional balance; savings balance - maybe it is my word. And given my age maybe I could hope for temperature balance although this is somewhat out of my control. I will continue to think about this but the word is growing on me.

From a sewing perspective having just gone through twelve-months of photos I have noticed a bit of a theme on my sewing table.  The pile of possibles. I would like it to be gone with all the items made not tidied away into a box. So maybe that is my resolution for the year to turn the possible into finished.  There is another item to be added to the possible pile which I cut out between Christmas and New Year and has been sitting on the ironing board ever since. As the cutting out is the part I find most tedious you would think that once I have completed that stage the rest would be easy.

My excuses are feeble.  The yellow top in the foreground on the right wasn't made because I needed to change the overlocker thread.  The pile on the right is a half made Dana Marie Designs 1007 Kimono Jacket which stalled because I didn't like the fabric used for the sleeve, but when you consider I bought the replacement sleeve fabric on 21 February 2011 (memorable date because the replacement fabric came from the Korean quilt shop/cafe which didn't survive the earthquake) it should really be finished by now. Then there is.....  A jacket not finished in time for our trip to England in May 2016. The muslin of my Flat Bottom Flo pants which has never made final version status. A cardigan not finished for my trip to Design Outside the Lines in October 2016 yet the top made from the leftovers has been made and worn. The TSW Zayn top bought and cut out in huge anticipation when the pattern was first released. Etc etc etc.

If I took a sewing project to Wellington each week they could be finished and at least from a work life perspective I would be on the journey to achieving balance.