Coffee in Eutopia

One of the many great things about New Zealand is the individualism in buildings. Some are designed and built by the famous like the Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa and others are just the imaginings of ordinary folk.

We visited a newly refurbished cafe in Kaiwaka on our drive up to Ahipara from Auckland. Eutopia has taken five years to renovate from its previous incarnation as a boat to a wonderful Hundertwasseresque treasure trove.

There are not many words (or sewing) to this post only photographs of our amazing surroundings. Not even pictures of our lunch because we were far too hungry to think about taking pictures due to a few travel challenges, no breakfast and not arriving at Eutopia for lunch until 2pm. Plus I never really understood the point of taking photographs of your meal and showing others. In case you are wondering lunch was delicious as was the coffee, so it isn't only pretty scenery that make stopping at Eutopia worthwhile. A recommended stop off point for the hungry or the curious.


Outfit of the day: Horizontal Hold Victory trench, self drafted DKNY leggings, Moochi dress and
United Nude Issey Miyake Step shoes

The exterior

Entrance archway presided over by a large seagull

Exterior wall and a better view of the seagull

The exterior wall with some of its fancy finials

Eutopia in the past (2014) with the boat exterior, still watched over by the seagull
Photo from the Eutopia Facebook page

The interior

Street facing courtyard

Entrance courtyard facing the kitchen

Entrance courtyard by the external wall

Entrance courtyard facing the external wall

Booth mural painted by Lori Salisbury

Glorious mural in one of the booths

The fountain

Help yourself to a knife and fork!

View of the fountain from the unfinished courtyard

The unique carpentry

No boring wooden doors here - channelling the Hobbiton vibe.

The ordering counter with the door to the kitchen on the right

The swanky bathrooms

Not quite up to the level of opulence of the Hundertwasser toilets but a lot more fancy than your average bathroom and not just because it included a urinal!

The unfinished courtyard

The new look café has been five years in the making and there are still a few unfinished areas. The courtyard we sat in (all on our own) is definitely a work in progress with its unfinished booth and slight building site appearance but it still has some of the quirky furniture and carved plaster walls

Unfinished booth on the left leading through to the entrance courtyard in the middle

Wall carving by Marijke Valkenburg

Pattern Review Mini Wardrobe Contest 2019: The Ideas

When the 2019 list of contests was released on Pattern Review I tagged a number of them as being of interest to enter. However so far none of them have eventuated, partly because my sewing fixation at the time did not fit in with the competition rules.

First contest not entered was the Sewing Bee. This would always have been a bit of a struggle to do assuming I got past the first round but the constraints for the first challenge didn't appeal. The round one challenge was to sew a knit cardigan inspired by the colour of the year - Living Coral. Whilst living coral is not in my colour palette the words were inspiring and could have been used to justify the chosen red wool fabric. What put an end to the fantasy of entering was for the cardigan to be between waist and knee length. My Papercut Fjord cardigan was lengthened considerably to be mid calf and therefore ineligible.

The second contest not entered was the Jeans and Pants Contest. Having achieved a TNT non-stretch jeans pattern with Silhouette Patterns Lana's Jeans this should have been an easy contest to enter. The problem - I had become fixated on making a pair of In the Folds Darlow trousers. Of course this pattern needs to be muslined first for fit, but the real barrier was the fabric a double sided ponteroma knit, when knit fabrics were expressly excluded. The other challenge is the pattern itself which only comes as a PDF and whilst it has been purchased and printed out it is not yet taped together. There is of course fabric in my collection which could have made a very nice pair of Lana's jeans for the contest but it didn't happen.

Is the mini wardrobe contest third time lucky or just another dream?

I'm really comfortable with this challenge as the wardrobe concept is typically how I create my sewing plans, to produce a selection of clothing that co-ordinates and can be worn together. My whole wardrobe very much follows this philosophy as it makes getting dressed effortless, as well as providing me with many capsule wardrobes for efficient travel packing for the working week in Wellington.

The possible fly in the ointment for the wardrobe contest is the coat which has been floating around in my head for a wee while and may be ready to come to fruition. The coat will coordinate with this mini wardrobe but isn't needed for the contest and may distract my sewing time away from what I should be concentrating on.

The rules

The rules for this mini wardrobe contest are pretty simple and the garments will also fit into my larger black, white and red Minnie Mouse wardrobe.

1. Between 15 April and 15 May 2019, sew 5 garments (3 tops and 2 bottoms).
2. Each top must be able to be worn with each bottom, to create two outfits per top. A total of 6 outfits for the wardrobe.
3. Tops need to be able to be worn with the bottoms and still be wearable in public.
4. Bottoms need to be able to be worn with the tops and still be wearable in public. Tights are excluded unless the fabric is thick enough to be worn as leggings which can be part of the entry.
5. No additional items can be made and included as part of the contest entry. Dresses are excluded unless worn as a top.
6. The wardrobe can be for any person (adult, teen, baby, etc).

Top one - TSW Frankie Street Smart Shirt

I am slightly anxious about using the Street Smart linen for a Frankie shirt. It is not a pattern I have used before and I consider the linen to be quite precious. However the shirt has the right style lines. Not that it will be a shirt in the finished product as I'm not a fan of buttoned shirts and collars. Both of these will be eliminated and the neckline altered so the top goes over my head.

Top two - Style Arc Maris Flower Power Top

The red flower silk is a scrap from a garment that may never have been finished it certainly isn't in my wardrobe. I chose a light silver grey silk (from The Fabric Store) to go with it as both the red and white proved difficult colours to match. How I use these two fabrics will depend on how many pattern pieces I can get out of the left over silk. Ideally I would like the back and centre front panel in the red flower silk with the front top and bottom bands as well as the sleeves in the silver grey silk.

Top three - TSW Zayn Dotty Top

This Japanese cotton double gauze from Marcy Tilton is delicious. I am really keen to take advantage of both sides of the fabric. Hence my choice of The Sewing Workshop Zayn top which with its cut up front and back gives plenty of room to play.

Trousers

Haven't yet decided whether to make both pairs of trousers using Silhouette Patterns Lana's Jeans or change it up slightly with the Megan Nielsen Dawn jeans pattern. The deep red fabric is a linen metallic blend from The Fabric Store whilst the black and cream micro check was unearthed from deep in the fabric collection and I have no clue either where it came from or what it is made of.

Both of these fabrics are going to feature in the coat that is gestating.

The extras

I have a gorgeous piece of black silk kantha fabric (from Marcy Tilton) which I am quite keen to make into the Issey Miyake shirt in Vogue 2761. This could be worn as a shirt with either pair of trousers but also as a jacket over the other two tops giving me ten outfits from the five pieces. This shirt will take longer to make as the pattern has not been used before and I want it to be reversible. The inner black cotton fabric is as nice as the outer patchwork silk. If it can be made reversible this would provide sixteen outfits from the five pieces - the kind of versatility I like!

There is also a piece of glen plaid poly cotton stretch fabric which may become part of this entry as In the Folds Darlow trousers, view B. We shall see which of the three pair of trousers eventuates.

2018 Wardrobe Contest 6-in-6 easy as 1-2-3... or not

I had planned to enter the 2018 wardrobe contest as sewing six garments in six weeks seemed extremely achievable. I took the Madrid blouse away with me, as the beginning of the contest coincided with a holiday weekend, and still didn't manage to complete all garments by 15 March 2018. The six garment mini wardrobe didn't qualify for the contest, being completed well outside the six week time frame, they did however become part of my larger 2018 travel wardrobe plans.

I created a little mood board for the patterns and fabrics such was my confidence about entering this contest.

The topper: V2056 Issey Miyake Poppy's Patchwork Jacket
The bottoms: Lana's Caesar jeans; Megan Nielsen Flint Lydia trousers
The tops: left and right Cut Make Trim Tees; centre Oki Style Isle of Wight Madrid blouse 

Victory Patterns Ulysses Horizontal Hold Trench

The coat for my Minnie Mouse wardrobe was named by my dearly beloved who when he saw it modelled in a half made state said it looked as though the horizontal hold had gone. This will be meaningless to those who never experienced black and white analogue televisions with a picture that used to revolve (due to a problem with the horizontal hold) until they were hit in a strategic place. Ah those innocent childhood memories of a father with the power to miraculously stop the TV revolving.

I thought this was a very good analogy as my eyes certainly had a bit of trouble with the horizontal hold as I was sewing it.

The finished garment

For the photo shoot I went full out monochrome with Andrea Moore boyfriend jeans, Two Ronnies top and Ivy Lee Courtney black shoes. Actually this is the outfit I wore to lunch on Saturday with my beloved and it seemed like a good opportunity when we got home to take photos for the blog.

The fabric

This is a cotton jacquard from The Fabric Store which was purchased specifically for the Minnie Mouse wardrobe. Couldn't resist the thought of using both sides of the fabric for a coat.  It took a little bit of cogitating to decide how to feature both sides of the fabric with the end result being a black with cream half and a cream with black half. The pattern on the belt runs in the opposite direction to the coat but still maintains the black half and cream half.

This is the best photo of the fabric I could get. The camera on my phone doesn't like the horizontal hold pattern and just wouldn't focus.

The pattern

Victory Patterns describe the coat as "Ulysses mixes trench coat styling with a modern look. This relaxed, straight-cut jacket features draped elements such as a shawl collar and a clean-lined, curved back "rain guard" overlay. Notched-out holes along the sides seam of the overlay allow the jacket's belt to exit through from the back to the front. Other features include shoulder epaulettes, clean-lined, angled patch pockets with an upper flap, a centre-back vent, and a gently angled hemline at the front.

The body of the coat is unlined, making this a perfect, cool style for the warmer months. Instructions are given for finishing seams with binding, which creates a beautiful interior finish to the garment."

Photograph from the Victory Patterns website

The pattern alterations

This version incorporates the same alterations as the first one I made (the Rainbow trench). The only other change I made was to straighten the hemline removing the slight angle from the front. This version is unlined (like the Victory Patterns original), without the pockets or back rain guard overlay. I am still toying with the idea of making welt pockets using the leather trim.

The sewing

This was a really enjoyable coat to sew, with an extremely well behaved fabric that pressed well and caused no anxious moments at all.

Before I started sewing the coat pieces together I overlocked all of the raw edges. For the neck edge I stabilised it using tulle tape overlocked in place. The rest of the coat was then sewn on my trusty Singer Featherweight 221 straight stitch machine.

Based on experience with the Rainbow Trench the neck edge of this Horizontal Hold version was stabilised. The Rainbow trench collar doesn't hang entirely to my satisfaction and I think it may have distorted during sewing. Although having now taken the time to look at the original Victory Patterns version their collar rolls in just the same way as the Rainbow trench.

Whilst I didn't really want to loose the waterfall collar effect it was a worthwhile sacrifice for the stable edge. The tulle tape combined with the leather binding provided a stiffer collar which suits the fabric and overall look of this coat.

Stabilising the neck edge with tulle tape

The tulle tape

The fabric selvedge was used as a feature down the centre back seam on both the inside and outside of the coat.

Using the selvedge for the centre back seam

Although the raw edges at the neck edge and sleeves were overlocked I decided to bind them using red bias tape for a colour pop, as well as maintain the black, white and red theme!

Binding the neck edge and the fabric selvedge at centre back

Bias binding on the neck edge and armhole plus as hem tape on the sleeve

Leather trim was used to bind the outer edges of the garment apart from the sleeves which I hemmed. This 1" leather binding was fabulous really soft, easy to iron in half using a silk organza pressing cloth and sew in place.  The needle wasn't even changed to sew the leather just stitched it down using the size 70 needle used for all the other sewing.

Leather binding with mitred corners for the collar (top) and lower edge (bottom)

The leather was used to cover the collar centre back seam. The seam was sewn and pressed open then the leather placed over the seam and sewn down.

As well as trimming the cut edge of the belt with the leather it was also used to make the belt loops. The leather was folded in half and the long edge sewn then the short edge was attached to the coat top and bottom. There are three belt loops one at centre back and one at each side seam.

Outfit of the day

I took the Horizontal Hold trench to the West Coast when we went over for the day with visitors so it could be photographed at the Theatre Royal Hotel, Kumara in the same place as the Rainbow trench. Here it is worn with my Minnie Mouse Lana's jeans, Moochi Precinct linen sweater and United Nude Lo Res flats.

Since I made this version of the Ulysses trench it has been my go-to coat for the summer. Here it is worn with V1250 DKNY teal velvet burnout dress and United Nude Rockit Ace black gold suede ankle boot.

Illustrating its versatility here it is with my blue wardrobe for a week in Wellington. Sorry I haven't worked out how to get full length selfies yet without using the mirror in the bathroom at work.

Me Made Clothes on Monday (Silhouette Traditional Red Flower dress) and
Wednesday (V1250 DKNY Teal Burnout Velvet dress)

And here it is with my week in Wellington green wardrobe in remembrance of the tragedy in Christchurch on 15 March 2019.

Me Made Clothes on Monday (Ready to Sew Janis Feather top) and
Wednesday (V1250 Meandering Chrysanthemums dress) 

Need to get my act together and make some 6½" fabric blocks including the colour green if not green hearts for the Quilters Healing Hearts in Christchurch appeal.