Papercut Fjord Elongated Red Cardi

Every collection of clothes in my wardrobe has to have a cardigan, I used to have a red cardigan which I don't remember purging from the wardrobe but it wasn't there last time I went to wear it. So a cardigan was an essential need for my Minnie Mouse jeans wardrobe.  This isn't the planned cardigan, that is Vogue 8653 a Marcy Tilton pattern that will eventually appear in a lovely fleecy red Merino. The Papercut Patterns Fjord cardi shot to the top of the list however because of the fabric and the Pattern Review Sewing Bee round one challenge.

For a nano second I considered sewing the cardigan for the PR Sewing Bee. Living Coral in its literal sense as the colour of the year Pantone 16-1546 was a non-starter. Coral is not a colour that features large in either my wardrobe or fabric stash. However I found the words used to describe Living Coral very evocative.

"Vibrant, yet mellow PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment.  Living Coral emits the desired, familiar, and energising aspects of colour found in nature. In its glorious, yet unfortunately more elusive, display beneath the sea, this vivifying and effervescent colour mesmerises the eye and mind. Lying at the centre of our naturally vivid and chromatic ecosystem, Living Coral is evocative of how coral reefs provide shelter to a diverse kaleidoscope of colour."

I saw my chosen fabric as vibrant and buoyant, embracing me with warmth and comfort, and together these are extremely nourishing and energising for me. Watching the image of the fish swimming amongst the coral I could clearly see this gorgeous vibrant red amongst the colourful kaleidoscope. I also saw my choice of red as conveying the danger living coral is facing from mankind with tourism, global warming and local pollution causing the diminution of coral reefs.

Even the fabric cooperated it was waiting for me at home on Thursday, was washed on Friday and I had until 6pm on Saturday (19 January) to finish my entry (sewing, photos, review etc) which would have been a challenge but not completely unachievable. So why no sewing bee entry (aside from the sheer terror at the thought of progressing to the next round)?

(Un)fortunately the rules did not suit my vision for pattern and fabric, which was for a mid-calf length cardigan not one between waist and knee length. After a momentary pause I decided  compromising that vision for Sewing Bee wasn't an option. That choice wasn't at all influenced by the terror! Once Sewing Bee faded from my mind so did the urgency to get this finished or even started.

The finished garment

For some reason this cardigan was quite hard to photograph. This could have been because of the temperature (low 30°C) with bright sunshine.

Posing in front of our gorgeous (if somewhat stunted*) silk tree

Delicate silk tree flowers

*the silk tree is stunted because a much larger pine tree fell on it in its formative years and whilst it has finally developed the canopy of the silk tree it will never regain its lost inches in height.

The fabric

This fabric was a recent purchase from Elliott Berman Textiles specifically for a lengthened Fjord cardi and is described as a darkened high risk red. It is 100% wool, 60" wide and imported from Italy. "This deep colour boiled wool is ideal for a Fall/Winter jacket or coat. It has a nice fuzzy finish and soft drape."

What is not mentioned in the description is the course texture with that most despised of wool properties scratchiness.  If I had been able to feel this fabric before purchase I would not have bought it. It did soften slightly after its gentle woolly wash with wool wash liquid. Since making I have washed it in two cups of white vinegar which didn't really alter the softness much either. Maybe my disappointment with this wool is because of the easy access I have to high quality New Zealand merino which is always baby soft. In hindsight I should have bought merino and boil washed it myself.

I was in too minds about using this wool for its intended purpose but decided I had nothing to loose. Otherwise the fabric would have been consigned to the stash never to see the light of day until it was finally disposed of. As the pattern had never been used before I was more than happy to sacrifice this wool if it turned out not to be a wearable muslin. Of course if I had my brain engaged when I made this it would have been underlined to protect me from the wool but I didn't so it isn't.

The pattern

This pattern is described as "Cosy at it’s finest! This super comfy cardigan features angled side pockets, a wide neckband and two length options. Inspired by a Fjord, a long narrow deep inlet."

Recommended fabrics are: medium weight jersey knits.

The pattern alterations

For style preference, to achieve a 44" long coat cardigan, I lengthened the back (3), and front band (5) pattern pieces by 23½" (including a 1" hem as the hem band wasn't used). The side front (2) and centre front (1) pattern pieces were lengthened by 2" because I wanted a deeper pocket. Then a new pattern piece was created to attach to the bottom of the side and centre front pieces, 12⅝" wide by 22¼" long. I also lengthened the sleeves by 4" plus a 2" hem instead of using the sleeve cuff.

The height of the front band at the back of the neck was reduced by 1", and re-shaped to blend back into the original band width at the notch.  I did this to remove the rolled edge of the shawl collar as I felt it was too small to get a really full shawl collar so would rather have a stand-up collar.

I used the size small for the bust and waist grading out to the size large at the hips. Measuring over the dress I was wearing at the time this gave me 1" of ease at the bust, 3" at the waist and 3" at the hip. I kept the ease at the waist and hips the same to try and give the illusion of a waist through a little bit of shaping.

The only alteration I made for fit was a 1½" sway back adjustment. As the pattern has raglan sleeves I didn't do my normal forward shoulder adjustment.

For the future the length of the front band needs to be reduced by 2" so that the collar snugs into the back of the neck.  Not quite sure how to tackle this change on the front band pattern piece as it is cut double width and folded in half. Maybe it is as easy as reducing the overall length of the pattern piece by 2" and stretching it more around the neck. Think this will be a trial and error experiment next time I make this cardigan.

Top left: protruding back collar; top right; collar hugging back of neck
Bottom left: dart created in neckband; bottom right the wedge removed from the neckband

I was able to alter this in the finished garment because the selvedge of the wool fabric was used at the outer edge rather than folding the band in half. At the centre back seam a 2" dart was made by sewing 1" further in at the selvedge tapering to nothing at the neck edge.

The sewing

This was sewn on the overlocker with red thread rather than black to emphasise the lines of the cardigan. Even though it is only visible on the inside I was still slightly fixated on the whole coral imagery, and as I was making it I saw the seam lines as a nod to the coral branches. Now it is made and I have taken pictures of the inside it looks nothing like branches.

Inside the Fjord elongated red cardigan

Amazingly I even followed the instructions as I made this. They were good apart from only sometimes mentioning to press the seams. On the positive side when they did mention pressing the seam they told you which direction to press it, very useful for beginner sewers.

Outfit of the day

It isn't really the weather for this as an outfit of the day. I have carried it to Wellington on a couple of occasions and wore it more indoors than out. Our building is super air conditioned to the point of freezing the occupants and here in NZ we are not used to the concept of taking a layer off to go outside.

Instead of an outfit of the day here are my beloved and I at the end of a very arduous photo shoot. The difficulty was I kept shutting my eyes as I squinted at the sun and beloved couldn't see the screen of my phone very well when taking the pictures. Those pictures where I had my eyes open often had strange shadows across my face and outfit which made it difficult to see the lines of the cardigan. Many photos later we had enough to use for the blog so a very big thank you to my other half for his patience and perseverance.

The Minnie Mouse Wardrobe and Silhouette Patterns Lana's Jeans

So off I go again down the rabbit hole of collecting more fabric than I can ever use to create a wardrobe based on a particular colour theme. The star of the show is the Minnie Mouse fabric used to make a pair of jeans using Silhouette Patterns #3300 Lana's jeans.

In the PBS programme Fit to Stitch series six episode one, Peggy Sagers the host is given "homework" to create an inspiration mood board - a collage of ideas that can be used to put a fashion collection together. I find that I don't need a mood board just a piece of fabric to generate ideas for a collection. This is true for my quilting as well, where the quilt is generally based on a print fabric with the other fabrics chosen to compliment and boost the feature fabric.

The wardrobe

So I started off with the Vivienne Files classic four by four template and as usual got carried away and produced a four by three grid as well. Some of these fabrics have been long standing members of my stash and others recent purchases specifically for the Minnie Mouse Collection.

I can see this red/black/winter white collection being my theme for 2019. I do have a couple of other collection ideas - one based around another piece of fabric and the other inspired by a pair of shoes. These other ideas are germinating and may become an entry for two Pattern Review contests, otherwise it is going to be a red, white and black year.

Row 1: Victory Patterns Ulysses trench; Sew Chic Phantom jacket;
Silhouette Patterns Lana's jeans; Megan Nielsen Flint trousers
Row 2: Papercut Patterns Fjord Cardi; Style Arc Maris top; Silhouettes Patterns Lana's jeans
Row 3: Alabama Chanin School of Making Panel Tank top; Oki Style Sine top;
How to do Fashion Kastrup top; V1415 Tom & Linda Platt tunic A
Row 4: Named Patterns Mintto Swing top; V9112 Marcy Tilton Cirque dress;
V1563 Issey Miyake dress; Named Patterns Kielo Wrap dress

Row 1: V2973 Montana jacket; V2734 Anna Sui jacket; Self-drafted leggings;
Megan Nielsen Flint trousers
Row 2: V8653 Marcy Tilton Reversible jacket; Silhouette Patterns Traditional top;
V1410 Lynn Mizono dress; Self-drafted leggings
Row 3: Alabama Chanin School of Making Panel Tank dress;
Merchant & Mills Camber Set dress; Megan Nielsen Floreat top;
Named Patterns Kielo Wrap dress

So far I have made Silhouette Patterns #3300 Lana's Minnie Mouse jeans; the black and white Victory Patterns Ulysses trench coat; the Papercut Patterns red Fjord cardi and Silhouette Patterns #400 Traditional Top (now sadly out of print). I also have Vogue 2973 the Montana leather jacket cut out but haven't quite achieved the confidence level necessary to stick the needle into it! Not a very good start to my wardrobe given that I like to think I can produce a garment a week, had two weeks off over Christmas and February is well underway.

The finished garment

I just love my Minnie Mouse jeans. They were made in a Liberty print for my UK travel wardrobe and I thought they fit well but not as well as these ones after a bit of expert Peggy fitting.

Minnie Mouse jeans on the Kaikoura shoreline
(where you expect to find the chimney breast from a long departed house)

Icebreaker butterfly merino tee with Minnie Mouse jeans and United Nude Kiko shoes

The fabric

This is a firm cotton fabric found in the home dec section of Fabric Vision. The fabric positively yelled to become a pair of jeans and so it did within a couple of weeks of purchase. Minnie Mouse was washed in Coca-Cola (only the original version works) before use and the fabric softened quite a bit. The washing in Coca-Cola to soften jeans fabric is a Peggy tip so quite apt it was needed for this fabric.

After much debate with myself I decided not to make any attempt at pattern matching the tossed Minnie Mouse heads. Having been caught out before I spent ages trying to determine if the fabric had a stripe because I would have tried to match that across my legs.  I couldn't find one so just treated the fabric as if it had a nap and laid all the pattern pieces in the same direction.

The pattern

This is a great pattern for a pair of non-stretch jeans, which when made to measure are surprisingly comfortable to wear.

The pattern alterations

The pictures are all of my Silhouette Patterns #3600 Ralph's Pant muslin produced in the class with Peggy. I was very naughty and despite seeing the benefits of making a muslin of Ralph's Pant I didn't make one for Lana's Jean I just used the end result of the changes to Ralph's Pant and replicated them in my Lana's Jean pattern.

I was going to try and write a long explanation about the fundamentals of Peggy's fitting technique but I don't need to because Peggy has just published a piece on the Silhouette Patterns' website Understanding Fit working through LCD (length, circumference and depth). This is also covered in the webcasts (all of the webcasts are listed here). The webcasts Peggy did with Lora are really helpful, EF The Great Eight shows the pants roughly about 50 minutes in. There is also a Fit to Stitch episode (number 108) about jeans which includes the Coca Cola tip and fitting.

If crotch depth is too long there are wrinkles right underneath the buttocks this is removed by pinching out a dart at hip level at centre back tapering to nothing at the back side seam. This may or may not need to be repeated on the front depending on if you have excess fabric gathering around the crotch.

If there are diagonal wrinkles from below the outseam just below the hip pointing to the inseam this requires a dart at the inseam at the top of the leg tapering to nothing at the back side seam. Because the front and back of the legs are joined at the inseam whatever dart is taken in the back needs to be carried around to the front tapering to nothing at the front side seam.

Trousers Front
Reduce crotch depth ⅞" at centre front tapering to nothing at the outseam (side seam).
Remove inseam length by ¾" at the top of the thigh tapering to nothing at the outseam

Trousers Back

Reduce crotch depth by ⅝" at centre back tapering to nothing at the outseam

Remove inseam length by ⅞" at the top of the thigh tapering to nothing at the outseam

Adding ⅜" seam allowance to outseam stitching line and removing excess fabric

Original Lana's Caesar Jeans versus Minnie Mouse version

The sewing

As I had used the trouser muslin to make alterations to my jeans pattern, which are more closely fitted cupping the buttocks rather than falling straight down, I wasn't entirely sure how well the alterations would work. So I put the jeans together slightly differently and basted them in many places so I could check fit before sewing permanently.

All seams were sewn at ⅜" on the sewing machine and then the seam overlocked. In order to not have to keep changing thread I set up my Singer Featherweight for the top stitching, with red Gutermann topstitch thread, and a slightly tighter top tension at 4.5 rather than the normal 4.

Top stitching the inseam

Sewing order:

• Pockets were sewn to the back and I am really proud of the pattern matching I achieved.
• Back and back yoke pieces were sewn together at the centre back seam and overlocked, then the back yoke was sewn to the back.
• Front pockets, fly front and zipper were inserted as per the instructions (Peggy's instructions are excellent and the finished product looks very professional). 
• Centre front seam was top stitched before the inseam was sewn (the centre back seam was not top stitched until later).
• Inseam was sewn, overlocked and topstitched.
• Outseams were overlocked then basted together.
• After trying the trousers on I had to alter the back yoke by removing ½" at the top of the centre back seam tapering to nothing where it met the back of the trousers. As well as removing ⅝" from the back yoke piece at each side seam tapering to nothing where it met the back of the trousers.
• Side seam is top stitched from the top of the back yoke to just below the bottom of the pocket bag.
• Waistband attached, buttonhole made (not without its challenges) and button sewn on.
• Last but not least the trousers were hemmed.

Superb pattern matching on the back pockets

Outfit of the day

The Minnie Mouse jeans went on a day trip to Kaikoura over the Christmas holidays. This is the first time we had been to Kaikoura since the earthquake in 2016. It was very interesting to see how far the sea bed had risen and the distance to the sea in some places.  Kaikoura is suffering from the same fate as Christchurch in that it takes time to replace the damaged buildings but as much as you can tell from a day trip it does seem to have retained its soul.


Silhouette Patterns #312 Giorgio's red top with #3300 Lana's Minnie Mouse jeans and Hōgl sandals

Sewing with Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns

In the interests of open disclosure I am a Peggy fan girl. Long long ago one of the blogs I read mentioned this pattern company that produced inspiration / how to videos for their patterns (Silhouette Patterns) which came in B, C and D cup sizing. Whilst I can't credit the blog for the introduction, as my memory has faded, I do thank them from the bottom of my heart for introducing me to Peggy. Once I started watching the videos and bought a couple of patterns I was hooked. Don't be put off by the photographs on the front of the patterns look at the line drawings. The pattern styles suit me and I appreciate them being well drafted.

I have learnt so much from Peggy Sagers and her video tutorials (both free and on DVD). I have all of the DVDs as well as the Fit 2 Stitch PBS series one to six. Many of the patterns I sew are based on the fit I have achieved with a Silhouette Pattern. My sewing is much less hit and miss than it used to be as I know how much ease I like in a garment, have sleeves and their matching armhole templates which I generally use rather than the one in the pattern and so much more.

When organising my trip to the United States for the International Quilt Festival in Houston I planned to spend two nights in San Francisco as I wanted time to go to both Britex Fabrics and Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics as well as doing a bit of sight-seeing. Then towards the end of August I discovered that Peggy was holding a two-day workshop in Portland, Oregon the Friday and Saturday I would be in San Francisco. Fortunately I hadn't booked my internal flight and even better I could fly San Francisco to Portland to Houston for pretty much the same price as flying San Francisco to Houston. The logistics weren't ideal but it could be done and I was off to Portland.

The finished garment

Over the Christmas holidays I made another pair of Lana's jeans using the fitting knowledge gained in class. After making the Minnie Mouse jeans I sent Peggy the below photo. The before picture is my Lana's Caesar jeans made in April 2018. I was really happy with the fit when I made them but you can really see the difference the pattern changes made to the overall look of the jeans. Peggy responded to the photo with some advice to remove more inseam length to eliminate the wrinkling at the top of my thighs. I have a piece of fabric already selected to make another pair refining the fit further.

I was quite excited to notice in the after photo that I actually have a thigh gap. I will sleep much better at night now!!! Although I suspect it is an optical illusion.

There will be a blog post about the making of the Minnie Mouse jeans including the pattern alterations. I did intend to include the making in this post, but it was getting a bit long so thought it best to separate them.

The pre-class instructions

About a month before the class Peggy emailed information to help us get the most out of our two-days with her. Essentially her goal is to make it about what you need, be it fitting, sewing skill, pattern work, fabric choices, or something else. If what you are looking for is help with fitting there is information on the instruction page of the website for muslin preparation for each type of garment (blouse, skirt, dress, jacket, or pant). My initial intention was to make three muslins (woven top, jacket and trousers) with the trousers being my priority. This was well within the five muslin limit set for each student, to allow Peggy time to support everyone through the fitting process.

Unfortunately I was sick with a heavy cold the weekend before I left for America and none of my plans happened. So given that trousers were what I wanted help with most I just took pattern #3600 Ralph's Pant with me as well as the bits and pieces needed to make the muslin. This was an excellent plan because it really enabled me to get the most I was capable of out of the class.


Silhouette Patterns #3600 Ralph's Pant

The cold travelled with me to the States and I continued being sick all the way through the trip and the first week back in NZ. The cold probably lasted that long because I didn't give my body enough time to rest.

Making the muslin

If you really want to maximise your time with Peggy I wouldn't recommend my approach of tracing the pattern, cutting the calico, and basting the seams at the beginning of the class because it obviously limits the opportunity for fitting and learning. However, as my brain had limited capacity for learning it didn't really make a difference.

The trouser muslin was made with 1" seam allowances (normal ⅜" + ⅝" extra for fitting purposes) on outseams and inseams. I only had the normal ⅜" seam allowance for the front and back crotch and waist even though Peggy recommends all of these should have the extra seam allowance. The pattern has slant side pockets which for the muslin I just incorporated into the trouser front, as instructed.

The muslin was sewn together, leaving the opening to get the trousers on and off in the back crotch seam. The crotch curve was clipped so that it didn't alter the fit of the trousers.

Now we are ready to fit. Peggy tweaks the muslin, you sew the alterations then Peggy tweaks the pattern some more if necessary. If you make lots of alterations it can be better to make a second muslin. Lucky for me the number of changes weren't that great and I could stick with just making the one muslin, especially as it took me two days to achieve what you see here.

The tutor

As I have already said I am a fan girl. The class was very professionally run and Peggy was very organised. She even brought a sewing machine from Dallas for me to use in class, which was super helpful.

Peggy's training is not that of the home sewer so sometimes there are misunderstandings due to terminology and the home sewing wisdom we have learnt over the years. As a pattern maker who has worked in industry and uses mainly industry techniques in her sewing she finds some of our home sewing doctrines strange. For example, the FBA which she had never heard of and thinks is fundamentally wrong as you are altering length, circumference and depth to fix a depth fitting issue. I got the impression that many of the people in this class had done classes with Peggy previously and we all seemed to be in tune, familiar with each others sewing language.

I found Peggy to be a really knowledgeable, patient and giving tutor. She was able to manage the different needs of her students and was fair in sharing her time with us all. For the fitting stage we all got a turn at the beginning of class and then we wrote our names on a list as we were ready to be fitted again. Many of the class had brought multiple muslins for fitting and some had brought finished garments for critiquing and advice. It really was as interesting to see what Peggy was doing with other people's muslins as having her fit mine. I would do another class with Peggy in a heartbeat but hopefully next time I won't be sick.

The class

No photography is allowed in class to protect the privacy of the students. Given that we were wandering around in our muslins and not necessarily camera ready this was a very sensible approach. I did mean to take a picture of the classroom but photos for the blog are not something I think about when taking a class so I forgot. The class was held at the Portland Airport at Cascade Station Residence Inn by Marriott. The hotel staff were pleasant and it was a nice comfortable bed to rest in after a hard days sewing.

The details are a bit hazy but the class size was small (10 or 12 of us) which gave Peggy the opportunity to give plenty of attention to each of us. This class, driven by the attendees, was all about fitting but Peggy did give us other sewing tips and insights during our two days.

The class room was a good size to work in comfortably without encroaching on each other's space. The tables were a bit small if you wanted to cut out any fabric but we all managed it when necessary. Even though the room had a wall of windows I can't comment on how good it was for natural light as we kept the curtains closed so we could wander around partly clothed for the fitting sessions.

Despite taking what I thought I needed for the class I ended up using Jennifer's cotton calico for my muslin. Jennifer (my table mate) had purchased a whole roll of it from an Ikea in Europe a few years previously and was more than happy to share.

My fellow class mates were great, chatty but not too noisy and focused on what they wanted to achieve in class. I confess to not interacting a great deal with everyone, as I was trying to limit the spread of my foreign germs, which is a shame because it is always so interesting to meet others that share the same interest.

So if you ever have the opportunity to take a class with Peggy I would highly recommend it, or as a starting point watch her free videos on YouTube (the Silhouette Patterns website also has a place where past webcasts are listed). If you find you can't get enough then there is also a closed Silhouette Patterns Enthusiasts! Facebook group you can join to ask questions / seek advice or model your Silhouette Patterns creations.

Post class entertainment

Jennifer and her husband took me into Portland on Friday night for dinner at Deschutes Brewery. This was after some quality time spent at Powell's Books. A whole city block of books which of course meant I had to buy one (or two). Deschutes was the only place I took photographs during my two day visit. I'm really not a natural born picture taker.



Deschutes Brewery, with brightly coloured umbrellas hanging from the ceiling.

We travelled into the Pearl District from Cascade Station on the Metro. As an ad hoc social observation both the Metro in Portland and the Bart in San Francisco seem much more widely used by all levels of society than the bus in Houston. Cath and I really stand out on the bus in Houston. Yet Houston bus drivers are extremely courteous and helpful, the buses themselves are tidy and we certainly don't feel in any danger from our fellow passengers. I suppose when the whole city is geared around the car there is no impetus to use public transport.

Houston International Quilt Festival 2018: The Classes

Nearly three months after I returned from the 2018 International Quilt Festival in Houston I am finally writing about the five classes I took.  For the first time no sewing machine was used, any sewing was done by hand and I loved every minute of it (or nearly every minute).

Unfortunately the cold I left NZ with seemed reluctant to leave me and I ended up taking it back to NZ. Most days I managed to participate at full speed but Tuesday was a struggle, when I seemed more intent on dripping my way through a box of tissues than learning. Luckily the tutors were highly skilled, able to adapt to the different needs of their students and let me putter along at my own pace. So without further ado here are the IQF classes of 2018.

Fun and Easy Fabric Printing with Lisa Louise Adams

On Monday (all day) Cath and I did different classes. I printed fabric whilst Cath created a tree of life with Jane Sassaman.

Lisa Louise Adams was a knowledgeable, enthusiastic tutor and it was a pleasure to do a class with her. The technique she taught was based on the ancient Hawaiian art of ohe kapala. In the morning we made our printing sticks and stamps, using them to print onto fabric in the afternoon. It was amazing how much more impactful the stamp was with texture added to the large uncut areas - creating the sea around the turtle in the stamp below was particularly effective.

The art of Lisa Louise Adams; middle demonstrating carving the Speedy Cut for the stamp

The students art - mine is top left

More of the students art

Silk Shibori Beaded Necklace with Glennis Dolce

There are some tutors at Houston who we have taken many classes with over the years. On Tuesday morning we enjoyed another class with one of our favourites Glennis Dolce. The techniques Glennis teaches are varied from indigo dying to creating brooches / necklaces with her silk shibori ribbon.

This time we beaded a piece of the shibori ribbon to create a necklace, adding more or less texture by ruching the ribbon over the silk cord. We could choose the ribbon/bead colour from a number of kits provided for the class. I wanted the red ribbon but wasn't so bothered by the Christmas bead selection so I did buy some other beads at Houston and will probably undo my class effort and start the beading again.

My class piece

Collar (top left) by one of the students using Glennis' shibori ribbon other pieces by Glennis

Collar (top left) by same student other pieces by Glennis

I also indulged at Glennis' booth buying some more shibori ribbon and my extravagance this trip a gorgeous red silk shibori wrap.

Needle Felt Landscape with Vickie Clontz

On the Tuesday afternoon Cath and I were looking forward to hand needle felting a picture. The tutor gave a very fulsome explanation of how to hand needle felt, how to hold the needle, how not to injure yourself etc. What she omitted was any guidance / advice / tutoring on how to achieve the shading and look of the picture. The three pieces of guidance given were: (1) how to achieve the sky with the sun; (2) pictures always have a touch of red in them; (3) how to create the flowers.  The rest was left entirely to us to interpret.

At the end of all classes at Houston students complete a feedback form - one copy goes to the tutor and the other to the IQF Education team. I am not saying anything here that wasn't included on the feedback form. If it had been a technique I was interested in exploring further I would have been more proactive in seeking out the information I wanted. At the end of class I left all of the class materials behind including the foam pad, which didn't need to occupy space in my suitcase on the way home, and just took my "finished" picture. I use the word finished loosely, this is as much as I will ever bother to do to it.

One thing I would say about hand needle felting, it's a great way to expend any aggression, vigorously stabbing a needle into a helpless piece of wool felt.

Japanese Furoshiki Wrapping Cloth with Becky Scellato

Thursday morning was a quiet relaxing opportunity for some hand sashiko. Great tutor who set the scene then kept an eye on all of us as we progressed at our own pace offering assistance and encouragement. I loved the little oasis of peace she created for us amidst the hustle and bustle of IQF. Becky also had some great examples of Boro stitching on display, with sashiko incorporated into some of her Boro patches.

Furoshiki wrapping cloth. Bottom: left class sample; right my class piece.

Japanese Boro stitching by Becky

On Thursday afternoon I had signed up for the mixed media forum but on the day I was too tired to take a meaningful part in what can be quite a fast paced event moving around to look at the different demonstrations. Instead I spent a very enjoyable afternoon wandering around the quilt exhibition whilst Cath participated in Beads are a Blast with Melody Crust.

Beaded Bliss with Katrina Walker

Just like Glennis Dolce it has become something of a tradition to take a class with Katrina Walker. We have done many techniques with her over the years and all have been a lot of fun. This year was no exception. In the morning we dyed our silk scarves and in the afternoon we beaded the ends of our favourite scarf.

I was a bit obsessed with the colour scheme of my shoes and dyed my scarves to match!! I decided to bead the scarf that remained predominantly off-white as the beads were a clear glass. I loved this scarf and really enjoyed dropping the dye on it from a pipette until the end when I added the red, which became too dominant coming out in splashes rather than droplets like the other colours. The red/blue striped scarf is square and I am very tempted to try and incorporate it into a scarf top.

We used Colourhue dyes which are instant set and require only tap water to dilute the concentrated liquid to the desired shade. They are not great when you are trying to get different depths of colour but give fast results and were fantastic in the Houston class setting.

Katrina had a packing disaster for the first time getting her dyes to Houston so we used lots of the dye in class as she didn't want to ship the bottles home again. The class kit came with two long scarves (the beaded one and the blue/yellow one) and we could buy extra scarves from Katrina to continue soaking up her unwanted dyes!

My beaded bliss and dyed scarves

Cath who does a lot of beading was an absolute whizz at this finishing both ends of her scarf in class whilst I had a few problems counting the very simple design and didn't quite finish one end. Even now the longer drops are not longer apart from the second on the left which looks like a mistake rather than the intended pattern. My inability to count in this class wasn't as bad as an Embroiderers' Guild class to English smock a Christmas decoration where I never got past the first row (well I did but had to keep reverse stitching). At the end of the day I gave my pleated fabric to a class mate as I never needed to see it again.

That was the year that was.....2018

It has taken me three weeks to write this blog post and I really wasn't feeling the love. Following Crafting a Rainbow's highly organised blog series for the year end retrospective (Top 5 Review of hits, misses, highlights, reflections and goals) is clearly not for me. I see other people's #sewingtop5 and think what a great format I just don't seem able to execute it myself. Maybe its the idea of five posts about a year where the detail is hazy at best.

I think the haze was created by the air disturbance as the year whizzed by.  Do you remember about the end of week one of the long summer school holidays saying to your mum I'm bored there's nothing to do. Oh to have that luxury of endless time (without any real effort to create it) now.

So what do I remember about 2018? what did I sew? what were the highlights/lowlights and bits in-between? and do I have any plans for 2019?

The Sewing

If 2017 was the year I rediscovered the dress then 2018 is the year I realised: (a) I could sew trousers; and (b) how useful it is to have patterns we love. My sewing was either prolific or non-existent, even deadlines didn't necessarily produce results. Yet I somehow managed to produce 33 finished items - 16 tops, 5 dresses, 3 pairs of trousers, 6 pairs of leggings, two jackets and one coat. From number of wears I would consider 6 of these to be misses.

Fabric continued to pour in with a bit converted to garments.  No new BMV patterns were purchased in 2018. I bought a few Indies both print and PDF but my real nemesis was second hand patterns (I bought 45). No wonder pattern storage is now a problem.

Tops remain my most sewn garment, helped by the fact that I sewed multiples of the same pattern. Not all of the tops sewn were a success.

Details of the various top versions can be found here

Five tops and one dress were made from the World Cut Make and Trim tee pattern. All of which are in regular rotation during the four seasons.  On most occasions they are worn without the sash.

The Watercolours Sweater on the left and the rayon knit stripe on the right

Sewing continues to present surprises. I thought the Alabama Sweater pattern would be better in a more fluid fabric (the rayon knit stripe) yet I actually prefer the shape of the beefy Watercolours merino knit and wear it more.

The Besharl tee pattern was only used because it worked for the Liberty Isle of Wight fabric remnants. Yet both of these scrap busting tops are more beloved than their original cousin.

Left and right Isle of Wight Pocho tee, centre stripe knit unblogged 

The style of the Madrid blouse really appeals but neither of these get worn much. The yellowy green one has only been worn once when the photos were taken, has never reached the blog and has now transitioned to the donate pile.

Right Madrid Isle of Wight top, left unblogged

Four of the five tops in the photo below remain unblogged and three of them are misses.  The two worn are Marie's Sweater and the Maris Ballet top. The Aysmmetrical Blouse W from the book Basic Black by Saito Watanabe is a great fabric pattern combination only it is just a smidgen too small. I like this top so much that it hasn't transitioned to the charity bag yet. The sleeves on the Named Saunio cardigan are tight and the sweater knit sheds. Not sure what is wrong with the River Tunic it just isn't worn, there were no pictures of it and I was reminded of its existence by the photos of its cousin the Besharl tee.

Left to right: Basic Black Asymmetrical Blouse W; Named Saunio Cardigan; Silhouette Patterns Marie's Sweater top; StyleArc Maris Ballet top; Diane Ericson River Tunic

The Dresses love affair continued yet I only sewed five of them which came as a surprise. They are all hits, worn many times and often garner compliments.

Left to Right: Brilliant Red Mouline Silk Dress with the Zephyr Ecopossum coat cardi a RTW remake; V1410 Winter Floral Dress; Peppermint Patty Dress; and Bloom Montage Swing Dress

Trousers were sewn this year for the first time since I resumed clothes sewing 10 or so years ago. (I am not counting the toile from last year because a finished pair of trousers never eventuated.) Three pairs of trousers were made, followed by six pairs of leggings after I discovered Moochi tunic tops. The Megan Nielsen Flint trousers were worn heaps last summer. The non-stretch woven jeans (Silhouette Patterns #3300 Lana's jeans) were an eye opener about how comfortable non-stretch trousers could be if they fit properly.

Left to right: Lydia Flint and Vesuvia Flint

A plethora of leggings

Jackets and coats are my absolute favourite thing to sew but can't be sewn too often as there are only so many you can wear. The two real hits are the Kantha jacket (two more pieces of kantha cloth are currently waiting patiently for their project) and the Victory Patterns Ulysses trench. Vogue 2056 has not seen much wear even though I loved the idea of the Issey Miyake jacket.

Left to right: V8430 MT Green/Pink Kantha jacket;  Lana's Caesar Jeans; and V2056 Miyake Poppy's Patchwork jacket

Friends and family feed my love for matchy matchy with gifts to wear with the Ulysses Rainbow Trench

2018 Highlights

My curated wardrobe continues to be a highlight. I rarely bemoan having nothing to wear and easily find an outfit or mini wardrobe collection for the events in my life.

Sewing highlights were really the time I carved out for myself to do what I love, including two sewing classes and the biannual trip to Houston. I reviewed my sewing experience with Gertie which was enjoyed more for the time with my friend and away from work than anything I learnt. The dress will be finished and worn one day having bought more of the Liberty fabric to re-cut the skirt back so it matches at centre back. The class didn't ignite my inner retro chic either so you won't be seeing a transformation any time soon.

The second sewing class with Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns, in Portland, Oregon was a truly wonderful experience, from the people I met to the learning. The only downside - I was sick and in the interests of achieving something limited myself to only getting Ralph's Pant (pattern 3600) fitted. As a result my 2019 version of Lana's jeans is a great improvement on the 2018 pair.

The International Quilt Festival in Houston is always an absolute treat. Sometimes we don't quite get the class mix right but this time we did and were much more relaxed about the whole experience. The quilts are always absolutely stunning and each year more of them move away from "a quilt" to a piece of textile art with exquisite workmanship and attention to detail.

A lowlight was a missed opportunity. An amazing textile embroidery artist, Sophie Standing, toured NZ and I was supposed to do her four-day class in Wellington with another friend. However with the other trips planned, work commitments and knowing how tired I get when I don't have the weekend to re-charge I let the opportunity slip by. From the photos and my friend's finished quilt the class was spectacular and I regret not making the time.

Goals for 2019

I saw a great meme (is it still a meme if its true rather than ironic?) which pretty much sums up how I feel. My goal for 2019 is to accomplish the goals of 2018 which I should have done in 2017 because I promised them in 2015 and planned them in 2014.

I am continuing with my 2018 word of the year BALANCE. A word with multi-faceted meaning which I need to make more effort to achieve.

Sewing wise I really enjoyed working to a plan and I have three floating around in my head at the moment which would give me four months to achieve each plan. The Minnie Mouse wardrobe in progress for the first four months may be a bit ambitious given that realistically I am unlikely to sew more than a garment a week.  So far I am up to 20 garments and anything more than 16 is a bit of a dream. More cogitation is required to ensure the plan has balance! As you would expect the ones for later in the year are a bit more nebulous and highly susceptible to change but I have started gathering fabric and ideas for them.