An Orange Extravaganza for Summer

After the orange excitement of last week I had a forage through my fabric stash to see what else I could find. Surprisingly there was no shortage of orange fabrics. (I may also have bought a couple of extras just in case there is a sudden world fabric shortage.)

Instead of spending Sunday sewing I disappeared down the rabbit hole of creating an orange summer wardrobe. And here it is...

I wonder how much of this imagined summer wardrobe will see the light of day or is destined to be another random rambling.

The outerwear

Not true outerwear but a wool cardigan and loose fitting shirt in cotton canvas which for Summer will hopefully be more than enough for the outer layer. Although now I have started playing I really fancy an orange leather jacket!!!

A Marcia Derse fabric from the Art History 101 collection called Timeline in the Lecture colourway printed on cotton canvas from Marcy Tilton paired with Katherine Tilton's Butterick B6491 loose fitting shirt.

An orange aqua striped Italian wool knit from Stonemountain and Daughter paired with Papercut Patterns Fjord cardigan which I have previously lengthened to mid calf. Whilst the stripes will generally go around the body I would like to play with their orientation on some of the pattern pieces.

The dresses

I will invariably use my TNT dress pattern in some form or other but otherwise I haven't really decided which pattern to use for which fabric.

Clockwise from top left: Liberty Ganton Jersey in design Powell from The Fabric Store; Marcia Derse Treasure Hunt cotton fabric from Marcy Tilton; Liberty Argyll Swim in design Mayrose from The Fabric Store; Rebecca Taylor faux leather stretch woven; Plaid floral cotton; and Calvin Klein embroidered cotton. The bottom row are all from Silhouette Patterns.

And here is one I prepared earlier (not yet blogged) the Style Arc Toni Designer Dress in the Liberty Argyll swim fabric design Mike.

Two fabrics not included in the montage have patterns firmly associated with them.

This Rebecca Taylor silk viscose called Sunrise from Silhouette Patterns I see as a classic fit and flare dress using an oldie but a goody Vogue 9243, with added short sleeves.

The second fabric with firm ideas is this large Givenchy silk scarf panel from The Fabric Store. It was purchased to be a Named Kielo Wrap dress and that is still what it will become. Although I have two of these panels I suspect some creativity with pattern placement will be required, maybe even cut on the bias.

The tops

I am strangely indecisive about the tops - not at all sure which patterns I will use. Vogue 1415 by Tom and Linda Platt view A has been on my to sew list for some time just not seeing it in any of these fabrics. The Evelyn or the Josie blouse by the Experimental Space (a recent purchase) could be a contender, although highest on my list is the Rosalee dress made into a peplum top.

Clockwise from top left: Liberty tana lawn in design Johnathon from The Fabric Store; Etheric plaid an Italian viscose woven from Marcy Tilton; Liberty silk crepe de chine in design Firenze actually from Liberty; Art Gallery Fabrics Ice-cream Shop cotton knit; Windows French digital knit from Marcy Tilton; Cotton+Steel Rifle Paper Co Wildwood collection rayon in design Petite Garden Party from Stonemountain and Daughter; Orange stripe print French viscose knit from Elliott Berman Textiles; and Cotton+Steel Bespoke Ephemera in navy cotton double gauze from Stonemountain and Daughter.

These two Rebecca Taylor fabrics (left to right: sheer poly cotton knit; and textured ITY knit) will become Kendosa's top all from Silhouette Patterns. Need the ubiquitous black top to go with all this colour.

This Valori Wells Wrenly Voile (Bloom on the left and Ingrid on the right) has been in my stash for quite some time and I have always had trouble finding the ideal pattern. As soon as I started playing with orange I knew this wanted to be a Sewing Workshop Zayn top.

The trousers

Much as I love colour it may be necessary to add a black pair of trousers to this wardrobe in order to give the senses a rest. However black trousers were not my first thought when assembling this wardrobe collection.

I recently watched the Threads Magazine / Louise Cutting DVD Easy to Sew Pants and when I washed this silk over the weekend it gave a strong indication it wanted to become a pair of one seam pants. Although I have this pattern in my collection it has never been used so I will need to make a test pair before I cut into my Calvin Klein silk from Silhouette Patterns.

These Issey Miyake Vogue 2271 trousers were altered recently but there was a severe shortage of the chosen fabric and I could only make one leg. I have since managed to buy a second leg's worth of fabric but not yet made the trousers. Given the pattern cover features an orange suit it seemed appropriate that the pattern be used with this Cosmo Textiles of Japan fruit design cotton canvas fabric from Stonemountain and Daughter.

The found

Once I started I couldn't stop my quest for orange fabrics. It brought to mind a long ago linen skirt which was taken apart to be remade into something. With trepidation I went into the half finished / remake projects box and found some things that would look fabulous in an orange summer.

As you can see this fabric was cut out but never got further than that and is now probably too small. I think with the cut-out pieces plus the left over fabric I could make the Style Arc Charlotte dress lengthened to knee length and with short sleeves. It would be fun to try and feature different colours in each dress section, rather than the horizontal stripe.

For these three fabrics I am a bit undecided. On the left is a gorgeous cotton fabric from the Pacific Islands gifted to me by a friend. It got a bit too precious to use despite buying the orange embroidered organza (centre) and a silk crepe-de-chine (not pictured) from The Fabric Store to make a dress. The coloured linen print fabric on the right is the aforementioned skirt which I found difficult to wear as the natural background has a green hue and altered how it looked with coloured tops.

The thought of making these fabrics into something is exciting. I just need to decide what the something is. Imagined sewing adventures are so invigorating if only the clothes were made before the imagination flits off into another direction.

The accessories

I have to confess that the Camper sandals were a contributing factor to my sudden obsession with an orange wardrobe the brooch from the CODA museum wasn't the sole influence.

CODA Orange Paper brooch

Chloe Faye Cross Body Bag

Top: Camper Twins Red Orange Sandals; Bottom: Camper Twins Luis Gordillo Sneakers

Parting shot

For those that have read to the end of this post here are the Kaikoura Ranges in all their winter snow glory, a fitting counterpoint to all this talk of summer wardrobe planning.

This is also a reminder that I better finish my winter coat. Apparently a burst of bitterly cold weather is due here soon. Scientists are predicting a very cold spring due to a sudden stratospheric warming event above Antarctica which results in cold blasts of air attacking New Zealand. Not holding my breath though as this has only happened twice since the late 1950's (September 2002 and 2010). On the other hand the possibility of it happening may just be the incentive I need as it certainly hasn't been cold enough so far this winter for a toasty warm winter coat.

Silhouette Patterns Lana's Wildwood Jeans

These jeans were made for the Pattern Review match your shoes contest to go with a pair of Kate Spade Edina ballet flats. However the top I chose to sew the weekend before the contest finished: (a) didn't really go with the trousers or shoes despite having rabbits on it; and (b) was a fashion disaster. The top was reverse sewn, re-cut and resewn to become a wearable top but still not with these trousers.

That hasn't stopped these jeans taking up a useful place in my wardrobe. Whilst a bit quirky they are a basic charcoal grey so are easy enough to wear with any number of my plain tops.

The finished garment

Great fun to wear with orange tops. Makes for a playful work outfit that brings me joy.

The fabric

I thought this Cotton+Steel fabric by Rifle Paper Co came from Stonemountain and Daughter but maybe I bought it from Nancy's Stitch Studio here in New Zealand.  Regardless of where it came from this is a nice fabric to make trousers.

Stonemountain still have the fabric in stock in this grey as well as a green colourway. I love that the quilt fabric manufacturers (especially the Japanese ones) now produce their prints in different fabric compositions for garment sewing.

There was nearly a fabric shortage as it is only 45" wide and one directional. Even though I purchased 2 metres it was not possible to align the pattern across the legs. The print is busy enough for this not to matter. Once I started cutting out I noticed that the print is actually mirror imaged from the centre which made matching the back pockets tricky and I basically gave up for the front pockets, back yoke and waistband.

Wildwood Fable print in grey cotton linen canvas

The pattern

My trusty Silhouette Pattern #3300 Lana's jeans was used once again to produce these trousers.

The pattern alterations

As my waist and hips are expanding I altered my TNT Lana's jeans pattern to give extra width at these points. Ultimately I added too much width at the hips and ended up increasing the seam allowance for a better fit.

Left: too much circumference; right: extra removed

In Threads Magazine #204 September 2019 there is an article about skinny-fit trousers. They explain which parts of the anatomy to measure and have a section on diagnosing fit problems. Smiles = crotch depth too short; frowns = too big overall or crotch depth too long; smirks (horizontal lines) = circumference too small. Their advice for horizontal lines is not to worry too much as it is difficult with skinny trousers to get a snug fit over the seat without forming a few wrinkles under the buttocks. They also recommend only using stretch fabrics with 2% to 7% spandex. As my cotton linen canvas has zero stretch apart from the natural give of the fabric these fit pretty well.

My biggest problem is defining whether the wrinkles are a smile or a frown. I think the picture on the right is a slight frown. But then the one on the left could be considered a smile and much of it was resolved by taking in the side seams... Back we come to my problem of defining the wrinkles!

The other change I made was to create a new curved waistband partly for my expanded waist but also because curved waistbands fit my shape better.

The sewing

These trousers were sewn as per the pattern instructions. Except that the back was sewn in its entirety including the waistband and the same for the front before the inseam was sewn. This was done to accommodate my changing shape. Should I increase/decrease in circumference I can undo the side seam and alter the fit.

Jeans back assembled - can you spot the back pocket?

Jeans front assembled

As is normal for me now with trouser waistbands I removed ⅛" from the bottom edge of the inside waistband then sew on the binding with a ¼" seam allowance. The waistband can then be sewn down by stitching in the ditch from the right side which should be just above the binding on the wrong side.

My trusty Singer Featherweight did all the straight stitching and even made the buttonhole. I was going to get out the big modern Bernina machine to sew the buttonhole but it was too much effort. Instead I used the antique Singer buttonhole attachment. I do like how this attachment sews buttonholes you just need to have a button the right size. It is difficult to believe that this attachment actually makes the zigzag stitch. I go around the buttonhole twice to get a nice neat finish.

Sewing the buttonhole using the Singer buttonhole attachment on the Featherweight

Outfit of the day

I had an orange week at work featuring these trousers with a Moochi merino top on the left and a Moochi Lay tee on the right.  The second outfit is a Style Arc Toni Designer dress still to be blogged. The third outfit is a Moochi Promise dress with the black dot self-drafted leggings.   The cardigan is the Untouched World Ecopossum coat cardi in graphite. All outfits are worn with my United Nude Rockit Ace black and gold ankle boots.

A great finishing touch for the outfits is a brooch from the CODA Museum in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. The museum speciality is contemporary jewellery design and visual arts on and from paper and cardboard. The brooch symbolises a folded piece of paper. This would be one of those fascinating museums I would love to have a look around in person one day.

This was a gift from a friend (originally from the Netherlands) that really complements this week's work wardrobe and my new to me handbag.

Kobayashi Squiggle Squares TNT Midi Dress

This dress is largely based on my TNT pattern. The difference this time is that I used the length, hem width and V-neckline of the Style Arc Toni Designer dress. As this dress is a mash up of patterns used before I wasn't going to bother with a blog post for it but then thought others might like to see how I take my TNT pattern and make it into something else.

I enjoyed the V-neck of the Toni dress and wanted a longer more pencil skirt shape for this dress to maximise fabric use. A fitted dress was also better suited to this robust cotton twill fabric.

The finished garment

This has been worn a lot since it was made. No matter which shoes I wear for the week this dress goes with them, especially these United Nude Zink Patch Mid Pop Mix boots.

The squiggle squares sort of match up across the body and sleeves.

Not sure why I have such a horizontal fold of fabric across my back in the photos because you don't notice it when I am wearing the dress in real life.

The squiggle squares are not a straight line which made matching them at the side seams pretty impossible. They sort of match on the left side but are way out on the right side.

Left: original V neckline; Right modified square neckline

The only thing that bothered me about the dress after it was made was the V-neckline. It didn't really suit the shape of the squiggle squares. It was a bit of a faff but it irritated me enough to make the change to a more square neckline. The plunge of the neckline is now deeper than I would normally choose and was dictated by the depth of the original V-neckline. I am just hoping that it can be worn with any bra as I hate clothes that require specific underwear.

The fabric

This fabric is a cotton twill from Japanese fabric manufacturer Kobayashi, purchased from Cutting Line Designs (SKU: FF-00865) and still available! Purchased after falling down the fabric rabbit hole instead of sticking to the pattern section.

The pattern

This dress is an amalgamation of three patterns. My TNT dress pattern is Silhouette Patterns Traditional Blouse view 2 blended into the 3-piece Yoga skirt. This incarnation is mixed up with the StyleArc Toni Designer dress.

The pattern alterations

As already mentioned my TNT dress pattern was adapted to mid-calf rather than knee length with a V-neckline. Having recently made the StlyeArc Toni Designer dress this was the pattern I chose for both the length, hem width and V-neckline.

Left: front pattern pieces; Right back pattern pieces

Hopefully you can see the dress pattern pieces overlaid on the Toni Designer dress (yes a PDF pattern I have actually taped together). The front pattern piece appears longer than the back because my TNT pattern has a bust dart and I needed to compensate for this so the side seam front and back would be the same length. I did add 1" to the length of the Toni dress because I wanted a deeper hem for this woven dress.

The other change I made was to create full size pattern pieces so that I could achieve good pattern placement of the squares on the dress.

I cut the pattern in both the outer and lining fabric for the front and back body pieces but only cut the sleeves from the squiggle squares fabric.

The sewing

This was a very quick project even though I effectively made two dresses.

The darts were sewn in both lining and outer fabric. For the waist darts they were pressed in opposite directions in the lining and outer fabrics to minimise bulk.

Both the dress and the lining were sewn separately on the overlocker at the shoulder and side seams. Then the outer and lining fabric were sewn at the neckline with right sides together, and the neckline under-stitched.

The sleeves were sewn in the round with french seams. So apart from the sleeve seam all the seams are enclosed.

The sleeve is machine hemmed but I hand catch-stitched the dress hem.

Today a few weeks after the dress was finished I unpicked the neckline (under-stitching and seam). Re-drew the neckline to be squarer at centre front, with a four-inch base curving back to the original shoulder neck edge. I then sewed a cream bias binding around the right-side of the neck edge, under-stitched it and folded it to the inside. Any minute now (or at least sometime this week before I wear it) I will hand-stitch it in place to the lining.

And here it is a week later with the binding stitched down and wrinkles fresh from the wash

A Me Made Week

An amazing thing occurred last week. Apart from one RTW Moochi top and my under garments all of the clothes I wore to work were me made, including my coat. To celebrate I took selfies of the outfit each day. Apologies if anyone is offended by the bathroom pictures but it is the only way to take pictures of my outfits when I am away from home during the week.

If you ever wondered how my wardrobe plan for the week works it is often driven by the pair of shoes chosen to wear for the four days I am away (can't be bothered to carry extra shoes for such a short work trip). Once I had decided on the United Nude Zen bootie everything had to work with the colour red, and then the navy of my recently sewn trousers which led me to my Ecopossum coat cardi and...

Left to right: Meandering Chrysanthemum Swirl top; plus Zephyr Ecopossum coat cardi; and Moochi Kicked tee
All worn with Papercut Patterns Peter and the Wolf trousers and United Nude Zen Mid Merlot booties

Left to right: Issey Miyake Gorgeous raincoat; Squiggles Squares dress; and Winter Floral dress 

Gratuitous photo of the Winter Floral dress (note different shoes) included because I love the way Google has made the background black and white so the dress really pops

There are probably not enough me made clothes in the wardrobe for this to occur too often unless I make a conscious effort, but it shows that the proportion of clothes I have made versus bought is starting to change.

Probably the biggest driver for this change is the demise of my favourite boutiques. There are now only two shops I frequent with any regularity Moochi where I have only ever bought tops and dresses; and Untouched World which provides mainly my woolly garments although I do have two pairs of their jeans.

Interestingly I haven't bought any trousers apart from the two pairs of Untouched World jeans since Andrea Moore closed in March 2018.  My waist has recently expanded and many of my Andrea Moore trousers no longer fit. As I can't be bothered to find another go-to source for trousers you will probably find a few more trouser makes featured on the blog, including the Papercut Patterns Peter & the Wolf trousers worn in these pictures.

This week of me made clothes has me wondering about trying to wear a sewn garment every week day for a month to identify the lacking areas in my wardrobe. This idea was inspired by Becky at Trial Balloons who wore a sewn garment every day for the month of May and recorded each day's outfit with a selfie. It helped Becky identify what she likes to wear in her everyday life and those garments which are a joy to sew but remain unworn.

I will have to cogitate on this idea whilst I make a few more pairs of trousers, as I don't have enough tops and dresses for a whole month without lots of repetition, which would be boring when there is so much variety to choose from in my wardrobe. Or maybe I should just take a selfie every day for a longer period of time to see what I love to wear. This would have the added benefit of helping me remove some of the unworn items in my wardrobe and provide a bit more breathing space for what is left.

And finally a picture to celebrate friendship. This gorgeous bouquet of flowers was given to me by a friend to brighten up my winter week. Not only did they look wonderful they smelt divine and came with a bar of chocolate, what more could a girl want.

What's a sewing blog with no sewing? ...neglected

Thank goodness nobody is hanging on my every word, as nearly two months has passed since my last post.  Once again there was a plan but no sewing, why?

A sewing deadline makes me want to either sew things other than those planned or not sew at all. My everyday life is ruled by deadlines and I am normally very driven to meet (exceed) expectations. I discussed the inability to translate this drive to my sewing with a friend and we decided it was all to do with the enjoyment. Meeting sewing deadlines removes the fun and becomes more of a task. My mind rebels against more nagging for completion and the sewing ceases.

The plan but no sewing...

For the second year in a row my good intentions of participating in the Pattern Review wardrobe contest came to nought. I was even further away from an entry this year than last, having not completed a single garment in my mini wardrobe plan.

The three tops and two pairs of trousers that are still but a twinkle in the eye

Not quite finished - Silhouette Patterns #3300 Lana's Jeans in deep red linen metallic blend

Between the start of the Mini Wardrobe competition on 15 April and today only one of the planned items has been even partly sewn. The red linen/metallic Lana's jeans have been in the partially sewn state you see above since our Easter holiday. Pretty pathetic for an ambition to sew five garments in four weeks. Part of the issue is that I overlocked all of the pieces before we went away so they could be sewn on my Singer Featherweight but I forgot to overlock the back of the pants where they sew to the yoke. My overlocker currently has cream thread in it and it's inconceivable that the threads would be changed to black just for that little bit of sewing. Pathetic but true.

So if the mini wardrobe hasn't been sewn has anything else?

Silhouette Patterns #4000 Swing Dress

One of these has been completed, another is in progress and a third is a dud.  I will write a proper review one day about this pattern but in the meantime here is the dud. This lovely border print ITY knit (also from Silhouette Patterns) was carefully cut so the black border was down the middle with one of the patterned sections cut on and the other sewn on.

The flat lay outfit photographs make this dress look reasonable but it is not a flattering dress to wear. I am still playing with the hem to see if I can make it into something wearable but am coming to the conclusion that it is the bold back stripe down centre front which is causing all the problems.

Unflattering dress styled with Mulberry mini Lily bag, One Trick Pony Geddes nude loafer and DKNY self-drafted leggings

Self-drafted leggings

These could be considered a match your shoes outfit (the current competition running on Pattern Review) except the tops are all ready to wear. Cobalt blue is one of my favourite colours and ITY knit makes great leggings so fabric and pattern were a perfect match. Coincidentally I happen to have this pair of United Nude bootees with the flash of cobalt blue.

Left and right: Moochi Rule dress in cobalt;
Top centre: Double diamond ITY knit self-drafted leggings and United Nude Jacky Lo bootee;
Bottom centre Lace: tabard with Andrea Moore dot mesh body in cobalt

Maybe I could make this Issey Miyake V1563 dress before the end of July as an actual entry for the Match Your Shoes Pattern Review contest.

KonMari-ing a bit more of the stash

Aside from trying to store all of my fabric unobtrusively (a really lost cause) there are far too many patterns for the old storage method. Added to which the plastic boxes ended up behind the sewing cabinet and difficult to reach. The over-flow of patterns were housed in old copier paper boxes.

Enter the new storage idea 30cm cubes with fabric box inserts, which are now stacked five high (two more have been purchased since this photo). These are fabulous for my Vogue designer patterns. Four of them have the Vogue designer patterns in numerical order, then a box each for Donna Karan (& DKNY), Issey Miyake, and Marcy & Katherine Tilton. The last three boxes contain independent pattern brands, one for The Sewing Workshop and two for other assorted brands.

I am debating the purchase of another column of cubes as I still have a plastic container of Silhouette Patterns as well as a copier box with Diane Ericson and assorted accessory patterns. This would however require a new spot for Dorothy my dressmakers mannequin.

The set of plastic drawers which used to live next to Dorothy are now hidden at the back of the sewing table with the bottom two drawers reorganised to contain small format big four patterns (mainly Butterick and Vogue) in numerical order. The top drawer is still home to my felt and interfacing collection.

Now that the patterns are neatly stored I should really invest in a cataloguing system then I might be able to find them and not buy the same style (or exact same pattern) again.

With the release of two plastic boxes some more of my fabric stash was tidied away.

Top: a recently empty plastic box housing fabric for some new outfit ideas
Middle: another box sorted for the 2019 red white and black wardrobe
Bottom: various unfinished class projects re-homed from the bottom two plastic drawers

The multi-coloured rectangles (Kobayashi squiggle squares cotton twill) fabric in the top photo has been made into a dress from a mish-mash of patterns and I have also sewn a Style Arc Toni designer dress from the Liberty fabric below. Hopefully I will get to reviewing both of these on the blog soon.

Liberty Argyll Swim fabric in design Mike, colourway B 

Alterations

This is an old RTW cardigan bought in the era of over-long (to the point of ridiculousness) sleeves, rediscovered during the sorting of the wardrobe jumper drawers.  The colour and overall style of the Juo cardigan still appealed but the sleeves needed to be shortened if the cardigan was ever going to be worn. As the colours fitted into my red, white and black wardrobe concept the alteration was executed pretty quickly. The sleeves were chopped off ⅝" past the grey band, 4½" removed from the black sleeve and the red/grey cuff part reattached using the overlocker. The stitching line is on the edge of the grey band and is invisible on the outside.

Left and middle the overlong sleeves; right after shortening

Wardrobe sweater drawers: Top drawer pre KonMari; Middle and Bottom drawers post KonMari

Poppy brooch

And finally this gorgeous poppy brooch made by my friend Cath. Looks great with my black and white fur bomber jacket. At the moment it is pinned to my Horizontal Hold Trench. Just fabulous.