Sew Darn Tired

So I finally finished something after the couch. I started making these in summer I think. I know; counterintuitive isn't it. I often think, I should start sewing for winter in summer so it's ready for winter. Two things wrong with this plan other than the obvious - I don't get that organised. One is that it is so hot in summer, it is just not bearable to have winter fabrics on you while sewing. Two, is that there is no motivation to get it done which also fits with it doesn't get that cold here either.  I just cannot imagine cold weather when I am hot either. Anyway, I really liked these track pants. Call them what you want or buy a fancy indie pattern, but the truth is, they are track pants.
I have a thing for grey too. Love grey trackies. (also commonly known as 'trackie dacks' here). Things I liked about this pattern.... flat front, slant pockets, eyelets and the unbound straight hems. I also love Burda pants fit on me... I like to say I have a "Europ…

So years ago I bought a second hand couch. It was quite new but I think the woman that owned it had dyed her hair and leaned back and it left a bleached spot on the back. I covered it with a throw but I really hated the colour and the spot. East Coast Fabrics had a half price sale for upholstery fabric in March and I decided I would cover the couch.

Now the couch is an Ikea one that you can buy covers from a company that is in Hong Kong (Comfort something or other) and I looked them up years ago to buy new covers but it was about $1000 and as an stay at home single parent I couldn't afford them even if I wanted to spend that much money. Anyway, the couch has a frame on the base which has he legs attached and has velcro around the base where the cover attaches, then the frame holds it in place. So it was quite easy to get off and then I unpicked it all to get the pattern pieces.  

I had a plan. I would take off one cover and have the other one for reference. The other rule I had w…

I've used this New Look pattern again. I have a pair of the pants nearly finished for me but the star of this show is the orange merino waterfall cardi I made my friend.  My first one was for me, made from some lovely linen knit. This one was for a special friend who lives most of the year overseas. Her favourite colour is orange so when I saw orange merino last year at the Fabric Store for $10 per metre, I knew I was getting some for her. I made her a merino Kwik Sew 3977 (as I did for my Mum and sister) and she loved it but it was a little big but perfect as her onboard jumper in a lovely royal blue merino with a tiny stripe through it at wide intervals. (I know a jumper is different in other places - we call a cardi a jumper).

So when I went to the Gold Coast where she and her husband live when at home, she saw my linen one, tried it on and loved the style. It was a quick sew and the trickiest part is the band that runs around the hem and waterfall front. I used the coverstitc…

Well it's that time of year again. Brisbane Spoolette's High Tea - it is usually on around my birthday date so it's a great double excuse for a nice outfit and a cocktail.  I chose to make McCall's 7608. Originally it was View D but with the shorter legs, but I forgot and cut out the long legs so I stuck with it as I figured if I don't like them I'll chop them again. As it was I cut off about 10cm from the bottom and that was just enough. Now this pattern was one of the ones that my friend brought back from the States for me when she was living there (they are living in Europe now). So I would give her a list of wannabe patterns and she would get what she could in the $1 and $2 sales. When I saw this one, I was "huh? what was I thinking". Plus it takes a lot of fabric and I usually buy fabric I love and then match it, so it's usually 2-3 metres only so when I found this fabulous hot pink fabric at the Maroochydore 2nd hand shop and it was 4 metre…

You may wonder why, after making a set of pjs recently (at the end of the post) I am making another set so quickly. I usually only have one set on the go... we have sunshine year round and it can sometimes take only minutes for them to dry and with so many things I want to sew, I usually make them out of need.  Anyway, if you notice on the other set, I had made them out of a remnant of a dress I had made years ago. I had enough fabric because I cut the top on the cross grain. Now I learned at TAFE for Fashion Design and Apparel Production that I did vocationally in the '90's that natural fibres possibly only woven, will shrink up... meaning in the length, not the width. I had pre-washed this fabric years ago, but when I made these last pjs, after a few washed, the fabric shrunk but being cut on the cross, they shrunk width wise. They still fit well, but being SO hot at night, they are just too close to my body. Plus they were a  shirting cotton weight and I usually like somet…