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Showing posts from May, 2016

Hybrid dress - copying and reusing.

When I was leaving aqua aerobics one morning about 8 weeks ago, I saw someone wearing a dress with a simple elastic gathered A-line, dirndl skirt shape, I think a scoop neck and an action back in woven fabric. It looked so nice and summery and McCall's 6359 came to mind immediately and decided I could and would easily copy it. What's with the putting views C, A and B in that order? Anyway, I digress. I made View A cut at about 6 cm past the waist measurement on the pattern. At first I made it wider at the side seams to do a sort of lazy  simplified FBA, but that didn't work, really changing the shape of the front too much so I cut it back to the right size and due to my small back, there is enough ease in the top. Let me preface this by saying the top looks better than it does in this photo... I was wearing my swimming sports bra ready to go swimming and it is not a great shape for dresses! (I wear an old but still supportive sports bra under my togs for aqua as

The pineapples will not beat me... although they did try.

So that's the finished product. Kimono and sleep shorts (or maybe they'll be beach shorts? Who knows? When I made my pineapple skirt, my niece loved the print and asked if she got some would I make her something. Of course I would.. I love making things for my niece as she appreciates the time and effort involved. Although, this wasn't to be much effort - ha a kimono style, light dressing gown - how hard is that! What could go wrong? This is just a cotton bias tape hanging tab. I hate not being able to hang things and the cotton bias tape is soft and cotton and I have it in three useful colours. I didn't have a kimono pattern so just used the McCall's dressing gown pattern I used a few weeks ago and adjusted the pattern to cut some kimono sleeves on. Easy. Hope it fits well. I have put some belt tabs on - three as I hate when the belt falls out of them. I think it will need an extra tie in the inside but I'll get my niece to tell me where she wants it w

Weft Metal

When I took the photo of the label on my newly made pants, I was nearly 100 percent that this fabric had metal threads... see the shiny bits from the flash? So to confirm my suspicions 100 percent I did a burn test. Pretty conclusive really! The weft threads are wires and are like steel wool. They are very fine as you can probably see in the photo. The warp is cotton - a quick burning and then fine ash left. I could actually feel the wires when I walk in that way that is a little annoying. I wonder what that did to my overlocker blades now I think of it?? The reason I was sure is because I also have some white shirting type fabric that I bought a number of years ago from the industry fabric sale I go to and remember  this Burda jacket I made in 2009?   When I bought that fabric (and some more in a silver/grey) the woman there told me that it had metal threads also and again you can feel the little pinch every now and again when you move. I also made this little Otto