Happy New Year. I hope 2017 proves to be a good year. I didn't have a bad 2016. I got a job that I really enjoy after looking for three years and after studying for 3 years so I'm financially on my way to some home repairs/maintenance/renovations. Not sure what I will do yet, but hopefully I'll get some stuff done to make it more comfortable for a (soon to be) teenager and grown up. The garden needs a good sorting out too. On the plus side, I can see the floor in my sewing room/computer room/office. No real cull yet but that's on the agenda too. I have collected patterns for a number of years when I was unemployed from secondhand shops. I love the art work, that I could afford them and they gave me lots of pleasure but I will be selling a lot of them this year as I just have too many and not a lot of room.
Although I have a sewing room it's tiny - about the size of a single bed with about 80cm extra width and maybe length as well. I have lots of fabric, most of it that I still love but some that I love but I know is not for me. It may be the colour or something but again I won't have time to sew it all up so I will sell some nice pieces.
However, the stash has come good and is being used. Just before Christmas, I made two fairy skirts to go with some wings and wands I bought for little girls I know. One was just plain in a purple and this one below is a bit more fancy. I bought this sequin elastic a couple of years ago and thought it would be perfect for a sparkly skirt. The fake sequin fabric was remnants from Spotlight about 5 years ago so I'm glad to have that gone to be honest. The recipient of this one is away at the moment but she got a photo and is excited to try it on. I think it will be too big in the waist so I'll probably have to fix that up for her. The skirt is long and she is only 5 but very tall (like about a 7 year old) and I'll cut the hem to the right length. I wanted to use most the this stuff so it have a orchid pink colour for the main skirt and then scraps of the purple as petals and then some lilac on the top for the layered look.
The next thing I just finished is a pair of togs for swimming/aqua aerobics. Again stash comes to the rescue. I needed some new togs 6 months ago when my Jalie togs died. I used to do my aqua training and swimming during the day, but now with working I do a lot in the heated indoor pool (which I hate - it's way too hot) and that accelerates the disintegration of lycra. I didn't have time to make some and bought a great pair of adidas togs for $10 from a discount warehouse place and they were great for a while but then one day a couple of weeks ago I noticed they just died. (Do you notice that... one day the togs are good, then the next time you get them they have that disintegrated bum 😬 Nowhere to go from there! ) I liked the fit and the square shape of the lower back so I cut them apart and pinned them to some small pieces of lycra I had. The red is very thin and so I self lined it. I didn't make a gusset but fully enclosed the join so it should be comfortable. I have had the aqua lycra for over 20 years, it was a remnant from somewhere and it is still in excellent condition attesting to its quality. There is a little left of that but it was a very short piece so not good for the lengthier pieces.
I'm pretty happy with them. They fit like the other ones did but maybe a bit of refining of the upper chest where I am pretty narrow. This is how the back was on the other pair. Obviously for the economy of not wasting lycra the X of the back is one piece and joins the front at the shoulders so fit my small pieces of lycra really well.
The colour scheme is a bit retro really. It reminds me of the togs that were around in the '70's and '80's. The ones the rich kids wore to Friday swim club... we couldn't afford to go to swim club and no fancy togs either. The photo below is terrible, I know but I wanted to show the ribbed pattern in the aqua lyrca. It's white on the underside if you notice in the photo above. Oh and you may notice I used the coverstitch at the seams on the aqua. I had it threaded in red (from my jacket mid last year when I last used it) and thought it was the perfect opportunity to practice with it. I'm determined to get more use of it and better at it.
Although I have a sewing room it's tiny - about the size of a single bed with about 80cm extra width and maybe length as well. I have lots of fabric, most of it that I still love but some that I love but I know is not for me. It may be the colour or something but again I won't have time to sew it all up so I will sell some nice pieces.
However, the stash has come good and is being used. Just before Christmas, I made two fairy skirts to go with some wings and wands I bought for little girls I know. One was just plain in a purple and this one below is a bit more fancy. I bought this sequin elastic a couple of years ago and thought it would be perfect for a sparkly skirt. The fake sequin fabric was remnants from Spotlight about 5 years ago so I'm glad to have that gone to be honest. The recipient of this one is away at the moment but she got a photo and is excited to try it on. I think it will be too big in the waist so I'll probably have to fix that up for her. The skirt is long and she is only 5 but very tall (like about a 7 year old) and I'll cut the hem to the right length. I wanted to use most the this stuff so it have a orchid pink colour for the main skirt and then scraps of the purple as petals and then some lilac on the top for the layered look.
The next thing I just finished is a pair of togs for swimming/aqua aerobics. Again stash comes to the rescue. I needed some new togs 6 months ago when my Jalie togs died. I used to do my aqua training and swimming during the day, but now with working I do a lot in the heated indoor pool (which I hate - it's way too hot) and that accelerates the disintegration of lycra. I didn't have time to make some and bought a great pair of adidas togs for $10 from a discount warehouse place and they were great for a while but then one day a couple of weeks ago I noticed they just died. (Do you notice that... one day the togs are good, then the next time you get them they have that disintegrated bum 😬 Nowhere to go from there! ) I liked the fit and the square shape of the lower back so I cut them apart and pinned them to some small pieces of lycra I had. The red is very thin and so I self lined it. I didn't make a gusset but fully enclosed the join so it should be comfortable. I have had the aqua lycra for over 20 years, it was a remnant from somewhere and it is still in excellent condition attesting to its quality. There is a little left of that but it was a very short piece so not good for the lengthier pieces.
I'm pretty happy with them. They fit like the other ones did but maybe a bit of refining of the upper chest where I am pretty narrow. This is how the back was on the other pair. Obviously for the economy of not wasting lycra the X of the back is one piece and joins the front at the shoulders so fit my small pieces of lycra really well.
The colour scheme is a bit retro really. It reminds me of the togs that were around in the '70's and '80's. The ones the rich kids wore to Friday swim club... we couldn't afford to go to swim club and no fancy togs either. The photo below is terrible, I know but I wanted to show the ribbed pattern in the aqua lyrca. It's white on the underside if you notice in the photo above. Oh and you may notice I used the coverstitch at the seams on the aqua. I had it threaded in red (from my jacket mid last year when I last used it) and thought it was the perfect opportunity to practice with it. I'm determined to get more use of it and better at it.
Have you made swimwear? If you haven't, you should. It is so easy and overall very forgiving and if you have kids, making them some to practice is perfect. I see more togs in my future. We are going to the beach for a week soon so my son may get some new togs too if I have time. Next up, more culottes I think.
Comments
The fairy sparkles are perfect for a 5 year old, I'm sure you've made those little girls very happy.
It's great to be able to copy a pair that you like...usually more successful than starting with a pattern.
Happy sewing in 2017!
Great job!