Anna Mk II - Daisy Anna

I knew I'd have to make another Anna dress soon. And I didn't wait long to do so.

Meet "Daisy Anna"

This was real stash-busting, the fabric I bought over a year ago and it's been waiting for the perfect pattern. I reckon it's found it!

This is the slash neck mid length version of By Hand London Anna dress - if you hadn't already guessed :-) I was so excited cutting this out and trying so hard to fit all the pieces that I forgot to lengthen the bodice. It's a wee bit short in the waist, but I can certainly live with it!

Some of the skirt pieces are upside down, I can't tell, so neither can you, and if you can, shut up, cos I don't care!! :-) I so wanted to keep the gored skirt which is on the pattern. I just think it's perfect for it and didn't want to add a gathered or pleated skirt. I did have to remove some of the width from the skirt pieces too.

Skirt pattern placement

You wanna see how much was left at the end?

Yep, that's creative cutting :-)

And there was little fabric left for a hem, so this is what the hem looks like on the inside...

You like?

There's not really much else to say. This pattern is just a joy to sew, it goes together really easily and is quick to make. OK, possibly a wardrobe full of Anna dresses may get a bit too much, but only a bit you understand!

And so the details...

Fabric:  (Possibly vintage) cotton from Unearthed (a vintage shop on Cuba St, Wellington), bought on my first WSBN meet, November 2012, I think it was $25.

Notions:  Thread, a standard dress zip,interfacing and ribbon for the hem

Pattern:  By Hand London Anna
First worn:  I think for work a couple of weeks ago, worn here at Staglands with the WSBN.

Changes:  Shifted the bodice pleats to the centre slightly and sewed them about an inch shorter. Oh, and my new fave, it has a handpicked zip instead of an invisible zip. Just check this out...

I love hand sewing! Particularly when I get a result like this!

Although I first wore this to work, I didn't get photos until we went to Staglands, so here's a cutesy pic for you or two...

Now I'm not the best with any animal, but this little bunny let me hold him for ages. He was so soft and warm.

Oh and as an aside, it looks like I'll be making the GatherKits Mortmain in March. You have bossed and 44% of you voted for the Mortmain, the Vogue and Elisalex getting 27% of votes each.

Now all I need to do is to find an exposed zip which I like!

Time for you to decide...

In my madness, I've decided I'll take part in another Monthly Stitch Challenge...

For March, the girls at TMS thought it would be good to make up a pattern which we've never made up before. Easy eh? Yeah, right, I just happened to be there when they came up with the twist in the tail... Why don't we get participants to put three patterns on their blogs and get people to vote on which of the three they should make? And so the Miss Bossy Patterns was born!

 

And so, without further ado, these are my three patterns, with possible fabrics...

Vintage Vogue 8728 made in this really soft cotton lawn, which you may recognise from the Curious Kiwi's blog... This fabric will need lining, so it'll certainly be an interesting make.

By Hand London Elisalex in this cotton sateen in red with grey and white flowers. Not sure how the skirt will look on me, I might have to alter it slightly.

A new acquisition to my collection, Gather Kits The Mortmain in this cotton sateen. This dress has an exposed zip which I've never sewn before, so may be interesting to make.

So you have a week to let me know what you think I should make! This is going to be fun!

Sew Miss Bossy, which pattern should I make?

Loud golf skort

So, not to be outdone by Mr N, I needed my own loud clothing for the golf course! I've been meaning to make a skort for ages and actually bought some pale green stretch cotton to make one about a year ago. That has since been made into a straight short skirt (not blogged about, but on My Makes page).

I spent ages looking for a pattern and pinned loads on a Pinterest board while I made a decision. You wouldn't believe how many patterns I actually found. Did I really want a skort, or did I want culottes? In the end, would I actually finish them in time for Closing Day in the middle of December? After cogitating and ruminating I mashed up two and came up with this...

I bought the fabric the same time as getting the fabric for Mr N's loud trousers. He actually saw this stretch cotton and thought it would be fun for his trousers, then I told him it had flowers on it, he changed his mind, but agreed it would be fun for a loud skort for me.

Patterns, well I bought the fabric first and then chose the pattern(s). All the vintage patterns were so cute and I really wanted one, but have you found a vintage pattern to fit a modern size 16? Mm, I haven't either. So, I thought I'd be brave... The shorts come from this pattern, Kwik Sew 3232

Mm, I don't really like Kwik Sew, but sometimes needs must! 

And the skirt came from...

Butterick 4766 - how cute is that pattern?

As you can see, the Butterick is a vintage size 12, ie small, well, smaller than me :-) I decided the skirt would be easier to grade up than the shorts. 

The Butterick pattern is a false wrap skirt with a back zip, the Kwik Sew pattern is just a plain skirt with a side zip. The Kwik Sew has in seam pockets, the Butterick has a slash pocket on one side and a patch pocket on the front. This was why the Butterick skirt definitely won me over.

I made a muslin of the shorts and was pretty happy with the fit. Fortunately they don't have to be perfect since they are covered by the skirt. I then actually made up the shorts before even cutting out the skirt. Possibly completely the wrong way round, but it worked for me, so do I care?

And here they are on, they are really comfortable and fit quite well as a pair of shorts (I've never made shorts for me before!) And comfort is important when you're playing golf. The last thing I want is to be constantly fidgeting with my clothes.

For the skirt I laid the Butterick pattern on top of the Kwik Sew pattern to try to get some idea of the size I needed to make. Out came the curve to get it the right fit.

This is how much was left once I'd cut the skirt out...

Don't you just love it when there's just scraps left? No wondering what to do with the remains.

The zip is just a centred zip in the back. It's actually only attached to the skirt part. The shorts are just edge finished and, yes, I guess if the skirt was high enough, you'd see the gap and most likely my knickers! (OK, too much information there!) The skirt is basically four pieces in an A-line shape, so no darts. I didn't actually baste the wrap part until I'd lined up the side seams. I'm sure my construction is decidedly ad hoc, but it completely worked for me. :-)

I put the patch pocket on the front and found some ribbon in my stash to put across the top, as in the Butterick pattern. The ribbon is stitched down at half inch intervals to provide space for my tees.

In practice it doesn't work that well, as soon as I bend down, the tees pop out!

I'm not sure there's anything else about the construction. The seams are all finished using pinking shears and the hem is machine stitched.

And so the details...

Fabric: Stretch cotton sateen from Spotlight, October 2013 (can't remember the cost)

Notions:   Thread, a standard dress zip, two buttons, interfacing for the waistband and a wee bit of ribbon to finish the pocket.

Pattern:  A mashup of vintage Butterick 4766 and Kwik Sew 3232
First worn:  For the Closing Day competition at Karori Golf Club at middle of December 2013, I finished it the night before!
Another one?  Not really sure, it's really comfortable and great for golf. The pockets are large enough for spare balls, tees, pitch mark repairer, etc. I probably will even get away with wearing leggings under it in the cooler weather. I feel much happier wearing it too, I'm not really a trousers person and much prefer to wear a skirt. This gives me combination of the two.

Oh I guess you want action shots don't you, otherwise you'll not believe that I actually wore it on the course...

Teeing off on the 9th - I'm keeping my eye on that small white round dimpled thing :-)

Putting on the 9th

My 2013

ARGH - silly blogger, this was meant to publish over two weeks ago... The scheduler didn't work.

2013, well it was to be the year of stashbusting... that didn't happen. I got well and truly sucked in by the pretties on sale in my local fabric shops and the enabling from my lovely WSBN friends.

I did hope to make trousers for the first time, well I did make trousers, but they weren't for me, they were for Mr N, some loud trousers for him to play golf in..

Looking at my makes, I did actually learn a number of new skills.

Flat fell seams - Mr N's shirt was completely finished with flat fell seams

Hong Kong seaming - my self-drafted pencil skirt was finished with these

Sewing with knits - I finished the Cake Tiramisu and I've also made my first Renfrew (not blogged about) Yay! Feeling happier about knit fabrics now.

Fly front zip - although I don't have photos, I've learned how to stitch a fly front when I made Mr N's trousers.

Hand-picked zip - I learned how to hand pick a zip and have actually used this method twice now, the first was on my Lily Anna

Phew! I'm quite impressed with myself! I think that's all

Vital statistics of makes:
Tops, including blouses -- 4
Dresses -- 4
Skirts -- 3
Skort (not blogged about yet) -- 1
Trousers (mens) -- 1

In addition, I knitted a beret and have also made the curtains for our lounge/diner. Life itself has been pretty hectic, we've moved house and I also broke my ankle giving me an enforced sewing absence of a few weeks.

Our Wellington Sewing Bloggers Network has grown from strength to strength, we now have 26 members and it's great to have a group of local sewers I can ask for help, meet up with, compare patterns and go fabric shopping with :-)

I really am not going to think about how much fabric went in and went out of the stash. All I know is, the numbers go the wrong way!

What I have done at last, is create an extra page of makes at the top of blog. This page is still very much under construction, so please excuse the spacing, size of photos, etc. At the moment, the page starts with makes made within the life of this blog, but I'm intending to add older makes which I still have too.

I'll finish with what I consider my fave makes from 2013...

Here's to 2014!

Loud golf trousers

Way back in October last year, Mr N discovered a website... I sincerely hope you've got your sunglasses on before you check this out!

Problem was the cost and delivery to NZ... Next thing I know I'm being taken down to Spotlight to buy fabric! What? Mr N voluntarily taking me to a fabric store - there must be something in this... Yep, "I want you to make me some loud golf trousers, pretty please!" How can a girl say no when her husband is practically begging? So, quick thinking, OK, I need a pattern (quick look through the pattern books before hubby gets too bored), I need fabric and possibly some other fabric too while were here... :-)

And so the loud golf trousers were born!

Nice action shot!

Now, I've never made trousers before and I had a time limit... The annual closing day match at the golf club and if possible (ie definitely) by such and such competition two weeks before!

I used this Vogue pattern (V8719). I tried to find a fairly casual relaxed trouser pattern, anything too structured, just wouldn't have worked.

I did actually make a muslin. Yep, you heard right, I made a muslin! The size and shape was quite similar to a pair of everyday trousers Mr N had already. I didn't need to make many changes. The back darts didn't work in the position they were in, so I moved them nearer the centre back. The leg length was long, but time I hemmed them up they actually worked well. I also made the waist the size larger. A diet with a lot of New Zealand Pinot Noir means that perhaps Mr N is not as slim as the Vogue model! :-) The remainder of the pattern is as printed.

I was surprised how quickly I managed to get the muslin made up, it was stitched and tested in one day! Needless to say the real thing was not put together quite so fast, I took my time. At least it gave me the chance to practice a front fly zip. I had replaced the zip in some trousers for Mr N the beginning of last year, but this was the first time from scratch. I can't believe how simple it actually was. The pattern instructions were really clear and easy to follow, every single step is described and illustrated.

Check out that loud print!

There are in seam side pockets in addition to the patch pockets on the back. The back pockets have flaps and I used these buttons to close them shut, however, I found out today, one button has already got lost!

It's not so clear from this photo, but the inside leg seams are stitched using a flat felled seam. It makes the inside leg seam a lot stronger, but boy was it difficult! Have you ever tried a flat felled seam working with restricted fabric space, particularly for such a long seam? The outside seams are just stitched as normal and zig zagged to finish.

I have to say, I'm quite chuffed with myself. Mr N is happy and he's had lots of comments! ;-) They're certainly an eye opener! Pair number 2 are now ready to cut out with an equally loud fabric!

So, did I finish them on time? Yes, they were finished in time for a Cup round which took place at the end of the last November. OK, I can hear you now, why have they taken so long to post? Erm, the need for action shots basically. Finally we got to the club today and I managed to get some photos, but it was like that little round dimpled ball knew it was having it's photo taken, it went everywhere apart from where it was supposed to go each time I got the camera out! 

The action shots today were all taken on my phone and are all a tad blurry I'm afraid, simple reason, the battery was dead in my point and shoot camera and there is no room in a golf bag for a SLR, so it was the phone or nothing. Yeah, I know, a girl guide is always prepared. ;-)

The details...

Fabric: Stretch cotton sateen from Spotlight, October 2013 (can't remember the cost)

Notions:   Thread, a standard dress zip, two buttons, interfacing for the waistband and a large hook and eye to fasten the waist

Pattern:  Vogue 8719
First worn:  For the Murray Halberg Day at Karori Golf Club at the end of November 2013
Another one?  Well I'm under strict instructions to make another one. The fabric for the second pair was bought at the same time, so I can't leave it too long... I even have instructions for the next pair. The in seam pockets on the side are too small and the back pockets are also too small (his wallet keeps falling out!) I have had a request to make welt packets for the back if possible, so I shall need to look this one up... Maybe I can quickly check out the back welt pockets on the Sewaholic Thurlow?

And so to finish, a couple more action shots...

Mm, Nr N has a left leg that refuses to behave and stay on the ground when he tees off... A particularly different kind of swing which still manages to make the ball go a long way!

 This was something we seemed to do quite a bit of at the beginning of the round today... Waiting for those in front.

Pleats and circles do go

It's been a while since I last posted, I'm still cogitating and ruminating over a review of the year. It will happen, honest, but in the meantime, here's my latest.

Sewing has been considerably lax over the holiday period, I've had my stepdaughter and Mum staying, so I couldn't really do much, anyway, my sewing room doubles up as a guest room, so...

I did manage to shorten and hem a couple of items for them both, some requiring me to use my double needle on knit fabrics. I was impressed with myself, knowing what I'm like with knit fabrics. Must be getting better. :-)

So the latest...

I got this fabric in the Fabric Warehouse pop-up shop in October? The border print came in a wide width, 1.5m, and double-sided. I'm sure I only bought a metre, but when I measured it, there was 1.2m! So, basically all I needed to do was to line it up and cut it in half. That was easier said than done, this is slippery crepe, so there were pins all the way up to hold the fabric in place.

So many lovely circles everywhere. As soon as I saw it, it was going to be a skirt. With so many circles going up the skirt, and not in a straight line, I decided it was impossible to match all circles. In the end I decided just to match the large circles at the bottom. I'm pretty pleased with my matching and have only just noticed, having taken the photo, that I should have moved one side across more! Can you see what I did?

The top of the skirt is pleated and after a conflab with the always helpful WSBN, they are also stitched down about three inches. It took a lot of working out to pleat this, the width of fabric was not three times my waist, so I had to make an inspired guess and trial and error to get the pleats sitting equally. There's 35 of them, I've counted!

Since this is a fine crepe, the skirt is lined. I used the same black cotton lawn to line the skirt and make the waistband. All the seams for the lining and the skirt are finished using French seams. The zip is hand picked.

The hem has been rolled by hand. The Crazy Gypsy sent me a link from YouTube for a hand rolled hem. The video is done by a left-handed sewer, but I managed to work it out and go the other way! I am certainly right-handed, no ambidexterity about me :-) I think it took me about two and half hours, it's a long way around the hem of this one!

I met up with Kat and Mel at Otari Wilton's Bush for photos of the finished make. Mel was posing with her own make and Kat wielded our big nerdy cameras. All I know it, it must have been fun, as I'm laughing in almost all my photos! :-)

The details...

Fabric: Polyester crepe border print from Fabric Warehouse pop-up shop (Oct 2013?), cost about $4. Black cotton lawn for the lining and waistband from Fabric Warehouse (September 2013?)

Notions:   Thread, an invisible zip and interfacing for the waistband

Pattern:  A selfmade, drafted pattern.
First worn:  Erm, these photos at Otari Wilton's Bush, Wellington, but will most likely be worn to work soon.
Worn with (in this pic):  A RTW top from Monsoon, UK and pumps from Overland, NZ.
Another one?  This was a one-off really for this fabric. I've often self-drafted skirts like this, so one could happen at any point!

And to finish, this is what happens when you get friends to take your photos...

 Well you were only supposed to see the skirt, my face doesn't matter! Also photos being bombed by the young offspring of your photographer :-)

 Showing off the lining and preparing for the next gust of wind which may come along :-)

And because I've learned a new skill this month, you'll also find this on The Monthly Stitch