A (comfy) GLAMOUR Dress

Oh HAI!

Excuse me while I blow the cobwebs off 'ye olden blog'; it has been a while ...

... so let me quickly side track you with my latest creation. Look, it's a dress!

I also recently made an insanely loveable little (huge) baby boy. Scroll down to the bottom of this post if you want to make your ovaries ache.

Back in August Kat from All The Whimsical Things hosted another Frocktails in Melbourne, which gave me the motivation to get out the sewing machine and transform myself from milk machine (do you know how much a 9 pounder DRINKS??!!!!) to glamour puss. Goals.

Because having a toddler and a newborn gives me heaps of spare time *cough* I decided to draft my own dress and make it the day before the event. Why do people let me make decisions for myself? Don't they see that crazed sleep-deprived look in my eye?

Luckily, it worked out! It was a pretty simple dress after all, but it's always the simple ones that end up messing you up! AmIright?!!

DETAILS:

Fabric

I made this out of a cheap stretch that I bought from Spotlight. Ashley was less than 3 months old at the time and I was still in that crazy period where I couldn't bear to drive more than 5 minutes to get to a decent fabric store.

It's not perfect but it still worked, though next time I make this I'll use a fabric with a bit more stretch.

Pattern

Self drafted. I wanted a long skirt with a wide neck and I wanted it in a comfortable stretch. Plus stretch is so much faster to sew. No darts, lots of room for error and finishing seams is optional.

The skirt is split at the front with rushing near the waistline.

The pattern making took the bulk of the time, but once I had cut out the fabric it only took a few hours to put together. It felt so good to get behind the machine again!

Extra Bits

I completely faced the bodice in the same fabric to give extra support.

I also attached a strip of thin elastic along the entire width of the neck to stop it from gaping or moving. I made the length of the elastic shorter than the circumference of the neck so that it pulled in a little.

I can pretend that I dress fancy all the time, but a sports bra tan line doesn't lie ...

I had a lovely night chatting with like-minded seamstresses, some people I had met before and some for the first time. It was so nice to get dressed up and talk about sewing!

And now if you'll indulge me, here's my latest human creation:

Meet Ashley Michelangelo, my little angel baby born May 11.  Ashley is named after my father, Michelangelo.
This little beach ball of cuteness was born 13 days over due and within 30 minutes of me arriving at the hospital! All 9 lbs of him! It was an incredible, beautiful birth experience and I still get goose bumps thinking about it. My mum, who drove me to the hospital thinks she is suffering post traumatic stress at the thought that we almost had a 'side of the road' birth.

It's good to be back guys! I've got some great projects lined up and I can't wait to get stuck into them!

Also excuse me dear internet, BUT WHY IS THERE NO SEWING MACHINE EMOJI?!!! I cannot adequately convey my sewing emotions without a cute little picture of a sewing machine. Who do I need to contact to make this happen?

Hope you are all having a lovely fabric filled week :)

My first ever knit - Miette Cardigan

I have succumbed to peer (blog) group pressure and crossed over to the dark side ... knitting.

And I likey.

A lot.

I was one of those people who was so obsessed with sewing that I didn't get the fascination with knitting; It just didn't interest me. I was getting increasingly nervous about the number of seamstresses who were learning how to knit. I felt like I was the only kid who didn't have a pair of knitting needles in my back pocket like nun-chucks. And I'd seen knitting patterns. They looked like my 8 month old son had started bashing my keyboard with his tiny future-sewing wrists. I mean what the H is 'kfbl, k1, ssk, kbl'??

So I decided to take a class with the wonderful ladies at Handmakers Factory and see what all the fuss was about.

You know that moment where Harry Potter holds his wand for the first time at Ollivander's and he's shrined in a gold aura and shiz starts flying around his head? I had one of those moments with knitting. Not as strong as my sewing buzz, but it was definitely an awakening moment in me. P.s. - Wands totes look like knitting needles. Just saying.

So naturally my obsessive nature wanted to start knitting a garment straight away. There would be no long scarf or beanie for me to begin with. That would be too sensible. So when the Hand-makers Factory announced they'd be doing a Miette Cardigan knit-a-long I decided to give it a crack.

And here it is in all it's beginner glory!
The pattern is by Andi Satterlund, a talented lady with a penchant for vintage knits.



The instructions were extremely well written, which is very favourable for a beginner knitter. The pattern is also FREE! Another great thing about this pattern is that there are no seams! Truly! So if you're nervous about knitting because you don't know how to put all the finished pieces together, this is a great way to start.

I knitted this bad boy up in the 42" bust size using a wool/cashmere/silk aran yarn. I made the sleeves slightly shorter to match the shortness of the cardigan.



I love the lace detailing on the cardigan and once you get your head around the different types of stitches it's actually pretty straight forward.

The answer to the question 'What colour buttons go with a blue cardigan?' was of course: BLING! I am a sucker for shiny sparkly things, and I like the girly-ness it adds to cardigan.

My only regret with this cardigan is that I made it in the large size. It fits nicely, but the pattern is supposed to have two inches of negative ease, and there is none on my finished garment. In fact there is a bit of excess yarn hanging around the sides where my boobs and arms underarms are. It's also a little baggy on the arms. But meh, I think it still works.



PROS of knitting
You can do your knitting any where! On the couch, on the train, on the beach, on the treadmill (what?); it's so easy to cart around. How often have I longed to be able to take my sewing everywhere!

CONS of knitting
Knitting takes a loooot longer that sewing, but it's sort of therapeutic.

The biggest problem with me knitting now is that I now have a fabric stash AND a yarn stash. I know I'm going to end up on one of those hoarder shows one day, except that my house will be full of fabric and yarn.

MOST UNEXPECTED THING about knitting
Wet blocking - you want me to do what now?

WEIRD ASSOCIATIONS with knitting
What slipknot meant to me in 1995 and what slipknot means to me now in 2013.

click on the picture to see it on instagram

Sewing News

Now to some sewing news, I am excited and a whole lot of nervous to announce that I am a contestant in the next round of Project Sewn!

 

The other contestants are amaze-balls, so I'm totally thrilled and honoured to be participating along side them! Click on the button above to check them out. They are some talented ladies! I'm looking forward to seeing what delights everyone comes up with!!

And that's it! My first ever knitted garment! You can check me out on Ravelry here Any one else recently started knitting or thinking about starting? It's ok you can tell us. You're safe here.