A blazer + Leather skirt + Silk Cami = Melbourne FROCKTAILS 2019

MELBOURNE FROCKTAILS TIME!

Melbourne Frocktails, organised by the fabulous Shelley and Lisa, has quickly become the anticipated sewing highlight of the year!
It's a night of socialising, fabric stroking and dressing up in a me-made outfit of your choice.

THIS YEAR I made:

• A tailored blazer, complete with full canvas interfacing, pad stitching and hand stitched everything
• A leather skirt and
• A silk cami.

So, you know, just kept it casual, obvs.

Here's a few pics from the night, posing with my sewing bestie, Leisl from the blog Jorth

Photo by Samara Clifford Photography

Photo by Samara Clifford Photography

Photo by Samara Clifford Photography

Photo by Samara Clifford Photography

The Blazer

It's Burda 6875, in View B in a size 12 (with modifications) that I shortened by 10cm.

THE FABRIC is an incredibly stunning (stunning!!) 210gms silk wool blend (51% silk/49% wool) from Mood Fabrics in colour 'Whisper White'
The fabric has a tight weave and the true colour is more of an ivory than a white.

The jacket is lined with a decadent 22mm silk satin from Tessuti Fabrics in Ivory

I recently made my FIRST EVER tailored jacket and I was so in love with the creative process and the final result, that I immediately dived into making my SECOND ONE.

Most of this jacket is HAND SEWN and comes with the following:

• Pad stitched lapels and under-collar
• Silk organza back stay
• Double welt pockets with flaps
• Hand sewn lining
• Sleeve heads and shoulder pads
• Full canvas interfacing - Soft Hair Canvas from Spotlight Stores
• Canvas (hair cloth) sleeve and hem interfacing
• Bound buttonhole closure
• Wool felt under collar, fell stitched in place. Wool felt from Two Blue Birdies
• Ventred and mitred sleeve hems
• Silk thread for all hand stitching

Changes:

• Hand stitched the under collar and upper collar to the gore line and lapels by hand
• Added a single welt, breast pocket
• Shortened length of jacket by 10cm
• Curved the front of jacket facing hem to mimic a suit jacket and not a coat
• Lengthened the sleeve vents to 11cm
• Added a back stay
• Added twill tape to roll line of lapel
• Changed from a two button closure to a one button closure and lowered the position of the button closure slightly.

You can check out my photo heavy post with all the details of how I constructed my tailored blazers here: 'Inside the Tailored Jacket -  Taking a Look at the Couture Construction of Burda 6875'

The Skirt

The skirt is SELF DRAFTED with a centre front seam and a waistband.

It's made with black nappa leather from Leffler Leather Merchant and is closed with a metal zipper down the centre back.

I MADE THE HEM OF THE SKIRT BACK 2cm's longer than the front of the skirt, grading out from the side seam. I've found that my bigger bottom tends to lift the hem the skirt, and adding the extra length meant that the hem line looked completely straight all the way around!

The Cami

It's the Kate Bias Top by Just Patterns (my third!) in a beautiful floaty silk satin from Home Craft Fabrics

You can see my other two versions (and reviews) of the Kate Bias Top here and here

Final Thoughts

My heart is full meeting and catching up with wonderful, like minded people. The ladies really put on an amazing night with some fabulous sponsors and I was so impressed at the quality and variety of wonderful me-made clothing.

Melbourne, you are awesome!!!

You can check out my blog post for my First Tailored Blazer here:

You can check out my blog post detailing how I constructed my tailored jacket here:

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 :)