It has been a very busy year for me so far!

I have gone from being a night student, to a full time day student (was both for a while, phew, was that tough).  I have just started my second semester of Fashion Design and Technology at CIT Reid in Canberra.

What a learning curve!  On one hand it is great to learn new things, on the other to have someone telling you that you have been doing it right is good too, especially if like me you are self taught.

Only a couple of things done so far this year.

This jacket was my final assessment for Clothing Production III (my part time night course).

 Butterick B5401 (Out of Print)

A couple of minor adjustments;  I moved the pockets from the side seams to the front seams.  I am a 'pear' and the pockets on the side seams were just too much.  I also took some from each panel for the same reason.  (made me look terrible!).

It actually hangs better than this one.  Sorry I should have pressed it, but I have been wearing it for the last couple of days.

Now the best bit..............

The lining!  Ain't it cool!

This is a Chinese Brocade from Fabric.com .https://www.fabric.com/buy/0261169/chinese-brocade-heavenly-gate-orange  The colours don't show very well but there is orange (my fav) a red and a purple and gold.  It is just yummy!

The outside of the coat is a wool/polyester blend also bought from Fabric.com.  https://www.fabric.com/buy/0275476/wool-blend-coating-herringbone-cream-tan



Oh any bye the way, I did pass lol.

So over my holidays I had a big list of things to do and people to see.  Unfortunately, I didn't get most of it done!  Don't know where the time went!  I did get a coat made for my beautiful Bobby though.

Isn't he adorable.  I tried to get one of his face, but he wouldn't sit still for me.

One more project got made.

A new Lincraft store opened here and as I was checking it out with a friend I noticed some fake fur stuff (I'm very good at technical terms) and said that I wanted a vest.  Well he looked me up and down  (more down 'cause he is 6"8) and said "and I think you may be able to pull it off too".  Well with such confidence (!) the fabric was bought.....................

Noticing a trend with lining?  Yep, I like a statement lol.

The vest is from Burda 11/12.  I added pockets to the side seams.  Gotta have pockets.

So that's the catchup.  Hoping for some cute designs to come out of my course, and also hoping to make some clothes for a trip to NZ with the Australian Sewing Guild http://www.aussew.org.au/ later in the year, but you know, best laid plans and all that.

Happy Stitching

Wedding Dress

So, I haven't been very good at this blogging have I!

The new year began very busy for me.  A couple of large rush orders kept me on my toes I can tell you, but more on that later.

I wanted to show you a wedding dress I made for a client.

Isn't it lovely!  I really enjoyed making it and loved the way it looked when it was finished.

The client came to me with a photo and I was lucky to find a similar pattern  New Look 6723 http://sewing.patternreview.com/patterns/16175#.UTQDYjewTmc and made a couple of changes.

This was made with lovely Duchess Satin and silk lining.  Yummy stuff to work with.  With instruction from me, off she went to Cabramatta (great for Bridal Fabrics!) to buy the fabric. (Van Hung Fabrics) She also bought some tulle as we were going to put in a layer of this, but in the end it wasn't needed.

I did make a toile.  I always do.  It saves so many problems at the end.  Much easier to get it right at this stage.  Only a couple of fitting issues.  I narrowed the front neck by 1" and another inch at the back neck.  We shortened the waist by 2".  The waist on this dress sits very low, and wasn't quite the look we wanted.

Some of the fabric was taken out of the sleeve head.  Being a thick, stable fabric, I wanted to be able to ease the head as much as possible without any unsightly gathers.

The pleats were the allowance for the gathering.  Instead of gathering I made pleats to line up with the princess seams.

An attached sash was added along with a cute little bow.  The length was shortened by 2".

The dress is fully lined, except for the sleeves, and has an enclosed hem too.

I really enjoyed making this dress and was very happy with the finished article.  

This is the binding on the sleeve.  It's so neat, much better than looking at overlocking.

 
  Front and back views.






See my full review at http://sewing.patternreview.com/

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/92272971@N06/

Okay, here we go!

So, I wanted to share the things I make, BUT............... I am a tecnology idiot!

No doing too bad I think, at least I have managed to get a blogger page! lol

Now to see if I can get my photos to here!

Couldn't do it!  Never mind, I did at least manage a link.   Have a look at some Christmas Tress I made and a new Summer Dressing gown from a Lutterloh pattern.
 
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