Full Steam Ahead!

So far 2011 seems to be rather productive on the sewing / DIY side of things...  Probably this stems from the fact that I only work part-time AND don't have cable AND it is cold and snowy outside...  Which leaves plenty of time for indoor sewing and crafty projects.

I whipped up a beachy tunic based on the Palm Beach Tunic from the Built By Wendy Dresses book.  I used an old vintage sheet that totally reminds me of a Marimekko print.  This funky flat sheet was part of my bedding during university, but my husband complained about it and said it was "too bright" and "hurt his eyes in the morning"...  pffft.  Buuuuut...... being the kind and loving wife that I am (... and also wise enough to know to pick your battles), I banished it to my fabric stash, waiting and hoping for the day that a project funky and fun enough would come knocking...

Close up of embroidery on the sleeve

The tunic was a breeze to put together, I had nearly completed it during a Sunday afternoon sewing sesh, but I had a bit of trouble getting the neck-piece to lie flat around the curved neckline.  I used some black cotton twill for the hem facings, and used a snazzy embroidery stitch from my new Janome sewing machine.  All in all, not too shabby.  Now I just need some sunny Shuswap weather to break it out!  I still need to take a few photos of me actually wearing it, but the weather's been so poor lately...

Being that I'm now in my late 20's, most of my friends have / are having children.  I was invited to a baby shower for a friend this past Saturday.  They found out they are having a girl (yay!) and I was so excited to bust out my stash of vintage baby patterns.  I decided to make a sweet little dress (size 1) from the Simplicity 3803 pattern from what appears to be the 1950s or 1960s (no date on the envelope).

I used a printed seersucker fabric that was from my nana-in-law's stash, and added some red rick-rack and red grosgrain ribbon for interest.  Can you believe there is 2m of fabric in that skirt?!?!?!  No wonder it's so voluminous, lol!

I also signed on for Gertie's Crepe Sew-Along, but procrastinated all through December so am now playing catch up.  Last night I cut out all the underlining fabric and today have been cutting the outer fabric, and sewing both layers together.  Hopefully by the end of today, I will be all caught up with the rest of the group...  Here are a few shots of it so far...

It is my husband's birthday this week, and I've been wanting to sew something for him for awhile.  He is sooo picky and doesn't like anything remotely "fancy", but this past holiday season made it painfully obvious that he has no formal clothes.  He has one pair of dress pants that don't have pleats on the front, one shirt (that I bought him!), and maybe 3 ties... one of them being the tie he wore for our wedding.

We have 4 (!!!) weddings to go to already for 2011, so he is in desperate need of help.

I bought the Burda 7767 pattern and plan to make him Version A in a grey cotton-linen blend.  I love the pintucks on it, and it will be a casual dress shirt, but still a dress shirt nonetheless.  Two of the weddings this summer are beach weddings and will be extremely casual.  So this shirt will be just the ticket!

Burda 7767

I would also love to make him some casual, but not denim, shorts to wear for work and said beach weddings this summer too.  I've been eyeing up the Jochen pattern from Burdastyle, but haven't purchased it yet.  Have any of you used it?  Would I be better off to buy something else?  It seems that Burda really is the only pattern company that makes anything half decent for men...  Why is that?  Men deserve to look good too!

Peter over at Male Pattern Boldness is doing a men's shirt sew-along for February which I am going to try and follow.  I'm not sure if I will make the Negroni shirt from Colette patterns or not, but I have a few vintage men's patterns kicking around in addition to the Burda 7767 so I might just make N something from one of those patterns.

I've got a few more things cut out, and will be working flat out for N's birthday shirt tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

  

2011 New Year Resolutions

I don't typically make them.
That way I don't feel bad about myself for breaking them.
But then again, there's not really anything that I want to change.  I don't smoke, I don't eat that much junk food, I exercise regularly, and I don't drink that often.  I don't even go shopping very often (anymore that is).
So I've decided....  that I will not buy any new clothing in 2011!!!!  I will buy second-hand or make all of my clothes for the next 364 days!  The only possible exception to this might be if I need to buy a bridesmaid dress / shoes for my cousin's wedding in August.

I just got the Built By Wendy Dresses book, and talk about jump-starting the creative juices!  I can't wait to make any of the dresses from it.  Here is a little sneak peek of some of the projects.  (Note: I totally don't mean to infringe on any copyrights, but I know that I like to be able to see a little bit of what's in a book before I buy it.  So I'm hoping it does the same for you!).

There are 3 different basic dress styles: the sheath, the shift and the dirndl.  From these 3 styles, there are several different projects that can be made by altering the patterns.  This is definitely NOT for folks new to sewing, but I now consider myself to be intermediate level advanced beginner, so I think I might be able to tackle some of these projects.

First up: an altered Sheath Dress, with fluttery sleeves and a wide band at the neckline.  I've got some ivory satin in my stash that I'm thinking would be perfect for this dress.  I've got a wedding to go to in May that is formal dress code, so this would be perfect.

I want to make this one out of some lightweight cotton fabric for spring.  Love the bright tights they styled this look with.  I'm a big fan of mini-dresses and could totally imagine prancing around town in this little number.

 I love the simplicity of this dress and it would be perfect to wear to staff Christmas parties or a winter wedding.

I found a bright royal blue jersey-knit fitted sheet when my hubby cleaned out our linen closet the other week.  I'm not sure where it came from, but it's for a double bed and we have a king-sized bed.  So it's free fabric for me!  I want to make this comfy looking wrap dress, but I think I will put sleeves on it to make it more versatile so I can wear it all year round, rather than just summer.

I have a vintage bedsheet from the 1970's that is super bright and funky.  It would look perfect as a tunic to wear over my bikini when we go boating on Shuswap Lake in the summers.

I love bib-front tops and dresses so I think I will make myself something from this pattern.  Although I might make a blouse rather than a dress...

I had to laugh when I was first flipping through the book at the descriptions for each of the projects.  Half of them say stuff like "high rolling on the French Riviera", "tres Parisian", and "Parisian ingenue", which reminded me of Stuff White People Like (I received the book as a Christmas gift a few years ago, I literally laughed out loud for most of it), which basically states that white people (North Americans) are obsessed with French language and culture and try to emulate their style.  Who might try and copy this style you might ask?  This kid right here!  I am a bona fide francophile, having spent a summer in rural Quebec when I was 17 learning the language, backpacking through France in 2008, cooking from my favourite cookbook: Laura Calder's French Food at Home; in fact, my husband even proposed on the second tier of la tour Eiffel!!!  We have coasters with the Eiffel Tower on them commemorating this event.

Speaking of French-style, have you seen the Chanel commercial with Audrey Tautou?

When I first saw it on TV a few weeks ago (... apparently it's a few years old, but I don't have a tv... See Stuff White People Like #28) and my first thought was "yeah right, night trains are NOT that sexy....  I would NEVER wear lingerie on the train", but then again my experiences with sleeping on night trains in Europe usually involved a co-ed sleeping compartment (not in Spain however, in fact even though we were engaged to be married, they insisted that N and I sleep in different compartments!), often with an overweight Scandinavian man listening to heavy metal on an ipod while drinking / spilling beer in his bunk.  Definitely NOT as sexy as Ms. Tautou makes it seem.  However, check out that super sexy catsuit she is wearing in the train station at the end of the ad - so great, right?  I have a few patterns that I want to combine to come up with something similar.  Oh and I want to make it out of jersey so it will be nice and comfy.  Who knows, perhaps I will wear it on my next trip to Europe!

Fabricland was/is having a 2-day sale Jan 1st and 2nd with all fabric in store 50 - 70% off, and 50% off notions, as well as discounts on all patterns.  I need some new patterns like I need a hole in the head, but I came home with a few gems.  Two dress patterns for myself, as well as a few home decor ones.  We've decided not to buy a house right away for a number of reasons (we were looking for over a year), so now I hope to fix up the furniture we have now (in our rental) rather than waiting until we found a house.  Yay!

A few months ago, my friend gave me a bunch of old In Style magazines from her stash.  I'm totally in love with this totally amazing Louis Vuitton skirt on Jennifer Garner (May 2007 issue).

I have a cute white and green striped halter dress from H&M that I never wear because the halter straps dig into my armpit fat and it's super uncomfortable.  I want to upcycle it into a paper-bag waisted circle skirt like this and maybe make a petticoat for underneath to give it some extra volume.  So cute!

Here's a photo of me on New Year's Eve at a friends' house.  Yep, it happened!  I was in serious need of a can of Irn Bru the next day to get rid of the wine/beer hangover...
Hope you all had a safe and happy New Years everyone!  Are you making any resolutions?  How likely do you think you are to keep them?  I'm hoping that by sharing mine, I will be held accountable to stick to it!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Handmade Christmas revealed!

When I first flipped through Wenlan Chia's book Twinkle Sews, one of the first projects on my to-do list was the On The Sidelines sweatshirt.  I basically copied the version from the book, making the sweatshirt up in a nice beige colour and adding some studs I found at Dressew in Vancouver ($0.25 for a package of 35!).  I ended up making 2 versions of this project, with the intent of giving both of them away to my sisters-in-law for Christmas.

For J's version, I added a self-drafted hood since she prefers hoodies over sweatshirts.  I also increased the length of the sleeves to full-length (as opposed to the 3/4 length sleeves in the pattern).  I'm not sure what the deal is with the waistband at the bottom of the top, but I shorted it by several inches and it was still WAAAAY too big, so I ended up adding a drawstring so it could be cinched up.

Bunnyhug / Hoodie version for Jana

I plan to give the sweatshirt version to my other sister-in-law, but since she lives in England I won't be able to give it to her until next summer when she comes home for her wedding.  I haven't had a chance to sew the buttons on it yet, but now that I have my fancy new Janome sewing machine, button-holes are no longer a problem for me.  Woot woot!

Sweatshirt version for Caleigh - try and act surprised!

I also made a nice wrap dress for my mom using the Crepe pattern from Colette.  My mom's favorite colour is royal blue, so I found this fabric (in the clearance centre, funny enough) that I knew would be just perfect.  Sorry the photos aren't that great of quality.  She also just threw it on over what she was already wearing so it's kind of hard to see the dress.  But I promise it's really nice!  She was so happy and is excited to wear it in the spring.

My mom showing off the front of the dress, plus my in-laws' dog says hello!

Back view of the dress, plus my mother-in-law with some turkey action in the background

I also made a purse for my husband's nana, as well as a hot water bottle cover for his great-aunt.  I can't seem to find photos of either of them at the moment, but I know I did take some!  Anyways, it's New Year's Eve tonight (not typically one of my favourite nights, it always seems to be a let-down), but it should be alright.  We're going to some friends' place for a house party, so I'd better scoot and get ready.  Hope all 5 of you that might possibly read this have a safe, healthy and happy 2011!
xoxox

Holiday Wrap Up

We've just arrived back home after spending nearly a week at my husband's parents house in the North Okanagan.  We had a lovely Christmas, filled with FAR too much food and drink.  To help detox our bodies I made my favourite lentil soup and a big spinach salad for dinner.  I can't quite remember where the recipe came from, but I think it might've been a Moroccan-style cookbook I borrowed from the library a few years ago.  I will share it here anyways, but please let me know if you know where the recipe came from so I can give proper credit:

Lentil Soup with Lemon (serves 4)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder
1 32-ounce carton chicken broth
1 cup dried red lentils
1 large carrot, diced
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro (optional - I never add it b/c I'm not a big cilantro fan)
1 pinch chili powder

• Put first 8 ingredients in large pot over medium heat for 2 minutes
• Stir in next 3 ingredients, bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes
• Add the lemon juice, cilantro and chili powder.  Serve!  Yum yum!
• I usually add an extra tbsp of lemon juice at the end because I like it quite lemony, and I often throw in a bit more garlic.

I was very lucky this Christmas since my husband surprised me with a brand new sewing machine!!!  He did a whole bunch of research online and talked to several knowledgeable sources (i.e., his nana, aunt, mother, and my dad and step-mother) and they ALL recommended the Janome brand.  I am now the proud owner of the Janome 3160 QDC!!!!  I haven't had much of a chance to use it yet (since we just arrived home a few hours ago) but I did practice threading the machine and tried out a few of the embroidery stitches on some scrap fabric.  I am positively drooling thinking of all the fun embellishments I can add on projects now.

I accidentally forgot my camera in Vernon, but will post later about my Handmade Christmas since all my photos are on said camera :-(  I made the Colette Crepe dress for my mom, a modified On The Sidelines sweatshirt for my sister-in-law from the fabulous Twinkle Sews book, and a cozy fleece cloche hat for my other sister-in-law and my mother-in-law.  Everyone liked their gifts and I had lots of fun (and tears - on the sweatshirt) making them!

Turban Headbands!

I'd been thinking for awhile now about making a turban-style headband... lo and behold Burdastyle read my mind and posted this article last week!  That's it!  I finally went for it on Friday!  They were so quick and easy that I ended up making two of them in one evening!

Originally I started following this video by New York Design Shop, using the 8" x 24" measurements in the video, but quickly found the turban to be WAY too tight.  I suppose the fabric I chose wasn't stretchy enough...  But it is a great project anyways!

For my version you will need:

• Stretchy-knit fabric like a t-shirt, etc. (I found a royal blue velour zip-up bunnyhug at Value Village for $4!)
• Thread (duh)
• Sewing machine that can do a stretch-stitch, or you can hand-sew it...  (I'm impatient and HATE hand-sewing)

Step 1.  Measure out two 8" by 24" rectangles.  I used fabric from the back of the jacket.

Step 2.  Fold each rectangle in half lengthwise, right sides together (read: "right side" means the part of the fabric that you want to show on the outside of the finished headband). Sew a straight line down the long side so you create a tube.  Turn the fabric tube inside out so that your raw ends are on the inside.

Step 3 (Optional).  On one of my turban-style headbands I decided to add some embellishment.  I found these round studs at Dressew in Vancouver.  I simply pushed them through the top layer of the tube and then folded the little teeth to secure them.  It was pretty easy to reach inside the tube and add the studs since I placed them near the opening on both ends of the tube.  Since there is another layer of fabric underneath the studs (between the outside and the part sitting against the head) it should be nice and comfy!

Step 4.  Since my fabric had a finished edge along what used to be the bottom hem of the jacket, I simply tucked the raw edges end of the tube inside the finished edge.  Sew a straight line to join the two ends together.  You will now have a circular tube, and it will look like a headband!
 
Step 5.  I made another (smaller) tube using the same method as Step 2 and then wrapped it over the joined ends (as per Step 4) to hide the joined ends so it looks like a continuous headband with a "knot" in the front.  I secured the smaller "wrap" tube in the same way as Step 4 by tucking the raw edges inside the hemmed edge.  To keep the "knot" from sliding around, I hand-tacked (read: hand-sewed) a few stitches on the back.

Headband #1 all finished!

Headband #2 all finished!

Lovin' the studs!

Donezies! 

Easy peasy!  I love the look of the headbands, they look so chic and the studs add just the right amount of bling!

A Belated November Update...

Aaarg!  I am still trying to get the hang of this blogging thing (geez I sound like an old lady sometimes, ha ha ha)...  I wrote the LONGEST post last week, complete with lovely photos and hyperlinks galore when the entire thing crashed on me and deleted all my hard work!  Grrr....  So I had to give my temper some time to cool off before trying to write another post!

Back in November on Remembrance Day long weekend, N and I drove down to the coast to visit some friends in Squamish.  We also took a day trip into Vancouver where I experienced my sewing / crafty nirvana... Dressew!!!  I read the reviews online so I sort of knew what to expect; many cheap fabrics, lots of costume stuff, and SOOOO much notions (which are all in the basement).  Most of the online reviews said the staff was super unfriendly, but I didn't find that at all!  The lady who worked in the clearance section of the basement was HILARIOUS and showed me some ridiculous upholstery fabric that had Jesus images all over it - perfect to reupholster your furniture with (lol)!  N and I found meter parking nearby so the clock was literally ticking.  I didn't have much time (only 30 minutes) luckily I had made a list beforehand complete with fabric swatches and fabric amount requirements for my various upcoming projects.  I ended up mostly buying some notions, but did find some fab chocolate brown ultra-suede fabric that I plan to use to (finally!) make a bed-skirt for our king-sized bed.

I ended up finding lilac bias-tape and a lilac zipper with which I was able to complete my entry project for Burdastyle's Bernina 3 Series contest (obviously I didn't win, nor did I expect to considering the amazing talent that is out there!) but it was fun and a good learning experience.  I used Burdatyle's Marie skirt pattern in a grey wool fabric I found at a thrift store, and made the top part of the dress from a combination of a few different bodice patterns.  The lilac cotton fabric was also a thrift store score for just a few dollars.  I wanted to make a cool, layered collar but unfortunately didn't have enough fabric.  I was inspired by the Blakely dress by J. Crew, and added a ruffle around the neckline.  I love the result!  N snapped this photo of me just after the first snowfall here in the Southern Interior, and it's actually just water in my martini glass (it's also like 10am in the pic, lol).

We also went with a group of friends to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows one Tightwad Tuesday back in mid-November.  (I am not sure if this is just a Canadian thing, but most theatres offer reduced admission prices on Tuesday evenings across Canada...)  I am a HUGE fan of the novels, and therefore a big fan of the films as well.  I was very pleased with the film version of Deathly Hallows, mostly because they are presenting the story in two films.  I've heard lots of people complaining and saying "it's just a money grab to make two parts".  Obviously these folks have not read the books, because if they had, they would know that there really isn't anything that can be left out.  Otherwise the story wouldn't make sense at all!   This is definitely a dark film (obviously, considering the storyline) but they did an amazing job of injecting humour into the film via the Weasley twins, Ron, and Luna.  Bravo!

I am back to work part-time now (which is nice), and I'm using my spare time to get started on my Handmade Christmas!  Like many people out there, I'm part of a "blended family" so not only do I have my blood-relatives, I also have a step-family, and now in-laws as well!  Not that big of a deal if you're not close with your family, but I am!  I'm also very fortunate to have gained sisters over the years...  I have one younger brother (who I adore) but I've ALWAYS wanted a sister, especially now that I am older and see my friends' amazing friendships with their sisters.  Luckily my husband's sister is totally amazing and she, like me, did not have any sisters growing up.  So now I finally have a sister - yippee!!!  My husband's brother is also engaged to an amazing woman who I am also proud to call my sister, AND my brother is also dating a fantastic girl who I completely adore.  I have been frantically sewing away for all 3 of my sisters and am soooo excited about what I've made for them!  I will be posting more about my Handmade Christmas later since I don't want to ruin any surprises!

I love Christmas (and I also believe in it as well), but I can't stand the mass-consumerism that is associated with it these days...  I like to handmake gifts for friends and family, not only because I can't afford to buy lots of things for people I also find that a handmade gift is much more personal.  What sorts of things do you like to do to show people you love them around the holidays?

Snail Mail, Coffee, and Skype Dates...

Today was a rather bleak and grey November day...  I've been off work for a week now, so I'm trying to keep busy.  We don't have TV so at least I don't spend the days wasting away in front of the tube.  I've been trying to take advantage of this time to sew, and cook and clean, and just generally do things I don't normally have time to do.

I'm thinking about entering Burdastyle's "Party Through the Decades" International Competition, so I've been busy working on my entry for that.  It's nice they opened it up to folks outside of the U.S. and I can't wait to see what people come up with.  I've chosen to do an early 60's inspired look and am hoping to wear it to my husband's staff Christmas party this year.

While I was busy cutting out the fabric this morning, I received a Skype call from my very best friend (and her 3-month-old son) and had a very lovely chat.  It completely made my day!  I miss her a lot; it sucks that British Columbia and Newfoundland are on the complete opposite sides of the country! 

After being considerably cheered up by the Skype chat, I went and got the mail only to find that the 2 Colette patterns I ordered came in!  I've seen tons of great creations on the web, and decided to order the Chantilly and Crepe dress patterns.

(both images from http://www.colettepatterns.com/)

I love their vintage inspired looks and have heard nothing but great things about the patterns and the instructions.  My cousin asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding next summer and it's going to have a 1940's theme.  I showed her the Crepe dress as a possible bridesmaid dress, and she really liked it.  So I guess we shall see!  I like it well enough that I will probably make myself a few dresses anyways.  The Chantilly dress is so pretty and feminine, plus judging by the Flickr group, I can see that it looks great on a variety of body types.  I've been wanting to make something for my mom for quite awhile now and I think Chantilly will be just the ticket!



My husband sent me a link to this fable the other day.  It's become a bit of a daily mantra for me when things seem bleak.  I hope it will comfort and inspire you as well...

A farmer had only one horse. One day, his horse ran away.


All the neighbors came by saying, “I'm so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The man just said, “We'll see.”

A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild horses. The man and his son corraled all 21 horses.

All the neighbors came by saying, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!” The man just said, “We'll see.”
One of the wild horses kicked the man's only son, breaking both his legs.

All the neighbors came by saying, “I'm so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The man just said, “We'll see.”

The country went to war, and every able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed every young man, but the farmer's son was spared, since his broken legs prevented him from being drafted.

All the neighbors came by saying, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!” The man just said, “We'll see.”

Here's hoping that if life gives you lemons, you can make lemonade!
xxx