Sewing with cats

This may be 4 days late but better late than never I say.

2015 has been a good sewing year with 34 items sewn. I don't think I blogged about them all though. I'm not sure how many items I sewed in 2014 but I remember that 2015 was to be the year of non-procrastination. It started well but tapered off at the end! 2014 had me sewing 7 bags. Well in 2015, I sewed 9. The girls on PRDU now call me Bag Yoda. Sew bags you will.

So here are the stats:

Patterns used

• McCalls - 7
• New Look - 5
• Simplicity - 5
• Vogue - 3
• Kwik Sew - 2
• Butterick - 2
• Dog Under My Desk - 3
• You Sew Girl - 1
• Miscellaneous/Other - 6 (various bag makers that I may never use again)

Items sewn

• Bags - 9
• Tops - 9
• Cardigan/jackets - 8
• Pants - 5
• Dress - 1
• Other - 2 (glasses case & mittens)

As usual, I have lots of cardis/jackets. Which is interesting. I also managed to make 5 pairs of pants last year. I got a decent fitting pants pattern at Convention so that accounted for 3 pairs. Actually I've just remembered I whipped up a pair of black linen pants for a funeral in early December so make that 6 pairs of pants! LOL.

I went to 3 sewing retreats/weekends, 1 PR GTG and the ASG Convention. Not bad for sewing holidays.

So I'm pretty happy with what I did last year and cranked out quite a few items early on. The wardrobe contest for 2016 on PR starts in a few weeks but I'm not sure if I can manage it or what I would sew if I did enter. But it certainly helps with the tally for the end of year.

I'll leave you with the pre-requisite collage for 2015.

I come in to do my end of year round-up only to discovered I haven't blogged since September. Oops!

Convention was fabulous as usual. It was in Brisbane this year. Not as hot as I expected which was a surprise. My clothes worked well so I'm happy about that. Oh & I WON one of the categories of the Convention Challenge with my tropical silk-cotton top & lime linen/cotton pants. Part of my prize was one of those Guterman thread albums with 42 reels of thread. Ooooooh.....love. Everyone who came up to me to see what I'd won oohed & ahhed over that baby. Hilarious!

I managed to get an almost there TNT pants pattern with Roberta Thompson at Convention. Pretty happy about that. Turns out that most of my problems were the front thigh. That in turn created wrinkles at the back. Who knew? So I have been making pants like some mad woman, still trying to get them "perfect". At this stage, they are not but I'm still wearing them. I made two cargo style pairs based on New Look 6005 for work but I have no photo of those. I need to review them too so will put that on my 2016 to-do list!

What I can show you is the cardigan I made for the sweater knit contest on PR and the colour blocked top I made for DD for another contest.



I probably picked the wrong fabric for this particular cardigan as I don't think the stripes are suitable, especially for the back. I don't think it's that flattering on my bum either but ha!...I don't have to look at it!




Something else I made recently was this bag from Little Moo designs. ASG did a sew along on their FB page so I got sucked in. Let me just say that there were issues with this pattern! As I am discovering with bag patterns......ergh.

It's been 2 months since I posted! Eek. Sometimes life (& bag making) gets in the way of blogging. You'd think I've been sewing up a storm but I haven't really. Just some bags. I think I'm addicted to making bags.

I leave for Brisbane in a week or so but I haven't been doing my usual last minute clothes sewing. All because I made that wardrobe & cruise wardrobe earlier this year for Brisbane. Big cheer! But I did think I might just whip up some pull-on jeans (you know, like the Jalie ones?) using an old TNT Vogue 7608. Haven't made those since 2004 when I was fat. Well since I'm fat AGAIN...I thought they'd work OK. But the best laid plans....they are TOO BIG! In fact, they are HUGE. Sigh. Luckily I am doing a fitting class with Roberta Thompson at Convention so I can take them as an example of pants crap. He he he.

Anyway, onto the things I can show you. Yes, they are bags. If you're not interested you can pop off now. I won't be offended. Well, maybe a little. Pffft.

First one up is called the Hipbag Hybrid. I like this bag "in theory" but parts of it just don't work. Including the magnets inside that can't cope with any sort of heaviness and the zipper pouch that collapses onto itself when stuff is inside it. But it looks good.



This one is a Nicole Mallalieu coin purse that I made ages ago & have just finished it by adding the frame.


This is a Studio Cherie glasses case that I made in a morning. Quick and looks great. I can see more of these in my future (gifts?).


This is also by Studio Cherie. It's a Zip Around Wallet. Looks soo professional if I do say so myself. Very happy with it.

But it feels like longer! I thought I'd been sewing lots in that time but when I look at my finished items, it turns out I haven't. Eep!

So what have I sewn? Well it started with this Vogue 9057 Marcy Tilton top that I made in merino. 3 different pieces of merino at that. I cut it out in Tamworth...oh...did I mention Tamworth?? A few of the downunder girls from PR got together in Tamworth. Anyway....I cut out the merino in Tamworth and actually sewed it together there although most of the girls there didn't see me sew it. Hmmm...

The fitting is a bit tricky. I'm still not 100% sure of the top half cos it slips off my shoulders and seems to be too big. I may yet try & take it in a bit.


Then I had a thought that this top fitted into the Plus Size Pattern Contest on PR. But I had to make an outfit. Poo. So I whipped up these New Look 6950 pants which I've made before. I'm still trying to get the fitting right so they're a tiny bit tight in the knee area (of all places!) and they want to fall down. I think the weight of the pockets is pulling them down. Whatever. I do love the pockets though. I don't really love this view though.



So I entered the contest but didn't win. Pity because the prize was actually a good one! LOL. And I sure as hell AM plus sized in that photo!

After that I did some obligation sewing for my mother. A fleece jacket from a pattern I adjusted way back in 2002. My husband sacrificed the polar fleece I'd brought back from the US for him. I'm just not sure he knows that. He he he. It's not actually finished in the photo but if I don't take one now, I'll never see it again.



Then yesterday, I whipped up a mesh top for DD. She needed something to wear to a family party so we popped into The Remnant Warehouse on Friday and she picked out this mesh. It's gorgeous but I would never have picked it for her!




Meanwhile I am planning this Marcy Tilton raincoat in teal raincoat fabric. Just gorgeous. I'll keep you posted on that baby.

After much stressing, making pants at all hours and taking photographs in the last of the day's sun, I managed to get 3 collages ready & entered in the contest. But wait...I haven't shown you all the items!

You've already seen the dress and one top. So here are my other three tops.

This is McCalls 5890 which I whipped up on our recent sewing weekend away. A really quick sew since it has no facings. The pattern also features the same top made into a dress and I'm tempted to give it a go! The fabric here is a remnant from a previous top made a few yrs ago.



This top is what started it all and is pretty much the hero of the wardrobe. It's the infamous silk/cotton that I bought in Canberra. Loved it the moment I saw it and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. This is Simplicity 2230 modified at the neck which pretty much means I got rid of that awful neck facing and just did a bias binding and turned it into a V. I did this amazing hem with my rolled hem foot on my sewing machine...I even impressed myself with that! LOL.



The final top is Kwik Sew 3764 with flounce from my dress fabric. The aqua is merino that I bought from The Fabric Store in January. Half price! And then I got a further discount cos it had some small holes. Very happy with that.

I'm also wearing the much-maligned V2948 pants in lime linen/cotton. Not really happy with these. And don't tell anyone...but they're not really finished. Well, not finished finished if you know what I mean. Sshhhhhhh.



Last but not least is one of my "sewist's choice" items, a mesh overjacket thingie from McCalls 6559. This was sewn straight out of the envelope, entirely on the overlocker with a rolled hem edge. Also sewn on the weekend away. I discovered the joys of water soluble stabiliser for rolled hem on this baby!


I also sewed a mesh top for my mother on our retreat but I have no photo of it and I've since given it to her. She was very happy with it so those of you who had your eyes on it can just forget it. :)

I've managed to sew two of my items for the Wardrobe Contest  and have another two cut out ready to go. There's a sewing retreat in two weeks but I'm not sure how much will get done then so I think I will keep plugging along on the contest entries. Don't want to be behind!

The first piece is a dress. Yes, you read that right! A dress! I never make/wear dresses but I thought it would be a nice change and since I'm going on that cruise, it would be a good evening outfit with a mesh over-jacket type thingie (another piece from my wardrobe). I found this McCalls pattern which was perfect for me - empire style maxi dress with or without a sleeve. I'll be making the sleeved version for my mother later. (Sigh...obligation sewing).

The dress was a snap to sew. There are no facings or such; the armholes & neckline are just turned over and hemmed. I used my trusty Coverpro for that. It's a bit loose around the skirt top because I omitted the elastic from there. I suspected it might make me look like a bag tied in the middle plus this gives me a bit more room for eating.

Since I'm going on a sewing retreat in a couple of weeks, I was rummaging around the sewing room looking for my LED light to take and happened upon this little number. It was a wearable toile that I made some time last year. Ironically the "real" one was a wadder! Anyway, all this needed were hems and since I had the Coverpro out for something else, I whacked on the purple thread and finished it up.


I really like it and will probably make it again although something funky is going on at the underarm. You can't see it in this photo but there's a horizontal tuck going from armhole to neck. I just smooshed it down for the photo. LOL.
I used a size 20 at the shoulder and tapered out to a 22 under the armhole. Then I added a bit fat chunk of 3" in the gathered area so my top has *a lot* more gathers than your average bear. I needed to do this for this particular fabric as a dart would've looked horrendous in the thickish cotton/spandex. This is not a top for mid-summer! But perfect for right now with a cardi over the top and that's how I wore it (for five minutes) today. Still too warm indoors with a cardi for me. He he he.

So...onto the other news. I have entered the PR Wardrobe Contest! No surprise there, huh? No doubt I will come second again ;) however since the prize is MORE fabric, I'm not sure if I want to win. Not that I think I will...there is a lot of great ideas in this contest so far.  But since I was making the clothes anyway, might as well enter, right?

Here is my wardrobe plan. I've already amended it once so this is version 2.0.