Jeans refashion skinnier

So I've had this pair of cord jeans with animal print! For some time now. They're from a couple of years ago and haven't got much air time. I like them but... you know... Near enough but not quite good enough. I found them again a couple of weeks ago during a camping clothes clean out. They nearly ended up rock climbing and sitting around campfires. But in a moment of inspiration, I put them aside on the "repurpose/refashion" pile. And then they started to whisper to me "Come on, you want to wear us again. Get out your favourite pair of skinny jeans and cut us down to fit. You know you want to. And we've leopard print too." So tonight after finishing a current project (trying to cut down on these too:)) I picked them up again, grabbed my fave skinnies and got started.



Very soon after I started seriously checking out other people's sewing blogs I discovered  Miss P who is a fabulous refashioner. Check her out. She has a great post on quick and easy jeans modification, which I followed closely.

The photos are terrible - grainy night time doesn't do the leopard print justice. But I'm really happy with the outcome. The jeans have stopped whispering. They're know they will have an outing this week.

At the starting blocks...

Today I officially begin the 2014 OAL. I ordered that 10ply Luxury from Bendigo Woollen Mills I mentioned last time and it's arrived. I've put the fabric and wool together. Check it out. I'm buzzing!

Today's job is to draft the pattern pieces. I will need to modify the waist and I will pay attention in case I need to make a potential swayback adjustment. Hopefully that's all I need.

I'm still here... And pretty excited

I know, I've not posted for a while (ok not for ages). It's not that I've not being doing stuff, it's just that other parts of my life have required my attention. I'm hoping to rectify this in the next few months, but in the meantime, be reassured that I'm continuing to create.

So onto the excitement bit... Woo hoo! Andi from Untangling Knots and Lauren from Lladybird have organised an Outfit Along. What an awesome idea! Andi has released a new cardigan pattern Myrna. She will host a knit along. Having just made Andi's Miette, I'm dead keen to try out this new pattern.

Lauren will host a sew along using Simplicity 1803. Now, this is not on my to do list or in my pattern stash and honestly I don't think that this is a pattern that I would normally use. But that doesn't matter. You can make any dress. So I've chosen Simplicity 2444. Fuller skirts are not usually my thing, but I want to try the pleats.

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to complete everything in the required time, before the end of July. I have some leave coming up and this would be the perfect time to knit up a new cardi.  There's also plenty of time to try out the dress pattern.

Off to find some fabric for (hopefully) a wearable muslin and match it with some 10ply, probably from Bendies  I have fallen in love with their sunflower shade.

My Miette is finished!

In amongst Christmas and school holidays and not one but two heat waves (definition at least 5 days with maximum daily temperature of greater than 35 degrees Celsius) I managed to finish My Miette! This is one good pattern. And I'm very very happy! 10ply chartreuse (!) wool. Check out my effort on Kollabora - I'm new to it and  having a play. A few notes also on Ravelry here.

My Meringue

So I've tried to work through my tension issues. And I think I'm winning. But in the meantime I have a bunch of UFOs that are demanding attention. Add the now-9-year-old Princess demanding sewing machine time and things are getting interesting.

I started back on my Meringue from the Colette Sewing Handbook. With lining. I made up the lining and shell and then with wrong sides facing, treated them like one. I slipped the lining inside the skirt shell and pieced it with the facing. I really liked Sarai's steps for attaching the facing around the zipper. Very tidy and straightforward. I struggled to see her description in my head but her excellent descriptions carried me through. The will now be my go to process for "how to insert a facing around a zipper".

I also attempted my first invisible zip with a proper foot. Yippee! Apart from a small amount of puckering around the zipper base (truly two stitches only) it was a great job. Can you hear the huge sigh of relief from where you are? So many bloggers have written about their successful invisible zipper experiences. The "magic" moment for me was using my new invisible zipper foot. I have had unsuccessful (and unblogged) attempts at inserting an invisible zipper using either the standard foot or a zipper foot. I was never confident about where the needle should be positioned. That's the great thing about the invisible zipper foot - it takes the guess work out of where things should be. Now I know how it "feels" I would consider trying one without the specialty zipper foot, but let's be honest, why would I bother when things are soooooo much easier with the right equipment [aside: I'm now seriously considering other specialty feet...].

Zipper with just a little pucker at the base

I do have to mention Sarai's procedure for sewing a scalloped edge. Noice! The template to shape the scallops is simple but smart. I was really pleased with the way that the scallops turned out. Also the trimming suggestions - a little extra at the points between the scallops.

Scallops!

I finished everything off apart from the lining hem. I left that for a couple of days in case there was any stretch. And then a simple hem a good inch above the highest point of the scallop. I find putting lining hems too close to shell hems ends up with another hem (on the lining) being required. I chose a narrow zigzag which is good for fray-able fabric like rayon lining (turn up lining seam allowance, pin, iron, narrow zigzag close to the hem and trim off excess seam allowance).

Narrow zig-zag hem. Still a few tension issues here. 

In my first post on this skirt I did mention concerns about size and they were warranted. The skirt is too big - not ridiculously so - but enough that it is not a good fit on me. A-line skirts are not usually my favourite look so I think I might hand this skirt on. I have a friend in mind who I think would both love it and look great in it.

This was still a great project for me. My first pattern from the Colette Handbook. My first invisible zipper. Inserting the lining. Trying a scalloped hem. And using fabric from my stash.

Ta da!

Making bias binding

I decided that my self drafted peasant blouse required it's own bias. The fabric pattern was far too unique and varied to attempt to match with anything made commercially. Solid bias would have been awful. Plus I have managed to acquire two new bias making tools (these from Clover).

I did have the additional challenge of having very limited amounts of fabric. Piecing would be required. So I did the obligatory research and discovered some useful tutorials here and here. I also took the time to review the instructions that came with the tools (is this too obvious?).

Anyways, I still managed to stuff up the fabric joins. Some were the "right way" and some were the "wrong way".  Luckily the length between the rights and wrongs were sufficient to have seams facing the same way. Extra luckily, it's pretty hard to find the difference between the sides when there's just barely 1/2" to scrutinise. Even better, there is over 3m left and, yes, there are some interesting seams.

I've officially commenced a bias stash!

Self drafted peasant blouse - Part 2

Very late post. I finished this in November!

So I've pulled one of my favourite tops apart (read about this process here). Now I'm going to make a new one!

I ironed each piece so I could identify symmetrical and mirror image pieces. I contemplated creating new paper pattern pieces but decided to just use the original fabric pieces. This worked well - no movement like paper patterns. The original also had a woven stripe so the grain line is obvious.

I've had some vintage (70s I think) brown/back/cream cotton complete with paisleys in my stash for a little while and knew that it would look fab as a peasant top. Additional challenges were less meterage than I remembered and it's very narrow (a smidge over 90 cm) which  makes pattern piece placement a challenge. Also the pattern is non-symmetrical across the 90cm. InitIally this troubled me - the centre should be symmetric, shouldn't it? Shouldn't it? Ummmm, no. It doesn't. What a liberating statement! Woo hoo! It's not symmetric around the centre fold on either the front or the back. But that's ok. I'm happy with it and that's what counts.

The fabric is quite sheer but not slippery so only tension issues (what else!). 

I referred very closely to the deconstruction notes (in reverse!) and managed an acceptable copy of the original.

See, not symmetric!

A few learnings:

• Whist similar, the weight of the copy fabric is lighter and you can tell from the drape. The top is actually slightly A-line.
• Peasant tops with at least 3/4 length sleeves are good. 1/2 sleeves are a bit short (but still ok)
• I need to practice faced gathered necklines. This is too gathered.