Sewing Adventures – Page 17 – Measure Twice Cut Once

Posted on 01/01/201518/01/2016 by Susan Goodwin — 18 Comments

2015 Sewing Goals

2015, bring it on! Seriously I have been waiting for a new year since about June.

Some parts of 2014 were wonderful and magical but a whole lot of it was kick in your pants drudgery and just when you thought you were done being kicked it happened some more. So there will be no looking back round up of 2014.

I’m all about the future!

So my big goals for 2015

Patterns – this is going to be a big year of patterns. The lingerie line is being expanded, the Basics Collection has some fantastic wardrobe staples being added. There will be at least 2 more ranges being introduced this year and extras on top of that. All very exciting.
Coats – yes it’s hot and steamy right now in Sydney and yet I’m researching coats. As many of you know we alternate our Christmas’s. One here in Australia and one in England. All going well 2015 is English Christmas and that means cold weather. My winter coat is old and shabby looking and The Englishman needs one. So new coats all round.
Embrace new fabrics, colours and silhouettes. It’s fair to say I own more than my fair share of pretty fit and flare dresses. And I love them, but I also want to wear other stuff. So this year I’m going to investigate different silhouettes and shapes and maybe even use a non patterned fabric! I’ve also got some special technical fabrics I’m looking to use and I’m currently in love with lace so expect to see some of that popping up too.
Stash bust – am going big this time. Going to clean out a bunch of stuff and sell it, donate it or just plain old give it away. I need less “stuff” and some of this fabric is never going to get made up so its better that it is going to go.
Boundaries – this is a big one, but I’m not doing alterations for people this year. I love being thought of as useful and stupidly offer all the time. Reality is I’m too busy and I’m lazy, so it never gets done and then I feel guilty and it all ends up in a mess. So this year boundaries are being set and I’m going to practise saying no.
Drawing – for pure joy of it, I am going back to fashion illustrations. I do all my garment drawings on the computer but almost stopped hand drawing a few years back when my RSI/Carpel tunnel got really bad. It however is going well so I’m going back to drawing. I’m thinking mix of hand and computer drawing to help protect my wrist. I expect the drawings to be terrible but the experience to be wonderful so that’s pretty much a WIN.
Work on my health and fitness. Now don’t worry this isn’t about to become a fitness blog. It’s just one of my goals and you might see an occasional scenic photo from a run turn up on instagram. After being sick last year and having a lot of stress it’s left me carrying more weight than is healthy for me. So I’m working on it and if I write it down here then it gives me yet more incentive to make it happen.

Posted on 10/11/201418/01/2016 by Susan Goodwin — 20 Comments

A day with Simplicty by Brother and Spotlight

I’m endlessly fascinated with how stuff gets made, clothes, food, cars, electronics. Those educational type programs on factories are brilliant. I just like seeing the process of how things come into being. So a few weeks ago when I was asked to attend the launch of some new sewing machines I thought it would be a great insight into learning about how the machines came about.

The event was to launch the new collaboration between Brother and Simplicity. Three new machines are going to be co branded and exclusive to Spotlight. Christy has done a fabulous wrap up of the actual machines at Little Betty Sews. They will be called Simplicity by Brother and each machine is aimed at beginner, intermediate or advanced sewers, come with a Simplicity pattern that matches the skill set of each machine.

Essentially it’s a good, better, best type program which I’ve dealt with all the time in clothing. It’s all about hitting the correct price points and features to match the price points. Every retailer from supermarkets to hardware has a version of it. Homebrand, known brand, designer brand is what it equates to. In this case it means that the “good” machine is to entice newcomers to sewing. That can only be a good thing, I like that more and more people are learning to sew. What impressed me is that it wasn’t all about the beginner. They have thought about the natural progression of sewing and that there are more than just beginners out that. That showed some smarts as too often things only get aimed at beginners.

Overall the entire project has taken over 3 years to come to market. That seems like such a long time to be working on the one project! I was sitting in the audience mentally calculating how many ranges I would’ve designed or worked on during those 3 years. Even for companies where I only design 2 ranges a year that was still 6 seasons ago, that seems forever in my experience. It was insights like that which can make a launch day like this one so interesting. It’s all about learning new things.

The team from Spotlight were there and they were super knowledgeable not only about their products, but also about different bloggers and what plans they had for the stores. They certainly have some exciting fabrics on the way and I’m so glad. I grew up in a country town where for years Spotlight was the only fabric choice. Sometimes it felt limiting but with a bit of digging around you could turn up some gems.

These days I like plenty of their lines, a notable highlight being the Japanese Lawn which I’ve used here, here, here, here, here, here and a bunch of not yet blogged makes. I genuinely like the fabric and find it a great wash and wear basic that suits my lifestyle. In fact I was wearing this dress on the day, it’s my current favourite dress for when I need to look semi dressed up but not too dressed up and for when I don’t want something that will distract me. It was a little weird to have people patting my fabric and talking about how well it sold and citing facts and figures on it. My dress also received one of the oddest compliments. I was told “but it looks as good as store bought and no one would know you made it”. Such a weird compliment to say at a launch of sewing machines? What exactly did they think a sewn dress would look like?

If you took a selfie with a sewing machine you went into a competition to win one, this one has 5 kinds of buttonholes so I grabbed a photo on the off chance I may win.

I had a great time hanging out with Christy who was a bit nervous to begin with and was quite the celebrity as so many people recognised her from her excellent blog. The team from Spotlight are certainly reading blogs and seeing what people have to say about their stores/fabric lines and taking it on board. They rattled off a bunch of facts and figures around their customers and honestly I had no idea they were such a powerhouse. There wouldn’t be many bigger brands in retail in Australia that have a following that large.

Overall I found it a really interesting day. I hesitated to write this as a post because I didn’t want it to seem like an advertisement but I also wanted to offer insight into what is happening in the sewing industry and how that translates to my own experiences. It was an interesting day and I hope the whole promotion works to bring more people to the joy that is sewing.

Posted on 25/09/201419/06/2019 by Susan Goodwin — 4 Comments

Marc Jacobs

I’m quite the fan of Marc Jacobs and own more than one pair of his shoes (I make all my dresses and then spend the money I saved on shoes! ha ha not really).

What I admire most about Marc is his ability to be cool. It’s as if the clothes themselves have a nonchalant laid back attitude that just sets the tone for the season. The collections always appear accessible, you can spot any number of pieces that would slot right into your life right now. And he isn’t afraid to add a touch of quirk and whimsy into the ranges.

Cool, accessible and a sense of humour lead to some pretty stellar collections and I feel he will be one of my favourite designers for years to come.

via Lily Loves via Fashion Gone Rogue via Fashion Blog News via Harpers Bazaar

Posted on 20/09/201415/09/2014 by Susan Goodwin — 8 Comments

Just a sewing day

I’m having one of those sleepy feeling days. I know I should be searching through my fabrics and patterns and finding something new to make. Today I just feel like sewing and skipping the whole getting organised bit.

Thankfully I can pull something out of my “to make” tub and its all bundled up inside its zip lock bag. Everything is there and all I have to do is start sewing.

So that’s what I’m going to do, hope you have an enjoyable day sewing too!

Posted on 18/09/201419/06/2019 by Susan Goodwin — 6 Comments

Gaultier

Cone bras, striped shirts and crazy corsets all come to mind when I think about Gaultier. A true crazy genius who always marches to his own drum. With a quirky sense of humour and an eye for the ridiculous some of Gaultiers styles were less fashion and more art.

Which is fine, creation for the sake of it should be applauded. Then every so often amongst the craziness you would catch a glimpse of a sublime dress or piece that took your breath away. It’s this crazy mixed with gorgeous that makes him admire him so. Am very excited that there is an exhibition coming to Australia so I can see more of the pieces up close.

via Vogue via Haute Couture 2012 Via Harpers Bazaar

Posted on 15/09/201410/09/2014 by Susan Goodwin — 14 Comments

Sewing Adventures: Girls Japanese knit skirt

After the fun of making the City Gym Shorts for my niece I decided to make something else for her.

A few weeks ago I won a copy of Cucito on Instagram. I was so excited as it was so unexpected. It arrived in a lovely parcel and I fell in love with this gorgeous knit skirt (and pretty much every other style in the magazine).

From the stash I grabbed this 2 faced knit. It’s wonderful soft and has spots on one side and stripes on the other, could there be a cooler fabric? The hem and the pocket openings are all bound using cotton bias binding, also from the stash.

I traced out the pattern and didn’t make any adjustments from the instructions apart from attached the elastic in a slightly different manner. No big reason I just like doing elastic in a different way.

It looks adorable, I so want it in my size for the summer! Making kids clothes is fun as it’s so speedy and everything looks cute at tiny sizes.

Posted on 09/09/201409/09/2014 by Susan Goodwin — 4 Comments

Sewing Adventures: City Gym shorts for kids

Today I managed to clear the decks for a few hours of sewing this afternoon.

This dress has been one of my favourites for years, but the top contrast fabric and straps has been showing signs of wear and I knew it wouldn’t make another summer. The skirt however was still in great condition, so I decided to refashion it into something useful.

I’ve had the Purl Soho City Gym Shorts printed out since they were released, so I quickly taped them together and got to work.

My niece and I share similar favourite colours so I knew a pink floral would be a welcome addition to her wardrobe. For contrast binding I used a cute floral bias I got from Daiso.

It all went together fairly easily, had a slight issue with the waistband fitting to the shorts. I think I measured it incorrectly? I don’t do very well with inches and converted on the fly instead of doing it properly.

For a quick make it has turned out well and I can’t wait to hear my very fashion conscious niece’s verdict (and I hope they fit?).

Posted on 01/09/201401/09/2014 by Susan Goodwin — 23 Comments

Sewing Adventures: a tale of 2 dresses

Over the past few weeks I have set myself the task of getting my “to do” pile of sewing down to a more manageable size. My usual way of preparing a garment to be sewn is to cut it out, include all the fabrics, trims, interfacing, pattern etc into a jumbo zip lock bag, seal it up and add it to the in progress box. This works great, it keeps things tidy, the cat is less likely to want to sleep on top of it and if I can’t get to it straight away then I can’t lose any of the pieces.

In working my way through the stack I came across 2 very pretty dresses. This Cynthia Rowley one from Simplicity in navy and the Gathered Sundress from Pattern Runway in white. Both cut out in Japanese Lawn. Setting aside some time I made them up, as it got closer to the time to add in the zips something became very clear.

I’ve put on weight.

These are not going to fit. Now normally this would relegate them back into the “to do” pile, but I need the space. So I finished the dresses. The navy Cynthia Rowley style only needs a zip in the side seam and it’s done. The white Pattern Runway dress needs a centre back zip and the hem to be done. So all in, these dresses need less than half an hours work to be wearable.

I however need more than half an hour. I’ve not been exercising as much and some incredibly high stress levels means I’ve been stress eating. In addition to weight gain this has also meant an increase in migraines and some other issues, most of which I know are more easily taken care of when I am being active.

So my plan is to pop them in the cupboard, work away with my fitness and my diet and in a couple of weeks try again. Then if they don’t fit, I try my fitness again, basically repeat until they fit.

Now I want to be very clear, this is not about size, this is about fitness. When I am fitter my body has a different shape, it gets stronger, it supports me, physically and mentally I feel better. After a winter of plenty of working from home (comfy track pants and loose tshirts may feel awesome, but they also hide when the weight starts to change), too much comfort food and not enough exercise has turned my muscle to pudge. Pudge sits on my body in a weird way and this is why things aren’t fitting the way they should.

Once again sewing has taught me to enjoy and use all the skills I have in all areas of my life. Because when one gets put off balance there are follow on effects. In this case it means dresses that don’t fit now, but it’s OK. They will fit later and in the meantime act as good incentive to get moving.

So has anyone else ever had the problem of not fitting into their projects? or anyone want to come and get fit with me?

Posted on 25/08/201425/08/2014 by Susan Goodwin — 4 Comments

Sewing Adventures: stash busting (even the crazy stuff)

Stash busting sewing was in full force this weekend using up some cute polka dots and checks into a few pairs of knickers.

The Lizzie Knickers with in check with elastic and lace from the stash. I can never get these to sit straight for a photo but they are very cute to wear.

The Georgiana Knickers using up the Kermit the frog green crazy coloured elastic. Because when you are serious about stash busting it all has to be used at some point?

Closing in on yet another full year of stash busting and it doesn’t feel yet like I’m making a big difference? Am hoping the last few months of the year result in some big amounts being used or that when I re shuffle everything it will take up less fabric tubs than it currently does? Here’s hoping?

Edit Note: the original version of this post had the black knickers incorrectly listed as The Charlotte Knickers. They are in fact The Georgiana Knickers, a more bikini brief style than the fuller more coverage version that is The Charlotte. Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. I can only attribute the mistake to me being very tired and not thinking clearly.

Posted on 18/08/201418/08/2014 by Susan Goodwin — 16 Comments

Sewing Adventures – Paris Malvarosa dress

I have dreamt about going to Paris for forever, like forever forever. In my mind I always had it worked out that I could be there in July when it would be summer, I could celebrate my birthday there with The Englishman, the couture shows are on and the Tour de France finishes in Paris. Add in some cheese, bread and pastries and we are pretty much getting close to all my favourite things in one place. So far that is yet to happen, but I have been living vicariously though the Instagram feeds of Roisin and Christine. Jealous much? um yeah, a whole lot of jealous.

So instead of being in Paris for my birthday I found myself in Bondi Junction Spotlight and saw some lovely Japanese Lawn (I adore this fabric so much). Not overly thinking it I saw it as a lovely geometric print…then I realised no, it was mini Eiffel towers with lasers shooting out of it! SOLD!

I needed something fun to make out of it and settled on the Pauline Alice Malvarosa dress as I love the ease of construction, no zips, no buttons! Plus it’s breezy style is perfect for this odd inbetween type weather we are in as I can match it with tights and a jacket and then as it warms up wear it on it’s own.

I finished it up last week and was wearing it to head to a meeting so grabbed 3 very quick photos before I headed out. Only 3 because I had a meeting and it was so windy this day that I couldn’t wait to put my jacket on.

I’m standing weirdly and the wind has caught my skirt but I’m pretty happy with the dress. I find the lawn gets a better drape to it after it’s been washed which means the skirt looses some of it’s poufyness at the gathering which is good. The wrinkle above the bust is due to me being slouchy more than anything else.

I didn’t get a back shot but I get some slight pooling at the lower back, am unsure if it’s because the gathering skirt was sticking to my tights or if I could take it in a bit? I’m not bothered by it as I prefer a drop waisted dress to be loose and breezy but I’d like to see if I can fix it?

Much like my last Malvarosa I didn’t bother with the facings, just bagged the whole top out for a clean finish.

One last photo of me trying not to laugh and telling The Englishman to hurry up so I can put on my jacket. The complete derp face photo I’m saving for instagram as it’s just too “what the?” style face. So funny.