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New dress: a botanical Seamwork Adelaide

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I’ve had my eye on this dress for a little while and it was only when I searched the #seamworkadelaide hashtag on Instagram recently that I realised how many lovely versions of the Seamwork Adelaide dress people have made. I had no idea this pattern was that prolific. Go on, take a look – you’ll see what I mean.

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I had it chosen as one of two possible dresses for an outfit from my Design your Wardrobe capsule wardrobe. Of all the outfits I put together, I thought this might possibly be the one that was a bit iffy as far as my criteria went: basically being able to chase a toddler in relative comfort without shedding my dignity. Was it too tight? Would those poppers pop? Would it be comfy enough? The Adelaide has bust darts and back darts, which are wonderful for shaping, but I wasn’t sure if that would, in turn, make the dress too fitted for running around.

Continue reading “New dress: a botanical Seamwork Adelaide” →

New knit: Ribbed socks in Unicorn Farts

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Yes, you read that correctly. And if you look at the yarn in its virgin state, you can see why! Great name, and I won’t lie – it slightly swayed me towards this colour blend. I was really looking for something that was variegated and that had a main body of white or black and this absolutely fit the bill. The yarn is Unicorn Farts by Knitted Wit, which I bought here in the PNW, at Mad Cow Yarns in Kenmore. Continue reading “New knit: Ribbed socks in Unicorn Farts” →

New shirt: the adjusted Melilot in Nani Iro double gauze

bellecitadel 10 Comments

I made the first Deer and Doe Mélilot as a project for the Sewstripes theme month for the Sewcialists community blog and I love it. It gets regular wear and I knew I’d want to repeat the process and sew some more. As I mentioned in that blog post, I felt I’d done a good job on fitting the front, with a full bust adjustment, but that the back needed to be taken care of next. Well, there’s no time like the present, so I decided to tackle my back fit issues with this next iteration.

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I know I get that all-too-familiar pooling of fabric at the base of my back with any fitted blouse or dress and this is something I needed to tackle. I was working on a base case assumption of having a swayback issue, but before I made that adjustment, I did a little reading around the subject. It turns out that the fabric excess can also be caused by an erect back, a full front (bust), a generous bum, just to mention a few issues. Since the problem is basically that the length of your back piece is too long – somewhere – these all make sense. Continue reading “New shirt: the adjusted Melilot in Nani Iro double gauze” →

New make: In The Folds jumpsuit for #sewmystyle April

bellecitadel 17 Comments

The #sewmystyle2018 make for April is the Tilly and the Buttons Marigold jumpsuit pattern. It’s a super-cute garment, but I knew fairly quickly that the shape wasn’t one for me. I’m open to trying new things, but I think this would have been a project I just wouldn’t have worn. To be honest, I’m a bit wary of jumpsuits in general – I don’t mind the practicalities of bathroom breaks like some people (I’m rather “resilient” in that arena – TMI?), but I think it can be hard to find a flattering style since there’s so much that can go wrong fit-wise. Nevertheless, I have seen a couple of patterns over the last couple of years I rather fancied as contenders for my own figure requirements, including the Itch to Stitch Anza jumpsuit and the Sew House Seven Burnside Bibs.

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Continue reading “New make: In The Folds jumpsuit for #sewmystyle April” →

New skirt: Made by Rae Cleo in blue modal

bellecitadel 4 Comments

After finishing my Design Your Wardrobe project, one of my looks was a midi-length gathered/pleated skirt and a long-sleeved tee. This is not exactly going to shake up the world sartorially, but it fits perfectly into my “comfy mum clothes with a twist” theme for my little capsule wardrobe. I was initially planning to make the Colette Zinnia skirt, but then I noticed a class for the Made by Rae Cleo skirt appeared on Creativebug, which I subscribe to and have been meaning to utilise more . You download the pattern with the class and it was along the lines of the skirt I was looking for, so that decided it – the Cleo it was!

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Social housekeeping: Me-Made-May 2018, Seattle sewing meet-ups and the Sewcialists

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Whew! That’s a lot of alliteration going on in that title! As it suggests, this is a quick wee post to note down a couple of fun developments as 2018 really gets into gear.

Firstly, it’s getting close to Me-Made May 2018 and I’m going to take part this year for the second year running. Woohoo! I had such an interesting experience last year and, in fact Heather from @heatherhandmade and I, met virtually to talk about it for the Sewcialists’ theme month: “Sewcialists love Me-Made-May”. You can read all about it in over on the Sewcialists blog right now if you feel so inclined…

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Continue reading “Social housekeeping: Me-Made-May 2018, Seattle sewing meet-ups and the Sewcialists” →

New test: Nixie undies for Jennifer Lauren

bellecitadel 7 Comments

No, I can’t say Nixie “panties”. I hate that word. Almost as much as I hate the word “moist”. And those two in the same paragraph practically brings me out in hives. Bleurgh. Anyway, I digress. This post is somewhat overdue as I tested these pants last year! I actually thought I’d already posted it, but discovered it in my drafts the other day. I know it was on hold because there were a few little tweaks to the final pattern and so I wanted to make a few pairs before writing a final summation.

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The Nixie Briefs (to give them their official name) from Jennifer Lauren are described as “a step above your standard underwear fare – with a higher rise at the back and full bum coverage, they’re your new everyday knickers with a fun twist. Update your undie drawer, safe in the knowledge that plumber’s crack, hungry bum and drab undies are a thing of the past.” And I’d say that’s a fair description! These are two versions – a hipster/standard pant style and a high-waisted version. The latter look, – well there’s no other way to say it, – HUGE when you first make them up. But these are intended to be comfortable, feminine pants and having now worn them for a few months, I can tell you they hit the mark. Continue reading “New test: Nixie undies for Jennifer Lauren” →

New menswear: Ottobre “Tobacco Brown” chinos in grey twill

bellecitadel 14 Comments

It’s March, so about time I got to working on one of my #menswearmakenine and I figured I’d get to it with a biggie. I did already make two of my patterns just before New Year, although I’d planned them for 2018, so this is my first bona fide make for this year. This is the third pattern I’ve made from the inaugural Ottobre Family magazine and it’s another great-looking pattern. Slim fit “European-style” chinos, which is right up my husband’s alley as he has proportionally slim hips and legs. The other patterns I made were the Cloud Grey sweatshirt and the Urban Classic Briefs, so I was hoping the Ottobre standard would be maintained with this latest project.

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And I’m pleased to say I think it was! I’m really happy with how these turned out: in the photos I even think they have quite a RTW look. I made the largest size that these came in, which is the EU 56. I still have an issue with measuring my husband’s bottom half. By my measurements, he was slightly larger than that at the waist, but that, in turn, was quite a bit bigger than his RTW size. So I made the 56 as a compromise and then when we did the first fitting, they were too loose. I took them in quite a bit and now they’re just very slightly too tight around the hips – but nothing that a couple of wears won’t cure I don’t think. It’s all rather confusing, but at least I’m getting closer to his “size”.  Continue reading “New menswear: Ottobre “Tobacco Brown” chinos in grey twill” →

Seamwork’s Design your Wardrobe: the experience

bellecitadel 8 Comments

Hi there! No clothes project today, but I wanted to post about something I’ve been taking part in this last month, along with over 3,000 other Seamwork sewists. Yes, you read that number right. How do I know there’s that many? Well, as of the time of publishing this post, that’s how many people are members of the Facebook group expressly set up for this project!

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So what is it then? Well, I think everyone must be aware of Seamwork by now, but if you’re not, it’s the online, beginner-focused magazine/portal run by Colette Patterns. They issue an online magazine every month with articles, tips and two new patterns, aimed particularly at the novice sewist (although plenty of more experienced sewists use them too). It’s a subscription-based service and if you happen to be a member, you would have been invited to join the inaugural run of “Design your Wardrobe” back in January for free. Continue reading “Seamwork’s Design your Wardrobe: the experience” →

New test: Ostara knit top for Jennifer Lauren

bellecitadel 3 Comments

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This was another great test for Jennifer Lauren, who has a real knack of bringing out patterns just as I say to myself, “Hey… you know what I wouldn’t mind making…” and in this case it was a few more knit tops but with an interesting neckline. I have collected quite a few knits now, mostly intended for kids wear, but I wanted to use the more adult ones too and this top has my favourite kind of neckline, which is a deep squarish scoop. Continue reading “New test: Ostara knit top for Jennifer Lauren” →