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l at the back marfy 3791 again the collar was the feature that caught my eye before i left home i made a toile muslin for both patterns and hoped that by the time i turned up to class i would have a definite preference but it was the class who helped me make the decision in the end with the coat dress clearly the winner day one was all about the toile muslin watching susan work her magic and do fittings for all the different body shapes with all the different garments was truly magical unfortunately i was so engrossed in the day that i didn t take one photo i ve done a few fitting classes on craftsy and read a few books but i still struggle with fitting so for susan to talk through what she was doing with each one i learnt sooooo much after all the adjustments were marked up on the toile it was pulled apart and used as pattern pieces day two was all about tracing the toile onto silk organza and wax tracing all the markings then taking all the silk organza pattern pieces and laying them onto the fashion fabric and thread tracing each piece day two was a productive day feeling as though i had achieved quite a bit by the end of the day in june last year i treated myself and purchased two pieces of fabric from mendel goldberg in new york when a place opened up in susan s class i knew that i wanted to use the mendel goldberg fabric and luckily enough all the stars aligned and i had just enough fabric to make the coat dress because i definitely didn t buy it with this pattern in mind and then there was day three sigh it started off really well i attached both side back pieces to the centre back matching up all the lines perfectly happy dance but then for the next six hours i only managed to sew four seams two for each side front attaching to the centre front pieces most of that time was spent counting stupid lines and trying to work out why the lines didn t go perfectly around the body i was doing some very loud screaming in my head so after some expert assistance from susan i finally worked out that adjustment was needed in a couple of places i was glad to see home time that day day four and it was beginning to look like a dress and i could do my first fitting and make some initial style decisions thanks to roz the keeper of all things the decision on the zipper was a no brainer she had this black metal zipper with gorgeous rose gold teeth i was instantly in love so with that roz took a few of us off to jimmy buttons and well that is a whole separate story as you can see from the pattern there are pocket flaps but with this lofty fabric i decided that the flaps sitting above the box pleat would just be too much bulk so we opted for a couple of buttons instead thanks to susan who found the perfect option in among the ciaos at jimmy buttons the zipper went in by hand stripe matching all the way however my stripe matching wasn t that great first time round so i had to unpick one side and do it again this time i closed the zipper in small sections so i could match the other side as i went day five it was time to put together the front facing and upper collar i needed to draft a back facing so everything would sit better and i could hide all the collar joins i machine stitched from the start of the collar roll top of the zipper all the way around the collar to the other side once again paying attention to those dang stripes can you see the corner seam where the collar attaches to the dress just before the end of the day i was able to have the sleeves fitted alterations marked silk organza marked and fabric cut day six was all about fitting those sleeves susan very kindly fitting one sleeve then sent me away to fit the other one while i got all the stripes lined up susan still had to undo the stitches and adjust the amount of fabric in and out of the seam so it was a much smoother fit hopefully i ve taken that all in and can replicate that next time she makes it look so easy i m still coming to grips with the fact that i had six days of nothing but sewing and i didn t finish but that is couture sewing i return home to stitch in the sleeve zippers under stitch the facing on the inside of the front zipper tidy up armholes hem and put in the lining here is a sneak peek of the progress to date head on over to susan s instagram to check out what others in the class made i ll do an updated post once i ve finished and got some decent photos happy sewing everyone posted by sandra at 02 34 4 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels coatdress couture marfy patterns susan khalje saturday 30 december 2017 2017 is a wrap what do you know here we are at the end of 2017 believe it or not i have done some sewing despite the ol blog being a bit bare although i do think instagram has played a big part as well i can share in progress photos pretty quickly without having to worry about getting good photos which is the part i really struggle with and it s not so much capturing the photos it s more the time to take photos then edit them anyway more about what i have had on my sewing table this year this has been the year that i ve pretty much sewn two of everything two jamie christina hi lo raglan hoodies sewed my second muse patterns gillian wrap dress two sapporo coats by papercut patterns two style arc livia jackets two skirts using my skirt block sewed my second olivia oversized tee by maria denmark three sewaholic belcarra tops three julia women s cardigans by mhc sewed my third saiph by papercut patterns rather than chat further let s looks at some photos of this year s entries into the wardrobe and that s a wrap for 2017 the aim for the new year get better on the blog wishing you all the best for 2018 posted by sandra at 14 53 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest friday 26 may 2017 moleskin duffle for winter 2017 kia ora this is kinda exciting well i m excited anyway i was flattered when i was contacted by hawes and freer to see if i was interested in participating in the launch of their new website now little did they know that i often stalked their website drooling over the beautiful wool coating and while i wanted to say yes i really had to think carefully about whether i could commit the time as you can see i said yes i was planning to make another albion duffle coat this winter so this was the perfect opportunity when i was shown the beautiful range of lightweight moleskin available from hawes and freer what colour to choose after changing my mind over and over i settle on the olive green with a army gingham for the lining it all arrived beautifully packed and labeled i had previous made the albion duffle for my son who only wore it a handful of times before he grew out of it i couldn t bare the thought of all that work just sitting on the hanger so for the last couple of years i ve been wearing it as my main winter coat and have loved it despite the shoulders being too big this time i traced off a size small with a couple of slight alterations i inserted a centre back seam and created a slit in the back to create a bit more freedom when i sat in the car i also shaped it slightly so it curved in at the waist ever so subtle same with the side seams i created a slight curve in at the waist nothing dramatic so you probably don t even notice it i added another pocket over top of the patch pocket which is more for putting my hands in than putting stuff in i played with the hood a little as well but i tell you about that soon other than the hood i constructed the coat according to the instructions i knew i wanted to have a zipper in this version but my brain couldn t work out how i insert the zip with the machine during the construction ahhhhh so i opted to just sew the zipper in by hand actually i sewed it in twice initially i bought and inserted a bottle green zipper but after i had put it in i decided it didn t look right so ripped it out and bought a black zipper instead now the hood i really like it when i have something that comes up and covers my neck it makes me feel warmer and protected from the wind this was all a bit of trial and error but i drafted the hood to extend to the edge of each front piece and extended up best just look at this photo rather than me explain any more it s not perfect but i m pretty happy with how it turned out and gives me just the little bit more protection from the wind that i wanted talking about wind this moleskin is amazing it s perfect for keeping the wind out believe me that is a must when you live in wellington to finish the coat and give it a bit of decoration i created three button thingys across the chest i bought some cord the proper name escapes me right now and created loops by hand sewing them to the right front the buttons on the right are just decoration but the buttons on the left are functional i m pretty happy with how they balance out the pockets oh and one last thing i created a slight high low hem again ever so subtle i ve worn this every week since i finished it at the end of april winter has set in here and going outside without a coat is no longer an option i think its going to be a long cold winter this year to conclude the moleskin was an absolutely dream to sew and the gingham lining was the perfect match hawes and freer provided me with the moleskin the gingham lining and the two cuff buttons in return for a blog post to coincide with the launch of their new website i have the freedom to express my own thoughts and opinions but honestly i can t talk highly enough about the quality of the fabric i received initially i was a little disappointed that there wasn t more of a fabric selection on their new website but hawes and freer have assured me that there will be more fabric being loaded to the website so people like me that can t get to their bricks and mortar shop will have more of a selection i m looking forward to that more photos on my flickr posted by sandra at 23 09 4 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels coat colette finished projects moleskin sunday 23 april 2017 when one bomber is just not enough kia ora i know it s april but i want to take you back six months to october last year the weather was beginning to get warmer daylight savings was about to start and i felt that i needed more casual clothes in my wardrobe or was it i was just looking for a quick fix instant gratification kinda project this is when i decided that i needed another bomber jacket in my life i had previously made the rigel bomber by papercut patterns but at that time i forgot to check the sleeve length and every time i wear it it annoys the sh t out of me this time i made exactly the same size as my previous jacket adding 3 to the sleeve length i made just one other adjustment this time removing 1 2 from the centre back of the collar piece i also wanted to try this pattern using the insets at the top of the raglan sleeve for that extra effect i had purchased this aztec cotton lycra online a little while ago and when it arrived i was really surprised at how bright it was i probably would never have bought it if i had been shopping in a bricks and mortar shop at the time i had no idea what on earth i would ever use it for but it turned out perfect for this jacket i also some faux leather in the stash that i d bought for something else and used that for the sleeve insets this version is fully lined with silk crepe de chine when my daughter found out what i was making she also decided she wanted one a cream one of all colours i was in the zone it was her birthday so i didn t put up any objections to making another although i was getting rather jealous while making her one that it was so much better than mine i selected this honey comb cotton fabric with a gold foil both from the fabric store the gold foil was very light weight so i had to interface all of the pieces to get it to a similar weight as the main fabric well stable enough to hold its own for the ribbing i settled for a merino knit to get the colour match as close as possible i just have one regret that i didn t double the layers in the collar for the sleeve cuffs and the hem band i cut two so when it s folded on itself it is four layers thick it works perfectly with really good recovery the collar on the other hand feels a bit flimsy i fully liked this version as well this time with a cream satin it feels amazing to wear unfortunately this is one size too big for me and the sleeves are short so wearing it isn t that great darn it is so luxurious it was definitely not cheap i added up all the fabric and lining and it came out at 110 00 so you can image my reaction when i see it lying on the floor of her room anyway i had total fun making both these jackets i wouldn t hesitate to put more of them in my wardrobe although next time i might try raising the collar and go for the traditional round neck rather than this v neck version more photos on my flickr posted by sandra at 04 10 6 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels bomber indie pattern jacket papercut patterns friday 17 march 2017 pink floral sweetheart this dress was fun but challenging at the same time first the fun i found this fabric by accident while on holiday in rarotonga earlier this year and immediately knew it would make a lovely summer dress while still keeping within my wardrobe comfort zone because it was black probably the challenge to mash together two separate patterns into one dress that looked like it was meant to be the top is the sewaholic cambie pattern and the bottom is the billy jean pattern by bluegingerdoll both dresses i ve made before quite a while ago and well the body has changed a little since then then came the cheating in theory the side seams and dart legs of the top are meant to be in the same vertical line as the skirt right hmm did i really need to fluff with getting that right if the skirt and top are separated by a waist band and the floral print would act as a camouflage no can you tell no winning with this dress i experimented a bit with the underlining i took my silk organsa and underlined all the front pieces and the top half of all the skirt pieces a couple of reasons really i didn t want the dress to be too heavy but i did want the front to have some structure the top half of the skirt needed to fall over my hips without showing every curve but the bottom half really didn t need it unfortunately i can t find any of my work in progress photos to share with you the dress is also fully lined but with separate fabrics for the top and bottom the top half is lined with some silk crepe de chine from the fabric store something i bought a wee while ago at a good price because of colour inconsistency no one gets to see the lining so not a problem the skirt is lined with some new to me lining from hawes and freer ltd from their superwash range it is heavier than the crepe de chin...