Blue Chiffon Dress: Draping & Drafting the Overlay
The pattern for the chiffon overlay for this dress was simple & complicated at the same time. To be honest it was beyond my basic flat pattern making skills, so I decided to use a combination of drafting & draping to create the top section. First I cut out a piece of fabric (that based … Read more
Blue Chiffon Dress: Pattern Study
Photo credit: style.com Before I could start cutting or sewing this dress I first had to do for this dress was work out what the pattern looked like. This was pretty tricky with the limited photos I had of the dress, but I think I have now worked it out. The first thing I noticed … Read more
Converting V8146 into Vintage Vogue 9061
To make the pattern for my last minute dress, I used Vogue V8146 as a basis. I normally struggle to find shift dress patterns that fit me well, my hips are normally too big relative to my bust, but this pattern is pretty good by comparison, it’s a little snug around the hips but that’s … Read more
Sakura Dress – Embroidery Practice
This weekend I got to spend some time working on my Sakura dress again. I was pretty sure that I’d worked out how I wanted to do the embroidery & flowers, but really wanted to spend some time practising the techniques, before I started, just to be sure. The branches are embroidered using cotton embroidery … Read more
If only I could sew in clasps this neatly…
Susan Khalje has has written a fantastic how-to for Threads detailing a very neat method of attaching clasps to your clothing (snap closures or hook & eyes). You can find it here. Check it out.
Inserting Eyelets
A couple of weekends back we had was a typical Melbourne spring weekend. It was cold, sunny, windy, rainy, sunny again, then cloudy & then that pattern was repeated about 20 times over. So Greg & I spent the weekend pottering about the place, Greg busy with his boat, me with my sewing. I felt … Read more
Thread Tension
I found this Threads article this week & really like it. It explains how thread tension works & how to resolve stitching issues. It’s the best explanation I’ve seen. I’m not sure how many of you will actually keep a ‘tension log’ (if you do, I admire your dedication), but there are a lot of … Read more
Making Chanel Style Buttons For My Green Coat
I thought I’d share a few photos with you of the process I used to make th e buttons on my great coat. The process I used is from Claire Shaeffer’s Couture Sewing Techniques. The picture below shows the basic steps I employed; I started by making a template & cutting out fabric circles large … Read more
Stabilising the Waistband of Vintage Vogue V2962
I’m very quickly tiring of winter this year, which is strange because normally I quite like winter. So this weekend I decided to will it away by making a sundress (that I obviously won’t be able to wear for a few months). I settled on Vintage Vogue V2962 which I’ve had in my collection for … Read more
