Summer shirts

Thanks to all those years living in Melbourne, and not really needing any summer shirts, I realised the other day that all my collared summer shirts were at least 7 (if not more) years old, dating back to my uni days.

I made these two shirts for $5.99 material from spotlight. Both are 100% cotton. I used a Burda pattern (8673) which was heavily modified for a larger cup size (normal patterns have a cub size B) using the methods described in Fit for Real People, which is a fabulous book that all people's who use paper patterns should have a copy of. I also have a copy of their pants book but have never actually gotten around to making pants, but I am sure it's equally good. I am going to have to make some soon, I think - it's too hot in Brisbane for panty hose and I can't bring myself to wear skirts to work without them!
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  Millefiori bracelets I have always loved Millefiori glass but have never found an easy to wear use for it - pendants I have seen always seem to be too big.

I found these cute little 1cm beads at a shop in town and made two bracelets, one for myself, and one for my Aunt Rainie for Xmas.
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  December 10/11 2005 This dress was made of some funky batik quilt material found at Lincraft (yes, flowers, I know), about $12 a metre.

Pattern was McCalls 2401, size 18, with a bit more seam allowance around the waist.

Review by Husband-Person: That neckline looks like something your mother would wear.

Review by my mother: I would never wear anthing with a square neckline.

My review: Nice and cool, easy to wear. Might need to be taken in a bit, and with the colour, shoes are a bit of an issue...
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  Xmas 2005: Ladies who blog For the ladies who blog, I have made them both two Sashiko style cushions (and they have been opened so I am safe to post). They are not strictly Sashiko - for Betty Sue (top row), I have got geometric rather than tesselations, which are more traditional. But I was going for something that looked OK, rather than necessarily traditional. And in doing the flowers (bottom right) for DJ Bebe I did not leave a pretty little empty hole in the middle as per tradition. Overall, I liked the effect - I am big on contrast as you see the overall effect rather than the multitude of small sins in the execution.

Some notes on Sashiko:

• Hand quilting trashes your fingers. I couldn't work out how to do it with my thimble on, so I managed to gouge an enormous hole in my right hand middle finger
• You really need a decent white pencil or chalk to make this work. I tried marking the designs on the back (which was muslin, so easy to see) but at least in my case, due to the multiple layers, I lost alignment between the back and front, so you really need to mark on the front
• Masking tape is awesome for the straight lines (removing the need for chalk)
• Overall, it's quick and easy, compared with other types of embroidery, but it's not a 2hr job either. I would budget 4 or 5 hours for a 40cm stitched area.

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  Handyman's new hat I made this very funky hat for HandyMan's birthday. Material was chosen in honour of his Blog name, having hammers, saws etc on it (found at Ewan Gardam's) Made with Simplicity 9203, size 58cm.
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  Retro: October 2005 I cut this shirt pattern out using stretchy fabric and made it quite OK. However, in my enthusiasm, I also cut out this material, and found stretch satin is NOT quite the same thing as stretch material. Fortunately I realised this REASONABLY early, and intervened with the blue inserts under the arms. To make sure it looked like it was meant to be there, I also added the collar trim, and the cuffs on the arms and hem to make a vaguely Japanese-y shirt. Turned out very well, all in all, and I think I will make another with the same colour contrast when I can find a patterned material I like.
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  Instigation I have made a lot of Xmas presents this year and have taken pictures of them all to post onto my blog, obviously to be posted AFTER Xmas. However, I did want to track what I had been working on and my thoughts behind it, so this seems as good as method as any.  ¶ 6:27 PM 0 comments