I've lost my sewing mojo

I sort of let the KCWC posts slide on by, because other than the repurposed skirt, it was kind of a disappointment and it has dented my confidence! Well not in any serious way but it sort of sucked the joy out of clothes for the moment. It went like this - the Sunki tunic was too small so I went on to the next item which was a gauzy tunic from the Japanese book I got in Sydney. Very simple, with a drawstring waist and little ruffly cap sleeves. I did NOT make the mistake of just forging ahead based on measurements alone and the tissue fitting looked good.

I got this far

and then decided I should do a quick try-on just to make sure it was going to fit. I couldn't actually tell you if it fits or not because it wouldn't go over her head. Now I will admit that she is something like 100th percentile for head circumference (both her parents are serious fat-heads too) but I've never, ever had that problem before! There was no way I was going to undo this neck binding though

because it was an utter bitch to get on - gauze on the bias has a mind of its own - so what to do? At the momentI think the best solution is to make a opening at the back of the neck with a facing so I don't lose too much width. But I can't quite face it right now and feel a bit sulky.

Ok, so what next? Winter pyjamas! I got out the trusty Oliver + S Bedtime Story pyjama pattern and made up the pants using that pattern and cut up a couple of tshirts Mat hadn't liked to make the top. I even found some pink poodle iron-ons at Spotlight. Success?



No. "The sleeves are too looooonggg... and the pants feel funny...and they're too longggg...and the poodles are coming off and how come you didn't put the roses on instead like you said?" They aren't too long, it's just that she insists on pushing the front right down under her tummy and there are limits to how much I can compensate for that! You can see I already tried. I guess I'll just have to wait until it gets cold enough that she will swallow all these ridiculous protestations and wear them!

Anyways, I've given up on the ungrateful little so-and-so for the time being and I'm going to try and regain some mojo sewing up a Lisette Portfolio tunic for me. However, given my track record I have misgivings and doubts and fears that run something along these lines

• Tunics on full-busted women can look like muumuus. I am full-busted
• It may make me look pregnant. I am not, but my tummy isn't exactly flat at the moment
• It will be too big - all the reviews say it has too much ease
• It will be too small - I tissue-fitted it last night and it seemed like it will be only just big enough.
• I can't make a muslin because I don't have almost 3m of anything other than the fabric I wanted for it in my stash.
• I should line it so it sits over leggings nicely but I can't be bothered.
• It will look awful but I'll wear it in public anyways because I can't bear to waste the effort and fabric.
• I will look crap in any photos I take of myself in it to put up here.

I'll let you know how it all goes!

This week I am going to...

...make a ruffled skirt.  I bought Hazel one at the Gap at Xmas and I love it waaay more than she does! Unfortunately it's too small for me so I'm going to have to make one for myself.  These are two similar ones I've found over on Pinterest.

Source: brunchatsaks.blogspot.com via Hazelnuts on Pinterest

Source: talbots.com via Hazelnuts on Pinterest

Hazel's is more like the first one, but I like the top and length of the second.  Wish me luck!

The bunnyhug jacket in action

I asked Hazel if she'd let me take a few photos of her in the Bunnyhug jacket and Wiglet* hat and ended up with a long series of rather goofy photos. Here she is "posing"

And looking fierce, which obviously means something else entirely when you're 5 (as it should too)

And the back

The jacket and hat have done great service, are warm and comfortable in addition to looking great, and I'm really pleased with them.

*We read a book called Bee-Wigged about a giant bee called Jerry who finds a wig and pretends to be a boy so people will like him and the wig turns out to be a guinea pig named Wiglet. Hazel figured if the jacket was like being hugged like a bunny then the hat was like having a guinea pig sit on your head, hence the Wiglet hat. Personally I imagine that it would be a less-than-pleasant experience involving claws and perhaps biting and peeing, but I try not to be too adult about things like this!

Clothes for Mum Challenge - Longsleeved Tee

Meh. The fabric is gorgeous but if it stays as is (and doesn't become a tshirt for Hazel) it will be a 'wear under things' top.  The pattern is from Burda magazine 2/2010.

The main problem with it is that it's too small across the shoulders, you can see how the shoulder seam pulls outwards in this photo.

The neckline isn't sitting very well either. In the pattern photo it's quite a wide boat-neck.

And then when I stretch my arm out it pulls again!



To me it looks like the sleeve line needs to come down at a steeper angle.  So I have no idea why this has happened - is it a FBA issue? Should I have made the sleeves a bit wider? I don't know! I'm tempted to go back and get some more fabric and try again with a different pattern because I'd really like a tshirt I can wear on its own!  I've got the Cal Patch 'Design-It-Yourself-Clothes' and Wendy Mullins' 'Sew-U Stretch' and I think I'm going to just draft my own pattern dammit, enough stuffing around with trying to adjust a pattern to fit me when I could do it from scratch and end up with something decent from the word go.  Or at least better than this :P

Clothes for Mum Challenge

Time to walk the talk ladies - the Clothes For Mum Challenge is officially on.  It's official because there is a button and a Flickr group.  Did you know it's distressingly easy to start one of these things up? I must remember that next time I casually mention a challenge thinking no-one would be interested. But no, I'm keen and I hope you guys are too!

The brief is to spend the next month (October 23rd - November 19th) focussing on sewing clothes for yourself.  I know Christmas is coming and there are stuffed toys and quilts and ornaments and kid's clothes to be done (or at least thought about in my case) but darn it, we deserve something nice to wear on Christmas Day don't we? We deserve to have some new clothes for summer (or winter for you Northern Hemisphere peeps)! Enough putting it off to make something quick and easy for the kids that you won't worry makes your bum look big.  It's oh so tempting not to do it I know, but I've got the fabric and the button and the group and I'm doing it so please join me so I'm not at this party all by myself!  Leave a comment below if you'd like to join in, if you have a blog pop in the link too! Anything you've done since I first posted the idea counts - submit it to the Flickr group for us all to admire and be inspired by.  I'll compile a wee list of the people who've put their hands up and I'd like to post links to highly recommended patterns or tutorials so if you have any suggestions let us know - for example I'm interested in good tunic patterns that suit someone with a bit of a bust!

Please do join in at any time if you'd like to! So far we have:

Laura
Deb
Pdxolson4
Heleen
The Textured Leaf
Elizabeth
Maryanne
Lisa
Tracy 
Melinda
Willy Wagtail 
Lin3arossa
DorothyBills  
Bellgirl

Here's the button if you're so inclined (the code looks awful I know but it works!)

<br /> <a href="http://hazelnutgirl.blogspot.com/2010/10/clothes-for-mum-challenge.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CFM button" height="150" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1218/5106340606_f5ffb0ec8e_m.jpg" width="165" /></a><br />

Karen Cardigan

Awhile back I bought the Lovely Karen Cardigan from Burda Style and some scrummy black boiled wool to do it in.  Lovely drapey stuff.  The measurements said that I should be between a 48 and a 50 (hack cough) so I figured better safe than sorry and cut out a 50.  Too big.  Cut it down to a 48. Still too big. But damn it I'm done smallifying!  I think I'd be a nice 46, but of course that's on the smaller version of the pattern :P  I'm not entirely sold on this pattern but I'll show the pictures first. I've cropped out my head because I don't know what the heck I thought I was doing in these photos but the only bit I'm going to show is my body and even then I'm managing to look vaguely cowboy-ish. 

So the pattern has a belt that runs on the outside around the back and then passes through holes on the front to tie on the inside, leaving the front to softly drape down.  Except the holes were in totally the wrong place for me so I had to recut them, and even then I'm not thrilled with how it looks. Sure the drape is nice if you stand completely still, but disappears completely as soon as you move and when belted it moves around and bunches towards the back and the drape makes me look pneumatically busty - not a look I'm going for.  Plus the folds obscure your waist from the front.  I may just sew up the various holes and go with tying it over the front like this:

Having bitched about it thus far, I do have to say that the fit around the shoulders is nice (though of course a bit big) and the way the collar is constructed is really neat at the back shoulders (no photo sorry).  It's easy to sew and perhaps in a lighter fabric the draping etc. would work.  The bigger size may also be an issue in all this, not sure on that. Though having said that I'd venture to suggest that anyone over a B cup probably shouldn't be playing around with ruffles on the bust* anyways.  And no matter what issues it might have, it's way way more stylish than the old red fleece jacket I usually get around in during the winter.



*My last use of ruffles in that area was in the 80s when I was a B cup.  Some things just shouldn't be revisited for a whole variety of reasons!

Making, unripping, making again and plans

Good morning, hope you all had a lovely weekend! The only thing we really set out to do was to watch our local ANZAC parade but we left too late and only caught the end of the pipe band and the assembled ranks of veterans and armed forces before they went in for the service. Hazel was over the moon about the kilts, the horses and men dressed up in WWI lemon squeezers (which was pretty cool I must say) and her poppy. I do love a good skirl of the pipes so was sad to have missed that. Must be my latent Scots DNA popping up. :)

I'm in the process of making a Lovely Karen Cardigan out of boiled wool but have had to redo a big chunk of it because it was turning out too big! A real PITA but oh so better that way than turning out too small! The picture is the seam allowance being trimmed off by the overlocker. Mat brought home his work macro lens for me to play with. So far I haven't really got the hang of it, other than realising you need extremely good lighting!

I've signed myself up for Elsie Marley's Kid's Clothes Week Challenge between May 10-17, where the aim is to spend an hour a day sewing kid's clothes. Not that I don't sew clothes all the time, but I think I actually might just stop working on anything for Hazel until then, concentrate on me, and then go all out that week. Could be fun! Head over and sign up if you think it sounds interesting.

Then pop over to Indie Tutes to read her fabulous post on sewing clothes kids will actually wear which not only makes makes me feel even more ok about the fact Hazel sometimes rejects what I make, but gives some really great tips on maximising your chances of success!

Thanks to Wee Wonderfuls for putting me on to the Challenge and to Elsie Marley for the link to Indie Tutes :)

Summery stuff

Spent a lovely lovely morning out at Muriwai with Hazel's friend Suzie and her family (also Canadians). I'm beginning to appreciate that beaches are best enjoyed with friends, especially other kids. It adds an extra sparkle to everything - the water is more fun, the rock pools are more fun, the sand is more fun. Spot the surfer out there in the waves, they were like seals, bobbing about in the surf, dozens and dozens of them.

I took the chance to snap off a (slightly late) addition to my growing portfolio of 52 Fridays self-portraits. Sure I look slightly feral squinting into the sun (where were my sunglasses?) but you can't beat that backdrop. Tamer beaches might be a bit better for the kiddies, but the wildness of the West Coast black sand beaches are glorious.

I finally got around to photographing my first foray into serious knit sewing. It's a dress from McCall's 5423. It's not perfect but it's definitely wearable and I'm really enjoying it. Sorry for the appalling first photograph, I didn't realise how dark and grainy it was until I came to run it through Photoshop.

It's a very light knit, a bolt end from Marc Jacobs according to the tag, and it's quite lovely. I don't think it was stretchy enough for the pattern though, which is why the gathering rides up a bit in the middle there - it's less obvious when I don't wear the sash. Can anyone tell me what 'cross-wise stretch' is for knits? I swear, I've googled the term and no-one explains it in a way that makes sense to me! I think this is where I went wrong estimating whether the fabric was stretchy enough. The pattern itself was very easy to follow and came together nicely which was such a relief! I love the sleeves, they're really effective and very simple - just a band sewn on but they look like set-in sleeves.

Can you see my Amy Butler 'French Wallpaper' dressing gown on the bed behind me? It's so garish and full-on but I love it! I feel all louche as I trail around the house in it martini in hand. I made a nightie from this orange fabric awhile ago that is fairly marginal in wearability (needs to be reworked asap!) but the orange looks fabulous with the dressing gown.

I decided that the next project would be from Twinkle Sews so I got the CD out and had a look (after removing the small slip of paper that Hazel had posted into the slot that was resulting in awful noises when I put in CDs. Thank goodness it wasn't broken! Anyways, I discovered that if you're in a country that uses A4 standard size paper rather than the US letter size you need to be able to open them in Illustrator and change the paper size. Big minus for it right there, because if you don't have that option then you are stuck with trying to print a pattern sized for Letter on paper that is about a cm narrower - screw up your pattern sizing much? On top of that it'll take 64 - yes 64 - pages to print it out. At this point I'm somewhat undecided whether to fell a small forest to even get a pattern to look at...

Christmas to-do list

Making the list, checking it twice... The only way I'll stay even vaguely organised to get things done this year! We're off to the in-laws for Christmas on the 17th, so I get cut off then - though I'm taking the sewing machine down with me so I can work on a shirt I'm doing for Mat. He's been waiting for it for so long and is quite desperate which is too flattering to resist! It's going to be out of Heather Ross's Glass Beach fabric from the Mendocino line. It's nice he likes it as much as I do, though I suspect it's more because he's very interested in archaeological fish bone than that it's just fabulous design! I'll take what I can get though.



You'll notice on the list that I've been very bold and scheduled in some clothes for me! All very simple knits I think. I had visions of getting something done from Twinkle Sews but that's probably best left until after Xmas when time moves a little slower! The things I'm going to work at are: a couple of tops, a dress and maybe a wrap/cardie. One top will be based on a favourite I bought last year from H&M but that has seen better days. I'm going to take a big deep breath and cut it up for the pattern. The other one is 'Our Fave Top' from Sew Tessuti (link top right of their sidebar) which looks fabulous and easy to make. The dress is View C from McCall's 5423

The cardy/wrap is the Origami wrap sweater from UN Journal. I want something fairly light just as a cover-up for cooler evenings and days and I think this could be just the ticket. I certainly plan on making it again for winter in something more snuggly!

So we shall see how I go with this list thing, so far so good! Except I noticed this morning I neglected to add blogging anywhere in there so I'm taking some time away from designing a course to teach at Uni next year to do something completely unrelated to the 'Bioarchaeology of Death and Burial" That's not a very fun title though, I'm toying with something based around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - War, Famine, Pestilence and...ummm...Conquest (thank you Google!). I think this would be the first image I'd put up, it's been a favourite since Art History days!

First impressions of Twinkle Sews

As I said in the last post, I lugged this book around most of the day, leafing through it and dreaming. From a quick read through (haven't had a chance to view the patterns yet) I get the impression that this is going to challenge my sewing and instruction-following skills! You definitely need to know what you're doing with this book, no beginners need apply. I consider myself a fairly competent seamstress, but I do like detailed instructions and this book doesn't have them. There are very few photos of the construction process, it's all briefly covered in text.

The skirts.


In many ways this book is like a Japanese pattern book - there are nice photos of the clothes being worn by models, and then a page with all the garments laid out flat - it's a nice mix.

Drop-shoulder Tops


I love the construction details on the clothes, simple yet complicated at the same time.

Spaghetti straps


I probably won't be making many of these - more for the slimmer gal I think! Although...

Raglan sleeves


The only issue I have with the patterns is that they're seemingly designed for slim builds, although I'm willing to give some of them a go for sure - maybe lengthen and shape the body a little bit? A lot would depend on the fabrics, she uses a lot of wool, silk and natural fibres which have lovely drape. The sizing is a bit odd too - the book cover says 0-16 which should cover me (just) but boy the 16 is a pretty small one! I need to do a mockup of one of the patterns to test this, but I may have to try and size up (blech). It's weird that, because I'm pretty sure it's an American book and when I was in the States last year I was buying size 12-14 (12!!! what an ego boost). I thought I was safe as a NZ 16, but I guess not. Humph. But short of a drastic starvation diet I will just have to work on my mad pattern-making skillz.

I think I'll choose a nice simple pattern to start with, choose some nice fabric and just see how I go. I'm thinking the cowled grey tunic top right just above, or the black drop sleeve top that isn't very clear in the photo but has lovely puffy sleeves and neat lattice detail around the neck. My end goal is the dress on the front of the book - it's gorgeous but looks a bit tricky. Often following text instructions depends on how well your mind meshes with the writer's way of describing things, I have yet to see how mine copes! I'm hoping that this will prove to be one of those things that make sense once you have the pattern pieces in front of you and you start going through step-by-step. Chia offers lots of ideas for customising the patterns, as well as alternate fabric choices for different looks.

So overall a big thumbs up at this point, with a few reservations and a certain amount of trepidation about how well I'll go with the instructions. But potentially huge payout! These kinds of clothes are the type of thing I'd like to dress in but never have the money to afford from shops. Some of them might even be challenging for me to wear, but I feel encouraged to step outside my comfort zone both stylistically and technically with this book.

Reversible Bucket Hat by Betz White

Reversable Bucket Hat, originally uploaded by Ansis68.

Man, it wasn't the looking my age thing that was hardest, it was trying to take a self-portrait with a freaking heavy SLR! Can't find the point-and-shoot anywhere, though I guess one could argue I got more exercise this way :) I also had a bugger of a time finding somewhere that had flattering light on me AND the hat, and as you can see I managed it on me more than the hat. Frankly this was the best of the bunch and I'm not exposing myself to the ridicule of neighbours and passing church groups (who unsuccessfully tried to convert me at the gate) again - today anyways. At least I had a good hat on!

It's the Reversible Bucket Hat from Betz White's new 'Make do or make new' range of patterns. The bonus of it is that it comes in various sizes ranging from baby to woman's medium. It went together quickly and beautifully, I do so love when pieces actually match each other the way they're supposed to. Sadly not always the case with professional patterns! I also like that it's reversible, although in this case I did inside and outside the same - I figured that when one side fades from the sun I'll just flip it inside out and voila! a new hat. The brim is also long enough to curl up at the edges, or just at the front, which looks quite cute.

The only thing I had trouble with was the sizing. The pattern says a woman's medium is a 22" head. I'm a 23". So I increased it 5% but it's too big. It fits great over a ponytail, but I suspect that given a stiff wind it'll sail off. So next time I make it I'll try the 22" size and see how it goes. Can't wait to make several because of course, I won't be able to wear this if Hazel ever deigns to wear her jacket. That would just look too lame.

Sewing Green Slippers

Sewing Green Slippers, originally uploaded by Ansis68.

I made these slippers from a felted wool sweater on Friday - and then did another pair for Mat that evening! They still need suede on the bottom though. Then I finished sewing one of the pencil rolls so I truly felt like some sort of project queen. They're lovely slippers and it's a great pattern. I altered the sole shape a little to suit my foot which has a big big toe and small little toes (perfectly adapted to the stiletto shoe!) and I did the whole sole with suede on the base. The pattern calls for two circles, one on the ball of the foot and another on the heel, but I figured that this was a bit more practical although not as cute-looking! I'm having a bit of trouble with the insole though. The pattern says to "slip" them in but they shift around something chronic so I'm going to have to tack them down. Otherwise I'm totally and utterly thrilled with them - so comfy and soft!

As promised

tshirt and skirt, originally uploaded by Ansis68.

The tshirt and (unaltered) clothkits skirt. I'm quite pleased with the tshirt in general, and adore the skirt but they really don't go well together! :)

So the tshirt was a big learning experience for me, both because it was a knit, and also because I really had to use my overlocker seriously instead of being a bit of a dilettante. The pattern is from 'Sew U stretch' book, sort of a combination of a couple of different patterns. Considering it's my first effort it's pretty good I think. Not perfect but wearable for sure. It sits well across my shoulders which is saying something because I have a very wide back and deep chest. Apparently I have the lung capacity of an opera singer - what a waste! It's a bit tight across the bust though, a bit loose at the waist, and a bit tight across the hips. Easy enough to fix those issues for next time. I don't like the sleeves though, they're too wide for the length, but again, fixable! Unfortunately the overall effect, combined with the A-line skirt is to make me look far more straight up-and-down than I really am (I do have a waist in there somewhere!) I just love the idea of making tshirts though, especially that I can have them as long as I want (no cold tummy!) and not too tight across the bust. I expect eventually I'll end up with a pattern that works and then just do variations on a theme.

Oh, and I used my rotary cutter to cut it out and OMG revelation! I'm so sold on that way instead of cutting with scissors.

I'm so sick of my hair though, totally over the blunt bob look. I've got a haircut booked for Monday and I really need a change. You know when you're not sure about a change and not sure and then suddenly if you can't get it cut RIGHT NOW you might die? I'm feeling like that right now. I'm fighting getting cut really short again because I'd like to try and grow it out a bit more - my ponytail in this photo is a mere stub but darn it, I want my hair out of the way!