Lets start that again shall we?

If you’re following my other blog (the main one) at http://www.theblueartisan.net you would have read some of the stuff I went through last year. Indeed am still going through. In fact it’s currently 2.52am here and I am updating my blogs to distract me from the pain in my back that is preventing sleep.

However I’ve decided that it’s the year of the wagon and I’m just going to get bac on that wagon no matter how many times I fall off. So I will attempt the sewing again this year, but I think I will aim for 1 item per week, 52 in total. I think that’s a more realistic starting point.

To start off, I’m going through my UFO boxes. It’s ridiculous how little some items actually had left to do on them, but it doesn’t really matter, I’m finishing them now! I’ll start posting photos when I take some… and it’s too dark to do that now! Anyone else going to tackle some UFO’s this year?

I’m in the naughty corner and Anastasia and Lindsay’s wedding

So I’ve been very absent. This year has been tough, that’s for sure. Coping with depression, a back injury and now an arrhythmia has left me a little worse for wear. I have been sewing though. I have no idea what number I am up to, but I’ve been sewing for friends mainly and my hubby. So I am going to try and add some photos and do a rough count (maybe I am worried about that though…).

So firstly we have Anastasia and Lindsays wedding in June. I did the alterations on her dress and the bridesmaid dresses and because it was such a unique wedding (they were already officially married last year in the registry office so this was the fancy stuff with none of the legal garbage needed) our table decided to go in Steampunk costume! This of course involved some serious costume making! Anastasia and Lindsay are gamers, and so is my husband, we were on the ‘gamer table’ at the wedding (read nerd table) and being Anastasias only real friends in Australia (she moved from America last year to be with Lindsay) and she loved the idea of costumes, we wanted to make a big show of support for her.

The Picture below is the whole table with the bride and groom just after the ceremony (where the only official part was to update their facebook status as ‘married)!

So on the left we have Lyall and Moss with Jac in front, then the bride and groom (obviously). Then Bek and Shane with Claire in front and lastly, my hubby and myself.

Out of all these, I made Lyall’s Jacket (and a waistcoat which we totally forgot to bring), my hubbys shirt and waistcoat, and my own, skirt, shirt, bolero and bustle. I also had a hand in helping Bek with her jacket and skirt. Jac and Moss made their own costumes and did a fantastic job I think! The alterations I did to the brides dress were to add straps, take in the bodice and you can’t see it here, but I ripped out the original white petticoat and did a colourful blue, purple and red underskirt. The wedding was amazing, one of the best we’ve been to and it was a great night for all of us.

That makes it a total of 8 garments sewn from scratch by me for this occasion alone.

Simplicity Blouse in Japanese print

When I first saw this pattern I FELL IN LOVE!! It has all the hallmarks of a good fit for someone with a less than desirable figure like myself. Peplum, cinching under the bust, deep v-neck and various collar options. I am making a few versions of this top after having such success with it.

Construction: Pretty simple, and quite fast. A good thing. This is the kind of piece you can get together in an afternoon. The cotton I used has a slight one way stretch to it which made it very comfortable to wear and reduced crinkling when in the car on hot days The buttons are done up with button loops which I have become quite fond of. While they may seem more work in the out set, they are quite quick really and allow slightly fancier shank buttons to be used (YAY!). Overall I didn’t have any issues with the pattern and was able to make it exactly how it came and it fit! Pretty happy with that. No problems with the instructions either, no errors or weird bits that make you wonder if they are sewing the same thing as you are.

Unfortunately the Simplicity pattern I used (2601) is now out of print, which is a shame as it goes up to a size 22 and given it can safely fit my E-F cups in without adjustment so it’s really a great pattern for those that are well endowed! While a full bust adjustment is not difficult, any pattern I can find that requires no tweaking is worth it’s weight in gold in my book! So Here is a pic of me (agghhh) wearing it just before my hubby took me out to dinner for Valentines day!

 

Ready for valentines day dinner!

Project One. Grey cords for Ryan

So I know it’s almost the end of the month already and this is the first project to be posted, but I assure you I have actually been sewing, I’ve just been very slow about getting everything up here! Last weekend was Ryan’s sisters wedding and he wanted me to make him a pair of pants to wear that were smart-ish but still comfortable. The wedding was on a beach so he didn’t want to wear a suit of any kind. He also has this insane love of corduroy that he won’t let go of. Now I have drafted for men before but as that was in theatre, no traditional fastenings were ever used as they needed to be quick change friendly. So I based this pattern on a pair of jeans I bought him a while back and then altered to fit. I am proud to say that I put the fly in with no instructions, just by examining his jeans. It took me 3 and a half hours to draft, cut out, sew, fit and finish the cords. Not a bad first attempt at mens wear if I do say so myself! There are a few things I would like to do differently next time, more stiffening in the waistband to stop stretching, probably put some shapewell into the fly overlap to stop it creasing and I broke my number one rule, the pile of the cord goes the wrong way! Aggghhhh! This was even after I checked, but it must have gotten mixed up in my head and it’s all upside down. Oh well, Ryan doesn’t care lol.

As you can see, he loved posing for me….

"Yeah baby!"

"Check out my fully sick new pants!"

"I see you baby, shakin' that ass"

I do apologise if you feel the need for therapy after those pics. He’s a goof ball but I love him!

Great start to the new year!

Well the first day of the new year did not include sewing of any sort! Probably because it included a 5am projectile vomit in my friends toilet. Lesson One: Do not mix drinks with no gall bladder the evening before you are due to start a huge project. So Yesterday was spent feeling very fragile and a quick trip to McDonald’s. Today I will be cutting out a whole heap of patterns so that I have a pile of things to sew ready and waiting when I have time for them. I’ve been getting totally addicted to online patterns at the moment and have been investigating the Lutterloh System as well as I acquired to pattern supplements from the 1950′s recently and to use them I need to learn the “Golden Rule” or something like that. Sounds like something Indiana Jones would be in to….

But anyway, Happy New Year to all the sewers and bloggers out there, I wish you many hours free from the un-picker this Leap year!

Perfect Bombshell Dress Online sewing course.

I know it’s not yet 2012 (just a couple of days to go!) but I wanted to take advantage of the sale on Gertie’s Perfect Bombshell Dress course through Craftsy. It is reduced to $30 until the new year (half price) and I had seen some fantastic results from other members on Burdastyle who posted their completed dresses. REALLY shouldn’t have spent $30 but I’m so into vintage/retro sewing lately and there are some techniques in there I would really like to learn from an expert instead of 10 half arsed attempts on my own and then eventually figuring out an ok solution. I’m also a visual learner and while I can learn from book, an online video course looks like it will be better for me. I’ve been trying to think what I could use as a fabric, I might try it in a cheaper cotton from my stash first then go for some emerald silk when I am familiar with any issues that may come from my stupid F cup boobies. And there will be issues!

So as I go along I will give you all updates on how I am finding the course as well as photographic evidence of my trials and even failures, hey I gotta be honest with people about my stuff ups, I need to erase this common belief that I am genetically enhanced in the area of garment production.

If you’re interested in checking out the course for yourself, you can find it at http://www.craftsy.com or through Gertie’s blog http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2011/07/take-my-online-bombshell-dress-course.html

In case you were wondering, the course fee includes the downloadable burdastyle pattern as well as access to a forum of others who are taking, have taken the course and Gertie contributes to these and you can ask her questions any time. Great value if you ask me!

Merry Christmas/ Holiday/ Stolen Pagan Celebration

Merry Whatever everyone, only a few days to go before this thing starts. I was wondering if it would be cheating to start cutting things out before Jan 1st? As long as I don’t actually SEW anything that would be ok? Wouldn’t it? I’ll take your silence as a yes! YAY! I’m getting a bit nervous about it now. I’ve set myself up for alot of work here. I am hoping to be able to offer pattern reviews and links to sites/supplies as well so that if you get inspired by anything I make you can make it yourself. I’ll also be posting my projects in the Burdastyle forum. I downloaded a few patterns yesterday to prepare, I will do a post on how I went with them when I start sewing as it is something I have never tried before and would like to give it a go as it is an easier and cheaper way to do things.

Anyway I have to go finish making jam and mince pies before we drive on down to Mandurah to start celebrating (or being tortured) by Ryan’s parents! Have a great day! xxxx

The Road is a long and winding one

So today I saw my Psychologist and it turns out there is a high probability I am bi-polar. Yay. It would explain the sewing for days on end without eating or sleeping then having to sleep for 3 days straight and being really depressed. A cycle I am far too familiar with. The question is, do I want it to go? Do I want to try medication again and have it dull me? To get you up to speed, I was on copious amounts of meds for about 7 years while in a deep depressive state. I cam off them all completely in July and have been having periods of mania since. But I create when I am manic. Amazing things. A tough choice.

Goodbye 2011, hello to sewing bliss (or hell)

Alrighty, so I’ve decided that I need some healthy challenges in my life, but I also need to sort some stuff out. First thing I need to sort out is that I have TOO MUCH STUFF!!! Namely Fabric. I have piles of the stuff! I am a horder. I also need to get back my creative vibe and I need to challenge it more than it has ever been challenged, since this is where I have decided my life path lies. This is when I came up with the concept of a sewing project a day. So as of Jan 1st 2012, I will endeavour to complete 366 sewn items within the year. I also hope to be disciplined and post EVERY DAY! Please tell me off if I don’t! Ok I’d better get started, huh?