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Wednesday 30 April 2014

Me Made May '14 - Day 1

So May is here and Me Made May has begun!

here is outfit No. 1:

Sorry for the dodgy image quality - I am not a good selfie taker! (and yes - this is my messy messy sewing room in the background)

Here's a better go taken by the FFA!


Details
Pants: Made by Me - New Look 6947 (listed as out-of-print online but probably still available in some stores)

Top: Westco

Scarf: Made by Me - using 2 balls of ombre ruffle yarn from Spotlight

Hat: Vintage! Purchased at the Burra antiques Fair

Not sure if I will keep posting daily or will move to posting weekly round ups.

See how we go!

OX
Stacey

Tuesday 22 April 2014

Abracadabra! A cape for ANZAC and Autumn

Hello!

I always like to wear a beautiful coat to the ANZAC dawn service. I feel like ANZAC Day so frequently marks the "turn in the season" when we have to say goodbye to Summer and long hot days that I may as well try to welcome in the colder seasons in style and use it to help me get excited about being able to wear cuddly winter clothes (especially since I am never excited about the drop in temperature. Not. Ever.). In fact more often than not there is vintage or homemade hats and gorgeous gloves present for this event too. It is usually really really cold at Dawn in April after all!

 

 

I've only attended ANZAC Day dawn service since I met the FFA (fabric folding assistant/husband) but I have to say as much as we often complain about being frozen and sleepy it is always a moving experience - if you've never been to a dawn service you should go even just once!

 

This cape has been a long time coming - like a year or more really...I started out great guns planning to wear this to last years dawn service, then I decided to add a lining to the unlined pattern...and realized I didn't know how to sew welts...and that I didn't have just the right buttons...so for these and other reasons this cape languished through last Winter and Summer while I accumulated supplies like lining and buttons and gathered up the courage to start in on those welts. I seriously think I watched a feature film's worth of youtube tutorials on welt making gearing up to finally stitch those buggers!

 


Part of the problem was that I loved the fabric so much - it's some sort of wool-look-alike poly blend from Spotlight which works for me, since most real wool like this would just make me itch and this doesn't! So of course loving the fabric meant it had to sit and wait until I had moved out of the honeymoon-phase of fabric love and into the more practical, real-world love phase where it was ok to cut into this glorious fabric, even if what I made wasn't perfect *gasps in horror*!
 

The pattern is McCalls M6446 and I will admit that part of the appeal of a cape was 1) Not having to fit it like a normal garment, if it went over my head that was great! This turned out to be a good thing since I am definitely a different size/shape now compared to when I started sewing this project. 2) I love the vintage feel of capes with big welts for your hands. Also this means I can pretend I am Little Red Riding Hood for no good reason... See attached photos if you don't believe me hehehe 3) If it is really cold I can pull my arms inside the body of the cape and really huddle for warmth! Ditto wearing like 10 layers under here and still looking chic! 

 

I made a standard size 10 and am happy with the fit - there is ALOT of fabric in this cape but the shoulder darts really help control the fall of the fabric. The edges of the collar and pocket flanges are covered with satin bias binding from Spotlight that conveniently matched the gorgeous rose red/pink colour of the checks. I actually bought this stuff back when I bought the fabric and pattern and was intending to make an unlined cape. Then I decided to match the lining satin to the bias binding and had a massive struggle finding a similar colour - DK Fabrics eventually came to my rescue!


The only 2 things that lets this make down for me is that I should have made bound buttonholes since the vintage buttons I bought at the Burra Antiques Fair were so huuuge that my automatic buttonhole foot can't make buttonholes big enough for them! Since I only discovered this right at the end of this project my solution was to add black press studs instead and sew on the buttons for decoration. I actually really like the studs now since this cape is quick and easy to get off and on with minimal fussing. The other point is that because it took me so long to get through this project the addition of the lining wasn't planned very well. I have only made a lined jacket once before and that was simple to follow the pattern. Since I added my own lining the hems are just stitched and turned on this and the edges of the big welts are not stitched down very evenly at all. I'm actually considering unpicking this and re-stitching it again but I'll wait and see if I can be bothered first - I was so excited to finally be able to wear this beauty I rushed through this finishing step so I could wear it sooner!

I think this will get quite a bit of wear this year - it's very very comfy and warm but still looks like I made an effort so I'm sure it will go on rotation in my wardrobe as Winter hits.

Finally did you know Abracadabra means "I create as I speak"? That should be our sewing day mantra right? As soon as there is more than one sewer or crafter in the room we are definitely all about creating whilst speaking! (You know I'm right ladies)

Cheers!

OXOX

Stacey

P.S - check out the new shoes! I've been looking for some black shoe/boots with peeptoes for ages and finally found a pair. Yay for new shoes!

Monday 21 April 2014

Me Made May 2014!

Ok,

I'm going to try again at this old blogging thing...since I have really just left things hanging I am going to try launching this blog to record my sewing endeavors - hmmmmm we will have to see how this goes.

To try and help keep me motivated and see if blogging really is for me I've decided to do Me Made May 2014! Yaaaaay!


http://lladybird.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/mmm14logolarge.jpg

In case you haven't heard of this - Me Made May 2014 is a challenge around home sewn, thrifted or re-fashioned garments for the month of May. Head over to sozowhatdoyouknow  to learn more and join up too. You don't have to blog or post pictures, you can just do the challenge for yourself if you want. This is something I have followed along with for a while now but never done myself so I thought why not try something new, that I've always wanted to do and see if this can inspire me to try blogging about sewing at the same time? Guess we will see what happens!

So without further ado here is my personal Me Made May Challenge Pledge

 'I, Stacey of StaceyMadesign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '14. I will endeavour to wear at least 1 home sewn, re-fashioned or thrifted item each day for the duration of May 2014. In addition I pledge to take a photo of each daily outfit and post it on my blog either daily or as weekly round-ups.'

I have added in the second blogging pledge since this challenge isn't just about loving my home sewn garments for me but for really testing out blogging and seeing if it is something I enjoy or if it just feels like a chore.

Sew to finish this is something I find true far too often...


Here's to finally cutting into that 'perfect fabric'!

OXOX

Stacey