My Sewing space

I met up with some other Melbourne sewers at the weekend for social sewing.  As always it was lovely to see everyone, have  a natter and get some advice, even if not a lot of actual sewing got done!  I chatted to a few people about where they sewed at home; turns out that lots of people are making amazing garments on their kitchen tables, coffee tables and lounge room couches.  There is a lot of cutting out on the floor going on too so the space at GJ's is much appreciated with its large cutting tables, light, and ample space for machines.

I feel very lucky to have a dedicated sewing space at my place. It's the sun room, between the kitchen and the garden, and a bit of a walk though room so I claimed it as my own and set it up for all things crafty.  It's a bit hot in summer and cold in winter but I love that it's a space that I can leave all my mess  projects in progress and not have to clear them up for dinner/homework/Lego. And being connected to the garden is means that when the weather is good I can leave the doors open, breathe in the air and listen to the birds.



Sewing room (can you tell that I recently discovered PicMonkey?)

I'm trying to be a neater, more organised sewer. My natural tendency is to sew in a bit of a frenzy, dropping pins and scraps everywhere and then getting annoyed when I can't find things. I get in trouble with MMSTL for the pins on the floor too.The room has been furnished very inexpensively, a combination of op-shop and donated furniture and the storage unit is from Ikea. It's a work in progress, but for now, here is a little tour... Oh, and it doesn't usually look this tidy.  In fact never.

On the desk are my two machines. I have a non-computerised Janome, nothing fancy but it works for me and an Elna overlocker that I got from Ebay for $40 which, after a service works a charm. When I sew on my regular machine I just push the overlocker to the back of the table. I also keep my pincushions (I have three because I am always losing them) and useful tools, like my scissors, space feet, seam ripper, pattern weights and rotary cutter at the back of the table. I put that little bowl there for my loose threads but they always seem to end up on the floor.

The noticeboard is useful for my 'to do  list and any other inspirational things that I come across and my embroidery scissors get hung up there too.   On the floor by the desk are my sewing books and my cutting mat and ruler. Love the cutting mat. Use it all the time.

I made the thread holder thingy by painting some wood and banging in lots of nails. Not very difficult to do and much better than having a tangled mess in  a tin which is what happened before. Plus, I got to sort them into colour order which always a happy thing.

Now lets talk about the fabric in the ikea unit. I know that this looks like a lot (OK, it is a lot) but in my defence, most of it is from the op-shop and a lot more is gifted. The baskets and clear containers are mainly full of scraps and small pieces, and the bottom ones have traced off patterns, lace and interfacing.    The fabric is roughly sorted by type (knits, heavier weight, wovens, drapey stuff) and I try to keep a little book of what I've got, how much etc. 

On the top of the unit are zips, overlocker cottons, elastic etc. The square basket has all my patterns, organised by type (dresses, tops, skirts, kids) and the large basket is my mending/refashioning pile which I never seem to get to.

Matilda Pin-bottom (Matilda for short), my dress form, lives in the corner. She's modelling a groovy wool jacket that I picked up at the tip shop and is awaiting some re-fitting work.  You can't see the ironing board here because it is tucked away neatly in the corner. Usually  though it is smack bang in the middle of the room piled high with stuff waiting to ambush anyone on their way to the garden.

So, there you have it.  My little corner of happiness. Woman-cave. Sanctuary. Place to potter. 

Do you have a dedicated sewing room/corner,/shed that you would like to share?

 

 



Lemon Verbena

We've grown this woody summer herb for a couple of years now.

Fresh, you can use the leaves in place of lemon zest in syrup, cakes and ice-cream.  It's perennial, so it will lose it's leaves in winter and come back again in the Spring, growing into a huge, fragrant bush with pretty white flowers.  Before that happens I like to cut it right back while the leaves are still fragrant and dry them in the sun for a few days before stripping them off the twigs.

The leaves store for ages without losing their scent and make lovely tea, especially when mixed with mint. A few leaves added to the bath makes it smell delicious and it can also be made into pot pourri.

Have you tried growing Lemon Verbena?

Finished Sureau

Here is my finished Sureau.  And I love it!  I did contemplate sleeves - I even cut them out- but then I looked at the forecast for the next 10 days in Melbourne and decided that sleeveless would be way more wearable.   The fabric is some $3 a metre cotton from Spotlight that has been sitting in the stash for quite some time and the buttons are from the op shop.

There were a few moments of doubt when making this:  I thought that I may have committed the sewing sin of unfortunate patten placement when I forgot to check the pattern on the bodice before cutting the pieces out on the fold.  It could be better, but at least I don't have two flowers directly centred where they shouldn't be... I also wondered about the length. It seemed a little short, but adding to the bodice and making a teeny hem helped...

I made a few alterations:  Like my Belladone dress, I cut out a size 38. I  took 1cm out of the back piece (2cm total) and I added an inch (not sure why I thought using a combination of metric and imperial was a good idea but never mind) to the length of the bodice so that it would hit my natural waist.  I also adjusted the shoulder line to deal with some gaping at the front, increasing the seam by about 1.5cm towards the neck. Paunnet's tutorials were very helpful with both these alterations.

I had a few issues with my gathering, especially the bust gathers which are a little uneven, but it's not all that noticeable with the print.

Like Amanda, my facings went in without a hitch and thanks to the top stitching are staying where they should be.  I use my Grainline tee instructions to finish the armholes with bias strips, catching the neck facing as I sewed them down.

And the zip?  Well, actually there isn't one! Due to the fairly low neckline and my abnormally narrow shoulders I can actually get this dress on without one. It isn't pretty watching me do this but as I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to putting in zips, it's a win in my books.

I love the faux (this is a French pattern after all) buttons down the front and I think they give the opportunity to add extra interest to this dress, like this lovely version here.  Mine are a boring brown, but if you look closely you can see that don't quite match, which I kind of like. I spaced them a little differently, and the last one finishes a little higher up so that I can wear a belt with the dress.

I did really small hem on this dress - overlocked edge and just about a cm turned up because I wanted to wear it to work, but I think it would look great shorter too, especially with tights for winter.   I've already worn this dress twice and it's prefect for hot weather. The cotton is cool and the fit is loose enough to be comfy.   I'm already planning my next version with sleeves in some lovely rose-printed silk scored at the op shop for $3.99.

The details

Sureau dress pattern from Deer and Doe, $18 including part shipping
2m of cotton from Spotlight@ $3m = $6
4 buttons from the op shop 10c
Thread from op shop 10c

Total: $24.20

And a big  thanks to my lovely neighbour and blogger Humble Habit for taking the pics in her backyard :)

Rainbows

Sewing and gardening come together again.

I finished the rainbow baby quilt. It's pretty similar to the last one I made except that the rainbows all run the in the same direction. I had intended on the same layout as before but I had a couple of directional prints which would have looked a bit funny upside down.  The fabric is a mix of recycled (the chevron is an op-shopped pillowcase) and new and it is quilted in unequal straight lines - I just eyeballed distances so the lines are not completely straight but I actually like how this looks. Plus, there is no taping and measuring involved. 

There was just enough elephant fabric left to do the binding. I like the way they march round the outside. It's all done my machine this time (for speed) The back is plain - this had to be a quick project so that I can give it to her today!

And there is a rainbow of colour in the garden too..

Japanese eggplant, lettuce gone to seed, basil, zucchini flower, pumpkin, gardener's delight tomatoes

A coupla' Almas

What is the collective noun for more than one Alma?  It sounds a bit like llama, in which case it would be a herd of Almas but that doesn't sound quite right. Maybe because birds were involved in one of these makes it should be a flock of Almas?  Or a brace?  Maybe a selvage of Almas would be more appropriate?....   

Alma Version1: This pose looks like I could be in a police line up but  at least the Alma looks passable.

Alma version2: I'm really not good at this posing thing.

Anyhoo, here are the two Almas that I have made so far.  I say this because I think there will be more in the future. Such a great, versatile pattern that will work in lots of different fabrics.

Before you start thinking that I am some sort of uber-sewist who has churned these out as well as all the other projects that I have on the go, I should stress that I actually made these quite a while ago but due to my blogging hiatus, never got round to showing them here.

The black and white polka dot one was started during the November social sewing day.  The fabric is some mystery op-shop stuff that I picked up a while ago which is actually really nice and drapey.  I had planned to add sleeves. I even got so far as putting one on, but when I showed MMSTL he made a funny face which confirmed my suspicions that the cap sleeve made me look like an American football player. So, off it came and the armhole was finished with the bias tape instead.  As it turns out, sleeveless was probably the best option for the hot summer we've been having.  The facings gave me a bit of trouble and still don't like to say flat ( I can see you peeking out there, damn you facing)  despite understitching so I will probably need to go back and top stitch them down.  I didn't bother with the zip because I can get this over my head with a bit of shimmying as it's not super-fitted.

Version 2 was made from some poly crepe that I got from Spotlight for $5 a metre.  I don't usually buy new fabric but hello - kingfishers? How could I not?  This is exactly the same version except that the fabric was not nearly as nice to work with  and everything ended up a bit wavy.  I did however remember to topstitch the collar so the facings are better behaved.  Again, no zip.  Convinced that I could get the sleeves to work, I added one and then took it off again.  I guess I just can't carry off  those little sleeves that look so nice on other versions I've seen.

I love these tops and have already worn them a fair bit. I'm planning to make a version with sleeves at some point, although not the cap sleeves.  I might just shorten the longer sleeves. I think I might also go a bit more fitted and add the zip.  

Pattern: Alma blouse by Sewaholic
Fabrics: Poly crepe and mystery viscose?
Details/alterations: cut a size 6, taking in the side seams about 1cm under the arms to just above the bust dart, omitted the zip, made it sleeveless by using self bias/bias tape to finish the armholes.
Cost:  Bird version 1.5m of fabric = $7.50 plus half cost pattern ($9) = $16.50.  Polka dot version, 1.5m of fabric= $3  plus pattern = $12.   Hooray! two new tops for under $30, including the pattern.

Sewing in progress.....

 

Another rainbow baby quilt for a friend who had a bubba a couple of days ago. Can't go wrong with rainbows. 

Muslin for my Sureau dress. Fitting issues are almost worked out thanks to the helpful tutorials from Paunnet. Still undecided on the fabric for the final version (black linen  or a liberty-esque cotton lawn) and whether to go three quarter sleeves, short sleeves or no sleeves.

Grainline Scout Tee in spotty cotton voile  - cheapo fabric for the first version, hopefully resulting in a wearable muslin.

What have you got on the go at the moment?