Morris blazer

Grainline Studio's Morris Blazer is a winner for me.  I finished it a couple of weeks ago and it is already a high rotation garment in my autumn wardrobe.  While the pattern is great and I love the finished product, a word of caution about fabric choice.  I bought this interesting double sided ponte (?) print from Tessuti's Surry Hills store with a Morris blazer in mind.  What I didn't realise is that four-way stretch isn't suitable for the design.  So I ended up with an odd bubble at the hemline on the right front. To fix it one of my clever real-life sewing mate at the Australian Sewing Guild suggested a tuck dart under the collar.  It's an invisible mend that rescued my project.

Next weekend is a sewcation - three blissful day with nothing to do but sew with women who share my passion.  I'm always over ambitious about what I can achieve at the annual getaway.  True to form, I've cut out four garments and plan to cut one more.  Lets see just what can be achieved.  Meanwhile happy sewing and thanks for your encouragement.

Happy returns

I'll let you in on a secret.   I often think of dropping blogging, turning to instagram or not recording my sewing at all.  So I take a break which somehow turns into a lengthy absence and it becomes apparent to me that blogging and the virtual friendships I have are important to me.

So here I am making a comeback with a long list of completed projects to talk about.

Project 1: Stylearc's Edith top pictured above was a dream sew in light weight cotton chambray purchased from Tessuti.  I'm a recent convert to Stylearc.  Their designs are contemporary and their pattern making precise and true to size.  I wore it lunch at my friend's gorgeous home on Sydney harbour.


Project 2:  Vogue 1247 (OOP) Rachel Comey's popular A-line skirt design with inseam pockets.  This project was a test run for a leather skirt that lives inside my head.  I agree with my daughter's comment that the colour is a "bit odd" but the verdict is yes go ahead with production in leather.  

There are a few tricks to this pattern. First use a woven without any stretch as the weight of the pockets will cause the yoke to stretch and bubble slightly, and second, make sure you use a tape or interfacing to support the pockets.  

Project 3: I raced to put together two t-shirts in merino wool from an ancient copy of Ottobre magazine (May 2010) to take to Japan trip.  They were worn to death but Japan in March/April is very cold and rarely came out from under layers of wool for a photo. I really love the teal design for its versatily.  It looks equally good over jeans or under a suit for work.  The sleeves on the casual t-shirt are a little long and baggy at the wrists. If I could be bothered I'll taper them in one day.

I've completed a few other projects.  I'm especially happy with my Morris Blazer and that will be the hero of my next post.  Promise not to be a stranger...again...!