SarahLizSewStyle

I don't know about you, but I like to start sewing for the coming season well ahead.  If I start to sew at the beginning of the season, I find the season is over before I have an outfit complete.  It's okay if I am making simple little separates to add during a season, but not for planned outfits of the SWAP or 6PAC sort.  For that you need to plan and allow time to complete the sets. Winter (I live in Australia) officially starts tomorrow, so it is a bit late to start a winter wardrobe plan.  And in any case, at the moment there is little sign we are actually going to get much of a winter where I live.  So it is too late to start a plan for winter now. Instead, I am thinking about a Spring plan - with perhaps the first outfit being able to be worn on warmer days in winter. I am thinking about a pants suit.  .  I am thinking about using this pattern, Burda 6985. Now, the pattern says that it is an advanced sewers pattern.  I'm not going to let that put me off, a

 I have been very impressed with the way some of you use up your scraps - and so was inspired to make my own skirt out of leftover bits of fabric. The fabric is stretch cotton sateen, and I had two pieces, from different dye-lots.   I decided to seam the skirt at about yoke level, using one piece of fabric for the front and back yoke, and the other piece of fabric for the body of the skirt.  I covered the join with a wide ric rac braid - this will trick the eye into not seeing the different dye-lots when it is worn.  It also hides the seam.  As you can see, the different dye lots would otherwise be quite obvious: I even managed to match the ric rac perfectly at the seams (and I did trim the thread away later): The pattern I used was my normal elastic waist skirt pattern that I use for stretch cotton sateen skirts - I just don't find it is worth expending much effort on this fabric.  It's a useful fabric for casual skirts and pants, but not for dressier skirts

I had a Me Made Weekend last weekend.  DH and I went away - well, DH took me to Sydney, where I met a friend.  I'll tell you about that another time.  But today I want to show you why posting me made photos is not always visually stimulating. That's because I tend to wear basics, very much if you have a black jacket or cardigan and black pants, then you are always well dressed sort of style logic.  It works, especially when you go away - you can wear this sort of thing day or night. So, on Day 1 of the weekend I wore:  T-shirt is Kwik Sew 3766 - I have made a number of t-shirts from this pattern:   The trousers are McCalls 5239, a classic pants style by Palmer Pletsch:     I made the version on the left hand side.  The trousers have darts front and rear, mock fly front zipper, and angled pockets.  It is sized for wovens.  I made these trousers out of stretch cotton sateen and had to take them in quite a bit.   They are very firm when I put them on - I c

Personal style is an evolving thing, but I do think underneath our various  layers of lifestyle and role playing, we have an underlying style. There will be quite a bit about me in this blog, because you can't talk about a person's style without talking about the person, or thinking about what and who they are - at the current stage of life.   So this post is a bit long winded and wordy.  Skim through or come back another day if you like, when I have a sewing post and some pictures up:) I have never really dressed in a way that says "this is me".  I've dressed for all the things life has called me to do - uniforms for work, student garb for study, cheap blacks for theatre, old clothes for renovations and wearing at home while paying off my mortgage.  Clothes were well down my list of priorities - I was too busy becoming educated and financially a little secure (if there is any such thing). I was always Practical Pollyanna in my approach to the finer things

Hello everyone, Finally I manage to take photos of the skirt I finished a week or so ago.  I also wore it today, so I am going to use this as my Me Made May 14 Garment of the Week. I made this skirt  out of a stretch cotton sateen, the usual from Spotlight.  I do find this fabric has limitations - it does crumple a bit when being worn (you can see that above), and the wrinkles set quite quickly when you sit down across the front and the back.   I originally wanted this as a smart skirt (while I was having my Gucci Girl fantasy moment), but I have settled for casual due to the creep and wrinkle factor in this skirt.  And as a casual skirt, it will be fine. I used my standard pattern for stretch cotton sateen skirts as I have decided it is not worth the effort to make a tailored skirt in this fabric due to it's wrinkle propensity.  The pattern is   Kwik Sew 3765.  The length I make is between the short skirt and the mid length skirt shown on the right. This is wha

Thank you everyone for your recent well wishes - flares come and go with me every so often, and this one is now going - which suits me :) So I have been organising my sewing projects today.  I have cut out a stretch cotton sateen skirt in a grey colour - I have decided I don't really like this stretch cotton sateen as it wrinkles so easily (more than ordinary cotton or linen- or maybe that's just the cotton sateen available at Spotlight)  I just want to get it out of the stash and used!  While I am working on the skirt, I will also start work on a trouser muslin.  The pattern I am going to trial is Burda 6982:  This is a classic straight leg pant, with a waistband that seems to sit very close to the waist.  I haven't had much to do with Burda patterns, so I thought I would try this pants pattern.  I understand the cut is different to that of the big 4.  Certainly the measurements indicate so with a slightly larger waist to hip ratio. Which is what I need.  So I

Well, I am starting to feel a little better, and am back to blogging again, and next week sewing :).   Today I have managed to take my garment for this week for Me Made May 14.  Actually, I am wearing two me made garments today. This is a very casual outfit, which I don't think about too much when I get dressed-  it is just quickly put on so I can get the supermarket shopping done, fill the car with fuel and any other annoying and practical things that need doing - and that need clothes that you don't worry about and that you can move in.  Then home to more pleasurable things - like the washing, the ironing, and if I am lucky, some sewing.  You know how it is :) I am not in love with either of these garments - they were both learning curve garments, but I still tend to wear these clothes as well - they all cost money to make, and they all took time.   I find these sorts of clothes very handy though for those "I don't really care what I am wearing" times - and

Hello everyone - rather a long title to the blog today, but it's really not a title, more in the way of prelude of this blog post to come. Firstly, I loved your recent comments about your use of scraps of fabric - everything from pet beds to stuffing for soft toys (from the leftovers of serged edges).  Amazing!!  You have got me thinking of ways to use my scraps more inventively. ***** Secondly, I was right in not committing to me made garments each day of the week during MMM14- as luck would have it, I had a flare this week, and was a little stiff and sore.  I have managed to sew a bit everyday, but it has been hard work.  I took Friday off, as that was  my worst day, and I was  really not functioning!  I'm pleased to say the aches are settling, week 2 of the flare is on its way and I will get better again.  I'm used to the cycle now so try not to get too upset by it (I suffer one of the rheumatoid syndromes - not a joint one, thank goodness,  just mixed connectiv