SarahLizSewStyle

This weeks sewing effort, in between working on a very tedious assignment, much of which was done last week, was to make this kimono.  I had decided that I wanted one after seeing  Annie's kimono. So I decided to make one.  I rummaged through the stash and found this fabric, purchased by mail order  from The Remnant Warehouse.   : It's a self stripe gauzey-viole -ey sort of sheer cotton.  I purchased it to stash, knowing that one day the perfect idea would come along that would need this fabric. And I thought a kimono was the perfect idea.  So out came the fabric :) I used a combination of patterns: The one on the left has a 90 degree angle at the sleeve/bodice junction - and I made a kimono years ago using this sort of sleeve.  It doesn't turn well unless you clip into it, and then you can't finish it.  I morphed the kimono pattern onto the jacket pattern on the right and took the sleeves from that pattern.  They are not quite as wide as the kimono s

I'm having a very casual Sunday today - just doing chores and editing (yuk) an assignment.  So my appearance somewhat reflects, that, but then, sometimes it's just nice to have a relaxed feel. And this little white woven top just works for these sorts of occasions. Which is what I wanted it for. I used Burda 7079: I've used this pattern a number of times and now have a black version, and a striped version.   The black was cut as size 38 (12), and the blue as size 36 (10).  I wanted the fuller look, just like the pattern envelope with the black top. With the striped top, I was working with a stiffer fabric, so I thought it would be better slightly smaller.  The white top is size 36 (10) - I thought this would be about right, as white tends to look larger.   I used the black bodice of the dress as my top pattern, and just morphed the bottom of Top A onto it as the hemline.  Simple!   I raised the slit at the neckline a little bit, because I don&

Hello everyone, What a funny week I had.  Despite best laid plans, things went a little haywire.  Especially Friday and Saturday.  We had a open book exam that was scheduled on Friday,  -3000 words total over 5 topics.  The questions were available for downloading at 0900 on Friday. Guess what?  Our phone line went down on Thursday, which meant our internet connection was also down.  I managed to get onto the university website on my mobile phone so I thought I would sort of manage with that.  On Friday, could I use my phone to get onto the website to download the questions?  Of course not - I kept trying, but to no avail.  Would the wireless dongle that my husband installed late Thursday night work on Friday?  Of course not. And apparently the sim card for my tablet was out of date! Okay, next step - ring the lecturer.  He said he would fax the questions if I had a fax available.  Well, I did, half an hour drive away.  So of I went  to get the questions, and then back to dr

I'm in the middle of the next batch of assignments, and decided to distract myself by shrinking a piece of fabric that has been in the stash for twelve months.  It is the check fabric shown above.  It's cotton so should be pre -shrunk. So I dutifully dunked it in hot water.  Big mistake.  The red dye is not colourfast.  So I now have a plaid with pink patches on it.   It probably was not meant to be washed in hot water, but I am afraid Spotlight always manages to detach any price or care label from it's fabrics, at least in my local store. So I had no idea of the care needed and just followed general principles.   This year I have ruined 3 Spotlight fabrics this way.  So in future I shall not buy any high contrast fabrics that may bleed in hot water.  I know I can wash in cold, but one day a mistake would happen and shrinkage and dye run occur. I'm glad I found out now.  Luckily I only bought a metre, so no great loss.  This piece will now go into my pile of sta

This is the dress I made this week - in between reading bits and pieces that have to be read before next week (and I am still going on that task - I will be glad when the semester is over.  Commiserations to those of you who have gone back recently!). I made version one of this dress, in the same sort of fabric but with a teal stripe instead of blue, last week - you can find it :  here. My pattern review can be found at sewing pattern review :  here. The pattern I used, for those of you who prefer the information without clicking on  a link, is Burda 7066.   I used a cotton furnishing fabric that I purchased at Spotlight, which was much cheaper than cottons designated for clothes.  And Spotlight has an atrocious range anyway - fine if you want cheap, cheerful, retro or any other look I don't want, so this fabric sort of was the only thing that was closer to being something I liked.  Of course, sometimes Spotlight surprises me and brings in fabrics that are mo