SarahLizSewStyle

I finally found some time to tackle the backlog of blog pictures. A mammoth session with six garments finally photographed.  I can't say they are great photos (they never are with me, and I keep telling myself I must do something about this, but then, I remind myself that really, I am not interested in this aspect of sewing at all, because it is not sewing, if that makes sense.  But I like to show you what I have made, and I know lots of you like to see a pattern made up, especially if you are considering making it), especially as I took lots at once, which was just so boring! I know you have been waiting for this dress to appear on my blog.  Cynthia Rowley, Simplicity 1314: This dress is designed for stretch knits only, and has about a one third stretch, if you get my meaning.  My knit was a lot firmer than this, and I don't think a stretch knit would do me much justice, as it would just cling to the wrong places with me.  I'm small, but I do have a tummy,

Some fast and furious sewing with a quick and simple pattern eased the frustrations of a very tedious paperwork week.  Such a satisfying sew - a lovely new dress in the minimum of time. I used Burda 6732: I bought this pattern for $5.00 this year during one of Spotlight's pattern sales.  While the dress is too short, I do like simple kimono sleeve dresses as they are nice and cool in the heat.  I also like empire lines.  I did not like the length, and was a bit worried about the shape, but decided that I would like to see how it worked in real life.  The pattern recommends cotton fabrics, linen and linen blends. The fabric I used was a cotton furnishing fabric, probably for curtains, once again from Spotlight.  I often check the cheap cottons in the furnishing section because some of them are really nice.  I saw this and instantly knew it would work for the Burda dress.  A couple of metres of cotton tape saw me rushing home to wash the fabric and make the dress. The

I'm having a bit of a rayon run at the moment.  Summer will soon be here, and in our hot and humid climate the best sort of clothing is loose and baggy in a fabric that breathes and absorbs moisture.  Rayon is ideal, although I hate sewing with it. I fell in love with this pretty printed rayon, which came from good old Spotlight.  I'm not sure that this folkloric look is quite me, but it has some sort of nostalgic feel to it, because I used to wear prints like this during 1974-1977, when I was doing my training to become a Registered Nurse. I think I should have left the look behind, but still, rayon tops don't last forever, so I might as well enjoy the re-emergence of this type of print. I used New Look 6461: I shortened both the front and the back, because I don't really like sitting on long shirt tails - they get so wrinkled.  And I am not a lover of extreme styles.  Funnily, I had a top like this during my nurse training days - complete with ties at

Before I start this post, I just want to thank you all for your comments on my last two posts.  Unfortunately I am just too busy at the moment to reply to comments.  Next week things will start settling down again, and hopefully my usual blog habits will resume. As you know, my big sewing machine declared itself unable to sew last Friday, with the reverse and stitch length lever firmly stuck: I had no idea how to fix this, nor did I want to force the lever or cause any further damage. So I called in the sewing machine mechanic - luckily there is one in town that does home visits, and as this machine weighs 35 kilos, the man comes to the machine, the machine does not go to the man.  I had to wait all week, because he was busy servicing the machines in the schools this week.  He was due Friday afternoon, and finally came about 5:30 pm. Well, I am not sure what he did, other than giving it some sort of robust shake around and it "came good".  He said the mach