Reviews, reviews, reviews

So, I've done a bit of sewing over the last few months, making some tops (ostensibly for work, but a couple of them have done sterling duty at social functions, so that's all good) and I've tried four different tunic patterns, which leads me to believe that other sewists might be interested in my thoughts on those patterns*.

First up was the StyleArc Elani Tunic, whose name really irritates me because I think it should Eleni & I can't bring myself to rhyme it with Elan, like e-Flan & then is it "e-lan-eye" or "ell-ane-eh" or "ell-ane-eye" and why didn't they just call it Eleni?

Anyhoo, it, like all StyleArc patterns (and really, is it Style Arc or StyleArc?), assumes you know how to sew.  The instructions are minimal, but they are very well ordered, accurate and function perfectly.  A good example is the facings - the instructions tell you when to apply them, but give no hints about how to finish them, because it assumes you'll know what to do.  Any issues with the finished product are definitely not an outcome of the instructions.  I've made three Ee-lan-eye tunics now & am very happy with the results, two of which are pictured here... 

Then I made the Breezeway Top by Frankie & Ray - I was a bit blase about sizing because it said it went up to XXL, and as you know I am not a small girl, Gentle Readers, I assumed it would be OK.  It's a bit more A-line than the Elani, a bit shorter in the front and quite a bit tighter in the sleeve department, and I really didn't like the instructions for the sleeve at all, so I fudged it - but the outcome was OK.  If I make it again, I'll cut it longer and make the sleeve start lower on the body to accommodate my huge biceps, and I might trace a facing for the neck.

Then I made the Kabuki Tee from Paper Theory.  Well written pattern, the sleeve insertion instructions made my head spin a bit, but once I'd done one, the other one was easy - but the shape made me look like a huge square blob - and it was too short in the body, and kept riding up.  I've added a band to the bodice bottom of the cotton one I made, and will probably do the same with the silk one - if you're contemplating making one, check the sizing carefully.  Its very boxy style is probably great if you're a sylph-like size 10, but if you're a lumping great galoot like me, maybe get your best most honest friend to tell you what it looks like before you wear it in public.

And finally, I made a tunic from The Tunic Bible, which I've had for a couple of years.  The bulk of the book is made up of colour 8 X 10 glossy photographs with circles and arrows (no prizes for guessing where that's from) showing samples of what you can make - but the instructions are dreadful.  I chose the inside extended placket with a bias finish for the neck - each bodice finish has a page showing you how to make it, except this one - I had to go to somewhere else entirely in the book to find a drawing that showed how to finish the bias inside the facing, which is just weird, and the rest of the construction method is spread throughout the book.  If I was the authors, I'd be doing an edit to put one set of instructions in a single place... 

The finished product wasn't really true to size - I made the XXL again, but had to take out the back darts to get it to fit me - the extended placket is very long, and I took about 3 inches off the length of mine, but it was a doddle to sew, using the mans shirt style of putting in a sleeve.  I also couldn't see an option just to make a plain old back neck facing instead of doing the bias finish, & if I made it again, I'd just trace one & skip the bias.

This was the biggest disappointment of them all - but I think that was more about the sizing & the sleeves.  If I made it again, I'd make a short-sleeved version & size it up one.  The only other thing was the flaps on the placket on the front stuck into my neck - so I'd probably redraft those too.  

Also, I realise that the fabric is not me at all, and I'm giving this version of the tunic away, but I'm willing to give the pattern another shot.

So, in order of ease of making, the Breezeway, the Elani, the Tunic Bible & then the Kabuki, but in order of pattern useability, the Elani beats the others hollow, the Breezeway & the Kabuki tie for ease of use, and the Tunic Bible is a disaster.

In order of wearability, again the Elani comes out top; I've made 3 & they're on regular rotation, because they feel more dressy than the Cashmerette Montrose that I madly made five or six of last year - as I get older, the v-neck just becomes more comfortable, and I think the faced hem & sleeve finish set it apart.

What do you think?  I'd love to hear your feedback!  

*This post is not sponsored in any way by any of the pattern companies listed here.

Rapt up in Bilbies

So... from time to time my good friend Kate from Rapt! Upholstery has commented here on my work, and I've often admired hers.. she and I were at Upholstery School together, and she does fabulous work, which you can see on her blog:

Anyway, Kate has a showroom in Jamberoo, where you can select fabrics, have a look at finished works and generally bask in the loveliness that is upholstery, and she's offered to take house some Bilbies until their new owners wander in off the streets and take them home!

These happy guys have gone off today via Australia Post.  Kate and I were thinking of naming them the Travelling Bilbies, but nobody could agree on who was Tom Petty (I'm personally going with Mr Blue Spot Yellow Belly as Tom):

Do they look nervous to you, Gentle Readers?  I'm sure they'll be fine in their new home! But!  In case you want one, and you can't wait until the Mona Vale Christmas Market on 7th December, hint hint, you can order one from my Etsy shop.

More are being made as we speak - and because I worked from home today (gotta love that!), I was able to cut out another pink & grey masterpiece before 0800... and now?  Gotta sew!  Ciao!

A little creativity goes a long, long way

Busy busy, this weekend... Despite feeling like I've been hit by a truck, I still managed to cut out & sew the top of a Schoolhouse Tunic - this is such a great pattern, and pretty easy:

And of course I chose the most expensive fabric in the shop - really, who goes shopping for dress fabric in a quilt shop?  Me, of course.  Well, it's a Liberty Voile, in case you were wondering, and it's so soft... just beautiful.  I'm hoping to finish it on Saturday, to wear to Miss E's Baptism on Sunday.  Proud Father advises it's "smart casual", so I guess I won't be wearing my hat & gloves...

In other news, I took the Second Chance quilt in to be quilted - only to discover that they won't accept anything that's creased, and so I spent an hour ironing the 2m (6'5") X 2.5m (8'2") backing fabric:

It's a good thing this is for MGF Kaz, because I doubt I'd do it for anybody else.  Even Mr Golightly's shirts are the sort that don't require ironing.

Anyway, I have great faith in the quilter, who I'm sure will do a fabulous job, and I promise pictures will be posted before it goes off to the Hunter.

In other news, I have made more Bilbies - I keep selling them to friends and family, and so the numbers need topping up:

 I need to do some more work on the pattern for the bigger guys, because I'm still not happy with the shape.  This guy is made from some linen I bought at the Handmade Market two years ago (I think it's by Saffron Craig, so if you know, please drop me a note to confirm!), it's beautiful quality, and while I was rummaging through the boxes of red fabric to find a co-ordinating colour for the gusset, I found this beautiful lustrous Japanese cotton, with multi-coloured balls - and that's why this guy has purple eyes, to go with the interior of his ears.

This big guy nearly ended up in the bin - he's made from a really soft linen which is going to fray the minute you look at it, and I had to completely unpick the rear seam twice to get it right, and I'm still not happy enough with it to sell him.  He's going on the 'keep at home' pile. 

Which is where I am now, keeping at home.  Back to the office next week, and a return to normal.  Whatever that is.  Ciao!

Can somebody stop me?

Well, Gentle Readers, I think it's Intervention Number 4.  It may be number 44 for all I can remember.  And what is it you're stopping me from doing?  Making these guys:

So far I've made 12 and there's no sign that I'm bored yet.  I've applied to have a stall at the Mona Vale Christmas Market, and I intend to sell these little guys, along with some fabulous fridge magnets made by Miss D yesterday and Monday - they look fabulous - she has such good taste, which is why she's my friend :-D

Yesterday I made the grandfather of all bilbies - I had the pattern sized up to 400% of original at a well-known office supply company, bought beautiful blue velvet and some grey polar fleece from the lovely Mr Fenner, and, three 1kg bags of stuffing later, here we are:

Yes, he's leaning slightly.  It's the leaning tower of Bilby.  You can see how big he is - the others pictured above are the medium size, which is 15cm/6" - the bigger guy, Mr Blue & Red is 19cm/7.5", and little Monkey-Face, who is about 10cm/4".  As I said to my good friend Miss JodieRicRac on Instagram (oh, wait, did I mention that I'm besties now with a celebrity?  Oh... well.  Hold onto your hats, Gentle Readers, there's so much excitement to come!!), it's like having a dog that doesn't need feeding or walking.

So.  Celebrity.  I went to Urban Stitches, the Parramatta one, not the Melbourne one, (more's the pity).  I had a great time, even though I was a singleton, because there were other lovely sewists there who also had no friends.  Who sew.  Yes, that's it.  Friends who sew.  We made things:

And I cut out and blanket stitched two legs of a fox.  I don't know how Miss Jodie does it, Gentle Readers, those tiny little legs and feet nearly sent me nuts, but anyway... The other two instructor/presenter/facilitators were Miss Mel, of Melly and Me, who gave me some excellent advice about publishing the pattern for the Bilby, and Rosalie Quinlan, who is a generally amazing woman.  Somewhere in the Ethernet is a selfie of Miss Jodie and me, and one day, when I'm very brave, I'll DM her on IG to ask her for a copy.  See?  Us besties can talk in code.  Can so too.

What else?  Fabric was purchased (of course), and eating and alcohol-free drinking went on.  Well, it was during the day... and I won a prize, a kit to make a felt teapot. Absolutely beautiful, and immediately added to the "maybe one day when I've got a broken leg" pile.  

Only complaints? - I'd only signed up for one day (there were two on offer), and the chairs got a bit uncomfortable after a while, which is absolutely nothing to do with the lovely organisers, and more to do with the Parramatta Novotel not understand the needs of sewists for a straight backed chair with support.

And I know, Gentle Readers, that you're wondering why I'm at home when I should be *insert music here* working for the man... working for the man... I had an operation on my nose, and I'm at home recovering.  No jokes about Joan Rivers, thank you.  And now?  Back to the Bilby Farm.  Ciao!

  

Look, look, here's another one!!

I've been doing the FatMumSlim Picture a Day challenge over on the 'Gram (thank you, Millennium Housewife, for pointing out yet another aspect of a scene that completely passed me by (illicit pharmaceuticals...) because I was (and still am) so boring and straight when it comes to all that stuff...), and it's been ... interesting (the 'FMSPhotoaday Challenge, not being boring and straight!!), and I've had loads of "likes" from people from all over the world, which is lovely. 

My photo of the theme for yesterday, "Pet Peeve", wasn't very good (it was a very blurry shot of some filthy smoker's filthy droppings - yes, Gentle Readers, a cigarette butt.. and interestingly, my good friend Mr UBeaut58's sister (got that bit?) (with whom I went to school, but with whom I was not particularly friendly) even 'liked' my photo, which is a first for me!  

Today's theme was "mix", and I just took a photo of some of the boxes of fabric in the Room of Requirement, showing their labels.  I thought it was pretty nifty, but.. so far... only four likes.  Oh well.  Just goes to show you... not everybody has my excellent taste :-D

In Fabric Addiction news, I bought some nice Joel Dewberry fabric from lovely Ruth at SewLoveFabrics (she always has such as great selection):

So much for my no-buy July.  I'm thinking about "Ought-not-to-August", but it doesn't have quite the same ring.

In other news of fabulousness, I bought some beautiful midnight blue velvet and some grey polar fleece today.  What do these two fabrics have in common?  Well, Gentle Readers, I'm going to do the Christmas Market at Mona Vale (NSW), on 7th December [contingent on actually getting a stall!] and I've decided to make a huge Bilby to lure in the kiddies so their unsuspecting parents can buy lots of goodies from my stall... 

I went to Officeworks today & spent about $20 having the pattern sized up into ridiculousness, and tomorrow I'm hoping to cut out this monster... keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't fall off the worktable & crush me when I finally finish stuffing it.  I'm estimating three 1kg bags of wadding to fill it, but it could be more...I'm thinking of raffling it off, with proceeds going to Save the Bilby Fund... Thoughts?

Here's a picture of the bigger guys having some fun outside - don't you just love Mr Purple's pants?  What a groover...

And in getting out and about news, I've splashed out and I'm going to Urban Stitches in Sydney!  I'm pretty excited about this, because it should be such a fun day, and I'm hoping to come home with some lovely handmade stuff... I'm only doing the Saturday (it was $180 for one day), so if you're going, and you see a dumpy dark haired lunatic there by herself, that'll be me.  I'm thinking of wearing my "I'd rather be sewing' shirt from Erin at Dog Under My Desk, but would that be too ... obvious?  Possibly.

And that, Gentle Readers, is that.  I've finally finished removing my old presence from the old laptop, in preparation of its donation to Master E, and now I'm going to sit in front of the fire & gentle rub Mr Golightly's head.  It's as good for him as it is for me.  And with that disturbing thought firmly in your minds, I'm gone!

Ciao!

Where did that go again?

Well, the new job is in full swing.  Amazingly nice people, full of all the flaws of people everywhere, but the atmosphere is so much nicer than ...that other place... even with the normal stresses and strains of work...

And here's the view from the building:

And on a good day, we get to see this:

which was really spectacular, but shows a bit of reflection of the office interior, if you look too closely, so don't, OK?

It's going swimmingly, so far.  I like my colleagues, my boss, the work.  I love not having to drive to work, but I'd forgotten how annoying the general public can be, especially with things like moving to the back of the bus, taking your backpack off so you don't clobber everybody with it on the way through, turning your headphones down so the leakage doesn't drive everybody nuts... and not covering your face when you cough or sneeze.  Ick.

I really love that the post office has parcel lockers under our building, and I've registered to use them (it's free!) and all my etsy purchases turn up there now.  I've brought home some amazing parcels and I think my new colleagues think I'm a bit whacky... 

Hmmm, what else?  My lovely nephew and niece-in-law (heh?) had their baby and I'm a great-aunt - it's probably just as well - my sewing room was starting to get a bit full of toys for the baby:

I can count seven here...the giraffes and the red bilbies all went off to Miss EE when we were first introduced.  The Turtle is still here, but the other bilby went off to Master IPL for his second birthday; it's in the same fabrics as the quilt I made him for his first:

This was one cute Bilby, too:

and by all accounts he was quite pleased.  I also sent one off to London, for Miss A, who was turning 3:

Don't you just love the flowers?

And in completely unrelated news, we just came back from a fabulous weekend in the beautiful Hunter Valley, getting some canine therapy, and doing what we do best - I made cushion covers:

Plus two other yellow ones, including one with piping, to go with the quilt I bound - I don't have a picture of quilt with binding, but I'm pretty sure MGF Kaz will provide one if I ask nicely.  She's good like that.

And I photographed a couple of things for the FatMumSlim PhotoADay Challenge, which I'm doing for August, over on the 'Gram (that's Instagram, for you older peeps - I'm IsabellaGolightly26, and I'd love you to come on over & have a look at my pics.

Today's theme was "In the Middle".  

Isn't it fantastic?  The whole display is just gorgeous... but the photo was taken with the phone, so it's not great.  Plus the smell of a tonne of moo poo was making my eyes water a bit.  Mr Golightly & Az spent a lovely morning doing what they do best, shovelling it all over the garden.  You gotta love the countryside.

What was that?  You want to know about the baby?  Oh!!!  She was 49cm, 3kg and looked like a blob.  That's official, from her extremely proud father.  We saw her at a week old, and she slept happily in my arms for 2 hours.  That's a first for me, I can assure you.  We're hoping to catch up with the delighted parents very soon, so more news as it comes to hand (I know, I can't believe it either - I'm excited about a baby!!).  And so, amidst all this excitement, it's off to bed.  Ciao!

Penguins...

Have I ever told you, Gentle Readers, that there is a small penguin fixation in our house?  Mr Golightly was once part of a small, fierce and noble band of weekend warriors who travelled from ale-house to ale-house, testing their products for quality, allaying the fears of delicate travellers such as myself, and slaying any beastly T-bone steak that might have come between the band and its quest for ale-y perfection?

No, I'm sure I haven't.  Anyway, on one such occasion, it was observed by one of the brighter band members that they had all (inadvertently) arrayed themselves in shirts of a similar brand, with a similar logo, a flightless bird, mostly black and white but with occasional bits of yellow...  And at this same occasion, it was observed that they were all, with one notable exception, unencumbered by life-companions of the soft, squishy, washed and nicely-smelling kind.  This event was marked by the creation of an acronym that fitted into 'black and white flightless bird with occasional bits of yellow' - I'm pretty sure you can see where I'm going with this. PENGUIN.  

Anyway, Mr Golightly, himself having been the shyest of all the noble band, was the last of the Penguins to find himself that soft, squishy, washed and nicely-smelling life-companion (that would be me), and so, it was deemed fitting that our wedding cake should be the sacrificial Penguin.  

Of course it fell to me to ring the giant multinational which owns the logo copyright and check if they had any objections to us using their logo for our wedding cake.  I think they thought I was insane, and I think the wedding cake makers (a fantastic company called 'Sweet Art') did too, but they didn't bat an eyelid:

 

Anyway, I'm sure you've all been mightily entertained by this amazing tale of days gone by, but I digress.  My lovely friend Ms Blue Lambb wanted a penguin softie for a friend who's going off to have a baby, and given the history of this house, how could I say no?

I found a pattern here, but it's got issewes, man.  I don't like patterns where you have to sew things on afterwards, because to me, that's just an invitation for some snotty three year old to pull them off (can you tell I have no children?  Soooo much empathy...)... and they won't stand up.  I've made two now, and I haven't been able to get either of them to stand on their own two (flat and floppy) feet.  So, in the interests of getting it right, I'm going to make a small change to the pattern, to incorporate a technique I learnt here - which is, to slice off a piece, add seam allowances to the big piece and the small sliced off piece, insert the 'whatever' between the two sliced off bits, and bam!  Feet inside body.  

Here's a pic of Mr First:

And here's a pic of Mr Second:

No, he's not dead.  He's just fallen over.  Bloody feet.

Ciao! 

Not Myrtle...

I hate that particular bit of rhyming.  Not sure why, but anyway... here's a couple I made earlier...

I made this one earlier in the week, and although he was a lot less fiddly than the guys above, he lacks pizzaz, and most importantly, a shell.  So, I had a bit of a rummage around in my files, and found this:


and so I made a couple.  The smallest size is the original pattern, and I just used my printer to up the second size to 125%.  Mine tilt forward a bit alarmingly, and I don't like the way the belly drags on the ground, so I'll be doing a bit of an adjustment to the pattern to stop that from happening - I also don't like the way the legs & belly are three separate, very fiddly pieces, so I'll be making a new middle piece to fix that.  I've got it printed at 150% as well, that I hope to make today.



They don't take a lot of fabric - in fact, I made the first one from a couple of 10" squares, but the second one, being a bit bigger, needs either two identical 10" squares for the body, or a fat quarter.  The rest of it you could certainly make out of a couple of 10" squares (the shell is lined).  I used safety eyes, rather than french knots.  The instructions are pretty good though, and for an experienced sewist, maybe an hour's work - the perfect gift for a small person.  

Ciao!

PS - the original pattern for Erin's turtle came from PurlBee - here's the link:

http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2013/9/15/mollys-sketchbook-myrtle-the-purl-turtle.html

skulls versus skills

This post is brought to you by the letter 'E' for effort, 'S' for skill, 'H' for hours of work and 'R' for repeated goes at getting this bloody thing right...

A cover for an eReader was requested by the lovely Miss Blue Lambb - she wanted something that could be closed over the reader, with elastic straps for the reader to slot into - so...

A pair of fabric pieces stitched together with the elastic between then, then quilted onto the matching lining piece, then quilt the outside piece onto the quilted calico inner liner, then add in a magnetic clasp, then make a strap, adding in the other piece of the magnetic clasp, stitch that onto the back of the cover, then stitch the lining and outer cover together... turn it all outside, topstitch it all to close the turning hole and ...
voila!

Now.  Did I mention that I had to make it twice?  I cut it out to the size of the measurements Miss BlueLamb gave me, then realised that it would be too small once it was made - so I made a pouch for her out of the leftovers...

In other news of unparalleled excitement, I've given up my day off once a fortnight, and now I'm working one day a week from home - apparently... so far it's only happened once in the last two weeks, but I'm making damn sure it's going to happen from now on.  

One of my colleagues is making me a little crazy, but I'm working on that... and I've been getting a bit of sleep, which is nice - and given that my colleague is making me crazy, it's probably just as well.

And now, back to old episodes of The Guardian.  Ciao!

Morecombe, Mumbai, Malden

Well, hello there!  I love seeing the list of cities and countries that pop up down the bottom of my blog - it's actual proof that there is life on other planets... 

I've been busy doing the usual frack, working, driving, sleeping... and yet more sleeping.  I've booked in for a sleep study on Tuesday, after seeing the specialist.  Lovely man, probably the nicest doctor I've ever dealt with.  You know sometimes they can be arrogant pricks?  Not this one.  He took a comprehensive history of my sleeping habits, the increasing need to sleep at weird and wonderful times, and the constant tiredness.  Words like 'snoring', 'loud vigorous snoring' and 'snorting' were discussed, along with the couple of times in my life when I've woken up feeling completely paralysed - it's a weird feeling - apparently you're actually not awake, you just think you are.  

Anyway, the word 'narcolepsy' was eventually raised, along with the doctor's eyebrows, especially when he heard about me having to have sleep in the carpark before starting work (lucky for me it's an underground carpark) because I've barely been able to keep my eyes open on the drive in...

I try to go to be in bed by 10.00pm most nights, and the alarm used to go off at 0530, and I'd be out the door by 0630.  Now, I can't even wake up till about 0620, and sometimes I go back to sleep and wake up at 0700, meaning I don't get to work until 0900.  It sucks. 

In other exciting news, I made a 1600 Quilt - using the very beautiful Lumiere De Noel fabrics from moda - one of my favourites.  I've left it at My Lovely Ma's, because I'm avoiding the 20 year long tradition of Festival of the Boot at The Boxes, and I'm going back to Perth for another long weekend, leaving Poor Mr Golightly behind.    Mixed blessings, hey?

And now, Gentle Readers, it's time for bed.  Buona notte!

Third time is enemy action...

On Tuesdays once a fortnight, I don't go to work.  I stay at home, and do stuff like this:

Ah, perfect day.  A second visit to the Doctor, lunch with my lovely MIL, sewing, putting the bins out, finding my wallet, tube of mascara, phone case and a knitting needle under the passenger seat in the car, buying dinner, proofreading a story written by Master H, a spot of Spooks (season 8, Mr Golightly being somewhat behindhand with his viewing) and then some knitting.

Tomorrow I have to go back to the August Institution, even though my lovely Dottoressa* gave me another two days off to deal with the lingering lurgy, and I will be finishing the performance reviews for my team.  That's the only reason I'm going in, really.  Otherwise I could be at home making more elephants.

I wish.

Ciao!

Wow!

I came home from visiting my lovely Ma over the weekend, to find not one, not two, not three, but four, (yep, four) parcels, on my doorstep.  Bras from Marks and Spencer, Cardigans from Woolovers, earrings from Cloud Nine Creative, and a mystery parcel.  I love those.  I opened it up to find something entirely unexpected:

You know how it is when sometimes you do something for somebody because you want to, not because you have to... and then bam!  A pay it forward gift.  A very similar scarf to this, courtesy of Mrs Pudding.  Mrs Fluid Pudding.  The extremely generous Mrs Fluid Pudding.   The extremely talented and kind Mrs Fluid Pudding.  Need I say more?

In other news, it was cold and wet in Perth, giving me a fabulous opportunity to take some photos:

It was cold, but just a bit atmospheric... wonderful...

I also got some nice 5" squares at the local market, some smelly soap, and a jar of fabulous Armenian pickled cucumber slices - yummy.

We did a lot of relaxing, and a bit of socialising - OGF Kaz & Az had also come over for the weekend, on their way to a week of wine tasting in the South of WA, and Az cooked one of his special feasts:

which finished up looking like this:

and which was delicious - and so was the scenery:

There were some beautiful blue wrens flying about, and this amazing robin, but they were too quick for me - probably should have put the quick shot thingy on the camera, but hey, I'm old & slow - and trees are easier to take than birds...

Well.  Some birds, anyway:

Truly the fattest bird I have ever seen.  Definitely not a carrier pigeon... and now?  Bed!

Ciao!