Planning and reflecting

Thanks for all your well wishes, I'm still out of action with a very nasty sprained ankle, so I haven't been able to do any sewing.  I have been doing a lot of planning and reflecting though.

The silk below is sitting waiting to be made into a top and I'm planning some basics to go with it.  These pants need to be replaced and I have a black pencil skirt cut and ready to be sewn up.  I also need some more casual tees and I'm thinking about using Tessuti's Lola tee.  I've also got a piece of hot pink cotton/linen which is just begging to be made into a pair of shorts and I think I'm going to give it a try, even if it's quite different to what I normally wear.

On to the reflection.  

I'm at the end of my first month of the RTW fast and so far I'm really enjoying it.  I thought January would be really hard with all the sales, but it has just made me want to sew more.  I'm really interested to see if this continues for the rest of the year, maybe 2014 will be really productive :) 

Strangely I haven't bought much fabric this month either.  Generally when I can't clothes shop and I can't sew, I shop online.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this!  There is, of course, a beautiful piece of silk on the Tessuti website which is very loudly calling my name... I think it's time to go and have another look.  I hope you're sewing up a storm.

Casual - StyleArc and Tessuti

 I love summer, but you wouldn't know it from the clothes in my wardrobe.

When I cleaned it out the other day I realised my summer wardrobe, both work and casual, is severely lacking.  I didn't own a single white t-shirt.  To make things a little bit more interesting I thought I'd try StyleArc's Rowe's tunic which I've loved since I first saw it.

It's an easy pattern with some nice design lines.  The instructions for the v-neck would be a bit sparse for a beginner, but otherwise it's a really simple make.  This is a straight size 12 with no changes and I'm pretty happy with the outcome.  The neckband seam is just slightly off at the front which is a bit annoying, but this was really just a test made up in some leftovers so I'm not too fussed.  I'll be making this one again in a fabric with more drape.

Melbourne had a bit of a cool spell recently so I decided to try Tessuti's Mandy Boat Neck Tee too (bonus - it's free) in their lime line fabric.  This is a great pattern and I really like the way the neckline is finished.  This is a one sized pattern and I made it up without any changes, but the arms feel just a little too tight.  It's wearable but if I make it again (and I probably will) I'd use a stretchier fabric or a 1/4 seam allowance.

I had a bit of a moment earlier today and wasn't going to post these items - I just felt like they were too basic or too boring to blog.  I kind of feel like I should blog about amazing items or pieces with tricky construction techniques (and if I could take a good photo that would help too).  In the end I decided I was being silly.  This is me.  This is what I wear.  This is my little corner of the internet and I'm going to blog what ever makes me feel happy :)

Fasting and goals

Happy New Year to you all.

This year I am joining in Goodbye Valentino's RTW fast.

In 2014 I won't be purchasing any RTW clothing.  I've been debating whether or not to sign up since I first saw the invitation and I've decided that sometimes you just need to jump and work out the details later!  I kept trying to work out why I wanted to do it and the answer came to me when I was getting dressed for work.  I couldn't find anything to wear (yes, yes I know, we all say that as we stand in front of a full wardrobe).  In all honesty I have kept so many clothes that I don't wear because they don't fit me/aren't my style that it's a real struggle when I get dressed.  I end up donating a lot of what I buy.  I need more clothes that fit me.  So today I'm sorting through everything that doesn't fit or feel good, donating it and then writing a big sewing list!!

My sewing goals for 2014 are pretty simple.  

1. Be realistic.  I work a full time job and have three kids who each play a whole lot of sport.  I don't have many spare hours to sew.  I shouldn't expect the same type of output as someone who sews for a living!! (Comparison is the thief of joy, right?!)
2. Use the lingerie kits.  I now have five beautiful lingerie kits, another two on the way and several patterns in my stash and I haven't sewn one bra.  I will remedy that this year.
3. Sew BWOF #105 9/2008.  It has been on my 'to sew' list since it came out.  I have the fabric and the buttons, and I even started it in 2012 but stopped when I realised it was way too big.  Time to get it done.
4. Make a versatile, really warm winter coat.  With all the kids sport there is going to be plenty of weekends and nights spent outdoors and I'm not going to shiver because I don't have a warm coat.  I have the fabric, I have the pattern. 
5. Get off the couch and into the sewing room.  There are too many times when I flop on the couch at the end of a long day and blog surf.  Then I complain to Wade that I have no time to sew.  I need to use my time better.

That's it.  Short and simple but I'm sure it won't be easy, especially number 5.  Do you make resolutions/goals?  If you do, how do you keep on track?

Now it feels challenging

I love the first week of Me Made May.  It's all excitement, inspiration and good vibes.

Things usually start to get a bit tricky around week 2.  That's when I ask myself why I pledged to wear two me made items every day.  I've worn a lot of me made undies to fulfill my daily quota :)

My me made wardrobe is not yet at a point where I can put together a full months worth of outfits that I feel good about.  At the moment work is hectic, my personal life is hectic and studying is taking up much more time than I thought it would.  I need my clothes to help me feel good and well put together and I don't feel like it's happening at the moment, but I'm not going to give up.  Alright, enough navel gazing, lets take a look at what I wore.

Day 8

Wearing Simplicity 3686 slim fit pants, self draft top and Simplicity 2443 jacket.  Crazy dogs are optional!

 Day 9

 Wearing Simplicity 2451 skirt and Butterick 5627 top. This outfit looks much better with the black cardigan and shoes that I took off!

Day 10

Wearing another version of Simplicity 3686 pants and Simplicity 2443 jacket.

Day 11

Wearing Simplicity 3538 jacket (pre-blog) and BWOF 2/2007 105b t-shirt (un-blogged). 

Day 12

Wearing my japanese balloon top and me made undies. 

Day 13

Only wearing one me made item today and it's my stripey Kwik Sew 3740 top. 

Day 14

Had to borrow a Flickr photo from last year, but it's the exact same outfit.  Simplicity 3631 jacket (pre-blog) and Vogue 8685 dress 

Favourite outfit of the week goes to day 11, I do love that jacket and the t-shirt fabric is soft and beautiful to wear.  My least favourite is probably day 10, it needs a different top and day 9 looked better when I had my black cardigan on - the proportions look wrong when I take it off.

I think week three is going to be even tougher!

Week 1 done and dusted

Whew.  I've survived week one of Me Made May and already I've discovered that my wardrobe hasn't changed much, but my tastes have!

My favourite ensemble is day 1 - those pants are worn once a week and the variety of colours in the silk top means it can go with so many things.  And it's silk. enough said.

My least favourite would be day 6 - there's nothing particularly wrong with it, it just doesn't make me feel good.  Generally I wear that as a casual top so I just didn't feel very 'put together' for work.

Most inappropriate outfit goes to day 3 - that dress is far too short for me to wear to work, but I did it anyway and pretended it was ok because it was Friday.

Here's the outfits with links to the item's original blog posts.

Day 1: Simplicity 3686 pants and McCall's 6519 top.

Day 2: My leggings are from Ottobre Woman 2/2008 #16 and the Dress/tunic is Butterick 5247

Day 3: The dress and cowl are both from Simplicity 2054

Day 4: brand new (un-blogged) Renfrew top, self drafted cardigan (pre-blog), also wearing me made undies

 Day 5: Ottobre Woman 2/2008 #16 leggings and McCall's 5630 shirt.  

 Day 6: Simplicity 3686 pants (apparently made pre blog!) and Kwik Sew 3740 wool top

Day 7: Butterick 5627 and a brand new pair of (as yet unblogged) Ohhh Lulu Lola undies. 

And so it begins...

It's the first day of Me Made May 2013!

Despite being completely shocked that it's actually May (how did that happen?) I'm really excited to be taking part in MMM again.

I often find it a struggle towards the end of the month so we'll see how it goes this time.  May looks like it's going to be slightly less hectic than January - April, so I should be able to eke out a little more time in my sewing room.  In fact I have a little project on the go and I love the way it's shaping up.

Here's my pledge:

I, Robyn of Sew Love Red sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear a minimum of two handmade garments each day for the duration of May 2013.

And today's me-made items are Simplicity 3686 pants (blogged here) and McCall's 6519 top (blogged here).  Not sure what's going on with the angle of the photo, but that's what happens when your 13 year old snaps a quick photo as you're rushing out the door and you're running late.

*Edited to add*

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your kind thoughts and well wishes for Paige.  She's recovering beautifully and to look at her now you'd never know she'd been sick.  My biggest challenge at the moment is trying to get her slow down!

A Summer Jewel

On the last day of summer I decided to sew a pair of bathers.  Maybe not the best timing but the idea had been rolling around in my mind for a while and we had a family holiday planned which included a day at a water park.  New bathers were needed.

I haven't owned a one piece in over 20 years.  I'm fairly proportionately tall (long arms, long legs and long body) which means that RTW bathers don't fit.  I'm either pulling them out of my backside or pulling them up to prevent unintended flashing.  Definitely not a good look and not very comfortable either.  RTW tankinis are no better, they always ride up exposing my stomach.

I decided to use a combination of Kwik Sew 3609 (bust detailing and straps) and Kwik Sew 3779 (lining pieces only).

I made a quick muslin of the body to check the length and then I cut into the good stuff.  I cut a medium adding 1.25 inches through the waist.  I used a matte nylon lycra for the outer fabric and fully lined the body with a lighter weight nylon lycra - both fabrics were lucky finds at Spotlight.  There seemed to differing advice over the type of elastic to use, my only choices were knitted or rubber, I used the rubber.  These were sewn entirely on my sewing machine using either a narrow zig-zag or three step zig-zag.  KS 3779 has a centre back seam which I didn't want so I had to create my own back pattern piece.  I also took my Mum's advice and stitched a piece of woven ribbon into the straps so that they didn't keep on getting longer and longer as they got wet.

I find it difficult to visualise fit if I can't see a picture, be gentle with me!

These were fantastic at Wet'n'Wild, everything stayed where it should, there were no wardrobe malfunctions and I was comfortable.  Three major wins.  That being said there are things I would change.  To me, these are cut incredibly low on the leg, next time I'd probably raise them at least an inch.  This might sound a little strange, but I think they're a little large. Generally bathers have negative ease and these don't have a lot, you can see some excess fabric in the back.  Finally, the back lining got a little baggy when it was wet.  I think that during my late night sewing session I cut the lining fabric with the greatest stretch going vertically instead of horizontally, but all the same I think that I'd cut the lining fabric slightly narrower next time around (more experienced swim wear sewers please chime in with your advice!)  

If, like me, you've never you've never sewn swimwear before I'd recommend starting with a Kwik Sew pattern, the instructions are fantastic.  These were so easy to sew that I've already started dreaming up more ideas.  Then again there are a couple of projects that need completing before they become UFOs and then there's autumn/winter sewing to plan for...

Me Made May Week 2

Yep - I'm still behind schedule, but I will catch up.  Here's a quick round up of week 2 for those of you who don't check the Flickr group.

Day 8

I had to do a big presentation to senior management today so I wore Butterick 5627, I love this dress and always feel good in it.

Day 9

Wearing my Simplicity 2443 jacket and Simplicity 3686 pants to celebrate a promotion.

Day 10

Running late today so grabbed whatever I could find, BWOF button down skirt and Simplicity 3538 gold linen jacket.

Day 11

I celebrated my birthday in another BWOF top and a self drafted wool cardi - had big plans to check out the offerings at Tessuti but ended up staying home with a sick child.

Day 12

Forgot to take a photo today so I borrowed an old one - I wore Vogue 8771 and some me made undies under my jeans.

Day 13

Mother's Day and I managed to find a bit of time to make myself the short sleeve version of Butterick 5247 worn over the top of my other BWOF top.

Day 14

Had a daytime date with hubby today - coffee, shopping, lunch and a movie - and wore my striped BWOF t-shirt and my gold Simplicity 3538 jacket.  These two items are probably get the most ware of everything in my wardrobe because they're so easy to mix and match.

MMM - Week 1 Round Up

OK I'm a little bit slow to get this done, but better late than never right?

I always have way too many plans for Me Made challenges but this one got off to a really slow start.  I have been able to stick to my pledged two items a day or a dress (even if one day I had to count my undies), but they've been a little less than inspiring.  Let's pretend I'm building up to a big finale.  

Day 1

I was home from work sick on day one so I've gone for comfort - yoga pants and t-shirt both from old copies of BWOF.

Day 2

Back to work and I'm still on a comfort kick in my  Ottobre leggings (2/2008 #16) and thick wool jersey dress (Butterick 5247).                            

Day 3

Feeling more alive in Simplicity 3686 pants and striped Kwik Sew 3740 top.

Day 4

An all Me Made outfit today - my pants are another version of Simplicity 3686, my top is a self drafted t-shirt and my jacket is Simplicity 2443.                       

Day 5

Another Kwik Sew 3740 - this time in a merino jersey and some me-made undies (I won't be modelling those online!)

Day 6

Wearing my latest creation McCall's 5630 shirt and my Kwik Sew 3740 striped top again.

Day 7

A miserable day so I pulled out a couple of old favourites, my dress is Vogue 8685 and my jacket is Simplicity 3631.

Week 1 is done and dusted and I've even managed to squeeze in a little bit of sewing so I should be able to debut a new outfit soon.

My Sewing Room

There's still not a lot of sewing going on around here.  I'm home from work sick (can't remember the last time a bucket was an essential accessory) but daytime TV is doing my head in so I thought I'd show you my newly updated sewing room.  Last week's public holiday turned out to be a building day, rather than a sewing day, but I'm not complaining.  I should probably have tidied up before I took the photos!

 I hadn't realised how plain the room looks

Oh look - there's the vacuum cleaner...and a stubby holder. 

I can't tell you how much I love all that storage and the beautiful big cutting table.  It's not finished yet - holes need to be cut in the bench top for the machine leads, the buffet (side table) needs to come out and there are some built in shelves going in eventually as well.  And it needs some colour, I'd love some prints from Etsy but we'll have to see how the budget goes.  We still need to work out what we'll put on the top of the cutting table, at the moment it's an old piece of laminate, but I'll sort that out later.

So what have I been able to do?  Well I've started a refashioning project, cut out three pairs of PJ pants for my youngest and OOP McCall's 5630 is on the go for me.

And just as I was congratulating myself on how well my shirt was going, this happened.

Total rookie mistake - added the extra length for the waist but not for the hem.

Me Made May kicks off tomorrow - are you ready?

Signing on

Not much sewing happening over here.  I've got patterns and fabrics matched up and ready to go (I've even pre-washed my fabric) but all the options seem to have overwhelmed me and so I'm doing nothing (except shopping - but that's another story).

To help get myself moving I've signed up for Me Made May.  While I struggled at times with the challenges last year I actually really enjoyed completing them.  This year I'm upping the ante a little and pledging to wear two me made items a day.

'I, Robyn of Sew Love Red, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '12. I endeavour to wear at least two me made pieces each day for the duration of May 2012'.

Last night I forced myself to cut out a dress in the hope that it would give me a bit of a jump start...it's sort of working.  Hopefully I'll have something to show soon.  Aside from a melted credit card that is :)

Self Stitched September: Week 1 round up

I'm so close to having something finished to show you, but in the mean time here's a quick recap of what I've been wearing for week one of Self Stitched September (SSS).  I've decided to extend my challenge a little bit too, for the next three weeks I want to wear a SS outfit once a week, rather than just one item, and dresses don't count.

Day 1

My Frankenpattern dress - top half is Simplicity 2281 and the bottom half is Vogue 8685.

Day 2

 Simplicity 3686 pants - a sad day as we attended a family funeral.

Day 3

 My most recently finished item - Kwik Sew 3740 top.

Day 4

Feeling terrible in Ottobre leggings - can't remember the issue details but they're on the blog somewhere.

Day 5

No outfit today.  I spent the entire day in bed sick. 

Day 6

Back to work in a BWOF skirt - my very first time sewing from the Burd World of Fashion magazines. 

Day 7

 Quick and easy in Vogue 8685

You can check out all the photos from SSS over here on Flickr.