The merino-cotton was absolutely dreamy to sew; I’m totally in LOVE!!! It’s heavenly to wear too; so soft, comfortable and flattering!

Behold!!!

I’m so happy I waited; these are perfect!

My pattern starts at size 16 so i had to draw in the 14, as that’s what I needed at the time. This is pretty easy to do with a graded pattern; you just follow the lines of the other sizes, keeping your newly drawn size the same increments apart.

I used the 14, grading up to a 16 at the bust, although now I am finding this too big. I will likely have to draw in a 12 next time, based on the way the shoulders and body fit me now. I lengthened the body by 1-1/2″, and the sleeves by 5″, because they were an elbow length & I wanted long. I SHOULD have tapered the sleeve at the cuff because what I ended up with looks more like a light jacket but that’s ok

The pattern is great; I really like the collar treatment, and the ribbon finish on the inside placket.

I used a cotton ponte knit which was lovely to work with. I would totally make this again, tapering the sleeves next time for a more “cardigan” look

In other news, I’d like to give a HUUUUUUUUGE shout out with lots of love to my gal Emily of Calico Stretch. She shares my love of fitting and perfectionism, and she’s very talented and patient… just check out this blouse she made EIGHT alterations and several muslins for!!

When I posted that I was looking for some merino to make my Pavlova, she very kindly offered to pick some up for me on her next trip fabric shopping. Then she realized she had some cream coloured cotton merino jersey in her stash and offered to send that to me instead!!!! What an angel, right??? Big big hugs, Emily xoxo Here is a shot of the fabric before I cut it; it’s beautiful, semi opaque, and lovely and soft to the touch…. I can’t WAIT to wear it!

Now a few quick notes on the Cake Pavlova pattern (the closest thing to a dessert I’ve had in almost six weeks lol) I made a test version of some scrap jersey so I could feel confident cutting into my beautiful merino. It’s a VERY clever design, and makes a cute ballet-style wrap top which fits closely to the body. Only two things you need to be aware of before embarking on this pattern:

1. The hemline sits just slightly below your natural waist so you can’t wear it with low rise jeans unless you want your belly button hanging out. Not a biggie if you’re a young sassy teen but not exactly office appropriate for a classy woman in her thirties
2. The main pattern piece is HUGE. I had trouble finding a surface big enough to cut it, and for my test version, I ended up cutting part, sliding it over and then cutting the other part. Fortunately while foraging for clear buttons I found THIS:

(even the cat loves it!)

This is one of the BEST purchases I’ve ever made! This plus my beloved serrated scissors made cutting my merino Pavlova last night truly a pleasure

So I probably would have posted this blog update sooner but…..
I started a new job this week!!
Between trying to juggle a newly hectic schedule and fighting through the last two weeks of this diet, it’s barely left me time for anything else.

The hardest part was working a full week with barely ANY wardrobe… Nothing fits and I’m still losing weight so I wanted to wait to buy anything tailored. I did get one top and a pair of black dress pants with some stretch; between that and the few me-mades I have that fit, I made it through I’m gonna have to break down and buy a couple pair of trou when my diet is over next week though; I can’t sew that fast, and I’m still figuring out pant fitting Bottoms aren’t hard for me to find RTW, anyway, as long as I avoid styles that fit right at the waist. Anything involving the bust or waist though, I’m still gonna have to sew… aww darn, right?

So I am gonna get this Pavlova knocked out, take in my recent DKNY wrap dress (it’s too big now lol) and then I’ll share my new SWAP with you all! Stay tuned!

Now onto my happy problem. I’ve lost a bunch of weight, yo. And I’m still losing. None of my clothes fit me – including all my me-mades – which is kinda unfortunate, and leaves me with pretty much nothing to wear. I don’t want to buy or make anything new ’cause I’m still planning on losing more, but what do I do in the meantime?

Well I figured I could get started on a muslin for the Cake Pavlova top, as it’s on my SWAP list, and it is a form fitting wrap top made from jersey. If it’s a bit loose in the future, I can just tie it a bit tighter

I have some scrap jersey so I can test out the sizing at least and this will also give me an idea of what to work with for the Tiramisu when I get there

So making Clovers is out for awhile, but I thought maybe after the Pavlova I might do a quick wrap skirt or two – same idea as the top in terms of now/future fitting. What do you guys think for those ideas, to tie me over?

Sorry I’ve been quiet; I’m not really feeling like sewing lately, although I continue to be inspired by all of you

I have however, been nominated for a few awards, which I’d like to acknowledge and thank the givers of said awards

First off, has anyone on WordPress noticed that sometimes when you get an email notification of a new post from someone you follow, and then click on the link it says “post not found” or something along those lines? The reason I ask this is because this happened to me today, and I did find the post, and it reminded me that there were several that I got which did this a couple months ago, which then reminded me there was one where Vicki Kate nominated me for an award as well! However I just thought the post had been deleted at the time, so hence my very bad manners in not acknowledging it til now

So, thank you wholeheartedly to the lovely Vicki of VickikateMakes, and to CalicoStretch for nominating me for the One Lovely Blog awards – you are most generous and thoughtful and are very lovely yourselves!

I also got nominated again for the Liebster award, by MontanaDesigns, so thank you very much for the recognition, I truly appreciate it!

The rules of the first one seem to be that you need to write some stuff about yourself, and MontanaDesigns has provided me with some questions I am required to answer for the Liebster so I figured we could do it all at once, right? Here goes:

• What food would you be and why?

Chocolate, because I’m sweet, honest, naughty, and just so damn good LOL

• If there were no repercussions, would you tell people how you really felt about them?

I do, and that’s why I have very few friends LOL

• What animal would you be and why?

A cat; I’m pretty sure I have some cat in me as it is

• What is your favourite colour?

red, and sometimes orange

• How would you describe your style?

the style I STRIVE towards is: classic, elegant, timeless, sexy, sometimes edgy

• What music are you into?

Depeche Mode mostly, as well as eastern European and Meditteranean music (I discovered my love for this through belly dance)

• What would you tell your younger/older self and why?

It gets better. It really really does. Hang in there – you’re so effing smart and beautiful, and one day you’ll see it.

• Tea or coffee?

both!

• How long have you been crafting?

all my life, in one way or another

• What season do you like best?

definitely fall I absolutely LOVE the coolness, the fog, the smell of bonfire, the frost on the ground in the morning, and a perfect sunny cold October day which includes ALL of these things

• What is your favourite shop?

My happy places are Opus art supplies (I’m an artist first), Fabricland, and Chapters.

Thanks again, ladies, for the nominations, it means a lot to me!

I am supposed to nominate recipients, but I’m going to be naughty and say I refuse to choose only 11, or 7, or whatever it is, so you ALLLLLLLL get awards!! Whoop Whoop! Love you XO

Cheers,
Symon

The main reason is that it’s been a week on this diet, and while so far I’m doing really good, the first few days were really tough; I suffered from some pretty crappy detox symptoms, which apparently is normal when you cut starches and sugars out of your diet.

As a result I’ve been incredibly unproductive the past week, and barely got anything done.

The other problem is that now that I can see this program is probably going to work for me, I don’t see the point in continuing to make stuff that won’t fit me in a month or two. I’d rather wait and save my time, energy and pretty fabrics for when I can actually keep and wear them longer

I have been working on a cardigan, however, cause I had it started and I figured it’s ok if a cardi is a bit big I just haven’t made much progress, because of the aforementioned lack of energy from detoxing.

Now that that’s over though, I have more energy and am feeling great! I suspect I’ll have something to post maybe by the end of this week – next week at the latest

Cheers all! ^_^

I debated on whether to write this post because it’s pretty personal but I thought if I could help one person feel that they weren’t alone, it would be worth it.

I’ve struggled with weight issues all my life. Like my mum, despite our best efforts to maintain a healthy diet and regular exercise, it’s a constant uphill battle with our metabolisms. Back when I was in my early 20′s I joined a gym, took martial arts and carried around a little notebook, pen & calculator everywhere to record & calculate my food calories & fat grams. I knew if I wanted results it would take a hardcore commitment. I lost 40 lbs in 9 months and never felt better. Then I went to college for 3 years, followed by eight years of career, and all that weight came back and more.

Over the years, I’ve tried cleanses, diets, lots of stuff. Nothing worked. Finally in November 2011, I decided to do the only thing that worked for me in my 20′s – go hardcore. I began working out every day, counting calories and eating clean (mostly). It’s taken me over a year this time but I’ve lost just over 35 lbs. Problem is, I still have a ways to go and I’ve been in a plateau for over a month. In fact, I’ve even gained a couple lbs despite still maintaining a calorie deficit. SO depressing

My mum recently told me about this diet her friend went on, and which she is planning to try. Her friend lost over 20 lbs on it, and she was the same; had tried everything else and nothing worked. It sounded at first like every other fad lose weight quick scam out there and I was immediately skeptical. But I did three days of intense research, and my skepticism turned to grudging respect as I began to see there was indeed research, scientific evidence, and lots of success stories.

I’m not going to go into it too deeply because this isn’t a promotion for products or diets. What I am going to say is that it’s going to require a very large amount of dedication and determination on my part, and there’s gonna be some foods I’m going to miss for a couple months – and not even really bad ones either lol. Similar to the Paleo diet, this one really limits your food choices, and for the first part, there’s no starch or fats allowed.

I’m hoping this will be the thing that kicks my metabolism back in gear, but if not, at least I tried. In the words of my wise mum, “Time is passing anyway; you may as well do something with it!”

I moved it up in the rotation to keep the spirit of the pyramid alive, and because it’s a great versatile dress I knew I could use right away.

I chose this pattern, Vogue 1027:

I used a charcoal jersey I bought on my meetup with Andrea. I wanted the skirt shorter and less full, so I redrafted the skirt as an A-line. I also decided I wanted long sleeves, so I used the sleeve pattern from a basic tshirt pattern and redrafted the armscye to fit, as the original pattern has the cap sleeve built into the bodice pieces.

I had to make some minor adjustments but I was really happy with the results – a long sleeve dress is awesome in winter, with fuzzy tights and boots!!

Please excuse the grainy quality of the pics; the lighting in here is terrible!

I didn’t add the elastic casing at the waist, as the way it’s constructed, the tie is sewn on, sandwiched between the bodice & skirt so it’s pretty bulky there. I don’t think I’d attach the tie if I sewed this again.

All the hems, side seam, and the neck/front bodice opening call for a double stitch finish. I sewed the double seams with a single needle on my machine, eyeballing it. I did not use my serger at all, though I could have for the construction seams.

Closeup of the pleats on the bodice:

I liked this feature!!

All in all, a very comfortable, wearable dress that I’ve already worn once and will wear lots, I’m sure!

I should specify. I hate GETTING someone to take photos of me WEARING my makes. It’s a pain, and the lighting in our apartment is poor even in broad daylight in the summer. (which it’s not lol)

Anyway, enough excuses; I figured I’d get this post out of the way to catch me up; I made two of my SWAP items and they’re both tops you’ve seen on every other blogger so I figured if there were no shots of me, that’d be fine lol

The only adjustments I made to both was an FBA; on the Renfrew though it was a simple grade since it is a knit. This is my second and third top now, and it’s becoming clear to me that I need to lengthen my tops by about an inch and a half – mainly because I wear my skirts and pants below my natural waist. So next top I’m definitely implementing that adjustment too.

Here is my Jasmine:

I made the view with notched sleeve cuffs and the smaller collar tie. Everything turned out nicely except the sleeves are a little tight.

And here is a closeup of the collar on my Renfrew; I made the short sleeve V neck version. I had to eyeball the double stitching bits ’cause I only have a single needle. The collar was a bit finicky to do at the V part but I’m happy with the result

Sorry for the copout photos, folks – my next post will have proper shots, I promise ^_^

Congratulations!!!

Please send me your mailing deets and I’ll fire that off to you ASAP! ^_^

On the subject – I moved my Pattern Pyramid make up in the queue and have made great progress so far, so I expect to have a post for that shortly!!

Take care & happy sewing!

We had a great discussion about knowing what styles work on us; not just because of our figures, but our personalities. I thought about this a lot on my travels home that day, and have been since then. That was the main inspiration for this post.

Also, at one point in our discussion, Andrea had asked me how I got into sewing, and it made me think. That was the other part of my inspiration.

My journey to sewing has been a bit backwards. I grew up with a familiarity towards sewing (my mum is an amazing seamstress, and used to make all our clothes, as well as tailor my dad’s suits, growing up). But despite the fact I always had an INTEREST in sewing and design, I didn’t develop the PATIENCE for sewing until I was in my late 20′s, and only began teaching myself just over a year ago.

That’s partly the reason I say I’m backwards, but also because I like to dive in the deep end with things – it’s the challenging, scary stuff that really excites me! As an artist, exploring new genres of creativity is my lifeblood – so this process is not new to me, and I typically learn the skill part of things very fast and then savour the process of perfecting them thereafter.

When I first started sewing just over a year ago, I had in my mind visions of perfectly fitting, stylish, unique and high quality clothes that would reflect on the outside who I truly am on the inside. I’d studied in depth the theory and science of draping and corsetry and had fallen head over heels in love!!

I began with such excitement; so much to learn, conquer and accomplish! And even better; I’d discovered the awesomeness that is this sewing community – a boundless support system of beautiful people, endless inspiration and so much information

But with so many decisions to make I quickly became distracted… I made garments that didn’t suit me in colours and fabrics that weren’t me. What’s worse, my dreams moved faster than my skills and I found it difficult to achieve the perfect fit and finish I’d dreamed of right away (gee, what a shock! lol)

I soon came to a phase where I was creating really slowly… I just wasn’t excited about my makes. I’d learned a lot in a short time, but my garments went unworn and I started to lose my passion. They were made well, and I was proud of my execution, but I had been more concerned with making garments that would ‘fit in’ and be ‘blog interesting’ rather than garments that reflected my own style.

The first step in the right direction was making my Bombshell Dress. I made it in colours I adored, a fabric I loved, and a style that screamed ME!! The combination of advanced techniques, including having to drape the bodice cups, was absolute aphrodisiac to me… I was in heaven!

I vowed after that not to make anything else that wasn’t me… I wanted to feel excited about sewing all the time! Of course, nothing since has been quite as intoxicating as making that dress, and one can’t exactly go around wearing boned vintage dresses everywhere, but it was a turning point.

So back at Square One, I still had no wardrobe and what little I did have was getting too big, as I was losing weight. I read a post by Steph C of Cake Patterns about creating a capsule wardrobe: carefully choosing a limited colour palette and a selection of garments that could work together. It’s a smart idea, and just what I need to keep me on track, ensuring my makes fit my style and what I’ll actually wear.

Since then a wonderful thing has happened: I’m making clothes I actually wear and I’ve found myself loving the process a lot more. I love planning, I love creating and I love the fact I’m finally building a wardrobe that feels like me. I’m developing MY style, and I’m letting myself sew colours I love without apology. Yes there’s a lot of black and red. I’m ok with that. I can see my skills catching up with my dreams and its pretty rad.

So I don’t participate in community sewalongs or challenges as much – but even though I don’t sport the Seamless badge, I haven’t bought any RTW in months; and though I don’t join in sewalongs or pledges as much, I can still live vicariously through all you wonderful, colourful, spontaneous sewists out there – I’ll keep sewing alongside you though…. in my ‘boring’ blacks and solid colours and simple styles ^__^

Lots of love & happy sewing – whatever your colours and styles! ^_^

And thank you, Andrea, for your wonderful company and for the amazing conversation we shared – I look forward to next time! ^_^