Denim Skirt for Andrea

This is Andrea and her Grandma (my friend Joan) on the patio at their house. Andrea is wearing the skirt that she designed - I drafted the pattern and then stitched it. It fitted better than I hoped and she said she loved it. Thank goodness for that :-) This photo was taken in March and I've just realised how long it is since I wrote a blog post! I will do better...

Lucet

My Father in Law made this lucet for me out of Jarrah (an Australian wood which is very hard and has a fine grain). He smoothed it with a very fine sandpaper and used beeswax to polish the surface so that it is nice to handle and the yarn will slide over the surface of it easily. It still needs a hole at the base of the handle. A lucet is used to make cord with a square cross-section. I'll take another photo once I've made some cord.

Denim Dress Alterations Finished

These are the changes I've made to the Denim Dress. I removed the sleeves and collar by unpicking (rather than cutting) so that I retained the maximum amount of fabric and the original neckline and armhole shapes. The large shoulder pads were also removed. I restitched the shoulder seam, making it wider at the shoulder tip and narrower towards the neck. I tapered the seam so that I took in about 1/2" at the neck and 1-1/2" at the shoulder tip. This raised the dress slightly so the armhole didn't gape and awful lot. At the underarm I took in about 1" tapering to zero just above the gathered skirt seam. This gave a better fit under the arm. Then I removed some width from the back and front panels so that the shoulder seam ended just in front of the shoulder tip. I tapered this fabric removal to zero about 2" behind and in front of the side seams. I removed fabric from the neck area to give a slightly scooped neckline. I was careful to cut so that the existing button closure was in a "sensible" place for both stitching the facing by machine and as a fastening. I cut bias strips 1-1/2" wide from the sleeve fabric and used these to face the armholes and neck edge. For seams I stitched with blue thread and then changed to a tan thread to match the existing "visible" stitching. I'm quite pleased with the result - a good, everyday "working" dress which doesn't look quite as "Anne of Green Gables - ish" as the original. I'm debating whether to shorten it and also whether to dye it with some red dye so that it becomes purple - although I do like this shade of blue denim.

Blue Dress Altered

This the "after" photo. This was a linen dress I bought many years ago. This dress used to reach my ankles and the skirt resembled jodphurs - there was such a pronounced curve at the hip on the side seam. Because the length restricted movement quite a bit and the hip curve looked a bit odd I didn't wear it much.

I decided that taking in the skirt side seams and chopping 10" off the length would be easy to do and I might end up with a dress I could wear more frequently. I like the easy fit of this dress so much now I'm planning to make a paper pattern in a similar style. As it is such a basic dress shape and uses minimal fabric, I can imagine the pattern will be very useful. I like the neckline and it fits well under the arms.

Denim Dress Restyling Challenge

This dress has been taking up space in my wardrobe for who knows how long. 25-30 years perhaps, judging from the shoulder pads! The only reason I don't wear it is because it is out of style - and has been for some time :-) The fabric is still perfectly good with no stains, and because of the style/loose fit it should be relatively easy to modify by removing bits (in my mind adding bits seems more difficult). I like the pintuck detail on the front. I'm going to remove the shoulder pads, unpick the collar and the sleeves and then try it on again to see what modifications it needs. I'm planning on a sundress or short sleeve dress so it will be interesting to see how much gapping there is around the armhole, how much the dress 'drops' and/or drapes towards the centre without the shoulder pads, and what changes I'll need to make to the neck. The long sleeves means I have some fabric to play with if I do need to add some (eg under the arms) and to make bias strips/facings for the neck & armholes. If all else fails it will make a brilliant art/messy crafts apron and I will have gained hanging space in my wardrobe!

Andrea's Denim Skirt Finished

I was talking with Andrea a few weeks ago about the pattern drafting lessons I'd been doing and while we were chatting I said I would draft a pattern and sew a skirt for her if she came up with a design. I finished it this morning so all it needs now is a body to find out if it fits and whether she likes it! The stretch denim I used is lovely - very soft to the touch so it should be very comfortable to wear. And I've quite a bit left - plenty to make a skirt for me (different design of course). Andrea drew the zip at the side but the fabric is quite thick and I thought it might look a bit lop-sided if I put it on the side seam, so I moved it to the centre back.

Felting Workshop

These felted pieces were created during a WAFTA 2-day workshop with tutor Lee Anne Davis. We made pre-felts, layered prefelts with various fabrics, and stitched into the result with various yarns. The idea was to experiment with as many fabrics and yarns as we could. Then the whole assembly was fully felted. None of these are finished as the idea was to further embellish the fully felted pieces with more stitching. Most of the class were working with beautifully fine soft Merino fleece - I had coarser hand dyed Corriedale (I think) which had been given to me by my friend Joan years ago when she moved house. It worked just as well for the techniques but wouldn't be quite as nice to wear next to the skin as the Merino. I measured the blue and orange sample prior to felting so I could record the amount of shrinkage. Prior to felting the design measured 5-3/8 inches, after felting it measured 4-7/8 inches. All of my fabrics were synthetic and solid colours - patterned silk chiffon or georgette pieces work brilliantly with this technique and complement the softness of the Merino. Thank you Lee Anne for sharing your knowledge so generously and graciously. It was a wonderful workshop - I had a great time despite the heat. Have a look at the WAFTA website here http://www.wafta.com.au/events.html to see some images of Lee Anne's work.

Skirt from old jeans

I drafted a pattern for a twelve gore skirt for myself. I cut each panel from the "good bits" of old worn out jeans. Once I stitched the panels together and tried the fit I was a bit worried it might be a bit too straight for walking so I added a pleat at the back. I recycled the waistband from one of the pairs of jeans so that it had a "real" jeans button. The seams have been embroidered with a cross stitch embroidery stitch available on my Pfaff in order to really flatten them, strengthen them and finish the raw edges all in one operation. The embroidery took ages and I probably won't use that stitch again just for that reason. I'm pleased with the result and plan to make another twelve gore skirt with a little more flare in each panel so I can eliminate the pleat. I made this one mainly to test the fit around the waist and hips, and that was very comfortable.

Overdyed Skirt

I bought this skirt from the local op shop. I liked the style of the bold print but not the colours of cream, light turquoise and greenish blues on a navy background. I liked the shape of the skirt and the way it fitted me. It had a navy polyester lining and the print fabric was cotton. So I decided to buy it anyway and try dyeing it. I used a weak solution of Rubine to turn the cream pink and the greenish blues more purplish. I like the colours now so that little experiment was definitely worth doing. The uneven hem is an illusion caused by the breeze moving the skirt around while Russ took this photo - the hem is actually level.

Christmas Decorations

I have just made these 2 decorations for swapping with others in the Designing Women group at our last meeting for the year. Both were made up as I went along. The hexagonal paper and beads decoration was made by painting one side of several red card hexagons with gold paint. Then I made a template hexagon for the placement of the holes for stringing with the beads. I pieced the holes by using an awl and with a protective mat on the table.

The star was made by nipping off the sharp ends of 5 satay sticks and holding them temporarily together in an over/under/over fashion with sticky tape while I tied the points. Then I tied several strands to make a pattern and make it more secure. I made sure I tied all ends at the points of the star so that I got a fluffy effect at each point. Once I had a pattern of threads I twisted a few extra strands around them to make them thicker. I twisted a few strands of gold thread around all the threads and the sticks, and last of all I tied some extra strands at the points to make them "fluffier". I quite like the subtle, almost natural look of this one. Painting the sticks first and using red thread with gold highlights would work well too I think.

Houston Quilt Show 2009

Inspiration plus! I've just been looking at the videos and photos from the Houston 2009 Quilt Show at http://www.quilts.com/
To see the videos click on the Ruby Slippers and then on Videos.

Quilt of Belonging

The Quilt of Belonging has 263 hexagonal blocks representing 71 Aboriginal groups and 192 immigrant nationalities found in Canda. It is 36m long and 3.5 metres high. Each block has been photographed and info about it recorded. I haven't looked at them all yet but thought you might find it interesting too. The website is http://www.invitationproject.ca/ and I'm going to add a permanent link in my links section of the blog.

WAFTA "Naturally" Exhibition

The WAFTA "Naturally" exhibition is wonderful, with a huge variety of work presented as either a 3.6m hanging banner or as a sculptural work. The exhibition is at the Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, 46 Henry St, Fremantle, Western Australia. It is on from 8-16th August 2009 and open 10am to 5pm every day.

I’ve got 2 pieces in it which I only finished by the skin of my teeth (2.30am!) because I also did the invite, the catalogue and the floor sheet (with lots of input from Kate, Louise and Alison). The exhibition is well worth the trip to Freo - that's a cut lunch and a water bag from here! The opening was last Friday night and I had no idea that so many people went to exhibition openings. The catalogue is a gold coin donation but other than that entry is free.

You can download the invitation and floor sheet for the exhibition, and read more about it here

http://www.wafta.com.au/exhibition.html

All of these photos were taken by Louise Snook, President of WAFTA. The "Hanging Committee" are... L to R Front: Louise Snook, Mandy Harwood, Rosie Whitehead and Tanya Peters. L to R Back: Wendy Lugg, Liz Arnold, Anne Williams, Kate Weedon-Jones and Trudi Pollard. The middle photo is of Mandy and Mark hanging works using cherry picker. The last photo is a sneak preview of the exhibition.

The thank you section of the catalogue reads: Thanks go to the exhibition organising sub-committee: Liz Arnold, Alison Barrett, Mandy Harwood, Kate Weedon-Jones, Lia Overman, Tanya Peters, Helena Pollard, Trudi Pollard, Louise Snook (Chairperson), and Anne Williams. Thanks also to the WAFTA general committee for all their support, especially Heather Morton and Lisa Repsevicius. Additional thanks go to Brian Thompson of Snap Printing.

ATC's

Yesterday at Designing Women we swapped ATC's. The burgundy and tan set is my set of 20 before swapping. I made a stamp using a block of wood to which I glued some foam shapes. The fabric is silk that was rust-dyed at a friends house last month. Then I hand embroidered each one using 2 strands of cotton with the aim of making each one unique. I put my signature, website and blog address on the back by printing onto T-shirt transfer paper. The edges are finished by trapping a thin embroidery wool under a satin stitch.

The multi coloured set is what I received from the swap. Not everyone finished all 20 cards on time so those who swapped this weekend have only 12 so far. The rest will be swapped as they are finished.

I enjoyed making these. So much so that I made another set! Not sure who I'm going to swap with though...

I Can Post Photos Again!

Well, the computer technician fixed it. A couple of weeks ago he changed a firewall setting on the router - today he changed it back to it's original setting and now I can post photos again. Hurrah!

This is the pile of fabric pieces and the cache of buttons I ended up with once I cut up 10 of Russ' old uniform shirts. I have been busy since then folding, binding and clamping the pieces ready for the Rust and Tannic dyeing day at a friends house on Tuesday. I'll post a photo of the prepared fabric tomorrow.

No photos

I don't seem to be able to post photos to my blog anymore. I'm getting very frustrated with it. I've read the FAQ's. I've cleared the cache. I've changed the pop-up window setting. I've reduced the size of the photo. And I can't see how to email blogger for help. It seems to be since we upgraded to IE8. Where is the computer technician when you need him?

Recycling Old Uniform Shirts

I've decided to create another piece for the WAFTA Exhibition. Scream Savers changed their uniform ages ago so I have 10 old uniform shirts which I've been hoarding that I plan to chop up for the fabric. I figure with 10 shirts I should get close to 3.5m x 50cm of fabric just from the single later bits. I'm going to stitch or bind each piece to give a resist and then I'm going to have a go at the rust and tannic dye bath. One of my friends has invited me to play at her house in 12 days time so I've got quite a few evenings to do some interesting binding. Once they're dyed, washed, dried and ironed then I'll assemble the pieces into one large piece of fabric. I also have quite a large piece of muslin gauze which I might pop into the same baths so I can be sure I have enough pieces of fabric to produce the required 3.5m.

Recycling, Restyling, Reinventing

On Thursday evening I went to an inspiring talk entitled "Re-invent your wardrobe" by Jody Pearl at the Salvo's Store (op shop, thrift store) in Willetton. As the title suggests, Jody recreates, redesigns and reinvents existing garments into unique wearables. Clothes that are too small can be taken apart and added to. Two tops could be combined to make one. A skirt could become a top. Mens ties may be made into a dress. At the end of the talk we had the opportunity to browse the store and buy clothing with a view to making our own unique wearables. I found a denim skirt which looked to be about my size and bought it with the idea that I would add some strips from some old jeans I have hoarded ("filed" according to Jody) for years to make it longer. But when I got it home and tried it on I liked it just as it is so I'll wear it like that for a while - I can always add the strips to it later when I get bored with it.

After that success at one op shop I went to a couple of others the following day. I loved the fabric of this dress that is way too big for me. I bought it with the idea that there is enough fabric there to make a skirt for myself. I also found a pair of jeans that were a perfect fit and look like they've never been worn. I bought another pair of jeans which were a baggy style with lots of pockets - these might become a skirt at some later date.

I made the burgundy skirt last week. I quite like the fit, but I'll probably make the next one a few inches shorter. I'm making patterns for simple skirts with the idea that I'll make lots of skirts from the same pattern. Hopefully they will all look very different due to the fabric and embellishments I use. I've got lots of ideas for making unique fabric - which obviously takes quite a long time. So I want to perfect the pattern first in order that I can be absolutely certain of the fit, and I only have to make the minimum amount of fabric necessary.

Artist Trading Card Preparation

Designing Women are going to swap Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) in July. So I need to make some. So far I have ironed some heavy interfacing to the back of some of the rust-dyed silk I created at the WAFTA "inspiration" workshop a couple of weekends ago. I have 19 that have interesting marks from the stitched shibori resist and 22 less interesting ones. I'm not sure how many we're going to need for our swap but I thought it would be good to have a few on hand so I made up as many bases as I could from the fabric and scraps of interfacing that I had lying around. The final size is to be 2.5 by 3.5 inches so I've cut these 3 x 4 so I can cut them to size once I've decorated them. I've stitched around the edges just to make sure the interfacing stays in place while paint/stitch or whatever. I'm planning to use the stamp I made with circles on it for some of them. I may add some gold or glitz to the ones with the less interesting background. I'm planning to emphasize some of the marks with stitch on the ones with a more intersting background. I have decided to put my website and blog address on the back but I haven't decided how I'm going to do it yet. I may print on t-shirt transfer paper. I may actually get a rubber stamp made up with my logo on it as well. Or I may just opt for the good old-fashioned pen and ink method :-)

Current Reading

I have just read "Patterns from Finished Clothes - Re-creating the clothes you love" by Tracy Doyle. ISBN 0-8069-4874-4. Published in 1996. Tracy shows you how to analyse and copy an existing garment for a good fit, and offers suggestions for adding detail or making modifications. If you like to make your own clothes, or are interested in the current trend for recycling and restyling clothing, I'd put this on your "must read" list. I'd give it 5 stars.