Why don't you come with me, on a magic carpet ride

I'm pretty sure I've made a carpet bag (hence the Steppenwolf title).   I've been looking at the bag for the last week and it finally hit me what it resembles yesterday.  Its big, roomy and slouchy and has a woolly outer layer.   Of course that's not how the project started out.....

A couple of months ago I purchased the Japanese book 'Carry Me' which has some beautifully crafted bags in it that apparently us mere mortals could attempt to make.  I was sold on the first bag on the list....the Boston Bag.  A wool tweed bag which had class, sophistication and has only two main pattern pieces.

Don't you look back, Don't you look back....

I made it.  I got through July in almost one piece.  I may be slightly pasty faced from a complete lack of sun (or at least as pasty faced as some one with an olive complexion can get....its more a jaundiced looking yellow), chocolate consumption may have exceeded an all time record even for me (is anyone else campaigning for chocolate eating as the next olympic sport?), and there may have been a few tears and mental health days along the way but we finally got through the commissioning of the new stage of our alumina refinery.  The excitement has died down and life will hopefully return to some sense of normalacy.

But before I lock July up and throw away the key, I have to admit it wasn't all work.  I did slip in one sewing project along the way and it literally took the whole month to do.   Now what project could I have possibly picked to do in July.  Well of course being smack bang in the middle of winter here in the southern hemisphere I naturally picked my next project to be.......

a winter coat, I hear your ask.....nope.

how about a maxi dress, that could be weather appropriate.........no, not this time

or could it have possibly been some tracksuit pants, that could be warm and comfy........well no didn't make those either.

No, instead I chose to make a pair of shorts......a pair of short shorts......Kwik Sew 3854 to be precise.  In hindsight I have no idea why I picked this pattern or why I chose to do something that I knew would be very hard for me to do in a month where there was a good chance of me going slightly bananas from work.  But none the less, I have made a pair of shorts.

Open your eyes and look at the day, You'll see things in a different way.

I figure its only a matter of time before I win lotto - sure the odds of me flying solo to the moon and back in a Chanel couture spacesuit might be just slightly more favourable, but I need that little glimmer of hope that the 1 in 100 million chance provides in distracting me from the current state of my working life!  We are currently in the process of commissioning a new stage of alumina production at our refinery which is both exciting, demanding and stressfull all roled up into one super cramped shoulder muscle.  Chocolate consumption in the Capricorn region has increased exponentially in response.

Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions...or not!

Disaster struck last week when my computer video card decided to lay down on the job and die a noisy but non visual death.  I am of course blaming the cats for this - a couple of days of slightly cold weather and voompa, there goes the winter coat that they shed everywhere and that naturally finds its way into the computer and kaput...there goes the video card.

However, you can still sew without a computer and this week, in fact the month of June, is all about the birthdays...my nieces that is.  I have a little niece Penny turning 3 in the middle of June and my little niece and gorgeous muse Audrey turns 2 at the end of June.   So naturally they are going to get their very own "Aunty Pammysarry Couture Collection" (feel free to interchange the word Couture with Rustically Homemade)

"Think it will work? It'll take a miracle" Miracle Max not available for Simplicity 2892.

My sewing journey is going on 4 months old and I can feel my sewing skills toolkit get satisfyingly bigger as each project is completed....turn the machine on - tick, sew a straight seam - tick, unpick said straight steam that really wasn't straight - tick, learn to read a pattern - tick, sew a zipper in - tick, learn to use bias binding - tick. 

A lot of the skills I've picked up is due to the wonderful community of sewers that are out in all corners of the globe and who are willing to share.  But this week it wasn't a sewing skill I learnt but more a philosophical set of lessons.....something I can imagine Mr Miagi saying to Daniel-San if it was the Janome Kid, or Yoda to Luke if it was Sew Wars......

• Know your body shape and know what style and colours are most flattering for you before you commit to a pattern.  Don't get sucked into the pattern cover or think I could make it work if I just change this - there are thousands of patterns out there and guaranteed there is a better pattern for you.
• That being said if you embark on a project - don't give up and throw it in the bin.  There are always options for a garment even if it means unpicking it and setting the fabric aside for another project.
• Mums are the greatest!!  Don't go it alone - if you get stuck ask your Mum, friends, random stranger in the street for ideas.

So I think you are getting the picture about this weeks project.  It was Simplicity 2892 and it just didn't work for me.  The back story to this is I have this gorgeous piece of charmeuse fabric that I want to make into a top - so I am trialing different top patterns to see which one wins the grand prize of being made up in the special shiny fabric.  Simplicity 2892 is the first one I tried and I decided on View C because I liked the idea of a defined waistband. 

Admittedly there were many flashing warning lights going off with this pattern.  The very round neckline, the lack of sleeves and the blousiness (aka degree-of-pregnancy effect) and that was just from the picture on the front.   Did I pay attention to any of this.....obviously not.  Instead I focused on the glowing reviews at Patternreview.com.  Only a couple of negative comments about the length of the top which I figured was no biggie for someone as shortwaisted as me.

Construction started well  I used a modifed back pattern from the top I made using Simplicity 3750 which does a crude 'WBA' (weird back adjustment).  The pleats were wrangled into place with confidence.  Binding the armholes was a cinch and while the neck facing does sit a little funny (most likely a slight misalignment from the pleating) it wasn't something a nice hot iron couldn't tame into submission.

Neck facing - aka the skate ramp.

The problem came with the band.  I made an assumption based on the line drawing of the pattern that the band sat below the waist possibly just above the hips.  I shaped my band accordingly and even changed the straight edge to a sloped edge to compensate for my pear shape.  On trying the final product on I realised my error from the amount of skin being flashed by the side slit above the band.  It dawned on me then that the top is meant to really blouse over the band so that you don't see any skin through the side slit and most of the band is covered up.  Which means the band has to sit on the waist.   Which means unless I want to go all Kath and Kim and bare my middle aged midriff the only way to wear this top is with a high waisted pant/skirt.  Also, as I had sized the band for my wider hips it was now too large to sit on the waist.....gah.

When you compare both bodice and band patterns it is blatently obvious where the band has to sit..doh!

Where band is meant to sit...I wore it with a dress...enough said.

Back to the sewing machine....take 2.  I am not working the high waisted look so I shortened the slit on the side so less skin would show when I wore the top.  The end result I think photographed well but it was uncomfortable to wear and wouldn't sit in place.  Everytime I sat down the band would just ride up my back.  I figured out this was because the band was trying to sit in no-mans land between the waist and the hips....it never was going to work like that.



Forcing band to sit just below the waist...looks OK...but high risk of skin exposure from riding up

Ready to consign it to the bin I had an online video chat with my Mum on Mothers Day.  Showing her the top she made a suggestion to remove the band completley and come up with an alternative finish to the bottom of the top.  Long story slightly shorter - I ended up making a casing for a tie and added some additional fabric below to make it sit comfortably at hip height.  Its not perfect but it is certainly wearable.

Adjustable tie means I can change where the top sits to increase or decrease the blousiness of it.

BUT...that being said, round necklines do not suit me and sleeveless does not suit me.  And while I briefly thought "maybe I could just make the neckline more angular and add sleeves from another pattern" I quickly realised thats a lot of effort when there are better patterns just crying out for a short, pear shaped, shortwaisted, sway backed, small busted, narrow shouldered, square faced person like myself to just give them a go!  So I will not be visiting this pattern again any time soon.

And now to throw up the white flag for help - seeking advice from fellow sewers.  Out of this weeks dramas I have 3 questions.

• Does anyone have a favourite go-to top pattern that they use that would be suitable for a pear shaped person and ideally a V-neck or boat neck style?
• Do you have a recommended book/website for making pattern adjustments particularly around the shoulders?
• Is there a trick to make a tie casing?  I admit I butchered this one up and no you won't be seeing any photos of the inside of this top!

So in summary
Pattern:             Simplicity 2892
Fabric:              A lisette cotton from spotlight - really light
                         I used leftover red cotton fabric for the tie/band
Instructions:     Actually really good by Simplicity except I think there could have been more detail
                         on sizing the band (maybe they could have put a waistline line on the band so its
                          obvious where it would sit)
Modifications:  I shortended the top slit at the back considerably.  I didn't need it that long and it
                         looked funny.
                         I replaced the band with a constrast casing and fabric tie at the side and additional
                         main fabric for the bottom hem.
                         I used flat elastic rather than cord elastic because my needle wouldn't go
                        through the cord elastic.
Total Cost:      Cotton was fairly cheap from spotlight and I used under a meter so would guess all
                        up it cost me $10
Happy Dance on Completion:   No....lets just leave it at that.


Title Reference:  The Princess Bride, by: William Goldman

If I could turn the page, In time then I'd rearrange....the pattern markings of NewLook 6114

Another long weekend in sunny Queensland.  Labour day public holiday weekend for us, and in respect for those who have campaigned for better workers rights I downed my sewing tools, unplugged the sewing machine, closed the fabric stash cupboard (then reclosed it after it burst open under the strain) and sat back on the couch with a good book in hand.......until I realised that sewing is a hobby for me.....it is not a job....so I needed to get back to it and do a solid 9 hr stint with 1/2 hr allowed for lunch.

So now the challenge was, what was my sewing project going to beeeee this weekend!?  (warning: inappropriate and slightly unfunny bee references interspersed through this blog, in fact you may as well give in and read this blog entry with "flight of the bumblebees" playing in the background) 

It all started with a piece of fabric.  My Mum had found this lovely cotton print down in Brisbane and thought it would be perfect for my gorgeous niece/her gorgeous granddaughter.  Little Auds loves bees and I thought I could make her another cute outfit out of it.

Loki modelling the fabric...working his blue steel look!

Hold On.....to my Simplicity 2205 Bag

Simplicity 2205 - bag with cute pleating details on front and back

aahhh! A week off after that challenging Butterick 4443 creation, catching up with my sister and her beautiful family down in BrisVegas and my sewing mojo has been reset and ready to go again.