Skinny B**ch Curvy Chic Tonic T Shirt

Well it's been a very long time between posts!! Added to my usual health issues last February I got some nasty skin condition and I have spent the past 11 months dealing with that and whilst I have been sewing photographing them was just a chore. 

I had been reading everywhere of people sewing up the free T-shirt pattern from Skinny B**ch Curvy Chic. This independent pattern company is drafting for the petite (short) lady and as the pattern comes in plus sizes I was excited to give it a go.

Debbie Cook has done a great blog post on this pattern and I referred to her  instructions as well as others that have done reviews on PatternReview.com

I always use my high bust measurement as a starting point and on this pattern I was a 1x. So I traced a 1x at the neck, then went out to a 2x at the bust (a cheaters FBA) and then out to a 3x at the hips. When I compared this to my other T-shirt pattern  New Look 6735 it was very close. I wanted to see how this pattern came out without any of my normal alterations, but I did add an inch to the CF hem for insurance purposes. 

I thought the instructions were great. I followed Debbie's hints for the neckband and the whole thing sewed up very easily. Now, the fabric was some cotton knit that has been in my stash for years and probably something I would just wear around the house so I wasn't bothered if it was a wadder. Also, I don't think horizontal stripes do my body any favours!!! (

(I wouldn't wear this stripey t-shirt with this skirt, it's just what I had on at the time I took the photo- just so you know I do have some styling sense :-)  )

Let me say that for straight out of the envelope this pattern is amazing. The fit isn't perfect but definitely wearable!!  I usually do a lot of adjustments and if I wanted to I could sew this pattern as is and wear it happily.  On my next version  there are a couple of things I will change just to make it even better. Firstly, I need to shave a little bit off the shoulder as it is a little bit wide and with that do a sloping shoulder adjustment. Secondly, I need to take a small dart out of the front neckline but this is only small compared to what I normally do with the Big 4. I was so happy not to have to do an FBA!!

I am excited to have a look at their other patterns based on this free pattern.

Kwik Sew 3463

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted on here. Life just sometimes gets in the way!!!

I have been sewing but just never remembering to take photo etc.....

The last week or so the weather has turned cold here and it's then I was reminded by my nearly 13 year old that she has very few pairs of leggings that fit. So out came Kwik Sew 3463 to fix that little problem.

I love everything about this pattern. Firstly, being a Kwik Sew the instructions are really good and secondly from start to finish it takes way less than an hour to complete and only a metre of cotton lycra which was 50% off at Textile Traders.

I managed to sew up three pairs pretty darn quick and completed it all on my sewing machine. My daughter has very sensitive skin so when I sew for her I try not to use the serger if I can.

The only pattern adjustment I did was to lower the front as my daughter has a very tilted waist. For the elastic I simply sewed the ends together to form a ring, quartered it and attached it to the top of the leggings with a zigzag stitch and then folded it over and straight stitched it in place. I hemmed them with a double row of topstitching....easy peasy and super fast!!

So now she has a black, purple and blue pair to match up with most of her tops and to wear under skirts if she wishes.

My plan is now to try and make a pair for myself to wear with a tunic or under a knee length skirt.

Simplicity 2475 -The Amazing Fit skirt

 

I have always loved the look of a pencil skirt but as a large woman I wondered if I could carry it off. I purchased the Amazing Fit skirt pattern in a sale and had some left over fabric from an outfit I had made for my sister-in-law so it was time to give it a go. 

 

 

 

There have been many reviews on PR for this skirt and I have to agree with most that whilst it is great to have the fit options of slim, average  and curvy it does not tell you what is classified as each. Now I am very curvy in a very small space but have a flat butt so I didn't know what to use. I decided to go with the average fit and just do my own fitting.

 

 

 

 

I had to petite it quite a lot so that it fit just below my knee. I  started with the 24, took some off at the waist and added a few cm's at the hips, the only other alteration for fit was a tilted waist adjustment which is usual for me.

 

On the pattern the zipper is located at the side which I moved to the back. I have too much curve at the hipline for it to sit straight and find I can get a better fit by having the side seams free for adjustment.

 

I have worn this skirt and it did wear well and was very comfortable. I am not sure how often I will wear it as I am not in the corporate world but I think it is a handy piece to have in the wardrobe. I may make it again in a solid black as I would get more wear out of that.

 

I am still in two minds about whether it is dowdy or not, I have flat shoes on in this picture so it may look better with heels.

 

This is a very good pattern that went together easily. The instuctions are good and I really liked the contoured waistband as opposed to darts which I always have trouble getting to look nice. The invisible zipper went in a treat following this tutorial from colette patterns. I would highly recommend this pattern if you have a need for pencil skirts in your wardrobe.

McCalls 5145

I have had this pattern for some time and finally got around to sewing it up. It has been sewn and sitting on my Millie for a number of weeks just waiting for some buttons and buttonholes.

I chose to sew the sleeveless version for our hot summer/autumns here. It is now Easter weekend and we still have the air con running some days!!

Please excuse the wrinkles but I had been wearing it all day, plus it is 100% cotton and so there will be wrinkles. This was a cheap fabric basically to do a wearable muslin. Next time round I will use something nicer in a poly/cotton. The colour hasn't photographed right either, it is more of a pinky colour than it is shown.

Now to the actual pattern..... I spent a lot of time on this top trying to get the fit sorted. It took a long time to get the princess seams correct and it still needs some work to get it better. I started with a size 18 and then did a FBA following FFRP instructions. I also added a CB seam which I do to all my garments to fit my narrow upper back. Originally I had made the version with the non curved hem but I found it hit me at my widest part and looked boxy on me. At this point I was ready to throw it in the bin because it just wasn't right. I don't know what made me think to change the hemline shape but I'm glad I did because I like it a whole lot better.

On my next go round I will make it a tad longer and definitely in a nicer fabric that drapes a lot better.

I finally picked up some buttons yesterday and sat to do the buttonholes. Well, on my test run they were great but when it came to the garment they were giving me fits!!! The first one was great and then I had two dud ones which I needed to unpick and redo a few times. I eventually got there but I was baffled as to why they were so temperamental. I was so frustrated !!!

All in all, I think this is a great pattern and wardrobe builder. I can see me sewing this up a lot in the future. I would really love it in a basic white that could be worn with both skirts and pants under a jacket in winter and by itself in summer.

Kwik Sew 3891

I have been sewing but mainly muslins and not a lot to show unfortunately. A few weeks back I had the opportunity to visit Knitwit in Nedlands whilst at my daughters orthodontic appointment. I have wanted to go for a while but just never got round to it. I was so excited to see all the wonderful fabrics and could have spent a fortune. I did not this time but seen as my daughter will be having regular appointments for the next few years I will be visiting every month or so. YAY......

I loved how they had lots of garments made up out of Kwik Sew patterns and so I couldn't resist buying something. The pattern that called out to me was 3891.

I loved how it looked so easy to wear and make. Due to my disability I am finding it harder and harder to deal with doing up zippers etc and am looking for quick,easy and comfortable clothing. I could have bought so much fabric and it was hard to choose. I ended up getting this lovely knit that I thought would be great for Autumn/Winter, it feels lovely and drapes beautifully.

It has a lovely raised vein running through  it.

Now the pattern called for 2.55m which sounded a lot but I went with it and at $20/metre it added up.

When I got home I thought I would use some cheap rayon/knit in my stash to do a muslin before I cut into my lovely fabric. After pattern alterations the pattern ended up only needing 2 metres. After mulling it over I decided to use my fabric to make a dress as I would have wasted over half a metre if I had made this top.

This is the pattern made into my cheap rayon knit. I really liked how it turned out. I started with a size L and did a 2.5cm FBA. I rotated the dart into the gathers at the front. I lowered the gather at the front but next time round I will raise it back to it's original position as I feel it's a bit too low. In the photo you can see there is pulling across my bust, this goes away if I pin out a dart from the front neckline down towards my bust. The neckline is just a tad wide on me which I am finding is a common issue on nearly everything I make. I must remember to add this to my regular adjustment list.

This pattern is wonderful in my opinion. Like all Kwik Sew patterns the instructions are easy to follow and it is a very quick sew. I am really happy that I didn't have to make too many adjustments and I will definitely be sewing it again out of something delicious from Knitwit. The skirt is just a simple elasticated waist but goes well with the top and super comfy.

I paid $16.95 for this pattern at Knitwit (yes patterns are super expensive in Australia) and a few days later the Spotlight catalogue had them for half price so I went and picked up a few more. I keep buying patterns but just don't have the time to sew in school term.

3489

3659

3880 

3463

I am looking forward to buying some nice knits and making some of these for my winter wardrobe. Another plus of these patterns is that the sizing goes from xs to xl so the patterns can be used for both me and my daughters.

Lutterloh 203

I have made this skirt a couple of times in a stretch cotton and worn it a lot. It is VERY basic and sews up really quickly. It is a two piece skirt with a side zipper, back darts and a waistband facing. I purchased this brown fabric which I liked the colour/pattern of but once made I realized it did not match anything in my closet as brown is not one of my colours.

So this skirt has sat unworn for over a year as I could never find the right fabric in which to make a top to go with it. That is until recently when I came across this rayon knit for $2/metre. I immediately thought of the Sorbetto top which is such a quick sew and now I have a casual outfit to wear for the rest of our extremely hot summer.

I must remember to wear a t-shirt bra with it though as the fabric is quite thin. I am glad the skirt finally gets to come out and play as it is so comfortable.

The next thing I have on my sewing table is a McCalls woven shirt pattern. I have never made a shirt before so I am looking forward to the fitting challenge.

Christmas Day Dress

As our xmas days are always very hot here I wanted some cool to wear that didn't have any sleeves. I decided to try New Look 6810  ( the brown version ) and make it into a dress.

I have made this before in a woven review here and also in a knit. I really liked it in the knit and thought it would look summery in a fabric that I picked up at Textile Traders. I am really happy with how it turned out and it was so comfortable to wear on Xmas day with all the eating!!

I think the hem length is a little long and may go ahead and shorten it a couple of inches to my knees.

My little Lucy who is eleven always likes a new xmas dress too so I just draped this on her and sewed a back seam. It has a second layer of fabric at the bust which goes around the back forms hanging ties. For something so simple it looked so pretty on her.

Knit Sorbetto

Life just seems to get in the way of my sewing and when I do sew it seems to be very slow going. I never understand how people just crank garments out in a few hours. I lose my concentration  quickly and hence make mistakes so its slow and steady for me. 

The extreme hot weater is upon us and I HATE it...... The EDS makes it very hard for me to control my temperature and I am ALWAYS hot!!!  In summer I cannot wears anything with a sleeve and I know at my age and size a lot of people don't want to show their arms but all I can say is"not me"......  I do realize that it isn't the best look in the world but hey I need to be comfortable and cool foremost.

My closet was in need of some knit tops that are lightweight and can be worn around the house. Most that I had certainly had seen better days or were RTW and of course poor fit. All this to say that I decided to try making the Colette Sorbetto top in a nice soft knit. My daughter has a top that has a diagnol/uneven hem on it which I liked so I attempted to copy it.

I am glad with how it turned out and it will be lovely just for hanging around. I made it smaller than my regular sorbetto as I was using a knit and I raised the armholes as I thought the original was too low and I wanted to be more covered. I stabalized the neckline and did bindings on the armoles and necklines. I top stitched the centre pleat to keep it in place.

Next time I make this I will lengthen it by about 2 inches as I prefer my low prominent stomach to be covered and may lower the neckline a little which I think will be more flattering on me.

Next up I am attempting some capris again. Fitting pants has been a complete nightmare for me but I shall keep perservering and even if I can improve one small part at a time I am happy.

Sewing for Your Body Shape

Whew, I am back from my wonderful holiday and what a fabulous time it was. I now have post vacation blues and finding it hard to get back into life. I have no idea what will be on my sewing agenda but I know that I need to clear out my wardrobe and see what gaps I have!!!!

Whilst I was away on the sunny Gold Coast I was at a local shopping centre where they had just held a fashion parade of which I missed seeing. As I was reading the poster about it I found they were giving FREE body shape analyses to customers. I was nervous but plucked up the courage to give it a go because when else was I going to have this opportunity. The first words out of my mouth were "Do you do fat short people?" and they were kind enough to say "ooh darling we do everybody" which made me feel better!!

Now, all my life I had thought I was near enough an hourglass shape. I have boobs, a waist and hips. Yes they are all in the larger size but that is what I thought my "Shape" was. Low and behold I was completely wrong.......

After pulling in all my clothes close to my body and analyzing everything they said I was an inverted triangle. Who knew?????

They advised me on what would look best and what things to avoid. Clearly, I had been doing a lot wrong all these years. So I have a good set of girls which make me top heavy and as my legs are thin in proportion to the rest of me and I do have some kind of waist I am an inverted triangle.

They popped a few items of clothes on me to explain what I should be wearing. Some of the things they came up with are:

• Wear colour or pattern from waist down
• V necks or deep scoop necks
• cross over tops or dresses
• create vertical and diagonal lines.
• Keep the fabric close to the side of my neckline and then plunge into a V or scoop neck
• Knee length or just above or below for dresses and skirts.
• create a waist
• Vertical ruffles or embellishments on the top half
• Above elbow sleeve length

Things to avoid:

• Cap sleeves
• shoulder pads
• Pencil skirts
• Pattern on top

Now I know what shape I am I have been surfing the net and finding more information about clothes for the inverted triangle shape and will now base my sewing on what I have learnt. Some sites I found with interesting information are :

You look Fab

style makeover HQ

E how


There is heaps of info online so go have a look for your particular body shape. Some even have information to work out what shape you are.


                                                    I have a dress very similar to this in my closet

I love how this dress shows how to keep the fabric close to the neckline and then has a deep plunge.

I am looking forward to now finding patterns that have these elements that suit my shape rather than just purchasing ones that I like on the model or that others have looked good in on Pattern Review.

I urge you to find out your shape and come back and tell me all.......

Tube Dress

I am about to go on holidays for 17 days to the Gold Coast in Queensland -yay for me!!! For those of you that are not familiar with Australia the Gold Coast has the most beautiful beaches, skyline, numerous theme parks, great nightlife, fabulous weather and so many fun things to do.  My family and I have been a number of times before and always have such a great time. I am looking forward to a complete break from the normal humdrum of life. Not so much the plane trip that takes over five and a half hours with a stop over in Sydney on the way. We are in Perth on the other side of the country.

I wanted a simple tube dress to wear down at the pool and for the beach and I managed to find this pretty green knit from Textile traders and its perfect. I didn't have a pattern so just did the best I could.

I doubled the fabric over and just stretched it to fit my top half and sewed a back seam. The skirt was simply one piece with a centre back seam and then I gathered the skirt and attached it to the bodice. I folded the seam allowance from the bodice over the skirt seam allowance and sewed a casing and inserted the elastic. I didn't even worry about hemming it.

I love how comfortable it is and I will get a lot of wear out of it around the hotel. I have another pretty fabric with a cute graduating pattern on it and I am thinking it will sew up nicely in this dress. I could even attach some straps to make it bra friendly to wear out. I am all for comfort especially in our extremely hot summers!!

And for those of you that are interested this is where I am going.

And this is what I will be doing...

Just a shame my body won't look like these whilst lolling downstream on the river at Wet 'n' Wild.... I will be the one struggling to get on my tube lol......

New Look 6936

I made this dress a few months ago and wore it through winter with boots and a jacket but it is also great for our Spring weather. I wore it yesterday and thought I would do a little post about it.

This is an easy 2 hour knit pattern and even though it took me more than two hours that was mainly because of my fit issues. It is so easy it can definitely be a quick sew and I really liked how the elastic at the waist was done. They have you turn down the bodice seam allowance over the skirt and sew a casing and then thread the elastic through. This was very simple and worked well. I have since used this method in other garments I've made.

I will say this dress is quite low cut and in winter I wore a cami under it, now the weather is warming up I just make sure I have a bra that is lower cut and it is fine.  Pattern adjustments were my usual FBA, a high round back and shoulder adjustments. On my next go round I will have another look at the shoulders as they are falling forward a little bit. I loved the length on this dress -perfect for me!!

I WILL be making this dress again, maybe in a solid, as it is soooo comfortable to wear. I love the fact that I can just throw it on with a pair of sandals and run to the store and feel at least a little bit dressed. Plus being a knit there is no ironing and can be thrown in a suitcase for travelling. A win all round.

Burda 7567

I saw this pattern some time ago online and liked the cut and style of the pants. The legs didn't look really wide like lots of pants do and they had a nice boot cut leg on them.

So off I go to Spotlight to get the pattern but I didn't write down the pattern number. No problem I thought as I knew exactly what they looked like and I'll just look through the pattern book when I get there. To my shock I find that the pattern is NOT in the book. I thought I must be going mad!! So off I toddle home to look online again and then back to the store. Yay, they had the pattern in the cabinet so I was happy. I found out later that this pattern was accidentally left out of the pattern book  by Burda.

I wanted some cargo type pants for my holiday so I sewed view c, however, left off the pockets. I just wanted them plain and simple. The fabric is a linen/ poly blend of some kind.

After quite a few adjustments this is what I ended up with. They are very very comfortable but there are a lot of issues with the look of them. This certainly isn't a pattern issue but my own body shape.

These are a plus size pattern, however, as a plus size girl we all know we all have our extra bits in different places. For me it's my stomach. My backside is VERY flat and low and I think all my butt has gone into my stomach -HA!!!! I also have hyper extended joints due to a connective tissue disorder so fit issues are a double whammy for me. My calves super extend and a lot of the pants get caught up here. I also have a very tilted waist and one hip higher than the other so this makes for a lot of alterations.

The alterations on this pair were:

• added  a 2cm  wedge at high hip to cover my extra fluff here
• a vertical tuck down the whole back leg
• added extra height at the CB waist
• a flat butt adjustment and scooped out quite a bit
• Shortened them above the knee

Now after sewing them up there are still lots of fit issues. Firstly, there are wrinkles on the back pointing towards my knees and also the pants are hitting my outer leg all the way down and I then have a lot of space at the inner leg. The pants are not balanced at all on my legs!!!

 After doing some research I found a blog post by Debbie Cook of Stitches and Seams that talks about these wrinkles Here. If you are a very rare person who doesn't know about Debbie's blog then do yourself a favour and get over there quick as she has some amazing tutorials and tips and sews some fabulous garments.

Anyway I digress...... I think this alteration ALA the Minnott method might just do the trick to centre the pant legs and also to get rid of some of the wrinkles in the back.  I need the legs to be shifted inwards as this is how my body is and all my body collapses inwards due to the EDS.

I don't have the time right now to experiment with this as I have vacation sewing to get done but once I am back I will be giving this a go. I did, however, take five minutes to compare a self drafted pattern to this Burda pattern. The self drafted was a copy of a pair of yoga pants I had bought at the store and had a great fit and I have sewn them up many times. When I laid one pattern on top of the other I could see that the self drafted pattern legs were in fact moved across towards the inseam quite a lot.

Secondly, I need to raise the centre front a cm or two so they sit on my waist better and thirdly I think I will try added more width to the back leg below the knee and see if that stops them getting caught up on my calves.

I don't think I will ever have the perfect fit pants what with having extra fluff everywhere and hyper mobile joints but I want to get the best I can for me. Firstly, comfort and then a decent fit.

New Look 6895

I was wanting a cool summer casual top to take on my holiday in a fortnights time so I dug out this New Look pattern and some voile from my stash. I love the colours purple and orange together!!

I completed view D that the model is wearing which has a pretty flounce across the top to add a little bit of interest. Now let me say top runs REALLY big. Usually I need to do a very substantial FBA and on this pattern I didn't do one at all. After it was sewn I realized I could have done a very small FBA and the fit would have been a little better, however, it is very comfortable and not pulling anywhere. I usually start with an 18 in the shoulders but on this I got away with a 14.

Sorry the photo isn't so good my lighting wasn't so great today and I tried to lighten the picture up.

On this pattern as with most I needed to take a tuck on the neckline as it wants to gape. Prior to putting on the binding it was sitting flat against my chest but after sewing on the binding it gaped all of a sudden. I am wondering if I stretched out the neckline when sewing the binding on. I purchased a bias stabalizing product yesterday from Spotlight (which was $14.95- YIKES) which I will try on my next garment. I am hoping to try sewing this up in a knit soon.

I made my usual shoulder adjustments on this pattern. I have very hyper extended shoulders so I always need to add extra on the front and take some off the back.

This is a nice basic pattern and very easy to sew up. I am sure I will be sewing this again and again in the future.

Sorbetto Complete

The Sorbetto top is complete and I really like it. There are a few tweaks I need to make for the next time round.  Firstly, I will dart out the little bit of extra fabric at the armhole as there is still some gaping here. Secondly, my right shoulder is vastly more sloping than my left which has caused the top to not fit as nicely at the neckline on this side. I did do a sloping shoulder adjustment on this side but obviously it needs to be larger!!

 I think this is a basic pattern that can be a  great wardrobe builder and can be dressed up or down.

This is how I wore it today with some self drafted stretch pants and a Kwik Sew jacket. It was very comfortable and held up well for the day.

Colette Sorbetto Top

I am a bit late getting on this band wagon, but we are hitting SPRING tomorrow and this top will be perfect for the hot Perth summer. The Colette Sorbetto top has been made heaps of times by other sewers and has had great comments. There are some amazing versions with lots of embellishments in the flickr pool of photos .

This is great to download and easy to  tape together and even though it is a very basic pattern my adjustments are NEVER easy! My alterations are endless but fairly consistent .

• I started with a size 14 at the shoulders and went out to an 18 at the hips.
• I did a 2cm petite adjustment at the waist but added that back on and more at the hem.
• My FBA is very substantial for my E cup bust. I did a 3" FBA which actually adds 6" around my bust. I know this is huge but it is what it is!!!
• OK now I have a humungus dart and what am I going to do? I rotated half out to the side seam and left the other half as the side seam dart.
• I still had some gaping at the armhole so I darted it out on the pattern.
• I have shoulders that hyper extend to the back due to a connective tissue disorder so my shoulder are very weird indeed. On the front piece I extended the shoulder up to the 18 size and then added another 1.5cm to that. I then need to take some of the back shoulder. I think this is the opposite to a forward shoulder adjustment.
• One thing I will say is that the bust dart on the pattern is REALLY long. On lots of the photos in the flickr pool ladies have darts going right up to their bust point.

On the whole I am fairly pleased with the fit so far. The only thing I will change next time is to dart more out on the pattern at the armhole as it is still gaping too much. I was hoping the binding might have brought it in a bit but it hasn't.

The fabric is just a cotton I got an textile traders and whilst I loved the look of the print it really isn't my colour at all. I will probably just where it about the house as it will be very cool in the summer.

This is the first time I have used binding and the instructions on the pattern are great. I will definately be using it a lot more in the future. I was lucky enough to find some the same colour as the little aqua birds on the fabric.

I hope to finish this off in the next few days but as usual sewing time is scarce between teaching and work.

New Look 6735

I had sewn up this New Look t-shirt a while back and it had sat in my sewing room for a while not quite finished. I looked very boring and so I thought I would try embellishing it with some fabric flowers.

There are numerous tutorials on line on different way to make fabric flowers. The way I did mine was to cut three differnt size circles, place one on top of the other, fold into quarters and then do a few stitches at the point. When you open the flower back up it looks like petals. I sewed a bead into the centre and attached to the shirt.

I need to add a few more more smaller flowers to finish it off and fill in the gaps. These seem a little floppy to me and next time I will try some of the other ways of making the flowers like using a gathering stitch to make them a little "fuller" and hold their shape better.

I have made this t-shirt several times now and it has become a TNT pattern, I also love the skirt on this pattern and made it up a few times over the past few months.

I really need to make a cover for Millie my duck tape dummy as all her stuffing is popping out the poor thing!!