The kids are away

We are having a lovely quiet afternoon while the boys are at a friend's house. Ahh, so nice. I took the opportunity to take down the big paddling pool which has been up all summer. There'll be complaints, but I'm happy to get the space back outside. After much sweeping and rearranging, we have our lovely sitting area back again. It is still a work in progress so more on that later. The lemon tree is bountiful as always, so we picked a load of lemons ready for making lemon goodies or giving to friends. Then we sat in our 'new' outdoor area for a well earned coffee. Bliss...

New outfit in my Etsy shop

I have been working on a new design and here it is! The 'Buttons of blue' outfit is now available for sale in my Etsy shop. Currently available in size 3-4. More sizes coming soon! I am happy to take requests for sizes, but I have limited fabric available so get in quick.
 

Mela Purdie inspired t-shirt and skirt outfit

A couple of weeks ago I was in a local boutique with my Mum while my Dad watched the boys (weird feeling to be in a boutique, I used to live in them pre-kids!) and I saw this gorgeous outfit by designer Mela Purdie. It was a simple t-shirt and skirt styled with a white and silver disc pendant. Simple and perfect. I had to have it, but at $200 a piece that was not gonna happen. I committed it to memory and now, a few hours work and about $5 later, I have one of my very own :)

I chose the exact same colours for my outfit as I'd seen on the mannequin. I couldn't find the items in the same colour to show you, but here is a similar outfit in black (source).

I used Jalie pattern 3132 for the t-shirt. I made the view in brown (below) with cap sleeves. I also altered the hemline give it waterfall sides and widened the pattern slightly at and below the hips. I used a lovely, soft knit fabric to make it that I had found on the $2/metre table at Textile Traders. They had the exact colours I was after. It was meant to be :)

I used my trusty large plastic platter to create the hemline shape on my traced pattern.

 I'd never made a hem this shape before...

 ...but after some trial and error, I decided to fold up a triangle of fabric

 and then fold each side up to create a neat point. The hem was folded once only then stitched with a twin needle.

This is how it ended up.

The skirt is made from the same jersey knit that has been doubled over to give a smooth finish. The waistband is also doubled over and cut a shorter width than the skirt so it's a bit tighter. The waistband and skirt are joined in a single serged seam. The hemline is finished with a twin needle.

Here is the finished outfit. I am so happy with the way it turned out. It really does look like the one I saw in the shop and it cost me about $5. Woo hoo!

DIY inspiration from the new Victoria Beckham collection

VB has recently released a new fashion line that is (slightly) cheaper than her main collection. The clothes are stylish and simple, and we all know that simple = DIY!!

I chose three dresses from the SS12 collection that I am inspired to try. I've had some pleated fabric for ages that I haven't known what to do with. The dress above has sparked my imagination!

I love this colour blocked dress with the scalloped detail.

This one looks so easy to wear.

Check out the others at the Victoria Beckham website.

Happy DIYing,

Metalicus-inspired tank dress: a mini tutorial

If you read my blog regularly, you will know that I love Aussie designer Metalicus. This is another dress inspired by one I found last year on the Metalicus website. The dress has a ribbon-embellished tank-style top and a lightly gathered skirt. This particular dress is no longer available - unless you make it yourself that is! 

This is a mini-tutorial that should contain enough details to make this dress yourself if you have some basic sewing skills. What are you waiting for?

I wasn't inspired to try to replicate that complicated ribbon design, so I found some textured jersey fabric to use for the top. I just used a basic tank pattern and chopped it off a little bit below the bustline.

I finished the edges with fold-over elastic (FOE). Lightly stretch the FOE as you sew it down (more details here). The skirt is just a rectangle of fabric (mine was approx 150cm wide by 77cm for the skirt length) sewn down the back and lightly pleated. I just eyeballed the pleats and pinned them in place before sewing. The skirt is attached to the top using a serger (or use a stretchy stitch on your sewing machine). I used a light jersey fabric for the skirt that I bought in Bali.

I added a tube of the skirt fabric to cover the join between the top and the skirt. I attached it with a few hidden hand-stitches in four places so it could stretch easily when dressing.

It was a quick and simple dress to make and it's a dream to wear.

I apologise for the grainy photos. My good camera got sand in the lens and is out of action. Here is a close up of some of the detail.

I would love to see pictures if you try to make this yourself. Please only make it for personal use and link back to me if you blog it - thanks!

Holiday sewing - a Jalie tankini for moi

I publish this post with much trepidation, after all, posting pics of myself in my bathers on the internet is not something I would normally do. I once gave Mr Meggipeg a dressing down (ha ha) for putting a picture of me in my togs on facebook and insisted he remove it. I am trying to convince myself that this big reveal is done in the name of blogging and sewing and is somehow therefore ok. Sort of.

So here we go. While Mr M was in Canada recently delivering his Mum back home after her visit with us (explanation here), I ordered some Jalie patterns for him to bring home. Jalie are a Canadian company so I saved heaps on postage, and of course when I saw that if you bought three patterns you could get one free, well I just had to choose four! More on the others as I make them. The first pattern I tackled was the tankini. Find the pattern here. To see the Jalie jeans I've made click here and here.

I began by making a muslin with some lycra I had in my stash. I blended the top pattern to a larger size at the waist and below as I didn't want it too close fitting around the tummy. This is what I ended up with:

While the general style was quite nice, there were a couple of things (apart from the fabric) I wasn't thrilled about. The panel across the chest and the top of the waistband went wavy with the topstitching which made them gape. This is a three-step zig-zag.

I didn't add the elastic to the bottom of the waistband as it was tight enough without it. The pants were a nice style but I prefer a slightly higher waist to cover the wobbly tummy area (!) also the elastic made a bulge in my upper thigh. Any additional bulges are definitely not required.

I quite liked the finish on the leg openings and the drawstrings at the sides were a nice feature.

So I went on and made another pair in a combination of turquoise and brown lycra, also from the stash. I fiddled about with the pants to try and make the waist a bit higher but I wasn't terribly happy with the fit of the waistband in the end. Again it gaped a bit and created a line which showed through the top. I think the next time I make it I will just fold over the waistband, rather than cutting it out as two sections to sew together.

I made another alteration to the pants, which was to add bands on lycra to the leg openings instead of elastic. This was more comfortable and flattering to wear as it didn't cut into the legs at all. These were attached with the serger and topstitched with regular zig-zag.

Here is the top. I eliminated the topstitching along the top of the chest panel, but it is still a bit gapey. Overall I'm quite pleased with it. I didn't put any drawstrings on this version. The hem was finished with a twin needle and the straps with zig-zag. This looked fine, but I heard threads snapping as I put it on. Ideally it would be finished with a proper cover stitch for max stretchiness

You can skip the next few pictures if you like ;)

I think the next pair I make will be improved by the elimination of topstitching on the chest panel, making the waistband out of one piece of fabric folded over and choosing some really lovely fabric, maybe a nautical stripe. I'll let you know when I've done them, but I'm not sure if I'll be brave enough to post any more pictures!

Feel free to ask me any questions about these or (even better) send me some tips.

These pictures were taken in the lovely town of Dunsborough in south west Western Australia where we had a summer camping trip.