Sew: Kwik Sew 3149 Kid Shorts

Not much to report about these shorts except that Mr N is very happy with his "LA shorts" and that I have about 10 more pairs to sew before Christmas.... 

Project Details

Pattern: Kwik Sew 3149 shorts, size 4

Fabric: Check cotton shirting from Mood Fabrics LA

L x

Sew: Vogue 1250 in Mood Jersey

I'm a bit of a pattern repeat offender lately. First with the McCalls 6559 and now with the Vogue 1250. Seriously, if it works why go against it?! 

Now this would be my sixth version of Vogue 1250. You can see my previous versions here, here, here, here and here. What can I say? I love Vogue 1250. 

I made my standard adjustments. A 4cm sway back adjustment, a double cowl and an extra 5cm length. This fabric isn't as drapey as my previous versions so the dress has a slightly firmer fit.

This is my beloved animal print jersey from my adventures at Mood Fabrics LA. I have about 1.5m left which I'm going to make a shortened Mission Maxi dress with.

There is not much else to say about this dress. I love it, it's super comfortable and that's all there is to it.  

Project Details

Pattern: Vogue 1250, size 18

Fabric: Animal print jersey from Mood Fabrics

Alterations: 4cm sway back adjustment, lengthened 5cm and doubled the cowl. 

I'm yet to make this in a solid colour. A black one would be a versatile addition to my wardrobe. At the moment, I think it is time to step away from the Vogue 1250!

In other news, I recently went a little crazy with my blog template and did a big spring clean. The template is the Lady Luck Blogger template by Blog Boat on Etsy. It was a little tricky to install but once I got the hang of it, it was quite fun. I do love a bit of a challenge. 

I've gone all social and started Sew Brunswick Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest accounts. If you want to follow along, just click on the buttons on the sidebar. More importantly, if you have a blog Instagram account, let me know and I'll start stalking you! 

I've also been cutting out and sewing up a storm lately but am seriously lacking the blogging energy. I just don't feel like blogging my makes at the moment. Anyone else ever feel like that? 

And last but not least, I am making a little black jacket using Vogue 7975. I actually started it before all this talk about French jackets that has been taking the online sewing community by storm. I'm just very slow. Have you seen Melanie's amazing jacket?! Mine is ridiculously boring in comparison but will be extremely handy and versatile for work. I am up to hand stitching the lining hems but am torn about the shoulders. I feel they might be a little wide but it would be very difficult to unpick the sleeves without ruining the fabric and I don't want to over fit it. My Cordova jacket is a little too tight across the shoulders for comfort. I still wear it and love it though. 

I've included a picture (a very bad picture from late on a Saturday night - don't we all sew on a Saturday night in our pyjamas??) so you can weigh in on the debate. The shoulders in the picture look perfect to me. They just feel a tad wide. I'm going to put an extra layer of fabric in my right shoulder (non-phone shoulder) as it is always slightly lower. What do you think? Do they look too wide? Am I being too picky? Probably. The more I sew, the pickier I get. No wonder I can't buy clothes anymore... 

Thanks in advance for all your words of wisdom! 

L x

Sew: Vogue 8871

  

 

As I can't physically fit all my holiday fabric in to my fabric cupboard, I decided I'd better start sewing with it straight away. Avoid the cupboard all together! In my cutting out binge last weekend, I cut out this and the animal print vogue 1250 as well as my calico for my Little Black Jacket plus a few other items. I am all set for a few weeks of projects. This fabric was pain to cut out as the chevron would not line up and lay flat at the same time. It took two episodes of Breaking Bad to get it to sit flat and enable me to pin the pattern to the fabric. Once cut out though it was a dream to sew. Very easy and quick.

I followed the instructions to a tee. I did cut out bands to bind the neck and armholes but decided to just turn over and top stitch as per the directions. This fabric was quite pliable so that option was quite easy but anything more substantial and I would use bands.

These are not my usual go to colours but I'm happy with the final product and will certainly wear it a lot. I'm pushing my comfort barriers!

Project Details
Pattern: Vogue 8871, size 16-18
Fabric: Jersey from Mood Fabrics LA
Alterations: 2cm sway back adjustment, graded from a size 16 in bust and waist to a size 18 hips.

Next time, I will raise the arm hole a bit as you can see my slip. I want to make it again in a plain black. I think it will look great with some colourful beads.

 

Although I won't normally wear this dress to work, I did this week for a bit of a change. It worked really well with a black cardi and black patent wedges. I really like the uneven swishy hem and side panels of this dress. They make for a fun and flattering dress.

 

L x

Shop: Holiday Fabric

 

First up, thanks for all your lovely comments on my recent posts! Especially to all the love I got for my red Bombshell Swimsuit. I'm glad I've inspired a few of you to reconsider the pattern by omitting the back ruching. It really is a fun and easy pattern to sew.

As promised, I'm going to show you my holiday fabric purchases. I was lucky enough to visit two very "famous" fabric stores. I've always read about Britex Fabrics and Mood Fabrics on sewing blogs and thought they were the gods of the fabric store world. Britex was several floors of fabric and Mood was of warehouse proportions. Unfortunately I had very limited time to peruse as I had three impatient males waiting for me outside.

Never fear! I still came home with a good bounty of beautiful fabrics. Lets take a look!

The blue floral is a rayon challis from Britex Fabrics. It is beautiful and soft with a wonderful drape. I was always curious when American bloggers talked about rayon challis. We don't seem to get much of it in Australia, so I was keen to get a piece to give it a try. I'm not sure about the print as it was an impulse buy under intense time pressure but I'm thinking Vogue 8810 view C for a classy retro summer dress.

The other two are silk prints. The yellow is from Britex and the navy from Mood. Both will become dresses for work. Pattern suggestions are welcome! I'm thinking something with a gathered elastic waist for the navy.

These three are for the boys. The Dr Seuss cotton (from Britex) is for summer pyjamas and the check fabrics (Mood) are for simple shorts. Mr N chose the checks in Mood as "I was buying too much fabric for yourself. What about us boys?". Point taken. He certainly does have good taste in fabric.

 

I don't know what it is about this ikat print from Mood but I really like it. The photo does it no justice. The blue is brighter in real life (see the last photo) and the fabric is a denim weight with a touch of stretch and texture. I originally thought a sheath dress but am now thinking a Moss Mini skirt and a pair of Iris shorts. I am torn. What do you think??

This is my fabulous haul of Mood knits. I love them. I could have bought more but they're heavy and I was running out of room. The colourful zig zag is destined to be a simple singlet style dress. I'm thinking of getting the Mission Maxi pattern but shortening it to just below the knee. It will be perfect with an orange cardi and silver sandals. The brown zig zag is for Vogue 8871. I'm pretty sure it is even the fabric used on the Vogue website. I'm going to make a teal polymer clay bead necklace to go with it.

My favourite knit is the animal print. The print is ok but the quality of this fabric is amazing. I bought 3.5 metres of this viscose spandex knit as it is beautiful and thick with a lovely drape. I'm planning another Vogue 1250 (surprise!!) for work and a shortened Mission Maxi for casual wear.

The blue and pink print almost has an Australian botanical look to it. Mr N thinks it is more of a coral print. The quality isn't anything special as it's quite a thin cotton knit with limited recovery. I'm thinking the Lady Skater dress and possibly a loose tee if I have enough left. If you have any ideas, let me know!

Although I didn't get them on holidays, I got two pieces of linen from Tessuti just before we left. I spotted the Giganta Red floral print linen on the website and since I thought it was all sold out from last year I quickly grabbed a few metres. I have Burda 7379 marked for this pattern. I think the pairing is perfect for a breezy floral summer dress! The last piece to show you is a textured denim blue linen (Santorini Look linen) that I've already cut Vogue 8810 out of. I bought it to make another pair of Colette Juniper pants (must show you the first pair) but once it arrived I realised it was way too sheer for a pair of pants. I was considering the Colette Hawthorn pattern but decided to use a pattern I already had instead of adding another pattern to my ever growing stash. I'm a bit excited about this dress. It's all ready to go.

So there you have it. Some beautiful fabric to remember our trip by. I always think of our holiday in Japan whenever I wear my Japanese floral Simplicity 2360. Fabric makes the best souvenir!!

And if you're wondering how I get all this fabric home when we only travel with backpacks, rollable space bags of course!

Do you buy fabric when you travel? Where's your favourite fabric holiday destination?

L x

Sew: Tropical Vogue 1250

I walked in to Mood Fabrics in LA on a mission! My top priority was a tropical print jersey to make Vogue 1250 for a conference dinner in Cairns the following weekend. Of course, Mood did not disappoint! How could they disappoint with a warehouse sized fabric store?? Once I'd secured the tropical print jersey, me and my helper Mr N went nuts. It was a fabric lovers dream come true! I bought some truly lovely pieces and would have got more if it was not for Mr Sew Brunswick appearing and saying "Enough". Point taken. I did have to get this fabric home. But it was heaven! And so much cheaper than fabric in Australia. I particularly loved their knit fabric and cotton print range.

 

Back to Vogue 1250 for the moment. We got home Saturday morning, the fabric went in the wash on Sunday and I hemmed the dress on Tuesday after work. Such a quick and simple make. I took 3 versions of Vogue 1250 to Cairns with me. They are the perfect travel dress. This version has my standard sway back adjustment and that's it. I didn't lengthen this version as it was for a tropical themed party in Cairns. Beach chic was necessary!

The fabric is a very light cotton jersey so it doesn't drape and cling quite like the other versions. Perfect for hot weather but not quite as flattering. I really like this dress in a viscose blend knit. Lucky I picked some up in Mood!

Project Details
Pattern: Vogue 1250, size 16
Fabric: Tropical print cotton jersey from Mood Fabrics LA

I wore my tropical dress with a floral leis and a pair of flat black sandals. I was considering a pair of Havaianas but thought that might be pushing my casual limits! I even wore it the next day to lounge around the pool. How's that for a versatile dress?!

I'll be back soon to show you my holiday fabric shopping haul. I've almost finished washing it all.

L x