Fabric and Cowl Necks - 6 PAC at last

Finally I have got down to the 6 PAC.  With the jacket and cowl neck pattern copied out I decided to make the cowl neck first as it was a quick and easy beginning.

This pattern was a quick and easy sew - I made it up in a size 50.

While it looks exactly like the pattern it is not really the look I want.  I was hoping for a more flattering look I tried it with a belt and it does look better.

I am now on a Cowl neck crusade!!  I have ordered the Style Arc Cate Top as it looks to be a more close fitting which is the look I am aiming for.  So watch this space as I test them.

On another note I was up in Auckland again and could not resist checking out Vintage Fabrics and Lace and found this beauty.  It has a lovely old fashioned look about it and I am now searching for a suitable pattern to showcase this beauty.

Fabric, motorcyles and airports.

Fabric motorcycles and airplanes

Plans go awry this weekend with no sewing achieved at all much to my disappointment.  Life has interfered with my plans to draft out the Burda Jacket for the 6PAC.  Instead I ventured to the big city to farewell our Japanese exchange student who has been staying with us for the last 3 weeks.  We have been very busy showing her the highlights of the Waikato region most weekends while she attended school with the others during the week.

Waiting in the frost for the bus.

The Potuhu Geyser erupts at long last.

Alpacas can be scary!

The husband had motorbikes on his mind as there was a show on in Auckland in the weekend and so it was decided to spend the night on Friday up in Auckland which meant the we did not have to make the drive to the airport at 3am Saturday.  After the last disaster when we stayed at the Airport Holiday Inn and charged for parking (either pay or park your vehicle on the side of the road, which can be a high theft and damage area, was the surly choice offered to us) I was never going to darken their doors.  So we tried the Bella Vista Express Hotel and were very impressed. Great friendly staff, FREE Parking and very comfortable rooms with a king size and a queensize bed in the room.

Onto the airport and a tearful goodbye - it has been fun having Seina to stay.  She was very outgoing and keen to participate in the Kiwi life.  Murdoch, the second son, had spent 3 weeks in Bihoro Hokkaido just before she came over and enjoyed practising his new found fluency.  I am not sure how much her English language improved but both boys Japanese was improved.

We headed off to breakfast in Onehunga and found the Tran Cafe great food but fell over a little at the price!!  Coffee, hot chocolate, porridge, eggs benedict and blueberry pancakes were all nice but Cafe Holmes does it better and mum doesn't charge yet!!!  On the way out I spotted the Vintage Fabric and Lace Shop and persuaded the family to let me linger.   What should I see but the most dazzling array of stretch viscose from LA; mostly end of rolls, these babies packed a colourful punch that had me struggling to make a choice. I couldn't take them all so this is what I finally came home with.

Isn't it beautiful? the pattern is butterflies I think and it has my favourite coral in it.  I am thinking a dress but as yet don't have a pattern in mind.









This next little beauty is going to be a cowl neck top from Burda as in my 6PAC and has enough in it to go with the tan.

After the fabric trip we dropped the teens at the movies with the cousin to watch the latest Batman episode.  The man was champing at the bit to see the Bike show so we meet up with friends and finally made it to the show.  Needless to say my enthusiasm for looking at bikes ran out way before the mens so I ended the afternoon seated at the refreshment stand catching up with some reading.

Making the wish list!

I liked this one.

Disappearing Plans

I do not know what happened to the rather elaborate plan I had uploaded to the blog!  It has disappeared leaving only a question mark both in my mind and on the page.  So here goes another try.

I have just realised that I needed to convert the slide to a JPEG file and voila! here is the plan.

6 PAC Spring

I have finally taken the plunge and joined in with Elizabeth's excellent 6 PAC. (http://artisanssquare.com/sg/index.php/topic,18592.0.html) Four times a year Elizabeth starts a seasonal 6 PAC topic and sets out the terms and conditions of the mini SWAP.  I have lurked and enjoyed reading about participants trials and tribulations and their eventual successes.  The appeal of this sew-along is the smaller number of garments required to complete.  The philosophy behind this is that it is more achievable for those that have limited time - 6 garments is doable in three months.  It is about time that I front up and actually participate.  The beauty of this 6 PAC is to produce 6 garments in a neutral colour and aiming to produce a "column" outfit.

I have set myself some other conditions - all materials that I use must come from the stash or collection. Patterns are decided on and then all other options are put away - this is necessary otherwise I will flit from pattern to pattern and never put scissors to fabric.  So after some pleasurable time fondling fabric and browsing patterns I have made a selection.

The backbone of the 6PAC is a tan polished twill weave linen purchased from a bargain store many years ago - the photo does not show the colour very well.   I have decided to use Burda patterns as I have had success with these recently and need very little alterations for a flattering and good fit.  I am hoping that some of these patterns will become TNT's that I will use over and over again.

This photo from Burda WOF 8/2002 is my inspiration (the colour of my fabric is almost this tan) and I will make up the jacket from this issue (134) twice, once in the tan and again in a heavily textured cotton knit with a little stretch.
The aim of the 6 PAC is to produce two mix and match outfits that are casual and comfortable but still stylish enough to wear in the classroom.

The second pair of trousers is in a silk tussah stripe that I purchased from Global many years ago when a very dear friend came out from Washington DC and we toured the fabric shops of Auckland.  Nancy was searching for Linen and found it at a much better price than in the States. I love the coral in the stripe and have saved this for when I ...lost weight...found the perfect pattern...etc,etc.  But no more waiting for that perfection, I am living in the NOW so after carefully measuring and fitting I am cutting into it.

Coordinating with these neutrals is a light coral silk knit that blends in well with the silk stripe and a nylon mesh paisley print.  I have decided to make the silk knit into a cowl neck top and it should be a snip to make up. Burda WOF 4/2012.

Next step is to copy patterns out now that I have the plan.  Watch this space!

Back to Sewing

Although I have not been posting I have been sewing.  I am at present testing the Style Arc patterns for fit for MY body having heard so much positive about them on Stitchers Guild and in the blogging world.  I ordered the Adele Tunic Top, Wendy  & Linda Stretch Pants and received the Ada Knit Top as the freebie.  It's a wonderful marketing ploy to offer the freebie pattern and I had to restrain myself last month for purchasing a pattern just to buy the Jodi pants freebie.  I am not sure that I will be able to resist this months Katherine Top that is offered, it is just too cute and could figure in my summer wardrobe.  But I digress, back to trying the patterns.

I made the Adele up in a stretch poly which was in similar weigh to that suggested and found that it fitted very nicely across the bust and shoulders.  I need to add more room for the biceps but reading the posts about this it seems it is a common problem, so now to try with a 'real' fabric (I cannot wear poly's as the build up of static produced turns me into a electrode that shocks me every time I touch earth or metal.)

In the meantime I did some fantasy sewing; fantasy in that it is a ball gown and I am unlikely to ever go to another ball.  Initially I was to go to the Leaver's Ball with DH and son, son was not the problem he was vaguely pleased that we were interested ( the school is trying to encourage parents to participate).  However the DH was not keen and on the night had something else to do.  Never mind I have completed the gown and I am very pleased with it. It is from Burda Plus Autumn/Winter 2011 magazine model 426 made in a size 50.  The material is a bronze shot silk with a metallic chiffon wrap. Both pieces came from the stash and were part of a magnificent Michael's bundle I bought many years ago.  I was drawn to this pattern because of the wrap detail - I do not like baring my arms and thought this was a pretty solution.  I measured the pattern but did not make a test garment and it worked! This dress fits like a dream.

I did not follow the instructions as the photos in the magazine of this dress, and the variations show the shoulders twisted  and the gathers at the bust did not look very good.  I was very careful to make sure straight grain and bias were matched - the bodice has multiple layers. It took awhile to make but the end result is IMHO fabulous!! So if ever I need a dress I don't need a fairy godmother!!

Clouds and silver linings

It has been some time since I last posted but I have been busy in my life with all the intentions of making a post.  Guy and I went to the beautiful South Island to watch our boys (Cleave and Murdoch) row in Maadi Cup and had a blast camping around the area.  He was not keen but I think enjoyed the experience and had the chance to reconnect with some old friends while down there.  The boys rowed their hearts out but were pipped at the post for a medal by much less than a second and loved the whole team spirit.  Their school was lucky to win the overall trophy for most points as the competition gets harder and harder each year.



Logan and Cleave showing grit and determination.

We got back from the holiday and the husband set off back to Ethiopia and the salt plains in the Danakil Depression.  He was lucky enough to spend some time touring around Axom and Lalibela before he left the country and the job contract.  The rest of us got to stay home and dream of summer as autumn and winter closed in.  And it is the subject of seasons that is the reason for the title of this post.  Along with beautiful leaves, autumn crocus's and apples we get an onslaught of field mice looking for a warm place to hole up over winter.  The bee hives were protected, the cat was on patrol in the house but not in the sewing room! One morning while looking for some interfacing what should I find but the signature calling cards of mice, I opened the cupboards to find that a family had moved in to the shelves of the fabric stash.  They had spent alot of time moving between the shelves picking the best place for a nest. So it all had to come out and be washed and all at at time when getting normal washing dry is a challenge. So what is the silver lining you ask?  I have had lots of time to revisit the material and remember the plans and patterns for each piece and what started as a chore has become a process of sorting and reviewing.  Not all will be replaced back in the cupboard when I can be sure that the infestation has been removed as we still have not isolated where they managed to gain entry. So for the moment it sits on the bench in the dining room.

It has been a trip through memory lane as some of the material I am ashamed to say has been aging in the stash since before my oldest was born.  I am now onto sorting the other cupboard of fabric out.  I normally have it shelved in colour groupings - these are the browns greens and whites shelves, with the coating and denims shelved together. How do you store your fabric?