Way back when I first made the Liesl + Co Classic shirt (here) I promptly went on the search for the perfect fabric to make a white version. I found the fabric, along with a couple of others, and stashed them. Good ideas never go away, so three year later I have some new shirts.
Bartacks and Singletrack
A cyclist's sewing blog
Tuesday 5 December 2023
Classic white shirts
Tuesday 21 November 2023
Melbourne Frocktails and another Vogue 8904
Ever since 2016 when I made Vogue 8904 (aka the shingle dress) for the first time (blog post here), I'd been keeping my eye out for the right fabrics to make the sleeveless multicoloured version.
Sometime in the middle of this year I found myself at a Fibresmith open warehouse sale and there they were; five different colours of knit fabric, all of the exact same weight and make and the same stripe width. It was finally going to happen.
I squirrelled the fabrics away to wait for summer, and then, as Melbourne Frocktails was fast approaching I thought, why not? A raw edged, easy to sew and easy to wear, singlet dress is exactly what this busy party organiser needs.
Secure in the knowledge that I'd already sewn the dress pattern once before and it would be barely a day's work, I decided that Melbourne's untrustworthy weather might require something warm and I started panic knitting a cardigan. I finished it about 5 days before Frocktails and just as a heatwave hit the city. C'est la vie. Needless to say, it didn't get worn and will have to be photographed and written about another day.
Of course that left me with a few evenings spare leading up to Frocktails so I zoomed around to some beadshops and bought 11/0 Mizuki Delica beads that exactly matched my fabrics and made this little bracelet.
Having just come back from a holiday to Fiji, the banded stripes remind me a little too much of sea snakes! I'll have to remember to write a blogpost about the sea kayaking trip and the sewing that I did to prep for it. It was amazing. The holiday that is.
Having the pattern pieces already traced from the previous dress, it really was quite a quick and easy sew. This time, being a bit smaller than in 2016 I sewed exactly as per the pattern sizing and used the 5/8" seam allowance as directed.
Here I am with my Melbourne Frocktails co-host Lisa. Her dress is all kinds of amazing with handpainted silk and a laser cut leather belt and necklace that references lyrics to a song her husband wrote. I truly don't mind being outshone and I was happy in my comfy singlet that left plenty of room for cocktails and canapes! Play to your strengths kids. :)
Super exciting news is that we had the Guardian Australia come along and here's a link to their write up of our not-so-little-anymore cocktail party! Click on the picture below for the link
Monday 19 June 2023
And for me: Butterick Lisette B6626
After wrecking my ankle in late April, I figured I could try sewing with my left foot.... The sudden impulse to sew something just for fun had me rifling through my pattern and fabric stash. I wanted a new winter dress for myself. Something quick and easy to make that I could wear, with my moon boot, out for my own birthday dinner.
Enter Lisette / Butterick B6626 and some long stashed ponte knit from Rathdowne Fabrics.
Details:
Pattern: Lisette / Butterick B6626
Size: 14
Modifications: none
Fabric: Ponte knit from Rathdowne Fabrics
Wednesday 14 June 2023
Belated bigger birthday dress
The blog now segues from a knitted one year old birthday dress to a sewn 12 year old birthday dress, but the order is all out of kilter. Actually it was as I was sewing some 15 year old birthday pyjamas today I reminded myself I'd never posted about the summer birthday dress....
I'd been about to let the tradition of a birthday dress go, but she asked (nicely) for a light blue dress with thin straps to wear over a white T-shirt as a roller skating dress for her party.
Thursday 1 June 2023
A little challenging: vanilla dress
I do love a challenge and if it's small and the price of failure is low, even better.
When my Frocktails co-organiser Lisa's little baby was about to turn one, it seemed the perfect opportunity to try knitting a cute little dress. That it would only take two 50g balls of yarn made it too tempting.
With some Knitting For Olive merino/cotton (colour: dusty artichoke) from The Yarn Bowl and the Vanilla Dress pattern from Knitting for Olive, I was off.
Right from the start there were some new tricks to learn. The neckline is started on a crochet chain and then an I cord bind off is done to create the neck edge. Neat and easy to follow.
I was going great guns until I got to the main lace pattern and then I couldn't figure out how the stitch count worked. It was Easter and I was out in the country at my folks place. A quick help-needed post to Ravelry and I had a reply in a time that would put emergency services to shame. They explained how to read the chart without necessarily starting at the farthest right and ending at the farthest left - the only way I'd read a chart up until this point.
Tuesday 30 May 2023
Men's (almost) Metro T - Part 2
No sooner had I made Flipper his mtb trails T-shirt than I had a request from the big kid for one too.
I obliged, of course, but not before making a plain long sleeved T first, cause that was the bigger wardrobe hole that needed filling.
This is the Liesl + Co Metro T size M with, from memory about 8cm extra body hem length and 10cm extra sleeve length.
Photographed quickly on the way to lacrosse training with the long pole he got for Christmas. Did I tell you I strung the head myself? Not such a hard task if you're a crafty type. Thoroughly enjoyable if you have a post Christmas lunch glass of champagne and a quiet place to sit.
The T-shirt he really wanted though was the athletic knit with the favourite Strava trails on it...
Monday 22 May 2023
Men's Metro T - part 1
Have I told you I bought myself a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine?
I'd borrowed one from a friend ages ago and went crazy making T-shirts for the kids with iron on vinyl designs and one supergirl outfit! I gave that machine back to the friend, and every year or so afterwards I would do another little bit of online sleuthing as to whether the Silhouette or the Cricut was better. Eventually I decided on the Silhouette Cameo 4 based on two things: More freedom to create your own designs and import graphics into designs, and a deeper cutting depth. I know I'm not about to go cutting cork or leather right now, but I sure as heck don't want to not be able to should I decide I want to!
Armed with a new toy I had a sudden urge to create something. Turning to the household head of IT, I asked what he'd like on a T-shirt. "Tabs or Spaces" he replied.
Apparently that's a defining choice amongst code writers. Obviously I had no clue and needed to be instructed as to the graphics that would represent each word.
What I did know was that the T-shirt would be the Liesl + Co men's Metro T in XL as per every other one. Easy.
He requested navy or dark blue as the colour. That I didn't have, but I'm not above shopping for fabric when the need arises ;) I found this perfect dark blue remnant, about 90cm size, at Fabric Deluxe and I suspect it's a bamboo blend? It is a lovely fabric.
The iron on vinyl is a Silhouette branded one that is a metallic blue and changes colour a bit with the light reflecting off it. Subtle yet bright, and super cool.
Here's the household IT guru in his natural environment: horizontal with laptop