Melbourne Frocktails 2019 - The String Edition

Melbourne Frocktails. That annual event where clever people from all walks of life outfit themselves in something they've made themselves and then turn up for cocktails, canapes and chat.

It always seems the perfect excuse to go all out and try something a bit different. And so I did....

With my "experience" of a couple of baskets, one hat and one scarf, I decided I could crochet a dress.

I never would have though to do that, except that I found a giant cone of Italian viscose tubular knit yarn for sale on String Harvest's Instagram outlet site. It seemed too good to pass up and once it arrived it was obviously way more than I'd ever need for a string market bag*

* although I have made one out of the leftovers - yet to be photographed

I found a free pattern online called Grace in Lace by Drops Design, which is the pattern arm of Garn Studio who sell yarn. I swatched my yarn and from memory I went down a half a hook size and it was pretty close to correct. I made a size smaller than I measured as I think the swatch was still fractionally bigger than intended.

If I'm sounding vague it's because I made the dress during winter. I would often find myself sitting up watching the European cycling on the TV late into the night anyway, and it was easy to be doing something with my hands. How long did it take? Certainly all of the Tour de France, and possibly most of the Vuelta a Espana as well.

I followed the pattern dutifully until I was below the part where the sleeves would later attach. Then I made my own increases and decreases, trying it on every few rounds. I wanted it to be tighter and more sheath fitted than the original pattern which is almost A line.

I also added more length in the mid body section so that my waist line detail was actually at my waist (it's quite high on the pattern) - I later discovered the downside of this was that I couldn't wear hold-'em-in nanna pants underneath as they'd show through. Rightly or wrongly I also decided to forego a bra. With not much underneath and Melbourne plunging us back into cold weather I was grateful for the venue having heating and awnings to keep the wind out!

Not owing a nude coloured shoe I decided that if my dress was $35 worth of string, my shoes could be a treat. I found these Charlotte Olympia shoes at the Luisa outlet and they are something else. I've nicknamed them my measles shoes as they're covered in spots and the heels are sharp enough to vaccinate someone.

And then, when I was visiting one of our event Sponsors, Torb & Reiner, I found this equally pockmarked piece of leather and decided I had to have it to make an Ida clutch (free pattern from Kylie and the Machine)

Back when Kylie was finishing up with selling kits to go with the clutch pattern I cleaned up on a sale of the hardware. Happily, I had the tan zipper, the D ring and clip and the tassel maker thingy all in my stash.

To complete the theme of everything beige to go with my green dress, I even found some little stone earrings at a shop in the city on the Saturday afternoon just hours before Frocktails.

So, you could be mistaken for thinking the only sewing I did for Frocktails this year was a small, leather purse....

Did you see the shirt that our photographer (my friend JB) was wearing in the first picture? Well I made three of those!

Lisa (my co-organiser and preserver of sanity) and I decided that we needed assistants for the door this year. Someone to help with checking in tickets and drawing prizes and then handing out the stash bags at the end. Lisa was suggesting some discounted tickets to people who wanted to come, but I thought we needed totally disinterested parties who did not want to be there! that way they wouldn't get distracted by old friends, pretty dresses or sewing chat. they'd just do their job... Who better than husbands! Meet our doormen for Frocktails 2019!

We convinced out own fellas and one other mutual friend (who's partner was going to be attending anyway) to be our doormen. Lisa's man prefers a fitted T-shirt (for obvious reasons!) to a shirt, so she made his top. I sewed three shirts: two for the doormen and one for the photographer.

We had the fabric printed by Next State Print, also one of our sponsors, and it's a cute little detail of our logo on a grey background. I used the Liesl & Co All Day Shirt and made Flipper (left of pic) his usual size L and the other two a size M.

It was quite a job keeping all three piles of shirt bits separate so that I didn't sew a L collar into a M neckline. I work on a square dining table. One place was my machine and the other three seats were for each shirt. I would work around the table doing the same step to each shirt before moving on. By the time I came to sew all 36 buttonholes and buttons my machine finally blew a fuse and died and the last 5 buttons were sewn on by hand!

I bought some extra Kylie and the Machine labels to sew into the guy's shirts!

While I was waiting for the fabric to be printed, and so that I wouldn't start second guessing the crochet dress, I also made Flipper a pair of trousers. They're a mystery wool blend from a local Vietnamese fabric shop.

The pattern is the same Jutland pants I'd previously made in a drill and this time I thought I'd line them. Something went disastrously wrong and they were way too small. He literally wore the drill ones to work and then came home and couldn't squeeze into these. I've no idea.

Anyway I took the lining out and then used every bit of seam allowance left to make them bigger. I also ended up stitching the front pockets closed as they were tending to gape. I'm less enamoured of the pattern as the instructions for lining and the zipper fly was disappointing. It would have you baste the lining to the trousers and then construct the fly - but that means all that ugly fly flap construction ends up visible. I pulled out the Liesl & Co Hollywood Trousers for the perfect lining/fly instructions (but then had to pull all the lining out anyway)

I also feel that the pockets need some kind of pocket stay that anchors them to the midline fly section so there's no tension on the pocket opening. Either that, or I needed about three sizes bigger! :)

All that said, how gorgeous do these guys look!

I think they had fun, and having them there made the evening so much easier for Lisa and I. Although, with 150 guests I still don't feel like I managed to chat to even a tiny portion of the crowd, and those I did chat to I was so busy talking I failed to notice their outfits. I'm only now catching up through all the pictures I'm seeing on the #melbournefrocktails Instagram page. Thank heavens for our photographer!

And then the guests arrived! There are so many wonderful photos, but similar to last year there were lots of lovely blue/greens, so we all piled in for a picture. The backdrop at the Hophaus bar was just too good!

B6244 Coat - 2 way street

From the moment I saw this pattern I knew I wanted to make it up. I just had to find the right wool....

Given the pattern came out in 2015, it would be fair to say I was prepared to wait for the perfect fabric.

The pattern is Lisette for Butterick B6244, a very simple, but beautifully shaped, open coat. I was looking for a wool that would be suitably warm, didn't need lining, had a nice reverse face - or double sided for the bonus! - and had the lovely drape that this coat requires.

Armed with a generous gift voucher and the ever encouraging Blogless Anna at my side I hit up Tessuti where I found this perfect double sided boiled wool. I passed over the Prada one next to it that was more than twice it's price and bought 2.2 metres (that's relevant and you'll see why later) of which my voucher covered almost half. Ouch.

Then the challenge was to decide which way I wanted to have it. A charcoal coat with navy accents, or navy coat with charcoal... I wore it around the house like a blanket over a few days and I was leaning towards the grey. An Instagram poll had that option slightly ahead, but of course some funny wag suggested making it fully reversible. Yeah, like I'd ever try and do that.... ;)

I'm going to confess to being really bad-ass and not making a muslin. Kind of perverse when dealing with such expensive wool but I was just too exited and wanted to jump in. I did the super scientific thing of trawling other people's makes and then measuring myself and sizing down by one size anyway.

So this is a size 12 (I measured exactly the 14) with 1" of extra sleeve length added. Both the one size smaller and the extra sleeve length I borrowed from Justine of SewCountryChick - which makes no sense as I've never met her and have no idea how our arm length compares, but it just seemed like a good idea. And it's perfect, thank Justine!

The thing that really appealed to me about this pattern is the finishing. It uses flat felled seams almost everywhere and is hemmed. I realise it would be easy to leave a wool coating un-hemmed, and maybe that might even be better for a double sided wool coating but I just don't like it. I want to feel like I'm wearing a blanket, but I don't want to feel like I've chopped up a blanket and barely sewn it together. I need hems.

So, the funny wag on Instagram who suggested flat felling every seam?.... Well I thought it wouldn't work as there are vertical darts from the shoulder down towards the bust and if they were going to be visible, the coat would never be truly reversible. But after I'd sewn the collar (there's a photo tutorial here if you find that tricky) I realised the open lapels of the collar would always hide that dart.

So it really could be reversible....

All it took was to flat fell the sleeve head seams as well. Of course the flat felled seams never look quite as good from their wrong side as their right side, but still perfectly wearable at a pinch.

The wool was absolutely lovely to sew. Don't ever be afraid of sewing good quality wool. It doesn't fray, it presses beautifully and stitches like a hot needle through butter. To flat fell the seams is not hard. The sleeves need to be done in two directions, mostly from the sleeve head down, but then a bit from the hem end up. After flat felling the plastic, narrow, laminate, tubes-of-hell of this coat, no flat felled sleeve seam will ever seem hard.

So, why did it matter to tell you I bought 2.2metres of this wool?
Well, the pattern suggested I'd need between 2&3/8ths and 2&1/2 yards (size 12 to 14). In fact I only used 2metres exactly and had an odd shaped remnant that was the full 150cm width and between 20 and 40cm deep.

I got very exited about how to use up the leftovers and actually ended up doing all of this sewing before sewing up the coat.

First up, a size small Genoa Tote:

This time I used the navy face of the fabric as my main side.

I found some leftover navy striped cotton for the lining and a floral cotton for the pocket. Not my usual super-plain style but I absolutely ADORE the inside of this bag.

Even the zip was in my stash so I was feeling pretty good about the use of leftovers here. I underlined the wool with a stiff interfacing and so the bag has good structure and can pretty much stand up by itself.

I scrounged around and found a D-ring and an old lanyard clip for the key chain.

Then I went to Leffler Leather for some straps - not realising they don't sell portions of hides, just whole pieces. Luckily the guy thought to show me these pre-made navy straps. The thin, navy leather is glued around the strapping and then stitched. They're perfect and I think they look more formal than plain leather straps, which suits the wool bag perfectly. I blew the project out of the water by buying the straps, a multi-size leather hole punch and a whole packet of rivets, but hey, it had to be finished somehow.

And I still had a bit of wool left over.

Just enough for a little pair of slippers! :)

The pattern is Happy Feet by Favorite Things. Each pattern piece is cut from two layers of the double sided wool, so a total of eight uppers and four soles, and I had just enough. I've previously made this pattern for the kids but this was the first time for a grown up. I was a bit baffled by the instructions on how to choose a size. It recommended putting ones heel against the back line and then allowing an extra inch at the toe....

Yet the different pattern sizes were all nested inside one another and so the back heel lines were not together. It seemed that to have the 1" clearance I needed the size L adult. It struck me as odd since the largest size was XL and the pattern suggested it covered men's feet as well. I know I have fairly big feet (size 40), but surely not the second biggest?

And the answer was no, not the second biggest. These slippers, while incredibly warm and seriously soft and cosy are just a bit too big to stay on my feet.

I've passed them on to someone who I may have insulted by indicating that her feet would fill them better than mine. But since I neglected to add any non slip stuff to the soles, I prefer to imagine she doesn't care 'cause she's having a blast sliding around the kitchen with really warm toes!

Of course I didn't get a photo of the coat, bag and slippers all together. It was never meant to be an ensemble! But if you see me out and about before winter is out you're guaranteed to see either the bag, or coat, or both.

Details:
Patterns: B6244 View A, Genoa Tote by Blogless Anna, Happy Feet by Favorite Things
Sizes: Coat: 12, Bag: S, Slippers: L
Modifications: Coat: 1" extra sleeve length. Flat felled everything.
Fabric: Charcoal/navy double sided boiled wool from Tessuti (sold out it seems, but the Prada one is still there ;) )

Christmas gift making

Hello!

Did you have a lovely Christmas day? I'm going to guess that I did, but I'm writing and scheduling this post in advance as I'm going to be out of town. Lets' imagine I ate and drank too much and we're probably not far wrong.

But now that the unwrapping is done I can share all the Christmas gifts that I/we made.

First up: the wonders of Kraft-Tex washable paper fabric...

I cut out this little box pattern and then drew in, using a mechanical pencil, the areas that would be each side (minus the fold down at the top) and the bottom, then A painted it. Even with my obvious THIS WAY UP arrows she still got muddled and did some upside down painting, but she took it all in her stride and turned her upside down flower into a flower on a vine. On the bottom she wrote a dedication to her teacher and signed it. Good job kid.

When the fabric paint was dry I ironed it to set the paint then stitched the box together, wet it and then rolled the top down with it damp. We filled it with dark Lindt chocolate balls and wrapped it in cellophane. Only hiccup was the grey lead pencil doesn't wash off the white Kraft-Tex as well as I'd imagined it would.

P used some black Kraft-Tex paper to sew a little wallet for his teacher

He has a "very cool" teacher who plays guitar and I've now learned is a vegan, so the choice of washable paper for his wallet was perfect. The pattern is one of the Wallet Set from Thread Theory which I'd bought with gifts and this washable paper fabric in mind. The little front pocket is perfect for a single key, or your guitar pick. If you're that cool....

P read the instructions, glued the PDF together, cut out the pattern and then did the first line of topstitching before freaking out and asking me to do the rest of the stitching. Fair enough, as the little Janome had to fairly hammer to get through three layers of this stuff. I used a leather needle and upholstery thread.

The last Kraft-Tex project was a commission for my mum's newly renovated bathroom. She gave me the dimensions for a bucket bag to hold some cosmetics and requested a black/dark grey colour scheme.

This one has had a bit more scrunching after washing and you can see how nicely the paper behaves. When it's wet it really feels like the chamois your dad used to use to wash the car.  I'd previously given my mum a couple of the Uashmama branded bags and she uses them in the kitchen, one as a breadbag for the table, and the other to collect produce in from the garden. they have aged really nicely.

I found that Kraftcolour, here in Aus, stocks all of the colours in 1.37metre rolls at quite reasonable prices. I bought one roll of every colour for about as much as one extra large commercial bag would cost. Expect a lot more Kraft-Tex paper projects to come! ;)

I thought my choice of lining fabric was terribly clever until I realised that the print on that quilting cotton would be sideways or upside down on three out of the four sides of the bag. Ah well.

Here's a little Ida clutch (free pattern from Kylie and the Machine) that I made for the daughter of one of my friends I do french conversation class with. She had gifted me a fat 8th of fabric from their trip to japan earlier last year. I've turned it into a little clutch purse to gift back!

I've never let a Christmas go by without making something for my nephew. We don't see him often enough to have any idea what his "latest thing" is, but my kids were pretty sure he'd still be a big fan of Nexo Knight LEGO.

OK, time for a stencilled T-shirt, right?!

The T-shirt is a straight size 8 Oliver + S School Bus T-shirt. I used some Lisette knit for the sleeves and back, a perfectly matched Ottobre ribbing for the neckband and a nice white cotton/lycra for the front. All from the stash.

I cut a freezer paper stencil to get the main shape and details of the character

And then most of the shading and painting was done by hand once the base stencil was dry. I've used Setacolour opaque paints and just mixed them to get the shades of grey I wanted. I love doing these!

The last sewn project was another All Day Shirt for my husband. This one will certainly get a blog post all of it's own but here's the sneak peek:

The fabric is some crazy vibrant Vlisco Wax Print from Brave Fabrics. I bought it quite a while ago and I was careful to consult the bloke as I wasn't sure he'd go for it. He has a bit of a tradition of wearing a Hawaiian style shirt for Christmas lunch and I thought it would be fun to make him one. I struggled to find the exact print I wanted (not classic hibiscus, not too floral but not like a quilting cotton surfboard print either...). When I saw this fabric and when I showed it to him and said the magic words: Tron Legacy, he was 100% on board!

Can you spot the pocket?!

Let's hope he doesn't change his mind when he sees it!

After the sewing came the knotting....

My daughter has been wanting a dreamcatcher for a long time. I think they're mostly pretty hideous, but I wondered if I couldn't make a "tasteful dreamcatcher" (oxymoron) with macrame cord. the pattern came from Fanny Zedenius' book "Macrame" . I happened to have just the right amount of 3mm natural colour cotton cord in my stash and only needed to buy the plastic ring for a couple of dollars.

 

The ring is 30cm across, so it's quiet a sizeable wallhanging. I think it's not bad as far as dreamcatcher's go, but the husband's first comment was "isn't it meant to have feathers and stuff?" so I'm not sure the kid will think it's authentic enough after all.

My final bit of rope craft, and the gift I put off making for fear I had been overly ambitious, was this:

With much cheering on from my lovely Instagram followers, I made a rope mat for my brother in law's new boat. I bought 100 metres of 10mm navy, marine nylon rope that was on sale and when it arrived it looked like a massively overgrown sewing reel! This project required me to cut 40m but I probably only ended up using just over half of that once it was all tightened up.

With all the leftovers I'm thinking I can kit his whole boat out in co-ordinating navy rope things!

The instructions came from my Des Pawson Book of Knot Craft & Rope Mats and I loved the quote for this project: "giving a modest yacht a touch of class" Perfect!

For a first go it's not bad although I can see that with practice in working it not too tight, not too loose, I will have plenty of room to improve.

The pattern suggested that in 10mm rope it should be 60cm across, but mine has only ended up 40cm in diameter. Not sure how that worked, but let's hope his yacht is more "modest" than some.

here it is with feet to give a sense of scale

And the back view shows my first ever go at a side splice finish. You can see the splicing at about the two'o'clock position. It worked quite neatly I think.

So that was all my Christmas crafting, but I'll leave you with some little reindeer biscuits that the kids and I made last week. The inspiration came via Deb and the LMLD food blog.

Not all of our reindeer muzzle biscuits worked out and the first batch were a bit more like mini scones. So we made some random woodland creatures to go along with our reindeer.

Thanks for sticking it out if you've made it all the way to the end!
Wishing everyone a safe and happy festive season. Hopefully I'll be back with one last post before the New Year and that one will include a giveaway. Stay tuned!