The Next 10 Months

Now that February and March are outfitted, I'll show you my plans for the next 10 months.  The first couple of outfits have been pretty girly and dressy, and while I love making the pretty girly dressy things, what I really need is comfortable, casual, everyday clothes that will get me through my normal week.  My default uniform is jeans and things that go with jeans, so my aim is to make more clothes that fit into that casual category, and yes I am going to have a crack at making my own jeans. Yikes!  Here's the plan at this stage:

April: 
Groovy shawl in 100% silk from Mayhem and Chaos.
A single button blazer in forrest critter drill.
Slim leg trousers in dark grey stretch cotton linen blend.
Our Fave Top from Tessuti in light grey fine wool blend jersey (not pictured)

May:
Effortless Cardigan in BWM Luxury 10ply (this is one of those items I skipped ahead and made because inspiration and motivation aligned)
Black floral mumu refashion into a sleeveless shirt.
Pink cord short skirt.
Grey tie dyed tights.

June:
Beatnik jumper in BWM Luxury 10ply.
Jeans! Eek! Slim leg from Burda Style 8/2006 in dark navy denim.
Blue dress to tunic refashion.

July:
Neon Ski Bonnet in undyed Tonne of Wool Cormo
Red Riding Hoodie (this is another already made, I got a Craftsy course for my birthday, and this was the first project to improve my sewing with knits!)
Long sleeve tee in anchor print jersey.
Slim leg trousers in light grey pinwale corduroy.

August:
Mara triangle shawl in super smooshy grey Wendy Dennis 4ply.
Knit hoodie dress in teal and navy patterned knit fabric.
Leggings and a long sleeve tee.  I haven't decided on colours for these yet.

September:
Dahlia cardigan in orange Jitterbug.
Long tank in grey and cream striped jersey.
Denim skirt, I'm looking for some light wash or maybe patterned denim for this one.

October:
Myrtle Cardigan in red Wollmeise.
Some kind of little dress for Frocktober in BRIGHT multi coloured print voile.

November:
Seersucker mumu to skirt refashion.

December:
Christmas dress! I haven't decided on full or narrow skirt yet.

January: 
Swimsuit!  A retro style suit, perhaps in this fabric I've been lusting after.

The last few months on the list aren't quite whole outfits, I'm still figuring out what I want, or really what I need.  Of course this means hours spent rifling through bargain tables at fabric stores and op shops just in case I find something perfect and even more hours leafing through my patterns.  Really, procrastinating is my superpower.

Also, I know I'm using ALL THE GREY!  I like grey.  That is all.

Outfit Two: March

Here's outfit number two!  I must say I really enjoy the moment when an outfit graduates from the studio to the wardrobe.

This outfit was the first to jump off the table when I pulled all my stashes out earlier in the year.  The yellow yarn grabbed the floral voile and some black jersey and wouldn't let go.   That yarn already became the golden waves cowl.

The Pattern for the skirt is from 1978.  I have an awful lot of skirt patterns from that decade, there were some really great skirts in the '70s.  This one has a really interesting wide wraparound waist band that narrows to tie in the front, and best of all it has pockets.  I love skirts with pockets.

The floral voile is quite sheer so I used a slightly heavier plain black voile to line it, it also gives the skirt a bit of body.  I'd love to make this pattern again in the maxi length, I just need to find the right fabric.

I have had the pattern for this top marked since I bought the Burda magazine in 2010.  I was really glad to have found the right outfit for it. 

I absolutely love the neckline and the fit is great.  Except for the length.  I should know by now that Burda Style knit tops are too short for my torso, but it's been a while since I made any so I forgot, and as a result, this one is a little shorter than I would like.  It doesn't matter at all when it gets tucked in, but I will be a little limited in which of my jeans I will be able to wear it with.  

Skirt
Pattern: McCalls 6389 View B
Fabric: Floral cotton voile & black cotton voile, both from Spotlight.
Modifications: Lined and shortened.

Top
Pattern: Burda Style 2/2010 Pattern 122A
Fabric: Cotton jersey with lycra
Modifications: Clear elastic reinforced neckline.

A Little Refashioned Blouse

Last week Joss and I wandered a couple of towns over to check out an op shop I haven't visited before.  As well as a couple of cute vintage kids patterns, some super cheap fabric and a pair of t-bar shoes, I found a couple of nice quality men's shirts in pretty colours.  This one is particularly pretty.  It was a men's small so I didn't have much room for tweaking.

I took off the collar and sleeves and turned it around.  Widened the neckline, narrowed the shoulders and added a couple of pin tucks to the new front.  Then I finished the arm holes with bias binding facings and added a somewhat crooked collar.  No hemming, no sewing button holes, minimal finishing!

The end result is pretty cute, fits well, the weather has turned too cold to wear it outside, not even for photos.  So now you get to see my cluttered studio, and look there in the background in the pic below is my skirt for March's outfit!

Outfit One: February

Here is the first of my 12 outfits!  The joy of an Australian summer, in February a frock is an outfit unto itself.  Well, almost.  I made a necklace to match from the bones of a massive pair of earrings I never wear and some embroidery thread that matches the dress fabric.

I had originally planned a different dress, but as is often the case with thrifted patterns, there were some pieces missing.  Of course they were the pieces for the bodice I wanted to make so that idea was scrapped and I moved on to my back up pattern which I had been planning on using for a while too.  

I didn't want a tie belt for the dress so I made my first ever fabric covered belt.  I was really pleased with how it turned out, especially for a first crack!

Pattern: Simplicity 9744 View 3

Fabric: Mystery op shop score

Mods: I lowered the neckline by about 3cm and raised the hemline to just above my knees.

The outfit had its first outing on the weekend to the Moomba festival in Melbourne.  It was a very very hot day, but I was very comfortable in my frock, we even found a nice vintage car that matched the colour perfectly!

Little Bits and Pieces

It's really difficult to knit a gift for your husband when he is working afternoon shifts for a month and your only knitting time is after the kids are in bed.  Of course it would have been easier if I were knitting a light colour but I chose to use a black and deep red sock yarn.  It nearly broke my eyes, but I got I finished and blocked a neck warmer for Darron to go with his motorbike gear.  A simple slip stitch pattern to break up the pooling.

Pattern: Ceres Celebration Cowl
Yarn: Ewe Give Me The Knits sock yarn


Another gift knit for early February was a pair of little lace fingerless mitts for our niece Bella.  I struggled to find any children's patterns that weren't chunky, so I found a DK weight adults pattern and downsized yarn and needles.

Pattern: Digitalis Mitts
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills 2ply (held double)
Needles: 2.5mm
Mods: I only used the lace pattern for the cuff and knitted a plain hand and thumb with three rows of garter to finish.


Last little bit is a little grey dress.  I made this one at the start of February and it has had a lot of wear already.  Its so light and comfy, and has been perfect for this never ending summer.

Pattern: McCalls 8555 (From the Brooke Shields Signature Collection!) 1983 View B

Fabric: Lightweight grey jersey from the op shop
Mods: I left the hem unfinished because I wanted to wear this one straight away and it sits nicely so I'm going to leave it raw.

Coming up next: February's outfit!

12 Outfits

Pinterest is a haven for procrastination, and I am a very skilled procrastinator.  Occasionally procrastination leads to amazing inspiration.  Like when one of your friends pins a blog post that presents an idea that keeps you awake all night.  The blog I'm talking about is leeleetea, and her 12 outfits project.

The concept appealed to me greatly.  As a general rule I aim to consume less and make more, I've challenged myself before to limit my consumption of mass produced clothes with a fair amount of success.  The 12 outfits project is also timely as each season this year I will need new outfits.  In the last year or so I lost about 25kg and three dress sizes, so I have very few clothes that fit.  I have been slowly restocking my wardrobe with essentials, but the thought of buying everything brand new fills me with dread.  The thought of making what I need on the other hand fills me with excitement.

So after a sleepless night contemplating 12 outfits I pulled out some of my stash and piles of patterns to see if I could get 12 outfits.

It turns out I can!  I have six outfits completely planned with patterns and fabric and yarn, some even with buttons and other notions, as well as key pieces planned for the following six outfits.  I really like the flexibility Natalie had built into her project and I plan to be flexible in my plans as well.  Given that I've already finished a couple of the winter garments, the order of operations is already somewhat inverted and I have other things I plan on making this year for myself and my family outside the project.  As long as I get my 12 outfits in the end, I'll be happy.

So, all this happened a month ago and a couple of the projects I've posted about already belong to outfits.  February's outfit is complete and will be blogged shortly.

Waves of Gold

I still have a couple of things to photograph before I'll be up to date in documenting my projects for the year so far.  This one I finished in just two days.  A combination of stunning yarn and a beautiful simple pattern made it difficult to put down and I am very much in love with the end result.

It's no secret that I love Mayhem and Chaos yarns, the colours are so vibrant and gorgeous, and this skein of Lollisox yarn in Rumplestiltskin was especially lovely.  I needed the perfect pattern to show it off.  Song of the Sea was that pattern.

Pattern: Song of the Sea
Yarn: Mayhem and Chaos Lollisox - Rumplestiltskin
Size: Long

This was actually the fifth knit from stash this year (a couple of little projects still to be photographed), so I'm well on my way to 13 in 13.