SSS Ends in a Fizzle

My Self Stitched September didn't end with the bang I had imagined. It fizzled out in the midst of illness and grief. Here are the last few outfits I managed before I had to pull the pin:




The last couple of weeks have been difficult. I fell ill, my grandfather passed away quite suddenly, and we discovered that my son has asthma. This week things are getting back to normal, and I am looking forward to waking this little blog back up.

Coming soon: The biggest, most important sewing project I have ever attempted! My best girl Em and I have started work on her wedding dress!

Days 12, 13 & 14

The last three days have covered all facets of proper spring weather! On Sunday there were showers all day. My navy trousers are getting a real work out this month! My waist coat is getting more use now and my red v neck top got another outing.


Monday was a work day, hence the delightful photo of me half awake at seven in the morning! There's that waist coat again! I made the skirt about 12 months ago, the fabric is vintage wool and it's just dorky enough to make me very happy. The shirt is from Target, I can't remember where the olive tights came from, and my little tree brooch is by Elk.


And then today the sun came out again, it was gorgeous, but not very warm! Navy pants again, (and again and again!) and my burgundy T, both made by me. The cropped jacket is from Stussy. I made the cheesy kid too. This is us dashing out the door to take him to kindergarten. I didn't notice at the time that I was standing right on top of that little pot pant!


The knit tops above were both made from my mum's patterns. both from the 1980s too.

I have view A of the Kwik Sew in burgundy and view D of the Butterick in bright red. Both were super easy, super quick and have helped build my confidence in sewing knits !

SSS Day 8, Day 9 and Olivette

Day eight of SSS saw the first wearing of my Olivette cardigan! I had sewn on the buttons the evening before and was a little bit excited that it was finished! Worn with my refashioned skirt that used to be jeans and a red cami.

Day nine, today in fact, I wore my self stitched trackies in the morning for the washing, cleaning, and dog walking. This afternoon I'm into my procrastination skirt and grey wool waistcoat. I can't believe it has taken me this far into the month to wear this waistcoat. Strange happenings!


Back to my new cardigan. The pattern is Olivette, an easy, fairly quick knit resulting in a sweet versatile cardigan.
I used Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 10 ply in Lake which is lovely and soft, very affordable, seems to be about to pill already and stretches abominably when wet. It should be alright as long as I keep on top of the pilling and block it properly after every wash. What I really love about it is the colour!

The Waistcoat of Awesome!

I have a black waistcoat. I wear it more than any single article of clothing should be worn. I decided I needed an alternate waistcoat, maybe in a different colour/style/fabric so I could still have the joy of a waistcoat (why yes, I do find joy in the small things in life) without it turning into a uniform.

My new waistcoat is soft grey wool. I got the fabric at my local op shop, 150cm by 75cm, $1.50. The lining used to be a pair of beautiful Peter Alexander pyjamas that I somehow managed to rip. The pattern was borrowed from my mum's big box o' patterns. The buttons are from London Mart here in my home town, which has a really good range of buttons for a small town haberdasher! This was a very thrifty project. It cost next to nothing in materials and only took an evening to sew.



The pattern is from 1978. Once again a smaller bust size than mine, once again I only had to add a couple of centimetres to the sides as I apparently prefer a closer fit than was the fashion in the late 70s!