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Wednesday 26 August 2009

Back to blogging

Sorry for the long summer break, unfortunately not due to any fabulous, or even unfabulous vacations, but an unplanned trip back home to the UK for my grandmother's funeral. She was 93 so although it was of course a sad occasion there is no doubt that she had a full life and it was nice to catch up with my family again.

So I have finally got over my jetlag and finished washing and ironing some things to show you.

Just before I left I met up with the lovely Trena from Slapdash Sewist, who unlike me, seems to be immune to jetlag! We spent an evening at dinner and then pretty much an entire day shopping and sightseeing, I had such a good time. Since I foolishly didn't take any photos you can read about the trip on Trena's blog here.

You can see that my bag of fabric from the textile market in Sham Shui Po is about twice the size of Trena's, I don't know how that happened - I'm sure she must have sneaked some of her stuff in there. Here's what I got;

Mega size jersey print, bit crazy but I loved the colours.

Cobalt blue knit, dusky pink embellished sheer.

Close up of the sheer, this will be a very simple unstructured top I think.

I also bought a black wool blend to make a dress for the funeral and made yet another version of my Burda 02/09-124 dress but with a more modest neckline. I plan to embellish the neckline with some crystals to turn it from a funeral dress to an LBD. I think my nan would approve.



On the sewing front, I made 2 more separates. Another black shirt from the leftovers of the cutaway shoulder shirt in my last post. This one is Patrones issue 269, #1, although I left off the collar and belt. I'm a bit of a novice at Patrones and I'm only brave enough to attempt patterns I think I can figure out without instructions, but this turned out well so I am encouraged to try more.


The skirt is a very loud print and as such I wanted a simple pattern.

I used Burda 09/08 - 120, a basic pencil skirt. I liked that the cut was such that it is quite narrow, but has no back slit or any other details other than waist darts. There is still enough walking ease, but I must remember not to wear this skirt if I want to climb onto the bus! 

The fabric is a lightweight cotton so I lined it with china silk. I found it to be a little shorter than I wanted so I added a hem facing from a strip of fabric so I could take a minimum depth of hem but still get the benefit of a little bit of extra fabric weight there, it definitely helps it to hang better.





18 comments:

  1. LOVE that colbalt blue knit!!!!!

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  2. Great job on the sewing, love the colors of the skirt with the black top.

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  3. Sorry to hear about your grandmother. Glad you are back!
    BTW, my daughter and I traced the barbie patterns and picking out fabric! thank you again--boy, these pieces are tiny!!!

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  4. hola, soy chilena y hace muy poquito empece a estudiar diseño de vestuario, y mi hermana me mando tu blog, esta muy lindo y las cosas que haces son preciosas, te felicito!!

    las telas son miy bellas, aca cuesta un poco encontrarlas pero se puede!!

    un abrazo afectusoso

    vero

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  5. I'm glad to see you posting again! That whole outfit is very cute and super slimming! I love the colors in the skirt.

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  6. Sorry to hear about your grandmother. I just lost mine recently, too. It's very sad; but like you said, also good to catch up with family. I'm so glad your grandmother lived such a long, happy life.

    Sounds like you had a wonderful trip and brought back some wonderful fabrics.

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  7. That 02/09 pattern has had quite a transformation. And I would have gotten those fabrics too. They are each lovely in different ways.

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  8. So sorry to hear about your grandmother... But isn't it funny how events like that bring family closer together? Love the fabric you got on your trip - esp the big jersey print... Also love the pink pencil skirt...

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  9. Sorry to hear about your grandmother. Always sad.
    You did really well at the market! And you new outfit looks great. Fabulous skirt fabric.

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  10. My condolences to you and your family.

    Love that skirt. LOVE IT !!

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  11. Wow! That pink sheer is beautiful - it will make a gorgeous top. And I love that Patrones top. Would love to get my hands on one of those mags - but living here in the hinterlands, there's no chance of that. Just would like to thumb through it.

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  12. glad to see your back, and I'm happy you were able to see your grandmother off, its such a blessing to have lived that long. great fabrics! love the fuzzy knits, beautiful. great top and skirt, I love the print on that skirt fabric, just my style

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  13. Sorry to hear about your grandmother.I'm so glad she lived such a long life.

    I love the pink pencil skirt!

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  14. I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother.
    The outfit looks wonderful!

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  15. My condolences to you and your family. Grandmothers are very special.

    I'm looking forward to seeing what you create with your new fabrics.

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  16. Sorry to hear about your grandmother.
    The shirt is very neat and the skirt is awesome!! I love the fabric!! The total outfit looks great!

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  17. My condolences, it's always so sad losing a loved one.

    Nice looking outfit, well done!

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  18. Not only did you get some great fabrics but I love the print you used for the skirt! Awesome!!!

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