a nighty or is it nightie ???

As the pyjama party sew-a-long is in full swing over at Karen's I felt inspired to make something for sleeping in as well. Sadly I don't wear pyjama pants and believe me, by the amount of enthusiasm for the sew-a-long I really wished I was, but my legs just get too hot whereas my upper half is covered in icicles. I felt I need to give Audrey C another twirl.

It's made from organic french terry ... so so soft, but not very stretchy. I added a whole 2 inches to the front piece and another inch to the back piece to accommodate the lack of stretchiness. I changed the back darts to a back centre seam and it worked fine, but the lovely Carolyn suggested to take it out of the side seams, so that'll be my next try. To reign in the neckline I made a little pleat out of the 2 inches that I added and I salvaged one of the previously discarded neckbands from the Audrey C in Raspberry.

That'll teach me to do something like a neckband right after I had problems with the darts. I was probably all huffy and puffy from the darts and the poor neckbands never stood a chance ... sigh. I lengthen the arms - I like half of my hands covered as well, but shortened the overall length. To finish it off, I appliquéd 2 little hearts a la Alabama Chanin onto it. I had her books out various times from the library and just love them.

I will spare you all the picture of me in the nighty as it is a bit shorter then I am comfy to post on the internet for all and sundry to see :-)

Audrey C in Raspberry

Finally back to Stashbustin'. It's been a longer break then I intended.

This dress had been waiting to be hemmed for some time. I am still unsure of whether I should shorten it a bit more. If I would wear it mostly with tights then yes, but in reality I am most likely to wear it without, it being Queensland and all, and then I probably don't want to shorten it, cause those little dimples on my thighs don't need to be shared liberally with the world at large.

This is the Audrey C Dress from Maria Denmark. I used a bamboo knit with 4% lycra from the Bamboo Fabric Store. I was under the impression I ordered the colour red, but after I washed it it looked definitely hot pink.

I have mixed feelings about this dress ... sigh.

It promised to be such an easy dress, essentially a long t-shirt. The printout of the pattern went together very well, although I had to trace my size with a colour pen as it printed out in light grey. The neckband didn't print out correctly and no matter what I did, it refused ... the joys of technology

However, the fabric was a 4 way stretch not a 2 way as the pattern asked for. I graded out for my larger hips, but it's still a bit tight around my hip/bottom. I made the skirt more A-line and I shortened the arms a little.

This is a rather unflattering picture of my back, but it probably illustrates all my problems with the dress.

It came out a little small. Either I got the sizes wrong (always a possibility) or the fabric stretched whilst I cut is or even a combination of both. Either way, combined with my least favourite bra and a pair of tights that digs in a little, it is not particularly flattering look on me. However I have a wide belt that I could wear with the dress and thus eliminate at least one of the rolls on the back.

You can't really tell from the picture, but the patterns has 2 back darts and there my fabric choice came back to bite me. I did the darts in a straight stitch, but because it is a 4 way stretch it didn't really work. I had to shorted them and resew them in a small zigzag stitch and then I struggled getting them to lay flat.

I don't know whether I like darts in knit fabric, but since this is the first time I came across them, I am keeping an open mind. My personal preference leans towards adding a back seam and omitting the darts if I make this pattern again.

Finally, after the issue with the darts, which only became apparent once I tried the dress on, I started on the neckband ... ohhh the neckband. I screwed up the neck band REPEATEDLY, no really, this is version 4 and it's staying, I don't care that it is not laying flat.

All of the issues are issues that arose with my lack of experience, so overall I think it is a wonderful pattern. I do like the idea of knit jersey dresses, but I mostly wear separates, so I've got to see how much I'll actually end up wearing the dress and see whether I should make anymore :-)

the lost month of April

after the production of the Gridlock dress I was a bit at odds with what I wanted to do next. I needed a pallet cleanser - the sorbet of the sewing world - but I struggled making my mind up.

I bought and downloaded the Audrey C dress from Maria Denmark. As far as PDF patterns go it was a pleasure to put together and it all went well until I got to the neck binding/facing and somehow it all didn't work. I ended up doing my own neckband and now it has been patiently waiting to be hemmed ... and it is still waiting. I am undecided to the exact length and how to do it. I bought myself a twin needle for just that occasion, but ...

As it got colder here in Brisbane I was reminded of my New Years Resolution: to knit myself a jumper. It'll be a short-sleeved top I think as I messed up the sizes. The pattern is from a book and whilst I was reading it, the 2 inches wearing ease made perfect sense, however once I got to the bust and I tried it on I realised that I NEVER EVER have 2 inches wearing ease in my jumpers, because I like it more fitted. I couldn't bear to start again, so I omitted some of the increases and added some waist shaping and it is not too bad now. Also it'll serve as a test case as to whether the cotton will shrink and how it wears. It's like a muslin really and I have an awful lot of the yarn ... 12 balls to be exact and I only need 2 per top (it's the Bendigo Woollen Mills Cotton 200 gr balls and they go far)

About 6 nights ago, I was fortunate enough in that my daughter started to sleep through the night, after waking up 2-3 times every night - she is 4 years old so take note people without children sometimes they don't sleep through at 6 months. I am sure it won't last, maybe she is coming down with something, but you know what they say about gift horses, anyway after 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep I felt much more energetic and started to declutter my stash.

I donated about 10m of fabric to my daughter's Kindy and 15 balls of yarn that I was never going to use. The fabric were pieces that were given to me or that didn't survive the wash or that were plain ugly - what were you thinking Giggles when you bought a yellow/orange/pink piece of mostly polyester seersucker. I still have more to do, but it feels much less oppressive now ...