Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Recent "work" - sewn items.



This is a the lovely apron I received as part of the swap I mentioned in my last post. Thanks Cinnamon23! I was taking part in a swap organised by one of the groups on My Sewing Circle.

This is the pattern I used. I slightly amended the design, adding fabric covered buttons as a detail on the pockets. Interfacing was also added to the waistband to make it just a little stiffer. I did that only because the fabric I was using - some poly-cotton I had dyed some years ago - needed a little stiffening to balance the cotton fabric used for the rest of the apron.


Sent along with the apron was one of these little needle cushions.


The needle cushions have a little metal tag on the bottom to hold them on top of a thread spool. The pattern found in the book below, has a paper clip as the tag. However, the paperclips I have here at home were far too wide to be used. The metal tags I did use had been found as part of the packaging of a shirt my husband had bought........... Did I tell you that I don't find it easy to throw anything away? Well, nothing I think I can reuse in some way........................

You can see the buttons I covered in the same photo.


This is the book I used. It is written in Japanese, but the instructions are so beautifully clear and shown as illustrations it was easy to work out what to do. There are some beautiful gift items in this book. The ISBN is: 4-89396-943-9


I made two blouses using this pattern. It has been in my pattern collection for some time.........


The first blouse is a viscose mix with a soft cotton handle.


The second, a jacquard woven silk which has been languishing in my fabric stash since around 1990!


Then I finally got my skirt finished. It is fully lined. The lining was a lucky find a couple of years ago. I can't usually get such a nice lining fabric and hadn't seen such lovely viscose lining fabric in rather too many years......

This photo shows the lining pinned to the inside of the zip.

Then, I managed to get this jacket completed. I added a lining using the last of the fabric I used to line the skirt.


Now, I have nearly finished the Traveling Pages for August. I am rather behindhand as you can see. Sadly I cannot show you the work done on that page until it has been received by Liz. What I can tell you is that so far it has involved some machine stitching, calligraphy and fabric paint. There is some beading still to be done.............

11 comments:

Toni said...

Wow! Look at you go! They are all just lovely!!!!!

Christine said...

Mandy, well done on the skirt lining. I used to LOVE wearing lined skirts, they sit better and feel quite luxurious too don't they? Can't wear them these days, bad legs and need clunky shoes which don't go well with nice skirts ;(
Hooroo,
Christine

Mandy said...

Thanks so much Toni and Christine. I have really been enjoying the sewing just lately. Its nice to have some new things to wear too!

Kathleen said...

Your sewing projects are lovely and the apron you received in the swap is great! So festive. The skirt you made looks very professional by the way. x K

Mandy said...

That is vry kind of you, Kathleen. I must admit that I am very pleased with the way it turned out.

Melinda said...

What beautiful clothes you make! I envy your dress making skill. My Mom was a great seamstress and I would love to take a class someday.

Mandy said...

Thanks Melinda. Can I say what a delightful Blog you have. I enjoyed my visit to read some of it.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mandy, you have been very busy!!

I was wondering if you'd seen the new magazine that is out called "Making"? It's probably a bit basic for your amazing skills but if you are coming to knit group on the 12th I'll bring it along for you. I bought it because it was one of those "ooh, pretty shiny thing" moments but I won't make anything out of it, and you can probably make more use of it than me!

Mandy said...

How kind. Yes, I shall be coming along to Knit group.

Imene said...

Wow!! That was one productive sewing session. I wish I could make clothes for myself!!

Mandy said...

It took some days to complete this lot. I had cut out quite a lot of it before starting.......
But thanks Imene, I was pleased to get so much done. Unfortunately, my list of things to do seems to be just as long as ever!