Two birds - one scone

I suppose that title only works if you pronounce Scone as in Stone not as in gone. I know in the US a scone is somewhat different to what it is here in Oz.... Down under it is something to have with jam and cream and tea.

When the fabulous Velosewer announced that there was going to be a high tea to mark Pattern Review's 12th birthday then I thought - time for a tea dress! So combining the Make one Garment a Month Challenge with High Tea I came up with the below dress which was still being hemmed (I use the term loosely as I only used steam a seam and no stitches - I am now in love with the stuff) an hour before I arrived at Parramatta at Adora Handmade Chocolates.

I must say the last High Tea I attended cost over AUS$100 and we didn't get much more for our money than we did for our AUS $15 at Adora, It was however at the Ritz Carlton in London. Andora was delicious with not a scone in sight.

I decided to pair Simplicity 1586 with a lovely floral sateen that I purchased as a end of roll from Spotties for next to nix a couple of years ago. After all - doesn't a tea party call for flowers? This is my November garment for the challenge that the lovely Sarah Liz is hosting (Yes I made it this month - does that classify as a pun - made it!!!?? as in got it done!) This is the first step in my Princess Seamed TNT dress.

The cardi I wore with it was made in September but not blogged about as it was really just a copy of a favoured RTW cover that was wearing out. You can see the originial here. I just used Style Arc Abby as a base but didn't use the "collar" waterfall and made it less "flaired".

It brought a smile to my face to see a table of 10 women all wearing lovely self made clothes.Gorgeous. The power of the sewing machine. A lot of the sewists there are part of my ASG sewing group and it was great to see them all frocked up. It was also wonderful to meet others. It was great to chat to Lena Merin of The Sewing Space who's gelatin method is legendary and who's blog is full of great tutorials. She is in the midst of creating more patterns. I have been following for ages but never had the pleasure of meeting her before. I was lucky enough to sit next to Janelle of Sew Hopeful - a lovely lady who's bright and cheerful personality was a delight. It will be great to read her blog now that I know her. It was also wonderful to meet Ryn who doesn't have a blog and had heard about the get together through Pattern Review.

There was a specially made cake for us - which was a "smash cake" where you smash it and inside are chocolates. Most appropriate for a chocolate shop.

And here is Velosewer wielding the hammer of THOR and cracking the cake (guess what I watched last night :-)

Thanks once again to Velosewer for arranging a great afternoon. If you missed it, pop over to see her review of the day.

I will review my dress once I get a picture of it without the cardi so that I can catalogue the changes I need to make for the next version. They are hidden under the cardi.

Whatever you are doing - where-ever you are - have a great day / night.

Chasing the plus sized pyramid??

The pyramid has landed over at SeamsStraightforward. The lovely Fiona says she has so many patterns to add to the already bursting at the seams (no pun intended) pyramid that if she gets enough entries she may even send out 2 packages..... wow. I have already put my name in the pot (wouldn't it be funny if it came back here where it started!!)

I think there might be another one making the rounds somewhere too but I have lost track.....

So - if you are stalking the pyramid head on over to SeamsStraightforward and leave a comment. You have until the 9th November. Lots of nice goodies in the box.

In other news ...... an update on my one garment per month challenge - I have 3 half done garments. If I put them all together I have one and a half garments..... does this count? Hoping to finish one of them soon.....

Scary September Wrap Up

Well here it is - October already - and I am a little late with my wrap up. This is because I have had visitors. My sister and her friend came down to stay for a while and therefore there has been yak yak yak instead of sew / write etc. This is also why I may not have been able to visit your blog and leave comments. Too many late nights with too many glasses of vino. It was great showing off my wardrobe of me sewn garments (I think it time to invest in some of those choice little "made by me" labels ........  :-) :-)

Below is a update of all of the scary jumpers who have made progress (or discussed progress) since the last update. Please check out the links below to see more of their items. Once again I have only included jumpers who have made the leap.

Nothy Lane from Aft Agley is still working on her lovely roll collar coat - she wants a little bit more time and I am more than happy to report on her finished item later.

Becki-c from Beccabeckstuff has done this simply stunning Marfy blouse as part of her wardrobe - isn't it DIVINE

Louise from No23 has finished her wardrobe and entered the PR wardrobe contest. If you are a member of PR you can vote for it here  until the 10th October- I certainly did - it is sure worth a vote - let's get behind our group. What a great wardrobe.

Sue from Quiltsewsewsue has completed another item for her wardrobe - a lovely pearl cardigan. Just what is needed for our Spring.

Juliet from The Crazy Gypsy Chronicles made her first indie pattern the Colette Chantilly as pledged - isn't it gorgeous. Check out the link above to see her very funny post about it including a mad dash to sew the SAME teal fabric as a lot of other sewists. See their results here

The gorgeous Kat from the Engineer's Other life conquered her fear of prints - and doesn't she look great in them.

JuliN from the Happy Homemaker Redux has made progress on her corset - see her grommets below. (I've always wanted to use the word grommet)

Valerie from Valerie's own sewing blog has done many posts on her pants block. Her recent post tells how she used the pants block to make a very lovely very summery pair of cotton cargos. Check out her blog

Lynn from You Sew Girl did pledge to do a fitted woven blouse. Now - she didn't do that but I am including her as her absolutely fab coat is certainly fitted and woven and deserves a show off. Beautiful.

What a great effort from everyone! If I have missed anyone - let me know.

Now I am not going to embarrass those of us who didn't do our items for Scary Sept - except for one - me - yes that is right - I failed - I didn't do my zip or my top - *sigh* I am crawling into the corner in shame........

It seems that whenever I make plans I fail in the execution. I love making plans though. I keep telling myself - don't plan - but it is sooo much fun. My sewing is much better and more productive when I go with my mojoflo - what attracts me that weekend..... I have the attention span of a goldfish *sigh*

I have really enjoyed Scary September - even though my jump was a dismal failure - I so enjoyed watching my fellow sewists conquer their fears in such a formidable way. Well done you!

I may just take Nothy Lane up on her suggestion to make this an annual event! I am going to leave the blogroll up for another week or so if you want to check out the scary jumpers.

So what's my next plan (yes - there is that four letter word)! I have joined in with SarahLiz on her one garment a month challenge... There is one rule that I may well flout.... picking a pattern and blogging the plans. I think I will just go with my mojoflo.

One thing I do want to complete is the fractured knit cardi that I picked for my scary September... I am going to change the pattern though - that is where I fell over. I was inspired by the workshop we did (but unfortunately it was the last weekend of the month so learnt the skills a bit late for Scary September).... I am totally in love with the below jacket that the incredible Suzanne Gray (sewing teacher extraordinaire!) made. This was my inspiration. To think that she made this out of a racer back tourist t-shirt. I often see tourist (or other tees) that won't fit me. Now I have a solution. This is magnificent. (And Paris is a favourite city of mine)

I have the zip (thanks for all of the suggestions for places to buy) and ONE DAY I will do it. (Well - more than one day LOL)

Have a great day.

Scary September - toward the home stretch.

Well we are coming to the last week of Scary September with some great results from fearless jumpers.

Here is an update:

Nothy Lane from Aft Agley has progressed on a lovely faux suede four button jacket. Love the colour and lushness of the jacket. Check out her progress here

Becki-C from Beccabeck Stuff has completed a beautiful feminine Marfy blouse as item 2 for her wardrobe.
Have a closer look at her site.

Lynda from Lynda's sewing and SWAPs has put a toe in the waters of Scary September. I say put a toe in as she is doing bras - which to her isn't very scary (TERRIFYING to me) but finds fit a bit of a problem. So she has inadvertently joined. She is making great progress on her bra - check it out on her site.

Sarah Liz from Sarah Liz Sew Style has been a busy girl  - dare I say it  - serging ahead  - with yet more challenges for herself.

The next one she conquered was using the sure-fit system to self draft a skirt.. and the results are great. Love that skirt.

Another thing Sarah Liz is working on is learning all of the changes needed to take any pant pattern and use a pant block to make them fit her. Here is a peek..

Check out the rest of her progress on her blog.

Valerie from Valerie's own sewing blog is straight off the blocks (Doh) with her pants block. She is onto part 3 and using a flexible curve measure to measure the crotch of RTW jeans to help her get the best fit. I would love to show a pic but the option to copy pics on her blog is disabled. Please go over here to check out her progress. If you are interested in doing a pants block you will find it fascinating.

I have only done updates for those who have sewing to show on their blogs. If I have missed you - please let me know.

As for me...... the originator of Scary September ..... very scared indeed. I did a trial and it didn't work - forgot to lower the bust - did do an FBA but not a LBA (Lower bust adjustment). So I thought I would give it a rest and do a StyleArc dress - Slip on Suzie - and that didn't work either - may be salvageable or may be a wadder - don't know yet. Sewing mojo scared right out the door. Oh well - next Saturday is my sewing guild day where I do the class so I am hoping the mojo comes back by then.

Scary September - half way point

Time for an update with our Fearless Jumpers.

First past the post (to completely finish her challenge) is Sarah Liz who has completed her trendy patterned pants. Aren't they fab?

Sarah has set herself a new challenge for Scary September. Check it out here. And also - join in her one garment a month challenge if you are game. I jumped in but only if there is a promise of no whipping for failures......


Nothy Lane from Aft Agley has also finished one of her button downs and it is a stunning pink ruffled shirt. Check out more on her progress here

Louise from No 23 has finished her second wardrobe garment. She has identified sewing a bra for scary September after she finishes her mini wardrobe - but sewing a mini wardrobe in itself is such as challenge....

Check out her great skirt (below) in more detail and other plans here.

Becki from Beccabeckstuff is facing some frustration with her pants in the mini wardrobe challenge. Read all about it here

Shawnta from Shawntasews has kickstarted her impressive scary list by sewing with French Seams. Have a closer look here

Whilst waiting for corset supplies to arrive, JuliN from the Happy Homemaker has been practicing her skills. Have a look

As for moi?????

Well a bit of a hiccup. I made a humongous error on my FBA for the Katherine Tilton pattern - I now have to retrace it and start again for that piece so it is sitting dejected on the dining table until I can face it again.. *sigh*. On a positive note I have received the ordered zip. Thank you to everyone who gave me info on where to get them. I decided to go with diamante. Go figure - talk about stepping out of the comfort zone. I ordered one in black and one in white as I wasn't sure what would go better. They are pretty stunning.

If I have missed you - I apologise. Please let me know.

On another note - for all the Aussie people who read my blog - or even non-Aussies who are interested in the Land Down Under....... Check out the blog that TwoToast from SpottyDogSocialClub has put together to journal her visit to Oz... I must admit a fascination of visitor's impressions of Australia. Does that make me gauche? Anyway - I am loving it. Follow along here if you want and have a look at Oz through someone else's eyes.

Claiming with Blogloving

Have to do this again as apparently it didn't work before

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3788515/?claim=na3ch8tpvwt">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

September 7 - 1st Scary September update

I have been going through the blogs of my fellow jumpers to see where their planning or sewing is up to for Scary September.

Alison from The Artisanry of Acorn Cottage is working on getting the fit right for her bra by using a purchased one.

JuliN from The happy homemaker - redux has drafter her corset. An exciting step

Nothy Lane from Aft Agley has decided to do one shirt a week - wow - exhausts me just thinking about it..

becki-c from beccabeck stuff has made a start to her wardrobe for the PR contest by cutting out her trousers.

Louise From no 23 has galloped ahead and finished her first item for her wardrobe - a lovely top.

Sue from Quilt, Sew, Sew Sue has posted her plans for her mini wardrobe - looking good.

SarahLiz from SarahLizSewStyle has chosen the fabric for her pants - nice one!

Be sure to click on the links above and check out their progress.

As for me... I have traced and cut the paper pattern for my Vogue top - I just need now to make it my size. I am going to make it without the zip first - no no no - I am not wimping out - just a suggestion from Myrna that I get the pattern right first. Good idea.

If you have commenced your Scary September projects and I have missed your post - or indeed if you have pledged to Scary September and I have somehow missed it and you don't appear on the sidebar - please let me know and I will rectify ASAP.

Also - if you want to play along - it is not too late. You have until the end of September. Jump off the cliff any time and let me know.

As we go along and get more into it - I would like to post pictures of completed garments. I can copy off your blog. If you don't want me to do this, let me know and I won't.

Please forgive me if I haven't commented on your blogs of late. I have just got my broadband back YEAH.. I have been able to flick through most posts but I missed way too much to be able to stop and comment on all blogs. 

All is back as it should be now and I am cruising the web and reading to my heart's content.

Enjoy your sewing - that's what it is all about.