Burdastyle top, daffodil quilt blocks 7&8, heart patchwork bag, Gossips update

The last few days have been busy in my sewing room.  From Burdastyle 8/16 #125   I made this top using a jersey from the Hospice shop.

I had issues with the neckline.  the back neck gaped terribly and the front was too wide and low.  I was able to fix both these issues by joining both front and back neck line by 2 inches to increase the shoulder length.  Probably not an approved method, as normally it would lift the front too much, but in this case it worked.

A bit hard to see in the photos, but it has a tie front at the side of the neckline.

Another couple of blocks were completed for my quilt

I've taken part in a sew-a-long by Sweetpea.  It is run on a facebook page.  You get a discount on the pattern and 2 weeks to complete the project.  This was my first time participating in their sew-a-long.  This project was for a heart patchwork bag.  I used remnants in my stash.

Front of bag

Bag opened and lining showing

back of bag

I'm still doing my cross-stitch as well.  Here is an update on Gossips, pages 1- 13 of 72 completed.

Two tops and a bag, and Gossips cross stitch update.

I've been using the fabric bought at the hospice shop to make another couple of tops.

This is the second top I've made from BurdaStyle 1/19 #103A.  See here for my first top.This time I used the patterned lace fabric from the hospice shop with some pink knit I got ages ago from Spotlight.  The sleeves are meant to be the same fabric as the top part (the lace) but I wanted slightly warmer sleeves and also was concerned th lace would be too scratchy against my skin, so I used the pink for the sleeves as well.

 

I have enough lace left over for another top. total fabric cost $8.

The second top was the first time I've made this from BurdaStyle 2/16 #122a.

This is the Burda photo.

And here is my version.

This is the first time I've made a peplum top and I'm pleased with how it has turned out.  The sizing is for a petite (5ft 3").  As I'm 5'9" I considered lengthening it, however the length given in the magazine seemed my usual length so I left it as is.  On reflection though, it would have been better if I'd lengthened the bottom red band so it sits under the bust, as in the pattern photo, rather than under the bust.  If I make it again I will lengthen that band by 2.5 - 3 inches.

It also is meant to have an invisible zip in the back.  As this was a knit with a fair bit of stretch and a lowish front neck I didn't bother using the zip.  It is easy enough to get on and off without the zip.  However as it is quite fitted, if made with a firmer material, such as the cotton satin in the magazine, a zip would probably be needed.

The instructions were pretty hard to figure out. One of the descriptions was to turn the sleeve hems to the inside and sew one.  Why would you only sew the hem of one sleeve?  I naturally sewed both sleeves.  Also the assembly of the peplum was pretty confusing, I managed through pinning in various ways and assembling on my dress form to make sure I was doing it correctly.

I am happy with the fit of this, it is nicely shaped with darts in the back and at the sleeve caps which give nice structure to it.

The other thing I've made is a new tote bag.  I found this tutorial by the Missouri Quilt company and decided to make it.  I had bought a sewing magazine a few months ago that came with some quilting fabric that I thought would be great for this.

I like pockets and closures, so I added 2 internal zipped pockets and a magnetic snap fastener.

Finally, an update on my Gossips cross stitch.  I've now completed the first row- that is 9 pages out of 72.

Most of this is sky which doesn't show up very well in the photo.

BurdaStyle velvet jacket and progress on Gossips and major shopping spree

Well I haven't posted for a couple of weeks because I have been very busy creating a velvet jacket.

So you don't need to scroll down, here it is.

  I bought the blue velvet a while ago as I absolutely loved it.  I then had to hunt for a suitable pattern.  I settled on BurdaStyle 08/2015 # 106A.   Once I had decided on this pattern I had to go back for some red velvet as it has contrast pockets, yoke and sleeve plackets.  I also got some lovely bright blue lining as it is fully lined.

As velvet is a very tricky fabric to work with I read lots of articles on how to sew with velvet.  It is very important it is cut on the nap and it can be tricky to stop fabric slipping when sewing, so I used my walking foot for this.   Once I had done my studying it was time to cut out the fabric.  I did this, then double checked the pattern.  This is rated 3 1/2 stars, which equates to difficulty level of Advanced level sewing with special features.  Uh-oh, that sounded way out of my league. I classify myself as an Advanced Beginner.  However it was too late to change my mind, the fabric was cut.  So I decided to just try my best, if it turned out to be disastrous it would just have to be a learning curve.  However  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  Maybe its' time to upgrade my Sewing skills level on Pattern Review.

The only real problem I had was sewing the lining to the pockets.  The lining fabric slipped terribly from the velvet and I had to handtack around twice before machine sewing.  When attaching it to the velvet facing I was very, very careful to ensure it didn't slip, again doing a lot of hand tacking first.
There is also a heap of hand sewing in this.  The bottom hem of the jacket is all sewn by hand, though I used the machine to blind hem the sleeves.  Then the lining is handsewn to the bottom seam of the jacket and also to the hem of the sleeves.  It was very time consuming, taking around 38 hours.

 However I love it and feel very proud of my achievement so it is time well spent.  Here are more photos.

I've also completed page 3 of Gossips, so here is an update

the blue lines are a frixion pen I use for marking grids of 10 x 10.  They will come out when ironed.  The top of the church is now visible.  I'm hoping the next few pages will go reasonably quickly as it is nearly all sky and not much confetti, yay.

Today I went on a major shopping spree.

I went to SmartDress fabrics in Mt Albert and bought 8 pieces of fabric, and then went to Spotlight and bought some denim and ponte.  I've added them to my fabric stash page along with pictures of what I want to make.  These should keep me going a while, however I still want to buy some fleece to make track pants and sweatshirts.

These are the fabric I bought, unfortunately the colours haven't come out very well at all.  That bright blue at the top right is actually a deep purple, and the purple on the bottom photo at top right is actually red and one of the greys is a indigo denim, and the other is a forest green.

Culottes, 2 tops and Spirit of Winter is finished!!!

After 4 1/2 years of stitching, Spirit of Winter is finished.

Now she just needs to be framed.
The stats:  Started 1 September 2011.  Finished 9 February 2016.  1173 stitching hours, 152,600 stitches.  Stitched over one on 22ct Hardanger.

Next up is a Golden Kite design, Gossips by artist Daniel Ridgway Knight.  The chart is available in blended colours or solid colours.  I am doing the solid colours version.  This design is even bigger than Spirit, at 400x 502 stitches wide, that's 200,800 stitches and on 22ct Hardanger the finished size will be 18.2" x 22.8". It has 185 colours, that's a lot of thread.  Fortunately I have such a huge stash of thread I've only needed to buy a small quantity.  I am busy kitting this up now.








Daniel Ridgway Knight was an American artist (1839-1924) who lived in France from 1872.  His work focused mainly on the French peasants.  He had a rather idyllic view of them, painting leisurely scenes rather than the reality of the hard lives they faced.

My sewing over the last couple of weeks has been repeat sewing.  I made some more BurdaStyle culottes from 8/15 #131.

I stupidly made the invisible side zip far too long, its almost down to my knees instead of just past the bottom of the pocket. This creates a bit of bulk on the left side seam.  These are made of rayon from Spotlight $24.89 for 2mx148cm.

I made 2 more Colette Sorbetto top.  This one is made from leftover material, voile, rayon and gingham.  There wasn't enough material to do a front pleat, so I ignored the pleat part on the pattern and put fold of fabric on inner pleat line.  Cost $0

This one is made from poplin from Spotlight.  I had 2 metres of this and still have .9metres left over.  $10.12