Lekala 4099

I wanted to thank everyone for the kind comments on the Pumpkin Scone Recipe.  In fact, the comment from velosewer about Greek pastries led me to the conclusion that Greek cuisine is mostly ... well ... Greek to me. Brisbane does have a wonderful Greek community and they just had their festival, but, alas, various Kindy fetes, birthday parties and sleep overs conspired against me actually attending it. Thus I have declared next weekend to be a Greek weekend ... I shall research the menu extensively (i.e. spend a leisurely hour surfing velosewers food blog when I really should be doing other things) and let you know how I get on with this. Hopefully we'll end up with something all children and adults will eat and maybe like to eat again :-)

Anyway, back to Lekala. I love them in theory, no seriously, the idea of having made to measure patterns for my measurements is great. Their website is like a candy store that offers new surprises every day. However, like a candy store, it has a few drawbacks. The biggest, I think, is the instructions. They are minimal, translated somewhat questionable from Russian. The PDF pattern fits together mostly, but that could very well be a printer issue. Over all the PDF is not onerous though. Having downloaded a skirt pattern from somewhere else and ended up with 60 odd pages, the Lekala patterns I have range from 17 pages for a T-Shirt top and 24 pages for a coat. The price is great. Once you register on their website you get a 10% discount on the pattern and you have to register to buy, so the pattern is like $2.10. I keep reading about the $0.99 US sales, but that never quite happens down here ... sigh ... it's probably a good thing as I have no self-control :-)

Lekala 4099 is a dolman sleeve jersey top with a gathered wide sleeve. I had intended to use Cation Design's free Dolman Sleeve top and modify it, but I thought it might be a good way to try out Lekala. I had read some bad reviews, about their sizes being too small (no ease etc), so I was a bit weary.

I used Spotlight's new brushed Jersey for that (yes, I know it was not in my stash), but I really wanted a black top and there was nothing in my stash. I lowered the neckline a bit and shortened the sleeves, but looking at the pictures now, I didn't actually need to shorten the sleeves as they ride up a bit.

This might well be the white sponge of cake sewing. It is perhaps the most useful thing I have sewn so far (except for the sleep masks that we use daily).

It's not as fitted as some of my other tops, which probably means I wear them too tight usually. However, Jersey and I am going to become best friends in the next few months, because I have started to exercise in the lost month of April. I can see some results already and I don't really want to go through the pain of fitting things that don't fit right a few months later. Overall, I was really happy with the pattern and the fit. I didn't need any instructions really and I imagine I will make many more tops from this pattern.

Mother's Day Baking - Spiced Pumpkin Scones (egg and dairy free)

When I first started this blog, I had intended to also write about my adventure in cooking. You see, I knew how to cook in my youth, but, to be honest, I preferred take-aways or just already prepared food like fresh pasta where all you had to do is put it in hot water for 3 min and heat up some sauce in the microwave. Then I had my son and at 6 months, he all of a sudden started choking at the dinner table and it turned he was allergic to dairy and eggs. My finely crafted dinner plan was all of a sudden shot to pieces ...

Prior to my son I had always left baking to Marks and Spencers, but alas, at 4 my son wanted a Dinosaur cake just like his friends ... so the journey began. We had some spectacular mishaps especially with baking, but now I can't imagine going back. We were pleasantly surprised to find that last year, 7 years after his first trip to hospital, he had outgrown his egg allergy.

For Mother's Day today, they baked me some pumpkin scones ... and I thought I really need to share, because they are just soooo awesome. I have already eaten 3 :-)

The are both egg and dairy free and we usually use Jap pumpkin for it. It is a particularly sweet pumpkin and I had first found here in Australia, but it is also sometimes called a kent pumpkin.

To make the pumpkin purée, you cut the pumpkin in half , clean out all the seeds, put it cut side down on the baking tray and roast it in the oven at 180C for about an hour. It really depends on the size of your pumpkin and your oven, but it is really not hard. After it is cooled, you purée or mash it. Any that you don't use, you can freeze for later.

For the scones, you'll need:
1/2 cup of brown sugar
3 1/2 cups of plain flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of bicarb of soda
3 tsp of ginger powder (or mixed spice if you prefer that instead)
1/2 cup of dairy free margarine (in Australia we use Nutelex)
2 cups of puréed pumpkin

1, in a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients well
2, cut in the margarine
3, add the puréed pumpkin and mix thoroughly

Please note that if the puréed pumpkin was stored in the fridge, the dough is less gooey and can be kneaded by hand on a floury surface. If the pumpkin is still a bit warm, it melts the margarine a bit and the dough can't really be kneaded as it is too sticky (as you can see above). In this case just use a spoon and mix it well. The end product tastes great regardless.

4, form the scones and put onto a baking tray that is lined with baking paper. Some people form a rough circle and then cut 12 triangles, others just form 10-12 rough circles. In our case, the kids added some more pumpkin and it was a bit sloppy, so we used  metal spoon and put blobs unto the tray.

5, bake at 200C or 425F for 12-15 min or until done (our oven always takes longer)

In the mean time, amuse your children with the left overs to prevent them from climbing into the oven :-)

I like to eat mine as warm as possibly ... maybe I could have another one for desert.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone.

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 ...

the final act - the finished Crepe Dress

I thought about writing the skirt section, but really, nothing interesting happened other then I took out a lot of fabric both on the sides and from the bottom - when I say a lot, I mean about 5 inches of each skirt seam - obviously not near the waist area, but further down - and about 8 inches in length.

I don't think it looks tarty though. Looksie ... I even found some heels to wear even though I have worn heels 3 times in the last 3 years, well 4 times now :-)

Another view from the side and back, please ignore the dying tomato plant, I have a new one.

Now, for the lining. One of the challenges was the opening to feed the tie through. I ended up sewing the seam allowances of the lining and the outer fabric together in order to create a stable non-fraying hole. It can be seen on the top on this picture. I also finished of the seam allowances of the skirt section by wrapping the lining around - a bit like the Hong Kong finish. I think Karen from Did You Make It wrote about it a while back ... obviously hers was neater.

As my final act in making this dress, I hand-stitched the bodice lining to the skirt section with a slip stitch. It's not totally neat, but who cares. I think it look great :-)

Now that it is finished I feel a little lost. I know I should get back to stash busting ...

Crepe Bodice or we're getting somewhere

You know why I don't particularly like muslins? Because by the time I got the fit right - or rightish, let's face it, I have little idea how things are 'supposed' to fit - anyway, by the time the fit is doable I have lost all enthusiasm for the projects. I have in fact got several skirt muslins ready to go, I have even paired them up with all the correct fabric and notions and yet they are sitting nicely in their little bag waiting patiently for the muse to return ... sigh.

I was determined to keep going with this project so here we are.  I cut the lining on the bias, so that the front piece has a bit of stretch like the gridlock fabric. It also stabilised the back piece where it crossed over. Originally the cross over is on the bias and now on the lining it runs with the grain, so hopefully it'll be less likely that it stretches out on that bit.

The original crepe dress is not lined, but due to the poly I really really really needed it lined. I was going to interface the whole neckline, but the bulk was a bit too much, so I just interfaced the tip of the V to ensure stability. Also I pinked the seams within the lining, because both fabrics frayed like mad ... is one supposed to finish seams that are within the lining?

I under-stitched the neckline and changed the darts of the lining into pleats to allow more movement - I think I might have read that on someone's blog, but I can't remember where.

I have made the ties out of the lining material (a ivory cotton sateen from Spotlight) and attached them slightly higher then the pattern asked for. It worked better on the muslin, so hey, who am I to question the muslin. Next up - the skirt :-)

the Crepe Dress Muslin

this is the step that I was most afraid of: THE FITTING

muslin #1 - the front

according the the size chart my bust was a size 4 and my waist a size 6, so I cut a 4 on top and then graded it up to a size 6 after the bust darts. It actually fitted quite well once I took in the side seams under the bust dart (to a size 2 ?!?). I wasn't all that impressed with the neckline, so it is now v-shaped instead.

The back was very baggy and had lots of fabric folds everywhere. I was feeling quite defeated, because no matter how much I took out it didn't really work. Gridlock is a substantial fabric, add to that the lining, I almost gave up until I looked at the pattern pieces.

There is a lot ease in the shoulder section and I seem to have a small back (judging by previous dress and shirt endeavours), so I copied the arm/ shoulder section from the front to the back. Below is a picture of the modified back laid atop the original back.

muslin #2 - the back

It now has the modified side seams, the changed back and I took another 1/4 inch out of the shoulder seams. This picture still shows a fold in the front under the girls, but after trying it with a variety of bras, I decided to stop messing with it.

I added the waist tie to get a better idea of the fit. I think the back is much better.

I wore it around the house for a few hours to get an idea whether I cut out too much ease, but it seemed fine. Now that I cut out the bodice and the lining though, I wonder whether I left enough ease to compensate for the fact the the gridlock fabric and lining will be much thicker then the ex-table cloth that I used a s a muslin ... sigh, well, we'll see.

the hunt is over - the Crepe Dress

I fell in love with Colette's Crepe Dress last year, because it seemed so neat with it being wrapped in the back. I bought the pattern and was super excited - wanted to start then and there. I found Gertie's sewalong and thought it was just great, someone going through all the steps on how to sew it.

And then I read ahead ... and Gertie said that she was on muslin #3 before it finally fitted ... and I kinda deflated when I read this. The thought of not just 1 or 2 but THREE muslins, each made by someone who clearly knows what she is doing, in my mind it spelled disaster. Obviously the dress must be very hard to fit and maybe I should do it when I know more about fitting and so it went into the pile of someday maybes.

Except, now I think it might make a good winter dress with the Gridlock fabric. So I pulled it out and thought I'll just try and see how it goes, because really, what is the worst that can happen. There are a few issues however, so I am not sure whether it'll actually work:

a, I need to have it fully lined (the poly problem) and the pattern calls for facings instead. Gertie underlined it completely and used facings, but that would be way too much bulk. So lining ...
b, the fabric requirement on the back says 4 1/5 yrds, I have 3 meters. However I am short, it's a winter dress worn with tights, so it can be kinda short too ...
c, my sewing mojo tend to vary a little when I am working on something that is hard ... hopefully it'll be finished before winter finishes in September :-)

I am surrounded by muslins or the journey to match fabric with pattern

After I had finished all the frantic birthday sewing I felt my sewing mojo ebbing away a little and I felt utterly utterly uninspired by my stash. Enter Tessuti and their gridlock fabric.

I thought it might be a nice break from the Stash only sewing that was slowly zapping all the fun out of my sewing adventure. I was truly excited when the package arrived not 2 days later and looksie how beautifully they wrapped it :-)

In the meantime the fabric has popped up on several blogs around the world. Karen from Did You Make That made a jacket out of it  and I think Sew Brunswick is making a dress. There is a competition attached to the fabric, but to be honest, my sewing skills are not up to this sort of playing, so I picked it mainly to check out Tessuti without paying 30 odd dollars per meter.

I want to make a dress out of it, but because it has quite a bit of polyester in it (at least I assume that poly is short for polyester, showing my general ignorance here), it needs to be fully lined. I made a bodice muslin for both New Look 6935 View A and Butterick B5181 View A.

I like the New Look one (pictured above), but as I was about to begin the second muslin I realised that the fabric is too heavy even without lining for those patterns. It's got to be a dress with short sleeves that I can wear in the Queensland winter with some tights and boots. The hunt through my pattern stash is on for a pattern that would be suitable for a winter dress ...

Stashbusting so far

I intended to use at least 26 pieces from my stash this year and to not buy more fabric until September. Well, I already failed on the fabric buying bit, but I am attempting to use everything I buy when I buy it (like the mermaids for example). I arrived at the number 26 by assuming that I will be able to do something every 2 weeks if I try. By that measure, I am ahead of myself with 9.5 pieces from my stash used and 2 pieces I specifically bought.

So far I have made: 

daughter: 3 skirts, 3 dresses

son: 2 shorts, 1 pillow

myself: 1 skirt

husband: 2 boxer shorts

Not too bad, however most of these pieces were quite small, so it hasn't actually made much/any impact on the chaos that is my stash. I am slowly starting to face the reality of my stash. I have been sewing for less then a year, but I think I can sew comfortably for the next 2 years without running out of fabric. The question is though 'Do I really want that?'

Part of the joy of sewing is picking out a fabric that would go with a pattern and then making it. I am still new at this. I find new fabrics and patterns all the time. As I get better at sewing, I will want to try doing more complicated projects that require fabric I haven't got.

Actually, whilst I am feeling slightly depressed and cheering myself by surfing fabric.com, I have calculated the amount of fabric used from my stash so far this year: 9.8 meters and only a few scraps left for pocket linings and such stuff. That doesn't actually sound too bad, go Giggles :-)

the Lorax and some Mermaids

I have finished the birthday sewing ... yeay.

First we have another pair of boxers for Mr. Giggles. Now I have to say that in our house we are great fans of the Lorax. My husband speaks for the trees frequently (and the birds and flowers whisper his name) and we have the movie poster gracing our bedroom - it's great Feng Shui we've found, so take that Interior Design Monthly. So a year ago, he saw some organic quilting cotton that he decided would do just nicely for a pair of boxer shorts and it had been sitting there since.
Happy Birthday honey ...

I made the same changes as before - namely added 1/2 an inch to the waistband height and 2 inches to the leg length. This time I made it without a fly, so no high-fiving on that account, but look at the pocket ... it's super matchy and totally high-fivable :-)

I have also made another Ice Cream Social Dress for her birthday and I think this might be my favourite version.

It's got mermaids all over it. She loves it. This time I made quite a few alterations. The original pattern is a bit sack-like tbh, so I added some flare and that improved it greatly. Also instead of gathers in the front I made one large pleat that lined up with the v of the collar. I cut out the gathers in the back completely and added a centre back seam.

She loves it and I am super pleased with it, so there will be more in future. Happy Birthday baby girl. We all love you very much :-)