almost finished!

Another weekend nearly finished, and tonight the plan is to knock of a couple of other things I've got going on that as so very almost finished.

Like this:
(just one repeat to go!)

And this:
(a few more episodes and I'm through season 2!)

Plus the last of a batch of these, and of course this!

I think I'll start with the brownies...

xo

My Creative Space 2010:5!

Last night I sewed up most of my first Big Girls Blouse Month project - Simplicity 2614 - which I cut out on the weekend

Apologies for the awful on-the-hanger, in-harsh-light shot, but you can see I just need to add sleeves, facing and the tie!


I've had a try on of it at this stage, and I'm pretty happy with the fit, although it might cling a little in in the back. I think I'll wait and see how it looks once the hem is done - maybe it's about the bias cut of the back piece, or perhaps next on my list will have to be swayback adjustments (more accurately in my case, big ass adjustments.)

There are plenty more creative spaces to see over at Kootoyoo!

xo

half baked

yes yes, I had planned to be sewing tonight, but I had a sudden, irresistible urge to bake some chocolate chip muffins


One of my favourite jobs when I'm baking cupcakes or muffins is lining the tin, making pretty patterns with the little coloured papers - I find it really quite meditative - and with my new mini muffin tin I get twice as many!

Now, post bake, I'm coomfy on the couch with a warm muffin and a cup of tea, watching season one of Project Runway Australia (I'm in training for the start of season 6 from the US!) and knitting - so very almost finished!

Delicious =)

xo

Fitting

We've had a long weekend this week - the perfect opportunity to get stuck into my Big Girls Blouse Month sewing!

One way to tackle sewing for a bigger-than-B bust is to look out for patterns that include separate pieces for different cup sizes - generally A, B, C and D. Even if you're larger, the D pattern is probably going to be a better place to start your adjustments than the standard B.
A number of the pattern companies have started to release patterns like this, and I think the Simplicity ones are the easiest to find - they are all together in a special collection called A, B, C & D cup sizes.
McCall's also have multi-cup size patterns, which they call "Made-For-You", and Vogue have "Custom Fit", but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to search for them.

I figured the multi-cup size patterns would be a good place to start my busty sewing, and decided on Simplicity 2614:


I'm making view D (the pink one in the middle), but with the collar tie, and in that cute blue-green polka dot cotton.

Besides the multi-cup sizing, another thing I loved about this pattern is that there is no no zip or buttons since the back and lower front are cut on the bias!

I haven't worried about making a muslin for this, since the ease is fairly generous, but in the interest of improving my fitting skills I did take the time to do my very first tissue fitting!

ooops, apparently blogger only wants to upload photos sideways now...
does anyone know why that happens?

I followed a very excellent video tutorial, which I found over at Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing, which happens to be one of my very favourite blogs at the moment.

Now I'm all cut out and ready to sew, and hopefully by Wednesday I'll have a finished top to share! =)

xo

My creative space 2010:4!

I love the planning stage of a project - picking a pattern and finding just the right fabric to go with it!
This week I'm playing mix and match with fabrics and patterns to sew up for my Big Girls Blouse Month challenge!

Also kicking about in my creative space this week is some knitting - a new project I cast on over the weekend...


it was just the thing for in front of the the (very exciting) hockey on Monday morning!

As always, there's plenty more creativity to be seen over at Kootoyoo!

xo

zip it

After my big statement last week I hoped to have something all finished to show you by now - something like a new skirt with a lovely invisible zip.

Well, I'm getting there - I have inserted the zip, but haven't quite sewn the skirt around it yet hmm, black probably isn't the best colour to illustrate this


I had some trouble fitting the invisible zipper foot though - it seems that needs some further investigation - instead i persevered with my regular zipper foot.



I think it probably worked out ok, but am reserving judgement until i finish up the skirt and see how it sits in vivo

xo

on top of spaghetti

Today, before I pick out a new recipe book for March, I have one more CSIRO recipe to share: meatballs in tomato and basil sauce (from book 1).

I have never ever made italiany kind of meatballs before, so this excuse to make them was too good to resist.



With the CSIRO diet's tendency toward low carb, this recipe doesn't have any breadcrumbs in it - and i was a bit worried the meatballs would fall apart, or be a bit dry, but after a nice warm tomato and basil bath they stayed perfectly moist and were just delicious!



We had these just with a salad, and to be honest it was a bit sad not to have a pile of pasta underneath to catch all that lovely sauce.
And that's how we ate the left-overs - on top of spaghetti!

xo

Big Girls Blouse Month

One of the cool things about learning to sew garments for yourself is being able to create something that has been made just especially to fit you.
Unfortunately getting a great fit isn't always as easy as comparing your measurements to the back of the pattern envelope, cutting your size and sewing it up, since the pattern probably isn't going to be just right all over - maybe you need a bigger size in the hip than bust, or have a long torso, broad shoulders or a tiny waist.

So far in my garment sewing (not that there has been a huge amount!) I have been able to get away with fudging it a bit - making the closest size then adjusting it here or there when I'm done, or in the case of skirts, making A-line shapes which I can wear lower on the hip if they turn out a bit big, and higher on the waist if they're a bit smaller.



Now as I'm becoming increasing interested in making more of my own clothes (or, to put it another way, less interested in buying anything I see in the shops - I've started finding myself wandering around the shops wondering about the fashion sense of "young people these days"...) I'm keen to learn about how to make some of the adjustments I need right from the pattern cutting stage.

Fellow sewist Suzy and I spend a bit (ok a lot) of time talking about our latest sewing adventures - fabric, patterns, techniques and issues, and although we have quite different body shapes there is one problem that we both come across all the time. Finding and fitting patterns to suit a larger bust.



Did you know that most patterns are drafted to fit a B-cup? There are lots of tutorials and techniques out there to help with this, but they can still be quite confusing and intimidating - to be honest slashing through the apex, assuming I could find it, sounds a bit scary!

So, to get ourselves into gear, Suzy and I decided to make a sew-alongy challenge of it and are dedicating the month of March to tackling our busts.
Welcome to Big Girls Blouse Month.



We'll be aiming to sew one bust friendly top (whether it's adjusted or designed for or just plain flattering for a full bust) each week for the month, and will share our adventures and results on our blogs (you can find Suzy over here). Oh, and dresses count too!

If you're also wrestling (so to speak) with a bigger than B bust in your sewing, and would like to join us, even if it's just with one garment, feel free to grab Dolly off the sidebar there (fyi, I found her over here) and let us know so we can drop in and see how you're going! And if you have any tips, know of an ace tutorial or super pattern for busty sewing, we'd love to hear from you too!

Let the busting begin!

xo