Mirroring Suzy Bee Sews - Life So Strange It Should Be Fiction

It was the night before a quick trip to the gulf coast for a family reunion.  The swimsuit I was planning to wear was giving me muffin top.  All my other suits were a little too skimpy on the coverage for me to feel comfortable in front of family (not my family, but still).  It was ridiculous to think of making a new swimsuit, as it was already past 9:00 in the evening at this point and I was working in the morning and going straight to the airport from there.  Ridiculous!  But....muffin top!!  But it's late!!!  But....muffin top!!!!  OK, fine. I didn't have any swimwear fabric in stash, so this is just a lightweight poly knit.  I'm not sure it can actually get wet, but I'm more of a dip my feet in kind of person than a swimmer anyway, especially when it comes to the murky bay water here. I knew if I had any prayer of finishing before midnight I had to use TNT patterns I had already fitted and made zillions of times.   Jalie 2563 and my TNT panty pattern to the rescue!

... that I have actually finished this cardi before Winter all but disappears! There are still a few chilly weeks left in our Queensland Winter that I will be able to wear this, without looking like I am overdressed looking in the distance for the snow clouds looming... In reality, this is a quick and easy pattern to knit up, if you follow the directions 'as-is!' But where is the fun in that? The original pattern that I liked was ... ... from the Patons book #1264, View 8, a shaped cardigan using both Moss Stitch and Textured Stitch, and rated as Easy. Whilst I liked the simple design feature of the shaping around the waistline, and the simplicity of the Moss Stitch, which looks complicated but is very straightforward and brings a bit of interest to an otherwise plain cardi, I wasn't fussed on the high crew neckline. So I used the front ribbing and neckline from View 6 ... And,  I could be considered a lazy knitter by some, as I have a dislike of knitting separate bands tha

More jeans! Similar to this pair , I used my TNT pattern of Vogue 8774 with the legs from the Thurlow pants and used my pants block to adjust it. The denim is from Rathdowne fabrics , its fairly stiff but seems to be wearing well. I think I have finally cracked the perfect waistband treatment. Using a denim facing and the topstitching really does help, I think it was the cotton facings I've always used that really contributed to stretching out. Because the denim was stretch denim I also cut the waistband with a little negative ease. Using a denim facing does add a little bulk and my machine refused to sew the belt loops on but I figure its worth it. I used high density elastic as the interfacing, other than some fusible behind the button and buttonhole the waistband has no other interfacing in it. The elastic gives it  stability and stops it folding down plus stops it stretching out over the day. I left a small section of the facing slip stitched down so if need be I can tighten (o

I have had  Vogue 8728  on  my list  for years.  In fact, two years ago (or was it three?) I altered the pattern and drafted a stay for the ruched upper front bodice, though I ultimately decided that in my lightweight fabric it was better to underline the piece than to do an un-ruched stay.  Every time I saw someone else make the dress, I was intensely jealous.  And yet, somehow I was never into sewing it up.  I really don't know why.  Finally, I decided the time had come!  The serger was threaded in white, and I am participating in the stash contest to move older pieces out. Source: Trena on Pinterest This pattern is a vintage reissue, though Vogue doesn't say from what year.  This photo popped up on Pinterest a while back, from a vintage shop (the dress has since been sold and is no longer on the website).  It looked rather familiar!  The Vogue is not an exact copy, but it was clearly in fashion when it was designed. This dress needed self bias tape.  I always use this conti

My cousin has just had a baby so it quilting time again! I got a small selection of this fabric ( Folk Tale by Natalie Lymer ) when I was last in Victoria at the Ballarat patchwork . Its really cute, has little hedgehogs and birds all over it. I pieced her name into the back of the quilt, I've been freehand piecing names which has been working ok but I downloaded the Refrigerator Magnets from Oh, Fransson! and it is so much quicker! (I found the freezer paper at Spotlight) I freemotion stippled again, I like how crinkly the quilt gets after washing and drying with free motion quilting. Anyway, not much else to say, I posted it up to my cousin and she's really happy with it!

I can hear the girl behind the cutting counter asking me, again , as I stand there on the other side, holding the queue behind me up (sorry ladies), feeling guilty for actually loving yet another piece of fabric that I have no immediate use for. My usual answer to this question is ..."I have no idea but I just have to have it! So cut me off about ..." and the guesstimate begins. Then I panic  What if I haven't asked for enough???  So I add on an extra 20cm just in case.  And another 10cm to allow for shrinkage/error in my future unplanned sew-up. It won't kill me to buy that little bit extra. And it is soooo close to the meterage  that I will just round it up - naturally thinking of the poor girl cutting. Why, it must be easier for her to measure out 2 metres of fabric instead of 1.8! What a considerate customer I am... Well, without a doubt, I buy too much. But then not enough. In other words, I never have an idea on how much to buy when I see fabric and decide to pu

... what have I been up to??? Well, with work, not much. But I did squeeze in the chance to make an evening dress to wear to my son's Formal Ball a few weekends back.  Held at the brand spanking new Royal Convention Centre in Brisbane, the event was spectacular. Never having made a dress of this calibre before I spent many a day thinking, do I? Don't I?  Well I made up my mind quick enough after visiting a few more 'upmarket-stores' in Brisbane, the popping beads, and faded fabric soon made up my mind that I was to make this dress myself. In my little stash of goodness I had both Vogue 1182 and Butterick 5542, lines I have admired, and wished to whip up. But with the scares on my back the Butterick number wasn't to be. So what was I to do, but merge the two together - so this is the Vogue top on the Butterick bottom. Morphing at its best.  Not sure why Butterick is blurry!!! The fabric is from Sckaf's, Indooropilly. A beautiful midnight navy satin sateen with c

It's stash busting time!   PR's Fabric Stash contest  started at midnight on Friday night (so, Saturday, June 1).  What better way to stash bust than to sew up double layer projects?  I have at least 3 planned.  This is the first, using my TNT tee pattern as I did for my striped sweaterdress . Source: neimanmarcus.com via Trena on Pinterest Lace is still hot!hot!hot! for summer.  I love that it is sticking around so long.  This one is Elie Tahari ($598), showing a contrast color underlayer. Source: bhldn.com via Trena on Pinterest Here's another one from BHLDN ($420), in a swingy A line shape. I use the stash contest to try to use up older pieces that have survived multiple purges and yet still linger.  The lace is the elderly stashbusting here, I got it on the G Street $2.97/yd table over 4 years ago in 2009.  The underlayer is a mere two years old, an athletic knit I got from FFC in 2011.  It has a waffley texture and is fairly sheer, so it really wasn't good for