Sewing and lifestyle blog of a wannabe "full-time vixen"

Tag Archives: contrast detail

Candied Melon Blouse – Belcarra Pattern

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I had to keep this project a secret for a while. This is because I was chosen as a pattern tester for Sewaholic Patterns’ next pattern design! Tasia already announced it on her blog although it’s not been released for purchase yet until April. She gave me the go-ahead to blog about it so here is my version!

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I made this from a light-weight polyester crepe fabric I found at Fabricland. The contrasting pink cuffs are from a cotton poplin I purchased at Dressew. I really love this blouse! I sewed the variation that has pleats on the front of the raglan sleeves. I wasn’t sure if the wide neckline would work for me but I’m really happy with how this turned out.

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The way this blouse turned out wasn’t exactly like my original plan though. I had made my own bias tape for this project and at first I had sewn it to the neckline with the intention of having the bias trim sit on the right side of the blouse. However, the neckline was not lying correctly so I folded it to the inside and sewed it down. Now you can only see a hint of it peeping out. This ended up working really well! People have complimented me a lot on this detail. I have so much gratitude for the happy little sewing accidents that sometimes occur.

One of my coworkers remarked to me that she loved the colours I had chosen for the blouse — this dark watermelon green contrasting with the candy pink colour. I was inspired by 1940s clothing in which I had seen this colour combination before. It’s a striking colour duo that I really like and am somewhat obsessed with. In my fashion illustrations and fashion design classes, I inadvertently and subconsciously designed with this colour combination a few times! I didn’t even realize what I’d done until I looked through my portfolio long after the classes were finished.

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I would totally recommend this pattern to someone, especially a beginner sewist. It’s so easy to sew and didn’t take me very long. You could easily sew this in one evening for a nice quick, easy, but satisfying project. I have sewn many Sewaholic Patterns and continue to be a fan. Tasia is a great designer and drafter and her instructions are very thorough. I think her patterns keep getting better and more refined as her business grows larger and more successful.

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I have literally been waiting for a sunny morning in order to take photos for my blog. It’s been pouring rain and soggy in Vancouver lately. I didn’t get a sunny morning but I got a non-rainy morning at least. I’m still learning a lot from self-teaching myself how to take decent photographs of my projects — lighting, fiddling with camera settings like the exposure, and using a simple photo editor on my computer. I don’t have a fancy camera; in fact, I just have a simple Canon Powershot point and shoot camera! For my needs, my current set-up seems to work well enough.

There have also been some slight changes to the blog! I moved my blog from Blogger to WordPress recently and purchased web hosting and a domain name. I also purchased a customizable theme which I’m still fiddling around with. So throughout the next few months, I’ll be tweaking things when I have a spare moment. I hope to be able to get a banner designed for me in the near future as well.

Hopefully there will continue to be lots of exciting things happening to me in the future in terms of sewing related things. I was recently notified that I was the winner of the Plaintain Challenge hosted by Deer&Doe! I wanted to thank my friends and family for their support and also to anybody who happens to read this blog or come across it. 2014 is off to great start!

Berry Sorbetto and Purple Hair

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I took some pictures today of the top I made last summer. It’s a Colette Patterns Sorbetto top and the pattern is free from their website.

I have kind of a silly expression on my face but it’s because I had spent some time taking photos of myself again today. I still think it’s a bit of a strange experience running back and forth to my camera on the self-timer mode which is set up on a tripod. I’m getting used to it though and have better knowledge of how the lighting works in my apartment now after all these blog posts. Here are some more “model-like” photos, aha!

The pattern is super easy, I think it only took me a couple of hours to sew (not including adjustments). This was meant to be a wearable muslin as the fit isn’t perfect. I cut a 0 and that turned out to be a smidgen too small in the bust (I know what you’re thinking, too small for my teeny bust?). The armholes were also waaaaay too tight and I can’t remember how much I trimmed all around but it was probably about 2 cms. The bust darts are too high and the length is a bit short in the torso unless you’re going for a cropped tank look. Now if this was meant to be a wearable muslin, what possessed me to add piping and heart shaped buttons? I can’t remember but I still think the top is cute despite all these issues with the pattern.

The armholes are always too tight on Colette Patterns for me, I don’t know why because I’m such a thin person all around. I guess their size 0 is teeny-weeny if it doesn’t even really fit me properly. If I made this top again, I would cut a size 2 or 4, make a narrow shoulder adjustment and cut a deeper armhole or make the straps of the tank longer. This might also fix the bust dart issue without having to move the dart down.

The fabric is just a cheap poly/cotton broadcloth from Dressew. The piping and bias tape trim are also from Dressew and the buttons I found at Fabricana. So it was an inexpensive make all around.

Enough about sewing though. I dyed parts of my hair a purple-pink last Monday. Only the back sections of my hair are dyed purple-pink for several inches at the tips. You can’t really see it in the photos but it’s there if you look for it.

What possessed me to dye my hair? There is a regular patron at one of the branches I work at and she is in hair school at the Vancouver Hair Academy right now. She’s a lovely patron and she needed some live models to practice her skills on. I agreed to be a guinea pig for her and she gave me a free hair cut/trim and 30% off the dye job. I’ve always wanted to dye my hair so this was a great opportunity for me try it out. This is the first time I’ve EVER dyed my hair. Everyone at the hair academy was excited that I had what they called “virgin hair”.

It took about 4 hours but the patron was so nice, she brought me a lunch and snacks and drinks! The instructors at the hair academy are also quite awesome and check each step before the student is allowed to go further. This is why it took so long since it was also a learning environment. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and when it starts to fade I’ll buy some of my own purple dye to freshen it up.

I love dip-dyed hair!

Blue Polka Dot Shirt – New Look 6407

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Sorry for a late blog post, I will update again on Thursday to make up for it. Canada Day weekend and poor weather threw my photo taking schedule off.

Here is a shirt I made last year which I’ve finally taken proper photos of. I am using my dress form Audrey to help out because the shirt is too big for me! It is the New Look 6407 pattern cut in a size 10, which was the smallest size. I made this during a class and didn’t feel like making a muslin since I used cheap quilting fabric anyways (I had a feeling the shirt would be too big, so much ease!). It looks lovely on Audrey but it’s about one or two sizes too large for me, at least in the torso area. The sleeves are fine.

I also just don’t think the cut of the design is right for me either so I won’t be attempting this pattern again. I’m curious as to whether I can make this work in my wardrobe somehow, by wearing the shirt open. If you have any suggestions for styling this shirt, let me know! I would appreciate hearing them. I will definitely attempt to make another garment with this colour palette though! I love polka dots and contrasting details.

The Chic Blazer – Simplicity 2446

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I finally took photos of this blazer jacket I made last fall! Yay for catching up on project photos! This blazer was made during one of my night classes and was a total labour of love, although it wasn’t too difficult. Only the collar was the difficult part really because I had never done a jacket collar before. This pattern is Simplicity 2446, which is part of their Amazing Fit series. Oh my god, I love this pattern. There is an option to cut for an A-cup! I’m totally putting this into my TNT (Tried and True, for my friends not in the know) pattern stash.

It’s fully lined! I feel so good about that. I lined it with a awesome satin fabric I found at Fabricland. All the fabric was from Fabricland actually. Jacket shell is made with a wool blend. It’s perfect for these cool early summer nights in Vancouver right now and will be perfect for late summer in September too.

I loved doing the contrast details in the same satin I used for my lining. Gives it such a pop! I have to confess that these are fake pockets though, I was too lazy to make real ones. Those are also fake sleeve vents (which were super fun to sew). Real ones next time!

In terms of outfit details, the jeans are from Urban Planet, blouse is from Urban Behaviour, and the shoes are Vans ballet flats.

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