SisBoom Pattern CO – Just For Me January

Did you hear it’s “Just For Me January”? I have been sewing for me much more this past few months, so I was very happy to join in the fun with SisBoom Patterns!

Not long after I set up my instagram account to share my sewing projects, I was contacted by the amazing Jennifer Paganelli. She very generously gave me a copy of the Angie dress pattern to sew up, but I wanted to wait till closer to summer to make it. When I heard about Just For Me January I knew I had no excuse! (Now I just realised that would make more sense if you knew I was in Australia and we are in the middle of summer here right now)!

This is exactly my ideal style of dress, it is so comfortable and is the perfect mix of style and comfort. The brief for this tour was to add a different style spin, so instead of simply reviewing this pattern (which is A+ by the way), I will tell you my inspiration and what I did to tweak it to have a half circle skirt.

I adore the gorgeous eclectic Sisboom fabric designs and this one was always destined for my first Angie! It’s from the Circa collection and it came from Utopian Threads some time ago here in Australia.

Normally I’d fit into a US 4-6 (6-12 months ago haha) so I pretended that I didn’t put on any kgs this year and cut out the small bodice. I omitted the back darts because my waist is where the extra weight sits and it fits nicely. I used the cut line for the lowest front neckline  (there are 3 cut lines) which still gives good coverage and I constructed the bodice per the pattern.

Sisboom patterns are great simple silhouettes that really let the fabric shine. When your fabric is this awesome you don’t need to complicate the garment at all right? I decided to hack a half circle skirt and at first I was a bit scared that I had stuffed it up… I used the skirt from a dress that had a zipper as a template and the Angie has no buttons or zips! I had cut the skirt long enough that I could trim the top of the skirt down to the point where the waists from the skirt and the bodice would match up just fine though.

I still added pockets because pockets are the bomb! I love a bit of a peekaboo contrast, so I used this cute yellow gingham.

I hemmed the skirt with hot pink pre made bias. That is my favourite way to hem a circle skirt. You’ll have to excuse the sun flare here, it looks like I’ve lost an eye, but it was the only picture I had to show the back! The breeze was a welcome relief to our current heat and it blew my skirt just enough to show the bias 😉

I added the elastic to the back of the waist per the pattern to bring it in a bit and I am really happy with the finished product. I will try the gathered skirt next time and will also give it a try all in knit! It’s a great basic shape that you can personalise with your fabric choice.

This is my standard “uniform”! I wear dresses a lot because they don’t require finding 2 matching wardrobe pieces and they look like you have made a big effort (when you haven’t at all)!

My standard styling is sandals or heels and a statement necklace. My shoe and costume jewellery collections are pretty extensive (sshhhh)! A funky necklace and shoes dresses up any outfit.

I’d love to hear what you think of my Angie! I am lucky enough to have a copy of the awesome Angie pattern to give away to one of you! Just leave me a comment here on this blog post, follow me on instagram and I’ll choose a random winner on Friday!

Knickers With a Twist – Day 5 – The Hack

Well if we are being completely honest, every day of this challenge (apart from Day 1) has been a hack for me haha! I have tweaked and tweaked and come full circle and the pattern looks a little more like the original again! You’ll be pleased to know I have worked it out finally… 🙈 The main issues that arose on Day 1 came from the width of the crotch at the front being too wide and the width of the scrundies overall was a bit too wide ( I made the large and I was in between the medium and the large).

I of course tweaked too many things at once and found myself having to take a deep breath and start back at the beginning. I worked out (by trying on my first pair and my fave store bought undies) that the width at the back of the crotch was not wide enough and I hadn’t really considered that in all my tracing and snipping! So I got to this point and decided to make swimmer bottoms, but after discovering this there is to be a “final” version again next!

As you can see from my notes I added 1cm in width for a seam allowance around the leg holes when using elastic for undies or swimmers, but leave the pattern as is when adding bands.

I made these the full height of the pattern (which is equivalent to where they would end with bands), then added a 3″ waist band (which adds 1.5″ to the height).

I didn’t have any swimwear lining but I had gold spandex that I’d picked up in a remnant bin a long time ago so I used that to line them and as the crotch lining. The spandex I used is sooooo gorgeous! I have a box of awesome spandex I picked up super cheap from a dance wear supplier and I didn’t realise it at the time but I think they were in the process of clearing out to shut their business down. I got close to 50 metres and I planned on making loads of Boo pins and skater dresses for my girls, but I have not made a thing with it yet until these!

This print goes with so many of my swimmer tops so I am set now. I am not sure how the metallic fabric will fare with a lot of swimming and washing but I will look pretty schmancy on the sand for now…

So this was meant to be my final post, but in the interests of perfecting the pattern, I will come back soon with my final pair! Then I will be able to cut into my Orinoco fabric 😍

Make sure you join in with the #knickerswithatwist hashtag on instagram and enter the rafflecopter giveaway from Orinoco Designs Custom Fabric!

Now as with all good Blog Tours, we have a giveaway for you!

You really have to enter. Who doesn’t love free fabric, especially beautiful Orinoco Custom Knit Fabric!!!

Look at the new Summer Vibes range ❤

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also make sure you check in all week and go see what Jess at Tea Dust & Stitches and Katie at Katie Makes a Dress have made!

Knickers With a Twist – Day 4 – Woven

So todays post had to include woven fabric! Well that’s a bit tricky when we are working with a form fitting knit underwear pattern. I decided to add a woven front panel to ensure the pattern would still work well enough with just a little tweak and not a whole rewrite. I hope that won’t be considered cheating!

I chose a cotton sateen which has some stretch in it to make my job even easier. It is only in one direction so I added a little extra height in the front to compensate as well as a little bit extra in width to account for the reduced stretch.

I used black cotton lycra for the rest of these, which is super comfortable.

I love this snake skin sateen, I plan on making some shorts for my daughter from this fabric, it’s very cool!

If I wasn’t chasing my tail this week (funny turn of phrase given our current knickers challenge), I might have been a little more adventurous here… I’m squeezing in a tiny bit of sewing every day to keep up to date, but every time I think I am catching up I feel my sanity just slip from my grasp!

I’ve been wearing my knickers every day and have decided after thorough testing they need another tweak 😘 So stay tuned for tomorrow! Which in the spirit of the week I’ve had might yet be posted after midnight again {hangs head in shame} 🙈

Make sure you join in with the #knickerswithatwist hashtag on instagram and enter the rafflecopter giveaway from Orinoco Designs Custom Fabric!

Now as with all good Blog Tours, we have a giveaway for you!

You really have to enter. Who doesn’t love free fabric, especially beautiful Orinoco Custom Knit Fabric!!!

Look at the new Summer Vibes range ❤

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also make sure you check in all week and go see what Jess at Tea Dust & Stitches and Katie at Katie Makes a Dress have made!

Knickers With A Twist – Day 3 – The Upcycle!

Now you are talking! This is my jam! Almost everything I make has an element of upcycle to it. I love to use vintage linen, to cut up old clothes to use as fabric for new ones, even recycling buttons and elastic where they are in good condition.

So there were so many contenders for this category, but I went with the items in my upcycle tub(s) that had better stretch and recovery for this project. You don’t want to use an old ribbed knit t-shirt and end up with saggy knickers!

So here’s a couple of the ones I chose (theres more but I want to see how my pattern tweaking went before i cut more out)!

They are all too small for me, so I combined the waist band from the middle striped singlet with the first nighty to get these:

Undies are sooooo hard to get a flat picture of, but this pair was the worst offender yet! I suppose it’s because my bum is far from flat 😉.

Once they are on they fill out nicely though 😉

The next pair was from an exercise singlet from H&M. The leopard print spoke to me!

It was a panelled singlet and it had flat locked seams so I couldn’t get them seam free, but I decided to embrace the seams and make them a design feature. I used new cotton lycra for the bands on these as I didn’t have any black with enough stretch and recovery in my upcycle tubs.

I’m pretty happy with how these turned out, I think they are my favourite so far! I’m happy with the fit changes I have made along the way, but I wasn’t happy when I sewed the first leg band on the wrong side… Hello unpicker!! So now I am happy with fit I can go to town and upcycle all the cotton lycra in my stash as well as cut into my pretty Orinoco Designs Custom Fabric!!

 

Make sure you join in with the #knickerswithatwist hashtag on instagram and enter the rafflecopter giveaway from Orinoco Designs Custom Fabric!

Now as with all good Blog Tours, we have a giveaway for you!

You really have to enter, who doesn’t love free fabric seriously!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure you check in all week and go see what Jess at Tea Dust & Stitches and Katie at Katie Makes a Dress have made!!

Knickers With a Twist – Day 2 – Sexy?

 

Well seriously after my last post anything had to be closer to the sexy category right?

I got lucky in the Spotlight remnant bin with some white performance Lycra which is awesomely stretchy, comfortable and has a bit of sparkle about it. I had some stretch lace left over from my Laela Jeyne off the shoulder Sydney Slouchy Raglan Dress, but do you think I remembered that when I was at spotlight? No, but luckily the remnant bin delivered again so I didn’t pay a huge price for it 😉.

I tweaked the pattern for the fit changes I wanted and trimmed off half the seam allowance because 1/2″ seam allowances are too big when you are using the overlocker hey?

I wanted to keep the bum fullness and didn’t trim the excess seam allowance there, I also took a little crotch length off the back piece (which brought that fullness down too) and both those left me with a bit too much fullness as you can see! So I’ve added that crotch length back in again now (which should also help bring the front up level at the same level as the back too) and cut a bit more seam allowance out of the back for my next pair. Just watch me play the tweaking game all week haha!

This time I used underwear elastic for a prettier daintier look. I just zigzagged it on the right side.

Make sure you join in with the #knickerswithatwist hashtag on instagram and enter the rafflecopter giveaway from Orinoco Designs Custom Fabric!

Now as with all good Blog Tours, we have a giveaway for you!

You really have to enter, who doesn’t love free fabric seriously!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure you check in all week and go see what Jess at Tea Dust & Stitches and Katie at Katie Makes a Dress have made!!

Knickers With A Twist – Day 1 – The Basics

Ok I am going to preface this post with a disclaimer: I am sorry!

I’m sorry for a few things…

1. I’m sorry that this week you will be looking at my bum!
2. I’m sorry I haven’t been around lately! (Well actually I’m not really haha…) I guess that’s a sorry – not sorry! I’ve been enjoying the Christmas holidays/summer holidays/school holidays with my family. I can’t bring myself to apologise sincerely for the weeks we spend at Christmas living at the beach – it is heaven. I read 6 fictional novels while I was there and did zero sewing and zero study – whoops! I hardly spent any time on social media and didn’t even take that many pictures! It was a great reset. I didn’t know my phone could last 3 days without charging, I usually have to charge it twice a day!
3. I am however genuinely sorry that I am unprepared for this assignment! Since we got home I’ve been busy studying for my first uni exams in almost 10 years – help! So it’s Saturday night and I’m getting ready to start by typing this post and start sewing my first couple of pairs the DAY before the assignment! Lucky undies are relatively fast!

Weeks of watching the ships come into the harbour, reading (fiction not textbooks), ice creams, coffee, bike riding, naps and living at the beach is tough!!

Thanks to the gorgeous and hilarious Jess at Tea Dust & Stitches for getting me onto this project together with the very cool Katie from Katie Makes a Dress! I don’t know about them, but I am in desperate need of new undies so this was exactly what I needed. I have so many pairs that are only just holding it together… They are kind of disposable at the moment. I wear them, discover a hole and at the end of the day I toss them in the bin instead of the laundry basket. I’m saving on laundry but my undie drawer will be empty before long!

Jess from Tea Dust & Stitches

Katie from Katie Makes a Dress

The posts and the pictures will definitely get better as the week goes on, because my exams will be over on Monday so I will actually let myself do some sewing, picture taking and editing!!!

Stitch Upon A Time Scrundlewear – affectionately known as Scrundies!

Day 1 is all about the basics. I’m a bonds kinda girl (The Aussie brand, not to be confused with a Bond-girl, that’s not quite how I would describe myself). My drawer is full of plain black, plain grey, bleh, bleh, bleh. I’m boring and practical most of the time I guess you could say. This week I am testing out the Stitch Upon A Time Scrundlewear Pattern. I’m basically after comfort and no (or minimal) VPL (visible panty line).

So here are my basics. I tested first with this bleh and boring beige (which will be perfect as a basic under white clothing so just shut up and leave me alone about my granny panties haha), before I cut into my gorgeous Orinoco Designs custom knit. I made the basic brief pattern with knit bands in this awesome stretchy soft solid cotton lycra fabric (free/stolen from my Mum’s stash #cha-ching)! It will be perfect to make my daughters some undies for dancing to wear under their costumes, so that is now also on the to do list.

I made a large because I have been very busy being merry and putting on the pounds (that’s a lie, I’ve been doing that for the last 12 months haha), but i might make a medium next with the rise of the large as they are a little wide in the front and a little loose overall. Here is a pile of some the other fabrics that will become my basics as soon as I can find the time! I am all about the basics – how about you?

Now as with all good Blog Tours, we have a giveaway for you!

You really have to enter, who doesn’t love free fabric seriously!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure you check in all week and go see what Jess at Tea Dust & Stitches and Katie at Katie Makes a Dress have made!!