Fighting the Fit

After sewing with slippery double georgette to make my Purple Reign blouse, I really wanted to take a break and sew something easy. The plan was to get a bit of instant gratification by whipping up a top in an afternoon. It's funny how things don't always go to plan...

Advance 6836

I chose the top from this 1950s blouse and skirt set but went for the short sleeve version with the turtle-neck collar. The pattern is my size - on top anyway - so I just went on my merry way and cut it out. I've had fitting issues with Advance patterns before, I really should have known better, but it's never, ever been this bad.

The pattern calls for a full length zip in the back which makes one assume the top should be fitted, but it's far from it. At first, I thought perhaps a larger size pattern had been put in the envelope, but the bust darts sit in the right place so can't be it. I think it's just poorly designed; there's no way this pattern will fit a 32" bust without some alterations.

It needed half an inch taken out of every seam - except the back there is no front seam to adjust - and nearly 3" under the arms! So much for 'Sew-Easy'.

I've now sewn the alterations and the fit is much better but the armholes are still too big. I know it's supposed to have 'drop' shoulders but the sleeve detail was getting lost under my arms. That detail was the main reason I liked this top in the first place! Argh!! Time for more alterations, and this time I'm usin' the scissors.



I was so fed up with this project, I didn't care if I ruined it by cutting too much out of the arms, it's not like I could make it any worse. As you can see from the pic, my cutting frenzy was successful and it now looks much more like the envelope illustration. I'm also much happier with the fit.

The only thing left to do is the sleeves. I've cross-referenced the original pattern piece with my altered version and it looks like they're going to be a challenge. The shape has changed quite a bit and I'm not sure I'm prepared to draft my own. It was supposed to be a quick, fun project and has ended up taking far more time than I wanted to spend. I think it's time to put this one aside for now.

In closing, I'm wondering if any of my readers who sew have the same problem. Modern or vintage, is there a particular brand of pattern you have trouble getting to fit? Please feel free to share your frustrations.

- Tamara

Let Purple Reign!

I finished the first item on my winter wish list this afternoon and I couldn't be more pleased with myself.

Hollywood 1632

While on my little shopping spree at Easter I picked up a funky, purple and grey plaid with this adorable 1930s pinafore in mind and have been dying to cut it ever since. In fact, I was so excited to get started that I sat the sewing machine for roughly six hours straight and knocked the pinafore over in one evening. It was a super marathon effort which left my back aching so much I was unable to sew for a couple of weeks. But, thanks to my wonderful osteopath, I've been back at it and have made an outfit!

Originally, I'd only planned to make the pinafore, I've plenty of things to wear with it, but the blouse looked so simple I figured, why not? You'd think I would have learnt by now not everything is as it seems, nothing's ever simple. Well, that's not entirely true. The blouse was simple; there's no real fastening to speak of, it just slips on and the sleeves are only gathered at the top so fitting them was a breeze. The problem arose when I need to insert the elastic for the puffed sleeves.

I misread the instructions (quelle surprise!); the casing for the elastic is supposed to made by folding the bottom of the sleeve up roughly 3" and sewing two lines to create a pocket to thread the elastic. I tried to make it work, but I'd altered the size of the sleeves - they were going to be a little too puffy for my liking - and the hemline was too crooked to sit flat. My solution: sew a piece of bias binding to the inside of the sleeve for an instant casing, and loosely stitch the sleeve hem to the bottom of the binding. It's not the most elegant finish I've ever done but it worked. 

There is supposed to be a belt with the pinafore; I have made it but I'm looking for the perfect buckle to complete the look. I also need to tighten the elastic in the sleeves of the blouse, they're a bit floppy - sigh, after all that work - and I need to sew a small button and loop closure at the neck of the blouse. Just a couple of tweaks and it's done. Yay!!

Mdblm says my new outfit looks a bit 'school uniform-y', but you know what? If this was my uniform when I was at school, I'd have been more than happy to wear it everyday.

Happy Friday everyone!

- Tamara

Finding Sanctuary

Earlier this year, I recieved a lovely email from Melbourne-based visual artist Louise Saxton. She had discovered my blog through my 'Habadashery Heaven' post and thought I might be interested in her upcoming exhibition at Heide Museum of Modern Art.

Sanctuary  uses reclaimed needle-work to reinterpret historical bird and insect paintings and is the result of two years of solid work. Each piece is painstakingly constructed by pinning the deconstructed embroidery pieces to nylon tulle to create texture and fill in the detail. Oh, and what detail!! Layer upon layer of foliage and flowers blended together, so much detail I could barely stop myself from touching. Not a good idea in a museum, plus the guard was watching me like a hawk.  

Detail of 'Carolina on my Mind' (54 x 32cm)

After seeing the exhibition, I was curious about the construction process and the lovely Louise was only too happy to answer my questions. So, if you can't get to the show in person, I hope my mini interview sheds some light on how these beautiful creatures are created.

On average, how long does it take to construct a piece?

For example: Maria's Saturn (Caterpillar) vs the King Parrot?

Maria's Saturn (39 x 57cm)

Queen Billie, the King parrot, was the first of the birds in this collection and I worked on her over a 5 month period.  Maria’s Saturn, the caterpillar, only took 6 days but by the time I came to make it, a whole year later, I was working much more intensely on the pieces. It is also a much smaller piece.

Another good comparison is between the Flaming Flamingo, which took 21 solid days over 6 weeks while Major Tom, the cockatoo, took eight days over 2 weeks.

Detail of Queen Billie (125 x 84cm)

When sourcing materials, do you set out with a particular image or colour in mind? Or, do you just 'go by feel' and pick up pieces which attract your attention?

When I first began collecting needlework for deconstruction 5 years ago – mostly hand-made needlework, or machine-made by a person sitting at a machine – it was like a treasure hunt each time and I would buy everything I could afford.  I then cut and colour code it back in the studio. 

I have gone hunting at various times for specific colours – and asked friends and family to keep an eye out for me. For example, when I decided to reinterpret Elizabeth Gould’s Major Mitchell’s cockatoo I needed to go out specifically looking for the variety of pinks to create the right palette.

Halcyone & Ceyx (59 x 76cm)

The majority of your pieces appear to be made up purely of foliage & flowers, although I did spy a small bridge here and there. Is this intentional?

In my previous body of work which was the result of a residency in a Malaysian garden estate in 2006 and toured back to Malaysia and Singapore in 2008, I included all kinds of embroidered and lace motifs – animals, people, houses, boats etc., as the works were more 2 dimensional and mostly monochrome and the reference to other cultures was important, particularly Asian decorative arts. 

For Sanctuary, I wanted the important relationship between the garden/forest and the bird/insect to be a strong element and for the motifs to blend as feathers and scale more.  Also, throughout history floral imagery has made up a large majority of needle-worked motifs so they are more common.

If you look closely at the work and there are a number of ‘hidden’ motifs, such as the bridges from the Willow Pattern, but also Chinese Cloud motifs and I deliberately chose a gold ecclesiastical crown for the feathers above the beak of one King-fisher. There is also a pink flamingo (which my husband found for me) hidden in the neck of my Flaming Flamingo! I like this element of playfulness within the work.

Flaming Flamingo (96 x 78cm)

Louise Saxton's 'Sanctuary' is showing at the Heide Museum of Modern Art

24th March - 29th of July 2012.

- Tamara

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NOTE: All images appear with the kind permission of Louise Saxton.

Thanks again, Louise!!