March 2014 Sewing Camp

Just over two weeks ago I had a chance to spend some more quality sewing time with the BSCP, during the March 2014 Sewing Camp.

 As before the location was Moondyne Convention Centre, lovely as always even if the pastures were looking a bit dry (another really long hot summer here).

 How's this for serenity?:

So, to the sewing! First up here's some bunting the club made to celebrate their first birthday (I joined sometime in the year after):

Pretty huh?
 MY project for the weekend was padding out my dressform so that it looked more "me" shaped and less standard factory line dummy shaped.

This was much more work than I expected as I've found out my body has some interesting fitting issue- one shoulder higher than the other, long shoulder to bust point measurement , one hip higher than the other and one leg longer than the other which no doubt explains some of the shoulder/hip discrepancies.

Thank goodness Sandra had agreed to help me with this- in between her own sewing projects- as it was so out of my area of sewing "knowledge" (I have only recently started to understand fitting issues).

Thank you Sandra and I hope I didn't pester you too much!!!

First up Sandra measured me (pre-camp) and we used then we used the FREE women's fitting bodice from Patternmaker  to print out a basic block.
(**I highly recommend having someone help you take the measurements for you if possible to ensure accuracy of the finished pattern- I was very lucky to have an experienced pattern designer/ dressmaker do mine.**)

Sandra suggested extending the block so that it went past the bottom of the dressform, and raising the armhole (less space to fill in after). 
What I ended up with was a rather nice basic dress pattern, which fit better than anything else I've ever sewn straight from a pattern sans major alterations (sorry forgot to take a picture here)

Then all the ease was taken in, with Sandra pinning it as close to my body as possible:

Yeah that was FUN to wriggle out of! 
I had some awesome pin scratches after- what we do for our hobbies eh?

As a note we didn't insert a zip into this toile, just pinned up the back where the zip would have been. In hindsight I think it would have been heaps easier to just leave the centre back seam unsewn - at least for getting in/out of.

Then came the wadding/padding:

 A couple of layers around the abdomen, a few stacks of wadding to lift the shoulder and some pads of flattened hobbyfill to pad out the breast area:

Hand stitching the wadding

This is still an unfinished work-in-progress. I need to make another session with Sandra so she can cross check the measurements with mine, help me to finesse the padding so that it represents my own body fluff and show me how to finish neck/arm holes /"hem" area.

This is one of the hardest sewing projects I have done lately but I think it will be so worth it when its finally done. Even "as is"  it looks so much more lifelike (if not a little eerie late at night):

Oh and I've decided on a name for my dummy- Hilda! In honour of the redhead pin-up girl :D

Happy Sewing!

Kate x

Sewing weekend away pics

Just a few pic's from the sewing weekend away. 

I had hoped to take a whole lot more but my (much used and abused) point and shoot digital camera has moved on to the great electronics repository in the sky. It seems throwing the thing into nappy bags, handbags and gloveboxes without any sort of case/protection does in fact stuff up the lenses! Oh well...you do what you have to do when small children come into your life!
 Hubby has promised to replace it for me as a Christmas present :) 
So while I peruse the best that JB HiFi and Camera House has to offer, here is what I am currently left to work with - Iphone photography by way of Snapseed app editing (suprisingly pretty good for a freebie).

First we have a couple of shots of the ladies at their machines:

Fleur working an a men's shirt, Kelly making a dress and Helen in the background renovating her ottoman (yeah we use staple guns in our sewing group!)

We are an industrious lot aren't we? 

Elle, Kat and Zoe all working on various garments and -in Ali's case- a quilt made of many tiny hexagons.

...And Vanessa and her super cute denim dress that she brought along for show and tell. I do believe this pattern fitted her pretty well without any major adjustments- lucky thing!

As far as sewing weekend's go this was a pretty good one- lots of good food, socialising and creativity in an awesome environment.

Now to hang out for the next one....

Kate :)  

Only one more sleep ...

I'm currently tidying up some much neglected computer/blogging related chores so that I can be ready for my Perth Burdastyle Sewing Club weekend away. This is my third sewing weekend and I am looking forward to it greatly :D Good food (AND not cooked by me!), two full nights sleep and lots of sewing time- what's not to like?

Of course I still have to pack everything, so while I'm procrastinating here's a pic of one of the pattern's I'm contemplating taking:

View A is the whole reason I brought this one, I've seen a fair bit of this style in RTW clothes recently. View B is a bit ho-hum in comparison (I think you really need the lace) and view C just reminds me of a men's t-shirt, not much to home about with that one.

After my last sewing weekend away I realised I packed far too much in the way of projects and fabric options. This time I'll try to stick to maybe one or two (at most) - much less stuff to haul around and realistically what I can hope to complete!  

Expect to be inundated with pics of happy (sewing) campers and the picturesque environs of Moondyne after my return... ;)

Happy sewing everyone!

Kate :)

May 2013 Sewing Weekend Away

I had a great time at the May 2013 Burdastyle Sewing Club Perth weekend away. It was nice to get away from everyday life for a few days and recharge the creative batteries, all without worrying about being on "mum" duty (that's 24/7 right?) for a while. In fact I think one of the most exciting things about going away was the fact that I got a WHOLE bed to myself, an uninterrupted nights sleep AND got to sleep in past the usual wake up time of 6.30 am (on a good day). Believe me once you have kids that's a trifecta rarely experienced, at least not in the few years I've been parenting so far.
(I must admit I did feel a bit teary waking up and not seeing them each morning though).

So enough gloating about my childfree 48 hours and glorious bed space, let me inundate you with some pics from the weekend ;)

(BTW I have written two post about the weekend on BSCP's blog here and here, so if it seems like I'm being a bit "light on" I'm just trying not to repeat myself...)

First up - a big mob of 'roos in the entrance of Moondyne's property. The centre is tucked away on a large rural property surrounded by National park so these guys would be locals here. Still I think I was lucky to be the first car through and see this many:

Kangaroo mob grazing at Moondyne Convention Centre

 The drive to get out to the centre (from the main road) was long, gravelly and hilly. As I had hubby's ute - way more powerful than the "mummobile- I really headed the speed limit along the track. The scenery, while beautiful, was also very steep and I admit thinking to myself "geez I wouldn't like to drive this late at night".

Still when I got there it was gorgeous, well worth the drive. Very rural and quiet - except for birds and insects (oh and the occasional moth as big as your hand, no joke!). Lots of gumtrees, hills and pasture to distract us from sewing - if we needed it ;)

This is what the weather was like the first morning after I arrived, lots of sunshine:

Out front of the convention centre

And the second morning? Not so much...

Mist and lots of it!

 

Fellow sewist/blogger Fleur taking some pics of the mist.

But then again we were there to sew, so sunshine was an added bonus if we got it. Plus the mist burnt off pretty quick once it warmed up.

 Accommodation was lovely and in keeping with the country feel everything had a veranda, even the sewing (well technically "meeting") room:

 

Sewing / meeting room veranda.

A few shots of the veranda's off the main building, where we had all our meals (cooked by the lovely Elle):

Views like this must be hard to live with yeah?
 

 And just to show you that sewing did in fact take place here's a pic of some of the BSCP group hard at work (look at all those sewing machines!):

Quite a few people finished garments over the weekend, some smarty-pant's even went on to a second item (or two!). 
Myself I got 95% through to completion of my first 'Staple" dress (April Rhode's patterns)- I just have the hem to go hence the 5% not done. While not as industrious or technically challenging as some of the other's projects I was still happy to have got something nearly done over the weekend- and better yet something for me! The fact that it remained unfinished for at least two weeks after is another matter...

Extra added bonus to the weekend- I made a new friend (of the furry kind). Meet Gypsy, lovely friendly dog who was rescued by the couple who run Moondyne:

Gypsy - resident dog at Moondyne Convention Centre.

 Of course no sewing weekend would be complete without checking out all the sewing equipment that everyone else has and finding new, exciting things ;)
Currently these are my two newest sewing "lust-haves" after the weekend:

1.  Susan Khalje wrist pin-cushion, as modelled by it's owner Kat. At $30 its pretty $$ but I'm hoping maybe the sewing fairy might get me one if I'm a good girl this year ;) Otherwise I guess I might end up buying one for myself if she/he doesn't....

 2. Laurastar Steam ironing station and board. I swear the pressure this thing had made me jump from across the room every time Leanne (it's owner) let loose a shot of steam - it sounds like a whip cracking! A quick look on the Laurastar website tells me that price wise this set-up is a very very veeerrry distant reality. Still a girl can dream right?


Oh and I rather liked this rusty dragonfly/frog wall sculpture...if I ever get sick of sewing maybe I'll give metal work a go....

Great time, great sewing, can't wait to do it all again!

Kate :)

Sewing weekend countdown!

Only three more sleeps until the next Burdastyle Sewing Club Perth weekend away - I can't wait!!!
In July last year I went to the first ever sewing weekend away for the club, two days of sewing, eating and hanging out with like minded people: it.was.AWESOME! Unfortunately I missed the second weekend away due to DS coming down with a bout of tonsillitis (Yep mum was needed big time that week), but so far its looking good for this time around *fingers crossed*.

Last time we were in Dwellingup, but just to keep thing interesting we are going to Moondyne Convention Centre for this meet - how serene and awe inspiring does all that countryside look? Perfect place to attempt something creative I think :)

Sooo of course with hardly any time left to pack (I have two small people to look after tomorrow and my "other" day job the next two days after) I am TOTALLY unorganised and unprepared. Seeing as am taking DH's hard-top ute (he gets the mummymobile for the weekend hehehe)  I'm thinking pretty much that I will just chuck whatever in at the last minute, when packing after the kids are in bed- sounds like a plan eh??
I DO know that I will be taking my already-cut-out-and-waiting-to-go April Rhodes Staple Dress. I have heard GREAT things about this pattern on the blogosphere and I'm dying to try it out, this weekend it WILL happen!
No doubt I will have some blurry iPhone pics (and maybe some slightly better proper camera pics) to share with you after the weekend :D....and maybe some finished items too, so stayed tuned!

If you live in Perth (Western Australia) and are interested in fashion/garment sewing check out the Burdastyle Sewing Club Perth, they are a totally nice bunch of sewing people and weekends away like this are truly something special!!

I must say a huge " thank you" to dear hubby who - even though yes technically it IS his job as dad- is looking after the twinlets while I have my weekend away.
Thanks hun,couldn't do it without you! xxx

If I don't catch you before my big sleepover...

Happy sewing!

Kate :)