NIKKI-SHELL

Phew!

I don't think my feet have touched the ground this past fortnight!  I seem to have been on the go none stop and only just feel like i'm slowing back into a routine.  I worked last Monday with Colette and flew to Sydney with her that evening where i was to be part of the Stitches & Craft Show.  I seemed to whirl in, around and back out again!

 

I spent the first half of my week staying with Colette's Mum, we stayed up late chatting about sewing and books, in particular Twilight (she has a little thing for Edward!).  We watched TV and laughed at the weeks challenge on Project Runway, outfits from vegetables!  The second half of the week i stayed with Colette and her family in their lovely home and I was made to feel like part of the family.  

I visited the Surry Hills Tessuti store and met some of the voices at the end of the phone whom i speak to regularly at work.....

I checked out the warehouse....

did some sightseeing (at night)....

drank many cups of coffee.....

I made a HUGE apple tarte tatin....

which i shared with wonderful people....

oh and of course i spent the week at the Stitches & Craft Show with BurdaStyle ...

and Wardrobe Refashion....

 

A big thanks to Colette and her family for being such wonderful hosts, my fabulous volunteers at the show for making my week so much easier, Angela and Ross from Living Creatively for doing such an amazing job with the show and Brother and Hemline for sponsoring the Reconstruction Zone.

Now i must go, i have a dress to make to wear to the Tessuti Awards, yep i'm off to Sydney again next week!

Bench Monday #12

Sydney Airport luggage carousel.  More players here.

Thanks to Colette for being photographer :)

Kristen in black & white

Remember this dress?  The top was too big but the bottom fit quite well except for being a little too long, i had cut out a Burda size 36.  Well i fixed the problems by cutting out a size 34 for the torso and keeping the skirt as a size 36.  I also reduced the length of the torso by about 5cm which solved the bagginess at the back and also lifted the waistband to underneath the bust.

I shortened the skirt pattern pieces to knee length before cutting and it turned out just right.

I used a black cotton which has some elastane in it and a white eyelet fabric (thanks to the suggestion of two RMIT teachers who happened to be in the store the day i was choosing)  as the contrast both from Tessuti (of course).  The only downside is the black picks up fluff like a magnet, Kev doesn't mind this because he gets to de-fluff my butt with the lint roller ;)

 

The dress is fully lined, has an invisible zipper in the side seam and i left off the button at the front.
I'm really pleased with how it has turned out, i'm considering another with a more colourful fabric for the summer.  I may also make a few more alterations, in particular the collar, although maybe it just needs a stiffer interfacing than what i used.

I wore the dress to the Tessuti Awards night in the Melbourne store and received many compliments which made my night!  I even got to wear heels and lipstick!  I felt very grown up, oh wait i AM grown up!  Maybe i should do this more often!!

In conclusion i'd like to say i'm very glad i made a muslin before cutting into the 'good stuff', i highly recommend you do the same with any pattern.  I'm also glad i took the time to line the dress, it is so worth it!

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Kev finished his last day at work today.  We're swapping roles and he is now a stay-at-home-Dad.  I'm off to Sydney for the Stitches & Craft Show tomorrow night after i finish work and will return on Sunday when i will start working full-time at Tessuti, YEP FULL-TIME!!  Let's wish Kev good luck, he's gonna need it!! Mwahahahahah!!

Bench Monday #11

On my walk home from work.

More players here.

Destashing makes moving house cheaper right?

Yesterday the girls and I visited our friends on the other side of the bay with the intention of visiting a house over that way too.  We've been thinking a lot about moving over the past few months and have visited a number of different areas of Melbourne to get a feel of where we'd like to go.  Although the house i looked at yesterday wasn't suitable (on a busy road AND under the train line!) i really just wanted to get a feel of the area and from what i saw i really liked it and i think it's the kind of place we'd like to be.  It looked to me like a community full of families, lots of children, friendly, it had everything we need such as public transport, close to the City, cafe's, independent food stores, parks and a pub!  Now we're not in a major hurry to move, we're going spend some time over that way while looking at houses and in the meantime we're going to have a MAJOR de-clutter and save some money too, moving house is an expensive business!

So in a bid to do both i need to reduce this:

and this:


Not add to it! which is easy to do when working in a fabric store.  So, i'm going to try my hardest to not purchase anything new sewing related for the next month at least excluding anything i need to finish a garment such as lining and notions and needles.  I have a pile of fabric and patterns waiting to be made into wearable items and by doing this i should end up with some new clothes to put into a new wardrobe in a new house rather than an ever growing pile of fabric!  I'll also be getting rid of a lot of stuff from my stash, there is some very questionable stuff in there. 

There will be a lot of de-cluttering in other parts of the house too, i think a skip may be needed! 

BurdaStyle Sewing Club-Surry Hills, Sydney

I will be in Sydney for a week from the 17th of August for the Stitches & Craft Show and have decided to organise a BurdaStyle Club meet at the Surry Hills Tessuti shop while up there on Wednesday August 19th from 7-9pm.

What to bring.....

• A finished project-show off your creations, inspire us!
• Details of or ideas for your next project-picture, pattern, fabric ideas etc
• Your current project
• Your sewing machine if you plan to sew
• Anything else you would like to show and tell, books, mags, patterns etc.
• A gold coin donation to go towards tea, coffee and biscuits etc.

Swap shop...

Have something you'd like to swap? Patterns, fabric, notions, books? Bring them along to swap on the night.

If you would like to attend please email me at nikkishell@burdastyle.com

The store is located at:
110 Commonwealth St
Surry Hills
Find more details about the store here.

Bench Monday #10

Street bench outside Le Louvre on Collins Street.

More players here.

Testing testing.....

I want to wear the Kristen dress from BurdaStyle to the Tessuti Awards in a a week and a half!!  Yep, cutting it fine aren't i?!  I won't be entering the competition of course, i can't since i work there :)  Anyway, like a good little seamstress i decided to make a muslin before cutting into the good stuff and am i glad i did!  I measured myself and according to the BurdaStyle measurements i should be a size 38?!  WTF?!  38?!  Most of the other patterns i have used from BurdaStyle i have cut a 34 so i decided to go inbetween and cut a 36. 

 As you can see the skirt part of the dress fits pretty well around the hips and waist although it is way too long (being a short arse will do that!), i will shorten it to knee length i think.  The top however is WAY too big!  Now my question is how do i fix this?  I don't think just going down a size will fix the problem, it seems i also need to stretch my torso a few inches in length or shorten the pattern pieces ;)

What do you suggest?