Hummingbird Cake

Well I'm finally here to share my Hummingbird after the sneek peek in my last post about the Cake sew-a-long.

The shape of the Hummingbird really appealed to me, although I have never really been a peplum fan!  After stalking the Hummingbird in the blogisphere I thought the nature of the knit fabric would mean that it would sit rather nicely rather than flaring out.  I don't like the thought of accentuating my hips!

I found this rather yummy striped merino at The Fabric Store sale.  As always it is a dream fabric to work with :)  I really love the way it fells, wears and falls.

As with my Tiramisu I am between size 30 and 35.  To achieve a snug fit I chose to make up the size 30.   Before starting I knew that I wanted to change neckline and the sleeves.  I lengthen the sleeve by 1" and took 1/4" off at each shoulder to give a wider look to the neck.  Perfect if you ask me :-)

Cake Patterns provide for fit checks at different stages during construction.  Whilst I did do a fit check before I attached the peplum, the waist it is still about 1/2" longer that it should be.  I've tried to hide this by styling with a belt :)  

I think this would work perfectly if the waist to my skirt was more body hugging - as you can probably see there is a wee shelf just under the belt - that's the top of the skirt :-(

I love the skirt shape and style, but it could have done with another 1/4" taken off the waist and the band being twice as deep.   I'm pretty sure that this is a skirt I WILL make again.

The fabric for the skirt was from my stash and I lined it with some simple acetate.   I've got no idea what type of fabric it is or where I got it from.

I inserted an invisible zip in the skirt with my new machine foot - why didn't I have one of these before?????

I Love my Hummingbird and can't wait for the weather to get a little warmer so I can wear it without a jacket or cardi.

CAKE: make, meet & eat

So this month I have been Sewing Cake with the WSBN.  The Challenge was to sew any Cake Pattern during the month of July and then come together on Sunday 28 July and eat Cake (high tea party).

I started by whipping up a Tiramisu Dress, blogged here.  While I was at it I thought I would learn how to make Tiramisu desert - wow what a mistake, it is soooo morish! Here is my first attempt - it doesn't look that appealing because someone (husband/kids!?) ate all the chocolate in the house.  This version is topped with berry sauce rather than grated chocolate.

First mission accomplished!  Next Cake Pattern - the Hummingbird, just because.  Okay, okay 'because' The Fabric Store had a 40% sale and who can't resist a sale - oh that would be me!!!

I haven't blogged about my Hummingbird yet, but I will get to that soon.  My Hummingbird top and skirt were the chosen items to wear along to High Tea - my first meet up with the WSBN.  What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon :-)   Thanks to the lovely host Sandra of FlossieFT I've got the following photos to share ....

We did group photos, first was those of us who made Hummingbirds.  There was another group of all those that made the Tiramisu Dress and another who made the Pavlova top and skirt.

This is all of us - I wasn't brave enough to take off my jacket (because it's still mid winter here in NZ - not that you would know from this photo).

Can you see that .... I know it's hard to spot amongst all those yummy things on the table, but the Tiramisu hiding in the background - doesn't that look so much better than the first one!  

Anyway, my first meeting with the WSBN was truely enjoyable - thank you ladies, I look forward to the next outing.  I feel like I've officially been initiated!

Tribal Tiramisu

I had been waiting and waiting and waiting for my Tiramisu from Cake Patterns to arrive and when it finally did I ripped into it immediately, 'cause I had already bought the fabric in anticipation.  Within a week my Tiramisu was cut and sewn up - it has taken me longer to photograph and blog than actually making it.  But here I am so let's talk Tiramisu ...

The Pattern:  I understand Steph has changed pattern printers and this edition of Tiramisu is the first from the new supplier.  The pattern paper is great, it is much sturdier than the normal/standard (however you want to say it) tissue paper.  I love it!

I had a bit of a dilemma deciding on which size to make.  I fall smack bang in the middle of a size 30 and 35!  After reading that the dress is designed with 0" easy and would result in a relaxed fit, I chose to make a size 30.  Having made that decision I had to choose a cup size, which has nothing to do with my bra size.  I chose the D cup being the closest to my measuring tape measurement.  Last decision was waist size where I also went for a size 30.

A quick read of the pattern and I was away.  The beautiful thing with this pattern is that it is all sewn on the flat and that size checks can be made along the way.  I've never seen a pattern quite like it before - so ingenious!

With the bodice all carefully put together, I stopped for a fitting check and much to my disappointment I just don't have enough boob to fill out the D cup *sigh*.  What to do, unpick and start again with a smaller size?  Hell no - it is a knit fabric, surely I can hide this some how.

Moving on with the waistband and the skirt.  I didn't think pockets would work with my fabric so didn't have to faff around with those, and I'm so pleased with that decision.  Although I'm not a fan of the side seam pocket - I don't need my hips looking any bigger than they naturally are.

Aside from the cup size being wrong my Tiramisu was perfect.  From the reading I had done it was highly recommended that I leave the dress hanging for a day before hemming.  I was quietly hoping that hanging would also settle the fit of the top somehow *shrug*.

The very next day I adorned my Tiramisu with delight and disappointment.  The size 30 fit was the right decision and the length was perfect.  I secretly had fears that it would be too long and I'd look like my grandma did, with the all in one knit print dress *shudder*.   So off to the sewing machine to finish off the hem and think about my cup problem.

Cup solution ... I placed two darts on each side of the bodice from the wasit-band toward the shoulder, tapering out just above the arm pit.  That took just enough fabric out - luckily the tribal print fabric disguises every!

I think it will be a dress that can be worn all year round?  The summer look is super easy, I just have to work out how to style it for a winter look.  Thinking maybe a black wrap cardigan and black boots???

Sewing Indie in June

This month I am joining The Curious Kiwi and Macskakat for Indie Pattern Month.

It just so happens that my next project was going to be the Cordova Jacket by Sewaholic - good timing girls :-)

I had purchased a piece of fabric at the Fabric-a-brac which I thought would be ideal for the Cordova - more on that later.

My stash of indie patterns current contains quite a few from Sewaholic - Tasia's style just appeals to me although I am a rectangular body shape rather than a pear.  A small reduction to the hips and I'm done which is proving easier than having to adjust the waist and hips out-ward when sewing one of the big 4.

Recently I have added others to my list (more parcels in the mail - fun)
Tiramisu Dress by Cake Patterns
Rooibos by Colette Patterns
April Pant by Stylearc
Go Anywhere Dress by Sewn Square One

I also purchased Newcastle Cardigan PDF download from Thread Theory, which I thought would be fun to sew for either my husband or son.

I'm not going to get all these patterns sewn up this month but I'm looking forward to each and every one of them.

A Good Wardrobe hosts an extensive list of Indie Patternmakers which is like my own little index to sewing fabulousness!  Thanks Lizz.

For now back to my the sewing machine to progress my Cordova.  I'm posting progress on Instagram (http://instagram.com/sandra_stitch) if you want to follow along.