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Messages - renita

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1
In the wardrobe / Re: Article on sustainable fashion
« on: March 11, 2020, 00:05:26 AM »
Here's another article from the ABC in Australia yesterday.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-10/sustainable-fashion-tips/12038770

I find some of the figures in the article to be mind boggling - I'm certainly not contributing much to the pile!

I think we're on the right track as sewing folk.  We can custom-fit and style our garments.  If things don't work out, we can tweak the garment or reuse the fabric in something else entirely.  We have an appreciation of the effort that goes into construction and know that some poor soul isn't being paid sweatshop rates to make our clothes, while we then pay for the tiny label (or sometimes large ugly logo emblazoned) on it.

I've always hated being labelled as a 'consumer' - it conjures visions of locust swarms laying waste to the landscape.  I much prefer being a creator.

2
Previous sewalong entries / Re: 6PAC Wardrobing contest - 10.02.-10.05.2020
« on: February 02, 2020, 03:58:37 AM »
I like the sound of your 6PAC @Starryfish.

I have some ideas about creating an activewear 6PAC, since that's where I have a gap in my wardrobe right now.  The SWAKOPs have sorted out my everyday clothing needs for a while. I'd love to be able to do it from stash, if I can.  That's as far as my plan goes so far...

3
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Re: Batik Quilt
« on: January 16, 2020, 23:07:26 PM »
That's really beautiful @Stitches - I agree, the orange makes it sing.

4
Current Projects / Re: Jen Kingwell
« on: January 16, 2020, 23:04:12 PM »
The Delilah quilt looks lovely and I like your fabric choices - can't wait to see it as it progresses.  Amazed that you can just whip up a 'scrappy' quilt in the meantime.   :loveit:

5
Really lovely robe @Acorn - I second (third?) the decision to keep the collar plain - it looks terrific as-is.

6
I'm more of a leaf print person than an animal print person @SewRuthieSews.  Your fabric looks terrific and I can't wait to see what you do with it.

Thanks @UttaRetch.  And thanks for coming up with a name for it - I was struggling to think what it's called and, of course, cover-up is perfect.

@BajaSusana I love your long vest - very elegant and stylish.  You've done a great job with the rolled hem finish - I agree, much nicer looking than the rolled hem from the overlocker - that has its place but not for your lovely garment.

7
Current Projects / Re: Renita's Millefiori Sampler Meditation Cushion
« on: January 13, 2020, 20:45:55 PM »
Thanks folks.  0_0

It was my first go at hand-piecing and I enjoyed it.  I'd love to go all-out on a fancy, fussy-cut quilt one day, but probably not for a while.   In the meantime, I'll sit and enjoy seeing all the beautiful quilts you guys come up with.


8
@Manuela - I'm happy to be disqualified  :D

I'm ever so much happier you told me AFTER I finished it- I'd still be struggling with my old ironing board cover if I'd read the rules correctly and realised a leaf print doesn't qualify. 

9
Current Projects / Re: Batik quilt #2 - it's finished!
« on: January 13, 2020, 08:31:45 AM »
That's a beautiful quilt @Ploshkin - congrats!

10
ince we're back to January, I took the opportunity to finish my UFO that was supposed to be finished by the end of the month, LAST January...

This is my little hand-pieced and hand-quilted (and definitely machine-sewn together so it doesn't fall apart the first time I sit on it) meditation cushion, which I started for the Home-Decorating competition last year.

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I won't add too much detail here, since it had its own little thread.  More details & pics here:
https://thesewingplace.org.uk/index.php/topic,6178.0.html

I have a billion (give or take) other unfinished projects, but not many of them are sewing ones at the moment.  I'll see if I can dig up any others...

11
Renita's Entry #2: The Super-Wild Brunch Coat/House Coat/Robe?

Pattern & Fabric Used:  The pattern is Style 2254, which I originally used for a school project back in (don't laugh) the 80s - possibly out of print now? 

The fabric is a crazy (for me) silk-blend with cream satin and chocolate burn-out sections in a zebra stripe pattern, then over-printed with all sorts of animal prints in a variety of colours - browns, pinks and jungle green.  It is not my usually cup-of-tea, but at the time of purchase I thought the fabric was in my colours, I should be brave and it might be good for a scarf.  The satin sections make it sit/hang really oddly, for that purpose, so instead I'm going for the glamour of a satin robe-y thing.  Something to wear in the house.  I'm too shy to wear something like this in public.

Construction:
I pretty much followed the directions altered everything. 
-Narrowed the shoulders by about 5cm and took up the sleeves by 20-25cm, so that it wouldn't hang off my shoulder so far and would finish just below the elbow. 
-Used french seams.
-Rather than apply a wide lace trim, as per the instructions, I went for a simpler (style-wise) bias bound edge at the front - I wanted something that didn't clash with the fabric.  And the sleeves just got a simple turned hem.

Challenges:
-Slippery fabric that went from open mesh to a firm satin made sewing anything resembling a straight line impossible.  Even when pressed before-hand, my hems seem to wobble all over the place.  I'm sure there's some orientation where they're straight - they may just never achieve that orientation again...
-Wearing something that is so glamorous will be a challenge.  I feel I should have a pair of high-heeled slippers at the very least.  Or a swimming costume, big hat, sunglasses and high-heels.  And a pool.  In Hollywood.  It's great for twirling though. :)  It makes me giggle.  I wore my satin nightie and this robe all day once I finished it, just so I could keep giggling. 

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(ETA: For modesty's sake, I'm not modelling it with my nightie - you don't need to be subjected to my knees.  I'm wearing it over my brown linen dress from SWAKOP)



12
Current Projects / Re: Renita's Millefiori Sampler Meditation Cushion
« on: January 13, 2020, 05:02:11 AM »
Well, it's taken a while, but I've FINALLY managed to complete this project.  It was supposed to be finished by the end of January.  Since we're up to a January again, I thought I'd better get back to it.

I ended up hand-quilting all the pieces - hope you'll be able to see that in the photos because I forgot to take a really-close up picture and I may not get this posted if I wait to go back for another photo.

I'd struggled working out how to get the pieces together.   The side strip is slightly longer than the circles, because of the extra piece I added to make it more of a rectangle, rather than having an undulating edge.  I wanted to do all sorts of fancy things, like a zipper, and/or piping, but all of those things are what stalled the project - dealing with those while also easing the side piece to the top and bottom was too much of a challenge. I even had a go at hand-stitching the quilted pieces together, but realised that the seams were unlikely to support my weight...

In the end, I have machine sewn the top and bottom to the side, leaving a gap to stuff it, then hand-sewn the gap closed, as firmly and securely as I can. 
Since this was a stash project, I used an old quilt/doona (and part of a cushion) to stuff it, just cutting out layers and layers until I ran out.  Once I stuffed the cushion with the quilt/doona layers, it still felt a bit soft, so that's when the extra stuffing from the cushion was added.

I'm putting the apparent wonkiness, that seems to show up in every photo, but isn't so visible in real life, down to the fact that my circles are actually decagons and I didn't want to round it off to a circle and lose the little points on my stars.

It's hard to judge the scale from the photos of the cushion on its own, so I included one where it's sitting with the rest of my yoga gear.  Of course, it's just occurred to me that I could measure it - the top and bottom are 33cm or 13inches across and the side piece is about 11cm or 4.25 inches high.

Project done - SUPER happy with the result. 

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13
Renita's Entry #1 - The Super-Boring but Necessary Ironing Board Cover

Pattern used: the old cover - laid out flat, with a bit extra added to it, because I thought it was a bit skimpy on the sides sometimes.

I used an old roman blind, which was lined with calico.  I left the two layers stitched together and just cut the rings off the tape, hoping that the thickness of the two fabrics would be enough to 'hide' any bump from the tape.  That worked well.  Just double turned the edges, threaded a bit of string through the tube/hem, put it on the board and tightened the string.

Challenges:
Nothing too challenging about this. 
- I did a single row of stitching at the corners and pulled it in so that the hem was easier to fold under. 
- I managed to get my string all the way through the hem - it is an exceptionally long way around an ironing board cover, pulling and pushing a safety pin.
- I didn't secure the string well enough when I was fitting the cover, so had to unpick a bit of the hem, where I could feel the end of the string had darted back to (I'd already removed the safety pin, of course).  There was no way I was pulling it all the way back out and starting again, so I just felt around, reattached my safety pin to the end of the string and then was super-careful not to lose it on the second fitting.
-Final challenge - taking a photo of an ironing board that looks exciting...  that's the old curtain still in a heap on the floor.

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14
Lovely blouse @indigotiger!I love your creative solutions to the issues you had.

15
Some lovely fabrics and great ideas here so far.  I have a couple of potential projects that, if I don't use this contest as inspiration, may stay on the to-do list indefinitely.

I could really do with a new ironing board cover, so am considering re-purposing this ivy-printed roman blind to the task - that's kinda jungle-y.

And i have a piece of fabric that definitely qualifies!  I'm not confident I'd ever wear it out of the house (not a big print person at the best of times and, while I might have been prepared to be adventurous, this also has large sections of transparency that I should really save the general public from).  I'm thinking that I may make it into a 'brunch coat' for around the house.

 
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Here's hoping those images work out - I seem to have gotten myself into a tangle...EDIT: No they didn't, trying again...
EDITED AGAIN: 3rd time's the charm?

Now to get on with the sewing, before January disappears!

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