This week was a juggle of learning, sewing, recovering from whatever hit me for a six, and then being able to have a fun time with sewing friends this week.

Sewing wise, I finished the blouses from the bodice blocks from the pattern making class.

Bodice blocks

The green fabric is from my stash. Bought it at Miss Maude New Zealand at least 7 years ago when we visited Greytown. Probably a Merchant and Mills fabric and it was a remnant they had. It sold out fast.

The pink long sleeve shirt is cotton ombre from Minerva’s Bower in the Blue Mountains.

Buttons on both shirts are stash buttons and probably bought from The Sewing Basket.

The whole bodice block exercise showed me that my shoulder line is shorter than commercial patterns.

Cotton is my preferred fabric choice as it breathes and feels cool when the weather is as hot and humid as it is right now. Most people are currently over melting and sweating these days.

Pants blocks

On Tuesday we created our pants blocks from the blocks we were given as our starting blocks. Yes I fitted a size 12 but my waist had to be increased by 7cm. Reality check!

The pants worn with the pink shirt is the straight pants block. There are no pockets on those pants because I was checking the fit of them. Blue chambray fabric was used.

I’ve worn them all day in this weather and they’re good. Right now it’s also peak mosquito season so I need to cover up so I avoid getting bitten.

The pants worn with the green shirt has had the leg shape restitched using the boot cut shaping. Loads of unpicking went into these pants to make them work. I’d actually sewn them last year but they didn’t really work well for me at the time. Now they’re really good and work in this weather too. The fabric is a lighter weight chambray.

Both chambrays were earmarked for dresses because of their drape. Now I’m convinced that Summer trousers using chambray are the best!

Block templates

Next week is our last pattern making lesson where we can work on a specific project once we trace our final blocks onto cardboard.

I feel this has been money well spent as I can now use these blocks as a starting point for clothes I want to sew. Then I can use my Mimiquin to fit them on my body double and hem them without needing to phone a friend.

Next up…

All the fabric shops are selling their Summer stock to make room for Winter stock. Some are no longer keeping hard copy patterns. Our local Big 4 sewing pattern importer is in liquidation. This means lots of sales are happening.

I’ll do a separate post about the patterns and fabrics I’ve bought, now that I know what fabrics I have and am more likely to wear.

There’s also a Designer Stitch jacket being tested too.

There is some Frocktails planning ahead.

I have a Minerva dot com make to get your advice on the make I should try.