Bonn Shirt #3

 

My last lockdown  sewing finish is another Bonn shirt.  This time made in a lovely silky rust coloured rayon.  I chose the 3/4 sleeve version, and it is size 6C.  I was worried about sewing the collar being a rayon, but out of the three I have now made, this shirt actually was the easiest to make, the collar and sleeves went on perfectly on their first attempts.  However I had major problems with the button holes, for some reason my machine wanted to start finishing them half way through it's cycle, needless to say say there was a lot of swearing that went on with the multiple unpicking I had to do.  Eventually they all worked out.  Fortuitously I had buttons in my button jar that worked with the pale orange in the flowers.  

I love how it looks and feels to wear, and am looking forward to warmer spring days when I can indulge my inner bohemian with shirts like this.

Stay safe, stay home, wear a mask.  Kia kaha!

Folk Flowers Quilt Top

 

Way back in November last year, I attended a workshop taken by Anna Maria Horner, where she taught us to make her Folk Flower block.  I made two in the work shop and over the following few weeks, I made another 11. While I loved the look of them, I wasn't happy with how my flowers wouldn't stay flat but tended to pucker when stitched, regardless of how many pins or how much starch I used.  Because of my dissatisfaction with this I stopped at 13 blocks in total, and subsequently put them away.

Fast forward a few months to another lockdown, and an indecisive  sewing mood, (really my inner voice nagging me to finish some of my quilting wips), I pulled out these blocks, trimmed them up, cut their setting pieces from assorted low volume fabrics, and subsequently joined them together.  Because the blocks were quite big, it only took me an afternoon, and I'm now wondering why it took me so long.

Voila, one quilt top approximately 50" square, ready to be sent away for quilting.  I have decided that this quilt will be my charity quilt for the year, so will be donating it to the Totara Hospice once I have finished it. I feel quite a sense of relief that I have finished one of my outstanding projects, and am now looking forward to sewing something new.

It's quite impossible to see all the different low volume fabrics used as the backround when it's hanging up, so the swirled top shows the different colours and prints quite nicely.

Stay safe, stay home, wear a mask, Kia kaha!

A Lockdown Project (Round 2)

 

Earlier this year, I came across this photo in my instagram feed.  I immediately feel in love with the colour, the flowers and the texture from all the beading and embroidery on the fabric.  It took a little while to track down a stockist in New Zealand, so when I did, I purchased two fat quarters of fabrics designed by Sally Kelly from her Fantasy collection, all the while intending to embellish it one day.

Fast forward to August, and another lockdown due to Covid, and I decided to pull it of my stash, then sort through all my embroidery threads and beads to see what went with it.  I was quite delighted to find I had a lot of coordinating threads, cos I don't know when Aucklanders will be able to get to real shops for colour matching.

So now I'm having a little bit of fun, deciding what to bead, what to stitch and what type of stitches to do.  I"m not sure if it will get turned into a cushion cover or bag just yet, but it's bright and cheerful and makes me happy.  That's a good thing at this time.

Stay home, Stay safe.  Kia kaha.

A Winter Eva Dress

 

I bought this fabric in a sale about a year ago.  It is a seersucker type fabric in a blend of linen/cotton and wool, in a deep raisin colour.  As soon as I saw it, I pictured it as a winter Eva dress (I have previously made three linen versions for summer).  A year and a second lockdown later my dress has been made.

Unfortunately I think the fabric is the wrong choice for this dress pattern.  It fits well, but I think the crinkles make the lantern style skirt effect a lot more pouffier and pronounced.

I have given it a wash to see if that will soften the fabric and hopefully it may lose some of the volume. At this point I feel it makes me look as though I'm wearing a maternity dress and I don't feel as though I have the confidence to wear it happily out in public.  I may wear it around the house while in lockdown, but I suspect this will be something I consider a sewing fail and it will end up being donated to an op shop.

Here We Go Again

Sadly after 102, Covid-19 free days, New Zealand has another  Covid cluster.  Scarily no one appears to know where it has come from.  Unfortunately it is centred in Auckland, so we are in a Level 3 lockdown till at least 26 August, whereas the rest of New Zealand is in Level 2.  There are a couple of cases (the cases have a connection to the Auckland cluster) out of Auckland , in the town that my parents live in too, so that is causing a little anxiety also.

Level 3 means, no work unless you are an essential worker, no schools or university.  We can walk in our neighbourhood only, and any trips out are basically to the supermarket, medical centre, Covid testing station or a pharmacy.  We can get takeaways through a click and collect option.  The rest of the country has almost a normal life.  We are being encouraged to wear masks, but it is not mandatory, so a little mask making has been happening, however I am now running out of elastic as are the shops.  I used this pattern,

So I am trying to stay positive, I'm making a list of possible  sewing projects to start and maybe some to finish, I've bought 5kg of flour so I should be able to bake a lot, which in turn means I'll need to walk a lot.

Stay Home, Stay Safe. Wear a mask.  Kia kaha.