Olivia + Giveaway winner

Hello!!

Well now, I know I said I was going to announce the winner of the Make and Mend Fabulous give-away yesterday, but I got home a little late after attending my friends end of year Design Exhibition and after a happy amount of free wine, I may or may not have been in the mood to eat spaghetti and fall asleep on the couch. And cause, you know, blogging while under the influence can been risky... so yeah... Anyway! Everything looked wonderful and I'm very proud of my friend for completing TAFE with a small child and working as well! Super mum for sure!

So, I'm sure you've heard enough of my antics... The winner of the Make and Mend fabulous book, DVDs and vintage pattern tracing is... PIGEONWISH! 

Pigeonwish commented that she would "make me and my boyfriend coordinating outfits (in as classy a way possible) Wonderful answer! How many of us would like to make something not just for ourselves but also our partners? 

Congratulations lovely! I'll send you an email soon and thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway!

Now that the formalities are over, lets get on to having a look at the latest addition to the Sewing the 60s family, Olivia!

Tutorial: Mum Jeans turned tube skirt

Hellooooo! How are you? How was your weekend?

It's time for a tutorial! Yes yes yes!

You may remember a few weeks ago, I bought these rather attractive "mum" jeans from the opp shop. I had looked for a high-waisted demin skirt on-line but decided I would never find exactly what I liked, so I pinned my hopes on finding some high-waist roomy jeans instead 

Overcasting your cares away!

Are you like me and tend to do all your sewing on the one machine? Not everyone might own an over-locker, especially beginner sewers, but there is a way to finish your edges very easily without having to buy or lug out your over locker for what might only be a small job. 

Most modern sewing machines come with a range of feet - one of which is the overcasting foot. It's a rather distinct foot and only serves one purpose - albeit a very good purpose.

The trouble with lurex aka sewing with slippery fabrics

Hello there all you lovely people! Its been a very busy week for myself. Working late, crafting up engagement presents and trying to make a dress for this weekend which is taking way longer then normal.

Why is this you may ask? Well the fabric I chose for this task, while lovely and very nice for going out, is having a small fight with my machine. They just don't want to hang out with each other, so I've have to bring in a mediator

The fabric I chose is a stretchy knit gold Lurex. It has a really lovely drape and because its knitted, I can cut the hem in any shape as I please and it wont unravel and fray all over the place. 

But the downside is that my machine has trouble picking up and carrying the fabric through the feed dog. It bunches, it skips stitches and generally makes sewing a dress a lot more stressful than normal

To help the machine and the fabric get along, I simply take a piece of grease proof paper and layer it over the fabric. In the below image you can see that the top layer is normal lining fabric and underneath is the paper. 

Measuring a button for a buttonhole

Have you ever picked out a big juicy button for a sewing project? 

Have you then only measured the diameter of the button and ended up with a button hole that is too small for your chunky button? 

Fear not! There is a way to work out exactly how wide you need to make your button hole for chunky fat buttons. 
I recently read this technique in Couture Sewing techniques by Claire B. Shaeffer

Tutorial: Setting in sleeves

So as per Fabees request, I have prepared a post on setting in sleeves!

There are two typical sets of sleeves that you will see on most garments.

A set sleeve and a puffed or gathered sleeve. There are other kinds but we will leave them for now.

While both were fashionable in the 60s the one we are going to focus on today is the clean tailored finish of a set in sleeve.

When you look at a sleeve pattern and try to piece it together, you will notice that there is always excess fabric. This is great for puffy sleeves, but for set sleeves we need to use a technique called easing.

Ease (as a verb) means to move or shift with great care. And so this is the principle of set in sleeves. Going slowly, taking you time and being careful will result in a well sewn shoulder seam.

With practice you may get quicker but for now be careful and take your time.

Green Shell Top Tutorial

Today I will be showing you a variation on Burda Shift Dress 09/2012 #107

This variation turns the top into a tank style top with a cross back. You can use Burda 09/2012 #107 or Collette patterns Laurel as your base as we only need the front and part of the back of the pattern.

If you have another pattern for a shift dress or plain top, you can use this too! I will instruct you to make this top to fit you so make sure you have your measuring tape and if you have one a dressmakers mannequin or packing tape shell (if you ever made one). I don't have a mannequin and I did ok so don't worry if you don't have one