Monday, March 3, 2014

Being sewcial on Satuday

Hi there lovely! How was your weekend? 

On Saturday I met up with a group of sewing bloggers from Sydney for a little sewcial outing.

The very well organised Mel from Made by Melanie set up the whole day and we all had a pretty darn good day! 


I've never been to a sewing meet up before so it was lots of fun to meet women of different skill levels and sewing interests. Though I do love my vintage patterns, there was lots of talk about newer patterns which has given me a boost to try out some indie patterns one day.

We chatted, had some yummy food and visited 3 fabric stores! I only managed to buy one bit of fabric for myself. But I spent a lot of time helping other to find fabric as well 


We had lunch at Parma Cucina with lots of yummy pizza and delicious salads, which gave us plenty of energy for the afternoons shopping.
We then commandeered the nearby table for a fabric/pattern swap. I put in some Navy knit jersey and a few sewing patterns. 

In return I got a nice red cotton drill which I think ill use for a skirt and also a sewing pattern - Butterick 5548 - an evening gown with a slit up the back and bow. I think I would make the shorter version however.

1.7 Metres of colourful wool, Butterick 5548, Facile pattern and some lovely red cotton drill

And the super awesome Lexi from When All You Need Is… surprised me with a special pattern she found - A Facile pattern! This time though it is a 60's one (not 70s) - a cute jumper dress with little pockets. How sweet is it?

I'll definitely have to make that! 

 



I was having such a good time chatting and meeting people I only remembered to take one photo, but here are a few others taken by Lexi 

The Fabric swap in action - Photo by Lexi 

The Fabric swap table - Photo by Lexi

At Tessuti's fabrics in Surry Hills - You can see Mel and Susan from Measure Twice cut once in the foreground - Photo by Lexi

Walking through Sydney's many alleys to get to The Fabric Store - aren't we a stylish bunch in our handmade clothes? 

It was such a fun day! It rained and it was muggy but we soldiered on. And as we were lunching near Oxford Street we also got to see everyone getting ready for the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras - always a fun sight to see everyone dressed up in their fabulous costumes and to walk down a random alley way to see a rainbow covered float! 

We all plan to meet up again soon and take an excursion to Cabramatta to check out the Vietnamese run fabric stores. Look out for more Sydney Sewcial adventures! 

In other news...

I've also finished my Charlotte dress, which I'll hopefully get around to uploading for you tomorrow once I've edited the photos.

I had also planned to start on a project for Autumn, but my boyfriend has made a special request.

You see, I have this very sweet smock dress nightie that I bought from Peter Alexander a few years ago. It's very cute and is perfect for random loungeroom contemporary ballet dancing but as I love it so much its gotten a bit manky and has some tears in it from when I've rolled around too much in my sleep. 

So my boyfriend suggested I make a new one in almost the same style. We looked through my fabric and picked out this soft purple wool blend and Butterick 5513 - a smock dress pattern and I can even have the elasticised bishop sleeves like in my current nightie! 


Its going to be pretty fun I think to make this one! 

Have you ever made yourself a nightie or PJs before? Here is my last night time sewing project 

Have a great week everyone!

Cat xo

24 comments:

  1. What fun! there's little better than a blogger meet-up when you've so much in common! Love those first two patterns and am insanely in love with the pants suit on the front of your nightie pattern.
    Top marks for having a boyfriend interested in your sewing, too! xxx

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    1. Oh i know! ive been waiting for one for ages! The pants are pretty awesome, though i dont think ill have enough to make matching pants!

      The boy isnt normally interested in my sewing, but lately he's been giving more constructive feedback!

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  2. What a fun day you all must have had! Lovely!

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  3. How bloody splendidly fun! Great to hang out with like minded ladies, eat well and buy/swap sewing goodies!!! I used to live in Canley Vale, right next door to Cabramatta, in my last two years of school! I'll be interested to hear how that excursion goes, as it doesn't have a very good rep generally!
    XXX

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    1. You should see Cabramatta these days - super popular area for all of it's great food, shopping...and just general vibe of being so amazingly different from the rest of Sydney. It's not longer the dangerous, druggy place it used to be (well, not as much as it used to be). Canley Vale has quite a good foodie reputation these days too.

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    2. it certainly was a fabulous day! And oh yea, Cabramatta used to be terrible! its a little better than it was though. There was a doco about Cabramatta in the 80s and 90s recently - you should try to find it! I think it was called Once upon a time in Cabramatta

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  4. Sounds like you all had a great day. I missed out on a blogger meet up in London the other week as I had other plans but I'm determined to get to one this year. I just love the pattern that you are going to use for your nightie, the sleeves are amazing! x

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    1. Yes! It was a great day!
      Oh thats a shame! they're so much fun, i hope you make the next one!

      The pattern is really neat right? It has so many different sleeve types!

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  5. Was great to meet you at the sewing catch up Cat. Looking forward to seeing you at the next one! :)

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    1. Yes! So nice to meet you too, I hope the next one is just as fun!

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  6. Ohh I love the nightie idea, and the pattern! I have been meaning to sew up a few more 60s dresses from some of the cord and wool fabrics in my stash for winter, and every time I see your blog my twinges of jealousy tell me to get on with it. I too have a beloved favourite nightie that is a bit destroyed (by which I mean, covered in 10-inch tears that I've sewn up over the years) from too much tossing and turning and bed jumping, so maybe I need to follow suit with something in a cool-weather appropriate fabric.

    Also the blogger meetup talk reminded me, I am in Sydney in May for a week or so if you want to catch up for a wine, or if you have any great vintage or sewing recommendations I would gladly hear them! x

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    1. Oh wow! you totally should, i love corduroy- its perfect fabric for cute winter tunics. i have a tweed one coming up that ill be making soon!

      My nightie totally sounds like yours - completely tattered but so comfy!

      How fun! what will you be doing in Sydney? There's plenty of places to visit - i am yet to try this store - http://www.achieveaustralia.org.au/vintage_and_value_enterprises.php its run by Acheive Australia and they sell fabric and apparently endless amounts of vintage patterns! I think its a charity type shop so the prices will be nice and resonable.
      If your in the city my favourite vintage is Cs Flashback - theres two, one in Newtown and one in Surry Hills.
      Also if you have a bit of cash to flash there are the 3 stores we visited in this post - remnant warehouse, tessuti's and The fabric store.

      xo

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  7. What a great day it was! So pleased you liked the Facile pattern ;-)
    I think I once sewed some PJ pants but the elastic in the waist ended up somewhat twisted so I never really wore them. Your nightie is going to look lovely, perfect for some loungeroom interpretive dancing!

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    1. Thank you so much for bringing it! I was so grateful i dunno if i managed to express that! haha
      Oh yeah pants are not my strong point either - did you see they made tights for the Great British sewing bee? i dont think i could ever make tights!

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  8. I cannot believe there's a photo of me in Tessuti with NO SHOES ON - GAH, no class Melanie! Great to meet you on Saturday and THANK YOU for all of your fabric help. Just waiting for my Coco pattern to arrive and then I'll hack into the piece you found for me at TRW.

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    1. haha i know! i was thinking - should i edit that out?
      i see you went back for the lioness fabric too! i loved that fabric and im sure you'll do well with it!

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  9. it's mad the back streets of Sydney look exactly like the back streets of Rome. Love a good bit of sewcialism :)

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    1. haha yes! backs of buildings all look the same around the world =) I like to walk through them sometimes and pretend im in London or Paris. Lame i know! haha

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  10. Cabramatta is a great place to buy fabric. I find myself there about once a month. You can get everything from very expensive bridal fabric to $3 a metre polar fleece. They're just getting winter stock in now. Always worth a visit.

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    1. Oh i really should get down there soon. the ladies are all off there today while i nurse my post birthday hangover!
      We have one Vietnamese fabric store in Parramatta, which also has another store in Cabra called My Hung. Its the best!

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  11. Wow, it sounds like you ladies had such a fun and exciting day! It would be great to go on another outing with them all. What lovely patterns, I especially love the one with the pockets. Looking forward to seeing the Charlotte dress and what a great idea your boyfriend had!

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    1. Its was so fun! I wish we could organise a 60s lovers meet up and go vintage shopping all day and then dance away all night! but as if id have the energy for that! haha
      i could totally see you in the facile pattern! its very cute!

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  12. Your new patterns are great. I also love that Butterick 5513, the yellow view has incredible sleeves. I made a nightie just recently, I think it was from a 1964 pattern; I wanted to make it in layers of chiffon but it would have been far too expensive.

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