Better Late than Never.

Eight weeks ago I had another nephew born, so I needed to make another bear. As I had not started before the baby was born I asked if they had any requests. The only request was the bear had to have a growler.

I also decided it was time I tried making a fully jointed bear. This is the result. He is very large, standing at about 70cm (28 inches). He is made from a dark chocolate corduroy. He is quite fat, has a slightly sad face, a large hump on his back but is quite cuddly. He has kept me company on a long drive (about 900km round trip) out to see my sick Grandmother. I did the hand stitching to close his limbs while I was sitting in her hospital room. So I have grown rather attached to him. Just as well I haven't had to send him too far away to live.

He needed a classic Hawaiian Shirt as his wardrobe which meant I had to find an appropriate pattern and fabric, then match the pattern across the front opening of the shirt. It is not perfect but I had to accept that it was close enough and it would have to do.
Close up of his face, this was also a first attempt at using glass bear eyes instead of buttons.


Side back view with mood lighting:

I will have to try making a furry bear soon. My DH says I should sell them, but I don't think I'm that good at all.

Here I go again!

This is another version of the Simplicity Shift Dress, this time out of a really soft wool blend. It is a dark charcoal with a very slight shimmer too it.

Front:


Back:

With a purple satin shirt and coloured tights. I have worn this to work and got some great complements. I was very unsure about the coloured tights because of the chunkiness of my legs but my lovely work colleagues assured me it was a good look.

With a black and white striped blouse with a tie. I really am not a bow around the neck kind of person so I decided to wear it in a loose approximation of a men's tie, it makes me think of the pictures on patterns from the '70s.

Simplicity 4118 Red Linen

I guess this has become a bit of a TAT (tried and true) pattern for me. I made it first time over a year ago and have become more comfortable with using this dress as a jumper style which I feel suits my body shape much better.

Anyway a while ago I was in a smaller independent fabric shop, they are rare here on the Gold Coast and had to buy so fabric. One of the thing in their sale bin was this red linen with lycra. I have a weakness for linen, I love it , love the look, love the feel and even though I hate ironing I will iron linen. Unfortunately they only had about 1.4 metres of it so thats all I got.

This red linen has sat in my stash for a while before I decided what it should become. There wasn't enough for a pair of trousers, I thought about a skirt but felt I would be wasting it, then after coming home from dinner one night and having had a bit to drink decided that it would look great as a red shift style dress. I pulled out this pattern and the fabric, fit the pattern on it somehow and thankfully left it there and slept on it.

I had originally thought I would do a real quickie job and simply use bias around the neck and armholes and skip the lining altogether. Thankfully after sleeping on it I saw sense and made it up with facings and fully lined it.


Front view:

The lining fabric was some weird cotton that I found in my stash which must have survived from the 80's. I knew I would not be using it for any thing else so it became my lining fabric.

Please excuse the weird stance. It can be challenging to get a good photo when the camera is balanced on a stack of books and you are using the timer.

This is I guess how I would wear this in spring and autumn. I have found that I really like the look of the shirt underneath, it hides my chubby upper arms and seems to show off the dress better. I find that if I wear a belt a bit above my natural waist it help to disguise just how short my legs really are.

This is probably how I will wear it at work over the winter months here. I thing the tan of the belt and boots help tone down the redness of the dress and make it a little more suitable for work.

Simplicity 4041

I read a review for this pattern a while ago and thought I should give it a go. After checking my measurements I decided that I needed to make a size 18 view F. I modified it by adding piping between the waistband and skirt and adding inseam side pockets. I used a grey suiting fabric and lined it with poly lining fabric.

Overall I am please with my construction, even though I unpicked it before adding the waist band because I thought it was too big, changed my mind and resewed it back the way it was. I forgot I was going to add piping and had to unpick and redo the waist as well.


Front View:

Back View: I did a centered zipper application and was happy to see my piping lined up neatly.

In Seam Side Pockets:


Unfortunately I don't think this is a flattering style for me. It is a little too big in the waist and simply makes me look quite dumpy. But it moves beautifully when I walk, is super comfortable and the side pockets are really practical so I wear it to work regardless. I really must have a go at view B from this pattern, I do like how the bias pockets on the check fabric.