Letting go of creative control

I asked my daughter to draw on the bottom of this tunic dress...the process was a fine line between giving her artistic freedom and getting the effect I was after. I limited her colour palette and gave instructions to draw and not colour-in (originally I was planning to embellish the drawings with fabric remnants, but I have decided to leave it as-is).


Here are some close-ups of the hem.


Lucky it was a quick project, because she stood over me whilst I did my bit at the sewing machine. She wore it this afternoon, layered over her winter clothes. She is a natural at "layering", mostly because she likes the prettiest item to be on top where everyone can see it. This principle even extends to wearing her bikini on the outside of her swim shirt!

The pattern is from Burda WOF 4/2008 140, contributed by Paris designer Barbara Lang. It is a very simple pattern, with the back the same as the front. Instead of using facings, I used 2 layers of fabric to make the dress, with the bottom layer extended ~10 cm longer than the tunic pattern. For this bottom 10 cm I felled the side seams, so that no raw edges showed on the outside. The pictures were drawn with Crayola fabric markers.

Postcard from FNQ

This is my everyday winter jumper, gone on holidays. It is Burda WOF 11/2007 118, with princess seams, raglan sleeves and an interesting cross-over bit at the front of the hood (see my pattern review for more sewing details). I think I will use this pattern again, maybe for a funkier version, maybe for a sportier version.


I have just spent a couple of weeks camping up north. This is a sewing blog, but please indulge me as I show a few nature shots. Our first stop was Babinda Boulders. In the legends of the local Aboriginal tribe it is told that the spirit of maiden Oolana dwells within the submerged boulders of the creek and she cries out to her lover who was forcibly taken away from her. My guide book says that it is strange and sad that recent history records the deaths of many young men near the very place of Oolana's tragedy.

See how smooth these boulders are? They must have been covered by fast flowing water for milennia. Swimming would be extremely hazardous after heavy rains.


I quite liked this tree, waiting for the river to rise again.

Now I could not leave my sewing completely behind, even when camping....the nights were so cold that it was into the tent not long after nightfall, where I was snuggled up in the luxury of a double feather doona all to myself, reading by torchlight...my fashion mags, the latest Threads and a book on the construction of strapless bodices!

Then it was a few days in Cairns (where I did borrow my sister's sewing machine for a quick project) before setting out to Noah's Beach in the Daintree. It rained almost the whole time we were there, so I didn't take many photos. The kids thought that the highlight of the holiday was a small creek crossing we had to do in the Daintree. Here is a photo of our bedding hanging out to dry on the beach.

We spent a day walking through the rainforest at Mossman Gorge, which is quite possibly the nicest place to be when it is raining. The walk was spectacular and I am so proud of my children for walking the whole way without a single complaint...5 km is a long way for little legs. Again, no photos, but I did get a shot of these very groovy "furry" trees in the town of Mossman. On closer inspection, there were lots of smaller plants (epiphytes?) growing up the trunks of the larger trees.

My pattern contest - part 6

These are the final photos for the pattern review "MY pattern contest." There are a lot of photos because the rules ask for front, back and side views.

Front views (I couldn't pick which was best)



Back view (one is more than enough!) You can see that I decided to go with the exposed zipper in the end.



Side views



So, a lot of photos, but not nearly as many as I took. Does everyone else have to take hundreds of photos just to get one that looks okay? It probably doesn't help that my photography team are all under the age of 6. Looking for a tidy corner to take a photo is another issue.

I overcome my construction problems by interlining the skirt with poplin. Interlining pieces are typically the same as fashion fabric pieces, but in this skirt, I cut a basic 4 gore A-line skirt for the interlining. I then attached the drapes of the outer skirt to the interlining, to hold them in place.