deadlycraft

I recently attended the wedding of a close friend in New Zealand.  If you aren't aware, early August in New Zealand is COLD!  Cue a lot of googling on what to wear to an (outdoor) winter wedding :)  I even made a pinterest board of ideas I also took inspiration from my #SewStyleHero as part of the theme month that was running via The Sewcialists .  You can read about that here . Here is what I came up with: I used a heavy stretch navy sequin ( Pitt Trading ) for the skirt... ...and a soft silvery beige colour stretch velvet (from Tessuti ) for the top. The skirt was self-drafted and designed to be as full and sequiny glorious as the amount of fabric i had would allow.  I will probably cut off the skirt now to make it more wearable in everyday life, though I loved the effect for a fabulous winter wedding. The top is the  Seamwork Astoria  and was a bit of a revelation.  This was my second Seamwork pattern and I really liked it.  I know it's tren

I recently had the opportunity to pattern test the new Ali Sweatshirt from Sew DIY . This test was very well-timed, as we were heading into winter in Sydney, as well as going off to even colder climes in New Zealand for a holiday. I made my test out of a super snuggly organic sweatshirt fleece which was from fabric.com about a million years ago.  It felt really good to finally use it for something! I made the scoop neck version and added some length in the bodice and sleeves, which is a pretty usual adjustment for me (I am six foot tall).  I might remove a touch from the sleeves if I made this again, but I do like how snuggly it is with the longer sleeve! The pattern has a shoulder yoke which offers opportunities to have a contrasting colour or fabric there (you can see a good example of this on the pattern page itself ) and can see where it is in the picture below. I should note at the point that the pattern has changed a little since I tested.  One of the common fee

I don't post a lot of kid makes these days - and to be honest, I don't make many!  When they wear school uniform 5/7, there isn't a lot of additional clothing required.  It's also possible I would far rather sew for me, as I don't grow out of things... However, we recently went to a winter wedding in New Zealand and couldn't find something for Isabelle to wear that was both warm and appropriate. This posed the challenge of what you should make to wear to a wedding in the middle of winter!  For Isabelle (aged 11) I knew that something with a bit of sparkle but still fairly young would be right.  She would also need sleeves! Here she is running around at the world's most spectacular wedding location: The bodice of the dress is a combination of the Made by Rae Skinny Flashback Tee on the top, with a RTW top she liked the fit of. I used a simple jersey for comfort (from Spotlight) which had some glittery dots on it.  I underlined it with a plain w

Hi All We had to make an expected trip down to Tasmania this weekend and Tasmania in the middle of winter is VERY VERY COLD. I realised I don't really own a coat, which was going to be a problem.  Luckily, I had already bought the required ingredients for one a week ago, because we are heading to New Zealand (also VERY VERY COLD) soon. I decided to try the Sapporo coat from Papercut Patterns : I was a bit nervous heading into this one for a few reasons - one being that they don't quite go up to my size (nearly), the other being that the coat is one of those cool-looking cocoon things with lots of ease in it.  These styles are a bit hit-and-miss on me, as I am already large on top. Behold!  Success! I love it!  It's warm (wool from Tessuti's) while being not too swampy.  The style lines are just like the pattern cover and line drawings: The back is tres chic and cocoon-y without being sacky: It kept me warm in Hobart! I should note

If you are looking for tips on how to copy a RTW garment - please scroll to the bottom :) In recent times (especially the last year or two), I have been very unwilling to sew for others.  Sewing for the kids doesn't seem as rewarding when they wear school uniform so much, Nick doesn't need anything and I haven't been doing much quilting either. I usually politely decline any offers to assist friends with sewing tasks, particularly taking in or hemming, unless they are a VERY good friend.  I would rather make myself a whole new pair of pants than fix a hem on mine, so why anyone would think I might enjoy mending their clothes is beyond me... However, some people are special enough and sometimes the task at hand is interesting enough. Introducing Nicky's new denim skirt: Nicky is about to go overseas for 7 months and really wanted a new version of a very worn-in denim skirt she has. I used leftover Cone Mills denim from Nick's jeans, which made this

Hi everyone! ** Sorry for the awful pictures - in a rush, with an eight year old boy as photographer! ** As you may remember, I conducted some analysis of the Sewcialists TNT month results  and I also wrote about how I haven't yet found much of anything that I could consider a TNT. As a result, I decided to focus on finding some TNTs for me, using the Sewcialists results as a guide.  You might recall that the Grainline Linden took 67.3% of the pie in terms of sweatshirts / jumpers.  That was definitely on my list after that strong showing!  I also included it on my Me-Made-May plan - so it's very exciting that I have actually made it within May!!! It's made out of a stretch fabric from Pitt Trading (called gold patina knit - sold out) which is lovely blend of black and gold.  It's like a sparkly top, without being ridiculously sparkly. Overall the pattern was reasonably easy to adjust (once I found a good reference for an FBA on a raglan sleeve).  I us

Hi All! I am finally ready to post my review of the Cashmerette Sewing Workshop that I "recently" attended.  Yes, the workshop was nigh on three months ago BUT I have only recently finished the items that I started working on that weekend.  I figure I can't fully review the thing until I have sewn up the clothes and discovered how they turned out... Before I get into how the workshop was structured and what I liked / didn't like, I have to say the most amazing thing about this workshop was the people.  Jenny and Carrie created an open environment with a genuine approach of body positivity.  This is so rare in our usual world that there were people in tears of relief that they were allowed to just make themselves something that fit without judgement.  The workshop appealed when I saw it advertised for a range of reasons.  There were small numbers (I think 7-8 of us, plus Jenny and Carrie) and one of the main drawcards for me is that there was NO set agenda!   

Having been very scared of the RTW fast when I signed up, I have found the first quarter to be a breeze! I haven't felt like buying anything and am much more inspired to sew. I have made 4 finished items: They are the Style Arc Billie Top ( blogged here ), a Seamwork Aurora top to demonstrate piecing stripes to create chevrons ( for a Sewcialists post here ), the Paprika Patterns Jasper with crossover collar addition ( blogged here ) and a mystery garment which is a pattern test that hasn't yet been released. I have also progressed a Cashmerette Harrison shirt and Ames jeans after attending one of Jenny Rushmore's workshops in Sydney (aaaaaamazing), but they aren't finished so they will count in next quarter's round up. I do think I am still not sewing things I will wear a lot.  The jumper above is probably most likely to be worn, but it's not cold for very long here!  I need to still hone in on items which will be worn most and suit my style best.

I have never done Me-Made-May before, but feel like this year I am finally ready to give it a go! I will be blogging about my experience as a newbie over at The Sewcialists , but will link back here also. Here is my pledge for signing up: I, Chloe of @chloe_deadlycraft(IG) and http:deadlycraft.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '18. I endeavour to wear a handmade garment as many days as I can in May 2018, to wear each of my handmade items at least once and to make another version of something I already like to increase my TNT game! I have a few considerations for MMM going on in that pledge and wanted to break them down a bit: Pledge Component 1.  I want to wear handmade as many days as I can in May This will be tricky - I split what I wear into workwear and more casual for at home.  In both cases I don't have enough basics that can be worn more often:  for example, I don't have a pair of plain black or grey work pants that I have made. To c

I am very lucky to have been able to test a fair few of the patterns from Paprika Patterns.  I really like this pattern company - I like that they are small and independent, and that they produce patterns according to their own rhythm rather than "having" to release each season. I also like their size inclusivity (though there is always more work to do on that score!) and the overall style of their clothes.  They tend to be simple but cool, funky without being ridiculous or difficult to wear. My latest pattern test for them was the crossover collar addition to their Jasper sweatshirt / sweaterdress .  Here it is from their store: and the line drawings And here is my version: Disclaimer:  this is my pattern testing version.  I know there were a few tweaks made in the final version, including to reduce the height of the collar. Second disclaimer:  I look very unhappy (or at least uninterested) in these pictures.  I am not!  I love this jumper - it's a w