Cutter & Tailor forum

Through my researching about Tailoring in preparation for my Lady Grey (which is still behind!) I found some cool stuff at the Cutter & Tailor forum.

I've only read a little but here are some interesting reads:

• Book recommendations
• Tailoring vs Dressmaking

Go and check it out! Hours of reading lay before you! :)

Blogtoberfest - self portrait (a loose interpretation)

I feel like this is a total cop-out because I didn't get the time to draw the self portrait that I wanted to (this thing called work got in the way ... ).

So here it is ... (◑.◑) ... yep, hopeless (but cute!)

I also found this in my travels:

(\__/)
(>'.'<)
(")_(")

In case you want to find some more smilies, go to this site.

I might try to draw something this weekend. I'm flying to Brisvegas for the Valentino Exhibit, so I should have a few hours in the flight to get this done. I say "should" but since it's a 6:30ish flight I might be sleeping instead!

Back to RJs I went

So, it turns out that I didn't buy enough hair canvas and the shoulder pads were WAY too big. So I went back to RJs today to get some extra supplies (oh and stay tape as I forgot that yesterday, although I'm not 100% sure about it - should it be twill tape? It's not very firm).



So once I had all my bits and pieces, they wrapped up my purchases in brown paper (this is what they normally do) but then they also tied it up with string! It even had a little loop "handle" so I could carry it. What a lovely experience! I think I was grinning to myself all the way back to work. In fact, when I saw it on my desk all afternoon I kept wanting to sing "brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favourite things!"

I should probably add the sleeves to my muslin and pre-wash my fabric ... I'm getting sooo behind!!

Photos of the package contents to come!

I have most of my tailoring supplies!

I finally got the chance to go to RJs today and then Clegs to get my tailoring goodies. I forgot twill tape though, so will head back on Wednesday to get that and more hair canvas if required. I'm also still in need of black silk thread and thicker muslin if what I bought isn't thick enough. Will post pics when I can!

Pavlova!

I mentioned yesterday that I had loose plans, not all of which eventuated but I did have a great day - including enjoying the beautiful Melbourne weather!

So this morning I dropped into the Craft Expo. It was not too big and not overcrowded either. I managed to pick up some great scrapbooking and card making supplies and a few fat quarters to make a bag. Not too much really.

When I left there around midday, it was such a beautiful day outside I just wanted to enjoy it! I ducked by the supermarket to get some fruit and cream for the Pavlova and then home to get it in the oven. Whilst it was baking I just lounged around at home (including out in the sun on the lawn! Did I mention the weather was beautiful today?!).





The only think I didn't get done was some sewing! Oops! Oh well.

The Pavlova was for a family birthday celebration. It's not my birthday until December but I'm in this "group" when it comes to birthdays so I made the Pavlova as my cake. The other 2 cakes were chocolate on chocolate. I initially wasn't going to eat it (due to my Blogtoberfest personal challenge) but I caved and ate some ... so that makes it 2 strikes! I'm thinking that once October ends I'll revise this challenge to not eating chocolate that I have purchased. So it means I can't buy chocolate but if it's at a function or dinner and chocolate is served , then I can have some. This should still stop the 3:30pm munchies at work.

At least the Pavlova went down well!



If you want the recipe, it's from Masterchef. I decorated with blueberries, raspberries & mango and would consider shavings of chocolate over the top next time.

I did notice a couple of things with this recipe:

• The outer shell cracked which I think is due to too much sugar. I wonder if when I was measuring the egg whites if I was maybe 15mls under? I will pay more attention next time.
• I think the egg white "soft peaks" were maybe not quite stiff enough. When I went to shape it I couldn't get it as high as the photos in the magazine because it wasn't thick enough (Masterchef Magazine 1, with tips on styling).
• The cream was on for maybe 10-15mins before it was served and it started to collapse on one side. It was either too heavy toppings or due to the way the shell cracked. A second try at this recipe will hopefully improve on this.

It's been a busy day!

I left the house this morning at around 8:30am and only just got home at 10:45pm. It's been a long and busy day but a great day too!

I had my last sewing class (as least for now) and learnt how to make some welt pockets! One of them was good practice for the bound buttonholes because it was basically a long bound buttonhole. Yay!

Then I headed to the beach for a quick sit in the sun. It wasn't as warm as predicted but it was still nice to sit in the early spring sunshine. Then it was off to a scrapbooking class to make a mini album. We didn't finish it yet so photos are probably a few weeks away (when I can get the missing papers and finish it off.

Then to a friends house for a lovely dinner!

All in all a great day! And the plan for tomorrow is either sewing or go to the craft expo and then do some sewing :) I'm also going to a birthday and plan on making a Donna Hay Pavlova as shown on Masterchef - recipe is available online here! Sounds like another busy day!!

Lady Grey ... progress in planning

Ok, so I have an almost completed muslin, I have fabric, lining and buttons. The last items on my list are the tailoring supplies! Yikes, I've seen the first few parts to the tailoring of this coat. Handbasting with hidden stitches - yikes! I mean, I've done blind hemming by hand but I'm worried my stitching will show up. Only one way to find out! So in order to prep for this stage, I need to go and pick up the following:

• 1 metre of 60" wide hair canvas
• 2 metres of weft interfacing (is this like whisper weft?)
• Black silk thread
• Beeswax
• 1 metre of pre-shrunk muslin (for the back stay)
• 1/4 metre black silk organza (for the bound button holes)
• Shoulder pads

I don't actually know what some of these are, so I'm hoping RJs can help me out with them all!