Style Arc Dotty Blouse, Gillian Anderson style

Have you ever had one of those projects which hibernates in a pile somewhere because you just can’t bring yourself to start it? That was this project.

I received this beautiful mascarpone satin from The Remnant Warehouse as a gift many years ago, and instantly knew it was destined to become a Style Arc Dotty Blouse. However, I let it linger as I didn’t trust myself to work with tricksy polyester satin (after a particularly bad experience with some nasty Spotlight satin), and I wasn’t sure I could convert the pattern to work with one-sided fabric.

 

Style Arc Elle / Airlie Pant

Hello! It’s been a while between projects. I have been sewing, albeit sparsely, but I’ve largely been doing alterations – too boring for even a quick Instagram snap. I’m glad to finally have a finished project to share with you, even if it is a (multiple) pattern repeat.

Style Arc Blaire Shirt

You know when a project looks really different in your head to the final outcome? That’s what happened with my Style Arc Blaire Shirt. I completely misinterpreted the pattern of the fabric and the cut of the shirt, and ended up with an oversized, tropical-style shirt, entirely by accident. And I love it!

Silver linings: Style Arc Georgie Jeans with tutorial

Necklace and shoes from St Vinnies, tops from Salvos. Artwork in background by Beth!

You might remember some time ago (last year!) I made up the Style Arc Misty Jean in a stretch denim with modal from The Fabric Godmother. Unfortunately, the jeans were a wadder due to the fabric, which bled nonstop. The Fabric Godmother gave me a store credit for the value of the denim, and with a hefty dose of my own money, I purchased this cotton/elastane stretch denim in super black (goddamn exchange rate and international post).

The Adeline Top and Sewing Machine Drama

This is another in a series of summer tops I’ve been sewing. The fabric is a gorgeous rayon from the Spotlight $2/m clearance table. I usually don’t wear much black, but the gem-like colours in the pattern were too entrancing to resist.

Worn with some hand-me-down (or up, considering how much shorter my auntie is than me) Gordon Smith pants and Mel moon bow loafers.

Top 5 of 2016

Every year, Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow hosts a Top 5 of 2016 round-up, whereby members of the online sewing community share their top 5 hits, misses, highlights, reflections and goals. I haven’t been blogging long enough to do a full post on each category, so today I’ll share one from each.

A Series of Unfortunate Events – Burda 7136 & Style Arc Misty Jeans

You know those projects, which for some reason or another, just don’t go quite right. The fabric acts up, the pattern isn’t quite what you’d hoped, or your machine is on the fritz. Both creations I’m sharing today are just a bit…unfortunate.

Leather loafers, Country Road, from the op shop.

Aeolian Tee + Style Arc Wallis Pant

This outfit was a near miss – one of those projects that you mess up so frustratingly that you want to chuck in the bin and forget about. Lucky me that I chose to persevere!

Red Walnut flats, $2 from the op shop. Yasssss.

More Elle pants and a Named Sointu

I did promise you there would be more Elle pants coming, and I’m a woman who sticks by her word! Like my last pair, these were made in bengaline from the Spotlight clearance table, though I think they were more like $6/m, making this project a costly $10 total. What can I say, I’m a scrooge.*

Style Arc Elle + more Burda love

Warning: contains a GIF

Lately I seem to be catching up on trends – first McCall’s 6696 shirtdress, now Style Arc Elle pants. Again, this pattern has been doing the rounds for a while and produces consistently good results. There are lots of fabulous versions out there, but I consider Lara from Thornberry my Style Arc style inspiration. Her co-ordinated outfits made from Style Arc patterns were impetus enough for me to give Style Arc a try.

Check out the blossoms on our pear tree!