Cheap patterns for Aussies and crafty business at Incheon International Airport

First, the important stuff - thanks to another blogger I discovered the site Pattern Plus where they have Butterick, Burda, New Look, Vogue and McCalls patterns on sale for $4 each ($3 for McCalls) with free shipping for Australian addresses. Of course the 10 million unused patterns I already own aren't enough, so I had to order more. For any North Americans that happen to read this, you're probably thinking "What's the big deal? That's not that cheap." Well, considering our next cheapest option is to wait for Sewing Patterns.com or Vogue.com to have a sale and pay inflated international shipping , this is a whole lot cheaper than buying at Spotlight. Of course, Spotlight has pattern sales every time hell freezes over too but you're sure to find that the pattern you want is one of the many they don't have and then of course there's the whole driving, parking, waiting an interminable amount of time at the checkout ...... you get my drift. Any way, I've ordered but haven't received them yet, so I can't comment on the service but The Perfect Nose had a good experience.

Next up - If you happen to be passing through Incheon International Airport and have some spare time on your hands, check out the culture centres (there are two I think) in the airport near the gates. You can try your hand at two traditional Korean crafts for free. I went with the painting of the wooden block and took it to England to give to tigerboy's parents. Of course, I left it on the plane and had to go back into the terminal to ask someone to retrieve it for me - can you believe that someone didn't see it and think "OMG, that is so exquisite, I'm taking it home to display it prominently in my living room.", turns out the people checking the plane did not covet my priceless piece ......... what a mystery!

As you can see, I wasn't as adventurous with my tiger colour scheme as the woman beside me. I also didn't have to draw anything (or else it would be unrecognisable), just colour it in.

Back from hobnobbing with world leaders

Yes, I'm back, holiday over, no more eating puffin or rotten fermented shark, no more sangria with tapas, no more picking wild blackberries while roaming the woods and no more hanging out with the President and First Lady of Korea ................ guess I'll have to start sewing.

And just to prove that I did hang out with the President and First Lady:

I know what you're thinking ..... "That's not a real picture!" .............. OK, you caught me. It was done in the area of Seoul that he lives and works though, so, you know, it's really close to real.

Oh, picked up some sewing mags in Europe and odds and ends in Korea too.

How to replace the bogan pants that will never die (much to Tigerboy's disgust)

So, I travel overseas at least once a year. I take a backpack and I travel light. Over the last 20+ years, I've come up with my own travel capsule wardrobe that works - most of the time. For the last few years, these pants always get thrown in (actually, they're usually worn on the plane). Here's some evidence:

Ecuador

Hawaii

Hong Kong

Cuba

Yeah, not the most flattering but they're comfy, lightweight, durable, don't take up a lot of room and can be worn in a variety of temps, from chilly to fairly warm - they also double up to wear under long pants if it's more than a little chilly (I don't travel with jeans -  too heavy and bulky and if it's cold, they're cold on my skin). Ok, I wouldn't wear them outside the house here at home, but where people don't know me? It's a free for all! (Unless of course I'm somewhere like the middle East.) They're also well over ten years old, so if they get lost or wrecked, it's no big deal.

The problem? Tigerboy hates them with a passion. According to him they make me look like a bogan which would fall into his "people to avoid at all costs" category (that would also be why there aren't more countries represented here - he can't even stand to take pics of me wearing them).

On one trip, the bogan pants developed a tiny hole. Tigerboy was elated -
"You'll have to get rid of them now, they're past it." 
"Hmmm, it can be fixed."
"Honey, I think they're just too old and they're starting to fall apart."
"I wouldn't get too excited, I have two pairs."
"You don't."
"I do."
Oh, the look of horror - to think that I not only purchased one pair, but two! Double misery!

So, we're off again and now I have him begging me not to take the bogan pants (honest to goodness begging). Now, it's not as if I'd wear them anywhere that we'll run into people we know or a city trip but I think he's reached his tolerance level.

Problem two? I just can't think of a suitable replacement. I have some knit palazzo pants but for a lot of our activities, all that fabric flapping around would be really irritating. I have the proper travel pants (you know, quick dry, pockets everywhere, dull, yukky colours) but they're not nearly warm enough for where we're going. I have 'nice' travel pants but they're not rugged enough for some of the stuff we do.

Oddly, I think one of his biggest problems is the two stripes down the side. In my book, that just marks them as 'exercise' wear, rather than 'I think I look good in these' wear.

As much as I enjoy teasing him, I think these pants are taking it to the level of mental torture for him. What to do? Maybe I should look into pants therapy for him, that would probably be the easiest way around it.


EDIT: I do actually have some decent, stylish pants that I take overseas as well, for those times when we're not in transit for 10+ hours or doing hours of walking in unpopulated areas etc. (ok, I occassionally wear these in populated areas too). BeaJay has me considering some super stretchy bootcut pants as a replacement though .....but then of course, they won't do double duty as thermals, and I already take a pair of bengaline bootcuts with me ..............

Fabric scraps, unwanted garments, UFO's .......... it's all yardage in my book

I can be stubborn when it comes to 'making it work' and I usually come up with a solution, otherwise it just has to go back into the stash (remember Butterick 5672? Not in the stash! Crumpled up in a heap in a corner of the sewing room as a threat to all the following dresses-to-be).

I rarely throw fabric away - including garments I no longer wear. I DO keep them for  experiments and others reasons that will probably come to light at some time in the future. And you know what? Sometimes, I actually end up finding this useful.

When I'm starting a new project with minimal 'left overs' (very common - I often seem to be finagling a knee length dress out of half a metre of 90cm wide fabric, or something nearly as ludicrous), I don't have room for stuff ups so to test that my machine/s will actually deal with the fabric, I go through the scraps and find a similar fabric to practise on.

Then there's also the linings and bindings of things. When I made the Vogue 8555 hibiscus dress, it needed just a small amount of fabric to line the bodice, a check in my 'accents' fabric box came up with a 25cm piece of plisse (I soon found out that that was not the best fabric for lining but c'est la vie).

I made a sun visor out of an old top, made a money belt with part of my sister's old top, lined a bag, made pin cushion covers and lined pockets in the Palin bag from the left overs of a robe I made a boyfriend years ago.

If, in the rare event that I am making a muslin, I'm not going to go and lay down dollars for a throw away - I'll cut some old garment/sheet/whatever up to use.

Any clothes I no longer want are regarded as yardage that can be cut up for other things as far as I'm concerned.

And that's another reason why my stash might seem a bit big to some people - not all of it is 'real' yardage.

Am I the only one that does this? C'mon, I can't be the only one.

And just because, here are some pics I took in the Galapagos when I was snorkelling with this little guy - he couldn't have cared less about me but I thought it was super cool to be snorkelling with him.

Static cling remedies

The last dress I posted suffered from static cling of monumental proportions - and that would be why it's only been worn twice. A bit of googling came up with some remedies that may or may not be useful.

Not useful for that dress:

• choose a natural fibre (too late she cried)
• don't put it in the drier (I don't even have one, so I've done that)
• shake it when it comes out of the drier (see above)

What might be useful:

• adding vinegar or borax to the wash/rinse cycle (I have my doubts this'll work on that particular garment)
• the metal hanger trick (is this something I'd have to redo whilst wearing it every so often? If so, it's hardly convenient.) 
• helpful hint from ReadyThreadSew ->  "wash with a bit more fabric conditioner than you might usually use" (In my case that would mean actually buying some because I've never used it but if all else fails I'll give it a go.)
• rub a dryer sheet over it (not having a dryer, I'm not familiar with these but it's more convenient than carrying a metal hanger around with me)

What I will try first:

• wearing a slip (remains to be seen whether I'd then have two layers of cling)
• rubbing body lotion on over your tights (this is the first one I'll be trying because part of me is wondering if the tights are a major player here) UPDATE: THIS WORKS REALLY WELL!

The thing with that dress is that the static cling doesn't build up over the course of wearing it - it's there as soon as the dress goes on! Maybe we could see about hooking it up to some electrical appliances to save on the electricity bill?

I'll update with my findings because, you know, I'm highly scientific.

For more info on these remedies:
End Static Cling Six Ways
How do you deal with static cling?


And, just because it's my blog and I'll post whatever pics grab my fancy:

Actually - this is a bit sewing related. This tunic top was not the best look on me - straight from bust to hips, nothing in the way of waist definition. It's a lovely fine cotton, great for hot, hot weather but a belt in 45 degree plus is just one more layer so the waist got shirred.   See the paisley?

Size 22 Dress Refashion and PAISLEY

Tigerboy and I went back to my home town for Easter. Going back there is something that I avoid at all costs - I couldn't wait to leave and didn't ever plan to return, so going back is only done under extreme duress. In this case, that duress was the stress tigerboy was putting me through over his angst regarding where to go to "get out of the city" because he seems to think it's mandatory if we've got a long weekend. In the end I was so over it I suggested going home to stay with Mum for a few days - I really didn't think he'd go for it - that seed sprouted into a Californian redwood within about 3 seconds and there was no way I could stop that speeding train short of fatal injury which although I did consider it for a bit (his of course), even I thought would be over reacting and possibly messy - I hate housework!

It pains me to admit it but we actually had a good time, not the least of which was due to me going through Mum's stash (which is approaching pitiful thanks to my pilfering campaign) and I even scored from her wardrobe.

As I was reclining on Mum's bed lamenting the fact that she hadn't had a 'thing' for silk over the years, I spied some dark paisley fabric peeking out from between her clothes. This was weird because Mum and I have very different tastes, she favours pastels (primarily mint and baby blue) whereas I like the darker colours, she likes pretty little florals, I like bold prints, solids and my holy grail is paisley. As far as I'm concerned, paisley is like garlic, there can never be too much and honestly? I'd wear paisley in any colour, just because it's paisley.

I've had this love of paisley since the 80's (probably the 70's but I was too young to realise it then) and it's something that Mum has never understood. Some time in late high school I was going through her stash (it's been a long, sustained campaign) and found two pieces of corduroy, paisley fabric, a green and an orange - I was in love. Mum was horrified that anything that ugly had ever made it into her stash and after I'd convinced her that I wasn't joking and really did like it, she said I could use it. Back then, it was really hard to get Mum to let me use any of her fabric because she was still in the (30 year) phase where she thought that at some point she would start sewing like there was no tomorrow, so her eventual capitulation really demonstrated her loathing of those pieces of fabric.

I made some slim fitting capri pants from the green paisley and I remember that they were my favourite pants for years. Of course Mum was not only stunned that I'd made something wearable from it but also slightly horrified that I wore it out in public - a lot! Whenever she saw those pants she'd try to tell me that they "had seen their day" and should be tossed - I wasn't buying it. In the end I think they got ripped and she refused to mend them for me. I wonder what happened to the orange piece? I don't remember ever making anything from it.

Back to the point of the story (yes, there is one), as soon as I spied that paisley in Mum's wardrobe, I was off the bed like a rocket to check it out.
"Why is this in here?"
"Oh, that, I don't know why I bought it."
"You bought it? It's got paisley!"
"I think I thought I'd wear it in winter but it doesn't fit right and it's really just not me."
"No, it's not - it's me!"
There was nothing to do at this point except to throw it on over what I was wearing.
"Do you think you can do something with it? You can have it if you want."
And so, I ended up with some more paisley but as you can see, it was a bit on the big side and a lot on the "why don't you check out my cleavage and bra" side (I've actually got it pinned closed in this pic).

There are a few rows of shirring just under the bodice. It's actually bigger than you can see here but I needed one hand for the camera.

I thought a quick zip up the sides with the overlocker and another quick zip to secure the front neckline would do the job but it turned out to be slightly more challenging.

I did at least realise that the shirring should be secured before I used the overlocker so that when the overlocker cut the elastic thread it didn't all shrink back and not get caught in the seam.

After some confusion, I realised that those squares on the skirt weren't centred at the back of the dress - bummer. There was also something strange going on under the arms that meant lots of finessing rather than just zipping up with the overlocker before it looked decent.You can see that the hem doesn't follow the border of the squares either - I at least fixed that in the final version

Anyway, here's the finished product which although is fine enough for day-to-day, seems to have a major static cling problem - you can see it around the hem where it's sticking to my legs. I wore it as a jumper with a black turtleneck one day but I wasn't sure about that look. Oddly, although it seems as though this was an empire line, the shirred waist is now somewhere between that and above my natural waist which feels a bit odd. I also thought it would be shorter the whole time I was making it - must have been an optical illusion when it was wider.

I took about 10 photos and had a choice between head cut off or feet cut off - something needs to be done about my photography!

Quick and dirty moneybelt

Yesterday I put tigerboy on a plane (with his Palin bag) to take him to the opposite side of the world. (It was actually a planned trip, not a banishment.) The day before that there was much searching for one of the four moneybelts that we have but rarely use. I found one with several safety pins holding it together and a strap from another one .......... fabulous.
"Do you want me to quickly make you one?"
"Do you think you can? Will it have a zip?" (At this point I'm thinking "Oh no, don't tell me this is going to turn into a Palin bag saga.)
"I'll give it a bash." (I disappeared quicker than a glass of wine after a day of work at that point - I was not sticking around for his endless list of improvements.)

I went through a bag of clothes my sister had given me years ago and pulled out a white knit top, pulled out the bag of white zippers my Mum had reclaimed from various garments and other sewn things ever since Jesus was a baby (seriously, there are some with my baby sister's name written on them along with her primary school - she's nearly 40!) and I winged it, totally, completely, winged it, zero forethought, zero measuring.

Ok, there was some forethought - I decided to use a cotton knit so that it was soft and not as sweaty as some moneybelts (like some we've owned). There was a long skinny strip of knit left from my hacking, at the last minute I decided to make it the beginning of the strap.

So, here it is. NB: This is a very quick and dirty project - one look at the stitching (not to mention that antique zipper pull) is enough to support that claim - but really, I'm not going to agonise over making a money belt look good.

• I cut the back out of the shirt to give me a big rectangle
• folded the rectangle in half, attached each end to the zipper (the hem of the shirt is actually attached to the top of the zipper)
• opened the zip a bit, turned it inside out
• inserted the straps inside
• sewed up the sides
• turned it right side out again
• then I sewed up the front of the money belt from the bottom to just under the zip so that it has two compartment - one that holds notes and one that's smaller (credit cards, notes folded in half etc.)
• I used a piece of elastic between the two knit strips
• for fastening I used those flat hooks you get in pants - I wanted something nice and flat (I also hate that most money belts leave you with a mile of extra strap hanging around)
• I put two bars in for the hook because I don't trust the cheap shoddy elastic not to stretch out - this was a quick and dirty prototype remember?

Tigerboy's take on it? "Oh, it's so comfy! I don't even know that I'm wearing it. Oh, honey, that's not good - I wouldn't realise if it fell off!"
"You can't have everything baby."