The inspiration for this DIY’d outfit caaaame to me in a visionnnn (cue woo woo eyes). No. Wait. It was Gorman. It came to me in Gorman. I was wandering around, trying to figure out what to make with the two yards of METALLIC GOLDEN LINEN under my arm. Something that would slip casually and effortlessly into my hand-made wardrobe without so much as a ‘Sup guys?’. Wait, backstory: I had a scheduled free choice project upcoming with Britex Fabrics, saw ‘Brilliant Metallic Gold Stretch Cotton & Linen Blend‘ in their novelty section, thought ‘Oooo funsies’ and ordered it without another thought. So when the fabric arrived, exactly as described in all it’s metallic goldeness, I was a little confronted. Okay, I totally freaked. Me, a metallic virgin, cruising through life certain there were two types of people in this world: metallic wearers and non-metallic wearers. And here, I, of the non-metallic variety, with two yards and a time-frame.

I must stop right here and tell you this fabric is LUSH! Metallic and gold, yes but shiny and blinding, no, with the linen content giving it this beautiful grainy, matte, texture. No sunglasses necessary. It was more: what could I make that would do it justice and that I would wear, like, on my person? I saw visors and high waist summer shorts and cropped tees and two-piece sets, which were all not bad ideas. I almost cut out the Named Inari dress and realised I would wear a gold shift dress probably never. I petted the fabric, held it up to the mirror, sifted through Pinterest, thumbed the pattern stash; all the usual hot spots for divine inspiration but nothing, NOTHING! I thought I had made a huge mistake.That is how I ended up in Gorman, one of my favourite Australian clothing brands and one of the few places I still buy RTW (when I’m not shopping for “inspiration”). If you’re not familiar, let me summarise: for colour, print and pattern lovers, Gorman is the mecca. Add to this killer silhouettes, interesting cuts and designs which are virtually ageless and you will understand their almost cult status. Gah, just see for yourself! I buy significantly less Gorman these days but my hand-made wardrobe is influenced by them more than ever. And it was looking around at their current collection Moth and Moon with all unlikely combinations of colours and prints they’d paired so beautifully with metallics that I realised I’d had it SO wrong! I had put metallics in the too garish, too blingy, too glitzy, too much something box. When what I’d needed to be asking all along was: ‘WHAT WOULD GORMAN DO?! The answer…some awesome sporty-luxe pleated skirt, probably.
I found this pattern for a Pleated Wrap Skirt and it was exactly what I was imagining! I LOVE that it’s a wrap skirt. After putting zipper’s into everything, the idea of not sewing one and climbing into a piece of clothing in a new way is novel and fun! I was hoping someone might have posted a comprehensive review on Burdastyle with detailed illustrations of each step, but alas, no. It is truly an amazing skirt and totally worth the sew but you need to be prepared to do your own thing with the instructions; I abandoned them after paragraph two because they made-a-no-sensa to me. Oh and there’s the mystery of the phantom 4th pattern piece. The pleated section is supposed to be made up of four lengths of fabric, three long + one shorter one, stitched together. It never became obvious what this shorter length was for. I didn’t have enough fabric to cut it out and when I attached the pleats to the yoke they fitted perfectly, having used only the three long lengths…Ahhh the pleating. Ohhh the pleating. My gawd. The PLEATING. Four point two meters in total. I’ve never pleated anything before in my life. Which was probably a good thing, going in blind. Granted, the instructions did say ‘create pleats with commercial pleating machine’ which I thought was hilarious (sure, just let me get one out of my pocket) until I later found out that there are real places that do this, should you want to avoid hand-pleating yourself. Then there was the question of: does this fabric even hold a pleat? Does it ever! This fabric loves any kind of pressing pleated action. It holds a crease so well you really want to transfer it to a roll / tube after it’s been folded up in the mail. I can only guess it’s because, with the iron cranked to the max setting, you’re virtually melting the 2% lycra content in the fabric into a new shape, forever. It’s magical. My pleating plan was to draw up 1/2 ” pleats on the back side (the fabric melts from the front side, der) and break the pleating job down into sections and hours. My forearms cried. I wanted to quit. But the vision! THE VISION!Somewhere during Pleatgeddon I needed a distraction in the form of a woven Linden Sweatshirt. If you’ve ever sewn a Linden, you will know that it’s like coming home. For my first Linden ever (to be blogged soon) I made a 6. In a knit, the fit was perfect. For this woven version, I sized up to an 8. The fabric is a cotton eyelet from The Fabric Store, which I dyed navy. The cuffs, hem band and neck band are ribbing, a delicious navy merino from here, which made the whole sewing process the same as for a knit version. I French seamed the insides, since you can see through from the outside. My only mod, which I’ve done for both Linden’s now, is to shorten the length of the hem-band by 2-3″ so it fits closer to the hips and then hangs over the top. To me, this is how a classic sweatshirt sits.

Sew proud, sew very proud!

As always I feel like I should offer some kind of explanation as to where (TF) I’ve been hiding out but it would be a heavily fabricated tale involving schedules, motherhood, auto-immune rashes, absent camera lenses and yeah I’d rather slap myself with a dead fish than hear it too. So here’s a DIY bikini! I have to say, it is one of my most favourite, un-hand-made looking hand-makes ever. Maybe even THE favourite. And so you’re not under any illusions, it was followed up by one of the worst sewing fails ever (two words: dude crotch). Why am I sewing swimwear in the middle of Australian winter, literally after finishing a cosy Linden Sweatshirt, you ask? An event that’s not that unusual but this time my beloved little brother announced he is moving to New York, like, next week and thought we should brocation someplace warm and lush before he leaves: step in Bali!

Yes of course my first thoughts were DIY TRAVEL WARDROBE. But then, I didn’t want to get all manic over it only to get to our Aruyvedic Yoga retreat to have to explain that my dosha was all out of balance due to lifestyle factors i.e sewing ALL the things. Plus I was, am, happily in the zone of winter sewing. So, I settled on a compromise: One Pinterest moodboard + four sewn pieces. Which turned into two pieces, one of which was the aforementioned fail. In the end, just this bikini, which thank gaaaawd, turned out pretty damn fine!Let’s talk about the patterns first. I have so much love for both of these. For the top I used the Beverly Twisted Bikini by Named, which is a fully lined, halter neck style top with long wide straps that can be twisted or knotted at the front and closes with a clasp at the back. It also has totally invisible boning inserted in the sides (second pic below) for extra support. In one of those serendipitous sewing scenarios I had the fabric, the lining, the under-bust elastic and the clasp all in my stash and just so happened to have an old and dying bikini with nearly the exact size boning needed for the Beverly. From my experience with Named patterns, the instructions are always on point. And if you’re going to be tackling something like boning, or boning in a stretch fabric, you really want to know that you’re going to be guided through it like a toddler. I was so seriously impressed. And so excited to melt the ends of boning with actual fire!It’s also obvious how much thought has gone into the details and finishes. Being fully lined, the overall result is so clean and so pro. Only one section of visible top stitching, on the under bust band, but if you’re having a purest moment, like I was, you can move this stitching slightly over and ‘stitch in the ditch’.  I will admit, when I first saw this pattern, I wasn’t so sure I’d even be able to wear it. Not so much bust size, which is something to factor in, but more so if you desire support via bust ‘shaping’. What is not obvious from the pattern photos or the description is that there are secret sections of swimwear elastic sewn into and around the bust which are absolutely necessary and also do a damn fine job of gently ushering your girls where they need to be. Something to take note of, which isn’t mentioned in the pattern, is you will see both your lining and main fabric in the twisted section. I initially cut out swimwear lining before realising this and had to go back and cut new lining pieces out of the main fabric. Only I didn’t have enough so one strap is made out of two pieces joined together.The bottoms were always going to be high waisted! I probably could have copied them from this swimsuit but I wanted to try a pattern that was out there for comparison. And also to be more helpful. The Ohhh Lulu Ava briefs make the perfect high waist bikini bottoms. The only modification I made was adding a waistband, which changed the order of construction slightly but ended up making the finish super neat. If you’re on the taller side you may need to add more length in the waist, which you can either do by just extending the line of the waist upwards or adding a waistband. A waistband makes a nice feature and also means they’re less likely to ride down than when sewn with just a thin line of swimsuit elastic, when water-logged. Something I found out with this pair. Construction-wise the waistband ends up sandwiched between the lining and main fabric. You sew this all inside out and turn back the right way through the leg holes (the crotch seam is already sewn at this point). Then the final step is adding elastic to the leg holes and topstitching (zig zag or beloved coverstitch) down through both lining and main fabric together.The fabric is swimwear lycra from my fav ladies at Tessuti. They always have the most gorgeous swimwear fabric and I like to check in regularly come summer! I love it’s whole boho Tigerlily / Zimmerman vibe. Finding exciting swimwear prints is not hard, there are lots of hot spots online now. I keep thinking how great it would be if Spoonflower were to offer up an amazing quality swimsuit fabric as another option to get designs printed on. I sent them an email about it last year. I think I will keep pestering. In the mean time another source of beautiful swimwear fabric I’ve discovered is Pretty Mercerie. There’s also The Fabric Store (in store only) and Pitt Trading.Aaah, Bali. Colourful. Intoxicating. A feast for the senses. And incense. So much incense! You really do get the feeling you are in the heart Chakra of the world. We spent the first part of the week at Sukhavati Yoga Retreat which, should you ever find yourself in that part of the world, is something else. Twice daily yoga, sumptuous vegetarian cuisine, compulsory daily massages (Ok, so breasts are included apparently), scrubs, facials, fresh fruit and vegie juices to your room (my favourite part) in a rainforest, on the edge of a creek, in a little village. The end. Not even! We took day trips to nearby Ubud which had a very Byron Bay feel (and lots of penis keyrings, see below) and Seminyak, for some shopping and eats. Came back with shoes and a RTW playsuit, of all things. The last two days were spent at the amazing Ayana Resort at Jimbaran. Of course being travel, there were moments of overwhelm. Like the time I got served up a crab appetiser literally seconds after miming No Seafood, NO SEAFOOD.  Overall, an exquisite adventure…

So I just popped off to Bali for the weekend, to shoot my latest hand-make because that’s the kind of life I lead didn’t you know? Ugh…I wish! I guess one of the ‘perks’ of being physically grounded, at least for now, is I have to live out my travel dreams through my hand-made wardrobe. Which means getting creative with photography locations. So, no, I am not in the steamy jungles of Bali, or Ecuador, or Madagascar but I did have to brave a whole host of wildlife, including Khaki-Breasted Groundsmen (they were on the lookout for the ‘Boobie’ Warbler, I believe), at this very public city garden / pool scape. It looks like I’m having a great time, doesn’t it? Hanging out, here, in nature, with the frogs croaking and the mosquitoes singing. I love nature, really I do…DA FUQ just touched my FOOT?!!! The things I do for you, honestly.As anyone who’s DIY inclined would know, the day before New Year’s Eve really is the perfect time to think about sewing a bad-ass printed jumpsuit for the occasion. Until you realise that actually, as your first NYE in 5 years (longer?) sans kiddies, you over-looked the whole NYE plans part. And then you’re horribly depressed and the only thing that would possibly make up for a fizzled NYE would be to welcome New Years Day via stand-up paddle board, in some killer hand-made bikini, whilst you sail past the hung-over souls, wiping sand from their eyeballs; a picture of vitality and hand-made awesomeness. The. Only. Way. So, I abandoned the jumpsuit, got cracking on this bikini and along with another NYE plan-less friend, rose early and had a perfectly serendipitous day of paddle-boarding, beautiful weather, delicious food and substantial feelings of smugness!That was January and I’ve been dying to share this bikini with you ever since! Though, a warning, this post should probably be treated as inspiration only. On every other level it’s uh, not very helpful. Really, you’ll see. I’ve been pining hard for a high waisted bikini since forever ever (see evidence here). Are high waists flattering? I think so. Apparently not, according to one male source, unusually passionate on the subject of high waist bikinis now I think about it. Short of starting a movement to have them banned on all major beaches in three states, he was not a fan. Personally, I do like the shape and after having kids, I feel more comfortable and secure when I’ve got from belly-button below covered but I know not everyone loves them. What are your feels?There are a few options out there for bikini sewing patterns, but not too many. I think swimwear patterns are still a relatively un-tapped niche, heads up pattern designers. There’s the much loved Bombshell swimsuit by Closet Case Files which has a high waisted bikini bottom option. Named patterns have just released the Beverly bikini, which is really cute though I’ll probably be raising the waist. There’s the Soma swimsuit by Papercut with a variety of one piece and bikini options. A handful of basic swimsuit patterns by commercial companies. And that’s it really. I would really like to see a pattern released for a long-line bikini top with proper cups, moulding and underwire, something like this or this.For me, and I’m pretty sure most women, regardless of cup size, support is paramount in a bikini top. I decided to experiment by taking one of my old RTW bikini tops which I know has an exceptional fit and gutting it. I pulled the entire thing apart, including the foam moulding in the cups,subbed in a new fabric, this dreamy swimwear lycra by Zimmerman from Tessuti, where there used to be black, keeping the white for the cups and straps. Then I stitched it all back together and voila, new bikini. I’m sure if ever decide to study pattern making then dismantling clothing would be a good way to learn. It’s like a puzzle, seeing how everything goes together and in what order and which techniques are being used in the fashion industry, compared to home-sewing.For the bottoms, I went the same route, cut up a RTW piece, traced the pieces, extended the waist to be a high waist, added a lining, added elastic for the legs and waist and cover-stitched it all in place. See…unhelpful! But okay, should you want to make something similar, there are options. Again, there’s the Bombshell high waist bottoms, the Soma bikini bottoms or just go the route of extending a regular pair of undies or bikini bottoms to be high waisted. At least then you know the fit is good and snug. You especially want your leg elastic to be snug if you plan on taking your bikini away from the poolside into the surf or you will spend half your time un-plucking wedgies and the other half pretending French knickers was exactly what you were going for, thank you.

Photography by Annie Jane Imagery 

I made a bra, I made a bra, I made a bra today hey HEY! This is sewing thrills right here. I think I mentioned in a post a while back that for me, lingerie, jeans and swimwear are those final frontier sewing items. The ones you put up high on a the maybe-one-day shelf. Then even when you are ready, there’s the whole issue of finding patterns for the above items that well, you actually want to make. No pattern snobbery here (if you would kindly put down that rotary cutter) but let’s be honest, Indie pattern designers are making it verrrry easy to start checking off those big ticket items by bringing out all these damn good looking patterns. Like this one, the Watson bra by Cloth Habit (I’m also looking at you Ginger Jeans).

Pre-Watson, my biggest fear about sewing a bra was running into fit issues. What if I just kept trying endless combinations of bra-band and cup sizes, never quite getting a good fit? And then not knowing how to tweak it or make the necessary adjustments (because bra construction is a whole separate game to garment sewing). My sew-jo crushed, I would fall into a Watson-induced stupor, never to return. A logical chain reaction surely? But it didn’t go down like that at all…To find the bra-band size I measured my rib cage as a 34. Then I read somewhere that you should exhale and measure and this will give you a better fitting bra (you want the bra band to be firm to provide stability in place of under-wire). Which was more a 32. To establish your cup size you measure your full bust, then you measure your high bust and by a clever little calculation, the difference will allocate you a cup size. This system works perfectly well as long as you don’t have highly advanced pectorial muscles from ex-crossfitting, child-slinging, shoulder-hunching days. In other words, above my bust I am broad and so there was hardly any differenc, approx 1″, between my high bust measurement and my bust measurement, which put me at an A cup. In standard bra sizing, I am generally a 32 C ish. So I went with that. And it fits. A little snug in both the cup and the band, so I’m going to experiment with a 34 C next, but still very wearable.

I LOVE the style of the Watson! It’s new for me. And I was dubious about the support and the sexy factor. Like almost every other woman, I am used to bras that hoist you up, pull you in and mould you into a universally ‘aesthetically pleasing’ shape. Soft cup bras with no under-wire and no moulding….I wasn’t sure. But they’re feminine and totally sexy in a more loving, let’s celebrate YOU, kind of way. Prior to the Watson, I didn’t know this long-line bra was actually a thing. Now I’m seeing them everywhere, see Fortnight Lingerie and Nanhina Shop. The support is pretty impressive, I was truly expecting some wayward side boob action but the Watson is so ingeniously designed that the firm bra band actually does a great job of holding things in place. Sewing the matching bikini briefs was a no-brainer and took half the time the bra took and the bra only took one evening so yup…the perfect quickie project!Do you ever get amusing reactions when people find out that you sew? Typically I find it has three stages: 1. Surprise and Confusion (Really? You actually sew? Like, sewing sewing?). Followed closely by 2. Justification (Ohhh, you must save lots of money making your own clothes). And it inevitably ends with 3. Lessons in History (but I thought sewing, you know, died out…). And then you’re either cool or weird or…wait, that’s 4. Compartmentalising. But then you go on-line and there’s this whole other universe where sewing is not dying but alive and thriving and having a re-birth! This is really a special time to be sewing / learning to sew. We have so much choice now when it comes to good looking, ‘relevant’ patterns, thanks to all the Indie companies. And if that weren’t enough reason to love them, you get the feeling the designers behind them actually care about whether you to make it to the final step or not. Where all this is going is, between Amy’s instructions included with the pattern and her Sew-a-long online, I felt held and cradled (not unlike my tutties) sewing my first bra, not scared at all!For my first attempt at DIY lingerie I decided to bi-pass the hard work of sourcing all the hardware and ordered a ready-to-go Watson Bra Making Kit in the purple / peach colourway. This really is the way to go, especially if you don’t have access to reliable haberdashery, which I don’t. I love the mesh look so much, I went looking for more colours and have since ordered samples of mesh from here in ALL the colours to make ALL the Watsons. I’m totally hooked!