A Poncho for all Seasons!

I declare that 2015 has been my year of the poncho.

With the seasons changing and finally a glimmer of sunshine on our horizon I asked myself,

"Julianne, how do you plan to incorporate a poncho into your Summer wardrobe?"

"Well, Julianne," I answered myself, "With a vintage towel beach poncho OF COURSE!" D'uh!"

 Two matching "palm beach" vintage towels at Savers the other day were exactly what I needed. A  pair for $2.99!

Fortunately, I had the trusty "Golden Hands Encyclopedia of Craft" poncho instructions at the ready...

 

The towels were a lot larger than the size in Golden Hands.  I cut some of the length but kept the width so it's a large coverall for the beach. I included the darts too as suggested in the book.

In one crafternoon I made it, finishing it off with some fringing. So simple!
Now...where's the sun?

How to Sew a Simple Poncho

Some Poncho sewing instructions from the
trusty old Golden Hands Craft books:

"The fitted poncho has two seams, shoulder darts and applied fringing. It has a set outline which will keep its shape if made in a firm woven fabric and for extra warmth and firmness you can line it.
You could adapt the poncho by trimming with fur or braid instead of the fringe; by pattern darning a border; by making a 'poncho suit' with skirt or trousers; or by using an exciting furnishing fabric, or casual towelling for the beach."

Hmmm. "poncho suit". Not a phrase you see every day. What do you think? Faster than knitting or crochet. I'm on the look out out "exciting furnishing fabric"!

Thank you, yet again, Golden Hands.

Maria Von Trapp Eat Your Heart Out!

The sun is out! And I'm wearing this.

(Yes, I probably have too many endorphins from tennis this morning and may live to regret this sartorial choice.) But I love my new playsuit! Because I made it myself...from curtains!!!!

 

Yes, I do look pretty pleased with myself.

I *adapted an 80's jumpsuit pattern....

 

Look! It even has pockets! Maria Von Trapp would be proud.

Does this constitute a blog post? I guess it does.

* adapted = shortening and, ahem, WIDENING the legs.

Summer Sewing! Kids Shorts!

Will they look back at these photos and the Summer of 2014/15 as the daggy Summer their mother made them half a dozen pairs of shorts out of any bit of fabric lying around? Okay. Probably.

But so far I haven't resorted to matching shorts for the twins nor have I sunk to the Von Trapp family level of using curtain fabric. Not yet anyway.

I have cut up and recycled two wrap around skirts though.... The pattern was too high-waisted and too short at first... but I think I've made the adjustments now. How many more can I make before our beach holiday???

The all too Familiar Story of Sewing a Dress.

This story has happened before and will happen again. It is probably a story you are familiar with. There are trials to overcome and disaster afoot. it's the story of sewing a dress, as old as time itself.

Once upon a time a girl found an old pattern in a treasure trove op shop back room. She knew the pattern contained all the instructions to become the carefree girls shown on the cover. They were stylish - simple, tall and thin. They laughed and flicked their hair in care free friendship. The girl wanted to be them.

But a pattern is nothing but a set of rules and instructions. The girl went shopping for the right fabric to create the dress of her dreams. It took many years of searching. Then she found this fabric at Rathdowne Remnants and it had that 70's retro charm....

Bravely she got out the scissors and made the cuts. But the instructions were not quite right for her - the measurements were wrong for her size so she made adjustments.
Alas in her rashness and delusions she didn't think it through and cut the pieces too small.

She put the dream away for a month and wondered what to do.... Then, she awoke one morning with the solution! 

She went back to the fabric store and got extra cloth. She re-cut the bodice in a larger size and cut the waist lower in the skirt, which was fortunately possible because of her short stature.

She finished the dress! Alas, she isn't anything like the young carefree hair flickers on the pattern front. But she finished the dress. And it's wearable.