And, Your Favourite Fabric IS….(ratta tatta tatta tat – that’s a drum roll, not machine gun fire)

September 6, 2014October 10, 201443 Comments

Ahhh, to keep you in suspense for just a moment longer! I must tell you that my blog has been short-listed on BurdaStyle’s 50 Best Bloggers for Sewing Enthusiasts! I really couldn’t believe it when I saw it! Heck, I’m still flabbergasted when even one person enjoys my ‘style’ and comments on my posts. 🙂 I’ve no idea how Burda makes selections for this list or if somebody nominated my blog, but, if so, thank you very much! I appreciate every person who drops by the ol’ blog, leaves a thoughtful remark, shares some wisdom, puts a smile on my face or offers up terrific advice! We really do have a pretty special community here in the wonderful world of sewing.

There are definitely some fantastic blogs on the list, I am honoured to be in such great company (although a few of my personal favourites are noticeably missing). You can go here to see who is on the list and vote for Gjeometry or any of your favourite blogs on the list. Voting ends Monday, September 8th.

OK, now CHART TIME!

Kat in her cosy Merino Wool Papercut Patterns Coppelia wrap top

Results were tabulated from this post, and the winning fabric, pulling ahead by just a thread (hahahaha) is…. 100% cotton! This included:

lightweight quilting cotton
voile
batiste
lawn

Coming in a close second was wool! This included:

wool suiting
merino wool
wool crepe

Morgan’s Lovely Linen Livery

Tied for third place was stretch cotton sateen (including stretch textured Jacquard) and linen!

Some other fun facts that we discovered:

Favourite quote (by Rebecca): “Cutting silk is like trying to cut water.” 🙂

Now, if you are new to my blog and/or did not get a chance to vote in this fabulously scientific survey, fear not!! You can still add your favourite fabrics to sew and/or wear in the comments section and we can update the charts. CHART!! They do not have to be one of the already listed fabrics.

What Do Some Of These Terms Mean?

Most of the fabrics are pretty self-explanatory, but here’s some info on a few of the items.

Jacquard:

Jac·quard, Joseph Marie 1752-1834 was the French inventor of the Jacquard loom (1801), the first automatic loom able to weave complex patterns.
1. A fabric with an intricately woven pattern.
2. A special loom or the method employed in the weaving of a figured fabric.

Jacquard Fabric Swatch and Brooke’s Fabulous Stretch Jacquard Trousers

Jacquard weave: a fabric in which the design is incorporated into the weave instead of being printed or dyed on.

Viscose or Rayon?

Well, actually, viscose and rayon are not entirely the same thing. They are manufactured with the same process but different materials are used for each. While rayon can be made with cellulose from a variety of plants, viscose is made from wood pulp or cotton linter. More information can be found here: Difference Between Rayon and Viscose.

Twill

Twill is a type of weave that produces a pattern of diagonal parallel ribs or lines (think herringbone). This is done by passing the weft thread over one or more warp threads and then under two or more warp threads. Examples of twill are denim, chino, gabardine and tweed.

Twill and Herringbone Swatches.

Challis

Challis is a soft, lightweight, usually printed, woven fabric, originally a silk-and-wool blend. It is often made from a single fibre, such as cotton, silk or wool, or from human-made fabrics such as rayon.

Challis Fabrics from my Stash (what to sew with them?) and Anne’s Beautiful Challis Summer Frock

ITY Knits

ITY stands for Interlock Twist Yarn, which gives the fabric a natural elasticity and is usually made from polyester. The crepe textures can have a soft feel, but the smoother ones have a tendency to feel a bit ‘plastic-y’. Skipped stitches can result and a proper (stretch or microtex) needle is key.

Till next time!

So…..Many…..Thank Yous…..

May 4, 2013May 4, 201331 Comments

I am very excited and privileged to be amongst such generous and inspiring company. Over the last few months, I have won several giveaways, received some gifts AND have also been honoured with some awards. I wanted to post the ‘goods’ with a link to all those who were so kind as to offer up gifts and bestow awards. I am humbled by your fabulous, creative company. So…Thank You.

GIFTS and GIVEAWAY WINS

A lovely rayon/linen blend ecru coloured fabric with matching thread and buttons and a McCalls summer top pattern from Dale at Finished Threads

A very beautiful and different Vogue coat pattern from Mari at Disparate Disciplines

A cute and ’70s looking poufy sleeved Simplicity Dress pattern from Denise at Dottie Doodle

Fun retro top and shorts Simplicity Pattern, Project Runway Blouse Pattern and a luxurious brown silky satin stretch fabric from Kristin at Sew Classic

A small piece of very cute Yoshiko Jinzenji fabric and an Amy Butler pillow pattern from Kerry at VeryKerryBerry

A retro, frilly ’70’s blouse pattern from Carmen at Carmencitab
A vintage sewing book on CD: Practical Dress Design – principles of fitting and pattern making. Author, Mabel Deane Erwin. From Deborah at GraceDressmaking

Lovely winter weight plaid fabric and a whole slew of notions to match from Gillian over at Gilly Makes

Thank you so much everybody! Cannot wait to sew up some fabulousness with these lovely items.

BLOGGING AWARDS

Very Inspiring Blogger Award: Bestowed on me by the experienced and always helpful, Brooke at CustomStyle She’s always ‘game’ for answering my questions or some wonderful sewcialist chat on Twitter. Her blog is rife with sewing information.

I was blessed to have received the Leibster Award by four (FOUR!!) extremely fantastic and talented bloggers. This award requires that you answer 11 questions given to you by the presenter. For purposes of brevity, I have opted to answer 3 of each person’s questions.

I did not make any nominations as I was recently nominated for 3 blog awards here and nominated some wonderful folks at that time.

Sarah at Sarahmshultz. Sarah hosts some fun blogging parties on her blog and is also adept at organizing as well as sewing.

1. What made you start blogging? My new-found love for sewing and my desire to record my journey and be able to interact with others.

2. If there were to be a zombie apocalypse, what would be your weapon of choice? My wits.

3. Do you actually have that weapon easily accessible? Sometimes, depends on the day :P.

Cherry Pix from Cherry Pix. She makes some super fabulous things for her cat, including a matching mom and cat outfit! Kitty is already in love with her. She has also made some simply lovely garments and her blog is so much fun to read.

1. What is your number-one favourite sewing gadget? My rulers. I have many, different styles, lengths, curves, squares, triangles, metric, inches, see-thru. Bliss! Going to do a blogpost on them in the future.

2. Are you a pattern tracer or a pattern cutter? I trace, trace, trace. Often while utilizing my rulers. 🙂

3. Which of your own sewing creations are you most pleased with? My Ikea Butterick 5285 Skirt.

Amber at Miss Parayim. Amber makes beautiful outfits and may, indeed have a fabric fetish. (Don’t we all?) She always seems to find JUST the right fabric for JUST the right outfit. Note to self: I must go fabric shopping with her one day!

1. What kind of machine do you use? A Janome My Lock overlocker / serger and currently borrowing my mum’s Kenmore sewing machine. I’m in the market for a new sewing machine. Any opinions or advice would be much appreciated, feel free to comment!

2. What inspires you? A fantastic book or a terrific song with lyrics that amaze. A spectacular warm, sunny day by the water. Selflessness in others. And, the underdog. Always, the underdog.

3. What do you want to make next? Summer dresses! A long, flowy halter style made of silk and a shift dress made with cotton.

Kacie at Thimble and Cork. Kacie calls herself a beginner sewist, but I don’t think she can be! She must be practicing on the fly, when she is supposed to be sleeping because her stuff is top-quality. She also has the kindest things to say to my Twitter posts.

1. Do you do most of your fabric shopping in local stores or online? Local stores. I have only just VERY recently (this week) ordered my very first ever mail-order purchase!! There is likely to be more of that. I was warned…

2. Which new sewing skill are you most excited to learn or perfect? Tailoring and altering clothes and patterns to fit properly.

3. Is there a movie or TV show that you think has particularly inspiring costumes? Well, my answer is not theatrical and dramatic nor overly technically complex, but, for outfits that I would actually wear, I rather like Mary and Rhoda’s wardrobe on the Mary Tyler Moore show. And, it hasn’t opened yet, but I’m fairly confident that The Great Gatsby is going to have some stunners.

Pattern Pyramid Pick Progess (De-80s-fying). And a Sewing Dare!

March 4, 2013March 5, 201342 Comments

So, to refresh your memories, I had selected the Very Easy Very Vogue 9647 from the winning Pattern Pyramid. There were two main reasons for this; one, it was in my size, two, it was touted as “very easy”.

Now, not sure if you can see from the picture or not, but this pattern is definitely very ’80s. Especially, the incredibly expansive shoulder pads. They are actually large enough to land a plane on! Seriously! And for those of you afraid to fly, picture a Kitty perched on each shoulder and walking around all day like that.

I wanted to try my best to De-80s-fy the pattern (yes, I coined that phrase, please feel free to use it and share).

This is what I came up with to bring it into this century while lancing the shoulder pad design detail: I opted to make the top half of the dress in B (the short sleeves) and the bottom half of the dress in A (the full skirt), while also shortening the dress to about knee-length. I’m using a periwinkle blue cotton voile that has a flower design embossed on it, and is almost sheer where the flowers are embossed. I thought it would be delicate and flowy and deter from that ‘boxy’ look. I then decided to sew an Obi Style belt out of the cotton floral fabric to cinch it at the waist while still keeping that light and airy look (as opposed to using a heavy leather / plastic belt).

So, these are my plans to de-80’s fy, what do you think? In my mind, it looks fabulous! 🙂 In reality, we’ll have to wait and see.

And, I have been charged with a Sewing Dare by Jagoda from FitNottoFit:

“Catja, I don’t know what your plans are for March, but I CHALLENGE you to make something from Ikea fabric. Hopefully something wearable, for yourself, not for the kitties. Do you accept?”

Yes, I accept! Although Kitty is a tad disgruntled. Here is my plan:I love Ikea fabric, but it can be a challenge to sew clothing with it, as it is mainly designed for home sewing projects. I am going to make Butterick B5285 in Version B and use this Ikea fabric pictured. The fabric design is: Malin Akerblom, 2010. The floral print is quite large and I’m hoping that with the addition of the pleats on the skirt, it will look like an abstract floral pattern.

Karen, from Did You Make That? made the same version (B) of the Butterick skirt in a fabulous fabric, check it out here. It looks terrific, so if mine comes out half this well, I will be stoked!