Special Potter Fabrics open morning

Hello everyone in Perth, Western Australia!

This Saturday is the Burda StyleClub Potter Textiles special opening.

Potters is the retail outlet of a designer fabric wholesaler, and the treasures in the shop are the stuff of whispered conversations. If you’ve never been, this is your chance.

The shop is usually open only weekdays 10-4pm, but Simon has agreed to open it up for Burda StyleClub Perth members and friends for a special Saturday morning, Saturday 9 August, 9am-12pm.

Tell your friends! As well as fabric off the roll, there are great tubs of remnants of the most inspiring kind. The prices for exquisite silks, linens wools and beautiful prints and wovens are very, very good.

There’s also a very nice deli a quick stroll up the road for a post-fabric-purchase cuppa and chat.

The shop is at 3 Auckland Street, North Perth. There’s no sign, but it’s next to Del’s Autos.

If you happen to have some clothes made in Potter fabric – wear them!

March 2014 Sewing Camp (Part 1)

A few pics from the March 2014 Sewing Camp. A BIG thankyou to Elle for all your planning/organizational/culinary skills, without which this camp would not have happened.

Bunting! With my sewing group’s acronym = sewing geek heaven. Herald the way to sewing campdom…

Now it’s not a sewing camp without some actual sewing going on….here are the ladies who put the “[sewing machine] pedal to the metal”during sewing camp weekend.

Kelly working on a mandarin collar:

Jacquie making another lovely knit top:

Kirsten tracing a pattern out of a BWOF magazine – see it can be done!’

Brenda -handstitching the lining on her retro style jacket (love the rust orange and navy combo!):

More pics to follow….

 

Conquering a fear – trousers

I made a pledge at the beginning of last year not to buy clothes I could make.  This is easy enough for dresses, tops and skirts.  Doable for knickers, although bras are another proposition, and something of a challenge with knit fabrics.

But!  I gritted my teeth, fitted a stretch needle, found a lovely pattern and did it.

Trousers, with a zip fly, on the other hand, were a challenge on another level.  Fortunately we have Sandra, who can do these things with her eyes closed.  (I’d be prepared to put money on it, but she’d be shy)

So, with her patient and intuitive instruction I have a pair of recognisable jeans.

The only real difficulty came with trying to sew the waistband.

The denim I’d chosen is rather heavy – I liked the colour – and six layers of top-stitching was beyond my Janome.  But Sandra has an impressive Singer that handled it without complaint.  Likewise the buttonhole.

I’ve not worn them yet, it’s too hot, and there’s one more touch I’d like to add.  I’ve got a rivet kit, but I need to dig out my leather punch as my awl isn’t up to penetrating the four layers at the corner of each pocket where a rivet should go.

I have worn these, though.  They’re indigo linen and don’t even crease too badly.

For a hot day at work, they’re chic and cool and go with a lot of my wardrobe.

The linen was also sufficiently light that I had no trouble with the waistband or buttonhole.

The pattern I’m working off is a much-adapted block.  It’s flattering to my body shape with wide legs and a yoke back.

It translated very well to these:

Doesn’t everyone need ridiculous trousers?

The fabric is drill from LargeCraftandFabric chain store which I couldn’t resist.  Sadly, not much seems to go with them, but they do make me smile!

Burda Shirt Finished 7525

Okay ladies as a few of you maybe aware I do not like posting on our site unless it is Burda based, hence I can post about this shirt I have just made for Jeff for Christmas, and yes you are right upon closer inspection it is The Grinch That Stole Christmas material, he picked it and said he would wear it so here we go !!!!!

This is pattern number Burda 7525 and was quite easy to follow and put together, I did have to make some changes as my partner is very broad across the shoulders, still not quite enough so next time a tad more…

Have  a fantastic Christmas one and all….

Cheers Fleur

 

December meetup – christmas swap special

Ho ho ho

The next meetup is the 15th of December so please go to http://www.meetup.com/BurdaStyle/Perth-AU/1060962/ to RSVP if you are coming.  This meet is at my house and the address and directions are in the comments of meetup.  I have a pool so you are welcome to bring your bathers and sneak out for a swim, extra points if its made from the bombshell pattern!

Last year we had a Christmas ornament swap which was a lot of fun so we are doing it again.  Basically make an ornament, wrap it up and then we swap anonymously.  Check out the following links for ideas.

https://www.pinterest.com/suenic/17-christmas-decorations-to-make/

https://www.pinterest.com/dutchandstar/sewn-ornaments/

And here is one from Martha Stewart, dog not included.

November meetup – relaxed sewing at Brenda’s

After the excitement of the Sewing Weekend Away, now also known as Sewing Camp, the November meet a week later was rather subdued.

Still, Sandra, Sarah W, Irene and I trotted along to Brenda’s house and had the nicest afternoon.  It was positively intimate, and we had wine and nibblies.

I managed to throw together a pair of loose, drawstring, summer shorts, Irene was working on the most fabulous Harry Potter cushion and Sandra knitted (?) knat?

I’m ashamed that I didn’t see what Brenda and Sarah were working on – perhaps they’d like to blog their projects?

Brenda’s place, by the way, is furnished with some absolutely gorgeous vintage pieces.  The woman has style.

Stay tuned to the Meetup site for the December meet.  We’ll do the Christmas ornament swap (so start beading!) and wish each other Merry Christmas.

Usually we take January off, but that’s not set in stone.  Does anyone want to host a January meet?

And – would anyone like to get together over afternoon tea to do some planning for next year?  Perhaps we could go back to some dedicated workshops?  Remember the knicker afternoon?

What happens at Sewing Camp…

ends up on the blog!

It was a great weekend.  Unlike the last one, there were no car dramas, and we had the delight of a semi-tame kangaroo hopping around peering curiously at us.  The weather was gorgeous and some of us ended the weekend with a dip. Much wine was drunk and quite a lot of sewing happened.  We’re talking about the next one in April-ish next year.

Here’s Zoe concentrating hard on her hand sewing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New member Kelly might not have been expecting to be photographed…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vanessa, on the other hand, was warned and ready for the camera.

 

Kate was concentrating far too hard on her pattern alterations to even look up.

Helen brought along a project that’s been waiting for some uninterrupted sewing time for quite a while.

And here is Helen’s refurbished, verge-collection footstool. There was hammering involved and some very bad language at a couple of points!

Sewing Weekend Away – it’s nearly here!

The lovely proprietors of Moondyne Convention Centre, Christine and Peter, are delighted we want to come back! They’re busy, but they’ve managed to squeeze us in between their scary corporate clients.

Come up on Friday night (8 November) after work and go home Sunday (10 November) after a couple of days of concentrated sewing. Elle will take care of the catering again, with a roster of sous chefs and kitchen fairies.

Accommodation is $50 a night (so $100 for the weekend) and all your food will be another $50, so $150 for an entire, catered weekend. It’s the best value holiday you’ll ever have, and THERE’S SEWING!

If you came along last time, you’ll know the rooms are warm and comfortable with ensuites, the views are divine, and there’s a dedicated conference room where we can set up our machines and cutting out and not have to pack it up each night.
http://www.moondyneconvention.com.au/

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Perth,+Australia&da…­

So far seven of us have RSVPed – so if you haven’t, you need to pay, and if you want to be part of the fun, there are eight places left…

 

Where to from here?

With the changes that have been happening around Burda Style Club Perth lately, there have been some mutterings and frowny faces.

No one wants anyone to feel unhappy or not included, so how about getting together, getting all our thoughts out and sorting things out?

**Update – our next sewing meet is on Sunday 20 October at Sarah W’s house.  Do we want to have this discussion then or separately?

Who’d like to host? Should we include afternoon tea?

Should we think about having a president/secretary/treasurer sort of set-up with elections and so forth? Or a committee without particular roles to just manage stuff? Or something else entirely?

Do we want to do some forward planning with venues and specific topics for each meet? Do we want to book a venue and pay for it? Does anyone have any other ideas on where to meet?

Do we still want to be a Burda Style Club and use the BSC meetup site and format and so forth?

If we put forward points of view in the comments, it should be fairly clear how we want to go about this.

September meet at Fleur’s

What a gorgeous day to visit Fleur’s house in the Hills for the September meet.  The sun was shining and Fleur’s garden was bursting into bloom.

Even Dino thought it was a beautiful day.

He is smiling there.

It was lovely to meet Maxine and Brenda who came along to their first BSC Perth meet.

Here’s Brenda concentrating hard.

And Fleur working on a pair of trousers.

And Fiona caught unawares!

And Irene tackling a Colette Jasmine with a tricky bias.

Sarah W has very generously offered to host next month’s meet.  See the Meetup site for details a bit closer to the date.