Spoonflower and Sarah Longline

 Finally seem to of found a pantie pattern that fits well. It doesn't even make much difference which fabric I use. Yeah!!! It is actually the pantie pattern that comes with the Watson Bra from Cloth Habit. The rise on them is actually the perfect dimensions aka they sit in the right places.

This is once again the Sarah Longline which is one of my standby for a comfy bra with a bit of style. It's perfect for playing with different fabrics, be it prints, textures or types. This one along with the panties is made from another Spoonflower Fabric I ordered. It is a modern jersey called 'Dancing in the Smokey Moonlight' by stichyritchie.

Have really been enjoying the fabrics I got from Spoonflower. I would recommend the modern jersey and the skies the limit when it comes to fabric designs. The black stretch lace I used is from a piece I picked up at the fabric consignment store in Pike Market called Our Fabric Stash. It is always an adventure when stepping foot through their door as who knows what treasures you may find. My daughter loves to dig through the baskets of decorating fabric swatches.
The light grey edging is fold over elastic from Sew Sassy Fabrics, the ruffle elastic on the panties is from Fabricland. The bra strapping is from BraMaker's Supply in Hamilton.

Book Review - The Unmentionable History of the West

Really enjoyed this book.

Nancy Millar does a wonderful job of combining history and anecdotes into a well written book. Throughout the book you learn little snippets about what it was like to be a female during the settlement of Western Canada. As the title suggest she does this through discussing underwear, menstruation, pregnancy, child birth, wedding nights, sex, and the many other perils of being a woman. 

The book has images of old advertisements, health manuals and catalogues to help establish how such matters as unmentionables were dealt with. The phrasing often is quaint and humourous and it is well worth reading the fine print. She also discusses how the women's movement was effected by what society classed as unmentionables and how women were very important to the development of history in Canada.

I liked the book so much I sent a copy to my father, who reads a lot of history books, he was put off a bit by the topic at first but ended up really enjoying it. It is surprising sometimes how much the history of fashion can tell you about the development of society. So The Unmentionable History of the West is well worth the read be it for Canadian history or for the unmentionables covered.

Pattern Review : Stitch Upon A Time - Boxers

Made a pair of women's boxers to go with my Watson Bra. Still loving the fabric from Spoonflower and this short circuit design by robyriker. 
The women's boxer pattern is from Stitch Upon A Time. Made up the short leg version which is a good thing. The longer leg absolutely would not of worked with this fabric. If doing the longer leg I would definitely recommend using a 4 way stretch, that is unless you don't have large or muscular legs. Truthfully I am probably going to reshape the legs on this pair. I found that they rolled on me. Otherwise they were extremely easy to sew up and fit quite well. Did the higher waisted option from pattern. 
I also have a couple of more patterns to try from Stitch Upon A Time. One being the Fauna Jacket which I am going to use the rest of my short circuits fabric for along with some wonderful French Terry I picked up at DryGoods Design in Pioneer Square.

Spoonflower Fabric Watson Bra and Panties

Have been using some of the fabrics I got from Spoonflower. This is the Short Circuits in modern jersey designed by Robyriker. So far I have been very happy with the quality of fabrics from Spponflower. They are washing well and seem to keep their spring back quality.

The Watson Bra sewed up nicely and seems like a nice fit. The black fabric is powernet I picked up from Bra Makers Supply when I went to Boob Camp a while ago. The bra strapping is also from there as I bought some of their clearance spools recently - one in black and one in beige. It is a nice size and the price was definitely right. The picot elastic is from Sew Sassy Fabrics

The panties are a nice basic style, will have to see how they fit after they have been washed a couple of times. I haven't been having much luck in the sizing of panties recently, it varies greatly between every type of fabric. So unless I make every pair from the exact same fabric, which I must say would be a bit boring, I may be out of luck. It has been getting a bit discouraging. 

Evergreen Brickworks

During my visit to my parents we got to visit the Evergreen Brickworks on the lower Don Valley in Toronto, Ontario. My brother wanted to check out the Seedy Sunday that was going on and well he had to drop us off at the hotel so we could catch an early flight back to Seattle the next morning. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day which made the trip even more enjoyable. 

The space is amazing and is a wonderful combination of history, environment and art. Definitely wasn't this when I was living in Toronto. 

Isadora and her cousin enjoyed the music provided by the DJ's and a bit of hulahooping. The beats resulted in much dancing from Isadora. There was also a great selection of food trucks so we had some food and beverages.

A view of Seedy Sunday from above. Lots of heritage seeds, alternative growing options, and greenery was available.

 An example of some of the living green walls they are gradually adding throughout the space.

A  small selection of some of the urban art that is always on display. Throughout the old kilns they have also created spaces for artists to display and sell their art during market days. Will definitely have to check it out some Saturday when back that way. But there is always so much to accomplish when back in Ontario and I never accomplish half of what I plan. As was proven with this last trip ;0).

SteamPunk Inspired Set

Went to visit my parents back in Ontario, Canada and the blog got neglected in the process. Partially due to the fact that I am spoiled when it comes to internet access normally. My parents still actually plug in to an actual modem aka NO Wireless which is just odd feeling. 

This is an outfit I made just before I headed East. It is actually still on my mannequin by the front door. She is quite often naked or just wearing a backpack so she is probably enjoying being a bit more covered for the last bit.

Made with the Ohhh Lulu Longline Bra and Grace Panties again. It has been a very comfy pattern, am sure it will become a standby for me. In this longline I put a bra closure on the back because somedays I just don't want to be pulling things over my head. The fabric also has a little less give then the last one I made.

As for the fabric:

Purple stretch lace fabric was bought at Stitches in Capital Hill, Seattle

Purple trim on bra is from Arte Crafts Bra Making Supplies

Elastic on panties is from Sew Sassy Fabrics

Wonderful printed cotton jersey is from Spoonflower Fabrics designed by Artgarage. Love the concept of Spoonflower, fabric printed to order with designs by independent artists. I have now tried two types of fabric from them and they have both washed wonderfully and the colours are staying pretty true.

Rose Bra

While looking at some websites and forums I noticed that another independent designer had released some PDF patterns for undergarments. So thus I had to check them out. I decided to try the Rose Bra by Evie la Luve. I think where I first came upon her was through Pinterest and Folksy. But I noticed she has a site on Etsy and Craftsy also. 

I went with making a size small which needed the standard 2" out of the back band which I typically have to do with most bra patterns. I find when I do try doing the extra smalls the front is not spaced accordingly. My mannequin has a similar breast shape to mine so as you can see there is space between the breasts. For me to accomplish cleavage a definite push up and over bra is necessary ;0).

Comfort has been my primary concern in my bra making this last bit and this meets that criteria. You may recognize the skull and crossbone fabric from a previous post(I think I have at least 10m of this fabric - deadstock I picked up at some point and my present go to for testing). The stretch lace I used is from Sew Sassy. 

Other thoughts on Evie la Luve
I did have some issues with printing the pattern to get the correct 8cm square gauge but perseverance paid off. Printing it on legal size paper seemed to do the trick.
Instructions included photos along with steps of assembly. Anyone with sewing experience should be able to make the Rose Bra. A good beginner pattern for someone just starting out in making lingerie as there are only three pattern pieces.