High Waist Bather Knickers

I finally bought myself a mannequin which I've been keen to invest in for a long time now. It has already been a big help in drafting a basic pattern for some high waist knickers and I can't wait to work on some more ideas I've got brewing.

I drafted the pattern up quickly and only needed to make a couple of minor adjustments. I was happy enough with the op-shop fabric I used from my stash for the practice piece that I decided it was good enough to become my new bather bums and with a quick hunt for some embellishments I found a pretty little doily I picked up from an op-shop  to sew onto the back.

Mini Skirt

A cute little high waist skirt I made from re-purposed doilies, fabric from the op-shop and some fabric that was in my stash left over from a previous project. I used a combination of machine and hand sewing.


                            

Crochet Granny Square Shorts

I have a lot of love for the humble granny square. These awesome shorts are made from 100% wool stash scraps.

Ocean Waves Arm Warmers

My creative focus over the past year has been further away from developing Sayuri Mei than I planned but with a life so full of creativity some things just had to be put on hold.

With the chill of winter beginning to ease I wanted to finally work on something for spring that has been in my head for quite some time. I have had in my stash some alpaca/ wool tweed in a gorgeous blue that reminds me of the sea and I wanted to reflect this in shell/ wave pattern arm warmers. Searching for shell knit patterns I came across a beautiful pattern for a cowl called Song of the Sea. Using the charts for the different size waves in the cowl pattern I designed some arm warmers that are beautifully reminiscent of the sea and are a perfect addition to my spring wardrobe.

Alabama Chanin Style Knickers

I'm a huge fan of Alabama Chanin, hand sewing is beautiful, relaxing and somewhat forgotten.

A while ago I bought some gorgeous organic cotton stretch fabric to make my own underwear. I made a few but in the end sewing stretch fabric on the machine was driving me insane. I had the pieces for my knickers cut out and they were sitting in my sewing box for at least a year until I discovered Natalie Chanin's label and found a way to incorporate her style into my designs.

I salvaged the thread from an abandoned thread factory. It's really good quality linen thread perfect for hand stitching.

I seem to be making a lot of underwear of late, at least it's useful! I sewed these up over a few hours and took my time to enjoy the process.

 

Crochet Shorts

So things have been pretty busy of late and I haven't had time to finish off any new projects but I made these shorts a while ago from scraps in my yarn stash.

They have definitely become a favorite in my wardrobe!

 

Layer Skirt

I love asymmetrical designs and layers and lace at the moment and I'm always a fan of warm earthy tones so I was really excited about making this skirt.

I designed the skirt a few months ago and slowly I searched for fabric and raided all the local op-shops for doilies.

The main fabric is a beautiful piece that my sister brought back from overseas a few years ago. I couldn't bring myself to cut it up so I waited until I had the perfect project to put it to good use. The lace fabric is a remnant I picked up at an end of year clearance, I love scrounging in remnant bins and collecting bits for my fabric stash.

The crochet cotton around the top and bottom was a part of my Grandmother's yarn stash which  I hand dyed with eucalyptus leaves.

 Detail of eucalyptus dyed crochet cotton.

 Detail of layers.