Secret Santa

 Last Friday was our last day of school before our glorious long summer break. Our staff do a "Secret Santa" and my gift recipient was Richard ... who just happened to be my Faculty Coordinator and who just happened to be taking 12 months of leave to live in Mildura ..... so, he was a likely candidate for the "Handmade" cogs to start turning .....

 I made some boxer shorts and plastered some photographic images all over them .... pics of Newcastle, pics of various Faculty Social things, school excursions etc.

 I made them from Homespun fabric and I used a transfer paper designed for T Shirts - the images do come out a bit plasticy, but I haven't had great results with other alternatives - and I was doubting that he would actually ever wear them until he immediately ran to the little boys room and put them on and then joyfully pranced through the staff room in a manner I had not witnessed before! I used BigHugeLabs to do some fun stuff with the images - one of my favourite sites to play on. I passed them around at our luncheon for everyone to sign - I think he was pretty pleased with them........ So what did I wear?

Well firstly observe the venue .... the picturesque Lake MacQuarie Yacht Club - it was a very hot day, very overcast - but there would be no place better to wrap up 2010 ....

 I made a Tunic Top and some 3/4 elastic waist pants.

 I used a Moonshine pattern by Monica Poole called "Artisan Tunic" - and I was very happy with it - my only niggly problem was that when tracing pattern you had to add on the extension for the side splits and I think extra for the hem - why not just include them when the pattern was printed? But other than that the instructions were good and the fit was great - I cut a size 14. The top has magyar sleeves which I thought would look ill fitted - but I think it all fits quite well. It's a lovely quick top to make. 


My main issue with this combo are the proportions - I think the top is a tad too long - even though it looked OK when I tried it on before hemming - maybe it's just the 3/4 pants - anyway - it may be better with jeans. I also foolishly cut the sleeves too short and had to sew on an extension - I omitted the 3 pockets and the cuff on the sleeves.

 The top fabric is a detailed sequinned cotton from Chic Fabrique - I had to used a walking foot to four wheel drive over this terrain .....

 And the pants are a lovely light and cool fabric called "Summer Crush" from Martin & Savage - 80% Polyester and 20% cotton - you can't iron it - it's one of those twist and dry things. I have a feeling these will get heaps of wear this summer.

Well, the end of busy weekend ... two parties on Friday ... two on Saturday .... no more on the radar - so I'm thinking of diving into some sewing before the craziness really begins.