Sunday, February 21, 2016

Viola, most sweet lady x


All of Sew me something's patterns are named for Shakespeare's heroines. Voila is no exception, though unlike Shakespeare's Viola, this one never wears trousers!
As I said, on Friday, Sarah and I picked up the pattern and fabric at the Harrogate show.
I decided to use the fabric I had bought, but Sarah decided to use some really pretty fabric her she was given for Christmas. My fabric was some kind of fluke, I loved the outer fabric but the co-ordinating fabric that I liked, there just wasn't enough of! So I walked away the chance of being to match with something else seemed unlikely, then I saw the grey at another stall an amazing, perfect match!
I decided to go a size smaller than I did with Kate , I also decided to ignore all of the pattern markings as I like traditional ones :)I was glad that I had, as they were marked up incorrectly and Sarah spent quite a bit of time unpicking!
Tip The back is bigger than the front. That is all you need to know!

However the this is a lovely skirt, with straight forward instructions and the two of us cracked them in super quick time! I loved the bias binding on the skirt so cute and so simple to do. I left it off the inner skirt, because as it was the same colour I didn't think it would add much, If I could of made it in a contrast I would of.

I worried that joining the two skirts together might of been ardours and stressful- it wasn't. The pattern told you wear to pivot and even though I hadn't added any markings, It was easy to do. It was really exciting when you went from two unfinished items to a really stylish, double sided, skirt. Woo hoo!

I had thought about covering buttons but realised that the skirts would be more comfortable with buttons that sat flat to the skirt. Anyway yesterday I popped to town just to see if I could find any buttons that might be ok. I didn't really have much faith that I would, but look at these babies? Totally perfect!


It is amazing how different our two skirts look. I love mine she is almost sombre, dark and perfect for work both in the winter and summer and I love Sarah's,


she reminds me of the seaside and promenading up and down the pier. Inspired by what we had made I went stash diving and came up with these.

The brown and aqua pieces I bought in Canada several years ago. I only have a metre of each don't have enough to make either layer and the red needed a friend, but a little trip to the doughty's road show yesterday I now see two more Viola in my future ( or maybe that is four).

Sadly that is the end of my lovely week off. I have made a dent in my fabric stash and tried out some new patterns. I have produced some lovely new pieces for my Wardrobe and E's. I have spent time wandering around blog land I am feeling inspired to try some new patterns and buy some new fabric. All ideas for another day.

So till then happy Stitching

Ax


Saturday, February 20, 2016

Spotty Loveliness!








Hello,
Well as promised here is the update! I finished day one of my challenge and it went pretty well! As I said I found the fabric on Ebay which means that you don't get to feel the quality. Luckily the fabric is pretty nice! I do love this shade of green and the pattern reminds me of a Cath Kidstone bag that I had many moons ago.


I found the fabric a little tough to cut out it is a cotton and elastine mix so very sturdy! and the design is a screen print which was a bit annoying as of course the white background kept wanting to peep through where I had stitched:( But the actual dress?
I love it! I made again version C, but shortened the skirt by about 4 inches as the kids said the original was a bit frumpy. I also left off the ties as I never quite sure how to tie them and if you knot them they always make your cardi look a bit lumpy.
I whipped most of it up on the serger, which made it go pretty quickly. I have had my serger for quite a few years but haven't really made much use of it. A friend told me that it is great for jersey, which it is, but I am still learning all about it. So I was a bit Very over zealous with the seam allowances so the whole thing is pretty fitted making it a dress for weekend fun rather than work.

Not that I mind really, weekend fun is always good!

I ended up with quite a lot of fabric left from my two metres so I might be able to make a top. Today though I am going to be making Kate
in this cheerful stuff that I also picked up at Fabworks

Ooo la la my Francoise dress


Hello,
So are you ready for day 3?
Day 3 did not go exactly as planned. The fabric has been in stash since last summer I bought in Leeds Market. I bought it especially for this dress which is a bit surprising that it is actually being used.
1. because I usually forget and 2. I often go off fabric nearly as soon as I get it home.
Anyway I digress, I got up early and cut out my dress, making use of the dining room table before everyone else wanted it for breakfast.

I do love the Tilly and the Button Patterns they are so simple to use. Every instruction is perfect, ideal for a beginner or like me a lazy sewer who can't be bothered to think for themselves.

I really like all of the versions of Francoise especially the ones with a collar, unfortunately  mine was going to be collarless  not because I didn't want one, I did, but because I just couldn't find a fabric to contrast with the checks and believe me I had looked pretty much everywhere I could think of including in my stash!

I was almost ready to start sewing I just needed to cut the interfacing. Now I have had a de-cluttering in the last week or so and I am sure I had some left, black and white, but I have no idea what I have done with it.

So as soon as the shops opened, off to town I went. I had a wander around the market as Monday is fabric day but came away empty handed. Then I went to my local sewing shop to pick up the interfacing, when I spotted the perfect contrast fabric, the perfect collar. So lovely and purple!!

So my sewing day went on later than I was expecting as I was so late starting and none of the day's housework jobs have been done. Nevertheless  my dress now has a collar and I think  it adds certain adds a certain something and I love it!

Today I am sewing Renfrew. I have made several of these over the last couple of months for my mum. This one is going to be for me!

The Two Day Rooibos


Hello,
I bet you thought that was going to be another blogging hiatus.

Hmm nearly, as it turned out the Rooibos is just not a one day project.

Especially if you are silly, like me, and make it in linen.
The fraying! OMG the FRAYING! trying to add the piping and linen trying to unravel to nothing was nearly the death of  me.

The overlocker was being painful too skipping stitches. I honestly don't know how it managed that!

The dress though is so lovely!! Very stylish, sexy, feminine! I love it so much !!

The skirt swooshes so much fun it is a proper lady dress. Just perfect for summer parties!

Don't you just love that scooped back?


M says he doesn't like the pockets and as a rule I don't usually use them so I might not make them again. I can also get it over my head without undoing the zip so next time I might either leave it out or narrow the back a little either way   I definitely see more in my future.


Today though I am lucky enough to be sewing, with my friend Sarah. We are going to be making Viola by sew me something. We have done this a couple of times and I have to say sewing with someone else is actually really good fun! We picked up the pattern at the Harrogate show. We both picked up fabric there too ( some of it the same so nearly matching skirts ).

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Mine for a minute!


 
 
 

 
Hello,
so my day 4 project was super quick. The fabric was a remnant from Fabworks so probably cost less then £2.00 and because I have made so many Renfrew on the sewing machine this one, done on the overlocker, was done in less than a couple of hours. I tried it on and left it on the side to get some photos taken today.

E then spotted it this morning,
E:" is that unicorn fabric?" .

Me:"No it horses"

E" Can I try it on?"
Me:"yes"
E"oh it is lovely, looks like it comes from Joules"

Hmm I think high praise indeed! " Do you want it?"

"well!"

So quick to do and quick to go!
It suits her, but  the next version will be mine:)

Today I am making Rooiboos. I have had the pattern for about 3 years and the linen for even longer, I think I bought it on the local market but I can't be certain. When I pulled it out a couple days ago I was hoping for sunshine hence the linen. It has a lot of pieces so I am thinking it might not be finished in one day.

Monday, February 15, 2016

The Kate Dress.


Hello,
so are you ready for day 2?
I need to apologise again for the quality of the photos! You will be able to tell which pics I took and which ones my family did for me it seems they like me better in soft focus!

So let me just start by saying how much everyone loves this fabric, especially the men in the house. M even asked where I got it, there has never been that much interest in any fabric or fibre before ever!


Then there is the dress - unfortunately nobody, but me, likes this at all!

The pattern:- the nice lady at Harrogate told me that the sizes of all of her things were similar to white stuff. I went one size up from what I usually wear from them just in case and then I ended up having to prune the sides so it was a lot less sack like. So I think she was right :)


The pattern itself was supposed to be for a beginner, but the pattern markings were a bit lacking. I put all of the markings on, but missed the darts, only realising there were darts when it told me to stitch them (always a good idea to read the whole thing through before you start).


A shame as it then mucked up my pattern matching. Luckily the back matches perfectly or I think it would of gone to the bin ( I am a little repressed when it comes to matching stuff)

I don't think for me that the darts really added anything, they seem to sit a little low and I couldn't really work out how to fix this without re cutting the front. Maybe if I was bigger busted, they would of been more use, So if I was doing it again I think would probably leave them out.


Those are the negatives but there are lots of positives yeah!

I love the bias hems, neck, sleeve and pocket they were super easy to do and they look lovely. Next time I might be tempted to add a little ric rac in there just for fun.


The pockets had a great step by step and they were also super easy to make. So cute hey?

I liked the top stitching down the back it is another cute detail.



This is obviously another dress for the weekend, super casual and perfect over jeans. I love it!

Today I am making yet another checked dress (by the end of this week you might think I am checked obsessed) this time it is
Francoise by Tilly and the Buttons.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Time to Dust off the Cobwebs


Hello are you there?
It is such a long time ago since I was here. Full time work just seems to get in the way of the fun stuff! But today heralds the start of February half term. A week of delicious freedom, time for me and the younger members of the house to do a bit of what we like. Their time will be spent at the cinema, baking and with friends. And how do I want to spend my time? Sewing!!!
I have quite a fabric stash and a pattern stash and my wardrobe is looking a bit shabby. So....I have decided to challenge myself. On new item of clothing each day for a week, either for me of for one the kids.
Last weekend I made New look 6301 in some very cheap fabric that I picked up at Fabworks last month.
Excuse the poor quality pics! O took them last week and I had a stinking cold which meant I just couldn't face going outside, or pulling my jeans or socks off whoops :)
Today I am going to make another in some gorgeous green spotty that I picked up from Ebay. I shall show you that tomorrow!

Till then enjoy your Saturday!

A x

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