Here is what I did today!

Starting to panic

2012-01-18T09:48:00.000Z

So I set myself a challenge to make a dress a month, its half way through the first month and I'm making very little progress! Eeek! Progress I have made

Bought myself a Lady Valet dummy
Set up dummy and padded it to resemble me ( a highly traumatic experience I'm not ready to blog about!)
Fiddled with New Look 6802 to fit it to me. I think its about ok apart from the length. I've done a FBA (first one!), made the whole thing bigger as I just can't seem to stop eating atm!

What I still need to do

Check the sleeves, hopefully they will be ok
Make a muslin especially as I've made so many changes although I'm not sure about this as I would normally use calico but this is for a knit pattern so shouldn't it be done in a knit? Any ideas?
Make the bloody thing!

Whats stopping me doing all this......

My living room atm

And the rest of my house looks like.....

so once my decorating finishes then I will be back to the sewing.... promise!

Carbon Copy

2012-01-03T09:54:00.001Z

So I received some money for Christmas and I’ve thought I would get myself a dress form hopefully in the sales. But after looking at some I can’t get a grip on which one I want so I thought I would ask the font of all knowledge, t’internet! I guess the first question to answer is what do I want from a dress form.

I want to

have as close a representation of myself as possible, I’m quite prepared to pad a dummy (in fact it will probably be essential to do this as I have ‘bits’ that need to be taken into consideration)
I would like to have flexibility to change the dummy as I have gained back a bit of weight I lost previously so I don’t want to do a Duct Tape Dummy ~~in case~~ because I will lose the weight!
be able to tissue fit on the dummy and be able to see all the way round and pinch and tuck and pin everything together
same with a muslin/toile, I guess I need to be able to stick pins in the dummy
Hemming……
I’m not too bothered about the aesthetic of the dummy
not be too freaked out at seeing what I look like in the flesh! Tall order I know! Maybe that's the point of it, to be able to see myself the way others do and understand the fitting solutions my body needs.
I have about £140 to spend so want to take advantage of the sales

Looking around there seem to be a few options

Source

I like this one for its aesthetics and it looks stable and robust. Is it flexible enough in its adjustments? How many adjusters do I need? Is more better? This one has 10. Split waist, foam backed.

£149 including hem marker

Source

Looks a little less stable and less attractive but attractiveness is optional! Has a hem maker, do these work? How? 12 adjusters including a split waist

£99

Source

This one has only 8 adjusters but has legs so adaptable for trousers. I’ve never made trousers, no plans to make any but might feel differently in a years time…….. Have a very squishy tummy, saddlebags and bottom so would this be better?

£120

Source

Diana seems to be a popular dress form, this is the fuller figure version, do I need that? 8 part body with 12 auto set dials. What does that mean? Split waist Looks ok.

£124

source

8 party body with 12 adjusters again with a split waist , foam backed so I can stick pins in

£99

So whadda ya think? Do you have a dress form, are they useful or is it something that will sit in the corner and never get used? I’m veering towards the Lady Valet but is it worth the extra cash? Do I need a stretchy cover for it as well, I’m guessing so to keep the extra padding in place. Help!!!!!!!!

2011

2011-12-31T11:39:00.002Z

Well its review of the year time……
I thought I would make a mosaic of the things I’ve made, and compare it with my plans for this year. Dangerous really as it shows that I did some of it but not all of it!

(Edit – My mosaic went walkabout!)

The main thing I wanted to achieve in 2011 and failed was a better understanding of pattern drafting. I’ve come to the conclusions that I need to use commercial patterns more first to get a better grounding in how patterns work etc.
I also failed to make lots of clothes for myself with only 1 skirt, 1 dress and 1 top! How rubbish is that? I DID make a dress for my MIL and a couple of things for Miss M but an epic fail for me. Miss C also didn’t get a look in this last year, something she is very aware of so that needs to be rectified in 2012! I also made a few things for the home this year as well, especially Christmas.
I have a plan, I’m still fed up of always being badly dressed and have come to the conclusions that maybe dresses are my saviour. In the summer months I wear RTW dresses 90% of the time but in the colder months its just jeans and t-shirts and not very flattering ones at that. So I need more dresses. And I’m setting myself a challenge. I plan to make 1 dress each month. 12 dresses in 2012!

I’ve even made a badge!

Now I know compared to Mena this is nothing as she makes a dress every week or even a 7 dresses in 7 days but there's no way I can achieve that so I’m committing to more than I currently achieve but within reason.

New Look 6802 I already have this one lined up although I’m wondering how the gathering will work on my tummy but well see what a muslin looks like.
Simplicity 2406 which came with Sew Magazine recently, I was thinking of View C as a wintery version and View D as a summer version.
Burda #101 I want to make another version of this but with a circle skirt rather than a rectangle
Burda #104 which I want to use a a base for a basic well fitted bodice that I can then adapt (boat neck, v-neck etc) and ambitiously draft a sleeve to fit the bodice!

After that, who knows. I don’t mind making multiple versions of the same dress, it doesn’t have to be a unique pattern each month. I would like to rub-off a version of a RTW dress I wear all summer and there are loads of other patterns I’ve got stored in BurdaStyle favourites such as Coffee Date Dress or Danielle.

What about you, do you have 2012 sewing plans, will you give yourself a challenge like me? Stevie has called them Re-sewlutions which I think is a great name, do you have re-sewlutions? What are you going to do better this year or what new skill are you going to pick up?
P.S. Its 2 years since I started this blog! Can’t believe its gone so quickly and I can’t believe how rubbish I am at updating! Next year will be different I promise!!!!!

Frantic Christmas Crafting

2011-12-23T08:18:00.001Z

Well the big day is nearly upon us, if I haven’t bought it we will do without, if I haven’t made it, well its too late now! We’re all looking forward to a lovely family Christmas here with 7 of us this year, originally it was going to a quiet 5 and then a change of plans by my brother (was going to be Australia for Xmas and then decided he missed us too much and came back early!) and then Matts sister meant that we are up to 7, not as bad as the 10 we had last year! So as its a ‘quieter’ Christmas I’ve been making….. again. After making my Tree Quilt I decided that I NEEDED to make a felt gingerbread house I first saw 2 years ago! Never let it be said I’m one for procrastination! In my defence its taken me ages to find thick (4mm) felt in the end I got it from Blooming Felt LAST December but it was a bit too late to do it then what with the 10 guests and all. Anyway the girls made a cardboard gingerbread house the other day and it reminded me that I have everything I need so I got to work.

Ta Dah!

Its cute isn’t it? The gingerbread is maybe a little overcooked but it was the only brown available last year but I think it looks great. The kids love it and Miss C helped to decide where to position everything. I might go back and sew windows frames onto the side windows just to finish it off.

The other thing I’ve been periodically working on is the Cross Stitch kit I bought back in February.

and here's the finished article framed.

Looks pretty good to me.

With all these Christmas crafty things I’ve made and all the decorations I’ve been buying our house is looking a bit like Santa's Grotto. I think we’re going to have to get yet another box to store the stuff in the attic and Matt will be banning me from buying anything else soon! So there ‘might’ not be any Christmas Craft stuff next year although I’m not promising anything. I’ve made the couple of things that have been preying on my imagination the last couple of years and nothing has caught my eye this year except maybe crochet snowflakes so hopefully there won’t be too much to do next year as invariably its late in the day when I get these urges and add into that both my girls have their birthdays in December and have full blown creative parties you can see why I’m kinda glad I’ve cleared my Christmas To-Do list. I’ll post something about their parties in the New Year as I just don’t have time right now.

OK presents wrapped check, turkey ordered check, Next Sale completed check (gotta love VIP online sales!), family en-route check, bring it on!

Have a great and safe Christmas and I’ll see you on the flipside!

My First Ever quilt

2011-12-12T21:15:00.001Z

Last Christmas (I gave you my heart…) I decided that the Christmas Tree needed a bit of jazzing up. We have always used a large piece of green felt under the tree which looked ok when the presents were on there but afterwards looked a bit boring and makeshift (which it was!). Due to Miss M’s late December birthday we don’t put any presents under the tree until a few days before Christmas so they are never there for very long and so the boring green felt was always there. About Boxing Day last year I decided I would make a Tree Skirt and as there was bound to be Christmas fabric for on sale after Christmas I would get a head start on it in the New Year and not be making Christmas things in late November/December as I was last year. Yeah right! So fast forward to November 2011…. I’d been looking at tree skirts but realised where we put our tree and arrange the presents I didn’t want a skirt, more a rectangle so I decided to make a quilt! I’ve always been scared of starting this as my main experience has been in dressmaking although I do read lots of quilty blogs. I spent ages looking around at different ideas, I like the quilts usually classified as ‘Modern’ (even though I couldn’t define what that means) and eventually found this Moda quilt and used that as my inspiration.

(Source)

The biggest problem I found was working out the dimensions I needed, maths not being my strong point I had to try to explain to my husband how seam allowances work and between us we kinda worked out the dimensions…. except we didn’t think about the footprint of our artificial tree! I’d cut all the pieces, sewn the strips and pinned them together before we got the tree out and realised it was too narrow. Therefore I had to extend the strips and after a lot of debate whether to match the strips or not I decided not to.

I cut the coloured pieces 3.5” wide and 11” long, the white totalled 15” and so was cut into 10/5, 6/9, 7/8 inch lengths. I made sure these lengths stayed together and then put the coloured sections in between using the ubiquitous 1/4” seam allowance. This resulted in a width of 35” and a length of 60”.

The backing was plain white with the traditional patterned insert, which I had to do as there wasn’t quite enough white!

Excuse the camera strap in shot!

The wadding was 100% cotton wadding and the only one my local quilting shop sells so I’m not sure if it was the best wadding or not. As you can probably see I quilted it using the stitch-in-the-ditch method which sometimes was in the ditch and sometimes not!

I bound it with 2.5” continuous binding which I sewed 1/4” from the quilt top and then hand sewed it using a ladder stitch which took forever. I thought I would sit down and catch up with a TV drama so I put on the second series of The Killing having watched the American version of the first series unfortunately I forgot that this was the Danish version and had subtitles which makes stitching small ladder stitches AND reading a bit challenging and therefore slow progress. Nevertheless I succeeded in sewing the binding and enjoying the TV programme!

I added a label (which I’ve blanked my surname out) just so Miss M and Miss C can’t pass it off as their work in the future, Miss M has already said it will be a heirloom and passed through the family!

My thoughts on quilting: apart from the whole maths aspect, which is a bit mind blowing for me as this is most defiantly not my strength I found the whole process very therapeutic. There's a beauty in repetitive tasks involved in quilting compared to dress making where every seam seems to be different and I have to keep referring to the instructions and have at many times sat there scratching my head turning pattern pieces round in my hands trying to work out what the hell the instructions are trying to convey. Whereas with quilting, as least with this one, the process was simple and repetitive, first sew the pieces to make strips, press the seams, sew the strips, press the seams, layer the quilt, pin the quilt, quilt the quilt, bind the quilt. I quite enjoyed the process and not quite sure what I was so scared of beforehand so its given me the confidence to make one for myself. Miss C is also eyeing one up as she kept using it as a blanket!

Here's an action shot!

Still here, still making just not blogging…

2011-10-13T13:05:00.001+01:00

Yes, I am still here, making but not blogging. When I first started this blog I would automatically blog everything crafty I have done but lately I forget to blog it so lets have a catch up.

I’ve managed to make a couple of items for the kids as I had planned to. I made both the girls a pink tartan skirt which went down really well after they had watched Barbie Princess Charm School as its just like Barbie's school uniform.

I used Liers tutorial for this skirt (I love her, she’s so cool!) and made 2 the same. On Miss M’s skirt I unintentionally added in a bit of future-proofing as I made the waist a little too big so I fudged a fix to make the waist smaller by sewing the waistband together a couple of inches. This can be unpicked when the waistband is a little snug for her. I also left a HUGE hem on the bottom and hand sewed a blind hem to hold it nicely which can be easily left down when she grows. Miss M has a pronounced belly so I used my drafting skills that I’ve picked up in various places to accommodate it so instead of dividing the waist into 2 for front and back I made the front a little bigger and the back smaller. This means that the skirt sits properly on her waist rather than hanging down below her bulge as she normally wears skirts. This prompted me to buy some (25m!) button hole elastic so that I can make some more skirts for them that will have adjustable waists and fit Miss M better!

I also made her a tunic/dress which she loves! I used Simplicity 2689 for this and used a lovely dress-weight cotton we got from the local fabric shop. Now what you need to know about Miss M is that she is obsessed with purple so she was immediately drawn to purple fabrics! The one she chose for this reminds me of Liberty fabric but was a fraction of the cost!

I did worry that it was a little too ‘old-lady’ for her but she was set on it. Anyway I needn’t have worried as it looks great!

This was view A dress with a very similar fabric to the pattern cover and can be worn as a dress but looks better with leggings.

What do you think? She loves it, we went out shopping wearing this outfit and she kept checking out her reflection in shop windows! Its just right for her tween age, not too young, not too old but with an air of chic about it. I’m thinking it might be great in a heavier wintery fabric like corduroy or wool mix what do you think? I’m pleased with my make of it, beautiful overlocked seams, perfect hems and matching seam even under the arm, I might be getting good at this sewing lark….

You can tell how much she likes this dress by the pictures we took

Next item to make is McCall's 6156 and I’ve got as far as tracing the pattern out to make view C as a dress. She’s chosen an odd fabric for this so I’m not sure it will look as great as the one above but we’ll give it a go.

I like these tunics that can be worn with leggings or tights on young kids, I think they look appropriate for tween age but allow the kids to feel grown up. I really struggled to find patterns for this age group and everything is little girl pretty dresses so I’m pleased the Simplicity version looks so great. Just need to get my butt in gear and make the next one…….

Stretching things further

2011-09-07T12:12:00.001+01:00

So as I said Miss M needs new clothes, she was wearing a dress the other day which has suddenly become very short on her!

(I can see her knees!)

As the bodice is ok at the moment, although not for much longer, I decided to add to the length. The fabric is a linen mix so I got some scarlet linen mix and added a ruffle.

(Before and After)

(Very cute!)

(Perfect for twirling)

What do you think?

Autumn SWAP for kids

2011-09-02T09:16:00.001+01:00

My girls need a autumn/winter wardrobe, especially Miss M, Miss C gets all the hand-me-downs so her wardrobe is stuffed. I’ve been looking around for suitable patterns for a soon to be 9 year old but haven’t had much luck finding commercial patterns for that age group. She’s going on 9 and I find some of the clothes in the shops inappropriate for her age so I like to make things for her, but not enough! So I’ve been collecting ideas from all the millions of blogs I follow and now I hope to devise a SWAP for the girls based mainly on skirt or dresses, t-shirts are the best things for kids and cheap enough and easy enough to come by not to bother sewing.

I made her some skorts in the past which Miss M loves and she asked for some more, with winter coming I thought I would make them a bit longer to cover the legs. Miss C wants some as well. These will be made with pink jersey leggings and the assortment of floral fabrics I have in my stash.

(previous version which has been worn to death!)

I want to make Miss M some dresses that I’ve drafted myself, I intend to try our Lorraine's Drafting For Kids series and end up with a basic sloper that I can adjust to produce a variety of dresses (Hell I want to do that for myself as well!). I kind of fancy a shirt dress for Miss M. Source
a pleated skirt

Source

probably in a pink tartan I already have

If I’m feeling brave enough I might attempt a pair of trousers (eek!) although Miss M has a tummy bulge so I’m not sure of the best style to accommodate/flatter that.

The problem I have with lots of the inspiration I find is that it all seems great spring and summer ideas but not so much on the winter clothing. The last two winters in the UK have been unusually harsh so I’m wondering if this winter will be the same and we need lots of cold weather clothes or whether we’ll have a mild wet one.

I think is time to take some measurements and get the ball rolling, the kids go back to school on Monday so I’ll have some time to get my head around the drafting and get something achieved!

Burda 101

2011-07-25T09:23:00.002+01:00

So after fitting the bodice of Burda 101 I finished the dress.

I lined the bodice with white cotton lawn, the skirt is a simple gathered rectangle but I treated that as underlining rather than lining so the lining is sewn into the seams and hemmed rather than hang separately. It was quite tricky to keep the lining and fashion fabric together even though it was basted in before sewing but the viscose fashion fabric is quite mobile so stretching is a bit of a problem. I decided on the hem length and finished the hem before it was sewn to the bodice, its probably not the most professional way of doing it but I wouldn’t have been able to do it in any better way. I also added in a in-seam pocket which is the first time I’ve done one. I used Lorraine’s tutorial as a guide, seriously if you want to know ANYTHING about pockets this is the place to go I didn’t realise there were so many different types of pocket in the world! The pocket come out great apart from being slightly too small in the opening, when I drew around my hand I should have been more generous at the wrist area, the pocket is still functional but it would be better to be a little wider.

(excuse the odd facial expression – need lessons on better photo expressions!)

After making this version I saw Katherine's version of the same dress except she put a circle skirt on the bottom and I think it looks much better for the reasons she stated ‘I had less bulk at the waist and more fullness at the hem.’ I felt like it was more a twirly dress than the fabric allowed and a little too bulky at the waist, so next time I make this (as I’m sure I will) I will try a circle or half circle skirt.

(We’re all dressed up for my In-Laws Ruby Wedding Party, Miss M is wearing a dress I made for her last summer so there were 3 Me-Made dresses at this party!)

This was the party I made a dress for my Mother-In-Law for. I was supposed to travel to their house (200+ miles) late on Friday night which would give me the Saturday morning to make some alterations if necessary but Miss C came down with a 24 hour bug, she had a headache all day Friday and then about an hour before we were due to leave she came down with a temperature of 101oC and had that glazed over look ill kids get. Off she went to bed about 6.30 and I sat with her until she went to sleep but then she woke every hour for most of the evening. I decided to give her some paracetamol to bring the temperature down (I’m never convinced whether to or not as you have a temperature to kill the virus/bacteria that has invaded you and taking paracatmol etc will bring that down and does that prolong the fight?!) and 10 minutes later she was sick so that didn’t help her all! She was half awake and half asleep and almost hallucinating or talking in her sleep with lots of gibberish coming out! Anyway Saturday morning she woke up and was loads better and after eating she was fine! Its amazing how quickly children go downhill and then how quickly they come back up as you can see from her expression above 24 hours later! So we went to my In-Laws Saturday and got there Saturday afternoon, therefore there wasn’t any opportunity to make any adjustments but if I had time, I would have tweaked the bodice a little:-

Take the back neckline in a little as there was a bit of gaping across the shoulders.
The front armscye needed a little trimming
The bodice could do with being a tiny bit more generous as its a little tight on her ribcage so the seams could be let out a little.

(I managed to get the crease out of the skirt front after following Rufus & Rachels advice)

Everyone was very complementary about her dress both to her and to myself and I was relieved it fitted as well as it did. I can still see what needs correcting but that's the problem with sewing your own clothes you just see the mistakes! I think it looks good and I learnt a lot by fitting a dress on someone else's body, adapting those changes back to the pattern, using a fragile fabric as this silk frayed badly so it was all a success!

Little Girls Winter Clothing

2011-07-21T07:43:00.001+01:00

Yes yes I know its summer but unfortunately the weather in the UK doesn’t agree with me! I was browsing in the fabric shop the other day (I only bought thread but I looked at EVERYTHING) and found some great needle cord that would look fabulous on my girls. Its ages since I’ve made any clothes for Miss M & Miss C so I thought they would be perfect for autumn /winter clothes but then I was stuck. All the patterns/designs I see for kids are pretty summer dresses but I want pretty-but-functional autumn/winter dresses. Only thing I can think of is a pinafore/jumper that can be layered with long-sleeved t-shirts and tights/leggings but there must be other possibilities.

What have you seen around? And who are good designers for kids (9 & 6) the Big 4 seem to be stuck in the 80’s and the summer so where should I be looking? Help gratefully received!

BurdaStyle 101

2011-07-16T15:57:00.000+01:00

I’ve been fancying a couple of patterns on BurdaStyle specifically #101 and #104 but I decided to go for #101 as I intend to wear it to my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary party and I didn’t want it to look too similar to the silk dress I made for my MIL. So I downloaded the pattern, although I didn’t realise it was just for the bodice and not the skirt. Not that its too much of a issue as the skirt is just a gathered rectangle so it doesn’t exactly need a pattern.

The largest size was just a little bit too small for me judging by the measurements so I traced it off and then added on a 1 inch seam allowance to accommodate the extra me! I added this seam allowance on all pattern edges but it should have just been the side seams. I made a muslin and then had a play with pins!

Here are some really bad photos please ignore any domestic chaos in the backgrounds…

I let the side seams out slightly and played around with the darts quite a lot but ended up pretty much with the original darts just lowering the bust point a couple of inches to avoid the Madonna-Conical-Bra-look. I needed to take the width across the chest in a little which you see with this tuck I’ve put in. I had to do the same thing when I was fitting a muslin on my MIL, I’m not sure what that indicates, is that the size is too large for the chest and that I should take a smaller size and then do a FBA? Anyway to convert this back to a paper pattern I retraced the pattern and angled the edge of the first version so that a small amount was right of the edge of the paper (centre front fold) at the top and the rest was added in at the lower level by angling to the left. I then smoothed out the neck curve so that it was horizontal at centre front. (Does that make any sense and is it at all correct?! It was more intuitive than based on experience or fact!)

Here’s the original back, although the pattern said to have a centre back seam I decided I knew better and I would cut it on the fold. This was a bad decision for a number reasons

It increased the yardage of fabric as both bodice pieces would need to be cut on the fold rather than next to each other.
I reduced the number of possibilities to tweak the fit!

As you can see there is some bagging and puffiness to the back especially at the neckline. Also remember this version has a 1” seam allowance all around including the neckline so that could have accounted for some of the flappiness there.

So I traced the pattern again reflecting the changes I’d come up with so far

putting back the centre back seam
using a 5/8” seam allowance
adding some extra width the the bodice
marking the sewing line and clipping the curves

The front…..

… and the back. I’ve put the centre back seam in and I tried pinning a wedge at the neckline but there was still a lot of bagginess in the back. So I took the back seam in about 1/4” all the way down.

At the moment this is just pinned so there are a number of creases and unevenness across the back but its miles better than before. It doesn’t show up well on the pictures but there was also a puffiness on the shoulder blades. I decided to trim the neck edge of the shoulder seam just a slither to pull it a little tighter as it was a little too high above the shoulder which then travelled down to the shoulder blade to give the puffiness. Again it was intuitive as to the changes to make, not sure if they are correct or not! It certainly looks better to my eyes.

Here's the final front. I’m quite pleased with it now.

I’m making it out of a viscose print which perfectly matches the colour of my raspberry sandals! Its quite sheer so I’m going to line with with a white cotton lawn (which cost more than the viscose!). I spent ages in the fabric shop today comparing different fabrics for their coverage and how they changed the flow and feel of the viscose. There was a lovely brushed cotton/flannel that would feel cosy against the skin but as this is a summer dress I went for the cool crisp lawn instead.

Both fabrics have been washed and ironed and are now ready for cutting! I’m going to use the lawn as a separate lining for the bodice but for the skirt I thought I would treat it more as underlining and sew it into the sides seam as one piece of fabric and at the hem. I want to do this as I don’t like the feel of a lining skirt separate to the outer skirt, reminds me too much of petticoats/slips that my mother made me wear as a kid! Also I can’t get my head round how to insert an invisible zip in 2 layers of skirt and I might even add an in-seam pocket as well!

My intention is to get a good well fitted basic bodice which I can then play around with and change the necklines and even progress onto sleeves! Watch this space….

Simplicity 5961–Finished!!

2011-07-15T22:51:00.001+01:00

So I finished the dress for my MIL!

What do you think? I’m really pleased with the construction as it probably the best finish I’ve done so far.

All the seams are either overlocked or bound inside bias binding so there are no raw edges. I did consider lining the dress but as its dupioni silk it doesn’t need it from a see through point of view and I think the stiffness of the fabric works well with the pattern and lining might alter the flow of the garment.

I tacked the underarm seam allowance to the bias binding to hold it in place, I’ve still to tack the bodice/skirt seam to the darts and I want to put a hook and eye on the zip just in case.

My only problem is that I can’t press out that crease down centre front of the skirt. I daren’t use a hot iron and I can’t use steam or water to help it away so what would you recommend? When I’ve been pressing I’ve been using a muslin pressing cloth (go on then actually its a clean tea towel! Must start a collection of pressing cloths…) on the right side and straight onto the fabric on the reverse but I’ve only been using a warm iron. Its been enough to get rid of lumps and bumps in the fabric but that crease is still there, actually it looks worse in that photo than it does in real life but it still bugs me so any advice gratefully received as ever.

The 40th wedding anniversary party is next weekend so I’ll get some photos of MIL wearing the dress (if it fits!) and I’ll post them soon. Now I have to make matching tie from the leftover fabric using this tutorial and I’m going to make myself a dress as well!

Simplicity 5961–Update

2011-07-13T18:02:00.001+01:00

OK, so I fitted the dress on MIL so next thing was to cut the 50 year old silk (yikes!), so I laid all the fabric out and set about laying the pattern pieces…

… took a deep breath and cut them out! I didn’t want to use carbon paper or pens/pencils on the silk to transfer the pattern markings in case it permanently marked it so I used tailor tacks.

To sew the darts I used this method holding a thread at the dart point to show a line to follow. I found it really easy and much more accurate than any other method I’ve used in the past.

Here’s the bodice sewn up. I’ve made a change from the original pattern to replace the armhole facing with bias binding to make what I feel is much neater more professional finish. I sewed the binding on BEFORE sewing up the side seam. Once the zip is in place then I’ll do the same on the neckline.

Here you can just make out the binding on the bottom left of the picture with the topstitching on the armhole.

Here’s the skirt with the side seams and half of the centre back seam prior to invisible zip being inserted. I’ve finished all the exposed seams using the overlocker and the other seams will be sealed inside the binding, this silk frays like mad so this step is essential.

Left to do

Sew bodice to skirt
Finish the bodice/skirt seam edges
Insert invisible zip
Sew bias binding finish to the neckline
Hem skirt with bias binding

Should be ok, I’ve also got to make a matching tie to make for FIL and I did want to make a dress for myself for the party but not sure if I’m going to have time now……

Muslin Fitting

2011-07-06T12:48:00.001+01:00

So I mentioned I was making a dress for my Mother In Law for her 40th wedding anniversary party, using Dupioni Silk bought from Singapore when she was a teenager and a vintage pattern she used when she was a teenager. Add to that the fact that my MIL lives 200 miles away and I won’t be able to get the dress to her until the day before the party. No pressure then!

So of course the first thing to do was to make a muslin (although I’m British and should say toile, I don’t like that word and can’t say it so I say muslin, so sue me!) so I bought the ubiquitous calico fabric and set about making the muslin. The pattern was a size 16 which was the size my MIL was using in the late 60s. I basted the seams and sewed the sewing line on the neckline and armhole.

I took the whole process very slowly, sewing one or two seams at a time and then leaving it alone. Eventually I ended up with a dress!

I inserted the invisible zip using this tutorial which tells you to sew the seam before inserting the zip, which is different to all the other instructions but its a much better finish, there isn’t that bump at the join between the zip and the rest of the seam. I shall definitely be doing this in future.

My MIL came for a fitting last week, now its 40+ years since she last made and wore this pattern and after that time and 3 kids I expected to have to make a few adjustments, the least of all being to move the dart positions and possibly having to adjust the waistline. So you can imagine my surprise when she put it on, it was like a sack of potatoes on her! She’s smaller now than when she was a teenager!

How unattractive is that?!

The back isn’t much better!

So I set about her with some pins and ended up with something much better……

I didn’t need to adjust the bust darts at all.

The sides where taken in about 1.5 inches each side

The neckline was a bit too gappy for my liking so I pinned a dart in there to take in the excess.

I’m particularly pleased with the back where I added 2 darts to the skirt to take in some extra puffiness.

So overall I really pleased with the changes I made and more importantly so was my MIL. Its so much easier to fit a dress on someone else rather than yourself!

In summary:

I took a good 5 inches off the length as MIL is not so tall and loads off the side seams.
I’ve made a note to sew the back left dart a little deeper as there's still a little loose fabric there.
I shaved a little off the back armscye as it was a little too tight so it was worthwhile sewing along the sewing line on the armscye as it showed this very easily.
I added a centre front dart to remove bagginess.

I’ve transferred these changes to a paper version taking care to line up the new back skirt dart with the existing back bodice darts. I was very pleased when 2 independent measurements matched up and I’ve pinned the paper pieces together and everything seems to match ok.

Now comes the nerve wracking part where I have to cut the silk! I won’t tell you about being awake at 3am this morning worrying about it, I’ll just tell you that I’m going to go for it and take as much care as possible and cross my fingers!!!! Wish me luck!

Bias Binding vs. Facing

2011-07-05T11:09:00.001+01:00

Just a very quick question that I need some help with.

I’m making a dress for my Mother In Law who visited the other day for a fitting. The dress is Simplicity 5961 and we are making View 3 so no embellishments and it is being made out of vintage dupioni ruby silk. She came for a fitting last week and I’ve made a number of adjustments that I will blog about soon, I was talking to friends mum who has years of experience about the dress and she recommended instead of hemming the dress I used bias binding as it would be cleaner and less bulky, I’m completely on board with that and I’ve adjust the hem length to take that into consideration. I’ve made a slight adjustment to the bodice neckline as there was a bit of gaping on the muslin/toile so I pinned it into a dart. I wasn’t sure how to reflect that change onto the paper pattern but my friends mum suggested just shifting the pattern off the edge of the fabric fold to make that adjustment. I’ve tried it in principle and I feel that's correct but does anyone have a different view?

Also because there is this tiny adjustment to the neckline it means I’ll have to do the same with the facing but it got me thinking (whilst in Zumba class of all places!) couldn’t I just use bias binding on the neckline as well? I’m not a huge fan of facings as I feel they cry out home-made whereas a bias binding neckline a la Pendrell seems more of a RTW technique. Is there any reason to use a facing over a bias binding finish?

Also can I get bias binding specifically for silk or will regular cotton binding from the haberdashers be ok? I don’t think I want self fabric BB as that would result in more bulk.

Thanks for your help and I promise to reward you with a more interesting post soon with pictures of my muslin/toile and the fitting!

Pirate Day - Aaarrggghhhh

2011-05-29T12:12:00.000+01:00

Miss M has been looking at Pirates* this term and so as usual the school had a dress up day, in the past she’s been Alice in Wonderland, a servant during the Fire Of London and a Lion but this time it was pirates. Luckily we went to Chessington World Of Adventures a couple of weeks before and in the Sea Life Centre on 3 for 2 they were selling pirate hats, swords etc so we got her a hat, sword and eye-patch. She wanted the whole Captain Hook coat but I knew there was no way that was going to happen so looking round on the web I found Dana’s post on the pirate costumes she made her kids so I shamelessly pinched her idea and made a pirate waistcoat!

The best part was I didn’t have to buy anything for this! I had some black linen left from a skirt I made, and some cheap striped poly/cotton I had bought ages to make a muslin. I used a basic bodice pattern that I know fits her with little ease so i traced around that adding an inch or so to get the right size, there was little science to it. I found a template of a skull and crossbones that would be easy to cut out and painted it using freezer paper and fabric paint.

I wanted a frilly loose chemise style shirt but wasn’t able to search charity shops for one so I took one of the school polo shirts and added some lace that had come from my mothers stash so its at least 30 years old! I hand sewed this lace on, which just goes to show how much I love Miss M as I hate hand sewing!

Teamed up with a pair of black leggings, long socks, school shoes and the pirate accessories makes the whole outfit look great!

(Please ignore the mess in the background! It was breakfast time, mind you it doesn’t get much better any other time of the day!)

(Channelling Jack Sparrow I think!)

*How come we find pirates acceptable, we’re talking about murderers, rapist, robbers generally all round bad people yet we glamorise them and encourage our kids to dress up as them! I don’t get it, its not like we’d encourage them to dress as Hoodies or even modern day Pirates yet put a couple of hundred years between us and them and funny accents and its all ok! We wonder why kids get confused when we tell them all their childhoods, don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t use violence and then we tell them all about S****a C***s the T**th F**ry and pirates!

Crescent Skirt

2011-05-27T11:03:00.001+01:00

I’ve been following Tasia’s Crescent sewalong and have finished my skirt and I think it looks great, like everyone else I really like the pockets but I also like the yoke round the waist.

Unfortunately there are a couple of issues (all of my making) , I made size 16 but it seems to be a bit too big, the waist is falling down onto a low waist (which is a problem I seem to have with lots of skirts, even when I measure the waist the real thing seems to be too big, must make more muslins and check out FFRP!) so next time it would have to be a 14 as the hip measurement is obviously not as critical. Having measured the finished skirt waist measurement its coming up bigger than the patterns finished measurement, maybe I’ve not been as accurate with my seam allowances as I should have been….

The other imperfection is the zip… I’ve only put invisible zips in before (with hit or miss success) and Tasia had a new technique to put the zip in. I think part of the problem was that somehow I managed to miss the step where I sew the centre back seam below the zip! Maybe being used to invisible zips I was working on the principle it would be done after the zip was inserted but obviously that doesn’t work with a regular zip. Anyway I had the zip in there looking lovely and realised what I had done so I had to unpick the lower part of the zip to sew the seam down. This bodge caused most of my zip problems I think. Its not too bad but the bottom of the zip is not as neat as I would have liked, the topstitching around the zip is also not as neat as possible and I had to unpick and redo a section of this as the stitches were fouling the zip. Anyhoo, I got the zip in, I decided not to topstitch or stitch-in-the-ditch around the facing as I couldn’t get a straight line well enough to pass muster (the fabric I used was a thickish black and white weave so its tricky to work out the edge) and I didn’t want to spoil it! I have stitched this by hand.

So that's the negatives, now for the positives, as I said I like the waistband, I love the pockets and the overall shape.

I also liked the zip/facing method of putting the zip in, had I done it properly it would have been a dream. Like the Pendrell the pattern is brilliant with innovative design features and techniques. Having the sewalong to follow is also a great boom as although the pattern directions are comprehensive Tasia covers alternative methods plus the posts are so picture heavy there should be no excuse to get it wrong!!!! I was able to use my overlocker a lot to finish the seams. Next time I think I would be tempted to use a contrast on the pocket and a trim on the waistband (although I never tuck tops in so it might never get seen!) and generally be a bit braver! When I was shopping for fabric for this project I wanted a colourful linen but couldn’t find it so I might try it again.

I’ll add some pictures to the Flickr group as well.

Tilly asks some questions

2011-05-07T20:20:00.001+01:00

Tilly was asking some questions today about what role bloggers play in influencing culture, we wants as many opinions as possible on a series of questions so I thought I would post my answers here for you to see and give an opportunity to give your own opinion. Have a look and give your view in the spirit of online collaboration!

What does the online sewing community mean to you? Why do you participate?
The sewing community is a real community to me, I, and lots of people these days don't belong to the 'traditional' communities of church, village, small town etc. so its harder to find like minded people in real life especially as many of skills/experiences we are looking for are no longer practised as widely. None of my close friends are sewers and although I grew up watching my mother sew & knit she died 6 years ago and its only really since her death that I've picked up sewing again. This means I don't have anyone close to me that can advise, correct, teach or just act as a sounding board therefore I read blogs. I read to find out how to do stuff, get ideas, I write to document for myself what I've done. When I first started my blog I wanted lots of people to read it and see what I've done so I used to put my posts on link parties, recently I've given up on that as I've become an ad hoc blogger and what I blog about is for me rather than anyone else's approval.

What are your favourite examples of projects initiated by sewing bloggers that capture this spirit of collaboration, creativity and innovation?
I'm participating in my first sew along (Sewaholic Crescent Skirt) and it does feel good to be part of a collaborative exercise. Previously I've watched sewalongs but this time I thought its time to engage. I like what Mena has done this year to with a regular theme and different contributors. Burda Style is also a great example of collaboration.

Who are the “leaders” in the sewing blogosphere? Is everyone / can anyone be a leader?
I think anyone can be a leader but not necessarily of their own making. The bloggers I feel 'lead' me are usually very talented with skills & knowledge and the generosity to share them with the rest of the world not for material gain. Not everyone is a leader, in my view its the people with something interesting to say or an interesting method of saying it that can be leaders.
These people include but aren't limited to Gertie, Tasia/Sewaholic, So Zo, Mena, Dana, Rae, Disney. I think its clear to see when lots of similar project appear on multiple blogs, e.g. Sewaholic design, Collette designs, Liberty fabrics etc. how these memes move around the blogosphere and we influence each other. I think the confidence to expect people to follow you when you suggest something as well as a JFDI attitude highlights leaders on the blogosphere just as they do in real life. Blog life and real life aren't that different IMO, we might exaggerate somethings, embellish others but at the end of the day the personality that comes across on a blog must be a fairly accurate one as I don't think we would be able to maintain a false persona for very long! I think the leaders change over time as well as its seems quite common for bloggers to burn out, I subscribe to loooooooots of blogs and every so often you see a women announce they are taking a back seat from blogging for a while as its taking over their real life and impacting on other things.

Are you involved in any other network of makers, whether online or offline?
No unfortunately as I say I have no real life sewers but I wish I were although I would probably doubt my value to join such a group!

What makes sewing blogs unique?
I don't think sewing blogs are unique, my OH plays role playing games using models and he's involved in a number of forums which have similar ebbs and flows. He's probably one of the leaders in that area and that's due to his extensive knowledge of the hobby, skill at creating and painting models and his lets-just-do-it attitude which results in him organising at least 2 meet ups a year for people all over the UK (& Europe) to get together to play, swop & talk about their hobby. I'm sure there are other forums/blogs for other hobbies/interests which have a similar pattern. I also follow other blogs (kids hair do blogs – Babes in Hairland, Cute Girls, Princess and her Hair, GirlyDos) and I’ve seen similar behaviour across those blogs, some bloggers have the talent to do something different but more importantly the charisma, style & presentation to make people pay attention. Its all about making connections which as I said before aren't always in your real life. Whereas previously you might have soldiered on on your own or even given up now the internet has provided lines of communication to find people who like what you like and have information to share.

So in summary I think bloggers of any genre can influence culture, either within that genre but also in the wider arena. But of course like any zeitgeist it will change and move and fall out of fashion. The use of blogs/forums will remain a valuable method of showing/influencing the zeitgeist in the short term (who knows that technology will bring in the future) whilst the current ‘leader’ will ebb and flow as society looks for new interests and individuals rise and fall in that interest.

Caught up!

2011-05-01T12:54:00.001+01:00

So I’m supposed to be doing the Crescent skirt sew along but what with Easter weekends away, Royal Weddings and day trips to London to visit the British Museum (seriously what a brilliant place, I loved it, it was amazing all the beautiful things to see there as long as you put aside the imperial idea that we could go anywhere in the world and take it back to Britain! Now all this stuff is displayed for us to see and learn from and they have some great kids trails to do, we did Egyptians and Dragons yesterday.) I haven’t been a very good sew alonger! I got as far as tracing out the pattern in the size I thought I wanted and that was it, and that happened back on on 18 April when Tasia posted her Lets get started post. It sat there staring indignantly at me thinking ‘I’ve been dumped, I’m destined to become a UFO!’ so this morning I guiltily gathered all my bits together and kicked my butt into gear. Choosing to ignore my family (come on its been the school holidays, 2 long weekends, I’m sure they have seen more than enough of me to tolerate one morning of independent play and their father can refer any arguments as well as I can!) and got myself caught up.

I decided not to make a full muslin as I felt it was only the yoke that needed checking. After sewing the curved seam wrong a grand total of 8 times (I know, I don’t understand it either, I think it was because there is no right and wrong side of the fabric I was using, either that or I’m a worse seamstress than I thought I was!) I finally got a decent yoke. I sewed it in Frost Fleece so I’m not going to show you as its too transparent to broadcast my ample tummy region on t’internet. Anyway I think the fit is good, sitting slightly below my waist on a low waist line. I think the length is good but I reserve the right to reduce the hem allowance to eke out as much length as I need.

I’ve now completed my least favourite part of sewing, the cutting out, I have all the pieces cut out and the interfacing so I’m ready to go. Caught up! Right better go and spend some time with the family, as I haven’t got any pictures to show you I thought you could have some pictures of the British Museum!

Wow oh wow!

2011-04-29T22:31:00.001+01:00

What a day, I loved every minute of it, I watched the whole thing all morning and I’ve read loads online and watched the new highlights this evening. The whole day was perfect, everything was fabulous (apart from Princesses Beatrice & Eugenies outfits!)and how did she look? Well how perfect is this……

It looked perfect for her, she will be Queen one day and she already has a demure and modest style so this dress is spot on for both these requirements. So traditional yet coming from McQueen so modern just like the two of them. The whole wedding seemed a seamless blend of traditional and modern with the horse drawn carriages followed by minibuses! This dress, the decor at the Abbey and the flowers all echoed that, traditional, regal, beautiful, simple. I wish them all the joy and luck in the world and the benefit of their long relationship means that they both know what they are getting themselves into so there should be some stability in the British Monarchy for the next generation.

BTW, both Gertie and Amanda have great posts about the dress, check them out.

Royal Wedding

2011-04-27T22:47:00.001+01:00

Is wrong to be so excited about the Royal Wedding as I currently am? Unfortunately I’m going to a street party or celebration but I shall be glued to the TV all morning Friday! What about you? What are you waiting to see, the dress, the coaches, the flowers, the fly past, the balcony kiss? My OH thinks its all load of tosh and waiting for it to be over but I can’t wait to watch it with my own little princesses!

Only 2 more sleeps! Just hope the weather holds for them…..

Eggs, silk and help needed!

2011-04-26T11:32:00.001+01:00

Over Easter I went to my in-laws which was great as the weather in the UK has been so lovely at the moment. The kids had a great Easter Egg hunt round their garden and house. Hubby made up some brilliant clues and they spent ages running around inside and out following the clues and finding random eggs, although Miss M ran past some a couple of times!

After the chocolate frenzy was over MIL said she had something to show me and got out some of the most beautiful silk you’ve ever seen! This was silk bought by her father in Singapore/Hong Kong/Bangkok in the 1950s & 60s. There was a red dupion (I think) silk which might have come from Thailand. As it is my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary this year MIL asked me to make her a dress from this ruby silk!!! After I hyperventilated a few times I said yes on the caveat it might go horrible wrong and she should have a plan B for the huge party she has organised!

Do you think this is Dupion? I don’t know much about silk but by googleing, wikipedia & looking at photos that's the conclusion I came to.

There are 3 metres of the fabric so we had to be careful about the style of dress, (immediately I thought of a boat neck full skirted 1950s style dress) as we couldn’t have anything that required too much fabric and also that flattered MIL and that she liked. After spending ages looking online at modern pattern she suddenly remembered she had some old patterns from when she sewed in college back in the early 60s so she dug those out and there was the exact style we had both been looking for, empire line, a line skirt sleeveless, low necked! And guess what her measurements are very close to the size of this pattern as of course its not a multi sized pattern. I bet there's not many women who after 3 kids and 40 years of marriage could contemplate wearing the same size they did when they were 20!

I very very quickly tissue fitted the pieces in a very rough way and it seems ok, my only real concern is the bust dart placement but that can be easily rectified. The plan is to make up a muslin and she can come for a fitting and then we’ll make a final decision on whether to go ahead and cut the silk. Yeek!

In return I got some silk as well!

Is this dupion as well? It has a similar texture but doesn’t have the two tone thread that I thought dupion had.

There was a nice little fact sheet in the as well describing how to wash silk and the manufacturer!

Then saving the best for last she got out a big parcel of the loveliest silk I’ve ever seen!

A green and gold thick silk, is it a Brocade? I think this is how it could be described.

There are about 10 yards…

…and with a beautiful sheen.

I presume this is the manufacturer (Hong Kong?) but I can’t find any reference to it by googling. MIL doesn’t know what to do with the fabric and I suggested selling it on eBay/etsy but I have no idea of its value. I did a bit of research but can’t find anything similar to gauge a ball park value. How does someone go about finding the value of vintage silk fabric and what is the best way to go about selling it? I know lots of bloggers buy and sell vintage fabric and I was hoping for some advice from blog land. Any help gratefully received!

Where’s the bandwagon?

2011-04-17T18:08:00.001+01:00

Yes I am still here, never being the most regular blogger I seem to have turned into an occasional blogger these days. I still read everyone else’s blogs avidly and in doing so have seen all the wonderful Pendrell Blouses around blogland. I stumbled across Tasia of Sewholic Patterns just as she was finishing her Pendrell Blouse Sewalong and then loads of versions popped up on various blogs each one looking as lovely as the last and making me itch to make one myself especially as I’m her target audience being very pear shaped! So when she released her latest pattern (Crescent Skirt) and was offering free shipping (from Canada fgs, I can’t get free delivery from Tesco round the corner never mind Canada!) on both patterns I thought it sounded a great deal (ever the MSEer!).

Tasia is starting a Sewalong on Monday for the Crescent Skirt which I intend to join in with BUT I’m away for the Easter weekend so I might dip in and out of it. But in the meantime I HAD to make a Pendrell and as part of my on-going attempt to transform from Slummy to Yummy I thought it would be perfect. I knew I wanted a white top, to be able to wear with a multitude of patterned skirts I’ve previously made so I found a white cotton lawn (I think) with dobby dots and little squares. Its a little sheer but not too immodest! I didn’t want my first (I’m sure there will be more of them….) version to be slippery fabric so I went for the cotton and it was really easy to make. The only problems I encountered were of my own making

I need to use a finer needle for fine fabrics as I had a problem with skipped stitches especially sewing through the various layers when sewing on bias binding trim. I used a new needle and I re-threaded many times but I kept having the same problem therefore I deduce the problem must be the wrong size needle. I don’t usually sew with finer dressmaking fabrics so I need to invest in better needles. I found this a problem in the past having used cheaper Hemline needles, and then swopping for better quality John James needles. I should have used a size 9/70 I guess..
The pattern is a little too long for my tastes, I don’t wear tops tucked in so the natural length is too long for me. I was too unsure about cutting the pattern before hand (I have enough trauma cutting the paper pattern as it is, what if I’ve got the wrong size? What if I cut the wrong line?! Can’t get a refund on a cut pattern!) so I ended up cutting off about 4 inches after construction. I shall go back now and amend the paper patterns to take this into consideration as I can’t every see myself wanting to wear it longer.
I measured myself and 3 out of 4 measurements ended up in the size 14 columns so I traced that size off on Frost Fleece. Using the Fit For Real People method I tissue fitted the pattern but felt that it wasn’t quite generous enough across the bust and hip even though they were the measurements that hit that size! I went for the Size 16 (and cut the paper pattern!) but I still have the Frost Fleece if I decide to go a little smaller. I think the 16 is a good fit but maybe a smidgeon big around the neck. I might try a 14 in a Frost Fleece muslin to double check the size.
Maybe because I used the 16 I found the armholes a little gappy so I sewed the side seam about 1/2 inch smaller and tapered back to the side seam, this seemed to work well.
I had to sew first and then overlock later as I’m always afraid to commit to doing it in one pass on my overlocker which made the process a little longer. Having done one version I think next time I’ll do it in one go, that might reduce the amount of skipped stiches as well as the overlocker doesn’t stop for anyone!

Anyway so late last night I finished it! As it was such a lovely day today I decided to wear it on our family visit to Fishbourne Roman Place near Chichester along with my previous latest creation which I never got round to blogging! Back in February I bought some Echino Bonbon in brown which I think made a lovely skirt but none of my family seem to agree!!! What do you think?!

I was wearing jeans when I tried it on yesterday but when I put it on this morning I had a bit of a crisis of confidence as I looked different and the ruffles looked waaay too OTT for me but looking at this picture I think it looks ok. I would like to make a turquoise version to match the turquoise circles in this skirt but then I would only be able to wear it with this skirt or jean? I would also like to try a shiny fabric but defiantly need good needles for that one!

I’ve got all my supplies for the Crescent, even though it took ages to find a fabric I liked so that's the next bandwagon to jump onto, at this rate I’ll be on to the Colette Patterns next as they are other company that everyone in blogland raves about atm. Crepe maybe? Or probably Beignet?!

So anyway after irregular blogging I’ve made up for it in this post a very wordy one which can be summarised thus

I made a Pendrell because everyone else was
I will most likely make another one or two
I’m going to make a Crescent Skirt in the Sewalong
I’m easily swayed to follow a sewing blogging meme!
I’m a crap Blogger!

Bedroom makeover

2011-03-16T21:15:00.001Z

Gosh, its been a while….. what have I been doing for the past month and why haven’t I been blogging? Well I’ve been doing a makeover to Miss M’s bedroom, you might remember I was designing and making a duvet cover a few weeks ago well I finally finished everything! She’s 8 now and previously her bedroom was all pinkified and with fairies everywhere so we/she wanted something a little more grown up (without being too grown up!) and there wasn’t really any character theme that she was interested in that would last her the next few years and all she wanted was purple. So we was decided on something bohemian, glamorous, eclectic and comfortable that would be appropriate for the next few years before she turns all goth and wants to paint it black! I decorated her duvet cover and make cushions using Pat Bravo – Dreaming in French range which I bought from Seamstar.

It was packaged beautifully!

and looked yummy!

So I cut and sewed and cut and sewed and cut yada yada yada ended up with loads of pillows!

I had 2 24” cushions, 5 16” cushions and a bolster (which required Pi calculations to get the right dimensions!). The square cushions are all envelope backed and the bolster has an invisible zip.

Here’s the bed in all its glory, duvet cover and cushions!

Even more cushions! A reading nest!

The walls were painted a nice lilac colour and 1 of the walls was painted a vivid purple colour, to match the curtain, and lovely vinyl decorations added (There are over 100 pieces on this wall!!!) And check out the mirror, how very Snow White is that?

How great do these look?

We also added some vinyl to another wall which has Miss M’s name in beautiful script, more flowers and although it doesn’t show up here some of the white flowers as well.

(I’ve obscured her name for privacy!)

A reading light above the bed for late night reading.

We changed the handles on her furniture which previously had pink hearts but now they are glamorous purple crystal-like handles.

One of the best parts of the room is her notice board above her desk. I investigated magnetic paint but found conflicting reviews about its effectiveness so we got a sheet of mild steel from eBay, primed it, and painted it with the wall colour then screwed to the wall. This means we can get some fridge magnets and Miss M can decorate it as she wants!

I think this is Miss M’s favourite part, her ‘chandelier’…

I think the mirror and the purple wall with white vinyl are my favourite

Mirror mirror on the wall…

What do you think? What's your favourite part, would you have liked to have a bedroom like this when you were 8?

Right, sewing clothes next, just bought Fit For Real People which I’m pouring over at the moment so hopefully I’ll have something to show you soon….

I shall be linking up with all these lovely link parties this week

Duvet update

2011-02-18T23:20:00.001Z

Thanks for everyone who gave an opinion on my possible duvet. I took your advice and made it a little less chaotic (I say I did but it was mainly OH, he’s much better at design than me!) and this is what I’ve come up with and that's what we’re going with.

I’ve been pinning shapes on this evening and its coming along nicely. Watch this space for the rest……

Constructive criticism required…

2011-02-16T21:53:00.001Z

I’m about to decorate Miss M’s bedroom and we’ve been umming and ahhing for ages about how to change the bedding, should we get duvet covers, make a quilt etc etc. In the end we decided to get a plain duvet cover which I will then applique on random shapes in the fabric range we’ve selected. I’ve been playing around trying to mock up the duvet cover but having a real crisis of confidence. Bearing in mind I have NO design experience, very little colour awareness and like bold patterns but usually too timid to use them! The colour range we’ve selected is Dreaming In French St Germain palatte by Pat Bravo with some Moda solids in flesh, purple and lilac. The duvet cover is from John Lewis and plain lilac. 3 of the walls will be a lilac colour and 1 will be a darker plum colour to match the curtains. There will be 4 small cushions, 1 bolster cushion and 2 larger cushions covered with the same fabrics as the duvet cover and the whole feel we are going for is eclectic, bohemian, warm & cosy.

Here's what I’ve got so far……

… what do you think?

I’ve tried to balance shapes, lights and darks and scale of print vs. solids. OH suggested embroidering her name on the bottom but I’ve just put her initial at the moment. I like the bottom and I like the corners, I think I like the 3 ripples in the middle but maybe the top right section is too cluttered.

What's right about it, what's wrong about it, am I on completely the wrong track, all advice gratefully received, even if you don’t normally comment, please give me an opinion today, I need blogland approval!

My day out in Brighton…

2011-02-12T21:36:00.001Z

I had a lovely time at the Creative Stitches and Hobbycraft Show at the Brighton Centre today. I went last year and reported back so I thought I would do the same!

There is a mixture of interests catered for including knitting, quilting, paper crafts, card making, general sewing and also miscellanous stalls like a bloke selling hanging baskets! This year there were less fabric stalls, in fact I only saw 3: Stitch Witch, Eternal Maker and the most beautiful stall I ever saw from Dandelion Designs; they were 4 deep at this stall, all oohing and aahing over the vintage buttons, Scandinavian-esque stitchery and Union Jack Quilt kits.

(beginning to regret not buying this kit…….)

So what did I buy? Well I bought lots of hab-dab stuff including invisible thread, a new blade for my rotary cutter, a new bias binder maker (which allows to add iron on tape to added) and a loop turner.

A new cross stitch kit for Christmas, I was on my way out when I spotted this and just had to have it!

Some strips of pretty panels, not sure what I’ll do with this but it was too pretty to leave behind! I could applique the panels to t-shirts for the girls or on a bag maybe……

and then……. from The Eternal Maker the most lovely Echino linen! Yummy yummy yummy! Echino Bonbon in brown. I bought 2 metres intending to make a skirt for myself and it cost more than I usually spend on fabric (£16/m) but I HAD to have it!. This stall had the best fabrics I’ve seen in the flesh for ages. They have a shop and workshop based in Chichester which I have visited before and will be heading back there soon!

There was a stall run by the UK Hand Knitting Association which was running knitting workshops. Wanting to capitalise my recent knitting adventure I had a little introduction to increasing and decreasing stitches and knitted myself a little kite shape. The lady also gave me a set of knitting needles and a ball of acrylic yarn although not as nice as the cotton yarn and bamboo needles I got from the WI workshop it will do for practise!

After this I decided to go Fabricland where I could easily spend all day and much too much money! I’ve bought from the website before but of course you have to pay postage but as I was in Brighton, well it would have been rude not to visit!

I bought this cotton seersucker with a peach stripe which was £1.99/m! So I bought 4m! I intend to make a shirt for myself with this.

This is a jersey mix which I intend to make a top based on one I bought from Dorothy Perkins.

This is a polyester blend, which I don’t normally like but it will make a lovely skirt for me. There might be enough for one of the girls as well!

So that was my haul from Brighton, I found the show at the Brighton Centre a little disappointing this year, mainly as there were much less fabric retailers this year. Chatting to a stall holder apparently it costs too much for the fabric retailers as they have to have a large stall to hold the stock. In fact all the fabric retailers had small stalls whereas the paper craft retailers had large stalls. I think if you are interested in more than just 1 craft then it would be worthwhile but I don’t think I’ll bother next year, especially as the best stall there is one I can easily get to, living between Brighton and Chichester!

These fabrics will have to wait for a little while as the next project is decorating Miss M’s bedroom….

Jam and Jerusalem

2011-02-11T14:16:00.001Z

I recently joined a Women’s Institute group which has just been set up in my local town. Now before you groan and assume its really boring and full of old women,( no offence to old women, I hopefully will be one for a long time, but not just yet…) its a really cool and funky group. We’re all aged between 30 and 45ish and there are a lot of crafters in the group already and some very stylish women, I feel very out of place sometimes! Anyway this week we had a knitting workshop run by Caroline who owns the cutest little wool shop you’ve ever seen. She divided us up into beginners and intermediate knitters and we set to. My mother taught me to knit when I was a kid and although she was a fantastic knitter (I remember cable and fair isle featuring in her knitting) the yarn gene didn’t pass down to be me. I spent 6 years knitting her a tea cosy, so long in fact that the kitchen was redecorated with a different colour so by the time it was finished it didn’t match!! I remember knitting as being very labour intensive and I ended up with very inconsistent stitches and random stitches! So I went to the beginners group! We did some simple stitches including ribbing and here’s what I did!

How cute its that, look how consistent the stitches are?! You can’t see terrible well but there's really neat ribbing at the top and shock horror, I ended with the same number of stitches as I started!!!!! Is it wrong to be incredible proud of such a little piece of knitting!

I showed to the girls and Miss M said ‘Oh that would fit Barbie!’ So I sewed the edges together and ta-da…….

Barbie has a new top! Or Skirt, multi functional garment! Its a little snug going over her hips (tell me about it sister!) but it works! Now I’m knitting something else….. I can’t actually tell you what it is as I have no idea, I did think I would knit myself a scarf but I don’t think I have enough yarn (might have to visit the shop and get some more) but at the moment I’m just enjoying sitting and knitting. I really enjoy sewing but I don’t enjoy that I go off in private to do it whereas with knitting I can sit and watch TV and spend time with kids and still produce something. I don’t think I’ll ever become a knitter more than a sewer but at the moment I’m enjoying experimenting.

Water bottles

2011-02-01T19:53:00.002Z

My kids currently take packed lunches to school every day so I made them some personalised lunch bags this year. Our school had a £1/2m building program this year to enlarge the school hall to allow hot dinners to be served, (all hail Jamie Oliver, we love you!). This means the kids won’t be taking their lunch bags into school but I still want them to take their water bottles as they can drink them in class when they need to. So (insert drumroll here) I made them water bottle holders!

It was based on this tutorial from Kathy at Pink Chalk Studios except I used wadding rather than Insul-Brite, this gave it a little more bulk than the original so my base disc didn’t fit quite as well as hers but I’m still pleased with it. The girls have already used them for after school activities and I don’t have the carry the bottle, yipee!

I lined the bottles with rip stop nylon as I did their lunch bags and I used different patterns to quilt the layers together. I can’t believe how much fun it was just sewing line after line to quilt the purple fabric! I tried using a more haphazard free motion quilting technique on the pink fabric with varying success. I like the end product when other people have used it but I think I need a lot of practice as it was a little too haphazard! I keep getting a little closer to the idea of actually making a proper quilt, maybe one of these days I’ll actually get there!

I shall be linking up with all these lovely link parties this week and crossing another thing off my to-do list!

Book Review–you’re next–gregg hurwitz

2011-01-30T11:54:00.000Z

Yet another book review! Wow I’m storming through my reading list, although I think it might slow down soon!

You’re Next by Gregg Hurwitz was a fabulously exciting read. I haven’t read any of his books before although it is a genre I’ve read a lot of previously Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Harlan Coben & Michael Connelly being authors I’ve previously enjoyed.

Without given too much away, the basis premise of the story is centred around Mike Wingate, abandoned as a young child to a foster home, without any knowledge or understanding of his history or the reasons for his abandonment. After brushes with the law he reinvents himself through hard work and integrity working his way to becoming a successful property developer at the start of the book. Suddenly his past comes back to haunt him and his family but without his understanding of why or who is after them. We are then led on a roller coaster ride with baddies, corruption, assassins, violence and terror as Mike struggles to escape the threat but also neutralise and understand the origin. His battle to understand his history and revisit his past is very well done.

It very hard to talk about a thriller without giving the game away but all you need to know is if you like this genre then you will love this book. When I get to the end of my current reading list I might search out some more of his novels. I really didn’t want to put it down as I always wanted to know what happened next. I could easily see this film being made into a movie, maybe with Colin Farrell as the lead!

P.S. I promise I will do something crafty soon…….

Book report–Philipa Gregory–The White queen

2011-01-26T18:54:00.000Z

So after reading lots of Philipa Gregory’s Tudor books it was time to move a little further back in history to the War of the Roses.

The White Queen refers to Elizabeth Woodville, a widow who’s family had been fighting on the side of the House of Lancaster, meets and fall in love with the rival King Edward IV of the House of York. Such a change of heart and fortune for the whole family sets a train of consequences which echo down the generations of the English Royal Family. The War of the Roses, or the Cousins War as it was known at the time, was an outright battle between two arms of the same family when King Henry VI was incapable of ruling. There were arguments over which arm had the stronger claim to the throne and ultimately this led to warfare. During the course of this book Edward became King, lost the throne, ran away in exile, returned and reclaimed his throne. Many of the major players in the battles changed sides repeatedly depending on who was winning. As ever with Ms Gregory’s books this is told from the point of view of the women involved, Elizabeth, her mother Jacquetta and latterly Elizabeth of York (subsequently Queen Elizabeth I’s grandmother!). Much is made of the charge made against Jacquetta of witchcraft, especially as her family had been linked with the legend of Melusine, a water sprite or mermaid in tales. I found this aspect of the story a little tedious with much obviously fictionalised depictions of Elizabeth and Jacquetta casting spells to entrap King Edward, raise storms to defeat/delay opponents and to further the family’s position. In my opinion there is enough intrigue, politics and betrayal in history without resorting to such fiction. That aside, I enjoyed this novel, maybe not quite as much as the Tudor series. I enjoy the fact of history through the eyes of women and as I read each of her novels I am eternally grateful not to have lived in such times. Although we can look back at them now with academic eyes and for entertainment purposes these were not good times for women, property of the men in your family, you had no power other than your sexuality, fecundity and wits. A women could be put aside for seemingly trivial matters by modern eyes with no defence or argument. The ability to produce heirs, specifically male heirs is of the utmost importance to royal families especially in times of such upheaval and uncertainty. Elizabeth and Edward actually produced 10 children, including male heirs to take the throne but due to Edward’s sudden death before the boys were old enough to take the throne, their uncle Richard III stole the throne from them and placed them in the Tower of London, declared his brother marriage as null and void and therefore made his nieces and nephews illegitimate and removed from the throne. The fate of the Princes in the Tower has been a subject of much debate both at the time and since. The White Queen has the younger prince Richard escaping to safety in Belgium and an imposter replacing him in the Tower. He returned to England at the end of the book under the name Perkin Warbeck.

The story of the Cousins War is not resolved in this books but moves onto The Red Queen which covers some of the same events but from the point of view of Lady Margaret Beaufort, a Lancastrian mother of Henry VII and grandmother of Henry VIII. Elizabeth and Margaret are players in a dangerous game and they both conspire, form and break loyalties with each other in attempt to get their child on the throne. I haven’t bought that book yet but I’m sure in later months I shall. I think I’ll put it on my reading list but at the moment I’ve moved onto a more contemporary novel with a much more fast paced plot.

Harry Potter Party Part Two

2011-01-22T12:08:00.002Z

The previous post showed you wands, robes, sorting hat & horrible beans! Next the lessons….

The first lesson we did was Divination, we bought some old tea cups from a charity shop and then painted some shapes on the bottom with glue and stuck tea leaves onto the glue. We covered the patterns with more tea leaves which the kids had to cast a spell over Ostendo Sum Posterus (Latin for Reveal The Future!) and then tipped the tea leaves out. We then used this manual for the kids to decode the images.

This was a really calm activity to do as they were all sitting on the floor, looking up their shapes in the book and reading out loud. It also took a lot less time than I planned so we said it was break-time and the kids could go play for a bit. Off they ran upstairs and one bedroom was Ravenclaw dormitory and one was Gryffindor!

Next lesson was Potions which was probably my favourite activity. I made a Potions Handbook detailing a number of potions for them, all based on kitchen chemistry experiments like bicarb and vinegar. We had set up a Potion cupboard with all the potions they needed and some bottles I’d made for Halloween. I’ve been collecting glass bottles for ages! They had to collect the potions required for each potion.

The Volcano Potion – spell Erumpo

Wow!!!

How did you do that!?

The Potions lesson was finished with an exam where the kids had to make a Cultivatum Victus potion. We had taken 2 plastic spoons and taped then together, putting food colouring paste in between, liquid didn’t work. The food colouring was hidden from them and casting the spell Aqua Infectum they had to stir the spoon in a glass of water and if the colour changed they would pass! Of course they all passed and I tried it with a spoon without food colouring and it didn’t work until they shouted the spell extra loud!

Next lesson was Charms aka Musical Statues, the kids had to cast spells (Petrificus Totalus or Immobilus) to freeze each other, they then counted to ten and were able to move again. This got very noisy and chaotic but it gave us time to get the food sorted out.

After a lot of debate about cakes in the shape of Hogwarts or Golden Snitch, Books, School Badge I got realistic about my cake making skills and reminded Miss M that in The Philosphers Stone Hagrid brught Harry a cake with misspelled icing.

It doesn’t count as a Cake Wreck when its deliberately bad!

The last part of the party was the Exam with questions about the books such as which platform does the Hogwarts Express leave Kings Cross Station? Of course they were all given help if they needed it especially as some of the girls didn’t know much about HP but Miss M stormed through her answers and was the first to finish will 100% which made her chuffed!

Their Party Bag to go home was full of Honeydukes Sweets. I made up bags of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans (no nasty flavours in this lot though!), Sherbert Lemons and Chocolate Frogs.

The best thing was the Chocolate Frogs, I managed to find frogs and I made the pentagram wizard collectable cards and laminated them!

I made ones with Severus Snape, Merlin, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin and of course Albus Dumbledore. Snape is my favourite and the Chocolate Frogs were the best thing I did for the whole party. I got most of the information on the cards from Harry Potter Wiki which was a huge source of information, pictures and ideas. As well as the sweets the kids took home their wands, robes, slice of cake and a certificate printed on parchment.

In way of a Thank You letter I mocked up a Daily Prophet newspaper and printed on parchment paper again.

So that was our Harry Potter party, yes it was a lot of work but boy did we have fun. I had fun creating all these elements and they really did add to the overall effect of the party. Speaking to the kids and their mums since its clear it was a great party and they all loved every minute of it and that's what's important.

Sorry these posts have been so long and picture heavy but if it helps you to throw a similar party then I’m glad. Good luck!

Resources

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/harry_potter.html
http://harrypotter-birthday.com/
http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/party_hrrypttr.htm
http://www.mugglenet.com/misc/rosmertas/index.shtml
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/crafts/potterparties
http://www.best-birthday-party-ever.com/harry-potter-party.html
http://marthashmartha.blogspot.com/2010/04/welcome-to-hogwarts.html
http://myharrypotterparty.blogspot.com/
http://www.britta.com/hogwarts/recipes.html
http://dirtandsunshine.com/harry-potter-party.html
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/harry_potter_parties_3.html#
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/harry_potter_parties_8.html#
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/harry_potter_parties_15.html#
http://myharrypotterparty.blogspot.com/
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/harry_potter_parties_10.htm
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.jkrowling.com/

I shall be linking up with all these lovely link parties this week

Harry Potter Party Part One

2011-01-20T09:42:00.001Z

Miss M recently turned 8 and is currently Harry Potter mad (bordering on obsessive but then that’s her character and another conversation!) so we threw her a Harry Potter themed party. I put loads of time and energy into this party and it was so fantastic that I have to share it with you. We had actually had to rearrange the party due to illness so it was month late. Be warned, this might take a while….

The first thing you need for any party is the invitation. This sets the tone of the party as well as giving the necessary information and this invite most defiantly set the tone. It was constructed like a letter from Hogwarts itself!

November 2010

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf Warlock,,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)

Dear Miss
We are pleased to announce that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for pre-Christmas lessons. Classes will be held on Saturday 18th December 2010 from 3pm to 5.30pm and will be hosted by Hogwarts’ newly appointed Headgirl, Miss M. There will be a final examination at the end of the day.
Please take the Hogwarts Express train to Hogwarts Academy currently disguised as the Muggle home at home address. There you will find the magical door visible only to Hogwarts students’ friends and families. The password is flibbertigibbet. The surrounding area is well-protected by Memory Charms, so it will be safe to practice magic, however please come dressed in Muggle attire so as not to attract suspicion from passing Muggles.
You will be sorted into your House upon arrival and receive your House school robes and wands. Parents are reminded that first years are not allowed their own broomsticks.
We are looking forward to your arrival at Hogwarts. Please respond by owl to email address or Muggle telephone system with a yes or no response.
Sincerely

Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

I picked up the text from a number of places and all the resources are at the bottom of the second post. If I stole your ideas in what I’ve done, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

The invites were printed on thick parchment paper and the envelopes had the Hogwarts crest on them instead of a stamp. There was great excitement in school when she handed them out and lots of squealing! We actually asked all the kids to come in their school uniform which was a bit weird for a party on a Saturday but it added to the whole Hogwarts experience.

When the kids arrived the first thing we made them do was to try Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, or rather Jelly Belly Bean Boozled Beans.

In case you can’t read the text, there are identical beans in the box, one good, one bad! The bad ones are Centipede, Toothpaste, Canned Dog Food (I managed to avoid that one!), Vomit (I didn’t manage to avoid! Blurgh!) Mouldy Cheese, Rotten Egg, Baby Wipes & Booger! There were 7 girls at this party and they were so brave trying these flavours, and let me tell you, they were disgusting! There was loads of screaming, squealing and disgusted faces, it was great! To be kind I offered them some Smarties in between to take the taste away, one girl in particular seemed to get all the bad one and no good ones!!

Can you tell the difference?

Next stage was to sort the into houses. Matt had made a Sorting Hat by covering a Halloween witches hat with brown paper.

The Hat had a hidden pocket into which we hid a phone which was set on loudspeaker, I lowered the hat onto their head while Matt was upstairs in the bedroom and read out a little poem to sort the kids into either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. The kids loved it, they couldn’t work out how that happened and Miss M still doesn’t know! Once they knew which house they were in they were given their robes with the House badge on. These were large black adult t-shirts which had been cut down the middle and I’d put on the house badge using iron-on transfer paper which you might remember I had little frenzy of activity recently!

Next on the list was wands. For this we went to our local Chinese supermarket and found long wooden chopsticks which Matt then painted and decorated.

Each wand was unique and had a label stating what wood it was made from (Holly, Elder, Willow etc) and its core (Phoenix Feather, Peacock Feather, Unicorn Tail etc).

In the wizarding world there is a concept that the wand choses the wizard so we covered them with a fancy sheet and the kids had to move their hand over the label and select the one which ‘called’ to them. I wish we’d managed to come up with some better interactive kind of way of doing this like flashing lights or sounds but it worked ok in the end.

Here they all are with their robes and wands, doesn’t their school uniform make it perfect?

Scary!

Slummy to Yummy?

2011-01-19T19:32:00.001Z

I’ve been writing this blog for a year now and in that time I’ve made some clothes that I’m quite proud of and have worn a fair bit but when I look at the clothes in my wardrobe and drawers I’m thoroughly uninspired. I’ve never had what I would consider a ‘style’ I’m usually found in jeans and t-shirt and now I’m in my late 30s I feel its all wrong. Don’t get me wrong I’m not wanting to reach for the polyester slacks from M&S just yet but I’m fed up of looking like a Slummy Mummy and I want to be more Yummy Mummy! Where I really want to be is to have a capsule wardrobe based on some really great drafted patterns that I know SUIT me and FIT me so that I can go fabric shopping, see a fabric, think that will look great made into such and such dress, know how much fabric to buy and know that I have a reliable pattern at home waiting to turn this fabric loveliness into my next favourite garment.

So how do I go about doing this? I guess the biggest consideration is the right style for me, I’m most defiantly pear-shaped with large thighs, saddlebags and a wobbly tummy (alright I’m working on it but it takes a while, geez!) and ok boobs. The rules for me seem to be

Fitted top half
Empire waistline
Princess Line cut
A-line skirts
Flared Skirts
Wrap Dresses and Tops
Jackets and tops should end at the hipline
Avoid pleats and front zips on tummy
No gathering on the waist
No bias cut dresses or skirts
Frilled hem on skirts (Yuk!)
Slash-neck/Sweetheart/v-necks/boat neck/cowl necklines to widen the shoulder to balance hips
Puffed/Gathered/Ruched/Fluted/Flared sleeves to draw the eye upwards
Dark colours at the bottom, light colours at the top (exact opposite of what I’m wearing today, no wonder I don’t feel like I look good!)
Nothing above the knee
Dark wide legged trousers
Bootleg trousers/jeans with minimal decoration on the butt
Longer length trousers
Wear Heels as much as possible (probably my biggest problem, I not a big shoe fan and heels defiantly not. I’m usually found in flat shoes and when I do buy nice clothes I find I haven’t got the shoes to go with it! Something major to work on….)

Sources (BBC, Shape Your Style, Women's Republic, Suite 101, Life tips, You Look Fab

Well I guess I need a list (love lists, I’m so Type A!) of what patterns I need and then work on drafting those patterns. I got loads of sewing books for Christmas so really I have no excuse but my own procrastination! I’ve also been browsing the Boden catalogue, which is always a source of inspiration to me, in fact it was looking at the lovely fabrics and the prices in there that made me start to sew clothes anyway.

Shirt pattern (can be easily adapted for seasons and styles, fitted, loose, long sleeved, short sleeved etc.)
Tunic pattern? (not sure about this one, often think I will look pregnant in most tunics on the high street atm)
Dress pattern
- Wrap Dress (Everyone says for my pear shaped body types this is the best shape, I’m not convinced myself as they always seem to be made of clingy jersey which drapes on my wobbly bits in the wrong way)
- Cotton summer dress (have one in my wardrobe I can copy and use Rivera Dress as inspiration!!)
Skirt Pattern (already have an reliable a-line skirt pattern, what else do I need? Circle? )

So what's my plan? Well I think I should start with shirts. I think I can smarten up my appearance quickly and easily by making some shirts that I can wear with my existing jeans & flat shoes. A few months ago I started using Cal Patch’s Design-It-Yourself Clothes to draft a shirt pattern but when it came to making it up the armholes were very wrong. It all got put aside and no more progress was made on it. So I shall get it out again and see if I can get to the bottom of the problem, I might scrap it and start again!

Favourite Shirt – Boden

So what about you? Are you happy with your style and your wardrobe, what changes would you like to make, what clothes would you like to see in your wardrobe?

Don’t you just love the postman?!

2011-01-08T12:37:00.000Z

I got an email the other day to say that Crafty Ribbons were having a sale selling bags of ribbons for £1 where they are normally £5. Well it would have been rude not to take a look….. So today there was a knock at the door and there was my postman with a bag of goodies!

Bauble

Country Christmas

Christmas Tree (all to go away for next Christmas)

Rainbow

Pink (cos I have 2 girls…..)

Purple (Miss M’s current favourite colour)

Valentines (well duh!)

Don't they all look beautiful, I have no real plans for them but I just want them in my stash. They still have some more available, check it out most of the bags are 8 metres of ribbon!

Menu Planning

2011-01-07T12:06:00.000Z

I've been using a menu plan for a couple of years now, it started one January when I had 2 freezers full of food but no idea what to have for dinner, so I went through the freezers and wrote a list of all the food and allocated it to days to eat so there was a variety of food each week rather than the same thing over and over. I found that I had enough food to feed us all for 30+ days! I just had to buy fresh fruit, veg and dairy stuff. Thats why I love menu planning, I find I spend much less money and we eat much better food. I'm not very decisive when it comes to chosing what to eat, left to my own devices I would eat spag bol or chicken & rice every night so having the planning part done aleady makes life much easier. I'l also a little too Type A not to plan things!!

My menu planing has evolved over the last few years but what I've always done is a monthly plan. I know that freaks some people out to know what they are going to eat at the end of the month but I find it works well for me and allows me to buy stuff in when it might be reduced and stick it in the freezer knowing that I'll use it next week. At the moment I have themed days dependant on the families activities

Monday - Leftovers from Sunday Dinner
Tuesday - Veggie Day (to reduce meat intake and reduce spending)
Wednesday - Mince Day*
Thursday - Slow Cooker/Casserole Day (busy day after school and need something on the table when we walk in the door)
Friday - Something seperate for kids and Parents, usually we all eat the same meal but on Friday I like to cook sponething special just for the grown ups
Saturday - Family Treat meal
Sunday - Roast Dinner, gotta be done!

* I cook mince in the slow cooker with onions, grated carrots, soya mince, herbs, red lentils, stock, and any veggies that are knocking about. I cook this up until the lentils are softened and then freeze into portions to cook for our family. We are 2 adults and 2 kids so I usually cater for 3 adults. This Mince Base is then used on Wednesday to make Spag Bol, Chilli, Cottage Pie, Curried Mince, Meatloaf. It makes the mince go further, is cheaper and healthier than just basic mince and can be made up big batches to be more efficient.

I use a spreadsheet in One Note to record all the plans so then I can just look straight there to see what we are having that day, you can print it out or display on one of the many menus you see around blogland but I prefer to leave it on the computer.

From Little Birdie Secrets

Usually what I do first is a stocktake of the freezers to see what I currently have, often leftovers from batch cooking or casseroles, I put them into the spreadsheet on the appropriate days. I also check the calender to include any commitments we already have, parties, visits out of town, meals out etc. I've come up with a collection of recipes which fall into these categories (some are in more than one category) and then I can pick and chose a casserole to put into Thursdays column, mince meal in Wedneday, Veggie meal in Tuesday etc etc. I collect recipes from all over the place but mainly on the web. I make sure that I keep the links otherwise I can never find them again! For this I use One Note again, I find it a great organisational tool, the ability to write notes, add links, spreadsheets to perferct for the way I work. I like to collect information, present idea, recipes, holiday ideas and then review them later and One Note enables me to do this well.

Tuesday - Veggie Day

· JP Cheese & Beans

· Lentil Burgers

· Lentilese & Pasta

· Potato & Green Lentil curry

· Chickpea Curry

· Red Lentil Curry

· Pasta with Pesto

· Pasta with garlic & Parmesan

· Veggie Lasagne

· Savoury Vegetable Crumble

· Pasta Primavera

· Roasted Root Vegetables

· Macaroni Cheese

· Pasties

· Lentil & Cheese Pasta

· Cowboy & Bean Pot

· Potato & Bean Bake

· Spicy Lentil Layer

· Vegetable Crumble

You'll note that a lot of them come from MoneySavingExpert forum, thats another great tip of mine! A brilliant group of posters on there with all sorts of information, money saving tips, deals, offers, recipes. Seriously even if you don't want to check out yet another forum sign up for the weekly email as it will save you money!

Monday Leftovers	Tuesday Veggie	Wednesday Mince	Thursday Slow Cooker	Friday Matt & Louise	Saturday Treat	Sunday Roast
03 Turkey Curry	04 JP Cheese & Beans	05 Pasta & Meatballs	06 Savoury Crumble	07 Spaghetti Carbonara	08 Turkey Fajitas	09 Roast Gammon Dinner
10 Gammon & Pasta in tomato sauce	11 Lentil Burgers Potatoes & Veg	12 Mince & Sweet Potato Pie	13 Turkey Casserole	14 Lentilese & Pasta	15 M&C Party M&L?	16 Roast Beef Dinner
17 Cottage Pie	18	19 Spag Bol	20 Sausage Casserole	21	22	23 Roast Lamb Dinner
24 Sheppard's Pie	25 Veggie Lasagne	26 Tomato Meatloaf	27	28	29	30

So this is my January Menu plan, as you can see there are still some things left blank later in the month just to add a bit of flexibility. If I batch cook a casserole I can immediately allocate that to a day, if OH suddenly puts in a request then I can move things around quite happily.

SO do you menu plan? Do you do it weekly,monthly, I did hear about a woman who planned a whole year! Are you a pick it up from the shop on the way home kinda girl?

Book Report - Philipa Gregory - The Virgin's Lover

2011-01-02T23:20:00.000Z

Well I said I wanted to read more in 2011 and I thought I would use by blog as a way to make myself commit to that desire. I'm planning on listing the books I want to read and then post a book report when I've read it. I think it will be interesting to look back on the books I've read and see where they come from (recommendations, presents, impulse buys etc) and which I've enjoyed. I would love your feedback on books you loved and comments on my thoughts on the books I've read.

Last night I finished Philipa Gregory - The Virgin's Lover, I know that's cheating as 90% of the book was read in 2010 but I wasn't recording my reading then and it's my blog and I make the rules!

I've read other Philipa Gregory books previously (The Constant Princess, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance, Earthly Joys, Virgin Earth) and I've always enjoyed the history intertwined with fictional plot turns. Of course there is the basic outline of the historical fact and I know there has been much criticism of this style of historical fiction but I enjoy it. I've found it an easily accessible entry into history and made me think about and appreciate British history in much greater detail than before. The Tudor period is one of great upheaval, revolution, renew, scandal and politics. We feel today that modern actions have massive repercussions (WW1 & 2, emancipation, sexual revolution, female equality, class wars, computer age, Gulf War, 9/11, Boxing Day Tsunami) but I think we forget all that has gone before, we forget the actions of Kings and Queens when they had political and religious power, sometimes the same thing and the consequences of these actions. The breakaway from Rome by Henry VIII has changed the course of British history in an unprecedented way.

The Virgin's Lover covers the early part of Elizabeth I reign. Queen for 44 years her reign is now seen as a period of stability with the most famous Elizabethan undoubtedly Shakespeare but many other Elizabethan figures including Sir Francis Drake. During the period of this book she had two great concerns and obsessions, Scotland and Sir Robert Dudley. Due to the religious politics the French are threatening to invade Scotland on the pretence of defending Mary Queen of Scots but this would be a staging post to then invade England. Having lost Calais back to the French in the previous monarchy Elizabeth was in great fear of the French and of losing the Kingdom she had waited and fought for so long to be the monarch of. Coupled with that the fact of being a woman in a position of power at a time when women has no rights of their own and no power over their own lives. This has been the aspect of Philipa Gregory books I've enjoyed the most, the study of how powerless the women were, even high-born women. The powerful families of the day (Bolyen, Howards, Seymours, Dudleys) would use their women as political pawns to marry, seduce, entrap and breed with power makers to further the families positions. Women had no say over who they were to marry, sleep with, befriend. They had no possession, no means of support other than their families and therefore are slaves to their families desires. Even Queen Elizabeth, supposedly chosen by God but still questioned by the men around her was expected to marry well to form an alliance to strengthen the English Crown and Country. We know now that this didn't happen, she never married and portrayed herself in later life as the Virgin Queen, although this book cast major doubt on that status!

The Dudley family was a major political power family during Tudor times and due to the flip-flopping of religious power in England during years proceeding Elizabeths reign the family although close to the Tudors had fallen in favour. Robert Dudleys father and grandfather has been executed for treason and he himself had spent time in the Tower of London condemned to death until a reprieve. At this time Elizabeth was also incarcerated in the Tower and even if they did not meet at this time (having already grown up together) I'm sure this experience would have bonded them in a way no other would understand. The Dudley family was power mad and although Robert had already married Amy Robsart he preceded to woo the Queen. He was a renowned womaniser and was well practised in seduction and Ms Gregory would have them succumbing to their desires, Elizabeth to have a man to support her in the undoubtedly difficult role of monarch at a time of great risk and upheaval, and Robert by the temptation of being so close to the throne, in fact he came to see himself and King and making moves to usurp the Queen herself. The slight problem on a living wife seems not to have stopped either of them much. You would have thought the experience of Elizabeths mother, Anne Boleyn, would have steadied Elizabeth's hand in matter of the heart but she waded in and fell in love with Robert.

The story winds its way to conclusion with political twists and turns and illuminating Elizabeth to be not a powerful decisive monarch as I previously would have defined her but more a indecisive, self-protecting individual, more of Blackadders spolit brat Elizabeth than Judi Denchs regal Shakespeare in Love Elizabeth!

Coincidentally the film Elizabeth was on TV over Christmas which I have recorded but not watched yet. It will interesting to see another version of Elizabeth and how that portrayal will differ from my previous image of her and this new version of her.

So that was my experience of this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading another of hers The White Queen although the order I've read her books in sometimes can be confusing as they have not been chronological correct!

Have you read it? Have you read any Philipa Gregory, what do you think of dramatisations of historical facts, do you think we should just look at the cold facts or do you think its valid to apply dramatic licence to flesh out the facts into a story?

Blogiversary

2010-12-31T14:34:00.000Z

So I've been writing this blog for a year now, can't believe its been that long. The intention of this was to document all the things I wanted to make and, well, to actually make them! So how well have I done? The list on the right has certainly changed in the last year. A couple of things are still on there from last Christmas but most things have been completed. New things arrived through the year and completed, other things have remained.

So out of the the things left over what will I remove, what will I add?

Make Banners for the girls (staying, planning on redecorating Miss M bedroom this year so I think I'll see if she likes this idea)
Make Gingerbread House for Christmas! (Have actually got the felt for this but ran out of time before Christmas)
Learn to crochet (remove, I did have a little try one time this last year, but I've come to the conclusion I'm not a yarny person, fabric all the way for me!)
Draft clothes for the girls (definitely staying, in fact this is my big intention in 2011 to really learn how to draft and construct clothes both for me and the girls. I had a little go at this a while ago but I need to redo the measurements with the knowledge I gained from my first attempt)
Try out my new Ruffler Foot!!!! (staying, I had an unsuccessful attempt which is why I haven't removed this yet. Had a few teething problems which I will definitely resolve in 2011)
Peasant top (staying)
Ra-Ra Skirt (staying, had one of these when I was a kid and the girls would love one)
Split skirt (remove, only so many projects I can do!)
Make One Hour Sundress (remove, ditto)
Make Ruffle top or even Dress (probably stay, although I don't think it will be high on list of priorities!)

things to add....

Make a Christmas Tree Skirt
Make loads of cushions for Miss M bedroom
Make a quilt (maybe for Miss M)
Make a Rag Doll each for the girls
Make clothes for Barbie
Make some clothes for a Build-a-Bear Bear (anyone got a pattern or tutorial?)
Make some clothes for me using some of the resources I got at Christmas
Read more books (I know this isn't a crafty thing but I'm setting out my stall for 2011 so I'm going to commit myself here. I think I'll use Richard & Judy as a starting point and see where those books take me. )

What have I enjoyed making this year?

Advent Calender

Purple skirt for me

Superhero cape

Skort

Dresses

Frilly top (which I happen to be wearing today!!)

Pencil Roll

All in all I've had a great crafty year and I'm glad I've committed it all to this blog. I'm glad I've got ideas for next year and all the wonderful blogs I follow will give me more ideas along with all the books I got at Christmas time. I'm glad that there are wonderful people out there who read this blog and occasionally give me feedback on what I'm doing and hopefully next year I can give you more opportunities to tell me what I did well!

Didn't I do well!

2010-12-26T20:06:00.000Z

So how was is for you? Here it was manic, lovely but manic. We had ALL our family staying here! So normally there are 4 of us in this house yet on Christmas Night there were 9 of us and 1 in hotel (he's the cleverest of all of us!) so it got very busy. Because of the snow and bad weather they all turned up 1 or 2 days earlier than originally planned so that's a lot of cups of tea, lots of meals, and lots of people! Add to that my DH has not been feeling well due to a cold which I now seem to have caught and you see how busy its been. Now we are down to 2 extra people staying here so that's much easier! Today being Boxing Day there has been football all day so I had a lovely hour and half on my own catching up with Eastenders (Gotta be done!) which was the longest time I've had on my own in over a week! We had the same amount of family staying last Christmas and right now I'm think that next Christmas I NEED a quiet Christmas with just us to worry about rather than EVERYONE else. We lost my mother 5 years ago and her absence is felt strongly at these significant times of the year and I had a little moment last night when I came to bed and realised how I'd been running around like a fool trying to make everyone elses Christmas perfect and since my mother died there was no-one trying to make my Christmas perfect IYKWIM. You know how us mothers are sometimes we need some mothering ourselves and without a mother to do it sometime we forget. Anyway.......

For my Xmas pressies I had made a list of craft books I wanted and look what I found under the tree ......

.... plus some that got stuck in Scotland due to the snow that should get forwarded on to me in a few weeks! Can't believe I've got so many craft books now! Its nearly all the books on my list (my brother is particularly generous!) not sure where I'm going to put them all! What about you, did you get some lovely crafty books. I'm thinking that I might make some of the Christmassy things now rather than leave it til next December and rush it. I already know I'm going to make a Tree Skirt so maybe I can get some Christmas Fabric in some sales and get a bargain! I'm also going to make the Gingerbread House that I've been threatening to make since last Christmas, I actually have the thick felt I need but I ran out of time. I think we need lots and lots of red Nordic felt decorations so that shall be on my list and most of the Tilda books! I shall be updating my list of what I've achieved and what I want to do in the next few days as amazingly its my blogiversary! Time to take stock and assess what I want to do!

Massive giveway

2010-12-13T12:01:00.000Z

In case you haven't seen it Sew, Mama Sew are hosting the biggest collection of give-aways you have ever seen, seriously there's 3 list of lovely bloggers who are giving stuff away. There's loads of fabric, patterns, wool, clothes, quilts, mug rugs, even a donation to charity! Most of them are willing to ship internationally so us Brits don't miss out.

Check it out and see what lovely things people are willing to give away!

Crafting B4 breakfast!

2010-12-11T21:47:00.000Z

This morning Miss C woke up and said she wanted to wear her Christmas top, ok no problem there, except it was too small for her as it was not even last years top but the one bought for her 2 years ago! Luckily for her she has a crafty mother.......

....out came the scissors and I cut out the appliques used on her old t-shirt....

.....take a red top that fits ......

.... some Bondaweb and an iron and you have a new Christmas Top!

And she loves it!

btw she's standing in front of my Advent Calender.

All done b4 breakfast, she wore it the rest of the day. What do you think? Cute or what?

Advent Calender Sew Along #3 - Still going!

2010-12-10T10:35:00.000Z

So I finished my Advent Calender with 3 ornaments on Nov 30 so I've been sewing like mad every evening to get the rest finished. Here's what I've done so far........

One for each of the family, I was doing Matts while he was watching his football team Liverpool play and when I asked what colours he wanted it came out in their team colours, so I put a little LFC on it for him!!

It's both my girls birthdays in Dec so I made a parcel for Miss C for her birthday, still got Miss Ms to make but she's already told me to colours she wants!

This is my favourite bunch so far, I made the snowman last night and he is too cute. I also like the holly as I feel it was well made. Not so keen on the colours of the stocking, but it will do. I've still got 8 left to do, one of them will be another parcel for Miss M and we all want a star on 24 so I need 6 more ideas..... Think I'll have a trawl through the Homemade By You Flikr group. I'm having trouble uploading my pictures to Flikr so I haven't been able to add mine, will try again!

Its Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssstttttttmmmmmmmaaaaaaasssssss!

2010-12-06T16:23:00.000Z

The best Christmas song eva.... released the year I was born and I'v loved it every year! It you weren't feeling Christmassy before you will once you hear this!

What's your favourite Christmas Song, what song do you love to hear this time of year, what song says Christmas to you!

Snakey Cakey

2010-12-05T17:51:00.000Z

It was Miss C's 5th birthday this weekend and she had a large party at a play area with 25 friends and an animal theme so the cake had to reflect that and she chose a snake. I Googled it (as any 21st Century mum does!) and found loads of cakes using bundt cakes as a basis but as I don't have one and didn't fancy buying one just for one party we had to come up with another plan. Swiss Roll! I bought 3 large chocolate swiss rolls (3ft of cake in case your're interested!) and husband and I proceeded to model with cake! He cut the cake and laid it out to make a snake shape.

(looks a bit like a t*rd!)

then we took about a ton of green buttercream icing

and covered, and covered, and covered

and smoothed and smoothed and smoothed

and then deoorated the back with Tooty Frooties and edible glitter, marshmallows for eyes and fangs and a fruit string cut to make a forked tongue.

Not so scary snake!

The kids loved it and it went down a storm at the party.

Miss C did very well out of the party, here's her birthday haul wearing her birthday t-shirt!!!!

Iron On Transfers Extravaganza

2010-12-03T15:02:00.000Z

So last Christmas my girls were lucky enough to have a visit from Father Christmas who was very generous and left lots of presents, so many in fact that they wouldn't fit into their stockings. So I thought I would help the old guy out as I'm sure he will be equally generous this year! :) I bought a pack of white pillowcases from Tesco for £2.50 and the using clip art and iron-on transfer paper I made personalised decorated santa sacks!

(please ignore my slipper, we're snowed in, slippers are compulsory!)

Here are some close-ups of some of the pictures......

My favourite!

Its also Miss C's 5th birthday this weekend and she is having a party at an indoor playcentre, (you know one of those hellish places with plastic balls!) for ALL her friends. As she'll be running, climbing, sliding (screaming, hyperventilating) a pretty party dress isn't appropriate so I decided to make her something special. Again using iron-on transfer paper, this time I designed the image myself (the butterfly fabric is by Ann Kelles Remix range). Its pretty cool and really cheap, the t-shirt was from Amazon and only cost £3-4, much cheaper than the personalised t-shirt I bought a couple of year ago for £20 which faded on the first wash!!

She loves it!

I've been had a bit of an evening with iron-on transfer paper as I also made some robes for Miss M Harry Potter party in 2 weeks (yes I had both my kids in December, no that wasn't very good planning and no I wouldn't recommend it anyone.......) but I'll show you all that soon. Keeping lots of it secret from her so can't take pictures at the moment but we made a Sorting Hat last night!!!!! Dunno who's more excited her or me?!

Skin of my teeth!

2010-11-30T21:00:00.002Z

So on the evening before 1 December I finished my Advent Calender! Maybe I should have started it a bit earlier but now its done. I only have 3 ornament so I shall be doing them as we carry on, both the girls birthdays are in December so I think I will make a present with their initial on for their respective birthdays. We already have a calender which we put little chocolates and they alternate days so they get the chocolate on their birthday so this will run alongside that one and they can alternate the ornaments.

Neat blanket stitch

Lovely tree shape

sparkly!

My first set of ornaments! Need to get moving!

I'm really pleased with how its come out and the kids love it. I hope that it will give them great joy over the coming years and even to their own children..... I've embroidered my name and date on the back so my girls can't pass it off as theirs!!!!

I shall be linking up with all these lovely link parties this week

Advent Calender Sew Along #2 - Progress

2010-11-25T13:46:00.000Z

Managed to get all the numbers finished and sewn onto the background. I also made 3 ornaments last night so here's my progress to date.

~~I've got 2 squares left to make~~
a tree to cut out
~~all the squares~~ and tree to be sewn onto the background
some sort of hanging mechanism to be organised
front and back sewn together
Ornaments to be designed and made (3/24 made)

getting there, long way to go through!

Africa Day

2010-11-22T08:00:00.001Z

Miss M has been studying Africa this term ( a very large and general topic!) and one day the school wanted the kids to get into character and dress up as ANYTHING African. I knew this was coming and back in the summer we were in Claires Accessories and saw a lion headband and mask so I knew we had to have it.

I had a plan that I would get some yellow/brown leggings & t-shirt, add a bit of fur and a tail and we'd be set. So off I went to find my supplies and first thing I found was a yellow polo shirt for 50p! Bargain, having that! So then I was looking for matching leggings but of course do you think I could find some? No! Then inspiration struck, I've got a pattern for leggings and at 50p a shirt I could get a couple more and make leggings!

So I cut the pattern out, even though I'd got the biggest t-shirt they had there wasn't quite enough fabric for the full length of the leggings so I improvised with the fur!

I sew a few inches of fur to the bottom of the leggings before sewing the seams, I also made a tail from some of the scrap fabric and stuffed it and sewed it onto the t-shirt.

Miss M in character!

Please ignore Miss C bored expression in the background, she wasn't interested in Miss M costume until I told her she will be wearing it in 3 years time! Hey, if the school can recycle the syllabus I can recycle the costume!!!

I shall be linking up with all these lovely link parties this week

Advent Calender Sew Along #1 - I must be crazy!

2010-11-21T22:05:00.000Z

So last weekend I was going through my bogs and I came to Homemade by Jill and saw that she has started an Advent Calender Sew Along so of course I decided in the middle of November that I NEEDED to make a new advent calender! You know how it is, we see something on a blog and our life will never be satisfied if we don't make it as well! So off I went to the fabric shop to get some nice white felt, I already had coloured felt and embroidery silks so I've been off and away. So a week later, this is where I am,

I've got 2 squares left to make
a tree to cut out
all the squares and tree to be sewn onto the background
some sort of hanging mechanism to be organised
Ornaments to be designed and made

Add to this the usual Christmas shopping, cooking & preparation for 10 guests for the Christmas period (staying!) and both my kids birthdays in Dec (including a really exciting intricate Harry Potter party) and you can see that I'm beginning to think I've bitten off more than I can chew!!!! I'm not going to be able to make all the ornaments before Dec starts but as long as I can finish them the night before I should be ok.......

Check out the Flickr group for more lovely calenders but don't blame me if you fall in love and feel you have to make one, its a bit too late now!

Spooooooookkkkkkeeeeeee!

2010-10-31T09:43:00.000Z

We had family staying with us this weekend so we had our Halloween Party on the Saturday night rather than Sunday, means kids can go trick-or-treating tonight! Compared to our American cousins we do hardly anything for Halloween but as a family we like to have a party and eat disgusting food and get dressed up! Here's what we did this year......

Dead Flies in the cupcakes

Cauldron of crisps!

Pepperoni pumpkins

even the gerbils cage was decorated!

Worms in a bun were really disgusting!

Miss M getting into character

Pink and Purple Delight!

2010-10-24T11:13:00.002+01:00

I fancied a nice autumn/winter skirt in corduroy so I trotted off to the fabric shop the other day and bought myself a couple of metres of rich purple corduroy.

Using my tried-and-tested-self-drafted-a-line-skirt-pattern I made my skirt. This was a lot more exciting than it sounds, mainly because I got to use my new overlocker and finish off the seams neatly! Ok so its a simple skirt and there are only 2 seams but work with me here, I was excited!! First garment I've made with overlocked (is that a word?!) seams after a few goes playing with it! It's ever so lovely!

So I had envisaged doing some reverse applique on this skirt, I didn't have an exact idea in my mind, maybe some sort of leaf pattern on the bottom. I started sketching out a few ideas and decided to go for a kinda-circular-leaf-sunflower-affair. I trawled through the scrap bag to find something suitable until I came across a pink knit dress that used to belong to Miss M. I had put it in the scrap bag intending to copy it to make her a new larger one as she had outgrown it and despite Miss C getting all the cast offs she didn't need another dress. Now this dress has been in the 'to-do' pile for about 9 months so I got realistic and decided that my need was greater than hers attacked it with the rotary cutter! There are loads of different tutorials and posts about how to do reverse-applique and I guess there isn't a right or wrong way, as each project is different, but basically I followed Lil Blue Boos instructions. The most nerve-wracking part was cutting the corduroy fabric as there's no going back once you've done that, I was afraid I would cut through to the pink knit underneath but I managed it (all the way through that stage I kept singing First Cut Is The Deepest)!

So now I just added a bit of pink bias binding to finish the waist and hemmed it and done. I know its not the most exciting or original skirt in the world but I love it as it was all my idea although I was probably channelling Boden when I thought of it! So what do you think? Funky, smiley, friendly, comfortable, unique and fun are my thoughts!

I shall be linking up with all these lovely link parties this week

P.S. It also means I can strike another thing off my to-do list in the sidebar! Result!

MIA!

2010-10-21T13:37:00.000+01:00

Ok so I know I've been gone for ages, I know its taken me a long time to get anything made but here we are at last! Drumroll please...........
I made a banner! Whoohoo! We do a Halloween party for the kids and each year we gather a little more Halloween decor, usually plastic spiders and the like so I decided that it needed to be fabric.... and I HAD to buy some Halloween cotton. Searched around and found Robert Kaufman Eerie Alley so that and a bit of black twill and orange thread and we have a banner.

Ok I know its not the most amazing creation in the world of crafty blogs but I'm back! I also have bought some purple corduroy to make a skirt for myself (maybe with a bit of reverse applique if I can find a suitable fabric from my stash to contrast it), a lion costume for Miss M for school (need to get some fun fur!) and a little business venture for a friend. I also made some curtains for our study which I decorated the other week which ended up having to be hand sewn as the fabric was too thick for to do a blind hem on my machine! Took ages but done now! I want to decorate Miss Ms bedroom and make her curtains, pillows, duvet etc but I think I'll wait til after Christmas as there is enough to be doing without making life more difficult!!!!

Lost in the Wilderness.....

2010-09-19T10:09:00.000+01:00

Well, I've not been very good at the making and posting business have I?! After the summer holidays and getting the kids settled back into school (btw thanks for the kind words after my last post, she's settled in great, having loads of fun and only a few tears. She's being bribed with stickers and that seems to work well!) I just haven't got back into the swing of things. For my recent birthday my OH bought me an overlocker

but my local sewing shop has had trouble getting it from Brother. I was really excited about it at first now its dragging on a couple of weeks and the novelty has worn off! The chap phoned me up on Friday to apologise and is going to give me some free threads to make up for it so maybe its not too bad. When it does arrive I have a list of things to get started on, not all of them NEED to be done on an overlocker but I don't see the point in making them on the sewing machines when I have a new toy to play with! As it was my birthday we went to Hobbycraft to spend a lovely few hours wandering round looking to see what I could spend my birthday money on. Spent so much time looking at things I wasn't really interested in (does anyone else get seduced by Hobbycraft that way? I'm not really into cake decorating but spend ages in that aisle?!) that I ran out of time by the I had got to the fabric bit (must go there first in future). Anyway I bought myself a new sewing encyclopedia but I was actually looking for a drafting book to complete the one I already have, maybe one of the Built By Wendy range. I also bought a storage box in a vain attempt to organise my stuff, I find its the fabric thats the problem, my cupboard is overflowing, needs some stash busting projects to get the scraps out of the way!

I'm about to decorate our office and I have bought fabric for curtains but wanted to see how much of it I can do on the overlocker! Hoping most of it with just a little top stitching on the s/m.
I'm also going to make some water bottle holders for the girls as they will be having school lunches after Christmas (school is a building site atm as they put kitchen facilities BACK into the school, gotta love the local council for closing down the kitchens years ago and now spending millions to put them back in! God bless Jamie Oliver!) and I'm sure most of that can be overlocked (is that a word?).
A friend has just had a baby girl and although I already gave her some goodies I'm itching to make some delicious adorable baby girls things.... dunno what yet!
Bought some Halloween fabrics intending to make some bunting for the spooky day

Also planning on decorating Miss M bedroom and I intend on making lots of lovely cushions, duvets, curtains & bean bags for her. She's in the process of making me a mood board so that we both understand what she wants and can achieve it (Her plan was to turn her bedroom into a performance area with a stage and curtain!!!!!).

So lots of projects in my mind but waiting on the overlocker to arrive.... Don't worry you'll be the first to know when it arrives!

Off topic.....

2010-09-01T12:50:00.000+01:00

So like everyone I'm getting organised ready for Back to School. The clothes have been bought and labeled. The PE kit is packed the lunch bags have been made....

This year is a bit different though Miss C is also going....... I'm sure you've all been through this the youngest starting school buts its a bit scary to realise that she starts on Friday! She had a trial run of her school uniform the other day and she looked so cute, but she also looked really grown up and also way too small all at the same time if that makes sense! Shes very positive about going to school, her big sister will be in the same school, her best friend in the same class so she's really excited about it, I'm going along with that and I know that once she goes in on Friday I'll feel OK about it but at the moment I'm having a bit of a wobble. That's why I thought I would off-load on the blogosphere so I can process what I'm feeling without letting on to Miss C that I'm anxious about it.

When Miss M went I'm sure I felt like this but I don't remember it. Miss M's personality meant that I didn't really have any concerns about her starting school, shes so confident and independent that she barely gives me a backward glance going off to do new things! Miss C can be a little more reticent at doing things on her own, she's usually OK when there are other kids around and she's one of the gang so I'm know she'll be fine.

I guess it comes to the fact that I know she'll be fine in school, she will prosper and grow the same way Miss M, she will learn skills I can't teach her, she'll make friends I haven't found for her, she'll have fun I'm not involved in and she'll take the first of many steps away from me. Miss M is well on that path to independence and with our support has flourished at school and Miss C will be the same, all the same I feel sad that the baby stage of my life has ended.

I was looking at a family in a cafe the other day with a beautiful pudgy little 4 month old and I felt nostalgic for the days gone by. Don't get me wrong I'm not broody, I don't want another one, but I kinda wanted to go back to those days just to be able to smell them again, to hold them again and to feel that they need me as much as they did then. Babyhood is gone in a flash and you don't realise it at the time, it seems like an endless round of sleepless nights, dirty nappies and crying babies. If you still at that stage with your children give them a extra hug from me and try to remember that smell!

Right enough wallowing from me, I've offloaded my thoughts on your guys and thank you for listening, normal service will resume soon, I'll have more time on my hands so I might get some sewing done soon!

Skirts

2010-08-08T21:41:00.002+01:00

Using my tried and trusted self-drafted a-line skirt pattern I made myself a new skirt the other day. I got some black linen/polyester blend and made my usual skirt with french seams, concealed zip and blind hem.

I also used bias binding on the waistband, previously when I've done this I've just sewn the binding on but this time I used the crease and stiched in the ditch on the other side.

I think I've done quite a good job

I also went back to the first skirt I drafted where I had made a very basic waistband and sewn onto the skirt. Unfortunately this made for a very unflattering and uncomfortable waistband so I took it off and replaced it with bias binding instead. It makes a much neater, more comfortable and pleasing waistband.