A New Year of Sewing and a Vintage Dress

 Happy new year to you all, I hope you all got to celebrate in some way with your nearest families. For us it was an evening watching Vikings then off to bed before midnight with the youngest of the dogs going with us as the fireworks drive him crazy!  This has become worse as I am sure the fireworks keep getting louder, he never used to bother a few years ago, so taking him up with us for comfort was the best option.

My afternoon was spent making a vintage style dress for my son's girlfriend out of the Burda vintage anniversary edition.  It was not an easy make, it kept referring to markings that could not be seen on the pieces as the pattern sheet was so busy and despite straining my eyes I am certain they are not there!  Usually this is not a problem as I try on and sort things my way but as it is not for me and she is not here I could not do this. Also the fabric was so slinky it reminded me of the microfibre we used to use when I used to make sportwear for a company, it slides al over the place so lots of cursing ;)  I eventually got it made up and it is hanging on my mannequin but not before having to completely redo a front facing as the interfacing was showing through.  Yes not the most relaxing make, I really need her to try it now so I can finish it properly but to be honest I want to see the back of it, have you ever made anything like that? It really was such a contrast to the lovely relaxing day of sewing I had  making the hare dress a few days ago.  It just goes to show not all projects are equal and I would imagine if you were just starting out that could be the kind of thing to put you right off. 

So here it needs adjusting at the waist but we are different sizes so I need her to try it so I can do this properly.

She also didn't want the overskirt so it is just the image on the right but in the deep red fabric.

  So if you are out there and your new year resolution is to start making your own clothes do not be put off if you have an experience like this.  It just happens sometimes so just move on and make something else, I have been sewing years and this was just a combination of bad pattern markings, making for someone not here to fit to and the fabric.  So I will just accept this and move on, the plus side is that it looks nice, I have actually made the shoulder gathers into little pleats as I thought they looked neater.

Do you have any special plans for 2021? Our main one was to get in ten trips away in the new van, alas we have had it moths now and not been able to, we actually lost the deposit on the last site we booked but not  to be deterred as soon as we can travel anywhere we will be off for a weekend.  My husband was busy yesterday rubbing down a table  we bought for it second hand, it did come with a very heavy one but we wanted a light weight one we can take down easily and store in the awning when not in use so we are revamping this one.  We have even bought a glitzy topper to glue to the top as this table is a bit beige and boring.  My husband even went and sat in the van for a bit yesterday, he is keen to get using it. 

I have bought myself a book on coding, it is aimed at children but I find books aimed at children to be very clear and I have to say that this is definitely a new area for me so this is just what I need.  It had lots of good reviews from adults in the same position who had bought it for themselves so hopefully it will be useful.  So that is something I want to learn a little bit about this year.

One thing I am going to use less of this year is Facebook, I thought I never used to check it very much but I think this has increased and this is not a good thing.  Quite often it is a big time waster and my main reason for it was that sometimes people I don't see much of anymore might get in touch and need some sewing doing so they would message me that way.  This may only happen a couple of times a year so going it for twenty minutes a day is not necessary is it?? Yes I think it may be that long sometimes as I fall down the rabbit hole of reading everyone's posts, so that has to stop and I will do something more productive with that time.

A trip to the charity shop last week resulted in a couple of new books a few for mum, one for my husband and this one for me...

I have never read this though I know it was made into a film and I haven't seen that either so it is all new to me and a bargain at 99p!

Well enjoy your new start to the year everyone and here's to a good one.