Sew a Dog Collar, Recycled Project

 Hello everyone, I hope you have all had a good week.  Just when  I thought summer was over we are having a glorious day here, very hot and suuny all day and just when the children are set to return to school.  I think that seems to happen every year.

This week I have made three new dog collars and a dog bandana, I was just thinking the old ones were looking a little tired and I needed to buy new ones.  When you look at a dog collar though there is literally nothing to it, and as a dress maker the amount of small pieces of fabric that I tend to end up with it seems a shame not to make small things like this.  I also wonder why I have not made them before, they are not that expensive you may say, but I have three dogs so every time a piece of dog equipment needs replacing it is times by three, so that quickly adds up.

I used the existing clips and sliders from the old collars and doubled up cotton fabrics a number of times to make it thick enough for a collar.  I gave the clips a good wash first and pressed the fabric once folded.  In all these were very quick makes although I did have to sew very slowly down the length of the collars as it was thick enough to break the needle, I walked it over the fabric in a number of places .

The bandana was simply one pieces hemmed all around then folded in half with a channel sewn for the collar to thread through.  The hardest part was trying to get the dogs to be still and model for me.

This was the first, and if any of you shop with minerva you may recognise Inky Grove pattern!

This one actually has a floral design on it but this little guy doesn't mind at all.

He is not wearing the bandana now I just made it for fun and my husband is not big on dogs being dressed up either.  We may keep it for special occasions.

In other news we have started rewatching Game of Thrones from the beginning, this may seem odd but my husband put it on last week and I sat down to watch and now I am hooked all over again.

In books I have just finished The Dance Tree, and picked up a couple more from the library.  I had been very carefully recording my book a week on instagram all year but this last few weeks that has all gone a bit off.  Why is it you forget to do something once then it all goes out of the window, maybe that is just me. 

My Pilates which I have always done daily is also seriously out of favour too, this is something I will remedy this week.  I always think the start of a new week is like a blank page so I will get on top of things again. 

The last few evenings I have really noticed how much darker it is now early on, I do think this seems to happen all of a sudden every year though I am determined to make the most of the seasons.

Have a lovely week everyone. 

A December Start

 Hello to anyone who is still dropping by, I have been pretty much tied to my laptop or sewing machine but still not managed to get on here to post although I have to say it doesn't look like there is much activity anyway recently!  Have people stopped reading blogs? Please let me know if this is the case, I am very old fashioned and still like to read them myself. 

I have made a fabric wreath using up lots of oddments of Christmas fabric, the base is card wrapped in packaging then covered with fabric and all the leaves, cones, bow etc are handmade.  I did buy the three little bells but the rest is all handstitched.  I really love it when you can make something you want from recycled bits and not have to buy any special crafty bits.  It can be expensive to buy all the specialist equipment like wreath hoops and things like that, I much prefer to have my Blue  Peter moments (for those of you that watched that).  The cones were  result of a bit of experimentation, I am happy with their shapes and it has inspired me to create more things like this.  I seem to remember seeing a book in Waterstones about paper flowers that was very gorgeous, I have birthday money so I am thinking a trip to the shop may be in order to purchase that book.  Fabric and paper flowers coming up!  Anyway enough of the waffling, here is my wreath...

There have been lots of images floating around of very full wreaths covered in all sorts and of course you can make them as full as you desire but I got to this point and thought any more would just spoil the effect so I stopped.  What do you think?

I have a few more ideas of Christmas things I want to make, don't you always find you get to this stage of the year and one minute it is the 1st of December and the next you are running out of time for all the things you wanted to make.  Well one thing is some festive dog coats and I think if I plan on the dogs getting to wear these planned coats I had better get a move on.

Card making too, I am usually pretty good at getting this done as I tend to set aside a couple of chunks of time and get them all done.  That is going to have to start this week as we are seeing out of town relatives this Thursday so I can hand some over then.

I have had another few bad books in the reading department, one that was quite good was 'The Maidens' a little bit over done in places but it kept me turning the pages.  I have just started 'The Women of Troy' so we will see about that one.  My husband has bought me four Anthony Horrowitz books as a gift so I hope they will be good reads, not my usual  style but I did request some as I am trying new genres.

We had a lovely walk around Lagsett reservoire  on Friday morning before people were all aound.  We got there for eight fifteen so it was lovely if somewhat foggy .

Well I hope you are all having a lovely start to the festive season, let me know if you are still out there by leaving a comment, I do love to read them.  Bye for now. 

Autumn Dress £1 Refashion

 Hello everyone I hope you are all having a good week, I got off to a wobbly start but I am feeling better today and i have a few things on the go as always I am keeping busy.  I have made a skirt for a video and unfortunatley my phone was not behaving and it came out dark so I have to remake and redo the whole thing! This time of year is not great for filming, I also made another dress and video and that filming seesion came out a lot brighter so I have uploaded that to youtube, more on that in a minute.  I am reading a lot, working on another bag and planning a few Christmas makes so afew things to keep me busy here.

First of all is the dress I will tell you about the dress I have just finished, now I am not big on buying expensive patterns myself as I like to make my own but the covers can give you some great inspiration from time to time.  In this case I saw the image  for The Alexa dress a while ago and just saved it, the pattern is expensive and it is not that different from a  number of dresses I have made before but the combination of details and fabric worked well so it caught my eye.

A few weeks ago I shared here my charity shop bargains for £1 each and among those was a floral dress, too big with buttons down the front.  I immediatley thought of this pattern and had the idea to recraete it form the image in my mind.  My only mistake this time was not to take a before picture of me wearing the dress prior to dismantling it.  I am very happy with how it turned out and have included the video link below. There was just enough fabric to create the frill details and switch around the collar, it now has a full zip up the back and all the buttons from the front and the cuffs will be saved for another day!  I wore it at the weekend and it made me happy that it has new life and looks just like the pattern.

See the video here

If you do decide to watch I would love it if you left me comment there.

So the original dress was too big and had a shirt style front, button down with long sleeves with button cuffs.  I took off the skirt, turned the bodice around, cut a new neckline at the front, cut away and saved the collar which was then trimmed and cut the sleeves to elbow length.  The bottom of the sleeves were cut into strips to make the frills, these were then gathered and put back on. (oh I also took in the upper sleev to make them more fitted. I darted  the dress bodice at the front from bust lines to waist and also at the front neck as it was roomy.  I re-attatched the collar backwards then pleated it to the neck by hand.  I stitched the skirt bottom back on with added gathers to fit and added a back zip.

I am really happy with the neck effect especially as I was really winging it here and had no idea how this would turn out.

#

I think this fabric is just perfect for Autumn and also really cheery, I love these thrifty makes they are the reason I began sewing as a teenager and they always make me smile. 

Below is the image of the pattern cover that I copied....

 

So what about you, do you ever just copy the pattern images? It is very satisfying to just work it out for yourself.  Let me know in the comments below if you do this and what you have made.

 Well have a lovely week, take care.

Easy Burda Dress

 Hello everyone, I am having a busy week here getting various bits of sewing completed and altering things that have kept annoying me.  A little bit of filming for my self to just get used to doing it a bit quicker and a dress for minerva.  So I will show you the dress first, it is yellow and that is only a colour I have added this last year as I have always been cautious as to whether it would suit.  I did try mustard earlier this year so now this brighter shade.  It is Art Gallery Fabrics cotton poplin...

Now the colour looks different again in this image as you will see on the indoor photo on the mannequin.

This pattern was from Burda magazine April and it is style 104 if any of you have that copy, it is a very basic pattern and is quite roomy when made up.  It is the belt that gives it the shape I feel.  I did take the front seam in quite a bit as the the v was very low on me.  Anyway if you want a very quick forgiving make this is the one, I did add bands to the bottom of the sleeve as a bit of detail and also because my fabric was not quite wide enough for the pieces.  This is because they are grown on sleeves so your pieces take up more space and are harder to reposition on fabric. 

Next up  I have two sets of shorts pyjamas that have camisole tops, well every time I wear them I think they are too big across the front as they end up twisting around me.  So first they needed taking in, tick that off my list.  Then was a pair of jeans shorts I cut down years ago, they have been worn a l lot and got a stain on a few years ago and I did a design with fabric pens back then.  My husband has never really like the back of them as they have not pockets and they are a bit plain. As I have been wearing them more in the warm weather I thought I would add pockets.  For the denim I used the wrong side of a scrap I had as it was closer to the faded colour, then made the pockets and stitched them on.  They do look better with a bit of detail to the back. 

Probably not the clearest of images but you get the idea.

Out in the garden I have been collecting seed pods again, and yes some things are making seeds already and I find it very exciting to go and collect them.  I label them all up in little packets ready for next year and give a few to friends.  It is quite funny that the image below looks like there a re seeds all over the worktop, the aren't ,it is just my worktop.

Any plants that I am not sure of I photograph with the app Plant Net and it gives you names, this came in very useful as we were on holiday and there was this shrub in the public garden next to the railway that had a couple of seed pods about to drop on the path.  I collected them and brought them home, a bit of digging states it can be grown from seed so we will see. 

In other random news I have started the muse by Jessie Burton and I am enjoying it, I seem to recall I started this before and got fed up which just goes to show that maybe it all depends on my state of being or the free time I have whether or not I enjoy a book.  Also on this subject there are books I read years ago that I loved and now think how ever did I think they were good?? We are changing all the time I suppose so of course our tastes will change.

What are you all up to? Enjoying the sun here in the UK or elsewhere, or staying indoors? Where ever you are I hope you have a good time, back soon. 

Refashion

 Hello I hope you are all well, I am just recovering as I have been ill again! I am really starting to think that working in school is hazardous to my health because of what I pick up there. So now I am feeling a bit more human I have just done something I have been meaning to do for ages and that is put some videos on you tube.  I have done a few for Minerva that won't be live until later in the year, but I wanted to do it for myself too focusing on using up scraps and refashioning etc. 

I want to show how you can sew for very little which is what I have always tried to do and had to do when I first started as a teenager.  Hopefully these will be helpful to people who don't have money to spare for fabric and patterns but want to get sewing. 

 Hopefully you will have a look, like, subscribe and comment as a newbie I have only three views so far and they are family. I have uploaded one on how to make a t-shirt from two old ones here...

T Shirt Refashion, Thrifty Sewing Tips - YouTube

So they were using two old t-shirts that used to belong to my boys when they were younger but quite baggy and a couple of holes at the bottom.  It made a little fitted one for me I like the effect at the sides.

Then I used a shirt a mans large one from a charity shop and a maxi dress a friend gave me to make a shirt dress with a few details.  I am really happy with how they  both look but still not comfortable in front of the camera filming. If you watch and have time please leave a comment I would love to know what you think, or do you have any filming tips for me?

Shirt to Shirt dress Refashion, Frugal Sewing - YouTube

I don't know how often I will do this but initially I thought I would do a few to get things going, I have no idea how people get views as there is so much on there.

Part of doing this is also getting over my fear of it, I made the banner ages ago, made another video and filmed it the wrong way and just generally worried about negative feedback. So I am over that and as I don't much energy for much else at the minute I thought it is now or never!

Have a lovely week everyone, back soon.

Burda Top from Maxi Dress Refashion

I have had a fun day of sewing today, I got the shopping done first thing and with that out of the way I could get on with my refashion.  This is my first pattern to try out from the Burda June issue and I thought I would try it out by refashioning a thrifted maxi dress that I bought for £1 some time ago.  The dress is a size 16 so I had an idea I would be able to cut out the top pieces from further down the dress where there is more fabric.  It only just did it as I wanted to save the bottom border for the frill.

             

It has taken me quite a bit of time mainly because of the frill as I had to join the pieces together that matched, the ones you can see in the image with the little petal shapes. After a number of joins I then chose to edge the frill with a fine zig zag on a small stitch as I didn't want a turned under hem because I thought that would look too bulky.  So as you can already guess I started following the instructions then did things that I thought would work better like this hem.  One thing that did annoy me was that I could not find pieces a, b or c for this pattern on the sheet!  As it is just the frill and belt I could guess at the width and length and do my own thing but if you were new to sewing  this may  prove tricky, maybe it is just my eyesight, there is a lot on those sheets. 

One thing I did manage to salvage from the original dress was the tie belt, I just cut that in half and made the ties for the back. That was the only quick job as the rest I made from scratch, this was not your usual chop the bottom off refashion but rather chop it all up and start again.

After cutting the pieces out of baking paper I had a bit of jiggling to get the facings out of the fabric so they did not lay straight on my scrap pieces but rather at an angle, this has not affected the finish of the top though.

There was surprisingly little fabric left after I had finished probably because the top of the original dress just had spaghetti straps so not a lot of fabric at the top and then of course that deep border.

When I bought this dress for the fabric I had no idea what I would use it for but it just shows if you wait the right project will come along.

When I had trimmed these pieces down for the frill I used the in between pieces to make the binding for the arm holes.

This just gives it a bit of interest on the inside too so I am very happy with that little detail.

I am happy with the fit so now I know that the sizing for the patterns in the magazine are accurate I will be able to confidently make more items without worrying that they are poorly sized.  I never make mock ups before I sew I usually just jump straight in.

Now we just need the sun to return so that I can actually wear this, here is the original top from the magazine and it looks much warmer where she is...

As you can see I chose to make my frill much narrower than this as I felt it would look better on me.

Well week one of June and that is one project complete from the magazine, if my fabric doesn't come in the next few days I may have to hunt around the house for something else to refashion!  There is a charity shop mans shirt that I bought, not sure what to do with that??

Well bye for now and enjoy what is left of the weekend. 

                                                 

Something from the Past

I found the picture of the little upcycled dress I made years ago for a toddler, it has taken me ages we save so many photos now, far more than we ever did when we had paper copies it is quite overwhelming to look through!   Here it is made from the bottom legs of bootcut jeans with buttons at the back.

I came across this yesterday and I had completely forgotten about it, it was so nice for it to pop up as a memory.  The butterfly on the front had been cut around from a back pocket I remember and then appliqued on.  The little girl it was for was two at the time she will be about sixteen now, our boys were friends and they moved away so we didn't see them much after that.  It is nice to revisit past projects sometimes.

It has been such a glorious day that I did not stay in and sew, I have been gardening, planting and tidying up then I had a distanced visit with my mum. It is the first proper face to face conversation we have had since this all started.

My me made May day 20 choice for today was a Burda shirt pattern made into a dress, lovely Minerva fabric.  I think this challenge would have seen more repeated outfits had it been done during the winter months.  I don't know about everyone else but I definitely make more summer clothes and I think sew more in general at this time of year.  It probably has a lot to do with lighting and the longer days.

 On a more mundane level I got all of the dogs bedding and cushions washed and hung out and they are now back on their beds.  It is one of those jobs you need a warm day for as they need to be out on the line.

My mum was getting a bit annoyed that the window cleaner hadn't been for a number of weeks, the windows don't look dirty but she does like her routine. My window cleaner stopped coming to us because we had the cheek to ask if he had done the back ones one day and he got offended.  We know he hadn't as a bird had flown into the window leaving a mark and it was still there (we didn't mention that fact).  I wouldn't mind but when he lied and said he had we just politely said oh ok and paid him in full, then he stopped coming!   Bit of a cheek on his part really but never mind it saves me a bill.

Well that's all for now, take care.

Using up the Scraps

This dark and dreary weekend I have managed to use up some more of my fabric scraps, some of my own and some gifted from Jo at Three Stories High.  There are still plenty left so expect to see more over the coming months, I have also used some of the bag rings I recycled from the rescued bags my mother in law brought from the charity shop rag bag.  They don't put out on display bags that are tatty but the bag furniture does come in handy, I also hate to see zips going to waste.  Now zips can be a pain to unpick but you have the satisfaction of not having to buy a zip and saving the old one from the bin, win, win.  It is also not so bad to unpick listening to a podcast or watching a show on a dark night. Here are a couple of the bags I have made using odd bits...

So this one has some gifted denim and cord from Jo, cherry fabric scraps that have been appearing in all kinds of things for the last few years and will continue to do so down to the last cm! Also the lining is leftover from a mock jumpsuit I made in the summer.  The design is a bit different on each side for this one.

This second one has some recycled shirts in the mix, a skirt and some new vegan leather. Well not new this week but it was new when I bought it ;)  I also took a little photo of the process as I make a mess on the dining room table.  I am always surprised at going form 'oh what will go with that bit of fabric?' to 'Ooh I like that together!' It just goes to show don't be too hasty in throwing out those oddments.

I have my own little pattern that I made for my own style of bag I did wonder whether it might be something I could have printed up and market but as I am not a big name I wonder about the viability of that?  I know you can have your patterns printed but there  are so many out there already.  I was listening to BBC radio  on the laptop while cutting and sewing most of these, also a few podcasts, it keeps me company and you can learn something new.

The next bag is a custom order that I was asked to make for a colleague, I am certain the person she is gifting it to will have never heard of my blog so I am safe to share.

They have a bit of a love of flamingos in the family so this fabric was ordered just for this, I hope the recipient likes it and appreciates the one off nature of such a gift.   

There is such a lot of stuff out there at the moment that can be bought on mass, cheaper and quicker from China or elsewhere but unless we all want to walk around in exactly the same clothes with all the same accessories cheap and quick is not better in my eyes.  Well ok I do like cheap but when relating to pre-owned bargains not mass produced items.  

In relation to this I also find that I get more pleasure out of finding unusual bits in a charity shop or planning what to make with fabric than I would from just going out shopping for new.  This is probably due to the maker in me but if you go in a shop and there are rails and rails of the same garment doesn't it put you off? When I first began sewing in my teens I remember going out in a particular dress and lots of people asking where I got it, as I made it myself they couldn't go out and buy it off the rail.  They could buy the same fabric and try to recreate if they were inclined but I made the pattern too so chances are there wouldn't be any exactly the same.  I liked that and still do.

There was also an evening of making make up bags, more scrap busting and these smaller projects are great for using up random bits.

All of my above makes are available on my Etsy shop here  apart from the custom flamingo bag.  I do have fabric left so will make another but in a different style, or paired with other colours.

Productive?  Well I haven't been out much and the dogs have been getting restless, I had a hospital appointment Monday and been under the weather since.  A bit drained but I can sew from a chair so that is ok, what with one thing and another I am tired so wonder if I am now a bit anaemic.  Must buy some iron supplements to be safe I think.

On a plus note I did manage to get out today to have lunch  with my two lovely friends.  We went to Jameson's Tea Room and I have never been before, it was wonderful, piano playing, beautiful tea cups and pots.  I told my husband about it after and I could see he didn't get what was so cool about that.  It felt a bit like stepping back in time to a quieter more elegant time, although I do realise that if we did step back to such a time  I would more than likely be serving the tea rather then drinking it!  They were also very good about providing me with GF vegan options an the cook had made GF vegan scones this morning (I emailed a few days ago so my requirements didn't come as a  surprise).

I don't very often go to that part of the city so it made a lovely change and we do hope to get together again before Christmas but with everyone being so busy we can only do our best. 

There were a few books returned to the library, I borrowed a couple of Frederick Backman books more to follow on those later and I also checked my placement in the queue for The Handmaid's Tale I am number five now and The Testaments number 82!  I think I will make an exception and just treat myself to these but perhaps wait for The Testaments in paperback. I think Margaret Atwood has certainly seen a revival in sales from her book being televised.  I have read a few of her other works some good some not so much but all a little odd I think. 

Well that is all for now, let's hope for a brighter week. Back soon.   

Christmas Sewing

Today I have been using up some of my donated fabric, a friend of mine gave me a bag of fabric a while ago with offcuts in it as she knows I will use them up.  This particular piece today was the bottom piece from a curtain project I believe for her little boy.  I have already used some of the other bits and one piece was big enough to make my son a new blind for his room see it here.

I decided to make some Christmas stockings for my Etsy shop, I also added a personalised name tag. People will have to notify me of the name choice of course.  I thought it was a nice way to use up the fabric and I will also be doing a few gift ones.  I have more donated fabric in a different design, my husband said the other piece of fabric is not very Christmassy though!  It has pink and blue splodges on it, I'm sure I could make it festive with a few tree shapes or something.

Anyway here are todays makes, I enjoyed making them.

They are intended for any gender!  It always gets me how the little  boys at school think pink is just for girls and blue for boys, they are just colours and colours are for all of us I say.  I did put a boys name on this one however purely because it was a nice short name and I wasn't hand embroidering a long one that wasn't staying!

I wrote the name on in pencil then just stitched over it by hand, no specialised pen required although if you are afraid of hand stitching there are fabric pens you can buy to just write the names on.

There are now some very small bits of the star fabric left so I am wondering what tiny project I can make with those, maybe a little pencil case if I mix it with something else or a garland?  I vow to have used it by my next post.

It has  been a wet and dreary week this week, dog walking confined to the  pavement as the park is just sludge, heating turned up and feeling tired by 7.00pm.  I refuse to give in to it and stay up until my usual time as I know it is not real and just my body responding to the lack of light.   My husband has bought a stand for his bike so he can train on it when the weather is bad, it was not expensive so a good idea I think.  I do see people getting soaked as they cycle from work and I think no that is not for me, I need fine weather to get me outside on a bike.

I went to watch my friend and colleague in Shrek the musical at the Lyceum on Friday night they have been rehearsing hard for that for months, she said she will miss it now it is over and they have to audition each year to be in it.  That will be my one night out for a while now though I have to say I will not be buying a drink in the theatre again I will smuggle my own in, the prices were ridiculous and my drink wasn't even nice and to top it all you get to drink it from a plastic cup.  The last time we went for my husband's birthday  he had a bottle of water in his back pocket and they didn't check him, just my bag so note to self big pockets ;)

There has been an assortment of books started and cast aside recently, the most recent is 'Crushed' once again a book in the general section that I am sure is more for teenage girls, I got so far and could go no further.  I am at a point where there are so many books I really don't need to force myself to finish them.  I do have a bit of a problem with that and I think it started as a child, like I have failed if I don't finish it, so I am being ruthless as reading is supposed to be a pleasure not a chore.   I am currently reading 'This is Your Brain on Music' by Daniel Levitin, I've had it a few weeks and just renewed it as the other bad books have taken up too much of my time.

I'm off now to finish my jobs, ' The War of the Worlds' starts tonight so I am going to give that a go, back soon.  Take care.

Free Craft

On the run up to Christmas (there I mentioned it!) I was wondering how many of you are searching for free crafts and patterns.  There are certainly many kits and ideas available to buy but isn't that moving away from the traditional idea of a frugal crafter?  I am not saying we shouldn't buy or treat ourselves to these items but ideally it is wonderful to use what we have or make something new from old when we can.

I have had denim and fabrics passed onto me from friends, my mother in law currently has some old handbags she has held onto because she knows I will unpick the zips and hardware from them, I was even given some vinyl floor samples once 'to do something with'.

It used to be the norm to salvage things and make new and then came the fast fashion years and everyone seemed to turn away from homemade.  Things are changing and people are beginning to see the value in reusing and buying items to last, the only downside is that charity shops are not as cheap as they used to be as they have grown in popularity.  This could have a negative effect as people may be turned off from buying a used item when they can get a new one for less, just a thought.

It is wonderful to see all the colourful quilts that fellow  bloggers are making and I think that has to be one of the best uses for scrap fabrics.  The designs are unique and totally eye catching, I have only done a little quilting and patchwork myself but the results always surprise me I feel no matter what your skill level we can all do something.  Many templates are available for free, here are some of my past scrap busting projects.

This is leaf is great for scraps.

My cathedral window is a bit wonky but colourful.

These two cushions are again a great way to use up scraps, the pink one is called pin wheel and takes a bit more work but I like it and have done a couple of those.  I think with any kind of patchwork you can make something bold and different, and better than anything you would find in the shops.

I don't how many of you out there this will appeal to but it is certainly worth a look and it is the range of free printables available on Papercraft inspirations  website.  Even if you are not into papercraft yourself you may have children to keep busy on the dark nights up to Christmas.  Some of the designs I am sure would keep young people busy for a couple of sessions if you go for the more adventurous designs and there is no rush to complete them just yet.

I am going to have a go at these cute penguin cards just as soon as I have figured out what is wrong with my ink.  That is the thing I suppose you have to have a printer but you don't have to print off every element on the download, some of the shapes could be cut out of recycled card.  I just thought this was handy to share as a free resource.

Love sewing magazine also have free pattern downloads find them here if you are looking for clothes patterns, these can run to a lot of paper though so if you are brave enough just deconstruct and old garment and use that as a pattern for fit.  Things like sleeve length and overall length do not really require a pattern and once you have done  it a few times you will wonder why you ever bought patterns.

I currently have fabric for a dress and a top but I have been holding out on making them yet, they are for my winter wardrobe and I know as soon as I make things I want to wear them so it is like saving a treat.   There is also a handbag cut out with a design pinned to it on my table also part of my current slow sewing.  If I had a rush of sales in bags I would crack on but there is no need currently for any rushing.

Today I made another experimental carrot cake, it is a bit odd.  I seem to do a couple of amazing cakes followed by a slightly odd one every now and then.  Maybe it is so I don't get too complacent about gf baking, who knows?

Well that is all for now, take care and  please share any free crafting links you know of in the comments below.

A Ruffle Sleeve Top from a free Pattern

I am always interested to see what everyone else is making and this week I spotted this lovely top from a free pattern.   I bought the duvet cover from a charity shop because I loved the fabric, when I saw this pattern it was the perfect.    I have had to make a few adjustments as I checked the measurements and this indicated the size I needed, I measured myself to be double sure but it came out really big so there has been some tweaking and I will explain that below.  Here is the top and I think the fabric works well.

Now in my image here there is a tie at the bottom and that is not on the original pattern ( I always have to tweak things you see!)  The original hangs away from the body and I just thought it needed drawing in a little and this was my way to do it.

With regards to the pattern I found it on the sara project blog and I love her version that is also in a white print, go and have a look at her blog if you are not familiar with it.  The free pattern is from Peppermint magazine website so you can also have a look around on there.   It is twenty eight pages of printing!  So that is why I am not always a fan of printing off patterns.  I thought I would give it a go as it is good to share these things with the community when you find them and I know a lot of people need a pattern to work from.  

Sticking it all together is a job in itself but if you think of it as a jigsaw it can be a gentle activity;) 

It is clear I will give it that, everything was there I know once before I printed one and there were bits missing (but not from this source). 

I used the recycled duvet cover and I love using these as you get so much fabric from one, it is just a case of keeping your eyes open for one with a good print that can be worn.  I have loads of fabric left and the other side is striped.

I wonder what I can make  with the stripy side?

As I was saying it came out big size wise so it is a lovely pattern but be prepared to take it in a little. I also moved the darts up on mine and made them a little bigger, we are all different and I think dart placement is specific to each person so that is not the fault of the pattern.

When it was finished I wanted it to sit closer to the body so I cut a long strip of fabric about 4cm wide to make a tie for the bottom.  I also cut a little semi circle where the tie would sit and hemmed it.

I did that over to one side as that is where  I want it to tie.  I then folded it in half and began stitching it to the bottom allowing some to hang over each side.   Then I folded it towards the inside and stitched it down to hide the raw edges.

I find doing it this way gives a nice finish to the bottom and it removes the need for overlocking etc.

So I hope this was helpful if you fancy giving it a go but want to add something extra, I would love to see what other versions everyone can come up with.  I will leave you with one final shot of one of my dogs phot bombing earlier!