Basic Black Book Review and Thoughts on Saving in 2015

As promised I have taken a few photos of the book Basic Black which I bought for my birthday last month.  I have looked at buying one of these Japanese sewing books a couple of times but never took the plunge as the comments are always so varied.  Some people say the sizing is too small, others say it is just right, well I don't know as yet as I haven't used it I had other bits to finish up and lots going on for the Christmas season.

I will be starting on one of the patterns after lunch but I will say this I will not be relying too heavily on the sizing being spot on, I will bring down a top that I know fits me across with no stretch and lay it against the cut pattern pieces to be sure that it will fit before I cut it out on good fabric.  Anybody using a new pattern for the first time I would say do this, they are not all the same and fabric is not cheap any more so you don't want to be disappointed.

Here are some pictures from inside the book...

I love this dress with the detail stitching and will be making this at some point.

Nice coat just not sure if I'd wear it much.

I like both of these and I'm sure they would get lots of use.

Again I like the dress but I would maybe alter length and fit (one on the left)

I will make both of these as I think they would go with anything.

These two are not really to my taste but it just shows the book has lots of styles for different tastes.

There are also a few more coats and jackets.

I like the book it is visually good to look at and gives you lots of ideas of clothes to make even if you didn't use the patterns ( which is usually my way) the instructions look clear...

These are the instructions from the first blouse I'm going to make.

In this fabric...

I already have a change in mind, I'm not going to do the sheering half way up the sleeves as I know it will irritate my arms so I am going to gather in the fullness of the sleeve at the wrist.  We don't always have to follow things exactly do we?

I also think a downside to the book is going to be the amount of time that it will take to trace off the patterns. There is grease proof paper et the ready to do this as wasn't paying for the expensive dressmakers paper, but looking at the mass of lines on the large pattern sheet it will be a puzzle.  I may just get the general idea then wing it?? No I will have to do it properly or I won't be able to tell you if the fit was accurate or not.

Here is what the pattern sheet looks like...

So yes don't be fooled by the fact that it says you get 26 patterns, you get a large sheet and you have to trace off your own 26 patterns. I wouldn't go buying the fancy paper and tracing wheels and stuff or you will end having spent more than if you had just bought your patterns separately. I will let you know if this all turns out to be more trouble than it's worth.

Now as it's getting to the end of the year I like to think ahead and what I will do different, I am not going to make resolutions as I just break them at some point and then feel bad!  I will have goals which are much more friendly as you don't feel like you have blown it just because you have a bad week. last year I said I wouldn't drink for the whole of the year! Well I lasted five months then we went to Italy and to not have a glass of wine there just felt wrong, Ha! I kept my others to a certain degree, although things didn't always happen daily (exercise) I did feel I made lots of progress in many areas and that is the main thing I think.

Saving wise I feel we had an expensive year with travel, car maintenance and just just generally not being as mindful. However it has never been my intention to save to be a very wealthy corpse! I like to save where I can so that we can enjoy our lives in the areas we like.  I see no point in vowing to stop eating out as we enjoy this (occasionally) find the best offer I say.  Socialising may cost money sometimes but I like other people so what the hell.  I read other peoples money saving blogs with interest, and I am completely respectful of how other people choose to live their lives, but I would rather not go to bed as soon as I get home just to keep warm or turn down every social invitation for the rest of my days just to save a few pounds.  It is important to control your finances but never doing anything as it might cost money is just a step too far I think.

To anyone out there who has debt and problems of that nature my heart goes out to you and of course you must get this under control, however if you have been out and had a drink with a friend (not ten!) this Christmas and that has put a smile on your face don't feel guilty. Just try and have a better year but don't let anybody or anything you read make you feel bad for enjoying life a little.

I'm going to try to put together a list of goals for 2015 some will involve saving but a lot will involve doing.

Fix It!

So pleased today as I have managed to get my overlocker working (serger, if you are from the U.S)
I have not used it for some time as I tried to repair the tension and replace a blade about two years ago and it was not working, I got very annoyed with it and put it away.
However after a conversation with someone yesterday explaining how to sew the seams on jersey without the overlocker I decided to get mine out and have another bash at it.
I has a look online first for tips and stuff but could not find anything helpful. One tutorial on how to service your overlocker made me laugh it said to turn off your machine, clean it, oil it, replace needles and blades if required.  That was it! Obvious but not helpful!
What I did was play around with the tension for a bit and adjust the position of the bottom blade which I think was the problem all along.  Maybe the reason that I got it working today was that I didn't feel any urgency to fix it as I have made do so long without it, it is now just a bonus that if I want to I can finish knits and Jersey fabrics on there. It just goes to show you though that if I had called someone out to fix it he/she would probably have just tried things out the way I did but then presented me with a nice big bill.
If anyone is interested there are overlockers brand new for sale as little as £179.00, mine was £250.00 when I bought it sixteen years ago. Alternatively you could try and get a used one but you may have to replace blades.
Now that I am off work I will take a few photos from my new book that has arrived Basic Black to share, you have to trace off the patterns from a big sheet.

 I looked at buying dressmakers tracing paper but it is so expensive so forget that!  I got some grease proof paper form the super market earlier for £1.50 and I will be using that and taping it together.  Hopefully some new items to share form it over the  next couple of weeks.

Machine Dye versus Hand Dye

I have had a go at dyeing  clothes before not always with great success but I have come to the conclusion that the machine dyes are better, more expensive but better.  I tried earlier in the year to completely change the colour of a T shirt using a hand dye but the results were uneven and it was demoted to an under shirt!
Probably the reason for the irregularity was the fact that you are supposed to keep swishing it around in the dyeing vessel and I obviously didn't do it often enough.    The machine dye has the washing machine to keep everything moving so better success.

The packet one I bought does not need you to add salt but some of them do so please check. This varies between the Dylon ones also as one packet said add salt but the packet I picked up said 'improved' and you did not need it.  The image above also varies slightly from my packet (I forgot to take photos)

It was £5.99 and has brought up the colour of the jacket by quite a few shades, a lot cheaper than buying a new jacket and as it was a favourite what would have been the point.   I will definitely try some other colours now when I have something that needs a boost but I would stick to the machine option.

A couple of things to mention, there was a lot of dye collected in the rubber of the machine after I had finished. I had to give it a really good wipe out despite the fact that I had run a cycle to wash the jacket after the first dyeing wash.  I then put in a full load of dark clothes to wash just to make sure I had got rid of any more residual dye.

There is also a limit to what you can dye with one packet and that will vary in your colour result also.  Here I just did one jacket but it was quite heavy, a few t shirts, some underwear and a light dress could probably have been done with the same packet but again if you are changing the colour completely shades will vary.