Floral Jersey Dress

Well I was up and sewing straight away today to get my dress finished.  We have been out for lunch today, not something we would usually do on a Sunday as I always cook so a nice treat.  I wanted to get the dress finished so that I could wear it.  As a bonus when I had finished it I noticed that it goes perfectly with a belt that came with a £1 charity shop skirt from a while ago.  At the time I thought I wouldn't wear the belt but put it in the cupboard anyway, it just goes to show, minimalism has it's flaws because had I been ruthless with my decluttering the belt would have gone immediately.

You can't see in the photo but the belt has purple stones to the front of it, or aubergine?

It was another pattern free dress I just used an existing dress that I had made before, I added pleats instead of gathers and a little pleat at the shoulder also.

We did take a few shots outside but it was too bright, this was the clearest one.  I swear it is either too dark or too bright, a better camera needed perhaps? Maybe I will just push on with the one I've got, it does what it needs too really. I have a reasonably sized piece of this fabric left so I may make more of the Boudoir Shorts from the other day, now that I have tweaked the sizing a little for me. 

 The meal we went for was an Italian called Casa Mia in Sheffield and very nice too.  They do a separate vegan menu and cater for gluten free so if you are ever in Sheffield that is one to try.

The rest of the day the weather has been lovely so some reading in the garden, I have just started this...

So far so good I like the style and it is easy to read, I felt like I needed something easy going for now.  I started The Doll Funeral by Kate Hamer but I have put that down it was just off to a depressing start, I know I should tell by the title but it was an impulse grab at the library. This current book appears more light hearted.   

My ironing has been completed while watching TED talks and listening to music, this time slot and habit is one  I have stuck to  and no longer feels a chore, there may also have been a glass of wine involved.  One of the TED Talks I watched was by Shawn Achor and can be see here  it is worth a look, he talks really fast but he is funny so stick with it.

Fabric Shopping

Yesterday while I was out doing the food shopping I decided to visit a craft shop I had heard of near me.  The reason I haven't been before is that I thought it was mainly for classes as the website advertises these and only shows a few bolts of fabric.  I went in mainly to get some trim for the shorts I was making but I was pleasantly surprised at the selection of fabrics, the website doesn't do it justice.  So I was in there rather longer than I intended and I came out with two pieces of fabric, lace, elastic and some interfacing, oh and a loyalty card. The fabrics are mainly craft cottons which I don't mind as I like to make clothes with those, they had just a small selection of other dress fabrics and I spotted some lovely jersey there.

The colourful one on top is the jersey, some craft cotton under that and then when I arrived back from the shops my Minerva crafts fabric had arrived, that is the one in the bag underneath.  I will share on the Minerva fabric another time as that is going to be a post for them.  Getting back to the jersey, that is going to be a dress of course and it is cut out ready at the moment.

Nice simple shape, scoop neck, short sleeves and pleats.  There will not be time for finished photos today but I want to wear it tomorrow as we are out for lunch so I will post more on that then.

I love the colours in this fabric it is so bright, when I first started sewing I always used to go to a stall at the market to buy fabric.  Whenever they had new bright prints in and I used to choose them the lady stall holder used to say 'I knew you would buy that one'.  Maybe I haven't changed much, I am trying to add some solids to my wardrobe so I can mix and match more but these prints just jump out at me.

We were out most of the day and I also had a look in the charity shops to see if there any vintage patterns or any patterns going.  I would quite like to join in some of the vintage make groups that people start.  If anyone has any ideas where these can be obtained at a reasonable price let me know.
(I do mean actual vintage patterns not the reproduction ones that cost an arm and a leg!)

Duvet Cover to Boudoir Shorts ( free pattern link)

I am trying to get into the habit of trying new things with my sewing,  I often stick to things I know will work or do things my way.  That works for me but I thought it would be nice to try something different.  There are lots of links out there for free patterns to print off so I thought I would give some of these a try.  As they are new to me it can be a good idea to not try new things on  best fabric until the fit is sorted.  After my big sort out the other day I can quickly lay my hands on my thrifted duvet sets so I thought I would use one of those today.

This free pattern is for boudoir shorts and I saw the link on pinterest you can see it  here Boudoir shorts, other than the hat pattern I printed out the other day I have not used a print out pattern for clothing before.  It is a bit like doing a little jigsaw, I will keep this in a clear wallet now once I have amended a few pieces.

For my shorts I used the duvet cotton but backed it with white cotton so they are not see through, I like to lounge around the house in mine so that is why.  I used some mint lace as the trim,  now I have tried this I will get some nice soft jersey that I love to make more.  These are nice but jersey is softer and will hang better in this style.  Also the fact that mine are double thickness is making the waist casing a little bulky, that is ok on this pair as it was an exercise in trying them out first of all.
Here are mine...

Now I went for the small size but they came out big, I have already taken a little from the top of the shorts to shorten band here, I have also run in the seam where the front side meets the back pieces with a large seem as they were big there too.  Maybe I should have done xs or use bigger seems to start but I have read a few comments linked to this and other people think they come out big too.  Don't let that put you off though, I think it is a great free pattern and good for anyone just starting, just remember to do a mock up first so you can see how the fit is on you.

I will probably make a little top to go with these now, and I'll keep a look out for cheap and cheerful jersey to make the next pair.

I chose to print this out in black and white as my ink is running low, that is why it looks stripy.  There are images to show you how to stick the pieces together and a layout guide.  There are no pattern pieces for the casing band it just shows you on the layout guide where to cut the long rectangles.

I think these would also be good as regular holiday shorts, in a different fabric and leaving off the embellishments would probably make them look more like day wear.  Let me know if you have tried this pattern and what you thought of it.

Dress to T-shirt Refashion

A while ago I got this little dress from the charity shop from the pound rail, I thought it would be ideal for the warmer weather but after trying it on it was not so great.  Only a pound after all so no loss really but the fabric is really fine t-shirt material,  you know the kind that you wouldn't really want a skirt out of for fear of underwear showing through.  Also it has really big arm holes that come down at the sides and go in at the back so it shows bra straps, not great!  However fabric is fabric and I thought it would be an opportunity to practice revamping an item into something different so I decided to make a t-shirt from it.

There was nothing much that could be done with the top of the dress other than make two small sleeves as it had a deep v front and back, therefore not a lot of fabric there.  So I decided to cut the t-shirt shape from the bottom of the skirt. It was a bit of a squeeze as the shape only just fit and the hem had a curve.  Looking at that image now I am going to re-run that bottom band as some white stripe is showing uneven.   This is me in my haste to get it up and on for todays post, it will be corrected.

I have tried it on and it is a good fit but just sits at the waist, so skirts with a proper waistband required to pair it with or trousers that sit at the waist.  There will be no low slung garments worn with this top!  I have used bias binding at the neck also, the original v neck on the dress was very floppy due to this fabric, it holds much better this way.

Here is the item before cutting...

 You can probably tell from the image that the fabric is quite flimsy but it is ideal for trying things out on.   Below is an image of the pieces I cut, I had to do a bottom band just to give it a bit more length.

This was quick to make up and I think this is a good way to try things out, if you have something you no longer wear then why not make it into something else, even if it is just for the practise.

Scrap Busting Make-up Bag

It completely slipped my mind yesterday  but I was featured on the Minerva website with my Burda jacket, you can see the full post here Burda young jacket Minerva crafts  you will have to scroll down to find my jacket as the website is updated regularly.  I got a quick slot this time only three days after sending in my post so that is probably why I forgot!

Follow the link above if you want to know the exact fabric and read the full post.

Today when I got in from work I made a quick make-up bag, this will go in my gift box that I have decided to start.  Jo over at Three stories high always does this and I think it is such a good idea, I have been meaning to start but never do, well now I have.  It usually gets to about three weeks before Christmas and I think,  why didn't I start making things early in the year and then I would have all these handmade gifts.  There are lots of ideas out there, so I just have to keep the momentum going now. Here is todays make..

It is quite roomy and made from a piece of leftover fabric form a skirt I made last year, a random bit of lining and the pink stripe is a shirt.  I think this would go nicely with some new products to fill it as a gift? Make-up, skin care or hair accessories? 

It has a dusky grey lining so it can be thrown in the washer when it gets dirty.

Here you can see the bottom so it is spacious.   I also added a little wrist strap, for no particular reason other than I like it.

Today I also missed deliver of a package and I think it may have been my dust sheets, I ordered them to make some curtains to hide all the stuff on the shelves at work, hopefully it will make one area look a little more tidy so I am interested to see what kind of quality they are.  It was the cheapest option and I thought with a bit of bunting to cheer it up it should be ok.   We will see.

Organised Sewing

This is a somewhat misleading title actually as it implies I'm organised which I don't think I am but I do try.  The latest effort on this front is trying to get my odds and ends of sewing equipment into a fashion where I can see what I've got instead of hunting around knowing things exist but where?

I don't have a huge fabric stash as I know some of you do, any fabric pieces that are hanging about is usually because they are leftover bits or duvets spotted at the charity shop.  I have a couple of large pieces due to that.  Still I don't like to waste any of it so every bit gets saved as you never know if it will come in handy, up to now this has consisted of hastily folding and shoving in a box or drawer.  that way is not very efficient as you have to lift everything up to see what you have at the bottom.

  A while ago I read the Marie Kondo book, it has not made me housekeeper of the year but my tights and tops are certainly easier to find.  With that in mind I decided to stick with my storage box for the fabric but I have turned everything on its side.  As some of the pieces of fabric are really not that big they will not stand up the way tops do when using  this method so I cut up stiff card from a box, lots of pieces of it the same width as the box and just pinned the fabric to it.

It is a bit like files in a cabinet now and like I said they are not that big but they are easy to see.  I have a few more pieces in a drawer but not a lot and a bag that is full of really scrappy little bits.  A while ago I was taking unwanted bits from my mother in law or a friend but I was finding I didn't really like the fabric quite often so it was more stuff just hanging around the place.  I love to recycle items but you have to like what you are working with don't you.

I don't have a dedicated room just for sewing, it is a desk at one end of a room off my kitchen.  It is a nice bright space so I don't mind this but it does mean I can't spread out too much.  The extent of leaving a work in progress is, it will be on the desk. Or sometime on the mannequin beside the desk.

After having a little look around ideas on pinterest for storage in a small crafting area I have seen some gorgeous little spaces but they are tidy. Does anyone ever do any work in these spaces or is it just me that is incredibly messy, currently at the  moment  there are a friend's trousers on my sewing table to take in, some pegs and a few other bits ( Ha so much for the sorting!)

I am getting there, small steps as they say.  What are your sewing spaces like? Are you an  organised creative or happily sewing amongst the loose threads like me?

Another Man's Junk

Well as I said the other day when my husband cleared out the shed for his mother, some of the stuff would come in handy and it has already.  In amongst the various bits he sorted were some pieces of wood and huge selection of screws and nails.  He was very happy with these and most of them were still in the boxes.

 So when I was at a loss as to what to do with all the peas that are growing, having exhausted our pot collection (for now), he quickly put together this little frame using the wood, screws and string.  The trough at the bottom was also damaged and split so he repaired that as well.  To think I was worried at first that nothing would come up and now I'm wondering where to put things.

I let the cook know at school today that I will be needing more of those tins, she said ok so more planters to come there then. I have seen some ideas where there is a frame built on the floor that just boxes in the soil but it is not high, then there are frame sides with just chicken wire over them.  This may be an option for keeping the pets off so I can plant straight into the ground. However the good thing so far about having everything raised is that it seems to be keeping the slugs away, for now at least.

We have a few strawberries turning red, I'm not entirely sure how long to leave them until trying them.  I will have to research that, there are some odd shapes though and a few resemble boxing gloves.  Not that I mind as long as they taste ok, just wondering why they are so misshapen?

 Ok the one above on the right is the perfect strawberry shape so my husband said that one is his.

I have removed the runners now after realising they are taking energy from the fruit and we shall see if they take in the compost, then we may get more plants.  I should have done this sooner I now know but you learn as you go.

One lone tomato has appeared I hope it isn't going to remain lonely, there has to be a first I suppose.

Also looking forward to trying these, you never see yellow courgettes in the shops, or at least not where I shop.  Maybe in Waitrose? More variety perhaps in the posh shops.

Anyway whatever the outcome I am enjoying watching things grow and that is the main thing, it's quite exciting when the seeds pop up and I waited weeks and weeks for the lettuce thinking the seeds were duff and now I have loads of those too.  They just seemed to grow all at once, just as well because we get through lots of salad, and on that theme I'm off to cook the dinner.