Tiger Skater at Wedding

On Tuesday Si and I went to a friends’ wedding, as is the case when you are invited to a wedding I felt that it would be good to have a new dress to wear and so I embarked on the making of a second skater dress (the flamingo skater was my first). I brought some tiger patterned fabric from Kitschy Coo (there is an amazing selection of knit fabric is her shop, I have fallen in love with the new scooter fabric).

I made the dress up on Saturday and it gave me an excuse to use my new to me overlocker. The longest part of this dress was the cutting out because I really wanted to ensure that my tigers ran straight over the waist of the dress. I didn’t get it absolutely perfect but I’m actually pretty chuffed with the finished result.

I think the cutting out probably took me a couple of hours and then the sewing only took about an hour, so all in all a very quick make. There is not much to add to what I said about the pattern before, I once again took an inch from the length of the bodice and still feel that the instructions are perfectly written and very easy to follow. It is no understatement to say I love this pattern, I’m already planning my third make with a lovely grey fabric I have in my stash.

The day of the wedding was very sunny, giving a perfect chance for the dress to be photographed outside:

Here is one to see the close up of those tigers:

Making the dress up on my overlocker really cut down on the sewing time and the hemming was a breeze (unlike my first skater where the knit fabric was a bit tricky to handle)

We both had a great day (and the bride was in a beautiful handmade dress too). Here Si and I are enjoying the sun:

Pyjama Party – I’m Joining Again

Last year Karen of Did You Make That? fame hosted a pyjama party and I loved it! Imagine my excitement when she announced that she was hosting another one again this month…cue some jumping up and down on the bed in excitement. My excitement nearly overspilled into hysteria when she said that the pattern choice was Tofino, a beautiful Sewaholic Pattern. Yippee, I was straight out to buy my fabric:

 

and after making a ton of self covered piping for another project (soon to be posted) I chickened out and brought some ready made:

Now all I have to hope is that my pattern arrives soon. Go and join the fun over on Karen’s blog, if it isn’t too creepy I look forward to seeing everyone in the jimjams!

How to Make A Wardrobe Freshener

Last night I had a couple of friends around who wanted to learn to sew. We made up some lavender scented wardrobe fresheners because they were small enough to make up in an evening. Here is one all finished up which I used as the example:

 

Here is how we made them. Materials needed:

Small scrap of fabric, ribbon, buttons, heart stencil (I just drew out the shape I wanted), soft toy stuffing and lavender scented pot pourri.

1. Start off by cutting out two heart shapes from the fabric and a bit of ribbon about five inches long:

 

2. Lay one heart right side up.

3. Fold the ribbon in half, right side of the ribbon facing out and lay it on top of the heart with the folded part pointing towards the bottom of the heart, ensure the cut ends of the ribbon over lap the top of the heart and then pin in place:

 

4. Lay the second heart on top with the right side facing down (right sides together) and pin in place:

5. Sew around the heart, leaving a one inch opening for turning the heart the right way out and stuffing:

 

6. Cut off the exposed ribbon so that it follows the outline shape of the heart:

7. Now to get the curved seam to lay nice and flat we need to notch the seam. This means cutting down into the top centre of the heart (making sure not to cut the stitching):

 

and cutting a regular intervals around the curve of the heart:

 

8. Turn the heart the right way out, and press (the iron is your friend):

 

9. Stuff with the stuffing and potpourri, I made sure that i put in a bit of stuffing, a bit of potpourri, a bit more stuffing, some more potpourri etc. This ensured that the potpourri was evenly distributed around:

 

10. By hand, slip stitch the opening closed (this is where the previous step of pressing really pays off):

 

 

 

11. Hand sew on the button for decoration:

 

12. All done, admire your handiwork:

 

 

 

The Metre Skirt – Getting Better

In mid March I made myself a Metre skirt out of some left over fabric but I was somewhat disappointed with the fit so thought I would give it another go. Here is my second attempt:

 

The fit is much much better! The skirt is made in a very simple black cord (left over from the Corduroy Dress I made last year). Again I added the pockets into the pattern, using up some red fabric I had left over:

 

This means the skirt looks brilliant with my Jas-Betto (?) top, I have already worn them out together a few times and am very happy with them… definitely pleased I had another go at the metre skirt:

 

 

Nautical Gift from A Good Talking To…

I joined in with the International Craft Swap hosted by House of Pinheiro and was lucking enough to be paired with Jacq of “A Good Talking To….” It has been very exciting exchanging emails with a fellow sewing blogger and reading her blog. On Saturday I was lucky enough to receive a parcel from Jacq, containing her beautiful nautical make and some really lovely gifts she had chosen for me.

First up is her make, I very cute project bag:

The boats on the top are perfectly nautical as is the lining fabric:

Around the outside are different sized pockets for hooks, needles and patterns….perfect:

It really is a beautiful little bag and very well made. Additionally the swap asked for each person to include a small gift up to the value of three pounds with their make. Jacq sent me the following:

I really love the little labels:

I have never seen anything like these before and they’ll really add something to my makes. I massive thank you to Jacq for her make and gifts, they are incredibly thoughtful….go and check out her blog.

Sew Easter Bunnies

This last week I have been away for work, hence my rather sparse blogging. The crafting however continued so for the next few days I’ll be catching up on my blog posts. First up are my Easter makes.

This Easter my whole family said they did not want Easter eggs, perfect opportunity for a bit of crafting. Whilst having a look at fellow bloggers sites, I stumbled upon these gorgeous little bunnies on Pillows Ala Mode and knew I had found the perfect thing. I made up seven in total, one for each member of my family:

 

It was the perfect chance to use up some odds and ends of fabric. Here are the bunnies in close up:

 

The bunnies were surprisingly quick to make, especially because I did them on a bit of a production line. Each bunny was presented alongside a creme egg for some Easter chocolate goodness.

Using Up Leftover Fabric – The Metre Skirt

Next week I have a new desk arriving (I’ll post about it once it has arrived and is all set up) to get some order to my sewing bits, I currently have bits all over the place and I’m sure S will appreciate it being organised much better. Anyway in anticipation I have been having a little sort through and came across a few bits of fabric that I have left over from various projects, I thought it would make sense to use some of these bits.

First up was the left over lilac cord from my Madeleine skirt, the cord is lovely and soft so I thought it would be nice to make up another skirt that was quite different from the Madeleine. I had a look through the trusty 101 Ways with a Metre book:

 

and came across a lovely A line skirt (nicely different from Madeleine). The pattern also called for some lining material so I used up the rest of the left over fabric from Jasmine Top.

Here is the skirt from the front view:

 

It finishes just above the knee and has pockets on the side:

 

The lining was used for the pockets:

And for the internal waist band:

 

Generally I’m fairly happy with this make, I love using up left over fabric and making something useful out of it. Both materials were brought from Paris for a total cost of 15 euro, they have now made up two skirts and a top, pretty good value!

The only downside is that despite taking my measurements I wish I had made the skirt one size down, it sits on the hips rather than around the waist and I tend to find clothes that fit like that pretty uncomfortable, I worry about sitting out of it (kind of ridiculous I know). I think I’ll make another one from some black cord fabric I have and try it in the next size down.

Fabrics Galore in NYC

I have now more or less got back into the swing of UK time and thought that I ought to post about my fabric delights whilst in Chicago and New York. We firstly went to Chicago and went to a Jo-Anns whilst there, I have read about Jo-Anns on some of the blogs that I follow so I wanted to go and have a look myself. I was completed overwhelmed by the size of the shop, my mum would call it gi-huge-mega-big, I brought a little fabric from there.

The green cord is exactly what i wanted for making the Madeline Skirt, my parent brought me the pattern for Christmas so it is so good to have the fabric to do this. I chose the green polka dot cotton because it went beautifully with the cord and will make a good top and lining.

Next we went to New York and had a look around the garment district. S came with and so ensure that he wasn’t bored rigid I focused my energies on the shops mentioned in here (this linked was kindly provided KadoHearts following my request for advice with fabric shopping).

Here I am in my coat and hat (from capsule wardrobe makes) outside one of the fabric shops (Prime Fabrics) and here is the inside of one of the shops:

Have you ever seen so much fabric in one place? Here are my purchases from the garment district:

The red chevron patterned material is a relatively thick knit that I will use to make the Renfrew Top (also a Christmas present from my parents). The cat and fish fabric is to make the Colette Taffy Blouse from (which is in the sewing handbook).

The green fabric will also become a Renfrew Top, although a different version and the patterned fabric has a currently unknown destiny but I liked the fact that it had all of the colours of my capsule wardrobe in it so thought it would be a good buy. I was relatively restrained on the fabric purchasing front (logistics of getting it home in my suitcase) but still seem to have come home with plenty. My fabric stash is growing again so I think that will be it for a while…need to get some sewing started.

Home, Snow and an Award

I am now back from my holiday, Chicago and New York were both absolutely amazing and it is somewhat of a shock to the system to be back on UK time. I managed to buy some beautiful fabric from my travels, which I’ll blog about in the next couple of day, if you have never been to the garment district…go!!

We landed in Heathrow to a beautiful covering of snow (feel quite lucky to have made it considering all the cancellations) and as soon as I saw it, I couldn’t wait to take Little One off to Epping forest. Here she is enjoying the snow:

 

Also I have returned to find out that I have been nominated for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award, thank you so much to Avis at Oh Sew Tempting for nominating me, such a lovely thing to find out upon logging on today. It is very nice to know that people take an interest in my little blog and I am therefore going to spread the blog love and pass on the award. The rules of this award are:

Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you.
2. Add The Very Inspiring Blogger Award to your post.
3. Share 7 things about yourself.
4. Pass the award on to nominees.
5. Include this set of rules.
6. Inform your nominees by posting a comment on their blog.

Here is the award logo:

Seven things about myself:

1. Sometimes I can’t sleep at night for thinking about what I want to sew or knit

2. The first item of clothing I ever made myself was a pair of sequin flares (I have no idea why!) when I was fifteen. I added about six inches onto the waist because I didn’t trust my measurements. I didn’t make clothes again for another twelve years

3. I drive all over for my job, I use it as a handy excuse to go to different fabric shops…just to have a look

4. If I decide to take the train I take a portable craft with me, cross stitch or knitting is perfect

5. I have a ridiculous passion for maths and numbers.

6. I dream of going to Madagascar

7. My guilty pleasure are books by Cecelia Ahern (no telling my book club!)

I’d like to nominate the following blogs. These are all blogs that I love reading and have found beautiful and inspiring in their creativity:

Kim-ing

DressesandMe

A Conversation With Moo

Sew Busy Lizzy

Lizzy Likes Cake

 

Sequins and Questions

Firstly the sequins. Next week I am going to a birthday party for someone who S works for and I needed to come up with a gift for him. I suggested adding sequins to a t-shirt with his name and S said he thought this would go down very well. Here is the t-shirt mid progress (I forgot to take a photo before I started):

 

It was a very simple (although time consuming process I completed this over three evenings whilst watching films) of sewing sequins onto the letters of his name filling the whole of the red area. Each sequin has a little glass bead on top. Here is the t-shirt all finished off:

 

Hopefully it will go down well when it is given to him next week. Anyway this nicely leads on to my questions, I am flying out to Chicago next week to meet up with S (so excited!!) where we will spend four days before flying to New York for four days. I have never been to America before and am really looking forward to it (although slightly nervous about making the flight on my own, I haven;t flown out of Europe since 1999 and then I was with a group of 17 people).

My question is:

Does anyone know of any great fabric shops in either Chicago or New York that I should visit?

Si is pretty tolerant of my fabric obsessional needs however I think dedicating one afternoon will be more than enough for him so want to focus my shopping.