Re-made New Look 6723

Here is a link to my original post on this dress. I was very happy with it when I first made it. But due to it having so much ease (even with me taking out however much I did at the time) it was ridiculously comfy, but also impossible to wear underneath anything. No problem says I! I bet i'll wear it in the summer when I dont have to wear a cardigan/jumper. What fool am I? I may be one of those crazy people who enjoys the british summer but even I have to admit a dress that I can't wear layers with wasn't going to get much wear.

So back to the drawing board! I took off the sleeves, brought the neckline down by an inch or so, completely took out the underlining (I didn't feel it was necessary really) and instead bound all my edges with bias binding (my favourite finishing technique). I heightened the waistline by another couple of inches (apparently I have a super high waist), and last but not least changed the gathering to two extra large pleats, I think this is more flattering as it doesn't create the same bulk at the waist it had before. This was the result!

I have lost some of the super pattern matching from the first rendition, but I haven't stopped wearing the dress since I refashioned it so I think it was definitely worth it. You can still see the original pattern matching in the back by the zip though, makes me happy.

Hope you've had a good weekend so far :-)

Super Sweet Blogger Awards

I was included in the Super Sweet Blogger line-up by the lovely lady of Dreaming of Avonlea (thank you!) Unfortunately, the only people I can think of to add are those that she mentioned in the previous post, so I will be holding off on posting new and exciting people until I get a good list for you all :-)

The Rules:
Thank the Super Sweet Blogger that nominated you.
Answer 5 Super Sweet questions.
Include the Super Sweet Blogging Award in your blog post
Nominate a baker’s dozen (13) other deserving bloggers.
Notify your Super Sweet nominees on their blog.

Simples.

The 5 Super Sweet Questions:
Cookies or Cake? Cake, definitely. With a large cup of tea, and preferably whilst in a cafe on a day trip

Chocolate or Vanilla? Erm... can I have a scoop of both?

Favorite Sweet Treat? Ooh totally depends on the day but a jar of nutella and a cream cracker and I'm a very happy lady

When Do You Crave Sweet Things The Most? After most meals... ha ha. Yeah it's a constant battle really

Sweet Nickname? Hmmm.... don't have any kind of nickname but if you want to name me after a sweet thing then I'm thinking something in an iced gem vain? Mostly 'cause they're da bomb

Birmingham Blogger Meet-up

I went to my first blogger meetup! Very exciting, got to meet the lovely Marie of A Stitching Odyssey. I won't tell you all the details of the day, as you can find wonderful roundups from most of the attendees blogs (a list of them here, along with some sneaky pics of me... can you spot me and my not-yet-blogged changed dress?) I'm going to do a proper post on this as soon as I get a chance to get some close-up shots of it. I definitely made the right choice re-making though as I haven't stopped wearing it since it was completed.

Here are some pics  of the meal.. where we talked fabric, patterns and jobs (definitely not as exciting as dresses I think we all agreed).

There was a massive swap shop!

I got some brilliant finds, including the material that Amy of Almond Rock made a lovely dress with. My two swap finds were cotton viscose, which I haven't sewn with before but are lovely, soft and drapey, so I'm thinking some more sleeveless Mathildes maybe?

I bought some lovely fabrics in Barrys, but didn't get anything in the afternoon (one very full canvas bag was enough for me, seeing as I'm trying to stash bust, not stash build.

One fabric that will actually help with stash-busting is below, it's a gorgeous digital rose print in a thick cotton-type material (never very good at remembering to write down material contents when in the shop). I already had about half a metre of this material which I had found in a bargain bin... probably 3-4 years ago? It was never enough to make anything from so it has wallowed in the stash. But now I have bought a further 1 1/2 metres so my options are almost limitless. I say that, but of course I'm going to make another New Look pencil skirt so my options are limited by my imagination apparently. One problem is that the quality of the material is different (though the pattern is exactly the same) my bargain piece is mostly polyester with a bit of stretch, and as I mentioned before my new bit is cotton. I'm thinking of using the poly for the pockets, as it won't matter if this is different. However, if you can think of anything I should do with it... matching bag, purse, flamboyant headwear... I'd love to get some suggestions.

Thanks to Marie, Claire and Kat for organising. I know we all had an amazing time, and you made the nervousness of going to my first meetup a breeze. I have already had a lovely email from an attendee and we are planning a fabric shopping trip in the near future, very exciting! As well as some technical help from Hannah of madewithhugsandkisses and a SuperSweet Blogger award from Dreaming of Avonlea Thanks! Long may meeting continue! We were discussing on Saturday a possible meetup in Manchester, maybe taking over Abakhans? Anyone interested?

Extra PJs and a bit of bloglovin!

Good Morning!

I understand my pics were a bit too dark to see my PJs in all their glory on Sunday, so here are a couple of extra pics to keep you going until my next project!

Also, a bit of blog admin:
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Hope you're having a good week!

Pyjama Party for One

Can only be read when listening to 'Me Party' from the Muppets..

This is me.... in my new pyjamas... having a party for one! I love these pjs, they are made from a cotton stretch material from Minerva fabrics. I used a rub-off of an old pair of pyjamas which became unwearable after an unfortunate ripping incident in an unnecessary area, and followed Karen's instructions for the Tofino pattern (with some minor adjustments). I added piping to the waistband as my original pyjamas rather than down the sides, and I spent a while trying to figure out pattern matching... this was a bit of an exercise in futility, but just look at where the pattern matches up at the front! So proud!

Alright, alright that's enough staring at my crotch you'll just have to take my word for it ok? I don't have much more to say other than Pyjama Win!

Dino Blind

So I've been trying to tweak the bathroom, make it as colourful as possible to detract from the strange grey geometric tiling. I think i'd quite like the tiles if they weren't on every wall. I'm not a big fan of this in general, I think it has something to do with going to university housing where all the walls and floors were covered in beige tiles.

So anyway... dino blind! Not much to this one, me and Mr T each chose a dinosaur, (me being stegosaurus, his being a velociraptor, and we spent a happy evening watching tv and cutting out dinos from sticky back vinyl plastic pieces (from amazon, you can choose whichever colours you want!)

I adjusted the blind (got to play with a hacksaw), measured the blind and marked where the dinos would go, and that was it! Love this blind, kind of want to put ones in every room of the house now.

MMMay, Great Gatsby and a Pyjama Party!

I'm going to confess... I failed the Great Gatsby Challenge. I just didn't get inspired, I didn't have any really good fabric for it in my stash and in the end... I was lazy. Sorry ...!

Second confession... I didn't achieve everything I wanted to with Me Made May, I liked the outfits I wore, but I didn't get much sewing done at all and therefore once I'd worn those outfits I ran out of stuff to wear! I kept wearing my clothes but really it was pretty boring of me to put up more and more pics of me in a straight skirt and Mathilde (no matter how much I love them). So what did I learn? I need more me-made clothes! Plus, I need to adjust my New Look 6723, looking at amazing dress makers like Dolly Clackett, I'm just not happy with the fit, and so surprised myself by not wearing it at all through May. So, I've got the seam rippers out and I'm starting again. I'll let you know the results!



In order to try and redeem myself to the sewing gods I am immediately signing up for the Pyjama Party over at Did You Make That. This is a great challenge to try as I have already cut out some pyjamas! Though I did cut out one of the pieces the wrong way round.


All I need do is finish them before the deadline of the end of June. I can do this! ....Right? Never been good with deadlines, just the word sends a shiver down my spine. But I like that I'm trying to push myself to achieve things on time. That's got to be good for me.



And here's the reason I haven't been doing much sewing recently, I've been spending time outdoors! I can't help but play in the garden when it's this sunny, so difficult to stay indoors! Sorry, not sorry :-)

 Not sure how interested in this you guys are... but love my garden so here's another pic for good luck!

I've been working on lots of home things recently (and by working on I mostly mean going to IKEA) I've got an excellent dinosaur themed post planned. So happy with it, hope you like it!!