Manic Shopping Confession

Dear readers, I have a confession, I have a bit of a shopping trigger finger happening, I'm buying fabric left right and centre, there have been a flood of new patterns over the summer and I want them all! Want to see into my over-filled mind?

I want to make a turia dungarees variation with a skirt (because who am I kidding with that shorts malarkey?) 

I want the Pauline Alice Xerea, I think it will make an amazing showcase for jazzy fabrics, and is a new silhouette to all the fit and flare dresses in my stash. Also, how amazing would it be in blocked light and dark blue chambray?

Speaking of fit and flare I want Sew Over It's new vintage summer dress. I've been looking for the collar variation everywhere and as you may have guessed I'm a bit obsessed with shirt dresses. 

I also want to sew something with a waist, I love my bump, I'm really enjoying my shape.... is it possible I'm bored of the washi?! Surely not! I think I just want something completely different, like the Hollyburn. I really want the Hollyburn! Though not especially seasonally appropriate, I'd probably want it in wool but I've been drafting skirts that are similar to this for ages, but with little pleats. I'd love to have a pattern for this style.

And then there's the stash of fabric... I usually buy too much fabric per project, and so I end up with excess. I have now reached the stage where my excess is reaching epic proportions. I don't want to do anything with this leftover stuff, I've already made what I wanted, but I can't throw it away. All I can think to do is patchwork blankets, and I can't really be bothered. I've already made a cushion for the nursery chair, and I love it. But patchwork has never really been my thing and when I contemplate cutting one hundred rectangles it makes me want to cry.

I also want some classic washis, with the little cut out like my first ever one in some cotton sateen. I'm running out of work clothes, though I'm running out of days where I need to be in work so that shouldn't be an issue for much longer. How am I supposed to resist these fabrics? (Side note: I did not resist these fabrics).

Maybe it's because I haven't been able to sew for so long. I got the sewing room into a complete mess before all my trips away, I feel guilty if I'm not sewing for baby (count the baby clothes... 0) I'm sure once I get going with it I'd enjoy it but at the moment I just don't really wanna. And last weekend the sewing room was converted into a nursery with all my stuff being put into corners around the house, there is so much stuff!

I think I just need to take a step back, calm down and sew something. Once I get back in the chair I'm pretty sure I'll stop behaving like a maniac. All I need is time, but I'm quickly running out of that!

The Fantastically Generous Bloggers Shirt

I had a week off from le blog last week, sacrilege I know! But as you may know from my previous post, I started a new job and as we are on the countdown to Christmas there is just so much to do! I've been bringing a few things together, including some ideas for my secret santas. I decided to take part in two this year. One by A Krafty Kat, the one that I took part in last year, and have grand plans for my pressie. Also I have taken part in a newer crafty secret santa by Stitched Up from the Start I've got a great person and can't wait to get it all wrapped up and sent away.

How has your week been? Mine has been good, the new job wiped me out for the first week, lots of meeting new people (even though I've only moved down the hallway) and wrapping my head round a whole world of new acronyms. But I'm feeling good about the move, and can't wait to go to my (two!) Christmas parties.

When I got this new job, I started to think about getting some more work appropriate clothing. I would say that work clothes are one of the things that I love most about making my own clothes, I think I might have mentioned that in my Washi post. I want something that shows my personality, can be dressed up or down, and is layerable (because I sit on an air vent... not as exciting as it sounds). The photos in this are terrible, you can probably tell that yourself but I thought I'd mention it, sometimes it's either terrible pics or freezing pics while your neighbours watch you whilst clearing a garden. I went with bad pics.

Enter my Pauline Alice Cami Shirt

I got the buttons, and lovely... especially bad photographed bias binding from my secret santa last year, I snuck in under the line for making this before the next Christmas! This lovely packet came with instructions, I was to make a shirt. I hope I did you proud Santa!

Unfortunately I didn't find a place for the light blue ribbon, but it awaits in the stash for the perfect project. 

The detailing comes from another lovely bloggers de-stashing from the 2013 Birmingham blogger meet-up, unfortunately I didn't make this years... I was hungover (to my eternal shame). But hopefully it will be on again next year and I can tag along because it was a brilliant day. I got the following material from Amy of Almond Rock, in the great de-stash/ swap, and added it to cuffs and collar.

The shirt is a little tight in the back (see slightly unflattering picture below), I did widen the sleeves as per the adjustments I thought of from the Zig Zag Cami, including a wide shoulder adjustment, which did work as the shoulder seam now sits comfortably on the edge of my shoulder. However, I don't think I widened the arms enough and that is what is causing the tightness. On to the next version!

I bought the skirt in this post from a charity shop in Edinburgh when we lived up there, it had weird little tacked on badges of squirrels and owls, which I removed. It's a great skirt for walking up a hill, or going to the office, and is super warm for chilly knees. The lining was recently falling apart so I attached a new lining to the inside of the skirt, using the edge of the old lining to stitch to.

I love a colourful lining, this was another purchase from the blogger meet-up... there have been a few things languishing in the cupboard for a while ey? Feels good to be using up the stash.

Overall I'm very happy with this shirt, this pattern is on its way to perfect, and once it's right I have so many plans for pattern hacking. I'm very excited!... but should get back to making Christmas pressies. Selfish sewer? Who... me? Hope you have a great weekend.

Debs

Jazzy Washi Dress

Hello everyone,

How's your week going? This week is my last in my current job, I've got a new job beginning on Monday! I'm a little nervous as it's a step up, and I don't know a lot about it just yet. But I'm excited to be moving onwards and upwards in my career. My outside of sewing life isn't something I talk about very often, but I'd like that to change, my fave blogs always show a little bit of themselves in their posts and I want to try and do that too.

So now I'm going to talk to you about the Washi dress. My favourite dress pattern to date, this is the dress that I get the most compliments about, and I'm already on my second version.

With shirring in the back this is ridiculously comfortable as well. Look at the fabric! I bought this at the minerva meet-up on a rainy summers day in Darwen, and went through a few plans before I landed on the washi dress. I found this pattern reading The Creative Perfectionist, who made it sound so comfortable, work wearable, and excellent weekend wear that I had to give it a go. I've found that the tunic a-line shape it creates is very flattering for me (or so I'm told) and I plan on making many more of these.

The curved cut-out needs a little work, as the points don't lie flat. However, there are hints and tips in the dress pattern for how to combat these issues. As I hadn't made the pattern before I just made it to the pattern specifications and hoped, but I'll be trying out some of these techniques in my next version. 

You can see there is a little extra fabric in the back, I'm not sure what the solution is to this as it needs that extra fabric for movement. Any thoughts? 

I'm very proud of the shirring on this, I've only ever tried shirring a couple of time before this and though not disastrous they were not exactly triumphs. I followed some of the tutorials online, and the information that came with the pattern, and I'd definitely recommend doing this. However in essence here are the three things I learned:

1. Slightly stretch the shirring elastic as you wind it on to the bobbin

2. Practise practise practise with the material you are going to use, whilst adjusting the tension until it is right

3. Pause halfway through each line and make sure your elastic isn't caught anywhere, and that the tension is correct. 

I hemmed the edge with some bias binding that I also picked up from the meet-up, I have started to pick this up whenever I see any nice bias binding as it is my favourite way to hem a dress.

So what's your latest fad? Have you got a go to Tried n True (TNT) pattern? Also, did you see my shiny shoes? (this is my new favourite phrase) they are part of my, buy awesome shoes plan. The plan has been very effective so far... well if you think, 'it takes a certain kind of person to pull off hipster shoes' as a success, which I definitely do. 

I'm off to watch another five mins of Stargate the movie before bed... Captain O'Neills hair! I'll leave you with what appears to be my favourite new pose, the who... me? shoulder pose.