Easter week - Christmas Dress

Good day my dear friends! How are we all on this miserable freezing Easter Thursday? It's not just me right? It's chillyyyy! I was so excited to get out my Spring mac, as I mentioned in that blog post, it was a very seasonally inappropriate make once it was finished so I was counting the days 'til Spring. However, it's still a bit chilly for it really, so I've had to layer up rather dramatically but I don't care. It's Spring dammit and I'll freeze if I want to! Those females are strong as hell!

So anyway, to match this chilly chilly weather I'm showing you my Christmas dress... yeah it's a little bit late I know, ha ha. What can I say? time got away from me. I made it for the Autumn of 1,000 shirt dresses, and I definitely made it within the time frame, so I'm counting it as a win... don't judge me?

You may remember all of the alterations from my last post about the cami dress. Here you can see how all of those changes translated into the next dress that I made.

The skirt is one very large rectangle with lots and lots and lots of pleating. I love a pleat, I really enjoyed the pleating process on The Great British Sewing Bee kilt I made. It's a very relaxing process, (however stressful the Bee may have been) to sit and pin, especially with such a lovely pattern as a tartan which gives you a good bold stripe to match to. 

It made for a very swishy skirt as you can see me demonstrate here. I'm giving the camera total side eye here, you may be able to spot my fancy new remote control gizmo. This is why I'm giving the camera the eye, as I've not quite gotten to the stage where I know that photos are actually being taken ha ha. I made myself so dizzy taking these!

Here you can see a close-up of the pleats, and the pattern matching across the main seam in the middle (can you tell I'm proud?).

You may see that there is a little bit of a belly bump in the following pic....    Any guesses?

I'll give you a hint... I haven't been eating too much ice cream. Well, I probably have but that's not the reason!

Me and Mr T are having a baby!! His/ her name is Spud and we are now twenty weeks in. The big scan is tomorrow but we want to keep the sex a surprise, it's all very exciting, and has taken a while to sink in. This is really happening people! It is not a drill!

These cami dresses are holding up well to the bulging waistline, but not for long probably. Hence all of the washis in my life recently! I did find it very satisfying to go through my wardrobe and put away all of the things that wouldn't fit me. It was a great excuse to put away all of those things that you keep 'for occasions' but never wear. It really made some room, though it did show I've probably got way too many clothes. I'm sure I'll quickly get to the stage where I don't have enough though, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Hubbie and I are off on holiday for Easter, very excited!

Episode Four: Kilts, cults and corsets... ok so there are no cults in this but GBSB is it's own cult right?

Howdyyy

Bit late with this weeks post, life blah, blah, boring stuff etc. Who loved structure week?! I sure did, that corset pattern is a work of art. If the one in the book is the same, I will make it again in a second just for the sheer joy of sewing it together. CL did an amazing job with the patterns in the show, all power to her! No bad feelings about the waistcoat pattern @ThriftyStitcher ;-)

I must admit I've been somewhat of a swot so far on the Bee, using silk organza for my chiffon blouse, and hair canvas for my kilt, one of my fave camera men used to whisper swot at me as he walked past ha ha! Patrick was not interested in my sucking up, but May appreciated, just as she apparently appreciated my corset (at this stage anyway) Ta da, ta da, ta daaa!

Neil won the corset challenge, which happens to be a bit of a theme in this episode, so I don't feel bad for having said 'Neil always wins, Matt came second yaaaay'. I love this picture, 'cause it looks like I'm attempting to push a KitKat into Matt's mouth, I promise this was not a poor attempt at sabotage....

Oooh look at these women! This looks very uncomfortable, this image reminds me of the Ugly Sisters for some reason. Which can't be a good thing, clearly being ugly is not what they were going for. I wore an under corset for my wedding, which I did not make at the time (though maybe I would now), and my Mum definitely had to let me out of it a bit so I could have my dinner. Even then all the food sat somewhere in the chest area. I can't even imagine what it must have felt like to wear these all the time.

Phwoar! Look at Ryan's alteration dress, It's so gorgeous! And those elastic sides, saaucy!

I flipping loved making that kilt, I'm not sure the colours came out that well on screen, but the purple of the fabric toned with the grey is so beautiful, who would have thought my kilt would be subtle! I originally bought this fabric to practise with, looking at a light green wool that had trees on it. I ordered a sample, but when it arrived, I wasn't convinced it would be thick enough, and I'd grown very fond of this lovely purple and grey fabric so I went for it!

Claudia doing the 'kilt purr', another technical term. 

This is Patrick calling my kilt 'fantastic'. Fantastic!! Flipping heck, I nearly died on the spot, that is some compliment from Patrick. I am still very proud of this kilt, it's one of the best things I've ever made, and I enjoyed it so much. I cut my own leather for the kilt buckles, and taught myself a massive amount in a very short period of time in order to make it *proud face*. 

This is one of my fave episodes so far, but also one of the saddest, losing people always left such a hole in our little gang. People leaving was terrible, and losing two made it very quiet, especially two such fantastic peeps. 

Amanda - this fantastic vintage lover can be found on her blog here

Ryan - I can't wait for him to start showing us what he's been up to at St. Martins, watch out on his twitter for these amazing creations @ryan_walklett 

What I didn't do in my last post was an homage to everyone's favourite giant-haired, green loving lady Neela. Read all about her awesome makes here. 

Only two days til the sem-final, I'm in the semi-final whaaat?

A Mathilde Blouse and New Look 6128 skirt

My Mathilde Blouse!

I made this (it feels like) months ago! and we've finally had some sunshine so I thought I would show you my homemade outfit.

The skirt was so boring I decided not to post about it, but in short it's another New Look 6128, in a red and black check (which definitely doesn't match at the seams).

But it's perfect for work, and it fills a whole in the wardrobe.

Hope you like the boots! I was pottering around the garden in my work clothes and walking boots before these pics got took, and I'm far too lazy to go get fancy!

To the main event!

My Mathilde blouse. I'm so proud of myself for making this, I'm sure there are mistakes and tiny things I could do better, but this was the first time I've ever made a blouse, and the first time I've used a slippy fabric. I love this blouse and I'm not afraid to raise my arms to it. In fact, I've begun a second one immediately! And in the over-confidence from the black blouse, I decided to make it in a chiffon/ georgette from my stash, wish me luck!

Here's a sneak preview:

More to come! If you'd like this fabulous pattern, along with the wonderfully in-depth instructions click below:

Burnt Orange Pencil Skirt

I finished something! Hoorah! And here's a picture of our kitchen (which only fits one person) actually looking quite clean for once. I think I could give The Little Paris Kitchen a run for its money.

Out of my entire giant list of things for last weekend, I feel I did very well by actually completing a project and not getting distracted, attempting to do four and achieving nothing.

However, I did only finish one project, but it was totally worth it. I made a burnt orange pencil skirt for the winter, and it fits both my waist and hips. Something I have never found in the shops, even when I was teeny tiny. I'm really starting to believe I can sew clothes.

I always used to give it a go, but never paid very much attention to the pattern, or ironed anything, so it was never quite as pristeen as I would like it. The sizing would be out, or I'd have made something up ad hoc and it would go wrong.

Not that I haven't done that in this project... but I'm getting better at it maybe? As you can see in this post, the skirt is a remake of a remake, a hack job I did on a skirt that was several sizes too big. I unpicked all the side seams and recut the pieces from my pattern.

Something to do with me leaving the back zip in instead of re-doing it meant that the waistband fell just short of the right size, so I bound the raw edge with navy bias binding. I think I got away with it, just. But now I know when I make the pattern from fresh that I might add another inch to the waistband just in case.

I also made belt loops, which came together very quickly and easily. Unfortunately when I was stitching them into the waistband, it seems to have pulled the waistband closer together (I should probably have basted alot more?), if you've got any tips on how to avoid this in future then please let me know!

I added in tartan panels for the pocket pieces to add contrast (and because I ran out of material) and added in the belt loops in tartan to keep up the theme.

When I did the top stitching on the pockets, I did it in navy to tie in with the pockets.

I learnt something new on this project too, understitching. When I read the description of what this was on the pattern, as usual, it all sounded complete gobble di gook, so I looked up understitching on google, and what should come up but the lovely Colette of Colette Patterns. Her instructions here, were clear and easy to follow with pictures (v. important to a person like me who gets all those words confused in their head). I was very pleased with the results, this makes the fabric not roll out revealing the navy lining.

Overall, this pattern worked really well. It was easy to follow, and fit me to the dimensions that it said on the packet (not always something that actually happens). I'm still learning, but feel like I really made progress with this, and haven't stopped wearing it since it was made! Any projects you're particularly proud of at the moment?

Deborah

September Weekend Projects

Working for the Council has some benefits, the best of which is the Midlothian September weekend. I have a four day weekend to play with, and for the first time (probably since we moved up) we don't have visitors!

The original plan was to make a practise version of my wedding dress (above left), but with the prices of fabric up in Edinburgh, and the amount of fabric needed for my first draft pattern V1094, I decided to get a pattern with a little less fabric. So I chose New Look 6723, and a beautiful vintage wallpaper-esque navy blue fabric. I think I need the most practise on the bodice, so went for a basic one to start with, to work my way up. I'll keep you posted with progress on this one.

The project I've first started is a re-working of the orange skirt (in the centre of this picture), when I first bought this skirt it was a number of sizes too big for me. So I did my usual job of taking it apart and adding a couple of pleats. It sort of fit, but having lost a little weight over the summer, it has just become unwearable. So I've gone back to basics, taking all the seams apart, and making the pattern pieces from New Look 6128. I ran out of fabric to do the waistline, so I've added in some dark green and blue tartan as the pocket pieces, adding some contrast. I think it works, but will have to wait and see if I wear it when it's finished.

You've seen a variety of pictures of my flower embroidery, and I'm coming to the end of finishing it. So I bought some teal pom pom trim (my favourite kind of trim) and I'm going to add it to the edge of the pillow/ cushion to make it slightly more cushion looking (hopefully). Also, Im thinking it needs something a little more in the main area of the cushion, feels a litte white to me. I've got some plans for how to fill this in... watch this space!

Obviously I have taken on way more than I can do in this weekend, but it's quite nice to have exciting plans ahead. Ill update you soon with my progress!



Deborah