Mad Men Dress Challenge... I'm in!

I'm taking part in a sewing challenge, and I'm actually on track for finishing! Can you believe it? I can't ha ha.


The Mad Men Challenge is something I have looked at over the past couple of years and have slathered over all the beautiful dresses that everyone makes. Set up a few years ago by Julia Bobbin the challenge has grown in popularity ever since.


With the end of Mad Men drawing near, I didn't want to miss out on making something inspired by these fabulous ladies.



Julia has posted a lot of amazing inspiration in the past, and some lovely round-ups of those taking part. I started here looking at what people had made, what options there were and then (as is usually the way) found myself on pinterest pinning to my hearts content. You can see my inspiration board here, as you can see I wanted something in the vein of a work dress, as this is where I feel I'm lacking the most in the wardrobe (as discussed in my previous post).

I finally settled on this collared beauty from Modcloth:

My dress therefore won't be a direct Mad Men copy, but Mad Men inspired, as, well, this was my favourite so what ya gonna do?

My version is based on the By Hand London Anna dress, as I felt the lines were very similar. This will be my first make by these amazing independent pattern makers. I am at the moment doing some finishing touches, and will hopefully have some pics to show you by the weekend. 

In the meantime, hope you're enjoying this amazing weather! 

Stars in their eyes interview dress

One of my goals for this year is to develop a 'work wardrobe', staple dresses and skirt/ shirt combinations that I can throw on in the morning and feel smart. I want to able to show my unique style, whilst feeling like a boss (not for sensitive eyes).

This dress is the first step on that road! I love this dress, I feel smart and stylish, I can wear dramatic tights of all colours and shapes, and I got to stretch my embroidery skills on something other than home projects which was cool. I might try and do some more of this, maybe some flowers like the one from this cushion on the bottom edge of a similar dress? I feel the need for a bit of a spring make.

The dress is a combination of the pastille bodice, and New Look 6128 (shocker of a skirt choice). I made a christmas party dress last year (yet to blog about) and I love the neckline for a night out, but for work it's a bit on the low side. I altered the neckline of the bodice by lying out the pattern piece on some medical paper, drawing out my adjusted pastille bodice and free-handing a scooped look with my french curve.

I then cut out my lining in black linen-look cotton from Minerva, which I bought to make another New Look 6128 (never blogged... hmm sensing a theme), which I made last year for something light to wear in the summer months. I've got loads left and have been using it to muslin dress bodices, and then using this muslin as a lining for the actual bodice.

I am very proud of the finish of this dress, it is fully lined, with black bias edging on sleeves and the bottom of the skirt. It really picks out the black of the embroidery.

I went for a non-static generic lining for this project. I like the way it swishes when I walk, and I know my tights aren't going to get stuck on it. Probably should have ironed the lining for this pic but you get the idea.















In order to do the embroidery, I completed the bodice, attaching the lining to the neckline, and under-stitching. I then tacked on some silk organza to stabilise the fabric, and to give a white surface to draw on. I then free-hand drew on the design I was after with a water soluble pen, and stitched with black polyester thread the outline of the stars so that it would show through on the right side of the dress.

I then filled in these stars with a combination of backstitch, french knots and brick stitch.

In order to create the design, I pinned some images of stars on my pinterest board, to give me an idea of what I was looking for. Originally I was planning on creating a pdf which I could use as a template, but once I reached that point, I found it easier to draw the stars on by eye. It was easy once I knew what I was looking for. I thought about doing free-hand machine embroidery for the stars but after some practice realised I liked the control of the hand-stitching.

I even got to match my pockets to the star-theme, with some stitched together very last scraps of my planet fabric.

And now, for making it through all the techie bits... me and an umbrella!... and yes, I chopped off all my hair! :-D

And the winner is...!

Sorry this took so long folks, I have no excuses other than that I didn't order my super special prize until right at the last minute (like... right now!) and I didn't want to do the big reveal without it.

I can now reveal that the lucky winner...

Chosen by random number generator...

You have to imagine this is being said by the guy off the lottery, not my Northern accent...

Is... Mary of Handmadebymaryall who appears to be all the way in Italy! How international this international giveaway is!

Thank you so much to everyone who took part, it was lovely to take part in something in a physical way rather than over the airwaves. Im looking forward to doing some more things like this in the future.

Please see below the extra little something I have ordered to go with the massive haul of patterns, love these sewing related bits and pieces, hope you do too Mary!

Red Checker Skirt

I'm back to some proper sewing posts! Hoorah! Though if I'm honest I made this skirt last Summer so this post is a bit long in the making. I loved the process of making this skirt, and was so excited while in the process as I thought it would be gorgeous. And then I tried it on.. and though it fit very well, and I was really proud of the finish, it just didn't really suit me (not to my mind anyway). 

I think choosing to make an a-line skirt with this material was where I went wrong. 

When I was making it, the material looked all flowing and lovely, but obviously as I made a slim a-line skirt, the flowing loveliness disappeared.          

In order to make the skirt I adapted New Look 6128, using a combination of the original width of the straight skirt, and overlaying the a line version over the top to add extra fullness.

I then added a placket down the centre based on the back placket on Tilly's Mathilde blouse.

Some of you may recognise that I made Mr T his tie from this skirt material. On the bodice you can see how I wanted it to look, and below is how it looks on me. Not quite right, it catches on my hip and then kicks out, not a great look.

I know how to fix it though. I think I'm going to add a panel in the sides of the skirt in the shape of a trapeze between the side seams, add another couple of pleats, hopefully that will give it back that flowing loveliness like on Betsy!

Don't forget to join my pattern pyramid competition. Time is running out! 

DFabricate Needs You!

I won! I won! I won a pattern pyramid! So here's the deal, a bunch of bloggers in Wellington on 1st December 2012 decided to put a little pack together based on Did You Make That's Pattern Pyramid plan. Since then this package of patterns has been winging it's way around the world, New Zealand, Europe, Britain. My pack came from the lovely Annette Tirette came all the way from Belgium. 

There are some fabulous editions in here... Annette included some lovely postcards too which have now taken pride of place in the sewing room (I'm going to do a full post on this soon!).

These were some of my favourite... aren't those Butterick ones so similar to Tilly's Miette skirt? It was so hard to decide which one to keep. In the end I went for the vogue pattern below. I've been planning on making a jacket and thought the hoodie might be a good introduction, plus I love the white top. Now to conquer my fear of jersey!

On the right is my addition to the pile, a pattern I bought to make a bag for my sister which sadly never saw the light of day. It has been judging me from the pattern drawer ever since, taunting me with my lack of unselfish sewing (sorry sis!). I hope one of you can make better use of it.

Now I don't have a massive readership, and this is such a big thing, I don't want anyone to miss out! So I'm hoping you'll be able to help me. I would very much appreciate it if you could pass on the link to anyone who may be interested... a line at the end of your blog, or a quick share? I'd love to give this an element of competition with more than a few entries, and I'd really appreciate your help! As a bit of an incentive I'll be adding some lovely gifts in with the packet too. But you'll have to enter to find out!

The rules are simple, if you'd like to join in, and you have your very own blog, write a comment below, linking to your blog by 31 January 2014. To keep things interesting why don't you write which pattern your tempted by, or which patterns are looking at you from your pattern cupboard/drawer/bag that make you feel guilty?

On the 1st I will pick your name out of the hat and let you know who won, and what I'll be including as a little extra.

I'm so excited about being involved in a social sewing giveaway, I hope you're tempted!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2014 lovely people.

How are you all?

I had... I'm not going to lie here, a very drunken welcome into 2014. One of those nights were you think, have I changed at all over the past 5 years, or am I just exactly the same? It was slightly depressing to be honest, so the idea of ringing in the New Year with shiny resolutions etc wasn't really on the cards.

But a few days have passed, the dehydration (and embarasment) has dissipated, and I have so much to be thankful of for the past year, and a lot to look forward to.

Christmas was awesome, much more calm than usual and that suited me down to the ground, one of my favourite parts of it was participating in the Secret Santa present project as organised by Krafty Kat.

This was a brilliant idea, bringing me closer to a blogger as I tried to figure out what would be the best pressie. I hope they liked it!

Plus, I got my gift through the post and was so excited! Love getting post at the best of times but then to know it contained a little pressie based on what I might like was fabulous.

Here is a (terrible) pic of me super excited opening it:

And here were the lovely contents:

I don't know if you can read the lovely note that came with it (I took the package all the way to Northern Ireland with me on my flight so the packing got a bit crumpled). But my Secret Santa has set me a challenge. I am to make a shirt with these trims (in my favourite colour no less) with piping on the back yoke, blue buttons and bias binding on the seams. A shirt is actually on my goals list so this could not have been better suited! Thanks Santa, such a thoughtful gift. 

I have lots of goals for my year, but at the moment they are floating around a bit in my brain rather than being written down so I'll come back to that. In the meantime, I wish you a craft-filled, goal achieving 2014. 

Merry Christmas!

What a fantastic year, hope you've all had a blast like me, I'm shattered ha ha! Just arrived in Derry today for Northern Ireland Christmas, looking forward to copious amounts of tea, reading craft magazines and doing nothing (except visiting 1 thousand relatives). It's going to be amazing!

Thank you very much for helping make this year as great as it has been, this blog keeps my creative brain ticking over, always thinking of new things and helps me to gain perspective, not only of my makes but of my life in general. I love every minute of it.

Here's to an amazing 2014 for you all!