Daisy Daisy, Give me your answer do....

I was going to post about a skirt I made back in January but I'm so god darn excited to share this one with you, I just couldn't wait. 

I'm the first to admit that I'm generally a bit slow out the old starting blocks on most things and this one is no exception- the Elisalex dress from BHL  has been around for sometime now, with many a fabulous example out there.                  

The fact that I've sat on this pattern for a whole year is shameful, especially after acquiring it from the winnings of Stitch 56's Sew Dramatic, Sew Gablorola competition-  my entry here    

                                   

So why sew it now? Well it was all a bit by default really, getting slightly side-tracked in the fabric store (Barry's) (as you do) I totally fell for this sequinned daisy lace; after much deliberation...about a nano second, it was cut and coming home with me, along with this gold duchess satin. 

Initial plans was to make Vogue 8766 yet a niggle in the back of my head told me the weight of the two fabrics wouldn't quite work. Like a pig snuffling in a trough, I plunged into the ever growing pattern stash...hmmm I wonder, a refresh of internet reviews ...sold! The Elisalex dress was shown the light of day.

Now I was still very weary about this pattern, lets face it - the shape...lets make our hips and arse's bigger girls...really!  Then just to add a little more pressure I wanted it made in 3 days time!!! you see, It was my birthday in the week and having such fabo fabric, my mission if accepted was to get it knocked up ready for a night out - you just have too, don't you?  

Well, fopaux number 1 and a Bridget Jones note-to-self..read the pattern sizes carefully!   I ended up tracing and making up a toile (thankfully) in an American size 12 UK 8!!! Hmmm  a tad tight you don't say! Three toiles later and I was fairy happy with the fit; 

Alterations consisted of: 

• FBA on princess seams by 2 cm 
• Forward thrusting shoulder 1 cm 
• Small back and gaping manipulation = various  
• Bodice lengthening 3 cm 
• Reduced skirt length by 19 cm 

So we are now Saturday morning and due to go for dinner that evening...#GBSB had nothing on me haha! how they do it I never know. I sewed and I sewed (a 40 minute break to do the dance run interrupted at one point) and I sewed. Lace sleeves had been planned but hey, needs must when against the clock and I actually prefer the finished result without.   

So here it is my birthday suit on its first outing - I totally LOVE it; if you have not got, done or simply over looked this dress, then  it's a big fat MUST. There are some adorable features to this dress 

 Stitching the lace seams proved quite tough on the poor over-locker, breaking 3 needles in the process, so had to go incredibly slow over the sequinned daisies 

The lace mesh was trimmed away around the hem, level with the satin, leaving the daisies to "flutter" as a half over hang.
I was pretty chuffed to get the back fitting as well as it does and oooooo those deep box pleats - so stylishxx

 I love this dress pattern so much I already have another one half cut out as a day version with sleeves this time, guess what I'm using too ...a curtain!

So long for now then -I will post the curtain make asap - in the meantime have a super weekend or what's left of it, seem's we have lost a precious hour of it here in the UK with British summer time moving forward a hour 

Love Amanda  xxx 

How time flies when you're having Sew much fun

Hello my luvies, hope you are well,  its been so long since my last post and much has happened with both sewing and life in general! Pretty much I've been on a massive sewing quest to complete not 1, not 2, but ....3 dresses for myself and the little Wyatt! for a wedding we attended yesterday; (blogs on these to follow) totally amazing day was had by all, and now chilling with a "woolly head" and "sore dancing feet" after some hard partying last night!. Part of the sew fest included helping out with just over 50 meters of bunting! originally was aiming for 100 meters but thankfully there were lots more crafters' on board- thought I'd just share a couple of the fabulous pieces that made up such a pretty wedding. 

 
Apologies for blogging off piste there for a moment... So  to task-

First up, would you believe it, I've had a kind'a anniversary in my blog silence...I've officially been sewing my own wardrobe for 12 months and not a RTW purchase for 7 month now!.. this event sort of crept up on me when I was sorting out some paperwork and realised that I'd purchased my over-locker last July, which is when my venture began. Never dreaming that I'd get so consumed by sewing, the idea was just to 'have a go' at making a few items for fun (hahah)

So what do I have to show for myself, twelve months on? Well.... I did a bit of a tally and WHOOO did  I get a surprise....53 items ( not all clothes for me but nevertheless)

• 14 X Dresses
• 11 X Tops/blouses
• 9 X Skirts
• 8 X P.J bottoms and 8 X embroidered tops 
• 4 X Irish dance dresses
• 4 X Roman blinds
• 2 X Sets of curtains
• 1 x Romper suit
• No partridges in tree's! !!! 

I've also took this time to do a bit of reflection on the highs, lows, lessons learnt and where now. 

High...this was probably winning the stitch 56 competition  for my Gabriola Skirt, the high was not necessarily about the winning (although gained some awesome sew patterns as a result!) as it was not particularly based on sewing ability but a fantastic reflection of how many of my lovely friends & family supported me by casting a vote :) 

Lows... thankfully not many flops on the sewing front, however, its been interesting to look back at some of my earlier makes and see the progress made - anybody judge their progress?  Of course any flops are really learning experiences...one piece not blogged about were my fist attempt at some cropped trousers, not blogged  only because they weren't finished and would be too indecent to show to the t-internet world - they ended up covering the full crotch spectrum scale, from what only can be likened to a dowager's hump down there to a full camel foot!! I'll leave that vision to your imagination!   

What have I learnt 

What can I say, there is "sew, so" much regards to techniques and skills and obviously still lots to discover. The main thing though to my astonishment, is that since making my own wears, I am much more comfortable about my body shape-don't get me wrong, I still have hang-ups about the bits that I would love to change, alter or generally slice off,  but I think I have a much greater appreciation and understand my size and shape. I have had more folk comment on my shape and ask me if I've lost weight this year- Nope, just better fitting clothes- RTW clothing and its irregular sizing has a lot to answer for...anyone else agree? 

Where now .. well this is an interesting one ... part of my blogging absence, as mentioned above, has been down to general life interferences and its knack of throwing things up at us- two weeks ago I found out I'm been made redundant!! a fallout of the latest round of Further Education funding cut backs ....cheers Mr Gove! Okay then, I've done the day of numbness, the day of crying, I'm now on the role of "bring it on"( with the intermittent "Oh Shi... flip!!")...really not sure what I want to do...more of the same, or time for a complete change? Friends have been really encouraging, saying "this could be the opportunity to dabble with some sort of crafting venture?" not too sure, it could be a total fantasy and disillusionment but I'm the type of person who'd rather try and fail, than not try at all- I really enjoyed my teaching groups for four weeks and is an area that I may pursue...however, whilst I have some breathing space, I really do need to get a "proper" income coming in...so we will see and watch this space as they say, in the meantime, I have a whole host of projects that need attending. 

So TaTA for now, thanks for stopping by and I'll be back with posts on the wedding outfits very soon :)XXX

When a Belcarra is not a Belcarra

On my quest for a handmade wardrobe, I have had to focus on producing more "cake" rather than "frosting", to quote Tasia of Sewaholic who perhaps brilliantly summed up the trappings of a few of us sewers-it sew easy to be lured into the amazing and beautiful dress patterns that are around. 

Right to the deed- Now, I don't want to mislead you in thinking this is a review for the Sewaholic Balcarra blouse and falsely enticing you into reading this post, but when I made the Butterick 5610, I couldn't help being reminded of it.

So far I've only sewn one sewaholic pattern, the fabulous Gabriola skirt here but I do own a couple of others - the Alma blouse and the Cambie dress.. I just can't wait to get going with them, however, if you've read my previous post here you'll know that it could take a fair while till I get around to these! 

I adore the sewaholic patterns, they have simple clean lines that are all totally wearable on a day to day basis, and the Belcarra beautifully falls into this. 

Yes, or am I barking up the wrong Belcarra! What do you think? 

        

The fabric I used is a lovely light soft cotton, not quite a lawn though, pity the pictures don't show the exact delicate pink colour as the evening sun was pretty bright. (I can sew but can't set up an overexposed camera!)

Just like the Balcarra's subtle shoulder detailing, this blouse has its detailing in the form of  a five pleat yoke, the sixth pleat is created by crossing over the centre front. The sleeves are top stitched - I went round twice rather than using a twin needle so that the underside didn't have the zig-zag understitching. 

Apart from the centre pleat that took a little thinking about, this pattern is incredibly easy and just what I need to reboot my flagging sewing-mo-jo. I cut a straight size 12 out on Saturday night(waiting for the England game!) and put it together in a couple of hours on Sunday evening- 

A friend popped round with a dress she wanted taking-in and saw it on the table "flat-packed" when I ran into her on Monday morning on the school run wearing it, she couldn't believe it!     

As well as being easy to sew, this is a great stash buster-the pattern says 1.20 mt but I reckon you could easily squeeze it out of a meter. 

I can certainly  see me knocking a couple of these up- I quite fancy trying a contrast yolk, which would also be great for using up some of the stash left over/cut off items. 

The other pattern option has four pleats down the centre front - reminds me a bit of the Mathilde blouse  ..non!

                                                                    

Everything about this pattern has big ticks about it- what do you think?

Happy sewing xxx Amanda 

Huffy Tantrums: that ain't sew bad

Okay, so the reason we all blog...apparently IS to share the good, the bad, and anything in between -right?... why?..... well, hopefully to share and save the pain of others. (unfortunately for others, I've not had too many of the "others") until now. :((((((

This blog is a tail of two halves. Are we sitting comfortably... then we'll begin...

With the onset of Spring closely followed by Summer hahahahaha.. Whoooh is this Jackanory!!!   Actually before I tell my tale, please allow some digression, taking a pair of ankle boots back to a well known retailer at the weekend, zip had burst its seam on 2nd time of wearing (immaterial, but a justification of being in a high St clothing store), a little meandering around the ladies dept. was required (it would be rude not too- and it ended up being for research purposes anyhow) Now April, I realised that I had not purchased a single item of RTW clothing this year! whoop... I've not even taken the 365 NO RTW pledge; Can I join in late, or start at any point in the year? On my surveillance around the racks, I found myself drawn to certain items (as you do), I'm sure you know what's coming, only to find myself thinking- look at the appalling top stitch, poor pattern match or How Much !!! Made me feel pretty proud that I was able to Paff!!! at these, knowing that  I'm able to create something that is equivalent- ( well hopefully not in, appalling top-stitch and pattern matching) come to think of it not always cheaper but all my own work. 

Right so where was I, oh yes, with the onset of warmer times, I felt that the contents of my wardrobe required a few basics, staple items- one can not prance around in dresses all of the time! (even if one would like too).My intention is to bring in brighter colours and jazzier prints where possible. On my last fabric haul (Sewing for Pleasure Show at the  NEC)  I purchased this lovely cotton print.. was either Abakhan or Barry's - visited  a fair few that day to get this little lot...

   

The fabric for this project was a print that is..not too in your face but enough to be cheerful and the added bonus of being a lovely soft cotton. Ahh remember now, it was from Barry's a bit pricey at £9.99- originally, I was looking for a suitable soft cotton for my second Gabriola, first here,  but needing 3.25 mtrs so felt this would be rather excessive. For ease of sewing and not to detract from the print, I minimised all fuss and went with a TNT, Burda 8677 used here my very first make!    

I made a couple of alterations from my first make, although happy with it, there's a little more "comfort" ease at the waist than was really needed. The intention was to lengthened the yoked front by and inch and graded the waist down a size, being lazy though, I  just cut straight up from the hip line, which meant the waist went 2 sizes smaller !!! resulting in the seam allowance  being utilised  and was taken to the wire!!  

In the effort of trying to redeem my laziness, I lined the skirt with a plain cotton, which also doubled up to give the skirt some body- I only had white so ....it served the purpose.   

The zip was one of those times (that happens a little too ofetn for my liking)  where it just wasn't happening; I stopped counting after the fifth rip out gggrrrrr. Its a zip for heaven sake, on the easiest fabric imaginable; I just couldn't get it in straight or concealed enough. I then tried my hand at inserting a zip placket; not too sure if I put in on the right side...-the zip is on the left hand side so attached it to the front facing edge of the zip- should it go on the back to smooth forward? No idea the RTW skirts I have with these are all back fastening???? 

Overall I'm happy with the skirt, I know it will be a useful, casual  everyday wear item.  

Next up was a "simple" jersey cowl neck top, Yeah right- the guy who sold me this fabric reacond it was organic! and you know how?

I love(d) the colour and initially bought it to go with my Gabriola skirt here .My vision was to keep everything soft and flowy, while picking out the aqua dots ( how sickly !)
I think my first failing was cutting out while full of a head cold and a throat that felt like I was gargling razor blades:(( not the best recipe for concentration - but its a "simple" top, what can go wrong.

I cut a standard size 14- the measurement of the finished top stated it would be 2 inches bigger than my bust measurement- that's okay, room for ease I can go with that... OH noooo a carry on camping look alike - it was huge. I had debated about the back, this was a Butterick pattern and the last couple of Butterick's I have made, had to have narrow back alterations applied - should have checked, measured more.. I know  I know! The back neck edge was not going to sit flat, no matter how much shoulder pulling, seam intake i was going to make... and there was no way I could or was going to even attempt unpicking stretch stitch! In total temper and a mad woman possessed, wielding scissors screaming insanely like the Queens of Hearts...OFF with the FACING woosh it was gone!!. I lay the pieces down, placed the pattern on top and crudely sketched in new seam lines (where permitting, the neck edge was now somewhere around a 10/ 8!! oooh bugger) new fashioned pieces were restitched. A tentative fitting just to check - phew ok .  

Next stage were the sleeves- I had already bodged one set up, and knowing there was no way my performance was going to produce neat, flat even seams, out came the rolled hem on the over-locker (a number of practices were had before the real thing) result - passable, not perfect, but passable.        

"errmmm it might look all smiles here but not behind the seams"

Inside views of the top

Now hand sewing is not my forte- and therefore I don't particularly enjoy it,  so to rub salt into my wounds this bad boy wanted the entire sleeve facings to be slip stitched- Pahh, not a chance - stitch in the ditch ... WRONG stretch stitch and foot attachment dont go! don't you know- do now, one broken needle. Tried again with the normal foot...a 1/4 of the way round it was going all over the place- out comes the hand sewing needle and a lot of steam from the iron.  

Look at the state of that neck!! inside facing 

I went to bed that night in disgust, feeling decidedly sorry for myself . I can't sew, Who am I trying to kid; If I can't even sew a simple skirt and top - What chance do I have - snivel snivel ( runny nose from cold doesn't make an attractive look)  

As my good sewing chum WillowWears Face booked by chunter -

 "Tomorrows a new day hun!" 

She was right- This morning I feel a little more positive and retrieving the green eyed monster off the floor of the sewing room- I give it another airing. 

Okay - it might not be the best sew in the world but Its mine and I shall always need to ware something when gardening or walking the dog!! Oh and i got new boots!! even nicer than the first :)))) Sorry this has been such a long blog and a little ranty- it so does you good to get things off your chest ( just wish it was so easy with a cold!) 

                      

Thanks for stopping by  Amanda XXX

Sew Dramatic, Sew Gabriola

Being fairly new to sewing, I think its fair to say that my knowledge independent patterns was pretty limited. Visiting blogs and site has opened a whole new world of intrigue, so one Sunday morn I decided to bite the bullet, order one and try it out. My choice, the Gabriola skirt from Sewaholic.

Reading about the Sew Dramatic, Sew Gabriola  competition at Stitch 56, my initial thought was "nah", I'd not wear it, not  really my style. Then I saw a Styling Inspiration piece by Caroline Amanda  at Sewaholic. This did it, inspiration kindled, and a "what the heck, give it ago, its only a piece of fabric at the end of the day" approach.

                                                          
Suggested fabric is a soft cotton lawn, but I found a lovely Polyester Lycra fabric, it seemed light enough and had a lovely drape.

I found the sizing on the pattern a bit urrhhhh, there's around a 20 inch difference between the waist and the hips? so I went with the waist size and thought I'd grade down the side seams if it was too huge.

At 5ft 10 tall I decided to lengthen the pattern too, as I wasn't too sure if it would sit on the waist or just below, cant stand it when trousers just come to the ankles then ride up when you move; me nan used to say "you'll need a bit O' jam on the bottom of those"! never understood it when I was little but totally get it now.

The front yolks and main seams of the skirt went together really easy. I realised early on that the extra length was not needed, as the stretch and weight of the material meant that it could probably fit one of the Harlem Globe Trotters! A friend came round when it was hanging for the bias to drop, she is slightly vertically challenged at 5ft 1, and laughed that if I put a draw string in the top it would fit her as a body bag!  

The Zip shall we say, was one of those times when it didn't go in first time! ( fifth! ggrrrrhhh) that was me though nothing to do with the pattern.  I bought some waist band interfacing just because I'd never used it before and fancied trying it.This made the band a little narrower by about 1/2 inch but works really well.  

Overall verdict - I TOTALLY LOVE this skirt and yes WILL be making again - already have a piece ready for the next one 

Next Gabriola 

       This skirt is stunning, the swoosh of it makes you feel really feminine and special.  

Worn this twice so far this week; the first time was to a network meeting. There was about 20 of us; 19 bods  in black& white combinations and one (me) in red & aqua green! And you know what...  I didn't care that I stood out, every one commented on how fab me & me skirt looked and how fun it was.

The second time was a trip to London- had to stand all the way- Don't get me started on trains and no seats OOOOOOOHH. with my head phone in I found myself swooshing & swaying to the music. My taxi driver commented on what a lift to spring I looked (Yep, that got him a tip!)  

Can see how the yolk would work in a contrast fabric 

 Went with a button fastener as there was one in the pot just the right colour, but bar an hook is also suggested.

Love the shape of this button (don't look to closely at the skew stitching on band!)

I so would highly recommend this pattern. It is such as essential item in your wardrobe and so easy to dress up or down. see the link on inspiration at the beginning.

Thanks for reading. Oh PS if you like it and thinks it worth a vote in the Stitch 56 challenge please feel free to vote for me here  :))) Voting closes 4th April 2014
Amanda XX