Sew Hello

Right O', I'm jumping back on this here blog again. 

I've missed writing in my little space to talk. Ever since all of the changes of the past few years I just lost my blogging mojo and with this life changing so has the focus of what I want to chat about and show you.  I'm still as creative as ever, probably far more so, but the focus has switched very much to my dressmaking adventures and that's what I'll be focusing on here from now on, along with all the usual chat about stuff in general.

Over the past two, nearly three years since being made redundant from education I've had the luxury of more time to sew and I've been using that time most productively. You could almost say bordering on obsessive. What I would give to have an endless supply of all the fabrics and patterns I'd like to work with. But hey ho, patience Lisa, you'll get to them one day. So I've been busily stitching away for myself, for my loved ones and for my lovely customers. 

I've decided the best start would be to show you many of the clothes I've completed since I last posted and then I will start writing in more detail about just one thing. That's my plan. I've five posts all ready and waiting to go. Steadily, one at a time.

      The Celine Bodice and Sophia Skirt from Boundless Style by Kristiann Boos at Victory  
                                                                      Patterns.

My first frock is a late winter make from earlier this year in a soft tartan.

The patterns in this book are downloaded from a CD ready to print so there is the cutting and sticking element involved. I've bought quite a few digital patterns now from New Zealand and American designers rather then wait an age for the postage and after the first few it doesn't feel like too much of a chore putting all those pieces of paper together. If you're impatient like me to get your hands on a pattern then I think it's a blooming marvellous invention. 

The book is split into sections for a choice of bodices, sleeves and skirts so you have the freedom to choose how you'll put your frock shapes together. To be honest I mix and match patterns hacking them together all the time these days. Often I don't like the skirt in the pattern, just the featured bodice so it means I can get exactly the shape I want.

The darts on the Celine bodice and the Sophia skirt are one of my favourite features in this frock. The bust darts radiate out from the keyhole and the skirt darts follow this same angle. This bust dart feature means I don't have to do a Full Bust Adjustment which is normally essential having a upper bust which is two sizes down from my actual boobage. I've still not worn this frock, although I love it. It got put away on the WIP pile as I need to bring the zip in as it's a bit too big then hopefully it will get plenty of outings this season.

My next make was a request from Millie for trousers for her GCSE Textiles trip to the Cambridge Botanical Gardens.

She described the shape she was after, then we went fabric shopping and she chose a lightweight jersey which has a lovely drape to it. 

We drafted up a pattern taking into account the fact that as we're all tall it's not just about lengthening the legs, but the front and back rise too.

This was all a bit last minute so I ended up sewing it up on Mother's Day for her to wear the next day.  Luckily they worked out exactly as she had planned in her mind and she was thrilled with them.

Unbeknown to Millie I was working on a couple of makes for her upcoming 15th birthday at the same time. She'd said she loved the Mary Dress when she saw it in a magazine and as she likes completely different fabric patterns to me I knew I would be safe with the choice of a black and white frock for her.

I opted for solid fabric sleeves for her version and lengthened the arms while I was at it. 

This was a beautiful dress to make in a lightweight wool, the only difficult part was the curved yoke on the bodice which meant lots of pinning and slow and steady stitching to get it laying perfectly.

She's worn this a few times already as she loved it.

I also made her a blouse in a flamingo print rayon. I'd made this pattern up for myself and as she had loved the shape I knew it would be another suprise winner.

I made mine up in a vintage fabric using a 1970's pattern I found in the charity shop. I altered the sleeves from floaty balloons to cap sleeves which suit me far more. I think it has more of a 1930's shape now which I far prefer.

Shirt making for my love still continues. This is the last shirt he requested in a plain black and now he would like a black waistcoat to go with it. I've made him a waistcoat already which I'll show you in my upcoming posts.

My final two makes for today are a blouse and a frock from the same pattern in Gertie Sews Vintage Casual. I absolutely love Gretschen Hirst's designs. She totally nails it with vintage style and fun in my opinion.

I'd been searching high and low for a pattern for a blouse with a rever collar. I tried a few, but they didn't work out how I hoped, then I saw this one in my much thumbed book. Not sure why I'd missed it before, but luckily I spotted it in the end.

I love clothes that are figure hugging and fit with my love of vintage styles from the 30's to the 60's. For this blouse I used a contemporary anchor print fabric that I'd bought to make a man's shirt. Instead it became a lady blouse. 

Sailor Blouse - Gertie Sews Vintage Casual

This pattern is created from a dress bodice with the additions of a peplum and a lot of button loops to the front. I wish I'd mentioned it to my costumier pal beforehand as she gave me a great tip afterwards for making sure they don't slip and slide when sewing them all in place. Hey ho, I know for next time, if there is one.

As I loved the shape of the bodice so much I decided to make the full blown frock up too. 

I didn't buy any fabric specifically for this, I just used some charity shop cloth that had been hiding in my cupboard a while.

This dress has some really interesting features, piping on the sleeves, a waist stay which I'd not sewn before and the fabulous front zip which makes me feel all retro naughty nurse.

Zip Front Dress - Gertie Sews Vintage Casual

This is a great shape and fabulous to wear, but the fabric puts me off slightly so I guess I'll be making this one up again in something cheerier. That's after the long list of other makes I already have in my head.

I've so many other projects to share with you before I'm all caught up and then I plan to start talking in more detail about each of the projects I'm working on if you'd be interested.

Until then. Tatty bye.

My year of Dressmaking

After what has been an incredibly long blog absence I've finally worked out how to download my photos so here I am once more. I'm not sure if anyone else is, but if you are, then Helllloooo.

Annoying technical glitches aside, I've also been busy with general life and endless sewing, bordering on obsessional. I decided this year to push myself with my sewing confidence and to learn new skills by tackling projects I might normally have avoided. I've also started drafting my own patterns. 

The other major change to my dressmaking adventures was the arrival of my mannequin, named Foxy Lady. She has helped me no end in my battle to actually get measurements correct. 

A project which greatly inspired me this year and had me sewing with frenzied gusto was the instagram daily share of sewing projects called MeMadeMay. A photo a day of a new piece sounded fun. I joined up and then did the maths....May has 31 days, that meant 31 pieces. I opted to share some older pieces that were much loved, a few cheat pics with handmade lampshades on my head, but on the whole I managed to create a whole lot of new tops, skirts, dresses and trousers. No more can I say I have nothing to wear. I'd be a great big fibber.

As my sewing confidence has grown over the years, it has taken me away more and more from shop bought clothes. They simply don't fit as well as a piece created for our own individual body shapes, how can they. I personally have narrow shoulders, a long upper body, large bust and long legs which I've squeezed into ill fitting clothes for years. Now I draft patterns to fit all my peculiarities in cloth, colours and patterns that I want to wear. It's all chosen to mix and match perfectly with my shoes and accessories so it actually gets worn, rather than lingering forgotten in the wardrobe. That's not forgetting three other things, It's far more cost effective to make your own clothes. A simple shop bought top costs roughly £30, whereas a metre of cloth is anything from £6 to £10 so it's an obvious saving.  The finished quality is often better (I'm a fussy perfectionist for my sins).  And finally, you can have shapes in your wardrobe that you know suit you rather than making do. 

This was the first picture I posted for the MeMadeMay challenge. A much made pencil skirt pattern Butterick 6326 that I've made as both pencil and wiggle shapes. 

I'd bought this neon bright stretch cotton the year before thinking I'd make a dress from it, but instead it became a skirt. Perhaps a top will follow to match.

I first made the Butterick skirt pattern in a stretch denim. Denim is a wardrobe essential for me as it's easy to dress up or down. I love the shaped high waist of this pattern and the six panels which are flat fell seamed to give it a more interesting design. I've added another denim in this pattern to my cupboard since too.

Another Butterick skirt in a green, navy, white and lilac stretch cotton. This time I added a zip to the back split so I can either wear it tight and wiggly or unzip and make it a speedy walking skirt.

Fancying a dress type option with this skirt, I whipped up a short top with a side zip from Vintage Vogue 9082.

I also made this skirt pattern up in this gorgeous slinky cat cotton print, but it doesn't keep its shape as well after a days wear as that fabulous stretch cotton does.

It's a design I'll keep returning to as it's a shape that I find comfy to wear, a bit sassy and flattering.

Another skirt pattern I've tried is Tilly and the Buttons Arielle. I've made three of these, but it's the denim one that gets the most wear. It simply goes with everything. 

I've found that full skirts just don't suit me at all and to be honest I immediately feel frumpy the moment I wear one.  So it's straight skirts and sometimes lightly pleated ones on dresses all the way for me. Ever since making shapes that I feel good in I've not had a day when I hate what I'm wearing. That adds to the confidence boost we all need now and again.

Now I do love to wear a frock. I have to admit to having quite a few and have added quite a few more to the collection this year. Admittedly, I lost just over a stone after the stress caused a couple of years ago. It wasn't a conscious choice, but boy that stone loss has made all the difference. No more uncomfortable bloated tummy that I try to hide and I feel tons more energetic too. That's largely down to happiness and sorting out my anaemia for sure. All the same I feel confident to wear figure hugging clothes again.

This dress in yet more stretch cotton has proved to be another firm favourite. It's Butterick 6582 and it was a bit of a sod to make to be honest. I went wrong with the neckline, I knew what had happened and the only way to resolve it was to alter the shaping from the pattern slightly. Oops, but never mind. It's perfectly wearable, only I know (which as a fussy perfectionist I'm trying to accept) and it all helps the stitchery learning process doesn't it.

Next we have a dress I made in a raspberry wool crepe from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing. This had a new to me challenge in the construction of armpit gusset's. A nasty word and not such a joy to construct and sew either. I regret not lining this dress as I've not worn it once since finishing it because it shows my undies lines. That all said, it's a great pattern, just me and my fussy ways.

After making the top from Vintage Vogue 9082 I made the dress included in the pattern that the top is actually meant to be worn over. Sewn in forgiving stretch cotton yet again. Only one outing to date for this one. Sometimes it's just the joy of making something and packing away in my memory the skills I learn as I make more and more.

I get all excited when I see these two frocks. The blue floral cotton is cut from a beautiful French bedspread that I bought from Pomme de Jour. For this make I wanted an easy to slip on summer days dress. I couldn't find the exact pattern I was looking for despite it being a simple shape so this is where I started to get braver and made my own bodice, after which I flat pinned the fabric into gently folded pleats to the bodice on my mannequin.  I even managed to pretty much pattern match too which shocked me that I can do it if I concentrate properly.

This yellow floral barkcloth was bought from one of my favourite fabric dealers at a vintage fair. It was pricey, but very well worth it. I've also made Happy Shoppers in this fabric which have gone to two lovely instagrammers. Instead of binding the neck and armholes of the bodice I chose to line this one in a yellow polka dot cotton, other than that it was the same pattern I created before.

I managed to get this Liberty Rose print for a steal and waited to get inspiration for which shape I wanted to make this in. My starting point was a vintage frock I saw but with a full 1950's skirt. I drafted up the bodice, added an A line skirt and made a quick belt from red webbing with a red deco buckle. This was made for a weekend away to Bristol in August, but instead the weather dipped suddenly from high 20's to freezing with constant rain. A fabulous weekend was had but the dress stayed at home. 

Another weekend away when the sun was hot hot hot. Another favourite and simple pattern, Eliza M's Eva dress which is is an all in one dress construction, no separate skirt or bodice making here.

My most recent dress makes are these next two. This first one is constructed using a me made pattern for the bodice, with a boatneck with cap sleeves and then I added my favourite Butterick pencil skirt pattern. The cloth is a just gorgeous blue and black Italian Ponte Roma that I found on a trip to Columbia Road and Brick Lane with my girls.

Final dress for now, but not for this year. I've got lots more in my head and cloth to match that I want to make up. 

Sew Over It London has a fabulous range of patterns to choose from. This is the first dress pattern I've used from them and I loved making it. I found this blue crepe on the way to meeting a friend for coffee, as you do when you just find it impossible to pass by cloth shops. With it's wonderful drape I thought it was the perfect match for this pattern. I have it in mind that my man and I will finally learn how to dance properly and then I can swoosh away in my 1940's Tea dress.

As you can guess I've got lots more makes to show you and I've already written that post too as I intend to get back to this blogging lark far more regularly than every few months. 

I've Started so I'll Finish

What am I to do? My head is always a buzzing with things I want to make, colours I want to try mixing up, yarn I want to play with, shapes I fancy fiddling with and fabric that needs to become a thing. As a result I end up with all sorts of just started, halfway there and almost finished doings. Just occassionally these doings become an actual thing. Then we can oohh and aaah over it before it becomes something we use everyday and love having in our world.

Now this weekends diversion was this cardigan which I saw on the front of The Knitter. Countdown to pay day a week and a half, pennies dwindling, so no magazine buying I reasoned. All the way round the supermarket I kept thinking about the gorgeousness of the pattern and the fact that there was at least one other pattern in there that I fancied knitting for Miss Rosey (thereby making it a bit more of a worthwhile buy). In the end I gave in, rushed back and chucked it in my trolley before dashing off to Little Bun's last ever primary school drama play. Miss Rosey was being collected by Grandma as I can do many things, but be in two places at 4 o'clock isn't one of them.

I had a good old think about this pattern and realised I had to wait over a week to buy any cotton yarn, or I could see if there was anything in the stash. I have a few bags of yarn, bought for projects that never happened or I just got bored to tears with, hidden in our big old school cupboard. After a rifle through this is what I came up with. Now as the pattern needs at least 8 x 50g balls and I only had at the most five in one shade I decided I could mix up a couple of colours of similarish weight. I also knit pretty tightly which takes my knitting down a size. I reckoned the fact that the pattern says 3.75 needles and Rowan Calmer and All Seasons Cotton needs to be knitted in a 4.5 or 5mm needle meant we could kind of meet in the middle somewhere.

So this is where I'm at so far. I absolutely love the leaf shape motif of the lace pattern and how it drapes in the actual proper DK Cotton, but hey ho impatience and finance demands I give it a go in what's to hand. To be honest I really rather like the combination of these sea colours. Somewhere nice and hot on holiday type of sea of course, not the murky North Sea. I'll carry on and see where this yarn takes me and if it all works out swimmingly, then I might even be investing in another one in a full blown cotton version.

Now with my head always fizzing with ideas alongside normal family life, it can be a juggle finding time to ever finish anything too. Weeks and weeks ago Little Bun had asked me to make one of her favourite dresses into a skirt after I'd announced there was life in the old girl yet. I removed the zip at the time and then it ended up in a bag with all the other mending (some of which has been in there years). Today we were going to the beach, but it was a yucky old day in Norfolk so we all fancied a home day instead. I decided that alongside starting something new I'd better get on with finishing a few things off aswell, so number one was the beach skirt.

Now this was originally a Joules dress that had a crossover bodice. It was a bit tight when we bought it in the sale, but you know how it is when you simply love something so the squeeze is worth it. All I did was take the side zip out and chop slightly above the waistband through the lining and main skirt so it was still all pouffed up. Luckily the dress had a pink sash so I recycled this into a quick waistband by folding it in half over over the top and stitched all the way round.

After all that delay it was surprisingly quick to do in the end. Little Bun was thrilled with and whipped and whirled around while I took a few snaps of her in it.

Now I was most definately on a roll so I tackled the next thing asking to be finished. A dress this time, for Little Bun again, so it was her lucky day. I'd just about finished making it before last week got all sociable. All I had to do today was put in the zip and hem it before it was ready to be tried on too.

One very happy girly who wore her new dress for the rest of the day. Now I have two dress requests from Miss Rosey to get on with, thank goodness my man doesn't wear dresses too or I'd be sewing non-stop.

Before I allow myself another row on my new cardigan I've blocked and pinned my bubblegum cardi for sewing up. I'm halfway through the second sleeve and then there's just the buttonband to knit and buttons to choose before the excitement or disappointment of seeing if it fits or not. I also need help to sort out the shaping on the yellow dress I made a while back and there's a half cut out dress for Miss Rosey to get on with here.

 

Then there's this basket full of a Bubblegum blankie that I really must finish so we can use it this winter. Not to mention the poncho wrap, hanger covers and the small matter of playing with knitting bunting the other night. It's all seriously good fun and keeps me sane.

Crowning Glory

Back into the same old routines today. Rush from a warm comfy bed and then into the car at 7.30 to to do two separate school runs. All three were envious I had Monday off, but they weren't envious about my trip to the dentist. Chewing gum last week one of my teeth fell to bits (which was a bit worrying at the time). I need a crown apparently, never had one of those so that'll be a first won't it.

After all the drilling, poking and prodding I finally got home to start the lovely part of the day and get on with Little Bun's dress. Her class are visiting the North Norfolk Railway this week for an evacuee day and she needs to dress the part. We have a thrifted elderly cardigan, gingham ribbons, grey socks, a white blouse and very nearly one warm soft cord dress.

I used the same pattern that I made Miss Rosey a dress from in the summer for this dress. I just needed to size it down as I went along to fit a smaller girly. I loved fiddling about to make just the right label. A small bit of Liberty cotton, green lace and a vintage French monogram label and I was done.

I bound the armholes in some vintage green binding I found in my trims tin. I'm thrilled with the contrast and how it softens the darkness of the black cord.

I still need to add a zip and hem the bottom, but that'll have to wait until Wednesday night (cutting it fine as always). All the same I know the dress actually fits Little Bun which is an absolute plus. I love making clothes, but I find it slightly stressful alongside the pleasure I get from it. As I go along I keep wondering if it will actually fit or if I'm going to cock it up. Many things have been thrown into the disaster pile. This dress shouldn't be one of them as I made it to suit the period, but in a fashionable enough shape so Little Bun will actually wear it .

Popping the cardigan over the top I was so pleased with the overall look, The colours work really well together.

I spent the rest of the day catching up with the Bubblegum Blanket. I decided to stitch a few squares together so I'd have an idea of how big it would be.

Choosing different colour combinations and seeing how they work together is the best bit for me. After having an idea in my head for a while, it's great when it starts to become a real thing.

Two rows nearly done, only another 12 to go and we'll have something much needed to snuggle under. I'm determined to keep going with this one until the end.

Making Monday

As usual on a Monday I try and fit too much in. It's the end of my four days off and the world of teaching beckons me once more. Somehow I did fit in most of the things I planned. The clock ticked along good and slow which helped a lot.

I chopped a few half metre squares to add to my wares at this Sunday's Little Vintage Love Fair in Heydon. I was also thinking about adding a few to my etsy shop.  Let's hope the light's better on Friday and then I can get some good pictures of them rather than the fuzzy wuzzy light of today.

For a very (and I mean very) brief moment - the sun shone this morning. Alfie Blue lay by my side on his new doggie cushion. I'd saved up the fabric for an age and never knew what to do with it, then I realised it was the perfect way to pretty up the old pillow Alfie rests his weary head on in the kitchen.

Before I carry on with the rest of my Monday tale, I need to tell you I've finally sorted out my Craft it Forward once more. For all of you who already left your names on the original post, your names will go in the hat still. For any new readers who might want to take part I'll quickly remind you what's involved. Leave your name at the bottom of this post to enter and create a link from your blog back to this one to share the idea around. There will be two chances to win. I'm offering the choice of a Floral Posy brooch, a Whoopie Doo Pincushion or a Jolly Good Egg Cosy. Once I've sent your gift on, along with a few crafty bits and bobs, ot would be great if you could share the making around by setting up your own Craft it Forward too. End date is now Monday 2 July.

I spent a happy morning finishing up the dress I'd started for Miss Rosey on Sunday. She chose the purple sheeting which I'd thought would be ideal for Little Bun. Now they both want clothes in this so I might do a von Trapp family collection with a shirt or tie for Mr Bun and dresses for us three.

I used a free pattern I'd had a while, probably from a magazine that cost a fortune. Turns out it's a fabulous pattern. Easy to use, loads of useful dressmaking tips that I'd not known about and the best bit of all was that it actually fitted Miss Rosey like a glove. The relief of that was huge as most of my dressmaking adventures involve me making things far too big or too small and then having to make radical changes to the whole thing.

Mind you it wasn't all plain sailing to start with. I measured Miss Rosey and decided she would need a size 12. That's when I saw the pattern was size 14 - 22, so I had to scale the whole thing down as best I could. 

At nearly 12 and hitting 6ft 1" like her mumma, she's a blondie much slimmer version of the old gal. She's still very much a young girl still and so I struggle to find clothes that suit her individual style which is great already, aren't too grown-up and actually fit. That's why I re-discovered the love of dressmaking again.

Once I'd got all my pattern pieces chopped up it was fairly plain sailing. I did my own thing a few times too. I hate doing anything exactly as the instructions say and always want to go my own way. I added a pretty floral binding to the armholes, stitched a bow to the front (although I was originally planning a belt tied with one of my lovely vintage buckles) and folded the fabric out rather than in on the front to deal with the smaller chestiness.

I never learnt how to do any of this properly. I started off by cobbling together clothes and school uniforms for my Sindy and Sweet April. Mum knitted their jumpers which were so tiny it was a marvel to me how she managed to make them. Then after a run at art college printing tons of fabric, I needed to make it into something for my final show. My mum got out her ancient Singer and taught me the ways of the machine. I learnt how to make collars, cuffs, darts and waistbands all from just jumping in and having a go. It was all pretty thrown together. Mind you when you need a puffball skirt there and then to go clubbing that night it doesn't really matter if it's wonky and lined with an old duvet cover.

All these years on and I'm now trying to learn more about the art of dressmaking. Most things I realise I'm doing ok, but other stuff is a joy to find out and is making it so much easier for me.

Miss Rosey was thrilled with her dress when she got home. It still needed hemming which needed her to make sure it was short enough for her, but long enough for mummy! She loved making modelly poses and whirled and twirled.

I'm so proud of my first ever concealed zip and the fact that the dress actually fits. I'm definately going to be making more of these as it's a dream of a dress.

After my morning of stitching I ended up in a charity shop clutching The Far Pavillions DVD, some letraset sheets and a shiny shelac deer. Then a quick visit to the yarn shop, a coffee and a natter in there, before the school run, playing at the park and then tea. I think I managed to fit in all I'd hoped for.