Happy New Year!

I’ve written this blog post about five times now.

I’m both scared and excited to think about what 2013 will bring and my brain is racing at a mile a minute.

Unavoidable changes are heading my way and I’m trying to figure out how to roll with them.

I’m not going to start waffling on about all of that because it’s been a long day and this is still a sewing blog right?!

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Regardless of any drama the new year has brought, I’ve also done a smidgen of sewing!

I eased myself back in slowly. I put an elastic waist in a B5653 strappy floral top UFO that’s been lingering around since Summer.

This Butterick top is sort of a refashion and a muslin.

I salvaged the fabric from an old Topshop dress and wanted to try out the strappy view of the top before investing other fabric in it.

I’m already plotting many more versions of this is.

And I  think it’d look lovely extended into a sundress. Yes yes I know we’re expecting snow this weekend.

Then I hemmed the striped NL 6808 I started before xmas.

Tweet peeps are sure to be sick of seeing this top. I’ve posted pics of it in every stage of construction.

Check out the bitching stripe matching on it though! On the sides and on the sleeves (this damn near killed me).

I also added an exposed zip to the back.

Yessssssss (smug).

Roisin suggested a tutorial post which I’m eager to supply.

I will not be showing you the insides of this bad boy but will instead draft up something neater for show and tell.

I wore this one today and wasn’t most impressed with how I looked but think that’s just because I’m full of cold at the minute and in my mind I look I have bats nesting in my hair and the pallor of a jaundiced gremlin.

And on that delightful note I shall leave you for now.

I will return shortly with organised thoughts rather than the deranged stream of consciousness I’ve been trying to fight back…

What happened to all the dresses?

hmmmm…

When I first started sewing I thought it would be the perfect way to indulge my addiction to dresses. Somewhere along the way I ended up making a lot of tops, a few dresses and not much else! So where did all the dresses go? And all the other plans I had?!

This revelation struck me as I was ironing my nice white fabric with red polka dots ready to make another top. Firstly, I stopped because it seemed the washing machine hadn’t gotten it very clean… hmm where are these dirty marks from?! And secondly, once I had stopped I did some thinking about skirts.

It’s nearly summer and I don’t have many skirts. Very few for work especially. So how about a polka dot skirt? I have a prima pattern for an A-line skirt saved up for the task and from what I hear they’re simple enough to make. So I’ve re-washed my fabric ready to start this very soon.

I also made a promise to myself to figure out why I have a lot of fabric, and a lot of dress patterns, but very few FINISHED dresses! “Finished” is the core issue as I have FOUR partially completed lying in my sewing corner and plenty more that I’ve plotted but not started.

One of my UFOs (Unfinished Objects) is a lovely pale green dress using a quilting fabric from The Skep – Knitting and Quilting shop in Farsley and a pattern from the book Famous Frocks by Sara Alm and Hannah McDevitt.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dress

I’m so close with this dress. I just need to power on. The pockets need refitting before I can sew the skirt to the top. Then I can wear it to work!

Anna Maria Horner, innocent crush voile in “Shattered”

Another is made from Anna Maria Horner fabric, the “Shattered” voile from the Innocent Crush line.

I bought the fabric very early on in my sewing career and immediately started sewing a Butterick 4443. WHY?! I should have held onto this fabric until I knew what I was doing and made something better than 4443 out of it?! Chuh. Now I look at it and think is there a way to turn this into a different dress?! I don’t think there is but I keep looking.

I should just finish it and hope I like the outcome.

The “why haven’t I finished you?” green striped dress

Third there is a green striped number which I finished poorly and it started to unravel before I’d even worn it! So I unpicked it to redo the waist seam using my overlocker. But then I never actually rebuilt it!

The reason is that it has an elastic waist casing and I doing HATE elastic casings even though they fit me great. I always make them about 1mm too small and work up a sweat trying to thread the stupid safety pin through. But I do love this fabric and the dress would be so easy to wear to work or during relaxing times so I should get my butt into gear and finish it!

Finally I have my Vogue 8723 Ikea dress to finish. It’s mocking me even now while pinned to my mannequin. But something is throwing me off. I can’t tell if the fit is off or is it the slightly too dark lining fabric or possibly the fact I didn’t understitch the seams properly? Well whatever it is I want to get back into this dress soon!!

All very shameful I know. I need to remedy this problem asap. I have so many other things I want to sew I’m getting so tormented about what to work on!! I need some organisation in my sewing life and to stop being seduced by new projects.

MMM Day 28: Hello sunshine!

Wow the weather was so good recently. And I spent a lot of time away from my sewing table and my computer! I went out for a wander in town in this little number on Saturday. It’s one of the first things I ever made and I still love wearing it! It’s made from quilters cotton in a print called Brooklyn heights. There are little dots arranged in an unusual zig zag pattern and the colour is beautiful (to me anyway). I HAVE to get better at my photos. This was taken in the courtyard and again, we missed the sun and the best picture turned out to be my crazy face snap.

Now moving on, time to brag about my Mother again, AND my Dad this time too! Remember the car boot?

They went back and cleared it out!!

45 zips in varying colours and sizes, some double ended zips too!

3 patterns, some lilac cotton, cream satin and brown satin bias binding and some pink braided cord

3m of blue polyester lining, 7m of peach polyester lining, 2m of peach chiffon, and 1.5m of royal blue silk

9 bobbins of mercerised thread, and then a whole load of colours and sizes. Yummy

🙂

I’m a super lucky girl. And you know what I’m going to say. This lot was an insane bargain!! A massive £12 for the lot. Amazing!!