THE GREAT NOVEMBER FABRIC EXCURSION

So it has been decided! 19th November I will be standing at Goldhawk Road Tube Station waiting like a teenager on a first date for all you lovely ladies to come join me for a fabric shopping extravaganza!

Bring your pocket money!

If you can leave your emails in the comment box so I know who is coming that would be fantastic! I will then email any further details!

Hope you can all make it!

The Second Post... Finally!

It took me ages to realise I was going to blog about the Sew Weekly Pattern swap goodies I acquired. I completely forgot. So here goes. I'll start off with the fabrics.

I won this from the very kind Judy who sent a package from America,

This is a super cute vintage sheet. Onto the women's patterns...

A lot of these are going to involve grading and some are amazingly 80's. However the shapes look good like this yummy shirt with gathers at the shoulders.

Another Similar shirt. This one has a bit of a Lady Di Vibe with the model in the cream.

This is a 90's one, but the skirt in the middle in green gingham is cute! Plus anything that takes an hour is all good in my book!

The top really appealed to me on this one, not sure why but hey I need some stretch knit patterns! Onto the 70's

I am not sure what to do with this one at the moment. The middle dress looks quite appealing.

Two sixties ones. I love the funnel neck one! I have some paisley material for this but I'm not sure I have enough.

Then I picked one modern one. Lots of separates. This is what I'm using my Brown and Orange print jersey for.

Then I picked out a couple of Mens patterns. Not sure if I will make them anytime soon but there could be some comical Christmas presents lurking in these cheesy looking outfits!

I'm really happy that these are added to my collection. I am also pleased i'm using one so quickly. I have to say it is tempting to make that jersey top right now as a quick gratification before all the things on the list! I have pretty much finished my exam prep today Hoorah! But I have a house inspection Friday so cleaning my room is next before the sewing. Boo!

I might use it as an excuse to do my least favorite of sewing tasks. Ironing!

Today I've been a busy bee...

You should have all seen how fast I moved when I heard the post come through the door this morning. I had been expecting my Colette patterns.

The fabric was sat waiting for these beauties and aren't you proud of me? They are separates!

I decided I didn't really like the look of the new skirt Ginger, and I had been waiting to get the Beignet for my purple needlecord.

Both have got buttonholes! So I'm going to push my skills, but the upside? I get to buy buttons!

While I was waiting I started cutting and transferring the uhh... Extensive pattern markings onto my wearable muslin jeans. They deserve a whole other post for another day...

This is the needlecord and the fine Mustard cotton I got at Goldhawk, See I said I'd find a use for it! I love this colour combo I might even get mustard buttons for it! I will sort a mood board out and stick it on the list. I have pre washed the fabrics all ready to cut when they are dry.

Another thing I have been up to today is getting on with my oldest UFO from last year. Remember this? Oh Yes its the Parisian Dress... I have blogged about this failure three!?! times. In the end after talking to Charlotte T at the blogger meet up I decided to cut my losses and make it into a tweed skirt. I did the hacking and made the waistband today so just a zip and hem and voila new skirt for MMJ!

This is not all that I did today! Oh no my friends. I cut a total of 3 things out and prewashed a load of fabrics ready for cutting too! Its all about the bulk in my house at the moment!

There would have been more making but I don't have any lightweight interfacing and almost every project I have going requires it, as well as a few various threads. So a trip to the shop and we will be on our way!

Heres a sneaky peak of what was on the line...

and an even sneakier peek at all the things at various stages of completion. How many can you count?
I'm still thinking about the giveaway... But I am also thinking about doing a sew along maybe in just over a months time? Who is up for making the lovely Lisette Market blouse?

The Pippa (?) Set...

Do we think Pippa is a good name for this? I figure that I wore my other Red White and Blue dress for the wedding so I could see how this dress could be that dresses sister?

Anyhoo!!!

In a frenzy, after two days of trying to do only Uni work and no sewing. I relented in a massive cutting madness (Seriously if you saw the Crimson Petal and the White, It was exactly like Agnes cutting her dress into birds,)

The New Look pattern went up to a 16. Which is normally fine however I've recently got into the habit of cutting a size up from what I am and taking in (by about two sizes.) But I had no pattern paper anywhere and I was kinda in a rush as the guilt kicked in for sewing and not doing Uni stuff.

So my friends, I added 3cm to each side seam of every piece. 3!!! I am mad... Not only did I do that because I was terrified of ruining the fabric if it didn't fit. I did it in red pen. RED PEN.

I can hear you all weeping with despair!!!

However, it is a frixion. which disappears when heat is applied (gotcha!) I've been using these instead of tailors chalk recently so I figure its acceptable.

I bought 3.5 meters and to my suprise I pretty much got through that with hardly any waste, I'm glad to be honest, I hate having fabric I already made into something lolling about.

I cut the top and the skirt at the same time. But started to pin the skirt together and my fears became apparent. I'm going to have to take in. There is no shape!

Granted it is over jeans and pinned but as I said before better to take in then be too small!

So this is how I have left it, ready cut for assembly AFTER my work is finished!

How's everyone else getting on with their outfits?

Red White Blue, Mark 2...

I have bought the fabric I was intending to use for the Blogger meetup from Ditto. I went for a red white and blue print.

But I have been thinking of ways to shake it up a little. I want a complete outfit. But I bought plenty of fabric so that I could make two matching seperates. They will look like a dress when worn together but then I can wear them separately for Me Made June!

So here is what I came up with New Look 6808 for the skirt and New Look 6900 for the top.

What does everyone think?

Contemplation: Re-evaluating the sewing queue...

I have been thinking... (whats new?) About where I am in my list of garments.

I have also been trying to find a way to collate all my images and stuff and have been trying out ways of creating a theme that fits with the rest of the blog. So here is a few of the garments I've made recently including the Macaron, Lyra, Pearl and Elie dresses, my Mona skirt and Market top!

I thought it would be nice to put together the line drawings of my most recent plan! I have finished 3 of the five.

Here is the group of patterns I intend to make in the next few weeks. But of course most of them are multi view so you lot can't see exactly which garments I want. So I decided to put some together with the fabric and any inspiration I have so here goes...

This is the Lisette dress that I intend to make for the blogger meetup after my disaster with the patterned fabric. I'm making version A with the floral red as the bodice and the royal blue as the skirt.

Next I have Simplicity 2936 Which I have already cut in a lavender poplin as a wearable muslin but it is in preparation for this yummy cotton and silk mix that I bought on the Brighton meetup. All I could say when I bought it was, "I can see full/bell sleeves, I don't know why..." Turns out I had this in my head!

One of my goals I've decided on for pushing myself is making myself a pair of straight legged jeans that fit! Tall order as most ready to wear jeans don't fit! I'm trying McCalls 5142 because they sit above the waist. I'm using this pink ish twill but this is definitely a wearable muslin!

I'm trying so hard to stay on the seperates wagon here. So I also got some purple needlecord in Brighton and thought of the Colette Beignet skirt... The problem? I haven't got the pattern yet because of my aversion to buttonholes! But in the words of Zoe "You just got to get over it" She is right. Once I've practised I'm sure I'll wonder why the hell I worried.

Finally this is one of my little treat dresses! I have loved this hot pink dress and of course everything from the costume dept of Pushing Daisies, and I saw this Lisette Traveller dress in my stash and thought it would really suit the style and colour. I haven't yet got the fabric but this is one I will be on the lookout for in the next blogger meetup in london.

So what do we think? Are the mood boards helping you visualise like me?

I still have my Art Deco skirt to do as well as my Lavender Simplicity 2936, I also have to put the loops and buttons onto Simplicity 2601, (Viola Shirt) But then who doesn't have UFO's?

Brighton Blogger Meetup!

Hello Darlings! Sorry i've been silent for a few days... Not like me I know!

Sadly I didn't get my stoopid dress finished for the meet up but I had a fantastic time with the 4 lovlies who came to the Brighton Blogger meetup, Karen, Zoe, Shivani and Jane!

It was a day full of awesome food in Cocoa, (Cute french Patisserie,) Krua Anne Thai for Lunch (Yumm!) and of course there was plenty of fabric shopping!
We wandered around to Brighton Sewing Center, Upper Gardner St Market, and a cute little craft market. But Ditto Fabrics was where we spent most of our time.

Pretty buttons in the Brighton Sewing Centre! Try and find a colour they don't have!

Upper Gardener St Market. A must if your visiting on a Saturday... Cute Haberdashery Stall.

The lovely Ditto Fabrics in Kensington Gardens!

Of course we all bought something! I bought 3 different fabrics 2.5m metres of each.

The First is a cotton sateen I liked back in Autumn. I went to get it and it wasn't as orangey as I wanted and was £6 a metre. But when I went today it was reduced to £3! So this is going to be stashed for Autumn sewings.

I have ummmed and ahhhed over this cotton silk mix for sooo long! Probably since I moved to Brighton. They have it in a duck egg blue too but at £6.99 per metre I went for the pink to make a nice blouse with Bell sleeves. I wondered about Simplicity 2936 maybe?

The last fabric was Needlecord at £6 a metre. I have been envisioning a beignet style skirt that I can wear for those "chucking something on to be comfy" days. I was hoping they would have a mustard colour too but alas not.

I like how the needlecord goes with both my other fabrics so if they were made into seperates... Voila! I can see them as two new outfits.

We were also talking about me made months and I would like to aim to be able to do one soon!

To end this post here is my Haberdashery stuff I got. Velvet ribbon in a yummy teal. A vintage belt buckle, self cover buttons (I've never tried them before!) and some sweet green Vintage buttons.

Hope everyone had as good a day as we did! Thanks to all you girls it was awesome!