Preparations for MMJ!...

It is upon us lovlies!
Me Made June starts tomorrow! EEEK!
I should be running around like a lunatic trying to finish the 6 (!?!?!) UFO's I currently have on the go.
But I'm not.
I'm faffing about but not really doing any serious sewing. Does anyone else get these sewing ruts?
I want to sew but I know it will be frustrating for me. I have done a bit of tweaking. I made my Jersey top smaller, so it now fits much better.

I also had a go at pinning my Lisette dress on the mannequin. Someone suggested I call her Adele which I quite like.

I'm hoping this dress will get better as it progresses. I was trying to forsee any major problems before I started sewing, Much easier when you don't have to reach behind yourself! Good luck tomorrow everyone!

At Dawn we Dress Handmade...

My Belated Birthday Weekend!

I have had the best weekend. Since my family couldn't get together for my actual birthday we planned to come to Bristol this weekend. It has been a fun filled few days full of Thai food, cocktails, dressing up to the nines, roast dinners, presents and most importantly my whole family!
I have had plenty of surprises!

Hendricks Gin! Infused with Cucumber...

My auntie bought me the most beautiful Osprey Audrey handbag I had been looking at for ages! Total surprise! As well as my camper van cake! (my parents call me Steph)

Then came the sewing stuff!!!! Beautiful pattern weights from Etsy.

A tailors ham and roll, from the Cupcake Goddess.

Finally A Lady Valet Mannequin.

She is so beautiful and in the correct size!

She needs a name though so any suggestions I would love it!

Progress... I Suppose

Hello all!
I have been sewing pretty much all day today woohoo!
However things have not all been running smoothly.
My Violet shirt eluded me with the collar facing situation. I've tried it 10 million ways and can't get it right so I lost patience. I then finished off what I will call my Ada Shirt. But it doesn't suit me! The thin fabric doesn't lend itself to the pattern and wont sit right whatever I do. The facing also won't stay down as its not faced. Even though its edge stitched.

(Apologies for the Mother Mary pose, I was trying to stop the fabric looking wrinkled.)

I cut my Jersey for my autumnal palette top and i'll be honest there was literally No room to swing a small feline once i'd stuck the pieces down. I serged it all together and it looks ok. But I'm not 100% happy with it. it is miles too big and the neckline was much more scooped than I had imagined.

The only thing that did go ok today was my duck egg blue shirt. But I have made it before. I'm really liking the colour but for the second time I cut the long sleeve. It just doesn't suit me I need to stop doing it and just cut the damn cap sleeve. Much more modern.

Still at least I'm sewing and making some progress for Me Made June. Heres hoping I have something I can wear on the weekend.

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!

Progress List...

Morning all. I am blogging early so I can drag my sorry self to the library. Something tells me I won't be getting much sewing done this week which is making me a bit tense.

So I figured a progress report will help so I know where I am with each project.

First up is my duck egg cotton. This has been cut for Simplicity 2601 in the end. I have some duck egg swiss dot I got at Goldhawk Rd. I could use for the Violet if I wanted a blue one.

This hasn't got past the cutting stage. But as I've made this before it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to construct.

My Violet shirt is started. I'm getting on really well with it. I'm into the collar stage so it shouldn't take much to finish.

I didn't really talk much about this one. Partly because its fast becoming a UFO. The fabric is beautiful and expensive but I rushed it for the Sew Weekly meetup and the sleeves are appalling. It needs the sleeves taken off and a few bits straightening out, the collar put on and the belt made. I have to get this done as it is a lovely cardigan that I would get a lot of wear out of!

My original plan for this fabric was a different pattern, but since i bought the minty green colourway I reserved it for that pattern instead and went for this in pink with a white collar. This is virtually finished but someone started to sew the collar the wrong way round (DOH)

I did all the finishings first though so no more fiddly bits left on this one.

My Jeans are cut and marked but I had a bit of a freakout about how complex they looked. I have had a look at Peter's Jeans Sewalong posts and a few other bits and bobs but I think I have to be 100% focused to be able to get around to these.

My Lisette Traveller is cut and ready. I'm doing the tunic version with the small collar but making it longer so that I can wear it with leggings.

I know I was trying to resist cutting the Beignet but I couldn't I did it yesterday whilst waiting for an email from my tutor. I just need the interfacing piece cut and this is ready to sew. I was surprised at how difficult the needlecord was to cut. I ironed beforehand but it just kept wrinkling, hopefully this won't affect the pieces too much.

I've prewashed my fabric ready for the Market Sewalong. Just a plain dark purple. I have some cute buttons lined up for the placket too! I personally will be doing Version E but if you want to do a different version be my guest! I might squeeze in the tunic version but I am already pretty swamped!

This is the Jersey for the simple 6874. This is pre washed and drying before its cut out but I think this could be done in an afternoon no problem.

It doesn't look like that much on my rail. Gosh. Here's hoping I get some free time soon!

When there is work to be done, go buy fabric...

So that you have an incentive to finish your work and get sewing? No? Alright then.

I had a bit of a meh morning and ended up in Ditto.

I knew I needed some Jersey for some knit tops. (I saw someone last night wearing a sky blue drapey cowl neck on telly last night and I wanted one.)

Sadly they were all out of blue jersey. But I came home with 2m of plain Chartreuse,

1.50 of an orangey pinky brown print jersey in the remnants for £3ish and a yummy cotton interlock white jersey with lime spots and blue and purple flowers. I couldn't leave it!

I have various plans that change pretty much every minute in my head. I have to say Jersey in not my favorite thing to sew with but it is my favorite thing to wear. Sooo comfy!

The Brown Viscose Jersey will be a little top as there isn't much fabric to play with. I might be able to squeeze a little ruffle or something in to add interest but lets hope it doesn't shrink in the Pre-Wash. I was thinking of making it in Simplicity 6874. Which only requires one meter. I got this on the London Sew Weekly Meetup Pattern Swap! I'm so pleased its come in handy so quickly.

I own a Ponte knit Chartreuse cardigan and it is my favorite thing ever! But Its getting holes in! I have tracked down some Ponte but Ditto didn't have it in. So I went for another Viscose Jersey. I think it might still end up a cardigan but I might squeeze a plain top in as well.

I quite literally have no plans for this. I think I'm lacking in comfy tunic/dresses to wear with leggings but im not sure about a suitable pattern for this. Good news is it matches some of the stuff I've got going on already so perhaps a seperates game could be good on this too? A comfy little skirt and cute top that when together make a comfy dress? I will have a think.

I didn't get up to much sewing on the weekend. Just cut out my Raspberry Gingham shirtdress.

I was hoping to get stuck into the Beignet this week but I have an exam on Friday. So I should probably get stuck into that first...

I think I need another roundup post with moodboards so I can keep on track of this mad sewing frenzy.

Independent Pattern Wishlist...

I seem to spend forever looking at patterns and fabric dreaming up all the combinations and things I could make but one of the things i'm always oogling is patterns from independant retailers not the big names. Here is a few on my wishlist.

Sewholic's Pendrell has been on my list forever. I'm waiting for my presents from my mum and dad as I put this on my birthday list. If I don't get it I am buying it straight away!

Amy Butlers Liverpool tunic. It just looks so comfy and the fabric its made up with is so imaginative!
The same goes for this Anna Marie Horner skirt. I love the almost peekaboo inverted pleats. Even in plain fabrics I think this would be stunning.
Sew Liberated call this the Picnic dress. How cute is that? I love the big bow and its a great wrap dress. I've been looking for something that would be nice in a lightweight denim and I think this could be it.
Jamie Christina's Honey Dress is lovely but i'm not sure how I would cope without straps.
I think that this Betsy Kingston tunic is another one that would look lovely with some leggings and flats.

Perhaps even tucked into a Sewholic Crecent skirt. I wasn't sure this would be flattering on me to start with but for summer it might be worth a go.

What independent patterns do you love?

The Day I Got My Stuff Done...

Evening Friendlings!

Today I got some stuff done, but didn't really finish anything.

I literally blitzed my bedroom and packed up a considerable amount of stuff for the move in July.

I cleaned my kitchen, did some washing and oh yeh...

Finished my Parisian Skirt,

Almost finished a surprise top.

(Do you recognise my pink silk/cotton mix? I changed the top I was making with it, but more on that another day) I also started on my Violet shirt.

On the good news front. I found my Burda pattern and instruction booklet for the issue with the Parisian dress in so can re-draft, plus there was some yummy designs in there. Shame I lost the actual magazine...

Heres a few I was drooling over.

Today has been pretty productive but i'm now all hyper and desperate to start cutting my Beignet and a Lisette Shirtdress I had planned for my Raspberry Gingham.

I'm not sure its wise to sew at this time at night when you only have the aid of an unusually bright lamp (My Great Grandmothers from the 60's.) I could start my duck egg peplum shirt otherwise.

My sewing queue is gradually getting smaller. Out of the 5 things I had on the rail one is finished and three tops are almost there. I'm glad I have another skirt to add to the Me Mades, Sorry the photos are of them on the hanger badly. I will try and get stuff finished tomorrow so I can show you them on.

The Violet blouse is so super easy! I'm glad I bit the bullet and bought it. This could be a great go to pattern.