Sewing Your Own Unmentionables...

Whatever you want to call them, unmentionables, knickers, pants, bras, underoos. I've been thinking about sewing my own underwear.
Bra's seem to be a problem for a lot of people but I'm a girl in between cup sizes (yeah, how does that happen?)  It started a little while ago when Wonderbra (of all companies) discontinued the best bra i've ever had (probably because it had no padding)
Nevertheless after seeing some fabulous handmade lingerie I have been on a search for supplies and patterns.

I bought "The Undies Book" By Nanette Rothacker on Amazon second hand and started leafing through. She has scaled down versions for you to draft yourself but as I'm starting out I've ordered a pattern from Merckwaerdigh on Ebay. Apparently they also sell on Etsy.
I also got some starter supplies at Elingeria . Weirdly I could only find one Canadian site and those two European sites to buy supplies! Lucky i'm in the UK so shipping isn't too painful!

After a bit of an altercation with a lady in the haberdashery in Brighton (telling me I couldn't dye my elastic.) I was a bit perplexed at how limited supplies were. I need some emerald green straps but I can't find them anywhere.

There has been some beautiful underthings being made in the blogisphere including:

Sarai's Pin up girl Bra from The Coletterie 

These fabulous 3 are from Novita at Very Purple Person I can't wait to get started and I've been stashing ideas on Pinterest. (Btw your more than welcome to follow me on there! I love looking at everyones boards!)

Have you ever made your own underwear?

Quick Fix...

Afternoon Lovely people,

Just dropping in to show you my new top! I haven't had time to photograph it until now. Its another of my TnT New Look 6922 My third because its just so damn quick and easy to make. Not to mention it takes up very little fabric. I wanted a Renfrew out of this fabric but didn't have enough. The lady unrolled it and there was just under a metre left! 

Oh well this one will get a lot of use anyway just like my other two!

 Its a bit thicker and I imagine its probably got a small bit of wool in the jersey.
apologies for the strange face. Pie maker was impatient!

Giveaway Winners!...

Yay! Its finally time to announce the giveaway winners! Thanks everyone for leaving a comment! I'm almost at my 200 followers for which there will be another giveaway. So tell your friends I need 12 more followers and I will definately do a celebration giveaway. Thankyou again to all the lovelies that already follow me and comment on my stuffs! I really appreciate every single one of you and you all get a happy dance from me when I discover I have a new follower.
Anyway back to the giveaway!
The Vogue Pattern is going to Emily!
The Butterick is going to Susan!

Congratulations ladies I will look for your emails later on in the day. Or if you like email me on beebeesvintagedress@hotmail.co.uk and I'll get them mailed out to you soon! x

Jacket of Doom...

I tried so hard to get this jacket to work but I have decided to give up on it!
The fabric is just too thick to work with and I have no idea how to hem the godets... (after numerous internet searches/ looking in 4 sewing manuals from 1930 - Now!)
Not to mention the shoulders look crap and I can't fix them no matter what I do to them.
I think its a combination of pattern not being my thing, thick fabric and me being a bit of a dipstick
                                             
 I can't find my buttonhole foot but I doubt it would help if I had anyway! Oh well I guess I'll put it down to experience. It wasn't costly wool or anything.

The back needed taking in considerably but its just too boxy a style for me! Its made from a brushed cotton cord but as soon as you put two layers together my machine gave up.
Oh well I hope Gertie's jacket course will come out better as its much more my shape!
Have you had any Wadders recently?

Craftsy... You Tricksy Devils! I Signed up to All Three!

Note to self: Should not reward myself before Uni work is actually done.

Craftsy sent me some lovely emails about half price courses. So I signed up for Gertie's awesome Starlet Suit! Then I saw they had one on jeans which, Hello! would be perfect for my struggle with trousers... Then Susan Khalji I wasn't going to get... Until I watched the preview and I have now managed to sign up to all three!

I told myself I could have them when I finished my serious amount of Uni work but I panicked that the offer wouldn't be on by then! I am looking forward to doing them but they are a reward for when I have no other commitments. Not to mention I dont have the correct fabric for ANY of them.

I love the idea of Craftsy! I have the bombshell dress and I love that you can ask questions and interact whilst going through the course. I'd really like to advance my skills and have a little more patience when sewing. I think if I understood the reason for doing the techniques and the benefits of doing them more I would be slightly less tempestuous!
So Which ones have you signed up for?

Realising Potential Project...

One of the things I realised about my fabric stash when I was thinking about my realising potential project was that there was a huge amount of quilting cotton.

I really love quilting cotton (My storybook skirt is proof of that) But I now rarely use it as a dressmaking fabric.

So what else could you do with it other than make a quilt!

I'm being honest here. I am NOT a quilter, nor will I ever be if you look at the state of this one. But hey I wanted a quick refresh project in between super stressful uni work and sewing in straight lines is definitely my thing! 

These squares are bits I have been stashing away for a while and I still have enough to make another if I wanted but I think this will be super cute and snuggly for those days on the sofa. Plus its in my favourite colours!

have you ever thought about making a quilt for a bit of quick stash busting?

Nostalgic Asterisks...

Its been a week of lots happening but not much finishing. I'm getting close to the end of university now so a lot of my sewing time has been eaten up!

This week I tried to get a dress done for valentines day but failed miserably. 

Its been a long time in the making. I've been desperate to copy Anthropologie's Nostalgic Asterisk's dress which is no longer available. Zooey Deschanel wears it on the first episode of New Girl. (My new favorite show!) So I had to have it. 

I very crudely adjusted Vintage Vogue 8728 to get the basic shape. Cutting off the sleeve and widening the skirt about 8 inches at the side seams. I have started making the white piping for it, something I've never done before and I love the effect! It isn't a perfect knockoff but I really like the style and I can imagine running up a few of these for the summer. 

 The only other thing I will do next time is sew some elastic into the waist. It takes some wiggling to get  into at the moment although I am adding a zip.

I'm quite pleased at how similar it is coming out! I just need to get a bit of time to finish it. 

Here's a rather blurry closeup of the fabric. What do you think? Close enough?

Organising my ever expanding Sewings...

 Ok, I admit it. I have a lot of fabric... I had to hijack a shelf from our living room just to house the excess! It looks a lot better now though even if it is a bit of a leaning tower of Pisa!
 I have just about digitised my stash and I have a few projects lined up!
Sadly though my Jacket is too long in the shoulder. I have to just calm down a little before I go back to it. The lining was all in and it just needed a hem! I was raging...

In other news I had a think about how to house my sewing books as my sewing room has literally no storage except my shelves and I'm sick of going downstairs. Enter a thrifted 60's coffee table. (£3 because one of the legs was a teeny bit wobbly!) This is in our hall neatly tucked into the corner.
Perfect for all my Burda's too! My original "You Were Never Lovelier" poster has nowhere to hang at the moment so it has been popped on top to cheer me up when I walk past!

How do you organise your expanding sewing life?

Busy Busy Week...

Busy but lovely. My jacket is still not finished but I did have a fantastic day out with the lovely sewing bloggers in Brighton (Photos from Clare!) We did a great swap but yet again I got rid of 3 and came back with more! 

We also had a quick look around Ditto and I got some planned purchases there! 

So here's my stash! 

These are the Jerseys. I think the top one will be a nice Kwik Sew wrap dress again! I have a feeing that pattern is going to be pretty constant in my wardrobe.

The lovely poly is lovely and slinky. I was thinking it could make a nice slip but I'm concerned its a little staticky

 This top one is a cute little floral cotton that is perfect for a sorely needed pair of PJ's! The bottom one is corduroy and I'm hoping I can manage a Parfait out of it!

Last two are my planned purchases. The navy Ponte was on sale for £3 odd. Someone has recently posted about Ponteroma Pants (Trouser kind.) I've got 4m so I can squeeze out a dress or cardigan too!

The bottom fabric is a waterproofing I saw during the week. I waited until Saturday to make sure I was sure. It was £7 per meter but its great quality. I had great fun testing it for being waterproof! Its more of a bronze colour than the photo suggests but I thought it would make an awesome Minoru and I am in need of a waterproof jacket big time! 

In other news I made some curtains for our bedroom!

Sorry for the dark photos...

 I bought the fabric AGES ago from Ikea intending to make Grey curtains but I only got around to doing it this week. 2 hours later I had curtains! I'm really happy with them and they match the rug and our painted furniture! Now to get the bedding and mattress sorted and we have a proper bedroom!

Sew Grateful Giveaway! CLOSED!

Good Morning Lovelies!
I have so much blogging to catch up on, in the last week I've done some home dec, gone vintage pattern diving and had a fabulous meetup in Brighton.

But first I want to say thankyou to all of you for being there and reading my blog. So I've decided to participate in Sew Grateful!

I am doing a giveaway of a this Butterick 5030

or Vogue Pattern 1189.
Both are wrap dresses! Sized 16 to 22 both in factory folds!

All you have to do is be a follower and leave a comment with your email address somewhere I can find it.
I just want to say thanks to the whole sewing community. You've made me feel part of something very special and I no longer feel like sewing is a solitary hobby!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! I WILL REVEAL THE WINNERS SHORTLY!!! X

Just an Update...

Nothing finished around here unfortunately, just bits on the go.
I have a Jacket I wanted to finish this week, but I'm not sure I will theres still a lot of work to do!

I've also decided to knit seriously. This was something that has been on "The List" for quite a while.
I went and bought 8 balls of Merino wool, some 6.5 needles and I've started on a vintage sweater. So don't expect to hear too much about it and knitting in general until its finished which could be a while!

 The pattern is a simple one and I do have a lot of train journey's planned so who knows I may have it by the summer.
What Projects are you working on right now?