FO - Yellow floral Banksia top

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So, I finished this Banksia top. I will certainly be making more of these for sure, it is such an easy top to wear. And I like that its made in woven fabric as I am still yet to try and sew with a knit fabric. I feel scared for some reason ! More to do with the effects of the fabric on size, rather than a fear of actually sewing with the fabric.

I must admit I don't wear this one quite so much as the star print banksia that I made, as it does not seem to go with much in my wardrobe. I'm looking forward to my next version, which will be white and will therefore be a perfect match for almost anything :-)

The skirt is one I made previously. Its faded LOADS, because I wear it alllllll the time !!

Cheerio,

K xx

Science field trip.

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I have been studying for a degree in Natural and Environmental science in the evenings and weekends. As part of my degree I just got back from a field trip to Preston Montford in Shropshire. Man the scenery there was awesome. I am recording it here so that when I am too old and crinkled to get out and about I can (hopefully) look at my blog and remember the good times :-)

Beautiful eh ?

Cheerio

K xxx

A sneaky peak

At one of my new dresses :)

Massive love for this one..... Promise to get a full shot snap soooooon.

Yes I did fold back the hem to show it off :)

Beach hut love. That's what I'm talking about. 

Cheerio

K xxx

FO - Gertie pencil skirt in denim

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So both of the 'works in progress' are now finished and are taking a spin in the washer. I LOVE them and promise to try and snap them for the old blog-a-log soooon. It may not be for a week or 10 days though as I am off to Shropshire for a Uni residential on Thursday to mess around with soils !! Oh what fun :-)

So here is a different finished object - its the Gertie pencil skirt made with a slightly stretchy indigo denim. I had to take the side seams in by a fair amount to get this to fit perfectly.

Nothing much to report regarding the interior - this was a quick make ! Made to fill a gap and in no time at all. A good one to work on if you had lost your mojo, as its a quick and dirty make, with a very satisfying end point.

I think this may be the 4th make using this exact denim ! I proper love it. I think this time though, as it starts to fade, I will dye it indigo again. The previous makes I have left as is, but they look pretty washed out these days, especially the skirt I made here, which I wear ALL THE TIME.

Anyways, I better get gone ! I hope you are all having a very happy Monday, whatever you may be doing :-)

Cheerio

K xxx

What I'm working on

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It's still awfully hot here in the uk :) I've been off work some of the week, and have already sewn up one dress, and hope to have these 2 finished by tomorrow. It's been gert lush setting the stuff up in the garden under a parasol, beavering away with a glass of something frosty by my side! 

Excuse the crappy snaps, it's almost midnight here !! 

I wonder if you can guess what they may be ?! ;) ummm not that it's like me to make the same thing a gazillion times !! 

Lots more changes made for these versions, tissue changed to include some waist definition and some excess under the bust removed. Altogether a much more flattering (and snug) fit ! Will be needing zips in these beauties for sure. (And a possible abstinence of food, lol !!) Wish me luck. 

Cheerio

K xxx

FO - Gertie/Elisalex mash up 2

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Just a quick stop to show you version number 2 of this dress, (its been a shitty day and this is a cheery dress all right)
Lots of changes made to both pattern, and method of sewing after sewing the previous version. This one looks a million times better than the previous one, which will only ever be worn with a cardigan. A long one at that :-)

I just want to make a quick note. The second version is made of quilting / decorating fabric, and I much prefer it for this dress. It does not wrinkle so bad and the support it gives in structured bodice is awesome. Lined with cotton and bemberg it makes for an easy dress to wear during one of these unheard of days of 'summer'.

I must also point out that I have not used a zipper in either version of these dresses. It fits over my head so I didn't bother. Plus I have LOADS of shop bought dresses with zips and I have not once needed to use their zips. So I saved myself the hassle.   :-)

I also gathered the skirt lining to the bodice, and its shorter so I dont need to worry about how to finish the bottom. In fact this lining is so easy, I tore a suitable length of lining fabric, gathered and attached to the bodice, and finished using a rolled seam finish on my serger.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Also I noticed that there was plenty of room at the waist, and so I rectified by that for my third (and favorite) version, my eyeballing and cutting of small sections of tissue at the waist. I think it worked out - phew !!

Well - I do like a pretty inside :-)

Cheerio for now,

K xxx

FO - Elisalex/Gertie mash up

Hiiiiiii

Yet another beautiful day here in Devon !!

Yesterday I was a little hungover (as you might imagine after drinking a whole bottle of champagne on Friday night :-) )and set up all my sewing stuff in the garden and sewed to my heats content under the shade of a parasol. Man I am so jelly of you folks with designated sewing spaces ! Such a difference in having everything set up in one place. No having to set up sewing machine, then deconstructing to set up serger. Back and forth, back and forth like that ! No wonder it seems to take ages to sew anything.

What a treat to have it all set up and raring to go. I made the most beautiful dress (I think !) in just half a day, including various moochings to the cooler inside of my house, and a frosty drink :-)

This dress is the predecessor to yesterday. Its the (heavily modified to fit) bodice of the Elisalex, mixed with Gerties (heavily modified to fit) pencil skirt.

I not only had to make the individual sections fit in themselves (full bust adjustment anyone ?), but then join them all to make a dress. I had to match up seam lines, darts to princess seams, you get the picture.

And I don't know if its just me, but I had to make changes to the top of the skirt (which fitted perfectly as a skirt !?!) in order to make it fit me round the waist when used in a dress. I am going to document those changes at some stage here to remember what I did for future pattern mash ups.

Anyway here is the first version of this mash up. Created with work in mind, particularly for those days when I have to work in the courts.

Excuse the wrinkles ! You wouldn't believe its freshly ironed !! I made this in apparel fabric, and I am going to do a post soon on my thoughts of sewing apparel fabric .v. quilting (decorating) fabrics.

Its cotton, lined in green cotton voile and navy bemberg.

No pretty hem on this on as I wanted to try a new technique and used my machine blind hem foot for the first time.

This version wasn't perfect by any stretch (um will you check out those back bodice wrinkles !!), but I will only wear it with this cardigan while at work, and I think they look made for each other :-) 

I have made 2 more versions since, including yesterdays, and after lots more pattern adjusting after making the above version I think it now pretty much fits me perfectly. Which I am stoked about because in my earlier days of sewing I found it painfully hard to try and fit a dress to my body, and after hours of flat pattern adjusting and muslin's I gave up, crying with defeat.

ooooo man this post is long. If you made it this far, well done !!

I am off to sit in the garden.

Cheerio

K xxx

Happy Friday!

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So we made it !! I'm having one or 2 (or more as Mr P does not drink!) of these :)) (to be honest 2 of these and ill know about it and have to go to bed. Hardcore).

I know it's a bit of a luxury (and could possibly make me sound a bit poncy !! Sorry in advance) but I do love a nice glass of champagne. Unfortunately I can't afford to drink it very often (my fabric addiction puts paid to that). But I like to buy a bottle when it's on offer and save it for a special occasion. 

And my friends ! It is a special occasion !! I've most of next week off work !! The first holiday days I have had this year, and man I need them.

I'm up to date with work. I submitted 2 major pieces of work for university yesterday evening, and this girl is ready to sew her little socks off :)) 

I tell ya there is nothing more relaxing than creating, and I'm looking forward to doing some. Plus I'm hoping to go camping, kayaking and surfing and have plenty of naps. 

Of course I am keeping everything crossed for more of this golden orb known to some lucky folks as 'the sun'. 

Plus I'm alive, healthy, loved; and it's still a lovely sunny day !!

Now if that's not a cause to celebrate, I don't know what is. 

I hope you are all doing something that makes you happy too.

Happy Friday !!

K xxx

A walk 'round the 'hood.

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Still lovely weather here :-) Its amazing what a difference even a few days of sunshine makes to a person. I know we Brits are renowned for talking about the weather, but our weather is so changeable that we kinda cant help it.

Anyhow, I am going to record these sunny days so that when the sun hides again, and the black clouds come out, I will be able to remember these glorious days of summer :-)

If you only wanna see snaps of sewing - look away now !!

 

 There are some pretty cool buildings around here - its only a shame they block all the older homes views.

 Of course, no walk along this....

Can be fully appreciated without one or two of these .......

Yum !!

K xxx

FO - Gerties 'Meadow' pencil skirt.

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So we are almost mid week !!  Yay !! and I have most of next week off work, and the sun is STILL shining !! Whats not to like ?!?

Anyway I wanted to get this skirt posted up !

I love it sooooo much. I created it out of extra heavy duty thick curtain fabric
(ooooh the shame !! :-))  )
and I underlined it in white cotton, and then added a white bemberg (I love this stuff !!) lining.

I made it back along when the weather was still so wintry and I wanted a skirt that was winter appropriate in terms of warmth, but stuck 2 fingers up at the whole extended winter thing we had going on. This with all its layers and thickness but cheery visage did just the trick !!

I had to hand sew the button hole (again) as my Singer was not up for the job (I sense a trend !!). The zipper I hand picked. I didn't use any trim on this hem as its heavy enough and didn't really need it.

As the fabric was a remnant I had less than a meter to play with, so no choice on pattern placement, but I care not for I love the vision of a summer meadow so ! I needed to use a coordinating colour fabric from my stash as I didn't have enough to make a waistband. I used every last millimeter of that fabric.

Not a great deal more to say about the pattern, other than I love it !! I will be making many, many, many more of these !!  You must make one too !! I insist !!  And then share with me :-))

Cheerio

K xxx

FO x 2. Gerties pencil skirt and Banksia top

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So another couple of finished objects.

The skirt is navy cotton, and collects fluff like no ones business ! Its Gerties pencil skirt from her book, except I made a much thinner waistband. It is underlined in green cotton voile and  lined (my first attempt at lining) with navy bemberg. I used a button instead of a snap this time and hand sewed the button hole. My Singer is useless at buttonholes !! I also used my favorite zipper insertion method, and picked it in by hand.

I love this skirt pattern ! Of course its been adjusted, but its almost perfect now. I find that 2 darts give a much more flattering look than the 1 dart look on the Frankenstein skirts.

The banksia  top is made with star print cotton. I love this top and am going to make several more. I had to grade the pattern (of course ! never easy !!) Since making and wearing the shirt, I have added a smidge of a full bust adjustment and added a little more room in the shoulder area.  I'm looking forward to seeing these changes in the next version I sew up (in white silk crepe in case you are interested).

I didn't have enough fabric to make this one with front and back pieces cut on the fold, so I added a seam allowance to the back piece, and cut 2.

I did make muslins for both of these items.I had to move the darts quite a bit on the banksia. But I find that I do continue to tweak the pattern until it is just so. Isn't that the cool thing about sewing ? That you can make changes each time to make the fit perfect.

So without further ado....

Some close ups....

I must admit that I wear the shirt more than I wear the skirt - but that's due to the magnetic attraction this skirt seems to have for any dust or sh1t floating around. And the fabric wrinkles like a bitch. Very irritating !!  :-)

But check out the little foxes. Awesome. grrrrrrr

Cheerio

K xxx