Brown and out

Hello people

Well lookit here - I have managed (finally) to snap a few pics of my new skirt and as a bonus I have snapped both my Jasmine and new skirt as an outfit. I managed to complete both of these items in February, and am pretty darn pleased with myself.

That's right people, girlfriend only went and made herself an 'outfit'.

Yup - I am coordinated and everything.

Yes that's right - I am a 'model'.
But please excuse the flipped out facing ! Doh !

Look down darling, look down !

Peaches the cat wanted to get a taste of what it is like
to be a 'model'.
Shame about the thunder box.

If I look at this bow long enough
will I find it easier to sew next time ?

My Jasmine could so have been an orphan

Warning !
Staring for too long makes your eyes go funny.

so I made a brown linen pencil skirt to go with. I used the (now found) skirt part of the pattern V8630, with some changes.

Its alive ! Its a Frankenstein skirt (version 2) !

ooooo the delectable mint aero skirt.
All the enjoyment, 0 calories.

I firstly lengthened the pattern by 2 inches, and then I tapered in 2 sizes at the bottom to get more of a defined 'pencil' look. I am super pleased with the end result (although I think next time I need to shave a little from the hips), and already have the fabric for my next version (which I am working on now).

I interlined the brown linen with green voile

Sweet like chocolate.

and I serged the inside seams; I also used some lace to pretty up the hem inside. I used my self drafted waistband because as this skirt forms 50% of a dress the pattern does not provide one.

Although the inside does not look coordinated -I am IN LOVE with the overall effect and neatness of it. I LOVED catch stitching the lace to the hem. How sad am I ?

Happy catch stitching !

Look inside my pretty.

I used the zipper insertion method I told you about in my last post and I am pretty pleased with the results !

1 happy zipper.

Now, I know that I am not supposed to like hand sewing, but I do, and I like something else taboo too ! I like to see stitching at my hem, so although I carefully catch stitched my lace trim, I top stitched the hem of the skirt with 2 (visible) bands of stitching !  You know what - that's what I love about sewing, I am the artistic director and I can make my clothes exactly as I like ! Yipppeeee !!   :-)

I also bought some lovely fabric

Floral furnishing fabric makes me happy to wear.

which I am going to use to make yet another (Frankenstein skirt :-)) the only problem is I have very little time at all at the minute - I am pretty busy with work and my degree and running a house and am finding little time to do anything but work, eat and sleep. I hope you will forgive my absence of late, and I hope to catch up with all of your gorgeous blogs today.

In other news, at the end of March it will be one year since I started this blog after being inspired by so many of you people out there. So I want to give something back, obvs, and will be hosting a little give-away at the end of the month to show my appreciation for you lovely lot  :-)

Happy Saturday people, and I hope you all are having a fabulous weekend.

K xxx

Finished Jasmine

Hello beautiful people.

I have woken up to a wonderfully sunny Saturday - I hope you have too !

I have some pictures to show of my finished Jasmine, Dolly is modelling for us as I wanted to get a picture up so you could see that I have done some sewing !

I still have not snapped the skirt but am hopeful to share that tomorrow. I made the skirt to match the Jasmine so I hope to get a picture of the whole outfit actually being worn. I must say that I am thrilled with both pieces, and am happy to say that I managed both in February ! I cant believe my industry !

Forgive the lopsided nature of the photos, Dolly does not have much space around her for manoeuvres and I am not 100% sure that our floor is level after seeing these pics !

I love this fabric !
half silk, half cotton.
I DID NOT LOVE SEWING IT !

Dolly !
You could have ironed your shirt before show and tell.
You are slovenly !

Dont adjust your set !
This fabric IS pretty psychedelic !

Here is a sneak peek of the (then unfinished) skirt - I like to call it the 'Mint Aero' ! Clever me making clothes that look like chocolate !

Brown linen interlined with green cotton voile.

In other news, I have been doing shed loads of studying (man I am looking forward to finishing up my degree), and I have several 'Jackies Cakes' to share with you.

I hope you have a wonderful Saturday and I will be back tomorrow to share the chocolate with you all   :-)

K xxx

While the cats away

The mice will play !

Mr P went away to a friends for the night (I couldn't go because of air guitar knee) but it was nice to be able to get the toys out, set em up and leave em out for a 24 hour period.

Wanna see my play room ?

I am NOT a playroom
I am a dining table.

I really loved being able to do a spot of sewing whenever I fancied, even if it was just for 15 minutes at a time.

I feel well jel of all of you with dedicated sewing spaces ! How easy to take a seat and sew whenever the fancy strikes !

I have almost sewn my Jasmine - just got the sleeves to finish tonight. I found following the instructions that my collar was all lumpy and sticky uppy - machine basting it to the garment.
I tried it like 3 times, and each time out came the seam ripper to try again.

In the end I had a brainwave ! As I was trying to pin a curve it was no wonder the flippin collar kept bunching up - why didn't I use Dolly to pin the collar onto the garment ?

Dolly.
Ever her gorgeous self.
Invaluable in photo 'shoots' as she never minds taking one for the team.
Letting us get up close and personal

The names Dolly.
And I am a bit of a pinning legend.

I then hand basted the collar onto the garment (while still on Dolly) using silk thread. Friends it worked a treat. The collar is flat ! No flappy flap flap.

Hooray !!

I must say - I found the fabric (extremely) difficult to work with. It is the first time I have sewn bias fabric and the fabric itself is a silk/cotton blend - tres slippy ! I am not sure that I want to repeat the experience in a hurry. BUT all in all I am pretty pleased with how she has turned out - even Mr P said its my best make yet ! Praise indeed !

I do want to make another Jamsine - but will use a cotton fabric next time. I also think its a little big for me so will try the next size down, with an extension of the waist on the pattern pieces (like I did with this one). As the fabric is so floaty the bigness does not really show, but I feel it will look much better slightly smaller.

I will show the finished article later as I have hand basted the sleeves in, I just need to sew them in with the singer and finish with the serger/overlocker.

Can I just say how much I LOVE my  serger/overlocker. Look how nicely it finishes edges.

oooo look how gorgeous my face is !

I have re threaded that thing like 10 times now - for the practice - and it literally takes 5 minutes to do now.

Friends ! Dont be frightened of your serger/overlocker ! Its not hard to thread -I promise !

So - I shall post the finished garment later - I am very pleased with it and cant wait to give it a good wearing.

Next up I am making a brown linen skirt to go with it. I am going to set myself a (breakable) target of trying to sew one garment a month. Sew far sew good !

I hope that you are all having a lovely week.

K xxx

Using the Colette Sewing Book (and Jackie's Cakes !)

Hello people

Well, we are well and truly into 2012 now- can you believe how quickly time flies ?

I have just been having a gander at the new folks up on the Sew Weekly site  (you can too here), and although I will miss seeing Debi, Veronica Darling, Oona and co, I am excited to get to know and see what the new gang are going to be making  :-)  I always feel so inspired seeing other people's makes, and I love the format of the Sew Weekly where we can see LOTS of makes, every week, from different people.

Exciting !

I have been working on the Jasmine, and although I cant share the finished garment yet (as it's not finished ! I have cut and interfaced the fabric, sewed the darts, but am yet to stitch it together) I hope to 'show and tell' soon.

I thought I would share my first experience of using the Colette Sewing Book as an actual reference book. Whilst sewing ! Wooop wooop ! Which actually is very easy with this book due to the way its spiral bound !

I referenced page 84, to be exact, as I needed to make the waist larger on the pattern and so I traced the pattern and then slashed and pivoted as shown in the book.

I must admit I found making these changes much easier using a cardboard table. Actually I have wanted one of these tables after watching Fit for Real People -The Basics DVD, and have spent many a happy hour browsing for one, without any luck (thank god otherwise I would have spent money on one !). Then, this weekend I thought what a waste of money buying one when I can use a large old box. For FREE. And that people, is exactly what I did !

It was amazing ! I laid an old piece of thin decorating vinyl material over it, which thoughtfully of the fabric was gridded, and I used my new table (well actually a flat piece of thick card covered in vinyl to be exact)  to anchor the pattern while I made my adjustments.

Here are the changes that I made to the pattern in practice (and although I did change both the length and  width by 1.5 inches, I later reduced the extra width after making a muslin - it was too much ! Eventually I widened by 6/8 of an inch.

Slashing to make a 'hinge'

Slashing and using my new cardboard 'table' to anchor the pattern pieces, LOVE IT !

Birds eye view

The book advises to mark the seam line on the pattern, and slash at the place where the side seam and underarm seam meet - however - you cant do that on the Jasmine pattern because as you can see above, due to the shapes of the seams, a slash would not be possible at this point. As such I slashed it as near as I could to that point, whilst making sure I had some tissue either side of my slash.

Make sure you add width at the stitching line

Using a pin to drag tissue paper under the pattern - STILL loving the cardboard !

Tissue added - now to tape down and trim off the excess.

Hmm - now the dart needs fixing !

Easy peasy !!   :-) Just match up the ends to the point !

I made a muslin and it seemed to fit pretty well, but I made it a little too wide ! Doh !

I took a gamble and did not make another muslin, I reduced the width on the pattern and just cut the fabric as I am certain that it will fit. Especially because the fabric is drapey, and I plan to wear it tucked in, so a little extra around the midriff is not going to hurt. I draped the pieces over Dolly, and it looks good so far. I made a hybrid of the 2 versions, using the collar from version 1, and the sleeves from version 2. I am using a silk/cotton blend and cutting on the bias, both firsts for me, and I no likey cutting on the bias. I especially no likey trying to mark the darts etc.

Anyone got any good marking tips, especially when cutting on the bias ? Chalk just dragged and I didn't have much luck with tailor tacks.

Hopefully I can finish it at the weekend - it will be nice to start the year with a freshly made garment. I especially love thinking about what I can wear with a new garment to make an outfit !

I other news - I took a picture of a cake, but not just any cake. My colleague makes them every Monday - and they are so beautiful ! I think I may start a little feature called 'Jackies Cakes' so I can share her amazingness with the world !

And - to be fair - after this gigantic post if you made it this far - you deserve a treat !!

YUM !! And soooo pretty !

I hope 2012 has been kind to you so far. And that you have a lovely person in your life who makes you beautiful cakes !

K xxx