All things bright and beautiful

Hello friends,

Well, I made me another skirt on Saturday - only cos I have been dreaming about it for some time (you know the usual outfit combos etc in my mind!). I am so so happy with the finished result I cant tell you.

I wanted to share yesterday but had an AWFUL day so didn't - I put on my happy new skirt - felt super dooper cheery, walked to my van and found it vandalised. Everything that could have been ripped off literally WAS ripped off, wing mirrors, windscreen wipers etc. GUTTED is not the word. Everything is so expensive as my van is a Japanese import so I dread to think what waking up yesterday cost me.

Oh well, its lucky I have a sense of humour (I get that from my Ma thank god) and today I tried the skirt on again and everything is OK   :-)

So, its Frankenstein skirt v3. I felt that the brown skirt could still have done with a little shaved off the hips, so rather than get my ruler out I eyeballed how much to take off and the gamble paid off. This skirt fits like a dream ! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.

OMG I photograph BADLY
The skirt scrubs up pretty darn good though !
:-)

thats right
look away
the camera is not your friend
the skirt however.......

I inserted the zipper using my new favourite way of doing so (by hand as you have lots more control and can barely see the end result).

Hot Dang ! I love this method
See how it is almost invisible !
oooooo

I catch stitched the hem (for a change as I am fine seeing stitches on a plain, but not a bold pattern), and waistband.

I have omitted the lace interior seam finish as I dont have any light coloured lace right now, but I will rectify that.

Er  - I cant blinking believe
that I sewed this !

I serged the inside seams, and I used brown thread to do so as I could not be bothered to change it ! You cant see it through the skirt so its fine.

I know
very lazy
this sometime seamstress was getting short
of
time

I used furnishing fabric which suites the shape of the skirt well but I still think I may shave a little more from the pattern for my next reincarnation.

I know how much fabric I need now too - all this time I have been buying shedloads (like 2.5 meters ! in some instances-oh well), and actually to make this skirt I only need like half of 1.6 m, whatever that is ;-))
( I know this as a bought a remnant 1.6 m, 135 cm wide, for £10 - that floral fabric I showed in my last post - and I can get 2 skirts out of it ! )
Now that I have noted the fabric required I need never buy too much fabric ever again (as if that's actually going to happen HA !)

I underlined the furnishing fabric with cotton sheeting. I'll let you into a secret. I was going to use white cotton voile but that shit was £5.99 p/m and 130 ish cm wide.

I bought cotton sheeting fabric for £3.00 p/m and almost twice as wide. Damn at the shop they tried to talk me out of it saying the voile would be better blah blah blah (which was disappointing as I LOVE that shop), but I stuck to my guns and I am so glad I did. I got extra fabric, absolutely PERFECT for lining !!


I have almost enough skirts now from this pattern to join in the ' One Week One Pattern ' over at Tilly's place ! That is what I call exciting !

Please excuse the photos as I been wearing the skirt the last 2 days - I just asked Mr P to snap a few pics real quick to share.

Hope you are all having a wonderful, uneventful week !

K xxx

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

Installing a zipper

Hey there,

So today Mr P and I got back from Amsterdam and I had a sudden need to share with you how I installed the zip on my new Frankenstein skirt.

(I will share some pics of this skirt (and jasmine together - girlfriend made herself 'an outfit') - I am just waiting until I get home and it is light enough to snap some  - but I am super pleased and cant wait to show (off) and tell)

I sewed the zip in the skirt a different way this time, and its left a look which I much prefer. Here is how I did it (for my own reference as much as anything).

• I marked on the skirt where I wanted the zip to end (as seen on the outside of the skirt), and then I basted to that point with my machine. 
• Then I cut the thread, lifted the needle, and changed the stitch size back to normal and started to sew (including backstitching) a couple of millimetres away from where my basted stitch ended (but following the same line). 
• Then I finished the seams on my serger.
• I then pinned the zip to the seam allowance and sewed from the bottom up on each side (only stitching the zip to the seam allowance here so the stitches wont be visible on the outside).
• I then pressed the zipper flat and hand sewed the zip and seam allowances to the skirt using tiny prick stitches. 
• Then I ripped out the basting stitches.

You can barely see the stitches - it looks awesome ! And it is super strong as the zip is anchored into the seam allowance.

I always have trouble with zippers, I can honestly say this was the least painful way to install one and I will be using this method everytime I can ! (I guess it does not hurt that I enjoy sewing by hand).

The only bad thing is that now I have shedloads of study to do,and its super busy at work and I fear there may not be that much sewing time to be had over the next few weeks !

Dang it ! Cos I am already pretty excited about what I may sew up next. These are my thoughts for next projects in no particular order.

1. Sencha in white with red stars fabric and red ribbon neck tie.
2. Jasmine in white cotton fabric peppered with some small blue and green flowers.
3. Another Frankenstein skirt but in crazy happy large floral print fabric (it will be my third !).
4. Jasmine in white cotton voile patterned with a burgundy red abstract circular print (which I think will look ACE with my brown skirt).

And this is just for starters ! PHEW ! I need a sit down !!

Come back again sometime and see how I am getting along   :-)

In other news I am hoping to post the patterns from my last give away at the weekend - so sorry its taken a wee while, I not been able to make it to the post office - but they will be with you next week !

K xxx

Burda Style March 2012

Hello friends,

Lets have a little looksie inside this months Burda shall we ?

As usual - these are just my own picks   :-)

The source for all of the lovely images can be found here

I must admit that there was not that much else that tickled me, but you can deny that Burda is good value for money. Plus it makes me well happy when the new edition drops through my letter box.

In other news I am hoping to post a pictures of the Mint Aero skirt later this arvo. And Myself and Mr P are back to Amsterdam tomorrow for the 'Little Dragon' concert. Tres excitemon !

Happy Sunday people.

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

Ooops a day late !

Hello people

I have been a bit think on the ground this last week as I have been sewing rather than writing on my blog and I have 2 (!) finished garments to share  :-)

But - you will have to wait until the weekend as I have so much studying to do this week I wont have time to take pretty pictures, boo !

Yesterday I chose 2 winners at random - thanks for taking these patterns off my hands !

Erika - you got the skirt

Marchelle - you got the dress

I hope you guys enjoy.

K xxx

Pattern giveaway

Well friends,

YAY ! It's Friday - we made it !

I must admit that work on the Jasmine has stopped.   Boo !

The second part of redoing our kitchen is in full force, and, after a recce it is looking ever more doubtful that I can work around tools and decorating gumpf in order to get that baby's sleeves sewn on.

Oh well, at least Dolly is enjoying wearing the almost finished Jasmine - its pretty cold here right now and she is usually naked ! She is a bit of a hussy in that way - she has absolutely no body hang up's AT ALL   :-)

I have been sorting through my fabric stash and pattern collection for my next projects. I am going to make a brown linen skirt next, closely followed with the same style skirt but a wonderfully sunny and happy fabric. I cant wait ! I love feeling excited about sewing, and the thought of it often keeps me awake for ages at night. I get really very happy when pinning fabric to Dolly and adding a cardigan to make an outfit.

QUICK ! Someone call the sad police !

But I digress.

Sorting through the patterns there are a few that I will never make, (not cos I dont like em - but because I KNOW they wont look good on me) so I want to offer em up if anyone wants them (they will be heading to the charity if no one does).

I must say both the patterns look better in the line drawings (in my opinion) and so I have captured those drawings for you too.

The patterns are both uncut and factory folded. If you want one just leave a comment to say which you would prefer.
If anyone does leave a comment I will use the random generator jobby to choose who gets.

Of course - I am happy to ship international  :-)

Size 14 - 22

Size 16 - 24
Vile drawings ! I bought this pattern for skirt view E

View E could be very nice me thinks

So - there you have it. If you want - just say the word !

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend  :-)

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

Sew Grateful Giveaway Winners !

Hello beautiful people

Sorry I am a bit late - just got back from the hospital re my 'air guitar knee'. But that is another story !

So - I tried to copy and paste the random generator jobby but couldn't as I am the lamest techie EVER.

Without further ado the winners are:

Jilly Be for the pattern

Jadestar for the fabric

All the J's !

Massive congrats guys and can I just say how overwhelmed I was with all of your comments. I have also found many new blogs following links back from the comments and can I just say that you lot are a mighty talented bunch !

I wish I could have made you ALL winners ! (Although you totally are already !)

So - I will contact the winners for their addresses (but if you dont hear from me please mail me - as I eluded to earlier I am absolutely shocking with technical stuff !).

Big loves

K xxx

Thank you

Hello there

Can I just say how overwhelmed I am feeling with all of you glorious people recent comments.

There are too many for me to respond to personally so please know that my heart feels warm, right down to its core.

I also want to welcome new people joining me on my adventures.

                                                                I am 100% SEW GRATEFUL.

To celebrate - lets share a Jackie Cake !

Cake jewellery
A delicious silver and turquoise bangle 

I am a vision
I look like a cake version of Boracay Beach

In other news I will be spending tonight mostly sewing and am looking forward to sharing with you.

I hope that whatever you are doing tonight makes you nothing but happy   :-)

K xxx