Cocktails on the Patio

It's July, I've no money, so that must mean it's time for my annual 'Staycation'!!! 

To be fair, this year we've had spectacular weather for months now, so I'm feeling a little bit smug that I've not had to spend money I don't have to go find some consistent sun! In fact, if memory serves, I think the last bit of less than pleasant weather in these parts was on Fathers Day...

I had the whole family round to me - had delicious roast spring lamb from the local butcher - and when that was devoured, all the 'girls' strolled back to my sisters house (if you stroll slowly it takes about 1 minute the get there from my house!!!) as she was hosting Lily's baby shower (my nephews girlfriend).

I had spent the whole of my previous week off in May casting & making Lily's Baby Bump ready for signing at the baby shower:

Adding some strengthening and straightening bandages ...

Luckily the weather was so lovely at the end of May/beginning of June that I was able to add plaster layers & sand out in the garden!!! so much easier to let a gentle breeze blow the dust away!!!

Then a couple of days spent doing the paint job & drying!!!

I was especially pleased with how the bear turned out!!! (my family actually thought I'd bought a 'sticker' bear and added it!!!! - the cheek .... I'm a professional!!!)

I'd forgotten how much fun (for me) casting baby bumps was....
Lil did well too, even though Baby did keep moving - mostly away from where I was placing the plaster I'd forgotten how much fun (for me) casting baby bumps was....

Dad & Kieran's version of 'chopping up some lengths of wood and pulling up a few more lengths of decking' !!!

Now, its not that I wasn't grateful (it had taken me hours just to lift 5 little bits of decking, Dad & Kieran did the entire garden in the same amount of time!!!) but it was doing my head in looking at the state they had 'piled' it all up in!!! I actually had to re-stack it all the next evening! and that's when I realised that there was no way I could possibly 'burn' it all .... two trips to the local tip/recycling centre and job was done....one clear garden!

I've spent my spare time prepping the garden for its grand makeover....where once was decking that I kept slipping on, will eventually be lush deep boarders and a tiny bit of grass....if I can get it level....which is WAYYYYYYY more laborious than I thought!!!

 Inbetween adding and sanding plaster layers on the baby bump cast and hours of digging, racking and giving up on the garden, I'd also spent HOURS and HOURS hand sewing layers of fringing onto my old funeral dress to transform it into a 1920's flappers dress!!! and finally, on 30th June, some of the family went to London for The Candlelight Club Summer Ball.... brilliant night out!!!! even if it was meltingly hot!!!

 Lilly was under strict instructions not to go into labour that weekend - we'd spent so much money on it and all virtually all the family were going!!! lol - she was very obliging and although baby wasn't due until 9th, went into labour on 4th (while we were all round the house for my Brother in Laws birthday!!!....us in the garden and Lil wired up to a TENS machine in the upstairs room...she was almost joining in ?!?!?! ... and my new Great Nephew - Michael Alfred - was born just after midnight on 5th....

Michael Alfred - pencil on paper - A4 ....drawn by yours truely when he was about 15 hours old!!! and he's totally gorgeous! 

 And with all the excitement and business over I finally realised that although I'd bought 3 lengths of red fabric to make various 'summery' items, I hadn't actually got round to doing anything with them!!! I'd had this Geometric Boarder Print from Minerva Crafts, all cut out for weeks, but had only this week had found time to get round to sewing it up!!! (it's out of stock now, but they do still have other colourways ....)

 It is New Look 6372 view A .... and the only alteration I made was to shorten it by about 10 inches - its a floor length pattern and I only wanted a midi/maxi length....that and I'm only 5ft 3in...!!! I love dresses like this, no darts, no zips, no buttonholes, no shape - just like the wearer!!!! and easy as pie to sew up - except the neck facing - no matter how many times I read the instructions, I couldn't quite get it in my head! and... as lovely as this fabric is, it does fray quite a bit, and I'd 'lost' my notches in places.  Still, nothing that a bit of hand sewing and making it up as you go along couldn't fix :-D 

 I finished it on Monday, my first day of annual leave...and I LOVE IT !!! its so light and cool to wear, you'd practically have to press any creases into it and even then I doubt they'd stay!!! I love the neck line ... I just love it all !!! and it was perfect for sitting in my garden on another hot hot day drinking cocktails on the patio at 3pm :-D    Chin Chin darlings!!!
 

Picasso's Red Arm Chair...

So, during the course of the week I had five different deliveries made of various bits n pieces for sewing projects, that after last weeks 'Overlocker for beginners' class I've suddenly realised I can't live without!!:

a rotary cutter
spare rotary cutter blades
a sewing machine/overlocker service kit 
a long transparent grid ruler
a shirt multi hanger

Iffy Yodel delivery aside, all arrived well in time and other than the spare rotary cutter blades, all have now been used! 

Having had my Overlocker class I was eager to get to grips with it.  I'd ordered a red jersey knit fabric earlier from Minerva Crafts and knew I wanted to to make either a red t-shirt or a tunic/short dress.  I've gotten into the habit of pre-washing all my fabric as soon as I get it and it was no different with this red jersey.  The only conundrum I had was that I don't have many (any) other 'red' coloured items I could wash all this fabric with!  So decided I'd pop it in with a couple of brown/dark woollen jumpers I have on a cool woollen wash.  And boy oh boy am I glad I popped a colour catcher sheet in!!!!! most of my brown/dark jumpers now have a very subtle hint of red about them!  ooops! 

Once all deliveries had been made (and having popped into Lidl the night before for some milk and noticing they had red overlocking thread for £1.79 a cone that would match perfectly, I bought it straight away as I only had white or black!) and having got home from work nice and early(ish) on Friday, I decided to leap in and see how quick I could get a tunic dress done and dusted.  As I don't actually have a pattern for a jersey knit tunic dress, I decided I'd have a go at a little pattern alteration/hacking.  

I've used Simplicity 1805 before for a stripey t-shirt and thought this would be the best one for tinkering about with!  

I narrowed the neck opening by about 1 1/2 inches, lengthened the sleeves by an extra 9 inches and did the same by an extra 12 inches to the bottom hem.  

 Could get used to this pattern adapting/hacking business...the worlds your oyster!!!

Once I'd completed the pattern re-drafting, I popped it onto my fabric and ripped open the rotary cutter packet!!! O-M-G....I'm converted!!!! so so soooooooooooo quick and super easy to use.  Perfect for jersey knits, no shifting or lifting fabric, like happens when you use scissors/shears.  Can't wait to use it again.  The only down side, is that I was soooo eager to leap in and cutting, that I paid very little attention to how badly I wasted my length of fabric.  I've used the entire 2 meters....on a tunic!!! and although I do have some left-over bits, none of them are particularly big or useful...and I was kinda hoping I'd get a small vest/t-shirt out of it too....still, lesson learnt...slow down and stop to think at ALL stages!! 

I managed to successfully change the white overlocker thread to red, by using the 'knot technique' I'd been told about last week - wow, did that make the whole thing easier and faster!! and then once a test sew had been done to check tension, away I went! 

Across the shoulders/top sleeve x 2, up the side seam/bottom sleeve - really, it couldn't have been simpler! 

It took me longer to measure, cut, pin and sew on the neck band (which I chose not to interface this time) and the 2 sleeve cuffs.  But even that went well.

What actually took me longest, was to stop sewing, make, eat and clean up my evening meal! and that kinda distracted me for the rest of the evening! 

This meant it wasn't ready to wear the next day when I took my Mum up to London to see the Picasso 1932: Year of Wonder at Tate Modern.  Which was actually a pretty good exhibition (me and my Mum like a bit of Picasso so maybe we're biased?).  There were numerous paintings of 'woman in red armchair', and it was exactly the same bright vivid red that my unfinished dress was in! (as I kept pointing out to my Mum!!) - hence my new dress's name :-) 

It was so cold when we got there (the 'mini beast from the East'!!) that I had to make an emergency hat/cap purchase, a Baker Boy hat £15.00 from Accessorize (see above & below!).  

Fabric: https://www.minervacrafts.com/shop/fabric/dress-fabrics/z901376-39-m-plain-stretch-ponte-roma-jersey-knit-dress-fabric?colour=Red

Hat: http://uk.accessorize.com/view/product/uk_catalog/acc_5,acc_5.29/3912093500

So, first thing this morning I pinned up the hem, popped it through the overlocker (blade down!) and completed the top stitching on my trusty sewing machine.  So easy, so comfortable and next time won't take me more than a couple of hours as I've already got the pattern re-drafted...in fact, the next batch of jersey knit fabric is currently being pre-washed!)

 a couple of what I suspect to be 'tension' issues with the back hem, but nothing I can't live with! It's possibly a little too short to wear as a tunic/dress for work, but its VERY comfy and A-OK for a lazy, slouchy weekend wear!!! (and, a few minutes after I finished taking these few photos it started to snow again!)

All in all, a good weekend with a good dress n hat to finish it all with :-D

oops!!! 6 month update...

Can't believe I've not updated for over six months!  Enrolment was busy, but not six months busy - more like an intense 6 - 10 weeks.

I have actually done quite a bit of sewing over the last six months, but have been very bad at photographing the end results - no excuse, just got very lapsidaisicle about it all!

My first make after Enrolment was this gathered, buttoned skirt - Delores skirt from La Maison Victor magazine.  The most complicated thing about this was working out how the pattern pieces fit together (ha! it confirmed I'd be useless at pdf patterns!!).  Was a breeze to sew up, even making 10 button holes on my cranky old machine wasn't too bad (they got better the more I did!) 

 

A nice and comfortable work skirt ... only down side is that the gathers seem to show just how 'wide' I've gotten this summer!!!

For my next couple of makes, I chose to go back to the tried and tested pattern ... New Look K6411...with long sleeves, to make it warmer for the oncoming Autumn! Used a lovely floral crepe and a 'wool' type fabric (from Minerva Crafts - my go to fabric co!!).  Once again, a simple to sew dress, I really love this pattern, so quick n easy to run up! The only 'problem' was the fabric for the first make...which I hadn't considered properly.  A lovely print, but more suitable for a blouse or top...a little bit too flimsy for a dress.

 My 'Flimsy Floral' ... love the print and do actually love the dress, but its not a 'work' dress, more a weekend/casual evening out dress...(its a bit short for work and needs to be worn with a belt)

 The 2nd make - my 'Blanket Dress' ... a little bit itchy but has been a sturdy work dress this Winter!...Super pleased with the awesome pattern matching down the centre back seam ...took be quite a while to work out where to place the pattern on the fabric BEFORE cutting it!!! - I'm getting better....

The final 'dressmaking' of 2017 was my Christmas Day dress - bit fancier than last years! and used another of my favourite dress patterns: New Look K6447.  Using some AWESOME mermaid sequin fabric in silver/black, I had to redraft the bodice pattern piece so that I didn't have to place on 'the fold'!!! which was impossible to do with the fabric I had!  At one point it looks like an explosion in a sequin factory!!! but I'm sooooooo pleased I stuck with it! I LOVE this dress...just need more reasons to wear it!!! 

 Little bit of pattern re-drafting...

 worked a treat, was a bugger to sew when the sun shone though :-) 

 so versatile too...

 I LOVE this dress!!!

  and, my best ever inserted concealed zip!!!!

My 5 year old godson love the sequinned fabric soooo much that I made him a cushion cover with it (and a work colleague's birthday pressie!!).  I enjoyed making and giving cushions so much that I made 3 more - two for work colleagues birthdays - using blue printed silk fabric, and one for me, using purple printed silk fabric, both of which I'd got from a trip to India years ago!! 

 

 

One for Noah, one for Ellie

 

 

 One for me!

  

one each for Lou-Lou and Amy

and once the soft furnishings had been done...we have a glut of birthdays a work during December/January/February ... it was back to the 'me made wardrobe'.

My parents bought me my first ever overlocker this Christmas, so I while I had a little of the mermaid sequin fabric, a small stash of jersey and a small amount of spare time to play, I ran up a t-shirt!! OMG I love my overlocker!!! and thank god it was pre-threaded as I've no real idea how to re-thread it!!!! Which I need to do, so I'm rather looking forward to my 'Beginners Overlocker Class' next weekend! 

 

 I also decided that I need more blouses/tops to go with all the skirts I made last year...so I hacked a no sleeve top with a shirt pattern and created this ... its actually got 2 sleeves on it now and has been worn to work a few times, but as I said at the beginning of this post, I've not taken any photos of it!!!

 not a bad little hack, even though I say so myself!!

Then, as luck would have it, we've had a bit of 'weather' this week - lots of snow - and work actually shut for 4 days so people wouldn't have to try and travel in (which is just as well as didn't fancy driving in it, and the trains were all cancelled!!). So I was able to concentrate on my first ever jacket!!! Burda 6736 View B. 

Couple of tiny tweaks - added a lining (never done before and used it as my toile) and it definitely wasn't attached using any kind of traditional method!!! more, put it in, pin it and sew it!!! and I also added two buttonholes/buttons where the pattern suggested 1 presser button.

VERY happy with how it turned out ...and, now that the snow has all melted away in one day, its now warm enough (at 7 degrees, rather than the -7 we had last week!!!) to wear next week to work :-)

And that's just about bought me up to date :-)  hopefully I won't leave it so long next time, I've got a little fabric bundle on order - 3 different types of jersey - ready for when I've had my overlocker lesson next weekend..... :-)

My final make...for the next 6 weeks anyway!!!....

I did it !!!! and I'm a little bit amazed I did...

I finally finished my last 'Work Dress'.  Enrolment starts in earnest this week and I don't want to have to think too much about what to wear at 6.00am each morning - and I want to at least look 'professional', even if it is going to be an unmitigated disaster zone this year!!! 

Using some gorgeous navy cotton (with beautiful white applique flowers along the border) which I recently ordered from Minerva Crafts and went to my quick n easy 'go to' New Look 6411 pattern.  I've used this pattern a few times now and discovered that although it might be quick n easy to sew up, I really need to work out how on earth you 'pattern match' things!!! on the 3 other versions I've made of this dress, pattern matching has been pretty darn easy on the 'plaid' Christmas Dress, not necessary on my LBD version and the last one made with a black/white abstract flower pattern was so 'busy' that you didn't really notice..... but by golly, I really need to work it out for future reference!!! (Does anyone have any good tips or advise on how to pattern match???!!!) 

It was all pinned, cut, sewn and pressed in a couple of hours - on and off while batch cooking a vat of Chicken Chasseur, Moroccan Lamb, Rich Beef stew and Sausage casserole .... I discovered that my little town has FINALLY got a real butchers!!! O-M-G...those pork sausages where AWESOME!!!! ... so I bought all the meat I needed for a good ole 'survive enrolment' cook up!!! 

I know I've gone on a bit about 'enrolment' but I've absolutely zero control and influence at work during this time of year...and when you leave your house at 7.30am and don't get home until at least 8pm (and the actual working hours are extremely 'intense') the very absolute last thing on earth you want to do is have to stand and cook a meal - well.....its the very last thing I want to do...and I quite like cooking!!! and worry about what to wear the next morning!!!  However, this year, I decided that these two elements at the very start and end my day were actually in my control ..... and I've prepped and planned accordingly.

So, in summary, my weekend consisted of making clothes to wear and food to eat to survive the oncoming storm! 

lol - that back centre seam is truely atrocious!!!! The only saving grace in this appalling pattern matching is that I'll be sitting at my desk for 10 solid hours - so who's going to see it?! 

oh, and I forgot....I also made a loaf of bread !!!