Saturday 10 December 2011

Made a dress today.........

I used a Prima pattern for a shift dress this weekend. Started it last night and took maybe an hour cutting and starting the darts etc... Then today I took another 3 or so hours to complete it. I used a grey/blue-ish fabric with little white flower clusters on, from Ikea. £5 or so a metre, so a bargain!


I attempted a blind hem, but don't really understand why it hasn't worked as it should have. I can see little black threads on the right side and I'm sure that shouldn't be the case. Knew I should have found an online tutorial before attempting it!


I love the neckline and in the end my sleeves ended up with little pleats which look very pretty indeed!



Here's the finished article anyway...........





 What an unattractive angle but it shows the pattern better!




I've kept the pattern for this one as I reckon it'll be lovely in other fabrics and it's dead easy!

Sunday 27 November 2011

First foray into clutch making for Christmas....

And it all ended in glue..........


Seriously, I cocked up by missing out one step and found myself cutting seams and re-aligning the whole thing whilst getting covered in super-strong fabric glue. But I think I've rescued it, on the whole! This is the spotty lining:


There's still some glue around the black fabric ruffle at the top but I seem to have made myself a kitsch little Christmas clutch - check out that fabric too!



  


Can't wait to wear this with a sleek little black number!

Thursday 17 November 2011

To cape or not to cape?

So, I love how this looks (although I'm pretty sure I won't look quite as cool, and I don't ski!):
Click:


It's on Burda and costs very little money (5 dollars 40!) for download. I think I have fabric sorted, like a wool - so more like a jumper/cardy maybe, as I don't think my machine would do wool this thick? I don't know for sure though!


I've been um-ing and argh-ing about this cape for ages and think I should at least buy the pattern but any thoughts welcomed!!

Monday 14 November 2011

Infinity dress...

So my mum and sis are fascinated by this dress on www.notonthehighstreet.com which costs like a squillion pounds....






And I knew I'd seen one somewhere before so dug it out in my ever-filling Favourites folder and here it is, thanks to Rostitchery.... (click on pic 1)


 Click here too, just in case





Looks fairly do-able! What do you think?!

Christmas present ideas - could one of these be for you?!!

Well, since arriving on Twitter yesterday (@sewcology) I have spent hours now browsing other folks' blogs and have gathered some more ideas - figured I may as well share them here for you lovely lot! Can't wait to get started on some of these.....hmmmm, when will I squeeze it in, I wonder?!!


I love this and people will defo be getting one of these if they're lucky! Cake in a jar!  Thanks The paper Mama

Satchel bag - maybe more for myself?!! Does cost money though!

Knot tote - love this too!

  Thanks Me Sew Crazy

Really cute cushion...
 Thanks In Between Laundry

These are just adorable!
  Thanks Mommy By Day

  Thanks U-Create

So where to start?!!



Sunday 13 November 2011

New Twitter account and loads of new ideas.....

Have spent a bit of time setting up a Twitter account. I now have 27 followers!! Wow! Find me @sewcology!!


It does mean I've managed to connect with a few more sewing enthusiasts and have spent quite a few minutes (errrr, hours) browsing some new sites. 


Check out this... Patternspot.com has the following patterns I shall be purchasing / downloading for free:


Mini tote:

Owl:

Rachel bag:

Take-out boxes 

Thanks to Patternspot for those!


Saturday 29 October 2011

Just a wee extra....

Wasn't going to post this as I wanted it to be a surprise for my friend when she opened the bag, but hey ho!

Thought of the idea when I looked on Etsy and lots of changing bags come with a changing mat and because I had about 1/3m left of the oilcloth, which was the more expensive of the fabrics, thought I'd just whip one up! Searched online and found this great tutorial from Prudent Baby - here!

I used towelling on the reverse and quilted this before construction to make it padded...

Then I attached to the PVC cotton, stitched together, overstitched and divided into thirds for folding...

Then I added some bias binding for the ribbon and here it is all tied up like a beautiful present...

Hmmm, maybe she needs some bibs?!!

Friday 28 October 2011

Final day of changing bag project.....

Well, it's been a project full of blood, sweat and tears, literally!

Blood: Pricked my fingers, arms and even my face on the multitude of pins sticking out from the edge of the bag! Ouch!

Sweat: It's hot sitting at that table, working hard, especially when the heating comes on! And the straighteners only added to the heat!

Tears: I have never had the thread break so many times in one project - ever! It was ridiculous! By the 'finishing touches', I was ready to give up and resign this to an incomplete pile - but it would be alone on that pile, as I've never not finished anything, no matter how frustrating! And I think I shed a tear of joy when I signed the label!

So, we got there in the end and it is indeed finished! Here are some finished shots

~The inside...


~ The top!



~ Was trying to pose with it but didn't work out so well!


I do love this bag and may have to make more in the future!

Total hours: About 8, I think
Cost: £58 plus labour (of love!)

Thursday 27 October 2011

Day 2 of the changing bag project...

Well it was all such fun and going swimmingly! Finished the second outside part and got to the stage where I needed to join the 2 sides to make the whole of the outside. Looking good!

Then I had to make the inside pockets with the elastic bits.

Another top tip here - instead of constantly jumping up to iron seams, use your Hair Straighteners! Work a treat and are totally portable to the sewing table! Was very excited to get the insides done and sew together, including T-junction seams at the bottom to make the box shape, by the time I went out for lunch!

So I returned from lunch thinking I'd nearly get it done.... but I realised I didn't like the pointy bottom corners on the outside bag part, which you can see in the picture below, so I decided to 'quickly' change them to T-junctions too. Easier said than done, because that meant sewing through a squillion layers of fabric and oilcloth, which my machine was incredibly reluctant to do, so kept breaking the thread and the needle once too! Think I must have re-threaded that needle about 100 times this afternoon!

Got there in the end but alas, it was now the ZIP stage! The problem with me, when I sew, is that I need to get my head around the practicalities of the process first, so I completely understand what I'm about to do and why! This was not the case with the zip part, so I just went with the flow and hey, it worked!

So I put all the pieces together, used a million pins and it's ready to be sewn together and finished completely tomorrow! It's looking great though and I'm really pleased with how well it's going, despite hours of frustration today! (Total time so far about 5 hours.)

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Day 1 of the nappy bag project....

So I thought all I'd do today would be cut the pieces, but that bit was easy! I'm trying to be very organised with sewing these days, so even labelled the pieces!

The first instruction was to sew the seam on the PVC oilcoth - now, I've done this before on a machine and failed miserably so ended up hand sewing! I was dreading having to so this on such a large scale, so came across this AMAZING TIP online - sprinkle the PVC/oilcoth with TALC! It works! Am so chuffed because it's so quick and easy, if a little messy!

After about 2 or 3 hours, can't remember cos I was 'In the ZONE!'... I got to the stage where 1 whole side of the bag was nearly complete - I just had to sew on the handles.

And here it is, hanging on the door, ready for me to do the opposite side and the lining tomorrow! Going well and it's looking FAB, even if I do say so myself!
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