Completed: Green Graphic Print Peony

Colette's Peony was the first independent pattern I ever encountered. I found a reference to it on online, followed the link which took me to Colette's site, and the worlds of independent pattern makers and sewing blogs. And yet as much as I loved the pattern, I didn't buy it. Instead I bought the Rooibos (still to be made) and the Violet (only made once). And of course I've made a Sorbetto (not blogged) and my Laurel.

I know enough now from experience, and from others' blogs, to recognise that the fit on Colette patterns can be a bit of a challenge. And although I was mentally prepared for this, my Peony was no exception.

I cut a size 4 and made a muslin of the bodice, plus sleeves. The waist darts were very odd, giving me lots of excess fabric at the bust. I moved these out (towards the sides) by about 1.75cm and also reduced the height (length?) by about 3.5cm. The bust darts seemed OK on the muslin but now that the garment is finished I think they are ever so slightly too high (probably about 0.5cm ) - this is unusual because previously on a size 4 in Colette the bust darts have always been too low - and also, I think too long. If they were at the right height, they'd go right to the nipple (sorry, "apex"), and I'm not convinced they should? Am I wrong about that?

I tapered the back seam in at the back neck - I can't remember the measurements but have adjusted my pattern piece for future reference. I did similar with my Laurel. I thought the bodice was too long, so added 1.5cm to the length, which I then had to remove on the finished garment. Clearly my long torso issue is completely imagined because this is the second time I have done this. I added 3cm to the skirt, which made the skirt sit right on my knee, which I quite like.

Please ignore the giant crease just above my waist. It sits fine in real life, honest!

I duly sewed up the dress, which went together very easily. I French seamed the bodice, used my overlock stitch on the arm holes and the waist and pinked the rest. I would have French seamed the skirt but I couldn't figure out how to do to that AND incorporate the in seam pockets. This is the first time I've pinked seam allowances. It appears to work for Roisin, so I thought I'd give it a go. Plus I didn't really have enough thread to overlock everything (and, gosh, it's boring to do!).

A seam "junction" showcasing 3 types of finish. I'll come to the elastic in a bit...

The bodice and sleeves went together and I started to add the skirt to the bodice. The skirt has 2 little areas of gathers on the front waist and the instructions have you gather these to fit the bodice. I did this, but the skirt didn't really need any gathering to fit. Strange, I thought. I sewed the skirt to bodice and tried it on. Too big! Like several inches too big! I went back to the pattern pieces and realised that when I'd moved the waist darts, I'd inadvertently reduced the width - however this wasn't the whole reason. I measured the original pattern pieces and it appears there is a whole lot of ease in there. With the help of my sewing teacher, we re-looked at it - trying to fix it without having to unpick too much. I unpicked the waist seam and looked at the bodice. We added more width to the waist darts and used a 2cm seam allowance at the back seam.

Now, the problem with my sewing class is that there aren't any full length mirrors, so I was reliant on my teacher telling me what looked OK, and me determining what felt OK. My teacher reckoned it all looked fine, so off I went to make the amendments, sewing skirt back on to bodice and inserting the zip - this time, there was more gathering required, which made me feel a bit better. I finished the zip off at home and then tried it on again... and it was still too big! By now I was starting to get frustrated. I had just inserted my BEST EVER concealed zip and really didn't want to have to unpick it, or anything else. Then I remembered a post I'd read the previous week by Ami of The Little Tailoress, where she used shirring to add waist definition to a boxy playsuit. I didn't have any shirring elastic, but I did have some 1/4 inch elastic leftover from my 50's petticoat. So, using a 3-stage zig zag stitch, and stretching the elastic as I went, I sewed the elastic onto the seam allowance at the waist, starting as close as I could to the zip, and basically sewing a bit, trying on, sewing a bit and trying on again until I was happy. In the end, I used about 11cm of elastic on each side.

Yes, I am aware that on one side my seam allowance is pressed up and on the other it's pressed down - the right side got caught when I inserted my zip, and as I said, I have no intention of unpicking this zip!

This worked a treat! The fit is perfect now, and the elastic makes the skirt very comfortable. It accommodated last night's dinner very well! It does have it's drawbacks - the side seams are now pulled backwards and this makes it a bit trickier to access the pockets, but it's saved a lot of unpicking, which I am pleased about!

Can you see the concealed zip? Thought not!

You can see here that the side seams are pulled towards the back.

And here

I am really happy with this dress. The fabric is lightweight quilting cotton, bought at The Quilt Show back in February. I love the colour and the retro graphic print. The shape of the bodice is really flattering, once you get the fit sorted. I love a boat neck: it's my favourite neck shape. The bodice would look lovely with a number of different skirt variations - I fancy a half circle skirt next, in a slightly drapier fabric.

You can see here that the neckline gapes a bit at the front. I'm not too sure what to do to improve this. I could obviously add some pleats next time, but if I wanted to keep the neck simple, how do I remove this excess? Any ideas? If I get the bust darts positioned correctly, is it possible to rotate this out from the neckline and into the bust dart?

I wore this dress yesterday. P and I took the day off, put the Small Boy in nursery (followed by a sleep over at Gran and Grandad's), and did some Festival stuff. In August, Edinburgh's population swells to what feels like 100 times the norm, as the whole world flocks to the Edinburgh International Festival, the Fringe Festival, the Book Festival and so on and so on. Some locals hate it, and avoid town at all costs, but I love it. Although I'm not from Edinburgh, I grew up about 20 miles away and my mum always made a point of taking us to something every year - even if it was just to see the free street performers. At this time of year, Edinburgh feels so cosmopolitan. Some of the main roads are closed to accommodate temporary venues, meaning cafes and bars can spill out onto the street (weather permitting). The whole place just feels like it's on holiday. Yes it's an absolute nightmare if you are in a rush, and if you want to park your car, forget it, but give yourself plenty of time, take the bus and it's cool. Yesterday we wandered into town about 3ish, took in the Man Ray exhibition at the Portrait Gallery, followed by drinks outside the Udderbelly, Sean Hughes at the Gilded Balloon, and finally dinner at Spoon. We've taken Monday off too, and we are taking Small Boy to see Tiddler and then to see the street performers. For his birthday I got him this book, which features street performers (number 7, I believe), so he is keen to see them IRL. Last year I took him to see Hairy Maclary, and he enjoyed it so much, he demanded "again" at the end of it. And then cried for a full half hour when I couldn't make it come on again!

Deformed foot and an interesting hat. Also, some very pretty verbena bonariensis in St Andrews Square. All the cool bloggers are featuring verbena bonariensis these days... just check out Roobeedoo!

So, overall, I am delighted with this dress! Yes the fit was a challenge and there are further improvements to be made, but I feel like I have learnt something in the process. There will be future versions of this dress. A lovely wool version, with 3/4 sleeves would be lovely for winter. And the aforementioned half circle skirt version will no doubt make an appearance too.

If anyone has any solutions or suggestions on how to resolve these fit issues, they would be gratefully received!

Next up, a Scout woven tee!

Fabric frustation

What is the single most frustrating thing about sewing? It should be something tedious like cutting out, or finishing seam allowances. Or something difficult like perfecting fit or bound button holes. Or just something annoying like poor instructions.

Instead, frequently I find the most frustrating thing about making my own clothes is finding the right fabric. There can be several reasons for this, my personal fussiness notwithstanding,

Firstly: fabric type. I struggle with this. Patterns are excellent are giving fabric suggestions, but a lot of it doesn't really mean that much to me. Here are just a few suggestions on the backs of the envelopes of some of the patterns I own, where I have NO CLUE what they are: cotton bastiste, ottoman, laundered cotton (isn't that just cotton that's been washed?), tropical wool, challis. Now, I know a lot of this will be down to my inexperience, but how do I get the experience? My local fabric shop drew a blank when I asked for "bastiste" and instead she presented me with a cheap stiff poly cotton. I am not 100% sure what bastiste is, but I'm pretty it's not a stiff poly cotton (in my head it's a bit more like lawn). Instead my fabric store list their fabrics by fibre content. This is useful, but not helpful when you are searching out "tropical wool" - even if it is just to find out what it is! I can of course Google the description, but that doesn't help me understand what it feels like.

Secondly: fibre content. I am a natural fibres kind of girl. Yes, I will freely admit there is an element of snobbery in there. 100% polyester is just a bit too reminiscent of Primark and other cheap shops (not that I never shop there, but I do baulk at the sea of polyester upon entry). But from a wearability point of view, I just find polyester a bit too clingy and a bit too sweaty to ever be fully comfortable in. I have tried polycotton mixes but they still cling. Maybe I just generate excess static when I move?

Thirdly: finding the perfect colour/print. As part of MMM13 I realised that a lot of my self made garments are "stand alone". That is, they don't go with a lot of items in my wardrobe. Tops and blouses are not so bad because pretty much everything goes with jeans or black trousers, but the skirts I have made often go with one top or blouse. My recent floral Charlotte and my quick pleated skirt are cases in point. I only have 1 top that goes with each of them - and it's the same yellow tee! So, to combat that I am trying to be more selective with my fabric choices (think capsule wardrobe territory), and immediately I come up against difficulty. As soon as I have an idea in my head, it becomes impossible to find the fabric I want. Some evidence:

Exhibit A: As my floral Charlotte has blues as well as yellows in it, I want to make a blue blouse. It needs to be work appropriate to wear with the Charlotte to, err, work. I am thinking a slightly looser fit sleeveless blouse. Something like the Megan Nielson's Eucalypt, or a Sorbetto, or possibly even a sleeveless Taffy. I want something simple and self coloured as there is quite a lot going on in the skirt, and I want a nice drapey, breathable fabric. I have been thinking a voile or a lawn, or a cotton/silk mix, maybe even a woven viscose. I don't want jersey. And I want a SOLID colour - royal blue, violet or maybe cornflower blue. And can I find that fabric? No! Solids in particular seem to be difficult to find in lightweight wovens. Jerseys and knits are no problem at all, but I don't want a knit...

Exhibit B: My mum is making a dirndl skirt for a 1950's party she's going to in a few weeks. She wants to make it in a 2" gingham in black and white, probably partly inspired by Gertie's version (I sent her the link for the tutorial). I would also like the same fabric to make an Archer, inspired by Andrea's.

Gertie's black and white large gingham skirt

Andrea's gingham Archer

Again, can we find the fabric? No! The only 2" gingham I have found in the UK is yellow and white*, and while I'm actually open to colourways other than black (my mum isn't), I don't want yellow (a turquoise/white on the other hand would be lovely...)
*Actually, not strictly true - I did find a 2" black and white gingham on Ikea's website, however while it might be fine for my mum's skirt, it it highly unlikely it would be a light enough weight for a shirt. I have yet to find out if my mum managed to find it at the weekend.

Fourthly: Online shopping. I find in actually fabric shopping on line full stop. The number of websites out there are huge, but I find them often very difficult and time consuming to navigate (e.g. you can only select fabric type OR colour, not both!!!), the descriptions vary (I need as much detail as possible, weight, some examples of what could be made with it, fibre content, washing instructions) and I guess you always have the colour issue when looking at something online. I know most websites have sample swatch services but they don't all. And I reckon I could probably spend a lot on swatches before finding the fabric I want.

Fifthly: price. Usually, because this is the way with everything I do,  IF I manage to find the right fabric, it will be expensive. I don't set out to have expensive taste. It just seems to happen.

This has ended up being a slightly ranty post - apologies. I hadn't intended that. What I did want to do was share my frustrations and hopefully open up some discussion. Do you have this problem, or any other problems, when sourcing the "right" fabric for your project? It does seem that US websites (and presumably also physical stores) offer a lot more choice, so is this specifically a UK problem? Or am I just being too damn fussy?

Winning!

I have been lucky enough to have had two more wins recently, in the world of online sewing. One of supplies and one of an award. Firstly the award, because the recognition of it is long overdue. I am ashamed to admit that it was a month ago  that I received another Liebster award, this time from the lovely Kathryn of Kathryn's Busytown. That is appalling of me. Kathryn is probably thinking that she will have had her second child before I got round to answering her questions! As with my last award, I won't be nominating anyone else because I find this so difficult - not because there aren't any decent blogs out there, far from it! More because it's so blooming difficult and time consuming to establish how many followers a blog has. But I will answer Kathryn's questions, so here we go!

1. What is your favourite film and why?
Cinema Paradiso. I just love the story, especially the bit at the end with the montage of all the kissing scenes the priest had had removed!

2. When and why did you start sewing?
My mum sewed when I was little, and I sewed along with her. I dabbled a bit as a teenager, and always had a sewing machine, which I used for the odd project. I started a dressmaking nightclass in 2009, and eventually got into sewing obsessively seriously in 2011 after returning to my nightclass after having Small Boy. When I found the online world of sewing, and Indie pattern companies last year, my fate was sealed!
And why? I don't know really. I guess it just always appealed and it was always something I wanted to do more of, but just didn't have the time/funds/inclination in my 20's.

3. What is your favourite make?
I have previously said my Red Denim Kelly to this question, however it might now be my Floral Charlotte because I turned a failed garment around and created something I now absolutely love!

4. Do you have a favourite type of fabric to work with? Or a favourite type of garment to make?
I really prefer sewing with cotton, as it's so nice to sew with, and I really prefer not to wear man made fabrics. It doesn't excessively fray, it presses nicely and it doesn't slip around. My absolute favourite is Liberty tana lawn. I don't really have a favourite garment to make.

5. Do you have a favourite fabric shop, online or actual real life physical shop?
Err, not really actually. I mostly buy fabric in actual shops because I like to handle fabric before buying, but I don't think the fabric shops in Edinburgh have the most amazing selection - they are OK, but generally when I have an idea in mind, I cannot find what I want. I am aware this is partly because I am remarkably fussy in terms of both fibre content and design, and also because I don't want to spend a fortune.  I have only bought fabric online once, which was the floral stretch cotton for my Charlotte. This was from Fabric Godmother, and I loved the fabric and the service was good, but it was expensive (£16 per metre) - more than I'd normally spend, plus there was postage on top.

6. What's the best book you've read recently?
It was How To Eat Out by Giles Coren. Again, I am fussy and if I don't like a book I will not persevere with it - life is too short. Most of the books I've started recently have ended up half finished for this reason. I borrowed the Giles Coren book from my dad because I like food and I quite fancy Giles Coren. He comes across as very ranty and a bit arrogant (and probably a bit of a tosser, TBH), but I actually quite like him, so I was able to overlook that!

7. Do you have a favourite artist, or art work?
A bit of a Scottish cliché, but Charles Rennie Mackintosh. My parents took us to visit places like the Glasgow School of Art and Hill House years before any of my friends and their families had ever heard of him. Granted, my friends and I were about 13 at the time, but I do feel that these days, you'd struggle to find a Scot who didn't recognise the CRM rose design. I always loved his art noveau designs and his architecture, but these days I also love the botanical watercolours he did later in life. There is a bit of a random connection here, as he painted a lot of these while living in a Suffolk village called Walberswick, which is directly across the river from Southwold, the place where my family frequently holidayed when we were young, and where we went again this year.
I also love a current artist called Angie Lewin, who was previously based in Norfolk and now appears to have relocated to Edinburgh. Again, botanical images feature, this time as linocuts (she does paint too).

FRITILLARIA / WALBERSWICK / 1915 / CRM / MMM

Agapanthus by Angie Lewin

But generally, if I like a piece of art, I like it and if I don't, I don't. I don't usually pay too much attention to who created them.

8. Cats or dogs?
Neither. I am just not an animal person at all. Sorry!

9. Sweet or savoury?
Both! But I'd reach for a biscuit before a packet of crisps...

10. If you could have 3 dinner guests alive/dead, real/fictitious characters who would they be and why?
God that's really difficult. I'm assuming "family and friends" is not a good enough answer? OK, I'm in danger of never answering this, so I'm not going to over think it and try to be cool/intelligent/worldly-wise and will just go with the first 3 people I think of. I think I'd like Jarvis Cocker, Jess Day (from New Girl, played by Zooey Deschanel) and Elisalex from By Hand London. Jarvis, because he's been a hero of mine for 10 years now and I think he'd be an interesting guest - although the conversation would possibly a bit too alternative and highbrow for me. Jess because I think she's really cool and I would want to talk clothes with her. And Elisalex because I'd love to find out how one goes about starting and running an Indie pattern company - and specifically her, rather than Charlotte or Victoria because I want to know how she does it when she has a 4 year old son!

11. If you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow where would you go and why?
Denmark, because I really fancy it and I've never been. It seems like such a cool, beautiful place.

Wow - an interesting and challenging set of questions there!

Now, on to my second win! The other week I was lucky enough to be the name picked from the hat for Jo at The Amazing Adventures of Taracat's giveaway! The parcel arrived at the weekend, and here's what I got!

 About 2.5m of a gorgeous african wax print cotton and Simplicity 1609, accompanied by a lovely card!

Here's a better view of the fabric:

The pink dots are sparkly!

It's incredible! It really is not what I'd normally go for - pink glitter is really not my thing - but I love it! It reminds me of peacock tails! I have absolutely no idea what I'll make with it. I had originally thought an Anna, however the fabric is quite stiff which I wasn't expecting and I'm not sure that will work. Jo made this beautiful maxi dress with it, but I am not a wearer of maxis. Any suggestions?

The Simplicity 1609 was recently showcased extremely well by Gertie, who has certainly given me food for thought on what to do with this.

Thank you so much to both Kathryn and Jo. Once again, I am reminded how kind and generous the online sewing community are!

1950's Petticoat - A How To

I don't feel I can really call this a tutorial. To do so would be fraudulent. The tutorial was written by someone else, and I'm just telling you what I did differently!

Apologies for the lack of photos, but due to time constraints when making this, and a certain lack of belief that it would come good, I didn't take any.

First, as Cilla used to say, here's a quick reminder:

The first version I made was a 3m length, double layer of tulle, gathered and attached to the above photographed underskirt at hip level. The reason I didn't like this was because it gave me too much bulk at hip level and more of a straight out and down (square) shape, rather than the desired (and more subtle) shallow inverted triangle shape given in the photo above on the right.

I Googled images of 1950's petticoats and established that they were pretty much all tiered, giving that triangular shape, so I went back to the Sugardale tutorial that I'd originally found. I didn't make her version exactly, but I based mine loosely round hers. I would say her tutorial is actually excellent, but I didn't need (and didn't have the time or the supplies for) the quality of finish she describes. She recommends you read her tutorial in it's entirety before starting. I had to do this a few times to get my head round it, but then I'm not always great with written instructions for practical things.

The first thing I did differently, was to create an underskirt. Tulle is really scratchy against the legs and I wanted this to be comfy. I made the underskirt from some unbleached cotton I had in my stash (£1.75 per metre from Ikea - excellent muslin material). I used the width of my fabric, which was about 150cm. I measured my dress from waist to hem and then cut the same - I obviously wanted the underskirt to be shorter than the dress, however I knew seam allowance and the casing for the elasticated waist would take care of that. So the underskirt is basically a wide tube, with a narrow casing sewn at the top for the elastic (1/4 inch, I think). I didn't finish the edges,  I included the selvedge instead. This is fancy dress, remember! The underskirt sits on  my natural waist. Actually, if you were making this following my instructions (really? you are?), I'd leave the elastic off at this stage and add it at the stage marked below. It will just make things easier.

I then followed Sugardale's tutorial. Not sure of the best way to present my instructions with Sugardale's tutorial, so I'll just tell you what I did differently, referring you to the correct point in her tutorial. Make sense?

STEP 1 Things you will need
1. I used tulle rather than crinoline. Guys, I recommend this. Tulle doesn't fray, which makes life so much easier. Therefore, no Fray check required.
2. I substituted yards for metres (they're not that different). I got confused when cutting my tulle (yes, really), so my bottom tier was only just over 7.5m but I think that was fine (she recommends 8 yds). The middle tier was the recommended 4m.
3. I skipped all the ribbon and twill tape. I didn't have it and it would have taken so much time to apply. If you were making a petticoat you wanted to wear regularly, I'd recommend it. It does look better, and it would probably make it last longer. But for fancy dress/relatively little wear, I think it's fine without.
4. As mentioned above, I did an elastic waist. Quicker, easier and comfier than hook and eye, although not hugely authentic.

STEP 2 Math(s)
As I'd already made the underskirt, I measured that (61cm) and divided it by 3. I didn't actually make the top tier from tulle. I already had the bulk from the underskirt and didn't want any more, so that acted as my top tier. I made my second tier 20cm and my third 25cm. I  kept the bottom tier longer as, due to time, I knew my cutting and stitching wouldn't be hugely accurate and I wanted to include a margin for error, plus a bit for seam allowance. This meant once the underskirt was finished, I hung it from my wardrobe and just trimmed the bottom tier to the same level as the underskirt. Very lazy, but it worked, because TULLE DOESN'T FRAY!!!

STEP 3 Drawing, gluing and cutting
Pretty much as described but without the Fray Check. I also didn't actually mark the fabric with pencil and instead used pins. I don't recommend this route. Pins fall out of tulle and you get wonky cutting lines. Obviously, as stated above, I didn't cut the top tier.

STEP 4 Sewing and finishing the seams
I didn't finish the seams. No need. I used really small seam allowances too, about 0.5cm. Did I mention tulle doesn't fray?
Because I didn't do the top tier, I missed out the bit referring to the opening at the waist.

STEP 5 Basting and gathering
Do what she says! It might seem insignificant at the time, but when it comes to matching the tiers and gathering, it all makes sense and makes it so much easier. I couldn't do this because I pieced bits of tulle together to get my 8 and 4m lengths which just made things more difficult. More difficult is not a good thing at 11pm when you are tired and emotional.
I sewed 2 rows of basting stitches using a 4.5 stitch length. 3 rows would probably be better, if you can face it.
Tip - if you plan to be thorough about removing your basting stitches once the gathers are sewn in place, it might be an idea to put a different coloured thread in your bobbin, to the top of your machine. Because the tulle is basically net, the threads have a habit of pulling through to one side, making gathering more difficult, as it was harder to identify the bobbin thread. For those of you who haven't gathered before, you want to pull on the thread from the bobbin. If it's a different colour, it will be easier to identify.

STEP 6 Finishing the hem
I skipped this.

STEP 7 Gathering each tier to the next
Do what she says again! I did this, but not having evenly spaced side seams made this more difficult, as mentioned above. I skipped the ribbon. After basting 8m of fabric with 2 rows of stitches I was glad to!
What Sugardale doesn't make clear is, when attaching the bottom to the middle tier, whether to attach right sides together, or to lay the top tier (wrong side down) over the right side of the middle tier. I did the latter, as it seemed the intuitive thing to do.
When it came to stage 6 here, I obviously didn't have the top tier. Instead, on my underskirt, I measured 20cm down from the top of the waistband (that being a third of my total length), marked it and stitched the middle tier onto the underskirt at this point. This would have been easier if I hadn't already put the elastic in.

STEP 8 Finishing the top
If you haven't done so already, now insert your elastic, using the usual safety pin method (or something fancier if you have it).
I skipped the ribbon...

STEP 9 Closures
No need! Hurrah! All done!!! Except for that pesky, lazy hem line trimming bit. But you are a neater marker and cutter than I am, so probably don't need to do this.

STEP 10 Look it over
Ah. Yes. There will be a lot of loose ends. You might want to be thorough about removing your basting stitches, particularly if you've used different colours. I just removed the ones that pulled out easily and cut the ends off the rest - ivory thread on ivory tulle is really difficult to unpick. But also really difficult to see!

As you can tell, Sugardale's skirt is a bit fuller looking than mine. Not sure if that's just because I had a bit less than the full 8yds on the bottom tier, or due to the difference between crinoline or tulle, or maybe the ribbon on the bottom adds some structure? Not sure. If you find out, or think you know, feel free to let me know! Either way, I was quite happy with mine.

I hope this all makes sense. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. If you do make this, please let me know how you get on!!!!

1950's Petticoat

I made my petticoat! It was a bit of a thing in the end, because I made one version, decided I didn't like it and then ignored it until the night before the party. Cue finishing at midnight, many a threat of abandoning it and nearly some tears along the way! I was really glad I did it though because I felt amazing in my outfit!!!

Here it is:

And here it is, as part of the finished outfit:

It didn't make my skirt huge, but then I didn't want it huge - and actually it felt quite big wearing it. I'm surprised at how small it looks in photos to tell the truth! However, if it had been much bigger, I think it might have felt a bit cartoonish and I was going for elegant!

I think this might be the second time in my life I've felt elegant - after my wedding day!

I wore the dress with a pearl necklace that may or may not have been real, may or may not have been my Gran's, and may or may not have been the one I wore when I got married. My mum has 2 and can never remember which is which! I'm fairly sure it's the fake one and it's not the one I got married in (too long). I have no idea if it was my Gran's but I suspect they both were, so it potentially pre-dates the 50's. The beaded cardigan I have had for years, originally bought to wear to a winter wedding about 10 years ago. It's just from Oasis so not actually vintage, but I absolutely love it! It's wool though, so very warm to wear in summer. It didn't last long on!

I am absolutely useless at doing hair, so I was particularly proud of this achievement:

I followed a tutorial on Youtube, which was meant to be a proper full updo with more pin curls. The rest failed but the front one seemed to be happy to stay in place. I thought I might do a half up-half down type style, hence the feather/jewel-y thing, which is totally un-50's (from Urban Outfitters about 4 years ago and it has also passed for 1920's style previously) but then decided I preferred a ponytail, which gave the illusion of a hair up from the front and left the feathers in because I like them! 

I think I can confidently say, I was the most authentically dressed person on the night, mainly due to the hair and the petticoat! Everyone made a really good effort, and there were lots of glamorous 50's style dresses, and a few who focussed more on the "summer" part of the theme, with pineapples proving very popular! I did feel a little overdressed, however, better to be over than underdressed. I thought I looked great and I got a lot of compliments!!! :)

Danielle has asked for a tutorial on the petticoat. I don't feel I am really qualified to write a tutorial on this (nor to teach Danielle anything), however I will write a post on how I made it, including the very excellent tutorial I loosely based it on. I'll do a separate post on that to keep things simple, so stay tuned!

Completed: Bunting!

I have been doing some sewing for Small Boy.

I have been meaning to make bunting for his bedroom since before he was born! I know bunting can verge on the twee, but I thought in some nice bright colours it could look quite cool. And that was as far as I got, because, you know. Then, when we were on holiday, my sister bought some handmade bunting for my niece's bedroom. I wish I'd taken some photos of that in the shop* because it was really well designed. Each of the little pendants had letters appliquéd on, plus some ribbony decorative bits too. So far, so typical bunting. The interesting bit was when you came to attach the pendants to the bias binding/twill tape. Rather than thread the tape through a tube at the top of each pendant, the pendants had a button at each of the top 2 corners, and the tape had button holes right along it's length. You simply buttoned the pendants in place, meaning it was really easy to change things around. The woman in the shop suggested buying numbers to use for birthday parties and changing the number each year. My sister stopped short at that, but it was nice idea. I would ask my sis if I could take photos of the stuff she bought, but I suspect she may not want my niece's name out there on t'internet.

* This is when I realise I am such a rubbish blogger. It honestly didn't occur to me that I could have asked the woman in the shop if I could have photographed it there and then, and then done a wee "feature", but I actually got back from my holiday. I need to get more with it!

Anyway, my sister's purchase spurred me into action, realising that I had better get making bunting before Small Boy is old enough to have an opinion about interior decor!

Ta dah!

 I am really pleased with this! You don't really need a tutorial to make bunting, but I did refer to this one just to get an idea of what size to make the pendants. I thought it might be a bit of a boring project, sewing all those triangles, but it was actually quite relaxing and strangely addictive! I did all the cutting out and sewing the triangles together in one night, accompanied by a glass of red, and Dates. I didn't measure how many I needed, I just cut triangles until it looked like quite a large pile, with a good mix of colours/patterns. The fabric is a true amalgamation of stuff I bought for the purpose (way back when) and scrap stash busting. Using scraps was a really nice way of doing it, because when I showed Small Boy, he immediately said "that's your bird dress, Mummy", "that's my car bag" and "this one has lighthouses". His favourite is the bird fabric - that's my boy!

 I used any fabric that I had, the only restriction being that it had to be bright colours. Anything too pastely was vetoed.

 I bought the bias binding on ebay. It's the horrible scratchy poly cotton stuff, but perfect for this, and was only £3.40 incl postage for 10m. God knows what I'll do with the rest of it!

I made around 5m in the end, which wasn't quite long enough, but it looks OK. I might do a bit more another time. My sister is also planning to borrow it to help decorate the hall for my nephew's 4th birthday party on Saturday! I really should have made more!

 While we are on the subject of selfless sewing, I thought I'd share some other bits and bobs I have made for Small Boy over the past few years.

The cushions were made with leftover fabric from his curtains (which I also made, but just couldn't photograph well), which I made when pregnant. I made the patchwork dog following instructions from Cath Kidston's Patch book. But I didn't make it in expensive CK prints! You will spot some of the dog's fabrics in the bunting!

Strawberry print oven glove made to go with his little kitchen. I just made this up as I went along. Again, you'll spot this fabric in the bunting!

Finally, a Noodlehead widemouth bag, made in a car print, with gingham lining (both in the bunting). I made this to hold all some of his small toys - peg puzzle pieces, cars etc. It actually doesn't get used that much, but I really like it!

My next selfless sewing plans are to make another oven glove for my niece (it was meant to be for my nephew but since he's nearly 4, I'm not so sure he'll be interested) and a dress for my niece's 2nd birthday in September. That's the plan anyway. We'll see!

Quick pleated summer skirt

Thanks everyone for your very lovely comments on my last post! So nice to get such lovely feedback. It all gave me a nice warm glow!

I mentioned in my previous post that I'd made a very quick summer skirt last week. Fuelled by the comments on my earlier post about having few summer clothes, I dug through my stash, and came across this piece of fabric that I'd completely forgotten about. 

It's furnishing/curtain fabric and was a remnant I bought for £2 about a year ago. I measured the remnant for the purposes of this post, but then lost the bit of paper I wrote the measurements on. Sorry! I think it was about 1m by about 76cm? It certainly wasn't a full width, as it only had one selvedge. 

It's a cotton, not too heavy weight. It looks textured (not that you can see that here), as there are beige/cream flecks on the white background. I was planning to go down the dirndl/gathered skirt route, but realised that a) I didn't really have enough fabric to make a waistband, and wasn't sure you could have a gathered skirt without one, and b) the fabric is probably a bit heavy, and therefore bulky, for a gathered waist. I played around with it for a bit, trying to figure out what to do, when I remembered a skirt in this book that I own.

Link

I bought this book years ago, before I really got into sewing, as I saw it featured in a magazine and thought it looked kinda cool. I have never made anything from it, until now!

There aren't many projects in this book that I'd ever wear (the problem with buying a book online is that you can't have a good flick first!), but there were one or two things that appealed, one of which was a "rough and ready pleated skirt"The instructions really would have resulted in a very rough and ready skirt, with no waistband, just a simple turned over hem at the top, and poppers to fasten. I decided to use the basic idea but to improve it a bit, to make it look just a little more polished (and... er... like I can actually sew). The instructions actually called for the fabric's width to be 1.5 times my hip measurement, I had nowhere near that, but went with it anyway - I just figured I'd have less volume.

I started by removing the selvedge and then cutting the fabric in half horizontally. I lined the floral print up as much as I could, so they were aligned horizontally, but I stopped short of proper pattern matching at the seams. I couldn't afford the wastage. 

Sorry for the dearth of photos in this post. I didn't photograph it as I went along.

I sewed the 2 pieces together down one side seam and then started pleating the top. I did spend about 2 minutes trying to work out how big to make the pleats so they were even, then gave up. This is "rough and ready" remember, and even the instructions said to eyeball it. So I did. I started by making the pleats more or less 5cm (2 inches), and then played around with them to get the fit right around the waist. I pinned the pleats in place and then added an invisible zipper. I did this before sewing the pleats in place, as I wanted to make sure the placement around the zip looked OK. I did need to fiddle around with the pleats after adding the zip and once I was happy with them, I basted along the top of them to hold them in place, before topstitching down each pleat by about 4cm (1.5 inches). There was no logic to this measurement, I was just making it up as I went along.

I added some grosgrain ribbon to face the waist. There is no waistband. I placed the right side of the fabric to the wrong side of the ribbon, stitched it's length and then folded over. So from the inside, the ribbon looks topstiched on, but you can't see the topstitching on the outside. I then did a slipstich by hand to secure the bottom of the ribbon. I did consider topstitching the ribbon in place, but liked the look without the stitching. By happy coincidence, the 4cm topstitch on each pleat pretty much perfectly matches the width of the ribbon, so that almost acts as a waistband, the skirt flaring out beneath that point.

Unfortunately I got to the stage of stitching the top of the ribbon, but not quite the hand stitching, before trying it on - and it was too big!!! The pleats must have shifted when I basted them in place! It fitted my hips, but I wanted a higher waist on this skirt. I'm afraid to admit I took the lazy way out - I unpicked half the grosgrain, unpicked about 4 pleats at the back and adjusted them, before resewing them and then the grosgrain. It means I have a greater number of pleats, and therefore a bit more volume, at the back than the front, but I'm not hugely bothered. Certainly not bothered enough to redo it.

Once happy with the fit, I finished the hem with a small double turned over hem. The insides were finished as I went along with the overlock stitch on my sewing machine. 

And that was it!!!

P's sister and her family are currently over visiting from New York, where they live. On Friday they came over to Edinburgh (the rest of P's family live in Glasgow) and the two families took a trip to Edinburgh Castle. I had tasked P with taking some photos of me in my new skirt, thinking a change of background and a bit of culture might be nice for you lovely readers, however we both completely forgot. So, instead you get these:

Me with small boy and P's niece. You can see the skirt full length here.

Nice family pic. You can better see the pleating here. And check out that blue, blue sky!!!

As you can see from the top photo, the pleating is not very full. With a wider piece of fabric, you could really go to town here and I think I might make a more voluminous version in future.

One regret on this skirt is that I didn't think to add pockets until I'd pretty much finished. And then of course I couldn't be bothered to unpick it all. Another one to remember for next time!

I have no flat, or interior photos, or any back shots (sorry Nessa! :)). It's too dark now to take any more tonight. Plus, as you can see I carried Small Boy quite a bit that day - we did a lot of walking - and my skirt became filthy from the dust on his shoes, so the skirt went straight in the wash after one wear. So, another reason why I don't have any more photos, sorry.

Once the skirt is laundered, I'll take a couple more photos and post them on Flickr, so you can see this better. I really am happy with this skirt. I'm not sure how much more wear I'll get from it this summer, as apparently our hot spell is now over, but hopefully I'll get to wear it at least once more! Fingers crossed!