Change Of Schedule

 I'm afraid I don't have a progress picture of my dress to show you, but I'm not where I was expecting to be. I thought I'd be sewing in front of the TV at home tonight then heading off to Rugby in the morning to apply for jobseekers benefit, but my dad came round today to pick up some stuff and I ended up coming too. I've got to be at the jobcenter at two tomorrow and I'm going to stay for the rest of the weekend and tracing sewing patterns. I've got a skirt one to help fill out my wardrobe and two jackets that I can probably get done before it gets too warm to wear them. It is England after all.

Success!

I've got two complete tops! The white one and the blue one (that I'm currently wearing) are finished and the gold, silver and green ones only need their cuffs sewing on.

I've got a load more that I'm going to sew together with black tread when I get the overlocker rethreaded, but I think I need a break from making the same pattern again an again, and I don't mean just the darn tidying.

I'm currently trying to pack my life into a series of plastic crates and trying to get rid of everything I don't need or don't use, and there's a lot of it. I'm a clutterbug, a hoarder and a mess.

At least if I cut things out I can leave the scraps behind.

T-shirts And Studdies

I was a bit late getting this out because I spent most of the day with my older brother. Me, him and his boyfriend went to wetherspoons and talked about what I'm going to do this year. I've got to get on with researching universities and talking to everyone about what my options are but I'm feeling pretty good about it now.

I did manage to get quite a lot of work done on my t-shirts. I cut out four more and sewed the shoulder seams, as well as the back center seam on the neck band. I had a go at chain stitching (I think that's what it's called when you leave hardly any space between pieces) to save thread and make it go quicker. It worked pretty well and I ended up with the hideous neckband garland. You probably can't see but that things got 30 sharp pins sticking out of it.

The next thing to do will be sew the neck bands to the tops and sew up the sides. I think I should be able to get them finished by the 7th, and then I'm going to try making a wearable muslin of the dress I traced over the Christmas holidays.

First Projects Of The New Year

Yesterday I managed to leave my purse, with my train ticket, money, and house keys in it, at my parents house when I went to go home on the train. I managed to get on the train before I even realised and ended up having to pay again (well, dad did) and sitting for over an hour surrounded by a loud family, trying to read but unable to because of the noise.

When I finally got home I was tired, hungry and feeling a caffeine withdrawal headache coming on. Add on to that a growing feeling that I'm studying the wrong subject and managing to make dinner only to spill it on the floor and it felt like a pretty bad day.

I ended up talking to my older brother about it. We're going to meet up tomorrow and he's going to help me look at my options. I'm going to finish this year at the OU but it's not what I want to do in the long run. I wasn't expecting the new year to lead to quite so many changes.

After that I felt better. I did the washing up and even felt up to getting on with sewing! I got a blue velvet T-shirt cut out and I'm going to do another four before doing them all production line style with white thread. Then I can change to black and do the rest. :-)

Slow Progress And Future Plans

I'm getting on with tracing NewLook 6150 at a steady pace but it's still going slow. Faster than I would at home but not as fast as I was expecting. That's mostly due to laziness though.

What's more important, to me anyway, is that I've finally got my housing situation sorted for the next few months. I was hoping to move back to my home town but trying to find a place and then only being able to give my months notice when I have somewhere to go is both annoying and expensive.

I'm going to pack my stuff up and stick it in storage instead. Move onto Mum and Dads futon, where I've been staying this week, if I haven't found a place by the middle of February and be able to look properly for a flat. I'm feeling a lot less stressed about it now and edging into excited. I've still got to declutter a lot more but I can live with that.

Holiday's Over

The fun of Christmas has kind of worn off, and I spent yesterday evening tracing my little white dress pattern. I didn't realise it was unprinted and not very well cut. God knows what it'll look like.

The longer seam lines down the body were wonky and the notches were all uneven depths like it had been used before by someone who wasn't used to using scissors but when I get it everything was folded up like it had just come from the factory. I don't know if it was like that originally or if someone used it and then folded it up and compressed it well enough to look new. If they did they didn't use pins, but maybe that explains the wonkiness?

Today I'm going to get to work on NewLook 6150 so I can use it on some of my bigger knit stash pieces. I'm actually excited about making the version illustrated in red. :-)

T-shirt Work In Progress

I've spent the last two days sewing time tracing another t-shirt pattern, Newlook 6230, and it's at times like this I wish I just cut out the damn tracing paper. I know I'll use this one till it wears out so it's worth it to trace it but it really gets boring after a while.

It's almost ready for me to start cutting the fabric but I'm about to head off to my parents for the weekend and I won't be bringing it with me. Fingers crossed I'll get my Biology work done, though. :-)

Yay! T-shirts!

I got an overlocker (serger) a couple of days ago and I've been having fun with it, making my first stretch garments. I don't have any ball point needles so I'm going to wait to sew anything with good fabric, and I can't sew any seams on my sewing machine because I need to fix the bobbin tension before I can use the zigzag stitch, but both those things can be easily fixed.

Sorry you can see my bra! I didn't realise how see-trough the fabric was, but at least I found out here and not out in the real world. Also, did you notice my new haircut? I got my boyfriend to cut my hair and when he got it wonky (I shouldn't be surprised) I got the hairdresser to just go with it.

I made both the t-shirts in NewLook 6216, but the sizing got me really confused. According to the size graph I should have sewn a 14/16 but when I looked at garment measurements I got confused. It looked like I could wear an 8 with room to spare.

Turns out cutting the short sleeved one in an 8 was just fine, which is a bit annoying. But even more annoying was the long sleeved version, where the body was just fine but the sleeves where tight. I guess that's where the inflated sizing came from but it just looks horrible, and I think it would have whatever size I cut. I would edit the top to add size 16 sleeves to the size 8 top but it's such a wasteful pattern in terms of fabric I don't think I'll bother.


I will sew up the short sleeved top, probably again and again, and I'm going to try the trousers at least once, but I'll get a sleeved top from somewhere else.

New Looks For Me!

I've been very good lately when it comes to buying fabric, especially since I live near a great sewing shop. That being said, I have been looking at the sewing patterns.

When I first bought a load of sewing patterns a while ago I went for what looked cool. The kind of thing I'd stick on my Pinterest inspiration board. I didn't really put too much thought into when I'd be sewing and wearing these complicated patterns.

Now that the New Look patterns at my local sewing shop have come on sale again I decided to stock up on simple patterns that I could try making again and again. It was pretty easy to narrow it down to these seven patterns but here's where it gets harder.

I like dresses even though I only own one, the 1940s one I made myself but that doesn't really look very good without a slip. I have loads of leggings to wear under them and a dress pattern that would work fine for a slip so now I just need to get making.

The top two dresses are simpler dresses with nothing cut on the bias, but they're different enough that I might consider getting both.

These two, though, I'm not too sure about. They're both okay, but I can't see myself getting both and I don't know which one to choose. The one on the left, New Look 6093, looks kinda cool but it's a bit more complicated and the inserts are cut on the bias. The other one looks kinda plain though.

I also want this top, even though it doesn't quite come under simple basics either. Wrap tops are one of those styles that seem to look good on almost any woman and I really like them.

And finally, the really basic stretch tops. The one with separate sleeves is a bit more my style, but it looks like it would look best in unpatterned fabric and that really isn't what I end up getting, especially in knit fabrics.

Okay, so I'm indecisive, but at £2.95 a pattern I can live with that.

A Long Overdo Goodbye

When I first started this blog I spent weeks cutting out a toile for a jacket from an old curtain I got from my
mum, and then put it aside after sewing one or two seams. All the parts are still in my spare room somewhere but they got lost in the mess.

Now I'm cleaning up my house so that it'll be easier to move back to my home town after Christmas, and I'm coming across the bits and bobs that I haven't payed attention to for months. I don't really know what I was thinking. Not only am I not really a toile person, I find it hard to sew things I AM going to be able to wear at the end. I don't want to spend ages sewing something that makes me bored. If I don't fit into it at the end I'll just have to find someone who does.

I have two other projects that need a decision as well, my bed-sheet dress and my gingham dress.

I only have two dresses in my wardrobe, neither of which I wear. It's not their fault, really. One's an airline hostess costume in quite horrible, stretchy fabric, and the other is my 40s dress that needs a summer event to shine and a petticoat (that I don't have) to hang right.

I'm afraid I'm chucking my bed-sheet dress. I know I was never going to wear it and the fabric was on it's last legs to begin with. It was dark from being used, like a carpet that's been walked on every day. It never would have coped with having butten holes put in it because of the weave, either. I'm kinda sad I didn't realize before I cut it up. Maybe I could have made some cushions by using the side that was on the inside, but it would have always looked weird. At least I learned something from this.

The gingham dress will get made, partly because my boyfriend helped me with it and that makes me think of him, and partly because there's a good chance it'll be wearable, at least in spring. If it's not then at least I can give it to the charity shop without feeling embarrassed..

The First Idea For SS14

I'm kinda loving planning my spring/summer sewing now because it's starting to get cold here in England. I'm curling up with my hot water bottle and dreaming of days at the beach and pick-nicks in the park.

I've been looking at my pattern stash and I couldn't help but think of NewLook 6705. This top was a bit of a downer when I made it the first time but I'm definitely thinking that was because I made it in a stiffer, heavier fabric than it needed.

I've got loads of light, floaty fabric in my stash and some of it is perfect for summer, especially a piece I've already shown off on this blog.

The fabric bellow is a lovely silky fabric from the bolt end bins at Abakhan and it might be familiar from my ill conceived give-away that no one entered. I've got quite a lot of it so I'll make one and see if I want to make more. I might even use the white lace from the same post, but I'm still undecided.

If things go right I'll be making view A (the photo) in December.

So Close

After I sewed the left sleeve of my top in yesterday I could finally get a good sense of how the top will look when I've finished. The sleeve heads are quite poofy and include a lot of gathering, which was a nightmare, but I'm starting to like that. Maybe it's just because of the amount of time I've invested, but I only meant it as a toile and a Me-Made-May helper anyway so I'm happy.

Today I'm sewing the other sleeve on and I'm staying away from home and my sewing machine for work so a quick hemming project will be really useful.

Burlesque

I finished sewing my back facing onto my top yesterday but that's boring. I want to talk about what I did in the evening.

I spent Saturday evening watching 'An Evening of Burlesque' with my boyfriend and we had so much fun I came home afterwards and browsed the theaters website to plan another outing.

I'm pretty sure I've talked about my love of burlesque before but it bares repeating. I just love the whole aesthetic, the femininity and even the craft of it. It's even something I could seriously see myself having a go at.

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Plus, the costumes drive me crazy. If I lived in a world where I could wear whatever I wanted and a country where is was warmer I'd be decked out in feathers every day.

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If nothing else you have to appreciate the body confidence that it takes to stand up in front of a (hopefully) crowded theater with only pasties and a pair of knickers protecting your modesty.

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Maybe when I get more practice with beading and sequins I'll douse myself in glitter for my own entertainment but for now it will have to stay a fabulous dream. At least till after I've finished my gingham dress, that is.

A Little Progress And Some Excitement

Definitely didn't do much work yesterday. Had a bit of drama with my boyfriend and only got time to sew half the back facing but my relationship is okay and that's what counts.

I'm not going to get any time tonight either because I'm going to a burlesque performance at the local theater. I'll tell you how it goes!

Hand Sewing And A Competition

Today it's time for a little bit different! I've got the usual update telling what I've been up to, I hand sewed my yoke front together, but I've also got something special. To commemorate my 100th post I'm doing a give away.

I'm giving away five meters of this 150cm width flowery fabric, three meters of button printed ribbon and a whole eight meters of white lace trim. All you have to do to enter is add a comment on this post.

The fabric has really good drape and I tried to take a picture so you could see that and the size of the pattern but I just ended up looking kind of a numpty. I'm willing to ship it to wherever you live in whatever country, and I probably won't get that many entries so it's really worth a try.

The competition ends on midnight GMT on the 28th and I'll randomly selected winner on the 29th. I'll put up my e-mail address so you can contact me and get your prize.

Return Of A UFO

I talked yesterday about revisiting my UFOs and I took that to heart. I may not have gotten out the jacket but this project is closer to completion. I attached the yoke and yoke facing and now I just have to sew down the facing, attach the sleeves and hem everything.

I look ridiculous in this picture, but oh well.

Jackets

I've talked a lot about jackets on this blog for someone who owns so few of them. I talked about corseted jackets, Lilli Ann jackets and hoodies and touched on the subject in several other blog posts but I hardly ever buy them. I went snoop shopping a couple of days ago and spent ages trying on jackets only to leave disappointed. What can I say, I'm picky.

It also doesn't help that I spent most of my life responding to cold by either adding figure swallowing layers or hoodies. You just have to look through the old photo albums to see how much I've failed with jackets, and there was actually quite a nice figure hiding under there somewhere.

Maybe that's why I still have problems buying jackets. I never learned what I liked and what looked good. The combination of a desperate need and reading through the archives of Alreadypretty is making me take a hard, long look.

I pretty much already know that princess seams and nipped in at the waist is good for my shape but beyond that I'm stuck. I don't even know what's available. I guess I'll have to work through my small collection of jacket patterns and learn through trial and error.

As with all things like this, I turn to Google and Pinterest. The jacket below has the shape that I like but it's really the embellishments that sell it for me. I have a weak spot for sparkles.

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This next one is only an illustration but I love the use of fur. It's definitely not a style I'd buy or make as is but there are parts of it I like.

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I had to add this one just for the waist (doubtless requiring a corset) but the silver stripes and the embroidery are quite awesome. I also like the idea of a folded back collar like detail on the bottom corners.

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Those of you who've been around for a while or read some of the earlier posts might remember Newlook 6035. I started trying to make a toile but then put it away to make my 40s dress and didn't go back. I'll definitely have to do that before it gets cold.

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Maybe July will be the month of the UFO (unfinished object).

Got A Surprising Amount Done

I got a surprising amount done on Saturday... but almost none of it was on the jacket. I put in the last tailor tacks but put it aside so I could get some more pattern tracing done before I needed to put away my work station and make room for people to walk in the house.

I had it in my mind to make a 40s dress so that I could go to an event on a refurbished train with a group of friends all dressed up in their 40s clothes. Then I checked my calender. At the end of April, when my friends will be on the train sipping wine, I'll be on a family holiday to the coast.

Don't go thinking I won't be dressed up though! I'm going to the Whitby Goth Weekend! I go with my brother and my uncle so it's as close to a family holiday as I get. We stay in a cottage with my brother's boyfriend and some other people to save money and I'm starting to feel a bit of confidence making friends on my own as well so it's really fun.

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I won't be sewing while I'm there but I might be knitting, so wish me luck. I'll try and put up some pictures!

So Close to Sewing!

I'm starting to get bored with pinning and cutting this fabric. It's quite thick and a bit stiff so it's hard to pin and using pattern cutting paper instead of tracing paper doesn't make it any easier. I'm thinking for future projects I'll copy the pieces onto white paper to make alterations and then make tracing paper pieces from that. I may be making it a bit over-complicated but I like the idea of finding a few patterns I like and making a few versions.

I'm also thinking of trying to make a pattern or two of my own. I know a bit about making patterns so it's worth a try and if I make something that I think is worthy I could try selling it. I doubt that'll happen but it's a way to make me strive for a professional finish.

I'm putting in this picture in because I was quite proud of my paper placement. Silly, I know. (Sorry about the stripe. It wasn't on the preview screen.)

Some Overdue Maintenance Gets In The Way

I didn't get a lot of work done on my jacket yesterday because I had to go and get my bike fixed. Usually that wouldn't take that much time but I had to walk to drop it off at 9am and then pick it up at 12 noon, only it wasn't finished by then and I had to go back at 3pm.

Between that, going in to town to see if they had the right fabric for a future project (which would have taken half the time) and reading for uni I only got a bit done.

I managed to get the stripes aligned on a patch of the remaining fabric and pin down one and a half pattern pieces. And in case you were wondering, that's a mirror I'm working on. My table is tiny and round so I put an old mirror on the floor of my living-room.