New Desk? Kind Of...

I've finally got back to sewing! One of the problems I was having was a lack of sewing space, a designated space where I could leave stuff out and not have to stick it all in a cupboard every time I needed the space.

It's only a mirror on top of some bedside tables but I don't have to kneel on the floor to cut fabric so it feels like a lot less work to do things. Cutting out is probably the worst part of sewing and I think I'll get a lot more garments made.

I've actually managed to cut out the front pieces and one of the button stands. Only one more piece to cut out and then I start sewing.

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..

A Busy Day But Not Much Sewing

Yesterday got off to a bad start when I slept in till noon. Chris stayed up to watch the live feed of the E3 announcements because he's a bit of a video game addict and it went on till 6am where we are so neither of us got much sleep.

I spent most of the day doing laundry and filling a huge bag with clothes I'm getting rid of. I think I've culled half my wardrobe since Chris moved in but it really needed doing. I've got some other items that need either working back into everyday wear or throwing out but I'm giving them a second chance. I'll be showing them to you over the next month or so.

I've finally got to the bottom of the pile of laundry that Chris brought with him when he moved but mine's built up in the mean time and now I have to do that and make sure anything from there that needs to go to the charity shop does. Sigh.

Going through my clothes put us in a silly mood so we messed around with Chris's top hat and cosplay wig. The hat is so big on me that it falls down over my eyes and I'm convinced the wig needs thinning out but it was fun. (I know I look ridiculous.)

That evening I cut the back of my gingham dress and pinned the front down while he sketched. It feels like I'm getting close to the finish line now. I've put up his sketch for posterity because he had a hissy fit and ripped it up shorty after the photo was taken. They've been messing him about a bit at work so he has his ups and downs.

Sleeves And My Charity Shop Adventures

Yesterday I finally cut my fabric for the gingham dress, and it's not even gingham! I cut out the white collar and sleeves but ironing the cloth is still a nightmare because my ironing board is still broken and I'm using an ironing board cover on top of foam on the floor.

Last week I started volunteering at the British Red Cross every Monday, and today was my second day. I officially filled in the paper work and I'm getting a name badge and everything!

The people I work with are great and I'm learning a lot. The thing I think my fellow thrifters will be most interested by is the fact that volunteers don't get first dibs on donations. At least in the red cross shops items have to be on the store floor 24 hours before we can buy them. It seems so cruel when you've been watching something since it came down and someone picks it up that same day but it's all for a good cause.

Personally, I've found that an awesome way to find interesting items is to wait till you're culling the stock (taking down items that have been there for too long and probably won't get bought). You end up looking at every garment leaving and noticing the pretty ones that might be your size then trying them on during slow periods (there always has to be 2 people on the shop floor to stop thieves).

I bought a Batman bed sheet from the shop I work in because I have a thing about Batman and I find if I'm meeting people off forums and need to identify myself a theme comes in handy. I'm planning to make it into a top or a simple dress.

You might have noticed my other picture as well. That's right, I got a treadle! When me and Chris were coming home from registering with the doctor I noticed a shop full of sewing machines. These weren't little home sewing machines, this was an entire building of old machines from factories and a sign offering fixes and tune ups. I went in and gorped for a while then Chris said his mum might have an old metal sewing machine. She brought it over when he moved in and it was a treadle! It's not quite in working condition, the belt is dry and crumbling, but it makes a nice ongoing project.

Finished Tracings And A Change Of Plans

I finished copying out Style 2289 yesterday ready to get cutting. I washed the blue gingham for the main body of the dress and I've also got out the pre-washed white cotton that I've decided to use for the sleeves and collar as of my boyfriends's suggestion.

When I showed Chris the other pattern, though, he told me something I already kind of knew but really didn't want to hear. The Cravat Dress, made of all gingham, would just be too much. it's a dress that really needs block colours and big repeats like on the illustration and I just wanted to get on and make it. I don't actually have a whole lot of block stash fabric in my stash that's eligable for the Stash Busting Contest over at Pattern Review so I don't know what I'm going to do with this one but you will be seeing a Cravat Dress from me before the years end, I promise you that.

A Slightly Unproductive Day

I got a huge total of nothing done yesterday, unless you include buying supplies. I got buttons for Style 2289 even though I'm just going to sew them on the front placard and put poppers on to close the actual dress.

I was hoping for white elastic but they didn't have it in the right size. I'm pretty sure it won't be visible and even if it is it won't look that bad.

I did discover one thing. My boyfriend is a genius when it comes to planning projects. He may be afraid of the sewing machine but I'm definitely bringing him in on the next dress!

Quick Update

I didn't update here yesterday and came very close to not updating today because my relationship needed a little TLC. Chris was in a bit of a funk because I wasn't giving him what he needed but once he was able to tell me it got better. We're both learning here.

In sewing news, I just got a bit of outlining and cutting out done yesterday while I watched Rosemary's Baby.

Getting Things Finished

It's day five of the stashbusting challenge and I still haven't cut fabric. I will by the end of this week, but still. Yesterday I got the last parts of Style 2289 traced off and I just need to darken the lines and cut them out.

That and find the piece I've lost. I had to trace the collar onto it's own piece of paper because I'd run out of space and now that paper isn't with the rest. I know I'll find it but it's still a pain. Oh well.

Second Pattern

Yesterday I got about tracing my second pattern, Style 2289, ready for cutting in my blue gingham. I want to cut them both at once to get the pieces laid out as economically as I can.

It's actually quite a long pattern, coming down to my mid calf, so I'm going to have to extend these pattern pieces as well, but it also has a much larger hem allowance. It's 7 or 8 cm and I know I'm never going to have it that long so I'm just going to copy it shorter. At this rate I'm going to have more fabric left over than I was counting on.

In other news, this was my first day volunteering at a local charity shop. I was inducted with another newbie but until lunch it was just us and the manager and he can't be put on the till for legal reasons so I kind of got thrown in the deep end. I think I coped pretty well.

Turns out, at least in the British Red Cross shops, being a volunteer doesn't get you first dibs. The items have to be on the shop floor a day before we're allowed to buy them so that shoppers get the first shot at them if they're a regular. One lady comes in first thing in the morning to get a book about once a week. Maybe if I start doing refashions I can mine the local shops.