Troon!

The wedding in Troon was amazing. I had an amazing time with amazing people and I loved wearing my home-sewn dress. The bride was stunning and everyone had a jolly good time.

 

We went for a wee walk along the South Beach before the wedding and I couldn't resist taking some nature photos with my new camera (and then I couldn't resist combining them in Photoscape).

 

 

I figure the more I use the camera the more competent I'll become... and I might even become brave enough to turn the dial off Auto.

 

I didn't think I would ever upload pictures of myself on here, but the pictures of the Cynthia Rowley dress when it was on the mannequin weren't great (perhaps because the dress form is a size or two or three or four smaller than me) so here are the only a couple of acceptable photos of me at the wedding. If I had planned on putting photos on here I would have taken a full length shot or two.

 

Before

After



The dress didn't crease at all and I danced the night away quite happily... I did notice that the skirt was a tad see-through at times so will probably wear an underskirt or line it I hate having to line things in the future. Also I really missed having pockets.

 

I may have decided that it was a good idea to hide in my friends' room to surprise them... funny how all the best ideas seem to happen after gin.

 

Now I just have to decide what to make next, which is a tough decision as I will undoubtedly have a small fight with myself between making something I will wear a lot and is practical versus something I just really, really think is pretty and I need to make right now.

 

I think I will have a look through my pattern selection and try to make a shortlist. I just got blog post inspiration from a blog post, crazy!

Craft Fair Ahoy!

I don't think I've admitted this to anyone outside my close friends but (deep breath) I am a bit of a hoarder. When I watch those TV programmes about Extreme Hoarding a little voice inside my head squeaks up and informs me that in a day or so the future that could be me.

I can't help that I like pretty things and have become an expert on convincing myself that items are bargainous enough, pretty enough, unique enough, vintage enough or that 'I just really, really want it' enough to warrant buying it.

Having attended a few craft and vintage fairs this year, and wanting to buy about 90% of the items I saw, I  have decided to part with some of my wares on Sunday 9th December 2012 at Funk Fair, The Queen's Hotel, Dundee along with my friend and accomplice Jeanie Lou (Having read this back it may look like I am selling wares and my friend which is of course nonsense but all serious offers will be considered. You can't have her).

 

 

 

So far we will be selling some lovely vintage tea sets (I promise to let you buy them... you won't even have to prise them from my steely grip) in varying degrees of awesomeness. There are the twee, floral, remember-your-granny-had-a-set-like-that sets and some retro, funky, I-used-to-think-these-were-70s-horrific-but-now-I-kinda-like-them sets, so quite a range to choose from.

 

We are also planning on cross stitching up a storm to bring some affordable cross stitch. We've seen some really inspirational pieces online but they all seem to be at least £30.00 and we want to be selling ours for half that price at least. I understand that £30.00 is totally worth it when you take into account impressive frames and the time involved but we're hoping to source some reasonable frames and keep the designs simple enough to keep costs low. We may even consider taking Cross-Stitch requests for Christmas/Weddings/Birthdays etc...

Some of our wares (You can't have the figurine I'm keeping her)

 

Jeanie Lou is also making cards and buttony things and I heard a rumour that one-of-a-kind teacup candles will make an appearance. I have some grand ideas for vintage tea towels and felt (I'll keep you posted).

 

At the moment this is going to be a one off, but who knows where the future will take us? Please come join us if you can and give some of my lovely hoard a new home where it will actually be used and not hidden in the back of a cupboard feeling all sad for itself (I'm pretty sure attributing feelings and memories to objects is one of the first signs of hoarding... oh dear).

Sewing Pattern Review #1 Simplicity Cynthia Rowley 2497 (View B)

So originally I wanted to make this little number,
 

Simplicity Cynthia Rowley 2443 (Still available in the US)
 

as I actually own a ready-made version of the dress and I love it... it is navy and is my emergency/always fits/safe going out dress and also it has pockets! (Yes I am such a cliche... another one who loves pockets... guilty as charged). It came free with Sew magazine and I thought 'fabulous I can whip this up' but it was in the smaller sizes (curses)... I took it to my lovely Dressmaker Lady (DL) and we attempted to scale it up but the neck band ended up a very strange shape, I promptly took a huff lost patience with the pattern and decided to buy the larger copy online... only to discover that it is now discontinued. I admit there may have been some expletives at that point due to the fact that I had bought a few patterns online a week earlier and 2443 was still available at that point.

Between my weekly sewing classes I was given a last minute invite to a friend of a friend's wedding... exciting stuff but it was only two weeks away and I had the sudden insane notion that I could make a dress to wear at the wedding in two weeks... I mean how hard could it be... all you other Bloggettes seem to be working busy day jobs and sewing five dresses in a night so I accepted my own challenge with gusto.

I scoured my sewing pattern stash and after finally talking myself into some sanity and putting down the Knipmodes, Patrones' and German Language Burda magazines which would have resulted in me spending hours in front of Google Translate and even then being completely confused, I settled on (Drum Roll Please)............................

     Simplicity Cynthia Rowley 2497

(View B)  ... Oh wait I'd already told you that... that was pretty disappointing for you.

 

Pattern Sizing:

12 - 20

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

I think so... well apart from the little heart buttons on the sleeves but we'll get to that later. *

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Pretty much, although I had to scour through some of my sewing technique books to work out how to put the Neck Band in as had not encountered one before, also when putting in the side zip I did not feel it was made explicitly clear that you have to sew a couple of inches up to the armhole and then fit the zip lower down.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I love how the neck isn't too low and that the dress is very comfortable. There are so many colour options for this pattern and I am already planning another dress that will use two shades of turquoise (like the pattern example). The dress can easily be dressed up or down with accessories so I am looking forward to multiple wears of this dress.

Fabric Used:

Crepe

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

I didn't put pockets in the end as will be wearing this dress to a wedding reception and thought that the pockets would make it a little casual. I also had to take in the bodice sides as I felt it was a bit too baggy at the bust side seams (I know it is supposed to be 'blouson' but it was way too baggy)

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

I would definitely recommend this pattern to others as it was pretty straightforward but I made the dress a size smaller than usual and it still needed taken in at the bodice so keep that in mind.

Conclusion:

I love this dress and recommend you go make one for yourself (This pattern may also be discontinued.. curses!)

 

 

*Fails:

I finally did what I swore I wouldn't... I was sitting in front of the TV doing some slip stitching and had just finished one sleeve band, I took out my little embroidery scissors to snip off the excess thread and must have looked to the TV for a second and BOOM I had snipped into my sleeve. (Cue irrational anger) I was so angry with myself but it really was only a teeny tiny hole... which to the untrained eye just looked like a slub in the fabric but I knew the truth. I sheepishly showed DL and knew that she would probably force encourage me to make another sleeve, but there was no time and I didn't want to so I subconciously left all my spare fabric at home (oops) and so we channelled our creativity. DL brought out boxes of ribbon, sequins and buttons (She is a craft hoarder too) and we tried to think of ways to fix the hole without adding too much work to the rest of the dress and then , and I firmly believe it was meant to be, she discovered these little beauties - Tiny Heart Shaped Buttons in the exact colour of the dress.

Tutorial #1: Badge on a Stick (I really need a better title)

So I won't bore you with the usual excuses of 'real life' making it impossible for me to blog... it was sheer laziness on my part. I hold my hands up and throw myself on your mercy!

Although I haven't been blogging I have been getting down and crafty.

I always find that I need a purpose to be crafty or I end up getting distracted and lounging about in front of the TV and being as unproductive as possible going off course so volunteering at a children's camp in the Summer was just the inspiration I needed to get crafty.

This year I was part of the team containing the older teenage boys and I thought that my craftiness would go to waste but as soon as I heard they were planning on asking the teen girls' group to the end of camp disco I knew I could craft something up. Resources at camp are limited so this is a very simple project but I promise you the girls loved it.

You will need:

• A Wooden Popsicle (If you are American) or Lolly (If you are me) Stick
• Coloured Paper
• A Badge/Brooch
• Scissors

and that's it... I know... minimalistic!

Step 1. Cut a fabulous flower shape out of your coloured paper.

Step 2. Align Stick (I actually had to colour mines in with a sharpie as the craft store was sold out of coloured sticks)

 

Step 3: Pierce Paper with Brooch/Badge (or you could measure the distance and punch holes if you want to be a little fancy/use some more craft gadgets)

Step 4: Close Brooch/Badge, fluff up the paper flower and enjoy the awesome/easiness of this craft (I curled the petals around a pen to give them a little bit of a curl)

The genius of this is that you can make it as fancy as your imagination will take you. I think this could look really cute with a birthday badge in the middle... it's a badge but also a cute wand type thingumy.

If you want to add leaves then you will need glue but otherwise this is a glue-free craft project that, with safety scissors, is easy enough for little ones as they would only need adult supervision for attaching the badge.

Make and enjoy!

I Heart Music #4

Warning this is a bit of a schmaltzy/sentimental post... which isn't really my style but I was just feeling the need to share.

My favourite song at the moment is Cat Stevens' "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing out". To be honest with you I only really knew his song "MoonShadow" as my dad used to sing it to me when I was little and I didn't even realise I had put the whole album on my ipod until shuffle delivered this little surprise. I love it when you find an old song that is awesome.

I find the lyrics really uplifting,motivational and inspiring and the tune is so catchy that I've had it stuck in my head for days now. It also makes me very jealous of people who can play the guitar.

 

I am in the midst of changing my career path, which is pretty scary stuff, but when I listen to the lyrics of this song I feel confident and positive about my capabilities, which is pretty powerful stuff I reckon. This little tune will definitely be going on my 'Feeling Awesome' Mix CD when I can find enough tracks to fill it. Any suggestions?

Here are the lyrics which hopefully inspire you.

If You Want to Sing Out, Sing out

Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free
'cause there's a million things to be
You know that there are

And if you want to live high, live high
And if you want to live low, live low
'cause there's a million ways to go
You know that there are

You can do what you want
The opportunity's on
And if you can find a new way
You can do it today
You can make it all true
And you can make it undo
You see
Its easy
You only need to know

Well if you want to say yes, say yes
And if you want to say no, say no
'cause there's a million ways to go
You know that there are

And if you want to be me, be me
And if you want to be you, be you
'cause there's a million things to do
You know that there are...


Here is the Amazon Link if you fancy owning it yourself for 89 pence.

Pretty Package of Loveliness

So I mentioned on my twitter that I had received a fabulous package and I can now divulge what was inside...Drumroll please...

A Clover Double Tracing wheel which will come in very handy with all the pattern magazines I’ve ordered/currently own that don’t come with Seam Allowance included so this little beaut makes the whole tracing thing a tad easier... I mean you still have to go through the ordeal of trying to work out which lines belong to what and all that jazz but still... a sewing tool that I actually have a lot of faith in.

I also ordered rebecca Taylor, Vogue Pattern 1152.

Sew Essential

I had previously bought this pattern (Anna Sui, Vogue 1178)...

Vogue Patterns

 ...but had only made up a toile because (and you can’t see it in the picture) the sleeves had so many markings on them that I kind of gave up... plus looking at the Kermit the Frog fabric I had was not a fun experience...

I hope to go back to it at some point as I really like the style of it and I got these scraps of fabric (totalling about 4 metres when you join them all up)...

and it was just screaming to me that it would be perfect for this pattern. I find it so funny that sometimes a pattern will tell you what it wants to be made into... or is it just me? I don’t know... if I can’t visualise it first then I won’t enjoy making it up... I have to be excited about the end project to continue the journey along the way.

Anyway... back to 1152...

I was buying some jersey fabric at my local fabric shop and saw this navy chiffon-esque fabric...

(I really should have taken a note of what the fabric actually was... bad Jinty) which I had seen months before and really liked... and suddenly I thought... I should make that awesome pattern I saw when I bought the Kermit one... so I got home and trawled the internet for reviews on the pattern... and then saw that it was from last year’s vogue patterns... Tense Music... but I then found it half price on Sew Essentials, which was a lot more agreeable to the old bank balance than the £16.99 someone was asking for on eBay... jeezo I could get a knipmode sent from the Netherlands for that price and that has loads of patterns in it... not one! YAY.

So to cut a long, rambling story short.... Yay!

All good things...*

* Like brown paper packages tied up with strings...

** Or going for a weekend trip to spend time with some fabulous friends

I'm Back!

Well I have one follower so I guess I wasn't really missed at all but I finally decided to stop lurking on other people's blogs and get back to my own... because sometimes even my favourite blogs don't have all the answers and maybe... just maybe I can help someone with something sewing related... even if I am still a bit of a novice.

One teeny, tiny glitch in my fabulous plan to go blogging crazy is that I appear to have completely forgotten how to blog... obviously I understand the typing bit but my styles of images, how I got the images onto the page and also the picture editing software I used is all a distant memory... so I am re-learning it all... I guess this is what happens when you get old... Technology evades you and things you thought you knew just randomly disappear from memory... come back html codes... dont's go towards the light!

I'm off to think of something delightful to blog about...

All good things...*

Jinty

* Like being inspired to get back to blogging...