What a month

Well what can I say, it all started when my husband took a tumble on his bicycle in the rain, and fractured his collarbone  Thankfully he is recovering really well and hopefully he will not need surgery, he is however still off work.  Then a day after my birthday I wasnt feeling so good, started suffering gastric pains, and within the space of an  hour, was rushed into hospital.  I was in hospital for 11 days and sadly missed the heatwave (though everyone was complaining about it, came home to thunder storms, what rotten luck!)  I have never been in hospital apart from giving birth to my children, and found the experience  a bit scary.   I am home, having no t.v. or motivation to knit or read, whilst in hospital gave me time to think and put things into prospective, on a plus side I have managed to loose 8lbs in weight (do hope it manages to stay off)

 I have now been home just under a week, and though I feel heaps better, I am still not running on full throttle, but I was keen to get crafting, I have SOoo missed sewing.  I was finishing a quilt for my daughter, it was still sitting where I had left it, so yesterday I finished quilting it and made the binding, attached it and hand stitched the edges, I finally finished it this morning. 

This quilt started with five tops, a love for Snoopy  and my daughters favourite 3 tier skirt, which she wore when she was about 8 years old,  she had kept them  for ages, not knowing what to do with them, also she wanted  the quilt made mainly  from purple, her favourite colour with no white. I call it her memory quilt.

So different from my previous quilt I made, which is crisp white and with  English country flowers

This one has a retro feel, probably because of the colour, I always think of purple  as  a 70's colours.  
I have to say I am so pleased with it, the purple fabric was a 100% cotton sheet that I picked up from a charity shop and died vivid purple. 

On the back I added  a carefully placed panel with all the tops .

This lovely little gap top with the pretty edging  was tricky to position, but with the addition of the embroidery it looks fine.

also I  was struggling with two odd shaped triangular pieces and how to place them, when I came up with the idea of turning them into hearts, which I then blanket stitched. 

I have to say much as I love dressmaking and the task of mastering the fit,  I love quilting.  Mixing all the wonderful colours and patterns together, its such fun.  I even enjoy cutting out the pieces. A completely different kind of sewing, but so rewarding.

So motivated, now what shall I create next?

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Vogue 8844

Well I have finally finished the bridesmaid dresses, they are all delivered and (touch wood) they are okay and need no more work to them.  I have to say I didn't mind the hand-stitching, but loathed sewing with the machine.  One lesson learnt, never say yes to helping with frilly sheer dresses again.  If I had to choose between bridal wear or tailoring, tailoring would wind hands down.

So onto something for me. I decided to make myself a hat Vogue 8844 .  I first came across this pattern when Carolyn did  this post .  I love hats, always have, but struggle to find ones that fits my large head, not helped by my thick hair. I did the large size and used remnants of fabric, a soft grey cotton linen from a skirt donated and a dark grey cotton lining from an old dress. 

It worked well, but I cannot tolerate floppy hats, so I inserted strips of rigilene.

 For those of you unfamiliar rigilene its a polyester boning made from rows of covered nylon rods.  So I cut into the rigilene and pulled away the nylon rods and inserted them into the rim of the hat in between the stitching, my friend told me about this, you could also use garden strimming nylon wire  but that's alot thicker.  They may in time work their way  out of the casing, but I can easily deal with that, more to the point it works and I can see.  The hat is fully reversible, but I prefer the lighter side.

My husband went out on a trip with a friend who drives trucks. He had told me that the truck was called Karen Louise (my real name).  Get me a photo of it I asked, so he did. For you truckies out there its a Scania.

Okay there is nothing unusual about seeing your name on a truck, but what was really weird was another photo he had taken. 

 The name in the window  (not my husbands friend but another person who also drives the truck) was a name I was called in my school days (it went with my surname.)  I found that a bit eerie.   

busy fingers

My faithful Bernina has been sat quietly taking a little holiday, I dont know about you but I just cannot concentrate on my sewing jobs in hand when it is half term and there are people around the house.  Of course it doesnt help that I am working downstairs and I dont have my little corner of the house to work from. 

My fingers have been busy though and I am so pleased with myself that I have finally managed to get to grips with knitting 2 socks at once on a circular needle.  I found how to with this video  from good old youtube.

I didnt use this ladies casting on technique but just followed the same proceedure.    To begin with it is very fiddly and it didnt help that the wool was the same colour as my needle, especially when keeping 2 balls of wool in order, as the rows increase it gets easier to work with.  I did have to work on one sock at a time when I got to turning the heel but later jiggled with them and put them back together.  Knitting 2 socks together is fantastic, because I kinda loose interest when I have seen the finished sock then have to start all over again. So working both together is ideal:->

Im on the home straight now. The wool I am using is Drops fabel, colour 330.  They have 30% off till the end of the month on this wool, so pop over and grab a bargain.  These are for my daughter, I shall put them away for that special time of the year when we give presents,C*******s.  Yes this girls starting early, because I love to give handmade presents, and I cant be raced.

  
Ive also taken delivery of 3 bridesmaid dresses that need altering, (when people know you sew, this always happens) for a wedding we are attending in August. Bought over the internet, Two ladies strapless dresses which at present have just 2 small pieces of boning to give support!! I have now put 6 boning channels all around one of them (the bridesmaid has tried it on and it feels and looks so much better) it just need taking up.  The second dress also needs shortening, boning and it fits on her back but big on the front bodice, so I am hoping I can just take the front bodice in on the sides. The material is not easy to work with so I am trying to do minimal altering, fingers crossed it works.   The child's white ballerina dress needs the sash anchoring and pleating, and it was easier to unpick the bodice and start again to make it smaller, the smaller size dress was too short.  These have taken priority over my own dressmaking. As you can imagine I want to get these finished and delivered, I am quite clumsy and accident prone,  so the sooner I return them the happier I will be.    


                                  

Kwik Sew 3267 & sewing organising

Its a while since I blogged, I lost my blogging voice, life's  like that sometimes.  I have however still  been popping in and seeing some great posts with marvellous makes.  

I finally finished hubby's trousers, a recap Kwik Sew 3267 

they are made from vintage wool suiting, a bargain £3.00 buy, the quality shows through as they hang beautifully.

All that worrying about the pockets are hardly noticeable

  I had been waiting patiently for him to try them on for a fitting (did I just type patiently).  Anyway I decided I would just make them up as it was holding me up. I'm one of those people that cannot start a new project unless the  current one is finished.  So I completed them, he finally tried them,  loved them, but they were far too baggy in the leg for him. So I slimmed the leg,  re-hemmed, and now we are both happy with them. He would like me to sew the welts down, something I omitted, wasn't reading the pattern there!!  He was so pleased he asked for a 'from No.23' logo to be sewn on the front.
I bought on Ebay a lucky dip bag of  bankrupt stock Coats sewing cotton threads  50 threads for £5.00 plus delivery (no longer available)

I haven't had a Lucky Bag since I was a child,  I have to say I was just as excited as back then.  I wasn't disappointed, there were 100% cottons, general sewing threads, strong threads  and also embroidery threads, only 2 duplicates,  52 threads in all. prices ranging from £1.60 - £3.00 per reel estimated value £85.00 This prompted me to sort my sewing notions out, with the help of  my pattern review book  for those interested

Here is what I did:-

my actual pattern are stored numerically in a box under the bed (I dont know why I havent sorted them numerically before, maybe because I only have about 30 patterns, this is great for putting straggler pattern pieces away) at the moment this system works well for me.

The  pattern sleeve I have put into a file sorted into catagories dresses, seperates etc

 My cotton reels I keep in boxes and vintage tins, these were all sorted and labelled, my spools I keep in purpose made boxes but I have numbered them with sticky backed paper so matching them up is now a lot easier.

 I also did a rough inventory of my uncut fabrics. I keep

 this in a sleeve with my patterns folder. This I have found the most beneficial for me. My memory is appalling so its great having this with my patterns so I can easily put A with B. 

 My trims, I have wound onto cardboard which is tons better, no more tangled messes  and space saving.

I really enjoyed this, I would love to be able to catalogue them on the computer, but we don't have windows and I have yet to find a suitable compatible programme for our computer.

My next project, I recently I bought  this piece of fabric

 the colours drew me instantly to it, though on hindsight it is a little busy.  I am going to cut it up today to make a skirt for summer (I believe summer has finally arrived, even though the spring bulbs are just blooming.)

Im not sure yet  how I will make it up yet, I'm thinking a straight skirt but I would like to add this blue grosgrain which matches up beautifully, I may just take a skirt from one of my existing dress patterns maybe this one, Vogue 8667. 

Last week I helped my friend organise a Cake Break Fund Raising event, in our local town, proceeds in aid of MS Society, there was cakes and a few craft stalls. One of the stall holders was Sally whose blog I follow.  It is quite bizarre actually meeting a fellow blogger for the first time. Sally had some great pieces of work on her table, a very clever lady, I came away with a lovely pincushion and badge she had made.  It was nice to meet her.  

Lastly I am road testing my sons camera, more advanced than my own, I'm thinking of upgrading.  Has anyone noticed an improvement in the picture quality. 

Happy Crafting





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The Great British Sewing Bee

There is a lot of conversation going on about this sewing programme being televised here in the UK, on all the sewing forums and through blogs.  Of course everyone has their own opinion on the show, some good, some negative.

  


I am avidly following it and enjoying it, the contestants personalities are slowing opening up, and I have now got my favourites to win, sadly they have started with 8 contestants each having limited time limits to make garments and they are eliminating 2 a week.  It all seems abit rushed and I would have preferred it  if one person  a week left and the series was longer.

I have a few points about the programme.  Firstly they have 8 people who are sewers, ranging from 27 - 81 years of age.  Some have sewed all their lives, some not, also one makes soft furnishings, not dressmaking.  I cannot see how this is a fair contest.  

Also, at the end of the 2nd episode the judges could not decide which participants should leave.  One judge chose Tilly with her sewing skills, and the other judge wanted Stuart who was showing improvement through the contest  Surely they should know what they are looking for, improvement, sewing skills  or creativity.  

I just find it send mixed messages. "Its not very creative" said one Judge to Ann who added a checked bias cut pockets  to her skirt.  Maybe not creative but it showed off her sewing skills working with a checked fabric on the bias isn't an easy task, see what I mean!

All the same a great idea for a programme especially if you enjoy sewing. 

Drama in a sleepy Village

Well its not often something interesting happens in our village, but last night something did.  

Picture the scene, we had not long finished our tea and I was just settling down to do a spot of sewing, when my daughter came through the door after an early evening jog. 
"I dont know whats happening down at the station but there are load of police vans there" I thought nothing of it, because nothing really happens in this sleepy village. 

Five minutes later my daughter comes down stairs saying her friend was stuck at the railway station, because the trains had been cancelled due to a bomb found near the railway line. More precisely the railway line at the end of our road.

By this time people were looking out of their front doors, not sure if it was all possible, traffic was blocked off.  Then the bomb squad came whizzing past.  Thankfully we were not evacuated and no one was hurt.

It turned out that the local village gardening committee had been digging up a flower bed close to the railway and found an inert 2lb bomb from WWII.
  Amazing its been there over 60 years.  Today everything is back to normal,  its almost like a dream.  

Houston, we have a problem

Ive hit abit of a mental block with bra making so I put it aside until I can really focus on it properly.

Its my husbands birthday next month and I have decided to make him a shirt and trousers, (feeling a tad guilty at the amount of space my dressmaking is taking up in our small wardrobe)

Ive had a remnant of dark brown vintage wool suiting in my stash for a while now.  Of course it was a bargain, hence the purchase £1.99, but it isnt my colour.  So I purchased Kwik Sew 3267, and started making these trousers 


I was sewing away, feeling very pleased how easily it was coming together.   The back has welted pockets, I checked and double-checked the positioning of the them sewed, pressed then stood back and looked at my handiwork. Honestly I dont know how this happened.

My first reaction was that the fabric had slipped when I cut it out, but on closer observation the left pocket is dipping  on the outer edge, also the left opening is slightly smaller, about  1/4" inch.  Of course because it is checked fabric, everything looks twice as bad, also if I made the opening bigger it would be on the outer edge where it is short, as the pocket is dipping this would  make it worse. 

From the top edge the darts are in line, Ive measured it all around N.B. Ive never used kwik sew patterns before, and I have never cut a dart open before. 

I dont know if you can see this but the buttonhole below the welt (which I havent cut) is in line with the dart.

This is the left pocket, which as you can see dips more on the left, and is a  little smaller, also not in line with the dart but the same measurement from inner edge.

I know I cannot unpick as experience has told me it would probably end up looking twice as bad. So the question  I put to you is  do I line up the buttonhole with the dart or keep it as it is, which is measured the same distance as the other.  Also because the pocket is slanting the buttonhole looks the same, twice as obvious with the vertical lines of the check, any ideas.  Should  I omit the buttonholes  altogether so as not to draw attention to the error, or would that look silly. Maybe the buttons would distract it all. 

Yes I know  that when they are made up they probably wont look as noticeable as they are now, laid flat and six inches away from my eyes, everything is visible. My  husband cant see the difference, so he wont be too bothered.   But I KNOW its there. Thanks in advance.

Dreaming of Sunshine

 Here at No. 23 I am planning and dreaming of warmer days.  No more obvious that my latest creation.  Gosh this was so quick and easy to make.  You will have to wait for a picture of me in it as today it is bitterly cold and dark and its trying desperately to snow,  Sadly readers I am not venturing out in a sleeveless dress for anyone.

OOh I love this fabric, and I think I am finally beginning to enjoy sewing with jersey.  Its very tropical and so summery and I cannot wait for warmer weather so I can enjoy it.  I made the red sleeveless version but added extra  length  for a dress.  

I even have enough fabric left to make something I have never made before in all my sewing years, my first bra, Kwik Sew 3594

Vogue 2960

At last I have finally finished vogue 2960.  Ive been  dragging my heels with this, then last weekend there was no productivity whatsoever as I came down with a rotten cold and aches,  so I just kept myself warm by the fire and watched  a film.

Remember me showing you the 50p duvet and thinking I could make a dress out of it.  Well I have and here it is. 

Excuse the photos today was the first good day weather wise for ages,  It was bitterly cold (they have forecast snow.)

I love vintage so it was only a matter of time before I tackled a vintage pattern, I particularly liked  the scoop neck and bodice on this pattern.  This dress has been very tricky to fit on my little shoulders, I had to reshape the back making the scoop higher, and also take in excess fabric,  then do a full bust adjustment on the front, I think I lost some of that lovely sweep due to the shape of my shoulders, but the dress does stay in place which I am more happier about.

I really like the feel of the dress, It will be so nice and cool in the summer, it feels very feminine.  I wanted a shrug to go with it, and keep with the 50's feel.   So I scoured the charity shops and came across a long cardigan with a tie belt.  I cut it down turned the hem up towards the right side and then added the belt to the edge, covering the raw edges of the hem, I hand stitched this. 

     

    

Much as I like the dress I dont find it very flattering especially the pleats, so I probably wont be making another, I think I prefer straighter dresses, also I think it just looks like a nice summer dress and not at all  like the glamorous vintage picture at all, partly due to these fabulous  50's illustrations, maybe it needs the petticoat?

Commercial v self drafted patterns

Well readers I have nearly finished the above dress pattern, no pics yet.
to show you, besides its raining and so dark in my little cottage at the moment.

I have to say that I am beginning to have a love hate relationship with commercial patterns.   I find that making  up the garment it relatively easy (as was the case with the above pattern), but when it comes to getting the fit right that is what takes up the time.   Thankfully I have a good friend who lives across the road that sorts out the bits that I cant see, or solves problems for me.  My friend has worked in the fashion industry as a garment technologist and sews for herself now and then.  She has never used a commercial pattern in her life, we  have completely different approaches to sewing. She is a godsend and shares her knowledge freely, a real pearl.

Now I have to do a lot of adjustments to get garments the fit me right, I am abit of a perfectionist.  My friend explains that  with the amount of complex alterations I am doing it would be quicker for me to start from scratch, she explains that I am already doing self drafting, when I move dart positions. Then you get the snowball effect, "If I take that in so it fits,  I gapes here", Im sure you know what I mean.   She does  make sense.

Maybe its the excitement of the pattern falling through the letter box, the  lovely illustrations on the front of the packet, then opening that freshly packed pattern that pulls me towards commercial patterns.   Or maybe it's the fun of rumbling through my pattern box and choosing that next project.

One day when I am not in a rush to make something I shall make my draft pieces and test the water properly.  Readers do you feel the same?  Have you taken the plunge and never returned?
I would love to hear your views.