Sewing bows

I was feeling pretty tired this weekend, but I still managed  to get a reasonable amount done.
First was gardening, and some fun gardening too. We paid a trip to the local garden centre and spent a happy (me; boring as hell, Tom) afternoon looking at plants and having coffee and cake.
Once we came home I got to plant the seeds (my favourite gardening job) and plant up my hanging basket (second favourite job) but didn't have to do any real work like digging. Success!
Later that day I sewed up a top I cut out earlier in the week, It's my second time making the EvaDress 650 blouse (first one is here) and I thought I'd make some changes. I've been hankering after a pussybow blouse for some time and so I thought I'd have a got at altering this blouse, since the pattern is so simple. All I did was to extend the collar pieces by about 50cm past where their normal end would be, and it's worked pretty well.

When tied low down, the faced edges of the slashed neckline do fold up and stick out a bit, but fortunately the fabric, a linen mix, has enough drape that this is well hidden, and I have the option to tie it higher up at the collar if I want.

I decided that I liked the blouse sleeveless so I finished the armholes by facing them with some bias strips, et voila!

I wore it to work today with my old faithful work trousers and a cardigan. I'm really happy with how it's turned out for such an experimental item!

Thanks to Rebecca Jean for the lesson on how to tie a bow this week - it's amazing how something simple can be tough to work out on your own!

You may also be able to see curly hair in the picture. I set my hair last night and the front turned out really well. Sadly, the back had several pins escape and I ended up with a few straight bits, making the back look rubbish. In the end I couldn't find a style to hide the back and show off the front, so I threw the whole lot up in a clip. I'll get the pin curls right sometime!

I managed to spend some money on Friday, the first since I started my 'lent' thriftyness. It didn't feel as good as I thought it might, which is a nice revelation. Possibly. I realised, though, that I needed fabric (and no, there was nothing suitable in my stash, honestly, I did look!) for the Horrockses dress which I'm making for an event in May. If I'd waited till the end of the no spend period to buy it, I'd only have had a few days to make the dress up, so it was now or never really! Still, I got what I needed and nothing more, which is quite a change for me!

It's a lightweight viscose and the drape is lovely, hopefully it'll work ok on the rather structured bodice section.

I've also cut out the final pattern for my trousers, so I might finally take the plunge and cut up the real fabric this week...

I've got designs on a pattern

Just a quick outfit post today. I'm prepping a post about hair this week - I went ahead and got my perm last week and have some observations I think might be useful. So watch this space!

 

This jacket is a 1940s one I bought from Etsy from a selling in America. The buttons are beautiful and sparkly and th fit is perfect. I wore it with a plain blue shirt and my trusty homemade skirt.

I've also made some progress on my tedious sewing-saga. Never have 2 simple jobs caused so much huffing and puffing. I'll be glad to get them done and crack on with something I can wear out! Again, pictures later this week.

It's fortunate, actually, as I've agreed to have a go at this pattern for a meet-up in London.

The dress is lovely, but the bodice is designed for the slim and boyish. My figure hasn't been described that way since I was about 12, so there's a LOT of adjustment to do. I don't know if I'll work it out before the meet, but I'm going to do my best...