Current Projects

I've finally got around to photographing what I'm working on at the moment, and boy do I have a lot of sewing on the go!

Project number 1 is this wrap top, made with a pattern from Decades of Style. It's recommended in a light fabric but #I've used a medium weight suiting so that I can wrap up in it for the winter. The pin tucks on the front have turned into small pleats but other than that it's worked fine. I've made bias binding to go around the whole top, which has been a right pain, but that's my last task to finish this top. I actually pinned it on last night so hopefully I can finish this tonight. Seeing as I started making it a year ago, I'm happy to be at the end!

Project number 2 is this suit. I bought it a little while ago because it's beautifully made and I love the fabric. Sadly, the lining was completely ripped and the zip on the skirt was faulty. I'm setting out to fix both of those issues and while I'm at it, I'm shifting the skirt about 1" up into the waistband to complete the work of the last owner. She'd moved the button on the skirt out by about 1/2" but hadn't done anything else, meaning that the zip wouldn't do all the way up and there was a gap between the top of the zip and the waistband. I'm moving the waist up enough to close the gap and replacing the zip while I'm at it. Hoping to get this done soon so I can wear it in the cooler weather.

 

Project 3 is actually done. Last night I replaced the ripped square in this quilt. It was made by a friend of my parents in the last 70s and has been mine since I was a child. It feels good to be using it in my own house! I used a scrap of fabric from project 4 to patch it. The close up is of one of my favourite squares - a fairy riding a bike!

Project 4 is a diversion from what I bought this pattern for. I'm planning to make the blouse and trousers for the Hepburn Hepburn sew along, but I decided I need a wool skirt urgently so I'm using some old wool fabric I had laying around to make the skirt first. I've cut the pieces out but that's all so far.

Project 5 is in a similar stage of completeness (i.e. cut out). It's gone on the back burner for now, being a summer dress, but I'm still going to press ahead with it for next spring. I'm going to have a go at making my first belt for this too.

I'm also going to make a house dress using the same pattern as my blue and white spot (photos of the finished article later) with this aeroplane fabric. I'm calling it my RAF dress and it's project 6.

Project 7 is a dirndl skirt made from a light wool black fabric. Quick but bottom of the list for now!

Also on my to-do list is sewing tape onto the curtains my Nan gave me for the bedroom and living room and a winter dress. I'll see if I can get around to posting my future projects later! I realise, of course, that while I'm blogging I could be finishing these projects, but I never was one for resisting distractions!

Toil and trouble

So, having spent a happy, if frustrating, day yesterday trying to get my mockup of my dress (butterick b5209) bodice to fit, I'm ready to start the dress proper tonight. I'll try to get some snaps of each part of the process to review the pattern and show off my ability to complicate even the most simple of processes!

As expected, I had trouble getting the gathers to fit under the bust yesterday. My underbust measurement is 28", and on bust is 38", meaning that anything shaped around the bust usually ends up sitting several inches too high. Not for me the empire line! Yesterday, I made up the bodice in muslin with the measurements for a 38" bust and tried it on.

Since it was too big in the waist I took about 2" out of the back and re stitched it. Then, because the gathers were, predictably, far too high, I drew where my underbust line came onto the muslin. I then used those lines recut the two front sections, about an inch longer in the centre as it turned out. Finally I resewed it and took a little bit of fullness out of the centre front, so it's more fitted around the bust. Since I unpicked by toile before bed last night, I don't have any pictures, but it wasn't exciting and hopefully the real thing will be worth looking at!

All of this was done while watching Gone with the Wind (I think I'm developing an unhealthy crush on Clark Gable) and Andrew Marr's Making of Modern Britain. The latter is something I'm watching not just for enjoyment, but as part of my newest project - an A-Level in History! I'm taking the 4 modules over the next 2 years and the 2 I'm doing this year are Britain: 1906-1951 and Life in Nazi Germany. I'll be taking the Britain module in January, so I've started studying for it already. Fortunately, it's a time period I know a fair bit about already, so there shouldn't be too many surprises! Andrew Marr's series, while short and high level is a very good starting point and I'd definitely recommend it. I've used it to get an overview of the first half of the 20th Century and I think it's been a good introduction. I'm really looking forwards to looking deeper into such a fascinating time!