Showing posts with label the sew weekly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the sew weekly. Show all posts

Thursday, 2 June 2011

Red ruffles

I've been feeling decidedly pants all week and, stuck at home in bed decided to hand finish a blouse I started last week. Whilst watching True Blood (I just can't get enough of Eric Northman) this morning, I finished sewing on my buttons and have a finished blouse finally!
I used a pattern I got at the Sew Weekly swap - Simplicity 5594. It is a simple pattern, though I went off piste with regards to finish which probably account for the faff I had with the arm hole facings, but it all turned out ok in the end!
I used some red fabric I picked up on the Sew Weekly shopping session, it's a slubby red fabric, I think it's probably a cotton or linen silk mix and it's beautifully soft and drapey. It's so fine it'll be beautifully cool (if summer ever arrives).
While I am happy with the result, and will wear it, I think it could do with some fitting tweeks. It's a little roomy in the waist for my tastes and my attemped FBA have left it a little gaping in the back, and pulled the fron part of the arm holes in so that my bra straps show slightly from the side.
I finished it off with some pearly cats eye buttons from my stash and am pleased with this very pretty top.
I'm still several seperates away from a me-made-month, but I'm confident my wardrobe will get there eventually!

Tuesday, 24 May 2011

One shower in a drought

Hello strangers! I seem to have been taking a little unplanned break from blogging of late, so this is a little update to tell you what I've been up to and to help me get back into the swing of writing.
Sewing photo shoot
A couple of weeks back I went to the Sew Weekly London meetup. Debi, Karen, Tilly and many other people wrote really good accounts of the day back when it happened so I won't bore you with my own! Needless to say, meeting a group of lovey ladies with so much in common and going for a museum visit, followed by a fabric shopping trip was just wonderful. My only regret is not getting to speak to everyone - in particular the bloggers who I've been reading for the last year with whom I came over all star struck and couldn't think what to say to...smart moves eh?! I feel I should also thank Steph from Little Miss Twitchy who very kindly accompanied me on our jaunt round the shops as all the other shoppers outpaced us. I was hunting for wool and doing so very slowly but Steph stuck with me all the way to the pub at the end. Thanks Steph! I was too busy to attempt the Horrockses dress what we were supposed to make and then I just couldn't face starting something new the day before the meetup, so I wore my old faithful bow blouse (which I did make, albeit a while ago) and Freddies of Pinewood jeans (which I had to keep telling people I hadn't made, sadly).
I did get a good haul though. I won some lace sent all the way from America in the raffle and picked up these patterns in the swap.
 These are some of the fabrics I bought - Top to bottom;
Seersucker check with metalic threads, soft cotton - the flowers remind me of the Flower fariy illustrations and came from the swap, a cotton/silk mix and a gold fine cord.
 Grey wool, I have this lined up for trousers, some aubergine crepe, red viscose (I think) and a very light cotton lawn.
No more shopping for me for a while!
I also bought a lot of wools and linens to make mroe viking period kit with. The stuff I've made so far has gone down well and I am seriously considering making a few bits and pieces to ebay.

I also took my history exam last week, that's Nazi Germany done and dusted! I think the exam went quite well but I'll have to wait until the 18th August to find out how I did. It's torture. It's a relief to have my free time back actually, though it's only a few weeks until I start the second year's studies. Still, I'm going to make use of the time while I have it and finally make some of the clothes I've been planning for months. I'm loath to make any skirts or trousers for the moment, the weight is still falling off me and I'm worried that it'll be too big in a month if I fit it well now! Tops are, therefore, the order of the day - a good job actually as I am a bit lacking on that front at the moment...