Sewing space

I decided this morning that it was the day to reorganise my sewing room. 

Yes I know I’m very lucky to have a whole room. Gone are the years I spent squeezed on the edge of the dining room table with little ones playing around my feet. Sticky fingers trying to help. Cutting out was delayed till after there bedtime as I needed the floor & all sharp objects had to be kept out of reach. 

Now they have all left & set up homes of there own I have taken over one of their bedrooms for my space. It means I can have everything at hand & leave it all where it is & just shut the door when I have to stop. It has ment I’m a lot more productive & there is less risk of Mr B finding a stray pin! 

Of course having a room means everything gets piled up in there & I was starting to disappear under clutter. I wanted to maximise usuable space as a have a wedding dress & my mother-of-the-bride outfit to start.

So after a productive morning I still have all my keepsakes around me but I’m a lot more organised. I’m nearly sorted so thought I’d share some pics

Excuse the bright wall in the last pic…. Remains of my children’s taste. It will be painted white to match the rest of room one day😃

Happy sewing 

Sunday Sevens #7

Well I actually had time to post this on a Sunday but it has been a fortnight since my last one! 

Not sure where the year is going but actually got around to using my Christmas pressie from Mr B, a spa voucher. So off I went to a very nice golf & country club for a day of pampering. 

This little fluff ball spent some time with us in the salon again, he’s into chewing everything now.

There was no time for blogging last weekend as I had the grandkiddies. Sunday was spent picnicking by the Thames & feeding the ducks. 

Then we made use of some lovely gardens on Monday to tire them out before the drive home! 

As well as plenty of space for them to run about there was also a wonderful view of the lake. 

We had a family get together for my cousins 40th birthday, seeing relatives we hadn’t seen for ages & having a few goes at skittles!

To end my week we went for a shopping trip to Exeter. 

Until the next time, enjoy your week😃

Gift sewing…

It’s great to be able to make gifts so it’s something that they couldn’t buy, especially when the person your making it for often says “I could do with one like that!”😃  

So with a friends birthday coming up I decided to make her something to wear but what  exactly to make was the problem. Not knowing her measurements, I didn’t want to spoil surprise by asking, but then I remembered she tried had on one of my waistcoats previously. 

This is a great pattern & I have previously made it for a Tutorial with Minerva Crafts if you would like to see how it’s made in more detail. 

For this waiscoat I choose a lightweight stretch denim and a contrasting lining fabric. Instead of adding a back tie & buckle detail I opted for top stitching all seamlines in the same colour as the lining. 

Finished off with contrasting buttonholes, metal buttons & a perfect little label from Nominette 

I’m very pleased with the result (although I’m not sure my late night sewing of the label was as neat as I thought now I look at pic!) & hopefully the birthday girl will like it too 😃

Update! 

She loved it😃

Ready, steady, go…..

Woohooo the Sewing Bee is back next week. It’s the only program I purposely sit down to watch each episode & it seems like we have been waiting so long for the new series.

So in celebration I thought I’d set myself my own little Challange as the perfect pattern is included in this months Sew Magazine, a top that can be made in an hour. 

I am in need of more tops & with this pattern needing barely more than a metre I had a few suitable remnants. I chose style C which (instead of doing a FBA for this quick make) cut in a size 8 across the shoulders, for my narrow back, then a 12 bust/ waist down to a 10 hips. Pattern traced & cut, I applied the interfacing in preparation. 

Machine on, I set the timer….

So off I went sewing away, instructions in front of me, finishing edges as I went. All was going great until I realized I was following the instructions for the sleeved version..aaahhhhh. Out comes the seam ripper 😩 

That will teach me for not reading through first! Deconstruction complete. Time ticking away, back to the sewing.  Of course that’s when the bobbin decides to run out.

Step away from the machine, your time is up. Half way down the second side seam the hour is up. 

It took me about another 20 minutes to hem & do the hand stitching so without the mistakes maybe I’ll manage to do the next one quicker. 

 Like the shape of this style & will make the others too. The size I cut worked well but I think I’ll take in very slightly under arms.  It feels comfortable & I’m wearing it for work today, in fact that’s where these pics are taken so sorry for the slightly creased look & distracted expression 😃

Sunday Sevens #6

After a very hectic week at work I’m enjoying looking back to see I did manage to enjoy some time out of the salon! 

Since my last Sunday Sevens I’ve had a birthday. The day was celebrated with a day out in London with Mr B. The sun shone , the wind blew & the snow fell… I’ve had most weather conditions on my birthday over the year but not usually all on the same day! 

My day finished with an amazing meal. 

Then came the very wet bank holiday weekend. Plymouth hosted the start of the Transat, so we made a trip to Plymouth Barbican to view the boats.Then on the following day we ventured to the coastline again & battled the elements to see the start. Difficult to see the boats out there, just past the breakwater, but those brave skippers are lining up ready to start the 3,000 mile solo. 

Luckily the weather hasn’t been all bad & I’ve managed to enjoy a bit of sun on my walk into work. 

As I’ve said its been a hectic week of work but I do enjoy when I get to help someone feel great for a special day. 

What better way to finish the week than tea & cake beside the sea. 😃

Birthday dress

 I really need to get on with making a few seperates needed in my wardrobe but to me a birthday is always a reason for a new dress. With that in mind I made a visit to Fabricland in Basingstoke. I hadn’t been to that branch before and wasn’t disappointed; the staff were very helpful & friendly, I found plenty of reasonably priced fabrics I liked plus a variety of haberdashery items that I hadn’t realised I desperately needed. A very successful detour during my drive back to the West Country! 

I had already decide to make the Floating bodice dress, free pattern with Love Sewing some time ago, but didn’t have a clear plan as to fabric.

 Walking into the store some bright scuba fabrics instantly caught my eye. I hadn’t used scuba before but it was so easy to handle that I will be returning to get some more. They still have this butterfly design on their site at £5:99m. Being a knit, with slight stretch, it didn’t need overlooking so great for speedy makes.  

 Picking such a bright patterned fabric I opted for a plain chiffon for the floating bodice which I French seamed together before attaching to dress.  

 
As it was possible to see the facings through this fabric I doubled the shoulder facing over to enclose the seam. I also turned down & stitched the edge of the underarm as there are no armhole facings included in the pattern, I would use bias next time. 

  
The chiffon bodice did end up a little larger than it should along shoulder edge so ended up looking slightly gathered but apart from that I’m happy with the finished result. Next time I think I’d make the bodic in the scuba too, as the chiffon did cling on occasions so lost the floating effect, & having seen pics I would also lengthen to just below the knee. 

 
 So with the birthday dress finished it was off for a day in London with Mr B, finished off with a fantastic meal & a drink or 2😃