Ditzy dress

This is my first ever foray into dressmaking. It has been a very, very steep learning curve. I had thought that the transition from patchwork to dressmaking would be easy.  Sewing is sewing, right?

Little did I realise that there are actually two distinct skill sets involved with dressmaking: sewing (which is surprisingly different to patchwork), and fitting. The dress is McCalls m6959, and is classed as "easy". I struggled with every process in making this dress, and re-sewed several of the seams in order to get them pattern perfect. Then I tried the dress on, and it was awful! It fitted like a sack, and made me look totally tubular! Also the sleeves were far too taut, and I couldn't lift my arms away from my body without the whole dress feeling like it would rip across the middle.

So, having painstakingly sewn the whole thing so accurately, I took my dress along to class where the teacher pinned, and tucked, and adjusted until every single seam had to be re-sewn again. The mistake I had made was to cut the size corresponding to my largest measurement (waist). This meant that the bust and back darts all needed adjusting to bring the dress back in. What I should have done was to cut according to bust size, and adjust outwards at the waist. You live and learn. 

I'm not sure whether the arm problem was due to poor pattern drafting, or my physiology. It wasn't due to picking the wrong size. Although the circumference of the sleeve fitted neatly around my arms, and looked great with my arms hanging by my side, there was no movement at all. To solve this, I followed these tutorials (here and here)  and flattened the sleeve head. This would have meant that the original crescent shaped sleeve would have ended up very short. To counter this, I had to change the bottom of the sleeve from a concave to a convex curve. To give even more movement, I made this curve slightly longer than the original, thus increasing the diameter of the sleeve for more ease .

The third adjustment I made was to the length of the skirt. I added two inches to the original pattern, and this fell at mid knee. In the end I felt this was a bit frumpy, so cut an inch off again. I'm not entirely sure this was a good move, as although I prefer the shorter skirt, it now ends at just above my  knobbly knees, which is not such a great look either.

So, here is the final dress. I am very pleased that it looks like a proper dress. I am happy with my fabric choices. But, I'm pretty sure it won't turn into a favourite. Despite the arm adjustments, it is still annoyingly restrictive. The skirt is also a bit hit and miss. Because of the fullness, it has a tendency to flare up in the wind. Despite a safety pin holding the wrapover together, I had several Marilyn Monroe moments on a breezy seaside stroll. The other problem is that the fullness in the skirt has a tendency to all gather over my backside, which is not an area where anyone wants to add bulk.

I started this dress in January, and it was finished in mid April, just in time for some spring sunshine. So, one item crossed off my projects list this month, and a good dent in the fabric stash.

Crochet doily project.

Not to be put off by the last post, which shows that I am hugely over optimistic when it comes to starting projects, I have hatched a new Grand Plan.
This plan is sort of secret, (mainly so I don't have to admit it if I don't acheive the goal). But I am very happy to share the progress along the way.
Inspired by Pinterest I have decided to do a great big crochet doily project. Eventually I will need something like 100 doilies (told you it was ambitious). A doily a week would take about two years, and a doily a day would whizz through in just over three months.
Having never crocheted anything small or lacy before, I thought I ought to practice before jumping in and buying all the materials. I have had this book for quite a while, and since snowflakes and doilies are kind of similar, I've practiced with a few of these.

On the advice of the lady in my local yarn shop I used 4-ply cotton, and a 2.5mm hook. Her advice was good, because I think these are a good size and weight for starching and hanging on a Christmas tree.
The next step in the plan was to try an actual doily. I followed a free pattern off pinterest. The crochet itself was quite easy, but the 4 ply was way too thick. This next photo shows the 4 ply made with a 2.5mm hook, next to the same doily made with size 8 crochet cotton and a 1.25mm hook.

The crochet cotton is much more what I wanted, this gives a light lacy feel, whereas the 4ply is more like a trawler net! The downside of the crochet cotton is that the doilies come out much smaller.

I have carried on with my pinteresting, and made two more doilies. I'm pleased that I've now learned to read charted crochet, I still haven't got the hang of predicting the finished size. I need to learn blocking next, so that they look a little tidier, then just crack on with the other ninety seven! Wish em luck!

March review

Sometimes at work I go on soft-skills, corporate type workshops. Negotiation, influencing, that sort of thing. I learned that if a commitment is made publicly it is more likely to be kept. For me, declaring my sewing goals on this blog was supposed to be the public commitment needed to spur me on to action.

However, the lists show a different story.

Projects in progress

Lacy Scarf

Cross stitch train

Pink elephant

Minnie mouse bag.

Secret santa quilt

Summer dress

Party dress

Crochet doily project

New projects started

Threadcatcher pincushion

Snake

So, no finishes, and two new starts. However on the plus side, it has been lovely and sunny, and the garden is looking a lot more loved.

Crayola washable felt pens.

I have tried all sorts of things to mark my quilting fabrics and found advantages and disadvantages to them all.

This is a review of Crayola Supertips Washable markers. I got mine in WHSmith for £5.99. Other cheaper brands are available, but I can't comment on how washable they really are, and compared to the price of fabric, it's a bargain.

I like that these come in plenty of colours, so will stand out on almost any colour or pattern. I like that because it is a felt pen, it marks the fabric easily and accurately, but the line is quite thick. 

I used these pens to mark the quilting lines on C and R's quilt. The markings were in place for several months before I put the quilt through a cold wash after it was finished. All the marks washed out perfectly.

Here I have marked a piece of white 100% cotton.

Here is the back to prove I didn't use a light touch with the pens.

The instructions on the pack say to use a hot wash, but that isn't realistic for most quilting projects. I put this sample in at 40C with my normal laundry. This very unexciting photo shows that all the markings washed out completely.

World Textile Day Wales 2015

I have just returned from a lovely day out with my Mum to World Textile Day Wales.

This is an annual event in Llanidloes. There is a morning and an afternoon lecture session, and a nice break in the middle to get some lunch and do some shopping. There is a lot to tempt me on an occasional visit to Llani. even without the added bonus of the amazing stalls at the textile event.
I really enjoyed the lectures, but there was an awful lot to take in, so sorry the labels for my pictures are a bit vague.

Sashiko samples by Susan Briscoe. She gave one of the talks.

Chinese applique from 1930s. Imported by Slow Loris.

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Beautiful reverse applique quilt from Southern Pakistan.

Close up of embroidery on another Pakistani Kantha quilt.

Can you guess what this is? We couldn't!

 

It's to decorate your camel for a wedding ceremony. The hump goes through the slit in the middle.

African textile.

And finally my goodies. I think I was very restrained.

Bye bye winter blues

I didn't publicly make any New Year's resolutions this year, but I had a few goals in mind. Two months in, its time to review progress.

Goal number one- finish more projects than I start.

I think this goal is achievable, even though on current statistics it doesn't look good. I have two finishes so far this year, and I have three new WIPs. One is very nearly finished, so that will bring me back to even Stevens. 

Goal number two - reduce fabric stash to one box.

This is definitely not going so well. My shopping ability still far outpaces my sewing ability. The owner of my local fabric shop is so friendly and helpful, that I pop in all the time for advice. I would feel bad just taking the advice for free, and its very hard not to look around while I'm there. I do like to support local businesses, so really I am just being a responsible citizen and contributing to my local economy, and... Okay, I have no willpower. I have come to the conclusion that reducing my stash by buying less fabric is probably not going to work. The better way might be to sew more projects and reduce it that way. This would tie in nicely with Goal number one.

So, as a recap to myself on current position for 2015.

At the start of the year this was my list of projects in progress:
Scarf
Cardi for fox - abandoned.
Pink elephant
Sunshine waves blanket- finished and given away - gold star to me.
Minnie mouse bag
This blog - ongoing

New projects started:
Summer dress
Crochet doily project
Party dress

So, the goals for March are to finish at least one more project and not start any more. I will check back in to update on progress later.

Stormy seas

As I hide inside, snug and warm from the shrieking wind, inevitably I think back to last year's storms. This time last year, Aberystwyth hit the news when the seafront promenade took a beating. A few miles up the coast, Borth also suffered. Borth usually is a popular family beach- miles of gently sloping sand and shingle. Last year's storms though left this:

Some very topographical looking mud!

This isn't any old mud though, it's actually ancient peat. Further down the beach there is the remains of a petrified forest. Usually there are just a few slimy treestumps covered in seaweed, but after the storms a magical land was revealed. There is an interesting article and some beautiful photos on the national geographic website.

Conveniently for me, it was around this time that I finished my stormy seas quilt. A perfect opportunity to visit a local attraction, and photograph my quilt on location!

I love the modern simplicity of this quilt, but oh my goodness, it was bo-o-o-o-ring to make. Cutting, ironing, sewing strip after strip after strip. I will not be doing this again.