I'm so excited because my friend Layla has asked me to make an apron as a Christmas present for her mum! The process of discussing styles, colours and fabrics has been really good fun, but I still can't believe someone is willing to pay me to do something I really enjoy!

Anyway, we settled on a hybrid of Simplicity 1805 and I'm making excellent progress if I do say so myself:


Sadly, not everything's going so well though. I seem to have a few unfinished projects on the go at the moment and I just don't have the times and/or motivation to get them finished. Once Layla's apron is finished, I'm not allowing myself to start anything new until I've tackled the following:
  •     Simplicity 1598 – this lovely 1940s dress is actually looking great, just needs a side zip and hemming. Fingers crossed I'll get it finished soon!
  •     Hollywood 1667 – I started this little beauty a while back, but gave up after encountering some bias binding trouble. Can't give up though, must keep going!
  •     Remember this and this? I still don't want to give the game away as to what they will make up, but it's safe to say that my first attempt what a failure :o( Need to give it another go.
To keep myself upbeat in light of my recent sewing lull, I went along the Leicester Vintage Fair yesterday. There was a large selection of stalls, but a real lack of items from the 1950s and earlier, which I guess was good for my bank balance. I did manage to visit Katie's stall -  from What Katie Found -  and I ended up buying the vintage aprons below for a bargain price. Hope Katie did well in selling all her lovely handmade goodies!


On my way home I also scored some fabric from the market, which was just £2 a meter! Cute or what!?!


Now all I have to do is SEW!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
I may have had some free time on my hands and I may have played around on www.madmenyourself.com, as recommended on Sew Retro by Molly who blogs at Molly & Mango. Ironically, I haven't watched any Mad Men yet, but it is on my 'to-do list'. Without further ado, here is my Mad Men alter ego...I went for a super-glam look, perhaps because it's so different to how I usually dress:



On another subject, here's a little pop quiz for you! What do you think the below are destined to be? They will both make the same thing(s), but obviously in different colours:



Wednesday, October 13, 2010

On Saturday, my friend Hannah and I traveled down to London to attend The Knitting and Stitching Show 2010 at Alexandra Palace. Due to disruptions on the tube, it took us a short-lived tube ride, 4 buses and 2hrs to get there from King's Cross...which was exhausting! However, the effort paid off as I scored some gorgeous fat quarters which are just destined to become cute clutch bags:
On a slightly separate yet related subject, I've been going overboard on the pattern front again. I REALLY need to stop buying news ones, but I just can't seem to resist them. I think that if I didn't sew I'd probably still collect them and fill myself with nostalgia for times that I never even experienced. Anyway, here's what I've been spending money on lately:



















Sunday, October 10, 2010
I came home from a lovely weekend spent with gorgeous friends in London to find a carefully wrapped parcel waiting for me.. I squealed with delight when I opened it and discovered that it was the 11 patterns I 'won' in Andrea's generous giveaway over at Invisible Flower. The patterns are amazing up close and I can't wait to get stuck in. Thank you so much Andrea, I hope that I can one day repay your generosity! Here's a snapshot of the patterns:



I also recently acquired some stunning scraps of fabric from the 1930s. They fill two A4 sheets of paper and each individual piece is so special. I'm thinking of making a pillow cover with them or something along those lines. Please feel free to feedback your crafty ideas, I'd appreciate any suggestions.




And lastly...I ordered personalised labels..haha! Is this frowned upon or do people think it's ok?

Sunday, October 03, 2010
'Oh no', I hear you all groan...'not another apron!' But indeed it is so, I just can't seem to help myself. I won another gorgeous 1950s pattern on ebay – this time a Hollywood one – and it would be rude not to try it out!

I'm making View 5, which is the one on the left of the bottom row. The body is going to be made from a purple with white polka dot cotton and the waist/tie part is going to be made from a floral cotton. In my head it looks beautiful, hopefully it will turn out beautiful in real life too!


Wednesday, September 29, 2010
I've been very busy lately making cute accessories that could be cool gifts for girlie friends ;o)

I've made these little clutch bags before, but I still maintain that they are a great use of vintage fabric scraps. The body of each clutch is made from the coolest 1950s fabric that I frequently buy from a great ebay supplier called vintagepretty. Sadly, the fabric is pricey so I only buy fat quarters and my clutch bags are fairly small (approx. 7.5in across and 5in deep) – ideal for holding the essentials on a night out though. However, I am working on different and bigger designs...so watch this space!









I've also been making versatile broaches that can be used to decorate items of clothing or accessories like bags, shoes, headbands and so on. They are actually very time-consuming and fiddly to make, but completely irresistible I think. They are such an excellent way of putting scraps to good use, I'm smitten with them!










Sunday, September 26, 2010
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