Remember way back in April when I blogged about two custom-made baby pinnies?!? Well I've been lucky enough to receive pictures of the cute recipient hard at work in the garden and little Lila looks like one happy customer!

It's a fine day for some spade action...


These pesky chains just have to go...


Weeding is a serious matter...


Uh oh! We're gonna need a bigger bucket...


The oilcloth pinnie was a bit long for Lila and the neckline sat a bit too high, but hopefully it's one she can grow into. I will also need to make the waist ties longer for any similar projects in future, but this kind of feedback is invaluable for my development. Thanks again to my encouraging colleague Jan, who has been kind enough to trust in my makes!

Anyway, must start getting ready for my trip down to London. It's the day of the Goldhawk Road Fabric Fandango and I'm excited and nervous at the same time!!! Stay tuned for updates on that in coming days.

Oh, and I just have to share my relief that Blogger is up and running again...I was getting serious withdrawal symptoms after day one...
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Week one of One Pattern Seven Bloggers has surprisingly already been and gone, which is scary considering there is now only three weeks to go until our big reveal...eeek!


I've still not finalised my fabric choice - and by that I mean I haven't a clue which I'm going to settle on – so I thought I'd tackle my muslin first. I'd heard from a lot of different people that fitting our chosen BurdaStyle pattern is a bit of a nightmare, so I was prepared for the worst, but to begin with I was lulled into a false sense of security

Firstly I cut out and sewed up my size, just to see what was what. As you can see, it was a few inches too small! I think this could be because I didn't realise I had to add a seam allowance to the pattern...oops!


Instead of cutting a brand new muslin, I decided to see if letting out some of the ample darts could fix my predicament. Such a simple adjustment seemed to work pretty well.





However, as you can see the back neckline gaped a little and the waistline sat too low down for my body shape...basically it sat too close to my muffin tops. To fix this, I put a couple of small darts at the back neckline and trimmed about two inches off the bottom of the bodice. Although I managed to fix the back neckline gape, I ended up with a baggy waistline.




So I went back to the drawing board and decided to take the front darts in again, after letting them out in the first place. This was successful, but it made me realise that had I gotten the length right in the first place, I probably wouldn't have had to fiddle about with the darts. Oh well, a good lesson learned!


I then used my much-amended muslin to trace out new pattern pieces, raising the front neckline at the same time and drafting my skirt pieces. And this is where the fairytale ends my friends, because just as I was beginning to think this sewing 'lark' was easy...I ended up with this:




It looks like all the tweaking I did was suddenly erased! Everything's too big, apart from the back bodice which looks a little tight. Even the front neckline doesn't sit as well as before and the sagging on the back neckline has re-appeared! I'm stumped and would love it if anyone could shed any light on how I can fix all this. Any help would be much appreciated!

So, in short, I have a lot more work to do and not much time to do it in, if this little number is to become wearable in any way. Fingers crossed it will!

Don't forget to check out how my fellow project-buddies are getting on:

Reana Louise is nicely pulling together her blue and gold theme - Curves, Patterns and Pins

Kat picked a lovely bold checked fabric - Petticoats & Peplums

Rachel shared her warm geometric fabric choice - My Messings

Jen has settled on a luscious forest green fabric - Pretty Little Pictures  

Amy had a successful go at her muslin - Sewing Through the Motions

Sam has found a lovely autumnal tartan fabric - All things quilty...and sewy
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Lately, I've been stumbling across guilty (and some not so guilty) blog posts, confessing the purchase of more/new sewing supplies. Most recently, Portia posted about adding to her already ample pattern stash and Sam shared some lovely fabrics that she bought.

So I thought I'd show solidarity with my fellow shopaholics, by confessing my recent splurges. Yes, 'splurges' in plural as I may have gone a little wild on Etsy and eBay recently. I just can't seem to resist the pull of super-cute patterns!!!

Below are just a few of the beauties I picked up, which at least will give me a real purpose during the Goldhawk Road FabricFandango...where even more splurging will take place...sigh...









Monday, May 09, 2011
'One pattern, seven bloggers, infinite possibilities'. This is the clever concept that I was approached with last week by the lovely Sam of All things quilty...and sewy and of course I couldn't pass up such a fun challenge!


One Pattern Seven Bloggers requires all seven of us to use this BurdaStyle pattern (pictured above) and adapt it as we see fit for our bodies and personal taste. The theory is that having started with the same base, we'll all end up with very different looking dresses by the end!

As I mentioned before, there are six other seriously talented ladies also taking part in this project, so be sure to check out their progress:

Today is the first day of One Pattern Seven Bloggers and in our first blog post we are sharing our inspirations for the project. We'll be posting our progress every Wednesday until the unveiling of our dresses on the 1st of June...how exciting!

Style Inspiration

I'm a bit obsessed with cute little collars at the moment and Casey's 30s scalloped collar tutorial could not have arrived at a better time...thank you Casey! Even if I don't pull this off, I definitely want to incorporate a peter pan collar or something along the lines of what's pictured below:







I think I'd also like a pit of a pleated skirt like the one below. I bought this dress last week as a possibility to wear to a wedding - I'm 100% in love with the style, but after trying it on I really don't think the colour suits me, so sadly I think I'm going to have to take it back.


Fabric Inspiration 

Because I'm pretty skint and I'm saving my cash for the Goldhawk Road Fabric Fandango, I'm determined to use fabric from my stash and I think the below could be suitable candidates:







So there you have it, these are my inspirations so far! I know quite a few of you have used this BurdaStyle pattern before, so if you have any words of wisdom, please do share - I'm still very much an amateur!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy following our progress!


Wednesday, May 04, 2011
I desperately need your help please friends! I know you only have a muslin to go by, but do you think the Crescent Skirt suits me? Even though it's especially designed for pear shapes – which I think I am – I also have some impressive muffin tops to boot and I'm not sure if this design is flattering. 



Aside from my reservations about the design on my particular body shape, I really recommend Tasia's sew-along wholeheartedly! Tasia is such a good teacher and I'm finding out some excellent tips as we go along. Her posts are well-thought out and she does her best to respond to every single question, which is impressive considering how many people are sewing along.

The skirt itself was a pleasure to work on and it came together really fast and easily. I cut out a size 8 in the end as it corresponded almost exactly to my measurements and I'm impressed that it actually fits like a glove. I don't think I would need to make any adjustments and I quite like the length even though I normally prefer a shorter hemline. I also think the waistband construction is really cool, I love the gathers and the pockets are amazing...look how deep they go!!!


So what do you say lovely people? Should I continue with the sew-along, or do I need to accept that it might not be the best shape on me?


P.S. Please excuse my hair and tacky bra straps! I changed into my slob clothes after work as I desperately wanted to finish this muslin and get pictures taken before sundown. 
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
As promised, I randomly chose two winners of my one year blogiversary giveaway this morning  and I am happy to announce that:

1. the 1940s pattern and fabric go to Amy from Sewing Through The Motions


2. the 1960s combo goes to Suzie at Su Sews So-So


Congratulations both, hope you'll be delighted with your wins! Amy, I think I have your email address, but can you just confirm it in a comment below? Suzie, I don't have yours, so please  can you also leave a comment below?

I was overwhelmed by the response to this giveaway and by all the lovely comments that came with it, so 'thank you' to everyone else who entered. I'm sorry you didn't win this time...better luck next time hopefully! 
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
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