What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #254

Still a mess, but at least I have removed the top layer, of sewing related stuff, and it’s just the paper crafting gubbins that’s left behind. Mostly the off cuts from kitting for classes and making Easter treats for nieces and nephews.

The eagle eyed among you may have spotted the Love Hearts, towards the middle of the desk, otherwise not much of interest. I taught a class this morning and the boxes of crafting goodies are all underneath, waiting to be unpacked….tomorrow.

This was our twenty minute card today. A tried and tested design, you will have seen me use before in other forms. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time.

Keeping it short for today. I’ll be back on Friday with a quick tutorial for the Easter treats I’ve made this year. Off to check on the other desk hoppers at Julia’s place.

PS. For those who showed an interest in my sewing project last week, you can read all about it here.

Sewing Adventures ~ The Lonsdale Dress

I teased you with a little peek at my dress, on Thursday, and a promise to come back with more about it this week. So here I am. I’ve been wanting to get back to dressmaking for a while now, but I couldn’t decide what to make as my first project.

I bought a pattern for a Washi dress last year, thinking it looked nice and simple. It has no zip, which is a big plus, but then I let myself get put off by the rows of shirring elastic in the back of the bodice. I was also worried that it might look a bit shapeless on me and I wanted to love what I made, to keep me sewing.

I’m glad I bought that pattern though, because as a result I found there was a whole world of sewing blogs out there. Many of those bloggers didn’t stick with the so called “Big Four” when it came to buying patterns. The Simplicity and Vogue that I was familiar with, but independent designers who design for different figure types.

These patterns are a bit more expensive, but they come with added benefits. Such as online Sew-A-Longs, which are extremely helpful to beginners as well as anyone, like me, returning from a fifteen year break. I’ve learnt so much over the past week, while sewing up this dress.

I had sewn French seams before, but never in a garment. It just wouldn’t have occurred to me. I used them for the side seams in the skirt, as well as the pockets.

Understitching is something new to me. It makes the bodice lining stay nice and flat and stops it being visible from the outside. It doesn’t show up very well in my photo, but you can see it clearly in Tasia’s pictures and read all about it, if you’re interested.

Here’s the centre front seam in the skirt. This type of seam finishing was familiar to me, although I didn’t know it had a name. I used to sew on my Mum’s old Singer and all it did was the standard straight stitch, no zig zagging the finished seams for me. I think this looks much nicer anyway.

As you can see, from the photos above, I’ve completed the bodice, which is self lined and the skirt, with its pockets. My next job is to attach the waistband, to bring the two halves of the dress together and then tackle the zip. Wish me luck!

My Month in Numbers ~ March 2014

March was a very busy month around here. In fact it was a here, there and everywhere kind of month.

On the very first day of March, I drove seventy miles for a sewing meet up in Exeter. The sum total of my productivity that day, was basting the seven hexagons above, for a Grandmother’s Flower Garden Block. I spent my time chatting to the other ladies and learning lots of tips and tricks from the lovely Kerry.

I taught two classes of nine ladies and we made six projects between them both. I finished the last fifty pages of Life after Life, which I really enjoyed, after a bit of a slow start. I read all four hundred pages of Half Bad, but I wasn’t that impressed. I started The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I took a “shelfie” for World Book Day.

I cooked three litres of Meadow Barn soup, two dozen Cornish Fairings and one dozen lemon drizzle cup cakes ready for a weekend away.

I packed up my car with crafting supplies and drove ninety miles to meet up with nine lovely ladies (and three husbands) for our annual DIY retreat in Herefordshire.

A table for eight crafters and a separate table for the two messy ones! A beautiful sunrise on the Saturday morning, the view from the back of the barn and the calm after the creative storm on the Monday morning. Three blissful days away.

I came home to my first two bunches of daffodils. Only one hospital appointment this month, with three panels of beautiful stained glass to look at while we waited. On the thirteenth of the month, I made a batch of rice crispy bars, using thirteen marshmallows and thirteen toffees, along with butter and rice crispies. Spooky!

I received one hand made card and two bars of my favourite Green & Blacks chocolate, wrapped in paper decorated by my two creative children.

One of them had two wrappers, but that didn’t stop me!

That’s my March and I’m linking up with Julie and all the other counters this month.

ETA: Oops! I thought the scheduling hadn’t worked, but it *might* be because today is actually the 11th and not the 12th!

One Photo in Twenty Words ~ French Seams

Joining in with Abi’s meme over at Creating Paper Dreams.

My return to dressmaking. A dress with pockets? Oh yes! Just looking at that French seam finishing makes me happy.

I’ll be back tomorrow with My Month in Numbers and more on the dress next week.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #253

It’s the Easter holidays here and I’m back at the kitchen table. Not because my desk is a mess, although it is. I’m there to keep my girl company while she revises.

I had a production line going for a bunch of tags, to pop into the parcels I’m sending out today.

Later the space was taken by my sewing machine. More on that very soon. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll have seen a few progress reports!

Want to know what everyone else has been up to? Head on over to Julia’s place to find out.

Kickstarter ~ Print your Own

So you’ve found the perfect pattern and you have in mind the fabric you want, but you just can’t find it anywhere. Wouldn’t it be great if you could design it yourself and then print as much as you needed for your project? If By Hand London get the funding they need, through Kickstarter, then we’ll be able to do exactly that.

Having been very envious of American sewing bloggers who have access to a service like this through Spoonflower, I would love it if they reach their target. I’ve pledged, might you be interested in doing that too?

PS There is a lovely selection of sewing patterns on their website. The Anna dress is on my wish list.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #252

A mess! This is the result of Hurricane Fiona passing through. Packing up for class this morning, in a big rush.

Mainly leftovers of the projects from the last couple of classes I’ve done. I bring all the card/paper scraps home with me, so that I can put them in our recycling bin, rather than the mixed rubbish bin available to me at the venue. Obviously they didn’t make it to the bin last time and I emptied the container onto my desk ready to refill.

Moving swiftly on….

….here’s what we made today. A flower garland card and matching gift box*. Just in time for Easter, but equally useful for a Spring birthday.

Keeping it short today. Those boxes need unpacking again and my little cherubs will be bursting through the front door at any moment. Join the fun at Julia’s place.

*If you fancy making a gift box like this one, there’s a tutorial here.