Under The Needle

So even though things are a little quite on the blog at the moment, things are pretty busy in the sewing room! I thought I’d share some sneaks peaks…

On Instagram the other week I revealed that I have FINALLY jumped on the Anna (By Hand London) bandwagon:

I’ve been working on this dress for the Sew Dolly Clackett competition and I am sooo in love with it – now I can appreciate the hype that this dress was receiving when it first came out! Here’s a sneak at the fabric I’ve used:

I cannot WAIT to get some photos done so that I can share it with you. I just have the hem and a LOT of hand sewing to do first (doh – my two biggest nemeses!)…

As well as the Anna dress, I recently decided to give ‘production line’ sewing a go. So I currently have 2 Plantain tops and 4 pencil skirts cut out and waiting for me to stitch up! Expect to see Plantains in these fabulous knits appearing soon:

And these are 3 of my planned pencil skirt:

  

I’m hoping that sewing the skirts at the same time will mean I get things done faster and procrastinate less! Hmm…watch this space…

What are you working on at the moment?
Anyone else joining in with the Sew Dolly Clackett competition fun?
Have you ever sewn up a pattern in multiple fabrics at the same time and how did you find it?

Sewing with a different attitude

Although I have been back from my honeymoon now for about 3 months, I haven’t actually had much on the blog to show for it. My friends and family suggested that after the immense amount of sewing and crafting that I put into the wedding I should take a well deserved break. So they were a bit surprised to hear that I have already got back to the sewing machine – hey, I was away on honeymoon for 3 weeks, surely that was enough of a break? You guys know what I mean, right?!!

One thing that has changed though, is my attitude to sewing. Over the last 12 months I have been sewing with a very distinct deadline and (in my usual style) crammed an awful lot into the last month or so before the wedding. It stressed me out a lot and I started to loose the enjoyment that I used to get from sewing. So I have been trying to tell myself to just relax and remember what it’s like to slow down and take pleasure in each step – after all, it is my hobby!

The first thing I started working on when I got home was a version of Gertie’s Pencil Skirt, from her book Gertie’s New Book For Better Sewing, made up in the gorgeous floral cotton sateen (see above). I have been taking my time and paying attention to all the details, and really enjoying it. When I first started making it one of my colleagues in work asked if I was sewing anything, so I described the skirt to them. A week later they asked again, and initially I felt a bit embarrassed that I was going to have to admit that I hadn’t really made much progress on the skirt since they last asked – but then I realised that I have no need to feel embarrassed or ashamed that it has taken me a couple of months to make a simple pencil skirt* – who cares?! I know that, if I had to, I could whip up a simple pencil skirt in an afternoon. But I’m making it for me, taking my time to make it perfect and there is no deadline, so there is no need to get stressed about it. When it’s done, it’s done, and I’ll be happy that I have a new skirt, but until then, I’m happy I have a little project to work on! Currently it is waiting for me to blind-hem the floral fabric, and hem the lining (with some lovely lace). I’ll get around to it eventually!

Because I have always hated hemming, I might have got a little bit distracted and started another project! I am also currently making a Washi Dress out of a heavy burnt red linen which I’m hoping will be a good layering piece during the Autumn/Winter, and be a much needed addition to my everyday wardrobe since I currently can’t fit into half of my clothes (no lie people!). Again, I’m taking my time and just fitting in a wee bit of sewing whenever my life lets me, and I’m not stressing about getting it done asap.

Another thing that has often made me feel under pressure to finish projects is the blog. There are so many fantastic sewing blogs out there these days, and some sewists are able to churn out project after project so quickly! Because of that there is always that little feeling that if you aren’t keeping up, you will get left behind. But along with this new attitude to sewing I have also adopted a much healthier attitude towards my blog. My blog is here to document my sewing, rather than having to sew to fill-up my blog – and if there are readers out that who enjoy it then that’s all the better!

So, how about you – do you ever find yourself stressing over a project, perhaps with a deadline, and loosing the enjoyment from your hobby? Or do you ever feel the pressures of having to create content for your blog (for those of you who’s blog is not their job…that’s a different matter! lol)?

3 days to go…

…but I’m still sewing/crafting away – argh! But I’m getting there. I am so excited for the day and for our honeymoon afterwards (Indonesia – wooohooo!), but I’m also really looking forward to being able to share all my DIY crafts on the blog.

If you are curious to see how the day is unfolding on Saturday the Instagram hashtag is #suandrobwedding and I’ll be asking guests to snap away on their phones using that tag.

In the meantime I’ll leave you with some prep photos to give you a taste of what’s been going on:

In my next blog post I’ll be a Mrs!

DIY I Do : Flower Girl Dresses : Muslin

Well, as I promised in my last post, here is my muslin for the Flower Girl dresses. Please excuse the MESS in the background. And try and look past the fact that it's pinned to a ladies mannequin - the dress is obviously for a little girl, so it won't fit around the 'boobs' of the mannequin! The neckline will be lower because 1. it's not lined yet and 2. my niece asked for it to be lowered. I've just pinned some tulle roughly under the skirt to give you an idea of the shape the skirt will eventually be. It probably won't poof out as much directly below the waist but will be more of a tapered effect. The stripes at the waist are a sash (which I may end up basting in place as this fabric is pretty slippy).

But all in all, I am really pleased with how the dress is looking! I LOVE the contrasting stripes at the hem and the sash, it really takes the dress to another level and adds a nice bit of interest.

So now is the hard bit…when do I start making the real dresses?!! With the girls growing it's hard to know what size to make them. At the moment I'm thinking I will make them in May (my Wedding is at the beginning of July) - do you think that would be close enough that they won't grow too much between then and the actual day?! I guess with having a sash I can make the dresses a little bit big and then just tie the sashes tighter if needs be.

On another note - I actually really like the dress on the mannequin…for ME!! If I ever feel like sewing again after this wedding (!!!) I am tempted to make a dress like this (Colette Macaron anyone?) for myself!

DIY I Do : Hen Party Dress : Inspiration & Planning

My first DIY I Do post was way back in September of last year…and then I disappeared! Obviously DIY-ing your wedding is more time consuming than I thought!

5 months down the line and I am back and hopefully able to get back to blogging about the process. To be honest, I don’t have much to show for the last 5 months, physically speaking – but I have, at least, finalised all my plans, gathered all my resources and am ready to get going…with only 4 months until D-day (or should that be W-day?!!)…eep!

One of the things I am hoping to sew is a dress for my Hen Party. Now I know this is not strictly ‘wedding’ sewing, but come on…you can’t get married without having a Hen Party can you?!!!

I have had the most beautiful 100% pure silk red dupion in my stash for the last two or so years, which I bought on a business trip to Zagreb. I bought it purely because it was the most beautiful fabric I had laid eyes on, but because I loved it so much, I haven’t been able to settle on a style or pattern to use that I feel would do it justice. I even started a Pinterest board dedicated to inspiration and planning for the ‘red dress’, but I couldn’t find a pattern to match my inspiration photos, plus I didn’t have an event ‘worthy’ of such a special dress (although, do you really need an excuse to make a special dress?!!!) However, when I started thinking about the possibility of sewing a dress for my Hen I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to finally use my red silk!

Here are a few images that I have accumulated as inspiration (click images for sources):

     

Now these are all very nice, but they weren’t just perfect enough for my silk (I know, I’m picky!). However, I was browsing through Weddingtonway.com one day, looking for inspiration for bridesmaid dresses, when I came across this beauty:

*sigh* just look at it – sophisticated but with a hint of sexy and dash of fun – perfection I tell ya! So that was it, I had decided on the style I wanted for my dress. Now to figure out how I was going to make it…hmmm…harder than I thought. The skirt part should be simple enough to draft without a pattern (two big inverted box pleats), but it was the cross-over bodice with the raglan sleeves that was proving difficult to source – definitely not in my drafting capabilities! I scoured all the big 4 websites for possible patterns, but you know what – raglan sleeve patterns are hard to come by. I thought about mashing a couple of patterns together, but it all seemed a bit complicated to be honest. And then Gertie came to the rescue and released this gorgeous dress pattern through Butterick:

  

Oh.My.God. – how perfect is this pattern (B5184)?!!! OK, there are a few differences, such as the waistband and the length of the sleeves, but essentially it is exactly what I am looking for!

So there you have it – my plans for the Hen Party dress. I may try and lengthen the sleeves a little (although not quite sure how you do that). I am also thinking about adding a fun element of pink to the dress, since I discovered that a newly acquired necklace of mine looked so fab with my red silk (this was the sneak peek that I shared last week):

The pink fabric on the left is some lovely Irish Linen that my mum gifted to me from her stash about three years ago (again, too gorgeous to cut!). I’m contemplating making a pleated obi belt/cummerbund out of the pink linen to tie in with the necklace, but would mean I could also wear the dress with other colours by removing the belt, therefore giving me more flexibility (I’m thinking it would make a fab Christmas dress too you see). I’ve also bought some matching bright pink grosgrain ribbon for the waist stay, and I’d like to add pink lace to the hem of my lining – but I can’t source any! I have checked Ebay out, and some online fabric shops, but can’t find anything suitable. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I might be able to source this online (pref in the UK)?

Anyway, so far I have made a muslin for the bodice, but unfortunately there are a few fitting issues which I’m unsure how to fix. I’ll take some photos and share with you and hopefully some of you lovely readers might be able to give me some suggestions.

Catching up

Believe it or not, I am actually still here – just about!

I guess life has just become rather hectic recently and unfortunately it means I don’t have as much time for blogging, or even reading blogs, as I used to. In fact, I have over 1000 blog posts to catch up on (eek!)…and since I suffer from FOMO I can’t bear to ‘mark all as read’! If you haven’t spotted a comment from me on your blog for a while, I’m so sorry – either I haven’t got to your lovely post yet, or I really enjoyed reading it but just didn’t have time to comment (I know, that’s a really crappy thing to admit to, but it’s true!)*.

But all that aside, I have actually been doing a little sewing (shock horror!).

I finally got my ass in gear and hemmed my purple Jenny skirt:

But I don’t have photos of me wearing it yet. Perhaps I’ll manage that this week sometime so that I can share it on the blog next week.

I have been beavering away on my Craftsy Bombshell Dress. The plan is to have the done in time for a wedding on the 30th July. At the moment I’m confident that I’ll make that deadline…but I’m hoping I haven’t underestimated the difficulty of the remaining portions of the course.

The photo above was one that I tweeted over the weekend. I was lucky enough to have the whole weekend to work on the dress, so I managed to get the outer bodice complete. I have since cut out the skirt, underlined (because the focus fabric is quite sheer), and I’m currently basting the seam lines. I still have to sew up the skirt, attach to the bodice, sew in the zip, sew up the bodice lining, insert the boning, hand-stitch the lining to the outer bodice, insert a waist-stay and hem. CRAP! Maybe I don’t have enough time! Plus I’m away most of next week with work (back to Zagreb…hoping to get a trip to some lovely fabric shops again!), so that’s even less time to work on the dress. EEK! Anyway, I’ll try and keep you guys posted on my progress.

And finally, in other sewing related news, I signed up for Kerry’s awesome Summer Sewing Swap, and got paired with the lovely Dibbs! I’ve followed Dibbs’ blog for a couple of years now, so I had quite a good idea about what her sewing style was, but since being paired with her for the swap, I have been doing some serious blog stalking! lol. So, I have bought one of my gifts for her already, but have a couple more to get (but I know what they are). Can’t wait to get it all assembled, wrapped and posted – hope she likes it!!!! And of course I can’t wait to see what she sends me!

That’s about me caught up now. Hopefully I’ll get a little more regular with my posting – hopefully!

 

* And on the subject of comments – how much do I hate ‘Captcha’ (or similar) comments. Am I the only one who can’t read the letter/number combos? Honestly, I get it wrong every time…and I promise I’m not a machine! If you have that on your blog, I probably won’t leave a comment because of that. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s not because I don’t want to leave a comment!**

** What do people think of my comment system? Annoying? Fine? Let me know! If it’s really bad and you can’t even leave a comment, then send me an e-mail on: wilson.suzanna (AT) gmail.com

Please don’t go…I’m still here!

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! My poor little blog has been terribly neglected for over 6 weeks. I’ve actually been quite busy with the sewing machine (although it has been acting up a lot…I have now become very familiar with the little screw on the bobbin holder) but my problem has been with the light. I know this has been an issue with a lot of Northern Hemisphere bloggers at the moment…trying to find an opportunity to get some decent pictures of our projects during daylight hours. Now that I am going to work in the dark, and coming home in the dark (and suffering from SAD….thinking about getting a lamp…anyone got one and have any recommendations?) the only chance is at the weekends, and unfortunately I just haven’t had any opportunities (my boyfriend thinks weekends should be spent with HIM, not in the sewing room – the cheek of him! Tasia’s post this week made me think of that!).

If you have been following me on Twitter (@Su_Sews_So_So) then you may have noticed a few Instagram pics that I posted. With no other decent project photos, and the blog being non-existent lately, I thought I’d share them on here too:

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been beavering away on making bags to sell. These are my latest pieces, but I really want to get a decent amount made up before I launch my shop and do a full reveal – do for now, this is just a sneak peak!

I posted this last night as they were hot off the sewing machine. I’ve made a couple of mini handbags for my two nieces for Christmas and I’m so pleased with how they turned out! I’ll see if I can get a proper ‘photo shoot’ of them this weekend and share them with you all next week – and then I have to get them wrapped and in the post asap as one will be winging it’s way to Australia.

And I have also made a Sorbetto top, out of beautiful buttery voile…but I’m not overly joyed with it so I haven’t been very excited about sharing it on here! My boyfriend and my mum both say it’s lovely, but I personally think that it doesn’t really suit me. Ah well, I guess I will share it on here and see what you guys all think.

Finally, I am STILL (yes, still!) working on my purple Jenny skirt that I mentioned on this post. I’m currently fighting with the invisible zip. It’s in, and it looks OK…but it’s not really ‘invisible’ at the moment, so I’m trying to sew it a bit closer…but it involves a lot of cursing and screaming so I’ve been putting it off a little! Now that I’ve got the Christmas pressie bags done I have no excuse I can focus on the skirt.

And even though I have been rather quiet on the blog, I’m delighted that over 100 of you decided you liked the place enough to click ‘follow’ on Google Connect! Thanks so much guys. Sorry I’ve let you down recently…how can I make it up to you? Oh I know…how about a giveaway??!!! That sounds like a plan, a wee Christmas treat for one of you – I’ll post details soon!

Crescent Skirt Progress & A Rant About Cheap Thread!

Well believe it or not, I've actually been sewing! As I mentioned in this post I have been planning on making up a Crescent Skirt in a cute pink and red polka dot cotton from Ikea.

So now that I'm firmly back to reality after my lovely holiday I managed to fit in some sewing:

Slash pocket and gathered skirt

I'm also following Tasia's very detailed sew-along to the letter - she really does cover everything and, although the instructions with the pattern are fine, you get so much more with the sew-along....including how to finish off the pockets with french seams (looks fab!).

So far I have attached my slash pockets (with the french seams as I just mentioned) and put in two rows of basting stitches to gather the skirt. Now you may have noticed my slightly long-winded post title...here comes said rant!

When I first joined the wonderful world of sewing, I had nothing - as is normally the case. My mum kindly gave me little bits and pieces, but I still felt that I was very 'under stocked' and had very little resources at my fingertips. Being an impatient, and frugal girl I wanted a good selection of threads at my disposal without having to go out to the fabric shop to buy new thread specific for every project I start. So I did a search and discovered lots of sellers on EBay selling 'job lots' of threads - in all the colours you could dream of - and for a reasonable price....how could any budding seamstress refuse! £30-odd later (I can't remember how much I actually spent) and I was the proud owner of a lovely array of colourful threads, all at my immediate disposal. And it is great having all these different coloured threads waiting to be used for whatever project I choose....but it comes at a price. This is not quality Guetermann or Coats, this is a no-name brand...and unfortunately you can tell the difference. My thread breaks a lot more easily. If you are hand stitching, it knots constantly. I even find that it plays with the tension of my machine and doesn't run as smoothly as it should, and I think it creates far more lint and fluff than branded thread.

So far I have put up with it because it hasn't been too bad and branded thread is so expensive. But last night might have been the "thread that broke the sewist's patience"! Trying to sew in loose basting stitches for gathering was so frustrating...I couldn't get the tension right and when I tried to gather, the thread just broke! Not amused.

I think I might have to just man-up and buy the branded thread. Anyone else have views on threads and any tips or suggestions?

What am I working on...

Just a little sneak peak at the latest project that has been under my sewing machine. Yep, another bag! What can I say, I LOVE bags (my boyfriend would say I love shoes...but I can't make them....yet!)!!!

Work in progress

Thanks for all your feedback on my question about how to approach telling people you have made something - it was really fun to read all your comments, and it's good to know that I'm not the only one expecting to be showered with compliments whenever I'm wearing something me-made!!!

I'm so glad it's Friday - I've had a really awful week in work and I'm about to head out for a well earned dinner with my man....yeay!

So I'll just leave you with a couple of pics of what I've been working on this week. I'm really excited about this...for a couple of reasons...

One - it's turned out really nice (I'll try and take proper photos over the weekend to share the end result with you next week)...

and two - it's one step closer to my dream....

P.S. I have also finished my lace dress, which I hinted about previously...but the weather has been so dismal recently that photo ops have been few and far between - fingers crossed for this weekend guys!!!

Sneak Peak

I haven't posted much recently about any of my own sewing - to be honest, I haven't had an awful lot of time to dedicate to sewing, and with the gorgeous weather we have been having recently I have been spending more time outside than inside! But, believe it or not, I am actually working on something at the moment! It's a little refashion and I'm very excited about how it's turning out. The pic above is a little sneak peak (the red is a cushion and not related to the project btw!)...I just have to insert the zip and then hem and I will be done - can't wait to share the final result!

Oh - and I was so excited to see that this week I managed to break through the '50 Follower' barrier (hello, and welcome new followers, so glad you have joined us for the ride!) - so, as I promised, I'm going to host a little giveaway to celebrate! Check back on Friday for the goodies!

The FASTEST and easiest fitting advice for garment sewing

Still on the sewers high after finishing my tartan dress I wanted to make another quick and easy project (the first was my boyfriends pjs) to keep up the sewing momentum. I have had a vintage pattern for a simple top in my stash for a while now, and thought it was time to give it a go. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the pattern (bad bad blogger!) but I'll get one and post it up soon. It's very basic, with two main pattern pieces (a front and a back) and then corresponding facings, and you have four different neck options.

My main worry was that it's a bust size 32. Now I'm not blessed with Christina Hendricks-esque assets (or anywhere near...in fact I would almost be inverted! lol) but I knew that if the bust size was small, the rest of the fit would be rater small too. So I whipped up a quick muslin to find out if I would even be able to get into this top (there are no fasteners in it). After trimming off the seams allowances from the neck and arm holes I was delighted to discover that I could indeed get myself into it....but it was pretty tight around the bust. Er...WHAT?! How?! Check out the pulling:

I stated tucking and pulling and pinning and this and that and other fitting options (after consulting my trusted Vogue Sewing book), but it just seemed like far too much work for a quick fix top. Then I realised I was wearing my old faithful bra which might perhaps have a little bit of extra oomph in it! So a quick bra change and:

Ta-da! Perhaps still a little tight over the bust, but much more acceptable! How easy was that?!

Here's the side view. The side bust dart (if you squint you can see it) is just ever slightly too high, but really not too far off for me to care at this point in time. Yes, I am a lazy sewer...but only at the moment. If I make this top again I may put in the effort to make it 'perfect'. There seem to be a few pulls on this view but I think that's because I am standing up ridiculously straight!

So there you have it....having fitting problems? Try a different bra!

Confessions of a distracted seamstress...

...if I can even call myself a seamstress!

So I have discovered that I have a terrible habit. I LOVE planning what project I should make next. I love looking through pattern books, surfing ebay and etsy for vintage patterns, browsing and fondling fabric, making sketches in my little note book that sits snug in my handbag...you get the idea. But it seems that once I go out and finally buy the pattern, fabric and required notions, sit down and start to sew...I get distracted. Daydreams come into my head of other wonderful things I could make and I end up planning something else and my old project sits rejected and lonely on my (rather messy) sewing table.

If you don't believe me, I refer you to the following exhibits:

Exhibit 1: New Look 6895

I started this way back in June or July when it was still nice and hot (hmm...hot by N.I. standards...reaching a balmy 17 degrees C on a good day!). All I have left to do is bind the sleeves and hem it...but I keep putting it off. That material has a mind of its own and I know that the binding is going to be a real pain! So it sits, waiting....

Exhibit 2: New Look 6902 muslin

Mysterious photo right? I made a muslin ages ago for New Look 6902 and progressed to making the dress up in purple and red, but I always thought that the dress looked really nice in the cream, with a quirky raw aspect to it. I had a brainwave to try out a new technique with it and I have to say it turned out brilliant. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. But I wanted to add a black band to the hem...and it's still sitting at the moment to be finished!!! This will definitely be dealt with soon because i really want to share this project with you!!

Exhibit 3: Matching bag for the muslin dress

I'm a little bit sad about this project. I started off super excited to make a matching bag to my muslin dress (exhibit 2) and I used the curvy clutch pattern that I used for my Queen of Hearts bag. The first time I made this bag it turned out really well, but for some reason the lining of this one didn't sit flat. I was really disappointed because i had been beavering away at this with the plan to wear the dress and bag out for my 30th birthday, but once I got to the lining problem I knew I didn't have enough free time to fix it before the big day, so it sits waiting.....

Exhibit 4: Butterick 5353

I mentioned in an earlier post about my plans to make this dress. Well here is a shot of my progress with the muslin! I decided to make the muslin in this nice Ikea fabric in the hopes that if it turns out well I will have a wearable dress out of it. But so far I have just sewn the two front princess seams in the main fabric. The next stage is to sew the princess seams in the lining...and it's so slippery and unfriendly that I'm a bit nervous to start it. So it sits waiting....

Exhibit 5: Straight skirt from Burda Magazine

Oh dear, I don't even want to talk about this one! From the same post as before I foolishly announced to the interweb my intentions to make this nice straight skirt from Burda Magazine out of this navy check. I worked away at this and kept trying it on along the way and all looked well. Then I sewed on the waistband and sewed in a really lovely invisible zip, even if I do say so myself. I was feeling rather pleased with myself. Then I tried it on...what the heck?!!! The waistband was massive and the skirt sat in the wrong place on my waist/hips. Waaaa. And to make matters worse I learnt a valuable lesson about working with lines....don't trust them!!! I 'straighted' up the hem prior to hemming and discovered I had made it soooooo much worse and the skirt was now way too short to fix. So this project has turned into what the sewing world seems to call 'wadder'. I could try and tackle the waistband again, but to be honest I can't bring myself to look at it yet!!! So it sits waiting...

Exhibit 6 (yes 6!!!): Secret Project

Ooooo another mysterious one! Well the only reason this one is mysterious is because it's nearly finished and I have a horrible feeling that I'm not going to like the end result!!!! Keeping my fingers crossed that it will all come together at the end, and with a little bit of accessorizing it will be great, if perhaps a tad eccentric!

So there you have it - is that enough proof of my problem?!! Does anyone else suffer from this terrible disease? Does anyone have any solutions or remedies? Will I ever finish another project again?!

And do you know what...I have two NEW projects I'm about to start - I'll post about them next!

Frock by Friday - Wednesday progress

Well although this is quite a simple dress pattern I thought I would follow along each day as Grosgrain dictates and not rush ahead on my own.

But the first two days were pretty basic, I didn't even go near the sewing machine!

I have been mainly cutting.....

and sticking....

I rushed home this afternoon looking forward to finally putting needle to fabric, but no post....I waited a few hours....still no post!

But the post I've been waiting for has finally arrived! I guess that's down to the whole time-difference thingy. Well, I'm too tired to start tonight so my Wednesday input will have to be included into my Thursday input!

But I'm looking forward to it!!