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?

Tuesday's Tutorial Treat: Jumper to Bag Refashion

Hi Folks - I'm back from my holidays. Lots and lots to share with you, but I haven't had a spare second to get the photos sorted so for now I leave you with quite possibly one of the most awesome refashions I have seen:

How to refashion a jumper (sweater for you guys over the pond) into a roomy bag - why didn't I think of this!!!! Featured on A Lemon Squeezy Home.

Link HERE!

P.S. Boy you guys have been busy over the last month...I had almost 1000 blog posts to read in my reader! And me being me, I didn't want to miss out on anything and have finally caught up and read them all - phew!

Tuesday's Tutorial Treat: Covered Notebook and matching Pen

My boyfriend will hate me saying this (he's a teacher), but it's now August and there's really only a month left 'til school starts again (for Northern Ireland anyway!) - still enough time to whip up this cute covered notebook and matching pen set as a wee 'back to school' present (or for yourself of course!). This tutorial comes from By Small Means:

Link HERE

Project Planning - Denim Kasia Skirt

Not as organised as I'd like to be for this post! I have no image of my fabric to go with this pattern - so you'll just have to use your imagination! 

That shouldn't be too hard because the fabric is just a black denim. I've had it in my stash for awhile so I think it's about time I put it to good use. And I plan on making the Kasia skirt from Burda Style (free pattern people!!! Go and make it yourself as well!).

Here's the pattern drawing:

If my memory is correct, the front buttons open up to a zip front. At the moment I think I will make the skirt with red buttons (similar to the image below) and perhaps make the pocket inserts with red and white stripe cotton. What do you guys think?

Free pattern HERE

Tuesday's Tutorial Treat: Monster!

OK, today is a fun tutorial - but still sewing related. Check out these stinkin' cute monsters from White Waxflower:

Go. Make.