Snow - you can do one!

If it's been a bit quiet around here, it's because I've been away for a week. Skiing in Alpe d'Huez to be exact. It was my first time skiing, although I have been snowboarding before (not too enamoured with that, didn't really get the hang of it). Learning to ski was a lot of fun though.

We stayed in a friendly little village called Villard Reculas. Unfortunately we only had one day of sun in the entire week but it didn't spoil the fun. Most of the time it was either snowing or very misty.

My friend Liz and I had private lessons all week and then on the last day, we went off to the other side of the resort to play with the big kids on the big(ger) slopes. Oh and eat things like this Tartine Fraicheur. And tarte tatin. And lots of cheese...

So now I'm back home. I would really like it if the snow went away. I went on holiday when it was snowy, I had a week of playing in the snow and I came home to find snow on the ground still. GO AWAY! I'm fed up of you. The weather forecast says more flurries to come. Rubbish.

Today there was some sunshine at last. I'm relaxing (and recovering from all my aches and pains!) at home with my little Moomins and some sewing. Here are some WIP photos - can you guess what it is yet? There will hopefully be more photos at the end of the week as I'm hoping to have it ready to wear for my friend's wedding on Friday.

And to top off my addiction, I bought another two vintage patterns from eBay...

...and a few others that I took a fancy to, mainly as they were half price at Jaycotts... I will be a busy girl this year! I've put a ban on patterns until 2014. And I will stick to it. I will, ok? Don't look at me like that, with your raised eyebrow and smirky smile!

Clockwise from top left: NL6799, NL6000, McCall's 6460, NL 6968

Hope everyone is having a relaxed Easter weekend!

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Why no garment sewing? Because it's baby time!

No, I'm not pregnant! But two of my friends are. One's due in a few weeks and the other is having her baby shower very soon. So I've taken a little break from making clothes and gone back to my sewing roots to do some quilting. Well, quilt top making at least, as I've made baby blankets rather than proper quilts.

I found some lovely fleece which had little cutiepies embroidered in the corner that were perfect for a soft, cuddly backing. And then began the creative, but slightly tedious, job of cutting up strips of baby boy-appropriate fabric to make a scrappy top.

I didn't bother to quilt the whole thing together, or to put any wadding in the middle, because I wanted to keep the fleecey side as soft as possible so I just sewed it up right sides together then topstitched it once turned right sides out. Looks just perfect for a littley to snuggle up under!

All wrapped up!

Back to my usual selfish sewing from now on!

My entry for the Pattern Review Fitted Blouse Contest

I was planning to make this blouse weeks ago but when I discovered there was a contest, my competitive edge got the better of me...

My mum had given me a bagful of mystery fabrics a while ago and in there was a really rich maroon coloured one which was always destined to be a top. I think it's cotton sateen because it has a slight sheen to it. It was a b*****d to wash though - I knew it would run as it's so dark so I hand washed it. It left pink streaks all around the edges of the bath!

The instructions were fairly straightforward for the most part except for the collar. Really badly written in my opinion. I initially thought it would be done a certain way by using the two cut pieces for the collar and sewing them right sides together then turning them right sides out but the instructions didn't seem to say that at all. They kept referring to the collar piece and the collar facing (which I thought meant neck facing for some reason, probably because they only mentioned the collar facing for this one step and didn't mention it in the layout etc). Anyway, eventually I did it my way and realised that my intuition had been right all along and I'd just got myself confused! I still didn't get part of it right as I wasn't left with a slit/hole to put the knot of the bow through but it didn't make a huge difference as it was easy enough to attach by hand using a few tacking stitches. It adds a really cute touch, no?

I had to increase the width of the back darts loads because it was too big, even though I cut the pattern according to the finished garment measurements. The original sleeves were huge too so I set them in with a massive seam allowance.

Back view - should have checked that the
collar was properly uncurled, oops!

Anyway, I'm happy with the blouse overall as it is perfect for work tucked into a skirt. I've entered it into the contest, voting opens on 2 April so if you think my entry is good, please vote for me!! I will put up a reminder nearer the time...

Cordurordurorduroy!

Well, that's what Mr Sabs calls it anyway...

I love this stuff. L.O.V.E. I could wear it all year round. It's so soft and warm and touchy-feely!

I saved a bit of the black cord left over from my pinafore dress as I wanted to make a work appropriate skirt for the winter. And as I already had the New Look 6843 pattern, I thought it was bound to be a win win situation. And it was!

The first skirt I made with this pattern (the mustard one) is a little bit bigger than I wanted, though I regularly wear it for work, so this time I cut the smallest size (which was a whole two sizes smaller than the first attempt) It was a close shave, as it only just fits! As before, I added pockets using instructions from the Kelly skirt pattern and lined them with an old grey shirt of my hubby's that needed chucking out. Underarm sweat patches that won't come out in the wash are not a good look, darling...

My new best friend was indispensable for my skirt - look, just look, at how neat my invisible zip is! Woo hoo, I did it, success at last!

The button on the back is actually a bit of a cheat - I couldn't be bothered to make a buttonhole so I used a popper and sewed a button on the front. Shh, don't tell no-one, or you'll be sleeping with the horses. Or perhaps that should be frozen "beef" lasagne...

Anyway, onwards and upwards to my next make. I didn't get round to making the NL6808 last weekend like I had planned and then I saw that Pattern Review have got a Fitted Blouse contest this month so I've decided to enter it in that!

I'll put photos up with a link to the contest once I'm done - please vote for me!