I'm featured on Sew Mama Sew!

Just a very quick one to say my Cambie has been featured on Sew Mama Sew today as part of the Super Online Sewing Match inspiration series!

Needless to say I'm very excited and chuffed!

Go and have a look here

See you soon x

I'm a Cambie copycat

Oh dear, I totally ripped off Rochelle from Lucky Lucille's idea of a neutral coloured Cambie skirt. I told her, though, so that doesn't totally count as stealing, right?

My original idea was to make a straight skirt (based on my tried and tested NL6843 with pockets) out of fabric that was left over from when I made my Wasp bag all those millennia ago. Remember? It's a gorgeously soft brushed cotton that I bought from (where else?) the Brum rag market. But when I saw Rochelle's version, I was smitten so I decided to pinch her idea emulate her.

Matchy matchy with my Wasp bag

I left it a bit longer initially (image above) but I didn't think it worked so I made it an inch or two shorter and I like it a lot more.

The Cambie skirt was a doddle to sew, I think I completed it in a few hours spread over two or three evenings. All the seams bar the hem have been finished with the same bias binding that I used on my olive button back blouse.

My buttonholing went horribly wrong due to the thick layers of cotton and waistband stiffener I used (have you ever used stiffener? It's amazeballs!) so it was time for my trusty press-stud-plus-fake-button trick again. If you look closely in the photo below, you can even see it looks like there's an actual buttonhole there because I couldn't get all of the damned stitches out!! Oh and I put in a pink zip because it matched the bias binding. Yes, I know you can't see the bias binding on the outside to figure out that the zip matches but tough sh*t, I know and that's all that matters.

I got to photograph it on a gorgeously sunny day with my lo-lo top. I think this skirt may well be a staple - a light colour for the summer but thick enough to wear with tights in the winter. Win!

Crazy for Cambie (and the Great British Sewing Bee)

I finally made my first Cambie!

I've been ogling this pattern for bloody ages it seems, stalking photos of it all over t'interweb and mainly swooning over it. Then I got it as an Xmas present, along with some bottle green cotton. It might even qualify as emerald green, Pantone's colour of the year, no? Get me, all cool and on trend!

Looking Pantonely smug...

I went for the A line skirt version as my first go, mainly because I thought I'd get more wear out of it (eg at work) although I'm in love with the full skirt version that Tasia made when the pattern was first launched. I'll be looking for a similar sort of fabric to make that up, methinks!

It was reasonably easy to sew. I made both the dress and lining at the same time rather than one after the other, it might have got very boring otherwise. The instructions are minimal, and do presume some pre-existing knowledge but the diagrams are good and Tasia's tutorials are fab. It took me a while to get my head round joining the dress and lining at the zip but now that I have, I think I'll be using this method forever. I cut a size 2 based on the finished garment measurements on the back of the envelope and although I'm very happy with the look of the finished dress, I do wish I'd cut the next size up for the bodice and waistband as it doesn't leave me much room to breathe!! I'll remember for the next version!

This is my first ever lined garment - and I'm so proud of the finish! I used some slippery poly lining which was fine to sew but doing normal zig zag finishing of the seams looked awful (I don't have an overlocker). So after one look at my first set of seams, I decided to French seam the rest, which looks bloody brilliant!

Inside and out

I love the gathered sleeves and the way they transform a normal dress into something more fancy. I wore it to my friends' wedding - and got the colour spot on - green for IRISH!

The left hand side of the top of the zip is a little bit wonky but other than that (and the fact that the bodice is a bit tight) I absolutely love it. Next time, I'll make the full skirted Cambie in a slightly larger size and maybe raise neckline just a wee bit. But I know one thing for certain - I will definitely be making more versions of this dress!

On a slightly different note, how exciting was the Great British Sewing Bee?! The only thing I don't like about this program is the name - it should have been called the Great British Sew Off! I already have my faves - Lauren, who lives near me and is about to open a haberdashery and fabric store, Sandra who works in the same hospital as me (eek!), celebrity blogstar Tilly and Ann, who is also from Birmingham and is just the most brilliantly unflappable person on the show! Oh, do you notice a theme? All my faves (bar Tilly, but I'll forgive her) are from in and around Brum - we are obviously the best crafting city.....

And oh. my. god. Patrick.

Hello, tailor!

Paper patterns and cat claws don't really go together, do they?

I haven't disappeared in a puff of smoke in case anyone was wondering (probably not, eh?!), I'm working on a top secret (in my mind) project at the moment, which I can't share just yet but all will be revealed soon...

Not that Merky is letting me work -
he's sitting on the pattern pieces, the rascal.

In the meantime, can anyone who has made a Sewaholic Cambie dress tell me what type of fabric you used for the lining? That's my next big project I think - my very first go at lining a dress and I've seen various things on t'interweb - cotton batiste  viscose, even cheesecloth but it's left me a bit confused. So any advice on here would be very gratefully received. My main fabric will be cotton if that makes any difference... I really need to start working with fabric that isn't cotton soon, expand my horizons a bit, but I have so much of it in my stash that I really need to use it up first!

New dresser for the kitchen - the Tinkers think it's for displaying them!

Is anyone doing anything for Valentine's? We've decided not to bother! Enjoy if you are... x

My Sewist Secret Santa gift and other cool pressies

Yay, my gift arrived today!

With a cute card (how did my Santa know I love cats I wonder?!) with a little note explaining how he/she had missed the last post before Xmas, oops! Oh well, I certainly don't mind as it's lovely to receive a present at any time!

And this is what was inside:

How cute! I'm excited just thinking about what I can do with it... Thank you SO much, Secret Santa, I'm well chuffed! I'm not even going to try and guess who my Santa actually is btw, it will hurt my brain too much...(I've been ill all week and only just starting to get better)...

It was my first "married" Christmas this year, spent with my in-laws. I was thoroughly spoilt with lots of gifts, including:

Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing

Cambie dress pattern

I also got knitting needles, crochet hooks and wool - no excuse not to learn now! With them came a book called The Knitter's Bible and in fact, I've already started knitting my very first woolly scarf! I received fabric and other sewing supplies, a really fluffy and warm dressing gown and my favourite gift:

So all in all, a very good haul, eh? I hope none of the family got my horrible cold as a present from me... Best get on and do some crafting now!