Well done Lauren

Yay, I made it to the opening of Sewing Bee Lauren's new shop Guthrie & Ghani! I thought I wouldn't get there on time to see the ribbon being cut as I'd been on call and so had to go to work in the morning. (I even saw Sandra who was also working and had a little chinwag about the final!) Luckily the night hadn't been too busy so I was able to get off again fairly quickly...

Stuart was there to help open the store (what's the term, launching the ship?) and Tilly turned up a wee bit later too. I think she got caught in traffic!

Lauren seemed very overwhelmed with the turnout - there were so many people queuing in the street that they had to manage it so that only a certain number of people could go in at a time - it was a bit of a squash! But what a great turnout, it was fab to see so many people (even some blokes who had come along willingly and  not because their ladies had made them...!)

The shop itself is gorgeous. Set in a mock Tudor building and done up wonderfully inside with fabrics and haberdashery downstairs and a light and airy workshop upstairs. But whoops, I forgot to take photos! (so I've included the one above and below from facebook). There were some lovely fabrics there...but I was on strict self-imposed instructions not to buy as I am soon to go on a fabric frenzy when my friend Katie comes to visit from La France.

I'm very glad that I persuaded one of my friends to sign up with me for a beginners knitting class a couple of weeks ago as I have a sneaky suspicion that Lauren's workshops are going to be very popular! Oh, hey, look at me, I'll be able to tick off another of my resewlutions!

All the best to Lauren, it's fab having such a lovely store locally. I can't wait to get knitting with her help!

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!