MIA again

This is just a very quick check in. I've not had much time to do anything much these past few weeks. But I thought I'd upload a couple of wip photos. I'm afraid I'm going to have to neglect my blog for a while longer but I am keeping a sneaky little eye on everyone else's to keep the creative juices flowing! Hope to be back soon(ish) xx

Miette cardi

Brasilia dress pattern testing

Knitter's paradise

Simple boot toppers - chunky

As I walk through the valley of the shadow of wool

I take a look at my life and realise it's so full

Cos I been sewin' and quiltin' so long

That even my hubby thinks that my mind has gone

Baby booties for my friend's newborn

But I ain't never crossed a yarn that didn't deserve it
A newbie like me, it's all about the 'crylic

I better watch how I'm slippin' and how I'm purlin'

And get myself used to those blasted DPNs

Oats cowl for me in Merino wool

I really hate to tink but I gotta, yo

As it unravels I see myself goin' with the flow, fool

It's the kind of K all the crafters wanna do, like

With my circs in my hand try-na knit in the moonlight...

Gauge swatch for Miette cardi

The hunt for Red October...

...is over!

Thanks to tabathatweedie, I discovered that I'd inadvertently joined in with a sewcialist sewalong!

I don't use twitter - it's as much as I can do to keep up with blogging, Ravelry, Facebook, Instagram and, well, real life let alone another social media platform! So I've been blissfully unaware of twitterings about red being a neutral colour.... And all the while, I've been making my own little neutral dress...

 

At our mini meetup a few weeks ago, Amy brought along her Belladone pattern for me to peek at and Helen kindly gave me some amazeballs fabric that she had spare. And although I hadn't planned it, I was so excited about the combo that I immediately set to work!

I did have a few teeny tiny problems along the way. But only because I'm stupid and got the right and wrong sides of the fabric mixed up...

Oops, wrong way round!

 

By this point, I'd already bound the seams so I spent ages ripping everything out and redoing. Annoy-ing.

Much better

 

After that though, it was pretty much plain sailing. I've never used so much bias binding in my life - 10m!! I wanted the inside to be as nice as the outside seeing as I couldn't be bothered didn't want to line it.

How cute is the back cut out detail? It really makes this dress special. But it's not indecently big or low so you can still wear a normal bra - win! What a shame it's turning colder now though, I'll be covering it up with a cardi over the winter. I can't wait to wear it by itself next summer to show the diamond off now!



There's only one thing that I'm not one hundred percent happy with - the stormtrooper shoulders make a return again...

 

I know I'm late on the Belladone bandwagon but this is an awesome dress! Eleonore has done it again with a fabulously easy-to-follow pattern that makes it a pleasure to sew. And the finished dress is brilliant!

 

Sorry about the quality of these photos - my laptop isn't working so I've had to do the whole post on my phone which makes for rubbish photo clarity.

Also, I was sorry to hear that the author of The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy, passed away yesterday, hence the inspiration for the title...

I'm back!

And so is my sewjo!

After almost three months of no sewing, I have finally made something! A dress!

It's a bit of a boring work dress but nevertheless it's a dress I've sewn so yay me....

I started  this Amazeballs Fit pattern at my sewing class ages ago:

I got to the point where I had done a tissue fit and was preparing to cut the fabric but then horror of horrors, my sewing class got cancelled! I was really upset at this but found out that my sewing teacher had an unforeseen family crisis and couldn't do the evening classes anymore. And then something similar happened to me too so I put everything to one side and forgot about it.

A week or so ago, I had a day off work and thought I'd better get my machine out in case I'd forgotten how to sew...and this dress came together very quickly indeed!

It's a grey polyester from Barry's - no lining needed. I cut a size 12 for the bodice and waist and 14 for the skirt and added pockets as normal (I'm not sure I can make any garment without adding pockets now!)

It's definitely a tad looser that I would ideally like - I forgot that the seam allowance is stupidly large, and I'm not entirely sure why I didn't cut a size 12 skirt, but at least this way, I'm not sucking myself in at work! The fabric frayed like mad so I French seamed the princess and side seams and used bias binding for the rest. It feels ok but it's not the most structured material in the world and I'm not sure I'd use it again. Next time, I'll use nicer fabric and make the whole thing a bit more fitted - it doesn't really look like the photo on the pattern envelope - or is that just the model?! But, hey ho, my dress is functional for work so I'm happy. It'll do, pig, it'll do.

I've already got my next two projects queued up although things will still be slow around here as family life still isn't back to normal. But to be honest, I'm happy just to be sewing again!

This knitting lark is pretty addictive (and there's some sewing too)

My knitting is coming on in leaps and bounds! I've finished my first ever in-the-round make! Here's the Oats cowl, pattern courtesy of Tin Can Knits.

 

It was my first foray into circular knitting and I must say I'm hooked! I found some Addi bamboo circular needles at Yarnsmith for a very reasonable price and got the yarn (aran weight, a mixture of acrylic and wool) from a local (very friendly) wool shop called Christine's in Bournville. It's really soft!

The cowl is for my sister as a birthday present - which isn't till December so shhh!

Oh and guess what? I had a day off today so I actually got my sewing machine out and started the beginnings of a dress! Reckon it's going to be slow going as I'll only be able to work on it in dribs and drabs but even still, I feel like I have my sewjo back...