Knit!

I haven't had much time to sew recently - coat still very much in the muslin stage - so in the spare time I have had, I've started knitting! The great thing about knitting is that you don't need much equipment (essentially two sticks and some string!) and it's really easy to pick up and put down. I had started a baby's cardigan MONTHS ago which I've finally almost finished, just need to sew it together in finish the front band (with buttonholes - gagh!) and I'm also having a bash at socks - first prototype in the pic! The whole four kneedles thing was a little off-putting at first (I find it difficult enough to wrangle two), but I'm getting there I think. Also now that the temperatures are starting to drop in London, I'm going to make a nice hat and scarf - check out the chunky wool (= fast progress!) in the background next to my foot.


My only concern with this knitting malarkey is the temptation of.... yarn stash!

Muslin madness - sans sleeves

Talk about behind schedule... I've finally cut out my muslin pieces and started to sew everything together. I cut out a Burda size 10 on the basis of the measurements on the chart for the bust, but now I've started to put it all together, I think it might be a little too small - so ANNOYING as I'm really not sure I can be bothered to cut out everything again... GAAAGH. I've only sewn together the bodice, not the arms yet, and it seems maybe a little snug on me in the bust area (hilariously). Though when I think about it, a US size 10 is a UK size 6 I think - so hardly surprising it seems a bit small. Could I just use an extra 1/4" from each of the seam allowances on the princess seams at the front? That comment probably highlights just how little I know about fitting...perhaps I will attach the sleeves before making a judgement on this. But I need to find out what is the easiest way to add a little more room around the bust. On the other hand though, on the version I found on Pattern Review, it was nicely fitted around the bust. And I don't want to be wearing big wooly jumpers under it - am thinking it will be more the type of coat to wear with skinny jeans and a lovely scarf and heeled boots... yougetme? 


EDIT: I just read this fab blog post which of course noted that the pattern is from Burda's young fashion range, so the sizing is a bit more teen-y - explains the snugness then!

The other thing I'm not sure about is the back. It is not a closely fitted style, but I'm not sure whether I need to do anything with the back? Any thoughts (though appreciate I have not posted a very good before/after pic)?? I can't decide whether there is a bit too much fabric in it somehow (vertically?) or whether that is just the style. I recently bought myself a beautiful coat for my birthday, and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror earlier today and noticed that the back fits in a similar way to this pattern - quite loose.

More pics to follow once I have attached sleeves! I think then I'll be in a better position to judge the fit. The armholes (without the sleeves) currently feel very snug for a coat (like the bottom of the armhole is a little too close to my armpit??), but I guess that's maybe because of all the extra seam allowance which hasn't been trimmed? Again, no idea how to adjust this... off to do some googling / reading of sewing books....

Assorted notions

I am really looking forward to doing some proper real-live tailoring with the sew-along.. though I have a fair way to go before I reach that stage. I still haven't cut out my muslin! It's going to be a big day Chez Cybersewer on Sunday! We have a wedding on Saturday so I need to NOT get too hungover, and we must go to church on Sunday - haven't been for absolutely weeks!
One thing I really hope to get from the sew-along is attaching the shell to the lining well. I did have to do this with my test jacket but could have done with some know-how on what to do with finishing the lining on the inside and stuff - and more particularly, the ORDER in which I am supposed to be doing this! When to finish edges before sewing as opposed to after, all that sort of thing. I need to do some more reading of the jacket-tailoring-bible because I seem to recall that sets out the best order in which to do things. And of course I'm sure Gertie will be posting lots of helpful stuff.
Does anyone else have trouble with knowing the correct order in which to do things, especially when you are going a little off piste with the packet instructions?...


Muslin updates soon...

Goin' my own way

I wasn't exaggerating about the full social calender in my last post - we have been away every weekend since my last post. Ca-rah-zee. It was my birthday on Friday though and my lovely husband whisked me off to Portofino in Italy for a surprise weekend. Fabulous or what! And I took an extra day off yesterday to do some URGENT fabric shopping for the coat sew along.

It was while I was meandering down Berwick Street towards Borovick's that I got to thinking more about the Lady Grey pattern. Delicious though it is, I tend to agree with Eugenia in her post on the matter that perhaps the shape of the coat won't be great on me. Now I am not teeny-tiny, but at 5'5", I can see how the swishy back of the coat might do a little too much ass-swamping. When I was in Peter Jones I had a look in some of the pattern books and found Burda 7735 - view A, in yellow in the photo here (which reminds me, why is it VIRTUALLY impossible to order Burda patterns online from the UK through the Burda site??). This will be much more flattering on me, I really suit this shape and also, the style has a lot in common with Lady Grey - princess seams, notched collar and all that. Plenty of buttonholes for me to practice on too (DOOM). So I think I'm gonna go with this one but follow the sew-along anyway...

I have accumulated the necessary for my muslin, but have only just roughly cut out the pattern pieces (there are, like, a zillion about twenty five bits for this coat) so plenty way to go there... I am going to use the muslin method that Gertie is using which looks like it might increase the chances of a good end result. I have also purchased my fashion fabric from MacCulloch & Wallis (£15p/m reduced from £25p/m) - pics to follow when I have figured out how to take proper photos of fabric - colour looks all weird.

Baby bunting

Not much garment sewing progress here, though my lovely Lady Grey pattern arrived a few days ago which was very exciting. I have ordered some heavy calico (calico and muslin are two different things - muslin in the UK is what cheesecloth (?) is in the US I cannot imagine making a toile out of cheesecloth. Anyway, I digress) which should get here soon, and some coloured tracing paper which should help with cutting things out a little more accurately than usual. I haven't had a chance to go shopping for fabric yet - and I am a little loathe to buy something unseen from the interweb... though not sure when I am going to get a chance to wander down Goldhawk Road any time soon (horrific succession of social engagements coming up).

Anyway, I have this evening while waiting for husband to get home, cut out some triangles to make some bunting to go with the baby quilt I made for my sister. Nothing like a bit of monotony! Sewing all those triangles and pushing out those points will no doubt have me going mad.

Baby quilt and stuff

So later than promised in my previous post, some pics of the baby quilt I made for my sister's imminent arrival. It is by no means perfect (don't look too close at ANY of the blocks) but I'm pretty pleased with it because it looks like something I would like to have around the house. The back is just all one fabric. I think it's a good size for either a cot quilt or a playmat. Hopefully it will get some use.

So back to garment sewing... It is with great excitement that I await my Lady Grey coat pattern from Colette Patterns so I can get cracking with Gertie's fantabulous coat sew along. It has dispatched so should be here any day now... pretty excited about getting all the supplies ready and also learning some funky tailoring techniqiues. I have never joined a sew-along before, but I think it will suit me pretty well. I have no issues testing things out, finding supplies and resources, but what I really lack is the discipline to keep sewing regularly - even if only for half an hour a day! I'm hoping the structure of the sew-along will help with that.

I am also hoping to finish the Vogue purple dress - it needs hemming and the centre back seam finishing. The fit isn't fab (I should have made a muslin - when will I learn!) but it will do. I seem to have constructed the zipper and lining in a slightly different way to the instructions so I am a little baffled at the best way to finish everything off, but I'll get there...

I think my next project (to run alongside the coat sew-along) is going to be a simple one - a skirt based on the Jenny skirt pattern from Burda. And I am actually going to make a muslin of this to make sure the fit is right! I need a tried and tested skirt pattern - would be great to have a few for work, and this high-waisted style suits me.

Let's see how far I get with finishing my purple dress!

Recidivist

Oh, I have been remiss. It has been many weeks since my last post. There has been a lot going on here - summer fun, my poor husband (still sounds odd saying that) was knocked off his bicycle and had a nasty break to his elbow (still in a sling, poor thing), parents visiting... not much time for sewing. Until the weekend just gone! I made some more progress on my Vogue dress, but also in a fit of productivity, made my first ever quilt! A square one for my little sister's baby - which is due on September 18th, the day after my birthday! I am actually really impressed with how it turned out - pics to follow.
frustration with said dress

In an effort to get me back in the sewing groove, I am going to join Gertie's coat sew-along, and have just purchased the pattern from Collette. Hopefully it will arrive before we start!

I will try and post some pics of the dress and my little quilt tonight. I have been terrible at posting generally, but I do read all the lovely blogs I follow almost every day (though I have not been commenting) - thank you all for the lovely posts on your blogs which have made me feel I am still in the sewing loop.

Quick update - Vogue 8555

I have been doing some sewing, though we have had a lovely stretch of warm weather here in London which has meant more time outside drinking Pimm's and less time in the study sewing! A few quick (bad) pics of the dresss - just have to put the zip in and fit the back seam and do the hem now... was thinking of doing it today, but it's just too warm!

Excuse the lack of ironing, it needs a good press before the next stage. I did a French seam on the side seams but annoyingly forgot to trim the seam allowance before sewing the second part of the seam, so I have some little threads poking out of the seam on the outside which will need trimming. I am so far pretty pleased with how this is working out, though a bit nervous about putting the zipper in with the lining... also not sure about the pleat at the bottom and how long to finish them hem - will I need the pleat? I think this dress will look awesome with a funky belt and my lovely Chloe wedges. I'm going to try and finish it in the next week or so, my parents are visiting in a couple of weeks and would love to be able to wear it out to lunch with them.

Return of my sewing mojo (sew-jo??) - Vogue 8555

The pink Burda dress horror was doing my head in - I decided to put it to one side and get on with something else. I was inspired by a recent trip to Joel's Fabrics up by Edgeware Road (more on that in another post - I am still recovering from the BEATING my AmEx took that day) and I bought a load of patterns (with the awesome Sew Today 50% discount - huzzah!) which got me all enthusiastic again.
One of my amazing purchases from Joel's was some gorgeous purple floral cotton. This stuff is cotton the likes of which I have never seen, it feels so smooth and almost silky - and as it was a bolt end (at two metres!) it was in the 50% off section (which was frankly just as well as I think at full price it was about £25 a metre - that place is NOT cheap)... then when some of the patterns I had ordered came at the weekend, I spotted Vogue 8555 which I thought would be fab for my lovely purple cotton. I am making view B (the yellow dress in the link). The dress is lined and I had some beige silky lining which is perfect. On Saturday I did a quick muslin of the bodice in size 10 which seemed generally ok though might need taking in at the centre back when I put the zipper in.

I have so far finished the bodice which looks good so far - I really like the pleats on the neckline and the sweetheart shape at the front is pretty cool. I am really keen to finish this dress as professionally as possible - and I wanted to understitch the lining to the seam allowances as per the instructions (which say to understitch 'as far as possible'). The annoying thing is that the instructions said to do that after I'd sewn the lining and the fabric together at the neckline and armholes - and the curves just wouldn't let me get the sewing machine all the way around. I couldn't just go part of the way and stop - it would look odd on the inside surely??

What is the best way to do this properly?? Advice please!

On the length, I was going to have it above the knee (the is the most flattering length on me) but now I'm thinking if I taper the skirt in towards the hem a bit more to make it a bit more pencil-y, it might be ok just over the knee... hmmmm. To be continued.

Funky pink noticeboard

So I made my noticeboard! It was acutally super easy and only took a couple of hours. I think

if I was doing it again (I might make another for my sister), I would be a little more accurate with the measuring and marking for the ribbons, and would als

o finish the back with some nice fabric and trim (I won't show you the back of this

one, but it's pretty agricultural!).

What I used:

• piece of MDF: the stuff I used is 5mm thick which is not too heavy to hang but sturdy enough to withstand the stapling and other stuff without warping
• cork tiles: these were surprisingly hard to find..! I found some self adhesive ones which were actually quite spenny (£11 for 4, each tile 12" square). They can be easily cut to size with a penknife. You need enough to cover your MDF.
• batting: I got the cheap polyester fluffy stuff you buy from big rolls in John Lewis. Again, enough to cover your MDF.
• fabric to cover: I chose a shocking pink cotton velvet. Lush!
• Ribbon: to make the webby bit at the side to slip envelopes etc into. I think grossgrain is probably better as it won't stretch but will see how this stuff lasts - I used some satin ribbon I had in my stash.
• Tools: a staple gun (awesome) - it was about £15 from Peter Jones, hammer, ruler, flathead screwdriver (for getting out staples if you make a mistake), and some upholstery pins (the kind you see nailed into the trim around chairs and stuff)

Step 1

I found it easiest to work on the floor for most of the tim

e. You need to start with your piece of MDF flat on the floor so it is easy to affix the cork.

Step 2

Glue on your cork tiles. The tiles I used were self adhesive but if you can't find those, you could just glue them I guess - someone in a DIY store would be able to recommend the right kind of adhesive for glueing cork to wood. Out of luck rather than by design, my bit of MDF was almost exactly two feet wide, so I didn't need to do too much

hacking of the cork... I don't think it really matters if you don't get the cork right up to the edge of the MDF as the whole lot gets covered by batting and fabric anyway.

Step 3

Cut your batting to size. I wanted to use batting so the noticeboard had a nice soft squishy quality - fabric straight on top of the cork would have been quite flat and also the batting fills out the fabric a bit I think. I was pretty haphazard about cutting the batting too - I don't think it needs to be super exact. I just put the batting on top of the cork (the two surfaces sort of stick together because the cork has sticky-out bits which snag on the fluffiness of the batting) and cut around it. I stapled the four corners to keep the batting in place while I was putting the fabric on.

Step 4

Stapling the fabric. Again I was pretty rough and ready here... though you probably want to keep the fabric and the MDF on the straight grain I guess. Make sure the fabric is as bit as the MDF with at least two or three inches to spare on each edge. I found it easiest to do one narrow end first - lay the fabric on top of the batting and then turn the whole thing over, and fold the narrow edge over onto the back of the MDF and staple. I stapled about every three inches.

Then do the other short end - pull the fabric so it is nice and taut but not overstretched. Then do the long sides in the same way.I folded the corners in the same way I would wrap a present, and put a staple over the corner folds. I was almost tempted to just leave it how it was without ribbon - looks pretty cool I think!

Step 5

I wanted one side of the notice board to have ribbon webbing on it for putting letters in and stuff. Draw a vertical line with chalk where you want the division to be (I actually just pinned a ribbon on for this as per the pic, but marking this line would have been better). To mark the lines for the ribbon, I drew lines about 2.5" apart at 45 degrees with chalk.

I then stapled the ribbons over the lines where they crossed the vertical line (mine were a bit long, but I trimmed them afterwards), and then on to the back of the MDF (being careful to let the ribbon follow the shape of the edge of the board). Once I had done all of the ribbons going one way, I did those going the other way using the same method. I then stapled a wider piece of ribbon over the vertical line (I only stapled this on the back, where the ribbon wrapped over the edge and on to the back of the MDF) and tapped in the upholstery pins where the ribbons crossed. You don't need to do this every place the ribbons cross especially if you want to leave bigger spaces for letters, but it is good to make sure the vertical piece of ribbon is secure. Et voila! I hung it using some little screw in hooks (I used two on the back of the noticeboard) with picture wire between them, then a good old fashioned nail in the wall. You could actually just leave it propped up on a desk though.

I think it's ok for a first attempt - but most of all, it will be useful!

Yet ANOTHER changearound in the sewing room...

This time, with the help of Ikea and my lovely husband, I have a lovely nice long sewing table, more drawer space and some cool shelves to put stuff on. It's so nice being able to really stretch out and have a clear space for sewing, and also to look out of the window onto the gardens!

I think I am going to make a

noticeboard to hang to the right of my new table, so I can pin up ideas and pictures and pattern instructions and stuff. I have got a piece of MDF all ready to go, and some self adhesive cork tiles, some batting and some jazzy pink cotton velvet to cover it. Not exactly sure how it will turn out, so watch this space!

GAAAAGGGHHH...

I have been sewing - but not much posting! I made a start on Burda 113 from the 8/2009 edition in some lovely silk. I have so far almost finished the top half - I used some of the gorgeous cerise silk I got on Goldhawk Road a few weeks ago. Frustratingly though, I must have added on too much seam allowance at the bottom of the back, because after sewing the side seams I realised that there is too much fabric i the back armhole - you might just be able to see from the pic how there is too much floatiness going on in the back of the sleeves? Also, again, REALLY frustratingly, I must have done something wrong on the ruched front self facing because it wasn't long enough to actually make a self facing for the inside front, so the seam is on the neckline. For some stupid reason, I sewed this with a zig zag stitch, which you can see peeking through the fabric.

So annoyed. Basically something must have went awry when I was copying the pattern.

Not sure the best way to fix this stuff - for the front perhaps I unpick the zig zag seam, and maybe sew another bit of the cerise silk long enough to fold to the inside and make the self facing? Notice how from the front the bottom edge is curved - I think it is supposed to be straight so maybe I have more fabric I can pull up and wrap over to form the self facing...? Another issue I think is that the silk is heavy so it pulls the inside lining up where the self facing is supposed to be (does that make sense?) - maybe once the lining is sewed at the waist it will be a bit better.

For the sleeve, think I am going to have to unpick the side seams and sew them again. Annoying. Any other ideas?? Have to say, totally NOT loving the brevity of the Burda instructions... next project is going to be from a PROPER PATTERN with, like, PAGES of instructions....

BTW, apart from these miscellaneous disasters, this silk is a JOY to sew with. So heavy and feels so lovely!

Now to find my seam ripper.....

I'm hexed!

While surfing the sewing interweb, I found this and thought it was such a cool picture. Then I found the blog of Texas Freckles, and read about her hexagon piece-along. And thought I might have a little go... the thought of hand sewing I could do almost anywhere was awesome - a little bit at a time whenever I have a spare few moments. And a weird and funky quilt to show for it at the end! So I printed out some sheets of 1" hexagons to cut up and found some scraps of fabric I had leftover.... wow - it is so addictive! But awesome fun. The patch of sewn toghether hexes I did just to see whether I would in fact be able to sew them together neatly, but it all turned out ok for that little sample. It takes something crazy like one thousand 1" hexagons to make a sensibly sized quilt. Maybe I will get bored before then... but it is so nice to have something creative to do while sitting on the sofa watching Hollyoaks (busted). I think I am going to piece the hexagons together in bands 3 or four wide diagonally - one strip coloured and then one made up of only off-white coloured hexagons. There are lots of ideas out there. The only thing that stands between me and a fab hand sewn quilt is about... oh, 900 hexagons??

Where are you, UK sewists?

In light of my recent foray into quilting, I have be doing a little cyber-browsing of quilting blogs and websites. Wowzers – quilting is VERY popular in the US! Not sure what other UK sewists have found, but I have noticed that sewing and quilting is much more popular in the US than it is here. Or at the very least, there are a lot fewer people who blog about it here… There has been a resurgence of crafting in the UK – particularly with respect to knitting which has become very trendy in the past couple of years (I am STILL knitting the back of a baby cardigan I started AGES ago – the bloody pattern is written in Greek or something) – a result of the credit crunch and the desire to improvise mainly, but I think people have also started to realize how satisfying it can be to make things; either for yourself or to give away. I haven't yet got to the stage where I have (a) made very many things, or (b) considered that any of the things I have made would be welcome gifts. That is something I hope quilting might fix – quilts must make lovely presents. I know I'd love to be given one! If only they didn't take so long to make… though I think that is probably just practice. And the fact that the quilt I have decided to make as my first appears to have about one billion teeny tiny pieces (I am prone to exaggeration).

A couple of my girlfriends have expressed an interest in sewing / knitting / quilting (one is making a rag rug – though I think her current rate of progress is not dissimilar to that of my baby cardigan) and we keep talking about having some sort of sewing circle. Maybe just meeting up one weekend or evening to chat and sew (or 'rug' – whatever the 'doing word' for that is) – a few cocktails, cupcakes, some Lady Gaga… Perhaps I should be more aggressive in my corralling and just propose a date.

Do any of you meet with like-minded people to natter and stitch? If so, how did you get started?

Who'da thought it?!

My new sewing machine came with, like, a zillion new feet. I have only experimented with about three of them so far, but - THESE LITTLE FEET DO ALL SORTS OF COOL STUFF! Rolled hem foot -BOOM - nice little neat rolled hem! I'm not absolutely certain I'm using it properly though - the instructions in the manual aren't the most clear... but it seems to produce an ok result... how do I know exactly how wide to finger-fold the hem??...

Tonight I have been using the 1/4" seam foot to help me sew some of the strips together for the quilt I'm making. This little baby has a little metal guide on it to make sure that the seam is actually 1/4" - so far proving to be much more accurate than my current magnetic seam guide thingy...

I am so keen to find something which divulges all the awesome ways I can use the special feet that came with my machine when I am making garments. The instruction book is informative but not very inspiring..!

Do any of you have any interesting techniques or finishes using different feet that you'd like to share with me??

New arrival...

My sewing-related spending binge has continued unchecked (this is REALLY IT for a while ever) and later today I shall be taking delivery of a Janome 6600P - how exciting is that! I decided a little while ago that maybe it was time to upgrade from my sweet but very basic J3-20 - I think this will be a giant leap... it obviously has about a million more features than I need or will probably ever use, but I am so looking forward to playing with it when it arrives. I did a fair bit of research on the internet and joined a Janome6600p-specific Yahoo group (!), and also went in to Peter Jones on Oxford Street to have a test drive (though I have to admit I didn't buy it from there but from a great UK based site which had £200 off the RRP) - I was amazed at how smooth and quiet it was - and (this might not be the right word) sure-footed! Aside from all the wizzy stitches it can do, the quality of the straight stitch was great and am pretty excited about this whole Accu-feed thing it has going on (supposed to make sewing different stuff together easier). I read that Sew-cial Butterfly is also waiting for the exact same machine to be delivered!

No doubt I will be overwhelmed by the instruction manual - but SO looking forward to making stuff with this!

Anyone else have one of these machines and have any experiences (good or bad) to share??

Fabric splurge

Woops.

I won't even bother with the faux oh-how-did-I-manage-to-spend-so-much-on-yet-more-fabric apology. There was fabric shopping. The end.

But BEHOLD!

This paint splattery lushness I got from MacCulloch & Wallis on Tuesday. It was pretty spenny... and probably not to everyone's taste, but I thought so amazing! It is a cotton with something (cannot remember now due to excitement, but I did find out) woven on top, very slightly metallic. But isn't the print really Marc Jacobs or Matthew Williamson-esque?? I love it. It will make such a funky dress (or maybe summer coat - but not sure I'm brave enough to try a coat yet) - desperate to find the right pattern for it though. It has quite a bit of body (is that the right word?), I think because of the sort of two layer thing it has going on.
Any suggestions?


Then from Shaukat I got two pieces of Liberty silk - one funky peacock feather purple which I thought would make a nice sort of slinky but
not-too-clingy dress... Quite an unusual fabric I thought - but it felt amazing! I have never sewed with this type of silky silk before (as opposed to dupion type which I made Jackie from) so not sure how I will fare...

The second piece was a little more
conventional and I thought would make a nice tea dress - the print is actually quite small and in a pale blue - from a distance the fabric looks a lot lighter than in this close up shot. But how nice for Sunday tea or lunch with the in-laws, don'tchathink?

I need some pattern suggestions... I also picked up a load of cheap cotton for making toiles which the lady at MacCulloch & Wallis kindly sold me for 50p a metre as it was a bit dusty. So armed and dangerous! I acquired the Michael Kors Vogue 1117 which I am so keen to try but concerned it might be a bit advanced...?! The thought of cutting into this prime stash is pretty nerve racking... Though that's what all that cheap cotton is for, right??

Armed with fabric and certainly dangerous - roll on the next big sewing sesh!

Finished!

Over the bank holiday weekend I finally finished the Burda top I started here - I thought it very disciplined of me to finish it before moving on to the next project. Here are a few pics of it. I am generally happy with it, though I didn't bother making the button holes on the sleeves (just sewed on buttons as trimming) as I didn't need to be able to open and close the vents. Similarly I didn't bother with the tie side, just left it plain and sewed another button on there too. The finish on the neckline is a bit dull and I wish I had done something a bit more interesting or fun than the pattern directed - maybe just put the binding on so you could see it from the front too. I used french seams for all of the seams, after being inspired by the incredibly neat finish on all of Amanda's creations - I guess practice will eventually make somewhere closer to perfect for me..!

The fabric is a Rose & Hubble remnant I got from the most

amazing fabric shop - Shaukat - which is actually only ten minutes walk from me. I was down there at the weekend and got some amazing Liberty silk - more on that in another post! It is quite a sweet little top for the nicer weather we hope to be getting soon - in the picture I am wearing it with jeans post-work, but I actually wore it to the office today tucked in to a black skirt.

So I am starting to feel like I am a bit more in the sewing groove now, and ready to tackle a nice frock I think - especially given what happened when I went to Shaukat.....

Straight lines

So since my last post, I STILL haven't managed to do any sewing yet due to work / post wedding wedmin / housework. Today Husband (!) and I had yummy brunch and then went to see Clash of the Titans (meh) and this afternoon I have spent a couple of hours reorganising my sewing room our study - I thought it might inspire me further to break out the old sewing machine. I think the new layout is quite good - now two workstations (bottom left of room) and almost the full table for cutting out... we'll see.

Anyway, to get me back in the sewing groove I thought I'd start with (or really, continue with) the quilt I started months ago. Although I am primarily learning to sew to make clothes, I really love gorgeous bed linen and I thought it awesome to have some colourful quilts to chuck over plain white sheets (I buy almost exclusively plain white bed linen - looks so clean and fresh!) and a few months ago I bought this lovely book called Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam & Nicky Lintott and started a cool looking quilt called 'Sparkling Gemstones' (I know, bit lame) with some fat quarters I had bought for the purpose. Then the wedmin got me... so I picked it up today thinking I'll crack on with a few straight lines to get me warmed up before starting my next fashion proj. Though boring, sewing in a straight line is quite mindless and theraputic (in small doses!).

So for my next fashion proj, thinking the simple blouse no. 102 from this month's Burda. Do you think that would be ok in a silk? It does seem to have dreaded buttonholes though... gagh.

Has anyone made this yet?

PS for those of you who have asked, we went to the Maldives for our honeymoon - bliss!

BACK!

I am back! From the crazy planning, flower-choosing, dress-fitting, menu-tasting mayhem of wedmin. I am now Mrs! In the months since Christmas I don't think I've had a spare weekend to myself. The wedding was absolutely beautiful though, definitely the best day of my life. The dress was fabulous, everything was just perfect. And I am now married to the man of my dreams. We got back from an amazing honeymoon on Monday, and I have been so looking forwad to getting back on the sewing bandwagon.

So, ENOUGH about wedmin!

Very excited to get into my sewing room at the weekend and just relax and plan my next project, as well as catching up on all of your fab blogs and seeing what everyone has been up to.

Any ideas for a project to get me excited and cutting fabric on Saturday??