Snazzy Seams

I have a new best friend.

Meet……….

 

Gertrude!

 

 

I picked her up about 5.15 this evening, took a detour to get shopping on the way home and by 7.00 I was happily chugging along. I LOVE HER!!!! Some people have bromances, some people have girl crushes, I have machine infatuation. 

My first ever attempt on using Gertrude failed. BUT that was only because I forgot to raise the little wire-y thing at the top (hey, I’m new to this- wire-y thing is a very technological and precise term, thank you).

After I raised the aforementioned wire-y thing my first proper seam came out like this

 

Are you fucking with me? This shit is this easy?!

I mean sure the tension needed adjusting a little but damn, that’s some pretty fine seamage. 

Luckily she came with thread already. Unluckily 2 of the cones are bright red so I only managed to overlock the seams on one dress and have to wait to get more use out of her.

Also unluckily the threads weren’t threaded. Man that was painful. Really simple to follow since it’s all colour-coded and there’s a lovely diagram but what a PAIN IN THE ARSE! How big do they think my hands are exactly? 

I’m not complaining one little bit though. She works like a dream. And you know how much I paid? £52. 

Twirly Teal

Happy Easter!!!

Hope you all had a fabulous time-4 day weekend isn’t bad is it?! (Although I get two weeks off so ha!)

Anyway, enough bragging. I made something new! And by something you know it’s a dress…

Here it is!

I got the fabric from my recent Walthamstow trawl, think it was £2 a metre or something ridiculous. I’ve still got about 0.5m-0.75m left! And no idea what to do with it. (Ideas anyone?)

The pattern is basically the Daisy Dress by Eliza M but I lengthened the sleeves.

The lining is soooooooooo gorgeously soft, and it drapes beautifully. I’m really pissed at myself that I didn’t pick up more in every colour. It was £1.40 p/m and comes in every colour imaginable. I wish I’d taken a photo of the lining before I attached because when I tried it on it looked like the most beautiful shift dress but so comfy to wear and I almost didn’t attach it. But I had to

The ribbon belt is rubbish I know- it was all I had. If you can’t see it’s that really cheap feeling plastic-y type ‘ribbon’. I’m hoping to find a closer colour match in proper double-faced satin and then stitch it onto the dress, which obviously I didn’t do with this one because it SUCKS BALLS!!!

The hem was a ginormous pain in the arse. I’ve never hemmed lace before and it was horrible! I tried double turning it up and it didn’t press too well and looked bulky and gross, so ripped it out. Then I tried horsehair braid which was too heavy for the delicate lace so out that came too. Then I got out my rolled hem foot which seemed like the perfect solution except the lace kept getting stuck on the foot and after about 10 seconds that got annoying- so ripped that out too.

Before I continue I’d like to point out the hem totals nearly 5 metres!!!  So double turning it I did about halfway before ripping it out- 2.5m. Horsehair braid included sewing it twice so that’s 10m. The rolled hem foot I probably did about 0.5m. So that totals 13m of ripping out!! It took me over the whole of Ratatouille to take out just the horsehair braid! I nearly just cut it out and I’m so glad I didn’t because that would be the length of just a shirt at this point.

Finally, I went with bias tape. Seems like the obvious choice doesn’t it? DUH!!! Although I had to press and steam it like a bitch. It kept flipping up the other way so out came my tailor’s ham, or what I like to call my rolled up blanket, and I steamed and pressed the hem for about 30 minutes.

Finally though, I had something that, despite the tiny thread remnants, had an actual hem!!

Admire it, because almost a whole day went into that hem!

Usually with the Daisy dress I only do a 3/4 circle skirt rather than a full circle skirt but did a full one on this dress. Actually, I think a 3/4 would have looked better. But look how twirly it is!

Pattern Post! And er, something happened…

Yay! More patterns!

I feel obliged, as a fellow sewist, to let you know that Mccalls, Simplicity AND Vogue are on sale in a lot of places. I got mine from http://www.sewessential.co.uk (who I’m very pleased with by the way- they arrived two days after ordering which is amazing, but not only that they only sent the ones they have in stock. Meaning I can play with my new patterns now and not sit around waiting for all of them just because of this one pattern they’re missing! They know how a sewist’s mind works…)

Anyhow, how could I possibly see a sale (and half price too I shall have you know) and not buy any patterns? That would be a sin, would it not?

So what did I get? Not enough….

I did get Simplicity 2145 , McCalls 6263 (because it was £2.97, how can you not?) and a skirt patten is on its way which I can’t even remember what it is. I got lost in the heady world of pattern buying and just shoved a load in my basket. Then remembered I wasn’t a millionaire… sigh. Anyway, the skirt is on its way so that means I get double the pattern post and double the excitement! I would take pictures of the patterns but they came Friday people, you know for a fact they’ve already been cut up and shoved back in the envelope (because who on earth can actually fold those things up the way they came out?! Pattern makers are miracle workers. Or elves.)

 

So that was my Friday pretty much sorted you might be thinking. Well, sort of. But Saturday got a whole lot better…

My friend is getting into sewing. This is a very exciting time for me. Nobody I knew (up until now) had the same interest. I couldn’t talk to people about how I finally cracked a button placket, or how I found the most amazing fabric…. Ok, so I did still tell people about these things but the difference is THEY DIDN’T CARE!!! Now one of my closest friends is also my go-to for all sewing related talk and as a formal introduction into the world of sewing we spent a Saturday in the heaven that is Walthamstow!

As one might expect I came back with some fabric

But I do sew most of my own clothes and sew every night so this was to be expected, no?

My friend came back with the same amount!!! I have taught her well. You can call me Sensei Makesphere from now on.

On Saturday we woke up to a blanket of snow with more snow in the air and a generally miserable day. But despite all this we had a lot of fun- it’s so much nicer buying fabric with somebody rather than on your own. You can ask them if something suits you, whether you really need that fabric even if it is only 50p/yd (yes, this fabric exists and yes I bought some! Because it was 50p a yard people!) and have you got some room in your suitcase because mine’s completely full….

I’m sure we looked like complete fools dragging round our suitcases in the snow, but we did make a friend

I have been reliably informed that he is a Pied Wagtail.

It would be safe to assume that much of that fabric is already cut into pieces, and even safer to assume I have a plan for the ones that haven’t yet received the chop. I’m sure it won’t be long before my next post

 

Minnie Mouse/Comic Relief Dress

If anyone guessed that I was making another Simplicity 1803 then you were spot on, because that’s exactly what I did!

I’m calling this my Minnie Mouse dress because I did originally wear it with a little black bow belt and honestly I couldn’t stop thinking about Minnie Mouse all day. Which is fine by me really, she’s a pretty awesome mouse to think about if I’m going to be thinking of any mouse. I’m also calling it my Comic Relief dress because I finished it the day before CM and wore it as my ‘something red’ (correction:all red) for work. Minnie Mouse is a bit cooler though isn’t she.

I did a few things differently this time round.

First off, the sizing was way off. My other Simplicity 1803  was a little loose but nothing glaringly bad and honestly it’s just fine- especially for those days where you don’t want to look like you feel like crap but you do want to feel comfortable because you really feel like crap! It’s a bit of a pick-me-up I’m thinking this must be down to the weight of the fabric. The last one was a fairly heavy upholstery-type fabric whereas this one is a light cotton. Remember how I said in the other post that the pattern wanted me to cut a size 20? Well Simplicity really are trying to make people feel like shit. I cut the 18 for the last one and used it again for this one and seriously guy, it was like a sack. Actually, it was worse than a sack, it was like MC Hammer’s trousers.

Of course I didn’t realise MC Hammer had been advising Simplicity’s sizing staff until it was done and I put it on to wear it…. So out came the seam ripper. *Sigh* I took that thing in a LOT. So what was supposed to be a 20 is actually probably a 14 in a normal weight fabric, which is my RTW size and it makes me feel a whole lot better. It shouldn’t, because you know 2 hours work down the drain, but all the fabric being cut off was pleasing in a sick sort of way.

You may also remember in my other 1803 that I got rid of the scooped back. Uh-oh…

I completely forgot! Although if I’m honest it’s not too bad. It’s not that I don’t like the look of them, it’s that usually they bother the fuck out of me and I try to pull it up all day but surprisingly this isn’t too bad so there may be more scoop backs to come!

Also, I took the liberty of adding some cute little buttons on the front. Look at those buttons

LOOK AT THEM!

The VBA (Not to be confused with VPL or CBA)

Oh my Gosh, recognition! Acknowledgement! Somebody I don’t even know has told me that they like what I do and that feels fantabulous!

The lovely Freya over at The Dressmaking Diaries has nominated Makesphere for the Versatile Blogger Award! Thankyou, Freya!

I mean I was quite happy plodding along, making some stuff, posting some stuff, but this is pretty awesome!

Now, I am very new to the blogging world. I mean I get how to blog, but this is all pretty new so apparently I have some rules to follow:

1. Thank the person that nominated you

Check!

 

2. Include a link to their blog

Check!

 

3. Select 15 blogs/bloggers and nominate those for the award.

Not check. So here goes:

1. NailVixen

2. Hummingbirds Don’t Eat Bread

3. Paunnet

4. Stitchy Britt

5. Bimble and Pimble (Do you know how many times I had to correct Autocorrect and rewrite pimble instead of pimple?!)

6. Ohh Lulu

7. Sewaholic

8. Male Pattern Boldness

9. Sew Many Ways

10. Flossie Teacakes

11. Gwendie Quilts

12. A Sewn Wardrobe

13. Sewing in No Man’s Land

14. iheartorganizing

15. The Selfish Seamstress

 

Wow. That was tough. Usually I think about my blog posts throughout the day and when it comes to writing them it takes me no more than half an hour to get everything down and published. That took me more than half an hour, just rule 3!

So rule 4. Tell the person that nominated you 4 things about yourself.

Ok,

* I have 20 pets, all girls. 18 are rats, 1 is a bearded dragon and 1 is an African Pygmy Hedgehog.

* I have a phobia of worms.

* I have an abnormal collection of stuffed toys (I’m 22) and I will continue adding throughout my life!

* I love the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

* I’ve had Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric in my stash for over 3 years and I can’t decide what is worthy of such a treasure.

* Yes, I appear to be an untidy person but I know the precise co-ordinates of every item on the floor/cupboard/shelf.

* I cannot stand bananas. The look, the smell, the texture…. bleurgh!

 

 

 

Clip, clip, snippety-snip.

I’m still alive!!!

I did state these posts would be a bit sporadic. Business has been booming over the last couple of weeks which is great because you know who doesn’t need the money, but it does mean it’s been eating up a lot of my fun sewing time. Add a tablespoon of wedding planning, a dash of birthday celebrations (not mine, boohoo), mix it all together and what have you got? No time to sew!!!

Despite my complaints of not enough time I have managed to pull together a couple of things. One is done except the sleeves (even the hem!) because every time I went out I forgot to buy yellow tape to finish them with. I finally got it today but then I got some more fabric and finishing something isn’t nearly half as exciting as starting something…

So here’s a sneak preview, also titled why you should clip your curves:

Clipped

Unclipped

GAAAAHHH! It looks even worse in real life, if that’s possible. (Believe me, it most certainly is!)

So 10 points if anyone can guess what I’m making (and don’t say something from red polka dot…)

A Stripey Number

Brrrrrrr, it’s freezing.

That would explain my lack of posts. No, the power didn’t go out, unexcitingly. No, what happens is I get home from work, take off my boots, run up stairs, go to the toilet and put on my pyjamas, including socks, slippers, 2 tshirts, a woollen number and a scarf. Ain’t nobody changing and posing in this weather!

However, I have been sewing like crazy! Oh, and knitting too! My first item

I love this thing! It’s so warm and soft and snuggly and colourful! However I don’t think it deserves its own post as it’s only stocking stitch.

So onto the other thing.

I have been told that the way to get a good photo is with natural light

 

So I was doomed from the outset really. That’s probably why my face was so miserable in this photo and I had to go Joker-stylee on my ass

 

Seriously, I looked like my cat just died or something. Now I genuinely am miserable, you know why?

It’s freaking sunny, dude! What’s that about?!

Anyway, this is another Sew U Home Stretch compilation and my first time working with stripes!

The stripe-matching on the skirt went a little iffy around the waist, nothing major just not perfectly straight. But, it’s easily coverable with a belt and since there’s gathers that sort of cover it up a bit as well I’m not too fussed.

However, check out the strip-matching on that arm guy!

 

Just FYI it didn’t go wacko at the top, that’s just gravity pulling the cuff down. Pretty awesome matching for my first time right?!

I tried taking this photo outside too but posing on the street for the first photo was bad enough, without trying to get a shot of my armpit.

Like the Floral Knit it’s so great to just pull on and lounge around the house in which is doubly great because it’s half term people!!! Holidays and lots of sewing for me I have two dresses sitting on the mannequin waiting to be finished- one needs a zip inserting and one needs a hem. God I hate hems….