It's a very forgiving fabric with this pattern!
Take care,
Sophie
A while back I looked up courses but being in the middle of nowhere, I would rather avoid heading into the city at all costs. Besides, I don't recall there being anything that sounded suitable on offer. So it never got furthered and instead I just daydreamed about making clothes. Last year, C bought me a very thoughtful birthday present; a book on demystifying dressmaking called Love at first stitch by Tilly Walnes which immediately and simultaneously made feel excited and alarmed. Along with the projects in the book, of which I think there are seven - proceeding in increasing level of skill, there are the patterns needed and breakdowns of how to tackle each new skill.
However, I have made the skirt and I have worn the skirt! It's actually a bit big and a little longer than I would normally go for but when I'm feeling extremely ambitious, haha, I'll trying taking it in and up.
I've always felt like it's a struggle to learn new skills, for example sewing, so reading, re-reading, reading alongside an attempt to put the instructions into action, reading again is my slow way of trying to get my head round what on earth is being talked about. The book has been a bible and I've tried to absorb all the knowledge contained in each piece, though some tricky operations have taken a fair bit of trial and error before reaching any success. But that's how learning and understanding happens.
This skirt was the third project, after a headscarf and a pair of pyjama bottoms. The book details the material and accessory, tool etc requirements for each project and fabric suggestions. I thought a cord skirt would be something I'd wear a lot so I chose this material. I did a bulk order on My Fabrics for the whole lot of material for each project as a leap of faith that I'll follow through on this journey. The cord actually turned out to be lighter weight than I expected and each cut edge lead to fluff falling off everywhere so as a first step, I hadn't made a good choice to ease myself in. Typical. Anyway, I set about carefully starting on the project. At the outset you have to take your own measurements which is just a nightmare really. I'm far from a traditional feminine shape and semi-permanently have a bloat so how do you figure that out? I had to choose something so in the end I went a little larger rather than smaller but didn't feel confident that it would fit, be fitted or would flatter.
I bought a large roll of paper for tracing patterns on to. I found tracing patterns more of a challenge than expected and made errors missing of key points so had to keep referring back.
Sewing wise, I went slowly and tried to keep everything neat. Somehow, despite best efforts, nothing quite lines up or matches, though judging by high street offerings it's just the norm.
Inserting the invisible zip was a real headache and took a lot of tries and bungles before I got there. Even finding the correct feet and how they work was difficult. A lot of unpicking and frustration. Then I twigged about how to iron the zip backing.
Have you ever tried making your own clothes?
Take care,
Sophie
Each Christmas I try to make gifts for friends and family which varies from year to year. Sewing has become a staple part of that which has forced me to try new things and get creative. For the Christmas just passed I struggled for ages trying to think up something I could make that would be both relatively possible to make and that would be a useful gift for someone to receive. It was C who suggested a wheat bag. I was dubious but as I had nothing else to weigh it up against I thought it would be the best option. As usual I tried to find a really good tutorial online but nothing really struck me as helpful or useful so I decided to maverick my own version. There were several factors to consider. The wheat, the 'flavour' and the fabric.
Wheat turned out to be more bother that I expected; with health food shops being astonishingly expensive, online deliveries too. So a little lateral thinking later and a trip to Mole Country Stores for some pure wheat (chicken feed). Sadly there was none in stock so I ordered some in for the next week - the chap looked a little concerned at my attitude and in order to stop casting shade on possible animal husbandry skills I felt obliged to reveal it wasn't for feeding any (starving) animals.
The large sack was infinitely cheaper than even a couple of small bags I'd seen before.
Dried lavender is the usual suspect for a wheat bag flavouring and although it has grown on me significantly since my grandmothers died, I didn't fancy pure lavender so when I found a lavender and chamomile mix that sounded more of a middle ground.
The fabric turned out to be the easiest of them all. C thoughtfully pointed out a double thickness of fabric might be better in case of any leakage. As the bags are put in the microwave a pure cotton rather than anything synthetic was required. From other projects there were varying quantities of thick cotton reams which meant I could not only make new pieces without buying anything new but also use leftovers which may have otherwise never been 'used up'. Very green.
The feedback was unexpectedly positive - it appears that all bags either had been put to use or would be called into action for recurring aches. As someone who doesn't have an ache, I found this surprising but once again shows how I need to think beyond my own requirements when choosing gifts for others.
I was asked whether I could make another few. As I'm now an experienced maker of wheat bags this was no problem and I made them in no time at all compared to my initial faffing. There is no fixed dimensions for these, however you please really. The first few were squarer (as I'd seen those before) but C explained he would like his for round his neck/shoulders it would need to be more of a stretched rectangle. I made them all like that from then on. The inside cotton lining didn't get an iron but I did carefully press the outer. The inner measured a little less but not much. I cut out all pieces in one go to save time. It's always the measuring and cutting which takes forever and drags things out.
Don't forget to poke your corners out as much as you can for a nice finish.
In the hubbub of all the sewing I also sewed a taggie which worked very well aside from one wonky tag I somehow messed up. Fingers crossed it's recipient hasn't judged me too harshly for the error.
Take care,
Sophie
The last three
Christmases on the trot have given me a little project to sew, not
just because I like to sew but because it feels like a heartfelt gift
to send something you really had to put some thought and effort into
personally, not just a couple of clicks from Amazon (though I can't
deny I still do this often).
Year one was tote bags
and this was the most complex project but I had an amazing tutorial,
both a blog and a vlog which made it achievable. I wrote about sewing
a tote bag.
Year two I made aprons
which was enjoyable, I looked at my own apron and used a similar
design so didn't follow a tutorial.
Year three I made peg
bags which could either be used on a washing line or hung up in a
wardrobe. I didn't find exactly the right tutorial so I used one but
didn't follow it to the letter. I think my design was superior to the
others I found (ha!) so maybe others would like to see how I made it.
Then figure out how
much material I would need. I struggle with things like this and it
would depend on how wide the fabric was and how deep I wanted the
bags and the width of the hanger and whether the fabric was only to
be used in tone direction. So I guessed high and bought about 5
meters. As it happened, I could fit two bags' worth per meter as it
was about 1.5m width so worked out to be a much cheaper project than
initially predicted but with an expensive tablecloth made out of the
leftover material – but I'll enjoy it so that's not a waste.
Being the basic
creature that I am I spend ages cutting out each piece before C asked
why I hadn't folded the material and cut four together. It didn't
occur to me. I will just add that cutting out patterns is my least
favourite part of any project because you have to get it right but
it's so tedious and loathsome. My advice would be to pick fabric you
like and which is suitable for being a pegbag and use it for all 4
faces to save faffing. Give the fabric a gentle iron it's lively or
crumpled.
Once I finally had the
pieces ready it involved a fair bit of puzzling from my tutorial as
to what the heck to do. Pinning the two front faces together I used a
saucer to mark out my circle then used a close together straight
stitch to sew. I was highly concerned my amateurish lack of finesse
would only produce an ugly, jagged circle so I went incredibly slowly
at first but soon found to my delight that it looked imperceptible
from a perfect circle.
It looks like a
seemingly impossible feat to sew the circle then turn it inside out
but you have to take the fabric through the circle and of course, it
works. I cut the middle section of the circle out to about 3mm from
the stitching and then cut toward the stitches ever 12-15 mm which
required great care as to cut a single stitch would surely unravel
the lot and spoil the piece. Once turned out it needs another careful
press.
Here's where things get
nice and simple. Pin the two pieces together and sew around each all
the way round around 4 mm from the edge. This will keep things simple
for when you pop them good sides together (you'll be turning this
inside out) and pin. Then sew all around except for the hanger head
hole and about 2/5 of the bottom to pull it all through. Sew about
8mm from the edge so all those other stitches wont affect turning it
inside out.
Then turn inside out so
it's the right way round.
As that hand hold makes
an excellent access point for that open bottom of the bag I gathered
it though and machine stitched it instead of having the pain of hand
finishing. What a gift.
PS I think this fabric is gorgeous and reminds me of William Morris designs. I used the remainder leftover to make a tablecloth I can enjoy at the kitchen table.
Sophie
Something a little different to share with you today.
I'm not known for my crafting skills; in fact I'm usually abominable at knowing how to fix even the smallest of issues. Losing a button or a seam coming undone can spell the end for some items. A zip breaking was enough for me to wave goodbye to a dress I loved last year and every time I remember it I regret letting it go.
When my most favourite skirt suffered a significant rip to the lace of it's underskirt I felt rather gloomy that it was ruined and for a while it hung sadly in my wardrobe looking sorry for itself. Not being able to bear parting with it I made the decision to mend it myself and made a mental note to find a nice replacement lace trim for the hem. I'm continually impressed by Char – making so many beautiful dresses, very inspirational!
Although the original lace was so delicate and pretty that it would have been ideal to find more of the same, it was apparent that it's delicate nature only aided its premature demise. After a bit of deliberation while crouching over a small basket of a dozen or so styles of lace at the craft and fabric shop I chose this far sturdier style of trim. There were a couple of points I perhaps underestimated; one being how much I would need.... I bought two meters thinking that would be plenty but it turned out to be only just enough and secondly this lace is more of a brilliant white instead of a smoky cream and it isn't quite as nice.
Realising I don't have an unpicking tool at home was a slight annoyance but I got by all right just using scissors, spending ages making sure I wasn't shredding the lining. Using the sewing machine was a must – my hand stitching is slow and dreadfully untidy so I spent a while going at snail's pace to machine stitch the new hem onto the lining.
I'm so glad to have my skirt back and have an outfit post to share with you very soon to show you the finished piece, keep an eye out for it!
Sophie
