Cozy Corduroy

I finally (nearly) finished making my Red corduroy dress, after lots of broken needles and head aches it is now all done apart from the hem, which I need advice on. I am so pleased with it, perfect for chilly winters, a lovely casual dress, so toasty I don't even need to wear a coat over it. It was very difficult to sew, I had to re-cut the neck pieces 3 times before I finally got it right, I have no idea why as the first two Portfolio dresses weren't that bad.

Once I have hemmed it I will be living in my new dress, I also went and bought a larger size pattern to make one for my Mummy for Christmas we have very similar taste and I think she would look lovely in a black or red corduroy one too. It took hours to make but well worth all the time to get such a gorgeous result. I made the neck band slightly less wide to give it a more casual look too.

Corduroy Chaos

I wanted to make a Corduroy version of the lisette portfolio dress because I love corduroy and want a more hard wearing, warm dress for winter. I got some bright blue thick Corduroy from my local fabric shop and cut all the pattern pieces. I had not attempted sewing corduroy yet but managed to assemble the front perfectly. I foolishly tried ironing the fabric and burnt it, thankfully I think it will be hidden in the seam allowance so a good lesson learnt. I was a bit disappointed after the burning incident so went back to the fabric shop and got some bright red pure cotton corduroy to start again and avoid the chances of burning. I decided to come back to the blue dress once the Red one is complete. I have just finished sewing up the front of the Red dress and will hopefully get it finished by next weekend. Here they are, I hope they hang ok in the front and the seams sit flat, I am working very experimentally at the moment so its more exciting waiting for the results.

Lisette 2060

I just finished another Lisette lovely and here it is. I got the purple cotton in freelance fabrics in Kiddlington and the leopard print from cutting edge fabric in Newbury. I am going to wear it out for more Tapas with friends tomorrow I just need to finish the hem and sew on 3 bright purple buttons. It took alot longer than intended as I had to unpick the sleeves and cut and make them in size 14, the dress is size 8. I have quite muscly arms and did not realize quite how big they had got, I will definitely make sure I cut bigger arms in future.

I also got to try the button hole tool on my sewing machine which was very exciting, 3 prefect button holes on the left shoulder.

The belt was really good fun to make, it is designed to be worn on waist but I prefer it on the hips so I will make a longer one this evening ready for tomorrow.

Lisette 2245

I love this pattern so much I had to make myself another dress, I decided to make a long sleeved version in preparation to wear to a meal at the Whittlebury Hall Hotel which is to the side of Silverstone race track. The meal was last weekend and I wore my purple Lisette dress with pride and enjoyed the impressed looks as I told people I had sewn it myself.

It is the most comfortable dress ever and with the right accessories looked perfect. I am now a pro at this pattern so will definitely be making more in different colours.

I got the cotton from Cutting edge fabric in Basingstoke and the dress cost less than £15.00 to make.

I put two sparkly buttons on the back to make it look more interesting.

I Love Lisette

After my success at making a bag I wanted to challenge myself further and make a more complex casual dress. I fell in love with a Lisette pattern 2245 and decided it was the dress for me. I love casual dresses with leggins so dashed off to get some fabric. Cutting Edge fabric in Basingstoke have a huge selection, I found a cute black cotton with green and blue spots which I thought would be perfect.

The pattern was very easy to follow until I got to the neck line, this was very tricky as you have to pin the widest edge of the curved neck band to the inside edge of the dress with right sides together, which means starting in the middle and minipulating the fabric round the curved edge. I managed it after four attempts and it looks perfect. I went straight over to my mums to give her and my grandma a preview, they were amazed and gave me some buttons and thread as a reward.

The following day I wore my gorgeous dress out to lunch with friends and they loved it too.

Beautifull Bag

For my second attempt at using a sewing pattern I chose to make myself a new bag, I found some pretty rose cotton at my local fabric shop and used some dark blue cotton as contrast. I had to line the bag, put in a zip and make darts, none of which I understood but I managed, thanks to others making you tube guides. It took me about a week to make, mainly because I kept having to stop and learn what sewing terms meant. I am very pleased with the results and have a little book I am writing explanations of what things mean in for future reference.

The dinner lady top

For my first attempt at following a pattern I wanted to stay very basic. I flicked through the pattern books at my local fabric shop for hours and eventually decided to make a top. The Pattern I used was Butterick B5463. It took me a few evenings to make and was very easy. I made a good choice as my first pattern but was a bit disappointed with the results, mainly due to my choice of fabric and lack of fitting skills.

I could not take a picture of it on as it is looks much like a poorly made dinner lady's top. Its not a top I will be wearing ever but I am still proud that I made it myself and it gave me the drive to try something slightly more fitted.

A very happy pay day

I have enjoyed my mums home sewn creations all my life and finally decided it was time for me to give it a try. I waited until pay day in August and dashed to hobby craft after work to buy myself a basic sewing machine. I was very excited when I got it home, and immediately began sewing.

I visited my mum and got some lovely fabrics to get started with and watched hundreds of you tube sewing guides to learn how to finish seams and make different stitches.