Woven goodness...

Hey Guys,

So in case you didn't guess... My stress time is well and truly over! Although I didn't finish all the Christmas presents yet... I need my family to not want to spend time with me! I did finish 2 yesterday so I'm 3/5. One good session and I'll be done. Remind me to take pictures before I wrap them! 

So today my Mam brought me to our local Woolen Mill. It's literally around the corner from my house, my Mam actually worked there when I was little, and wove all the different fabric they produce on their looms. Its a really nice factory, and employs local people. It kills me to think that I don't have anything she wove, but after it was woven it was sent to finishers to be processed so here was no real way that could have happened even if she still worked there. My cousin still works there today (I saw him today while I was there, but stupidly forgot to ask for a tour - next time)

I hadn't been down there in forever, and I'm pretty sure I hadn't been in the visitors shop since I was small and the Americans were home (you know how much they like Irish things!). So my Mam decided we should take a small trip down today. They stock so many different things, it's a real shame it's in such an isolated place, but I assume they are stocked in other gift shops around the country, etc. Most of the fabric is sent out to designers be made in to garments. They even had finished garments in the shop.

 Loving the blue jacket. That's basically how I would like to refashion the men's one

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it went FAR beyond my expectations. A million miles beyond. I spent ages wandering around, and to be honest, I didn't think I would actually be able to find anything I could afford, but they had some bits on sale and clearance so I got massively lucky!!

The shop was beautiful. And I didn't know they stocked fabric on the bolt!

I was slightly over whelmed, I didn't even know where to start! The tweeds were AHmazing but at €22.50/m, I couldn't decide if I could really afford to splash out that much on one piece of fabric. But it was really really hard to walk away.

What I DID find, was blankets on sale, beautiful blankets. I got two blankets for €40. One my Mam paid for for my Christmas present. They are unbelievable. And massive!

I can't wait to snuggle up on the sofa with one of these! And I can't believe they were so cheap. I almost feel bad. The only bolt fabric that was cheap was some linen, which I think they're phasing out making. You can spot the bolts on the right of this picture. At €5/m I couldn't go wrong.

I got a couple of metres of two of the bolts. A purpley-blue and a reddish-purple colour. They both have different weaves though.

I ALSO spotted a remnant pile, and who doesn't love a remnant pile. So I managed to get. A couple of bits of the woven tweed after all! 

I got a houndstooth, with a green and black houndstooth, though it just looks regular black from afar. There's about half a metre there, more really but there's a chunk taken out on one side. I'll have to see whether I can squeeze a skirt out of the thinner or wider side.

I also picked up this Blackwatch tartan. I've been getting into it since I found out the my partners Mum loves it. Not sure if I'm going to give it to her or keep it myself. I have already got her some for Christmas, but it has a smaller pattern. I prefer the bigger one myself and I'm not sure I could make anything decent for her with this piece. I see a long midi skirt for myself though...

So there we go! More fabric I don't need, eh? 

sorry/NOT SORRY!

Mr Tailor Man Part.3 (..the saga continues..)

Hi guys!

In all my stressing last week over my Minerva make and organising a hen party (which went great by the way!) I forgot to say that I MIGHT have been to the tailor guy's shop again. MAYBE.

Ok, well, as I had said, I couldn't stop thinking about a wool blend in red that I had left behind, so I went back. 

Unfortunately, he also had the same wool blend in a beautiful purple too.

And then he pulled out this amazing 100% green wool that he was also selling. 

Needless to say, the sucker that I am, I walked out with all of it.

What I hadn't realised when I went back for the red, was the price tag. I knew it was £20 - but it had been reduced from £170!

So that was 2 of those.

And the green was reduced to £40 from £346!!

So £80 for £686 worth of fabric. Nuts. I felt horrendously guilty buying it off of him for such a low price, but that was the price that he had set. I have never tried to bargain with him, with the already low pricing, it wouldn't feel right.

How I'm ever going to cut into the fabrics, I don't know. I really wish I had never seen the 'before' price! And it has already been pre-shrunk, so no wool worries about that aspect.

The green wool was actually what they used to make officer's uniforms when they came back home from serving in the army. Tailor's used to have to buy in a specific wool from a specific supplier, and were paid to make the suits from scratch, but eventually they started to buy in standard sizes and tailor them to fit instead.

You can really see why it's so difficult to make a living from being a tailor sometimes.

He had also kept me some special buttons!

These are a couple of buttons made from Stag Horn. Pretty sweet, eh??

Kind of nutty when you think about it.

He ALSO gave me a discontinued suiting sample book, and I have started putting them together to make some patchwork cushions. I'm really happy with how the first one turned out.

And so I'm off again today, to see what treasures are in store.

He rang me last week to let me know that he had a few bags of scraps to give to me (I'm worried I have no more space!). I'm going to enjoy looking through it all and dreaming up what I could possible make out of them! He mentioned that there may even be enough velvet for something wearable!

Wish me treasures!

Emmie xx

Late night sewing... Mae Blouse - Bluegingerdoll

Hi Guys,

I finished the third attempt at my Mae blouse! Yes THIRD.

Let me take you on a journey...

The first attempt was with sewable tracing paper. 

I traced between the size that suited my "finished garment" measurements and the next size up, but it wouldn't even close. This surprised me, as I know the patterns are drafted for a D (I know I'm an E but I thought I was gonna be pretty close, I was wrong). I definitely needed some bust adjusting, I wasn't even been able to close it! 

So I decided to follow the sewalong, and do an FBA.

However it went a bit weird in the middle. Let me explain why.

In the sewalong, the first thing you do for an FBA is cut off the sleevey bit. Then you do the FBA and stick the shoulder back on.

Weirdness 1: In the sewalong (illustrated) pictures, it shows a straight edge where you trimmed off the sleeve, even after the FBA. But when you do an FBA you create a side Dart and it ends up kicking out at the side, it doesn't end up straight. I didn't know what to do so i just overlapped the sleeve over the kicked out bit and continued on

Weirdness 2: The side dart created is never mentioned again. I was at a loss as to whether to ignore its existence or sew it up. I thought it would be be baggy and weird if I ignored it, so I sewed it up and trued up the waist/hips. Although I kind of made a balls of measuring them (I forgot to remove the front darts when measuring)

Muslin 2 was done in a lilac cotton sateen lining, that I thought could possibly be wearable, until I cut too short a piece of fabric (although it was still workable) Then I realised that it had a really loose weave (pins were leaving massive holes) and that it was pulling like hell. No No No.

After sewing that up, it closed, but it was SNUG. And getting something to just close is not something to aim for! It was drag-line city.

So I halved the seam allowance and tried again. Close but no cigar.

I drew a whole new seam allowance on the pattern for the next try.

So that brings us to Muslin 3! I made it with something I got at a stash swap. (Thanks to whoever donated!). Not sure what it is, a slub silk or a wannabe slub silk. Either way, its a little stiff, so bear with me in terms of how it crumples instead of drapes. Part of the issue is that my skirt has a smaller waist than the blouse! It looks a lot shinier in these photos too... 

Now in photo one, I am becoming one with the fabric in terms of stiffness. What is with the arms? I look like a puppet on a string. However, let us admire the fact that I found something to match it in my wardrobe! A kilt I got in the Salvation Army. Talk about a 'Fall' Wardrobe, eh?

Although in this photo, I think it looks a little big, it looks better shortly!

I am pretty proud of my finishing. I surprised myself with the scalloped neckline, I thought that was going to be a lot harder. It turned out a lot better than I thought, although Thank God it did because any flaws would be really obvious in this fabric. I used my new overlocker (although it was threaded white, so the insides look a little silly) but I did hand catchstitch all of the hem and sleeve facings! And partially thanks to the stiffness, partially my mad 1.00am sewing skills and partially Mr.G's thread matching capabilities, I think its pretty damn good.

It's like the 1.00am sewing never happened... 

I haven't done the neckline facing. Yet. I'm still not sure if I want to, in case it's too obvious.

In a side note, you can see my crazy eye colour in that top photo!

After the first few photo's, I decided to loosen up and stop looking like such a grump grump.

However, apparently I must raise one eyebrow at all times.

One modification I made to the back was to do the buttonholes vertical instead on horizontal, as I didn't like  the thought of how the buttons would drag off to one side instead of being central in the buttonhole.

I wish that the skirt waist wasn't so snug! Crumple crumple.

I would like to take this opportunity to categorically state that I sewed the buttons on straight and tight, but the buggers prefer to look tipsy, no matter how much I twiddle them. They are vintage buttons that I bought in a vintage shop in Rochester. Thanks for the recommendation Rachel!

All in all I found the pattern pretty straight forward, although I would definitely follow the sewalong, as I found the written/illustrated instructions hard to follow. 

It's probably just how my brain works, but I was stumped in a few places. The hem boggled me so I winged it in the end. I didn't end up doing the second turn either. Ironically I think I understand now, in this exact moment. The photo was the wrong way up for my brain.

But look, I'm still happy with how it turned out! Even my eyebrow agrees

Another version is already in the pipeline. 

Has anyone else noted how ridiculous the concept of a button-back blouse is??

My arms go forward people!

LYLT,

Emmie x

Birmingham Fabric Haul

Hi all,

Just wanted to show you all the beautiful preciousssssesss that I got in Birmingham last weekend between the shops and the swap!

First of all, we had Barry's Fabrics. It was like walking into a heavenly planet! There were so many rolls of fabric, I spent the first 15 mins just walking up and down the aisles. Up and down. Up and down.

(trying not to trip up any of the other 30 sewists along the way!)

Eventually I found a cream cotton with roses that caught my eye, but it was £10/m and I didn't love it enough to justify the cash.

But then I stumbled across this beautiful heavy cotton stretch sateen (I think!) in a lovely cream and mauve floral swirl. I decided to get 3 metres. At £4.95/m it was definitely worth it!

Then I decided to pick up these beautiful checks. They looked so vintage, I couldn't help but picture the garments that they could create!

Then, as I was getting everything cut, I mentioned I had been looking for some Broiderie Anglaise (after some inspiration on the train from Elisalex), and I was taken a beautiful array! I had been looking for a simple white eyelet one, but I came across these beautiful embroidered ones. And in a Lemon and Pale Mint. They will be wonderful sundresses.

I love love love them! And thankfully you wonderful people let me cut back into the queue to finish off! My dodgy shoulders could hardly take any more carrying bolts of fabric! 

I was pleasantly surprised when 10% was taken off the bill, the girls had negotiated a super deal.

And that was my race winnings gone in one fell swoop... 3/m of the sateen and 2/m of the other four came to £49.00 after discount. And all wide rolls. Amazing.

At Cafe Soya, we had a wonderful lunch, and an even better swap.. Tables piled high with fabric and patterns.

Claire was the chairperson of the swap!

I brought a few bits of fabric that I had no use for, and a couple of patterns. One girls trash is another's treasure! I only took a couple of pieces of fabric to begin with, but after a while it became clear that some other cute bits weren't moving so I took a couple more. I have more than enough patterns!

This is what I picked up. I sometimes can't believe that people could let them go!

 I really love the green patterned piece in the back, very vintage. I know the green polka dot was from Amy. Thanks Amy! She had a cute little label on with the length noted. Something to remember to do next time! 

The blue fabric is nice and heavy and I think I'm going to make a diyCouture cape from it. I also really like the ivory lace. The pink is lovely but when I was putting it away I noticed it has dark tracing markings all over the back. Hopefully they come out in the wash??

I was actually just about to sign off the blog post here - but I've just remembered that I've forgotten the best bits!!

In the rag market, I basically came across this stall as soon as I walked in. He had the most amazing heavy cottons, and I had an internal mental war over spending! I had to walk away, but I couldn't stay away.

 Let's just say that they are on my credit card.

 At £10/m, it was the most I've ever spent per/m on fabric, but there's no way I could leave them behind.

Maps! In olden language, and in a beautiful muted tone. I got the last of the roll. Ooooohhh yeah.

And these beautiful China patterns. They are the most beautiful shades. I was trying to choose between for so long but I just had to get them both. There was a grey version too. I did try to haggle him down a little as I was buying 6 metres of fabric, but he wouldn't budge. In a nice way though!

I stupidly had gotten him to measure the map piece out for me, as he had thought there was only 1.5m left on the roll, but there was just over 2m. Silly me. 

But I really don't care. They are exactly what I have been looking for.

I am gutted I didn't get to Fancy Silks. But to be honest I couldn't even carry any more. 

You should've seen me running through the tube and train station to try and make an earlier connecting train in London. I must have looked like a mad woman.

Just so you know, I made the train! 

And of course, came upon a friend of Mr.G's, all sweaty, breathless and unable to speak or breathe. 

Attractive.

Squeeeee pretty fabric.

Love you Long time x

Sewing Space, Singer and Stash

Hi all,

Sorry I've not posted over the last couple weeks, been working my way through the Frankenstein Dress (chickened out at the zip, but don't worry, it's in now!) and was at the Birmingham meetup last weekend, which has totally converted me to Birmingham fabric shopping. With a railcard, its only £14 return from Kent on a Saturday if you plan it far enough ahead. Which is cheaper than a travelcard to London for me. And, even with missing out on shopping in Fancy Silks, it beats Goldhawk Rd for me on this occassion! I'll have to take a few pics of my fabric haul tonight and pop them up for you to appraise!

Since I hadn't finished my dress, (although it is in the background of this post, whoops, pretend it's not there, shhhh) and because I had a belated spring cleaning, I decided to take some photo's to show you my sewing space.

My sewing space is basically the far end of my sitting room! Thankfully, due to the fact that my flat is the ground floor of a Victorian semi, so the ceilings are huge, and the rooms are large. I don't know how I would manage otherwise! I spread out a lot when I'm sewing and take over most of the room when I get into it.

So the space consists of my sewing table, my dining table, my mannequin and my ironing board. The sewing table has my Janome, and all of my accessories/implements/notions in random tins and boxes. I would kill for some shelving above the table but I'm renting so no holes in the wall for me. I keep my stash in boxes underneath the table so I can always see it and it can be close to me. My precious.

Some of my favourite things on my sewing table are the lamp that my Mr.G's mum got me. Its super strong and bright for when I'm hand sewing or unpicking. Usually unpicking. 

I also love the striped tin with all my scissors, its the perfect size and never falls over!

One thing missing from the picture is my corkboard, which I use when I want to trace things or cut things out on my lap. Which I do quite a lot when I'm lazy and they're small enough.

The clear boxes are a new addition during the spring clean and house zips in one, buttons in another and random notions in the last. I like that they are all segregated now. My patterns used to live on the sewing table too, but they were stressing me out because I couldn't rind a decent storage box, so they now live in the drawer beside the ironing board for the time being. The drawer next to that has some small fabric scraps and items I'm refashioning/altering. Let me rephrase that actually, item I'm (supposed to be) refashioning/altering.

My dining table is usually covered in scattered pattern pieces and random offcuts but today it houses my new pride and joy, my 1938 Singer 201k.

This was recommended to me by a quilter I befriended at work. For those who don't know about the different Singer models (and not that I do - but I know about this one!) - The 201k has been noted as the finest domestic sewing machine that the company ever made and many enthusiasts say that there is no machine that will stitch better, even today. I haven't had much use yet as I had issues with a ghost-ridden pedal, but my friend prefers to sew on it than her £2000 Bernina. 

Back when they were made they could cost up to 6 months wages! I have seen a receipt from 1940 which showed one would set you back about £13. They ceased production in 1961 as they became to expensive to make. The older ones weighed a tonne too, which I can definitely attest to! about 20kg I think, I can hardly move it. The pedal is fixed now and I've bought new needles so will use it for my next make I think! It runs so smooth, and from what I can remember, can sew through something like 6mm of leather like butter. Not that I'm a leather fiend myself but everyone gets bulky seams every now and then!

Lastly theres my stash. I have it in 3 boxes technically, but one is hidden in the back. That one has my wool & knitting needles and my embroidery hoops and embroidery threads. The two at the front are all my fabrics (although there may be a pair of curtains thats in that plastic bag). The top box is my most precious!

It is a bit ridiculously big for the amount of things I've made and the rate at which I sew. 

( I like to tell myself that you all have more than me to make myself feel better about buying!)

As I said, the top box is my most precious. What I like about buying new bits is that what used to be the most precious gets pushed so far down the line that I feel like I can use it without fear.

I'll give you a sneak peek into the box of treasures

I don't pre-plan purchases, or match patterns with fabric before I buy one or the other. I just fall in love. And I fall in love a lot. 

Thankfully, I feel like I've gathered so much beautiful stuff that I have a benchmark now. If something doesn't live up in price/quality/love quotient to what I already have, then its not worth it! And yes, most will be dresses. Mostly because I have no tops to wear with skirts. Which would make you think - make some tops so you can make skirts! But I also had a look through my wardrobe the other day and found out I have over 50 skirts already. Don't know how that happened.

Whoops. (not sorry).

Bit it does not take away from the fact mean I should make plan block colour tops.

So now I proposition each and every one of you. Show me your sewing space and, most importantly, show me your stash!