New Project on the go..

The Chef left today for two weeks overseas. I'm going to miss him a lot! He got me a present to help me pass the time while he's gone... 4 metres of fabric to make my Crepe dress with! It's a lovely olive colour and has a little bit of stretch in it.

I'm going to belatedly follow Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing Crepe Sew-Along. I know I'm much bustier than the c-cup that Colette designs their clothing for, and I really want to get the fit right, so I purchased some cheap green cotton to make a toile. I'm nervous but excited and looking forward to getting stuck into it, though I'm scared of the FBA that I'm probably going to have to do. Cutting patterns to change the fit sounds SCARY.

I'm not going to rush into this project, I want to make sure it fits properly. I heard that the fabric quantities are very generous with Colette patterns and I'm secretly hoping that I can make another Miss Skirt out of some of the remainder, and potentially a smocking bag, too! So many projects to do. I plan to make one of Tilly's Bow Belt's too - I'll see if I have enough of the red lining left.

Why mightn't I have enough red left? Stay tuned for the next post! In the meantime, here's a small hint...

No matter what I did this weekend, the cat insisted on sitting on my lap. I couldn't shake her! I sat down, she was on my lap within seconds. The sook.

Fabric shopping

I set out today, Liberty fabric and patterns in my bag, ready to go via Tessuti after work to pick up the fabric and notions that I need to make the Beignet skirt and another version of my Miss Skirt that I've already made, using the Liberty fabric I already own. The only catch was, that looking up the Domo Forest print that I'd fallen in love with, I noticed that they'd sold out... I emailed Tessuti to see if there was any more coming in, and was told that that was that. Noo! I was crushed. CRUSHED! They sent me a really sweet email back though, which was totally lovely of them. 

I popped by after work and the store is as gorgeous as I remember.

This is one wall in the store. There are heaps more rows of fabric just as gorgeous as these are!

I got there with about 20 minutes to look around, but didn't see anything that sparked my eye immediately as a replacement fabric for the Beignet skirt. I wanted to find some teal or blue fabric to go with my Liberty fabric as the contrast fabric, but didn't see anything that sprung to mind, there, either. 

What I did find, though, was these two beautiful remnant pieces.

The polka dot piece is gorgeous, though there isn't very much of it, and I think the red piece would be perfect for linings. I plan to make a couple of these purses out of the polka dot piece. 

I ended up spending very little, but got quite a bit of bang for my buck, and plan to head back in when I have a bit more time to mooch around and pick out the perfect fabric for the skirt. I mean, I know I can make several versions of it, and if it works well I probably will, but I just don't want to make clothes that I don't love. I don't want to spend a lot of time on something and have it sit in my wardrobe unworn, if I can help it. I have a sewing day coming up next Sunday week (after my 5km run, god help me!), and really want to have some stuff cut out and prepared for that. 

Hello Kitty!

ZOMG. My friend Dani just linked me to this awesome Hello Kitty Liberty fabric. HOW CUTE!

Beignet skirt

I've decided on my next project: a Beignet skirt. I've seen so many versions of this skirt and they are all so flattering. I'm really excited about making it! I'm thinking of doing a toile so that I don't ruin my nice fabric. Also: look how fancy that sounds! Almost like a proper seamstress!!

I've been looking up fabrics online to get ideas of how to style it. I love the look of the version on the Colette page, but I'm so pale that I know that wont suit me at all. I want a cozy winter version, as the mornings are getting colder and it's getting harder to get out of bed each day!

I found this gorgeous corduroy online at Tessuti, and I think it's very tempting. I love the rich green and have been wanting a few polka dots in my wardrobe. I think this pattern would work best in a solid or mostly solid print, and think that the polka dots won't be too much for the skirt. What do you think?

I'm also thinking about my notions and other finishing touches. I want to find a pretty fabric for lining that complements the shell fabric and I'm not sure whether to use contrasting buttons, fabric covered ones (though I think the corduroy might be too thick for that) or some normal green ones. So many choices!

But at least I'm starting to narrow them down, though. It's taking shape and I'm getting really excited about it!

Project inspiration

I'm officially between projects now that the skirt is finished and I'm unsure what to do next. Where do I begin? I have so many projects in mind and can't decide what I want to do first. I bought three patterns from Colette, but they haven't arrived yet and I also have that beautiful fabric to use, too. I'm thinking I might make the fabric into the skirt that I've made already, although maybe I should make it into a dress instead?

So much indecision!!

To help me sort my thoughts out, I've been pinning things like crazy. It's dangerous that Tessuti has an online store. The chef leaves on an overseas trip in a week or so, which will leave me plenty of time to work on a project, and make a mess, while he's gone.

If only I can pick one!

It is done!

So here we are! The finished project! I wore it to work today and loved every second. It's so comfortable and I'm so pleased with the fit! It's my new favourite skirt and I think the only major issue with it is that it will be hard to not wear it every single day. Because I want to.

Ends and beginnings

I did it! I finished the skirt! It took awhile because I decided that the zip was wonky and uneven, so I unpicked it and sewed it on again. I BRAVELY used the zipper foot this time, which wasn't too scary, actually. I mean, I could keep tinkering with the skirt, I want to line it and fix up the hem, which i didn't finish properly, just kind of tacked up. But it's not bad for a first effort.

I was going to do the full reveal tonight, but seem to have come down with a stomach bug and spent the day feeling queasy in bed. I thought it was better to wait until I'm washed and groomed before the big reveal or I might scare my three readers away.

In the meantime: here is a swatch of the amazing Liberty fabric that I picked up for a song. Love! Not sure what project I'll attempt with it, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll do a toile first!

Zipping around

One of the reasons that being a beginner is good, is that sheer ignorance can lead to over confidence. This can result in achieving things that more experienced sewers would run away from. Learning more dents the confidence.

Thus it was for me: with blind ignorance I bought myself an invisible zipper to use on my skirt. It was only really through reading other blogs and hearing people struggling with placing them, even when experienced, that I began to go..."Hmmm...maybe this wasn't such a bright idea".

so when I pinned the skirt, turned it inside out, and saw how visible the "invisible" was, I realised that there was a teeny bit of a problem.

I did what I do best, and cheated. Instead of going out and buying the invisible zipper foot, which would have made things a lot easier, I pinned it into place and hand sewed it as close to the zipper as possible. I am shamelessly unrepentant, as it's lead to a pretty nice looking zipper that is invisible! No photos to prove it though - I need to iron it into place first and then, since all that's left to do at this stage is the hem, I'm going to reveal all in the final post on the matter.

It's so close now! It fits really well and is so comfortable on. I'm really happy with it! there are a few blemishes, but nothing that I won't get better at with practice, and for a first attempt, I'm not going to beat myself up over a couple of seams that aren't perfectly in line. I think I'd be the only person to really notice anyway. Fingers crossed that I can wear it to work one day this week!

Preview

I managed a LOT of progress yesterday. The seams don't *quite* match up on one side, but I'm happy enough with that. It's not bad for my first time and it's looking good!! I added the lining to the yoke and secured it on the other side too. I've basted in the zip, but it's not lining up properly, so I'm going to unpick it and try again. I know this step will take a few attempts but that's ok. I'm getting somewhere and now that I've tried it on, I'm really happy with how it sits on me. If I was more competent, I'd line it, but I'm gonna do baby steps first. In the meantime, here's a quick snap so you can see the yoke and the pocket!

Yoking around

My hopes that the skirt was nearly finished were of course premature. I haven't blogged for a few days, but that's only because I figured that there are only so many entries saying "I unpicked everything that I sewed today" that people would read.

It turns out that matching the yoke and the skirt to fit together is more difficult than you'd think. Basting the pieces together made a huge difference, though, and not drinking beer before sewing helped too.

Finally I have the front piece of the yoke attached, however, and I'm pretty sure the seams on the sides are matching up too. WOW. Big progress indeed. I need to iron the skirt again and set the seam, then I think I might attach the zip (the prospect of which is scaring me) and finish the yoke after that. Then I just have to hem the skirt and I'm off!

It never sounds like much work until I actually try to do it, though.

To be honest, I got so frustrated with this skirt this week that I nearly threw it out the window in a fit of pique. I'll definitely get some more fabric ASAP and try it again, just to cement the techniques that I learnt, and I'm hopeful that it might come easier the second time around. At least now I've figured out the instructions.

I still haven't taken any photos - our flat is so dark and I haven't figured out where to take nice photos, yet. I'll try to take some this afternoon.