She loves it. Now she cant wait for the others!

You will have to excuse my daughter. Although she was a willing model she would not stretch to having her hair brushed!

She is very impressed with the muslin and is now getting impatient to wait for her others to be done in the fabric she picked!

Even Louise said "Mum its too long" I will have to do some serious length adjustment on the pattern :)

It seems louise has a smaller back like me, I am not sure if I will use buttons as this slips on and off her fairly easily. I may be lazy and sew a center back seam instead (fear of button holes......I know!!)????

It passed the jump and twist test too! She is one happy (but slightly impatient) bunny :)

Mini Me: Summer Dress

I got this great New Look pattern from Ashley Brook Fabrics during their pattern sale thinking it look nice and quick!! :)

I must stop reading the pattens before I cut the material as I nearly had a heart attack and didn't have a clue what some of the instructions were saying and started to panic! Time for a muslin!!!!

I cut the pattern in a 4 as Louise is quiet small for her age but I know it will still be way too long for her! The style I went for had 5 pieces so was nice and easy to cut.

Once I got sewing the guide made sense and the process moved along quite quickly. I was very impressed. Gathering took a long time...Note to self to invest in a gathering foot.

Here is the finished muslin, I basically used an old sheet. I used contrasting cotton to see where I made mistakes and it worked a treat as there are a few things I need to make sure I don't do on the final dress.

The gathering turned out well which I was pleased with. I must remember to snip the inside of the seams on the bodice, I did remember to grade them though!

The back was a bit tricky as I have never done this type before, but in all fairness I let the thinking confuse me and should have just followed the guide without trying to work it out before hand! All I need to do is the button holes (I am so dreading that).

I must say I am looking forward to Louise trying it on in the morning :)

From the Ashes: Sorbetto Finished

Well this is the final finished top and boy did I have some issues fitting it! I must have either the weirdest body shape or I am still thinking that all patterns should fit first time!!!! I am still not 100% happy but refuse to sew a dart of 4-6mm to reduce the tiny gaping at the armhole which I am sure is made worse why the bias tape (shop brought and quite stiff).

I ended up cutting a 10 shoulder, 12 bust and 14 hips but there was a tiny bit too much strain across the bust. Being lazy and not wanting to do a FBA as I have never done one before, I unstitched the pleat and repined to fit my bust with minimal gapage.

I altered the pattern and cut my fabric (from Ashley Brook Fabrics). It turned out well. Or so I thought. I decided to wear this for my birthday and as the day wore on so did the obvious flaws. The shoulder did not sit right on me. There was way to much gaping and too much room in the bodice which lead to twisting.

I altered the shoulder and pressed it. Without realising I had let the pressing cloth slip and it melted my new shoulder seam completely. Well ladies I nearly cried.

But I had to do a repair job which entailed redoing the bias tape on the front (and as you can see I had to do it wider to cover the old tape as the fabric ripped when I tried to unpick it). I then had to chop about an inch off the shoulders to remove the burnt material. The overall fit is not close to perfect.

Complete disaster has been averted and I have a lovely top in a print I just love that fits really well. So well in fact both my Nan and my friend want me to make them one....fitting for me was bad enough, not sure if I could fit for anyone else!

I will be making another at some stage but I want to really expand my wardrobe before the warm weather gets here :)

Great Print from Ashley Brook Fabrics priced at £2.95 per metre