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

Its been so long!

It really has. I had a bit of a slump whilst trying to do my Truffle dress as it needs so many alterations (guess you cant slim into a "commercial" body shape) but I have now moved that to my to do pile for the time being.

So I decided seen as though the summer seems to be on the way here and I desperately short of tops I will make some starting with the highly acclaimed Sorbetto Top by Colette which can be downloaded here.

Now this has been out for nearly a year and there are some really wonderful versions and great variations on the Colette flickr group. I thought it would be a dream to sew and a great addition to my wardrobe.

Learning from the truffle dress I thought I would make up a quick muslin just to be sure of the sizing.

:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(:( :( :(

Loose neck, roomy shoulders and very gaping armholes was the results of the first muslin, so I done some research, found this and thought aha job done.

 This is after the gaping armhole fix and I moved the dart as it was too high (and is now too low). It still gapes and I am at a loss.

My bust measure 41 at the widest so as per the pattern sizing I cut a 14. I have read somewhere to cut the upper bust/chest measurement which is 39 (and typically its halfway between a 10 and 12). So I am thinking I may do that and try a split and spread FBA (if I can understand how to do it).

Ladies any help or tips would be greatly appreciated on this one. I am going to recut and have another go at a smaller size. Fingers crossed :)

Truffle Muslin pt I

So I have finally made some headway on the next project in the Sew Colette challenge which is the lovely Truffle Dress.

I have traced the pattern doing the same as I did for the Pastille and cut a 14 top tapering to an 18 skirt (hope I have done the grading right).

I am really hoping that I wont have to do a short torso adjustment and a sway back adjustment but at least I know what I am doing this time (she says *& does a big big eye roll).

All cut out and marked up,double checked all the markings before I put the pattern away this time (these patterns can be a sod to fold up again)!!!!!

I have cut this muslin from an old bed sheet (god only knows why I had a bed sheet that colour)!!!!













So tomorrow I am ready to sew it all together and then work out what alterations I need to make for a great fit. Hope everyone is getting on OK and cant wait to see everyones finished garments :) x

A Quick Little Dress??

I thought I would take a day out from the Sew Colette to knock up a quick dress that I had already made. I knew the stretch jersey knit (purchased for £3.95p/m from Ashley Brook Fabrics in Romford) would not be suitable for any of the Colette projects so I thought I would make the Simplicity 2406 seen as though I already had the pattern traced and cut.

It needs another wash or two for the interfacing to de-bulk (my own fault as I think I used heavyweight instead of my lightweight one I used last time.

Not really the best figure hugging dress for me but comfy and wearable for school runs and house days especially with the pockets sewn into the seams. :)

Again excuse the picture I really do not photograph well.

I used view C on the pattern but wore this today with my own belt rather than the intended sash. I will admit I had some trouble with the sleeves, even though I used the same pattern as size as last time they just would not go right so I unpicked them and done them again :o)

I finished the facing with bias tape for a smart finish and was pleased with my gathering this time round.

I used bias tape again to fish the arms as was not keen on using elastic again. This gave the sleeves a really nice finish.

I run out of bias tape so just machines a basic hem which hangs quite nicely.

In the flesh!

Ok so I really dont photograph well but here is me wearing my Pastille dress :)

It is really frustrating as what I see and what the camera can see are obviously two different things!

As you can see below it is still slight roomy in the upper back but not as much as before. I will definitely be wearing this once it warms up a bit.

By the way in the rear shot the dress is not wonky I obviously don't have the ability to stand straight!!!