Jumping on the bandwagon - Tilly and the Buttons Cleo Dungadress

Ta Daaaaa.

I finished my new Dungadress, and I think I am in love! The Cleo by Tilly and the Buttons is fabulous. It is the first time I have used dungaree clips, and the first time I have done any top stitching so I am still working my way through all my firsts.

I ordered a meter and a half of Denim fabric from Sew Crafty Online which was more than plenty! I still have quite a bit left and was thinking of projects to stash bust with some hard wearing denim. I already had some top stitching thread, which to be perfectly honest I had ordered a good while ago by accident as I needed some normal thread the same colour for my Daisy Dress and didn't realise there were different types of thread! This is how far I have come in the last year of so, yet this project taught me I probably needed a top stitching needle but I managed ok.

The denim was easy to work with which I was surprised about and it wasn't too thick so I used a normal need rather than a denim one. The hardest part I found was turning the straps the right way, so I got out my giant knitting needles and it did make it easier.

I only did one line of top stitching mostly because I ran out of thread, but also I think it makes it a bit more unique. I didn't even have enough thread to do the hem but actually I love the frayed look! I have done a line of zip zag in an inconspicuous black just above the hem so it won't fray too far.

Here is a picture of the whole dungadress with added Murphy dog the cockerpoo! He loves it too.

The Butterick Retro B6318

This was another project from the lovely people at Sew Crafty Online the fabric is absolutely beautiful and all my scraps have been carefully saved for future quilting and small projects as I couldn't bare to throw them out!

My Butterick Retro pattern has caused me a few headaches. Mostly in the boobage area! My first issue was my measurement didn't really fit the sizing. So I just made the on the was going to fit my top half with the hope the skirt would be floaty enough to survive.

As you can see even on the mannequin this appeared to be a strange shape but my hope was the waist band would pull it in a bit. Which it did beautifully on a real person, the mannequin doesn't do it justice.

I think if I were to make this again, I would take the top in slightly across the boobs as it doesn't have any dates to give the top any shape. I think they shape would be perfect for a the larger breasted lady though i'm afraid mine were a little lost!

Once the tie is around the middle you really can see the shape it is aiming for which is beautiful, though I think I have learnt to stay away from Kimono tops as they don't fit me properly. I found the tie quite hard to attache and the instructions weren't great but after some perseverance I think I cracked it.

But seriously whilst the fit isn't perfect on this dress it is absolutely beautiful because of the fabric. The flowers are so cheerful and wonderful it brightens up any day in the office! So all in all a successful escapade.

Daisy Dress, from Simply sewing mag

I made this beautiful dress for our Christmas present to go see Phantom of the Opera (amazing by the way!)

It was a perfectly timed free pattern from the Simply Sewing magazine.

I used some vintage cotton fabric my grandmother had in her stash. It still had the label on it saying the cost of £2.80!! The total outfit cost me about £3 as I only had to buy the zips and the thread, my kind of outfit!

I traced out the size I needed and cut it all out and put it all together in just a few hours and it has so few pieces. Perfect for me as I hate the tracing out stage!

I really struggled in putting the facing around the neck area though. I sewed it all on then I couldn't turn it back the right way out. I had to unpick the shoulders and re sew them afterwards which left them a little frayed but now I know what to do next time.

I love the part circle skirt of this dress as its a perfect shape for me. And is really flattering. The fold on the neckline adds a beautiful touch and the dress would look even better in a plain fabric I think.

Beautiful dress which is perfect for work, Simply Sewing mag even included my version on their website!

Camp blanket, BADGES!!

When I went to visit my hubby family recently his little cousin told me about her Brownie pack holiday coming up. I decided she couldn't possibly let her go without her own camp blanket like mine! Well ok maybe not like mine as I have a few years up on the badge collecting but its a good start!

I bought 1 metre of fleece fabric from Peterborough market. I then squared it off and rounded the edges. Then I used floral bias binding all the way around the edge. I cut a straight slit in the middle for her head and binded those edges too. The edges of fleece don't need binding as it won't fray but it looks beautiful for a little girly girl.

 I cut out her name with my die cutter and appliqued this onto the back. It was a bit wonk but very Alice and wonderland!

I then zigzaged the badges I bought for her along the bottom ready for her to start collecting her own.

Girls party dress, more scrap busting!

This is another free pattern from The Cottage Mama. You get the pattern when you sign up to her newsletter, and all the details are here.

I used the alternative bodice construction which has really good instructions the pattern download.

I used leftover fabric from my walkaway dress and the floral from the quilt I made. Luckily the two pinks matched perfectly.
The bit I struggled with for this dress was getting even gathers on the skirt. I tried I few times putting a long stitch and pulling the thread but each time the thread snapped.

In the end I used a method I found on pintrest. I cut a length of dental floss the width of the dress top. I then did a wide zig zag over the top of the floss. I tied one end of the floss to the skirt and pulled it through. It was so much easier this way!! One to remember indeed.

The end result is beautiful and perfectly twirly for the little girl to wear!

Simplicity 8065 another duvet cover dress!

 

I love a good 50's style dress. The tea dress style really suits my shape as it flares out at my waistline and hiding any lumps and bumps.

When I saw this pattern on the simplicity instagram I had to try it! It uses so much fabric though so I had to did out the other duvet cover I  bought from dunelm on the sale. It was a perfect colour for the summer wedding I was making this for.

The pattern was easy again because it is a wrap around dress. It is a full circle skirt so I didn't have enough table to cut it out so I had to cut it out the floor and so the dogs were desperate to help me... they aren't very good at helping!

Once I managed to cut it all out sewing it together was so quick! I was being a bit optimistic starting only the week before the wedding but I managed to finish it!

I got my beautiful flowery bias binding out again and it goes all the way around the back and the neck giving it a lovely finish. The back is a lovely crossover which is very low so I needed to get some kind of bra that wasn't so revealing.


Once I was wearing the dress it kept popping un done when I sat down. This is not ideal as its a wrap over I exposed my bum! I think I will upgrade the poppers I used to some cam snaps I have bought this week or some hook and eyes to help secure it a bit more.

I wore it with my fluffy underskirt and I felt fabulous! Perfect for dancing and making an entrance! It was lovely and plain but still made a statement, and it was talked about by the whole wedding party!

Baby car seat blankets - How to!

My next adventure was spurred on by my very special pretend cousin being preggers! By pretend cousin I mean the kind of person you grow up with, who you call their parents Aunt and Uncle but when you turn about 7 and realise your not actually related it doesn't matter! When this lovely lady is 'Our Von' and whilst planning a wedding she has a lovely baby girl 'Our Syd'.

Von had found this car blanket on pintrest which looked really useful for keeping bub warm and toasty but not so easy to slip off in the car of pram. so I set about making it for this beautiful baby!

We didn't know what baby flavour Sydney was going to be so I was looking for neutral kind of fabrics. I found these in Krafty Kats in Huntingdon, If you have never been it's worth a journey, it a treasure trove of cake baking, sewing, knitting and papercrafts and you always find just what you need, and often a lot of what you don't need! I'm always there last on a Monday before guides trying to make a plan of what we can do that evening so I find them a saviour!

So I purchased
1m of animal fabric
1m of yellow gingham
1m of wadding (I used the expensive cotton kind because at the time I wasn't sure what I was looking for and I was worried since it was for a baby)

Below are the instructions I used though it won't matter if you deviate slightly.

• Put the two pieces of fabric spread of patterns facing each other. Fold them into quarters and cut around them to round the corners as below:

• Lay out the batting again on the floor in my case, and lay the rounded corner sandwich on to of the batting, keep the two patterns facing each other at the moment.
• put the sandwich to the batting and the cut the batting to match the shape of the other fabric.
• Keep everything pinned together and sew all the edges together, leaving one corner open.
• Turn the blanket right side in, so you have patterned fabric of both sides.
• Fold the blanket in half , then draw a straight line across the corner you haven't sewn up yet. Cut this line off then sew it up with a large zigzag stitch creating  a hood.
• You can zigzag all the way round the edge it you want to, to give it a nice finish though when I did I wished I hadn't as I made such a mess of it not keeping it straight! As you can see..
 
• Now you need to cut the gaps for the safety straps to go in. What I did was got Von to measure the distance between each strap and put the measurement roughly in the middle, what you could do if place it in the care seat and mark out where each strap needs to go. Then you need to sew a large rectangle around where you are going to make a hole so that it doesn't fray or run into being a huge hole! I then laid it on my cutting mat and made 3 straight lines within the squares I have made with my rotary cutter like below.

There you have it! NICE AND EASY

 

Hopefully you'll end up with a super cutie to be 'swaddled' in it like this!

I had to ask what swaddleing was... apparently its like wrapping the baby up in all the layers, like it the picture! ha ha.

As you can see this one is a little big just yet, but I'm fairly certain she'll grow into it!

 

Update - it's even good in a bouncy seat too, and it stops mummy getting annoyed at the blanket always slipping off or being kicked off!