New Blog

It's not easy to update this blog from my iPad (the app crashes constantly and the website doesn't like long posts grr), so I've set up a new blog at sewamethystar.wordpress.com

#sewnwithhart - Day Seventeen - Signature Colour

I tend to wear a lot of pink and purple these days, as today's snuggly outfit shows lol 😆 It used to be blue that I was drawn to, then just purple for a long time, but my stepdaughter's influence has brought out the pink in me over the last few years 😊💖

#sewnwithhart - Day Sixteen - Daily Digest

I quite often use Instagram, YouTube or just a Google search when I need advice, but also often find myself grabbing these two books when I want to check something 😊

My Second Coco Dress :)

Woohoo, I'm loving feeling well enough to sew so much at the moment and made my second Coco dress this week! I'm feeling more confident in my sewing too, which is amazing :)

I made this one in black and purple ponte roma fabrics that I bought from Guthrie & Ghani last year (I love ordering from them, they're so friendly and helpful) and I went with the long-sleeved funnel neck version this time, using black for the body and purple for the sleeves/neck.

I made size 3 again, in case the heavier ponte roma would hang differently, but ended up taking it in half an inch each side again (so two inches overall), so will make sure I adjust my pattern for next time. I guess I just prefer a slightly closer fit than is intended :)

I was brave too haha and used my overlocker for the side seams!! I love how professional the finish is and it wasn't that scary after practising for a while first!

My only issue, yet again, was hemming! I just don't seem to be able to get the hang of it, but I guess it will come with practice and, as my husband pointed out, it looks fine from the outside and no one else is going to see inside!

I'm having a quiet day today, as I did overdo it a little yesterday, so I'm looking through my patterns and planning what to make next! I think probably an Agnes top, as I've had the pattern/material since last year. I'm very tempted by the two Named Clothing patterns I accidentally bought the other day though - Paola and Geneva - oops!! Couldn't resist their Valentines 20% off offer!! Watch this space!

#sewnwithhart - Day Fifteen - Unplug

Not really sure what to post for today, so here's some pretty flowers 🌸

I finished my Coco dress today, so will write about that soon 😊

#sewnwithhart - Day Fourteen - Gifted

Not Valentine's presents and not even particularly recent, but a selection of the things I've made my wonderful stepdaughter, who I love very much 💖

#sewnwithhart - Day Thirteen - What You Reach For

Today I reached for everything I needed to get my next Coco dress cut out. Hoping to get sewing tomorrow 😊

#sewnwithhart - Day Twelve - Local Store

I don't really go to actual fabric shops very often 🙈 but I found out about this shop in Canterbury through Instagram and hope to pop in when I'm in Canterbury next 😊

#sewnwithhart - Day Eleven - Sewing Space

My main sewing space is really rather small, as my sewing machine is on a table in the corner of the living room and the printer shares the table! We've recently had a room change round upstairs though and there's a bigger table in the spare room that I can use for fabric cutting now and my overlocker is living in there at the moment. I generally like things to be tidy when I start sewing, but it usually descends into chaos pretty quickly!!

#sewnwithhart - Day Ten - Sewing Snacks

I have a lot of food intolerances and also some dietary preferences as they help my health, so I don't generally tend to snack while sewing. I do enjoy a cup of tea and a Nakd bar (or similar) during the afternoon though, which gives me a nice rest from whatever I'm doing. Other than that, it's just water in my favourite blue glass to keep me hydrated.

#sewnwithhart - Day Nine - Whistle While You Work

I used to like quiet when I was sewing, so that I could concentrate properly, but recently I've had the tele on in the background. My stepdaughter has got me in to watching The Vampire Diaries and I find that's something I can follow quite easily while I sew. That said, I did end up sewing up my facing armholes when it distracted me too much the other day didn't I!!

#sewnwithhart - Day Eight - Quirks

Whilst I'm generally quite a quirky person, I'm really not sure if I've got any sewing quirks. I've seen other people saying that sewing without shoes is their quirk and the thought of sewing with shoes on seems alien to me lol so I guess that's a quirk I didn't realise I had! I do have this funny thing with pins though - I often find myself colour-matching the pins when I'm pinning things and also have a tendency to make patterns with them when I put them back into the pin cushion lol

#sewnwithhart - Day Seven - One or Many

I tend to focus on one project at a time. I've always got loads of ideas and patterns/fabric queuing up, but once something is cut out, I focus solely on that until I'm finished. I'm totally the opposite when it comes to knitting/crochet though - I've got loads of different things on the go!!

#sewnwithhart - Day Six - Finding Time

I generally sew in the afternoon/early evening and have to sew in short bursts, alternating with stretching my body out and/or having a rest. Some days I can't sew for long, but I really enjoy the days I can get stuck in and really achieve something!

#sewnwithhart - Day Five - Made with Heart

I don't make things for anyone else at the moment, as I have enough trouble finding the confidence to make for myself, but will have a think about what I could make for our local animal shelter. We got three of our five cats from there (mum and two of her kittens) a few years ago, so it's always nice to give something back to them when we can...although I suspect the tins of cat food are more helpful ;)

This is Holly (the mum) having fusses in bed with me the other morning :)

#sewnwithhart - Day Four - Heirloom

I'm not sure if this is exactly an heirloom, but my Nan gave me this thimble in a cute little case. I think she said an Aunt gave it to her, but I don't really remember - I just love having my Nan's thimble :)

#sewnwithhart - Day Three - New for You

My aim this year is to overcome my doubts and fears generally about making clothes. There aren't really any specific skills I'm aiming to learn, I just want to make at least one item of clothing a month. Next on my list is my second Coco dress, in black and purple ponte roma fabric.

#sewnwithhart - Day Two - Groundhog Day

I don't really have a project that I sew on repeat, but I did make a lot of these little hearts to give at Christmas the year before last. I made them in a variety of colours/fabrics and the recipients all seemed pleased with their gifts.

#sewnwithhart - Day One - Sewing Story

I just heard about Harts Fabric's #sewnwithhart Self Care Sewing Month this morning and think it's such a lovely idea, so I'm going to give it a go. I obviously had quite a few days to catch up with, but have really enjoyed thinking about my answers and taking some photos this afternoon :)

My experiences with sewing had a rather bumpy start with Home Economics at School. I was terrified of the sewing machines and not at all in touch with my creative side back then, so found the whole thing rather torturous and didn't go near a sewing machine again for years!

In my early 20s I was very ill and spent years mostly housebound, at times bedbound, and started to get more in touch with my creative side. At first it was cross stitch, as that appealed to my more geeky, control freaky side. I loved designing the patterns on graph paper and seeing them come to life on the cross stitch fabric.

Then a friend of mine, who I'd met online through having the same illness, bought a very reasonably priced sewing machine on eBay. She was having a lot of fun learning to sew and recommended I got one too.

It was seriously one of the best decisions I've made. I wasn't well enough to sit at it for long at a time, but found it so therapeutic just sewing random bits of fabric together and experimenting with making little bags, pouches, hair ruffles, etc out of a variety of fabrics.

I'm not really sure what happened then, but I drifted from sewing for a time and started getting back to it around the time I originally started this blog in 2012. My sewing story has been up and down since then, with spells where I'm loving it and spells where it all feels too much (darn that lack of confidence and fear of failure) and spells where life just takes over!

I'm doing well at the moment though and loving every minute I spend sitting at my sewing machine.

Sew Over It Silk Cami

Brr it's cold today! We had a little snow overnight, but nothing to get excited about and it's all melted now. We had a very chilly walk into town earlier though and I am happy to be home in the warm with a cup of tea now!

This week I made myself a Sew Over It "Silk Cami" - two makes for February already, go me haha ;) I downloaded the PDF the other week, to see how I get on with the whole PDF thing and I actually didn't find it a problem at all. I stuck all the pieces together while watching tv and then cut it down to my size straight away, which I found easier and less annoying than tracing off the pattern in my size.

I had intended to stick to pinning and cutting the pattern pieces out with scissors again this time, but found that quite awkward with the thicker paper and slippery material, so went back to using my rotary cutter - not ideal, but seemed the best solution. I'd love to hear other people's opinions on the best process for cutting out though, as I just can't seem to find a system that works well for me.

The pattern is extremely easy to follow and has helpful photos too, so I actually got all the sewing done in one afternoon (which is fast for me haha). Especially pleasing having accidentally sewn the armholes of my facing together oops haha, so wasted time unpicking that and doing it the right way! I'm not sure how I managed that, the instructions are perfectly clear, but suspect it may have something to do with being distracted by Vampire Diaries oops!!

I bought the fabric a couple of years ago (on eBay I think) when I was planning to make the Megan Dress from Love at First Stitch, but I couldn't get the fit right at the toile stage and frustration (and my old friend fear of failure) kicked in and I never made it. In hindsight though, I think the fabric would have been too drapey for that dress and it's worked perfectly for this top :) 

I was a little worried about sewing with such a slippery fabric but, whilst it slipped around all over the place at the pinning stage (I lost track of how many times it slipped right off my little sewing table and onto the floor!), it wasn't too much of a problem once I started actually sewing. This was also my first experience of 'french seams', which are actually very straight forward and look very nice on the inside. I shall definitely use them again!

I'm really pleased with how it turned out :) I think I may need to redo the hem as it's curling a bit, but I'll have another go at pressing it first. For now though, I'm feeling very pleased with myself for completing my second make of the month already - just need the weather to improve before I can wear it!

February - Cleo Dress

So, February's sewing project was the Tilly and the Buttons 'Cleo' Dress and I'm so pleased with how it's turned out!!! 

(I look pretty demented in this photo don't I hahaha)

I made it from one of their kits, so all the bits and bobs were gathered ready for me and I choose the Aubergine Needlecord, which is absolutely gorgeous! The instructions are so clear and easy to follow, I had no problems and it fits perfectly.

The only issue I had was trying to use my new overlocker to finish the edges - we are clearly not yet friends haha and feeling impatient to get on with my dress wasn't the best time to be figuring it out, so I'll get back to that another time!

I managed to persuade my sewing machine to switch back and forth between zigzag and straight stitches though (it gets stuck in zigzag for some reason, despite being set to straight stitch - super annoying!!) and used the mock-overlock foot, which actually worked very well.

I'm not quite decided on my next make - either my second Tilly and the Buttons 'CoCo' Dress, in black and purple with a funnel neck this time; or my first Sew Over It 'Silk Cami', which I downloaded the PDF for this weekend, to see how I get on with buying patterns that way. 

I always trace off a pattern in my size, so that I've still got the original and can make it in another size, so sticking the PDF together and cutting it to my size (and having the option to reprint if I need a different size) doesn't feel like much more work...and I can do the sticking sat in front of the tele, which  has got to be better than fiddling around tracing!!

2017 Challenge

In an attempt to overcome the whole 'fear of failure' thing, I've set myself the challenge of making one garment a month this year. January didn't quite work out, as my health has been especially bad, but I did make this pair of mittens (from the Dragonfly Fabrics Mitten Kit) to try and ease myself back into sewing again and I decided to give myself a break and count them as January's garment!

February's garment has already happened - ahead of the game this month!! I've written a separate blog about that.

Dusting off the Cobwebs

It's been a while since I wrote anything here hasn't it, so I thought I'd pop in and dust away the cobwebs. 

I've been sewing on and off, continually grinding to a halt when my lack of confidence gets the better of me, but I did make myself a few things last year.

In May I made myself a Colette 'Mabel' Skirt. It turned out a little on the short side (oops!!),  so I need to add some length before I make it again, but other than that I was really pleased with it and found the pattern fairly easy to follow.

Then in June I made this Colette 'Sorbetto' Top (free pattern PDF download). It took me a while, as my health wasn't great and I was only able to do a little sewing here and there. I'd also originally intended to put sleeves on it, so figuring those out slowed me down and in the end I didn't use them, as it turned out to be way too short for me - oops!!! I can wear it over another top though and it's all good experience!

I felt a little discouraged after that and there was also a lot going on at home to keep me busy, with my stepdaughter having surgery on her knee, so I drifted from sewing for a couple of months. I got back to it in September though and made myself a Tilly and the Buttons 'CoCo' Dress.

It's not perfect - I don't exactly love the neckline on me, but I am really pleased with how it turned out. I had to take it in too, which (quite ridiculously) freaked me out, but was actually really easy. I'm just so scared of doing something wrong and totally ruining things, but it's never as difficult as I think it will be and this is an especially easy pattern!

The photos are before hemming/finishing sleeves; a fairly awful one of me wearing it when I'd just finished haha; and two of me wearing it at New Year - I love the pretty flowery pattern.