A Busy Couple of Weeks...And a Finished Frock

Phew! It's been a busy few weeks for me, hence the blog silence. I just haven't had time to sit down and blog. I had/have a uni essay to finish - just a few hundred more words to complete. In just two more essays after this, it's over. Hoorah! It's been a very long five years - working full time and studying is incredibly hard work.
But, despite all this high-brow (ahem) scribbling, I have done some sewing. In fact, I have done a fair bit: I finished the Sew Over It 1940s Tea Dress Sewalong!

I am very pleased with myself: the fabric was terrifying but I won! The hem is slightly uneven and I had to get my gran round to help with the fit. Remember me saying I cut the size 10 and should've cut the 8? I should always cut the 8! Gran pinned me (and given that she's nearly ninety, she did literally pin me a couple of times!) into the dress and I now have these nifty dart things in the bust. I took in two cm this way, using a double ended dart from the waist band/front section to the arm hole. I also took in about two cm on the back using the same method. 

So here's one of the back as well. I still think that some more could be taken in off the back but I'll wear it a few times first. I don't want to sew myself into a straight-jacket!

And, because I've not blogged for a while, here are some fun pictures. Not too fun mind: I don't want pictures of me looking like a complete idiot on the internet. This is my first fashion shoot, we (lovely Mr and I) were in the garden following a day enjoying the gorgeous weather/hemming a frock when we trolleyed outside to do some pictures. The skirt is beautifully swishy and I wanted a picture of it swishing. Cue lovely Mr crouched on the decking taking pictures with his phone while I spin on my toes. Obviously, most of the pictures are of me looking like an idiot. Here is a slightly idiotic picture shortly before the swishing began:

And here is one of The Swish. This is the best of a bad lot:

I love how the fabric moves. It's so good to get away from cotton, even if I did buy some gorgeous fabric today for my next project, which I hope to start on Friday. So there's something to look forward to.

 

 



Sewing the Sew Along

I'm not going to lie, I was right to be scared of my fabric. I have never used more pins in all my sewing life than for each seam.

Sew Over It published the bodice sewing blog post on Monday but I only finished it this afternoon, so thought I might as well crack on with the skirt and do both parts in one blog post. So, aside from the pinning, I was more than trepidatious about the sizing. You may remember from my previous post that I cut a ten when I usually take an eight. I mentioned that I might have to take the bodice in. I am rarely right, but here I was - I took the sides in by 1cm each side and the bust is still a bit big. I was tempted to go ahead in the sew along and put the zip in so I could muck about with it a bit more but I am true to my promise of not getting ahead of myself.
I could have done what Lisa Comfort of Sew Over It suggested and get someone to pin me into the dress using the 1.5cm seam allowance. The only person who could do this is my lovely mister. But he is not good at things like that, in fact, he is terrible. So I pinned myself in and I'll make adjustments to the zip placement when the time comes.
I did manage to get all the seams to line up, which is a plus. But look at this:

No matter how many times I tried, I could not get the bottom of the skirt hem to line up! It must be a fabric slippage whilst I was cutting out - it really was hard work!
I did try the dress on and I do think that it will look quite nice in the end. Keep fingers crossed!
In related good news, I managed to fix my overlocker, by which I mean clean five years of skeff off of it, rethread it and muck about with the tensions but I still fixed it. I was so happy I literally jumped for joy. It saves a lot of zigzagging and trimming seam allowances!

Sew Over It Sew Along, Part 1

So, I started the Sew Along on Saturday. I was right to be terrified of my fabric; it's so slippery and awkward. I really hope that I've managed to cut accurately (I even sharpened the scissors!) otherwise, I'm going to look very odd when it's finished.
As usual, I did not take heed of the layout and saved myself about half a metre of fabric, if not more. I intend to use it for a blouse trim - I though it would look nice as a pussy bow and cuffs.

I also did not trace the pattern pieces. I did, but I just couldn't do it accurately. I suspect that my paper was too thick. Then I couldn't get the tracing wheel to work on the fabric so I just cut the pattern up. I'm making a size ten. I normally make the size eight but I measured myself and my waist is a size ten and, bizarrely, so are my tiny boobs. My non existent hips are not even on the scale, but the skirt is loose fitting so I can't see how this will hurt.

Regardless of the measurements, I can see myself having to take the bodice of this dress in a bit... Well, we shall soon find out: the next instalment is posted on Monday, so I'm hoping to get the machine going this week to sew the bodice. Fingers crossed the fabric is not as frightening under the presser foot...

My First Sew Along

I have never done a sew along before but I have heard of them. Working shifts meant that I couldn't do anything at the same time as everyone else, so I often felt left out. But now I'm not working shifts anymore, I'm throwing myself at social things, even if it just comes with a hashtag (#SOIsewalong in this case).

So I'm so excited that I can join in with the Sew Over It 1940s tea dress sew along. I've picked my fabric and it arrived, beautifully wrapped, from Sew Over It on Saturday. Just a quick trip to a haberdashery for a zip and thread and I'm ready to go.

I'm not going to lie - I'm a bit scared of my fabric. Not because of the cute cheetahs on it, but because it is not cotton or cotton like, and very thin and drapey. I've been sewing for years and never made anything with anything delicate. This cannot go wrong.

So determined am I that this won't go wrong, I've even prewashed my fabric. I've resolved to do this sew along by the letter and, of course, to wait until the sew along starts to sew. This is going to be very difficult for me.

If you'd like to participate, just click on the link above. You've still got time before the sewing starts to get your fabric and pattern.

The team at Sew Over It are always so friendly and delivery is very quick in my experience. They also run an array of classes and I am very jealous of anyone who gets to do one. I desperately want to make so many of their gorgeous patterns, unfortunately, most of their lovely clothes are only available if you participate in the classes. I find this annoying on many levels, but mostly because I, like so many other people, make their own clothes to save a bit of money so paying £175 for a class, plus pattern and fabric to make the 1960s coat (which I completely love) is just too much. But, they tell me that some more of their patterns will be available to buy separately soon. Here's hoping it's sooner rather than later!