A Sewing Shed is Born ...

... at last!  Insulation and electrics done, walls painted, mountain of Ikea flatpack furniture built and most of my sewing gear moved in!  Just in time for the two bridesmaids dresses I have 2 months to make - phew!

Here's the photographic evidence - looking quite tidy at the moment, give it a few weeks ....

My cutting table-top, once built, will rest on the top of this Expedit unit, which is on castors so I can roll it out and put the table-top on it when I need to cut out.

This Expedit unit is for all my books, patterns and fabric stash (well, part of the fabric stash anyway, the rest will have to continue living in the loft as there is no shed on earth big enough to house all of it!).

And this is my sewing table, set under one of the windows.  The blinds are useful when I'm working at night and also help reflect the lights back in to the room.

Most important of all is what I've christened "Coffee Corner":

A New Home

Since he was born nearly 3 years ago, my gorgeous little boy has had to share his room with all my sewing, knitting and crafting paraphernalia.  We are finally getting to the point where he is out-growing his cot and will soon been so wedged in from end to end that I fear we'll have to call the Fire Brigade one morning to get him cut out ..... so a decision had to be made about where to put all My Stuff.

For a while, I'd been eyeing up a corner of the garden that had the children's playhouse in and wondering if I could perhaps put a shed there instead:

From time to time, I'd mention it to my husband who, being a keen gardener, was not too enthusiastic about the idea as it meant losing a bit of garden.  However, a few months ago even HE had to admit that our home was bursting at the seams and a shed would be a lot cheaper than building an extension or moving house.

One phone call later and the Shed Man was booked to come and look at the site and by the end of that weekend they were booked to come and built it for us!

This is the result:

It's still got to be insulated and electrics put in, but once that's done, I will be able to move all of my stuff in (hope the shed's big enough!) and will have somewhere to be creative.

Perhaps more importantly, the Son and Heir will have his own bedroom for the first time in his life - just got to get that quilt finished now .....

Found it Again ...

... phew, seem to have rediscovered my sewing mojo.

Took advantage of my non-sewing month to get my sewing machine serviced for the first time ever.  I was given it when I was 16, so it's been in near constant use for the last 24 years!  It feels like a new machine!

I also knitted a tank top for my son - when I showed it to him, he told it he loved it and gave it a kiss, so I guess he's quite pleased with it!

However, after a month without the machine, my fingers started to itch again, so it was a relief to get the machine back and start work on my next project - a schoolbag for my daughter.  We looked at all the lovely ones in Gap - and they are cool bags - but the trouble is, ALL the children have them, so I thought it would be nicer to make her one.  That way, no-one would have the same as her!

And this is the result:

I'm really pleased with and she thinks it's "cool" so all is well!

I also went back to the bag I had made for a friend's birthday and decided to add a lace trim to it.  I still wasn't 100% sure, but the friend was thrilled with it, so I guess it was ok after all!

It's funny how you spend so long making something that you see all the teeny tiny faults on it, whereas everyone else just see it at face value and don't notice all those teeny tiny faults at all!

Am now back on the quilt I am making for my son .... will post pics next time!

Pah! Lost it again ...

I fear my sewing mojo has upped and left again.  This happens from time to time and is rather frustrating and even a little bit depressing.

Have recently made a handbag as a present for a friend and it's just not right, but I can't work out what needs to be done about it.  So it just sits in the corner, quietly reminding me that I need to do something about it.

Spent today making a pink and white spotted fleece dressing gown for my daughter.  She loves it, but the effect of feeling that I had to make it in one day took all pleasure out of the process for me.

I'm sure I'm not the only crafter who goes through these phases, so hopefully my next post will be all hearts and flowers and positive news about lovely things I've sewn!

Until then ....

Back on the dancefloor ...

Finally decided what to do about the dress I made in the 'dancing couples' fabric that I ended up not liking.

Went with my initial solution idea which was to put in a 'modesty' panel at the front of the bodice so that it didn't sit so low at the front:

I also chopped a good few inches off the bottom of the dress and levelled it off so it is now a smock top:

All in all, a much better result, so I'm very pleased with it now.  Will get much more wear out of it, rather than it hanging in the wardrobe until I give it to the charity shop!

Gifts Galore

I've had a lovely time over the last few months making gifts for various friends.  It started with a knitting needle roll for a 40th birthday which really re-ignited my sewing bug.

This was from a great tutorial on http://madebyloulabelle.blogspot.com/ and the gorgeous retro fabric was from http://www.fabricrehab.co.uk/.  I've bought a few bits of fabric from them now - so much more unusual than I'd find in my local fabric shop and it arrives within a day or so of ordering, so thoroughly recommend this site.

After the success of the knitting needle roll, I had a friend's daughter's christening coming up, so decided it was a good opportunity to make a rag doll - something I've been wanting to do for ages.  This is "Rose", the finished doll:

There was no shoe pattern, so I had to work those out, but was quite pleased with them in the end.

After that, another friend was turning 40, so I made her an evening bag from a Vogue pattern I've had for years.  I started off with some brown velvet and then, on a Bank Holiday trip to Arundel, found a gorgeous 50's brooch for a tenner which gave me the idea of using the creamy pearl beads to tie the two in together.  The pearl beads came from my mother's rusty wedding tiara circa 1962!

My mother-in-law loved the knitting needle roll, so I thought I'd make her one for her birthday in August.  Again, I got my fabric from Fabric Rehab. 

I made this today - it's a really quick pattern and only takes about an hour to do.  It probably took me longer to choose the lining fabric, binding and ribbon trims!  This is the finished roll:

 (I have no idea how to lay pictures out properly yet!)

The next project is yet another friend's 40th birthday present (can you see a pattern emerging here!) - another evening bag.  Have ordered a pattern from Vogue and will update further once I've started work on it.

I Don't Feel Like Dancing ...

I bought this fabric and pattern last summer, then couldn't decide whether to make it or not.  It sat with the rest of my fabric stash for over a year, but I finally decided last weekend to make it up, rather than have the bag of fabric cluttering up the house.

I spent a lot of time carefully getting the piping right on the front panel and making sure the shoulder pleats were even etc, but unfortunately I don't really like the end result (this happens more often than I would like!).

There are two main problems:

1.  Being not as tall as your average person, the front v opening is very low, so I will have to wear a camisole or similar underneath to avoid flashing my bra!  This is what I mean ...

2. The hem is supposed to be a bit like a shirt-waister I suppose:

(front)(back)

but this really doesn't look right on me - it looks as though I've cut the bottom of the dress badly and just decided to hem it and hope noone will notice! Admittedly, I can't deny there have been times in the past when this did happen - most notably a wedding dress I was making for someone which resulted in me having to remake the whole dress (and they don't know to this day that I had to do that!), but I promise not on this occasion!!



So, I was initially quite disappointed, especially as I love the fabric so much.  However, I've hung the dress in my wardrobe while I mull over what to do with it.

Today's idea is: to sort out problem (1), make a "modesty panel" in the same fabric with red piping on it and sew it into the lower part of the V, thus making it not so revealing; to sort out problem (2), cut quite a bit off the bottom and make it a smock top (which, as I live in jeans most of the time when not at work would probably mean I wear it a lot more than if I leave it as a dress).

I'm not going to rush to do this, will leave it for a bit and come back to it .... watch this space!!