Planning my Little Red Dress

I have wanted to make a little red New Girl inspired dress for while now.  In fact this was going to be my Christmas dress, then my New Year dress but it is still laying uncut even now!  I just haven't had the time to work on anything sewing related.  This is starting to become a theme now! I have next week off however, and as well as visiting my parents and Sam's I should have a few days at home to really work on it.  If I am lucky I might even finish it!  That is the plan anyway.

Image from What Would Zooey Wear?

I love the program New Girl (so does nearly every other sewing blogger) possibly more for Zooey's perfect outfits than anything else.  Plus New Girl makes are springing up all over the blog world.  

Dance Bomb Fashion at Burda Style

Vicki at Sew Weekly

Sewingadicta even ran a New Girl Sewalong!

Sewingadicta

I am going to use a pattern from Burda Style August 2012, blogged about here, which has cap sleeves instead of elbow length sleeves which I think will look really sweet.  Plus it means I can wear layers underneath it which I will definitely need as it is ccccccolddddd here!  

Burda Style 08/12

I envisioned using a fabric with some texture so I have bought some moss crepe fabric (on the left) for the main fabric as I think it will add a bit of interest.  I am using cotton lawn for the lining (on the right) as I know a lot of sewers swear by it as a lining fabric and I really hate the cheapo staticy stuff you can get.  For something close of my skin I want it to feel nice and this lawn is really soft.  

After a my week away next week I am looking forward to getting stuck in to the project!  

Table Runner Project

For my Mum for Christmas I decided to make her a quilted table runner for her newly decorated dining room.  She had previously told me that she was going for a turquoise and gold theme and she had wallpaper with leaf patterns on it in those colours.  I have since found out, after visiting at Christmas, that this wallpaper fell down and my parents have replaced it with TOTALLY DIFFERENT COLOURS.  Grrr!  So now it doesn't fit in the colour scheme but never mind, it is still pretty and they can always use it in a different room.

As you can see it is quite large, this was taken on my sofa (as my dining table is covered with the next sewing project!)  My parents have a larger than average dining table which I got my brother to measure so that I could get it the right size.  They could also use it on the sideboard as it fits there too, versatile no?

I used matching turquoise, gold, brown and a little red themed fat quarters that I actually won in a giveaway quite a while ago and they will match some coasters I made previously.

I bought the bias binding from ebay in a lovely vivid turquoise which I think goes really well and brightens the whole thing up.

The fabric for the back is another ebay find, a really gorgeous floral print in turquoise and gold which actually shines and shimmer in the light.

I found this tutorial for a runner on the website V and Co and although I didn't follow it exactly, it gave me a pretty good idea of where to start and what to do.  I used felt as the sandwich part of the runner and I stitched the strips on quilting through the bottom fabric.  I only did a few lines of quilting on top of the strips through the whole thing as I really liked how it looked and I was worried about getting my lines straight.  In fact the whole thing is not particularly straight but I hope this adds to the home-made-ness of it!  I haven't actually given it to my Mum yet as I hadn't added the binding by the time Christmas day came around (damn you retail job!) but I am planning on posting it, so hopefully by the time this post goes up she should have had it!  

Christmas Presents

Look at all the lovely sewing/cooking related goodies I ended up with this year!

I got a lovely Levi Roots desserts book which will no doubt feature in its own blog post in the future, I am eyeing up the molten chocolate puddings recipe already.

I got this lovely scarf from my Mum who bought it at an antiques fair and she thinks it may well be quite old.  I'm not too sure but the sequins on it are quite different to ones I had seen before, they are more domed rather than flat.

 My brother and my now fiancée both bought me the Burda Style Handbook which was my own fault as I had mentioned it to both of them without realising it.  Basically it has one pattern for each garment with directions then it has lots of ways to alter and change them up.

Some shots from the book

Top - Loving the sheer purple and navy shirts

Skirts - I love the pale blue layered one and the red polka dots

Dress- The pale blue and the cute bow one call my name here

Coat- Gorgeous navy coat with a hood here

Bags - Loving the Gertie cane handled one and the hearts

I am in love with this dress from Casey's blog and I am so happy there is a how to in the book for this!

I also got the Colette book from my brother.  Colette is so popular with bloggers and as yet I have not got my hands on one of their patterns yet.  I think it is good value for money too as you get five lovely patterns included.

Meringue

Truffle

I really want to make the Truffle pattern, it is so gorgeous!  I have in fact already ordered some fabric with the intention of making it up for my finance's sisters wedding.

Pastille

Taffy and Meringue

Licorice 

Review of the Year 2012

I have done a little review of my year in picture collages this year as last year I wrote a resolution post and broke all of them so I don't really want to do that this year!  I have made a sewing resolution and have entered it in Didyoumakethat's resolution sewing jar which is to make 5 items from my current to do list.  This may not seem like a lot but when I have only made 5 actual garments this year due to working 2 jobs now it will be a challenge for me.  Especially as I tend to ignore my list and come up with brand new things I want to make!  My current list is under the My Makes tab at the top of my blog, if I can make more than 5 then all the better!

Clothing

Banana Carousel, Lilac Love, Anchors Away, Titanic, Emerald City

Magazine Makes

Bunting, Shoe Clips, Tiara, Buttonhole

 Craft Bits

Christening Bunting, Hen Sashes, Sugar Skull Pin, Gnome, Sugar Skull Cross stitch, Cake modelling 

Yummy Goodies

Tea Bag Biscuits, Cocktails, Marshmallow and Toffee Cakes, Teddy Pops, Angry Birds, Cake Pops

So it turns out I made more food than garments oops!  It was a really good year though, my first writing for a wedding magazine and my first hen do.  Seeing 2 lovely couples get married, having a fab time at Halloween and celebrating the Jubilee and the Olympics.  Here's to an amazing 2012!

Best Christmas Ever!

Why the best Christmas?  Because of this!!!

EEEEEEEK!  Someone actually wants to marry me!  Heehee!  My lovely boyfriend, now fiancée proposed to me Christmas day after a huge dinner at my parents.  It was nerve racking for him, heart racing for me and  surprising for my family.  He gave me the most beautiful ring which was his great-grandmothers from 1920 and I just can't believe how 'me' it is!

So I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as mine has been the best ever!

Rose's Titanic Swim Dress for Halloween 2012

Sneeky Peek

This year for Halloween I went out with my lovely second job workmates and when they told me that their theme was going to be film I knew exactly what I was going to make.  An e-mail had recently arrived in my inbox to say Simplicity were re-releasing their Titanic sewing pattern to coincide with the centenary of the disaster.  I really wanted it but there didn't seem to be anywhere in the UK selling it that I could find so instead I searched Etsy and managed to get a copy of the original.

Simplicity 8399

Next I had a look at some of the stills from the film to work out what colours I wanted my dress.  The stills and the publicity shots actually have this dress in conflicting colours, one looks very lilac/purple and one is more blue.  The fabric I ended up with is a cross between the two.  In daylight it is more lilac and in artificial light and in my photos it is a bluer shade.  I am happy with this though as the dress in the film does appear far more blue.

Lilac version

I really wanted to keep my costs down so I bought enough silk chiffon to make the overlay of the dress and the bust band, then used poly-chiffon in white for the skirt overlay and plain old white poly cotton for the base of the dress.  It was actually quite straight forward to sew up, it just has A LOT of hems.  I did run out of time at the end and the bottom hem of the over skirt and dress are not fully hemmed yet, just overlocked but I will do this to finish the dress off.

Full view, you can see the layers here

I did have problems with the overdress staying the right length all the way around as it was pretty easy to pull out of shape when cutting so I just eyeballed it in the end.  I really like how the chiffon sleeves look over the top of the bodice.

I used white ric-rac between the bodice and lining and then white lace around the neckline to add detail to the top.  The pattern suggested using brocade fabric but the original had lace so I went with the lace option instead.  The blue bust piece was actually a bit tight on me, I should have measured it beforehand and read the reviews which said the bodice portion came up small on larger busted ladies.  If I made it again I would add a few inches onto the top to make sure the bustline actually fell under the bust rather than right on it.

I used some peach poly chiffon for the sash which was 3 sections sewn together and I like how the colour adds a bit too it.  I wanted a coral colour originally but couldn't find anything in my price range.  I tack stitched it to the front but most of those stitches have popped out now due to over vigorous dancing so that will need repairing too.  You can see how the dress has a small train here too (plus my hem that needs doing again!)

I totally cheated on the back and realised I could get the dress on over my head when I was about to sew the zip in so I neglected the zipper and just did a big seam as it is only a costume anyway and I was really worried about catching all the different chiffon layers in it.

What I don't have is any pictures of me wearing it, which just did not get taken on the night.  I will put it on and get some pictures soon but at the moment I have ten jumpers and a blanket on and I am not really feeling putting on a light chiffony dress!  The night of Halloween was a terrible one, it absolutely poured down and I got drenched wearing this costume which I guess was appropriate for a Titanic costume really!

Burda Style Magazine 10/12 Review

There are lots of pretty pink outfits in this issue, yay for me as I like pastels, but I'm not sure a fan of the 'sophisticated' section as it seems a bit boring to me.

Shirt 114A, Skirt 126A

Unfortunately there is not a good picture of this skirt which looks to be gathered around the waist and has little ribbon bows all the way down the folds.  I really like the shimmer glittery lurex top which is great for feeling Christmassy which I feel like I officially can now.   I know most people think it is too early but if you work in retail like me, you have been talking about the big C since August so I am pretty worn out with it now!

Dress 108B

I really like the pleats which go all the way down the front of the dress but that isn't very obvious in the picture.  I think they might be tucks on the bodice so that they lay flat.  I don't really like the length but that could be changed easily.

Dress 128

This dress has some stunning fabric which really helps but I think it would look really cute.  It actually has a v neck and the model is wearing a shiny necklace rather than it being a peter pan collar.

Jacket 106 Skirt 107

 I am a sucker for all things military, though this is a shocking picture of this coat.  I love the double row of shiny buttons and the epaulettes. 

Dress 108 A

This is the pleated dress again and I think you can see the tucks a bit better in this fabric.  It looks really different in a more casual fabric too.

Dress 137

I quite like this plus size pattern and the neck opening is really different and looks really cosy for winter, plus I do really like empire line dresses.

Oh I love owls, they are super popular at the moment but I don't mind as I do think they are sweet.  I love these different shaped felt ones.

I love the purses too, these are quite an old idea but I think they have been updates.  Just look at that hedgehogs face!

I haven't done a dislike section this month, there wasn't anything super terrible so I think I will just keep it for a time I see one of those super crazy patterns.