Zipped Vinyl Pouch

If you look over to the right of this blog, you will see I have a new tutorial in there.

I have been a little bit busy and with the material I have bought from Pennine Outdoors, I have crafted myself a zipped bag.

I have decided to make it 8" by 10", a sort of A4 size, so that I can take projects with me on my travels.  The one I have featured in my tutorial has already been to work with my sock knitting in it.  I put the handle over my wrist and was away.  Happy Days.

For the quilters out there, I have based the design on a piece of layer cake, then with an 8" zip and the vinyl I was on a roll.

Here's the second one I made

I can see my layer cakes becoming pouches!

Emerald Green Dress

The Emerald Green "Silk" I bought in India has been made up into a beautiful dress.

The pattern I used was New Look K6723, the material I bought in India and from Minerva Crafts I bought the lining, zip, buckle and thread making a total cost of about £45.00.

The fabric proved tricky to work with and it was fraying as I breathed.  So I actually made it up in 5 days, not giving it time to fray.  Sewing was mainly done on working days and sitting down for a couple of hours a day. Not easy when you work 12 hour shifts.  In total (including making a toile) it took me 8 hours to make.  so how they do it on Great British Sewing Bee in 6 hours I don't know!

My one regret with it, is that I bought some black interlining, but didn't use it.  The skirt is too light and I need to look at the waist again.  I am thinking of taking it in at the waist and putting some petersham in there to give the waist some substance.

I wore it last Wednesday at one of my sewing classes and it was very comfy and I shall definitely be wearing it again.

Now to make my 50's petticoat.

Cowl Neck Dress

This dress I eventually made from the book, "Sew Many Dresses sew little time" by Tanya Whelan.

This is not a very flattering photograph of me in the dress.

I really enjoyed the process of drafting the pattern and the fit is lovely.  As the material has got some lycra in it, it is really comfortable.

The material is Blue Parasol from Stitch Fabrics and I bought 3m at a cost of £30.00.

A truly unique dress, so pleased!

A Perfect Day

Do you ever get the feeling of total satisfaction and a sense of peace?  Yesterday I did, it was ten past eight in the evening and I was feeling relaxed, fulfilled and at peace with myself.  So I got to thinking about what had made my day like that.

As usual my day started with walking my dog, Red is his name.  Always happy to see you and eager to go out for a walk.  The ground was damp from overnight rain making everything look new and washed.  The spring flowers, including the late daffodils in my front garden, were nodding their heads in the breeze.  The air was fresh and clean and with no traffic noise I could almost believe I was on holiday.

My morning coffee tasted especially good, warm and full and satisfying.  It's deep rich aroma filling my nostrils with memories of eating breakfast with my friend in Germany.  Breakfast in Germany being a leisurely affair, with fresh baked bread and tantalising cheeses and succulent cold meats.  Laughter filled the air as we talked of things done and dreams to fulfil.

Once my breakfast had settled, it was time to get down to things more serious.  The laundry was sorted and started whilst I got on my exercise bike.  With a body tingling and feeling alive I showered and let my hair dry naturally.  

Time for my mid morning coffee.

Knitting was my next past time and I duly sat down, with my coffee at my side and started my next mammoth knitting project.  It is a coat by Kate Davies called Westering Home.  I am making it in a teal blue and now can't wait to finish it.  But for now I have made a start and the cable pattern is now set.

The postman arrived with my 72 plug plants, and in the beautiful sunshine I potted them up.  Red laid on the decking in his usual spot to sunbathe.

The laundry now washed and dried it was time for some more knitting.

As it was Wednesday I was teaching in the evening.  A lovely, lively class of 11 women all learning to dress make.  I set off one of my students on drafting a skirt pattern and then one by one taught four of them how to put in zips.  The pleasure on their faces, when they performed the simple task of opening and closing a zip that had been sewn in correctly, never ceases to surprise me.  Until teaching, I hadn't realised that putting in zips was so daunting to so many people and that when taught correctly, how relaxed people became.  It was at this time (8:10pm), that I vowed to get myself a bottle of wine and when I got home, finish of my perfect day with a crisp cold glass of white wine.

Perfect.

Knickers again

This morning I have drafted the hipster knickers again and made up another pair.  This is definitely the design I am going to go with, now I just need to write the instructions and the lesson.

I just hope my neighbours haven't been watching me whilst I've been laying knickers out in the garden.

Knickers

This week I got an exciting delivery and impatiently had to wait until today to use it.  

170m of picot elastic

In October I will be teaching a class I have called "Knickertastic" and I have been making knickers now for the last couple of months, but I only had a small amount of picot elastic, so I ordered this lot from ebay.  

I drafted a pattern and did make a pair of knickers a couple of months ago (sorry no photo), but they came out too large.  This was because, at the time, I hadn't got a clue how to adjust the pattern for the stretch in the cotton jersey.

So using Kwik Sew Pattern 2908, and bits and pieces in my stash I made a pair of knickers. Here they are:

From the measurements I have redrafted my draft and and made a pair of hipster knickers, these are now the same size as the Kwik Sew ones, so I now know I have the right calculations.

All I now need to do is: draft all three sizes; write up the instructions; make a lesson plan; and put together some kits for the lesson in October. . . . . . 

(The bright pink elastic is for me though, I have some beautiful bright pink stretch lace elastic that will become knickers and bras for me).

Time to reward myself with an evening of knitting.