Category Crafting

New make: Circle Skirt 2 – the woven episode

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Hey all! I’m writing this from Siena, Italy, heh heh and although you’d think I’d be spending every waking moment seeing the sights, I do actually get a little downtime while the baby naps, etc. On that note, he slept through the night for the first time since we arrived last night! Yippee! The time zone adjustment issue was getting old, I can tell you. So, since I’m feeling vaguely human this morning, I thought I’d catch up on something I made a while ago, but just finished here: a woven circle skirt.

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New make: Colette Moneta dress

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I decided last week I’d work on a few knit items all at the same time given my current set-up of twin needles, low tension, walking foot etc. etc. I guess it’s partly due to laziness, but I’m still not so au fait with the settings that I can whip everything on and off like a pro. I already made the Metro t-shirt, and so I decided I’d follow up with a women’s t-shirt by Wendy Ward, plus this Moneta dress. Well, my apologies to Wendy, but I massacred the t-shirt by not realising the limits of a serger (or, indeed, my current serging skills) as I promptly shaved off half the t-shirt neck trying to turn an acute corner. It’s a goner I tell you. But I won’t do it again.

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New make: Metro t-shirt in interlock

bellecitadel 10 Comments

Hi all! Wow – the summer is fairly flying by! I’ve been keeping busy the last few weeks with enjoying the great outdoors in glorious Washington and unfortunately my blogging has suffered a little. But I have been sewing! I have been spending rather a lot of my time figuring out the Hannah dress, which is finished, but for a few errors I need to fix. I also finished a woven circle skirt apart from the hook and a t-shirt for myself. But first I’m posting this second male Metro t-shirt that I finished for my husband.

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Discoveries of a novice: Intelligent/smart fabrics – they do WHAT?

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I had absolutely no idea that there were fabrics in this world that could do the sort of things James Bond could only dream of. I came across the subject in the intro of my fab swatch book, Swatch Reference Guide for Fashion Fabrics. I read about the cross-breeding of spiders with goats to make spider silk. Yes, that’s what I said: spiders with goats. I assumed this was some sort of weird joke, but when I read it out loud to my husband, he said “Oh yes, I remember that in the news”. WHAT? So maybe I’m the last person in the world to know about it (and I regard myself as a reasonably well-informed person), but if the goat/spider phenomenon (and others to follow) passed you by, here’s what they are talking about. Continue reading “Discoveries of a novice: Intelligent/smart fabrics – they do WHAT?” →

New make: Everyday Skirt in Sommer

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Someone recommended the Liesl & Co. patterns to me a while back and I briefly looked at the Everyday Skirt at the time. A sale then came up a few months later and I purchased the pattern as a “this will come in useful sometime” kind of pattern. Then I bought this cotton fabric from the Sarah Jane Sommer collection for Michael Miller. I love it and in one of those happy lightbulb moments, I thought of the pattern and it immediately struck me as a perfect marriage.

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New make: Adventure Tank + I bought a serger!

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Yes, I did it! I went for the old favourite: the Brother 1034D serger/overlocker! And very exciting it has been too. Okay, it clunks along with a fairly noticeable thump and the motor is no Rolls Royce specimen: a smooth ride this is not. But you know what? It works great and I couldn’t be happier so far for the budget-friendly price. I spent a couple of hours practicing threading, which makes me sound very diligent, but it actually took me a couple of hours to crack it after the threads broke the first time. I have it now though and have had no problems. It’s really not that bad: it was one tiny little thing that I’d missed. Continue reading “New make: Adventure Tank + I bought a serger!” →

Making a silk cushion out of a sow’s ear

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As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I’ve been dabbling here and there over the last few weeks, with mixed results. Here’s a little summation of a few of the things I’ve been up to, which today comprise two “sow’s ears” and a silk cushion:

One of the month’s themes from the course I’m doing involves ruffles, gathers, smocking and so on. It was all very interesting and I decided to rustle up a couple of things and just let loose on the techniques. Continue reading “Making a silk cushion out of a sow’s ear” →

Discoveries of a novice: Essential websites

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If you’re new to sewing, and online (the latter of which you presumably are if you’re reading this), then you’re probably trying to figure out which websites are the most useful for a newbie. Well, there are lots of great sewing websites I’ve both found and that have been recommended to me. I’ve listed five below that are free and that I reckon are invaluable as a resource/tool to learn and gain inspiration from: Continue reading “Discoveries of a novice: Essential websites” →

New make: Fancy Tiger Crafts Sailor Top

bellecitadel 10 Comments

Well, hello there! Remember me? Three weeks since my last post: eh? It’s not because I haven’t been doing/making things but is actually because it’s been one of those bitty periods where I’ve been starting things, screwing things up, trying little tips, etc. etc. I now have enough bits and pieces to write a post or two, but first I’m going to catch up by posting the last make from my Drygoods Design Apparel Trilogy course earlier this year: the Fancy Tiger Crafts Sailor Top.

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