Category Crafting

New make: Beatrix Nani Iro top

bellecitadel 9 Comments

 

20160213_142544I bought a few pieces of Nani Iro fabric from Miss Matatabi a few months ago and have been looking at them every now and again since then. I said I’d make a bag for my mother-in-law after she admired the Noodlehead Cross Gatherer bag I made a few weeks ago, and her favourite colours are red and yellow, so I thought I’d use this gorgeous red flowered brushed cotton I have from the Nani Iro pile. However, that’s going to use very little fabric, so I looked for a pattern that I might be able to squeeze out of the remaining 1.75m. I’ve been admiring the Beatrix top for a while – it was the View A + placket version I saw on the Made by Rae website that finally sold it to me – and it seemed the perfect project to show off this vibrant design. Continue reading “New make: Beatrix Nani Iro top” →

Monday montage: Sewing movies and documentaries

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Something a little different this week – I thought I’d make a little list of sewing/fashion related TV/documentaries I’ve watched recently and that are available on services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube. Some of them are definitely more lifestyle pieces, while others are instructive to some extent, but it was interesting watching them all. I’ve mentioned where I watched them, but this is the US version of those services. I’m not sure if they are on the UK and other versions, but hopefully they are.

Mademoiselle C Poster

First, I thought Mademoiselle C (Netflix) was a good documentary.
Continue reading “Monday montage: Sewing movies and documentaries” →

New make: the rite of passage Circle Skirt

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SONY DSC

I like circle skirts and I’m not sure why I haven’t made one yet, since it seems like a good project for a beginner. Plus I like maths! (I know.) Anyway, after a bit of a struggle with a rayon challis tshirt dress (bad pattern tracing and bad cutting), I decided to step back and make something quick and hopefully easier. Continue reading “New make: the rite of passage Circle Skirt” →

Discoveries of a novice: overlocking foot

bellecitadel 8 Comments

Ooh, that’s an exciting title. But this is a short n sweet post about seam finishing. No matter what you’re making with sewing, one thing you have to do on every project right from the beginning and that isn’t always entirely clear is finish seam edges. There are tons of ways to do this: Continue reading “Discoveries of a novice: overlocking foot” →

Monday montage: The month of lurvvve

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Yeah, so Valentine’s Day is but a fortnight away. No, I don’t like commercial Hallmark-invented, pure consumerist bullshit holidays either. BUT… you know, I love my man very much, but the type of man who buys flowers and ad-hoc thoughtful little gifts he is not. If your guy/gal does – lucky old you! It’s the one day I year I can guarantee getting a bunch o’ flowers and I LOVE flowers. (Plus you can get the most amazing bouquets at Pike Market here for like $10. Crazy I tell ya.) So bring it on! It makes me happy and he loves making me happy, and then I focus on making him happy even more. We all win. Here are some cool Valentine’s gift ideas I saw:

Custom Pet Portrait

I always think this is a cool idea. It’s such a personal and thoughtful thing to do to get a portrait of your loved one/ones. Continue reading “Monday montage: The month of lurvvve” →

Fighter pilot baby leggings plus some nautical extras

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Yes: fighter pilot baby leggings. And some nautical themed ones too as I wanted to try two different methods! This project was a lot of fun and combined my desire to 1) make some more leggings for Joe in different ways 2) work on something inspired by a great visit to the Museum of Flight here in Seattle and 3) do some more stencilling. The fighter pilot result was these leggings!

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We went to the Museum of Flight recently and I must say it was wonderful. A plane museum has not ever been something that would make me jump up and shout “Ooh ooh ooh. Let’s GO!”, Continue reading “Fighter pilot baby leggings plus some nautical extras” →

Monday montage: January 25th

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Well… it’s still Monday in Seattle! Just. A busy week – and the main persuing I’ve been doing this week has been for fabric. I’ve got a class coming up in a few weeks to make the Fen dress by Tiger Crafts and I don’t have any material for it yet. I’ve visited a few shops but haven’t quite found what I’m looking for, so hit Etsy for a gander. I’m not sure all these would be suitable, but here are some of my faves:

Cotton Fabric Dark Hills "Summit Twilight" Woodland Hello Bear Fabric Art Gallery

Continue reading “Monday montage: January 25th” →

Monday montage: Ravelry garment revelry

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Oh yes. All things woollen this Monday. My learning to sew has reignited my itch to crochet and my husband bought me a knitting course voucher at Christmas too, so I’ve been looking over all sorts of woollen goodies and crocheting up a few. I love crocheting blankets, scarves and cowls, but when it comes to garments, knitting is the winner for me. I can’t actually knit at all, so it’s pure conjecture and longing at this point, but here’s what’s already going on my Ravelry garment queue… and the first couple are FREE! Woohoo!

First up, I adore these little 50s-esque cardigans in beautiful bold colours, with a sprinkling of lacy detail. This gorgeous number is called Miette and is designed by Andi Satterlund. No doubt that the styling is stunning too. I would quite like to be this perfect fringe girl this morning. Sigh.

Continue reading “Monday montage: Ravelry garment revelry” →

New make: Moji trousers, pants

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I still can’t bring myself to call trousers pants, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time until I’m saying pants with the best of the Seattleites. Anyway, this pattern represents the first pair of adult trousers I’ve made and I was looking for something simple and casual. I’m in the middle of losing-baby-weight, so I definitely didn’t want anything too fitted.

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When I saw the Moji trousers from Seamwork Magazine by Colette Patterns I figured these could be them. I wasn’t totally convinced the style was going to do much for me, but I gave them a go.

Continue reading “New make: Moji trousers, pants” →

New bag: Noodlehead Gatherer Crossbody Bag

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20160113_121659I have been greatly enjoying reading posts from a lot of different blogs (still at the stage of finding new ones every day) about the year’s hits and misses in terms of makes, and plans for 2016. I can’t really write one of those as I haven’t made enough stuff (!), but I did outline a few things I was planning to make in a post last week. Well, I already changed my mind on one of them. I came across a free pattern from Noodlehead for the Gatherer Crossbody Bag and thought: I know the fabric for that! A lovely pink/yellow/black barkcloth that I picked up from Miss Matatabi a few months ago. Actually, I only bought half a metre as a remnant, so it wasn’t enough for my original planned bag anyhow. Continue reading “New bag: Noodlehead Gatherer Crossbody Bag” →