Sewing Update.

You may all be wondering what happened to the pant suit that you all chose for me to make.  So here is the update as I have had some issues...

The pants were a wizz (all that worry for nothing) and the tunic top was going along great guns until the last hem. 

As you can see from the pattern it should have a curved hem and I could not get that right, so decided after looking at it and re pinning it two hundred times that a straight edge would be fine. On pressing the straight hem my crazy hot iron melted the fabric (time for a new iron I think)!  The tunic hem is now a little short, so I thought that maybe a double thick band would look good to lengthen and finish the tunic, luckily I have plenty of fabric left.  I also have the same fabric in navy blue and thought that would look good also.  So now I am stuck and can't make up my mind.

I am off home to see my family next week (yippee), so I have decided to take it with me and rope my mum into helping me finish it.  Sometimes you need a fresh pair of eyes and help to make changes when you are actually wearing the garment.

This is how it looked on day two, all finished except that last pesky hem and the matching sash belt.  I am really happy with the look and feel very Coco Chanel in the South of France.  What do you think?

This is the close up of the pretty trim zip that I decided to use, and it is so much easier to attach them on the outside of a garment.  I decided to give you all the update as it has been sitting there for weeks now and driving me mad.  Hopefully we should have the finished look with me in it, in a few weeks time.  Thanks for your patience and I am onto the next project now so two finished looks to come.  What sewing projects have you got on the go at the moment and do you ever get stuck?  Do you move on to the next or stay and finish the project?

Have a wonderful weekend my friends.  ax

Vote Winner

Thanks to all who voted for the next pattern to make, and the winner is....

The Pant Suit....Woohoo, my first pair of pants!  (I am not worried, much)  My sister pointed out that my crepe would be heavy and I would boil (it's 28 degrees today), so I thought that linen would be nice.  Haha linen is 34€ a meter here, so no to that.  After re finding my fabric store (it had moved premises) I managed to get some much lighter weight crepe and this gorgeous cotton fabric, plus my order of pretty zips came today so it is all systems go.  The fabric is drying after a quick wash to check for shrinkage and then tomorrow I will start cutting and sewing.  I am hoping to make this by the end of the week and will share the finished look with you all.

Thanks again for all your votes, it was quite close in the end and all the other patterns will get made in due course.

Wishing you all a lovely start to the week.   ax 

I am making a few blog updates at the moment, so bare with me if things look a little strange for a few days.  Thanks my lovelies.

What Should I Make Next?

Hello girls I need your help, my wonderful new patterns have arrived and I have 4m of cream crepe fabric ready to go...But I can't decide what to make first.  So please help by choosing for me, I have added a little poll gadget at the end of this post for easy voting.

Dress or very stylish tunic and trousers?

Which dress to choose, v front, back or both?

View A but short length.

Please make your choice and press "Listo"*.  The poll will be open until Sunday the 22nd and then I will make up your choice next week.  Thanks for your help I can't wait to see the winner.

* So now the push button is in Greek, I have no idea what's happening but it all still works.  Hehe I am being very international.   ax

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

I am over winter, bring on the spring.

I am really not a winter person, I get excited over snuggling up, hot showers and wearing clothes with comfort.  Then after a week or two tops, I am over it.  To this end I am skipping winter and heading straight for spring.  I have been looking at the spring collections and even looking at the pre fall 11 collections (I know autumn clothing for next year already!) and picking the shapes and coloures that speak to me.  Then I head on over to Etsy to find vintage patterns that would work.  Here is what I have found so far.

I am loving the Louis Vitton (ss11) green silk skirt and the Oscar de la Renta (pre fall 11) sea green skirt, both have bow ties either for show or as a fastening.  I am so not going to be able to buy these beauties but I may be able to make them.  I have found a few different vintage patterns that I think would work with the odd tweek.

The first pattern is a wrap and I am currently have a small love affair with wraps and they will definitely make it into my spring wardrobe.  The green skirt is a great vintage wrap and can be found in many colours, but I do hate that 70's nylon.  The third pattern is for a gently gathered skirt or dress which I think would look wonderful with a large bow sash.  The last pattern is for a whole wardrobe and I know a few of these style would solve and cover many dressing problems.

Mui Mui (ss11) and Diane Von Furstonburge (pre fall 11)  both have a very strong 70's feel still with clean long lines and inverted pleat skirts.  I love this look being a child of the 70's and have fond memorys of my mum wearing these and looking young and cool.  (of course she does still look young and cool).

There are so many patterns that would work and I am loving the sweet boat neck dress with bow detail, so cute and sexy.

I am very happy to see that high waist trousers of various widths are still around.  This is one of my all time favourite looks that can make even my legs look long with the right shoe.   The above looks are from Pucci, Salvatore Ferragamo and Oliva P. is wearing Mango, so budgets for all of us.  I have found some great patterns but am a little scared of making trousers so I may leave those for a while longer.

Oh I am such a fan of vintage patterns, the front illustrations alone make me smile, my mum had hair just like the women on the Simplicity pattern.  Plus I do love a navy and white combo.

All these patterns are available at Etsy the number of patterns has grown by the thousands since I first started looking.  Remember the sizing is very different from today I am the smallest in the shops at the moment but need size 16 on vintage patterns.  I also have found a great book that talks you through use, sizing changes and making your own patterns, its written clearly with lots of photos and you can find it here from Amazon.

I have recently found a great blog that anyone who sews can post their latest projects on to, I find it  interesting to see what people are making and they have some great tips.  If you fancy taking a look you can find them here at Sew Retro.

Do any of you sew or thinking about learning?  I am a beginner and find the sewing fine the cutting out on the other hand can get me very grumpy with lots of cigarette breaks, but its is all worth it when you have the finished garment.  I will take some pictures of some of my old projects to share and maybe inspire you to have a go.

I hope your all having a good week and not feeling the Christmas stress to much, relax it will all be amazing.

xxx