Happy 2011!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2010 treated you well and that 2011 treats you even better.

I have managed to finish a dress in time to wear out this evening for New Years. A shameless copy of the vintage simplicity 3965, inspired by the gorgeous versions that Tasia has made (the slight resemblance of the fabric to her 'twin spruce dress' is cooindidental, and due to the minimal selection I had to choose from). I used a cotton lawn that was on sale at Spotlight, and it's lined with a batiste. Sadly there wasn't enough fabric left on the roll for me to make the skirt as full as I would have liked.

However as I didn't have the pattern I made my own - my first go at making my own pattern from scratch. I used the block that Sandra  helped me make back in May at the Perth BSC meet, but as I've lost some weight since then the front piece needed to be taken in a fair bit. Then, with some help from my mum, I drew on the neckline I wanted, and once i was happy transferred my changes onto paper. The skirt is just a big gathered rectangle.

As my new sewing ethos is "Pockets, pockets pockets", I added some in seam pockets 1/3 of the way around the skirt. I think the side seams may have been a better choice but we'll see once I've worn it a bit.

The back neckline is a probably a little wide near the shoulders, as my bra straps peek out sometimes, but nothing too disasterous. I used some grosgrain ribbon to stablilise the waistline like Tasia did on her twin spruce dress. And something else I'd never done before, a hand picked zipper (using Tasia's tutorial). I love how it looks, and I'm hoping that it's nice and strong.

Now I'll be on the look out for a cute belt to wear with it.

Boxing Day Stitching

Just a little stitching on a quiet Boxing Day afternoon.

Flown West

I have flown west for Christmas (and some slightly more consistent weather).

Thanks to the knowledge gained from Adele and her recent trip, I took my sewing stuff on the plane. Therefore, 4 hour flight = 4 hours of hexagon sewing.

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope your climes (whatever they are) are treating you well.

Playing with Denim

I've shown you the top of a Denim Picnic Quilt before, and as we're having a "double-denim double-birthday" house party at our place in January a few more would really help out with the decor for the party.

I've still got a big stack of denim squares cut and had a play with quilt layouts other than the random one in the first quilt top.

Checkerboard:

Diagonal lines:

PS: If anyone has any old jeans they're getting rid of I'd love to have them to add to my denim collection so I can make some more denim quilts.

Festival of Quilts: Fabric

I realised that I didn't post the one piece of fabric that I bought at the Festival of Quilts:

I bought this cute flower fairy fabric from Exmoor Craft Fabrics.

I'm not completely sure what i'm going to do with the fabric yet. Maybe some cute notebook covers? I couldn't resist getting it though.

Pendrell blouse pattern

I had an exciting parcel waiting for me when I got home last Wednesday; the Pendrell blouse pattern from sewaholic.net. This is the first pattern for sale from Tasia, and after seeing the gorgeous versions she's made combined with the free shipping she offered if you pre-ordered it I couldn't resist getting it.

The blouse has three variations, the pattern is printed on recycled paper and having skimmed over them the instructions are clear but concise with some helpful tips along the way.

She is hosting a sew-a-long in January... The only question is which view to make first???

"Oh Beehave" - November Block

As I mentioned before, I'm participating in my first ever quilting bee. Here is my November block, which was for Gina:

Gina asked for slightly wonky log cabin style blocks with some geometric shapes in the centre using the colour she provided.

My previous block: October

Hexy Borders

I showed you the fabric I've got for my hexagon quilt - well here's a preview of what it will look like. One row of "pale mint" hexagons around the flowers.

I think it looks great. Now to decide what to have for the backing and binding, quilting design etc etc... oh and finish sewing the flowers together of course.

Mmmm, Kona Solids

The other week I put in an order for some Kona solids from Fabric Shack, and a little over a week later they arrived.

From left to right, Sand, Ruby and Pale Mint.

The sand and ruby are for my "Oh Beehave" quilting bee blocks and the pale mint is for my hexagon quilt.

Is it sad that even solid fabric can make me excited?

Meant to be...

The other week I was walking home past The Fabric Store and I saw this fabric in the window, so of course I had to go in and take a closer look. It is a gorgeous lightweight cotton sateen with a slight stretch. I decided to think about it for a while and carried on home.

However, when I got home and checked my email I discovered an email from The Fabric Store saying that they were having a 30% off sale two days later... so I concluded that it was meant to be, and went back during the sale to buy the fabric.

I think I'll make this dress out of it - a cute pleated skirt, a contrast mid-band and possibly also hem, and best of all, pockets!