Hollyburn and A Sew-Along!

After a particularly crazy week I'm very excited to be able to share this with you today, as I've had to keep it a secret for what feels like AGES. So, with no further ado, my Hollyburn skirt...

I was a pattern tester for the newest Sewaholic pattern; the Hollyburn skirt. I've been a pattern tester before, for the Minoru and Thurlow patterns, and was very excited to be one again. (In these photos, my skirt is worn with my Chiffon Pendrell).

If I'm entirely honest, when I first saw the line drawing for the Hollyburn pattern and read the description I was not very enthusiastic about the skirt. But then I cut out the pattern pieces and I noticed that it is infact three different skirts; each one a different amount of full-ness, to be optimally flattering, not just one skirt with different lengths.

I made the shortest length, in a size 10 with absolutely no alterations. I didn't do any measuring other than checking how long the different lengths would be on me (approximately), and at one point in the construction I second guessed myself got a bit worried that not measuring had been a mistake and the waist would be too small. However I've made so many sewaholic patterns and I've made a size 10 in every one and had to make minimal alterations, and the same was true for this one.

The shortest length, and thus fullest-flare is a bit less than a 1/2 circle skirt when you lay out all the pieces around, which was great, as at the time I was actually already planning on drafting myself a half circle skirt, and Tasia has saved me the effort!



The fabric I used is some very narrowly striped grey and black wool, the I bought at Rathdowne Remnants. I also added a lining to my version (which isn't in the pattern) as wool can be a bit scratchy against my skin, and more importantly it stops it from sticking to tights as I walk. Of course, being me, the lining wasn't black or grey, it was bright turquoise! (Blame the girls at Social Sewing for that one! Particularly Kat)

Once I finished the skirt I was completely convinced; this is a fantastic pattern! I'm really glad that doing the pattern testing 'forced' me to try this pattern as it has great potential to become a wardrobe staple. I was in great need of finding a pattern for a simple skirt to wear with various blouses/tops that isn't a pencil skirt, and I think this might be it!

The pattern is geared towards beginner sewers - the instructions were very clear, and the steps very simple. I really do think this will be a fantastic pattern for beginners and more advanced sewers alike. It's a simple design which I think would get plenty of wear by anybody that makes it, but the construction steps are simple enough for even a very beginner. Moreover, as the only part you really have to fit is the waistband, so there's no pesky fitting issues to worry about.

In even more exciting news, I am so much of a convert on this skirt that I've decided to host a sew-along for the pattern!! (My very first sewalong too! Eek!)

My lovely wool version is less use now that we're well and truly into Melbourne Summer, so I need to make (at least) another one, and thought why not make it a sew-along, to share my enthusiasm for this pattern.

Is anybody else interested?

I am planning on starting the sew-along mid-Jan, to give everyone time to recover from the Christmas and New Year madness, and also time for people to buy patterns etc. I shall post more about my plans for the sew-along (and ask for any requests/suggestions/feedback) later this week, but in the meantime, if you're interested you should order your patterns! They're available direct from Sewaholic already, and if you're in Australia I recommend getting it from SewSquirrel, who has them available.

Missed any of the sew-along posts, or just want to re-read them? You can find the full list here.

Jewellery from Laura

I've been meaning to share this since my trip to the UK in July, but it took me a while to get some photos. In July I was a bridesmaid for my dearest friend Laura. As a gift on her wedding day she gave me and her sister a gift of some jewelry to wear on the day.

What was particularly special about the jewelry  and why I wanted to share it here, is that Laura made the jewelry  I am in complete awe of how incredibly talented she is, and how she managed to make such beautiful jewelry that is just perfectly 'me'. (Out of silver too)

You may have already spotted the jewelry around my blog, for example in my Portrait Blouse post, but it's so beautiful that I think it deserves it's own post. Incase you haven't spotted it, some of the silver has been made 'matte' rather than shiney, I really love that detail.

And while I'm on the topic, here is the amazing necklace that she made for Anna:

How talented! Thank you so much Laura, I really love my set, and wear it all the time,

My Month in Instagram #2

I've started becoming just a little bit addicted to instagram lately, as the sheer number of photos I've snapped in November can attest! Did you know you can view people's instagram feeds online now rather than just on a phone? The link to mine is here is here.

Here is my (end of October and) November in instagram...

                           

It's amazing how long ago some of those photos feel now, and it's only a month ago! Time is going fast!!

Advent Calendars, done slightly differently

Back in 2009 I made two quilted advent calendars, one for me and one for my brother. So for December of 2009 I had my advent calendar, excitedly taking a chocolate out of it each day in the lead up to Christmas. Then in 2010 disaster struck! I couldn't find my advent calendar. I was SO upset, I'd spent so much time making the advent calendar to only be able to use it one?! I was gutted! So I turned into a bit of a scrooge that year. Again in 2011 the story was similar, my advent calendar hadn't turned up and I wasn't quite ready to make a new one, so again, no advent calendar.

Then, earlier this year when I was moving it turned up! My Christmas decoration had been stuck inside another box so we hadn't found them when looking! MASSIVE thanks must go out to Darren, who is the one that actually found them. So this year I'm very excited to have my advent calendar back again! Also, since I'm now living with my brother the two advent calendars are reunited, so of course they've been put up on the wall next to each other:

In celebration of having my advent calendar again, I am doing something a little different this year. Rather than just getting some chocolates and having one a day, I've teamed up with a friend and I've filled her advent calendar and she's filled mine. The friend in question is the talented Kristy of HandmadeRetro.

We set ourselves the guidelines of:
- Weekdays get a chocolate goodie
- Weekend days get a little gift
- Every day gets a task of some description.

So Saturday afternoon I popped into Kristys and we filled each others calendars. Even though I took a photo of her advent calendar after filling it with the stuff I got for her yesterday, I won't post it as she needs to post about it on her blog, so keep an eye out over there to see hers, I'm very excited to find out whats In all of the pretty packages that she's prepared for me though! (pictured above)

So far I've opened two packages, both of which were weekend packages so had gifts! The first had a set of cable needles, which is great as I don't have any of them, I've been using a double pointed needle for cabling. The second had a spool of fancy silk thread, I'm not sure if it's meant to be used for anything special (Kristy? Pardon my ignorance!), but it sure looks and feels beautiful!

I have to confess, I haven't actually done the task for day 1 yet, as I was headed to a wedding and had already planned my hair, and today I was just bumming around at home all day, but I will definitely do it ASAP. The second task however I happily followed! And this evening I baked some Raspberry and White Chocolate muffins.

I can't wait to see what the rest of the packages hold! Do you have an advent calendar?

Balcony Garden - Week 12 - The Fruits of my Labour

The last few weeks have been exciting for my garden - I've started getting ripe strawberries!

These aren't all the strawberries I've had,  but these are the ones I've photographed. So far I've had a few of the Lowanna  strawberries (the bigger ones), and quite a lot of wild strawberries (the tiny ones). I have to say, the wild strawberries don't look like much, but WOW do they taste amazing! Like a little strawberry taste explosion in your mouth!

Not all has been great however. Below are the first two strawberries I picked. I was so excited to have strawberries that were ripe...

but look at the other side:

Something else had already decided they looked like a good snack! BOO!

And in other news, my herbs are certainly the unsung heroes of my balcony garden; I've been finding myself frequently going out and picking herbs to use when I'm cooking. Fresh thyme makes bolognaise taste delicious!

And look! Tomatoes growing! This is the first one I spotted, taken a couple of weeks ago now. I've now got a few more growing on the various plants, and my cherry tomato plant is taller than me!