Making a vest

Old pyjama trousers

My sewing skills are still very amateur which is why I hate to purchase fabric but have no hesitation in re-purposing old clothes. These are an old pair of pyjama trousers that were so comfy that I continued to wear them long past their sell by date. Whilst some of the fabric was only fit for the compost much of it was still in reasonable condition.

A little bit of sewing

New purse and pouch

I am so happy that I managed to squeeze in a little sewing this week. For some reason I'm not finding the time to craft at the moment but the creativity that this offers is very important to me so I've really been missing it.

My 2013 Christmas decorations: stars

Each year I make a few new decorations for the tree. This year, inspired by some that I saw in a Haskins garden centre, I'm making stars. Very simply made, a pile of stars using a cream calico fabric. Lightly stuffed with the contents of an old, lumpy pillow and embroidered around the edge with blanket stitch in bright colours. They still looked a little plain so I added a dorset button to the middle of each. I like them.

If I were to be picky I wouldn't use the large buttons again, the smaller ones look best. But as these are for my tree I'm keeping them as they are.

Dorset buttons are a type of button that used to be produced within Dorset. Mine are based on the blandford cartwheel and made using whatever rings I had around (I think one was the plastic bit left around the top of drinks bottle, not ideal) and embroidery thread. Looking up a tutorial to share I saw noticed several names used to describe the cartwheel design, I have no idea which is correct. All I can say is that the old ladies who taught me when I was a girl called it the blandford cartwheel and that name has stuck with me. 

Sewing pyjamas

Pyjama trousers

I do have a tendency to wear clothes until they are falling apart, and this goes doubly so for nightwear. I never used to be a pyjama kind of girl but living in a cold house has definitely changed this for me.

Ukulele bag

Pattern pinned to fabric

For some strange reason, not even known to me, I felt that the ukulele needed a cover. This was actually made a couple of months ago when I had a couple of hours free and fancied creating something different not to mention improve my sewing skills. It is made entirely from scraps including an old, out of shape towel as the liner. I also gave it a long handle to easily carry it around. One would think that I was planning on taking it somewhere!

Silly dolls

Naïve doll

The last time my nieces came to stay the youngest really wanted to make a doll. Time was running out so I suggested that she design it and I'ld make it.

I've been sewing



Sorbetto

 

In assessing the clothes in my wardrobe alongside my lifestyle it is clear that many layers are useful. I have quite a few knit-fabric vest tops but their numbers are slowing shrinking as time passes.

Wardrobe review: black skirt

Here's another of my favourites, a drapey, floaty black skirt. The panels are sewn diagonally on the bias and it is just lovely and flirty to wear. Unfortunately as I'm short it hits me mid calf again. This skirt is so lovely that I've worn it regardless of it's less than flattering length but I've always intended to do something with it.

 

And that something was to simply cut it off at the waist. A stretch of elastic later and I have a more flattering knee length skirt which still swishes beautifully.

 

Previous posts:

Wardrobe review

Wardrobe review: blue skirt

 



Wardrobe review: blue skirt

 

I love this skirt. I like how it drapes and the strange diagonal shift in stripes on it. Unfortunately this skirt doesn't love me. The length of it hits me on the fattest part on my calves, every time I've worn it I've felt very matronly. I don't want to make it shorter as it won't suit this style so I've had to go longer instead.

 

Finding the correct fabric was never going to be an option so instead I dived into my ribbon stash and found a length of fat lace. Cutting this in half along it's length gave me enough to go all the way around the bottom of the skirt.

 

 

Having done this I have to ask, will I actually wear this? I think that I will. The frill adds just enough length and silliness to remove this from the matron category. Success!

 

Previous post: Wardrobe review

Wardrobe review



Sunday was cold. I knew that I ought to get out into the garden but I just couldn't face being cold. So, casting my mind around for a job that wasn't too taxing my eyes fell upon my wardrobe. This was something I had been putting off for a while but a perfect task for now.

pink top with new straps

What I wear daily is a pretty boring uniform dictated by living in a cold house. I could turn the heating on more often but since moving here we have had surprisingly few sniffles and I'm sure that this is partially down to not using central heating all the time. The result is that I tend to live in jeans, several jersey tops and a fleece. Not a great look but warm.

 

How would I like to dress? I think that this is really a post for another day but I would like to wear skirts more often and I really ought to find another option to my boring fleeces, they really don't flatter anybody. But with no money to invest in my wardrobe I have to make the best of what I have.

 

What do I have? On the plus side everything in my wardrobe fits me. I do have clothes put away in a suitcase that would fit if I lost a stone or two but as I haven't they don't really count for now. I pulled out everything that I don't wear regularly to assess why and considered how to improve them, stuck a post it note on with the details and moved on to the next item. By the time I finished I had a small pile of clothing to work on. There was only one item to donate to the charity shop so I count this as a success.

 

New buttons on my cardi

Whilst most pieces required the sewing machine I was able to pull out two items that were quick and simple jobs. The first is a pink summer top that has had very little wear, partially due to temperature but mainly because it had silly skinny straps that usually only look good on young girls. It also conveniently had a waist tie that was completely superfluous - one of those that you loosely tie at the back and just looks a bit silly whilst fabric bunches above and below. It took only a moment to cut these off and sew them onto the top as new straps. I did consider sewing in some snaps for holding bra straps but I decided to hold off for now and see how much wear it gets.

The second was a charity shop find blue wool cardigan that has a lovely shape when worn. The only problem was that it had some nasty brass buttons down the front. I have been intending to change these for years but somehow never got around to it. Now I have. It's good to have a useable, flattering top to wear.

Eventually I would like my wardrobe to be full of clothing that I can layer with rather than rely on my fleeces. That time will come but for now I will stay warm.

Old to new



Sleeve ironing board

Several years ago I was given a mini ironing board. It didn't look great but how hard can it be to make a new cover? Well, umm, it's surprising how difficult I can make simple tasks become. Complicated is not usually a problem, perhaps my expectations tend to be more realistic. So new cover has been made but alas it doesn't fit quite as tightly as I had hoped.  Never mind. I can make it fit. There's nothing like sewing the blasted thing on with a thick piece of embroidery thread zig sagging tightly beneath to cinch things in a bit. It now works. Of course, this still means that I need to make another cover at some point in the future...

 

Much improved

Quick liner for the Log basket

Calico liner for log basket

My most recent project has been a very practical one for the house - a lining for our log basket. I love log baskets, they are great for keeping logs contained but are not so good for the splinters of wood that fall through the gaps. Fed up of the daily vacuuming I came up with a solution and, armed with the knowledge that the local fabric shop currently have a 20 per cent sale, I purchased 2 metres of Calico and quickly sewed up this liner. Perhaps a little too quickly as I forgot to wash the fabric first! Washed, and a little shrunk, it is the perfect size with no need to add elastic around the top. One more to make for the second basket and I'll be done.

A great quick 'n' dirty sewing task. I like these!