Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Coat

I've almost finished my first coat. Well, I'd finished it enough I thought to wear for my weekend away down South, but when I popped on the plane I realised that I had not sewn in the sleeve lining. So a quick stop at a friends house and a few stitches later I was done. Except that when I was wearing it I found out the pockets would have been handy, and the reason there was a belt strap sewn onto the outside of the coat was so that the belt had some thing to hang from when I undid it! But I think I will change it to buttons anyway. Now to add a photo of said coat!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

unpicking


hello
I made a red and white checked half apron last week, and gathered the top before attaching a the ribbon ties. Unfortunatly when I went to wear it this week, with the gathers it was a wee bit too small at the top to be of much use in keeping my clothes clean!. So out came the unpicker again, and I've now taken off the ribbon. Will wash it first, and then make it into a butchers type apron.
This would have been a hassle but I already had the unpicker out as I have been making my first dress in a wee while. It was rather tight fitting when I tried it on mid making, so redid one of side seams smaller, and then made sure I sewed the other one as close as I could. just need to be able to get the ironing board out to press the dress before I can do much more sewing, and I need children asleep for that.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

With a deep breath I start again

Yes, its time to start sewing again. Work deadlines have been met and the mid night finishes are over.
So why do I need a deep breath? Well, the last few times I used my overlocker, I could not get it to stop breaking the thread on the right needle. When I went on my pattern making course, the tutor suggested it could be my left needle. So when I tried out my machine last night I reset them, but it still did not work. (it did manage to sew on three threads for long enough for me to finish most of my slip dress.

Rang my local sewing repair shop, but they were closed for the day, but answered the phone. He suggested that it was the lower looper so rethread again.

So that's my first job tonight. Just hoping that the manual will help and the photos I took when I got the machine of how it is to be threaded actually work! Have a backlog of stuff to sew, starting with finishing off a top that is only supposed to take two hours to make, but it took me an hour to cut it out already. The material is so loose weave that I want to overlock it before I start to sew it, but now impatient so might miss that step!

Friday, May 27, 2011

shopping regrets

no, not sad about something I bought,more about what I didn't buy. I found some fabulous pink wool tweed type fabric that would look great as a coat, and then it went on sale for one day at 30%off at global fabrics. I soooo wanted it. But since I'm having to buy storage boxes for my current fabric and works in progress I didn't think I could justify it.

Now I'm thinking I could just give away the material that really doesn't inspire me and then I could justify it.

But I've also promised myself that I wouldn't stay up late trying to fit in sewing while I was in paid work during the day, as i really should be awake for that. Roll on end of contract in June!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

letting go of perfection

Its 10 pm at night and I'm still up - again. Too much to do and so little energy. Feel like I am not finishing anything these days, but then forget that I am also working 11 hour days three days a week - and parenting! I struggled with what this blog should be about - decluttering, family life, sewing. But since its my life, and my blog, I think I'll just make it about me!

So I have a big pile of sewing half done, sitting at the end of the dining table. I had cut out four garments to sew when my new (well, new to me) over locker arrived, but I forgot to plan in some playing time - and the fact that its handy to have the sewing machine out at the same time. Husband R pointed out that perhaps I was taking on too much, so trying not to sew until current work contract is finished.
But...
Have mending to do, material to sort out, and refashioning to be prepared for. I;m hoping that while baby is asleep tomorrow I can go through fabric stash and give away the stuff that I'm not that interested in sewing now that I know a bit more about the whole process. and why spend time refitting something that I;m not sure I'll wear anyway?
Notice how I left the punctuation incorrect at the start of this sentence - it hurts but I'm trying not to go for the exact words to express myself or I'll never get there

Monday, March 7, 2011

Another year later..

Not sure why I though having a two months old baby was a good time to start a new business. Suffice to say I crashed and burned a few months later and its taken a while to recover. Luckily I now have the help of a fabulous groups of ladies who are quick to point out when I take on too much! Baby F in now 16 months and almost at the end of his toddling stages. Also at the end of his playing with rattles and baby toys - so time they left the house.