Notions Of Fabric

Hi everyone! Another wordy post today due to lack of photos... Having just started a new job and the winter darkness coming in is making things hard, but I'll try and have another for you soon! In other news, while not much sewing has been getting done due to work, much planning and fabric shopping  has been happening. I went last weekend to SewBrum, a fabric shopping event/meetup all the way up in Birmingham! I am so grateful to Chloe ( @chloemontrose ) for bringing it up at the pub and inviting me along. I definitely don't think I would have travelled that far on my own to a city I've never visited to meet up with people I don't know, but we stuck together, travelled on the same trains, and generally looked after each other which was super lovely. I was a very organised girl and came prepared with a list for the day. On my list were: some kind of adhesive to help me with my bikini making, fabric for a Kelly Anorak , lining fabric for the Kelly Anorak , fabric ...

No lovely photos for today, I'm afraid. The last lot that we took were also in Austria from our break, but at night under the light from the beautiful old church. Unfortunately the photos were much too grainy, so although I've written the blog post the photos will have to be retaken. And my photographer/husband is currently away on his annual solo trip... I also haven't done much sewing lately. I sewed a lot over the summer, and since getting back from Austria it was straight back into a new school year. I am still settling in, and while I could definitely could be making time for sewing in the evenings, by that time I am too tired. Instead, I have been hanging out and chilling. Now, however, I am getting more settled and making more plans! The big sewing dilemma in my head at the moment is NEED vs. WANT. I don't mean about sewing generally, but specifically about what garments I will/hope to be making.  I guess this is kind of also about cake and frosting - what wa...

This is another oldie but goldie today. I have blogged a long time ago about my favourite Datura, which is black with stars in, but this version actually came first! I made this version with the peter pan collar first as I knew that it would be a good confidence booster - even though I preferred the version with the cut out triangles, I also knew that I was such a newbie sewist that that version would be harder and I wanted to make sure I liked the style first. This was made based on a gorgeous remnant I bought back in Sydney from Achieve Australia (back before it moved, it used to be in Meadowbank 5 minutes from my flat. That was a great but dangerous time!). I believe it's a rayon (but not 100% sure about that if I'm honest), in this lovely navy-based floral. I was drawn to the colors in the print and the lovely feel, but there was only a small amount, not even enough for a top! But with this pattern it’s perfect, as it’s great for small or odd shaped pieces. Instead, I went ...

Here today I have a dress from the vaults. I was inspired to make this dress following a rewatch of the TV show  Dollhouse   It was cancelled too soon, in my opinion. The premise of the show was that there are "actives", people with their personalities wiped so they can be imprinted with other personas in order to be assigned engagements with the rich and powerful. A great show, would recommend if you haven't seen it! Eliza Dushku played the lead, Echo, and she had a wide range of personalities and therefore costumes in the show. This costume was from one of the season 1 episodes (I can't remember which off the top of my head, unfortunately), and I was immediately caught by the horizontal centre darts and the flattering shape of the bodice. So I went looking for a pattern to be able to replicate it! The pattern I found was a vintage Simplicity crop top pattern ( 8130 ), which features a vertical centre seam, as well as side panels, and four horizontal darts on the fro...

Today I have a double post - both patterns which you have seen on the blog before. Let's go from the top down! The top is another  True Bias Ogden Cami ... I think I've made 5 at this point? I wear a lot of this style top (and did before I discovered the pattern), so I am now in the process of updating my original Primark tops in this style with Ogdens. I have also found that every time I find a print I like but am not sure if it will work as a dress, I am tempted to get a metre and make a top. Maybe I need to start making some for others! This fabric though is pretty special. It's the first ever silk I've seen with! It's a sandwashed silk, which I purchased on Goldhawk Rd while in a meet up with Claire of  Claire Sews   What I actually had planned for sandwashed silk is to make an underdressed in black to go with an embroidered tulle fabric I have in my stash, but given I'd never sewed with silk before I thought it would be a good idea to test it first to make ...

Before I had even finished my first Kew dress (which you can find  here  if you are interested), I knew I was going to make another. I just had to do it soon, before we ran out of summer in London! Luckily, even after that, we have a trip or two planned to places which will be nice and warm so there should be plenty of opportunity to wear it again. I can even picture it over a black t-shirt when the weather cools down which could look quite 90s cool. For this next  Kew   I wanted to make it a bit more wearable by leaving off the cold shoulder straps. I do really like them, but I just think that in order to get the most out of this dress throughout multiple seasons (and wearing cardigans/layers with it) that it is more versatile without the cold shoulder. Plus, with this heavier fabric I don't think it would drape quite as well or have the same effect. This fabric was the only piece of fabric I purchased while we were actually in Australia for Christmas (before the wh...

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I love being a part of fandom and talking about my favourite books, TV shows and films. I love Pokemon (as evidenced in my last post by my Pikachu tee), Doctor Who (see wayyy back in the archives for my exploding Tardis dress), but my one true fandom love is Harry Potter. I read the books over and over throughout my life, they really helped me through tough times growing up. Now, I am a proud Hufflepuff (represent!) who, honestly, is a little shocked that I don't own any me made Harry Potter things! I have owned many a tee throughout the years, and currently wear almost exclusively HP socks, but I never found the right fabric for a themed dress until the Knitting and Stitching show last October, where I found this amazing HP newsprint fabric! While I have been trying to steer away from quilting cotton (which this is), I am not averse to using it when the design is so relevant to my interests! I made a NL6048, a pattern which I have made m...