New Fabric!

I'm all excited!  I've just been shopping and have lots of new fabric!  Woo Hoo!  Sorry, that is quite a lot of exclamation marks in such a small space.  I'll take a few deep breaths and try to be more sensible.

I dragged my Mam to 'The Fat Quarters' quilt shop.  Tiny baby quilts were delivered and they now have another scheme running as well.  You may be seeing some pillowcases in future.  They're again for hospital patients, but this time ranging in age from babies to young adults.  I've picked up some instructions for sizing, but it may be a while before I get around to making some.  Hopefully not as long as the quilts took.

We bought fabric for two baby quilts today.

 
This is for quilt number one.  We don't know whether it's going to be for a boy or a girl, but I was allowed to get bright fabric.  I'm just not sure they're prepared for my kind of bright.  The photos don't really do justice to quite how yellow that fabric really is.  You almost have to wear shades.  When I made my first quilt (for Charlotte)  I picked some lovely bright colours.  We had a blue fabric with brightly coloured balloons on. I matched this with lots of bright orange and yellow.  I love that quilt.  It was shortly after I completed it that I bought a quilting book (The Quilter's Ultimate Visual Guide).  It has a couple of paragraphs devoted to the colour yellow in quilts.  I quote

Even when paired with purple, its natural complement, it is recommended that yellow be used sparingly.  Three parts purple to one part yellow is generally considered a pleasing and harmonious proportion.

Well, there's no purple at all in Charlotte's quilt and I certainly didn't use the yellow sparingly!  Whoops.

Second quilt is for a baby boy. I found pirate fabric!

I love pirates!  I considered it as a career choice when I was about 7.  When we found the pirates we did wonder whether it was appropriate to have bottles of rum on a baby quilt.  It didn't stop us buying it though.

I also bought a 'Roll Up'.

This is for a top secret project that I'll share with you later in the year.  It will look very different next time you see it.

I also thought I'd share the fabric I've got for the dress I'm making for Auntie Linda's wedding.

I'm not sure whether I'm using the shiny 'right' side of the fabric or the slightly duller 'wrong' side.  It's not really shiny, but I'm a bit concerned that it's going to be too 'bridesmaidy'.  That's the right side showing in the photo, so it maybe won't look too bad.  I have started drafting a pattern for this dress, but I'm going to need to make a mock up for it because I think I'm adding boning(!) to give it some structure.

In other news, I tried the latest version of the christening dress on Libby yesterday and I think I'll be full steam ahead with that at the weekend because it did fit.

The case of the Goldilocks christening dress

I've been shamed into posting by my work colleagues.  It was pointed out to me that I hadn't posted in over two weeks.  My bad.  I'm going to get some excuses in though before I start the post proper.  I have been working on stuff.  I've made a few cards and I've been making mock ups of Libby's christening dress (more on that in a minute) but the weekend before last my fabulous Other Half whisked me away for the weekend!  It really was whisked too.  He told me about it at ten past seven on the Friday morning and we left that night as soon as we both got in from work and packed.  It was a lot of information to take in at that time of a morning, especially when he told me he'd been in touch with my boss at work and booked me the Monday off as well!  How amazing was he?  The best part was everyone knew apart from me and had been lying (in a good way) to me for a couple of weeks!

I digress.  The case of the Goldilocks christening dress.  As I mentioned in my last post, I've been asked to make a christening dress.  Ann is an almost relative of Other Half.  He grew up calling Ann's parents Auntie and Uncle, although they're not actually related.  I've been promising to make a dress for Libby (Ann's daughter) since she was born.  Before Christmas.  I do eventually get around to doing things, but I'm much better if I have an actual deadline.  Like a christening looming.   So, Ann asked if it would be possible to use the train from her wedding dress.

We decided, by default, to make the bodice out of the lace covered satin from the middle section and the skirt from the plain satin.  There is also a beaded trim that we thought would look nice around Libby's waist.

When I looked closer, though, it looked like all the beads would fall off as soon as I tried to unpick it.  Boo.  Before I cut into the dress at all I thought it would be best to draft a pattern and have a practice run, or six.

I measured Libby.  Which was hard.  She's a very active child.  She loves standing up for you (not quite under her own steam) but likes to dance while she does!  Not easy to get a tape measure around relevant parts of the body.  I made a pattern that seemed quite reasonable.

I had some satin in my stash that seemed about the same weight as the wedding dress so made my first mock up using that.  I made most of the dress including a placket.  I barely know what a placket is, but I was very proud of the achievement.  For those completely in the dark, a placket is a slit in the back of a skirt at the waistband, under the buttons, so that you can get the dress on and off.  Or it was in this case anyway.  You also use them on shirt sleeves, above the cuffs.

The bodice was too big.  As in massive!  When we got Libby into it and remeasured, the length was fine but we needed to lose about 4" from around the waist.  Back to the drawing board.

I altered the pattern.

That's attempt at pattern number 2 on the bodice of pattern number 1.  As you can see I altered it quite a lot.  A bit too much in fact.  I ended up with a teeny bodice with huge armholes.  It didn't look like it was made for a human child at all.  I puzzled over this for a few days and decided the best thing to do would be start again from scratch and redraft the bodice.  I made it up out of some muslin.  I didn't line it, but I did sew in all the seam and hemlines using black thread so it was obvious where it was going to sit on Libby's body.

I then visited Libby again.  The second bodice was, unsurprisingly, too small.  Although it wasn't as bad as I'd feared.  Can you see where the Goldilocks reference is going yet?  The third bodice was just right.  Or it almost was.  I just needed to lower the front neckline slightly.

Now for the nerve-wracking moment that I'd been dreading.  I was going to have to cut into the dress.  Ann if you're reading this you may want to look away now!  Although not before I tell you that I did actually measure it first.  I think I measured this dress from every possible angle.  I couldn't quite decide how it should sweep at the back.  I tried measuring from the boning at the waist.  Then I rubbed out the marks.  I tried tracing the front onto the back.  Then I rubbed out the marks.  I tried lying it on it's side and measuring like that.  Then I rubbed out the marks.  I think you get the picture.

Several hours later I decided to put dress on my dress-form.  Quite why that idea hadn't occurred to me before I don't know.  I pinned by eye where I thought the hem should go.  Then I rang my Mam for back up.  While I was waiting for her to arrive I noticed that the pins I'd just put in corresponded to some of the measuring I'd done earlier.  Apparently the last attempt hadn't been that far out at all!  D'Oh.

Back up arrived and pointed out that I should measure the depth of the train at the seam lines to make sure I was cutting off an even amount on both sides.  It was so obvious when my Mam said it.  When we measured, it was almost spot on.  And more importantly, Mam thought that was about where hemline should go as well.  Result!

You can just about see the pin line on the picture above.  I then put in another line of pins an inch below the first row as a cutting guide.  Then I got out my trusty blue felt tip.

 Don't panic!  It's actually a water soluble marker that I did test on a small patch of the fabric I'd be cutting off.  After taking a few deep calming breaths I did it.  I cut into the wedding dress.How brave was I?  After cutting I finished off the edge, so it won't fray, ready to be hemmed.

After taking apart the crescent shaped section I was left with, I made yet another practice dress.  I gave the skirt as much width as I could, but it didn't gather up very much.

 I'm going to see how it looks on Libby later in the week  The only other plan I can think of is to make a more A-line skirt, but I'm not sure how successful it would be and whether I'd be able to get the length needed.  Ah well, we'll cross that bridge when, or if, we come to it.

Five Tiny Baby Quilts

I've finally finished some incubator quilts.  They've only been a year or so in the making.  But now they're all pieced, sandwiched, quilted, bound and ready to go.  Yay.  Now I just hope they're suitable!

We have the star design and the pirates which you've already seen partially completed.

Then we have pink and lilac fairies.  It's really quite girly.

Frogs.

And my personal favourite (i.e. the brightest) the insects.

I did have a bit of a whoopsie when cutting the fabric for this one.  The orange background was going to be spotty, but I managed to cut the strips too small.  I'm not quite sure what it says about my fabric stash that I had another bright orange fabric that I could substitute.

I'm proud of them now they're finished, but I didn't see much of the weekend.  I was either at work or sewing.  Mainly by hand.  My machine is capable of quilting, but I've never had time to practice!  One day maybe.  I didn't draw blood too many times either.  Woo hoo.  I'm afraid you will probably be treated to many more pictures of quilts over the coming months.  I think I'm up to making three for later in the year.

The nieces haven't been neglected either.  I mean they have been sewing-wise but they now have their first loom band princesses.

Made using videos by Izzalicious Designs we have Rapunzel from Tangled and Elsa from Frozen.  The girls were thrilled.  They're now debating as to who to get next.  Charlotte's fancying Aurora, but Katie can't decide between Ariel (with a tail, no surprises there!) and Rapunzel.  I think she liked the long hair of Rapunzel.

My next project is a somewhat scary one.  I don't mean it's Halloween themed or anything.  Although come to think of it I'll probably be doing a couple of those as well.  If anyone creates a machine in the next few months that's capable of making time, please let me know.  I'd be most grateful!  Anyway, I digress.  I've been asked to make a christening dress (definitely more a dress than gown).  Remember the baby blocks I made?  Well, Libby is going to be christened in August and her Mam asked me if I'd make her outfit.  The scary part is I'm going to be using Libby's Mam's wedding dress!  I'm really flattered I've been asked, but I'm very nervous.  There is a train on the dress, so the idea is to remove that and use it to make the bairn's dress.  Wish me luck!  I feel lots of deep calming breaths coming on.  It generally takes me ages to get up the nerve to cut into any fabric.  On the plus side, the christening is in August, so I haven't got long to procrastinate!

Also in August, my Auntie Linda is getting married.  And, you've guessed it, I'm going to be making a dress for myself.    I've found a dress on Modcloth that I think I'm using as inspiration.

How pretty is that?!  I'm not sure what colour to do, but I think I want something quite pale as I'm wearing nude colour shoes.  That's right, I have shoes, but no outfit.  Why not do things backwards?

So about that time creation machine...

Incubator Quilts

I haven't been sewing much lately.  Unless you count sewing labels back onto Other Half's work T-shirts.  And I don't.  I have been making cards, but nothing too exciting.  A few days ago I ordered a Loom for making those band bracelet things.  This trend has completely passed me by, by the way.  I was only vaguely aware of their existence until last weekend when the nieces were showing me them.  I looked on the internet afterwards to see what it was all about.  I found some fab tutorials on making Disney princesses with them and thought it would be a good way to bribe (sorry, encourage) the girls for their Maths (long story, don't ask!).  So, loom is ordered and I'm stupidly excited about it coming.  I know, I'm a grown woman.  I'm aware how sad and pathetic it sounds.  But I just want to play.  NOW!  Why do parcels take ages when you're waiting for them?

While waiting for new toy, I thought about a project I started ages ago.  Embarrassingly, I think it must be about 2 years ago.  A shop I go to for quilting fabric (The Fat Quarters at Blackhall Mill, if you're interested) held an open day and were giving out flyers about Tiny Lives.  This is a charity that supports premature and sick newborn babies and their families at Newcastle RVI hospital.  The charity gives help and support to every family that passes through the special care baby unit.  They also give a quilt to each family.  Which is where The Fat Quarters comes in.  Niece number 1 (Charlotte) was very premature.  She was only 1lb 9ozs when born.  You could have held in the palm of one hand.  If she hadn't been in an incubator.  Although she wasn't born in the RVI, she was operated on there while still tiny. So this was a cause that resonated with me.  I picked up a flyer with details of the size of quilts (to fit in the bottom of an incubator) and bought fabric ready to make quilts.  I made part of a quilt top.

Fast forward to today.  While between projects (and more importantly awaiting parcel) I thought I'd actually do something with the fabric bought.  I thought it would be a good way to ease myself back into quilt making.  I haven't made one for ages.  Probably since I made that partial quilt top.  Added to the fact that I'll be going back up to The Fat Quarters over the next couple of months to buy more fabric and I'll be able to (finally) hand them over.  I'm also hoping by typing this I get my butt into gear to finish them.

So here's today's sewing.

  
Two completely opposing designs and colourways.  The second one is much more the type of thing I normally do.  I do gravitate towards the bright end of the spectrum for baby quilts!

I have a photo I need to share of youngest niece.  While in the Lake District over half term, Katie needed to go on a train.  Everyone's been on a train apart from Katie.  She was so excited when we found a steam train to have a ride on.  She was slightly nervous as well.  I mean, who knows what could happen?

Then the train started...

She was not impressed!

An unexpected job

I haven't dropped off the face of the planet.  I haven't even been really busy.  I just don't seem to have found time to blog in the past couple of weeks.  I'm in between big projects and thought I'd have loads of time to catch up on my retrospective look at princess dresses, but somehow it just hasn't happened.  Hey ho.  as Charlotte said to me last week "But that's just life though, isn't it Auntie Sandra?".  She's right.  I'm not quite sure when our ten year old turned into a philosopher though!

Remember the Elsa dress I made for Katie?  Only a couple of months ago.  I was trying to weigh down the cloak so it had some swoosh to it.  And then I cut it too short.  Here's a reminder.

Turns out the dress doesn't have that problem anymore.  At the weekend I got Katie's dress back to do a small alteration.  Well not so small.  After Katie wearing the dress almost non-stop since her birthday the cloak's stretched.  A LOT!  Exhibits A and B.

 

I've had to chop 8 inches off the bottom!  Of course this was the 8 inches that contained the rather dodgy looking sparkly snowflakes.  So I've just spent a couple of hours gluing sequins back on the bottom.  Fortunately my snowflake design has improved.

I had to get this done this week as it's half term next week and we're all going away for a few days.  If anyone's in the Lake District over the bank holiday and they spot two children running around looking like they've been dragged through a hedge backwards wearing Elsa dresses, the chances are they'll be Charlotte and Katie.

Blocks and sparkles

Charlotte's Elsa dress is almost finished!  All that needs doing is a couple of little bows sewing on and the bodice lining tacking down (a step I completely forgot on Katie's!).  And I've still got ten days until her birthday.  I find it slightly discombobulating (one of my favourite words by the way.  The other is 'dirigible'.) to be finished so long before a deadline.  I've spent the last couple of days getting high on Gem-Tac glue.

What do you think?  I like the red sparkles, although I'm not really sure about how well they tie in with the 'Frozen' theme.  I'm also not too sure about the bows, but it's what Charlotte wants.

My snowflakes have improved since I made Katie's dress.  But don't tell her that.  Actually overall the dress is better.  I'm going to be in so much trouble!  There's no sneaky cuts under the arms of this one.  I think I worked out where I went wrong with the last one. I don't think I added seam allowance all the way around the top net bit of the bodice.

The point and the seam matching is way better in this dress.  I refused to let Charlotte have the bow centre front because it would have covered up the point!  Does that make me a bad Aunt?!

We had to add the trim around the curved top of the bodice on this one as it was slightly too low cut at the front for Charlotte.  I'm hoping that's added enough height to the neckline.

That's obviously not an Elsa dress.  These are the blocks I made on Sunday.  They're for a friend of Other Half's family.  Two squeak, two rattle and two scrunch.  I like making sets of six blocks so you can do this with them:

It appeals to my mathematical side.  Ten would be even better, but I think that might be starting to verge on the ridiculous.  Plus I can really only draw hearts,  so for the other blocks we'd just have to have some kind of unformed blobby shapes.  

Finished black and white spotty dress

Finally.  The pictures you've all been waiting for.  Drum roll please.  Although I finished the dress a couple of weeks ago, it was only earlier this week that we managed to get out of the house in some decent (i.e. not foggy) weather.  We went to York for the day, and found a quiet spot in the Museum Gardens.  I wanted as few witnesses as possible for this.  I'm going to apologise in advance for the pictures.  I'm not, as you will see, a natural in front of the camera.  In fact I try to avoid it whenever possible.  The sacrifices I make for you all!

So, for those not up to speed, I wanted to make a dress to replace one that I loved but that fell to pieces.  Well split down a seam once too often to be repairable anyway.  I drafted the pattern myself.  And here's the result.

 This is my 'I don't know where to put myself or how to pose' pose.  This is the best full length shot we got.  No, really.  In all the others I looked just as dopey and a lot more, how shall we put this?  Erm, Buxom.  I think we'll move swiftly along to some close ups of the dress features now.

Collar and sleeve.  Note the lack of wrinkles and puckers in the sleeve.

Slightly (!) baggy front of dress.  This was because I forgot to interface and stay stitch neckline before adding the collar.  I did genuinely forget, but I never really understood why books and patterns told you to interface and stay stitch.  I do now.  The collar was supposed to meet front and back, but because of afore mentioned oversight they don't.  It's a design feature if anyone asks.  It also lead to the whole of the bodice being too big.  View exhibit A below.

I'm not even sucking in my stomach or anything, it really did stretch that much.  Always remember the interfacing people!  See what I mean about the buxomness though?

 And this is quite clearly the back of the dress.  Judging by the stance, it's a bloke in that dress!  I really must practice posing.  I did feel a complete eejit.

Twirling.  There was no one around, which was why I wasn't carted away at this point.  I did want a fuller, more twirly skirt, but didn't have enough fabric.  I also forgot to put pockets in.  D'oh.

And one final shot.

 I feel really stupid now.  Once you've all picked yourselves up from the floor I have other updates.  The dress for the wedding (next week) is finished.  Yay.  Three times I pinned that hem yesterday.  I'm still feeling quite bitter about it.  I've made the World's most over the top wedding card as well.  I'll post pictures of that when I show off the dress.  I will try to get more sensible photos of that.  Today I made a set of baby blocks, again pictures will follow.  I haven't forgotten my nieces by the way (if only!).  Charlotte's Elsa dress needs the bodice lining attaching, the cloak trimming, a hem and lots of sparkles.  I've also just realised it's her birthday in less than two weeks.  I think I should stop typing now!