A bit more than a toile

Ages ago I bought a HUGE piece of fabric with pink butterflies from the remnant box for about £3, I had no idea what I was going to with it but it was too much of a bargain not to.

The other day I bought this pattern..

http://www.simplicitynewlook.com/index.phpmain_page=product_info&products_id=1790#

...which is also the pattern the Ikea trousers came from, this time I had a go at  the dress but without the puff sleeves because Pops could get more wear out of a sleeveless one by wearing tops under it.

So I used the butterfly fabric as a kind of toile that she could wear if it turned out ok.

I had a few troubles with the weird bias binding on the arm and neck holes but it's wearable....

Now to make it in some funky fabric! Come back tomorrow to see what it was!

Poppy, my Guinea Pig

I'm thinking toddler clothes should be a lot quicker to sew what with them being so much smaller right? So using that theory my 23 month old daughter Poppy gets quite a few items made for her....like these trousers made from some left over Ikea fabric I had!

They are meant to be cropped but I think I made a big mistake sewing them up by sewing the wrong legs together so the front and back are half front and back if you know what I mean and they have taken on a slightly odd shape but, ho hum, it's all a learning curve right?

Anyway, they are great for mucking about in the park and I can always make another pair, they were so easy I think if I didn't have any interruptions I could make them start to finish in a hour.

I love this fabric......

My First Time

Ooh, my first blog post, very exciting!!

Another reason to be excited is I have just bought a new sewing machine, the one I have already I bought second hand a couple of years ago and it really is on it's way out, it probably just needs a service but I'd rather upgrade and get a new one.

I have settled on the Janome 4623 as it was the best I could get for my budget, I'm waiting for it to arrive, it should come any day, maybe tomorrow!

In the mean time I have been practising and making some simple items with my current machine.

The first project I tackled was this dress by the April 2007 Prima Pattern which came free with Prima Magazine. I bought the fabric from Husseins Fabrics in Green Street, Forest Gate, the fabric along with the thread, zip and a collosal sheet of interfacing came to a grand total of £9.

The pattern and instructions were very easy to follow and the bodice is all one piece, no sleeves, yay!!! (I hate sleeves, attaching them that is , not wearing them) the only bits I had problems with was the interfacing on the V-neck, I spent ages trying to work out how to get the 'point' at the 'v' to lay flat, crisp and sharp, mine kept puckering up, I got it in the end, well nearly.

The other bit I had a HUGE problem with is putting in the concelaed zip but that was due to the fact I'd never done one before, had no-one to show me and didn't have the appropriate foot.

Here is the finished result...