One Finished Skirt

I am proud to announce that I have actually finished one of my goals in what I term to be a very reasonable time frame! I started with the blue and orange fabrics and I drafted my own dirndl skirt on a fixed waistband with a zipper and a lined skirt. I never thought I would find myself writing a sentence like the one before and actually mean it. Me who until a couple of months ago hadn't even considered putting a zipper into an item of clothing has not only put it in but it's a LINED skirt!

Between Saturday morning a couple of weekends ago and Sunday night I managed to cut out and sew together my whole skirt. I cut two rectangle panels out of the blue and two out of the orange. They're cut from selvage to selvage so I wouldn't have to finish the edges inside the skirt and because with the gathered skirt why waste fabric? For those that don't know anything about a dirndl style skirt it's basically a rectangle sewn in a circle and gathered at the top.

Now the first step I made after cutting out the rectangles was to put 2 rows of basting stitches along the top of all the pieces. I did this before I sewed them together figuring it would be easier to gather the halves rather than the whole 2 metres of fabric!

 I then worked out how to insert the zipper.... I had bought a class ages ago on craftsy and if I can fi d the link I'll share it but I used that information to put the zipper in. Basically I made a lapped zipper and then I hand stitched the lining to the back.

I then added the waist band on making sure to leave a flap for the button. I don't know why exactly but the waist band has puckered a bit. I think it's to do with the amount of fabric being held in it.

I have now worn it a couple of times for work and have used a bright pink shirt and a white button up one and both times I think it looked cute as. I may also have visited spotlight to pick up a little bit more of the blue fabric as I bought a pattern by Lekala the blouse #4109 and I'm going to use the orange and blue fabrics to make a top. This will hopefully make it look like a dress when worn together and give me the separates as well. I love variety with a limited wardrobe as I get bored of the same clothes again and again.

Everytime I've worn it the orange lining just makes me smile :D

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Lynn Dress

Now this is one project that I'm really proud of myself for actually finishing! This is the Lynn Dress from The Seamwork Magazine. I'm finally sharing this I finished it a couple of months ago but I managed to get photos yesterday when I wore this to work. I've worn it a number of times now and I'm really happy with how it's gone. I have a whole pile of projects to share with you now.

I'll start at the beginning. From the get go I knew when I saw this pattern that I wanted to make it but I also knew there were some changes that I had to make. The first one was fairly simple. I had to add a zipper, instead of the buttons that were at the back of the dress. As my grandma said, buttons aren't great at the back as they always get caught on stuff and are hard to do up.

The other change is widening at the hips. I always have to do this as I have very wide lower hips. the problem with being an hourglass at the top and even on my upper hips and then a pear down the bottom. 

Caiden picked out the fabrics for me. Not necessarily what I would have picked but I like how they look.

As you can see here I actually managed to line up the fabric and zipper along the back beautifully. I am so proud of what I have done.

This was a really easy sew and it took only a couple of sessions on my machine to finish. Though I did have to make some changes as I didn't do the grading for the hips right. I have to get better at that!

I do need to make myself a belt as it's a little too baggy around the waist for my liking. I need to do it eventually as the zipper only goes to my waist at the back I can't make it tight. If I made this again I would change the back piece so I can continue the zipper down the back further. I'm not sure if I will make another one. It isn't the best pattern but very comfortable to wear so we shall see what the future holds.

This is all the clothes sewing I've managed to do while I study. BUT more will be coming in the next couple of weeks as I piece together some photos, I have been crafting just not always sharing as that took time. 

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

One semester down...

I'm sorry about not posting much in the last couple of months. I have felt so overwhelmed trying to get everything done that I have really struggled to keep up with this. When I decided to go back to university and start my Masters I don't know what I expected. The last time I did any dedicated study I was living at home with my parents. It's really easy to focus on study and only study when that is really the only thing you have to be responsible for. It's also very easy to do more for yourself and find time to craft and make when you don't have many responsibilities.

I do have lots of information to catch you guys up on as I have still been doing some crafting just very very very very slowly. This is because it takes a lot of effort to actually post about it. I would recommend if you want more updates than you get here follow me on Instagram. I do post at least weekly there. Often more than that though.

So now that I've got the serious stuff out of the way lets get into the important stuff.

Today I want to talk about my plans. This is a bit of a goal setting post as I have a number of plans I actually want to bring to fruition so I will now let you guys hold me accountable!

I mainly have sewing plans that I really have set goals for. I bought myself a book a couple of months ago now and it has my head spinning with ideas. It's called Sew Many Dressses: Sew Little Time. I actually bought the Amazon Kindle version and I'm really happy with it. I can read it on my computer or on my phone. Also just so you know the patterns when you buy the kindle version are downloadable instead of printed in the back of the book! I will do full review once I've sewn a dress from the patterns but for now I love it.

SEWING GOALS

I bought some fabric yesterday at spotlight and each piece has some very specific goals for what they are going to become. All outfits I can wear for work but also at other times too.

I bought this gorgeous navy cotton poplin with the idea of making a Dirndl skirt. I know that sounds very german but it's just a fancy word for a rectangle of fabric that has been gathered at the waist.

To add a bit of pizzazz to it I also bought the orange cotton lawn you can see poking out in the photo. This I'm going to use to line the garment. It is a new style of skirt (for me) and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

The next project is a little more challenging. This will be a DRESS!!! out of this browny grey fabric. It's a cotton broadcloth so fairly stiff but feels really nice. It's a bit of a tester project. I am learning how to do the parts mentioned in the book so I'm going to make a dress with a basic bodice and either an A line skirt or maybe a fuller skirt. We shall see. It's going to be an interesting challenge as I haven't made this sort of bodice before or a structured dress. Not really. The purple dress I made a couple of years ago doesn't quite count as my grandma did more than me!

The third piece of fabric that I bought is another cotton poplin. This one I will turn into a dress as well but not sure what style. I shall see how the above dress turns out and either make another one very similarly or change up the skirt/neckline or something. I do love that the pattern has all sorts of instructions on how to do that.

So those are the main sewing projects I NEED to work on. But knowing me I will find others over the next couple of months. I intend to finish the skirt in the next couple of weeks as it should be a fairly easy sew. Then I'll tackle the slightly harder projects as I go.

I also want to attempt a couple of pairs of shorts and stuff which *should* be easy projects just as something nice to wear during summer but we shall see. I have a couple of shorts patterns including the Nantucket shorts from seamwork which I like the look of so we shall see what ends up drawing me.

I must say, wearing clothes I've made and getting compliments for my outfits really does make me feel pretty and nice. It's something I want to continue.

NON SEWING GOALS

I do have some other goals. I really love cross stitch but I have been very neglectful lately. My goal is to really work on my Afternoon Tea. It has been neglected and if I want to finish that anytime in my lifetime I have to give it some love! It's not a hard goal...

None of these goals are hard but they do require putting my phone down and stopping playing the mind numbing games and just pick up the project and get started. It's that simple but we shall see how well I do! I've noticed particularly in the last couple of months just how addicted to my phone I am. It has become the way I relax which I do NOT like. I would rather relax with a sewing machine or needle than with my phone.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

It's Actually Finished Finished!

I wish I could say this is only due to being so busy at work but I am a serial procrastinator with and without the help of working full time. But to make it even better I haven't just finished the stitching part I have finish finished the beanie too!!!

Actually I have been finishing a lot of projects recently and actually finishing them fairly quickly... I guess the motivation to wear them or share them with others actually works. Of course being me, I do put it off more than I should. I have always had a problem with procrastination and putting items off particularly when I want to do something else.

The crochet for this beanie has been done for a couple of weeks. It's been sitting in my bag waiting, waiting for me to bother to find my sewing needle. I only have one sewing needle for yarn.

Then came the hard part. Picking the right button. I had a collection sitting there and none of them were the same. You just need to try them all. Eventually she chose the purple of below.... A girl after my own heart :D  The purple is awesome.

*sigh* I learnt something with this whole project. Apparently my crochet gauge is really tight. No wonder I can't make crochet projects work quite right normally. But it does fit her beautifully and doesn't fall off which is a BIG bonus.

 

 It was surprisingly hard to get a good photo. She just didn't want to smile. Reluctant models are so difficult to work with. She just wanted to go back to her game.

 

I'm really bad about finishing projects but this one has been awesome. To make it even better it's barely left her head since I finished it which makes me even happier. I like making clothes and items for the kids as long as they like and enjoy them when they are finished. It makes it more enjoyable. 

I have other updates but that is enough for one post ... I will try and write another one but I have 2 assignments due in 2 weeks ... this whole work and study thing is harder than it seems. 

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin 

Finished Gloves

So I finished the gloves I was talking about in my last post. They turned out really awesome.

This is a photo of me wearing them. Of course in the normal pattern of me I STILL don't have a photo of my sister wearing them OR the beanie!

I did change a major thing compared to the last time I made this pattern. I made them about 4 inches longer. Which really suits my sister and I just love the difference. Of course I have orders from mum to make a pair but to do the normal length. Also to make the finger part shorter. My sister has long fingers. Actually all of her is long... I'm kinda jealous!

This is one of those patterns I keep digging out every time I need a new pair of gloves. I think I will keep using it and using it as they are so versatile and really look nice with everything. Sometimes it's nice to work on something easy that doesn't require much thought. I will add this to my easy carry project list but it will take me a while to get to a pair for my mum. Which is alright since winter is almost over and I really should be focusing on getting my uni work done not making gloves.

I'm making a new post about my planner as I've made some changes to I will talk to you about how uni is going in that post as it's kinda hooked in with my planner stuff.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin