Sewing
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Little Life Update
3 February 2023
I finally caught COVID, and while I am curled up on my sofa feeling sorry for myself, I thought I would check through things. I realised that I haven’t written anything on this blog for ages (gulp April 2021) and so much has happened! The problem is that Instagram is so much quicker and easier […]
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Alison Glass Lumen Quilt
19 April 2021
In which I attempt to make a giant quilt, for the first time!
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The Sewing Weekender
14 June 2020
What did I get up to in the Sewing Weekender 2020?
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Black Lives Matter
6 June 2020
In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be antiracist.
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A New Routine – Scrub Hub
2 May 2020
Lockdown continues, but I making scrubs for the NHS on my weekends.
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Patchwork – for the first time.
10 April 2020
I picked up a quilting kit at the Stitch Festival, despite never having quilted before.
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Catching Up – The Stitch Festival
5 April 2020
It seems like a lifetime ago, but back at the start of March, we went to the Stitch Festival...
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Custom Sewing Labels
23 February 2020
Custom made sewing labels to go inside gifts? Umm...
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Kitchen Aid Cover
8 January 2020
Challenge one of the #makenine challenge was to make a quilted KitchenAid cover.
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Christmas 2019
26 December 2019
I’ve been given some lovely crafting supplies this year for Christmas.
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Christmas Sewing | Japanese Knot Bag
16 December 2019
How to make a round based Japanese knot bag? It’s harder than you’d think.
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Baby Sewing!
8 March 2018
My sister is pregnant. Something I am quite excited about. I had my daughter nearly 18 years ago, so there hasn’t been a new addition to the family for a very long time. At the recent Knitting & Stitching show, I picked up some jersey and ribbing to make some baby leggings. I had found […]
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Eve Dress (Toile)
20 August 2017
I had been hoping to sew the Eve Dress from SewOverIt for a while. But the pattern was only available through one of their classes. I was stalking the website, waiting for a class to be scheduled at the Clapham branch, when they released the Eve dress as a paper pattern. I purchased the pattern […]
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A New Workshop Apron (Finally)
16 August 2017
I’m a teacher (something you may have picked up on this blog). I teach mainly woodwork, in a dusty messy workshop, while wearing a ‘suit’ and fancy shoes (I’ll put a picture of my shoes at the end of this post, so you can see what I’m talking about). I hate wearing lab coats, they […]
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Ultimate Wrap Dress Attempt 2
4 April 2017
After making my first Ultimate Wrap Dress, I knew I had to tweak the pattern quite a bit to make it fit me properly. I needed to drop the waist down by 1 1/2 inches and lengthen the dress by at least 4 inches. I also wanted to add darts in the back neckline to […]
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Ultimate Wrap Dress
26 March 2017
After setting up my new machine, I finally got to sew together the pieces for my Ultimate Wrap Dress from Sew Over It. It was very easy to put together, and being able to just press ‘start’ on a sewing machine and let it sew with a little steering from me was a pleasant surprise. The […]
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New Sewing Machine
25 March 2017
Last weekend I intended to make my Ultimate Wrap Dress from Sew Over It, using the fabric I bought from Girl Charlee at the Knitting & Stitching show. But my beloved 1940s zigzag machine stopped working. The needle wouldn’t move when the foot pedal was pressed. I tried everything, checking the wheel at the end was tight, […]
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The Knitting & Stitching Show
5 March 2017
Today I went to Olympia (via non-working trains, torrential rain and wind that wouldn’t let my umbrella stay the right way round) to visit the Knitting & Stitching Show. The last time I went I felt very overwhelmed by the variety of stalls on offer, so this time I went with a plan and a […]
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Patterned Skirt
21 August 2016
I’m in the process of updating my work wardrobe ready for the start of term. I’ve been buying a few pieces but also making some myself. I’ve almost finished the ‘Anderson Blouse’, I just need to redo the bottom hem as I’m not happy with the way it turned out. I’ve had a pattern from […]
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The Anderson Blouse Pt5
30 July 2016
Work on the Anderson blouse continues (I’m sure you’re getting bored of these posts!). The sleeves are made, but completing the flat felled seam inside the sleeve was very tricky. On the first attempt I managed to catch part of the sleeve, so had to unpick and try again. The first sleeve is now attached […]
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The Anderson Blouse Pt4
27 July 2016
While my daughter was at her friend’s house, I managed to get some more work done on the Anderson Blouse. After unpicking the shoulder seams more than once, I managed to get them lined up in such a way so I could create the flat felled seam. I tried on the blouse shell (sleeves come […]
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The Anderson Blouse Pt3
25 July 2016
Today I thought I would try out some seams on the fabric, especially as I wanted to encase the raw edges of the fabric as it frays very badly. Fortunately, Sew Over It were very generous with their fabric estimations, so I had plenty of spare fabric after cutting out my pattern pieces As my […]
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The Anderson Blouse Pt2
22 July 2016
While my daughter had a friend round (the teenagers spent most of the day eating me out of house and home and watching anime), I traced my Anderson Blouse pattern. Ironed the fabric (it’s one that wrinkles if you just look at it wrong), pinned out my pattern pieces and cut them out. Then I […]
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The Anderson Blouse
20 July 2016
I’ve been admiring the Anderson Blouse from Sew Over It for a while. When I realised that one of their shops was in Clapham North (only a few tube stops from me) I decided to take a trip. The ladies in the shop were lovely, but annoyingly they didn’t have any physical patterns for the Anderson Blouse. […]
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Making a Tie
9 July 2016
I found a Sew Over It kit to make a tie when I was last in John Lewis. As it was on sale for £5, I thought it would be perfect for a first attempt at tie making. The kit included the pattern, fabric, domette and thread – so a bargain! The fabric included was […]
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The Weighted Blanket (pt 3)
4 October 2015
So after a close look at my Singer, I found a thread wrapping itself around the crank wheel. Black thread on a black machine proved quite challenging! But at least I was up and running again. As the blanket rows filled it became more and more unwieldy. I kept having to fold the filled rows […]
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The Weighted Blanket (pt 2)
3 October 2015
Following on from last week, today I sewed the channels in the blanket. I marked them at 10″ intervals to start and pinned the fabric in place, then I sewed from the bottom of the blanket to the top. The fleece stretched and moved while sewing, but I think this would ease if I had […]
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The Weighted Blanket
26 September 2015
My daughter’s 15th birthday is rapidly approaching, so I needed to work out what to get her. It just so happens that she has recently been diagnosed as on the autistic spectrum (which has answered so many questions!). She has used heavy things (like sofa cushions) for years to help calm herself when she gets […]
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Summer Sewing
1 July 2015
Despite my lack of postings, I have been quite activity sewing this year. One of my favourite patterns has been the Arielle skirt from Tilly and the Buttons. I’ve already made two for school and am planning on making another before term starts again. But as I needed a new ‘summer’ skirt to wear this […]
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Car Boot Sale Gold!
27 September 2014
While looking around the car boot sale that happens every Sunday near me, I came across this beautiful sewing machine. You can see that I’ve already bought it and taken it home! I was astounded when the lady on the stall sold it to me for just £6! It even came in its case. I’ve […]
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No Sewing For Me
3 May 2014
The next thing I am planning on making is the Mae Blouse from Blue Ginger Doll. I bought the pattern and fabric 2 weeks ago and have been gradually tracing it. Unfortunately, I have also damaged my back (it has all the symptoms of sciatica). It has been getting worse in the last few weeks […]
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Another Skirt Finished
18 April 2014
This pattern arrived at the start of the holidays. I’ve been looking forward to starting it for a while. It’s from Simple Sew (and they have quite a few other patterns I have my eye on). I bought this fabric to make it from, a polka dot medium weight cotton and a turquoise skirt lining. […]
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Oops – Or Better Planning Needed
16 April 2014
You may remember that I was going to make a skirt for my daughter using some black fabric printed with roses. Well, yesterday I got the pattern ready and laid it out on the fabric. It was then I realised that I have made a critical mistake – I hadn’t checked the width of the […]
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Buttons and Buttonholes
15 April 2014
Yesterday was a busy day. I finished my Mathilde Blouse. The adaptations worked perfectly, so now the neckline sits in my collar bone and the blouse finishes just below my hips. I mentioned before that I have a Singer sewing machine from 1934. Due to my eBay stalking, I also have a 1940’s buttonholer. It […]
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Adapting Patterns
12 April 2014
Just before I started this blog, I made this blouse: The pattern is the Mathilde Blouse from Tilly and the Buttons. It comes again with a wonderful set of tutorials. However, I am quite tall (and have a particularly long body, which is why shop bought dresses never have their waistline in the right place […]
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Et Volia!
10 April 2014
By sheer fluke, my zip arrived in the morning post. So I had no excuse but to crack on with the skirt. Unfortunately, I don’t have a zipper foot (yet – I am stalking eBay for one), so I put my concealed zip in by hand. After sewing up all the seams, inserting the lining […]
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Darts and Seams
9 April 2014
I’ve been busy today working on my Charlotte skirt (thoroughly enjoying being on holiday from school, so I have time for this!). I sew on a vintage Singer sewing machine. Mine is a 99k from 1934, it only sews with a straight stitch, but I have been collecting different feet attachments to enable my machine […]
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The Charlotte Skirt
9 April 2014
As I am currently on my Easter holiday, I thought I would take advantage of the time to make some clothes to wear to school. I like wearing pencil skirts, especially high waisted ones. So I thought I would have a go at making the Charlotte Skirt from By Hand London. They have a fantastic […]
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Another Beginning
9 April 2014
The other day my (now ex) boyfriend turned to me and said ‘are you making something again’ (this was said in nice way!). It occurred to me at that point that I always seem to be creating something. If I’m at home then I’m cooking or knitting or sewing. If I’m at school then its metalwork, […]