Threadcount 1604 Dress

There's only three pictures of this dress, and with good reason. On the day I took the pictures I felt ROUGH! and not even I've consumed a bottle of rose rough, just I'm ill rough.

In fact I felt so poorly I made my mum and dad bring me and lil man home early from their house and told my dad I didn't care about his new jacket. I do care dad! but unless you want me to collapse in your hallway I suggest you take me home and save this till next week!

Anyway this is view c from threadcount 1604, which came free in a copy of love sewing magazine. So far I've made the trousers and the skirt.

The fabric is from my shopping trip to abakhans in Hanley and has little unimpressed women's faces on it.

Its really cute, has good drape and for £2.50 a metre you can't really go wrong can you?

Im not quite sure what type of fabric it is? its very smooth, feels quite synthetic and has good drape?

The bodice is lined which is nice and helps to create the loose gathered effect at the front. Basically the lining is darted and then the main fabric is gather over the top. Now to be honest the instructions for the dress aren't awful but they are not exactly clear for example it wanted to do some sort of turning through the straps method but I think if I make it again I will just use the same method that's used for the lilou bodice.

anyway after the straps turning palava I just started winging it. It also had elastic at the waist, which isn't one of my favourite things to be honest but I cut mine quite loose so its comfortable. 

All in all I like it, and I think I might make another one, but I'd just use common sense to put it together and not the instructions. I had to take about 4 inches of the length as well so I should probably amend the pattern pieces. 

 Its not hugely fabric hungry though which is nice and all the pieces are cut on grain so you don't need to mess about with bias, but it does mean you need a fabric with good drape.

I like it, Its a nice dress and it was nice to try something new, its just not a WOW item. Its the type of thing you can just throw on with tights. In fact if it wasn't for the awesome print it might even be a little bit boring? That said I like it and I do keep saying I need to make more practical items and not just party frocks!

No yes I do like it, I think my cold is just making me fuzzy headed with regards to decision making. Its a nice style and looks cute. So yeah I probably will make another and its nice to make something that doesn't require a zip. Just 1 button and some elastic.

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Beaded Hoop Art

This was one of those nice quick things that you do on the days when you just HAVE to make something.

I used my initial and just filled the entire space with beads, any bead I wasn't fussy I just grabbed a handful and stitched them on.

I think it looks pretty cute and Id forgotten how much fun it is to do things with beads, its surprisingly therapeutic.

In fact I'm tempted to do a huge silhouette cushion out of beads, ya know just for fun!

Might be a good excuse to use up some of my large collection of beads as well!!!

In other news I've started to schedule blog posts for when my Father In law goes on his holiday and leaves me to look after his ebay business. Which I actually sort of love doing! Its pretty mindless just looking at the order form, making the order up and posting it but its nice to have something to do sometimes, and its nice to use my brain for once!

In other news, fever has hit our household, yes currently both boys are holed up in bed coughing and sweating and snotting all over the place. I'm not feeling well either, but as the least wussy member or the house I've had to woman up and get on with life!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx 

Tartan Pencil skirt, with Full Zip Back

Right so I have to start off by saying this skirt makes me feel all kinds of sassy. In this skirt I'm the love child of Marilyn Monroe and Joan from mad men.

I mean it fits, oh boy does it fit. To the point I'm like "is this actually to small?" and the little voice in my head goes "don't be daft Frankie! you ate most of your sons Easter chocolate, your still bloated from that massive bowl of pasta you just consumed and you don't NEED to sit down anyway!" 

Anyway I made this because I wanted to add a cool Viviene Westwood vibe to my wardrobe and because there's Scottish in my blood! What? something had to explain my deep love of whiskey and sing song! 

Anyway the fabric is from abakahns and the pattern is from the second Great British sewing book, But I added a waistband and switched out the short zip for a long exposed one! 

Well I say exposed.... exposed zips sort of leave me with a rashy feeling. I mean "why haven't you finished?" so its like a semi exposed zip, the tapes are covered but you can see all the gorgeous metal teeth as a nice contrast to the twee tartan!

and it goes the whole way down the back. Which was inspired by a ready to wear skirt I have that has a full zip down the front. 

Also can we please take a moment to appreciate the pattern matching across my bottom, yes stare at my bottom....see the print? awesome right! Its actually out by about 4mm but my bum looks all kinds of perky so If someone notices then they are not looking at the right thing! 

It also closes with a hook and eye as the top because I basically have to pour myself into this! [it really is a bit too tight!] and having it already closed at the top helps when I'm trying to pull the zip up with one hand and redistribute my bum with the other!  

Construction wise its pretty simple, front darts back darts, I French seamed the inside because this fabric frays like no tomorrow, and the inside waistband is slip stitched by hand. there is also two rows of stitching on the zip to make sure it can "cope" with the "strain"

Anyway I still think its a HUGE success and I actually cannot wait to wear it when some of this bloats gone!!!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx 

#MMMAY16 roundup week four!

Its drawing to a close! I've actually been really enjoying wearing me made clothes so far.... apart from this morning when I just felt like I had nothing to wear and couldn't really be arsed. Note to self: make more comfy clothes for chillin!

Day 22

Heman Lilou dress, not much to say really, its a fun dress but the fit on the straps isn't great [luckily I've amended the pattern piece now so I don't have this problem any more.

Day 23

Jersey dress and denim corset top,

Must make another dress like this! SO COMFY! loving the corset top but it does need some repair work doing to it!

Day 24

Refashioned shirts into shirtdress!

Damm did I feel sassy on this day, My hair was working the dress looked cute! we went to the shops! I had a pretzel! Great day and it really sold this dress for me!

Day 25

This is the day lil man conned me into letting me have a day off nursery because he said he felt poorly and I definitely felt poorly. I had a cute dress picked out but then I was hot and cold and snotty so ended up in this cami top. I also wore my sewcialist jumper a lot when I couldn't get warm!

Day 26

Faces dress, still felt poorly but went to my mum and dads so I could drop off his bday present [ And so they could feed lil man and so I wouldnt have to walk to nursery again] I was suppose to be helping to fix my brothers patchwork quilt but felt awful and ended up coming home early.

Day 27

Lil man and Big man catch my bug! HA! both of then spend the day feeling sorry for themselves I wore a knitted cardigan and an unblogged [So far] Delphine skirt in tartan!

Day 28

Pansy print dress [again] couldn't find anything to wear, ended up in this.

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Wool Cape

So this is a very simple cape pattern that came from the "sew everything workshop" book [I know they just made capes on the sewing bee but I promise I made this before they made them!] 

Its my first garment from the book and its a really simple pattern, there's only three pattern pieces, and although there's a lining its applied in a really simple way so its not confusing! I really like that its lined and that there's small vents to put your hand through. 

This make has been on the cards since I saw the vintage cape my mum had brought and then lo and behold I'm given this book and there's cape pattern in it! 

The fabric is a great wool from abakhan fabrics and the lining is just some plain poly stuff that I had in my stash.

I didn't really try and pattern match it too careful instead I just lined up the print when the fabric was folded and tried to place the hem at the same point for cutting. 

The buttons are from an old river island coat that I brought when I was sixteen. There's not a lot I can say about that coat apart from it was in the sale and it was hands down one of the best coats I have ever owned. 

All of my button holes went in first time so no complaints there!

The instructions call for you to hem the coat using your machine and then place ribbon on top of the hem to hid it nicely. Instead I hemmed mine by hand so It would be invisible and then added lace on top to make sure it looked super pretty. I'm pretty sure the lace was my grandmas!

The arm vents are slip stitched by hand so there's a good amount of hand finishing on this cape, which I don't mind as I find it very therapeutic.

So if I make it again what changes will I make?

well I'm thinking I'd like my next effort to be in a colour? Maybe a nice jewel tone like red or purple or blue? Id like the add a hood of some sort and some patch pockets. I'd do the button holes as bound button holes and I'm feeling like some faux fur trim would look all kinds of awesome!

But I really like this one, I'm so pleased it picked a neutral colour palette because it goes with everything in my wardrobe and its nice to have another smart jacket type thing for when I go out.

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Another Duffel Bag

This isn't a cool make, it isn't an interesting make, but it is an angry make.

Ever since the 5p carrier bag charge came in I seem to spend most of my time trying to cram bits and pieces of shopping into my handbag because I haven't remembered my bag for life. 

Now I get it, 5p isn't a lot for a carrier bag, however when one of the stronger ones is 10p, then 5p for something that's gonna split halfway home soon starts to add up. So I would buy a 10p one BUT! I've been doing that since the law came in, and now I have more bags for life than I need. In fact my bags for life will probably last longer than my actual life. 

So since I've got 20 bags for life at home and don't really need another , I've been stuffing things in my handbag. And them my handbag broke......... and I lost it.

I reuse my carrier bags thankyou! I ranted quietly to myself at the till after begrugingly handing over 10p [via my card as I don't carry cash] and then I came straight home and made this so I'd always have a bag in my handbag.

Its just a really simple duffel bag, it ain't pretty, it ain't fancy but it does the trick.

I threw it together in 20 minutes of rage induced sewing whilst cursing the people who were simply throwing their carrier bags away after a weekly shop! Who are these people? don't they have packed lunches, and cat litter trays and dog poo to dispose of? DON'T THEY HAVE A CARRIER BAG CUPBOARD!??????  

Why did they have to ruin my recycling? I mean what's my child suppose to vomit into in the car? what will I use as a dirty clothes bag when I go on holiday? 

So yeah some RAGE sewing after my favourite handbag broke.

Much Love

Frankie

P.S I think it goes without saying that I love the environment and obviously the plastic bag tax came in for reasons that go over my little head, but everyone I know reused them in very imaginative ways so.......... I guess I just don't get it! 

X

Vintage Style Wrap Top!

So this make was inspired by this picture that I found on pinterest,  Its quite similar to the walkaway dress from last years sewing bee.  

The concept is that its really simple sewing and then your left with a finished garment and there's no need for those pesky zips or buttons. Sounds like my kind of project to be honest!

I saw a few different measurements on-line, but I personally made mine 34inch by 23inch. I think its real trial and error on what looks good on you. Originally mine was a good 8 inches longer and 6 inches wider but it was just too big.

Its actually pretty sweet, even if it is hard to photograph a white top against a white wall whilst I'm wearing it on my pasty white skin. Fabric wise I used a length of lightweight cotton from my grandmas stash, Its got little white flowers on it as well but you can see them on the images. I think the key to this project is finding the right material it needs a certain amount of drape for the sleeves but can't be too stretchy or your loose the wrap effect. I think this fabric is pretty perfect apart from the fact its a wee bit see through, luckily for me I own about 1million vest tops so I just chucked one underneath. 

I love the bow, that might be my favourite bit to be honest. Although it can be a bit fiddly to make sure everything's sitting nicely when its tied. I also love that's its got a modern vintage vibe to it. It doesn't scream vintage in your face, its more like "I might be vintage? or I might just be really chic and modern" 

To stitch it up I kept with the theme and sewed it on my Singer 99k, which I'm pleased to say ran as nicely as ever. Its a great machine even if it is a bit loud! The only issue I have with it is that their is no thread cutter on it anywhere! 

The sides are hemmed and the the bottoms are trapped in between the ties. The neckline is bias bound. Which wasn't as fiddly as I thought even if the bias binding was a bit stiff , hopefully it will soften up in the wash.

All in all I'm calling this a grand success and it was nice to make something simple and relax a bit. In fact from cutting out the putting on this can't have took much more than an hour? And bearing in mind it was sewn on a machine that only has one speed I don;t think that's too bad.

I'm not sure how often I'll wear it, but it might be nice for taking to the beach as a light cover up or I might even use it for yoga because it has lots of room for movement!

In other news!

I'm full of cold, and I'm pretty sure all of the pollen IN THE WORLD! has descended on my house to torture me!

and I'm watching the great british sewing bee pretty much all the time, I've even been watching the reruns! 

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

New tutorial button on bike bag!

Just thought I'd pop in a quick link to my latest tutorial !

A button on bike bag! 

This simple bag is perfect for popping onto your bike, ready to store things in for a picnic in the park or a long commute to work!

Although weve been using ours attached to the head rest in the back of the car!

It really is very simple and requires no paper pattern pieces you simply draw them onto the fabric! And it only uses three fat quaters!

I think it makes the perfect gift for fathers day!!

Much love

Frankie

X

Are the Great British Sewing Bee Books Worth The Money?

Very often I see bloggers posting about the latest releases of the Great British Sewing Bee books. But after thinking about the latest release I started to wonder if these books were actually worth the money we spend on them? Very often I follow the blog book tours, see bloggers make an item and then I never really see the books being used again [I'm not saying all bloggers do this, but it did get me thinking about other people and whether they use them]

So I've decided to review what I've made from the books and try and work out if they are worth buying!

So I best start off with the first book! which I don't own! well that was quick! [I also don't plan on buying it, the patterns have to be printed off not traced and I heard it was a bit naff projects wise, that said if I see it in a charity shop I might have a cheeky purchase]

Instead I started my GBSB book journey with the book from the second series, sew your own wardrobe!

Now at first I didn't think I'd used this a lot until I took a gander through the old blog archives! And I've made 14 things from this book! [the child's dungarees I made are not pictured!]

From left to right

Tunic top, tunic dress, pencil skirt hack, pencil skirt, pencil skirt

This is still my go to pencil skirt pattern, the fit is awesome and I love how easy it is to add my own features!

And I still think about this tunic top whenever I want to make a comfy dress! Sadly I lost the skull print dress to the great bleach incident of 2015, insert sad face here!

But I think I got the most mileage ot of the princess seam bodice! this is used for two projects in the book and I love it! I have finally got the fit just right!!!!!! 

gingahm and lace dress, knit dress, leather insert dress, Pansy dress, and wrap skirt [this is a hack of the pencil skirt.

Vintage princess seam dress, flower dress, velvet dress.

So I'd say that was pretty good value! and I still have a few things I'd like to make from it, like the bowling shirt and the box pleat skirt! And maybe the leggings, maybe......

Now onto book three!

Surprisingly I made less from this book, maybe because by now I have a bunch of patterns that I love so I use those instead? or maybe because I haven't had it as long? 

Anyway I've used the corset bodice three times so that was well worth tracing, and I made the sleeveless top once, which was meh, I'm going to remake this at some point in a larger size and do the button back version.

I used the blouse pattern twice, once for one with a collar and once for the pussy bow one, which I omitted the sleeves on. And I used the cami top pattern twice once as a top and once as the starting point for a dress.

So I've made less in this book but I do still want to have a go at the walkaway dress, and the comfy trousers. But its a case of finding the right fabric for both.

so do I think they are worth buying?

I think it depends on what type of sewer you are? If you already have a huge amount of patterns then probably not. because likely hood is you already have some variation on the patterns in it. 

But if you don't have many patterns and you like hacking and experimenting with patterns then this is definitely worth investing in. There's so much you can do with the Patterns from the book if you use your imagination!

So will I be getting the latest one?

Simply put? YES!!! I'm curious about the sort of patterns that are going to be featured this year and I've already seen one I definitely want to make!

Much Love

Frankie!

xxx 

#MMMay16 week 3

This really should have gone up yesterday but I was so busy it just didn't happen!

Day 15

Striped lilou dress, Pretty sure I wasn't feeling it this day and that lil man was being especially needy. also Miette cardigan!

Day 16

Mimi Blouse I had to change out of this halfway through the day because I did the washing up and got most of the water on me and was like oh hello bra!

Day 17

Delphine skirt, I still love this skirt but I am a bit nervous that its too short, I wore this to take lil man to the hairdressers which was an awkward experience to say the least [the hair dresser was crying, no idea why but she was]

Day 18

velvet circle skirt, In fact this was a full outfit repeat from the first week because I love how it all looks together! 

Day 19

GBSB blouse, love this blouse but I had originally wanted to wear a dress but I had terrible stomach cramps [insert sad feel sorry for me face here] Its also the morning after I played taxi driver to my father in law, brother in law and friend! So I was tired and in pain!

Day 20

My latest dress, princess seam bodice which an African wax cotton fabric, I like this and it held up to a days wear so I'm happy!

and as a bonus as I was cake baking I wore this!

a me made apron! I really want to make new ones of these for me and lil man but I'd like them to match!

and finally day 21!

This is a very tired picture I took late at night. Basically lil man woke up at six so I got up with him, then rikki got up at 9, we all had brews in bed, then onto asda for the big shop, then home, I cleaned the fridge and put the shopping away [I always clean the fridge before I put fresh shopping in] have dinner, wrap presents, get ready to go out, Meet everyone for 50th birthday meal,play in wacky, eat food, eat cake, drink wine, more wacky play, snuggle baby, go home, look at state of house, want to die. 

It doesn't seem like a lot but I had a awful headache so I spent most of the day counting down the minutes until my next painkiller!

But the cake I made went down very well! So that's a bonus! 

  Only 9 days left now!!!!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx