Making Facemasks eurgh

So its been a while again huh? What can I say homeschooling has been taking up a lot of time and I didn't particularity feel like blogging. 

I have been making things, mainly crocheting cute animals and i have made some play suits, a dress and a shirt but haven't gotten around to taking photos yet. 

But today I had to bite the bullet and sew something corona related. EURGH! Now don't get me wrong I love the way that members of the sewing community have thrown themselves into making scrubs and face masks but I couldn't face it. In the beginning of lock down I was tagged in posts asking for scrubs and I just couldn't do it. Number one I didn't have the right fabrics or time and two I just didn't have the heart for it. In typical me style I had decided to deal with the pandemic by putting my hands over my ears and saying LALALALALALA very loudly. 

To be completely honest this pandemic has messed with my mental health in ways I didn't think it would. I have spent years being told by family, friends and various medical professionals that my fear of germs and illness is a touch on the crazy side. And now its like "Oh yeah wash your hands forty million times a day and take a bath in dettol or your gonna die" 

Luckily for me my boyfriend is very much of the relaxed variety and hes been doing a lot to calm me down. 

At the start of lock down I toyed with the idea of making face masks and even made some but sent them to my sister and her husband because I thought they get a kick out of having ones fitting their personality [my sisters is harry potter and her husbands is guitars].

But the general consensus seemed to be that face masks didn't really do much and that wearing one could actually provide a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. 

And now its like "oh yeah you have to wear a face mask at the shops or we'll fine you £100"

WELL THAT WAS AN ABOUT TURN OF EPIC PROPORTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!

So ive finally had to force myself to make something corona related.

So far I've made us two each. We chose our own fabrics and I was luckily enough to find a pattern that comes in different sizes so i could make them based off our measurements and hopefully that makes them fit better. 

I chose Harry Potter and Penguins and I managed to find some manly fabrics for Johns. He's going to need a lot more face masks than we do because he goes to work everyday.

Little dude chose the same harry potter fabric as me and some stars. Technically he doesn't have to wear one as hes under 11 but I gave him the option and he said if I'm wearing one he'll wear one as well. Hes got a little tiny face so the different sizes were very useful. 

He's actually pretty pleased with his and stated that he thinks he looks "cool" Pretty sure face masks are going to end up being the new fashion accessory. I've noticed places like asos are already trying to cash in on peoples fear. 

Anyway in other news!

Im learning guitar and I bloody love it!!!! I've wanted to try and learn properly for ages and now seemed like as good time as any. 

I'm still practising ukulele

I'm enjoying crochet and I've been watching a LOT of TV series. so far I've finished Roswell and Buffy the vampire slayer and I've started desperate housewives.

I've also finished two books "Eleanor oliphant is completely fine" and "this is going to hurt" I'd recommend both of them for "this is going to hurt" is about a junior doctor and it gives excellent insight into how the nhs works. 

So yeah thats it. 

I'd say I'll try not to leave it so long again but my momma taught me not to tell lies!!!! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxxx

Galaxy Print Leggings

So hows things? I've been hit with a combination of loss of sewjo and home learning. So my days tend to be filled with trying to remember how to do maths that I didn't really pay attention to in school and English that I never understood in the first place. 

Luckily we seem to have hit a good routine with the whole school thing, we have a box and I've been racking my brains for fun things to do when the school work is done. 

Anyway on to something not lock down related! These are some leggings that I made ages ago when I actually had the motivation to sew. 

The AMAZING galaxy print fabric is from a shop in liverpool that I can't remember the name of. I think I brought 2 and a half metres and I got these and a dress out of it. 

I did my best with the pattern cutting to make sure that the pattern was in the same place on both legs.

My Dad takes the best pictures of me. 

I made them for rock climbing and the first time I wore them I was actually complimented on them but a lady. 

In fact full story we were in the bouldering room and two women came in who were very intimidating rock climbing wise. Me and Marcus tend to be of the "have fun" variety of rock climbers and these ladies were clearly very serious, and one of them kept LOOKING AT ME!!!! So me and Marcus retreated to another room. [I tend to prefer it when we have a room to ourselves because I don't have to make sure Marcus isn't wandering around under where someone is hanging off a wall.] Anyway one of them came back over to us and was LOOKING again [which gave me serious anxiety] and then she said she liked my leggings and I decided maybe she wasn't that scary after all. 

Construction wise aside from the hems I did everything on my overlocker which made them really quick to stitch up. and because the leggings are only 1 piece per leg it wasn't very many seams either.

The pattern is the free pegs pattern by patterns for pirates. I find they fit really nicely and as I said before there quick to sew so thats a winner as well. 

In other news!

- So yeah no motivation to sew, but I have done some cross stitch.

- I've still been knitting away but I seemed to have eased off on crochet a bit.

- I've been doing some nail art on myself and now I'm itching to paint someone else's nails. 

- AND I've been learning to play the ukulele, It all actually started with little dude. He had a cheap ukulele and was playing it constantly so I decided to order one for me as well. Well that one turned up and instantly it was clear that it was much better than the cheap one little dude was playing so I let me snaffle that one and ordered another for myself. I've actually really surprised myself with it. I enjoy practising and at the minute with everything that's going on its one of the things that actually relaxes me.  

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxxx

Japanese Fabric Dress Pattern Hack

God that titles a bit ropey isn't it? But to explain, the dress is a heavily hacked Tilly and the Buttons Lilou bodice, and by heavily hacked I mean heavily!

As you can see I took the bodice and tried to wrangle it into being a tie front. Its not a bad job but I did have visions of me looking a bit more buxom in it. Boobs squished together that sort of thing. 

But I think for maximum boob squish The knot would have to be a bit lower. 

Ideally I would have made a toile but what can I say I'm not that kind of girl so instead it judge that the knot would need to be in the *ahem* nipple region to preserve my modesty best. So I put the knot in line with the bust dart because that points the the *ahem* nipple region anyway. 

Naturally because of the knot I do have to go bra less. Which is a bit of a nightmare. I did buy some of those sticky boob things but they are a bit of a pain to get on and for some reason I always end up with wonky boobs. 

* for those who haven't heard of sticky boob things, it a thing shaped a bit like a rabbit and you stick The bottom bit to your boob and then hoist it up and stick the top bit to your chest. The theory is you can wear strapless and backless and still have perky bosoms BUT I think they are designed for a slightly smaller bust and I wouldn't recoomend them for anyone over a B cup. Plus peeling sticky stuff off your boobs is the next level of hell as far as I'm concerned*

The fabric was a gift from my friend and ex work colleague Lewis. OMG that boy was an absolute babe! He used to really brighten my shifts at work and we always had a good chat. To the point where we ended up having to work on separate ends of the shop. And then he left.........traitor. 

Anyway he went to Japan on holiday and was kind enough to bring this back for me. He thought I'd like the colours and the print and I thought he'd like the bow front because its a bit saucy.

The skirt is a lovely full gathered one and makes me feel a bit like a princess. Its really wrinkled in the picture above because aside from Lil dude school stuff I've sort of given up on ironing. 

All in all I do really like it. And it will be nice for the warmer weather we are having. Even if no one else is going to see it. 

So in other news!

- We are still on lockdown....... So yeah. Again I've been trying to keep busy. Its nice spending so much time with lil dude but he's gone to his Dads for a week now and I'm worried that I'll fall into a pit of despair. God that's a bit dramatic isn't it? But in all seriousness having him here has been keeping me sane and giving me something to focus on.

- But John [my lovely boyfriend] and my Mum have been brain storming ideas on how to keep me busy and I have a pile of sewing projects to be getting on with. Its nice to have people who really care about you. My sister and her husband have also suggested we have a video chat Harry Potter quiz at some point so I'm looking forward to that.

- I'm getting on nicely with my knitted blanket and I've started the decreases.

- Dinnerladies is on netflix and I'm chuffed to bits because I love Victoria Wood. 

So yeah that's about it really. I hope your all keeping safe and I hope my blog posts are giving you a bit of light relief from the news. Even if 80% of this one was me talking about boobs. 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

African Wax Print Dress

Hey hows things?

I've managed to sneak a quick half hours blogging mainly down to some kind people letting us have access to their disney+ account (you guys know who you are and i bloody love you)

Which is a very welcome break, yesterday little man needed to be constantly occupied and was feeling very frustrated with whats going on. Technically its the Easter holidays which would typically mean lots of fun days out and seeing his cousins. But at the minute its just a lot of playing in the garden and trying to find things to keep him happy.

But onto the dress. I'm going to apologise in advance for the fact my feet are in these pictures. As i have previously mentioned my Dad took my most recent set of pictures and opted to tell me I should have worn shoes AFTER we had done every single outfit. And to be honest he didn't look like he had the strength to re shoot all the outfits again.

The fabric is a BEAUTIFUL african wax print cotton that my pen friend Jeanette sent me after me and my ex split up in an effort to cheer me up. Its a beautiful thick cotton that presses nicely and drapes beautifully. 

I actually think its one of the most beautiful cottons I've ever seen.

Being a wax print cotton meant that cutting out was a logistical nightmare, but this girl loves a challenge. I chose simplicity K1418 as the pattern because its a princess seamed bodice and I feel like that gives me a bit more control of where the pattern ends up on my bust. For example I knew I wanted the fan detail front and centre and that I wanted the keep the pattern central on the front of the skirt as well.

The skirt is just gathered which I find works nicely for border prints because you don't have to worry about curves extra. 

Length wise I left it a bit longer than normal because I've been going without tights in the summer. Which is a pretty big deal for me as a I hate my legs. I did worry it might be a bit too long but I wear it constantly so I think it might be just right!!!!

In fact I've worn it that much that I've had to do repair jobs on both of the straps!!! 

The bodice is lined with a plain yellow cotton so the inside is nice and clean and the zip is one of my better attempts. 

I even did my best to mirror the pattern on the back as well. 

As a quick thing, I don't tend to go for traditional pattern matching where the print is seamless through a seam because well who has the time? [apart from well everyone right now......] 

Instead I tend to go for the more laid back, lets how the pattern is mirrored or a least lines up sort of vibe.

In other news......

- well lock down is still happening so that's a thing......

- lil dude is still doing a combination of school work and fun stuff, today he wrote part of his story for school, wrote a song and identified some gemstones I had ordered online.

- I've been re reading the Harry Potter series and I'm currently on the Order of the Phoenix. Something about reading a book I enjoyed so much as a child is making me feel very relaxed during these different times. I had forgotten how wonderful it can be to fall back into the world of Harry Potter. Its like a warm hug or greeting an old friend. 

- I picked some flowers from our garden and have them on the window sill and they are making me smile every time I see them. Fresh flowers are one of my weaknesses.

- Sewing wise I haven't got much done. But lil dude goes to his dads for the second half of the Easter holidays next week so I'm envisioning a lot of free time on my hands and I'm hoping that sewing will save my sanity. And hopefully stop me pining for little dude too much.

- I have been knitting quite a bit though, mainly the mindless kind that I can just pick up and put down without too much bother.

This last photo is one of my dads best, He had asked me if this dress had pockets and I said no and this was the face I pulled which obviously he had to immortalise! FYI I do wish I had put pockets in!!!!!!

Much Love

Stay safe guys!!!

Frankie 

xxxxxx

My New Winter Coat

Well bloody hell, that escalated quickly didn't it? If your anything like me then you went from theirs a virus called corona [not to be mistaken for the beer, although oddly that does seem to be the only thing in stock in the super markets at the minute] to well bogger me they've closed the schools.

So yeah, corona virus........ Well me and lil dude are at home, aside from the days he spends with his dad [and that was a googling nightmare let me tell you, but turns out children from separated homes are okay to stay at both parents homes. My boyfriend is still going to work because his company provides stuff for the railways. 

But more on that later [I'm assuming that most of you have come for some sewing goodness] so heres my winter coat. 

Let me put it on the record now that I don't normally sew my own winter coat, usually i just buy one. But this year I HATED every single coat in the shops. When did puffa coats become a thing again? 

Anyway i had a dig through my sewing patterns and i had this vintage duffel coat pattern that i picked up on ebay a while ago. 

Its simplicity 7235 now as you can see the duffel coat patterns features both a mens and women's duffel coat on the cover art however I was assured that the copy I was buying was the women's pattern. 

The ebay seller lied!!!!!

However being the lazy cow i am I opted not to complain and just made a mens duffel coat in a 40ich chest. *hangs head in shame* I know it was one hell of a gamble BUT!!!!! 

1. I like my coats big! I'm sorry but if I can't fit a hoody underneath it then I'm not interested.

2. I figured I could size down if necessary

3. I'm a 36inch bust [on a perky day] so I guessed it wouldn't be too huge!

As it turns out the sheer size of it is one of my favourite things. Especially when i'm walking home from work. 

This is a bit depressing but I walk through a busy town to get to my car and somehow having my female form shielded by a large coat makes me feel a bit better. [For those worrying I haven't had any trouble yet and I always keep my car keys intertwined with my fingers so if I do have to punch someone in the face it will really hurt. *a little trick my sister taught me*] 

Its lined with my mums old taffeta curtains.... Yeah I know thank god she buys quality curtains that I savage when shes finished with them. I love the burgundy and the slipperiness of the fabric means the coat slides on nice and easy. 

The outer fabric is a fur backed wool from abakhan so that gives an extra layer of cosy as well. 

As far as wool goes it was very well behaved, it presses nicely and it didn't fray too badly either. 

The huge hood is one of my favourite parts of the coat. I did toy with the idea of lining it with the wool but I was worried it would be far to thick to ram under my sewing machine.

The huge patch pockets are another part of the coat I really love. Mainly because I can fit EVERYTHING in them. keys, phone, purse, hand sanitise gel.............

The toggles were an amazon purchase ready made and they were a f*****g nightmare. They are by far the messiest part of the coat despite me masking taping them in place to minimise making holes in them. I did really try and take my time with them but they were just a pain in the butt and nearly made me cry. 

The coat looks pretty rough now to be honest, which isn't surprising considering its become my go to winter coat and its clocked a lot of miles already. In fact my one quibble is that the wool has started to bobble quite a lot. 

My dad took these photos for me [pre lockdown] and he had great fun telling me how daft I looked doing all of the poses. 

In other news:

- We can't go out? Yeah sucks doesn't it. I have no idea how this happened but its quite frankly bizarre. I'd like to say I'm coping well but to be quite honest I'm terrified. I worried Marcus is going to pick it up because hes travelling between two houses and that increases his exposure to people. And I'm feeling low because I miss seeing my mum and dad and my friends. I never appreciated how nice it is to have people round for a brew. 

- Funnily enough having little dude at home all the time has been lovely, we've listened to harry potter audio books, I made us magic wands, we've been doing painting and sewing and had lots of giggles. The schoolwork is getting done but I'm not putting a huge focus on it because things are so strange at the moment and I don't want to overwhelm him. 

- we did the joe wicks P.E I nearly passed out, enough said. 

- Surprisingly I haven't got a lot of sewing done, mainly because I'm slowly sorting out my sewing space. 

- However I have been doing more crochet so far I've added a turtle and a cat to our soft animal collection. 

So yeah weird times guys. 

I'm going to add a list of things at the bottom which might be useful for people who are isolating and really feeling it. 

much love

Frankie 

1. listen to an audio book. easier than reading and you get a 30 day free trial with audible.

2. clear out a room, tidy the living daylights out of it [we did the garage]

3. wear comfy clothes when you need to and get dressed up on the days you fancy it. 

4. Bubble baths, enough said really take the opportunity to have a long relaxing soak.

5. try and set times of the day to go social media free. I find not constantly reading updates are helping.

6. watch your favourite movie series in one go. You in isolation watch every harry potter in order. and pretend your a kid again [bonus points for making a wand and saying the spells with them........ not that I do that.........]

7. do some yoga, it makes me feel very zen. or its your braver than I am do some joe wicks! 

8. write letters to loved ones. When did letter writing go out of fashion? I'm on a one woman mission to bring it back!!!!

9. facetime, What a glorious invention, its saving me every single day! 

10. Cook, made soup from all the leftover stuff in the fridge and pretend your Jamie Oliver.

Stay safe and wash your hands 

Purple Cord Tilly and the Buttons Cleo Dress

I was extremely organised this Christmas. As in most of my shopping and wrapping was done by the first of December. 

And not for practical reasons I started shopping in late October for three reasons:

1. I didn't want to empty my bank account at the start of December.

2. I loves a bargain!!!!!!!

3. Lil dudes birthday and boyfriends birthday are both in January which realistically means I need to have the shopping done for those by the end of December too! Or at least I need enough money in my bank account to do it! 

Anyway I spent a LOT of time shopping the black Friday deals and making sure I got the most bang for my buck. And whilst shopping these black Friday sales I happened to see that Tilly and the buttons was having a little sale of her own! 

And well a Cleo kit fell into my shopping basket and I brought it a little "to me , love me" type present.

Now at £37.50 for a sewing pattern some fabric, some thread, a set of clips and a PE bag I know its expensive. Realistically I could have sourced all of the components separately for a LOT cheaper!

BUT

I was in one hell of a sewing funk.... I hadn't touch my machine in months I was exhausted and to be honest I just needed an easy fix and this did it. 

Anyway It arrived and I was so pleased and for the first time in months I actually felt like sewing again! 

So i made it almost immediately and wore it to my works christmas party. 

Luckily its a very easy make, no darts and I didn't need to do any fitting.

I opted to use both the front pocket and the bum pockets! 

But I lined all of the pockets with a quilting cotton rather than folding the edges over. Its a silly thing but I always do it with my pockets because I'm not a fan of folding and ironing and I think it makes the pockets stronger!

The only thing I'm not a huge fan of is the dungaree clips, I find I have to take them off to wash it or dig them out of the filter later and I am not the type of girl to remember to take them off before I wash so on my next versions [and oh yes there will be more] I think i'll just keep it easy and use buttons.

Its a shame the colour doesn't photograph better but its a really lovely plum coloured needle cord. 

I've worn it a few times , but I did have a month or so where I didn't wear it because I actually lost one of the clips in the the washer filter incident I mentioned before. 

In other news! 

-My dad took these photos. We had a couple of hours whilst my mum was at the hairdressers and he was a really good sport about everything. Especially seen as I took about 15 makes! 

- My mums turned 60! and in proper momma bear style shes having meals out and two parties. One was an adults only party for friends last weekend and this weekend we are having a big shindig with family and a HOUSE FULL of kids!

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Wendy Ward Kinder Cardigan in Stuart Hillard Fabric

 Sometimes you make something and you wear it over and over and over again.

But not this time!  I've worn this cardigan approximately 3 times since I made it. [and I made it a WHILE ago]  

In theory I like it. The pattern is simple.

Its the Kinder cardigan from Wendy Wards "sewing with knitted fabrics" which is a sewing book I would HIGHLY recommend. 

And the fit is surprisingly good to say I made zero alterations. Plus its a super quick sew and I love my black version.

I also love the fabric which is a stretch jersey by the craft cotton company and designed by Stuart Hillard.  Its gorgeous to sew with and It's actually the same fabric that I made my peak tshirt dress from. Also a pattern from Wendys book. 

To be honest I'm not sure why it hasn't entered regular rotation into my wardrobe. Maybe I'm just not that much of a cardigan person anymore? In fact thinking about it the main occasions I can remember wearing it it over the top of some pjs in the hopes it makes me look all cool and bohemian....... If cool and bohemian people ate family sized bars of chocolate whilst binge watching doctor who in their jammies. 

I like it in the pictures though. I actually think maybe I needed to see it in pictures to make me want to wear it more! 

This pictures my favourite though. I don't know if you can tell but the glass is my go to glass at my mums house because its shaped like a skull and well that's how I roll. Don't mind me, just over here drinking the blood of those who have wronged me.

Thinking about it..............I might need a bigger cup!

So yeah.

Heres something I made that I don't actually wear that often, and apparently for no good reason! 

In other news!!!

- I finished a crochet blanket and I'm currently knitting another blanket now. MUST HAVE ALL THE BLANKETS! 

- I've been doing some serious sorting and huge shout out the Momma and poppa Knitwit for helping me out! 

- Lil dude is doing well at school and is getting cheekier by the day! 

- I've still been making and selling unique baby clothes on facebook, and have plans to expand my range as soon as I've got time! [if you could give it a like and a share that would be AMAZING!]

- and the new man???? Well hes still lovely! last night he actually taped a sewing pattern together for me whilst I was on the phone and he MIGHT have done a better job than I ever do! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxxxx

Constellation Dress

As promised i'm back trying to blog again. 

This dress is years old, and by years old I actually mean YEARS old!!! 

The fabric was brought at the #sewnorthwest workshop that me and my sister attended ages ago. It was a bit of a treat yo'self moment due to the fact my sister and her husband had decided to treat me to my ticket. [I actually had the money in my purse to pay for her for it and she was like "nah me and Keith have decided to treat you"] So when Fabric magpie set up her pop up shop and I saw this my sister was all like "well you've got the money from your ticket....." and well 1.5m ended up coming home with me. 

Naturally 1.5m doesn't exactly go far. So I opted for the French Navy Now Orla dress pattern which is free to download. 

Oddly whenever I make this dress the fit is slightly different, probably because I spend a lot of time hacking it! For this one I opted for a zip back and kept things really simple. I think this is when I was starting to experiment with slightly less fitted clothes and a more relaxed silhouettes. 

Making this dress perfect for those nights when your trying to eat as much pizza as possible! 

The bodice is lined, but its done BADLY! Just proving that even people who have been sewing for years sometimes say screw it and do a terrible job!!!!!!! However its functional and no one sees it when I take it off so hey ho!

I'm glad I went with a simple pattern so I could really let the print of the fabric do the talking. 

In other news!!!!! 

- Lil dude is learning piano and well by some weird extension I've been giving it a go. I'm pretty sure I'm doing horribly but my ability to read music helps and I think I might book in a appointment to have a quick lesson with my brother in law! Surely I'll sound better on an actual piano rather than a keyboard? right........?

- I've been knitting away. Its yet another diagonal garter stitch blanket but this time I'm using a beautiful colour change yarn from the shop. I'm loving how its turning out but I forgot how much I hate knitting on small needles [chunky all the way!] so its slow progress but I'm getting bits done by keeping it with me as often as I can, turns out waiting in the car at school pick up is the perfect time to do a few rows! 

-I've also been crocheting. Well I say I've been crocheting what I've actually been doing is crocheting a few rounds and then accidentally leaving it in reach of our cat Bandit and then hes been undoing all my hard work! 

And that's it really , plenty of relaxing and cuddling and doing little bits of crafting here and there!

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Oh hey.........

Oh hey.........So it's been a while huh? What can I say? Life ?????I ended up taking a sort of unplanned break from blogging not for any particular reason apart from everything just got in the way, work , divorce things,small child, health issues etc. I've still been sewing just not as much, because it feels like every hour of my day is full up. But I do have some makes and I'm gonna try and get back into sewing. At the minute I'm not sure if I'll try and keep blogging or of I'll just be instagramming my makes.So shall we have a little catch up?

I've been spending a lot of time with family which is really lovely and I even managed to get a nice picture of me and my dad which is great because I realised I don't actually have a lot of pictures of me and my dad together. 

I learnt to crochet! FINALLY! I was lucky enough that at work we had a crochet teacher in a work and my manager let me have half an hour to try and learn. Well one thing led to another and now I can make simple projects this lion for example! 

I started my own business selling unique handmade children's clothes. It's called iddy biddy boutique and you can find me on Facebook! 

This lil dude just turned 8 he's doing incredible to say he's had quite a tough year but he's just going from strength to strength and I've never been prouder of him! He actually read the first Harry potter in two days can you believe it?

In the past few months I even picked up 3 new sewing machines! Yes 3!!!! Two from the seventies and a treadle!!! Yes I own a treadle sewing machine!!!! I've wanted one for ages and it seems like a dream that I finally have one!

And um this happened too! This is John and he's my boyfriend , he's sweet and funny and kind. We started off as friends but when I was basically crashing after everything he was the person who rang me every morning to make sure I hadn't slept through my alarm and made me dinner when he knew I wasn't eating and fixed my car so I wouldn't have to take it to the garage. 

And well one thing led to another and now he's one of my absolute favourite people. 

Plus he's got this habit where I sit down to sew and he immediately makes me a brew???? It's bizarre but wonderful! 

Anyway hopefully I'll have another blog post ready soon! 

And hopefully I won't leave it so long again!!! 

Much love

Frankie 

Xxx