Camping Catastrophes! and some fun too!

I've not posted for nearly a week! Have you missed me?

Well this is what my view looked like recently! Yep we ventured to Wales for a few days to take lil man on his first ever camping trip !  However it wasn't without its problems! In fact the whole trip seemed to be a bit cursed!

- the first time we tried to go Rikki was struck down with a migraine and spent the day in bed

- Then when we did decide to go we had to brake sharply [because the driver in front was a moron] and lil man got hit in the head by the wooden games compendium flying across the car!

- then when we had gotten to the campsite and pitched up we decided to take a walk along the beach and lo and behold my phone fell out of my handbag at some point and is now a the bottom of the deep blue! I hadn't even noticed it was missing! I had been thinking about how wonderful and relaxed I was feeling paddling my feet in the waves, and then lil man was bringing me shells and I thought ooh I might instagram this and oops wheres my phone? So I'm now phone less until I sort a replacement #prayforfrankie

But luckily the rest of the trip went really well until Rikki broke the bottle of milk on the doorstep when we got home [insert pun about crying over spilt milk here]

We visited Harlech Castle which was nice especially for lil man because its very similar to what it would have looked like back in the day! 

I wore my as yet unblogged days by the sea dress to visit the castle and for a walk on the beach! [i also realised I need to shorten the bodice by an inch!

An I even managed to finish our tent carpet just in the nick of time so we could use it!!

The stars and hexagons are english paper pieced and then appliqued on, and the loops are bias binding sewn down! The backing is some sort of lovely thick fleece back jersey stuff that my friend Helen gave me! I'm not sure how you would describe it but its lovely and thick for stepping on in the morning especially when its cold! 

Lil man even made up a game with the colours in the star! I'm not sure I quite understood the rules but he enjoyed himself so that's a win!

Here it is in situ in our very messy tent! 

Its held in place by four pieces of ribbon that tie onto the actual groundsheet! 

So yeah a fairly practical make that saved us about £40 on a tent carpet!

some other highlights include!

- lil man jumping over waves and just generally having the best time in the sea!

- Rikki trying to find me the best sea shells on the beach to take home!

- Ice creams!

- Fish and chips by the sea!

- Playing with my new camping stove kettle and toasting rack!

- Having the coolest camping neighbours! 1, they had a dog! 2. the man was doing a cross stitch! 3. they had a kid with them about lil mans age! and 4. The lady and her daughter did quilting!!!! which meant I got to talk about quilts! and SEWING!

- Seeing everyone bundled up under things I had made! We took 8 blankets with us! all made by me and it was so nice seeing the boys snuggled under them!

Much Love

Frankie 

P.S needless to say I cant wait to go again!!! 

Cami Top from a Pillow Case

Sometimes the sewing works and sometimes it doesn't. Yes this is a nice enough cami top but for some bizarre reason it turned out HUGE! compared to the other times I've used this pattern.

The pattern is the cami top from the 3rd GBSB book, but without the ruffle because well putting a ruffle on my boobs would just be overkill.  

Its the back that seams big? maybe I should put a little box pleat in or something? In this picture I have the back of my bra pulled right the way down so you don't see it. So maybe that means the strapos are whats too long? [do you like my tan lines? I took these pictures the day after I got sunburnt which was ages ago! safe to say I'm now back to my milky white colouring]

That said if I don't alter it I'm sure I'll still use it for layering under tops and if all else fails I'll just wear it to bed.

Construction wise it took no time at all to cut out or sew. It was however sat on my chair for about a week after cut out waiting to be sewn because new shiny projects kept distracting me! 

The fabric is an old pillowcase and came from my Aunty Shelia and Uncle Gordon's house. There was only one otherwise I might have tried to make a little pj set. I love the delicate flowers and the lightweight fabric. I'm gonna guess that its vintage? 

It looks 100% better tucked in!

Their wasn't quite enough fabric to cut the facings as well so they have been done from a plain white fabric. 

All in all its a really nice make and its always nice to make some more practical items that will get lots of wear. Especially when the weather turns colder and I'm looking for an extra layer to keep me toasty. The only issue is its a little bit on the sheer side so I have to be careful how I wear it.

In other news, 

The summer holidays are going okay I'm not ready to kill lil man just yet......

We are still playing lots of games and trying to get outside whenever the weather lets us. We have high hopes for a big bike ride but I'm not sure how realistic that is!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

#ettaquiltproject - shoo fly block

Stick a fork in me I am done! Today I have cleaned the whole house, cleaned out the guinea pig and the gerbils and emptied our fish tank because our last fish has finally given up the ghost! This meant I had to empty the whole tank of water, then faff about with pebbles and cleaning the dammed thing! [which I had to carry upstairs and clean in the bath because its too big for our sink!] And trust me you want to make sure your tank is clean before you store it because those things go ripe fast! 

But I'm here today to share the latest block in my #ettaquiltproject , I've been sewing the blocks whenever I can in the hopes I can get a backlog together so I never a fortnight! [Here's a link to the previous block]

This is the "shoo fly" quilt block. Because its squares and triangles its super simple to stitch up! I used some fabric scraps given to me by friends! 

You can find the instructions for this block here.

History wise apparently back in the day this type of block was used to teach young girls the basics of quilt construction. And apparently this type of block identified a person as someone who could be trusted during the underground railway, these people would not only help the escape of the slaves but would also provide food, water and shelter if needed as well!

In other news the toe is definitely broken! 

Much Love

and good luck if your making these blocks yourself!

Frankie 

xxx

French Navy - An Orla Affair

I am so late to the Orla party most people have gone home apart from the guy who's drunk in the corner! 

The Orla dress is a pattern by French Navy and get this guys its FREE! Yep as its her first PDF pattern the lovely Sarah has decided to give it out for free and well you guys know how I love a free PDF. Even if I do hate taping together all of those blooming sheets of paper! And as an added bonus me and my printer had a row again [Seriously considering couples counselling for me and that bloody thing] So it probably took me about an hour just to get the flaming thing to print!  

 

But less on me and my printers marital issues and onto the dress! The pattern comes in sizes xs, s, m, l, xl, which is a bit of a change from the standard numbered measurements. Now the pattern is drafted with a 1cm seam allowance which is clearly stated in the instructions. Typically I use a 1.5cm seam allowance and I was tempted to add on the extra 0.5cm but I'm lazy so instead I just decided to cut a bigger size. Now I measured as a 14 which is a L so that left me cutting a size XL, using a 1.5cm seam allowance and hoping for the best!  

It did not work! The bodice is meant to be quite loose fitting and well mine fits pretty darn snugly! So next time I'm going to stick with this size but use the 1cm seam allowance and see how that goes! Although part of me does wonder if some of the snugness is down to the fact I decided to over lock the whole dress and I had to cut off my side seams and re over lock them because I'm an idiot! Long story short I had already decided to set my sleeves in flat but sort of forgot....? because as I said idiot!    

I also didn't have a 40cm zip like the pattern says you need so instead I improvised and went for a keyhole back and shorter zip. The neckline closes with a small button and loop. Which is actually quite nice for using up odd buttons!

This one was a lil faux mother of pearl button. I have no idea where its from, probably one my mum found in a charity shop or a friend gave me.

I also didn't use bias binding for the neckline instead I just overlocked it and folded it over. It looks neat and it lays flat so it works for me! 

Here you can see the overlocked insides, which look all pretty and tidy! 

Bodice wise its got front and back waist darts but no bust darts. Its got cute lil cap sleeves and a gathered skirt. One thing I do really like is that the skirts not too full. Its enough to create a slimming silhouette but not enough that you need yards and yards of fabric, 

The fabric is the same drapey viscose that I used for my Blitz dress I think it works for this type of dress but I am a bit worried the the strain on the seams might mean it falls apart quite quickly!

So yeah all in all I love the dress and its a brilliant free pattern [which you can find here]

In other news!

The weather is messing up the TV signal and I'm half way through "a street cat named bob" Which I'm a bit too invested in to turn off but I'm not sure if I can cope with the jumping and stuttering.

Lil man has yet another cough and can't get to sleep bless him.

And I'm pretty sure I've broken my lil toe. Basically I stubbed it on the ironing board [which just goes to show that no good can come from ironing!!!!] and now it hurts like the dickens and is turning a lovely shade of purpley blackish blue. So yeah that's fun!

Anyways Much Love

Frankie x    

Abakhans Brocade Separates

Shopping, tiddly winks, minion game, whot cards, strip jack naked, mouse trap, batman lego and connect four. That's pretty much how my day went, yerp lots of entertaining of a small child. And just to clarify "strip jack naked" is a card game, I wasn't just stood on the street requesting random men named Jack come into my house so I could undress them......... I only do that on the weekends!

Luckily I've already got a lil stack of projects waiting to be written up/photographed for the ole blog. Because god knows sewing is scarce at the moment!

This beauty was actually sewn up a few weeks ago! The brocade was sent to me by the lovely folks at Abakhans and as soon as I saw the the vibrant colours along with the little silver threads that are woven through it I was sold. Love at first sight is a strong word, but if this fabric was sat at the bar on a Friday night I would definitely buy it a drink and put "kiss from the rose" on the juke box. 

  That said it terrifies me for two reasons:

1. It frays like a mother. I mean seriously after two weeks I was still pulling bits of silver out of our dryers lint tray and we all have it on our socks! I would definitely consider sewing/overlocking the edges before pre washing!

2. It is very dressy! Which kind of terrifies me because aside from the school run and the odd wedding I don't get out much! Currently my idea of a meal out involves a big mac and a mcflurry.  

Which is why I opted for separates, because they are 100% more versatile! And as an added bonus they look like a dress when you wear them together! The pattern is from prima magazine [august 2014 ] but you could also use the sleeveless shell top and the box pleat skirt patterns from the GBSB books. Or if you are fancy and go out and stuff go the whole hog and make an awesome dress!

Size wise I measured as a 14 but I cut a size 12 because the prima patterns tend to have a bit too much ease built in for my liking. [My measurements are 36", 27", 38" BTW] I also omitted the waist darts because I wanted a slightly looser finish on the bottom. 

The fabric is fairly heavy weight so its best to opt for something with cleaner lines for example pleats in the skirt not gathers. 

I changed the back from a zip back to a button up back to make it feel it bit more dressy. It also meant I could use these silver buttons I had in my stash [similar here]. I lined the top in a black lining fabric from my stash. This is mainly to keep the insides looking neat and tidy but it also adds a level of comfort. The fabric isn't particularly scratchy but I wasn't prepared to rick any chaffing near my *ahem* nipple area, especially seen as the button back may require me to go braless. 

I like how the three buttons give a little bit of skin without going the full Julia Roberts pretty woman. The button loops were made by hand using thread [the technique for this can be found in the 3rd GBSB book] Originally the top had sleeves as well but it ended up looking a lil bit grandma so I ripped them out and ended up finishing the armholes by hand using a really tiny slip stitch. 

But the best part!!! LOOK HOW CUTE IT IS WITH JEANS! I think I've finally cottoned on to the jeans and a nice top trend all the kids are talking about! Lengthwise I tried it on before I hemmed it because I wanted to go for a classy cropped sort of style. Its the perfect length for wearing with my skinny jeans and the matching skirt as they are both high waisted. You see a lil bit of skin without me feeling like I've got my whole tummy out.

I even think this wouldn't be too OTT for a trip to the cinema or a drink in a nice pub. Lol I'm totally lying I'll definitely be wearing this on the school run because I have no concept of dress codes! 

The skirt is a simple pleated version which is very flattering. I didn't line this but did make sure to finish all of my seams properly. I did two rows of stitching and then pinked them, so far its been through the wash 3 times and it hasn't frayed yet. The main part of the skirt has an invisible zip [This fabric is pretty bulky when layered so a lapped zipper is a no go] and the waistband closes with two press studs. 

I hemmed the whole thing by hand which gives a slightly nicer finish than machine hemming would. It actually means there is no visible stitch lines on this make at all. No top stitching are anything, I tend to think so stitch lines work better on a fabric like this because other wise you can end up looking really over worked.

This is the second attempt of hemming the skirt, the first time I was going for a midi length skirt but then I tried it on and remembered by I don't wear midi length skirts with my short little legs!

Now sadly this fabric isn't currently on the website [it should be soon!] But it is in store as well as some other great brocades! Although for my next version I think I might use a scuba like this one? 

So yeah all in all I love it and I can't wait to wear it to a special occasion! Hopefully we'll be invited to some posh christening/wedding soon! Heck I'd take a birthday party!

Much Love

Frankie

Disclaimer, Whilst Abakhan's sent me this fabric for free all thoughts and ideas are my own! As I always say honesty is the best policy! 

Knitted Owl Paper Weights!

The summer holidays are fully upon us! And I had forgotten just how much time kids take up! Not that I'm not enjoying it, it just hasn't left me a lot of time for blogging. So far we've had long morning snuggles, watched lots of movies, played football and had a fairly intense game of tiddlywinks! 

I did manage to find some "me time" on sunday though when I popped up to Manchester for a research group practical publishing was running. It was a question and answer type thing with them asking me and about 9 other women questions about our sewing, knitting and buying habits. I found it very interesting to hear what everyone had to say and the other ladies were really nice and as a bonus there were goody bags! [More on that another day]

Anyways today I've managed to find a quick ten minutes to write this whilst lil man sits and practises his reading! 

These are some knitted owl paper weights that I made for lil mans teachers at the end of the school year. Typically we don't do presents for teachers but lil man said he wanted to give them something. And by them he meant all FOUR of them! Yep as it turns out there are four teachers in reception class! 

So naturally I needed a present that was quick to make and didn't break the bank [as it goes these were free!!!!]

I used the same pattern as for my large knitted owl doorstops but I shrunk it down [I am thinking of writing that pattern up if anyone's interested?] then I just weighted the bottoms and chucked in some left over toy stuffing. 

Colours wise I decided only to use my scrap wool, I tried to make the colour combinations as interesting as possible. I think the colours turned out pretty cute. 

I used felt for the beaks, and buttons for the eyes, it actually worked out as a nice way of using up some of those spare pairs of buttons and odd buttons I have lying around.

So yeah that's it really, I hope his teachers like slightly odd stationary! In fact I even had to write on the label that they were in fact paper weights! Mainly so they wouldn't think I had given then some very little heavy owls! 

Anyway Lil man is already climbing up my leg telling me how bored he is of reading and how he wants to play ANOTHER game of tiddlywinks! 

Much Love

Frankie

p.s Hopefully normal blogging shall resume shortly! Wish me luck!

xxx    

Dress From Another Dress

Things that have made me cry so far today :

An advert for a donkey charity and the donkey couldn't carry any more bricks and collapsed. [also he had sore feet]

Rikki showed me a picture of a puppy [it was very fluffy]

I banged my head on the wall for the second time.

Oh yeah the pms train has fully pulled into the station [ Part of me's wondering if this is TMI but the other half of me doesn't care and just wants to know if there's any chocolate in the house.]

Anyways I made this a couple of weeks ago when the weather was stupidly hot and I still had the ability to do things without crying/murdering people. 

The original summer dress was given to me by Rikki's Nan and I LOVED it! Which is surprising because 1. It's not got a gathered skirt and 2. Its a pale yellow, and I don't typically wear pale colours or yellow! Anyway it was one of those things I tried on and Rikki was like "that looks really nice." And so every summer I wore it to death! It was the perfect mixture of comfy and smart looking at the same time and then it started to give up the ghost. First the hem went, so I cut it off and re hemmed it and then it started to get lots of lil holes in it, the way only really loved items of clothing do.  

Naturally I wasn't about to give up my favourite summer dress so I decided to make a pattern from it. [I haven't taken step by step photos because there are already millions of tutorials on how to make patterns from old clothes on the internet already!] 

First I cut up all the seams, I didn't bother unpicking because I knew I needed to add my own seam allowances anyway.

I made sure to mark key features like the bias bound neckline and arm holes and the ties as well as which was the fabric grain was going.

Next I put my pattern pieces onto a flat piece of paper and drew around them [I folded the front section in half and chose just one of the back and side panels to trace round so everything wold make up. I made sure to add markings for grain line, cutting on the fold, positioning the ties etc. Then I added a 1.5cm seam allowance [I have a sewing gauge that makes this so quick!] and a 6cm hem [I opted for quite a deep hem because I knew I had already removed length the first time I repaired the dress.]

Then I cut those pieces out and pulled this piece of fabric out of my stash so I could make a wearable toile. 

I think it turned out pretty good. The material is some sort of cotton viscose and was given to me by the lady at the car boot. I'm not 100% sold on the print but it makes an okay wearable toile.

The dress is made up of the front panel, 2x side panels and 2x back panels, with waist ties to give it shape. I think the lines of the dress are really flattering but next time I need to make sure I make my ties skinnier and a bit longer as I'd like to be able to wrap then around the front first and then tie them at the back.

The other problem is I stupidly decided not to cut my straps and neck binding on the bias. This means they sit away from the body a bit. It's not a huge issue for this dress but for it to be perfect I need to make sure I cut them out properly next time. I should have done it this time but I thought there was enough give in the fabric to adapt the the curves. I'm also wondering if the binding should be a bit skinnier.

Length wise its right on the the edge of being acceptable so I think I may also add a bit to the length! maybe like 2inches or so? What do you think? I don't want a strong gust of wind showing people the good china now do I?

Here you can see the ties at the back. They just bring it in a bit so you look like you have a waist but by some form of witchcraft they also leave room for burgers and cake and stuff.

As you can see without the ties its a bit sack like! Maybe I should make a version with no ties and then I can just straight up belt it? Eurgh but then I'd have to find a belt in the morning when I get dressed?

All in all I think its a great first effort and I already have some fabric in mind for a second version! I just need to remember to cut the straps on the bias and lengthen the hem and ties!

In other news! 

Its nearly half term YAY! I'm really looking forward to lil man having some time off'! Especially all on the lie ins we are going to be able to have! 

I'm going to the golf driving range later , well at least I think I will. Part of me is like ooh belly cramps stay home and watch Buffy the vampire slayer and the other half of me thinks it will be good for releasing some anger so I don't kill Rikki for sneezing later. Also if I do go I might be able to con Rikki into getting me a mcflurry on the way home, and a mcmuffin......Maybe a Mcbrownie?

Much Love

Frankie 

xxxx