The comfort zone

I'm a huge fan of comfort, I like pillows and blankets, slippers and long lazy days spent in pyjamas. In fact I'd say sometimes I like comfort too much, like the day I took lil knitwits to nursery in my yoga pants and no makeup and everyone asked if I was ill... Or like when I'm sewing and I make the same thing over and over just to be comfortable.

Well this year I've decided to make a special effort to make myself uncomfortable. I'm going to use patterns I've never tried, do things I don't think I could achieve and use fabrics I'm not sure about. 

Luckily for me I won a giveaway on Marie's blog and I'm now in possession of these two fabrics. 

Now don't get me wrong I think they are lovely , but if I were stood in a fabric shop I wouldn't choose them. Which means I have to step outside of the box , or rather my comfort zone! 

I've done it before , I was also lucky enough to win some deer print fabric on Karen's Facebook page and when it arrived it sat on the sideboard whilst I stared at it thinking.... "I might hate this fabric" 

In the end though I decided to use it as a learning curve and made my who shot bambi shirt, which I love, and I mean LOVE!!! In fact it's the only thing I make the effort to iron properly!! 

Which makes me think it's worth taking a walk on the wild side! Before whenever I got a fabric I was unsure of I thought oh I'll just make a lilou dress or a clemence skirt , but now I'm making more educated desicions. 

For the fox print I'm considering a top, maybe with blue lace edging and a boxy sort of style? I might even add sleeves just to be different, but until I have a concrete idea I'm not starting anything.

For the pansy print I'm thinking dress, something with a modest neckline and either a tulip shaped skirt or a pleated one. I did consider a 90's style shift dress but I'm not sure there's enough drape in the fabric, I'll have to check after a prewash. 

Inspiration

Inspiration 

Hopefully I'll come up with a solid idea soon! 

What would you make with it? 

Frankie

Xxx

Technique Tuesday : finishing seams

I'd like to introduce you to a new feature on my blog! 

Hopefully this will give me an opportunity to try some new sewing techniques and expand my knowledge! 

So without further ado here's my first feature : finishing seams 

I confess , finishing seams is a bug bear of mine, probably because without purchasing an overlocker my seams will never look like the ones inside ready to wear clothing! 

By the way these are not the only ways of finishing seams these are just in my opinion the four simplest and quickest! I'll be covering the other types in other posts! 

So....... 

Zig zag finished seams, you can either zig zag the seam allowance together like this or you can zig zag each side separately.  

The turn under method, here you add a small hem to each side of you Seam allowance, this is a very neat way of finishing seams, especially if your making an item where the inside might be seen for example on a coat or jacket. It's also a similar idea to Hong Kong seams which I'll be covering at a later date.

Pinked seams! I love this method and it's probably the quickest! Quite simply you use pinking shears (zig zag scissors) to trim the seam allowance. This works beautifully for lots of projects and all you need is scissors! (I got mine from Amazon and they were the cheapest option) 

Faux overlock, here I used a zig zag stitch right on the edge of my seam allowance (you can also used a special faux overlock foot that has a little brush on one side)

This is by far my favourite way of finishing seams, mainly because it gives you the security of another row of stitching and because it looks so neat! 

Another simple way of finishing seams is to run a parallel line of stitching next to your seam stitching, and then trimming the rest of the allowance away! 

And that's it! 

So what do you think of my new blog feature? Is there anything you can think of that might be worth learning to do? 

In other news! 

I've made another dress and I'm really pleased with it, I've started knitting another bear (sadly this means my miette has been neglected again) and I have plans to make some more clothes next week. Including some warmer things now the chill is setting in! 

I've also been catching up on all the housework that builds up when lil knitwit is off nursery! 

Much love

Frankie

Xxx

Soft baby toys tutorial

I've got a new tutorial up on the craft cotton company website! 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3W6ct5H1sa7Z1owTHMweFF4eGc/view?pli=1

That's the link to take you to the pdf! 

These really are a lovely simple project for people who are new to sewing! And I really am loving all the wonderful opportunities in getting at the moment. 

In other news I got stuck in a dress I made yesterday and it was hilarious in an omg I might have to spend the rest of my life sort of way. Basically I was stubborn and used the wrong size zip, and then I was stubborn trying to get the dammed thing on and then I felt like a massive idiot when it got stuck. Anyway to cut a long story straight I had to whip off my bra (through the sleeve style) and squeeze myself out , luckily the "girls" aren't quite as big as they used to be, otherwise I might have had to call the fire brigade! 

Anyway I fixed the problem so expect a dress post as soon as I've photographed it! 

Much love

Frankie 

Xxx

Minions and marigolds.

Sooooo I finished another minion today! 

Not much to say really apart from it has one eye and it's pretty darn adorable! This one had been ordered by my mum for the grandchildrens room at her house.

In other news two of my marigolds have come into flower! Which is very exciting! Although my sweet peas still haven't flowered! I am also now in possession of a gardening fork which I'm very excited about, in fact I might make myself a gardening belt and Kneeling Matt at some point in the future! 

If you follow me on Instagram you'll have also have seen this useless bit of knowledge! I can tack a hexy in just over 1 minute although I'd say it's probably under a minute considering I had to pick up the hexy and I cut the thread at the end.

Anyway that's all really , but of a go slow at the moment because of little knitwots bout of poorly ness last week! 

Much love

Frankie

Xxx

10 reasons why lilou from love love at first stitch is my go-to summer dress pattern....

It all started this morning, I sat on my living room floor surrounded by fabric and pattern envelopes feeling meh, I don't want to make such and such because of the high neckline, I didn't want to make that because of the abundance of seams, I didn't want to make that because well it's a sodding horrible looking dress and I'm not sure why I've kept the pattern. 

Then I realised , I want to make another lilou.

I have to make another lilou.

I can't make another lilou, surely that makes me the most boring sewing blogger ever! 

And then I realised lilou is perfect! And here's 10 reasons why! 

1: it's lined , so as long as I French seam the skirt it looks as lovely as most of the rtw items in my wardrobe. 

2: I can whip one up pretty quickly now, with minimal stress.

3: it doesn't matter which type of skirt I make it always looks cute! 

4: it's summer and it's a perfect length for bare (gasp) legs!

5: it's cold but it still looks cute with thick tights and a cosy cardigan! 

6: I've perfected the bodice and now the fit is excellent! YAY! 

7: I love the neckline! It's not nun height but it doesn't scream here are my boobs either! 

8: depending on which fabric I use it can be a day frock or a party frock! 

9: its perfect for the nursery run! 

10: it's just a fantastic summer dress! And a beautiful pattern! STOP JUDGING ME! 

So it's going to be dreadfully boring and make yet another one! I can't help it! I don't care if I end up with a wardrobe full of lilou a at least I'll be happy! 

Much love

Frankie

Xxx

P.s in other news, I found my original zipper foot today! Result! 

Me made may - first week!

Okay so it's day 7 of me made may, and I've already gone to pot! I've still been wearing me made but my idea of taking a photo everyday just did not happen! Turns out I can't even carve out a small block of time to take one measly picture! 

Not helped by the fact that lil knitwits decided to puke on two items of handmade clothing yesterday. Seriously kids who'd have them! 

But here's what I've worn: 

1- black cocoon cardigan

2- kimono cardigan

3- blue Megan dress

4- wool skirt suit

5- skinny clemence skirt

6- striped lilou (puked on) refashion jumper (puked on)

7- margot pj bottoms! 

So that's my first week done, hopefully I'll find the motivation to take pictures next week! 

In other news , my lovely grandad and nanny re potted my tomato plant because it was becoming root bound? Still no idea what that means but I'm hoping it will perk up! 

And I'm taking a plunge and starting to knit a new cardigan for myself! 

The wools sparkly, so can we just take a moment to bask in that glory! And I'm pairing it with a navy wool (the patterns striped) 

I can't decide whether it will look good or if I'll look like a small child but either way I'm excited for the challenge! 

Sparkle sparkle! 

On a completely unrelated note, my bunny rabbit bit me last night 

Don't be fooled by his adorable face, he's a lil vampire! 

Much love 

Frankie

Xxx

If it's fabric and it's free , then I'm taking it....

I find it very hard to write blog posts when I have nothing to write about. There's been no huge change in my knitting or my patchwork, and I haven't made any clothes recently because I've been soooooo uninspired by my fabric! 

I have however been keeping up with my me made may challenge, although I do keep forgetting to take photographs so you'll have to take my word for it! 

And I got gifted some fabric yesterday so hopefully my sewing blues will go away! 

Well I say fabric, It's actually a brand new bottom sheet and quilt cover and a lovely purple silky fabric! And it's a double!!!! 

Now I just need to decide what to actually make? 

A silky jumpsuit? 

But I do love a good cardigan? 

A vintage style blouse? I don't have many tops? 

Or shall I just go the whole hog and make a maxi lilou? 

So far I'm undecided! 

I have decided what to do with our old curtains though! 

Pile of curtains ready for the wash, the backs are going onto little knitwits curtains, so hopefully the sun will stop waking him up at stupid o'clock. but thelovely  linen/wool/? Fabric side is hopefully going to be turned into some sort of linen and lace jacket? 

Although maybe with a collar? 

I saw one in a shop recently that was a mixture of lace and linen and leather and it looked amazing! Hopefully mine will look good too! 

Other than that I don't have much to report! 

Much love

Frankie

Xxx