The happy little hippy dress

Let's just pretend were back in June, England's still got a chance in the world cup , love islands on and we are still having a glorious heatwave...

Working?

Nah? 

In which case let me introduce you to the dress I probably won't wear until next summer. 

Yep I made this during one of those good god its hot sort of days when everything in my wardrobe felt too warm or too constricting. 

The main idea of the dress was based around this panel print I got from the first fill a bag sale my local abakhans had. Originally I wanted to make a kimono dress but the pattern consisted of two large squares and some twiddy pattern bits and I just couldn't figure out the placement so I gave up and chucked the fabric in a pile. 

Naturally I didn't take a picture of the actual fabric because I'm a TERRIBLE blogger.

As it goes the print worked nicely for this dress , I used the two square pieces for the front and back of my skirt. I didn't even cut them on the fold I literally just cut around the square. And then used the extra twiddly bits on the straps , facings and bodice. 

The bodice itself is the Cami top from the gbsb (3rd) book. I cropped mine to hit my belly button and took some ease out of the back because of gaping. (I also used this pattern here and its one of my favourite party dresses)  and then added a simple gathered skirt.

The print isn't identical on the front and back of the bodice but I was working with fabric restrictions so it ended up being a bit of a hey ho moment. 

One issue I am having is that the skirt feels really long. I am trying to get on bored with longer skirts because in reality they are so much more practical. But every time I make something I'm still tempted the reach for the scissors and make it mid thigh length .

However I can't with this one because it will ruin the printed panel on the skirt.

And there are two more issues . 

1, the back is still gaping , I'm working on fixing this but I'm conscious that if I go too fitted I might no be able to pull it on over my head and one of the beauties of this dress is that theirs no fastenings (yes it makes it a really quick and satisfying sew)

2, its a about half a degree of being maternity wear. I could belt it but that sort of defeats the object of it being a really loose dress for hot days. On the plus side I can confirm that you can fit a large pizza under this dress and no one  will know. (Not a physical large pizza , you can eat one and no one will notice. I haven't tested if you can hide actual pizza down it )

Naturally I love it because it makes me feel like a happy little hippy who wants to dance around bare foot and preach love and peace. In fact as soon as I'd made it I played Fleetwood Mac and pretended to be Stevie Nick's for a bit. Not ashamed at all. 

All in all I think its really successful even if I won't get to wear it much now the winter nights are drawing in. 

In other news! 

I've still not been sewing, boooooooo. But I'm planning to crack right on when lil man goes back to school. I know traditionally I give the house a good clean on the first day. But screw that this time I'm sewing. 

I've added a few more hexagons to my EPP , its not growing very quickly but I enjoy the process. 

I had a day at the dog track!!!! And guess who won 3 times? ME! And guess who won 4? LIL MAN! And guess who didn't win at all??????? Rikki! much to my amusement and his disgust.

And I think that's all!

Much love

 Frankie 

Summery dress!

This dress is in no way ground breaking, In fact I;d say it borders on dull but I like it and its practical for the summer.

I used the cami top from the third GBSB as my starting point, but I rounded the neckline, omitted the frill and created a dress shape by flaring and lengthening the side seams. [I drafted it all on a large sheet of paper first, and I left in the bust darts]

It fits pretty nicely, like a floatly summer dress should, nice and cool but with some coverage. The fabric was sent to me by my pen friend and although its not my style I love it in this dress. Rikki however is not convinced , he likes the style of the dress but says the fabric reminds him of the overalls children's ward nurses wear. I thought nurses were every man's fantasy so it should still be a winner right? 

I used about a metre of fabric for the dress and a scrap of poly silk for the facings. I'm wondering if I should have lined the whole dress though as its a bit see through. Its only a fraction but I think some perverts people would notice. Here I'm wearing it with a white vest top and skirt slip, which make me think I need to invest/make a white full slip. Preferably in cotton so the dress stays nice and cool.  The seams or French seamed and the hem is finished with a small hem, and the facing is top stitched down. 

All in all I like it, its part of my efforts to make a capsule holiday wardrobe, I have some fabric for a coordinating kimono that should hopefully keep my shoulders covered if we end up somewhere hot. Its floaty and girly but also really easy to wear and style just throw on a belt and your good to go.  

And it works with my denim jacket as well so I can see it being used for the nursery run here as well. Provided I sort out the slip situation. I might just get some cheap white cotton and attach it to the bottom of the facing as a quick fix. My hair is crazy in these pictures, we decided to have family haircut day with the lads going to the barbers whilst I went the hairdressers! But none of the hairdressers in town were taking walk ins and most were closed, so now I have to wait . [insert sad face] 

Here it is without the belt, Kind of looks like a nightie right?

Its a good length too! Can't be standing these summer dresses that expose half your backside!

Evenm if mine is "peachy" somebody else's words not mine! 

So yay! I think I have my sewjo back! WOOP WOOP!

And I have another metre of this fabric to play with!

maybe a blouse?

or a wrap skirt of sorts?

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

I'm not saying it's been hot today, but two hobbits did just walk into my house and destroy the one true ring...

England is hot.

You've seen it on the news,

You've heard the rumours

And if youve stepped outside you've felt it. 

It is warm! 

So I'm going to contribute two tutorials today! The first is a refashion and the second is how to be British when it's hot. 

So tutorial! 

To be honest this is more like common sense (well at least i thought it was until one of the mums at nursery asked me how to do it!)

Children grow, they grow upwards and then they grow outwards, but you can pretty much bet on the fact that they will never fit their clothes properly, the waist could be too big but the legs are just right or visa versa.

Well here's what I do when the waist fits but the legs are too short. 

Get jeans 

Cut a bit of the bottom 

Do two turns up, it's really that simple (and kind of obvious) 

Here's lil knitwit wearing them in the paddling pool.

So here's my second tutorial:

How to cope with the sudden change to hot weather! 

1. Say "ooh it's hot , a lot"

2. Learn not to stare at topless men , either in admiration or disgust, either way they will think your pervy.

3. Try not to be topless everywhere, certain places require clothes, shopping for example, and whilst doing the school run, nobody wants to see you fondling the fruit and veg or picking up your kids topless. 

4. Eat dinner in the garden, ignore the fact there's crap loads of flys and that your dinners getting colder faster. Just pretend your continental and that your having a good time. 

5. Open and close your windows twenty times, same with curtains, try and work out which combination makes the room cooler.

6. Drink tea, it's a hot beverage but strangely refreshing? Plus your not sure what'll happen to your body during withdrawal. 

7. Drink loads of juice/water, make everyone else drink juice/water, force them! Dehydration kills! Consequently spend most of day peeing! 

8. Wearing a bikini top unstead of a bra.... Bliss! 

9. Use more tissues that during flu season because of stupid hay fever

10. Complain loudly about the heat you've waited 11 months for! 

11. Cover entire family in factor 50, suns rays do not prenetrate consequently have to use fake tan

Much love 

And enjoy the sun

Frankie

Xxx

A new blanket!

I've started a new blanket but is slllloooooooowwwwwwww going! In fact I haven't done any on it in ages! Like two days! 

It's the same pattern as my previous blanket but this time I'm using navy for the honey comb and a cool colour change for the main part! I opted for colour change wool this time to minimise the amount of ends I have to sew in! 

I'm just hoping I'll have enough of both of them! I love how it looks but I just wish the darn thing would knit itself! 

I also cast on an extra 50 stitches! So hopefully this one will be bigger than a tea towel! 

I'm other news where's the sunshine gone? It keeps appearing but then hiding again and it's making me sad! I even put on my me made striped tunic  top today in the hopes of coaxing it out! 

It failed! 

Much love

Frankie

Xxx

Summer wardrobe inspiration!

I haven't lay posted recently mainly becuase there's not been a lot to post about , I've made a toile for a jacket and now just need to work out what I want to do fabric wise. 

I've started a summer top but need to finish it (bias binding urgh!) 

And I've been trying to asses my summer wardrobe situation, before I had lil Knitwit my summer wardrobe tended to consist of the smallest pair of shorts I could find and some sort of bikini top, sadly that's no longer appropriate for general shopping and dropping off at nursery! 

So I decided to have a look online at the latest summer styles to try and find some inspiration for a me made summer wardrobe. 

I've screen shotted the web pages so you can see the web address and the price. 

This is super cute! And I'm pretty sure if I can find the right fabric I could use my mimi blouse pattern to create something similar. 

I love play suits! (I do hate the weeing issue though!) I'm using this as my excuse for buying the new great British sewing bee book, so I can use the jumpsuit pattern. 

I love the idea of having a pretty bra top for under big vests and kimonos, but no way I'm I paying near on £13 for one. I doubt theirs £13 quids worth of fabric in five of these! 

Mainly I love the print on this, I think this year I'm going to try and be more confidant with prints! 

This is stupidly classy, I'm putting silky material on my shopping list and I'm going to try and recreate it! 

I've already made one kimono and I'm on the look out for cheap sarongs so I can make some more! 

I like the idea of having a denim skirt that singing quite as mini as I used to wear! The top one is a basic pencil skirt but I think I could recreate the bottom one using the clemence skirt pattern and adding some patch pockets! And I've got a couple if old pairs of jeans ready to be repurposed! 

Quite simply this is adorable! I have no idea how easy the pattern would be to draft but it might be nice to try and learn how to shir (have I spelt that right?) fabric. 

I love this! And I already have a similar one in my wardrobe! Insert smug face here! 

And I think that might be enough to be getting on with, for the moment at least! 

What are your summer sewing plans? 

Much love

Frankie

Xxx

Feeling Hot Hot Hot!

This is the problem with England either you've got two jumpers and three pairs of socks on because it's freezing or it's so hot your blogging in your pants (I'll leave it up to you whether or not you want that visual, I've not opted for a picture moment!) Although its actually a bikini and one of Mr.Knitwits slightly bigger shirts!

 

But my lord it is hot! And don't get me wrong I am loving the sunshine even if me and Little Knitwit are more greased up than a Christmas turkey from all of the sun cream we've been having to use! There's only one problem.

 

Boredom is setting in. There are only so many times mummy can bounce on a trampoline and play football! Momma wants something new to do! Enter Pinterest!!!!

 

 

credit - http://www.somewhatsimple.com/fun-summer-art-project-water-gun-painting/

This is definitely happening I'm hitting the pound shop asap to find some cheap water pistols!!!

credit - housingaforest.com

 And I love this idea something to keep him nice and cool in the garden!

 

http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/08/big-art-painting-with-your-feet.html

I'm going to try this but I'm not sure how Lil Knitwit will react, he's not a huge fan of being dirty so it might end up being more of a crying session!

 

I never remember being bored in the summer, my Momma always had things to do planned, drawing outside with chalk, baking, paddling pool!

 

Other than Pinterest searching I've been flitting between knitting and beading. Knit till hand are sore, bead till back is sore! I'm sure that physiatrists would say that crafting until you are in pain is the first sign of addiction. They would probably be right. I have some orders to fill so that's the knitting, and the beading is on my Indian owl embroidery which I hope to have finished tonight so I can show it to you all tomorrow. Spoiler it looks awesome!

 

Right I'm off to get some beauty sleep I'm having a day with my niece and nephew tomorrow so I'll need my energy!

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx