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

The Unicorn Tshirt Dress

Well this is one of those projects that falls halfway between brilliant and hideous!

On the one hand its a dress covered in unicorns and rainbows which makes it pretty bloody awesome. on the other hand the length and colours make me look like an over grown toddler. 

Now I have no issue in dressing like a toddler, I'm a huge fan of pigtails and what I'm wearing now could only really be described as a party dress.....

BUT 

Is this just a bit too much?

The fabric is from the craft cotton company and is one of their lovely jerseys. I can personally vouch for how well they wash , my jersey items take quite a beating in the washer but they always come out looking as good as new.

The pattern is the peak tshirt dress from wendy wards book. However its the longer length [hence making it a dress] and I lowered the neckline slightly. Although apparently not enough because it still looks very high on these pictures.

In fact looking at these pictures I'm wondering if 1] it might be more of a summer dress or 2] that maybe I should just hack it down into a tshirt???

What do you think?

Construction wise I used my over locker for most of it and just used my regular machine for top stitching. Its really quick to put together and is perfect for one of those no thinking required sewing sessions. 

Anyone else have those? Where they NEED to make something but don't actually have the brain power or the energy to do something complicated....... Just me? Okay........

So what do we think? Do I try it for the summer or do I say screw it and cut it down so I can wear it with jeans ????? 

In other news! 

I'm feeling pretty good? 

I finally got back onto my [backup] sewing machine last night and although its not exactly running smoothly its better than nothing. Anyway I made a pretty dress and I'm wearing it today. I'd forgotten how much a new dress can perk up my mood and I'm already planning my next project.

I've added about 2 hexies to my hexy quilt.......Yeah its sort of on the back burner at the minute.

I've started reading the witches by Roald Dahl. Yes I know its a kids book but its such a nice easy read and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy his writing. 

I also had some very good news recently which perked me up a lot. 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

Peak Tshirt Dress in Stuart Hillard Fabric

My style is really changing at the moment. After years of being really dressed up all the time I'm trying to embrace casual a lot more. Which obviously includes making my own casual clothes. 

I'm trying to work out why I'm so smiley on the picture above? Did someone give me a cookie? Was I two glasses of wine down? Why am I so cheerful?????????

Ahh that's better. My resting bitch face is back. 

So onto the dress!!! The fabric is one of the prints from Stuart Hillards Kimono collection for the craft cotton company. Its a lovely sort of abstract print on a blue background. The craft cotton company were actually kind enough to send me a few prints from his collection but I only had a small amount of this one so I knew I'd need a simple pattern that wasn't too fabric hungry.

I chose to use the Peak tshirt pattern from Wendy Wards book. BUT I opted for the longer dress version. To be completely honest this book has become my go to for jersey patterns. Its got a few basic patterns in it but there's so many variations for every pattern that its definitely worth buying! 

Construction wise I used my over locker for the mainly body of the dress and just used my regular machine with a twin needle and walking foot for the top stitching and hems. I did add a bit of interfacing to my hems to stop them puckering when I used the twin needle and I stabilised the shoulders with some ribbon to stop them stretching out. 

Typically I don't wear tshirt dresses but I really like this one. I actually made it during the summer and it was really comfy to wear but I've worn it with thick tights recently so it should be good for winter too. 

The only problems I have are :

1. the neckline is really high. I've since altered the pattern and the neckband pattern piece to make it a bit lower. 

2. its a slim fitting dress. which means if I'm bloated or I've eaten an entire bag of jam donuts to myself [Obvs I don't actually do this........often] then I don't really wear it because I risk looking a bit pregnant. On the plus side if I'm at home and I'm eating pizza and I don't have to leave the house then the fabric does expand to fit my pepperoni tummy.

All in  all I really really love it. Its so nice to have a more casual dress that I can wear. I actually took this camping with me when we went as well because I like to have a dress option with me and this doesn't crease. 

In other news!!!! 

I still haven't added anymore to my miette cardigan....... I know I know and I'm annoyed with myself because I said I would finish it before I started another project but there's a few patterns that are calling to me! 

My hexy quilt is getting bigger! I'm adding to it every now and again its its definitely progressing. But I knew I was in for the long haul with that one! 

My new crochet quilt isn't getting any bigger either. I'm making granny squares and blocking them but I think its going to be another long project. 

We have however clear out our loft so we can put the train set up their permanently and then the boys can play with it. Obviously I'm most excited about building all the scenery and houses!

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

No scrap Left Behind - Velvet Cropped Peak Tshirt by Wendy Ward

One of my New years resolution's for this year was to wear more of the clothes I want to wear. For example crop tops. 

Typically I don;t wear them too much by themselves because I'm worried I look too pasty and untoned [and whilst I do have the time on my hands to get "toned" I'd just rather sit and eat some cake to be honest]

 Anyways I made a crop top! Although if I'd have had enough fabric I probably would have made a longer version. 

This velvet is what was left from my Valentines dress last year. I'd been pondering what do do with it for a while. It wasn't a big enough piece to throw out but it wasn't really good for mush else. 

I originally brought it from abakhan and I think it was £8.40 and I got a wrap dress and this top out of it. 

Then I was given Wendy Wards new book sewing with knitted fabrics by minerva crafts, and I realised I could probably squeeze a Peak Tshirt out of the material I had left. [FYI I highly recommend this book even if you aren't new to sewing knits it has some great information in it and some lovely projects]

This is the cropped length with the short sleeves but there are at least ten variations that you can make! 

The only thing I didn't do was add the neck band. My fabric simply didn't have enough stretch so instead I over locked the edge and turned it over twice and then hemmed it with a zig zag stitch.

Zig Zag is fast becoming my favourite way to hem knits, it seems whenever I get my twin needle out I spend about four hours faffing around with tension and trying to stop the threads snapping.

[I am hardcore breathing in on this photo to the point where I'm surprised I'm not blue in the face!]

The main construction was done on my overlocker so it was a really quick make, In fact I have a few more of these planned but with jazzy sleeves and stuff just to make sure I definitely use up every last piece of stash fabric!

All in all I actually really ended up loving this project which surprised me because I wasn't best keen on my valentines dress! [In fact I've only worn it twice since I made it!]

In other news:

From 4 O'clock to 9.30 we've had no water. Yep a burst pipe left us with one brew in the kettle and half a bottle of juice for lil man. Naturally he tanked that in five minutes from being home from school so a HUGE shout out to our awesome neighbours who gave him a bottle of water because he was thirsty at bedtime and naturally we couldn't leave the house. 

We are so lucky to live next to such awesome people! 

Luckily the water is back on now we just have the fun job of running all the taps so we don't have dirty water and air in the system.

Much Love 

Frankie