Fabulous Frocks - The Little Black Dress

I've got 3 makes that need photographing, a pile of ironing to do and I need to put some more music on my Ipod before I take the train to Birmingham next week. 

But instead I'm sat on the sofa watching Derry Girls and drinking hot chocolate. 

So instead of doing something productive I thought I'd show you the book I got for Xmas!

This the the Fabulous Frocks Little Black Dress Book by Dolin Bliss O'Shea. I got it for Christmas from one of our best friends. He got me this and a picture book that documents the life of Coco Chanel.

The books comes with full sized patterns which you have to trace and each pattern comes with a variation. So for example the one above is the regular Liza Minelli version but the variation is for a long sleeved version which looks a lot like DVF.

The Audrey Hepburn dress above is my absolute favourite, in fact I've already made this dress [minus the bows because they just looked a bit daft on me] and the variation. Both of which need photographing! but if you head over to my instagram you can see a sneak peek.

This Joan Crawford might be the next one that I make!

I love this Coco Chanel dress but I;m not sure It would suit me, or if I'd even wear it a lot. 

All in all I'd say this book was an excellent Xmas present and I'm chuffed to bits with it. The sizing seems to be pretty spot on, I measured as a size small and both of my dresses fit properly with minimal alterations. 

So this book is worth a buy if you want to make some iconic frocks!

Hopefully I'll pull my finger out and get some outfit pictures done soon!

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

Why I Hate PDF Patterns!

I found myself taping together a PDF pattern yesterday and as usual I found myself swearing and grumping the whole time! 

Now I HATE them, but some people seem to LOVE them so I thought I;d make a list of reasons I hate them in case anyone can give me some tips to make it easier so I can start to love them!

1. I have to save them on my computer. Which basically means I'm banishing it to the depths of hell. I can pretty much guarantee as soon as I save something I can never find it again ever!!! 

2. Then I have to print it. Now maybe its just me but my printer HATES me! Like Rikki wants to print something and its fine but as soon as I want to print its like "eh nah?". It needs ink, it needs paper, it needs aligning, It doesn't know what it needs but its not happy. The dammed thing drives me CRAZY.

3. They use a lot of paper. Now I wouldn't consider myself a hard core environmentalist but I hate wasting paper and huge amounts of paper are wasted printing off pdf patterns. I for one never print the instructions because it seems like a waste. [Although thinking about it their is also a lot of waste with paper patterns!]

4. I have to tape it together. Now this poses two problems for me. One I have to find the sellotape which is pretty hard because for some reason my house is the place sellotape comes to hide and two no matter how carefully I cut and stick the bloody thing always ends up wonky and that the lines don't match up.

5. After I've spent lord knows how long trying to get those lines to match up and taped it together, I then have to cut it all up...... Facepalms. Everything that I spent ages making straight its now in a big pile on the floor waiting for the bin. 

6. Then I finally get to sew it which is OBVIOUSLY the fun part but after that I have to fold up sheets of paper which are way more bulky than tissue paper. 

7. AND PDFS patterns are still pretty expensive to say you have to do most of the work! 

So do you love or hate patterns?

Much Love

Frankie 

x

Mccalls 7381 - Take Two

How are we all? Coping well with the frankly miserable weather we've been having recently? No? Me neither. 

This whole cold and rainy weather situation is making me miserable. I want to wear pretty dresses and dolly shoes and my denim jacket! I am so sick of being bundled up in 100 layers with my vest tucked into my knickers [if you don't tuck your vest into your pants, try it! Keeps your tummy lovely and snug!]

Anyway I was being a complete whinge bag about it last night. Mainly because I have the beginnings of a cold. But Rikki was kind enough to point out that in summer my hay fever starts up and I'll be back in the same snotty situation I am now....... But with cuter dresses and less tights.

Anyway this dress is one of those rare hybrids where the combination of the style and the fabric means it looks as nice with a denim jacket and no tights as it does with a big chunky cardigan, thick tights and boots.

The fabric is a poly satin and was given to me by the lovely Sara [insta : @saraknitsandsews]. Basically during one of the photo challenges she posted this fabric under the title "what was I thing?" and said if anybody wanted it she would be happy to have it taken off her hands. *waves hands furiously in the air* .

I love it! Its such a fun and quirky print and we all know how much I love the challenge of a boarder print! So thanks Sara your a babe and there is some seriously good karma coming your way!

Right so the pattern is Mccalls 7381, which I got from a magazine and I've already made here. This however is the size down from the first version I made and due to fabric shortages I omitted the sleeves. 

So this one is a size small and to be honest I'm still having some issues with the fit. It looks okay from the front but from the back and the side it still looks like their is far to much fabric. I think for my next version I'm going to try and put elastic around the whole waist to see if that helps and if not I guess I'm going to have to chalk this pattern up as an experience. 

This version only has elastic at the back. Which is a solid 10 on the comfort scale but I'd rather it looked good too. Mainly I've been wearing it with a cardigan though so you can;t see the extra fabric at the back.

Construction wise it went together really easily. The only really fiddly bits were the ties and the pleats and guttingly both of these details are lost in the busyness of the print. 

I didn't even adjust the hem so if you like a hem with more coverage then you may need to add some to the pattern. FYI I'm 5,6ish and it hits me just above the knee.

It took a good bit of pattern tetris to make sure that the colour gradient was the same the whole way around. The only compromise was that the back bodice lining had to be pieced. Instead of cutting on the fold I had to cut each bit separately and add a seam allowance and then stitch them together. You can't tell from the outside though and their are no raw edges on the inside. 

Looking at these pictures I probably could have left of the tie and saved myself some hassle. 

I added one of my sew in labels to the back. I'm still not quite over the novelty of having my name inside my clothes!

This is the pleat detail on the shoulder which takes loads of time but is basically lost in the print!

And the tie detail which also takes a lot of time and is again lost!

So aside from a few small fit issues I'm actually really pleased with this pattern. And the print is to die for! I love how bright and colourful it is! 

In other news! 

- I've traced a pattern from a dress book I got for Xmas and I can't wait to sew it up!

- My friend has given me a load of his records! Which is pretty cool because this girl loves records!

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

Cross Stitch Bookmark

I'm slowly working my way through blogging all of my pre Xmas projects. I did a lot of hand sewing before Christmas because, well, I'd tidied up and stuff hadn't I? And the last thing I wanted was extra cleaning and hoovering to do! 

I brought a cross stitch bookmark kit from my local charity shop for about £1. I thought it was complete but when I got home I found that whilst the needle, threads, Aida and sticky back plastic were there the instructions with the cross stitch pattern on were missing. 

WOOPS! Serves me right for not checking in the shop properly.

Now a normal person might have tried to find the pattern online or tried to work out the pattern from the picture on the front. But me? I decided to throw caution to the wind and just enjoy myself! 

It reminded me a lot of when we did cross stitch at primary school and we just did rows and rows of different stitches I found it very relaxing. 

[Also cross stitch lessons were just about the only part of school that I vividly remember enjoying. My neighbour Audrey used to come in once a week and teach us and I always really enjoyed it, mainly because she babysat me too so I'd already had cross stitch lessons and was pretty much allowed to do what I wanted!]

So yeah there's a lot of random stitches and pattern and really no rhyme or reason. Then after I was done all I had to do was put it between the sheets of sticky back plastic and I was done.

But I had an absolute mare trying to get the plastic to actually stay stuck around the cross stitch.

So in the end I covered it with a tea towel and ironed it, which made the plastic stick together and made my kitchen smell like a meth lab. Not that I'm 100% sure what a meth lab actually smells like..... but it was a vile smell.  

I read jaws before Christmas which shows how old this project is and I think I've read maybe 5? Books since then? My aim for this year is to read 50 books and so far I'm on number 6? I think? I'm reading bleak house by Charles Dickens at the moment [And simultaneously Harry Potter 1 for book club with my sister] I'm enjoying bleak house more than I thought I would. I've never read a Dickens book before and I was worried it might be a bit "dry". 

But if anyone does have any book recommendations please let me know! My tastes are pretty board! As you can see from this post! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

BB8 Orla Dress

I don't ever remember not knowing about star wars? I think that must be a side effect of having an older brother and sister who were both big fans. Which also means I never had the shocking "Luke I am your father" moment either because I always knew. 

I don't know how many times I've seen the original three movies [ya know the best ones!] and I've seen the next three a fair amount too [can we appreciate how gorgeous Ewan Mcgregor was as Obi Wan Kenobi for a minute please? ]

But I've only seen the first of the new ones so far. I think I had a bit of a "OMG THEY ARE GOING TO RUIN STAR WARS MOMENT" As it goes I did quite enjoy it so I really do need to get around to watching the last two!

Which is why when the Craft Cotton Company sent me this BB8 fabric I was chuffed! I decided to use it as an excuse to make a cute dress and introduce my lil boy to star wars! [Obviously whilst wearing the dress!]

Because its such a busy print I decided to opt for a really simple dress pattern. I chose to use the Orla Dress Pattern by French Navy Now [This pattern is actually free!!! So GO GO GO!]

The pattern is really simple, it had two darts in the front bodice, cute capped sleeves and a gathered skirt. Its also meant to have a zip in the back but after the success of my button back, Mr men, orla dress I decided to do another button up version.

Because of the busy print you can't really see the button placket or the buttons. In hindsight it might have been really cool to do a orange button placket to make it stand out a bit more but so it would still match the print. 

That said I do really like the button placket on this dress and the fact that I only need to undo the waist button to pull it over my head. 

You can sort of see the buttons I used here [although they do blend in very well!] They are small mosaic style buttons that came from my friends mums house. I don't think I'd use them but they sort of remind me of lil bb8s so they are perfect for this project. 

Normally I'm a fitted girl through and through but I really like the boxy loose style of the Orla dress and its a great pattern for show casing fun prints! The only changes I made to this pattern are to add the button back and to line the bodice. I always line my bodices because I think it creates a neater finish and lets face it with living in cold England an extra layer of fabric/warmth never goes amiss! Even in summer!!

The gathered skirt isn't as full as I normally go for but I have noticed it doesn't blow up as much in the wind. So maybe a skinnier gathered skirt is the way to go dignity wise!

The fabric is cotton so it behaves beautifully when your sewing it. As much as I love sewing with tricky fabrics and textures sometimes its just so nice to throw something together with a fabric that doesn't shift and holds a crease when you want it too!

 And I like how the print just looks like a crazy geometric deign from the distance. It means the dress will be a lot more wearable in the summer months.

And that's it really. I love making summer dresses like these but it does make me wish it was summer already! 

This morning we woke up to SNOW! Although its stopped now and it doesn't seem to be sticking which is a bit gutting because I was hoping school would be cancelled.

In other news! 

Our tumble dryer is sort of working! It makes a loud banging noise but its drying clothes so that's good.

However then the washing machine started fritzing. It was draining but not as much as it should be. Anyway Rikki pulled it out of its hole put it on its side and after about an hour and a half of swearing and banging he proudly came into the living room brandishing a sock that had been caught in the filter! Which begs the question how on earth did it get there? I've had a good look and I can't see anyway of a sock escaping the drum? And it wasn't even a kids sock, which are small and easily misplaced it was an ADULT sock! 

But now that's fixed I've been working on pre washing the small pile of fabric that I brought from the Abakhans Sale! A full video of the fabric I brought went up on my you tube a few days ago and you can find it here! 

 

I warn you though Its a long one!!! So make a brew and enjoy!

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

Pattern Hacked Tie Back Top

I love the old saying business in the front party in the back because well who doesn't love a party?

This top was the original inspiration for my make. 

I found it on pinterest but you can view the whole article here!

I loved the style though and I thought it might be fun to recreate. 

Let me start by saying I HATE this top from the front I think its the most unflattering thing ever! [Sorry about the white on white pictures! But I have nowhere else to take them!]

But I started with a prima pattern for a basic long sleeved shell top and then  basically drafted in some ties and made the back into a deep v. As usual for me I completely forgot to take progress photos! 

Now I don't know what the front of their top looks like but If I were to make it again Id say I either need to add waist darts/shorten the length to waist, OR I need to make it in a jersey? OR maybe the neckline just needs to be lowered a bit? I dunno and to be honest as soon as I'd started to make it I was already sort of bored with the idea.

Its not super flattering from the side either. The top has bust darts but I'm wondering if I should have gone up a size? Waist darts are definitely needed look at all that excess fabric!!! 

Speaking of fabric I used a medium weight peach skin type thing and the main body of the top is lined. In hindsight I think that its a bit too stiff for this sort of top and that it needs something softer. The trouble is you need something soft enough to be flattering on the boob area [after all I am bra free and the tatas don't hang like they used to] but it needs a enough body to be able to make a cute bow. 

The back isn't awful compared to the rest of it. I think If I loose a few inches off the bottom it will sit better on my waist and just look nicer.

The bows a good length though theirs not too much hanging down so I'm happy with that part. 

I'm not sure its a pattern idea that I'll go straight back too but I can see myself tweaking with it in the future. Although I did promise myself I would only make practical clothes this year and their is nothing practical about an open back top that you can't wear a bra with. Unless your going for some sort of breast examination? In which case this would be the top to wear. 

Anyways all in all I'd say this is a fairly pants make. I love the idea but the fabric just didn't work and the pattern needs some major tweaking! 

In other news! 

- I'm currently ready 1984 by George Orwell. I've read it before but its been a few years and I;m already completely gripped by it! 

- I'm currently listening to Oasis on vinyl. After much hinting Rikki got me this for Xmas and I LOVE it! 

- I've not had more sewing on the go due to our tumble dryer pitching a fit meaning I can pre-wash fabric but I can't sew it up! Hopefully we get it sorted soon because the washing pile is becoming a problem. 

- I have however been trying to finish my cross stitch project. Hopefully I can put in a solid hour or so tonight and then it might actually be finished soon. 

Much Love 

Frankie

xxx

Abakhans fill a bag sale thoughts and my top tips for sale shopping!

I love a sale! Nothing is better in this world than something you want at half the price. Which is why I was so excited when I heard that the Abakhans fill a bag sale was coming to My local Hanley store. 

And I was even more excited when I realised I had quite the little pot of Christmas and Birthday money accumulated from my Mum and Dad.

Now I am planning on doing a video showing all of the fabrics I ended up with but I thought it might be nice to do a post saying what sort of happens and my top tips for going first. 

Okay so for starters! 

1. Get their earlyish. Now the staff do put things new things out throughout the day so everyone gets a fair shout BUT we did have to queue for about half an hour to actually get in. My mum picked me up at 9.00am so we should have been well early but we had a small not taking the exit we should have done issue on the way their. From what we could see they were operating a bit of a one in one out sort of thing which meant that the sale area wasn't getting over crowded. 

2. Be prepared to stand! This kind of links to the queueing thing but can you believe I nearly wore heeled boots? My feet would have died! 

3. Take a friend/family member. I went with my Mum because 1. she was paying and 2. its just nice to have some one with you isn't it. I especially liked that I had someone to chat to whilst waiting and that she was more than happy to look after the bags whilst I was digging for fabric. She did do some digging herself but I think the boxes being quite low down was making her back hurt, so in the end she was in charge of looking after the bags and trying to fit as much in as possible. 

Oh and the bags were £10 and you just put as much fabric in it as you could! 

4. Be open minded. You can't really go with a set plan of what exactly you want from a sale like with because all the fabric was in four huge cardboard boxes and you had to dig around. So you really have to look at things and immediately think do I like this? Does it fit in my wardrobe? What will I make with it? Their was a lot of lightweight floaty fabrics and a lot of heavyweight coat and sit fabrics but I didn't find many cottons. 

At the end of the day its a sale so you get what you get!  

5. Be polite. I always thought this was fairly standard when sale shopping but I went to the "NEXT" sale once and it was a bloodbath. But I'm happy to report that the abakhans sale was lovely, there was no pushing or shoving and on several occasions ladies actually helped me pull the fabric I wanted from the bottom of the box.

6. Check fabrics before you buy. Its a sale so naturally not every single piece of fabric is perfect. I saw a few pieces with holes in and a few with weave flaws so its worth taking a quick look to make sure there is nothing glaring in the fabric you've chosen. A few of the ones I picked had lil holes in but I'll be able to work around them no issue. 

7. Only buy what you'll use. At a sale its very tempting to get caught up in the moment and JUST BUY ALL THE FABRIC!!! but its better to be sensible! Yes get yourself a few wild cards [this girl picked up some swimwear fabric!!!] but also make sure you stick to the colours and fabrics that you actually like and will use! Remember its only a bargain if you'll use it! 

8. Park your car close. I ended up with four bags full of fabric and between me and mum and her wheelie shopping trolley [which thank god she brought!!!] the wheelie shopping trolley really helped but I definitely wish we had thought to park closer!!! 

So yeah that's my top tips for shopping Abakhans fill a bag sale! I really hope they come back to Hanley for another! 

Much Love

Frankie

xxx