Sewing Saves .........

Rather an ambiguous title for my my most recent scribbling, - apologies for the sparseness of posts, what with working, working out, and life generally, (including fitting in some sewing) the blog seems to have fallen by the wayside somewhat.

Saving money by brewing own tea?

Anyway, back to the saves...................  Sewing saves.. what!  Lives - no that's a bit dramatic;  sewing saves money - not in my case - fabric shops are wallet emptyers.  

No in fact in this case it doesn't save anything.  I was more thinking along the lines of those garments you had such high hopes for and that don't turn out quite the way you had wished....... but then you have an idea whereby you can alter (cos you can sew) and give that destined for the bin, or worse, the UFO pile, a new lease of wearable life.  Are you getting my drift?

It was a usual Saturday afternoon when I stepped into my local fabric shop More Sewing to buy some buttons and lining and spotted one of their new additions.  After querying the price and fainting(!) I ummed and arrred and left with the buttons/lining/non exciting sewing necessity.  Of course two hours later and before closing I hot footed it back to the shop to purchase 3 metres of the stuff at £14.00 per metre (see what I mean about wallet-emptying?)

I originally thought about a twirly girly skirt in my loved vintage style but decided that a straight dress would show off this fabric to its best advantage.

Anyway with the pre-wash done and the fabric airing on the line I picked my way through my patterns to carefully find the most suitable one to showcase this scrummy find.  I decided on a Burda Style bodice from their vintage collection and my self drafted skirt.  The bodice went together pretty well and I don't usually have any trouble with the skirt - I just had to line up the princess seams with the darts.

Dress finished I took it off to a Kent Vintage fair and found this cutest of pups in Clarissa Caravan - owned by the talented Clarissa and Co who makes beautiful shabby chic items.  Of course when you find a pup this cute she just has to be photographed, but, wait........ there's too much leg - and it's not the fur covered variety.  My dress turned out nice, apart from the fact that it's not really a Vintage length -I've not seen too many 1950s dresses "over the knee" if at all!

Being a straight dress with a VERY definite pattern I wondered how I could fix (read SAVE) this garment so that I'd feel inclined to wear it again.

After looking at the remnants left behind after cutting I decided the best course of action would be to add a sneaky extra hem, cut on the bias, so it looks as if it has been designed that way.

  Gosh, no one will ever know I cut it wrong in the first place!  I also have to admit I had to add in a triangular godet of lining so that I could actually walk instead of wiggling - saving again!!!

So there you have it - sewing really does SAVE - and sometimes more than once!!!

Happy Daisy.

Lowdown:  Well I bought three metres (who wouldn't with that print) but still have some left so I may be writing a post about remnanting some time: eyewatering £42.00

Lining - already in my stash (saved again!) about 1.5m

Zipper

See what you can save..................

Happy sewing

Daisy

Fabric and Vintage Style Ready - Check

Sometimes find a bargain and other times you find a real bargain.  I'm sure you've guessed by now that this is what happened to me and you'd be exactly right. 

Well the vintage style is almost always ready but this time the fabric was ready for a long time before I decided what to do with it.

The fabric in question is a black yellow and white madras check lightweight taffeta purchased from one of my fave fabric bargain shops, somewhere on Kalamiotou, Athens.  It was a last minute purchase and and on at the princely sum of 2 euros per metre - so I took 3 metres.

It sat for many months in the stash until I realised I needed a new dress for The Pinup Picnic in the Park,  a wonderfully English summer occasion organised by the The British Belles last June. 

As I'd been going full steam ahead on my self drafted strapless bodice I decided to use the taffeta in the same style with a full skirt for a vintage halter neck swing dress.  

It's a good job this fabric came in at a bargain, not because I fouled up, but cos it was a mare to sew, with a high  frayage factor. Add to this the tissue weight lightness and it wasn't the easiest of makes.  

Being the sewing soldier that I am, I trundled on and it was a good job I'd had experience with my pattern which meant there were no nasty surprises.

I think the end result looks pretty passable, even if I didn't line up those little checky guys!

So off I went on a flaming hot day in June up to Marble Arch where I met up with a gaggle of vintage goodness including the delightful Miss Amy May of Miss Amy May  pinup fashion and style expert. Lots of me mades there. We had such a wonderful picnic.

I met some fabulously wonderful vintage loving ladies and we were so lucky with the sunshine, I'm it was the hottest day of the year and most of us ended up trying to find some shade.

As you can see, everyone got in the party  mood. 

I'm not sure how many times I'll get to wear this dress, however, at 6 euros, I'm not counting the cost per wear.  It was just nice to do another version of my self draft in a different fabric.  

So, what to take from my post .......

You can take one pattern and make it in many different fabrics and you'll truly get a different garment every time.  So..... Give it a go.... Self draft or ready made pattern, one way or another you'll get some success. 

Details

Fabric:  3 metres of 150cm wide taffeta at 2 euros per metre from Athens. 

1/2 metre lining

Zipper 

Get going.... 

Happy sewing 

Linda xx

  

Me Made May 14 - The Second Half

Further to my weeks one and two overview I thought I would condense the second half of the challenge into one post as I've been busy reviewing all the me-made creations and have also been away on holiday.

The style has been ramping up and I've now enough favourites now to keep me going with inspiration for quite some time.  Here's my appraisal of how things went with Daisy.

Week 3 started with an old summery favourite I call my Venice dress - purely 'cos I made it for a trip to Venice (Patrones 268, no 9), followed on Friday by a new make from my Leicester stash - the drop waist daisy dress with a smidge of a bow (another Patrones).  Worn here with a white skirt.

Day 17 saw the yin to the yang of my London dress (day 10) with my Paris dress, similar style and well suited to the nice weather that day.  I felt rather continental.  Day 18 being the first day of my holiday I donned my old New Year's Eve 1999 dress, unworn for many years, for evening cocktails.

A bit breezy by the pool on Day 19 but I was determined to wear my me-made and out came the citrus bright halter neck dress. I love these colours but am aware that the lining needs a little tweak.
Another evening me made on day 20 with the Hello Flower dress recently made and blogged.  I felt quite elegant. 

 Day 21 was Stars but no Stripes day in my comfy day skirt with gathered elasticated sides - perfect for throwing on over a bikini or with a little tee, hotly followed by my "made for holidays" one-shoulder poolside dress on day 22.  The peacock print caused some consternation when sewing but it all worked out in the end.

Another old favourite - i.e. nearly from the last century - came out for dinner on Day 23.  I just love this grey silk dress I made for my honeymoon in 2000 and on Day 24 it was time for a spot of fabric shopping in Barcelona so I sported a mixed fabric fake wrap skirt, soon to be blogged.

 

Back home by Day 25 and the sun shone so I dug out my old linen 60s print dress and did a little gardening. Bank holiday Monday (Day 26) and the green circle theme continued with a floaty chiffon top made in 2005 for a wedding. (Apologies - the photos are back to front for these two days),

Back to work on Day 27 saw me sporting a very old self stripe skirt, which almost got thrown out a while ago, with my silk tank, another silk purchase from India - topped  off with my "dressmaking necklace" - cute scissors included.  Day 28 and a return to day 1's skirt teamed with a teal blue 2005 made blouse for a fresh look.


One of my three Burda stretch dresses made up Day 29s outfit, blogged here at The Lampshade Dress.  With its fun print  a sewing top made its debut on Day 30, this being my most recent make and although no "panic" sewing was the order of the day, this was in the pipeline anyway and I really couldn't resist it.  The majority of the fabric stash shown was picked up in Barcelona - I'll be keeping you posted in case you fancy a shopping trip there soon.

Finally, a wave goodbye to Me Made May 14 on Day 31 with my favourite frill dress and a tinge of sadness at knowing there would be no more daily creations and interactions with the fabulous sewists from all over the globe. However, I'm sure there's going to be some "keeping in touch" with me makers via their blogs so not so sad really.

So, what did I get from the challenge?  I did realise that I do make a LOT of dresses and really should concentrate on making other things too.  Apart from interacting with a whole load of wonderful dressmakers from all over the world I identified the gaps in my wardrobe as being:

1. Me made trousers - especially some great print ones (thank you Nishi in Singapore)
2. Base layers - both plain and patterned and quirky tops and leggings to wear underneath dresses/skirts/on their own (thank you Thisismoonlight in Australia)
3. Lounge wear - so many makers had made t shirts/ leggings/ jerseys (thanks Carolyn S in Perth) - I will definitely be working hard on this one!
4. I'd also really like a peplum top (thanks Sue@AColourfulCanvas in Canada)
5. Maybe some underwear (not shown but thank you Zozowahine of Brighton for the idea)

Others inspiration givers, way too many to mention here, but I'll be re-checking you out over the coming months.

To see all the lovely me mades and the final comments please go to:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/2565815@N25/discuss/72157644515853770/

And last, but not least,  a big thank you to Zoe of sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.co.uk/ for organizing the whole shebang, not forgetting cute modelling assistant, Delores.  What a star.  Roll on May 2015!

Happy sewing

Linda x