Purl and Seam

Elegance & Elephants Ruffle Tunic Top – FO 02/2013

March 6, 2013

Last week I was giddy with excitement to be chosen as one of the pattern testers for the new Ruffle Tunic Top for Elegance & Elephants. It’s Heidi’s first PDF pattern (hopefully the first of many) and it’s just delightful.

Each of the 3 versions, tunic top, A Line dress and swing dress are adorable. Can’t you see the swing dress in cotton voile or eyelet for summer birthday parties?

For the testing I made the A Line dress from some cute nautical print cotton that I’d been gifted by Himmelbjerget.

I’m not the worlds speediest seamstress, but even I had this dress sewn and on a small girl within an afternoon. I was amazed!

The pattern is so beautifully drafted and it’s a joy to sew. It’s hard to believe this is Heidi’s first pattern…she’s done an amazing job on it. I’ve sewn PDFs for the kids from several independent companies and this is without a doubt the best drafting of them all.

The ruffles add a cute edge to the styling…and wouldn’t they look great in contrasting fabric?

You could also add contrast neck binding and ties. And piping at the princess seams. So many options!

There are no zips or buttonholes or tricky fastenings. The instructions are clear with great photos to help you along. This dress could easily be sewn by a confident beginner with great results.

And although I tested the age 6 pattern, which I’d thought would absolutely drown Button as she’s so petite, the ties at the back cinch it in nicely so she can wear it now, with room to grow.

Which is a relief, because she absolutely loves this dress…and it passed the twirl test. Which, as we all know is the most important test of all!

I’m delighted to say that this pattern will be on sale next week. If I were you I’d be hanging around Elegance & Elephants until it becomes available, then nab your pattern as soon as possible. Or maybe just follow her blog and FB so you don’t miss out.

Either way, I think you’ll love this pattern as much as we do.

***Edited to link up to***

Sneak peak

February 26, 2013

Statement buttonhole

Contrast facings

Miles of topstitching

Funky details

Nearly finished…

Good grief…I finally finished something! FO 01/2013

February 25, 2013

Ok….it’s not like it’s nearly the end of February or anything.

What…it IS nearly the end of February! And I’m only just posting my first finished item of the year? And it’s not The Husband’s shirt?

What is the world coming to?

I’d better just shush and show you the goodies.

This is the Necessities Sampler from Little House Needleworks.

I’ve got a very soft spot for samplers and really love Little House designs. Remember the Home of a Needleworker pincushion?

It’s by the same designers.

‘Necessities’ is just a little bit special, though, as Alice-who-isn’t-a-cat bought me the threads for it last year.

I’m kicking myself that I didn’t get pictures last week when the sun was shining. Today the skies have reverted to their usual state of leaden greyness that makes everything look a little gloomy. The second picture shows the colours more true to life.

Hey ho…not even grey skies can spoil my happiness with this little sampler. One day, when my sewing room is renovated (in some distant Utopian future ;-)), this will hang in a little burr walnut frame in pride of place.

Until then…I have buttonholes to make!

The almost shirt and some future t-shirts

February 14, 2013

Such a creative post title! One day soon I’ll actually have a finished project to show you…but not today!

The Husband’s Christmas shirt is slowly coming together….I’ve just front plackets, collar and stand, buttonholes and buttons to do.

Just!

I swear this is testing my abilities to the max and is full of creative “design features”! 😉

His birthday is in March and I’m determined to have it finished by then.

I’m even more motivated at the moment as I learned this week that I’ve won a copy of Sewaholic’s much loved, and much coveted, Renfrew from Miranda at One Little Minute, as part of her Stretch Yourself blog series. It’s a really cool series of posts all about working with knit fabrics, and it’s really informative and user friendly.

I’m ridiculously excited at the prospect of finally having my own copy of Renfrew. I’ probably the last sewist on the planet to actually make this, but I’m hoping it will be worth the wait.

Much as I’m keen to start on the 13 dresses…my wardrobe is particularly sparse at the moment and I need some everyday, school run basics. Renfrew will fit that bill perfectly with jeans and I already have 3 pieces of fabric in the stash that will be fantastic!

Ok…this is an odd photo because it’s heavily cropped, but it does show the three fabrics. The one on the left is a heavy navy I bought from The Cloth House during my last visit to London…the green and brown prints are from my lovely friend Liz’s stash.

I think by the time I’ve made these three I’ll have ironed out any fitting issues with the pattern and will have a TNT t-shirt pattern that I can pretty much cut and sew.

I’m very excited about that prospect. It’ll be my second TNT pattern…having already got a pretty well-fitting trouser pattern. I’ve wanted to created a portfolio of TNT patterns for so long, I’m pinching myself that I’m finally making a start.

4

February 11, 2013

Yesterday was The Boy’s 4th birthday. It seems my babies aren’t babies any more!

The heartbreakingly sad little boy who first came home to us is gone. I was watching some old video clips last week and the transformation is truly astonishing. Now he’s our family showman!

He has a finely tuned sense of humour and great comic timing. He’s always singing and dancing and bouncing around. He loves pranks and mischief and frequently laughs himself silly over some private joke. It’s a joy to behold.

He has beautiful manners, is kind and thoughtful, and throws the most spectacular tantrums you’ve ever seen. They are a force of nature!

He has overcome such enormous challenges…his bravery and determination is breathtaking.

So, happy birthday, our wonderful, amazing little man.

I am proud and blessed to be your mummy.

Kindness

February 8, 2013

The kindness of fellow needlewomen never ceases to amaze me.

Martha from Q is for Quilter, whose Kitty quilt I’m reproducing, sent me an email yesterday with more images that I hadn’t found which she thought I’d find useful. I do…and I’m thrilled.

Such kindness is makes me grateful to be part of this wonderful community… thank you Martha.

Retro Kitty and Brit Boy

February 7, 2013

I mentioned in January that I want to return our home from its current shabby state back to a cosy, hopefully stylish, family home. This means new windows, some plastering, new flooring throughout and lots of decorating. All of which is quite an expense…and therefore is going to take some time! 😉

This is a good thing. It works nicely with my new ethos of slow, but also allows me to really ponder the style choices I’m going to make in each room. Work has already commenced with two ceilings being plastered last week. Some essential bathroom repairs are coming soon, and a new bathroom floor.

So far, so dreary! Basic stuff…not remotely exciting.

But! Once the bathroom is done, the next room on the list is The Boy’s, and then Button’s. And whilst we are gathering the resources to buy all the materials and furnishings we need, it seems sensible to make a start on the quilts.

This is much more fun.

First up…The Boy! He’s Union Flag mad! Every time we see one in a shop he dashes straight to it! So, the Union Flag is to be the leitmotif for his new Brit Boy room. And what better quilt to make for him than Busy Bee Quilt Design’s ‘Victory Garden’.

Obviously the colourway shown on the original isn’t going to work for my little chap, he’s camp, but not girly. However, Makower’s ‘London’ is just the ticket.

This is a project that Ma is going to make. I’m not that fond of machine piecing and quilting, but she loves it. Who am I to spoil her fun? 😉

For Button, who is a huge Hello Kitty fan (I haven’t met a 5-year-old girl who isn’t), we are taking our inspiration from this spectacular quilt I spied on Pinterest.

image from http://qisforquilter.com/2009/02/hello-kitty-redwork-quilt-top/

Isn’t this just so stunning?????? It’s an original design by Q is for Quilter and I just couldn’t resist it. Button has to have this quilt.

There is no pattern, so I’m ~~shamelessly plagiarizing~~ reverse engineering and putting my own spin on it. To start, I’ve sourced a pile of Hello Kitty images from Google and printed them out. There are tons of them out there…just Google “Hello Kitty Colouring Pages”. I’ve then reduced them by 50% to get them to a good size to make a quilt block. Each block will be 6″ square when completed.

These are then going to be traced onto fabric and embroidered. The images have been delivered to Ma this morning…she’s been champing at the bit to start the tracing. I’ll be doing the embroidery. This is going to be a wonderful joint project with Ma, she’ll be doing the pieced squares, which are going to be cream/pink/duck-egg blue…which is pretty much the colour scheme for the room.

These quilts are going to be the centrepieces of some pretty cute new bedrooms for the kids. When I’ve told them about what we’ve got in store for them, there has been a huge amount of excitement, which makes these projects even more enjoyable for me (if that’s possible!). And at the end of it, they’ll have rooms that reflect their individual personalities and are a joy for them to spend time in.

Whether they’ll keep them tidy is another matter! 😉

Fire up the Quattro!

February 5, 2013

I’ve come over all Gene Hunt today and finally fired up the Quattro*…or, in this case, the sewing machine.

Why yes…that is The Husband’s shirt that I’m working on!

I know it’s February and I haven’t completed a single thing so far this year…but at least I’ve finally, finally made a start on some sewing.

It feels good. Despite the crappy instructions on this pattern and the fact that it’s happy for you to leave unfinished seams! I’m now making it up as I go along and so far so good.

And tonight I’ll be ‘aving ‘oops for my tea!*

* If you haven’t watched Life on Mars, and are therefore bemused by these references, what are you doing here? I suggest you go get a copy as quickly as you can and don’t surface again until you’ve finished! And you need to make sure it’s the UK version…Philip Glenister is inspired as Gene Hunt. Inspired, I tell you!

A reminder

January 27, 2013

If you find that you need to alter a pattern, say by adding 3 cms of width to a shirt back and yoke to accommodate ridiculously broad shoulders, can I suggest that you remember to also alter any adjoining pattern pieces. Maybe add 3 cms to the collar stand and collar too.

Otherwise you might find yourself waking at 4am in a cold sweat having realised what you’ve done. Or not done, as the case may be.

And then spending some time that would be better spent sleeping wondering if you have enough scrap fabric to recut the adjusted collar and collar stand. And if the light sleepers in your house will be disturbed if you sneak up to the sewing loft to find out the answer to your fabric dilemma. And if you can actually be bothered to get out from underneath the super cosy duvet and quilt to shiver your way up there anyway.

I’m not saying I actually made this mistake, but if I had I’d be awfully glad that I had enough waste fabric to cut new collar and stands, and only need to buy a bit of extra interfacing tomorrow to get myself to the point where I can actually start sewing.

One down…

January 17, 2013

The wee small boy was in hospital for his first operation today. All went well and he was done and home again by lunch time.

Thankfully cannulas were not required. I am beyond grateful for this.

fake sleeping…note the half-scoffed biscuit!

He was brave and funny during the whole adventure…teasing the nurses by pretending still to be asleep. Promise of a Cadbury’s Fudge at home soon put paid to those shennagins.

We are now waiting for his next hospital date which will be to have his squints corrected. I think I’m going to be a whole lot more sanguine about that now I know he’s fine with anaesthetic.

And whilst he’s had a little snooze this afternoon I’ve finally made it into the sewing loft and have made a start on paper fitting the pattern for The Husband’s shirt.

Next stop…the toile! See….slow sewing…doing it right. It won’t last! 😉

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