The Knitting and Stitching Show, Harrogate November 2017

Several years ago, when I was in my dressmaking dormancy but knitting and crossstitching regularly, I visited the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate. I lived a bit closer to Harrogate at that time so it felt a reasonable day trip.  When I started to think about going this year to my delight I discovered that whilst I live a bit further away; the total journey time is much the same.  I was lucky to have been given a press-pass and so I enlisted my crocheting daughter as company for the day and we set off relatively early on the Sunday morning.

We arrived in Harrogate just in time to the show’s opening time.  My trusty sat nav helped us find where to park and we excitedly made our way to the venue.  As we got closer we just followed the steady stream of crafty looking people to the entrance.  It is a fascinating building, it looks very modern from the outside, but inside we discovered there is a wonderful old theatre.

Where we found a seat to drink tea and eat cake.  Energy was going to be needed for the day ahead.

It is a place with a lot of history and I loved that so much of the original building was kept intact.

My memory of the event was that is was large, I need to correct this, it is huge!  I think there were five large halls full or stalls and workshops. I say I think there were five as I am pretty sure that we actually didn’t find one of them. This is despite the plentiful extremely helpful staff on hand and lots of large maps and a Show programme. We had run out of oomph when we realised there was still a hall to find and decided that next time we would find that hall first. 

It is the most eclectic show you can imagine. There was plenty for me as a sewist and knitter, my daughter was in crochet heaven and I managed, just, not to buy any crossstitch, but only just.

One thing we did both buy was a guide dog.  Ok, we didn’t actually buy a dog, but we did both sign up to sponsor a puppy.  The man who was trying to convince us to do this convinced us both with one sentence, that they receive absolutely no government or lottery funding.  Think about that, think about the job that these dogs do - we were shocked and signed up straight away.

I went with a set budget.  I took the amount of money I wanted to spend and in a very disciplined way managed not to resort to card payments.  I felt a little proud of myself.  So what did I buy?

Well:

I came away with a rather good haul.

Firstly I bought some thread.  It might not sound the most exciting thing in the world, but I needed some this colour and it was a good opportunity to buy it.

I also bought these bargain buttons, I think you can never have too many buttons.

I had to buy these ones with poppies on.  Readers who follow my gardening exploits know that poppies are a very favourite flower of mine.

These kits from Til the Sun Goes Down were at a bargain price.  I love their patterns so I had to buy a couple, it was rude not to.

The fabric for these kits is perfect, I am in a paisley mood at the moment so I am really looking forward to making up the dress in particular.

I also bought these wonderful fabrics, I am thinking of using them for linings.  I am having a bit of a thing at the moment about lining in general and being more adventurous when lining.

Yes this is exploding Tardis fabric, how exciting is that?!

I also bought this amazing birdy fabric, which is already being made up into the lining of a jacket.  The birds are clearly very realistic as Esme was happy to help me when I was trying to cut out the pieces.

I do enjoy a good knitting pattern, and I love a good vintage knitting pattern.  So this little booklet had to be bought.

I really want to knit this suit soon. Isn't it fantastic?

I also bought this large ball of wool, no this is not to knit the suit from, but I will enjoy finding something exciting to make from it.

Finally I bought these very pretty little scissors.  Perfect for snipping threads.

We made our way homewards, tired, but very happy.  I think I probably have enough sewing projects now to keep me going until the next Knitting and Stitching Show in spring, which is at Olympia 1 - 4 March 2018.  The show returns to Harrogate in 22nd -25th  November 2018.  The show also takes place in Dublin and Alexander Palace, see their website for more details.

When I got home I found my daughter had left her trademark reminder of her presence, did I mention she crochets all the time?

A peacock dress and a new sewing machine

Whilst at the Great British Sewing Bee I bought some rather lovely peacock print material.  It was love at first sight and I knew exactly which pattern I was going to make with it.

I had recently bought this pattern from the Avid Seamstress, the A-line dress.

I really like the shape of this dress, the a-line form is generally quite a flattering one and I thought that the pattern looked quite straightforward to put together.

It was indeed a nice dress to put together though I did struggle with getting the 'V' of the neckline perfect.  I need to practice this sort of neckline more.

The dress itself did not take too long to put together.  I had some angst as to whether the peacock feathers should be facing upwards or downwards.  I decided it did not really matter as long as I was consistent.  I chose downwards.  Once completed I was very happy with the dress and went to try it on.

Oh dear,

It was just a fraction too tight around the stomach area, my general tricky bit of body.  I had measured myself whilst the chest and hips were fine, the 'apple shape' middle let me down again.  I chided myself for not measuring properly, it is such an easy error to make but so so annoying.  The dress is now hanging in the wardrobe and I am determined to fit into it hopefully soon.  So it was all a bit of a disappointment really.  Not the pattern's fault but my own.  I feel like I got carried away with myself, over-confident in fact.  Now I need to regroup and be more careful in future.

The plus-side of this project is that it was the first one I made with my new sewing machine, a Singer 9100.  I bought this after considerable thought and research.  I bought another Singer as I hoped that it would be more familiar to me and also hoped that any accessories would be interchangeable.  I spent weeks deciding which one to buy.  I got totally confused by quilting or not quilting and computerised vs mechanical.  I worked out fairly quickly that there was little point in changing my mechanical machine for another one as I would be gaining very little.  I also finally worked out that if I bought a machine that did more that I might use it for more.  The quilting vs non-quilting bit became less of a concern after having a discussion with some sales-people at the Great British Sewing Bee.  A key reason for going was to research sewing machines and whilst I am a huge fan of online-buying, sometimes you need to talk to someone.

I practiced on some scraps of fabric to begin with.  I struggled getting the tension right and I began to get that 'oh no what have I done, I have bought a machine I cannot work' moment.  I resorted to googling the problem, but that did not help me very much.  I seemed to find people panicking not unlike myself but few helpful answers.  Finally, deep in the pit of despair, I decided to try changing the bobbin from the plastic one supplied with the machine, to one of my existing metal ones.  It did the trick, the tension was sorted immediately.  Relief washed over me and sewing could commence.

There are things that I decided I loved quite quickly about the new machine.  I like the needle up/down button, it is very handy.  I love the top-loading bobbin that I can see through the clear window and check how much thread is left on it.  My favourite favourite thing though is the speed-limiter.  It has transformed how I sew.  No longer does my heavy foot make the machine run away with me; now I can do careful and steady sewing.

As time goes on I will learn how to use more of this machine, but I am really happy with it and expect to be using it for quite a while.

The paisley blouse

Isn't paisley a lovely word?  I have always liked the word and I have a real fondness for the pattern too.  This next sewing project was driven by the fabric first and then by the pattern.  I had fallen in love with some paisley fabric from Merchant and Mills and I was determined that I would make a blouse from it.  A bit of hunting and I found the perfect pattern from Butterick: B5538.  I liked this pattern as it has several different adaptations you can make from it.  The sleeves and collars are all interchangeable so you can mix and match to make the blouse you want.

It is also quite a straight forward pattern.  At first when I cut it out I thought it had a lot of pieces.  A lot of pieces to me meant it was probably going to be tricky, but they went together quite well.  I find I have to look at a pattern almost from a distance at first to work out what it is trying to do and then see how it makes it happen.

There are things I like very much about this blouse.  I like the interfaced front very much.  It makes it feel sturdy and also means that it is not scarily see-through.

The cuffs are also things of wonder.  I had not made a blouse with cuffs before and I worried that I might find them difficult.  They did take me a bit of fiddling around with, but nothing serious and they look really good.

I chose some vintage buttons to finish the blouse off.  I am very pleased with the buttons.  I am becoming completely convinced that a good button can be the make or fail of a project.  I have worn this blouse a few times now, for leisure and for work and people have commented on how nice it looks.

Mid-sewing this blouse I bought a new sewing machine (as you do).  I decided however to finish off this project on the old machine, partly as a courtesy to the old machine rather than just shelve it, and partly so I could have a play on the new machine and get used to it before committing to starting a new project.   I shall introduce you to the new machine in the next post.

The hunt for the Union Dress

I have mentioned previously that I have become quite a fan of Merchant and Mills patterns and fabric.  Whilst wandering around the internet I found the Union Dress but not on the Merchant and Mills website.  It became apparent that it was an old pattern that they no longer produced.  I really liked the design so tried to track down a copy.  In the end in mild desperation I emailed Merchant and Mills and asked if they maybe had an old one at the back of a drawer.  Sadly they did not have one but they knew someone who had one left, just one last paper pattern, so I quickly ordered it and waited for it to arrive.

I already knew which fabric I wanted to make this from.  I had seen the most wondering smouldering mustard coloured cotton fabric on the Merchant and Mills website and I knew it was destined to be made into this dress.

The dress was very straightforward to make up.  It did not take too long and I was really pleased with it.

It has many pockets, two at the sides and two 'pouch' pockets at the front.  I like the pouch pockets and if I make (who am I kidding, when I make) this pattern again I shall have a go at edge stitching the pockets.  This time I decided against and I am happy with this decision.

I chose these rather wonderful metal flower buttons for the dress.  They work with it very well I think.

This dress is the perfect comfy wandering about dress.  I have already worn it quite a lot and every time I wear it someone says what a lovely colour/style it is.  This makes me very happy.

A massive thank you to Michelle at Merchant and Mills for helping me track down the pattern.

A massive thank you to Cool Crafting for having the last paper pattern.

and there is a happy postscript to this story as it was going to be called the 'last Union Dress' but it turns out it is not.  Merchant and Mills have made the pattern available again by PDF only.  I feel I played a small part in bringing it back from retirement.

The pink trousers of happiness

Fairly recently I had to throw away my favourite stripy linen trousers.  I had had these trousers for many years and they finally decided that enough was enough and they wore thin.  They were brilliant trousers as they had a very forgiving tie-waist that meant that as my weight fluctuates, (a polite way of saying I sometimes get quite big and then if I am lucky I get smaller again),  I was still able to wear them comfortably.  I was therefore sorry to say goodbye to them but decided that I ought to be able to make some replacements.  A very brief scouting about on the internet and I found the pattern that was almost identical to the trousers I had just discarded.

The 101 Trousers from Merchant and Mills were quickly purchased.  I have fallen in love with their patterns as they have great style and are so straightforward and easy to use.  It was really pleasant to feel fairly confident that this project was doable before I had started the make.

The fabric I chose also came from Merchant and Mills, it is a rather delightful red chambray.  It cut out nicely and is quite a well behaved fabric.  It is not too slippy and whilst it does fray a bit at the edges, it was straightforward to sew.

The pattern made up quite quickly and I love the finished trousers.

The fabric is quite light so I think these are very much for warmer days.

I still need some stripy linen trousers to replace the lost loved pair so you can be fairly certain I will be making this pattern again.

A vintage moment to test my skills

When my daughter first announced she was getting married, my first thoughts were around offering to grow the flowers for the wedding.  My flower adventures can be followed on my gardening blog here.  As the weeks passed I started to think that I would have to consider at some point what I would want to wear.  There was no hurry so I put it to the back of my mind. As the weeks passed my sewing bug had well and truly kicked in and I started to ponder whether I could make my own dress to wear.  I was not sure I was good enough yet, but I had a look at some patterns and thought some more.

Then I found the pattern I liked, I do like a bit of vintage and I had enjoyed making the Beach Pyjamas from Til the Sun Goes Down, so I wandered back to their website to look at more patterns.

Firstly I found the perfect fabric, the perfect perfect fabric. I knew whatever I made it had to be in that fabric.  As I looked on the website further I saw that they made kits of some patterns, these kits provided you with the pattern, notions and fabric.  By buying them as a kit you pay a little less for the pattern.  There was the perfect kit with the perfect fabric and perfect pattern.  The only fly in the ointment was the unperfect me, was I capable enough to make it?

Well nothing ventured, nothing gained I decided I would give it a try.  If I failed then yes, I would have wasted some money (never a good thing) but I could go and buy something ready made if necessary.  The wedding was to be in October, so I decided to give myself plenty of time and bought the kit in August.  Much to my delight the kit arrived with a comforting hand written note, saying that they had also made this dress and that it should turn out well.  The comforting hand written note became my comfort blanket as I sewed.  I took it out and read it every and now and again as it made me feel it was possible.

The fabric was a beautiful crepe de chine.  I have never made anything out of this kind of flimsy fabric before, so even the cutting out gave me more anxiety than usual.  I always take great care on the cutting out as one false move can lead to disaster, but I went more slowly and checked more often this time.

I had a few days off work planned and so made my start.  The front bodice was, and this is a technical term, a pig to get right.  The pattern instructions told me that this was the most difficult part of the dress and also vital to get right.  I used an old sheet that I cut to the pattern first so I could practice and get it right.  This was an extremely wise move.  The  crepe de chine is very easy to damage with pins so I need to practice without ruining the dress before I had really got started.  It took me several hours to get the bodice right, but eventually I worked it out and after that the dress came together rather well.

Much to my great relief I decided it was good enough to be worn.

On the day I was very happy with it.  It felt a success.

After completing this dress I felt very chuffed with myself.  I felt I had gone through a rite of passage and could tackle even more.  I sloughed off my beginners mantle and stepped onto the threshold of the purple haze that is intermediate.  I am sure I heard a welcoming tinkle of bells as I did so.

The Rugby Dress - my confidence takes another step forward

One of the greatest things about an ecletic group of twitter friends is that they make you aware of companies you might otherwise not have found.  I cannot remember who first alerted me to Merchant and Mills, but I thank you even if my bank account does not.  I first started looking at their patterns, The Ellis and Hattie caught my eye and it still remains there as a thought not followed........ yet.......

What started off this particular thought-chain was a wish to make a denim dress.  I had seen a couple for sale that were that nice casual but smart mix, but sadly also rather expensive.  I had that 'I reckon I could make one of those' moments and so started searching for the perfect denim fabric. This search took longer than I had expected.  I could find lots of denim, but which one was the right one.  I needed to be certain of weight and the aspect of colour also was perplexing me.  I saw some nice red denims and they are also stored in that little 'maybe later' corner of my mind.  In the end I found exactly what I wanted at Sherwoods Fabrics, this rather lovely red-backed denim.  But then, of course, I needed the right pattern.

There was more searching, I kept going back to the Merchant and Mills website and eventually I decided it was The Rugby that was worth a try.

I love the quality of this pattern.  The pattern itself is on thicker paper than the usual tissue paper from the large manufacturers.  I bought the fabric and waited for it to arrive.  It is quite a heavy denim and very good quality.  I read through the instructions carefully and set to work.

Gosh denim is a delight to sew!  It behaved itself and the pattern came together very well.  I was very pleased with the results.  I used the red reverse to make the contrasting collar and cuffs.   I took my time with the collar and I think I did a good job with it.  I did, however, hit a snag.  My sewing machine did not enjoy sewing this denim.  I broke three needles (yes three), it was a bit of a scrum and I started to wonder whether the machine I have was the right one for where I wanted to go with my sewing.  Anyhoo, the machine did complete the dress, it was a good conversion and I felt that I achieved my goal.

I have worn the dress a couple of times and I truly love it.  It is comfy and perfect for these mild autumn days we are having at the moment.  I think in terms of my sewing journey I definitely advanced over the gain line.

I also at this point, bought a new addition for the sewing room, a little bin.

This little bin slips into the top of the fabric stash cupboard and is incredibly useful.  It cost very little and is just a wonderful thing.  Sometimes it is the little things that make all the difference.

and so it was on to the next project......

A blouse, a Doris and a screwdriver

My sewing journey continues with the next project which was to make a jersey blouse.  I had a navy jersey blouse that I bought many years ago and I loved it as a go-to, easy to wear, casual to formal item of clothing.  I have literally worn it out, holes appeared and so it had to go.  I decided to have a go at making a replacement, so a pattern was sourced and fabric bought.

At about this time I was also progressing my sewing room.  I had removed the spare bed and tidied up the small back bedroom.  I purchased a sewing desk and drawers (more of this in a later post) and some screwdriving, and some fairly light swearing later, I now had a space that I could use.

I also thought I should buy a dressmakers dummy, in particular because I decided to make a dress for my daughter's wedding in autumn.  I knew I would need all the help I could get to do this and a dummy would help me get the sizing right and check how it would fit.

I looked at the prices of dummys and adjustable ones are not cheap.  I worried that if I spent a lot of money on one it might turn out to be an expensive sandwich toaster.  You know what I mean, you buy it because you think it will be wonderful but within a few weeks it is at the back of the cupboard, forgotten*.  I pondered how to deal with this and started to look on ebay for a second hand one.  Luck was in my favour; I found one that looked in good condition, the right size range and close enough to drive to pick up.  Purchase made: a quick hop to Stoke and back and Doris came home with me.  She is a bit worn, her leg is a little rusty but none of us are perfect.  (and yes this is her unadjusted)

I adjusted her to my size and took a step back.  Now this bit is important because Doris taught me something as I stood and looked at her.  I have struggled with my weight for many years, I put it on, I lose it, I put it on again and the cycle turns.  I do not enjoy looking at myself in mirrors or in photographs as I criticise myself harshly.  The prospect of making Doris reflect my body size did not fill me with joy but it had to be done.  When completed I was surprised that she did not look as big as I feared.  I checked I had done it accurately and actually, when considered, I think she doesn't look that huge.  This made me feel better about Doris and in turn, better about myself.  This is no mean feat.

The blouse turned out well and I chose some pretty buttons to go with it.

I liked it so much I made another, this time out of scuba fabric.  This worked well too and the fabric is very pretty.  I confess I did not intend to buy scuba fabric.  I saw it online and liked the pattern.  When the fabric arrived I realised it was thicker than I had intended but it was a happy error.  It was very easy to sew and is now a good early autumn blouse as it is warm but not too warm.

Happy in my efforts I turned to think of the dress for the wedding.  This was going to need concentration.....







*with due acknowledgement to Spaced