Got Lucky

It's been a while since I did a swap so when an email from Linda came round about the Flickr Sewing Room Swap dived in.  I wanted to re connect with Flickr, the new design and layout had left me feeling a little cold about one of my favourite crafty hang outs.  The standard of the makes has been really high- take a look at the group photos.   My swap has been sent and received (more of that in another post), and this is what I received.

 The sender was Sil, and this is another reason I was missing Flickr, Sil doesn't have  a blog, she is not of Tiwtter or IG, but I do see her regularly on Flickr as Silort and as soon as I saw her name on the parcel I smiled a big cheesy grin!  You can see why!

The swap was for a large item and a small item.  A lot of us in the group were crushing on Anna Graham and Carolyn Friedlander's Social Tote pattern.   It is a little tricky to get hold of, I got mine here.  I made it for my swap partner and I am reviewing it as part of Purse Palooza 2013 at Sew Sweetness.  Sil saw it in my partner inspiration mosaic and she made one with a twist, all these tiny scrappy squares of the most wonderful fabrics.

 The Social Tote is quite a challenging pattern so to add an extra element is no easy feat but Sil is a skillful sewer!

The stitching is in gold thread and the linen is heavy and beautifully textured.  I  can spy so many fabric favourites.

She included this incredible pin cushion as the small item to represent her colourful style and her love (and mine) of teeny tiny.  I feel like I have a piece of Sil in my sewing room with this triangle perfection piecing.

She included precious scraps and buttons (and chocolate which was of course consumed immediately).

Thankyou Sil!  I love my special makes all the way from Brazil and it was great to meet up with old  Flickr friends.  The new layout is still a challenge but there are friends there that I want to stay in touch with.  

Welcome to Seamstar!

I am happy to welcome a new sponsor, Courtney from UK online shop Seamstar.

  Here is a one of my favourite fabrics from her shop, Cosmo Fantastic Forest linen blend.

Alongside fabrics she has a rather excellent habdash selection including Friskars Soft Touch spring scissors which having had years of RSI, I can fully endorse.  I use these, they reduce a lot of hand ache and after years of use, they stay sharp.

Meanwhile more fabric, another linen blend, Nature Botanical, I rather fancy making this into a maxi skirt.

Seamstar is well stocked with a good variety of quilting cottons and alternative dressmaking fabrics like lawns and the lovely linens. including Meadow Purple ( I have used this to make a blouse in the past, lovely, like Liberty lawn!) 

and Seashell, love the blue and orange combo.

There is a rather excellent section, the Fabulous Forgotten Fabrics with some little gems hiding away inside including this beautiful nostalgic sewing print from Anna Griffin, very cute! 

there are handy links all over the site including some useful resources like the fabric cutting guide below.

Handy, so look for links and places to click, there are lots of resources and help for you, the perfect colour matching page is excellent- click on the colours to find out.    Courtney is currently adding more to the website and blog over the next few months so you may want to sign up for her newsletter to keep up to date with additions.  Since Courtney first opened in 2008 she has expanded her staff to an enthusiastic team full of ideas and ready to help and she is branching out into a monthly Craft Club subscription service, which includes a bundle of materials and a monthly make, as well as offering regular new free projects to make and sew on the shop blog. 

 I couldn't resist a hint of Christmas with this lovely cuddly flannel, practically begging to be the backing on a Christmas quilt.  I am looking forward to my monthly visits to Seamstar!

London

It has been a bumpy 12 months.  This time last year I still had labyrinthitis and I couldn't travel apart from on foot.  Two holidays were cancelled and the weather was truly awful.  Christmas was a challenge.  There was a sudden, awful death to deal with that left us all reeling for months and months. After all that, this summer has been an utter relief.

Prince Albert Memorial

This time last week we were starting long weekend in London.  A few days in a very comfortable, luxurious hotel, meeting up with my brother and getting our cultural top up.  We are all pale, freckled types so sunbeds and pool holidays are out of the question, but we do all like museums and city breaks and London is a treasure trove of the most beautiful sights and experiences.  Starting with my very, very favourite, The V and A.

V and A Gardens

V and A Cafe ceiling  

13th and 14th Century stained and painted glass, V and A

'The Seamstress', Russian plate 1924, V and A

 On Saturday, we toured Westminster Abbey (pricey but worth it), no pics allowed but much awe at its beauty.  I was similalry awed by seeing Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament so close up.

An afternoon of walking along the Southbank and over to Covent Garden with a little shopping for the daughter.

View of St Pauls

I had a totally me made wardrobe including a little shortie wrap robe, made from Art Gallery voile in Branch Silhouette Blue (generously provided by Jacqui at Hantex).  It was a mix of Ann Ladbury vintage pattern book from the 70s and my own invention.  It has sleeves, belt loops and a hanging hook as well as a generous crossover.  It is a short shortie, more of a PJ top but it ideal for travel as it packs easily in a case taking minimal space and is light and airy for the hot weather.

Sunday morning, over to Petticoat Lane for the enormously large market.  Its mainly cheap clothing, shoes, bags accessories and is across many roads.

and then only a short distance away is Spitalfields market, we all loved this.  Lots of cool stuff, vintage clothing, food and pretty nonsense.

We bought some of the best granola I have ever tasted ( I don't think I have written a sentence more yummy mummy and middle class than that, but it really is good).

We split into two directions in the afternoon.  Lula and I went to The Foundling Museum, Damian went to The British Museum for us to join him later.  I have wanted to visit The Foundling Museum for some time.  The hospital collection is truly touching, the tiny tokens left by mothers and to help identiy their child should they ever be able to collect their child.  The history was fascinating.  We sat and listened to interviews from adults who had grown up in the hospital.  I thoroughly recommend it.

The museum has a wonderful record of collaborations with artists including contemporary artist, the latest of whom is Clare Twomey and her ingenious and thought provoking 'Exchange: 1000 Good Deeds' project.  Lula and I got to take part.  We entered a room of tables laid out with white cups and saucers.  We were told we could exchange our token for a cup of our choice; lifting the cup would reveal the good deed we would do in return.   We were allowed 1 choice, if you feel you are not able to so the task, you replace the cup.  There was some flexibility in interpreting the tasks.  

We spent along time reading the saucers of cups already taken and tasks already given: 'smile at 10 strangers today', 'cook a meal for a friend', 'Write a message inside your favourite book and leave it in a place for someone else to find' and so on.  So we chose.  I have donated to MERLIN, £10 can vaccinate 30 children against life threatening diseases.  Lula has made our bed (having no siblings) and we have the cups of a reminder of all the Foundling hospital stood for.  

We had a wonderful time in London, we walked miles and the weather was incredible and made the sights look even more iconic than usual.  And we came home to more sunshine and the  last few days of getting ready for work, prepping for the Exeter Sewing Directory Meet Up on Sat 14th Sept and making the most of free time by a little trip to a local beach, this is Budleigh Salterton.   I feel very lucky indeed. 

Cotton and Dresses at Saints and Pinners

In my recent List post, I mentioned a blog I had been following, Lucky Lucille and as luck would have it there is a sew along with a vintage theme just about to start up:

What's not to like?  I love vintage and I love cotton and this  looks like a friendly informal sew along. Almost all of my dressmaking is cotton.  I have sensitive skin and cotton suits me best (along with a little silk and cashmere) plus it is by far the easiest fabric to sew with.  I am happy with all weights- voile, lawn, quilting, chambray, denim: I love them all!  So, I am ready to join in and this is my first choice of pattern (I think, I have a Cambie as back up)

This is a Vogue vintage reprint which I first spotted sewn up here.  It includes shoulder pads to give a little form to the kimono sleeve line and I am rather taken with the French darts (diagonal darts combined bust/waist darts which start at the side seam.  I have a plaid that I thought would be perfect but there isn't enough- I need 3 metres and I have a 1/2 metre short fall and it was a remnant so I will have to see what else I can find or make the Cambie instead.  The sew along includes vintage and vintage inspired so Sewaholic and Colette are great indie pattern designers that have used vintage influences to create modern patterns. Meanwhile, I thought the cotton theme and the patterns could take me to my monthly trip to Saints and Pinners.  Jo and Fran have a good selection of cottons for dressmaking all discounted by 20% when you buy more than £10 and there are vintage inspired patterns available too so lets browse...

There is a range of organic bamboo/cotton blend prints and plains which are aimed at the dress maker (each photo is a direct link to the fabric details so click the pic)

You can get a good idea of the scale of the spots here:

These fabrics are all shirt weight so a little lighter and softer than quilting fabric, great for soft styles- e.g. gathers and soft pleats rather than a tailored more formal look and also lovely for children's clothes. Colette's Chantilly dress is ideal for these soft fabrics, though do consider that you may need to line the dress too.

Colette's Negroni men's shirt would also work well- I do like the idea of this, definitely a challenge

And a the Jasmine shirt would be pretty and a good way to use two prints with a contrasting collar or sleeve cuffs.

For cotton fabric with a little more body, there are the cotton crossweaves in blue and pinky red

I made a Deer and Doe Bleuet dress with the blue and it is one of my favourite makes, I have worn it countless times this summer and felt like a cross between Alice in Wonderland and a 1960s nurse.  Jo made a lovely bib style skirt with the pink see here for pics.  This fabric definitely needs a prewash, it does shrink and is a little wider than the standard 44" to allow for this.  

You can find other organic choices here at Saints and Pinners and 20 % discount will be taken off at checkout.   Let me know if you are going to join in with the sew along, it's nice to have company!

Double Gauze at Eternal Maker

Hot on the heels of my Chardon Double gauze skirt, I thought I would show you the wonderful selection of double gauze at Eternal Maker for this month's trip to their Aladdin's fabric cave!  Double gauze is 2 light layers of fabric held together with a clever weaving technique so you get the benefits of a light floaty fabric alongside a fabric that isn't see through or slippery and can be used for tops, dresses, blankets etc.  Kelly at Superbuzzy gives a great explanation here.  It is best with simple, floaty styles that make the most of its properties.

It comes in an array of colours and patterns from the more classic large polka variation that I used for my skirt: Nani Iro by Naomi Ito for Kokka, Pon Pocho in blue...

...to the more cutesy designs like this Panda print for Cosmo which would be great for children's clothes or blankets with its smaller scale print.

Double gauze is incredibly soft and is ideal for babies and children's wear

At its simplest, it makes beautiful scarves and blankets from basic square and rectangle cuts of the fabric. 

This larger Nani Iro Waltz abstract print would make a beautiful scarf, there is a very helpful post here on making a scarf and a free pattern for a neck wrap here.

On the Nani Iro website, there are many more free patterns ranging from a men's kimonos to a plethora of baby bibs, booties, clothes as well as women's wear and accessories.  Just click on the different years to see patterns designed for that year's fabric.

The Tomotake doughnuts print double gauze is a another graphic print, it look good on a scarf or a bigger project- a long full skirt?  Maybe another Chardon?

And this pink Kiyohara baby print would make a beautiful blanket, backed with a snuggly flannel

or if you prefer a blue print, these delicate sail boats, 

My absolute favourite is this print, Nani Iro Little Letters in peach.

This one might be my next order!  Enjoy x  And any questions about double gauze, please ask and I will answer in the comments.