A Vintage Thread

Aliens exist

2012-02-22T15:34:00.001Z

I'm by no means the pefect seamstress and the box of UFO's (unfinished objects) is proof of this.

I started these two shirts about a year ago and then I got fed up and they got put in the box, and forgotten about.

Can you tell how much I like peter pan collars?

The one on the left was made from some of my Nan's old pillow cases, the reason it was in the box was because the kimono sleeves were SUPER tiny and looked really bad , so I had to chop them off and make a kind of capped sleeve, it'll look OK in the summer but I think I prefer it with a cardigan.

The pink one was in the box because I hate putting on sleeves, and these are way more gathered than the picture on the pattern so I was a little disappointed. I think their still a little wonky, I'm going to have to work on that I guess. The fabric was from fabrics galore and I love it, but it kinda clashed with my hair, so I'm not sure how much I will wear this one.

Are you getting the Land Girl vibe from this outfit? I think its the dungarees and the wellies combo, but it was cold and wet today!

Aliens Exist by Blink 182 on Grooveshark

All School and No Play Makes Leah a Very Bad Blogger...

2012-02-07T12:43:00.000Z

**Normal service will resume once assessments are over**

Attempt no.1

2012-02-02T12:57:00.000Z

OK so here's my first bra attempt. Its not perfect but its wearable. I think it needs a bit of tweaking.

I made it with quilting cotton, cotton batting and then plain white cotton for the lining.

I'm going to give it a test run and the try to wash it. If it makes it through the wash I might make some more but I am NOT ironing bras so if it looks awful then I'm not going to make any more. I may try a different pattern though.

Unmentionables

2012-01-28T17:50:00.000Z

I have been having a lot of trouble finding decent bras recently, the main problem being I don't like underwires, and I don't want to wear a sports bra.

I found a really comfortable one last year from Uniqlo but it was quite expensive and not very pretty.

Anthropologie has some really pretty ones but (apart from the obvious expense) they area bit flimsy, I prefer something with a padding or lining.

so I had a quick look at some patterns on etsy and I think I could have a go at making one myself. The lack of underwires should make it easier! I just want something simple, basic darted triangle on elasticated band shouldn't be too hard, right?

Fabric Lovin'

2012-01-26T15:43:00.001Z

I thought I would share some of the pretty fabrics I got in the sales...

These are from Liberty's

And these are from the V&A

I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to use them for, but I'm sure I'll find something!

Sew Colette

2012-01-19T12:15:00.000Z

OK so technically I have already cheated by making Truffle first, but I think as I didn't make it exactly as it is in the book maybe I can be forgiven?

Anyway this sounds really fun and I really want to do it.

Lets not mention that I'm already failing because the muslin for Meringue was due yesterday, and that I'm totally prepared for this to be a epic fail like all of my other sew-along attempts.

And on that positive note I'll be off...

The Frankenstein Dress

2012-01-18T14:53:00.003Z

Yesterday evening started with me planning to cut out this dress, that was it just cut it out!

but as all the best plans do, it went terribly wrong. So, some body parts, a couple of pints of blood and a few volts of electricity later the dress was ALIVE!

Anyway some details:

The pattern is a Frankenstein version the Truffle dress from the Colette Sewing Handbook. I left off the skirt drape, and adjusted the skirt to make it slightly fuller. (in hindsight I think if I had just drafted my own skirt I would have looked better but I didn't want to spend forever testing and fitting it)

The fabric is quilting cotton from Peter Jones, it was in the sale for £5.30 a meter.

I'm going to wear it to my friends birthday party so I'll try and get some pictures wearing it.

Work in Progress...

2012-01-17T20:23:00.002Z

Blonde Bombshell

2012-01-14T15:24:00.002Z

YUP! this morning I signed up to Gertie's bombshell dress course on craftsy.com.

I know I'm a bit late to the game, I've been putting off buying it since it came out the summer even though i really like it, but this morning I got a email from Craftsy saying it would be $24.99 until the 22nd, that's only about £16! pretty good!

I've been watching it all morning and I LOVE Gertie! She is the queen of sewing in my mind!

OH and the blonde thing, I decided to lighten my hair before I dye it orange again so it goes REALLY bright this time. So I've got this lovely blonde/ginger thing going on. Suffice to say I wont be leaving the house until I put the orange dye on!

stripes, stripes and more stripes

2012-01-06T14:43:00.003Z

After spending all day procrastinating instead of writing, I decided I might as well distract myself with something productive. So I got out the leftover fabric from my stripy kimono tee and Grainline's tank top pattern and made this.

Because a girl can never have too many stripy tops right?

Now back to writing...

Adieus 2011!

2012-01-01T17:33:00.000Z

I thought it would be a good idea to go through everything I made last year

So here we go...

So in 2011 I made:

5 skirts

10 Tops

2 dresses

1 pair of trousers

1 Jacket

___________

Total - 19 garments

That means I made one garment every 20 days, which is pretty good I think!

New Look

2011-12-31T17:41:00.000Z

Do you like the new look? I thought I'd have a bit of a clean up in time for the New Year.

I know its a bit late but here are some of the treats I got for Christmas...

I'm not going to write loads, I think it's pretty much all self explanatory, but I think my favourite gifts were the Colette sewing handbook and the Liberty print fabric (I'm so nervous about cutting it).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas Fair...

2011-12-15T09:36:00.000Z

On Saturday I'm going to be up bright and early because me and some of my friends are going to be selling pretty things at this Christmas fair.

So if your in the area be sure to pop by, all the stuff looks amazing and there's going to be tea and cake too!

Monday Morning Blues

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000Z

Here's a little bit of sparklyness to brighten up your Monday morning...

I'm going to spend the day planning Christmas prezzies!

Shameless Self-promotion

2011-12-02T13:20:00.001Z

Lately I have been busy dreaming up things to sell at a couple of craft fairs I'm doing before Christmas

here are some of the things I've made...

BUNTING NECKLACES...

BUTTERFLY NECKLACES...

SCISSOR NECKLACES...

KNITTING BROOCHES...

CUSHIONS...

APRONS...

I will let you know what fairs I'm going to be doing soon.

Hope your December is going well... Only 23 days left.

Some People Just Have The Worst Luck

2011-11-25T18:06:00.001Z

As I write I'm sitting here with a cold compress on my face, why? I burnt my face with... wait for it... tea!

Don't ask me how because I have no idea one minute I was climbling the stairs with my lovely HOT cup of tea the next I tripped on thin air and managed to splash tea in my face! What the hell is wrong with me!

When my mom got home she wanted to take me to A&E but I flatly refused a conversation that when sort of like this:

mom: what happened?
me: ummm... i had a acident with some tea...
mom: what sort of tea?
me: normal tea in a cup what sort of other tea is there?
mom: well what did you do?
me: I tripped and it went in my face
mom: do you need to go to A&E?
me: no, it's not that bad!
mom: shall I ring NHS direct?
me: no, they will just say go to hospital! anyway I googled it and I'm doing what the computer told me to do
mom: *comes very close and inspects burn* ( which is from my eyebrow to my cheekbone and over my eyelid) open your eye
me: *opens eye*
mom: OH! your eye is very bloodshot can you see out of it?
me: yes of course I can! I think I would have let you take me to the hospital if I was blind!
mom: are you sure you don't want to go to A&E
me: yes I'm fine it just hurts, I'm going to take some ibuprofen and do what Google says
*5 mins passes*
mom: how is it now?
me: it still hurts!
mom: if we went to the hospital they could give you something for the pain
me: I'm not going to the hospital mom!
*another 5 mins pass*
*my brother comes home and laughs at me*
mom: let me see...oh it looks very red
me: *peers in mirror and prods it gingerly*
mom: does it hurt when you touch it?
me: it feels a little bruised
mom: and your sure you don't want me to take you to the hospital
me: NO MOM! THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I AM SPENDING THE EVENING IN HOSPITAL ESPECIALLY NOT ON A FRIDAY NIGHT FOR SPILLING TEA ON MYSELF!

So that's how I spent my Friday night...
Hopefully I won't be walking round with a huge burn on my face for weeks

On the plus side I finally got a new charger for my camera so no more rubbish phone photos YAY!

Talking of the 80's

2011-11-23T20:37:00.001Z

Today as I was searching the book shelves at home I came across a tattered spine (well lack of a spine really) that I recognised. This book was my fashion, jewellery, make up and hair bible until I was about 13. I must have spent hundreds of hours sitting studying the instructions on how to draw, what materials to use, and learning the difference between a shawl collar and a sailors collar.

tattered books are always the best.

I think my mom defiantly got her 15p's worth.

I get both pain and pleasure from how 80's the book is.

I used to sit for hours doing my make up like this, I never really got the concept

of blending though so I would always end up looking like a clown.

my nan taught me how to make pom poms so I could

make the pin in this picture. I think it fell apart the next day

because I hadnt done the knots properly.

my favorite quote from this book has to be :

egg shampoo
1) vigorously beat together the white and yoke of one egg in a mixing bowl
2) massage the mixture thoroughly into dry unwashed hair and leave for about five minutes
3) rinse your hair in COOL water: the egg is likely to scramble if the water is too hot.

I can totally imagine a teenager on a 80's / 90's TV show doing that and ending up with scrambled egg hair.

Purple People Eater

2011-11-21T17:59:00.000Z

I've not really had that much time for sewing (or blogging) lately as i'm very busy at college and even at home I am either reading or writing, (I have realised my time management is appalling) but I squeezed making this into a few of my spare evenings.

A few weeks ago I decided that I needed a autumn coat, I really wasn't happy about having to put my denim jacket away and had been living in cardigans ever since I went back to school because I didn't think it was cold enough for a winter coat.

I toyed with the idea of making a cape but seeing as most days I double as a packing mule, ferrying my laptop, library books and all sorts of other things to and from college something with actual arms seemed more practical.

I wanted a quick (cheap) fix so I went searching for a pattern on Burda style and popped to Walthamstow to see what fabric I could get. I ended up with this black and purple (polyester?) wool type fabric for £2 a meter!

I have worn it everyday since I finished it on Thursday so it seems like a winner. I think I'm going to be sad when I have to put it away and start wearing my proper winter coats!

P.s this coat kinda reminds me of a purple mohair jacket my mom had made in the 80's, it was always HUGE and practically ate me alive every time I tryed it on (hence the name purple people eater)

First aid kit

2011-11-19T14:14:00.000Z

Today this popped up on my suggested videos, I fell in love and I've been playing it all morning

Now I really want to go hang out in the woods... the 3rd draft for my dissertation is due in next week and I think it's given me major wanderlust, because I just want to run away from it all and go to somewhere remote.

I'm going to try and take some pictures later of a couple of projects I'm working on so stay tuned...

Happy feet

2011-11-06T14:18:00.002Z

No not the film, as much as I love dancing animated penguins I'm not going to write a blog post about them!

I'm talking about how happy my feet would be if I had these socks

They are from this ladys etsy shop and they are just amazing!

I am defiantly putting a pair of these on my Christmas list!

My life in pictures

2011-11-05T07:00:00.000Z

School has been keeping me busy lately but here's some stuff i've been doing...

Some stitching from my school work...

My new Dr Martens...

Some sewing - orange corduroy circle skirt...

And some scarf knitting.

Sore feet and heavy bags

2011-10-09T10:59:00.000+01:00

Yesterday me and my mom went to the knit and stitch show at Alexander palace. We negotiated the closed underground and got there half a hour after it opened. and BOY was it busy!

On the way there I spotted my dream car...

I spoke to so many lovely stall holders, and took so many cards, and even found a few new places to visit.

I didn't really buy much, the nice lady at Janome gave me a free tape measure when I bought some sewing machine needles. I LOVE freebies!

I got some buttons, and some lovely Japanese fabric tape, but I'll save that for another post (I'll show you what my mom got too, her haul was more exciting than mine)

I also came home with this little cutie...

Happy Weekend!

P.S. If your in London today check out the Renegade Craft Fair in the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane!

Trying to be clever

2011-10-01T12:00:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the radio silence

I haven't been sewing

why?

THIS!

that's 11 books

3 notepads

and 1 notebook

I've been reading for and writing my dissertation

only 6000 more words to go!

in other news i have a lovely new desk in front of my window which has lots of space for my sewing machine and laptop and all my other bits and pieces. I haven't had a proper desk at home since i was about 16 its really nice!

also we moved into the new studio at uni this week, its really lovely and bright. it used to be a ceramics studio so its quite dusty, but it's nothing a bit of elbow grease won't clear up. We went in Thursday to choose our spaces and give it a lick of paint, I'll share some photos next week when I have properly moved in.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezey

2011-09-08T16:00:00.000+01:00

Remember way back when I was planning for me made June and I said I was going to make this top?

I did make it... on my old sewing machine, it wasn't a pretty sight! the poor old dear just wasn't cut out for sewing tricky fabric like jersey and i struggled so much with the side seams that I opted for a hand rolled neckline which took so long that I didn't even bother with the arm holes and hem. I still wore it but i wouldn't say it was my proudest thing I had made.

Ever since I got my new sewing machine I have been a bit nervous of trying jersey with it in-case it was just as troublesome as the old one. Ha! how wrong could I be!

After reading this threads article and this one from craft stylish I was filled with determination that I would sew another jersey top and it would be one I was proud of.

So I set to work... firstly I sat down with my instruction manual and worked out how to reduce the presser foot pressure, this is rather confusingly called 'balance' is it really that hard to just call it pressure??

Then I worked out what the best stitch would be, I had a couple of different stretch stitches so I tried then out on scraps, I ended up with this one that looks like a lightning bolt

I changed my needle and started sewing and it was a piece of cake!

I sewed the sleeves and hem first, then joined the sides (matching the hemmed edges) and then sewed a facing all around the neck hole.

All in all, including fiddling with the machine I think I was done in under a hour!

And I love it, its really comfy, I think the jersey is a bamboo blend so its really soft and drapey.

Now I'm going to plan all the comfy cardi's and tee's I can make for autumn!

P.S. Sorry about the not to great picture, I some how maimed my camera charger earlier this week and my iPod doesn't photograph dark colours well.

A little bit of happiness in a tin box

2011-09-07T15:49:00.001+01:00

While I was out today I bought myself a big tin of lovely watercolour pencils.

They have been ~~distracting me~~ keeping me amused all day.

Who knew that a new tin of pencils and some paper could be as fun at 21 as it was when I was 4!?

Drawing

2011-09-06T21:00:00.000+01:00

Drawing is something I have always loved doing, but it takes practice to get good, and then once your your good you have to keep doing it to stay good. when I was still studying art at school I drew every day, my figure drawing was never top notch, but I made myself go to life drawing classes and it was acceptable.

But once I started a college I stopped drawing regularly and my figure drawing was the first thing to go.

For a long time this didn't bother me, I didn't need to draw people.

But a while ago I tried to sketch out some sewing ideas, and I found to draw clothes I needed

to draw people. problem.

I spent ages trying to draw a decent figure, then tracing it out every time I wanted to draw something. this was time consuming and stopped my creativity flowing freely.

I stopped drawing.

But then the other day I came across Fashionary, a sketchbook for fashion designers which as well as a ton of useful information, has very lightly printed figure templates on every page! Awesome!

You can even download and print out a sample page to try before you buy a whole sketchbook.

It makes sketching up your ideas a breeze.

Woo! new Colette pattens!

2011-08-31T23:00:00.000+01:00

Jasmine, Clover and Peony.

You can read what Sarai says about them here

Personally I'm most excited about clover (the trousers), I have never been very good at making trousers, but I'm looking forward to whipping up some Audrey Hepburn inspired trousers to see me into winter ( maybe even through winter with some wool and some warm tights underneath?)

Peony (the dress) is also tickling my fancy, it would look really lovely in red wool or lace like gertie's Christmas dress no? but I think I will leave that for winter.

I should be ready to share my autumn sewing plans next week...

Fabric Love

2011-08-31T15:32:00.000+01:00

I have been drooling over this fabric for a while now. I love it so much, but I have no idea what I would do with it, it doesn't really feel right for clothes (its a linen cotton mix and I'm not a huge fan of linen) , I could make a bag I guess... but at £17 a meter I feel like it should be something extra special. I'm sure one day i will come across the perfect project for it and I won't have bought it!

The better late than never dress

2011-08-30T15:29:00.000+01:00

FINALLY! I finished my Crepe dress.

Yes I am aware that I live in England.

Yes I am aware that summer is pretty much over.

And I am aware that I'm not going to get to wear this any time soon.

but now its done!

It took me about a week to finish which is pretty much unheard of when I'm sewing, usually I just sew all day and get it done in one day maybe two, because I know if I put it down I won't pick it back up. But with this I made it really slowly and reasonably carefully, I only did a few steps at a time and I took the time to trim all the seams, overlock and press them properly.

The white cotton was £4 a meter from Walthamstow market (Sorbetto no. 4 was made from the leftovers), the mint is quilting cotton, I used it for the waist tie and for matching bias tape for the hem.

I love the colours, they look so cool and fresh (it remind me of white chocolate mints)

I wonder how long it will be before I spill something down it.

All I need now is some sun and a tea party!

Leahx

Sorbetto no.5

2011-08-22T21:00:00.008+01:00

Yep! I just finished my 5th Sorbetto. I'm beginning to think I will be able to make these in my sleep soon!

Anyhoo... It's made from a flat sheet I found in a charity shop (I think its from the 60's ) its 50% Cotton and 50% Terylene (i googled it, its a crease resistant polyester).

I think I'm going to be quite sad when I have to stop making theses in favour of more appropriate winter tops, unless I can find a way to make this more appropriate for winter, Hmm... wool jersey with sleeves??

I guess we will see!

Leahx

These are a few of my favourite things...

2011-08-22T18:00:00.002+01:00

These are some goodies I got at the car boot sale last week...

A nifty little toy sewing machine

This little do-hicky is a intant tailors tack

(you poke it in the fabric and it makes little cotton loops)

Some lovely lace.

I also got the pattern for a wrap dress and a small diamanté button that I will turn into a brooch.

Leahx

If I only had a brain...

2011-08-16T23:05:00.002+01:00

I really do some stupid things sometimes!

Like spending 45 minutes painting my nails when the next day I'm going to be stripping paint - stupid!

or locking the keys in the car - stupid!

or packing a overnight bag and putting my pyjamas right at the bottom - stupid!

or wearing heels to places where I know there are cobbled streets - stupid!

or putting the dishwasher on when there is nothing in it - stupid!

or saying lets go to Malden when I meant lets go to Morden - stupid!

OK so I do stupid things all the time!

So do you want to know what stupid thing I've done this time???

I cut out the pattern for Colette's ginger skirt at a size 6, my usual size... WHEN I'M MAKING TOPS!

I honestly do not know what is wrong with my head sometimes! I knew that ginger was not a top! I knew that I need a bigger size in bottoms! But my brain just didn't make the connection! - STUPID! and now I've wasted the lovely coral denim I bought for it! BOO!

I'm going to go back and see if they still have it, if not I might try... something with the too-small one, but I've still got to figure out what...

But this is why I don't cut the tissue pattern! in the back of my mind I always know I'm going to do stupid stuff like this!

Can you sack a vital organ?? No? Oh... that's a shame!

Leahx

Ooo... look! it's a book!

2011-08-15T17:24:00.001+01:00

Have you noticed how much I like Colette patterns yet? of course you have!

Well now they are publishing a book! full of pretty pictures, dresses and sewing goodness!

I can't wait to get my hands on it! I'm sure it will be totally responsible for distracting from my school work when it comes out in November (like I need any help getting distracted)

And talking of Colette... look what plopped through the letter box today, more patterns!

I'm going to have to put away my unfinished summer projects soon and start focusing on some autumn sewing.

I'm thinking navy Rooibos, a dark coloured Crepe that I can wear with tights, maybe a leopard print and black Macaron and a couple of pencil skirts. I already know this is way to ambitious but there's nothing wrong with setting your hopes high right?

TTFN

Leahx

One sorbetto, two sorbetto, three sorbetto, four, five sorbetto, six sorbetto, seven sorbetto, more

2011-08-12T16:03:00.001+01:00

I have been making Sorbetto's like crazy! and having so much fun making and wearing them that I haven't posted about them yet!

Sorbetto 1

I made this from emerald green muslin, which is apparently very hard to photograph, I tried taking this picture in EVERY room in the house and this is the best I got! its much lighter in reality. The muslin is really light and airy and not as see-through as I thought it might be, but at £1.30 a meter I didn't really mind!

I kept the pleat in the front but sewed it down so it stays flat (you cant see it in the photo its too dark), I couldn't find any bias binding that matched exactly so i used a lighter green bias binding as a facing instead.

Sorbetto 2

Another muslin one this time in really pretty coral colour, and without the pleat in the front, i made the bias binding myself from the left over fabric so it matches exactly.

Sorbetto 3

This used to be a curtain panel, I found it in beyond retro about two years ago, I think I paid about £4 for it, but there was never enough material to make anything much out of it so it just sat in my stash waiting for the right project to come along. as soon as I saw the Sorbetto top I knew if this fabric was wide enough I was making it into this top. I had to leave out the pleat to fit it on the fabric and I used orange bias tape to finish it.

Sorbetto 4

Last week I finally got around to cutting out the fabric for Colette's Crepe dress and I had a little bit of fabric left over so I naturally ran upstairs to grab the Sorbetto pattern and see if I could fit it on the leftovers. IT DID! and there were still a few sizeable off cuts left over, so i decided that this would be a Sorbetto with a difference... it would have sleeves! Alas I would not know how to start drafting a sleeve but luckily for me Mena from The Sew Weekly had already done it and being the lovely lady that she is she decided to share! problem solved!

i made myself some Cath Kidston bias binding and used it to face the neck, sleeves and hem, it looks so pretty and is a lovely flash of pattern on a white top.

Coming soon...

Sorbetto 5

and

Sorbetto 5.2

This lovely bed sheet was snagged from a charity shop in Hailstead for £2.99.

its a bit faded in the middle so I'm going to have to be careful about how I cut it out but it will soon be Sorbetto 5.

and 5.2 I hear you cry? well I've been working on making the Sorbetto pattern into a shift dress! I think its done and I will be testing it out in this.

If you haven't already got the Sorbetto pattern its FREE here

and the sleeve pattern is FREE here

Have a super weekend!

Leahx

Strange Sewing OCD's

2011-08-11T20:23:00.002+01:00

I cannot tell you how many times I have woken ups and thought 'Ooo... I would really like to sew that dress/ skirt/ top today!' only to realize that although I have got the pattern, bought the fabric and it has been washed and ironed, I haven't traced the pattern yet!

This is why I get through sewing projects so slowly! I simply cannot bring myself to cut into the tissue paper! as soon as I even think about it something inside me starts worrying; what if I cut it wrong? what if it rips? what if I loose a bit? what if I cut it too small and need a bigger size? or if I want to make it again and need a bigger size? after-all it is my only copy and I have paid £10-£15 for it! (that's usually more than I've spent on the fabric to make it)

I've never been a big fan of pattern tissue either, I remember buying my first pattern when I was about 14 (a vogue A-line skirt) getting it home and taking it out of the packet, I stood there looking at the mass of tissue paper, getting really panicked because it looked like something I might find in a maths or physics textbook and asking my mum what the hell I was meant to do with it. I was too scared to touch it in case I ripped it and i still feel like that now when i get the tissue pattern out.

So I trace it onto layout paper, I usually do a whole bunch of patterns in one day, preferably on the kitchen table because I can extend it. But days when I can get the kitchen to myself for a few hours without anyone wanting to come in an eat or cook are few and far between so i don't really get around to tracing patterns very often!

So this is my strange sewing OCD confession, I MUST trace patterns, I CANNOT cut the tissue!

Leahx

Fallen off the face of the earth...

2011-08-05T16:03:00.001+01:00

Hi, remember me!

No I haven't dropped dead or anything.

I feel like I should tell you I've done something epic! I haven't I've been sewing, shopping, eating cake, drinking tea and watching way to much trashy TV

I think my addiction to Pinterest is partly to blame, I have started many posts over the last few weeks, but all seemed to falter for various reasons and never got posted! So I'm gonna go away now and plan some posts and work out how to take some pictures that don't look utterly rubbish, and hopefully I will be back soonish with some posts (fingers crossed)!

Also I've been thinking about doing the Rooibos sewalong after I've finished my crepe dress and some other bits and pieces, I don't really want to start anything new until I have finished some UFO's off, so I don't know if I will be sewing along with the sew along as it might be a week or two before I'm ready to start. but I'm going to keep my eyes out for some appropriate fabric. I really want it as a fall /winter dress so maybe light wool, gabardine, heavy cotton or even baby corduroy?

Lastly, you may have noticed the lack of 'me made june' posts. That is because it was a major FAIL! This was in part because I spent a lot of my time in messy work clothes. But also because none of my hand made clothes were suitable for the sticky June weather. Every morning I would have the same mental battle between me made skirts which I knew would leave me hot and sticky and probably grumpy and a nice loose sundress or shorts and a vest top. The latter won almost every time!

Happy Friday!

Leahx

Me Made June

2011-05-14T16:21:00.001+01:00

I, Leah (avintagethread.blogspot.com), sign up as a participant of Me-Made-June '11. I endeavour to wear at least 1 item made by me each day for the duration of June 2011

I think I'm going to give myself a few exceptions before I start;

work clothes - these are my messy or comfy clothes I wear when I'm doing college work or sewing.

car boot clothes - usually leggings or shorts and a t-shirt.

I'm not going to be wearing handmade when I'm doing messy things or trampling around a dusty field so I'll say these days are exempt and don't need to be photographed.

I will try to take photos even if its not of me wearing the outfit ( I don't like mirror photos and have too much trouble trying to not look awkward when I take them with the tripod (see past posts lol)) I don't think there is much chance of me doing daily posts but I'll try to make them weekly.

I'm going to try and get some basic tops under my belt before June starts.

I've got these two patterns

This one is from grainline, you can download it for $2.50 here.

I thought that it was a worthwhile investment for a top that will no doubt become a wardrobe staple.

This one I found for free on burda style here it's super simple as it's just one piece so all you have to do is sew up the sides and finish the edges and your done!

It's my birthday in June so I was sort of hoping I would get time to sew myself a birthday dress but I don't think thats going to happen, things are getting rather 'serious' at college with words like 'work placement' and 'dissertation' flying around so I've had to admit to myself sewing time is probably not going to be easy to find. Maybe I will be able to sneak a few hours in to make my crepe dress, its not really the birthday dress I had imagined but it would do!

Leahx

Hello my name is Sencha!

2011-05-02T11:41:00.003+01:00

Meet my first Sencha blouse! isn't she pretty?
She may be the first but she will by no means be the last (I'm going to stop talking about my blouse as if its a person now!)

I LOVE THIS PATTERN!!!!

And whats not to love, its quick, its easy, it fitted first time, and I can make endless variations of it!

Here's some variations I've been thinking about...

Cording tutorial from Colette blog Here

Peter pan collar tutorial from Gertie Here

Lace yoke tutorial from Colette blog Here

I'm going to start working on making the peter pan collar from Gertie's tutorial next, I'm thinking a classic white version may be a good idea.

Here's how I wore it when I went to watch my brother run the mini marathon. We waited for him at Temple and then walked to the finish line, he was 94 seconds faster than last year!

Leahx

The learning curve skirt

2011-05-01T00:07:00.001+01:00

Can you believe that this took almost a week to finish! It caused me so many problems that I almost considered scraping it completely. But I didn't and here's the result...

Problem 1 - the fabric - I bought some black cotton poplin for this as its thin but still crisp, this turned out to be the worst mistake EVER! You only have to breath on it and it creases, this was VERY annoying and I spent the whole time I was making it thinking 'I'm never going to be able to do anything in this skirt if it creases like this'

Problem 2 - the pattern - I got the pattern from burda style and don't get me wrong its a good pattern! But I was lazy and I didn't check the actual garment measurements against the body measurements, and then I didn't check the fit until after I'd put the zip in (I was feeling very lazy). When I did check I had about 4 inches extra on the waist! So after fiddling around with it for what seemed like forever I put 2 large-ish tucks in the front (I figured it was easier than taking the zip out) and I can always just pass them off as a design feature!

I'm probably going to try this pattern again some time just with better fabric and the right size pattern, seems a bit of a waste spending a week figuring out the pattern and then never using it again!

Leahx

And the bad blogger award goes to...

2011-04-30T22:45:00.001+01:00

yep, me!

but I've taken pictures, found my camera cord and i am editing as i speak!

so now i have no excuses not to show you what I've been making.

i'll show you real soon. promise!

Leahx

Colette's Spring Palette Challenge

2011-02-20T15:44:00.001Z

Project 1 - Colette Sencha

Project 2 - Colette Crepe

Project 3 - Colette Macaron

This is what I'm planning for the next few months. I'm starting to wonder if maybe aiming to make 4 garments is a bit optimistic especially as if I see some of that lovely turquoise polka dot anywhere I will compelled to make a second version of the Crepe dress!

I already have the Sencha pattern so I just have to get the fabric. For the Crepe and macaron dress I need to get the fabric and the pattern, and I will be using Gertie's Crepe sew-a-long to guide me thorough.

I guess we will see how I get on!

Happy Sunday!

Leahx

Introduce yourself...

2011-02-20T14:11:00.000Z

hello everyone!

my name is Leah.

I am a design student at Camberwell College of Art and in my spare time i like to sew pretty clothes from vintage patterns.

This is my first ever blog so bare with me while i get my bearings!

Leahx