Next up: reversible polka dot skirt

I bought some fabric today, including these jerseys to make a skirt.

I had noticed this black and grey polka dot one last time I was in the shop, but I had the BF in tow and he wasn't too enthusiastic about it, which made me doubt so I didn't buy it. And of course I kept thinking I should have afterwards! So I went back for it today (obvious conclusion: don't ask for a guy's opinion on fabric!).

The fabric is a little thin for a fitted skirt I think, so I got the plain dark navy as another layer... Then I thought it'd be nice to make it reversible! It might be slightly more difficult (at least for a beginner like me), but I think it should work... Of course, the best laid plans etc etc...

We'll see... I'm planning to give it a shot tomorrow.

Weird 80's thing to skirt refashion

I started out with this:

I got this from my mom. She has a lot of clothes, among which a fair few weird old things... And she likes to pass them on to the kids... Anyway, I only took this because I liked the stripes at the bottom and thought I might be able to make it into something somewhat wearable.

I decided to make a skirt from it (and use this project to test the stretch stitch of my new machine and practice inserting an elastic... hey, I'm still a beginner at this sewing stuff!).

So I measured the length I wanted, added a few centimetres for the waistband and chopped the top off.

Then I marked how much I needed for the elastic waistband, folded it over and pressed it, and tried that stretch stitch on it... It worked very nicely.

I then inserted the elastic using a safety pin (I need to get bigger ones!), tried it on for size and sewed the elastic together.

(Not perfect looking, but will hold up to wear and tear)

And here's the final result:

I have a new skirt:)

New sewing machine!

When I went over to my parents for Christmas, they proposed that I give my sewing machine to my lil' sis who wanted to start sewing too, and instead get money for a better machine. Sounded good to me!
So I took a little while to look up models and reviews, and finally settled on the Janome 525s (I knew Janome to be a good brand, and the 525s seemed to be a well-loved mid-range model).

Here it is:

So far I've only used it for straight and stretch stitches, but I'm really happy with those, so here's to many years of a happy working relationship! ;)

Tracing a pattern off a top

After making a top from a pattern that turned out way too big (in class), I decided to try and make a pattern from one of my best fitting tops. Here it is, in possibly the grainiest photo on the internet:

So I laid the top flat, and pinned some tracing paper onto it...

Then traced the seams...

Drew some alternate necklines...

Lengthened it so I could make a dress out of it too...

Then cut it, folded it in two and checked it against the top again to correct the seams a little...

I did the same thing for the back, and I had a pattern!

For the sleeves, I traced the front and back on paper separately...

Then joined them and retraced them on some new paper (this worked because my sleeves had some gathering, I'm not sure it would have worked otherwise).

Then a band for the high neck version, and I was good to go!

Future "upcycling" projects

So, as I mentioned before, I'm a big fan of the New Dress A Day blog. I'm almost finished reading through it (1 year = 365 posts, and I still have to go through the new blog that has special projects and tutorials).

In fact, every time I read it, I am itching to try it myself...

So on Saturday I decided to go for it and pay a visit to my local Kringwinkel (2nd hand shop). There I discovered treasures of vintage furniture for very low prices, that just needed a bit of TLC... But that wasn't what I was there for (and I came on a bike!).
The clothes section (what I did come for) had about a dozen racks, sorted by clothes type and color (hey, at least they're organized!).

So among the uglier-than-thou stuff, I did manage to find quite a few items with potential... So I went home with 10 pieces of clothing and 1 handbag (all for under 30e!!) hanging on the side of my bike:-)

Here's my stash:

The plan is to wash and then alter them, so they fit and look better (and I can strut around showing my handiwork;-) ).

Definitely won't be bored on those long winter nights...

Project Tablecloth

My tablecloth is complete! :-) I made it with the gorgeous "wine label" fabric I got at the Stoffen Spektakel, and burgundy-colored bias tape. 

Since the fabric was wider than I originally thought, I had quite a bit left, so I'm making matching napkins from the rest of it!!

Pic of the completed tablecloth coming soon...

From 2nd hand to awesome!!

Haven't posted in a while, as I've been completely engrossed in a blog I found by accident. It's called New Dress A Day, and it's absolutely brilliant!!
Basically, this girl picks up clothes for 1$ at second hand shops/flea markets/garage sales, and with a sewing machine, scissors and sometimes some dye, makes them into something a lot nicer, that she then wears. Pure talent :-)

Needless to say, it's a great inspiration (and a really addictive read!), and I can't wait to try this myself when I'm a bit handier with the sewing machine :-)

Stoffen Spektakel loot!!

Just back from the Stoffen Spektakel, and I had a pretty good time :-)

I have to say, I expected lots of colorful silly prints (not quite my cup of tea, I'm more of a neutral-and-metallics kinda gal), but I did see lots of fabrics I actually liked!

Unfortunately, my first "Ooh, this is nice!" moment involved a 50e/m, pure silk, "original Chanel" roll... but I was good and walked away! I guess a taste for beautiful stuff is not always a good thing :-D

I kept reminding myself that I can't make much yet, so there's little point in buying all those nice fabrics and having them gather dust in a corner for months, or mess them up trying my luck... Although lots of them I would have loved to have as skirts!

I did find some nice things that fitted what I had in mind though, so here's my loot:

- The fabric with the wine labels is for my tablecloth (I was originally looking for something stripy in sunny yellow and white, but I didn't find it, and this really caught my attention!) I do love food and drinks after all;-)
- The tartan is for my couch's pillows (I've been obsessing over tartan for a week or two, and this is one thing I might hopefully be able to make soon).
- The cream waterproof fabric is to replace the old ugly blue striped shower curtain on my bathroom window.
- The grey pinstripe is for a future pencil skirt (the only "future skirt" fabric I allowed myself, as it was really cheap, and got a nice slightly shiny finish - and I'm a sucker for grey and pinstripes :-D ).
- The black pearl detail buttons are to replace some very blah grey buttons on my grey cardigan.
- The wine colored ribbons (bias tape) are for the tablecloth too, the small orange one to practice finishing.
- The rest are "tools of the trade" I guess: new seam ripper (a solid looking one this time!), thread to hold stuff together before sewing, bracket for angles, etc.

Pheeew! So much better...

Had my 3rd class yesterday night (well 2nd "actual" class as the 1st class was more of a meet & greet).
I was fairly nervous as last week's class was a bit of a disaster for me, but fortunately this one went a lot better :-)

The top thread automagically picking up the bottom thread thing actually worked this time (it was a nice change after many frustratingly unsuccessful attempts last week).
And I can sew parallel lines no problem, straight, or following curves or angles :-) Yaaay :-)

I almost caught up on the class I missed last wednesday (working with bias tape: sewing a ribbon with folds over the edge of fabric as a finish). I got the explanation and started doing the wide ribbon. I'll try and finish it tonight.
If that goes well, I need to find a narrow folded ribbon and try with that (more difficult as you got to be more precise).

Then the next step is another type of ribbon finishing over the fabric (need to get details for that one next week).

Now I'm seriously considering taking a half-day off to go to the Stoffen Spektakel on Friday...

I get a sewing machine... Destruction ensues...

Just out of my 2nd class... I should have brought my sewing machine but I thought it was still going to be theory for now (too many years in academia will do that to you...). Anyway, I used one of the machines from the school instead... Didn't quite go as smoothly as I would have liked!
Spent ages trying to get the bottom thread to meet the top thread for it to actually do something... And what it mostly did was knots... Big, huge, very stuck knots!! So I tried to cut the knots... And broke my mini scissors... Then tried to undo them with a seam ripper... And broke my seam ripper. After quite some fighting, I finally managed to get rid of them using scissors and a needle. Then I got some more knots... And more knots... Until finally the machine's needle got bent and was unusable.
I did manage to sew some straight lines when the teacher did all the thread prep for me, but when the thread ran out and I had to change it I made more knotty messes... I think I may have bent a 2nd machine needle too :S

So result: 3 or 4 straight lines, for a pair of scissors, a seam ripper and 2 machine needles totalled !!! Lock up your sewing machines when I'm around !!!

Anyway, the teacher said not too worry, it will come, I just have to keep at it... I'll try with my own machine at home, hopefully it'll be easier (and less destructive:) ).

2nd sewing class + busy week

So the first class went well... Didn't quite get everything, but most of it... Have to make a list of vocabulary now I guess: Dutch sewing terms and what they mean in English/French! Second class tomorrow night, and I've got most of my supplies already :) I was very efficient this week-end:) I shopped and packed for the sewing class tomorrow, the dinner party on Wednesday and the dress-up party on Friday (quite a busy week!). Good thing I have tonight and Thursday to chill :)

First class tomorrow!!!

1st sewing class, I'm excited but also pretty nervous!!! About how much I'll be able to follow in Dutch, about the schedule (18:30 to 22:00, so 3 1/2 hrs, after a full day's work, and every second week, that 2 days in a row... I'm gonna be knackered!!!), and about already missing a class next week (co-hosting a dinner that could only happen that day... for 12 people! But that'll be another post).

I hope the class atmosphere is gonna be nice!!!

So here I go...

I've loved cooking for years, and have always loved the idea of crafts too, but so far that has consisted in:
missing doing craft stuff like when I was a kid,
reading about crafts projects on websites/blogs,
imagining stuff I could to to make my appartement look better but never actually doing any of it...

Meaning that my only "creative outlet" has been cooking :-D Mostly seeing what I can whip up with what's in the fridge/pantry ;)

So now I'm going for it:)

One of my new years' resolutions was starting to bake, and that turned out pretty fun, and sometimes yummy (not to mention it's one of the rare new years' resolutions that didn't go down the drain!). So that encouraged me :)

So I signed up for a sewing class!
Full disclosure: I actually wanted to be a fashion designer in high school, but my dad persuaded me to go to uni, which turned out pretty well since it was fun and I got a job I really like, but I haven't completely given up on the idea... Which meant, until now, vaguely planning to follow a fashion design course once I'm retired :D

But now I'm going to do something more concrete about it:) Not that I'm planning to switch careers or anything, but at least I'll get to see if I actually like making clothes (well, probably just pockets and small bags for the first while...).

On to new beginnings!!! :)