Handmade Gifts

Hi! How’s everyone’s week been? I’ve been really busy with work the last few days and out and about at a few meetings, but I have managed to finish knitting a sleeve for the jumper I’m working on and start the next one.

Just a quick post this week to show you a few of the gifts I’ve made recently – quick little makes but apparently gratefully received!

First a hanging fabric heart for my friend’s birthday – this was made from some of the leftovers from my first Delphine skirt. I just cut out two heart shapes with a paper template, sewed most of the way round attaching a length of ribbon at the top as I went, then turned through, filled with toy stuffing and closed the gap. A couple of little buttons from my stash neatened up where the ribbon joined in.

Next a mini cushion for my cousin, also for her birthday. This is from a pattern in the Half Yard Home book they bought me for Christmas and is made by cutting wedges of fabric then sewing them back together into a circle – I used a biggish dinner plate as the template. I used some bits of old jeans and a ripped up pink lace shirt to make the alternating panels – the lace is backed with more denim for sturdiness and to stop the stuffing coming out! Once turned out and stuffed (more toy filling) I used some embroidery floss to sew through pulling in the ‘pumpkin’ shape making each segment more individually puffed up. More buttons for finishing off the centre.

My sister also got a cushion for her birthday last week (a bit of a theme going on...). This is just a nine square patchwork cover with plain envelope back – the prints for the front were from the pack of Liberty scraps I got at the Knitting & Stitching Show, and the back pieces are from another pair of my old trousers. This is a straight copy (in terms of pattern) of the other Liberty patchwork cushion cover I made a while ago, and really quick to do – whizz up the rows for the front and then put them together, hem the open edges of the back pieces and then sew round the whole thing before turning out and putting the cushion pad in. The colour palette for my sister’s wedding later this year is ‘shades of blue’ so I thought this would be appropriate!

Finally a knitted gift. Some friends of mine are expecting their second baby in a few weeks so I knitted this little hooded cardi – they know it’s going to be a girl so safe with the pink! This is the same pattern as I knitted for my cousin’s baby for Christmas (that I forgot to take photos of), except a smaller size for a newborn, so a bit quicker too! I love this yarn, it’s a two-tone DK from Stylecraft and I love how it comes up in the double moss stitch, plus I’ve got loads left as it was a big ball! I spotted the little flower buttons in my local haberdashery, and love how the little pompom on the hood looks - so cute!

I’ve got a couple more gifts in the pipeline over the next couple of months, as well as this jumper for myself to finish – I’ll get there eventually! I’m also hoping to make a start on my Portia trousers this weekend and am steeling myself to attempt the zip fly – wish me luck! Have you been making gifts for your friends and family? I’d love to see what you’ve been getting up to!

The Spring Knitting & Stitching Show

Hi everyone, how are you all? I can’t believe we’re past half way through March and the weather is still so cold! I’ve hardly managed to get out in the garden at all yet this year, and the only real time I did was the plant up an old tin bath with some spring flowers – and I made sure to stay in the greenhouse out of the wind! The little narcissi tete-a-tetes have come out in flower and look really pretty against the blue primroses, and there’s some tulips growing nicely ready for the next wave of colour. Hopefully it will have warmed up enough by Easter weekend to get out and do some proper gardening, get the vegetable patch prepared and some seeds started.

Anyway, back to the main reason for this post – a run-down of my trip to the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia a couple of weeks ago. I went for the first time last year and really enjoyed it, so booked tickets again this time and took Mum with me for a day out. The Olympia show is only half the size (in terms of number of exhibitors) as the big Ally Pally show in the autumn, but actually I quite like it as it’s not so crowded and you get a better chance to look at everything, talk to stallholders and makers, watch some of the demonstrations, and take part in workshops.

We started off working our way round one end of the hall and I was tempted straight away by rolls and rolls of ribbons, gorgeous buttons, miles of fabric and beautiful coloured yarns. I had gone with a targeted (if long!) shopping list so I tried my best not to get too distracted! I met the lovely Jules from Sew Me Something at their stand – it’s great to put faces to names after chatting on Twitter! I also bought one of their fab tote bags and the Portia trouser pattern. This is going to be my most ambitious project yet tackling pockets and a fly zip, but as it’s one of the very few patterns I’ve found for wide leg trousers (because I can’t stand skinny trousers) I think it’ll be a useful one to have in my wardrobe.

It’s compulsory (in my opinion) to hit the yarn dive at Black Sheep Wools and see what goodies emerge from the pile – this time I scored another pack of Rowan Revive and a pack of Summerspun – yarns I’ve already used and love – although I could have gone mad with several other packs, and the selection of cross stitch patterns was amazing, but I really don’t have the time to work on one of these! My other woolly purchase this time is a pattern and yarn from UK Alpacas for a shawl. I’ve not knitted one before, but this pattern is knitted from end to end so you started with a few stitches, increase until you get to the middle and then decrease across the other side. It sounds simple enough, and the yarn is gorgeously soft (I went for a neutral cream) so that’s going to be next one my list after I’ve finished my current jumper.

I got a few other ‘odds and ends’ this time round – a couple of extra feet for my sewing machine and some spare bobbins, dressmaker’s tracing paper and a couple of pompom makers. I expanded my pattern selection too with the Anna dress from By Hand London, and a few easy jersey knit patterns from McCall’s.

Fabric was my main spend though, starting small with a pack of Liberty Tana Lawn pieces in beautiful blues, and then I found the SimplyFabrics and Fabrics Galore stands. From the first I got a couple of metres of red and white striped jersey, and two metres of this amazing blue and white patterned viscose. It drapes beautifully and I’ve got it earmarked for a couple of summer tops. The prices here were incredible, only £4 a metre for the two I got; almost makes me wish I’d bought more!

At Fabrics Galore I treated myself to some more Liberty Lawn in this purple Capel print (Capel is the parish in Kent where my Nan grew up), and this red peacock print cotton – these will both make more summer wardrobe basics I hope. Finally, by pure luck I spotted this Alexander Henry ‘La Paloma’ on a roll that someone else had finished with and snapped up the final two metres! This was the fabric that Deborah used on the Sewing Bee for her summer cotton print dress and I loved it – every website I’ve checked since has been out of stock so I’m really happy to have found it. It’s only a narrow cut but I’m hoping I should have enough for a simple dress – something that doesn’t require too much pattern matching!

After a well deserved sit down and a picnic lunch Mum went off for a wander round the quilting and textile art exhibits, and I did a workshop making an easy jersey knit t-shirt. I was hoping to pick up some tips on using an ordinary sewing machine for working with this kind of fabric as I like wearing it and want to make use of the patterns I bought. Unfortunately I don’t think the set-up for the Dressmaking Studio space was very practical, it was really just an open area in the middle of the main hall with tables and sewing machines set up, but people could still wander through and of course it was open to all the general chatter and background noise. I think there were about 10 of us in the group but because of the noise the lady running the class (Janice I think, though she didn’t properly introduce herself) had to walk round between us instead of being able to stand at the front and talk us all through at the same time. The fabric pieces had already been cut out for us to save time and we ended up with a t-shirt with grown-on sleeves (so no need to set them in) meaning just two long seams down the sides. We did have to insert a bias neckband which was a bit fiddly but mine ended up OK – I had to go over a bit that I’d missed and left a hole so it ended up a bit puckered at the front. We also didn’t have time or opportunity to hem our t-shirts and we didn’t have twin needles for the sewing machines, so I finished this at home the next day. In the small amount of remaining time we had a go at slashing and plaiting spare pieces of jersey which was quite fun, but I think I’d have rather had a bit more instruction with the t-shirts. When we looked round, some of the other workshop spaces were in a different area and more screened off so I think they would have been quieter and a nicer place to be taught – I’ll have to remember to check for next time.

Overall I had a really good day, it was lovely to chat to other crafters and laugh at our efforts with the t-shirts in the workshop, and I’m very happy with all my shopping. It was nice to spend some time with Mum too as we’ve had a lot going on at home recently so it was good to have a break and do something fun. I can’t wait to get stuck in to making things with all my lovely new fabric but just need to work out my time as work has been really busy lately, and we’ve had a lot of family things at weekends. Hopefully now the evenings are getting lighter I’ll feel more like doing something when I get home from work instead of just cosying up on the sofa in front of the TV. My fabric stash expanded even more recently thanks to acquiring some fantastic curtain material from my Nan’s house – the pastel floral should be enough for a Walkaway dress, and the orange 1970s stuff will also make a dress I think. I’ve actually been making a lot of presents for other people recently so I’ll update you on those next time – when they’ve all had their gifts so that I don’t spoil the surprise!

Great British Sewing Bee - The Final

I can’t believe it’s over! I came home from a choir rehearsal last night to watch the final (I was running a bit late but had set it to record so was able to start later and catch up) because I couldn’t wait to see what happened, but now I don’t want it to have finished so quickly! I really hope there will be another series with a few more episodes. (Apologies for no pictures in this post, but there's plenty of images from the show on Twitter and elsewhere).

The final three contestants – Neil, Matt and Lorna – were clearly all so supportive of each other, and actually not too competitive against each other. They’ve all had their strengths throughout the weeks so it really was anyone’s for the taking, and would come down to the last garments.

For the last three challenges Patrick and May picked a pattern challenge with no diagrams and minimal instructions that apparently turned into a Japanese-style draped top; the alteration was to change and add structure to a Grecian-style pleated full length dress while keeping it as a wearable garment; and the big finale made to measure challenge was an avant-garde show-stopping evening gown.

The origami top only had one pattern piece and is one of those that once you figure out which parts join where is a real lightbulb moment – the explanation we as the audience got with a diagram made total sense once you saw it, but for the sewers faced with a really peculiarly shaped piece of fabric it was quite a brain teaser. Poor Lorna really struggled to get her head around it, but the boys with their engineering backgrounds helped explain it to her which was lovely to see – they both said they’d rather compete against other finished garments than leave someone to fall behind. Lorna’s fabric choice was absolutely gorgeous though, a fabulous cerise satin, although it was hard for her to work with being so slippery and having a bit of stretch. Matt chose a really fine georgette in a floral which looked really pretty, but again he had difficulty manipulating it where he needed it to go, and didn’t get the bias neck facing quite right. Neil straightaway got to grips with the mechanics of the pattern, and had chosen a sensible fabric (a fine cotton I think) so was able to spend a bit of time making sure his finish was good. In the results, Neil’s top came first, Lorna second and Matt third, although Lorna said she didn’t deserve second as she wouldn’t have finished at all if the boys hadn’t helped her. I quite like the idea of this kind of top, I think they’re quite flattering, and now I’ve seen how this one was put together I perhaps might not be too terrified to have a go myself.

Challenge two – the alteration. A gorgeous selection of dresses to choose from and three very different ideas. Matt shortened the skirt on his and added some stiff lining to work into a waved or fluted hem, and changed the neckline from straps to a halterneck and neatened the back. Lorna mainly used to the skirt of her dress to create a new higher neckline with a tie collar, and added hooped boning to the skirt to create a lampshade shape. Neil went completely off the wall and chopped his dress into a short skirt and then attached lower leg trouser pieces by boning straps – this prompted Neil and Claudia to coin the term ‘skanklette’ (skirt with ankles) to describe the creation! May and Patrick’s reaction was brilliant, Patrick was nearly speechless but appalled, although they were both impressed with Matt’s and Lorna’s dresses. Neil somewhat predictably in this case came last, and Lorna finally got another first place with Matt in the middle. Still an open field, although Matt looked a little vulnerable with a third and a second place so far.

The finale round gave the contestants seven and a half hours to create a show-stopping avant-garde gown for a surprise model. Not really too much of a surprise because we know they’ve done this before, but it’s lovely to see they sewers’ reactions when their family come in – Neil and Matt’s wives and Lorna’s daughter-in-law. The boys have both made things for their other halves before (we’ve seen clips in other episodes) but Lorna hadn’t made her DIL anything before – but she said she wasn’t worried because anything would look beautiful on her (Awwww!). All three had really pushed the boat out with their ideas for this challenge – Neil and Lorna were using commercial patterns but adding their own twist, and Matt had drafted his own diamond-shaped skirt to attach to a corset bodice. May and Patrick had their reservations about all three (of course) – they weren’t convinced that the combination of fabrics Neil was trying to put together (although I loved his idea of using his photos of Afghanistan as inspiration for the colours), Patrick nearly had palpitations over Lorna’s idea to add fairy lights to the hem of her pink and lime green gown, and Matt’s skirt structure was cause for concern. All three sewers did fantastically well with no major dramas this time and the three finished dresses looked amazing. Lorna’s fitted strapless dress with high-low overskirt looked really striking, although the judges picked up on mi-matched seams at the back, and didn’t think the pink tulle hem worked very well. Neil’s was a beautifully draped shape, although his slinky fabrics meant he’d had to add in extra pleats to stop one side dragging to the floor which May didn’t think had been handled quite right, and his lining peeked out of the slashed back. Matt’s dress was amazing, and didn’t swamp his five foot two wife Gemma – the corset fitted really well and the structure of the sequined skirt held up well with the boning, the only criticism was that the skirt seams needed a better press and there was a bit of puckering around the zip.

At this point it’s lovely to see the whole group of sewers from the series come back and chat about what they think of the finalists’ creations. However, in the haberdashery Claudia, Patrick and May were deep in debate trying to pick a winner. They base their decision solely on the garments made in this final round – which I’m not sure I entirely agree with given the spread of challenge winners in previous weeks – but ultimately it came down to the very final dresses and which one they thought best met the brief and was the best executed. So with everyone gathered in the sewing room, and the three finalists hugging each other for support, the winner is announced – it’s Matt! His face was an absolute picture as the realisation that his name had been called sunk in. I’m really pleased, his final dress was stunning, and overall he has been consistent throughout the series with some beautiful makes. I think Lorna is a wonderful sewer and made some gorgeous things, although she sometimes played it a bit safe, and struggled with some techniques new to her. Neil has been brilliant every week, making some incredible things, and has been the most successful contestant ever in terms of challenge wins, but I think this week he tried to do a bit too much and it didn’t quite pay off.

My favourite bit is the montage at the end showing what all the sewers have been doing since the show was filmed, and it’s lovely to see they are all still sewing. I’m sure a few of them will go on to bigger and better things in the sewing world, just as Tilly, Lauren and Jenni have done.

So it’s all over for another series, and I’ve loved every minute of it, it’s been great to join in all the conversations on Twitter, and I’m so inspired by the new book to get on with making some new things for myself. I’ve now got a tonne of fabric to work my way through thanks to my trip to the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show (watch out for a blog post about this soon) and the acquisition of a couple of amazing sets of vintage curtains from my Nan’s house. Watch this space for what I get up to! Happy sewing everyone!

Sewing Bee semi-final - Leather & Lace

Wowzers! (Sorry Matt, I hope you don't mind me borrowing that!) Now that was one intense semi-final - three tricky fabrics and three tricky challenges: a lined lace pencil skirt, neoprene wetsuit, and a leather jacket. And another double elimination!

The pencil skirt sounded simple enough to start with - back waist darts, invisible zip - but oh no, it had to be made in lace that should pattern-match at the seams, which would also need to be very fine, and fully lined in silky fabric. And within the time limit. Hmm...not that simple then. There were some beautiful fabric choices, I particularly loved Deborah's turquoise, Lorna's orange and Paul's purple, while Neil went for classic black, and Matt a paler shimmery blue. I thought everyone did really well, there were a few of the usual problems - wonky hems, patterns not quite matching, puckered seams, and linings being too full, and in the end it was Matt who got first place with Lorna second and Deborah third - Neil slipping down the rankings after last week's successes!

Next up, the alteration challenge, and the maddest starting point yet - a wetsuit to be made into a fitted dress. Paul really struggled with this one, setting in sleeves the wrong way round and then rushing to attach a skirt (which the judges actually thought was the best bit). Matt and Neil both went for a pink theme; Matt's with ruffles and flowers, and Neil's with a full length skirt and open back. Lorna went completely bonkers and cut out the boobs of her wetsuit and replaced them with Madonna-esque satin pointed inserts. Deborah came top in this round combining her wetsuit with another neoprene fabric in the most amazing digital print with inset panels in the bodice/neck and skirt. Could still be anybody's game at this point.

Round three, the made to measure, and it's a fully lined leather jacket. Holy moly! In six and a half hours! I think I'm with Claudia on this one, at least five days would be preferable! Paul had the mad fabric moment this time with a stiff patent red snakeskin print leather, Lorna went lime green, Deborah stuck with the turquoise theme, while Matt and Neil played it more traditional with grey and black. This has got to be the hardest challenge by far, but there were some useful tips on how to work with leather - no pins, sharp needle. Deborah's was going really well, the shape with a double hip peplum was gorgeous, until she cut her zip to length and then pulled the tab right off the top! Disaster! Neil once again got garment of the week, his jacket looked brilliant, and I loved the oversized roll collar.

So, two people leaving, and this week it was the turn of Paul and Deborah. I was so sad for both of them, especially Deborah, her jacket would have been incredible if not for the zip crisis! They have both been fantastic every week and it'll be strange without them on the show next week.

That leaves, Matt, Neil and Lorna in the final, and I can't wait to see what they have to make, and who will win!

Yesterday I went to the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia and spent a small fortune, but I'll do a full run down another day. Has anyone else been this weekend? Hope you had fun!

Sewing Bee week 4 - Corsets & Kilts!

How are we at the quarter finals already?! There definitely aren’t enough rounds of the Sewing Bee, it needs to be at least 12 weeks so that we really get to know more about the contestants, I feel as though we’re only just starting to figure them out. Plus, more weeks would give us more wonderful clothes to look at and dream of making ourselves.

So, this week’s challenges: A 12-panelled boned corset, then 80s power suits for the alteration, followed by a six and a half hour kilt. Goodness! Talk about tough! But as usual, the sewers did themselves proud.

Apparently the trick with the corset pattern was precision (according to May) and a fairly firm fabric. Neil’s and Lorna’s were absolutely gorgeous – brocade and jacquard in glorious deep reds. Deborah and Matt picked the same blue cotton which turned out to be not quite the right move, resulting in a ‘ripple effect’ and Ryan braved pattern matching with vertical stripes. I loved  Paul's fabric and binding combination, it was as pretty on the wrong side as the outside, and Amanda went all out to impress with own-made bias binding. Sadly this back-fired as she ran out of time to finish. First win to Neil with Matt and Paul rounding out the top three – come on girls, don’t let them trample all over you! The pattern for the corset is in the new book, but I think I probably need a lot more experience and practice before trying that one!

Neil's corset via Great British Sewing Bee

Next up, the alteration challenge and a mind-warping array of 1980s power suits – think double breasted, shoulder pads, insane colours galore! There were some interesting ideas this week – Lorna designed a maternity top and skirt, Deborah re-worked a jacket, Matt made a strapless dress out of a skirt, Amanda also made a jacket, Paul a sleeveless top, and Ryan and Neil both went for dresses. Poor Ryan really struggled with this one but the other sewers all helped encourage him. Neil triumphed again with a beautifully shaped cerise pink sheath dress. He really is a very good sewer, if becoming a little jokingly predictable – Matt’s aside of “this is getting boring now” after Neil’s latest challenge win made in good humour. Ryan came second but poor Amanda was last again.

Finally for one of the most fabric and labour-intensive challenges ever – a kilt. Wonderfully modelled by Patrick throughout the show! Most of the sewers picked traditional tartans, with Amanda and Matt choosing to make a woman’s version which required more shaping at the waist and hips. All the contestants had acres of pleats to work in precisely, with military discipline needed in the pattern matching. Paul however went for a more modern approach with glittery denim (who knew such a thing existed!!!) and a studded hem. Lorna struggled with the timing and didn’t manage to put in the stabilising waist lining for her kilt, and Ryan’s turned out a bit long (for Patrick) and with a riskily small amount of coverage at the front wrap (for May). Matt’s darts at the front of his kilt-skirt didn’t quite fit right, and Amanda struggled to get her waist lining to sit neatly on the inside. That just left Deborah and Neil to battle it out with very similar looking men’s kilts, both of which were absolutely brilliant. Neil just swung it again with Patrick’s praise that he would wear it himself, and Neil got himself another Garment of the Week. Again, the pattern is in the book, but probably not one I’ll be attempting any time soon!

Deborah's kilt via Great British Sewing Bee

The cruel twist this week was a DOUBLE ELIMINATION! Two people had to leave and in the end it was Amanda and Ryan. Amanda really hadn’t had a good week coming last in all the challenges, and Ryan had been up and down. I think they are both really good sewers but in the heat of the competition timing or precision had let them down – Amanda vowed at the end of the show never to make anything under time pressure ever again!

via Great British Sewing Bee

So next week’s semi final will feature Neil, Matt, Paul, Lorna and Deborah – the first time ever there’s more men than women still in the competition! I’m rooting for the girls, but I think Neil will definitely be there in the final. The subtitle for next week is ‘Leather and Lace’ (jackets and skirts) and I can’t wait to see what happens!

Oh, you might have seen on Twitter I got my copy of the new Sewing Bee book this week and have been flicking through and planning what I’d like to make. I’ve got some leftover printed cotton that will just about make a sleeveless top, I really fancy having a go at the Capri trousers, and I’m definitely hunting for some gorgeous fabric to make a Walkaway dress when I got to the Knitting & Stitching Show next week! I’m really looking forward to it, and have booked to do a workshop learning how to work with jersey knits and make a t-shirt. Helpfully it’s pay day this week so I’ll have plenty of pennies to spend on pretty things! Is anyone else going? Maybe I’ll see you there!

Sewing Bee week 3 - 1950s Week

1950s week! How amazing were those vintage Singer machines? I’d love to have a go with one, but I don’t think I could use it all the time; I’m too used to my electronic multi-stitch modern machine now.

Anyway, this week’s three challenges were to make a ‘Walkaway’ dress in four hours, make a new garment out of some vintage curtains in 90 minutes, and finally to make a sheer blouse based on a 1950s pattern in six hours. Some tricky things for the sewers to get their teeth into, and on the whole they all did really well with the difficulty of the old sewing machines and slippery fabrics.

www.butterick.mccall.com

The Walkaway dress pattern was a huge trend in the 1950s, apparently easy enough to be cut out after breakfast and made up ready to wear out for lunch the same day. The dress is sort of like a big front and back apron style – it goes on over your head then the front part fastens behind the waist, then the back with the full skirt piece wraps round to button up at the front. So there are no zips or major fastenings, but there is miles and miles of bias binding around all the edges. The sewers were given a binding foot to fit on their sewing machines as the merest hint of a gadget, although not everyone decided to use it, preferring to sew their binding in two stages.

Everyone’s dresses turned out pretty well, Amanda had some binding that wasn’t properly attached, Matt hadn’t had time to finish his hem, Lorna’s buttons and loops were a bit big out of proportion, Deborah’s had some untidy loose threads, Neil had managed to snip a hole in his at the last minute, but Ryan came first, although some of his bound edges had been stretched a tiny bit out of shape. Paul’s dress was my favourite though, the big bright floral fabric he chose was gorgeous, and he bound the edges with the most incredible rainbow bias binding that I intend to hunt down, buy miles of and use on everything! On a side note, Deborah was wearing a top this week made of map print fabric which looked really cool!

The alteration challenge this week was accompanied by a soundtrack of The Sound of Music while the sewers tried to make new garments out of vintage curtain material. In some ways I think this was an easier challenge than others have been as the curtains are basically enormous sheets of flat fabric so you don’t have to re-structure an existing garment, but on the other hand the lack of a starting point for inspiration could prove tricky. There were several gathered and circle skirts making use of the voluminous fabric, Ryan did amazingly well to make a collared shirt, Matt made a little girl’s dress and Neil a halter-neck maxi dress. Neela came last in this challenge with a simple bandeau top, and Lorna was top with a deep waisted circle skirt.

On to the made to measure challenge and the horrors of silky slippery runaway sheer fabrics. There were a variety of patterns chosen, I liked Amanda’s long sleeved tie-neck blouse (not sure about the lime green colour though), and Deborah’s button-back shell top, this was beautiful fabric too. Ryan also had an amazing fabric with images of Japanese women and geisha’s all over it, Matt struggled to finish his zip neatly at the last minute, and Neil’s pale blue chiffon was so fine he might as well have been trying to sew thin air! Lorna got garment of the week with her black and white wrap fronted blouse which was beautifully done, but sadly it was Neela’s turn to leave as she didn’t manage to finish her blouse (no buttons, buttonholes or hem) despite tackling some very fiddly pintucking. It’s horrible seeing people go each week, even though we’ve only seen them on screen for an hour a week, although the wonders of social media means I’ve been in conversation with several of them over the past few weeks, and reading their blogs.

I love the sneaky peeks at next week’s episode – I can’t believe they’ve got to tackle corsetry!

I ordered my copy of the new book last night (let’s hope Amazon’s delivery is nice and quick!) and found out via Twitter that it includes the pattern for the Walkaway dress which I’m really happy about – I love 1950s shapes and find they tend to suit me, so I can see myself making some cotton dresses for the summer. I’m building up quite a shopping list of fabrics to look out for that the sewers have used on the show (Fiona at The SewingDirectory posts a list of links to the patterns and fabrics used every week) so my trip to the Knitting & Stitching Show in a couple of weeks could end up being quite expensive!

www.amazon.co.uk

www.amazon.co.uk

Still working on my knitting this week, and also planning to sew some presents for a few birthdays coming up – I’m thinking scented hanging hearts and decorative cushions, I’ll keep you posted with what I decide. I also managed to snap a couple of photos in the garden this morning now that things are starting to come back to life again.

What are you all making at the moment? Is anyone else going to the Knitting & Stitching Show?

Have a good weekend everyone!

The Great British Sewing Bee weeks 1 + 2

So two weeks in and who else is loving this year’s GreatBritish Sewing Bee?!

**Spoiler alert – do not read further if you intend to but have not yet watched the new series**

I watched the first series on the off chance and really enjoyed it, so I looked forward to the second series last year, and got more involved in the conversation by reading the contestants’ blogs and following on Twitter. So you can imagine how excited I was when the trailers started appearing on BBC for this year’s series!

I love this year’s bunch of sewers, it’s great to see a few more men in the group, and they’ve certainly shown their talent over the last couple of weeks. If you’re interested to find out more about them Alex, Deborah, Neela, Amanda, Ryan, Matt, Neil and Paul are all on Twitter (Lorna and Annie sadly aren’t) and most have their own blogs too.

The week 1 challenges were based around using cotton, with slim trousers as the following-a-pattern challenge, a denim shirt as the starting point for the alteration challenge, and finally a made-to-measure cotton summer dress in a printed fabric.

The trouser challenge sounded like a fairly basic start, but with slim legs, an invisible side zip and bias binding on the waistband there were plenty of techniques to master. Several of the sewers struggled with having to work under time pressure, where I’m sure most of us would rather take our time over a pattern we’ve not made before. Most turned out pretty well with a few wonky seams, partially exposed zips and stretched out waists, but certainly much better than I’d have done! Apparently this pattern is included in the new book so I might give them a go at some point. 

The alteration challenges are always fun, seeing how each person envisions something creative and goes about making it. There were a lot of denim skirts made out of the shirts, but Paul and Ryan made dresses, Annie made a woman’s blouse, and Lorna a child’s skirt. I really liked Matt’s fitted shape with the fun cotton frill round the hem.

The made-to-measure challenge gives the sewers the chance to show off something they’ve been able to practise, but with the added pressure of fitting it perfectly for their model, and all within the time limit. There were some absolutely gorgeous fabric choices – Deborah’s was glorious with bold colours (it’s an Alexander Henry print called La Paloma if you’re interested), and Paul and Lorna both chose poppies. The patterns they all used were lovely too, working for a variety of body shapes – and poor Ryan really went all out having to gather 2m of fabric into the waist of his dress! Neil won this challenge with his waist-cut-out fitted dress with perfectly matched polka dots – he’s definitely one to watch.

Sadly Annie was the first sewer to leave – May and Patrick thought the fitting of her dress wasn’t great, and she’d struggled with the alteration challenge. There were a couple of other people it could have been, but someone has to go first.

Week 2 was children’s week with a boy’s waistcoat, cotton dress + jersey t-shirt combo for the alteration, and made to measure 3D fancy dress costumes. I’ve not made any children’s clothes before but can see the logic of both schools of thought: smaller means less fabric to get tangled up with vs. Smaller means more fiddly and obvious if it’s not perfect.

We saw both of these extremes with the waistcoats. Poor Neela got in a real muddle with her welt pockets (not that I have a clue having never tried one before!) and several of the sewers not completing all the buttons and buttonholes. Again there were some great fabric choices to combine the wool fronts with silk linings – Ryan’s tartan and paisley combo particularly caught my eye.

For the alteration challenge this week the contestants were asked to make something combining the stretchy jersey of a t-shirt with the less flexible woven of a cotton dress. Lorna made a beautiful little dress with frilled sleeves and a bow at the neck, Deborah made a little bolero/shrug with a ruffled collar and front edge that May liked, but Neil won again with his boxing shorts and boxing gloves which Patrick thought were genius – or even ‘Knockout!’ as he punned!

The best challenge this week though was the made-to-measure with the brief to make a child’s fancy dress costume incorporating 3D elements. Wow! The sewers really stepped up to the mark with this one with a veritable zoo appearing in the sewing room. Deborah and Matt went head to head with peacocks with stand up tails, Ryan a fox hooded coat with ears and tail, Neil a mobile phone, Lorna’s blue-footed booby was brilliant, but the real star of the show was Paul’s elephant with flapping ears, a trunk tie, and pink tutu (obviously!). This won garment of the week, deservedly so, and it was lovely that everyone else was so pleased for him. 

Unfortunately this was not Alex’s week, she didn’t manage to finish her cupcake dress, and she’d struggled with her waistcoat, so sadly it was her turn to go. I really like Alex, I think her approach to sewing is great, but she's definitely a precise, perfectionist sewer so working under time pressure clearly didn't suit her. Reading her blog though shows that she's definitely capable of making some absolutely gorgeous clothes!

There we have it, two weeks and two sewers down, and next week is 1950s week! Vintage sewing machines and patterns, I can't wait to see what they come up with! 

In the real world, no sewing this week, been doing some knitting in the evenings but I'm working up to preparing a pattern and fabric to make a dress, I'll keep you posted!