It's not you, it's me....

Byeeee!

Good news - I have a pretty new netbook. Bad news - I don't think I want to blog any more.

While I was laptopless I thought at lot about why I blog, and whether it was worth continuing. I don't really feel like I'm contributing anything to the greater good by waffling on about what I'm sewing. I don't really have any technical insights to share, and I can't remember the last time I did a tutorial. I love being part of a crafty community, but I think I can do that without blogging. I love showing off what I've made, but I can do that via Flickr, or Pattern Review. I have limited spare time, and composing and editing blog posts doesn't come top of my priorities list, so I end up feel guilty that I haven't blogged, or guilty that I've spent 2 hours writing a post and taking pictures of it. This is not how it should be.

So this is my last post. It's been fun, and I've met some lovely people along the way. If you want to you can add me to your contacts in Flickr (just search for smallandfurry) or if you're really brave you can email me (pickledweasel at btopenworld.com) and we can facebook each other til it hurts :)

Lots of love,

Pickled Weasel and Munchkin x x x

I am still here, honest.

But my laptop isn't, it's at the laptop hospital being fixed. Although the man said it would take 4-5 days and it's been a week....
So here I am logged onto a public access PC at work. That's how much I love you :)

I have been sewing lots, because I haven't had the interwebs to suck away my time into a big etsy / facebook / pattern review / folksy / generally random searches on Google wormhole.

Munchkin now has two new skirts and a wrap-around top, cut down from a dress I made her a while ago but that she never wore because it looked a bit like a dressing gown. I mended a shirt of mr PW's that had a hole in it, turned one of my dresses into a top and sewed a whole host of buttons back on to various garments.

And I made munchkin a winter coat, cried because the armholes were ridiculously small, cut it up, cried again, went back to the drawing board and am now in the process of making her a button through dress from the redundant coat outer, and drafting a new bigger armholed version using the lining as a template. Sorry there are no pictures, you'll just have to imagine all this :)

Hopefully, I'll be back soon, but now I must leave you and return to my cuppa soup and the remaining 7 minutes of my work break. Laters!

Scandi Skirt

I've actually made a wearable piece of clothing for myself, which looking through my past posts I don't think I've done before, except maybe a neck warmer.

I made clothes for myself when I was doing my stuuuupid college course (I'm never going to mention it again, it was that stupid. I have a certificate saying I passed it but I never learnt how to sew a buttonhole. I may have mentioned this before...), but I wouldn't call them wearable :) For my final project I made an A-line under skirt with an apron over skirt, and this skirt was made using the pattern I drafted for the under skirt.


It's just a basic A-line block from Winifred Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear, and although I drew it up using my measurements in May last year I'm pleased it still fits around my post-Christmas podge :)

I look a little crazy - I can't tell if it's because of the recently blow-dried hair or the overuse of blusher...

The fit isn't perfect, as the darts could sit a little smoother at the back, but I think that's my sewing rather than the pattern. I did take a few photos of it without the cardi on, but blimey my middle has thickened over the last few months, so I'll not be sharing them with you. Because the waistline is quite low it sits on the widest part of my middle, and so definitely needs a long top over it or some sort of cardi to break it up. On the other hand it is remarkably comfy to wear :)



You might remember I made Munchkin a tunic using another version of the fabric, and this has been sitting in my stash waiting for my to gather up the courage to cut it since then. I lined it with some bog standard black polyestery type stuff, which was a bugger to sew but does the job. I've called it the Scandi skirt because the fabric makes me want to go to Stockholm and drink strong coffee and look at art :)


I'm very pleased with my zip skillz - inserted using the method that is in the Sew U book (sew side seam up to where zip will start, change stitch to long stitch and tack all way to waistline. Tape zip to wrong side of seam, topstitch using zipper foot, remove tape and tacking). I sewed the zip just into the outer fabric, and then I made the lining up separately. On the seam where the zip would be, I sewed up to where the zip would start then tacked the rest of the way up. I ironed the seam flat and unpicked the tacking. I then attached the lining to the skirt right sides together, flipped them, topstitched around the waist, and then carefully pinned the lining around the zip and re-topstitched where I had sewn the zip into the outer.


And I've found a brilliant new way to avoid failure when attempting new sewing projects - don't do blog posts announcing to the world what you're going to achieve over the next month / year / decade. Then if you don't finish them / they go horribly wrong / you never even start them, no-one will ever know! Success guaranteed :)



So all you're getting from me is the following statement:
I will be sewing things over the next 12 months. I will tell you about them when I have finished them :D

Nose Balloons: The Next Big Thing.

I swear, by March everyone will have them.
Normal balloons are just so 2010.
Even those long balloons that make a big weeeeeeeeee noise when you let them go, they're really last season. Munchkin knows it - just look at the disappointment on her face.

I've managed to get hold of a hot-off-the-press photo of the latest trend. The quality isn't great because Mr pickledweasel was laughing so much he couldn't hold the camera still it was at a top secret location, and they were taken using a hidden camera, they're that exclusive.

I know you're dying to get your hands on one, so I'll let you into a little secret. You can buy them online from net-a-porter, or if you're lucky enough you'll be diagnosed with glue ear (a condition so exclusive it's normally reserved for children under the age of 9), and you'll get them on prescription. Remember, you heard it here first!