Hemming a-go-go

I've finished my skirt for Kitschy Coo's sew-along, a little bit late, but I had the pleasure of this lovely little lady's company for the weekend, along with her parents and grandma, so I was a bit short on time.

Once I'd finished oohing and aahing over my lovely niece, I took your advice and kept the length to match my boots, and finished the hem with blind stitch. I've got a special blind stitch foot for my sewing machine, and it was delightfully easy to use. It took a bit of concentration, and I don't think I would attempt after a glass of wine, but I'll definitely use it for any other skirts I make, it looks really good.

I'm pretty amazed I've made a piece of clothing I'd actually *wear*. Mr pickledweasel was also impressed, and has decided this means I never have to buy any clothes ever again.

Apologies for the crappy photos - it was late, our bedroom's a mess, and mr pickledweasel is no Mario Testino. I look bizarrely lumpy, but I'm blaming mr pickledweasel's lens angle, rather than my svelte form. And the facing is peeking above the waistband because I haven't tacked it into place yet, naughty me.

I'm going to buy the Cal Patch book next payday, so hopefully I should be able to do any future sew-alongs properly, rather than some sort of market stall rip off version :) Although saying that, I am liking Sew U and am going to make the skirt again. Grown up clothes are exciting!

Scrapes, Skirts, and Stickers

The sneaky Derryth guessed the mystery object correctly, although she cheated because she'd read my Facebook status earlier in the week :) It is, in fact, part of my car. And it should go there, in that picture above, where that rusty bit is.

Only it fell off (along with a lot of paint) when I somehow drove very very close to a big stone pillar thing. The pillar thing is on a corner on my road, and every time I get in my car I have to drive past it. Only it was about 9pm, and I had the radio on loud, and there were lots of cars parked in awkward places on the corner, and I was tired, and I didn't hear the crunching noise until it was too late. Mr pickledweasel reckons it can be fixed quite easily, but that didn't stop me sobbing like a 2 year old.

I'm having a bit of a bad week really - right now I should be in the pub with some friends, but mr pickledweasel's family descends tomorrow for a long weekend, and as I'll be at work all day the cleaning / food shopping / meal planning / sleeping arrangements had to be finished by tonight. By about lunchtime it was very clear that this would not be happening, as I had drastically underestimated the dirt levels in my house. Everytime I moved anything to clean it I found more things to clean. Munchkin was her usual well-meaning helpful self, but learning how to open the box of dry cat food and adding the word 'why' to her vocabulary on the same day was not great timing.

I've still found time to finish my skirt though, in between dried-on weetabix removal and researching how to spray paint wheel arches. Although I've realised that the Sew U book is very different to the Design Your Own Clothes book. Mine is kind of like having someone hold your hand while you use a commercial pattern for the first time, and has more emphasis on style rather than fit. So all that's left is the hem, and here's where I need your help. Long? Short? Middling? I'm undecided. For reference I have provided two alternative footwear choices - a boot, and a sandly wedge which makes me look like I have fat legs. The skirt is kind of medium weight, so could be worn with tights and boots now, or fatbare-legged in the summer.

My original intention was to have bias binding as a finishing, but as things went on I decided this was a bit advanced. Instead I used the contrasting fabric as a facing and inside the pockets. I'm thinking of trying to do a blind stitched hem, as I have recently discovered a special blind stitch foot for my machine, but I might practice a bit first.

In terms of fit, it would appear I am a 'Large' in Wendy Mullin's world. I was secretly hoping it would turn out huge, and that I'd have to drop a couple of sizes, but it's not so, unless I'm missing the point and it's not supposed to sit so low on the hips. It is a bit big on the bum though, although I don't know how I'd rectify this. Any ideas?

And so to the stickers. As I seem to have spent the whole day cleaning, Munchkin has had to entertain herself quite a bit. She has one Peppa Pig magazine (purchased during a christmas shopping trip - a moment of weakness on mr pickledweasel's part) and it has a sheet of stickers with it. I went into the kitchen to do the washing up, returned about 15 minutes later to find her fully embellished:

Almost as creative as her 'Paint Your Own Mug' mother's day present, which survived its baking in the oven, much to my surprise :)

I've popped my cherry

At long last. I have sewn in a ZIP!!1! I did it all by myself, with the help of two books and a big cup of tea. And maybe some biscuits.

I don't know what I was so frightened of, it seems quite straightforward really. It's part of the skirt I'm making for Kitschy Coo's Sew-along, although I'm doing the poor relations version as I haven't got the book she's using. I've got Sew U instead, which I think is pretty much along the same lines.

It's all going ok so far, and I'm being a good girl and following the instructions properly and not cutting any corners. Although it started off quite badly when I read the size chart for the patterns in the book and discovered I come under 'Large'. I am a British size 10 / 12. That is not large. Had I been a size 14 I would have had to stick the book on eBay, because the patterns don't go up that 'big'. Quite frankly, I find that slightly ridiculous. Who made that decision? I checked out the author's off the peg range, and it would appear a similar fascism policy is applied, as clothes only go up to a 'Large' - is a 37" bust, 29.5" waist and 40" hips large? I think not.

Anyway, I'm beginning to rant, and that's not healthy on a Sunday night. So far I have cut out my pattern pieces, sewn my back seam and sewn in my zip. I'm doing pockets tomorrow, although I have to wait for the loan of grandma pickledweasel's bias binding tool maker thingy for that. The book has three basic patterns - skirt, shirt and trousers - and construction instructions for each, and then suggests some design variations. I'm making a slightly shorter skirt with patch pockets, which is finished with bias binding rather than facings.

I was able to get quite a bit done today as it's Mothering Sunday, and the lovely mr pickledweasel a) let me have a lie-in b) cooked a massive roast dinner while me and grandma pickled weasel and munchkin went to a farmer's market c) entertained munchkin in the afternoon so could get some sewing done. Munchkin gave me 'poft' (post), which was an envelope containing a little rhyme about mommy's, which she had lovingly decorated with Waybuloo stickers. She also bought me a paint-it-yourself mug which we had much fun decorating together. I shall provide you with photographic evidence of its artistic genius after I have baked it in the oven tomorrow :)

Faffy Folklore Bag

This is my second project from One Yard Wonders, and it's a birthday present for my brother's girlfriend. The fabric was from Ikea, and it was 99p a metre, like the stuff I used for the messenger bag. The print on it is huuuuge, and I wasted quite a lot of fabric because I wanted specific bits of the pattern for the front and back, and just plain cream for the bands at the top of the bag, but at 99p a metre I really don't care :)

(warning - this is a long faffy explanation. For the short version, skip down to the sentence marked *) Things were going fine until I came to join the top band to the lining - you sew the exterior panels together and attach a top band, and then you sew the lining panels together and attach a top band, and then sew them altogether with the straps sandwiched in between, if that makes sense. The lining pattern piece was slightly smaller than the exterior pattern piece, but you used the same top band pattern piece for inside and out. So when I came to join the lining to the top band, the band was too big. So I had to make it smaller. But then when I came to join the inside to the outside, the bands didn't match. So I had to put an ugly great pleat in the band on each side of the bag :( Pah!

I've since found out there are corrections to the pattern on the publisher's website. The pleats on the exterior have been widened, so that presumably when you sew them they make the inside and outside the same width. Although this would mean the top bands would still be too big, but at least you could make them smaller and then everything would be the same size. Confused? All you really need to know is:

*It went wrong but now I know how to fix it the next time I make it. And I will make it again, it's a lovely bag. I stuffed it full of organic chocolate and a cute purse I bought from Spunky, and posted it a couple of days ago, so the birthday girl should have it by now :) And I've posted my pics up on Finny and AfricanKelli's One Yard Wonders Sew Along group on Flickr - the bag is their project for Feb. Right, on to the next project! I have no idea what's wrong with me this month, I have been ridiculously productive...