My Crafty Week: 17th-23rd May

This has been a very busy week on the home/work front, and therefore a very quiet week on the crafting front!

I've done a little mending, especially teddy Dandelion Flower who needed her back stitching up!

Close up of the back of a teddy with just-visible yellow thread stitching up the back seam

Alterations

One of the things I always had in mind when I started sewing was not just making my own clothes but also adjusting shop-bought clothes for a better fit. I started looking at a few tops and dresses this week to see where I could adjust them. I started work on a flowy summer top that I've had for a while but always felt uncomfortable because there wasn't quite enough fabric in the sleeves which twisted the way the top sat on my body. I chopped the sleeves off, which helped a lot, but there's also the issue of the bust not doing up.

A blue and white top, inside out, lying on an ironing board with a pair of scissors on top

A blue, white and red patterned top lying on an ironing board. The sleeves have been cut off and there is a raw edge around the arm-holes

Katharine stands looking down into the camera pulling an annoyed face. We see that the fabric around the buttons of her top are gaping open revealing her bra

I got some great advice on Instagram, including a suggestion from SewBusty who have started a blog for the sewer who is well-endowed! Removing the elastic from the gathered part has really helped, I only need to find another inch to make it do up really well. I might simply need to undo some more of the gathers from the bodice portion to find that extra material.

Katharine looks into the camera. We see that the bust-gape on the top has improved since the previous picture

Crafty Chatting

I also participated in a crafty tea-break at work, chatting all things crafty with some colleagues. I love chatting to other crafters about their projects and sharing new ideas! During this tea-break I progressed the embroidery on one of my Jacobin Day quilt blocks... but as you know that's very hush-hush!

Shopping

I may also have bought myself a new pattern (the Loren dress/blouse from By Hand London) which has a lovely peasant vibe which I thought would be great for history-bounding. It has that shift or chemise feel which would go well under a dirndl type dress for a medieval/Tudor look!

I also thought I would try a pattern-printing service using the copy-shop A0 files that shops supply in their downloads. I used Fabulosew and I've heard that they've already dispatched the print outs! I'll update in the next My Crafty Week :)

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Eco-friendly Upcycled Face Wipes

I recently ran up some eco-friendly face wipes for a friend. These are designed to replace cotton pads or face wipes, and are washable. To increase their green credentials I made the pad section from an old towel. I had some charm squares spare, so used those as the backing fabric. I cut the towel into squares that were slightly smaller than the charm square, and wrapped the fabric over the towel piece to form a small border. I then sewed the top fabric down with a zigzag stitch. This meant I was mainly sewing on the fabric, as my machine can't sew through towel (unless I haven't found the right setting or needle of course)! Very very simple, but pretty and functional! There are lots of tutorials for other ways to make these face wipes, such as: https://www.arosetintedworld.co.uk/how-to-make-reusable-make-up-remover-pads/ It seems to be even more simple with an overlocker: http://juliawithanh.com/sewing/23-reusable-face-pads You can even crochet some! https://dab...

Dressmaking Mishaps

Today I thought I would share some of the very basic mistakes I've realised I'm making when I sew clothes... I'm entirely self-taught and working things out as I go along, so there are lots of 'oops' moments. That's fine - learning to sew is helping me to confront my perfectionism and understand how valuable errors can be. Mishap Number 1 : This is so obvious that I'm cringing to think about it!! I'm not the most 3D thinker which means sometimes it's hard to visualise how patterns go together. I understand that sewing patterns are all about getting a flat cut out piece of fabric to shape and mould around a lumpy curvy human figure, but that theoretical understanding doesn't always translate to understanding why a pattern is doing something specific. So I was making an Assembly Line Cuff Dress and trying to sew up the bodice and I was struggling to get the pattern pieces to match up in a way that felt 'right' to me, that is, I had the id...

Sewing the Tessuti Apron

I've wanted to sew an apron for a while and came across the free Tessuti Apron pattern here . It was exactly what I was looking for, a cross-back apron with a square neckline. I decided to make it using this gorgeous pear print cotton twill fabric that I found at my favourite online fabric shop, DIY or Dye . I did look up whether the Tessuti Apron pattern would be suitable for a larger body like mine - it comes in a 'one-size-fits-all' pattern which is never really true. I did find fatter sewists saying they needed to adjust the pattern to lengthen the straps and widen the skirt section. I decided to make it as it came as I had a friend in mind who I could gift it to if it didn't fit me well. Above: Attaching the pocket Above: needle break! The folded layers of pocket in the heavy fabric were too much for a normal needle. I switched to a denim needle for the rest of the project. Above: halfway point. I still had the neckline to face and hem, and the straps to hem. Below...

Confined Crafting

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