Finito

I've only gone and done it!

One pencil skirt, completed, pressed, and worn twice. Maybe not 'sew useless' after all!

Wonderful Sophia the sewing goddess fixed my broken zip for me (see previous disaster post) and all was well. I only had to unpick the vent once, then hems galore.

Sort of pattern matched side seams (ish)

Ooh, cheeky little vent

Phwoar, look at those beautifully pressed darts. Hubba hubba.

Now to work on my blog photography skills. Eg not in the messy bedroom with half the fan in the picture. New blog name... 'Sew useless at photography also'?!

Sew Useless Strikes Again

I have a friend who is incredibly glamorous and classy and swears like a trooper. All a girl could want in a friend. But she does have one down side. Quite a big flaw. She makes her own clothes. And they're incredible. We're talking skirts, dresses, coats. The whole nine yards. Lined, piping, bias binding. The lot.

She's also one of those highly irritating people who are just way too nice. So she offered to help me make my very first item of clothing. Oh, if she had but known...!

I boldly handed her my 'Great British Sewing Bee' book (which mother acquired at a bargainous price), and told her I had decided upon a pencil skirt. Not the slightest concern to our lovely Sophia (the only person I know to own an overlocker), who merrily set about cutting pattern pieces whilst I did some shoddy ironing of my gorgeous fabric. On the plus side, apparently my ironing water smells divine!

I forgot to take progress pictures whilst caught up in the fever of watching her work. NB. she was also hungover, having attended a fancy dress party the previous evening in a silver space cadet dress of her own creation. I mean, she really takes the mick with her skills.

We cut and pressed and sewed and pressed some more - I sewed darts. Darts! Me! And they weren't all over the shop. Darts! Sophia overlocked, I pressed again. But alas I had wrongly bought a bog standard zipper foot instead of an invisible one. And a concealed zip that was two inches too short. The less said about that the better.

So we paused, with a cheery "you'll be fine to finish it by yourself" from Ms Oh So Super Talented.

Two weeks later, I have attempted to finish the job. Here is a photo of an IMMACULATELY sewn invisible zip. Yup. I did that. By myself. And it only took three attempts.

Unfortunately, this part seems to be integral to making the zip actually work. It does not, repeat NOT, help if you pull it right off the top of the zip when closing it.

So yeah, no pencil skirt for me! Nice fabric though. Now off to the haberdashery in town to see if they can fix my disaster so I don't have to attempt to unpick it all. Hurrah!

Sew... Three years on

It's only been three years, but back at last!

In that time I've got married, moved house, got two cats. And sewn next to nothing. But has that stopped me buying infinite reams of fabric and sewing books that I know full well I'll never use? You bet your ass it hasn't!

So what have I sewn in the last three years? Precisely two things. Apart from taking up some curtains - I don't think that really counts. Especially when you really shouldn't look too closely or you'll see how wonky they are. Seriously though, they're like when your mum trims your fringe and you end up looking like a monk from all the 'I'll just even it up'.

Sewing project number one...

A penguin bus pass holder.

 This is a cat helpfully sitting on the pieces.

Attempted to give it structure with some business cards. Then when to turn it right way out and realised, business cards... not so flexible. Also, can't ever wash it or they'll turn to mush. Sew Useless strikes again!

Finished version closed...

 

And open.

Sewing project number two...

A minion cushion as a thank you to a friend for looking after the kitties.

One nicely pinned eye

Front all pinned together (slightly wonky, shh)

Sewing with felt. In a machine. Yup, that was interesting. Even with a calico backing, not the easiest thing in the world. Straight lines have taken on a creative interpretation, but otherwise pretty pleased with the overall effect. Just don't look too closely.

Disclaimer: Do NOT zoom in on the stitching. And just pretend those loose threads aren't there.

Ta-dah! (Or something else that Minions say)



Just because...

And after saying I hadn't blogged for ages, how about another post straight after?  It never rains but it pours!

Found some pictures from Kingham that I thought I'd post too, just because they're pretty.  Kingham Lodge were hosting a sculpture exhibition as part of Oxfordshire Artweeks, so I dragged The Boy along.  It was really lovely, followed by cream tea, and a narrowly avoided dognapping!  I so desperately want a Welsh Springer Spaniel, but can't have one because we both work full time and it wouldn't be fair on the dog to be at home alone all day.  But the people who own Kingham Lodge have a beautiful brown Cocker Spaniel who was so gorgeous and kept following us begging to be stroked.  The words 'grab her and run' may have come out of my mouth, but The Boy talked me out of it!

Anyway, dognapping aside, here are the pics....

Bad Blogger

So that was what - 3 months? and I stopped blogging.  Poor form!  Excuses excuses but I was crazily busy with organising an enormous photoshoot for work and the blogging just got shoved to one side.  As did sewing.  So I am definitely still 'Sew Useless', just blog useless as well now!

To bring you back up to speed...very little sewing has taken place.  I've pieced all the four square rows for my Blue Lagoon quilt, but failed to take any pictures.  I've now got to piece the smaller rows and then I'll take and post some pics. 

I went to Malvern quilt show with Mum and spent rather a lot on fabric.  Although The Boy is convinced I found a surprising amount of bargains, and spent less than £100!  Hmm, probably just as well he doesn't know the price of cotton, or see my bank statements, or see my blog!  I bought some gorgeous fabrics though, had a small splurge at Fabrics Galore.  They had a lovely grey swallow bag which I'm going to attempt to recreate, so obviously had to buy that fabric.  And some stripy fabric that complements it oh so well that I can use for the handles!  They also had some beautiful elephant fabric which I'm going to turn into a cushion.  The Boy's already annoyed we've got so many, so one more can't hurt right?!  Got the backing fabric for my Blue Lagoon quilt there too, so that's almost all set.

Oh and I might have got carried away with some nauticals - no idea what for, but they're SO pretty!  Red and white stripes, navy base with cream anchors, and cream base with red anchors.  I'll find some use for them I'm sure!  And I might have got a quilt pack too, oops!  Now where on earth can I find some time to make them all?

So that's a sewing update.  The only thing I have managed to find time to do is bake.  A summer fruits cheesecake for The Boy, a red velvet layer cake for Mum's birthday, and some mini scones and Jubilee cupcakes.  I might also have found time for some Pimms and sunshine too! 

And with the beautiful weather we had (I guess that was all we're going to see of summer this year) my alliums finally flowered in the garden!  Picture below, because I'm so proud :)  And I had a fiddle on Instagram with a picture of the cow parsley that was growing out of the front lawn.

A few piccies of all that below, and I'll be back on the more regular blogging soon hopefully.   Although that said, I have got three more photoshoots to organise this year, so perhaps I shouldn't speak too soon!  I've got my first non-bank holiday day off since Christmas on Friday so very much looking forward to that.  A bit of National Trust (and fabric shopping!) with Mum, and perhaps I'll even get round to some sewing.xx

Bournemouth

The Boy has started training for two triathlons this summer and has been on desperate lookout for a road bike.  So I was rudely awakened on Saturday morning with "I've bought a bike on eBay so am going to Bournemouth to collect it"!  I managed to persuade him that it was such a beautiful day that we should go to the beach as well.  Apparently the thought hadn't occurred to him!!!

So here are a few pictures from our beautiful March beach trip.  Now I just need the weather to hold for my photoshoot in April!  Off to tackle the garden now, then going to bake some banana bread, and hopefully some time to carry on with my quilt.

Enjoy the sunshine!xx

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my fabulous Mummy!

We had a joint brother's birthday/Mother's day combo yesterday, so here are some very quick piccies below of the present I made for her.  One Kilner jar filled with fabric and ribbons, preserving disc removed and pincushion in the lid:

And now out for lunch with The Boy's Mum!