Sew, incidentally...

Will This Class End My Trouser Fitting Woes...?

2012-02-15T19:04:00.001Z

Ahhh, trousers, I've not really re-visited the pair I started for Sunni's sewalong this time last year. And it's been bugging me every since :(

I did go on the pattern making course I mentioned last year (in fact I took 2 short courses on the subject - but that's a topic for another post/s), and I did draft a trouser block/sloper based on my own measurements. But (should that be butt?), I never cut and sewed them up - therefore I never got to check the fit (my bad I know!).

Pics from last year's trouser muslin:

So, now I want me some properly fitting trews! So, I've sent the Princely sum of £48 (approx. $75.30 USD) to attend The Perfect Trouser short course run by Morley College (yup - the same place where Melissa recently attended her course on the Pattern Magic 2 book, and where Karen went to make her fab dress).

Course Description:

" The Perfect Trouser
   • Course Code VFC083A
   •  Saturday 28^th - Sunday 29^th April 2012 - 2 sessions
   • Times 10:00 - 16:00

If you find it difficult to achieve a successful fit when making trousers, this practical course is for you. The principles of what constitutes a good fit and how to achieve it will be discussed and demonstrated. Not suitable for beginners.

Every body shape is different and a pair of trousers that fit well is difficult to find for some people. Commercial patterns are for an ‘average’ shape and even patterns you may have made for yourself do not necessarily give you that perfect fit.

This practical course is for clothes makers and pattern cutters who find a successful fit difficult to achieve. It will allow you to explore fitting techniques and methods in a creative and supportive environment. The principles and skills learned can be transferred to other garments in general so will have a beneficial impact on all your clothes making or pattern cutting.

Previous experience in clothes making or pattern cutting is essential.

    What will I learn on the course?
    You will learn:
   •   to make a toile for a basic fitted trouser
   •   to apply appropriate techniques and methods to create a good fit
   • to adapt a pattern accordingly
                                                   "

           [All text above taken from the course brochure found here]

The course runs over a weekend from 10am-4pm on both days - so perfect, I don't have to rush anywhere after a long working day.

According to the course brochure I'll need to purchase my own copy of McCalls Pattern 5239 in my hip size.

Image Source: McCALLS (Pattern 5239)

5239 is a Palmer/Pletsch pattern - and they are known for their great fitting advice and these great steps/tips are shared in their pattern instructions.

There are a number of favourable reviews for this pants pattern on PatternReview.com. It's not a style I'd usually go for when pattern shopping (or in ready to wear clothing) as I'm usually a low-rise fit kinda girl - and this pattern is cut to fit the waistband on your natural waistline. However, I sincerely do hope; that buy attending this short course and getting to [fingers-crossed!] sort myself out with a well fitting pattern, I can the move forward with other styles and have fewer woes!

So What Do These Singer Things Do Then...?

2012-02-12T22:45:00.000Z

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I've been shopping again (yeah I know Quelle surprise!). 2 weeks ago I bought this mixed lot of mysterious Singer 99 sewing machine accessories. The final winning bid price of £6.19 including the P&P ($9.77 USD approx.) was too good to resist, besides it was after work I was tired and sometimes you just need a teenie-tiny retail fix - youknowhatImean?

I knew what a couple of the items were from the listing photo (the seam guide, binder foot, thumbscrew and the roller hem foot). And I could tell that they are all low-shank attachments (apart from the seam guide and thumbscrew - which are generic in terms of high/low shank machine fitting). Luckily, I have a Low-Shank to High Adaptor to use with them :)

But, there were 3 weird-to-me contraptions that had me flummoxed! So, here's where the internet and my trusty collection of books came in handy!

I had a quick whizz around the web to check on UK prices for brand-new versions of my 3 "weird" attachments (or even ones in great vintage condition) it seems they're EACH going for around £8 to £16 ($12.50-$25 USD) in the UK, and some in the US are selling for $25-$30 each (eekk! that's £15.80-£19 GBP approx.). So, for £6.19 I've got 5 different feet for a fraction under £1.24/$1.95USD each (that's not counting the 2 extra bits: the seam guide and thumbscrew)... can anybody say B-A-R-G-A-I-N!!

2 of the 3 mystery attachments had part numbers stamped onto them (apparently Singer parts often have the word Simanco on them along with the part number too). I was able to search for them on the web, and to learn a little about how to use them too. Their real names were: 35931 - Adjustable Hemmer, 36583 - Tucker / Tuck Maker, and Ruffler (though oddly enough it seems rufflers didn't get a part number allocated to them - and there's in fact several different styles of them out there, which confused me a wee bit!).

I then looked up the names of my new attachments in my 2 sewing machine attachment books: The Sewing Machine Accessory Bible by Wendy Gardiner and Lorna Knight and Sewing Machine Attachment Handbook by Charlene Phillips.

I find the later book by Charlene has better diagrams and explains the different working parts of the attachments better, and it's got a better coverage of those more vintage style presser feet you'll come across. The former book by Wendy and Lorna seems to cover more about modern-day feet - although there is definitely cross over between the two books, I am glad I have both as they both bring something different to the sewing-table so to speak :) I've not read either of them cover-to-cover, I think I'll always just dip into them when I'm trying to figure out how to get a new presser foot to co-operate with me!

Unfortunately, the 'Tuck Maker' is missing it's 'Tuck Guide Adjusting Screw'. I only knew what part it was called because Charlene's book has handy diagrams which label and describe the different parts 'n' do-dads of the various attachments.

I did get very industrious and cut out a bunch of calico scraps ready to try out the 'Ruffler' on different settings (and I was trying to follow the instructions in Charlene's book) sadly it doesn't seem to work (poo!). I guess it could need oiling, as they are pretty rusty. And, that's something else I need to check out - how to clean rust off of vintage attachments without ruing them!

I did come across this nifty YouTube video demonstrating a Ruffler in action though:

And these 3 websites had great pictures / descriptions for my vintage attachments (and other parts too). Links:
http://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/simanco_accessories/
http://www.singer-featherweight.com/siteone%20pages/histor_accessories.html
http://www.april1930s.com/html/machine_attachments.html

Well... If It Was That Good, Let's Do It Again - In Walthamstow!

2012-02-06T19:00:00.002Z

Okay, so last Saturday was just too much fun not to do it all again, and soon ;)!

Where we ARE going :) !

So, who's up for another meet-up, swap 'n' shop - this time in Walthamstow, London? The last one I went to there (back in Feb '11) was organised by Karen and it was an amazing time.

I propose we meet up on Saturday 7th April 2012 at Walthamstow Central Station - we can go and have something to eat/drink straight away, swap our little hearts out and then go hit the market stalls and shops!

NB: The UK Easter Bank-Holiday weekend this year is Friday 6th (Good Friday), and Monday 9th April (Easter Monday).

Whatdoyousay? How can you possibly NOT join in (hehe!)?

                   Place: Walthamstow Central Station (in the ticket hall inside)
               Date: Saturday 7th April 2012
             Time: Meet-up from 11.15am till 11.45am
               Swap-a-thon + Lunch: 12pm - 2.00/2.30pm
               Market/Shopping: 2.30pm onwards!
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We'll meet up from 11.15am at the ticket hall inside of the station. Then, we'll aim to walk to a cafe/bar (venue as yet to be announced) to start eating an early lunch at roughly 12pm (it won't take too long to walk there I promise!). There, we'll swap, de-stash, chat, eat lunch and make merry until 2.00-2.30pm. Afterwards there'll be plenty of time to visit the lovely bargain-a-cious market stalls and shops.

      Wanna join in the fun?...
   If you fancy coming along to this meet-up please email me at:
   sew[dot]incidentally[at]yahoo[dot]com
   (please mention Walthamstow Meet-Up in the email subject line).
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Maps and mobile phone numbers for contacts on the day itself will be emailed to attendees nearer the time once a list of names has been confirmed.

Ahh... It Was Brisk and Beautiful In Brighton!

2012-02-05T23:36:00.006Z

Last time we met up in Brighton was June 2011 last year. And, whilst the weather was icy this time around - the atmosphere was still a roasting hot success!

The Swap-ettes!

Left to Right: My floral trolley, Kathryn, Stevie, Laura, Shivani, Julia, Ally, Rehanon, Zoe,
Alana, Santie, Leah (non-blogger), Camilla (non-blogger) and Laura

For this meet up Zoe and I thought we'd switch things around. The last Brighton meet-up had started off with a trip round the shops, and finished off with food and swapping. This time we all met up at the station for 11.30am (where I handed out the homemade cakes), we then warmed ourselves up with a brisk walk to All-Bar-One where we ran cheeky-chappie John off of his feet fetching our food 'n' drinks. We then had several fun-filled hours swapping our sewing treasures.

My own trip down from London did not get off to a good start - the 9.27am train from London Bridge was delayed from departure for 25mins because our driver "Paul" could not be found (I kid you not!). They made 3 announcements over the tanoy to apologise for the wait, and saying they were awaiting the arrival of the driver - and final announcement sounded like they were mightily p*ssed off as they asked "Would the Paul *****, the driver of the 9.27 train to Brighton please make himself known to the station staff" (or words to that effect), I mean - naming the guy's full name is clearly sending a message that he's been a bad boy, and to get his arse into gear wherever he was hiding!

Anyway, I'd planned on getting the 9.27am train as it would get me to Brighton at 10.48am (a good 42mins earlier than the planned 11.30am meet up time). So, all in all I was there on time (phew!).

I'd brought quite a lot of stuff with me to swap (I had 2 trolley's worth at home, but could only manage 1 on the day - so a good excuse to hold another swap soon methinks ;) LOL!). I brought lots of knit fabric, some ribbons, trims, buttons, loads of magazines - plus scissors and a fold-out 2metre ruler to help cutting up stuff!

I wasn't the only one with a trolley on the day Laura (there were 2 Lauras at the meet) had a fab leopard print one with her - packed full of goodies too.

Zoe had made these really cute little fabric bags with zippers and a set of buttons from her own stash inside (plus some black piping from moi) - so everyone had a sweet little gift to start of the proceedings!

Everyone then took turns to swap their stuff - Alana got my pile of magazines some complete with enveloped patterns. Stevie got one of my knit fabrics, as did Kathryn. There were knitting patterns, and quilting blocks and curtains, and duvets and all sorts being swapped :)

Bits I received in the swap-a-thon were a Burda Magazine (09/2007 issue) and some fab drapey polyester blend fabric in a toffee/fudge polka dot print - both from Shivani. A wool(?) tartan/check/plaid fabric in blue and off-white from Santie, and a vintage dress pattern 4429 by Simplicity (which forgive me here - I can't remember if it was from Julia, Laura, or Kathryn?). Afterwards we visited only 1 shop - the fab Ditto Fabrics. I bought only 2 things (as opposed to the vast haul of last summer): 4 metres of 150cm polyester dark navy blue Ponteroma knit - which I intend to make a cardigan from in the style of the cream one (top centre of the front cover of the Cal Patch book), and the 2nd piece of fabric is 4 metres of 100cm wide bright, deep pink 100% cotton - which will be a second go at the Scout Woven Tee (once I finish the 1st one successfully). I'm dead chuffed with my haul - and I hope everyone who got a piece of my old gear is happy with their acquisitions too :)

My haul from yesterday in Brighton!

Handmade Jane couldn't make the meet-up but she sweetly sent some things along to Zoe in the post for the swap (and Zoe posted her some bits in return too) - thanks Jane!

After Ditto, some of us headed home - and a few of us hung out at the 'Wai Kika Moo Kau' cafe with Chi-Chi (the crochet manikin made by Pat) and we were joined by Chi-Chi's creator himself, aka the groom to be for coffee and veggie/vegan cakes.

Then it was time to make our farewells at the station. Alana, Kathryn and I caught the 18.07 back to London Bridge. I had fun on the train chatting to them about sewing stuff - I'm sure the other passengers thought we were bonkers, as our seats were strewn across different sections, so we were talking across the aisle. Also, as I'd forgotten about the bag of breakfast stuff I'd had from Burger King that morning - I managed to spill the dregs of the cold coffee cup all over my lovely new acquisitions when I popped my trolley up onto the overhead rack :( It was fun trying not to spill drops of coffee onto my fellow passengers whilst try to keep my balance on the train as I wiped the mess up LOL! Luckily I was able to rescue the vintage pattern. But, but the fabric got wet (even the new Ditto stuff in it's carrier bag) - along with my brand new Sew Today magazine I'd bought at the station in the morning - and when I got home the pages were tearing part when I tried to separate them *sighs*. As soon as I got in the door I put all the fabric into the washing machine, and what with the central heating being on it's now all dry and clean (hurray!).

Thank you so much for the fantastic day yesterday Ladies - I had so much fun, I wish I could do that every weekend now (regardless of how cold it gets LOL!). It really is the people that make it such a great time - and you all looked like you really enjoyed yourselves (I know I certainly did!) :)

Baked Goods in Brighton...

2012-02-04T11:30:00.016Z

Well peeps it's 11.30am, and if you're not with Zoe and me in Brighton right *now - then you're sadly missing out on this box of home-baked goodness made by yours truly! See I said yesterday that we'd be having fun - icy weather shall not hinder us in the quest for sewing fun 'n' swapping :)

Marvellous muffins - double choc-chip and vanilla with icing 'n' sprinkles... what's not to love?!

Another note to self!!! I must, must, must fish out my photos and notes from the last fab meet-up that happened back in November '11 at Goldhawk Road in London - as organised by the lovely Stevie of Beebee'sVintageDress as it was another amazing day out too, and it so needs to be recorded here on my blog for my later reference and happy nostalgic recollections.

*Ahhh the magic of automatically scheduling your blog posts eh ;)?

Close But No Cigar...

2012-02-03T23:52:00.000Z

[Inside-out on the hanger]

Darts sewn, collar drafted and made, sleeves cut - so nearly there!

Pah! I don't smoke anyway!!

Well I had hoped to get my Scout Woven Tee finished in time so I can wear it with pride tomorrow at the The Brighton De-Stash Meet-Up!. I've been working on it every night after work this week.

However, "best laid plans" 'n' all that happened. I spent 2 hours earlier this week re-threading the overlocker several times over with the navy thread (I now no longer need to follow the diagrams in the manual to do this - perhaps it's a hidden bonus LOL?!).

Loose stitches from my overlocker - boo!

No matter how carefully I tweaked the tensions the needle threads always seemed to produce a weak seam - although when I used the different coloured threads (blue, green, red and yellow) on the exact same original settings that worked so well in my little sample-swatches I got what I considered a perfect result (for me anyway!). I need to spend more time with my books to investigate the problem. At one point I had the tension dials on both needles full dialled up to the max and it made not one jot of difference to the seam finish *sighs*. (Hmmmm... it's my birthday next month maybe I need a new machine - nope, best try a bit more before I give up the ghost on this one!).

In the end I got it slightly better and went with that to finish the seams - basically I straight stitched them first, and used the overlocker to neaten the inside edges. I'm not confident enough yet to use the overlocker straight-off to sew a garment together without using my "normal" Novum sewing machine to do the initial construction first off. Because I knew that the seams actual strength came from the original straight stitching, I was happy to know it wouldn't fall apart on me when I eventually get to wear it (which might of happened had I constructed it solely on the overlocker). I even used up 2 sets of full bobbins worth of thread just fiddling around with fabric scraps trying to get the overlocker to cooperate with me - running out on a bobbin half way when stitching is no fun - and requires re-threading (yuk!). However, I did remember to watch the bobbins the next time one got very light on thread - and I got to try out the re-threading method where you tie the new thread onto the end of the old one and that worked fab (so another small victory in the face of adversity haha).

I am however, super pleased with the Peter Pan collar I drafted myself - from the course notes I took from my Pattern Cutting course I attended last Autumn '11 with the London College of Fashion! (You can see it on the table in the top photo.) I made separate top and under collar pattern pieces, I shortened the leaf edge at the shoulder seam overlap etc. etc. and I even interfaced it with calico - as a sewn in interfacing. The outer edge (leaf) of the top collar pressed and rolled under beautifully, so you don't see the seam or stitches along that edge - I was soooo chuffed :).

However, somehow the seam line of the neck edge on the collar piece is nearly 2" longer than the seam line on the neckline of the top - huh!?*! I used my special Japanese measuring tool to check the length on the sewn fabric pieces. No wonder when I went to pin the collar onto the neckline I had a tonne of ease I could distribute smoothly - poo! :(

I think I can save it though! Because I used a 1.5cm (⁵/₈") seam allowance when I drafted my collar pieces - it gives me room to play. Whereas on the pattern for the top they have a 6mm (¼") - because they don't expect you to add a collar but instead you're instructed to bind the inside with a strip of bias cut fashion fabric. Therefore, if (without cutting the collar fabric down) I reduce/or shift the seam allowance towards the fabric edge - thereby halving the existing allowance I should reduce the length of the resulting curve and therefore reduce the excess ease - and make my life much easier when I come to stitch it in. Also - note to self, next time make the neckline seam allowance on bodice front and back pieces 1.5cm too - to make matching it to the collar easier, then trim back after facing or binding has been stitched on.

P.S. If you're coming to Brighton tomorrow yippee! Zoe and I can't wait to enjoy the swapping-sewy fun with you guys!!

Random Happy Things!

2012-01-31T21:42:00.000Z

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Seems the postie everywhere is delivering happy little bundles of sewing joy! And, lucky me I'm included :)

Pleasant postal packages...
My own copy of Tasia's Renfrew Knit Top Pattern arrived today - I'm on her mailing list, so I took full advantage of her free shipping option for pre-ordered (hehe). The free shipping deal has ended now, but the tops are now in stock at her Sewaholic.net pattern store.

I also ordered some needles from here (which arrived last week): GoneSewing.com – Ballpoint needles as I realised all I had were Universal ones at home LOL :)! I wanna be prepared – already have a lovely range of washed and ready knits just crying out to be made into Tee’s plain black, white, dusky pink, dusty blue, and a navy/white stripe.

Another postal delivery today was this cute set of cookie/biscuit cutters... in wait for it.... sewing shapes! Yes, I can now EAT sewing too ;) There's a sewing machine (looks kinda of like a vintage singer in shape), a thimble, a thread spool, and some scissors - too cute to resist I had to buy them.

I'm over, the overlocker blues...
And, in other news I FINALLY managed to sort out my overlocker. If you recall I went on a beginner's class in August '11 with the delightful Karen of DidYouMakeThat?. We had a fab time learning on our own machines that we'd dragged along with us - but my Delta Overlocker refused to co-operate. At the time the differential feed adjustment knob refused to budge. Well now it's working and all is right once again. Some sewing machine oil, a little patience and a strong grip on the pliers can work wonders dontchaknow ;)

I threaded-up my overlocker this morning before work, and tested her out this evening

I plan to overlock the insides of my Scout Woven Tee (a downloadable pattern I bought from the grainlinestudio.com). So, I've run a few test swatches on the scraps leftover from cutting the fabric for my top. I used different coloured thread - to match the dials on my machine, and make my life as a v .v. v beginner at overlocking easier. The coloured thread meant I could see exactly which thread tensions to adjust! So, I've labelled my swatches to keep for reference - so I don't forget LOL.

My successful test swatches, carefully labelled for filing and future reference!

Now, I'm off to fill up some bobbins with dark navy thread (to match my top) and spend another 15mins re-threading the overlocker ready to sew... wish me luck!

Sewing Spaces... Drawers for Drawing, Wheels for Wheeling! (Part 2)

2012-01-28T23:01:00.000Z

Following on from my last post... here's my tutorial explaining how I joined the 5^th + 6^th drawers on my together on my IKEA: ALEX Drawer Unit.

Why would I want to mess around with my furniture? Well to quote my post from yesterday...

"I wanted a place to neatly store projects in-progress, i.e. cut-out fabric for half-finished garments etc. . And, even though the bottom drawers are slightly deeper than the top-3, I needed more space than they were able to give as provided. So, seeing as this unit is flat-pack assemble it yourself stuff I simply choose to omit the hardboard base/bottom from the 5^th-drawer down."

How did I achieve this? Ahhh easy peasy! All it takes is some mending plates, and some woodscrews to create a single deeper drawer - perfect for me to store my current projects in progress. Plus, it was very simple and cheap to do - and no special skills required!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How to Join 2-Drawers Together...

If you fancy making a similar mod to some flat-pack drawers here's how I did it.

Tools/Equipment:	Supplies/Materials:
• Pencil • Bradawal • Tape Rule / Ruler • Crosshead Screwdriver Optional: • Hammer (to assist with bradawling) • Drill • Drill Bit, 2mm / ⁵/₆₄") (optional to pilot holes on drawer fronts)	• 12x of 6g, ½" countersunk wood screws (crosshead/ pozi-drive) • 6 flat, metal mending plates 75mm (approx. 3") or longer

TIPS:
(1) Make sure that your screws are not too long to go through and out of the other side of the drawer-sides! My IKEA drawers-sides are 12mm thick (a smidgen under ½") so my *½" screws + the thickness of the metal on the mending plates means the screws will "just" be this-side of okay.

(2) Use crosshead woodscrews - not slot-headed ones. The crosshead screws (some will be labelled pozi-drive on the packaging too), are much easier to screw in than slot-headed screws, which have a tendency to allow the screwdriver to slip out suddenly.

(3) Check the distance the mending plate needs to reach to bridge the gap between the 2 drawers you're joining together - so you buy the right size. You don't have to buy the straight-line style I used, if a different shape (they sell T, and L's for different purposes too) is long enough to do the job then go for it! The plates I've used are 75mm long (3" approx.).

(4) Position the mending plates carefully so that the holes are NOT aligned with any metal runners, or other hardware. You don't want to interfere with the smooth action of the drawers and make them warped or get stuck suddenly and jam.

(5) Just screw each plate once at each end. You don't need to screw every single hole on the mending plate, one at end end to attach it to each drawer is plenty!

(6) Use the correct side of the mending plate. Once side has a flat edge to the holes, the other is almost cone-shaped. It's the cone-shaped side of the holes that need to be visible - they fit very snugly with the countersunk screws to make a proper fit.

(7) If you're working on drawers with hardwood sides then you'll need to use the drill to pilot very small, shallow and narrow holes after you've marked the holes that the screws go into. Hardwood is just too tough to screw into without piloting first! Note, that this piece of IKEA furniture is made from particleboard aka chipboard, and for a very short ½" length woodscrew it's quite straightforward to screw in successfully by hand without the need for piloting/drilling beforehand.

(8) [OPTIONAL] Use silicone spray on the metal runners - BEFORE you attach them to the drawer sides. Once the drawers are in place it'll be very hard to access them easily to spray. The spray will help oil-up the drawers so they run more smoothly for you. Have some tissues, or kitchen paper handy to wipe up any excess/spillages. Silicone spray is clear, and colourless so it should not stain or discolour your drawers (it certainly has done so on mine!).

(9) [OPTIONAL] Apply self-adhesive door buffers to the back of the drawers - to ensure that when you shut the drawers you don't get any bumps, or banging noises.

STEPS
[Applicable for the IKEA ALEX Drawer Unit.]
(1) Make-up and assemble lower drawer as per instructions.
(2) Assemble upper drawer, and leave out the base/bottom (you can always label it, and store it safely should you ever want to change the drawers back to normal).
(3) Insert drawers into unit, and bolt into place (see steps 15,16,17 of the IKEA assembly instruction PDF). Don't over tighten the bolts at this stage - you WILL need to loosen them later on.

IKEA ALEX Drawer Unit - assembly steps 15, 16 and 17

At IKEA

(4) Pull out the lower drawer only. On the inside of the lower drawer - use your pencil to mark the centre position of the mending plate hole. Do this for all 6 mending plates. You want to position the plates along the drawer-front, near to the front (1 each side: left and right), and the same along the back.

NOTE: Do not position the plates right into the corners - you simply won't have enough room to hold and use your screwdriver, and you'll just make the work harder for yourself. If you do get the plates to close to the corners it restricts your hand movements, and the screws will more likely than go in at an angle. Wonky screws are not as effective, or as strong as correctly inserted ones LOL!

(5) Use the bradawl to make a small indent into all of your pencil marks on the lower drawer. Hold the draw steady with one hand, and use the other to press the bradawl carefully, and firmly into the sides of the drawer. (If you find it tricky to make the dent use a hammer to lightly, but firmly tap on the end of the bradawl - you may want to ask a friend to help hold the drawer steady whilst you hammer-away!)

The indent is there to help the pointed-tip of the screw find the right starting spot! This stops the screw from sliding around and out of position.

You may find that you need to undo or loosen the retaining bolts that attach the drawer-sides to the metal runners. This will allow you to bring the drawer further forward in order to reach the back-wall of the drawer. Remember to re-insert the bolts after Step 6!

(6) Screw the bottom hole of the mending plates onto all 6 places on the lower drawer. Don't worry about keeping them upright - just screw in the bottom hole, and then turn the plate down towards the bottom of the drawer (this means you can slide the upper-drawer out easily without hitting the half-attached plates!).

(7) Now, make sure both the upper, and lower drawers are pulled out together. You want them pulled out as far as they will go. The metal runners will stop them falling off of the end, and they'll both stop together at the same point - nice and level.

(8) Tilt the mending plates back up into position so that they overlap the insides of the upper drawer. Mark the centre of the top hole on the plates.

(9) Tilt the plates back down, and slide the lower drawer back into the unit. Working on just the upper drawer, bradawl the marks for the screw-holes. (Again, you may want to loosen those retaining bolts on the sides of the drawers connecting to the metal runners, just for the bradawling part - but, remember to put them back when you've finished this step!)

(10) Pull the lower drawer out again so that both drawers are out as far as they can go. Tilt the plates back into position and screw them in firmly.

Your all done!!

OPTIONAL: Use pieces of hardboard cut to size to fill in the gaps along the inside drawer-sides, and back (cut them, so that they cover the full height top-bottom). I don't think this is vital for me personally, as I don't think anything will drop in between the gaps. Similarly, the gap at the front of the unit between the drawers is minimal - so it doesn't worry me.

If you feel otherwise, then you could cut down some hardboard (slice with craft knife and a metal ruler - take care!) and stick it onto the inside with double-sided tape... it'd make it easier to convert back to 2-drawers later on should you ever change your mind rather than gluing/nailing/screwing it in. You may even decide to attach the hardboard first, and then attach your metal plates over the top - however, it'll be harder work to screw through the extra layer!

WARNING:

You need to be very CAREFUL when screwing the plates along the inside of the drawer-fronts
because a) it'll show through anything other than a small horizontal gap between the 2-drawer
and that'd be visible/ugly, and b) if you get your screws too long, or you screw through too
deeply then the tip of the screw will break through and ruin the surface (ask me how I know
this from past experiences :( !)

*It's funny screws are more often than not sold in the UK according to their length in inches, not in metric/mm. And, yet the gauge, or thickness/diameter is given in terms of a "g" (gauge) measurement. The length whether the screw is countersunk style, or say pan head refers only the the length of the screw that becomes fully inserted into the wood - and NOT to the length from end-end of the screw itself. If you're very geeky (like me LOL!) you can read more about screw sizes here, here, and here.

Sewing Spaces... Drawers for Drawing, Wheels for Wheeling! (Part 1)

2012-01-27T00:44:00.006Z

I'm still slogging away at the sewing room peops!

A few weeks ago we bought an IKEA: ALEX Drawer Unit. The unit is sized at: 67cm wide, 48cm deep and 66cm high including the height of the castors (W: 26³/₈" / D: 18⁷/₈" / H: 26 "). It has 6 drawers - the top 3 are a tiny bit shallower than the bottom 3.

Image Source: IKEA

(ALEX Drawer Unit on Castors, Article Number : 401.962.41, £81.99)

I picked the unit because it fits perfectly with my 150cm x 75cm cutting table. My cutting table is wall mounted to my chimney breast on some clever sprung-loaded hinges (Note to self: I must do a separate post on how I built it soon!). So, the drawer-unit can be wheeled underneath very easily when the table is up 'n' out for use. And, when the table goes down flat it sits in front nicely and takes up very little floor-space in the sewing room.

Having such big flat drawers is ideal for the job I had in mind for this new bit of kit... a place for my pattern drafting supplies!

Inside of my finished and filled drawers
(the bottom drawer - not shown, will
hold my current projects in-progress).

Modifications...

(1) NEW Grey rubber castors + breaks

IKEA provide you with 4 black plastic castors as standard.

      I felt that the hard plastic was pretty likely over time to scratch-up the lovely new
      laminate flooring that Hubby and I had carefully installed over Summer. So, I replaced them
      with these grey rubber castors which I got from eBay for under £5 including postage!

Left: Original IKEA castors, Right: New rubber castors with brakes

The softer rubber is a) quieter and makes less noise, plus b) by having break-pedals on the front 2 castors I can lock the unit in place (so no wobbling, or sliding off at the slightest knock). Handily, the pre-drilled holes that IKEA put onto the base of the unit exactly matched my new castors - so no extra drilling was needed (yay!).

(2) Reduced number of drawers from 6, down to 5

This sounds an odd one doesn't it? But, bear with me please! I wanted a place to neatly
      store projects in-progress, i.e. cut-out fabric for half-finished garments etc. . And, even
      though the bottom drawers are slightly deeper than the top-3, I needed more space than
      they were able to give as provided. So, seeing as this unit is flat-pack assemble it yourself
      stuff I simply choose to omit the hardboard base/bottom from the 5^th-drawer down.

Can you see how on the upper (5^th) drawer
I've not used the hardboard base?

And, I joined the 5^th + 6^th drawers together using mending plates, and some woodscrews - very easy and cheap to do.

Here's what is looks like in situ!

Left: Cutting table up 'n' out ready to use, Right: Cutting table down, and away

I added labels to each drawer-front - including the bottom 2-drawers 'cos it would've looked odd to miss the 5^th one out LOL! I printed them at home on paper, trimmed then laminated them (with a small clear border all around to stop peeling). I them bent/creased them so the front hangs off of the top edge of the drawer fronts - and a little inside too. They're stuck on with double-sided tape, so they can be easily removed if I change my mind later on :)

Tomorrow, I'll show you step-by-step

how I did it; in a tutorial (with lots more pics!).

And It's A Good Thing Too!

2012-01-26T14:28:00.000Z

My Novum & I Are Back on Speaking Terms... and it's a good thing too! I was browsing on eBay (as you do ;) ) and I spotted the *exact same model as my lovelie. However, this particular one for sale has no base, case, or instruction booklet. But it's a (gulp!) £149.99 + £10.99 postage.

Blimey! That's £161 (approx. $253 USD).

Now, I do love my machine, but I paid only £26.01 ($40.80) for her - and that's including the shipping costs I paid separately for the courier to get her from the North of England down to me in London. So, mine cost 83.8% less, or you could say they're selling theirs at a little more than 6 times the price I paid!

Wow, that just makes me love and treasure her that bit more :)

*If you're feeling very curious it's item #290659059978 here from the eBay Shop SewingForEveryone

My Novum & I Are Back on Speaking Terms...

2012-01-18T23:54:00.001Z

Cleaning the Shuttle Race
Page 25 from the Intruction Book for my 'Novum Deluxe IX' vintage sewing machine

After the jinxed day that was last Friday (LOL!). I finally had time to sit down, clean and oil my favourite sewing machine.

If you recall, she kept tangling thread trapped underneath the feed dogs, and around the shuttle during sewing Hubby's new Ooo Rah Wallet. This meant the machine would stop in the middle of a stitch :(! And, the last time I detangled her the retaining ring and shuttle fell out when I accidentally knocked them as I removed the bobbin and case to get a clear view of the tangling.

I kept putting the parts back in correctly (or so I thought): shuttle, retaining ring, then bobbin in it's case. But the machine wouldn't move the needle up/down. It would go down and stay down and not budge. I figured I'd screwed-up the timing or something repair-shop worthy (gulp!). So, after an 'ickle panic on that Friday I decided to go to bed and deal with it in the morning - things always look better in the morning right?

I managed to find the manual - which is now scanned to file for safe keeping too ;). In the first picture at the top above you can see what they say about cleaning the shuttle race section.Can you see in their diagram how they don't show you the position of the shuttle driver (the little banana-shaped thingie)? To slot the shuttle against it correctly (together they form a complete full circle-shape), the driver should be vertically positioned - and to the left-hand side. I had been slotting everything back together with it on the bottom (doh!).

So, I turned the hand wheel towards me, got shuttle driver positioned just right and put all the other parts back inside together - and bingo! The needle moves correctly again - PHEW!!

Here's a few photos of the insides – they’re here, so that if nothing else I can remember how to dis- and re-assemble things again for future. No more mis-aligning things for me please! I rested her on some bits of old cardboard box - 'cause she's heavy and the metal would scratch and damage my table top otherwise, plus it's good for catching any oil-spills too!

01 - Start and End position 02 - Turn levers out

03 - Remove Retaining Ring 04 - Remove Shuttle

Whilst I had Ms. Novum out of her plastic base and her parts exposed (no sniggering at the back please!), I thought the least she deserved was a clean up and oil.

I cut up some small pieces of J-Cloth, because it's lint-free and won't leave deposits of loose fibres everywhere. After all, no point in cleaning out old lint and dirt to leave behind new clean-dirt is there? It'd defeat the point.

I also used some neat little tweezers I had - with a narrow/bent tip. I could fold up the small scraps of J-Cloth into a pointy triangle, dabbed some sewing machine oil onto them (not to much!) and really dig into all those nooks and crannies.

To be fair, she had very, very little dirt and barely any lint on her. With the tweezers there practically wasn't a spot I couldn't reach; and I got in and around the feed dogs nicely too.

I even found her serial number during the clean-up (I never noticed it before) - it's on the underside.

After her oil up 'n' clean she was running smoother than before - and I managed to finish Hubby's wallet too.

TIP: I have a habit of knocking over things. So, I keep my small bottle of oil in a old clean plastic tub (an old Vanish Detergent tub 1.5kg size - because it's pretty tall). So, the oil lives in something that'll catch any drips/spills - and that tub lives hidden away inside the big drawers in my IKEA Expedit bookshelves. When I use the small bottle I pop it into a pencil pot on the table - that way I'm less likely to knock it over there too. I have a large bottle of oil I use to top up the small one - they live together in the plastic tub. The large bottle works out way cheaper per ml, but the small bottle (same size you get in the shops like John Lewis, etc.) are far easier to hold in your hands and manoeuvre around the machine parts that need the loving care and attention :)

Image Source: MySupermarket.co.uk

I use an empty Vanish Tub (1.5kg) to keep

my sewing machine oil bottle - so it's safe from spills!

THE GIVEAWAY RESULTS - Congratulations to the 2 Winners!

2012-01-15T12:00:00.006Z

Thank you so much to everyone who entered my first ever Giveaway!

Of the 38 comments, numbers 9 and 16 were drawn at random - so congratulations to Louise and Amber Elayne on winning your sewing goodies!

Both ladies preferred the January 2012 issue of the BurdaStyle magazine - and as I'm feeling super generous (and rather than *make someone take the December '11 magazine) I'm going to see if they still have another copy of that issue in my local branch of WHSmith's.

I've emailed you both today to ask you for your postal address - I hope to send your bundles of joy out this Monday. Your cards will be posted seperately by Gwen from GwynHug.com.

Well done ladies - do let me know what you make from the mags, and what fabric you buy using your new 'The Original "How much Fabric?" cards' won't you? :)

*Perhaps, I'll save the December 2011 magazine for another giveaway on another day eh ;)?

Ooo Dear, Rather Than Ooo Rah!

2012-01-13T23:59:00.021Z

Poor broken sewing machine + Hubby's unfinished wallet :(

Seems not to be my lucky day, I'm pooped and going to bed in a bit :(!

I've been working the evenings this week making Hubby the much-promised new wallet he wanted (his is literally falling apart and ripped to shreds poor luv!). I'm making him Debbie's fab Ooo Rah Wallet Pattern, available on Etsy :)

But, tonight the sewing gods are against me methinks!

1.) I spent ages re-sizing the pattern Wednesday and Thursday night (Hubby wants a smaller size). But, I still managed to a) cut 1 too many card-slot pieces than I needed & I hate wastage LOL!, and I got some alignments wrong poo!

2.) I picked the wrong fabric for the lining/ inner pieces. It's a v. tightly woven black fabric. And, frankly after trying 5+ different needle sizes (mixture of for 'Wovens' and 'Universal' needles) I realised the error of my ways, but it was too late to change my mind.

3.) Got sticky sellotape all over the clear vinyl (I thought I was being smart using it to hold things in place... it'll tear of easily, or so I thought) - and it took forever too get it off. I spent a good 30mins cleaning it and picking out minuscule bits of tape from underneath each stitch... NOT a happy bunny!

4.) Nearly melted the vinyl! I washed the I.D. panel after using 'Sticky Stuff Remove' to get off the sellotape residue, and though I'd layer it between paper and iron it dry. Mistake! The vinyl went all soft and nearly shrank... luckily I rescued it (phew!). I was not going to recut and fiddly around with that piece again, no siree!).

5.) I got ³/₈" and ¹/₈" mixed up (I misread my metal Measuring Guide haha!). So, I stitched the fabric tabs on the ends of the zipper at the wrong distance... but if you don't tell Hubby then I won't ;)!

6.) I sewed the zip to the fabric the wrong way up. I managed to get the interfaced side of piece 2. on the outside by mistake - had to rip it out and start again... unpicking small black stitches from black fabric at night is not my idea of fun. And, the bobbin ran out of thread just as I restitched that piece back in.

7.) I went to use my bobbin winder gadget - and the batteries ran out half way through filling it up. On Wednesday, I went to use it with the power lead - I had to use a US-UK adaptor, but I didn't read the US plug which showed an input voltage of 110V (UK is 220-240V) so I burnt it out - poo! Ordered a new one from eBay, right voltage + UK pins on the plug this time (I hope it works!).

8.) For some strange reason, today Blogger has "lost" the little reply-buttons I'd sent ages figuring out how to do the html-code for into my blog-template. Plus, the new code I added a few days ago has disappeared too (which added numbers against each comment in a little blue box).

And, to cap it all my lovely Novum is broken... wah!! The bobbin thread keeps winding around the insides of my sewing machine and stopping the machine from moving the needle up/down! I keep untangling it but it keeps doing it (it'd only done it tonight - must be the date??). I took out a part that hold the bobbin case (can't find my manual either tonight - so can't remember the name of it) to get to the tangled thread. Got the thread out, put the part back in - but I must've done it wrong, cause the needle will now move down and then stops in it tracks.

So, I'm fed up *sighs* and hope that I have better luck tomorrow!

GIVEAWAY... Don't forget to enter, only 2 days to go!

2012-01-12T18:12:00.000Z

These lovely goodies are all waiting to go to a new home... could it be yours?

Enter my GIVEAWAY before 12pm this Saturday to find out!

The Brighton De-Stash Meet-Up!

2012-01-08T13:00:00.099Z

Image Source: (With modified text) MP900442458

http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/images/

It's a New Year, and a great time to clear the decks and start as we mean to go on. With this in mind Zoe of 'So, Zo...' and myself are co-hosting a meeting up at the beginning of February for sewists looking to destash their fabrics, patterns, notions etc. Come and join us to clear your unwanted items - give that book / magazine a new loving home, donate some thread that doesn't match your fabric, and find some lovely new & FREE treasures to start off your 2012 sewing with some fun!

Image Source: Sewing Supplies, MP900439249
http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/images/

If like many (most?!) sewists you find that you spend too much time wading repeatedly through the same piles of fabric and patterns in your stash. Or, that you're always purchasing more fabric even though you've a box / cupboard / room full already (delete as appropriate!). Perhaps, when it comes to your sewing supplies you often find yourself feeling like you've "Too many ~~clothes~~ fabrics, and nothing to ~~wear~~ sew?" then maybe you've fallen out of love with some of your purchases. Let's share some of the sew-jo around and come along to Brighton to swap your old stuff for new-to-you stuff. That 'ol thing you no longer like may turn out to be someone else's treasure :)

Place: Brighton Rail Station - outside the WHSmith shop

Date: Saturday 4th February 2012

Time: Meet-up from 11.30am till 12pm

Swap-a-thon: 12pm onwards!

We'll meet up from 11.30am outside of the WHSmiths inside of the station, then aim to walk to the cafe/bar (venue as yet to be announced) around 12pm. There, we'll swap and de-stash, chat, eat lunch and make merry. Afterwards they'll be plenty of time to visit some of the lovely sewing hot-spots 'n' shops that Brighton has to offer... afterall you may just need some new buttons to go with your newly acquired pattern and fabric!

Wanna join in the fun?...

If you fancy coming along to this meet-up please email Zoe at:

sozoblog[at]gmail[dot]com (please mention Brighton Meet-Up in the email subject).

Maps and mobile phone numbers for contacts on the day itself will be emailed to attendees nearer the time once a list of names has been confirmed.

Zoe and I are looking forward to seeing you there!

P.S. You've still got 6 more days to enter my first ever GIVEAWAY :)

Father Christmas Was Most Kind...

2012-01-05T13:21:00.000Z

Don't forget! You've still got 9 more days to enter my first ever GIVEAWAY :)

This is the joke I got in my Christmas Cracker at dinner *this year.

Q: Where should a dressmaker build her house?
A: On the outskirts.

Father Christmas was indeed very kind to me this year. Perhaps he thinks I've been an especially nice little girl? Maybe if I write him some letters like Ally has, then I may fare even better in 2012 ;)?

My haul this year is mainly books:-

• Patternreview.com 1,000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts and Tips: Top-Rated Favorites from Sewing Fans and Master Teachers I'm already half way through reading this one, it's fab!

• The Theory of Garment-Pattern Making - A Textbook for Clothing Designers, Teachers of Clothing Technology, and Senior Students I heard about this one from Kathleen Fasanella's review of it on fashion-incubator.com
• Winifred Aldrich's 5th Edition of Metric Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear, this book much posted about on sewing blogs surprised me with how thin it is! It's chock full per page with information (so I'm not disappointed) - but given it's coverage in the sewing blogging world I had expectations of an enormously thick tome somehow.
• Grading Ruler, by Coni Crawford. This comes to me all the way from the US (a wee present to myself - my huge thanks to Faye for helping me with this :)!) Finger's crossed that it will help me with my hopes to grade the many vintage patterns I've been buying over the last year from Etsy, I should be able to use it with my pattern grading book I picked up awhile back.
• Fantastic Fit for Everybody I saw this on Karen's blog and knew I wanted to add it to my list of fitting books.
• And, last but not least the Colette Sewing Handbook and the Peony #1017 Dress Pattern from Colette Patterns.

I also received one of these for my cutting table:

Image Source: Amazon.co.uk, Scotch C22 Heavy Duty Tape Dispenser

It takes, x2 75mm diameter-core rolls of tape, up to 25mm (1") wide per roll side by side. I've already filed mine with two-types of the invisible Scotch Magic Tape - normal, and the removable kind.

So, I'm a happy bunny!

*It always strikes me as funny how when in the midst of January we always say "this year" in reference to Christmas - when it was technically speaking last year LOL!

My First Blog-i-versary, and My First GIVEAWAY!!!

2012-01-01T14:47:00.003Z

Comments are now closed guys - the winners of the Giveaway will be announced tomorrow at 12pm UK time. My thanks to everyone who entered!

Image Source: MP900399585 + MP900443793 http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/images/

Wow... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY! 2011 you came and went so fast, it seems only yesterday that I pressed a nervous finger on the 'PUBLISH POST' button to my first ever blog offering.

To celebrate the passing of the old year, and the coming of the new one I'd like to give back to the sewing community and to the lovely people who drop-by to read my 'ickle blog and all my inherent musings, and mind-wanderings that that entails ;)!

The wonderful Gwen of gwynhug.com is generously donating 1x set of her fabulous 'The Original "How much Fabric?" cards' to 2 of my readers (P.S. Gwen also blogs at: After The Dress do have a peek!).

If you're a sewist and you've not heard of these nifty little credit-sized cards... then where have you been hiding ;)? They are the perfect handy tool to pop into your handbag (or purse) - great for those moments when you're out and about in the shops and are unexpectedly in the presence of your perfect fabric! We've all been there - you see the fabric of your dreams that is so, so perfect for "that project"... but do you have the pattern envelope or details on you? Nope, so now with these super little cards by your side, you'll always have immediately to hand how much fabric you need for your next garment pattern.

Gwen and her friends created the cards by compiling data from over 3,000 patterns to build the tables, including patterns from Simplicity, McCalls, Butterick, Vogue, Burda, Neue Mode, Kwik Sew, Hot Patterns, & New Look.

The reference cards help you estimate the amount of fabric you need as accurately as possible, by providing tables that summarise actual fabric requirements from real patterns, broken down by outfit size and fabric width.

For instance in the 'Women's Clothes' set: there are tables showing the minimum, average and maximum fabric requirements for Skirts, Pants (Trousers), Tops, Dresses, and Jackets. But not say for example just 1 type of dress - but for different styles, short, mid-length, maxi etc. - there are even little drawings to help you figure out where your chosen style of 'dress' pattern lies in the tables - e.g. should you be looking at the minimum, average and maximum column in the table?

Gwen will kindly ship directly to each of the 2 lucky readers 1x set of their choice.

(Both UK and International readers are eligible to enter - yay!)

Set 1: Women’s Clothes (6-22/Eur 32-48)

Set 2: Plus Sizes (18-32/Eur 44-58)

Set 3: Men’s Clothes (34-50/Eur 44-60)

Set 4: Babies and Toddlers (Newborn - 6)

Set 5: Children's Clothes (7-16)

Each set is available in 2 versions:

American - Fabric measured in inches (width) and yards (length)

Metric - Fabric measured in cms (width) and meters (length)

Can you tell I love these cards? Yup, it's true! I already own a set myself - it's my own set of cards in the photos (LOL, you can tell their mine 'cos they're lovingly worn out a bit on the corners through much use ;) !). And, I'm not the only one who loves them too - read the testimonials here.

And just 'cos I love to share the sewin' love around, I will also myself be personally sending each of the 2 lucky giveaway winners this bundle of goodies each :)

1. A brand new copy of BurdaStyle Magazine.

(1 person will get December 2011, the other will receive the January 2012 issue).

2. A cute sewing kit tin (I just love the design!) - needles, pins, tape measure, buttons, needle threader, safety pins, thimble, seam ripper, scissors and thread spools - great for holidays away or to stash away more of your sewing notions perhaps?

3. A set of 4 Fine Line Coloured Pens - only 0.4mm thick lines, so perfect for tracing and marking your BurdaStyle patterns from the magazine in blue, read, purple and green.

4. 2 metres of Pattern Drafting Paper - 36"/91cm wide in dot and cross pattern. The paper will be posted folded to fit inside the packaging.

Here's how to enter the GIVEAWAY...

[ENTRIES WILL CLOSE ON SATURDAY 14th JANUARY 2011 AT 12.00PM UK TIME. ENTRIES ARE ELIGIBLE FROM BOTH UK AND INTERNATIONAL READERS. WINNERS NAMES WILL BE DRAWN AT RANDOM. THE 2-WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON SUNDAY 15th JANUARY 2011!]

1. You must be a follower of my blog please.

(Please see 'Google Friend Connect' or 'Bloglovin' in the side bar on the right of this page).

2. Please leave a comment in this post below - please state:

a) Which set of cards you'd like (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5)

b) If you'd like the cards to be in American (inches/yards), or Metric (cms/meters)

c) Which issue of *BurdaStyle magazine you'd like: Dec 2011, or Jan 2012.

3. Please, please ensure that I am able to contact you if you're a lucky winner! Make sure that your comment is associated to your blog/profile. If you want to leave an email address in your comments feel free to do so - but to reduce the chances of you receiving tonnes of spam to your inbox, please post it in the style: name[at]domain[dot]com.

4. [OPTIONAL] Oh, and do please share you're favourite sewing-moment of 2011, I'd love to know what special creation, fabric or new skill brightened up your year! Perhaps you're looking forward to sewing something special in 2012 - come on spill the beans!

*NB: In the event that both winners ask for the same issue of BurdaStyle then the first name drawn out of the proverbial hat will receive their preferred choice of the magazine.

Good luck! And may 2012 bring you much health and happiness!

And, if you can't wait to get your hands on a set of these cards - visit www.gwynhug.com to buy a set for yourself now !

Merry Christmas to One and All!

2011-12-25T09:00:00.031Z

Image Source: ... me! I drew this, ain't it cute ?

Well, it never fails to surprise me how the Christmas festivities just creep up on you - it's so weird, because even though it happens every year it just always seems inside of my head that the last Christmas was more than 12 months ago (I know maybe I'm crazy, but it just feels like longer).

Anyway, whether you personally celebrate Christmas or not - I think we should all embrace the spirit of goodwill to all mankind - so here's to good health and good fortune to one and all of you out there!

YouTube Video: Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone

P.S. Keep you eyes peeled for a special post from me on New Year's Day... as my little blog turns 1 year old, so I shall be celebrating this special anniversary with a GIVEAWAY (or two yay!). The giveaway details to follow... and it will be open to both UK and overseas entries :)

I'll be enjoying festive cheer with my family and in-laws when this post goes out, so wherever you area I hope you have a lovely time - remember it's not about gifts, it's about giving love and understanding :)

Going Round The Bend...

2011-12-21T02:44:00.000Z

Nope - I don't mean I'm going mad (although, what with it being Christmas it is turning into silly season trying to get all the festive chores completed in time for family trips etc. hohoho!).

I mean measuring round bends and curves! Following on from my last post about rulers that don't measure up I thought I'd mention where I bought my lovely measuring wheel from :)

I first encountered this particular product when Yoshimi held a giveaway (at the end of 2010 / beginning of January 2011 - I'm not sure of the exact date as the blog post is no longer there LOL), and I became a little obsessed with getting my hands on this lovely Japanese sewing gadget! (The lovely Melissa won that giveaway and her happy reports of using it only made my desire to purchase this notion even greater.) So I finally succumbed, and bought it this summer.

Basically, this small white plastic wheel has markings all around it's circumference from 0 - 20 cm, with fractional increments at every mm too. It's a revolving, rotary measuring tool that allows you to easily (and in my opinion) pretty accurately measure around curves 'n' bends - so perfect when you need to check the size of armholes (armscyes) and necklines etc. A great addition to my ever growing arsenal of pattern cutting tools!

One one side it's labelled 1 and is labelled 0-75 for 80 actual divisions, but I don't use that
4 side (I think it's to do with ¼ scale-drawings perhaps? Dunno!).

It works in the same way that a 'trundle wheel', or a 'surveyor's measuring wheel' - which are used to measure distance (you might of seen your local council workers using them on the roads, and pavements of your home town sometime).

To use it...

• You simply line up the 0-mark of the wheel carefully against the start of where you want to measure from.

• Then, you roll or turn the wheel forwards and away from you.

• Stop, at the point/end you decide - and make a note of the number on the wheel touching the end-point.

• NB: If you are measuring a line longer than 20cm (which is the length of 1 full rotation of the wheel, i.e. it's circumference is 20cm), then just keep a note of how many times the 0-mark whizzes past. If it goes past 3-times, and the end-point of your curved line finishes on say 5.3cm against the marks on the measuring wheel, then the distance is:

(3 x 20cm) + 5.3cm = 65.3cm... s'easy!

Where to buy...

I got mine from a Japanese shopping site called Rakuten (apparently they are Japan's largest online retail marketplace) - it's a bit like Amazon marketplace, with lots of different stores selling stuff through them! Luckily, there is an English language version of their site (all my links below are in English - except where stated).

• Manufactured by Kawaguchi

• Manufacturer's Item 05-640 (商品番号 = Item 05-640)

• Japanense name for the item is: マールサシ (Google translates this as 'Marusashi').

• Seller / Store Name: Sanoya (あっと　クラフト)

• Link to Sanoya's Item/Product Page: Product Page

Price: *JPY 770 (*price I paid exc. Tax, and exc. Shipping)

• Tax: I bought 2 of the measuring wheels (so I have a spare one in case one broke - I thought it'd save me shipping/time in the long run) and my Tax for the 2x was JPY 76

• Shipping Costs: JPY 180 (which was for 2 wheels) to the UK.

• NB: To search for other stores selling this same item cut and paste マールサシ into the search box (or click here which gives you 2-stores). For more sellers in Japanese language only click here (for the Google translation here).

So, in total I paid for 2 wheels JPY 1,796 (approx. £15.00 GBP).

By my rough calculations, if you only wanted x1 wheel you'd be looking at (worse case scenario) around £9.00 GBP no more.

I use the XE Personal Currency Assistant to work out how much approximately items purchased from overseas will cost me.

But, you can ask questions of the sellers via the Rakuten site to check what your total costs might be, and here's their page on Delivery and Shipping Rates.

Rakuten also have sites aimed at other shopper's home countries wishing to buy from them in Japan: USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and France.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I decided to compare my lovely measuring wheel with 2 other methods I'd used in the past - dressmakers tape measure (on it's edge), and a flexible curved ruler. I drew a curved line onto some paper marked start and end points. The wheel gave me 12.25cm, the yellow tape measure 12.4cm, and the flexible ruler 12.15cm. Pics below:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Alternative Wheels?...
I originally tried to find something similar to this tool in the UK (as I thought international shipping would cost too much).

Morplan sell a Curve Measurer (Product Code: 43895, £13.95 GBP + VAT and Delivery).

Image Source: Morplan.com

And, there are also 'Map Measures' (sometimes called Planimeters - although that can mean a very different type of measuring tool too) used to measure in scale distances shown in miles, kilometres and nautical miles - so I would've had to fiddle around with maths, and would've mucked it up no end I expect!

Image Source: Amazon.co.uk (shown is a Gelert model)

Or, there's even a pricey model by Alvin (Alvin 1111 2-Face Map Measure, Curve Measure, Plan Measure).

Frankly, they look way more complicated than the lovely simple Japanese tool - don't they ?

When Something Doesn't Quite Measure Up...

2011-12-08T01:03:00.000Z

"A silvery, slithery, snake in the grass
perhaps? Or simply an inaccurate
peddler of measurements? Hmmmm..."

I'm still midst organising the new sewing room - and have been much distracted by a) a lack of lighting downstairs in our house due to an electrical fault (which is not good in the dark winter evenings, and it has taken up too much of our time on the weekends trying to fix it without paying £££ for an electrician to come out - luckily we managed to isolate the faulty part of the circuit and everything else apart from the kitchen now works again), b) trying to assemble a new garden shed + paint + felt it's roof + insulate it etc. etc., c) life in general and d) I transferred to a new job last week too ... phew! You get the picture - sewing has been on my mind, but not being actioned at all and my fingers are gettin' twitchy!

So, I decided to instigate a little drop of progress when I bought a self-adhesive measuring tape (approx. 150cm / 59" long) from MacCulloch & Wallis after work one day, for the princely sum of £1.95 (+ VAT). It's a silver coloured tape (polyester based I believe - it certainly feels very thin and not at all metallic despite it's appearance). I decided it would be very handy on the front edge of my cutting table (which is 150cm long from IKEA).

I cleaned off the surface for dust and grease (I swiped it with a dab of surgical spirit on a J-cloth to de-grease it and allowed it to evaporate off first to ensure good adhesion). I carefully applied the tape smoothing out bubbles as I went, and I took extra care not to apply to much stretch/tension on the end, so as not to elongate and distort it as I reached the end.

So, imagine my surprise when I saw this

What's not right with this picture? 150cm long table + 150cm tape measure... Answers on a postcard LOL!

Hmmm... see how on my 150cm long IKEA table (I checked!) the self-adhesive measuring tape seems to have stretched during the sticking down process and is too long by approx. 4mm?...

I considered lifting and reapplying it - but I thought it'd definitely not go down again so cleanly and would end up a nasty waste of time. So, I thought I'd check it against my fibre-glass based sewing tape measure (yellow). But, according to the yellow thing my table was 6-7mm longer than 150cm - WHAT!?*!

Okay, by now I realised that one or both of the tape measures was inaccurate - so I compared them to some rigid rulers...

I comparing the (silver, at bottom of photo) self-adhesive measuring tape which I suspect is not accurate to the flexible tape-measure (yellow) and a rigid plastic ruler (45cm), and an aluminium metal ruler from the DIY store (100cm).

Attempting to line them up at the 20cm mark they are all pretty close - only the yellow one appears to be 1mm longer than the rest.

Next, I thought okay if the yellow 'n' silver ones ARE out of whack, then maybe it'll show up more at a greater distance (e.g. let's say the silver one was 1% too long - 1% of 10cm would be only 1mm, but at 100cm that's 1cm more - and easier to spot too).

Comparing the tapes and ruler at the end of the 100cm aluminium ruler - the vertical clear ruler is aligned with the 100cm mark on the yellow tape-measure, but see how the yellow one seems a bit "short", and the self-adhesive tape (bottom) seems a tiny bit "too long" verses the aluminium ruler!!

Lastly, looking at the end of the table top...

Comparison at end of the (silver) self-adhesive measuring tape. The table is 150cm long, but the silver-coloured tape seems short! And yet, the yellow tape measure is also short - but by a different amount. Very odd! (NB: I carefully smoothed out the yellow one and held it in place lightly with sticky tape to get the photo.)

I have concluded that the self-adhesive tape and my yellow tape are inaccurate, and not to be relied upon for very detailed work - especially not anything over 20cm (haha). This got me a bit worried about some other rulers I have - but I checked those against one another and they seem fine (phew!).

A few of my rulers (I DO have more haha!)

I have heard that older fabric based tailors/dressmakers rulers were very prone to stretching and distorting - but that's not such a problem for the modern sewing tape measure (often made from fibreglass enclosed in plastic - like my yellow ones pictured many times above). So, my yellow ones shouldn't get any worse LOL!

I think the moral of this story is that a bad workman can't blame their tools if he/she doesn't check them first. Accuracy in sewing and pattern making is very important, and inaccurate rulers etc. could throw you off course without you even knowing. Imagine if you accidentally added 3mm to the edge of each seam allowance line on a 2-piece, A-line skirt zipped-up the centre-back - that could mean 4x side seam edges, plus (2x) either side of the zipper - 6x edges in total. 6 x 3mm = 18mm or approx. ¾" (that's assuming you didn't stitch it inaccurately too - which could compound the error eeek!). That's a big difference between a well fitting waistband or not!

Luckily for me, I don't plan to use the tape stuck on the table for accurate work. It's there to help me measure up approximate lengths of fabric / pattern paper / trims etc. and will save me time rummaging around for a tape measure when I need one :)

I'm Going Non-Shopping Tomorrow... in Goldhawk Road

2011-11-18T17:19:00.000Z

Ahhhh... it's nearly the weekend and the end of another working week draws to a close (I'm so tired, and need the rest *sighs*). So, I'm particularly looking forward to tomorrow morning when I shall be ^*non-shopping in the lovely fabric shops of Goldhawk Road/Shepherd's Bush market!

Image Source: By Sunil060902 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons wikimedia.org

Yes, I am attending my ^*^*4th sewing blogger meet-up of the year LOL! I will be enjoying the company of the lovely Stevie of Beebee's Vintage Dress - as she is holding The Great November Fabric Excursion - she will be waiting for familiar faces and new ones at 11am outside of Goldhawk Road tube station in London on Saturday 19th November 2011.

So... if you know you are definitely coming to join Stevie for a sweet little sewing shopping trip please email her on: beebeesvintagedress@hotmail.co.uk, as it'd be handy to make a list of people she'll be waiting for.

Stevie will be outside of the station from 11am, and the group won't set off for the shops until 11.30am, but if you email her she'll send out a mobile number you can get her on if your stuck in traffic etc. :)

See you there tomorrow!

For transportation, map 'n' directions to Goldhawk Road:

Here's a handy link to a download page for a PDF of the local area map of the Goldhawk Road / Shepherd's Bush Market area from TFL.

http://www.journeyplanner.org/Download/EnvMaps/tfl/TK_GoldhawkRoad_spdr.pdf

It might be useful for anyone travelling via public transport to the meet-up :)

Plus: Transport for London's Journey Planner and National Rail Enquiries Journey Planner, and one more.... walking directions for London WalkIt.com

^*I am still trying to finish off tidying/DIY the last few bits of my sewing room - and I'm feeling somewhat guilty at the size of my fabric stash it's a wee bit uncontrollable (haha!) so my infamous floral shopping trolley will be staying at home this time. Therefore, I am allowing myself permission to purchase only x1 piece of fabric. (However, notions/trims are allowable 'cos they are 'ickle in size LOL!)

^*^*My first 1st meet up of the year was during February in Walthamstow with snood-pusher Karen. The 2nd was in Brighton hosted by well-anchored Zoe and Beignet-wearing Stevie, and the 3rd was meeting cashmere-relovin' Elizabeth from SEWN.

Sewing Spaces... Slide-Out Under Table Ironing Board

2011-10-06T17:11:00.000+01:00

Just seen this great pair of YouTube video tutorials by Made by Marzipan (I found them via BurdaStyle) for how to make:

Images Source: Made by Marzipan

Video: Slide-Out Ironing Board and her accompanying blog post

Video: Slide-Out Ironing Board Cover and blog post

These are well explained, clear tute's all about how to make your own pull-out ironing board. Basically, it's a mini (well depending upon the custom size you make ;) !) ironing board that thinks it's a drawer! It is attached directly to the underside your table top - so it's there to use when you need to press something in a hurry. As it's on a pair of drawer runners it simply tucks neatly out of the way when you're not using it - brilliant!

Having one of these under your sewing table next to your sewing machine/ overlocker (serger) will be very handy. I may just see if I can squeeze one into my new sewing room.

If it were me making this then I'd tweak it to suit my needs.

I'd keep both ends of the board square (and not cut off the corners). And I'd most likely use plywood ¾"-1" (18-25mm) thick instead of "real wood" as it's hard to find solid real wood in DIY stores here in the UK (that doesn't cost the Earth anyway!). I might even consider using 18-25mm MDF for the sides (rather than the 2ft x 4ft real wood suggested) as if you sealed the edges with white iron-on edging tape and then painted - you'd get a much cleaner finish. I'd also add a single layer of cotton or wool wadding (batting) to the of the fabric board-cover instead of the silver-coloured heat reflective fabric used. Plus, if you made 2-covers at the same time you'd always have a clean one to use whilst the other one was in the wash! You could even make an extra cover out of medium-heavy weight calico (muslin) to use when fusing fabric with iron-on interfacing - that'd save you getting a sticky mess all over your pretty cover.

When I saw it posted, I was reminded of Kathleen of Grosgrain's July '11 Small Sewing Spaces cont post about a store-bought version.

Source: bhg.com via Grosgrain via Crystal on Pinterest

And, I commented back in July in Kathleen's post about ways I thought someone could DIY a home version (and now the tutorials above provide me with a road map to do so yay!) ...

Quote: ... made me immediately go and check out pull out ironing boards (and also wall-mounted fold-down ironing boards too). The ones sold online/in stores here in the UK range from £60-£100+ GBP($98-$164 USD) ouch!

I wonder if for the style in the picture you posted (the pull-out, drawer-style) something could be made DIY style at home? I.e. using full-extension drawer slides/drawer runners and a way to mount the top of a normal regular ironing board to the top of the runners? Perhaps the runners could be mounted to a flat piece of wood, and the ironing board attached to the wood? Or if the wood were plywood perhaps it could be covered in cotton batting/wadding and then with thick cotton fabric so that it became a pull-out pressing board - that way you could dictate the size of board you wanted to use?

I've just Googled and in the US 'Home Depot' have these full-extension drawer slides (2-pack) for $12.48 per pair (Model # D80616C-ZP-W, Internet # 202200643, Store SKU # 432668)

In the UK 'Homebase' has the drawer slides/runners in different sizes (eBay has them to of course!).

Sewing Spaces... and my hitherto lack thereof

2011-09-30T22:39:00.001+01:00

Since spring of last year when I rekindled my interest in sewing, I seem to have acquired a great deal of fabric, notions and other sewing related paraphernalia.

Storing my things in a ramshackle fashion crammed onto one shelf in our lounge cupboard was getting very messy. Not to mention that it was also a right pain in the derrière working from the dining room table. It was taking me way too much time to locate the things I needed from the cupboard before I could even get started. That, and the fact that I'd squirrelled away upteen number of books, magazines, buttons etc. all over the place - that sometimes I really didn't know what I had, or where it was!

The situation had become most, most frustrating :( !

But, back in April this year my lovely Hubby suggested that seeing as I loved to sew so much; and as I was making precious little headway on all the projects I was daydreaming about (and therefore achieving scandalously little output), that we should turn the spare bedroom in our house into my sewing room. [Oh, how I love that man!]

Yay! We decided that the room would be 80% sewing, and 20% home office - so in the future I could keep all my sewing gear in one easy to use, organised and accessible place. Plus, we could happily migrate all the office-y stuff from the lounge (think scanner, laser printer, hard-drives, laminator etc.) upstairs and free up some space downstairs too.

The upside is that we get a much, much tidier lounge and I get a sewing space all of my own, however... the downside is all the DIY and work it takes to achieve the dream (arrgghhh!). So, basically since April we have slowly been working on and off on creating my dream sewing space, and it's now 90% done!

It's taken a pretty bl**dy long time to get to this stage as I'd been beset with nasty colds - literally ill for 7-10 days at a time, with little sleep due to the coughing (I totted it up and realised I'd been ill every month for 4 months in a row at one point!)

LEFT: Old bedroom, RIGHT: New colour scheme

So, being the consummate hoarder that I am, I had to spend several weekends (which turned into quite a few months - boo!) de-junking the boxes of random possessions I'd been plonking into the spare room over several years worth of ~~crap~~ stuff. Loads went up into the loft, lots and lots to the local charity shop, some into recycling, and the rest to the council tip. (There's still a bunch of unwanted clothes 'n' stuff to go onto eBay, but that'll have to wait a bit now for when I have more spare time to photograph and list them etc.)
<br>

We drew up a long to do list:

(1) de-junk room of anything no longer needed

(2) empty room of everything in it (wiping the slate clean!)

(3) wire-in extra electrical sockets for power supply to machines/laptop etc.

(4) wire-in new telephone socket for broadband internet connection

(5) install new lighting overhead - spotlights

(6) replace carpet with new light-oak effect laminate flooring (easier to clean!)

(7) replace existing skirting boards for new

(8) shorten door to fit over new flooring, and re-hang with rising butt hinges (easier to take on and off verses normal hinges)

(9) replace curtain pole for roller blind

(10) add translucent frosting film to window (for privacy during daytime fitting - but with maximum daylight benefits!)

(11) add new window board/sill (we were missing one before opps!)

(12) repaint walls and ceiling (soft warm green all over, with a white chimney breast for photos!)

(13) paint all woodwork in brilliant white eggshell

(14) sewing station - source a long table for sewing machine and overlocker/serger

(15) source small set of drawers to store notions/ tools (for underneath sewing station)

(16) install shelves for sewing library (books galore!)

(17) install shelves above sewing station (for notions/ tools)

(18) build fold-down cutting/ drafting table (wall mounted to save space)

(19) install tool storage area above cutting table (rails and hooks/ shelf)

(20) source tall bookcase for magazine/ pattern/ notion storage

(21) source and install mirror (for fitting area)

(22) source strong shelving system for fabric stash storage

(23) source small lightweight ladder (to access top shelves of fabric stash LOL!)

(24) make a large, portable pressing board (using ordinary ironing board as a base)

(25) install wall mounted storage for iron and pressing tools

(26) source set of matching boxes to organise and store items systematically

(27) source and install portable and adjustable task lighting over sewing station

(28) upgrade/ replace old filing cabinet from 3 to 4 drawers (for household bills etc.)

(29) relocate office equipment to room - computer/ printer/ scanner etc.

(30) finally unpack, organise and put away all that lovely fabric and notions!

I've only got the items left highlighted in pink left to do - hopefully get most of them sorted this weekend!

Some sources which have helped inspire my room makeover and DIY madness:-
• Fabulous book 'Dream Sewing Spaces: Design & Organization for Spaces Large'
ISBN-10: 0935278818 (, and I love this book. It is so well written and explained! It sparked soooo many ideas for me.)

• Domestic Diva - 'Where I Sew – SEWING ROOM TOUR', and sewing room organisation series of posts (click on the homepage, and use the links in the menu on the right-hand side)
• Patty the Snug Bug's posts about new new sewing nook
• Threads Magazine - web post 'What Makes a Sewing Space Great?'
• Threads Magazine - 'See Sewing Rooms and Fabric Stashes on Flickr'
• The Blue Gardenia's series of interviews with sewers around the globe about their sewing spaces
• Gertie's post about 'The Near-Insurmountable Task of Organizing One's Sewing Room'
• Tasia's space 'Step Into My Office'
• A Costumer's Sewing Room
• List of links to Real Sewing Rooms (NB: The original URL seems not to be working currently, so I've linked to the web archive of that page instead).

And now, my imagination is leading me to all sorts of fab ideas for patterns organisation, inspiration notice boards, thread storage, making my own pressing tools, ruler storage, projects-in-progress storage and much more! I'm pretty excited can you tell ;) ?

'Sew Simple' - New Patterns by Simplicity... a short update

2011-08-31T19:30:00.008+01:00

Image Source: www.simplicity.com

Just a short little post - but it seems like Simplicity have eventually remembered that they've produced this new line - and at $1.99 USD per pattern, the prices are pretty good! That's about £1.22 GBP at current exchange rates.

On the official UK site (selling both Simplicity and New Look patterns), the 'Sew Simple' section shows 70 styles currently on offer - each priced at £3.45 (which is erm, about $5.60... so getting on towards x3 times the price of the US website - boo!). The range offer Misses (grown-up ladies LOL!), little girls (but no boys), home decor patterns, soft toys, doll's clothes, bags and even a dog costume and coat!

Images Source: www.simplicity.com

<br>But there's only one solitary men's top... ahhh men you don't get much in the way of patterns do you :( ?

... 2 dog patterns to 1 men's is a very poor ratio indeed *sighs*!

Feel The Fear And Overlock It Anyway!

2011-08-25T01:19:00.003+01:00

My 'Delta OL-1000 Overlocker' (Serger) straight out of the box new. (More pics here)

To paraphrase the Susan Jeffers book, I recently decided I ought to Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway when it came to learning how to use my overlocker!

I've been spurred onto this by a number of things:
a) I bought the darned thing before Christmas last year (errmm... hello it's nearly 8 months later and I've only taken it out of the box a measly once to check nothing was missing).
b) I've bought umpteen number of books + DVD on the subject of serging/overlocking
c) Everyone else is diving on into the overlocking swimming pool with either first-time machines (Karen, Catherine, Patty, Tilly, Vicki) or replacement machines (Kristy). Whereas, I've not even dipped my toes into the metaphorical shallow-end - instead I'm doing a great impression of a water-phobic chicken :( !!

So... after seeing Karen's post about her new Brother Overlocker, I thought it was high time to inflatable my armbands and leap get my feet wet. I dropped the lovely Karen a quick email, suggesting that the both of us as newbies to overlocking get ourselves onto a short evening class to learn the basics, like threading, tension adjustments etc..

So, this evening (technically yesterday evening, but I haven't gone to bed yet so whatev' LOL!) we met up at The Make Lounge in Islington where we had booked onto their short class, described as:

" Overlocking Made Easy Class
   • Level: All
   • Course length: One 2-hour session

With their ability to simultaneously cut and stitch a hem, overlocking machines are incredibly useful for decorating, reinforcing and constructing garments and other items. But they can be a bit intimidating!

In this 2-hour workshop, we’ll demystify the overlocker by teaching you how to thread, adjust tension and differential feed, and deal with corners and curves. You’ll leave the workshop with a pair of rolled hem napkins you’ve made yourself, in your choice of more than 100 gorgeous solid or printed fabrics! "

Now, the lovely thing is, I'd phoned them up last week to ask if we could bring along our own machines to the class (the answer was yes - I just had to remember to bring the power lead, and the manual). My reasoning was that even though they provide their own onsite machines for students, if I am new to all of this overlocking lark, then I want to learn the ins the outs, the tweaks, tips 'n' tricks on my own machine - afterall it is what I'll be using afterwards at home isn't it? So, I managed to lug my machine (I kept it in the box / packaging I bought it with for extra protection) all the way to work wrapped in one of my many trusty IKEA big blue bags that keep in the house (LOL!) to ward of the raindrops and stuffed into a strong trolley. Karen also decided wheelie-was-best, and brought her overlocker in a pull along suitcase (sensible lass!)

Image Source: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/17228340
"Oh, IKEA FRAKTA bag... for 40p is there nothing awkward or heavy that you CANNOT carry ;) ?"

EDIT: If you are able to take your own overlocker machine to a class then:

a) make sure you take the pedal, power cable, manual and any tools/tweezers/extra needle plates/screwdrivers that come with it along with you too!

b) check the manual for how/where to adjust your differential feed (and check that the dial/thumbscrew will move - if like mine the thumbscrew won't budge at all, try some pliers at home before you attend the class to save yourself trouble on the night)

c) if at all possible forward a PDF copy (or a web-link to find it) to your teacher in advance. Then they can familiarise themselves with your model before you arrive, and be in the best position to assist you.

I didn't do b) or c) but Suzanne managed admirably. Though I think things would have gone easier for me if I'd done b), and I'm sure c) would've been useful to Suzanne too :). I photocopied the threading pages from my black and white manual and coloured them in to match my thread colours before the class - and that helped me loads with the threading :)!

The nice people at 'The Make Lounge' actually provide drinks and snacks for us - very civilized I must say! Plus, there were only 4 students in total on the night (the maximum they run with is 10) - so we had loads of time with our teacher to pester her with questions.

Outside of 'The Make Lounge' at Venue 2:

Inside of our class room:

And, here's their shop a few doors down on the same road (where we picked out our napkin fabric).

I'd decided to bring my own cones of thread with me in blue, green, red, and yellow. The colours to match the dials on my machine (which strangely don't tally between the machine itself and the manual, but that's a topic for a different post) - and I reasoned that I'd more easily be able to spot problems with tension and threading if I could discern which coloured thread belonged where :)
My cones of thread came courtesy of some eBay purchasing months ago (SEEEEE!! I WAS getting ready to do some overlocking hehe! I just hadn't gotten around to starting anything as yet ;)! )

Our fab teacher was Suzanne Cowan, Suzanne was a beacon of knowledge, calmness and light for us. (Plus, Chloe was pretty darn lovely too - opening up their store down the road to help us to select and cut our fabric choices for our napkins making.)

" Suzanne Cowan has been involved in both book arts and fashion design for over 10 years. As a bookbinder she has travelled throughout Canada, the United States, and Taiwan teaching bookbinding to people of all ages while maintaining an online store and gallery featuring her own book works. With a formal education in both textile and fashion arts, Suzanne is well versed in the art of fabric manipulation as well as fashion illustration, patternmaking, and garment construction and has sold her clothing at a variety of boutiques throughout Canada."

I had some trouble adjusting the tension on my machine for very light weight cotton samples (the class provided us with plenty of swatches for practice). And, with Suzanne's help I got it to work great doing a basic stitch on medium weight cottons. We worked out that my differential feed (adjustable on my model via a thumbscrew behind the looper cover) needed tweaking. However, as I'd not tested my machine before attending the course, I didn't know that the darned thing was stuck and I couldn't budge it for love nor money :( We even tried some jewellery pliers they had in the storage for other classes on it but no dice! I'll try again this weekend with the strong houshold pliers in our toolbox at home!! And, the needle-plate screw didn't fit my screw-driver *sighs* so I couldn't practice rolled-hems on my own machine, as I needed to change the plate to do it :(

Shaking my fist at my uncooperative overlocker

Here's a picture of my finished napkins :) I think they'll be great for a picnic in the park when the sunshine returns ;)!

My finished napkins - complete with rolled hems!

So, as soon as the grand sewing-room makeover is finished (Hubby and I reckon by end of the 2nd week in September - fingers-crossed!). I shall try my hand at a simple T-Shirt, maybe one of these FREE patterns by pixelink on BurdaStyle which I've already downloaded and printed-off in readiness.

Batwing Top by pixelink

1 piece Kimono Tee by pixelink

So, I reckon that now I've broken the ice with my overlocker, I should hopefully very soon be making forays into the world of t-shirts, knits, and fabulously finished seams (yay *with a big happy smilie face*!!)

P.S. I wantto give a big shout out to Michelle (thanks for playing tug-o-war with me and my trolley, to extract my machine from it's box LOL!) - I hope you find somewhere that'll service your Pfaff! And to Georgina (Georgia ?) I hope you get to grips with your Juki, if not sell her on eBay and upgrade to a nice shiney new model I say :)

Part 2: Maybe It's Genetic?

2011-08-19T20:41:00.003+01:00

Following on from my earlier post here part 1, this is the 2nd half of my post :)

Mummy's Singer 224ML Sewing Machine

How Did Mummy Start Sewing?
Chatting with Mummy I tried to ask her where her sewing interests came from. And, truly it was the most enthusiastic I've seen her when talking about any topic EVER! I found out that she started sewing in the 1960's when she was 14 years old, she enjoyed admiring the fashions of older girls and ladies, but could not afford to buy things for herself in the shops (she was the youngest of 11 children, so I imagine that spare cash for the idle fancies of the young and fashion-concious was not readily available!). She had an urge to make for herself a dress with a fitted bodice, nipped in waist and full gathered skirt. But, that kind of style takes a lot of fabric to achieve. So, she bought some cheaper bedding fabric, plus having only a 19"/48.3cm waist at the time (Mummy is 'ickle - only 5ft 1inches/155cm tall) she had enough fabric to accomplish her aim. She didn't use a pattern - she just winged it, using her older Sister's sewing machine! The result came out so well, that her next door neighbour upon admiring her brand new handywork commisioned Mummy to make some pretty dresses for her two young daughters (who, if I understood correctly from Mummy were about 5 and 7 years old at the time). The neighbour supplied the fabric for the dresses, Mummy supplied the thread - and she was rewarded with a payment of some "proper" dress fabric. Pleased with this turn of events, Mummy realised that if she took on other projects she could earn enough money to buy her own sewing machine. So, she made things for people in her neighbourhood - and used that money to take evening dressmaking classes to improve her skills, and to buy her Singer 224ML sewing machine. A friend of hers was a photographer for a local paper, and his girlfriend asked to pose with her for the photo you see below left. Mummy made the blouse and skirt from her own self-drafted patterns. Turns out she never wholly liked anything worn by other people, and sewing helped her to stand out in her own individual style, and "To be different; unique". She liked to mix and match elements from other garments she saw in magazines or on the street. The picture on the bottom right shows Mummy at 19 years old (did the eyebrows man ;)!) still with the 19" waist in a self-made, self-designed dress at a fashion show. Mummy says that models back then often worked on shows say modelling just a line of coats, or something else and that they were expected to provide the rest of the clothing (and makeup/hair) themselves. So, she made her own!

Mummy in her self-drafted, self-made garments.

After her initial start into sewing at 14, Mummy, took on four part-time jobs at the same time! Modelling, Perfume Sales Lady at the Robinsons department store, wedding make-up for brides, and of course dressmaking. Ten years of saving up her hard earned wages later, she had enough capital for a sizeable deposit to purchase her own flat. And, a couple of years after that she trade-up for a bigger and better place. (NB: Mummy met and married Daddy in her 30's, so was pretty much an independant lady before she settled into married life and babies etc., and they did ship her sewing machine over from Singapore to the UK when they married) .

It's funny - I can remember Mummy making me 1 or 2 things when I was little. And, she made my two brothers some matching waistcoat and trousers each (along with neck ties). But, I can't ever seem to remember her making things for herself - I guess having 3 small children all under the ages of 6 at the same time must really eat into your "Me-time". I do distinctly remember that we were never allowed to go near her sewing machine - and (see photos from my Flickr account below) it was always covered in many layers to protect it from dust, scratches, and sticky children's fingers (haha!).

I asked Mummy when was the last time she made something from scratch, and she wasn't very clear - but she did say that for my youngest brother's recent wedding (this April) she'd taken in a jacket all along the sleeves and down the side-seams because she likes the big 80's shoulder-pad look of the bigger sizes, but not how baggy they are on the body.

So, whilst I don't think we'll be setting up a wee sewing circle of just us two stitching-buddies anytime soon - it does somewhat intrigue me as to whether my ~~obsession~~ love of all things sewing comes from her, is it nature (hence the genetic of the post title) or nuture LOL :)?

Part 1: Maybe It's Genetic?

2011-08-19T20:41:00.002+01:00

This is a 2-part post: see the second half here.

Last weekend we went visiting to my Mother's house. It was a flying visit, so we didn't stay long (we were on our way back from a day-long visit to one of my brother's house nearby).

So, I was lingering in Mummy's dining room and as I was idly scanning my eyes over her bookshelves I spotted some sewing books. Now, Mummy and I have never had one of those archetypal, stereotypical Mother-Daughter relationships that families are supposedly meant to follow. [For which read: we have generally never gotten on, we are civil but not overly friendly, and we have never bonded over anything. I have no special memories of time spent/family events/occasions/touching moments during my childhood, teenage or adult years that involve my Mother - although there are many happy times with my Father, brothers and the rest of my family. Basically, as the old adage goes "You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family" - and whilst there is no animosity present, we just don't hang out or anything like that.] So, you can imagine my surprise when I came across these alluring tomes! Had these tantalising vintage sewing relics been in my midst during my formative years; when sewing did not draw my attention in the way it does now, then maybe my pleasureable pastime might have come to fruition much sooner LOL! (Back then it was merely a useful tool when I wanted to crop some jeans into shorts, or hem a skirt bought in the local Oxfam for £1.50 I made 2 dresses that I recall, and not much else.)

Anyway I digress! So, I HAD to take some pics of course ;)!

The first two books that I pulled off of Mummy's shelves were by Adele P. Margolis (and spookily enough I already own copies of these very two titles myself):

Design Your Own Dress Patterns by Adele P. Margolis (1971)
ISBN 0263516741, Original cost £3.85
(I have the re-issued 2006, paperback edition now titled 'Make Your Own Dress Patterns', ISBN 0486452549).

How to Make Clothes That Fit and Flatter by Adele P. Margolis (1969)
ISBN 0385090641, Original cost £UNKNOWN.

I thought that was the lot, but as I put the Adele's back, I spied at the end of the very long shelf some more reading-marevls!

Clothes - Their Choosing, Making & Care by Margaret G Butler (1965)
ISBN 071342700, Original cost £UNKNOWN

Sewing for Men and Boys by Simplicity (1978)
ISBN 0918178002, Original cost £0.60
Curiously, Mummy seems to own a UK edition (it has 60p printed on the front cover). However, online I can only seem to find the US edition with $1 on the front. Flicking through Mummy's copy I've realised that the photo on the cover is different between the different countries.

Introducing Pattern Cutting Grading and Modelling by Margaritha Goulbourn (1971)
ISBN 713427108, Original cost £1.90

Introducing Pattern Cutting by Ann Tuit (1974)
ISBN 0435428608, Original cost £2.80

Betty Foster's Dressmaking Book (1979)
ISBN 0356063198, Original cost £1.25

McCall's Sewing in Colour ((C) 1963, Impression 1977)
ISBN 0600024571, Original cost £2.95

Dress Pattern Designing by Natalie Bray (1974, 4th Edition 'Metric')
ISBN 025896944X, Original cost £UNKNOWN
This is the link to the current, modern 2003 Edition.

More Dress Pattern Designing by Natalie Bray (1974, 3rd Edition 'Metric')
ISBN 0258969725, Original cost £UNKNOWN
Again, link for the latest 2003 Edition.

Tucked inside one of the books was a pink and white packet of Betty Foster's Dressmaking Design Paper. It's large paper, printed with squares, and the idea is that you use a smaller diagram of a pattern and transfer by hand all the lines, and curves onto the larger squares of the 'design paper' - thereby keeping everything in proportion to the scaled-down smaller diagram. (On a side note, it even looks like the company Betty set up to sell her products is still up and running in Crewe.)

More pics are in my Flickr photo set of the books here.

Please see my next post about How Did Mummy Start Sewing? for more!

The Bitch is Back!

2011-08-10T15:11:00.000+01:00

And, about bl**dy time too we missed her!

The bitch is back! NO! Not Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan - but her ultimate selfishness - Elaine, The Selfish Seamstress.


What are you looking at? (Image Source: The Selfish Seamstress)

Image Source: Wikipedia - the character Alexis from the TV show 'Dynasty'

Her last post was 2nd December 2010, her latest post today - that's like 251 days of a drought of selfishness *sniff,sniff* (not that I'm counting or anything ;)!)

Welcome back biatch :)!!

'SewSimple' - New Patterns by Simplicity

2011-08-08T13:09:00.010+01:00

So, I'm on the mailing list for SewingPatterns.com and this morning I found an email in my inbox from them promoting a $1.49 USD per pattern offer (with no limits on the amount purchased) for a new line of patterns by Simplicity.

Being a curious sort I clicked onto the link to see what all the fuss was about.

The new line is called 'SewSimple' and it appears to be a range of some basic styles for 'Misses' and 'Girls'.

Image Source: Left - SewingPatterns.com Right - Simplicity.com

I kind of liked the look of a couple of styles, Skirt 2003, and Sleeveless Top 2029. Clicking on the links for them on the sewingpatterns.com site didn't tell me much about the patterns (usually they have all the information on fabric requirements/sizes etc., but this time not so!). So, I did what I usually do - I popped over to the Simplicity.com site to see first hand, straight from the horse's mouth so to speak what the new range and the 2 patterns I was keen on where all about.

However - NADA! I searched all over the Simplicity site and there is no mention on this range anywhere!?! I'm thinking that sewingpatterns.com might of accidentally jumped the gun and posted the information ahead of schedule maybe? I even tried searching for the new pattern numbers and that drew a blank too.

Now, the Simplicity 'SewSimple' range is NOT the same as it's 'It's So Easy' stuff - that is unless there's some secret master plan to phase that line out ;)! They have different logos and brand colours (see below):

Image Source: Left - SewingPatterns.com Right - Simplicity.com

Next, I thought I'd try searching Google for any other news on the new range and all I could come up with was a range sold through the BMV group called 'Sew Simple Patterns' (mainly aprons, and wall hangings), or a small independent line from a site called sew-simple.com.

So, it seems to me that there's a bit of a confusing message going out here, and not only that - but the possibility of some mix-ups down the line about ownership of brand-names LOL!

Boy Can I Shop!

2011-08-04T00:51:00.000+01:00

Okay, so we all know I'm a confessed book-aholic don't we ;)? Well it should come as no surprise that I have been merrily buying up [what must seem to my poor Hubby] the world's total supply of sewing notions, gadgets and supplies!

I could say here that I've lately been on an unprecedented shopping binge... but that wouldn't be very honest of me. Let us just say that lunch-hours + online shopping = ↑ sewing stash building, but also = ↓ bank-account funds (haha).

Though, to be fair I don't drink, smoke, have any pets/kids or go out partying (otherwise when would I have time to sew?), soooo I'm pretty much free to fritter away my hard earned wages on my pleasurable pastime as and when I see fit. This does not however mean I don't enjoy a good bargain. In fact I bloody well love hunting down the best and cheapest places to buy whatever book or gizmo that has inflamed my sewing passions. So much so, that it is not unknown for me to spend a disproportionate of time searching page after page on Google in order to buy whichever special thingie I've decided I simply cannot live without at that given moment in time, I've even bought stuff from Japan (but more on that later LOL!).

So, I thought I'd share a few photos of some acquisitions from the last few months with you :).

First off, I've purchased some great value items from Sew-Classic based in the USA and they have very reasonable shipping costs to the UK! Plus, when you purchase from them you can add a free PDF download to your basket, the file is a really handy 'Sewing Machine Cleaning & Adjusting Booklet'

Walking Foot

Walking Foot (also know as an 'Even Feed Foot') to fit my high-shank Novum Deluxe IX vintage sewing machine. It was a measly $11.95 (yup only £7.27 - way cheaper than I've found in the UK).

The instructions were somewhat fiddly to understand! But after MUCH swearing and muttering under my breath and 20mins of sweaty fingers later... I got it on and working - with lots of help from page 108 in the 'Sewing Machine Attachment Handbook'!! Once I'd gotten then knack of it, it then only takes me 30 seconds to get it on (yay!). I've not tested it out on any fabric yet. But, turning the handwheel it makes all the correct movements to feed the fabric evenly top and bottom through the sewing machine - so this should be great for when I finally tackle sewing with knits (T-Shirts here I come LOL!).

Feed Cover Plate - Universal (for use with my vintage Buttonholer Attachment)

Last year I bought myself a vintage 1970's Singer Buttonholer attachment (untested as yet - but it came complete in it's original box plus manual, and with all of the templates present and correct). Now, what I didn't realise at the time was that in order to work the feed dogs (those little lines of metal teeth on the needle plate of the sewing machine which grab onto the fabric and move it steadily and evenly through the sewing machine as you stitch) need to be covered up with a special cover-plate, so that they don't move the fabric anymore. The buttonholer attachment works buy moving the fabric around to create the machine-stitched buttonhole.

Unfortunately, the machine I want to use the buttonholer with is my vintage Novum, i.e. not a Singer, and therefore the manual only has suggestions for special singer needle plates that cover the feed dogs - NOT helpful to me.

However, browsing the Sew-Classic store last week I noticed they had a universal feed cover plate for $6.99 (which is like £4.25 GBP!!), ermm how could I not buy it?

And well - it fits! It's yet to be tested alongside the buttonholer - but I'm hopeful it'll perform it's duties admirably.

Screws: Needle Plate, Presser Foot Thumbscrew (for screwing feet onto shank)

And, because I have a tendency to loose fiddly little bits from things (this is when I end up dismantling them to clean them), I picked a few of these up whilst I was at it too. The needle plate screws were $0.89 each, the thumbscrew $0.99 (54p and 60p respectively).

Then, from my local branch of Wilkinson (and I wasn't even looking for sewing stuff honest!) I picked up these:

Wilkinson's: Sleeve Board, Carpet Protector, Rulers

The sleeve board £5.50 ($9.00 USD) has a metal mesh base to allow the steam to flow through, and it folds down pretty flat - so I might try to hang it on the wall to stow it away. I might even change the foam layer they've put under the cotton cover for some natural cotton wadding/batting in my stash - as I think it'll perform better during pressing.

The clear vinyl carpet protector £4.00 ($6.60) is to help stop my dark carpet getting trashed with threads and tiny scraps of fabric, it should make it easier to sweep up all my mess :) The small 15cm/6 inch rulers... weeeellll they were only 10p each ($0.16) and I am ALWAYS loosing them, so the more the merrier haha!

Finally... a Sneeky Peek

Here's a sneeky peek of my literally biggest recent purchase - all 7.7kgs (17lbs) of it! I'll give you a clue - it's 91cm wide, and is very, very, very long (in this case size does certainly matter hehehe).

This was flippin' heavy to carry home on the train and bus when it was delivered to me a work I can tell you!

Sleeve Pattern for the Sorbetto Top

2011-08-01T18:25:00.015+01:00

STOP PRESS!!! 00:17, 02-Aug-2011: The image and PDF pattern sizes have been resolved, and the links and instructions below are now correct!

All over the sewing blog-i-verse the fab free pattern by Colette Patterns is being made up into a myriad of different iterations of the Sorbetto Tank Top. (I've made one too - to be posted about this week.)

The lovely Mena of 'The Sew Weekly' is even doing a whole week of Sorbettos!

Now, I was already thinking about diving in and drafting a sleeve pattern myself to go with this super little sleeveless top, however Mena has already gotten there first (yay - less work for moi ;) !). She's produced the pattern as x2 GIF image files. But, I decided it'd be easier for me to print and work with if I imported these into CorelDRAW. So, I did this and from here I added a few bits 'n' bobs of my own - and it's now been turned into a downloadable PDF file for you to enjoy.

Image Source: 7 days of Sorbetto - The Sew Weekly, Coral Tank Top and Logo - Colette Patterns

Bits that I've added to Mena's own sleeve pattern are:

a seam allowance - a ⁵/₈" (1.5cm) stitching line is now shown,
marked the front and back of the sleeve (to make insertion easier),
the shoulder-seam alignment - changed the dot for a notch-line,
given a 10cm/4 inch test square (page 1 of the PDF file), and
given a layout for assembling the pattern sheet pieces.

I've saved the file in 2 versions, available from my Google documents for download:
• A4 format (paper size: 210 x 297mm).
• US Letter format (paper size: 8½ by 11 inches).

To download the PDF files, simply click on the links above - then on the new webpage select the 'Download' button at the top right-hand side of the screen.

The page 1 of the PDF file is a diagram of the layout for assembling the paper sheets together to form the sleeve pattern (2-sheets, i.e. pages 2+3).

How to assemble the PDF Sleeve Pattern:

(1) Print out the sheet with the Test Square (page 1 of the file).

Select 'Page Scaling' to 'None' (or to 100% - dependant upon your PDF reading software).

Check that the square is the correct size - 10 x 10cm (4 x 4 inches).

(2) Once you are happy with your printer settings, print out the rest of the PDF file.

Page 1 = Layout diagram, Pages 2 + 3 = Sleeve Pattern.

(3) Layout the pages in front of you - as per the layout diagram.

(4) Trim off the right-hand side margin from page 2.

(5) Tape together the 2-sheets: align the solid black triangles edge-to-edge, i.e. 1A with 1A.

      The triangles are found along the edge of the margins (the grey boxes outlining each
      sheet). Basically on a sheet where you've trimmed back an edge to it's margin (grey-line)
      you then overlap that onto the next sheet in the layout.

TIP: This sleeve pattern only has 2-sheets to tape together. But, for bigger pattern pieces, it's often easiest to tape together whole rows first, and to then tape each row to one another afterwards. This makes the process more logical and easier to handle (very useful for when you come across much larger and more complicated patterns to assemble - imagine a maxi dress!!)

Please Note:

The Sorbetto top in it's original form and style is meant to be sleeveless (with the armhole intended to be finished with bias-binding), therefore as per Colette Patterns' instructions the armhole on the bodice pattern pieces has a ¼" (6mm/0.6cm) seam allowance.

However, I have shown a ⁵/₈" (15mm/1.5cm) seam allowance (stitching lines) all the way around on the sleeve pattern. Therefore, you may/may not wish to adjust the bodice armhole to increase the seam allowance and make life easier when you align and pin together the fabric pieces for stitching.

Mena does not state what size the sleeve pattern is she has drafted. Though I think it should be easy to tweak! (I'll let you know how I get on when I make the sleeves myself - very soon LOL!).

Enjoy :) !

P.S. Out of common decency and courtesy I have of course emailed Colette Patterns and also The Sew Weekly to let them know I've made this PDF file of Mena's sleeve pattern.

Liberty Time in London

2011-07-28T14:17:00.001+01:00

Yesterday afternoon I managed to bag myself a spot of half-day holiday time and got to meet up with the delightful Elizabeth from SEWN.

Elizabeth is over from New York in the UK for a holiday, and she suggested a meet-up of sewers at Liberty's of London.

We met up at 2pm outside the ornate entrance (a beautiful display of flowers outside by their in-house florists greeted us). In all on the shopping expedition we had Elizabeth, myself, Catherine (sorry I don't have a link for your blog yet Catherine!), Helen and Eugenia.

We spent a fun time inside the hallowed halls eyeballing the softest Tana Lawn cottons - and surprised by the costly, yet prettily packaged tiny packets of ribbons and trims (treats for the magpie-like shoppers no doubt). £19.95 for a felt needle book - "Thanks but no thanks" from me! They had the cutest looking little plastic jars of buttons in colour-groups, but for £6.50 a jar I'd end up never using them, so back on the table they stayed.

But, what I did spot was the remnants display! Now, usually the Tana Lawn retails for £21.00 GBP per metre (approx. $34 USD), but in this display they sold 1 metre length pieces for £11.95 each (approx. $19.50), so a 43% saving (yay!). Catherine helped me to measure the width of the piece that caught my eye (we realised the display tables of books, and trinkets all have the old-fashioned metal rulers inlaid into their front edges - v. helpful LOL!) and at 150cm/59" I realised it would be big enough for a simple shell top (Sorbetto?), and maybe I'd think of added a short cap sleeve to it too :)

Shoe Print - Tana Lawn Cotton fabric by Liberty's

Note: if you buy remnants you get the plastic carrier bag - so if you covet one of Liberty's posh thick paper carrier, and having your beautiful purchase wrapped and folded delicately in tissue with fancy stickers, you best of paying the extra for the full-price stuff (hehe!). Needless to say I got the plastic bag LOL!

Next, we headed of slightly westwards to hit Berwick Street. Where our first stop was No. 47 'The Cloth House'. (Check out the videos of the store on their website: www.clothhouse.com.) Here I grabbed 30cm of a red cotton/lycra poplin fabric for £2.61 (cheaper than buying a whole metre for £8.95 GBP/$14.60 USD!). The shaed of red is like a slightly softer, more muted tomato red and it perfectly matches the red of on my Liberty shoes print! The red will be the Peter Pan collar methinks!

We also stopped to rummage around and touch 'n' play the fabrics at Borovicks, and The Berwick Street Cloth Shop - there were lots of very soft faux-furs around, and some crazy ruffles sewn onto yards of fabric fab. Plus a very sparkly, very colourful faux-jewelled number in the window which would've done Dame Shirley Bassey very proud (sorry I forgot to take a pic) ! We also quickly nipped into the haberdashers Kleins, were I picked up 1 metre of some beigey-skintone elastic for 90p.

With tired feet we sloped off to The Kings Arms pub on Poland Street, and we commandeered the whole of the 1st floor to ourselves (we were the only ladies in there, it being according to Google a pub popular with "^*bears". Here we were joined by Karen and Melissa. After a few drinks and a lovely long time to chat, with much laughter and smiles all around we had to break up our merry band - parting is such sweet sorrow indeed! Ladies it was fab to meet you all, I wish these kind of meet-ups were every week (or even month!).

I shall leave you with a sneek peek of my newest creation that I wore yesterday - hot off my sewing table... (more pics and a dedicated post on the weekend).

*If you don't know - don't ask me what this means (!) Okay you twisted my arm... bears are grown-up men, they often sport beards 'n' tash's (and I'm given to understand a goodly covering of fuzzy-fur about the rest of their person's) and let's just say that when these bears go out to "play in the woods today" - they don't invite the little girls to join them for toys 'n' games (it being a boy-bear-only kinda thing if you get my drift).

Maps Ahoy! Fabric, Notions 'n' Sewing Places in Brighton

2011-07-03T22:57:00.000+01:00

Following on from last Saturday's fun (and here). I thought it might be nice to share a map of where we all visited. So here you go courtesy of Google maps :)

The first map locates all the sewy-places we visited for Zoe's of 'SoZo's' Me-Made-June-2011 Brighton Meet-Up :-

Fabric & Sewing Shops - Brighton (1)

View Fabric & Sewing Shops - Brighton (1) in a larger map

The second map shows a bunch of other sewing/fabric shops and places that can be found around Brighton too.

View Fabric & Sewing Shops - Brighton (2) in a larger map

We didn't get to visit any of the places on the 2nd map on the big day - but I will be sure to check them out on my next visit to the seaside!

Enjoy :)

Oh, and here's a link to my last map for Brick Lane in East London (see bottom of the post).

The Bountiful Brighton Haul

2011-07-02T23:32:00.000+01:00

So, what pretty bounty did I haul back with me from Brighton last Saturday then? Well, we did the rounds of the shops first, then we ate lunch and after that was the grand-swap.

Here's what came home with me last week :)

Shopping!

First stop was Ditto Fabrics (who have a great online store too by the way!).

All 100% Cotton (yay!).

x2 metres of Navy Blue/White Polka Dot remnant pieces.
x4 metres of Cream/Spot/Anchor-Print remnant pieces.
x4 metres of Blue Gingham.
x3 metres of Beige Floral Ditsy Print.
x4 metres of Deep Blue very lightweight cotton.

x4 metres of Dark Lilac very lightweight cotton.

See how lovely and lightweight it is?

It's now all soft and drapey 'cos I washed it the Sunday.

The blue and purpley fabric are the same type/weight. Gill at Ditto Fabrics says it's a little heavier in weight than fine muslin. (NB: When she says muslin she doesn't mean the thicker stuff we call "Calico" in the UK which across the pond in the USA they call "Muslin".) I'm thinking some tops for the warm summer weather - maybe some Sorbettos?

Next, on our stop was The Brighton Sewing Centre - here I picked up a few notions.

Pins - you can NEVER have too many ;)
Threads - to match the cotton fabrics from Ditto.

Buttons:-
Pink - is to match some fabric I have in my stash already.
Blue - matches the fabric bought at Ditto.

Then, a quick trip around the corner to see the the man on the market stall on Upper Gardner Street. Here, I found some lovely little pale yellow vintage buttons.

Plus, I got this mysterious thick yellow thread (I thought perhaps I'd use them to handwork some buttonholes on a denim skirt?). I'd heard others mention before that vintage thread (mainly old cotton's and natural fibre based threads I'd guess?) could easily break and be rotten. However, this stuff look thick, stuff and pretty darn strong, so for £2 I took a chance LOL!

The thread had some markings on the cardboard spool, so when I got home I did some Googling and found out what it was for.

This stuff is hardcore-industrial thread for shoes, leather, tents etc.!

Final shopping stop before our luncheon was New Fabric Fair. This store has a very colourful array of stuff on display outside

A pile of real leather offcuts for £2.00 Might make a cute purse/wallet!

Outside of the store - an assorted display of curiously styled belts, Peacock feathers, sequinned fabric and faux-fur. Oh, and see the stripey rainbow-coloured satin fabric in the background? We reckon that would make a funky kids indoor play-tent.. but dress? Nooooo!

The inside of the store is a lot of fabric to see - problem is the setting is so tiny to get around that you only need to have 2-3 customer in there and you are overwhelmed. I think a trip back one early weekday morning when it's probably far more empty of visitors would give you better time to browse far more satisfactorily. I nearly bought some £9/metre seersucker Madras checked fabric (would've made a lovely blouse). However, I settled instead for this red and white beauty:

£3.50/m some Polyester/Cotton Blend Gingham - 2 metres came home with me :)

It feels pretty soft for a polycotton, so I'm thinking it must have quite a high percentage of cotton to it - as it doesn't feel as "artificial" as some polycotton's I've handled before.

Now, for the really interesting stuff!

Swapping-time!!!

I was able to pass on some fabrics to new happy owners, and in return the Sewing Gods deemed fit to bring these lovelies into my stash :)

Close-up view of the vintage patterns - I lurve them!

I kindly received these goodies from other sewists/bloggers. Thank you so much ladies!!!

Blouse Pattern - Bust 40" - so hopefully no FBA adjustment needed (yay!)
Dress Pattern - Yup, it will need an FBA!

Blue Floral Cotton Fabric - sooo pretty! Gonna make a top from this for summer I think.
Real Leather Offcuts (Navy and Grey) - are destined to become purses one day.

Essential Shopping Kit!

Kit I brought with me on the day:

(1) Trolley - for the fabric/notion haul (saves aching hands and arms LOL!)
(2) Shears (or sharp scissors) useful to get swatches in a store to think about buying another day. Plus we used them at the meet-up to cut up any long lengths of fabric during the swap (some of my donated pieces were over 4m long!).
(3) Calculator - helps working out costs - 'cos I'm useless at mental arithmetic, or for dividing up the lunch bill :)
(4) Notebook + Pen - if I don't write down what I bought, where, when & how much it cost then I WILL forget (sad but true!)
(5) "How Much Fabric Reference Cards" - no need to bring pattern envelopes with me when I have this handy gadget (from here: GwynHug.com)

Yes - last Saturday was a happy day for stash building :)!

P.S. Oh! And, this little handbag from Yoma might have forced itself into my affections too - they even give you a natty little bag to take it home in (I might use it to put my lunchbox for work in it!) ;)

Hmmm... this gorgeous little leather number called to me!

It's got a sturdy metal zip and 2 different detachable straps :)

All things Bright-on and Beautiful, all Fabric Large and Small!

2011-06-27T22:56:00.000+01:00

(Sorry - couldn't resist this fromage-friendly post title hehehe!)

How very apt a photo to start this post! So many tempting sewing/fabric places to visit in Brighton.

So, I arrived in Brighton at the appointed hour (11am). My bargainacious return 'Super Off Peak Day Return' ticket only cost me £6.60 (discounted from £10 by using my Annual Goldcard that came with my Oyster season ticket for the Tubes).

I hurriedly, exited the train to be greeted by the rear-views of oh, so many day trippers hoping to catch some, sun, sand (no luck for them there Brighton is a pebbled beach) and fresh sea air. Too many bodies in the way I had to weave, duck 'n' dive to get to the barrier... don't these people know that there are shops to be visited, sewists to be meet and fabric to be swapped! Come-on people get a wriggle on!!

Platform view at Brighton train station. Move along people! I got fabric

Ahhh... such shiny, eager faces, full of excitment!

Left-Right: Dibs, Justine, Santie, Ally, Tilly, Stevie, Laura, Suzy,
(Aileen also joined us a few minutes later) and of course Zoe!

(Please do click on the links to visit their own posts about the MMJ-2011-Brighton-MeetUp)

But, ahhh... there ahead of me just beyond the ticket barrier I spied them - the '^*Symphony of Sewists'. The fabric loving horde had congregated outside of the WHSmiths newsagents. There were many shiny, eager faces, and everyone had arrived on time (if not earlier), clearly time spent on sewing related activities is deadly serious to these special ladies [*nods own head sagely in agreement with this moral value*].

There were just over a Baker's Dozen of us all together (we were later joined by Aileen who missed out on the photo-opp in front of WHSmiths). Zoe started us off, we went aroud the group introducing ourselves, the name of our blog (if we had one), and what Me-Made-Items we were wearing (I wore my striped seersucker skirt). Then maps to the locations of fabric 'n' sewing-goodness were handed out, whereupon Zoe and her friend Stevie split the group into 2-gangs. The idea being that these smaller sizes would be far easier to manage around some of the little shops we were about to descend upon. I had my trusty trolley with me (piled high with fabric to swap at the lunch meet-up later) so I still had room to secrete more new acquistions about my person.

My motto: "Have trolley WILL shop!".

First stop was Ditto Fabrics, then The Brighton Sewing Centre, followed by the man on the Market Stall on Upper Gardner Street, and then finally New Fabric Fair.

Here's a slide show of our great day:

Gill at Ditto was v. helpful - giving shoppers washing tips to prep their fabrics, and being generally super-lovely :). The ladies at the Brighton Sewing Centre helped me to match my threads to my new fabrics (I'll be posting tomorrow about my new acquistions - bought and swapped), plus gave me great advice regarding a stitch in the ditch presser foot I was thinking about getting too (I couldn't remember if I had one or not)

It felt like we'd done so much walking - and I never realised a lot of Brighton's streets are on hills. Suzy had some amazing red peep-toe heels on, but her toes were getting strangled - however, not a girl to look a gift horse in the mouth she bought some fab new black shoes and was able to get around in comfort for the rest of our visit.

We came across some interesting sights - the store next door to Ditto Fabrics was the site of the first ever 'The Body Shop' (see blue plaque in my slide show above, and no trip to Brighton can be complete without spotting a gang of ladies out on the town for a hen-do, and it ain't a proper do without your pink wigs. Oh, and no restaurant is complete without a knitted palace and set of seagulls in it's windows LOL!

After all our shopping and walking, it was time to meet up for luncheon at All-Bar-One.

Time for refreshment everybody

Zoe saved us all a seat :)

We rushed Daniel at All-Bar-One off of his feet bless 'im! (Photo nicked from Dibs's blog)

After plenty of good food 'n' drink it was time for the swap (see Zoe's excellent post for an explanation of how this was organised). We were highly civilized and took turns to select things - I don't think anyone went home without some new-to-them-sewy-treat :) We managed to turn things that made a negative, unloved dent in our sewing-souls, into positive fuel-ups for our ^*^*Sew-Jo :)

My little set of 'How Much Fabric Reference Cards' seemed v. popular amoungst the girls... I got them from GwynHug.com they come in either metric (cms) or inches, and in 2 sizes-ranges. (And, yes they were still in my handbag when I got home, no one had decided to re-home them hahaha!)

I must say Brighton and it's lovely little shops and streets is certainly a feast for the eyes - so much to ^*^*^*see and do, I truly cannot wait to go back (Zoe's already suggested a repeat performance for early Autumn, yippee!) :)

Thank you ladies for your wonderful company, you're all such fun to be with.

And a big-up to Zoe, for suggesting and running this super-fun-filled day.

^*I was trying to think what the collection noun would be for a group of sewing enthusiatsts and someone said "It's a symphony of sewists!" Brilliant!!

^*^*A bit like Mojo, only more stitching is involved.

^*^*^*Including the obligatory Brighton Hen-Do... got a pink fluoro wig? Then it's time to paaarr-taaay!

Brighton-Bound....

2011-06-25T08:13:00.000+01:00

Well my bags are packed, I've 4 pieces of fabric ready to swap. Me 'n' my trusty funky-floral-trolley are off to Brighton!

Here's a pic of one of the pieces of fabric I shall be waving goodbye to today:

You can see my trolley in the pic to - bright isn't it (haha).

There is x1 woven (a cotton sateen camo-style print), and x3 light-weight printed knits. I am sure they will all be finding lovely new homes!

And, these are photos of the Me-Made item I shall be sporting today. It's a full-gathered skirt I made last summer (pre-blog) based on Gertie's tutorial. I made it from some cotton-blend blue and white striped seersucker fabric I bought in Walthamstow for £1 a metre!

Wish us lovely weather for today please :)

Off to the Seaside!

2011-06-22T17:17:00.000+01:00

Guess where I'm going to this Saturday?...

Brighton Sea Front

"Oh, I do like to be beside the Seaside, beside the Sea!"

The Royal Pavilion

Images Source: www.visitbrighton.com

Yup, having sadly missed out on the Goldhawk Road Fandango because of a nasty cold I am hopping onto the train to (hopefully) sunny Brighton for SoZo's Me-Made-June 2011's Brighton Meetup.

I've found a handy free PDF street map of the city centre from the official website (Download the PDF Brighton City Centre Walking Map) so I won't get lost in The Lanes. So, me 'n' my funky floral shopping trolley are ready to swap a tonne of fabric and patterns with other sewists :)

And, I might even pick up some of this stuff whilst I'm there ;)

Brighton Rock (Image Source: www.telegraph.co.uk)

Fluffy Stuff: Sewing Room Scene in Magazine Advert

2011-06-03T14:09:00.000+01:00

I love this advert! It's a fluffy 'n' fun pic :)

(Sewing Room scene) in Windows 7 Laptop ad

I spied this advert in this week's issue of Grazia magazine (a weekly fashion title in the UK) and thought it was really fun! (I scanned in a copy to share here with the blogiverse.)

She has a very cluttered and stylized room (obviously not a "real" sewists space - well not to my mind anyways!). But it's beautiful and eclectic scene to behold.

P.S Do you think if I buy one of their new laptops I'd get a half-scale mannequin thrown in free to practice draping on? ;)

Confessions of a Sewing Book-aholic

2011-05-31T12:09:00.000+01:00

To paraphrase the title of Sophie Kinsella's chic-lit novel 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' I have to say "Hello, my name is Claire, and I am a sewing book-aholic".

Karen recently about 'Long Live The Craft Book' and how despite her deep love for her Kindle, she still feels a "need to invest in a physical book that I can love, stroke and put on a bookshelf". Amy of 'Sewing by the Book' has spoken about 'Reading Sewing Books on a Kindle' where she's compared a paper vs. a digital version of a book - and the digital version failed to live up to it's expectations. Suzy of 'SuzySewing' is doing a monthly book analysis, and Amy of 'Dianaandme' is reviewing books weekly, and in her own words "If I come to the conclusion that the book is useful, but not for me, I will stick it in a giveaway and see who wants it.".

This got me thinking about my own not-so-little sewing library.

I'm definitely gonna need a stronger bookshelf!

I currently own 46 books and 6 DVDs (one interactive DVD comes bundled with the David Page Coffin 'Making Trousers' book). And, *gulp* more are on their way to me in the post (hehe).

I catalogue my bibliophilic addiction at LibraryThing.com where I can log details of my stash using their free service. You can even see which other site members own the same book - or who has a title(s) on their wish list. Plus, from each book's own page there's links to different stores that might sell them. This is very helpful (or bad if you consider the impact on my purse-strings!) especially in the case of out-of-print and vintage titles such as 'Dorothy Moore's Pattern Drafting and Dressmaking' (a tome I acquired from the US Amazon site last June after spying it on Peter's blog), or for older editions of the popular covers-all-bases-for-basics book by the '^*The Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing'.

There is some feeling in the blog-i-verse that older editions of the Reader's Digest book have better coverage on aspects of basic tailoring than newer copies. (Perhaps I'll do a read up on both my copies and report back?)

My 2 editions of 'Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing' book side-by-side
A quick flick through shows me that some sections are very updated (centre picture),
and some are virtually the same (right picture).

My purchasing is worse when I am browsing my favourite blogs (like Miss Celie's Pants), and I spot a tasty looking morsel - the excitement elicited by the fellow blog's own enthusiasm immediately has me reaching for my PayPal login details and before you know it wham, bam thank you mam I've ordered myself a copy of 'Singer Sewing Reference Library - Sewing Activewear' (blimey just checked and copies are going for less than 50p!).

Have I actually sewn any activewear? Umm... nope (not yet anyway)! But, I do have a lovely warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy when I look at my new ** IKEA Lack bookshelves and see the books there - ready for when I need to reference something. It's quite satifsfying to know I can grab a book and snuggle up on my sofa to read-up on a technique or method. I love the internet, but it's very cosy to have a mug of coffee and biscuit in hand with the telly on in the background and to slowly flick through the crsip pages in my hand :)

I've stalked you my pretty and now I OWN you mwahahahahah!

I've been in the sad(?) habit of stalking used book sites for copies of rarer items, such as 'Fundamentals of Draping & Pattern Drafting' by Moira Doyle, (as I'd heard good things about it). The price was way to high initially, and only 1 or 2 used copies ever seemed for sale anywhere. Then early this May there were like 10 or 12, and the price had dropped to around $10-$15 USD (whereas before I was looking at $70-$80). So, I have concluded that as the book is aimed at college students that it must have been the end of their course and people were selling-up on texts they no longer needed. (This is the publisher's site with details of that book and the author's other title - 'The Essentials of Pattern Grading', it's a handy site 'cos you can preview quite a few pages from the books without having to buy them). Now, all I need is the FIDM Ruler to go with the grading book grrrr - it's so hard to get hold of it from the US. The FIDM people want you to fax/email them your credit-card details BEFORE they'll tell you how much shipping to the UK is - like that's a very secure financial thing to do (NOT!).

The DVDs

Mind you on the other side of the book-coin some very accomplished bloggers have their own books in the pipeline Gertie, and Kathleen are 2 that I know of - and other bloggers and sewists are having their work featured in the new BurdaStyle book due out in November this year- so people are transitioning from the flat-screen to the printed page (kinda like technological progression in reverse, yet I have not doubt the foray into publishing will reach a wider and equally appreciative new audience).

Some other interesting sewing-book links:

• Tanit-Isis Sews - My sewing library…

• Singer and Sew (Julie) - On My Shelf

• Erica B's DIY Style! - Sewing Book Reviews and My Sewing Library

• Gertie's Blog for Betters Sewing - Building a Sewing Library

• BurdaStyle.com - 6 Essential Patternmaking|Sewing Books For Your Library

• delfinelise - Books!

• Greenapples (StitchyWitch) - Books for sewing beginners

^*The eagle-eyed amongst you will spot that I own 2 editions of this title, the latest version (white cover with blue spots) plus the vintage copy dating from 1981 - though there are even earlier editions still out the to be had for very little cash! Used copies of old editions are going for less than a fiver on Amazon UK (and from only $1.23 on the American site!).
**Hubby and I am midst a long project to turn the junkyard that is our spare bedroom into a fresh and lovely ~~bed~~ sewing room all for moi! I've had over 10 different tester pots of green paint, and I have STILL yet to find the perfect shade *sighs*

Bagged & Tagged Baby!

2011-04-24T22:05:00.000+01:00

"V" modelling her lovely new bag!

So, my friend V's gorgeous baby boy is a few months old now, and we headed over to her place yesterday for an Easter-time BBQ in the London sunshine - this will be the first time I get to meet the little man! I'd already made her a gift of some dummy/pacifier clips when he was born. And, around the same time I started work on a nice big denim bag for Mummy V to tote around all of his stuff in, I also offered to make a baby-carrier (and I bought all the supplies ready to make The Pea Pod Carrier as featured on the tutorial over on Sew, Mama, Sew!). Unfortunately, my offer slipped V's mind and she bought one from the shops (*sighs*). Ah, well my youngest brother and his lovely wife are expecting their first child very soon - so I'll make one for them instead (I can't wait to be an Auntie - lots of opportunities to make cute 'n' dinky kiddie stuff yay!).

I'd emailed V earlier last week showing her the x2 spotty fabrics I though would suit the baby-carrier (some lovely Amy Butler fabrics I got on Sale in the big John Lewis department store on Oxford Street). It was during this emailing to and fro that I found out that she already had a carrier - so we switched to plan B, and I made her the lovely bag below instead! And, it's the inaugural use of my labels (I was most chuffed to be able to use them)!

V needed something nice 'n' roomy to take all of baby's stuff to the beach in. So, I searched for a simple bag to make her, I found this tutorial for a 1-hour bag.

The tutorial has you easily draft you own pattern onto an A4 piece of paper (I used my computer and did the drafting on my screen). The size was a little small for V's needs, so I increased it by 180%. This made it too long (LOL!), so I took out an 8 cm horizontal fold/tuck from the middle and redrafted the curve on the side.

I loosely followed the overall steps in the original tutorial (see below).

Outline of original construction method:-
(Clipping curves/corners, trimming/grading seam allowances, and pressing as you go)
(1) Sew the pocket pieces together.
(2) Sew the pocket onto 1-side of lining.
(3) Sew the lining pieces together at sides and bottom only (leave gap at bottom to turn inside out).
(4) Sew wadding (batting) to each separate side of the outer/fashion fabric.
(5) Sew together the outer/fashion fabric sides - at sides and bottom only
(6) Sew the fashion fabric + the lining together at top (right sides facing each other).
(7) Turn right side out.
(8) Attach magnetic clip/closure to top-centre of bag.
(9) Sew the strap pieces + wadding together.
(10) Sew the strap onto the bag (at the sides) and add buttons.

I wanted more room inside of V's bag - so I needed to add some width. I did this by inserting a long grey rectangle of fabric (the finished width of the rectangle was 8cm) all around the sides and bottom. Also, I knew that a lot of stuff would go into the bag and I wanted it sewn on really strong to take the weight - so I changed how that was attached too. I also wanted to use ties vs. a magnetic-clasp as a closure, as I thought it might help to pull-in and control any tendency of the full-up bag from spreading open at the top. I used the grey/blue spotted polka dots fabric for the outer fashion fabric, and I lined it with medium weight cotton calico (Muslin). All the fabric was sat in my stash ages ago - all pre-washed and pressed and ready to go :)

MY Outline of tweaked construction method:-
(1) + (2) Same as above.
(3) Sew each calico lining piece to a long calico rectangle at the sides and bottom only (leave gap at bottom to turn inside out).
(4) Sew wadding to each separate side of the outer/fashion fabric + onto the long grey rectangle.
(5A) Sew together the outer/fashion fabric sides to the grey rectangle - at sides and bottom only.
(5B) Sew up the x2 narrow straps/ties (20cm long each) from fashion fabric.
(5C) Sew 1-tie onto each side of the lining - at the top, centre (I sewed over 4 times for strength!).
Moved up in sequence = (9) Sew the strap pieces + wadding together.
Then... Sew straps to the sides of the fashion fabric - lining them up with the width of the grey side-sections carefully.
(6A) Sew the fashion fabric + the lining together at top (right sides facing each other).
(6B) Sew over the area where the straps are attached 3-4 more times for additional strength.
(7A) Turn right side out
(7B) Topstitch opening edges of bag.
(8) + (10) = [Not applicable in my version]

To make the ties:-
- I cut x2 rectangles of the fashion fabric approx. 5-5cm wide, by 20cm long.
- I pressed the fabric half along the longest length (wrong sides facing one another).
- I then pressed 1 long raw-edge of the fabric into the centre (again wrong sides facing each other).
- Next, I pressed the remaining long-edge into the centre.
- Then I folded and pressed the fabric in half (to enclose the raw edges), and I tucked 1 of the short-ends in too (trimming the corners to reduce bulk).
- Then I topstitched all the way around (from the folded-in short-end, around the corner and along the folded-in long edge).

Things I had to fiddle around with....
- My wadding was pretty thick - but I found I could carefully tear it into 2 thinner layers (I kept it thick for the strap though).
- To be economical when cutting out the wadding for my rectangular side-section, I cut it out as too halves. I then zig-zagged the 2-pieces together over the top of a small scrap of calico to piece them together.
- I adjusted the strap width to match my new grey side-sections.
- I decided to use 2-threads for topstitching from the top needle thread (pale-blue thread along strap, browny-grey thread along the top-edge of the bag opening) - this gave me a nice thicker looking line.
- I used a longer stitch length for the topstitching to make it stand out more too.
- I needed to use a Size 16/100 Denim needle to topstitch along the strap and bag opening (as well as when I sewed the straps on extra strong LOL!) - it had to be a thicker needle to cope with all the layers of fabric and wadding.
- I hand-finished the topstitching at the ends of the bag opening (I left long tails of thread at each end to do this). Back-stitching would have looked a bit bulky and untidy otherwise, and as the topstitching was for "looks" only this was a nice way to finish it off.
- I tried to pin my label in place on the pocket (which is small and tricky to sew accurately on the machine) but it looked all bumpy and misshapen pined like that. So, instead I hand basted it in place and then stitched with white thread on top in a very short stitch length as close to the label's edge as I could get to make it look very posh (hehe!)
- I had to figure out a new strap length. Because I'd changed the dimensions of the pattern the original strap length would no longer work. I used masking tape to temporarily attach my tape measure to one end of the bag. I then stood in front of the mirror and moved the position of the tape up/down to find the NEW correct length :) (Sorted!).

Errors I made along the way...
- I got tired and careless at one point during sewing-up the side-seams and I veered off course on my seam allowances. I had to go back and unpick it and start again (that's late night sewing for you ha!)
- Again, when tired I forgot to sew the wadding onto the grey rectangle side-section. So, instead of unpicking and re-sewing the [now already clipped corner-curves] I hand-basted the wadding to the seam allowances instead.

Here's some pics of V, and the new bag :)

Post Title: Bagged and Tagged Baby!

Bagged = the bag

Tagged = 1st use of my custom-made labels

Baby = Small, cute human infant ;)