31 October 2009

reports of a fail

what i attempted to make yesterday wasn't meant to look like a potato sack. and it wasn't supposed to be a Halloween costume either. i guess it's both of those. what it's not is a cute floral dress. happy weekend!


29 October 2009

t'is the season to be crafty


VIA HERE

Christmas. There, I said it.

In a few weeks' time I'm going to go home to play in the snow, cuddle my niece for the very first time, drink mulled wine and eat truckloads of Plaetzchen. This year it will be a crafty christmas for me. Crafty gifts are better because:

1. they're cheaper
2. they're usually smaller and lighter than, say, a Thomas the Tank Engine bedhead, and therefore easier to ship or take places
3. they're made with sweat, love and tears.

This is the first year I've dedicated myself to making all my gifts by hand, so bear with me here as I glue, swear, knit and purl and occasionally get drunk and staple my ears together. Over the coming weeks I will post about some awesome handmade present ideas for all levels of craft-aptitude so stay toooned!

26 October 2009

I hope you had a great weekend!

I went to see the Quilt Project on Friday and I was blown away not only by how beautiful the end result is but also how beautiful the simple idea of bringing people together to create something is. I can not believe the detail that's gone into some of the squares, and how they were all so stunning in their own ways. I was totally inspired and drove home whistling to myself and thinking happy thoughts. Thanks to Kirsty for inviting everyone to come view the quilt and for the nibbles and champagne!

Sadly my arm is still hurting to it's been an almost craft free weekend. But it's been a lovely weekend nontheless.

Take a look at the quilt project here and be blown away!

We took our little gorgeous niece to the Aquarium on Sunday, so instead of crafty pics here's some fishy pics I took with the new camera.







23 October 2009

injury sewing - continued



Here's a bad photo of what i made yesterday - another toddler dress. What's with me and the baby stuff? Don't answer that.

Please note the bad fabric placement (teapot cut off). I love that I continue to learn and grow on this sewing journey. That was my American TV speak for: Screwing up makes me get better at this. Sadly my sewing machine is not playing nicely with me anymore. I have an entry level Singer which I got given by lovely, kind friends for my 30th, so I'm rather attached to it. However it HATES sewing bias binding and ruins it, and it tends to kind of eat thinner fabrics. It's like me, always needs to eat something.  I think something may be wrong with the footer pressure. For example, when I zig zag edges, the fabric more or less swims around, the machine keeps missing heaps of stitches and the fabric crumples up. AAAARGH. Any advice?

10 October 2009

more finished things!









I made this little top/dress for my friend's little girl - of course it had to have buttons spelling her name. I'm happy with how it turned out. She's got to grow into it a little bit me thinks! 


I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine! 


06 October 2009

dress



Luckily I have a terrible sinus infection and blogtoberfest is EASY when you're stuck in bed.
I finished my dress and I am super happy with it. It was the most complicated thing I've made to date. The front yoke section was tough and yes I swore like a sailor on shore leave particularly when I sewed over my fingernails and had to use the dictionary to translate instructions. Turns out it wasn't a language problem. It was a basic lack of understanding of sewing patterns problem.




I used a Sew Your Own pattern I found in the oppy for a dollar. I amended the pattern quite a bit (which for me means, chop and cut at liberty where it doesn't fit). It was too long and tenty for me so I chopped about 3 centimetres off the seamline on both sides. I also changed the neckline a bit and used bias tape to finish it off.




I like the little sleeves.

There was a bit of a moment when Mr Melbournevintage came into my room and watched me at work and said 'oh you're practising with some test fabric'. A dangerous comment because I was holding scissors and was saddened by his lack of appreciation for the lovely green cotton I picked. Also: Test fabric? Me? AHA HAHA HAHA! I do love him for giving me so much credit though.

Attention please.


Avert your eyes if you're a professional sewer.

That complicated yoke section on the front? I was supposed to replicate that in the same fabric and sew it on the inside inside-out and then turn it probably so that the seamlines on the inside would be hidden.
I swore and I cried, I just couldn't get it to work out. And to be honest I didn't want to.

So I thought frickit, and ironed a giant piece of interfacing on instead.





Unlike me it's not pretty on the inside.