The GBSB 'Skater Dress'

It has been nice to get the sewing machine out again and get stuck into a project. And here it is!! The 'full skirted dress' from the Great British Sewing Bee book (Sew Your Own Wardrobe), or as I have been calling it... The Skater Dress

As I take a very uncomfortable looking photo... photos will mostly be appearing headless (sorry)

This was a pretty easy pattern to follow and has a lovely shape which is very flattering for the larger of bum people. I love the little capped sleeves (which are double sided so the pattern continues underneath, very pretty and a lovely detail), they did cause me a little bit of trouble until I worked out which way round they were meant to go.
When I picked up the material to cut the pattern I decided that (while it is lovely and soft) the cotton was in fact very thin. As we are heading into autumn (not yet, I'm still clinging onto the last few weeks of summer... but it's out there, lurking) I thought it would be prudent to add a lining to it to give it a bit more substance. I decided to underline it as this is my first attempt at lining a dress, I think I managed it ok.

The bust with princess seams

I used a cream jersey fabric for the lining which felt lovely and soft, it matched the cotton for it's softness and kept the lovely drape of the dress. I unfortunately didn't take into account that the jersey may shrink a little so the hem had a bit of a bubble effect (which you can see at the front of the photo above), this resulted in some unpicking as I decided to just hem both layers of fabric separately.

I decided that this would make a lovely addition to my summer holiday wardrobe, and give me a good opportunity to wear it out somewhere nice. I've spent the last week in the south with my parents who live in Wiltshire. This dress made its debut on our day out in London (where we did some fabric shopping - I'll tell you about that soon), I wanted to get some photo's taken while we were there but it was really windy so the photos came out a bit... well...

Holding down the skirt so my dignity isn't lost

So some photos were taken in the back garden of my parents house to show the shape and the interesting bits (unfortunately it got a bit creased after the day out in London)

The shocking thing is I wasn't wearing tights, my legs are just that white

The low back is much nicer than I expected

The back of the dress requires a hidden zip, but I managed to fit a regular zip which you can see at the top. It also asks for a hook and eye to secure the top, but I really hate those things so decided to fit a button with a loop fastener, I think it makes the obvious zip look like it's meant to be there... sort of.

Me and my Dad in London - Mum's photography skills... wonky

And some proof that I did in fact wear the dress in London. We went to visit the Queen, who was actually at home.

Things I learned making this dress...
1, Princess seams are a bugger, but they are lovely and flattering and a very comfortable fit.
2. Lining something with a stretch fabric is not always the best idea (you live and learn).
3, Always double check you've got the right zip, it does make a difference.

Things I learned in general...
1, A bum length cardigan is great for controlling a girly skirt on a windy day... you heard it here first.

All in all I really enjoyed making this dress, I will definitely be wearing this a lot as it is so comfy, and I will definitely use this pattern again... I think it would be awesome in a knit or jersey fabric.

Great British Sewing Bee - Getting stuck in

So I know the Great British Sewing Bee (series 2) ended what feels like ages ago (already looking forward to series 3), I have only recently managed to get my hands on their book 'Sew Your Own Wardrobe'.

The book comes all wrapped up in plastic with the pattern sheets nice and safe in their own envelope

I was dubious about buying this at first because I didn't believe that it would have that much in it, after all it is a TV link in book and they're usually a bit crap. It does state, in very big letters, on the front that there are 5 pattern sheets included, I made the mistake of thinking that this meant five patterns. In my (somewhat pessimistic mind) I imagined the crappy patterns that would be no good for me (the baby clothes, the mans anorak, and maaaaybe a woman's skirt), but after borrowing a copy to have a look through I got rather excited... there's loads of things in there I want to make... LOADS!

The 1960s style coat, for an advanced sewer methinks

Bowling shirt, nice and casual

They recommend jersey fabric for the wrap dress, not tried that yet

Lovely little skater style dress with cute sleeves

Included with these (and there are loads more patterns in there too, including men's shirt, trousers, leggings, t-shirts, shift dress, baby dungarees, different skirts) they have tips and details about types of fabrics and some skills that are used in the making of the included patterns.

Good instructions and illustrations... this book is awesome!

The pattern sheets themselves look really complicated (moment of panic), they are all double sided and have lots of different pieces on each sheet. Luckily they are colour coded so each piece for each garment is pretty easy to find and to trace (phew, panic over).

I know it's in here somewhere...

So after getting really excited about al of the things I could make and how I could make them (and after taking myself to one side and having a quiet word about only being able to do one thing at a time) I have decided to start with the 'Full Skirted Dress' which I keep calling the skater dress...

I love this shape, perfect for a summer dress or a winter dress

I love the fabric they've used in the books version, I would love to recreate this identically with the green gingham, but alas I could not find any to match (one day... one day), so for my version of this I'm going to use the recommended cotton in beige with small orange/red berry pattern on. This is a lovely soft cotton that I think would be perfect for summer (if the warm weather decides to come back). It's been in my stash for a while now, just waiting for the perfect pattern.

extreme close up. I can't decide if they are red or orange berries

The big draw back to this book and the pattern format is the tracing. While this isn't as difficult a task as putting together a PDF pattern (which I wouldn't do if the blouses/dresses/skirts weren't so pretty), I do have a bit of a wobbly tracing line on some of the pieces.

I traced the size 10 as well as the 12 so I can check the sizing without having to trace again!

So now I have all of my pattern pieces traced out, I'm just waiting for the perfect Bank Holiday weekend that I can get stuck into making my lovely little skater dress.

Did me some (wobbly) tracing!!

The sewing machine is coming out of storage... and I am very excited!!

Not so grim up north: Saltwell Park

While I'm in the process of moving house at the moment (meaning my trusty sewing machine is packed up ready to go, so no sewing for me at the moment... boo!), a lot of people have been asking me whether I will miss the place. It has surprised me that rather than saying I'll miss my little flat, I always respond that I'll miss living so close to the park.
It struck me then that not many people (from outside the Newcastle area) will have heard of this wonderful patch of greenery. So I have decided to distract myself from my lack of sewing machine by introducing you to the wonderful Saltwell Park, and perhaps convincing you that it isn't so grim up north.



View across towards the boating lake

Saltwell is a beautiful Victorian park which was opened in 1876, it was called 'the people's park' back then but I doubt many people would refer to it like that now. It's not actually in Newcastle, it's over the water in Gateshead (a very important distinction up here, though I'm not sure why) It underwent a facelift between 1999 and 2005 to restore it to its former glory after it fell into disrepair. Now it's one of my favourite places in the North.



https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Leisure%20and%20Culture/parks/Saltwell%20Park/History.aspx

The park covers a grand 55 acres which includes a huuuge playing field/meadow, boating lake complete with swans, Saltwell Dene, and Saltwell Towers (previous home of William Wailes, a stained glass designer artist extraordinaire). It hosts the best (in my opinion) firework display in the North, and was once host to it's very own airplane (yes you read that right... an airplane), kids used to be able to climb into it and slide down the emergency chute before it was decided that this was in fact highly apposed to health and safety laws, the plane vanished and not one person I've spoken to can pin down when this happened (mysterious me-thinks)

http://low-fell.com/remember-when-saltwell-airways/

 I give you photographic evidence of the airplane!

This gorgeous park has enough nooks and crannies for you to get yourself completely lost and forget that you are so close to the city. In the summer you can hire boats to peddle out into the lake, or feed the ducks and swans. In the winter you can visit the 'Enchanted Parks' display (art installations and light displays that you visit in the pitch black, it has a really magical atmosphere) and come to see the fireworks (make sure to OOH and AAAH). I had a wander through the park recently and took some photos of my favourite parts for your perusal (please forgive my 'point and shoot' photography techniques)...



Victorian benches on which to take in the view and possibly a beautiful sunset



The Belvedere Walls which surround Saltwell Towers



Saltwell Towers and the middle section of the park



Beautiful little bandstand

Possibly my favourite part of the park is Saltwell Dene. Between the large field and boating lake, before you come across Saltwell Towers is a wooded area with a stream running through it and little paths winding through.

 

Ooops I forgot to remove the date stamp! Which actually has the wrong date on hmmm



So this is my little park, I hope you like it too. I think it's appropriate to finish off with the little (huge really) swans on the lake, and a nice birds eye shot (which is a little old but I couldn't find a more recent one) to give you an idea of what is where..



If you look closely you can also see the ducks that promptly swam away from me

http://low-fell.com/remember-when-saltwell-airways/

Let me introduce myself...

Hi peoples...
I've begun this blog and am not really entirely sure where I'm going with it. My aim is to share with you my attempts at home made stuff (clothes, jumpers, toys, food), any tips I've picked up along the way, and any failures and hopefully successes.

So where to start.. Of course this should be with a little peek at what I'm working on right now. I have a tendency to flit from project to project and get waaaay too excited about new things I could make and do, so this one might take some time...

Let me introduce... Philippa

Close up of my buttons of choice, aren't they cute!

This is a pattern I found on the Just Skirts and Dresses blog (see her brilliant version and the pattern on her blog here ) I instantly fell in love with its ribbing pattern and little sleeves with their poofy loveliness. I've never knitted anything more adventurous than hand warmers with thumbs! I know what you're thinking, yes they had thumbs and they are awesome! I wanted to try my hand at something a little more adventurous (just to see if I could) and thought this was do-able.
This is what the final jumper will look like...

Very simple and very classy, just look at the poofyness!!

And this is my version so far...

This is the back of the jumper, made with a 100% wool that I found on ebay (all hail the ebay!). It took me ages to translate the pattern, this is not because it is difficult to follow, but this is only the second knitting pattern I've ever followed (the first being a hat that I may show you sometime if you're nice). So after about three days of reading it, going for a cup of tea, reading it again, having another cup of tea, I decided it would be best for all concerned if I typed out my own version that I would understand. This proved to be the ticket!
The only problem I've had (which I'm rather vexed about) is that I didn't increase the stitches as I went in the stockinette bit, this has left it with a bit of a narrow base and rather sudden increases just under the armhole. I'm hoping as I have a rather short and narrow back I might just get away with it.
I will keep you updated with Philippa as I go, wish me luck