Wednesday 27 April 2011

Queen of Hearts Jacket - Work in Progress 3

Another day on the jacket, this is starting to become a bit of an epic project!  I sewed the peplum together, which I think looks pretty cute and with a definite playing card feel.
Peplum back and sides
When I planned the jacket I wanted to have hearts on the peplum but I just couldn't work out how to sew applique them on without fraying.  I thought about using felt as it doesn't fray and sewing it on by hand but when I looked I didn't have enough red left just bucket loads of white.  I didn't want to spend any money if possible, especially as I do have fabric left over.  So I turned to the net, I had my shiny very fraytastic fabric and I found a great video meant for quilt applique with freezer paper.  

Woo!  Get in! I already have some freezer paper.  It worked pretty well on my quite large heart shapes and I am lining the jacket so no one can see the messy back where I cut the paper out heehee!
I zigzag stitched around the edge as my fancy stitches were not that great for this and I didn't mind the stitching being seen.  I also didn't fancy handsewing all 11 hearts on either.  So now the peplum looks like this....
I must confess, the half red and white heart in the middle is a bit of a late addition.  I accidentally tore a hole in the fabric with my overlocker as the fabric was quite slippery and got away from me more than once.  I was thinking about cutting a bunch of little hearts and scattering them over the skirt but I liked the look of just the large hearts on the bottom and thought maybe a half and half large heart would look ok.  Plus it will be right over my bum which I am sure my friends will love!  haha!

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Queen of Hearts Jacket - Work in Progress 2

Finally got some sewing in today as the sun was a being a bit wishy-washy and not tempting me to the garden!  So back to the Queen of Hearts jacket, there were lots of pieces (I only cut 2 the wrong way round, and one was only little) so I separated the colours on to my bookshelves so I wouldn't lose any. 
   
From bottom, pattern, lining, red and top out of picture is red
(A collar facing still managed to disappear though!  Luckily its the smallest piece so I just re-cut it.)
Lllllllllllots of progress pictures.............
Front bodice 

Back Bodice
 This looks very striking I think!
Collar
 The collar was quite fiddly, and the instructions were not particularly clear, it made it sound like you had to sew the facings on twice rather than the proper fabric.  I chose to alternate every piece red and white in the end which I think has a lot of impact.
Front bodice with collar
Back bodice with collar
Just look at that lining up!  That makes me so happy!
Bodice with Queen collar
I also made the huge stand up Queen collar included in the pattern as I want it to be over the top and obvious that I am the queen of my birthday and not just a boring card :p  Obviously none of it is lined yet but you can see the shape.  I do have interfacing air bubble (see previous post) but it is not as obvious as I first thought.  I should have interfaced the lining not the cheapy satin but ah well!  I have started the jacket peplum but just chomped a big hole in it :S I do have a way to save it though!

Thursday 21 April 2011

Birthday Cakes!

Yesterday was my boyfriends birthday and as we are short on money at the moment I decided to make both his card and cake but to make it a little bit different and quite personal.  I like making things for other people as I just love the reaction you get from them. 

I found someone on DeviantArt who had cross stitched some Moomin patterns and I commented on how much I liked them, and she sent me the scans of the patterns!  http://auraya89.deviantart.com/
Snork Maiden

I couldn't see the colour symbols very well on the pattern so I just used colours that I thought matched the cartoon.  Moomin is one of our pet names for each other heehee! 

I also saw some amazing Cookie Monster cakes on Craftster a little while ago and thought they would be perfect for his birthday.  http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=376515.0

I didn't really remember the details for the Craftster ones but I used white chocolate buttons and chocoltae drops for the eyes, oreos for the mouth and a heck of a lot of blue cream cheese icing which I piped to get the hairy look!  http://www.cookuk.co.uk/cupcakes/cream-cheese-icing.htm  This recipe makes a heck of a lot and I only really needed half for 12 cupcakes.  They are chocolate chip cakes too which are lovely!  I think it would work well with marshmallows for eyes too. 

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Enjoying the sunshine!

As the title suggests I am loving the sunny weather at the moment!  Unfortunately it is no conducive to making me sew so last weekend I had a break from it and went for a wander on Gower.
Three Cliffs Bay

It is so beautiful and I am glad that I live somewhere that I can enjoy scenes like this.

I also made some cupcakes for a picnic which we ended up having in the garden as the boyf was not feeling up to a walk after too many night shifts.

My Dad is also doing alot better and I am hoping to go visit him in hospital this weekend.

Saturday 16 April 2011

Queen of Hearts Jacket - Work in Progress

This jacket has become a very slow project, luckily I started working on it very early so I haven enough time still.  I have cut out all the white pieces.....


and all the red! 

There are so many pieces and I haven't even started the lining yet which is going to be a black cotton.  The white and red are some very cheap satin fabric that looks bright and shiny but doesn't breathe well so I am lining it with cotton rather than something shiny as it will be nicer next to my skin.  Also I chose red and white instead of the red and black in the pattern picture for two reasons, firstly I already had enough of the red and some white and no black and secondly I think it more closely resembles the playing card suit rather than just going as a Disney style queen.  I want to make the costume my own rather than a copy of Disney or Tim Burton as I just think its more fun that way and I don't have to worry about being accurate.

I have been having problems with my interfacing though.  I am using fusible interfacing on the bodice of the jacket and when I ironed it onto the back white piece it has come up really bubbly like this:


This makes me sad.  I have used it before, though not with this cheapo fabric and it hasn't done this.  I have been more careful with the other pieces and the smaller ones have come out far better.  I then padded out my ironing board with a towel, as the cover is wearing thin and I could also see the marks on the fabric and this helped but it is still not gone.  If anyone has any suggestions/advice for using fusible interfacing and keeping the bubbles out, or even getting rid of them after they appear?  Please let me know.  :)

Also my Daddy has been taken into hospital today and I'm wishing him all the best for his operation later tonight xx  (Sewing keeps me from worrying too much)

Sunday 10 April 2011

Cake, Cutting and Sunshine

I have had a small sewing break as I have been enjoying the sunshine and a good book (The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield) and I didn't have enough interfacing and lining fabric to hand so had to wait for the post fairies to deliver some.  At the moment I am cutting out my Queen of Hearts coat, which is quite a few pieces and lined and interfaced so that is quite a lot of cutting.
Some pattern pieces so far
I made another cake though, this one a Victoria sponge with cream and jam as that is what the boyfriend requested and it used up leftover cream.
And finally, this is what I want in the garden in the lovely warm weather we are enjoying at the moment!
:)

Monday 4 April 2011

Hair Accessories and Queen of Hearts skirt

I have had a lovely long weekend away from work so have got quite a bit of sewing done.  Yay!  Today I finished off some hair accessories to put in my online shop as I haven't updated it in a while and I feel I really should. 

I made these little clips from fabric yo-yos and some beads and sequins as well as jazzing up the clips with some glitter.
This headband is the same yo-yos but with vintage buttons from my grans stash on a fabric and elastic band.  I really like this and might have to make one for myself!

I whipped this up this afternoon in a few hours too, its for my Queen of Hearts costume.
The black is slightly see through which is what the white dots are, I am planning on wearing it with tights, maybe ones with hearts if I can find some

It didn't need to be amazing, I just folded over the top and added some elastic which isn't the best way of finishing it but I didn't  have any really wide elastic which would have looked good as a wasit band and don't want to spend too much on a costume.  I also used the fabric upside down so it has red and black stripes rather than just red as I think this suits it better.
Piccy shows the length
I am planning on using the pattern I posted previously to make the jacket and I will probs use a vest top and decorate it myself to go with the skirt.  As it was stretchy fabric I just decided to use it as a tube rather than creating the fuller skirt of the pattern but thought it would be too over the top for a dress.  The top I will restrict as to what I can manage in the time limits though I am ahead of myself at the moment.

Sunday 3 April 2011

Birdy Skirt - Complete

As promised, pictures of the finished skirt :) I am very pleased with how it turned out and am actually wearing it today and have found it goes with a lot more of my clothing than I originally thought. 
It doesn't really have a waist band, the pattern uses twill tape to help it stay up which I have not used before but it has been fine today.  It sits under the waist anyway so doesn't really need to be tight.
Twill tape at waist band
I also found my care labels which I had made from a company on ebay over a year ago but which disappeared when I moved house.  Aren't they cute?

Finally and picture of me wearing it, though it is not very good as I had to use the self timer as the boyfriend was not obliging.  (Some sort of racing was more important haha!)
I hemmed it a little shorted than the original picture as skirts longer then knee length don't look right on me.  I wore a simple cardi and top with it but think it will work with quite a lot of outfits, I have a mustard coloured top that I think will look particularly nice.

Saturday 2 April 2011

Good News!

I won a competition today :)  Hooray!  It was run over on Beebee's Vintage Dress blog http://beebeesvintagedress.blogspot.com/ and I got some really nice patterns.  I know more patterns but can you ever really have enough?

Today I finished my birdy skirt too and will get some pictures tomorrow when the light is better and I can hopefully make it into an outfit.  I also made a Victoria sponge which Is really yummy.  Do you reckon I could win any WI competitions with this?
For Mother's Day I made my mum a card and bracelet as she deserves something nice.  I sent a couple of books too but these were my handmade items.

The flowers were brads from a stationers and I just added the rest.
It's pretty simple as that is how my mum likes her jewelry and she should be able to wear it to work without it stopping her from typing as chunky ones sometimes do.

Friday 1 April 2011

Burda April 2011

I saw on another blog that someone had done a little review of Burda magazine last month, with the good and the bad bits in it and ?I though this was a good idea so this is what I think of it. 
I buy this every month as even if there are only a few things I like it works out as really good value for money as all the patterns are included.  My favourite collection from his month is the Flower Girls section which was just my style and included these lovely dresses.
All very floaty and feminine and lovely.  I will hopefully get my act together and use these magazines more, I am hoping by reviewing them it will make me remember the garments in it for future use.  I also like this shirt dress from the Untamed Beauty collection, though I didn't like anything else much from it.
Nice and summery over trousers or shorts, the other collections were not very inspiring and the nautical stuff was really big and baggy but my worst dressed award goes to this little number:
:O!  This is just awful!  Tiered fabric like that just increases the models size but when you see it blowing in the breeze she looks positively cone-like!  Not my cup of tea at all.  something that I really liked though, came form the more crafty section.  9 times out of 10 these sections are pretty much duds and don't produce anything I would wear but this tutorial is just lovely.
Who knew bending sequins could look so pretty?  I really like the idea of adding them to the shoes, they look gorgeous!  I hope I can find some of these large sequins to try it myself.

Does anyone else buy this mag?  What were your favourites?