Summer Season 2016

Red is in for summer 2016!  And no I don't mean skin-colour after too much sun.   Apparently it is the hot colour for the summer season and not just a splash here and there but head to toe.  And preferably scarlet.

According to the March edition of Elle Magazine that I saw on my most recent visit to the dentist, the Paris catwalks were awash with red.   To break it all up they recommend black footwear but the idea is to be bold and bright.

This is good news for me as I made myself a very bright and bold red dress last summer and have yet to wear it.

I love this dress... it feels very girly and easy to wear but boy was it difficult to make!!   I had  seen a similar pattern on Great British Sewing Bee for a vintage 1950s dress called the Walkaway.   A wrap-type dress that could be made in morning to be worn the same day... yeah right.   The wrap works the other way on this dress (the front layer wrapping round to the back to fasten).  Simple yet elegant.

What I hadn't counted on though was the fact that 1950s women were shaped quite differently (or at least their underwear made them a different shape).  I'm not particularly small breasted (32DD) but I really had to fiddle with the bust area to stop it gaping horribly at the sides.    In the end I decided to fasten it with buttons, instead of a tie, just to make sure it held in place.

I'm still not entirely happy with the way it falls at the waist so have unpicked the lining (I added this as it was unlined but my fabric was quite thin so needed something).   I will also probably move the button loops slightly as it gapes too much between them.

As soon as this is done,  I shall look forward to having an opportunity to wear the "in" colour this summer.   I haven't got any black shoes that would go but I think my baby pink Swedish Hasbeens work perfectly.

Grainline Studio Scout Tee

I covet fabric and patterns like other people covet shoes and handbags. I'm not saying I don't like shoes and handbags but I don't lie awake at night wondering what to do with them.   Which is not the case with fabrics and patterns!   Sometimes I see the pattern first and then find the right fabric to go with it, sometimes I already have the fabric stashed away waiting for the right pattern.

The Grainline Studio Scout Tee is one of those patterns.   

It's a very simple looking woven top, aimed at the novice seamstress.  But that is the beauty of it.   Simple to make and simple yet stylish to wear.   Plus, by my reckoning very easy to modify slightly to make a completely different looking top.

So, with pattern duly purchased from my favourite on-line fabric shop, Fabricgodmother (www.fabricgodmother.co.uk), I set about to make one with some fabric from my stash.

Years ago I used to work near Liberty and often spent my lunch break rummaging in the off-cut bins.   I had this piece of silver (!) silky fabric since those days and I thought it would be perfect.  However, I wanted to use as much of the fabric as possible so decided to lengthen the sleeves.  

Making the sleeves longer was quite easy... sewing the neck band with slippery fabric wasn't!  It took me three goes to get it just right.  The finished top will definitely get some wear as it will look great with a pair of skinny black jeans and heels.

I really wanted to see how quickly I could make the Scout Tee in an easier fabric. So this time I used a remnant floral cotton purchased from Fabricgodmother.   But, I just had to modify the pattern again so added some pleats to the neckline.

I'm really pleased with this version too so I think there will be many more variations on the Scout Tee in the not too distant future.

Revamped coat

I signed up for a couple of Craftsy classes in the last few weeks, mainly on alterations.   Angela Wolf, the teacher, is great - she explains everything really well and her tips and hints have been very helpful.

One of the classes is devoted to altering jackets.  Is a coat that much different I thought?

I've had this coat for years.   I remember wearing it when I was 8 months pregnant with my first son and he turned 15 at Christmas.   It's been sat in my wardrobe ever since we moved to France so I thought why not take the plunge and do something with it.

It's hard to believe but this is a UK size 10!  It's enormous but I think this was just the fashion at the time.

How wide are those shoulders!!!

I needed to make the shoulders narrower and to take it in at the sides.  Plus it really was a bit too long... far to easy to trip over the bottom.  

I took off the sleeves first and altered the side and back seams to make it fit better.   Then I had to take in the two sleeve seams as well so that the sleeve cap would fit back in place.   Once this was done, making the shoulders smaller and reattaching the sleeves wasn't too difficult.  

The intermediate stage was a bit ridiculous looking though.

The finished coat is much nicer and I've actually worn it quite a lot in the last couple of weeks.   It's still big enough to wear with a jumper underneath which is what I wanted but at least it looks like it is the right size.

Dr Who

I have three boys, the youngest of whom, Oliver, turned 11 today.  

Having been a bit of a tomboy as a child (not liking dolls, always wanting a train set and a Scalextric track), I am very happy to have boys.  Yes they can be messy and noisy (or grumpy and sullen now that they are in their teens) but they can also be very loving, great fun and have the ability to make you laugh more often than they make you cry!

One of the other brilliant thing about my boys is they love lots of the same things as me, especially when it comes to films and TV.  We all love Star Wars, Star Trek, Bond films and anything Marvel or DC. And they also love Dr Who.   Ever since it came back on the TV we've sat down together to watch the various Drs battle Sontarins, Weeping Angels and of course Daleks.  

So when it comes to birthday cakes there is often a request for something related to their latest favourite film or character.   

This year Oliver requested a Dalek but one that was better than his older brothers from a couple of years back.   That was a Dalek who hadn't realised that he couldn't go down stairs and had landed on his head.

I forgot to bake a rounded cake for the head so added madeleines which ended up being lumpy.  It was also my first attempt at fondant icing ...so all in all a bit of an experiment.

Since then I have made more fondant covered cakes, including a Tardis so I am getting better at it.

This Dalek was made up of 4 sponges... coloured red.

Blue fondant icing made from a recipe from My Cup Cake Addiction using melted marshmallow.  (Very easy, but very sticky!)

 http://mycupcakeaddiction.com







Unfortunately, I opened the oven door too quickly on the fourth cake and it sunk in the middle.   We (Oliver and I) decided to fill it with sweets.

The cakes are stuck together and covered with coffee flavoured butter cream.

So here is the finished Dalek.... we used licorice for all the black decorations and some blue sweets for the bobbly bits.  

It seems a bit of a shame to cut it up but I'm looking forward to tasting it later .... 

Flowers everywhere

I've been neglecting this blog lately.  It's not that I'm writing anything else it's just that I don't seem to find the time to sit down and write.   I'm always doing something else.  Even some of my sewing projects have taken a back seat as I have been doing more floral creations than fabric ones.

I friend of mine, who owns a restaurant in the village (where I waitress three days a week) and who was catering for a wedding, recommended me to the young Canadian couple to do the flowers.   My initial reaction was complete panic and then, having met them, I realised it was a fantastic opportunity.  The style of flowers they wanted (nice and natural) is just what I like plus their colour scheme was beautiful.  The bride's only real request was to have hydrangeas.

So, I arranged with a friend who sells plants at several local markets to go with him one morning to Toulouse in order to buy the cut flowers.  I didn't realise that this meant leaving at 3.30 am! But once I got over the shock of getting up at 2.30 am, it was a real experience and I came back with a great selection.

From these buckets fulls of flowers, I needed to make three bouquets, four or five button holes, all the table decorations as well as improvise something to make some iron stair railings more attractive.  So....

 

Bride's bouquet 

 

Bride and bridesmaid's bouquets (with colour coordinated buckets!)

 

Buttonholes 

 

Railings

Thankfully one of the guests took some great photos of the table decorations as by the time they were ready it was getting late and I needed to get home to change to come back out and waitress at the reception.   So here are some much more professional looking photos.