Tablecloth #2

But wait! There's more! This is my favourite one that I'm keeping. It's square so I can use it. And it's embroidery and applique is green - my favourite colour. I don't think it had ever been used. There are also 8 napkins with cute little appliqués too. Around the edge is an awesome cross stitch pattern - the whole edge!

Detail from the tablecloth. I love it!

And here are the napkins

More coming...

It's been a while!

Goodness! Time flies when you are busy as. Between returning to work from holidays, getting children back to school and emptying my grandparent's house I haven't had much airtime. It's been pretty tough, especially for my mother. My remaining grandparents are her parents. We've been worried about them for a while but things came to a head at the end of last year when my grandfather had a fall. Neither of them have been able to remain in the house and are now in nursing homes. My parents have been slowly working through their house to empty and then sell it. We have had a number of working bees with the last one just last weekend. It's pretty tough going through their things but at least it's done now.

I had the good fortune of getting to go through Granny's linen cupboard. There was so much to see. I've taken a few photos to share. Grandpa was in the army and they were stationed in Asia in the 1970s. Granny took advantage of this and stocked up!

This one is my favourite! I love the pink. I've not seen something like this before.

All the stitching (machine done) and appliqué is in a lovely shade of pink. Unfortunately it's round (170cm diameter). There are also 8 napkins with just a little appliqués in the corner. I think that they're unused. I don't remember her having a table that would suit.

I have a cupboard full of table linen so regretfully this one is off to my friend Narelle's shop Recycle Revolution.

Don't worry I have plenty more to show. And I have kept some too. Maybe next time I'll show you something.

Sassy blouse is done!

Yippee! I've finished my Sassy Librarian Blouse! And boy, am I happy with the result. So happy that I'm already contemplating the next one. So here it is! I chose peter-pan collar, sleeves and no tucks. I wish I had paid more attention to when I started. No idea how long it took. I really enjoyed making this shirt along with Christine Heynes. She was so easy to listen to and watch. A great sense of humour and a nice attitude - "this is how I do it but you may have another way - both are ok".

This was the first time that I had worked through a pattern step by step with someone since I was twelve and I made a 4-gore skirt in tech studies. I learned heaps but more importantly gained in confidence. I have had lots of my techniques confirmed. My muddling through over the past (hrumph!) years has given me some tried and true techniques that are the same (or very nearly) as generally acceptable methods. Noice!

Next!

So, I'm still looking for just the right bra. I'm sure I will but in the meantime my fingers are getting itchy. I signed up for the Sassy Librarian Blouse, also on Craftsy. I didn't mean to start this yet but when the LFS had a sale and I found some great fabric I was too tempted.

I thought this course would be a good interim - not quite so technical as the Sew Retro frock. And I was correct EXCEPT it is awesome. Christine Haynes is the instructor and I love her teaching style. She's relaxed (this helps a lot!), funny and has the most amazing ability to communicate EXACTLY what she means. I think this would be hard to do, given video is so one-way - there's no feedback whilst you film. She is also exceptional at responding to questions on the platform. And so encouraging.

I have managed to do a couple of hours each night on the blouse - switching between the tutorials and actually sewing. Being able to go back and review bits and pieces as you go has been invaluable. I have been guilty of being quite slap-dash when sewing in the past. With this project I have been precise, paced and methodical. And the results speak for themselves. I posted a picture of my facing to the class platform. I was bit nervous - I felt like I was showing my underwear! But I was so proud of the quality I just had to!

Front and neck facing

I'm up to setting in the sleeves. This will be a bit precise but I am looking forward to it. I'll keep you posted :-)

Pillowcase top - photos

Finally! The planets have aligned and The Princess wore her pillowcase top, I had my iPad handy AND the top was clean! So here it is. I really like the fabric and if she hadn't picked it I probably would have taken a couple of metres for myself. she loves it and because it is so easy to iron it's on high rotation. She gets lots of lovely comments and always says "my mum made it for me". Talk about brownie points.

Sew Retro fitting

I'm still plugging away at my Sew Retro frock. As I have already said, I refuse to be rushed through on any of this, and I'm staying true to my word. I made up my muslin - loved Gertie's suggestion to colour-code the stitching. I used sky blue for the seam marking and then stitched it together in red. When I unpicked the inevitable seams (go that well developed diaphragm) it was easy. I had to increase in the bodice but no change to the cups. I will reserve my judgement though as I have yet to fit with my (yet to be purchased) underwear. But I still progressed to cutting my interlining and fabric. I cut into that with some trepidation - not because it's expensive (it's not!) but more as it was a major milestone.

Being a conscientious student I have been reading the student comments and questions and once again, I have to say I am grateful for everyone else's contributions. I was ambivalent about using interlining. My fabric has a fair bit of body. But then I read a little bit. Between the "never knew interlining could be so useful" to the "it's quite calming to do all the seam running stitch by hand"  I was convinced and consequently pleased that I made the effort to hand baste. 

Credit to Crafters

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Did you have a good one? I spent the evening at home with my family. We had a three course meal (very grown up) and watched the 9pm fireworks (in case anyone couldn't make it to 12). We then watched the end of the Edinborough Military Tatoo and the last of the Proms. Neither Mr X nor the Princess had watched these before and were quite fascinated by the process and traditions. We then managed to catch the midnight fireworks telecast from Sydney. What an amazing achievement. Every time I see this show I think it's the best I've seen and it would be impossible to do any better. And yet they do.

Now after yesterday's post, I felt terrible that I hadn't given credit to those fabulous crafters that so generously share their ideas. For the Princess's pillowcase top I went to Polka Dot Chair's Tuesday's Tutorial: Tiered Pillowcase Dress and Pillowcase Shirt Tutorial. For her ruffle skirt I went to Blissful Sewing's Easy Peasy Summer Skirt. Thanks for these great patterns and tutorials. Photos still to come.