Archive for the ‘fabric’ Category

This week I’ve enrolled into my first ever dress making class: 2 hours for 6 weeks, learning how to make your very own garment.

So there I am, checking www.sewingdirect.co.uk out for dress patterns. My thinking behind it was that the most complex pattern -as far as beginners go- I’ll go for, the most I’ll learn…and I’ll have help at hand anyway…hum…Here’s what I had in mind;

Day dress by Donna Karan Vogue 1220

I think it looks stunning. I like it. But then our Tutor said something about how disheartened you could get if you were to take on a project that was too much. That really taking on  and finishing a simple project would actually boost our confidence.

It got me thinking – this woman knows what she’s talking about, let’s not play it too hard. I was a bit ambitious.  Let’s not run before we can walk. Especially because adding to the level difficulty of the dress, I’ve got to remember that whatever pattern I’ll take on, I’ll have to lengthen here and there (I’m over 6ft tall)…

So taking it all in and thinking that I’ll always be able to do V 1220 when I get more experienced, I’ve finally settled for…

Very Easy Vogue (I didn’t make it up, that’s what it’s called) 8683

I thought it would be quite versatile, with or without leaves. In extra I was thinking of an Obi belt either to make or buy. I spotted a gorgeous one here from www.voknits.etsy.com

Next, when I receive my pattern (I do HOPE I’ll get it before my class wednesday :O ) I’ve got to pick the fabric…

What kind of material would you see?

Did you know that you can find Etsy blogs from different contries? Well for a while now I have been following Etsy.fr and the blog of the Etsy french handmade team where you get Etsy only with a bit of French flair

 I’m pleased to say that I have been accepted as a member.

The web site shows all the talented artisan french speakers there is out there

From www.petitechacal.etsy.com SALE Cath Kidston Fabric cubes handmade necklace

Petit sac crocher brooch with a leather flower from www.madeinfrance.etsy.com

Classic Grey beaded cord chocker by www.kankou.etsy.com

Soul Blossoms is the new range of fabric by Amy Butler and apparently won the first prize at the american quilt market this year. lovely patterns as always!

This is great when that happens. Buying handmade from artisans or crafters is brillant because  it’s all made with love and care.

I’ve had a recent custom order from Fiona who owns the etsy boutique patchworkdelights and I was delighted I was able to do a revisited remake of  a pair of lampwork earrings. Here’s a picture of the unfinished earrings with a slight colour variation…

and the finished version…

‘Amethyst Season 2′

Artisan lampwork beads,sterling silver,bali silver,swarovski crystals

Also, I custom ordered a few weeks back now ( I meant to post about it for ages) a gorgeous jewelry roll. I fell in love with a cafetiere that Fiona made, but I wanted a jewelry holder.

So even though I could have made one myself, I loved the extorior design and asked her if she could make me one.

I love the way she beaded the cupcakes and quilted around them! Thanks Fi!! It seems we have the same tastes in a lot of things : love quilting and sewing, same background fabric here, same polka dot fabric, got grey linen at the same time. Overall, love her style, go and check out her shop, tea cosy still available…

Also if you could take the buy handmade pledge here, that’d be great, so we can all support artisans and crafters, especially in this time of recession. Thanks everyone!

We had a fabulous time on saturday with the girls at the RDS in Dublin. It was the stitch and knit show, but there was much more than just yarn and fabrics…There was paper crafts and cross stitch and designers showing their textile work and quilts and workshops and sewing machine demonstrations….If that’s what you are into, it was great! I loved being able to actually see what I was buying as opposed to always buy supplies on the internet and then you have to wait for the items to be shipped and then anxious wait for the postman’s ring of the bell. Plus for once, didn’t have to use the credit card: It’s got to be a good thing right?!

So here’s a few pics of my finds…mostly fabrics…;)

The shop Pippablue from Galway had a great range of Amy Butler fabrics, and I especially was attracted to the laminated cottons. I was a bit cheeky there because there was 3and different rolls and the minimum to buy was 1/2 yard. But because there was another woman interested in them, we managed to get them to give the 2of us a fat quarter of each roll. That bundle of polka dot fabrics by Amy Butler is a fave too!

They had a few japanese fabric imports, but most of them were gone. I still picked one though and hope to use it in a pouch or a purse.

Scissors! I loved the print and got the lady to swap a scissor fabric for another one in that cute square little bundle. (I know, cheeky me…)

Great Alice in Wonderland fabric, here’s a few bits of it. And there again, I didn’t want a whole meter so I kinda got a little less….;)

And a few bits and bobs, mainly jewellery findings and stuff. Also got to make a cute hairbow for free that I wore straight away. so cute!

Where my family in law lives in Surrey, there’s 2 gorgeous shops where I know I’ve got to stop each time I visit: the Quilt Room for patchwork and quilting supplies and oh so lovely fabrics wherever you look….

and the felt making shop called:

Where you can get the loveliest wool, yarn,felt kits, buttons,bag and thread supplies. One of these shops you wish you could spend hours in.

 Here’s a little fabric box prototype I’ve been really wanting to make. It looks a bit rough because I had never used my machine to zigzag edges that way. So it’s been a wee learning curve and getting to know my machine a bit better.

It’s double sided as you can see and quilted too. But then again this is a sample so will look much better next time.

Really handy to take with you when travelling and bring back some bling Great keepsake little box that has a lot of potential…holding all sorts of girlie things. I really enjoyed making it and I already know what to improve to get that cute little box to the next level. So watch this space!

Thanks to Hayley from Two boos (who’s also part of the Etsy Ireland team), I have made my very first pencil case folks! lol I mean, really, I had never sewn a zipper before in my life. It is a real step forward in my new sewing endeavor: the ultimate goal being making my very own clothes *yeah like that’s going to happen anytime soon*

Before that though, there’s a couple of items I wanna make and that you will probably, if successful, see in the future posts:

- a frame purse

- a handbag

- a cushion for Dylan’s chair

- a full apron (start with a half one)

- a skirt

 And if everything goes according to plan, it would mean that I would have acquired enough skills to make my very own..TA TA dress!

Enough of day dreaming and going down to business with this brillant pencil case tutorial from Hayley’s blog, here’s what I made:

Going through my fabric stash, I knew what I was looking for: a remnant of Ikea fabric I had bought in the belfast store for like 1 pound. Ideal for this project!

All sewn up and ready to reveal itself to the world…

My case flat…

And how it should be! Well, far from being perfect but ya know…good enough for me!

Thanks Hayley

I am so proud of it!(If I may say so) Even though I love sewing, I only know how to quilt…So when I accepted this Victorian cuff bracelet swap challenge, I knew I had to step up a bit. And it worked (well I hope it did). There’s a lot of first times that went into creating this cuff:

-first time making a ruffle

-first time actually making a button

-first time making a rouleau loop

-first time sewing lace…

and so on! But first things first, here’s how I started. A wee bit of inspiration was essential. Browsing through Etsy and so on. And looking at my humble fabric stash. What was suitable for a victorian inspired cuff??

lots of beiges, roses, champagne ribbon, Marie-Antoinette? (not very english but why not)

Lace of course! And I was thinking of incorporating this portrait in the cuff. Adding a diamantes to it and sealing it with resin… Didn’t in the end. I loved it the way it was. Less is more as they say… (Funny I say that a lot, could be my motto lol). I know there’s a lot of women that love ‘overcrowded’ jewellery. I prefer simple sophistication.

A little bit of Janome magic!

My label…

and done! it looks even better when worn. I do hope my partner Angela will be happy with it. As it wasn’t the same wrist size as mine, I made it to her measure and truly hope if fits properly! I wast emailing her and apparently she started hers this week too. So stay tuned to see what she made me. Can’t wait!

The aim was kinda to challenge ourselves, share our love of craft, getting to know ourselves better within the team and to get people to look at our work and blogs. So I wish you happy blogging, Have a great time browsing through all the participant’s pictures and please don’t forget to leave comments and to follow the blogs!

I was personnally swapping with Tanya, Brigitte and Aine (at first, there was an uneven number of participants and then Brigitte wanted to make an extra card) . But I chose not to mention which cards will go to whom, just because even if it is a reveal today, they’ll still have an effect of surprise

This one is called: ‘Think outside the box’ and is made with mixed media collage

Funny, you can see me photographying reflected in the enveloppe! I Had to make the most of the sunny day!

Nex is ‘Alice Revisited’ I drew Alice and made her stand out from the card (even though you can’t really see it here on the pic)

I love the fine silver ‘embroidery’ print on the enveloppe

And last but not least ‘Vintage frame,New baby’ made with a drawing of mine of mama and baby owl and mixed media collage

It’s a shame you can’t really see it but there is a see through plastic ’window’ (which appears blurry due to the sun) and the gold frame is really cool and the enveloppe print reminded me of a forest…

And here are my new little babies, fabric flower brooches that I will be added to my packages…

Not easy to take decent pictures but I do hope you enjoyed the post, my blog and the challenge idea. If this challenge has made you think you wished you had participated, do not despair, ask any of the girls if you could do a swap with you…why not??!  Hope you can go and visit the other blogs…

 Loads of smiles,

♥Virginie♥