Archive for the ‘sewing’ Category

I started to make these lovelies last week after I noticed a pattern by dolls and daydreams on Etsy…I gave it a go and ended up with Annabella here

Which I think is adorable and might just keep it for myself :) but totally redoable if you like her.

Then got carried away with these 3

each a different colour scheme and personality…

Flora is a name that I think would suit that dollie…waiting for new suggestions ^+^

(that little Ballerina is reserved but redoable too)

That one I named Nikita because she looks a bit japanese and kawaiish…the floral fabric is one of my favorites in my stash because I love the hot pink/black combo. I’ve actually listed her here in my Etsy boutique.

As you can see, photographs aren’t the best, I know, but I should be getting a nice lovely new camera for our 5th anniversary in a couple of weeks and can’t wait. I’ve been giving out about my camera for ages and it’ll be a relief to bin it LOL

Tomorrow, I’ll be setting up a table at the Mullingar indoor market in co.westmeath. I’m a little nervous as a free table came up sooner than expected. So it meant that I had to make some stock and order carrier bags and other supplies fast. Last week, just when I really needed to get on with serious sewing, I was waiting for my new sewing machine ( early anniversary gift from my dear husband). I’m still getting used to all the computer options and 200 or so stitches. It doesn’t look much but my first criteria was that it had to be sturdy and take yards and yards of ruffling and fabric. So hopefully I’ll get a good few years of sewing on that machine

Anyway, I managed to get a thing or two done, like a couple of toddler skirts and a few vests…

ruffled bum bum, cute!

Jewellery and accessories will also be on the table.

I’m a bit nervous about tomorrow, hope everything goes ok…will let you know,

smile,

Virginie

A couple of weeks ago, I got an order for making two bright pettiskirts for two baby twin girls… I could pick the colours and went for fushia and orange. Not wanting to make the skirts exactly identical, I deceded on a ‘positive/negative’ colour combo :

Here I sketched the ‘Fushia on Marygold’ so the other skirt would be the opposite of that one, in other words: orange waist band, fushia bow,orange tier and fushia ruffles… both skirts made to measure. So here’s the result when opening the gift box (which was a nappy box I decorated using princess wrapping paper and gorgeous ribbon lol)

From sketch to reality…hanging on my ‘inspiration pinboard’

the ‘twin pettiskirt’

view from underneath…I just love the flufiness and the colour combo. Hope you like too…^_^

I wanted to share with you the fruit of my research on the internet as to how to make pettiskirts…A good few blogs have dealt with the subject and have done it so well it’s worth looking into. Personally, I bought a kit to make my first one which I found very handy because I wanted to get the supplies and tut at the same time. Having said that, you do not need to spend a penny …

Picture and Tutorial from Cheeky Cognoscenti Blog

picture and tutorial from the Vkhodgman  Blog

Picture and Tutorial from Sweet Jilli Beanz

Picture and tutorial by Mabe by Bronwyn Blog

Picture and tutorial from Creative Chaos Blog

Tips on Sew Mama Sew blog

Picture and Tutorial from Kerriskreations

Picture and tutorial from Make it and Love it Blog

So that’s about if from me, there’s probably more out there but at the end of the day, you can get OVERLY informed lol. I would like to show next time a few pictures of my newest pettiskirt creations…hope to see you there

As promised, I thought I’d share a few pictures of different stages of making the pettiskirt…Although this is in no way an actual tutorial but purely meant to give you a rough idea of what it takes to make one of these lovelies. Pictures were taken from 3 different pettiskirt projects so the material colours vary. I will be sharing a few links of different tuturials -fruit of my different searches- in my next post, so that you can save time if you decide to jump in!

So you’ll need two kinds of  fabrics: Nylon chiffon for the tiers and fluff and a matching satiny fabric for the waist band. Usually a few yards are needed for the chiffon : which is perfect as it’s a no-fray fabric therefore, no need to hem yards and yards of fabric! (to work out how much you need, refer to different tutorials down below).

A mat, ruler and rotary cutter are also a godsend, I couldn’t imagine cutting through all that with scissors!

There’s an awful lot to cut and so much to handle, I recommend folding your fabric on the length (here 4 yards) rather than on the width, that way you have less cutting to do. The best way to start with an even edge is to check that all the folded layers are flat. Then trim the edge. That way, you’ve got a neat cut edge to start cutting 2inch (for ruffles) and 5inch (tiers) bands ….

Ruffling right in the middle of the 2inch chiffon to create the ‘bottom fluff’ …Also you’ll have to ruffle one edge of the 5inch tiers…This way you have everything ready at hand to get started once your satin waist band is ready. then attach the tiers to the 2 layered waist band, which should look something like this

As you can see, theres two chiffon layers, and each layer has 2 tiers. So here’s how you attach the ruffles to the tiers…

The amount of fabric to handle can bit a bit overwhelming, but you’ve got to make sure it’s all out of the way!

And that SeaFoam skirt is just toddler size!!

my very first pettiskirt done! loads have improve since though

Don’t you just love the volume?! If you wonder what happened to the orange and fushia fabric from the top pictures, I’m actually working on it…Making two infant size pettiskirts for twin baby girls… Hopefully should be done by tomorrow. Hope to post pictures at the week end as one of them is already completed. When I showed it to my husband the first thing he said was like ‘sooo cute’

Will keep you posted on photo updates and tut links!

Dear friends, although I do not have a girl (I have a 2year old boy that is keeping me far too busy right now) I must confess I’ve fallen in love with Pettiskirts.

Have you heard of them? They are fantastically voluminous skirts pretty much based on a vintage petticoat pattern using a modern non fraying fabric.

Dream Spun Kids

little pink dragonfly

Mix and Match, Colours and Patterns…the limit is your imagination: I guess that’s why I fell in love with it, that and the amazing volume that the bottom ruffles create. There is yards upon yards of fabric here ladies; believe me, I’ve already made three and it’s been a ruffling marathon!

Since I discovered them a couple of months ago, I’ve been googling and searching on the internet for tutorials and materials…

To buy, these lovelies go anywhere from 45euros to 100e ‘pricy’ you’ll probably think. But when you realize the amount of work involved, the price seems to make more sense.

I do have two favorite Pettiskirts designers…one is Belle Ame:

But my favorite pettiskirt boutique has to be Kaiya Eve Couture : fantastic concept, products, fabrics and photography! And it’s supposed to be the original Pettiskirt. Unfortunately I can’t show you pics but you can hop on to the link. Kandi Lightner, the designer has appeared on Martha Stewart 

I hope to share with you a few tutorial links next time if you fancy having a go ^_^and pictures of my first attempts!

Belle Ame

Belle Ame

I was watching Ps I love you during the week at 11pm with a wired-to-the-moon 19 months old on my lap that would not go to sleep. The story of my life for the past month now. Dylan has been teething so much at night the pain wakes him up and he’s fearful to go to bed. And no wonder as he’s doubled the amount of his teeth: He went from 4 teeth at top and 4 at the bottom to 8 and 8! So he’s been sleeping in the bed with me-hubby relegated to guest bedroom dear love him- and it’s been a nightmare. Try to sleep with the toddler in a kingsize bed and you’ll probably end up right on the edge. Still here though, survived this far and will probably stop soon and get back to normal bed routine soon…

ANYWHO, all this to tell you how I LOVE the dresses in the film Ps I love you and the red and black gingham dress is one of my favorites!

It’s a shame there isn’t a better picture of Hillary Swank wearing that dress.

  But apparently it’s made by  Diane von furstenberg

(photo via the budgetfashionista.com) 

(via lasplash.com here)

but I found a great remake on etsy here from www.p1xie.etsy.com 

There’s even an underling black satin trim slip, so cute! check out her blog here, she’s a great seamstress, especially with vintage inspired dresses!

Also I couldn’t talk and show you this gorgeous vintage dress. Fabulously flattering and classic shape  this Vintage red full circle dress was for sale on Etsy .

Unfortunately it sold. But I’m sure there is a pattern out there…

How about you, do you have a favorite dress?

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?

My sewing machine had broken down before Christmas and only just got it back just now! Something to do with timing, belt and such… 80 euros later, I hope to get back into sewing soon as I’ve got a few projects half finished that need a bit of TLC. 

So this post is dedicated to presents and custom order that I never got a chance to blog about and that I’ve made last year.

A good few months back, I borrowed a book from the library called Sew Pretty Homestyle from the Tilda craft books collection. There was so many great projects! the sleeping mask and the rounded makeup bag are some of them. I would definitely recommend this book and would love to put my hands on the other ones! These were presents to friends… 

Next is a custom order for a friend who picked the fabrics  herself. She wanted a bigger size pouch than the tilda’s one but still with a top rounded edge (which I like very much). So I bought a pattern from Florence called the slouchy make-up bag which is quite long and can hold toothbrush and such. Great when travelling! My friend was really pleased with it. I might make more and add them to the shop…

This is a fabric by Maria Horner. I bought it 2 years ago from Quilt Home. After a while, I didn’t seem to be as keen on it as I did when I first received it. So I tend to use it for prototypes…Yes I know, a bit posh for a dummy…But it’s big enough a deal for me to actually have the patience to go through a trial run before the real thing without having to make it out of unmatching boring plain fabrics. It’s not very motivating lol

Hope to be back sewing new items for the shop soon…

So there it is, my version of my barbara-ann bears Kerfuffle kit (read about how I got the kit here). First teddy bear ever! I hope I haven’t made too much a mess of it. The long hair was often in the way but at the same time it forgives a lot of mistakes. So all in all, not too bad. The hardest part was the scupting of the nose and the embroidery bit…stuffing and joints wasn’t easy either. But then, 1st times are always a bit triky. I’m planning on making a new one soon…

I’m now looking a name for this furry fellow….any idea??

*update*

Barbara sent me an encouraging message with her name idea :

“Hello Virginie, Wow, wow, wow !!! What a great bear! What a happy bear. My idea for a name is Bonzo Bounce he just seems full of life and bounces. We love the way you’ve got his hair to stand on end and his smile, he seems to be smiling all over. We’d be very proud if we’d made him ourselves he’s got such a great personality.”

So there you have it: Bonzo Bounce it is ^_^