Me Made May 2014

Me Made May - 2014

So it's the Me Made May challenge again in which you endeavour to wear something home made every day of may and post it to the flickr sewing community. Not so sure I can get to every day this year without a lot of hand washing and drying over night!! Maybe I should just make an effort to wear more of my handmade stuff??

Quilting, quilting, quilting…..

Quilting, quilting, quilting……..

I gotta say, I'm not really a quilter - it all started one day when a colleague said she was doing a saturday class and I was desperate for sometime out and cramped her style with my company! This was my first foray into quilting and for the class you were expected to bring an assembled quilt to learn how to do the top quilting!! Hilarious! My corners didn't match, my lines didn't line up and well….. who cares right?

A few baby quilts made for new babes close to my heart later and I find myself making my a big single bed quilt from a pattern I made up (cos I'm that skilled - not).

I would love an heirloom quilt made by me for each of my kids beds - I love quilting fabric and homemade stylish quilts and so here I am! My sweet daughter is so excited about a quilt for her bed.

Luckily I had a holiday with a very experienced quilter (she who took me to the class) and she helped me to stretch the quilt. She uses 505 Spray to stick the layers together and give it stability while I'm swearing and dragging it through the machine!

She also said that I had to practice before I started quilting and then start in the middle. All these rules huh??? (sensible ones of course).

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode……..

The Glamourous Split Sleeve Dolman

The Glamourous Split Sleeve Dolman

I saw both the shirt and the dress in Burda and loved them both - AND the pattern is a 2 for 1 deal (dress and shirt) so I had to have it. I have a beautiful blonde friend who likes just like the model in the Burda Mag and would love to help her make the red dress (mostly likely make it for her!).

Anyhoo - I needed the shirt in white rayon.

Confession: I suck at making Burda Patterns - I always forget to add seam allowance, I'm too impatient for to add the seam allowance with proper accuracy and tracing off the patterns is always the most exhausting puzzle solving experience. Nevertheless, I love the lines of lots of Burda patterns, and they are mostly really "on trend" and so I subscribe to the magazine and never learn my lesson.

Technical notes:
1. I forgot to add seam allowance - again!!
2. I omitted the zip - any chance I can, and just finished the back seam and had a closure at the back.
3. I would shorten the length of the shirt as I'm quite tall and it's just a little too long, but manageable.
4. The plackets around the split sleeves are strange to assemble and require very precise sewing… not my strong point….

I added it to the Burdastyle community - which is something I like to do when i use their patterns. I find it really helpful to see other people's takes and makes on patterns. You can find me on there as Sophie11