Simply Sewing Polka Dot Headband

 

I finally got round to stitching up the headband from the first issue of the new simply sewing magazine using the free polka dot fabric which came with the magazine. The mag did provide patterns and instructions for three things which could all be created from the one piece of fabric provided. First was this headband, second a gathered fabric flower and third a fabric covered book. I have done both the gathered flowers and a covered book on the blog already so I have gone for the headband (and I used the rest of the fabric to make the pockets of my new dress!) 

Love at first stitch Brigitte scarf

My sister very kindly bought me a copy of Tilly Walnes love at first stitch book for my birthday. I have had a look at this book before and have been following Tilly since the very first sewing bee but haven't actually gotten round to getting a copy of the book yet so this was a brilliant present (I haven't put it down in the last week and made 3 fabric orders within 2 days of getting it!). The book starts off with the basics but does contain some lovely skirt and dress patterns which I like the look of and wouldn't mind trying and I'm actually quiet keen to try a blouse pattern seeing as I've never tried sewing tops before. What I actually really like about this book is the way the projects are laid out to gradually ease a new seamstress into home sewing. So each project gives you new tips and techniques to try. A good few of these I will have done before but I really like the idea of starting at the beginning of the book and working through the projects one by one to perfect my technique and hopefully pick up a few tricks and new skills along the way. It is also my intention to either try a new fabric type or alteration (or both) with each project (collars/plackets/piping etc) so I can hopefully expand my sewing repertoire. 

The first pattern in the book is the Brigitte scarf which is a long thin head scarf tied in a knot/bow around your head. Not a complicated make in the slightest but as I said above I'm going to start at the beginning, follow the instructions from the beginning and concentrate on making it well and as instructed. I chose to use a skull print polycotton which I had in my stash for this scarf. The fabric was sadly not wide enough for the pattern piece so I cut two lengths of the fabric and sewed them together on the bias in the same way as you would if you were making bias binging and then cut to size. 

The pattern was very easy as expected but I did pick up a little trick to pull out your corners with a pin from the outside, normally I would do this by shoving a knitting needle from the inside so hey, I did learn something new :). The nice thing about this project was it was super fast so I get to move onto the next one really quickly! 

Now my chances of actually wearing this type of head scarf are slim to none, despite quiet liking the print. However the good thing about having to cut two lengths was I was left with a piece which is just long enough to fit round my tiny head so I made a wired headband following the same instructions but adding a piece of wire inside and tacking it in place. I'm not going to do a guide for this, the Internet is littered with them so if you want one just go do a quick search. I do much prefer this and might actually get a bit of wear out of this one in the summer months. 

So what's next? I am going to cheat a little and not make the other scarf pattern in the book as I won't wear that either so next it's on to a pair of pj bottoms which is something I have never done before. I plan on using a cotton lawn as I have a lot of winter pjs already. This will be interesting as the last time I used a lawn it went horribly wrong and ended up in the bin! Here's hoping I can get a few more tips and make it go right this time.

I'm still a little anxious about starting to sew for myself again as I am still a lot bigger than I would like to be at this time post pregnancy. However I start back at work in a week or so, have no clothes that fit me and am really missing doing it, so what the heck. Whats the worst that can happen?

A Flock of Feathery Hens!

Remember me telling you I was going to a hen do? Well do you like my sparkly feather hairpiece? Our Bride to be picked the theme 'Feathers a Corsets' for her evening out, feathers of course being a very appropriate theme for a hen do. Sadly I don't think I even noticed the pun until just now! So being as a can't wear a corset (apparently its frowned upon to squash your growing baby) I thought I should mark the occasion by making every effort to don a feathery hairpiece.

Now these are one of my current favourite things on Etsy at the moment: Feather Ear Cuffs. They are just incredible, the only problem is my favourite are the pink and orange and well they were just going to get lost in my hair.

(Excuse the terrible selfie!) 

To add to that, sadly it turns out I was quiet poor last month, or I spent too much, so I couldn't justify the pennies to buy one for myself and instead I set to trying to make something out of the things I had y'know, just lying about. Armed with a glue gun, two types of black feather, some black felt, and old hair clip and some of my favourite sparkly fabric I managed to knock this little gem up in less than half an hour. 

I started out by cutting a piece of felt and a piece of glitter fabric into a heart shape. Then using the glue gun I glue glue glued the feathers onto the felt piece and then glued the glitter piece to the top making sure the edges were all sealed. The final job was to just spot glue a clip onto the back and voila. 

I am really pleased with how it came out, its a great little fascinator and it made me feel ever so glamorous, which is hard when your pregnant and in a constant feeling of frump. I also love it when a little whimsy project comes together so well. Of course we all know it doesn't always go that way 9/10 those little spur of the moment craft projects normally end up looking like something a 5 year old made, but occasionally you can surprise yourself. 

But that is not the end of it, no. Our lovely Bride to be decided to make everyone a little feathery gift of their own to wear on the night so we could all match. Check out how gorgeous this little feather brooch is. I love the colour and its just so delicate. Simple yet perfect and a great little momento from the evening. She made some with wire and beads, some as hair pins and some as brooches. A very talented young lady she is. 

Have you ever made any feathered accessories, or would you like to tell me all about your spur of the moment successes (or failures)? Please feel free to share the love. 

Have you ever made any feathered accessories, or would you like to tell me all about your spur of the moment successes (or failures)? Please feel free to share the love.

The Craft of Christmas Past

Are you still in the festive spirit? I know I am.

We might be past the official event now, but with a lot of us, including the kids, still on holidays and the chimes of New Year in the not to distant future I thought we could have one more quick post before we start trying to make those resolutions. 

I made a couple of quick items of festive headwear just before the last day of work. A tiny tiny elf hat out of felt (above) which is attached to a hair clip to make it great for wearing at a a jaunty angle. I also made some reindeer antlers on a headband to match my Christmas jumper. The headband is just some fleece antlers stuck on to a headband. I did try to wrap the headband in felt and glue it down but this just didn't work well for me. Instead I decided to wrap it in wool to cover up the mess underneath. This technique would work well for other headband ideas.

I have officially scrapped the Sewing Bee tunic, the instructions in the book are stupid and I have done too much seam ripping to selvidge this now. Instead I am attempting to make myself a pretty new frock for New Years. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan.