Fiddlesticks

Yesterday I picked up a wonderfully 90's dress in the op-shop, and my head was filled with visions of alterations and all sorts of excitement that could make it acceptable for public viewing. Granted, my alteration skills aren't fantabulous - my skills extend only as far as taking things up, letting them out, and mending them. This project was a little ambitious for me.

BEFORE

Please note:

• Shoulder pads that create a shoulder span enviable of any American footballer
• Gaping buttons over... bodice area
• Flattering length that makes me look like someone's well-intended spinster aunt
• Cute fabric

I was so excited about its potential that by the time I got home I had a killer headache and had to have a little nap. Until this morning. But today, after my Sunday morning laze about and coffee out on the patio, I got straight into that sucker.

1. Removed the shoulder pads (such a shame really. I enjoy looking like I could balance pint jugs on my shoulders).
2. Cut the sleeves off, leaving an inch of fabric to be folded under the edge to create the new hem.
3. Added darts to the bodice - those shoulders REALLY didn't want to stay down.
4. Folded back the top of the neckline, to create a collar-type effect.
5. Sewed buttons back onto the outside of the collar, to create a feature. Yeah, a feature. I'm so fancy that I astound myself sometimes.
6. Took the length up.

And this is what I ended up with:

AFTER

Collar

The neckline now sits really nicely, and I'm so pleased with myself for actually doing it that I skipped through the house a few times, forcing Susie to praise me. I didn't even have to unpick anything that I'd done! Now, that's what I call an accomplishment.

I've also finished Jake's mobile phone cosy. As anticipated, it was very fiddly. What was not anticipated was which bit would be fiddly. The applique was the part that I was concerned about. And yes, it was fiddly, but easy enough to do. The body, however... led to me using MA+ rated language, and smoking furiously on the patio several times. I won't go in to what went wrong, but suffice it to say that I'm not as good at using maths as I think I am.

I'm really happy with the finished product, and through years of counselling and help from friends, I will slowly but surely recover from the trauma of making it.

Image from deviantart

Doily Splat

Wow. So. Less than a week until the next Made With Love Bazaar, and I’m not exactly sure how that happened. I had many grand plans for over the Christmas break; all sorts of inspiration floating through my head. Sadly, that’s where they seem to have stayed.

One of my pieces of inspiration came from the amount of discarded boxer shorts I have picked up on my travels. While I’ve been making business shirt cushion covers, I’ve come to the realization that some pyjama tops have fantastic patterns on them. And piping. Oh, how I love piping. This lead to me ending up with a few awesome pairs of guy’s cotton boxer shorts, and thinking myself very lucky for having such variety for myself. Guy’s boxers are always so much more comfortable than chick’s – plus they actually cover your ass. However, there’s only so many pairs of boxer shorts that a girl needs.

So this week I’ve been working on some pyjama sets, using the aforementioned boxers, some brand spanking new singlets prettied up with some matching appliqué, and drawstring pyjama bags (I found a great tute for drawstring bags here). A fairly simple task - or so I assumed.

My main hassle occurred after effortlessly cutting out the appliqué design and bonding it to the singlet (if you do appliqué, and haven’t ever used Heat ‘N’ Bond before, stop whatever you’re doing and go to Spotlight to buy some. It is EXCELLENT! – when used correctly. Please read the instructions first. It’s like a double-sided interfacing that bonds your two pieces of fabric together and it makes everything soooo much easier. This message was brought to you by Turning Trixie Productions TM.) and I was surprising myself with the lack of effort. Normally simple things make themselves difficult once they reach my hands. Well. Once I got to my sewing machine it had other ideas about the difficulty level and played up something rotten. It kept skipping stitches and it took me a lot of time to figure it out.

Sarah Guide To Sewing Machine Troubleshooting:

• Unpick the mistake.
• Change the tension.
• Sew.
• Unpick.
• Change tension again.
• Sew.
• Unpick.
• Read manual.
• Change machine needle.
• Sew.
• Unpick.
• Rethread machine.
• Change tension.
• Sew.
• Unpick.
• Refer to manual again.
• Change tension.
• Sew.
• Headbutt table.
• Unpick.
• Change tension.
• Change stitch length.

Is it??!?... IS IT?!?!?... By George, I think I’ve fixed it!! That wasn’t difficult at all *eye twitch*

During this process I also concerned myself with the idea that perhaps my items would end up looking like appliqué splat, which is closely related to doily splat.

Doily Splat: When a doily has been taken in hand and thoughtlessly applied to an item, eg. cardigan, t-shirt, pillowcase, etc. Michelle and I spoke of this phenomenon one night when I’d rocked up to Stitch ‘N’ Bitch with a pillowcase and my doily box in tow (yes, I have a doily box. You’re so jealous right now.). The conversation threw me into an existential type crisis on when it IS ok to apply a doily to something, and whether I’d been misguidedly applying to doilies to all and sundry under the impression that I was doing some good in the world. My fears have been abated ,however, and in sewing, as in scrapbooking, you just need to work a doily into the design of your crafty item. You can’t just splat things anywhere – you need to think this shit through, people.

But anyway, it’s all finished now. And with only 6 days (!) to go until the next Made With Love, I’m hoping to get a few more things done, including picking up an awesome outfit for the next dress-up theme. Hurrah!

MADE WITH LOVE MARKET/BAZAAR
Saturday, 15th January
9:00am - 1:30pm
Artscape Building,
45 Jackson St,
Wynyard