Christmas gifts

Just to let you know I am still sewing!!  These are book covers made from heavy weight cotton, wadding, embroidery threads, trims and cotton pieces.  My friends all use notebooks at work so I though these might cheer the place up a bit.  The I love sewing one is for a good friend who is learning to sew and who always writes things down on scraps of paper! 

The delivery from Jaycotts arrived this afternoon.....

Roll on the new year when I will have time to "play"!

Why sew when RTW is so cheap to buy?

This is why:

Cord Jacket in New Look Sale - £12 (Original price £25).  Yes, that's right, not a typo, £12 (around US$18)  So I just had to have a try on because I've had a cord jacket on my "To Do" list for a full year.  As soon as I got the first arm on I knew - cheap, cheap, nasty, nasty.  I didn't go any further.  The cord itself was nice and soft, the lining was a bit on the stiff side; but guess what?  There was NO interfacing in that jacket, or if there was it had been made from air because it sure wasn't doing anything.  The collar was limp, the revers were round on one side and squound (not square, not round) on the other and the button was falling off.
And that's why we sew - fit and quality (not to mention satisfaction!)
So, it's back on the To Do list for 2011  think I need to revisit my original plan and set a more realistic one for next year and I should add it to my blog.  What's the saying?  "What gets written gets done" - or something along those lines.

I'm busy sewing for customers at the moment and don't like to photograph/blog about the garments until the customer takes ownership so apologies there's not much personal sewing to blog about at the moment.

That's all for now.  Have a good evening!

Is it too early for whiskey?

Hello all.  I've been busy sewing away over the last week, but sadly I can't show you too much just yet as it's all for Christmas presents.  Plus I have a couple of orders for corsets and sewing classes in between - it's good to be busy!
I haven't forgotten about the promised tutorial on the corseted strapless top - as it's for me it's bottom of the list at the moment and likely to start round about 10th December.  Thanks to all those of you who have been asking!
In the meantime I've been hit with a horrible head cold which has knocked me for six this morning - is it too early to have a drop of whiskey in my coffee do you think? Anyhoo, it's a good excuse to sit in front of the TV, catch up on some blogs etc  for an hour or so.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend - sewing posts next week I promise!

Sewing Room and Ode to Betty - with apologies to any poets who may be reading...

Betty, Betty thank goodness you are not made of spaghetti

I love you though up down needle - no.

Your colour may be cream but you run like a dream

So c'mon Betty lets sew!



the very lovely Betty


Betty and I have been working on a Christmas gift for my sister, and all is going very well.  We have also made some curtains for the sewing room which Ian has promised to put up (that will be Xmas Eve about 1 min before our guest arrives - sorry darling!)

The sewing room is 90% done, just need to settle into it and buy a couple of bits and bobs.  He're how it looks so far:

I also use the pull-out table as a pressing station for small pieces

And this is addl storage.  I just need a trip to Ikea to buy a couple of drawers and boxes to fit the unit.  This will also act as a bed-side table  - once the bed gets here.  I'm not showing you the other side of the room, it's a tip it's not finished yet.

I promise to show you some sewing soon and will crack on with the Christmas Party Dress!  I have a lingerie class starting on Monday evening for 4 weeks so need to do some prep for that this afternoon.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!



Another Sewcation!

I'm on hols again next week and have some serious sewing to do:

Christmas party 2 piece to start/finish as discussed earlier in the Party Time! post
1 red wool cape
1 wearable Christmas pressi for my Sister
1 wearable Christmas pressi for my Mum
I will also make some smaller gifts for friends - bags typically!

I'll take photos of the Chrismas gifts as I go but won't be able to blog about them until after Father Christmas has picked them up and delivered them!

Of course I have to finish the sewing room first!

No sewing, just painting....

Well dear readers, there's been no sewing for over a week and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms - however it is all self-inflicted.
I don't know about you but my stash, equipment and notations are taking over the house.  Now that was sort of okay as a single girl living on her own but now I have to think about Ian  and as we only have two bedrooms I need to get uber organised.  I've been following this blog with interest as it highlights lots of  varied sewing spaces  http://thebluegardenia.typepad.com/ and had a nosey via this link http://younge.com/sewing%20rooms.htm.  As the room will have a duel purpose we went to Ikea on Sunday to look at shelving/storage etc etc.  Ian had had enough after 40 mins and I can't say it's my favorite place in the world but I did a bit of homework before hand so knew roughly what I wanted and Ian acted as my muscles for the afternoon.  I bought shelving from the expedit range in birch and a desk which has a pullout section which will be great to house the overlocker.  I really wanted white, but everything looked a bit "yellow" and worried this may happen at home after a few months so that's why I went with the birch colour.

And here's an idea of the shelving units

I'll be putting casters on this one so I can wheel it out of the way when guest come

I've painted 2 walls white and the two end walls a very, very soft pink.  One pink wall will be the sewing area and the other will be the sleeping area (sadly I couldn't have the whole room and just hand my guests a sleeping bag and tell them to watch out for pins on the floor!)
Anyway, pictures to follow when done.  In the meantime I haven't forgotten about the strapless top with built-in corset.  I'll be working on it next week and will post the instructions as I go.
Oh, and Betty's back home all shiny and working, not that I've had much of an opportunity to use her much as yet.
Have a good week all, enjoy your sewing and think of me as I paint and build up flat packs!