A Stitching Odyssey: October 2010

I'm so excited because my friend Layla has asked me to make an apron as a Christmas present for her mum! The process of discussing styles, colours and fabrics has been really good fun, but I still can't believe someone is willing to pay me to do something I really enjoy!

Anyway, we settled on a hybrid of Simplicity 1805 and I'm making excellent progress if I do say so myself:

Sadly, not everything's going so well though. I seem to have a few unfinished projects on the go at the moment and I just don't have the times and/or motivation to get them finished. Once Layla's apron is finished, I'm not allowing myself to start anything new until I've tackled the following:

Simplicity 1598 – this lovely 1940s dress is actually looking great, just needs a side zip and hemming. Fingers crossed I'll get it finished soon!
Hollywood 1667 – I started this little beauty a while back, but gave up after encountering some bias binding trouble. Can't give up though, must keep going!
Remember this and this? I still don't want to give the game away as to what they will make up, but it's safe to say that my first attempt what a failure :o( Need to give it another go.

To keep myself upbeat in light of my recent sewing lull, I went along the Leicester Vintage Fair yesterday. There was a large selection of stalls, but a real lack of items from the 1950s and earlier, which I guess was good for my bank balance. I did manage to visit Katie's stall - from What Katie Found - and I ended up buying the vintage aprons below for a bargain price. Hope Katie did well in selling all her lovely handmade goodies!

On my way home I also scored some fabric from the market, which was just £2 a meter! Cute or what!?!

Now all I have to do is SEW!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

I may have had some free time on my hands and I may have played around on www.madmenyourself.com, as recommended on Sew Retro by Molly who blogs at Molly & Mango. Ironically, I haven't watched any Mad Men yet, but it is on my 'to-do list'. Without further ado, here is my Mad Men alter ego...I went for a super-glam look, perhaps because it's so different to how I usually dress:

On another subject, here's a little pop quiz for you! What do you think the below are destined to be? They will both make the same thing(s), but obviously in different colours:

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

On Saturday, my friend Hannah and I traveled down to London to attend The Knitting and Stitching Show 2010 at Alexandra Palace. Due to disruptions on the tube, it took us a short-lived tube ride, 4 buses and 2hrs to get there from King's Cross...which was exhausting! However, the effort paid off as I scored some gorgeous fat quarters which are just destined to become cute clutch bags:

On a slightly separate yet related subject, I've been going overboard on the pattern front again. I REALLY need to stop buying news ones, but I just can't seem to resist them. I think that if I didn't sew I'd probably still collect them and fill myself with nostalgia for times that I never even experienced. Anyway, here's what I've been spending money on lately:

Sunday, October 10, 2010

I came home from a lovely weekend spent with gorgeous friends in London to find a carefully wrapped parcel waiting for me.. I squealed with delight when I opened it and discovered that it was the 11 patterns I 'won' in Andrea's generous giveaway over at Invisible Flower. The patterns are amazing up close and I can't wait to get stuck in. Thank you so much Andrea, I hope that I can one day repay your generosity! Here's a snapshot of the patterns:

I also recently acquired some stunning scraps of fabric from the 1930s. They fill two A4 sheets of paper and each individual piece is so special. I'm thinking of making a pillow cover with them or something along those lines. Please feel free to feedback your crafty ideas, I'd appreciate any suggestions.