Hello friends! Just a quick reminder that in less than three weeks Claire, Kat and I will be hosting an awesome meet-up in Birmingham...on Saturday 15 June to be precise.

If you missed it first time around, full details are available over at my original post. A huge thanks to everyone who has already expressed an interest in coming along, we'll be sending a more detailed email out to you in the next week or so. However, there are a number of you whom I have no contact details for: Rosemary, Deborah, Karen Shaw Jones, if you'd still like to join us please leave a comment including your email address.

For those of you on the fence, I can promise a fun day out in the company of lovely, talented stitchers, and plenty of reasonably-priced fabric. We're also going the extra mile to make this a slick experience for you all. On our rekkie to Birmingham a few weeks ago, Kat and I mapped the rag market for maximum efficiency on the day.

Laugh all you want, but deep down inside, you know we're cool ;o) 

Admiring our mapping skills


Sunday, May 26, 2013

You guys, this sewing shizzle just got real! One of my favourite ever bloggers - Karen of Did you make that? - has just had her first contribution published as part of the Guardian's fashion bloggers network! Even better, it's the first in a series of weekly blog posts from Karen, which I'm seriously excited about!

I think you'll all agree that this is a huge deal for our little stitching community! This kind of opportunity to propel our passion into the 'mainstream' doesn't come often and we're lucky to have such an eloquent and engaging writer to represent us.

And boy does Karen promise to deliver the goods. She says, "I'll give you everything you need to create a unique sense of style. Sewing in Sixty Seconds Tutorials. Knifty Knitting projects...There will be guides to the best independent pattern designers and a rundown of Britain's bargainacious fabric and haberdashery suppliers. I will give you top tips, insider information, spotlights and features from some of the most cutting-edge creators."

Go on girl, sock it to them good!

I'm off to bed now, feeling uplifted and very proud, not only of our Karen, but for being part of our wonderful stitching community.
Friday, May 24, 2013
From mid-April to mid-June, we're flat out at my workplace due to a flagship event we coordinate in May. We work some serious hours leaving me with little time and even less energy to sew and be creative, so it may well be a little while before you see something exciting finished from me. But I am still chipping away at a few things in the meantime, albeit it slowly. 

At first, I used to be a monogamous stitcher devoting myself to just one project at a time. I'm pretty sure that most people find this approach to be the most productive. However, since the influx of awesome sewing challenges, excellent sewalongs and irresistible indie pattern companies I've slipped into a more 'reactive' approach to sewing. I now have an unmentionable number of started projects, which probably isn't the most effective way of working. But, I can't seem to figure out a way out of this 'situation', because there are new sewing delights springing up all the time.

So, I was wondering what works best for you on the project front - do you have one, or more on the go? Any tips for staying on track and not diluting you efforts between a number of projects at once?

Here's a sneaky peek at my three stitching priorities at the moment...two of them are top secret!




Wednesday, May 15, 2013
As well as a finished make, I also have an important lesson to share with you this sunny Bank Holiday Monday. Do not, I repeat, do not sew braless. In case naive readers are wondering why you would in the first place, picture this: you want to squeeze in a bit of sewing before work or ahead of a busy weekend, so you set your alarm extra early and head straight to your sewing machine all bleary eyed and still in your flimsy pyjamas. Everything's going smoothly until you start feeding an extra long waist tie through your machine and one of the pesky pins gets caught on and scrapes your bust apex (aka n*pple)? OUCH!!! I know it sounds hilarious, but I kid you not people, there was blood, a whole lot of stinging and finally, an unsightly scab. So take it from me, do not sew braless! 

Luckily, there was a silver lining to this embarrassing sewing-related injury...my flower power Miette skirt! 



Now, I'm not usually a huge fan of the late 60s/70s style, but when I came across these vintage sheets in a local charity shop a couple of years ago for a song I couldn't pass them up. I've been waiting for the perfect pattern to come along ever since and after making my first Miette I knew the style would be perfect for it. Plus a skirt is the perfect way of wearing yellow if you don't like it too close to your face, so I went ahead and took a leaf out of Jane's book!

Construction-wise I really have nothing new to add that I didn't cover here - it went together very quickly and easily again.
Sadly, it didn't even cross my mind to match the pattern at the front seam. I'm such an idiot! It would have looked so awesome if I had taken the time to do so, but I won't dwell on that now, because I love this skirt so much!



This skirt is possibly my 'happiest' make ever. How can you not smile when wearing something so bright and summery, even if the weather doesn't completely match it. I think it's also a very 'fresh' looking outfit when paired with a white blouse and coral wedges, but I do have plans of wearing it with a chocolate tube top and brown wedges too...yum!


Oh, and I just had to include this last pose...it's a bit of a Miette tradition!


So, have you made a Miette skirt yet? I promise you, you won't regret it!
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
Well, well, well! There sure seems to be a healthy appetite for fancy undies around these parts, because a whopping 118 of you entered my Ohhh Lulu pattern giveaway (actually, it was 119, but Sabs graciously withdrew after winning one of Sarah's own giveaways)!!!

So, without further ado, the winner is...

craftylittlebugger, who said:


Congratulations craftylittlebugger!!! I'll be passing your email address to Sarah who will then send you your chosen pattern.

I hope the rest of you will give an Ohhh Lulu pattern a go in the near future - they're gorgeous and very fairly priced if you ask me. If you're in any doubt at all, check out craftylittlebugger's stunning Betty high waisted undies!

Sunday, May 05, 2013
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