Tuesday 27 January 2015

Plans

Inspired by all the lovely vintage inspiration I've been getting recently (see my last post for some truly gorgeous patterns) I have...been tempted by a beautiful fifties dress pattern from Butterick. 


I'm a fifties girl at heart, and though the patterns we picked up at Bangor's vintage shop reignited my love of vintage, the eighties don't quite do it for me. I'm hoping my new pattern arrives soon! 


The bottom fabric here is destined for this dress. The navy and white flowers have already been transformed into a Hollyburn Skirt from Sewaholic! 

I hope to begin sewing as soon as my pattern arrives - I am so excited! 

Hope you are all having a lovely week. 

Beth x

Thursday 22 January 2015

Vintage Pattern Finds!

Hey guys! 

Yesterday me and some of my uni friends from the Bangor Craft and Sewing Society visited a vintage shop in the city. Wow, was that place amazing. The clothes were so beautiful and there was also a sale on - 25% off everything - to celebrate the New Year. 

Look what we picked up! 


24 vintage sewing patterns for £10. Granted, there are a couple of children's patterns and a maternity one in there that aren't much use to us, but the rest are definitely worth having! We basically bought everything they had. 

Most of these are eighties - there are some amazing looking shoulder pads in there - but also a couple of seventies, particularly a gorgeous looking bow blouse which I can't wait to crack open. 

I am running a dressmaking class in about a month's time as part of our two weekly workshop series, so I'm hoping to run over how to read a sewing pattern using these as examples. It should be really exciting! We also picked up a couple of Singer sewing machines in Aldi today (that's a British supermarket for international readers) for £80 each! Such a bargain. They belong to the society and should be really great for teaching people to sew. 

These patterns should be really great at helping me to fulfil my vintage pledge. I can see myself making even more than my pledged three at this rate! Totally got my eye on the skirt pattern second from the right on the bottom row. 

Hope you guys are all having a creative week! 

Beth x

Tuesday 20 January 2015

My Christmas Collection

Hey guys! 

I am finally back at uni after a looong Christmas holiday (four weeks!) and thought I would finally share with you a bit of what I've been sewing over the festive season in my breaks between essay writing and exam revision. 

First up is my absolute favourite...


A navy Cambie! Is there anything better? The Cambie from Sewaholic is my favourite dress pattern of all time (yes, even more than the BHL Anna!) and I loved making this version. I think I made it up a size too big as I had to take the side seams in lot, but it fits great now and I wore it on Christmas Day :) 


Second is another Cambie - once I'd finished the first I immediately cut out the second! 


The fabric for this dress is so cute! Tiny sprays of flowers all over, on navy! Yes... I do think I have an obsession with navy, but all my clothes match so I'm not complaining. I really love the way this dress looks on me, especially with one of my lovely woolley cardigans. 


Originally I was going to make the Cambie with some totally gorgeous Liberty Tana Lawn I picked up the last time I was in London. However, not wanting to cut straight into that, I thought it better to have a couple of practice runs first! I hate making toiles, so if I'm using a pattern I think could cause some complications I usually use cheaper, less valuable fabric that I pick up from Abakhan to have a go on before using anything more expensive. That way if it goes totally wrong it's not the end of the world, but if everything goes ok I have a new dress! 

Luckily these two came out great, so I'll have three gorgeous Cambies to wear through the rest of the winter months by the time I'm finished :) 

Last up is something completely different...


VELVET!!!

This was my first time using velvet and I decided to go for the Renfrew t shirt pattern from Sewaholic. I just shortened the bodice and added a slightly gathered skirt to make the babydoll dress, and aside from the neckband (which took three attempts)... this came together really easily! 

I haven't worn it out anywhere yet, not because I don't like it but because I am struggling to find a matching cardigan! I hardly ever wear my dresses without a cardigan on top in winter, so I think I'll have to wait until spring starts to arrive before this sees any wear. I loved working with a new fabric type though and am really glad I was brave enough to branch out from my comfort zone and experiment. 


Apologies for the awful lighting in these photos. My camera does not like being in such close proximity to a window! 

So there we have it...three gorgeous new dresses to add to my wardrobe! 

Have you done any sewing over the Christmas holidays? I'd love to see :) 

Beth x

Sunday 11 January 2015

Vintage Pattern Pledge 2015

Happy New Year everyone! 

This year I have signed up as a participant in The Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge 2015, which I am excited about as I've never taken part before! 


So, here goes...

I, Beth Holmes, pledge to sew three garments from vintage patterns in 2015. 

I have only ever sewn vintage once before, but I do love clothes from the fifties and hope that this year I will be able to stop just looking wistfully at flared dresses on Pinterest and actually make one! 

Are you taking part in the Vintage Pattern Pledge this year? 

Beth x