Sew Darn Tired

only not as much as I want or thought I would. I finished a pair of shorts for my son with the last scraps of the fabric I made  Urban Don flat cap . I have a skirt I cut out a few years ago with this fabric but don't like the style anymore. These are too big for him but I just needed to put the waist band on and decided I'd make a channeled waistband (can't remember what these are called just at the moment). When I cut out the pants I had so little fabric that I had to cut the pocket bags out of nice cotton (with helicopters) and just make the part you see out of the fashion fabric... and I mean I had to put the fabric against the grain to get the two small pieces out of it. That's making good use of every last scrap! The next exciting news was I got my Style Arc patterns. I've cut the pattern out for all but the dotty blouse and the Alisha dress is the one I will make for my friend's wedding. I have cut out the slip and will show the fabri...

I have been busy! I am in the process of documenting my fabric stash. This is the organisation part of the title; the shock part is just how much I have! I am using  Busy Lizzie in Brizzy 's template for fabric stash data but in a different way. Instead of putting it on cards I have put my stash data on A4 sheets/4 per sheet and put in a clear document folder. I did this more because I had no card to print on and just wanted to start. I like this idea now - suits my needs better, but big thanks for the template of the stock card! This has taken ages!  On and off for a couple of weeks with a huge mess everywhere. I haven't finished yet. I have 2 giant bins full, and 4 baskets (seen above) full with 2 bins (not full) of fabrics downstairs that I'm not going to get into just yet - I kind of know what is in there and some is old quilt covers etc with some fabric but not much (thank goodness). The top photo shows 2 pages of the 'stock card'. On the left a...

Thanks for the size help for Style Arc patterns. I purchased my patterns today and I expect I'll get them next week. I have one for the special occasion of my friends wedding in May and I think it will be a lace dress (hint for one of the patterns) made from either a vintage guipure lace that my Mum bought many years ago, or some more modern lace with sequins I brought at last years fabric sale. I shall reveal all when I get the patterns. Thanks again for the help.

Source unknown - but it's cute isn't it! Help! I want to order some Style Arc patterns (they have a great deal for this month - basically 4 patterns for the price of 2 and I wanted one or two anyway...). Anyway, if I want a sheath dress pattern and I am a 10 up top and a 14 on the bottom, do I order the 10 and just grade it out at the hips? That's what I was taught at fashion school years ago but at the patterns don't have any other sizes how do others fix this problem? Any help would be appreciated - special ends at the end of the month!

See what I mean? Same; same but different. I knew of the Simplicity 8498 -  Carmen at Carmencitab  sent me a while ago and the Simplicity Retro 3833 has been out for a while, but I didn't know about the Vogue Couturier Design pattern. The different is the open back... is that how Simplicity can get away with a near exact copy? I saw the Vogue on an ebay site but it doesn't say when it was issued. Lauren of Rosie Wednesday  (a new to me blog) is doing a sew-along with either of the Simplicity patterns and I will make one up (probably not with the sew-along as I am making some other things at the moment but I will use the fitting posts to help fit mine. There is even a post on the comparison of the old and new issue of the Simplicity (I don't remember which Blogger did this but Lauren links to it). Oh and the price of the Vogue? Just over $51 US dollars! I also found some patterns that I have picked up recently that are priced from $60 to nearly $100 each... ...

Pork mince mix Wrappers brushed with water with press Dumplings pressed and ready for boiling Boiling those little suckers Served with snow peas and broccoli in garlic and oyster sauce and sesame seeds One of our favourite meals is dumplings. I first had these  was in Auckland; we'd buy 20 for about $7 and they were yummy! When I came back to Australia I noticed the dumpling wrappers in the supermarket (were they there before? I don't know but I never noticed). I then started making my own and they are so easy. I made them once with prawn mince (keep it quite chunky, and chicken - not such great flavour but still nice). Have a go! Pork Dumplings 1 pack dumpling wrappers  water and pastry brush dumpling press (get this from Asian shops) large pot of boiling water chilli oil (dried chilli flakes in jar topped with rice bran oil) Mince mix 200g heart smart pork mince 1 can bamboo shoots or water chestnuts, chopped finely (water chestnut...

I have been sewing. I finished off the Simplicity Amazing Fit Pants and they are very comfortable and fit well. So comfy they feel like pj pants! I think I may go down to the 12 around the waist and side seams when I use stretch fabric. I have another pair planned in  a heavier black cotton stretch.  I then started making a dress for a funeral I had to go to on Thursday. I am using Vogue 1100 (which is quite old if you check reviews but I only got a couple of years ago)because I thought it would be nice and quick as it is just a shift dress with some nice pleating in the neckline and simple darts front and back. However, I didn't notice it was a fully lined dress and I didn't have lining to suit here and I couldn't work out how the neck band/facing was going to fit - I lined them up and it was short about 2cm either side. I didn't rush ahead as I am prone to do sometimes and thought about it when I went to bed - of course I had tried to put the facings on as fa...