Brightening up a denim skirt

We all have denim skirts that we love, right?

Well, I loved this one but I wanted to brighten it up a little, to give it a new look. 

So I added some satin ribbon to the bottom.  The handkerchief hem seemed to go on forever and I was surprised at the quantity of ribbon it took!

I really like the way it turned out and am much more inclined to wear it now.

Ok, back to curtain making...LOL!

Another Roman blind

Many moons ago I took an evening class in soft furnishings.  That's the only formal training I have had.

I adored our teacher as she believed that nothing was impossible and that everybody could sew.  If I remember correctly, she had us making piped cushions as our first project!

One of the other items we made was a Roman blind. 

I loved being able to imagine how everything would fit together.  It was big fun.

I took extensive notes on how this was made - as I always do.  I love flicking through my notes every now and then.  The blind that I made after this one can be found here.

This blind has never been used.  It's sitting in my 'look, this is what I've made' box.

It reminds me of a time when we used to have a fabric shop in our town; when I used to frequent it regularly; when I felt the glimmer of the *perhaps sewing is for me* thought.

I still remember my teacher and what a great attitude she had.  I know she was right!!



ROAR!!!! Dinosaur cushions...

What do you do with fabric leftover from curtain-making?

Well, make cushion covers out of them of course!
So when a friend asked me if I would do that very same thing I could not resist.

When the fabric arrived it had the most amazing dinosaur print on it.  I had so much fun trying to decide which part of the fabric to feature on the front!

I added a zip, a piece of fabric for the back and ta-dah - they were done!

Labels have arrived - all systems go, go, go!

Ok, so I'm pretty excited.

Not just a little bit excited with a shrug of the shoulders. 

I mean a full-on jumping up and down kind of excited.

Yes, THAT excited.

I received my consignment of Sew Selena labels today.

And not just a couple of test labels either - a whole year's supply of labels!  Ok, so maybe 18 months' worth!

What do you think?

More to the point - what do I need to sew them onto...

Onward to the creation station!

Elmer bag

Fabric or pattern?

Which comes first?

90% of the time I get most of my inspiration from the fabric.

So when I discovered this fabulous muti-coloured check tea-towel from Lakeland (well, at least that's what I think it was - it was definitely cotton with a little hanging loop in the corner) I just had to find a use for it.

And as it's so brightly coloured it had to be called an Elmer bag!

The ideas came easily - just cut off the sides of the tea-towel (it already had seams), double up and create handles.

Then sew the sides of the tea-towel together, create a dart and turn the right side out.  No need to add a seam to the top as it had already been done for me!

Sew on the handles and add buttons for decoration. 

Ta-dah!

Definitely a bag to brighten up any day!

I'm busily making a raft of unique items in time to sell them at a large centenary event at the end of June.  It'll be my first stall <grin>.

Talk about excited!

Oilcloth totes and Sew Selena labels

You may remember that a couple of months ago I blogged about a tote bag that I had made from oilcloth.

Well.... it now has a Sew Selena woven label on it so it is officially complete!!

What do you think?

A tutu or two

What have I been up to this last week or so - it's been kinda quiet around here hasn't it...

Well, as it happens I have been helping to make some costumes for my daughter's dance show which took place this weekend.  So there was a flurry of activity in the background but I didn't think it right to post the costumes until after the show!

It happened something like this if I remember correctly - dance teacher spots a dress that I've made and asks me if I'd like to make some costumes; I smile and nod; dance teacher mentions tutus; I say 'I could probably do that'.

You see, being largely self-taught, I don't know what I don't know when it comes to sewing.  But I am oh so willing to give it a go and figure it out as I go along. 

Make a tutu? 

Why not! 

Let me at the lycra and ballet net!

(And yes, that is my sewing machine in amongst all that net!)

Luckily my daughter already had a ready-made tutu that I could look at for reference. Normally I would also do some research on the internet first for hints and tips but I didn't come across much of that.

Ok, Selena, so it looks like it's down to you...

a) Make up lycra body (it was to be an elasticated, pull-on skirt to go over an existing leotard)

b) then add net

Well, that sure sounds easy, right?

So I purchased a ruffler foot - an amazing gadget that really helps with getting the right amount of gather on the net.  I also bought a rotary cutter and a cutting mat - a godsend when it comes to cutting acres and acres of net.

I figured out how wide the 7 layers of net had to be and I cut net for hours.

I then ruffled for Britain.

It was an experience sewing each layer onto the lycra.  Net has this habit of boinging about and not staying where it's put LOL!  I felt like a jungle explorer at times trying to make my way through the dense undergrowth in search of the needle!

Some things I learned along the way:

- Wear long sleeves - cut net is sharp!

- Make sure you only sew the net to the lycra body and not the gusset as well (I've lost track of the number of times I did that)

- Lycra feels kinda soft and silky

- Figure out how much net you think you need and then buy more - you will need way more than you think

- Your sewing machine will need a rest every now and again to prevent it from getting too hot

- You will need a rest every now and again - don't let it get the better of you!

- Ruffler feet respond well to gentle coaxing

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Here is the end result.  It goes nicely with a Girl Guide t-shirt doesn't it?!

Oh, and I didn't just make the one.  I made three.

And when I watched the three of them dancing today I was so happy I had to wipe away a tear. 

It really was a bit of a challenge.  But I did it. 

It's surprising what you can do with a wetsuit

Many moons ago my daughter carried a rucksack to school.  It hasn't seen much use recently.  So it was consigned to the back of the cupboard.

As she was due to go on a school trip to Paris recently, we went on a rucksack hunt. 

When we eventually unearthed it I noticed that for some reason the inner pocket had been cut out. 

But you can't go on a school trip with no inner pocket, I cried!  Where will you put your mobile phone without it getting bashed or rattling about at the bottom??

So I decided to make one.

As it turns out, I already had the perfect fabric with which to make a pocket - an old wetsuit!  Not only was it large enough to hold everything that it needed to, but it was also already padded.

It was easy enough to insert the zip although I would have liked to have been able to have topstitched it so that it was able to lay down a little flatter but the wetsuit was too darned boingy.

There was no way my sewing machine was going to go through two layers of wetsuit though - the needle kept bouncing off!  So I ended up handstitching the sides and top.  It was quite therapeutic actually. 

Here's the completed internal pocket.

And it certainly did what it was meant to do - no scratches or lost phones!