Please forgive the wrinkles in the back of the shirt.  This was the second day of wearing it and I’d just got out of the truck having been sat in the hair dressers chair for an hour having a practice hair do for babyiest sister’s wedding!  It’s a downfall of using cotton, presses well but also creases well!  Do you like my builder chic back drop – the extension at the back of the house is slowly getting there…

I love this top. The tucks are a cute touch that adds some lovely interest and the sleeves are girly without being OTT. It came together with no problems at all. Well, nearly no problems and the two issues I had to deal with were not the fault of the drafting!

The print of the fabric isn’t on grain so I had to make a decision whether I worried about grain or the print looking right. I went with the print! This meant making the tucks was a little more difficult than it had to be as I was arguing with the way the fabric wanted to fold. Nothing a hot iron and a lot of steam couldn’t fix though! The tucks aren’t perfect but I’m happy enough with them.

The other thing I needed to fix was the cuff band but I only did this after wearing it a few times. The cuff bands for the size 4 needed to be just a smidge bigger as I have larger forearms in contrast to Tilly. But then Tilly is of a far more delicate build than me! Basically the cuffs were a touch too small to move up my forearms easily which caused the shirt to pull when I reached forward.

It was easily fixed; I just removed the cuffs and re-stitched them with a 1/4″ seam allowance rather than a 5/8″ allowance. Thank goodness that I’d ignored the trimming down your seam allowance bit of the instructions when I’d attached them otherwise I’d have been in a lot of trouble.  Having said that, not trimming the seam allowance down makes the cuff much thicker and therefore also tighter.  That issue is definitely down to me!

So with the cuffs amended, I regathererd the sleeves and reattached them. No more binding when I reach forward.  The only other alteration was my usual FBA.  As a wearable muslin this top is an absolute win to my mind!  I may give myself just a little extra room across the bust in future versions though as whilst it’s not noticeable when I’m wearing it, there does seem to be some horizontal pull lines there in the photos…

I have some crepe backed satin in a deep purple that I am going to use to make another version of this top, but with a lace overlay at the yoke. I may omit the pleats though and substitute in some gathers instead  as stitching pleats into a satin fabric scares me!  I’ll use the matt crepe side as the right side I think.  I’ve also found some crepe navy polkadot fabric which is also destined to be another version and a complete rip-off of Tilly’s Great British Sewing Bee version, complete with red piping.  I need to finish my V1247 top first though!

Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons: Mathilde
Fabric: Shore Line ‘Life Rings’ in Ocean from Fabric Rehab (2m)
Thread: Dunelm Mill
Buttons: Ex Royal Navy via eBay that have been in my button jar for years!

It was definitely the week of Simplicity 2588, I wore my work version twice and the blue roses version once.  So that’s nearly half the week in one pattern!  After that it was V1247 (again), Sencha (again, but at least photographed), and Cambie on Saturday.  You can see some of the building work we’re having done behind my Sencha photo.

Wearing dresses is much easier than mixing separates, but sometimes I need to wear trousers which is where lovely tops come in!  I really must break out Mathilde, Jasmine and Alma for next week!  And you can probably tell that as the week progressed I was getting more and more tired.  I am absolutely exhausted as I write this on the evening of the 16th.  One more day to the weekend…

But on to the much more interesting giveaway winners!

The fabric goes to: Eclectic Threads

The pattern of choice goes to: Lizzy at Sew Busy Lizzy who chose Jalie 2908 which is a jeans pattern

The vintage patterns and scarf go to: Silvia at Sewing Princess

Congratulations!

I’m looking forward to the weekend, I’m hoping to actually do some sewing which is more than repairing things, which is all that’s happened this month so far.  You never know, I may get an hour or so to disappear upstairs with my machine!

The fabric is Amy Butler ‘Souvenir’ from the Lark collection. I’m not really sure what colour it is; in some light it’s orange, others a hot pink, and sometimes a deep coral.  Some have even told me it’s red!  I love the richness and warmth of the colour, whatever it is.

There’s not a lot to say about the Cambie pattern or the construction really. As always with Tasia’s patterns the drafting is faultless and the instructions good. I had no problems making this dress at all. I’m particularly pleased with how neatly the zip went in; there was bragging on Instagram and Twitter when I’d completed that step I have to admit.

I didn’t make any changes to the pattern other than my usual FBA and using the full width of the fabric for the skirt panels, which definitely made for a fuller skirt! I love that putting a petticoat on with this dress gives it some added impact, but that it’s also great to wear without the extra oomph as a day dress (which is how I wore it for my sister’s hen do in Cambridge).

I have other versions of this dress planned already although I may lessen the amount of fabric in the skirt for that one…

Fabric: Amy Butler ‘Souvenir’ from the Lark Collection
Lining: Bed sheet for the bodice and dress lining from Anglian Fashion Fabrics for the skirt
Thread & Zip: Jaycotts

PS: There’s still a few hours to enter my give away here!

So the first week of MMMay ’13 is complete and I only missed Friday’s photo.  My excuse is that it was a crazy day as I worked for nine hours then drove for two to set up the caravan so we could camp for the bank holiday weekend.  Photos went out of the window!  We had a chat on Twitter on the 1st May about my new wheels up there; she’s crazy big but also necessary as we have to tow a caravan!  We’re trying to work out if it’s practical for me to use her as my car rather than my VW Golf day to day…  May is about a test drive too!

As you can see, the first half of the week was all about Colette.  The second saw my Burda blouse that I haven’t worn in forever getting well used over the weekend which brought glorious sunshine.  Shame it hasn’t lasted but that’s the UK for you!  My V1247 skirt gets worn a LOT and I haven’t blogged it – always the way.  But in my defence there are so many reviews of the pattern out there already!  The only thing I did was drastically add to the length so it finishes at the knee rather than being as short as it is drafted – which is SHORT!

Please accept my apologies if I’m commenting on posts you wrote and published a week or so ago, I’ve only just caught up with my blog reader having been disconnected for the bank holiday weekend and then being stupid busy all this week, which doesn’t seem like it is going to let up anytime soon…  Work is busy, Husband’s (self employed) job is busier and we have an extension going up at the back of the house!  Oh and it’s less than six weeks before my sister gets married!

PS – don’t forget to enter my giveaway if you haven’t already, it ends Tuesday night!

First I have two pieces of fabric on their way from Alessa at Farbenfreude.  A green and blue batik style cotton and a brown/blue/green plaid corduroy which will make a fabulous skirt, probably another Colette Sewing Handbook Meringue!

Then I was lucky enough to win Simplicity 2444 from Helen at Helen Made as well as a length of fabulous bright blue fabric with summer daisies printed all over it.  A fabric and pattern match for the summer!

And finally I received an email from Fiona at Diary of a Chain Stitcher to let me know I’d won Simplicity 2406 a Cynthia Rowley pattern.

Not to mention the gorgeous fabric from Lizzy I mentioned in my last post and the lovely fitting book Ros sent me.  There are some seriously awesome people out there who write and read sewing blogs!

Wow!

So, I think it’s high time I held a little sewing give away of my own to keep the Karma going!  I have three prizes for three winners (one isn’t pictured, you’ll see why…):

1. 3 yards of Michael Miller Ahoy Matey Stay the Course cotton fabric 44″ wide and the pattern is parallel to the selvedge
2. A sewing pattern of your choice (Up to £15GB)
3. Two vintage patterns and the (not vintage) scarf you can see behind them.  The patterns are: McCalls 4191 Bust 34″ and Butterick 3354 Bust 29″.  The scarf is a long oblong with a navy zebra print on a mink background with more zebras on top

To enter all you have to do is tell me which prize you’d like to win and how you follow the blog.  Simple as that.  I would love to know what you’d use the fabric for or which pattern you’d choose if they’re your choices.  If you go for the vintage patterns what sort of fabric do you think you’ll use?

I will ship any where in the world and the give away is open until midnight (British Summer time / GMT+1) at the end of Tuesday 14 May.  Please make sure your profile links to an email address or you include it in your comment so I can reach you if you win.

Good Luck!

***This Giveaway is Now Closed***

MMMay seems to sharpen this effect for me as I look at my wardrobe and realise that I’m going to be wearing a lot of things over and over again in the month.  But this is how I live most of the time anyway; isn’t there some accepted wisdom about 10% or our wardrobe 90% of the time?!  However, the stark reality always makes me antsy and want to add a bit more variety!

So, I’ve resorted to lists.  There’s my list of patterns, my list of fabric, my list that pairs fabric with patterns and the list of things that I think need adding to my wardrobe.  That’s a lot of lists and whilst it’s cathartic it doesn’t get me any closer to deciding what to make next.  Too many options, too many choices, too much indecision and therefore nothing happens.

I was reading A Beautiful Mess (a blog I dip in and out of, but always has something to inspire me) and there was an article about prioritization and a paragraph stood out to me:

Instead of a huge list, force yourself to make a short list with only one or two projects.  It will help you focus and enjoy each one.  Each time you complete a project you can start a new one.

Pretty damn obvious but sometimes it takes someone telling me something for me to see it.  Wood for the trees and all that.

So instead of trying to decide which project of about twenty odd that are listed in my list collection, I’ve chosen two.  The two that have been in my head constantly for weeks.

Colette Hazel in Michael Miller Ahoy Matey Fabric
Vogue 1247 top in a brush stroke effect cotton lawn

Then;

Butterick 5748 in Tula Pink Turtle Bay Fabric
Made by Rae Washi dress using some of the plaid from the Sewists Secret Santa swap

And of course there is the Australian Fabric of Glee that the wonderful Lizzy posted to me because I couldn’t make the meet up in London on the 20th April!  It was my youngest sister’s hen-do in Cambridge and I was under strict instructions not to bail on  it.  I’ve chosen New Look 6643 (a shift dress) so when that arrives, it may well bump its self up the que!

Does anyone else have problems deciding what to sew next or do you have a plan and stick to it?  Are you structured in your makes (looking at wardrobe needs and sewing to fill them) or are your sewing decisions made purely on a whim?  I’d love to know…

GBSB on the other hand was watched live. Husband wasn’t interested so I took myself upstairs and watched along with Twitter. Tuesday night was date night for me and a TV programme. Yup, I loved it.

I’m not going to say it was perfect because to my mind there was room for improvement, it was imperfectly perfect! The second series (which you can already sign up for!) is longer so we get more episodes (and more participants!) “Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two, said: “I’m delighted that BBC Two viewers have taken this series to their hearts. It has proved that an ill-fitting zip or badly placed dart can make for compelling television in much the same way as a soggy bottom on Great British Bake Off and I can’t wait for the next series.”"

I’d love it to be a bit more detail focused and that a little more budget is assigned to the trophy! Finally instead of projects from the book, maybe a bit more detail on a technique or the history as I found those segments fascinating!

**Spoiler Alert** I’m going to discuss when people left and the final results so if you’re still to catch up, look away now…

I admit, episode 1 saw me a little apprehensive. Was sewing going to translate to TV, would it appeal to those who don’t already sew, what would the participants be like? Half way through I was happily just enjoying the show, it worked pretty well in my eyes. It was sad to see Jane retire because she was ill and sending Michelle home would not have been the decision I would have made if I was Patrick and May.

Jane’s Skirt and Michelle’s Dress: Episode 1

Doing a quick Internet search the next day was quite stunning! 2.5 million viewers?! Wow, some of them must be people who don’t have a sewing machine, so a little glimmer of hope was born that maybe this appealed outside of the sewing community!

Episode 2 saw the departure of Tilly and Mark. As I said in this post here, I loved that Mark offered Tilly his arm as they left. I think they were the right people to go, much as I love Tilly and would be a senseless star struck fool if I ever met her, the blouse wasn’t finished! Major kudos for the self drafted pattern though, and having made a version of it, it is well drafted.

Mark’s Skirt alteration and Tilly’s Blouse: Episode 2

Episode 3 meant we said goodbye to Stuart. The biggest personality on the show! Loved him and his sheer bravery to have a go. He was brilliantly creative and quite brave in a lot of ways as garment sewing wasn’t his interest! The shirred dress was really interesting, it isn’t a technique I’ve tried and there was a lot of information that will be useful when i do have a go!

Stuart’s Garments: Episode 3

The dress alteration was great. Stuart’s insane take on making it more fitted, punk style, and Lauren cut it in half! This episode is responsible for my one GBSB inspired purchase: NewLook 6035. The pattern Lauren used in the final Jacket challenge, I loved the one she made.

Episode 4: The Final. Ann, Sandra and Lauren. Honestly, I was team Lauren purely because she was adventurous in her pattern choices and added some lovely details. She chose patterns that I would choose (have chosen!).

The challenges were to make a man’s shirt, alter a bag and then fit an evening dress. Right at the beginning of Episode 1 there had been some glimpses of the dresses and a gold one had caught my eye (I’m a geek and recognised the bodice as Jessica McClintock) as well as some beautiful blue chiffon. I was really excited to finally see them!

But first, the man’s shirt. In 4 hours. Gulp. There is so much precision in a shirt, so much attention to detail. The sort of technical execution that Ann excels at and she did excel.

Ann’s Garments: Episode 4, The Final

Next up was the bag which was to be altered using hand sewing techniques. To my mind Sandra knocked it out of the park! Ann’s free form design left me cold I’m afraid and Lauren’s had potential but, like Tilly she failed to finish in time.

Sandra’s Garments: Episode 4, The Final

Then my favourite bit. For two reasons; the fit models were different and the dresses, we were finally going to see the dresses!

Now I’m a bit of a softy so when Sandra, Ann and Lauren found out they were going to make the final garment to fit a member of their family I welled up. Most stressful part of the competition and one of your family are there with you! Ann and Sandra fitted their daughters and Lauren her sister.

Lauren’s Garments: Episode 4, The Final

If this single garment had been the decider, Lauren won. The dress was amazing and she was closely followed by Sandra. Both were evening gowns, red carpet style! Ann’s was technically stunning but didn’t have the impact of the others for me, and as it was made in dark colours it was difficult to see the details. I’d love some well lit macro detail shots in the new series!

And so to the winner. They all looked so apprehensive! The judges chose Ann, definitely the most technically skilled participant. I still would have chosen Lauren though!

I’m looking forward to a potential second series, I’m hopeful as the viewing figures increased as the series progressed. If it does get the go ahead filming will be late this year and it’ll be on the TV this time next year. If you fancy throwing your name into the hat, here’s the form!

So, what did you think? Is it a good way of developing interest in sewing (seems to have been so far…) Would you put an application in for series 2?

All images taken from The BBC Sewing Bee Website Gallery where you can see every garment made on the show.

I’m in! Just a little note of explanation too as I’m aware that this may be a new concept to a few of my lovely readers. Zoe, who blogs at So Zo hosts a challenge each year to encourage us to wear the clothes that we make.

People make a pledge to wear a self made item each day, or three times a week, or whatever works for them. Some are not allowing themselves to repeat an item, others are not allowed to repeat an outfit. It’s about developing your relationship with the items you make and actually wearing them! This is only my second year in taking part, so;

I, Vicki of VickiKateMakes, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’13. I endeavour to wear one me-made item each day for the duration of May 2013.

As Zoe explains: “Me-Made-May ’13 (MMM’13 for short) is a challenge designed o encourage people who sew / knit / crochet / refashion / up-cycle / insert-other-creative-discipline-here garments for themselves to actually wear and love them. The participants decide the specifics of their own challenge pledge so that the month is appropriate and challenging for them” This is Zoe’s post all about it, and you can sign up there as well!

I’m not going to bore you with daily outfit photographs, instead I’ll do a round up each week. I’ll try and post on a Wednesday but that could prove interesting for the last week as we’ll be away and I have no idea what the interwebs connection will be like. So you may get ten days worth in early June once I’ve got home to my computer! But on the plus side there will be photos featuring a caravan, Legoland, Windsor Castle and where ever else we visit!

From last year I learnt that the hardest aspect of this challenge for me is the documentation of what I wear. I’m not exactly comfortable in front of the camera. But, this year I WILL take a photo Every. Single. Day. I’ll try and vary the setting, but the front door may feature heavily, or the building site in the back garden! Does anyone have any tips for self portraits? How to feel less like a dork or poses to try?!

I’ve claimed my blog with bloglovin’.  And then deleted that particular post, so apologies if you got a ‘the post you are looking for is unavailable’ type message in your feed.  That was a faff.  But I got there.

There’s now a button widget thing at the very bottom of the site if you want to use that to add me to your bloglovin’ feed.

The one thing I will say, is that importing your Google Reader feed into bloglovin’ is super simple.  So at least part of this headache is alright!  And there’s an app (phone only, no iPad), so I’ll see how I get on with that.  Looks OK so far…  Really need one for the iPad though, so if anyone’s got any suggestions I’d love to hear about them!

I know that the blogosphere has been awash with all sorts of opinions on the GBSB.  I didn’t want to jump in after just one episode, but we’re now 50% of the way through the four part series and I want to try and articulate my thoughts on the programme.

I’m sure most of you who read sewing blogs have also watched the programme if you can get access to it.  Outside of the UK, YouTube seems to be the weapon of choice!

May and Patrick

The show follows the familiar skill tests, assessment and elimination format of Masterchef and The Great British Bake Off.  Which means of course that we need some judges and these take the form of May Martin and Patrick Grant.  A WI Doyenne and a Saville Row Taylor (and new men’s wear designer for Debenhams).

At the end of each show, two contestant’s are eliminated.  So far we’ve lost:

Week One:     Michelle and Jane (through illness)
Week Two:     Tilly and Mark (I loved that Mark offered Tilly his arm as they left)

Now I enjoy watching this show, but I’m also already into sewing in a fairly obsessive way.  Outside of sewing circles though, I haven’t heard much discussion about it.  Not like Bake Off which every one could appreciate on some level; even if it was as simple as ‘I want to eat that’!

I worry that because sewing and garments are so tactile that the everyday person can’t immediately grasp the challenge of sewing a silk blouse.  The majority of bought clothing is poly-something-easy-care-no-iron.  How many people can begin to imagine how silk slips and moves when you work with it and therefore appreciate the technical challenges of constructing a garment with it.  It’s not as immediately understandable as a ‘soggy bottom’ on a tart although we all eat and we all wear clothes, so maybe it should be!

My other concern is the speed that some of the challenges are done at.  The refashion I think is about right and perfect to get someone interested.  A bit of lace and an hour is a manageable prospect.  Sewing a pair of tailored trousers in four hours when you have never done so; not so much.  I worry that this does nothing to re-educate people about the value of clothing or how difficult some of these things are to do.  There is an opportunity to really showcase and highlight the skills required to make a garment and I’m not convinced this is being made the most of.

Food traceability and quality is already in the mainstream, this has yet to happen for the clothes we wear.

And lets face it; the ingredients for a cake are a few pounds.  The yardage for a dress is anywhere from £5 if you have the wonders of ‘the man outside Sainsburys’ on Goldhawk Road, or £40 if you go for a quilting cotton and higher still if you go really fancy!  By extension, if a cake doesn’t work out, ah well, it was only a few quid and an hour.  A dress doesn’t work out and it’s £10 on the pattern, £30 on the fabric and all the time you’ve just put into it.  The potential to be put off on the first go is much much higher.

Each episode has a quick project that also seems to be covered in the accompanying book.  So far it’s been the laundry bag and a tie side cushion.  The construction of each has been massively glossed over and dealt with in two minutes.  For instance the laundry bag has a gusseted construction which is far more difficult that it was made to appear.  Thankfully the instructions in the book are much more comprehensive according to Jane’s review.

I guess I hoped for more.  Maybe some more explanation about why something is difficult to help develop the public’s appreciation for our clothing.  Definitely more signposting for people who may want to have a go so that they don’t become discouraged and know where to get the support they’re going to need.

Having said all of that, I know I’ll be watching the last two episodes.  And there was a slight rise in the ratings for week two so it is working, which I am really glad about.  As Miss P says, we really need this show to be a ratings success as without the numbers, the TV execs wont take the risk on comissioning any more sewing shows.

L to R: Lauren, Tilly, Jane, Mark, Stuart, Patrick, Claudia, May, Michelle, Sandra, Ann

I love Stuart’s incredulousness at what he’s managing to achieve each week and Ann’s cool, calm technical perfection.  And the relief that someone who has sewn for as long as Lauren still has complete moments of panic.  And Sandra’s cheekyness (I just need to look at your bottom Mr Grant).  At the moment, the only two contestants who blog are Tilly and Lauren, although I know Tilly is lining up some guest posts…

Next week involves sewing a child’s dress, altering a shop bought dress and finally fitting and sewing a tailored jacket for their model.  And then one more contestant will leave, leaving three contestants in the final on the 23^rd April.

I don’t know who I want to win.  At the moment I think I’m team Stuart or Lauren.  Failing that, I’m team Patrick!