A date and a dress

Paul had a day off on Friday so we visited the Hamilton gardens.  It was a perfect winter day, the sun was shining and it really felt more like autumn than winter.  The gardens are a beautiful place to visit and cover a large area with many different collections. My favourites are the Italian and English gardens.
I had also finished a new dress so Paul snapped some photos for me.  The dress is the Darling Ranges dress by Megan Nielsen, my first time sewing one of her designs.  Dear Julie gave me the fabric, it's a polyester (I did a burn test) with a nice soft, silky feel and drapes beautifully.  I finished the seams by overlocking and the neckline with bias binding as the pattern said, I do like the clean finish this gives.  I made the size medium with the following alterations:

• removed 1/2" from top back seam for my narrow shoulders
• added 1/2" to each side seam at the bust
• removed about 4" from the skirt to reduce the fullness and gathers
• added 6" to the length
• I didn't add the elastic casing to the sleeve cuff or add the back tie

I really love this dress, I like how I can dress it up with a belt or just leave it plain.  Thanks so much Julie for the gorgeous fabric.  I've entered my dress into The Monthly Stitch Indie Pattern dress competition. I'm not really one to blow my own trumpet but in this case I have to indulge in a bit of self-promotion. If you feel so inclined you can click on the button above to view the dresses and cast a vote for your favourite (it doesn't have to be mine but of course it wouldn't be self-promotion if I didn't gently nudge you in that direction). :) Wendy xx

Knitting and thrifting

We had a long weekend last week and it was pretty wonderful: no Saturday sports, Paul was home, I went scrapbooking for a day and we went to the movies on the Monday.  I did unfortunately get the cold that the rest of the family had but am now almost back to normal apart from a stuffy nose.  So I haven't felt as much like sewing as usual; knitting has been the craft of choice, it's so easy to sit near the fire and relax with needles and yarn.  I now have two socks and they are very comfy.  I made my own 'blockers' from foam sheets, not wanting to pay $60(!!) for sock blockers from the wool shop.  I also finished my hat, I love this pattern and have worn it a few times already. It is the Skeppe hat by Truly Myrtle.
Occasionally I make time to pop into my local vintage shop and recently I found a beautiful lace table cloth and two scarves, one silk and an organza one.  Today I visited a vintage and craft fair, I love seeing what the local crafty community are making.  I found the succulent in a china bowl, a silk vintage dress and a hand crafted necklace made with felted balls.  The dress is lovely, fully lined, really nicely finished inside, and it fits!!  It is actually a dark navy although it looks black in the photo.  Oh, and I also bought a couple of yummy cupcakes that didn't last long! Wendy xx

Fastest quilt in the west

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to attend a "fastest quilt in the west" class.  I started with 10 fat quarters and the tutor had bought some examples of her quilts to give us ideas of final layouts.  The morning was spent measuring, then measuring again, then cutting; and after lunch we were finally able to make blocks.  Once all our blocks were made the fun part started, moving them around until we were happy with the layout.  My quilt is for Josh (14 years) who in the last year has shot up to just over 6 feet tall and needs a bigger bed.  I made him a Boys Story quilt in 2011 here and it is now too small!  After trying different block arrangements, the class consensus was the zigzag design as a more boyish look.  I was amazed to get the main part of the quilt sewn together in a day, now it needs some borders to finish it.  I'm thinking they may take longer to do than the first part!
Oh, and look, I made a sock!  Wendy xx

Sewing with knits

I've been sewing with knits which just happens to be The Monthly Stitch challenge this month.  The fabrics for these were my Christmas spend and are really nice quality.  The dress is the Ultimate Wrap dress by Sew Over It and was a nice easy make.  I made size 14 and altered it by adding 7" to the length which meant I didn't do the curved hem.  I also did two small darts in the back neck to remove gaping and made a self-fabric binding to finish the neckline rather than using the facing and I like the neat finish this gives (you can see this in the close-up).  I love this dress, it is the perfect weight for autumn/winter and is easy to wear.
The top is the Ensis Tee by Papercut patterns.  The fabric is a rayon lycra mix with a stretch lace for the shoulder contrast.  I made size medium with variation 1 sleeves (love the cuffs) and variation 2 hemline which is more flattering for me.  The only alteration was to take in each side seam by about 1.5 cm to make it less boxy and more fitting.  By the way, Bess the chook was hanging around my feet so I thought she could be in the photo too!
These are some of my favourite makes, clothes I love and feel good in. Wendy xx

Wintery

It's getting wintery here, days of rain then days of golden sunshine with cold mornings and nights.  The light is changing, in the afternoon it is a gorgeous warm glow but by 6:00 pm it is dark and the curtains pulled.  I love the evenings when we are staying at home in our cosy warm house.  Charlie and Paul have been full of colds this week, particularly Charlie who seems to get sicker than the rest of us, so the fire has been lighted most days.  Oh, how I love the fire.
Winter feels like the time for knitting and that's what I have been doing.  I made Charlie Bofur gloves, the exact pattern and wool used in the Hobbit movie for the dwarf Bofur (Charlotte loves Lord of the Rings.)  As soon as they were off my needles they were on her hands, no blocking for Charlie!  I'm knitting a cardy for me and some socks.  Making socks was one of my goals this year so for my first attempt I am knitting Easy Peasy socks.  I find the self-striped wool fascinating, such pretty patterns for such little effort!  Other knitting projects in the queue are fingerless gloves for Josh (14 years) and a hat for me.
And the bundle of fabrics in the last photo?  I am going to be playing with them on Sunday, Wendy xx

Pay it forward gift

This week I was able to hand deliver the first of my Pay it forward gifts to Julie as she lives only 30 minutes away from me.  It is always such a treat to visit her and be inspired by the loveliness of her home and garden.  I made Julie a Happy Dog tote which is a pattern by Birdhouse Designs.  The stitched dog is to remind Julie of her beloved dog Mr Fluffy who died about twelve months ago and, apart from the linen, the fabrics were gifted to me which I thought suited Julie as she is so clever at giving old things new life.  I found a gorgeous magazine that I knew Julie would enjoy and had lots of fun in a second hand shop finding some little treasures for her as well.
As I said, it is such a treat for me to visit Julie and she let me wander around her home with my camera, I have included some of the photos below.  There is so much to see and inspire.  I didn't leave empty handed either, Julie gave me four dressmaking fabrics and lots of walnuts from her tree.  Thanks Julie, I loved visiting you, Wendy xx