Friday 28 November 2014

Muslining of Dahlia

Hi Guys

Just a quick wee post from me this evening - I have been super busy with work recently and the light has been so bad that photo ops have been getting few and far between!



As I mentioned at the bottom of a previous post, as soon as the Colette patterns dahlia came on sale I purchased the portable document format version ahem pdf. As yet I haven’t got around to making up the full finished dress however I have had time to make up a first muslin and make some changes based upon said muslin.

I initially cut the size 10 for the bodice and then 12 for the waist and skirt. It became quickly apparent after even just sewing the skirt pieces together that the 12 was going to be too damn big. This was further confirmed when I added the yoke.


After attaching the bodice pieces this confirmed my suspicions that I would have to make a narrow shoulder adjustment and that I would also have to remove a wedge from centre front and centre back.
The fabric that I used wasn’t by any means a good choice for this project however it was really cheap (£3/m) and allowed me to confirm my fitting hunch. I had that much confidence in the first run that no two seams are even facing the same direction… haha.
Some beautiful contrast stay stitching...

So based on what I have and the quality of the muslin that I was able to make I made the following adjustments
* 1cm narrow shoulder adjustment on each side
*1 inch wedge removed from centre front and back
These were both carried out using the instructions on the sewalong page here
So hopefully I can create a second (wearable) muslin based these adjustments using more suitable fabric. Ill share the results of the next iteration when I get them :-)

Take care guys and have a good weekend
JCS xx

Monday 17 November 2014

Ohio Star Quilt

Today I have a mini quilt table topper to share :-) - although it seems to have come out a little bigger than I was intending!


This mini quilt came about quite by mistake - when I was in buying fabric for the advent calendar I shared the other week - i bought a 50 cm (x 60" wide) length for the back but it was too narrow! The lighter holly print was originally destined for the back. But when I was in that day an additional print caught my eye. The red was in a precut fat quarter sitting at the till and was bought out of complete impulse! Taking all this into account the total outlay was £7  or £0 as I prefer to think of it because I salvaged a mistake.

I wasn't entirely sure what I would make with these however as i had a good length of both i reckoned some good could come out of them if used together - so after losing a few hours to pinterest I decided that an Ohio Star would be awesome!


I followed the instructions in the August edition of Sew magazine and used my own dimensions cutting the 4 red and 4 white squares to 6" square and the remaining squares to 6.5" square making each up into two 6" HST's.

Some of the points don't look so pointy after quilting...

Usefully I had a length of wadding left from the advent calendar as well as a good amount of the awesome green Christmas print which was more than enough to use for the backing and for the binding.

The binding was cut 2 inches wide and not on the bias - I hate making this stuff enough as it is!! Haha. I think the method I used here was the French binding method... I pinned 1/4 inch from the raw edge of both the quilted sandwich and the strip of binding and folded out in the opposite direction from the quilt at the corners and then back over on itself and along the new edge. I then spent a few hours waiting for the hungover boyfriend to surface hand stitching 1/4 from the raw edge on the back with the raw edge tucked under. My hand stitching won't win any awards but I'm pleased with the results and far prefer this method to my previous topstitching method.

Some squinty lines of quilting and some of the better slipstitched binding
For the quilting part I used the stitch in the ditch method following the piecing lines on the top. I did however find out how to drop the feed dogs so I think the next time I quilt something I'm going to give it a shot. This is also a pattern I want to try again only this time with a repeat and for a double quilt size. Maybe only with one print too
The Corner needs a little work but im pretty happy

I hope you guys like my most recent project - I have no idea what to do with it though right now it's just sitting on the settee casually chilling after being photographed! Also would you believe that my phone takes better pictures in poor light than my camera? Have a good week guys
Reverse of the Quilt

JCS xx


Thursday 13 November 2014

Completed: Victory Patterns Lola

So heres another finished make I have to share with you all - my Lola sweater dress.



I actually started this well before my sewing machine broke (the first time) and then ended up with the WIP pile of doom! I then completely forgot about it because when I was looking for something else I found the part assembled pieces. Just at the right time it would seem I'm quite digging long (3/4) sleeves at the moment.

The finished dress is not quite as good as I'd hoped but I handled the neck a lot and I think it stretched out a bit so the neck looks stretched I also think it may be something to do with the fact I neglected the wee triangle that you're meant to add for that authentic jumper look- that's why I have a sneaky scarf on hand ...

So I started this that long ago that I can't even remember what the composition of the fabric is - I know its not many % cotton as its got that shine that only a poly blend will give something... what I do remember is that I purchased it at remnant kings and it cost like £8/m. I must have bought about 2.5 m as there is still about 1m left so I'm thinking a mabel or perhaps another sugar plum? I'm also wondering if I could make a snuggly Bronte jumper....?



When constructing this dress I cut a size 8- I think it fits mostly OK apart from around the waist where it seems a bit baggy - which is strange as usually I need to grade out for this area... If i make this up again (I'm totally torn as there's a few knit jumper dress patterns that im feeling right now) I think ill grade down a size here and keep the rest the same size.

The dress came together really easily - apart from noted issue with the neck however I'm not really feeling it - I love the pockets and the sleeves give me an option for the cooler weather I just feel that there are other patterns that I love way more. (who knows maybe if I fix the neck it would be a different story...). That being said it has been worn rather a lot over the last two weeks.

Hope everyone has a good weekend - Im off to the football tomorrow night (Scotland vs Ireland) which should be good - it's a handy match for us because Celtic Park is only about a miles walk from our flat to the turnstiles

Take care guys
JCS xx

Monday 3 November 2014

Completed: A Tilly and the Buttons Coco

One of the problems I have been having lately is the lack of light to photograph projects. It's dark i.e. pitch black by 5:15 and I usually return home around 5:30. Not useful. I did have a spare few minutes to capture some photos at the weekend though. So meet Coco.


I know exactly what everyone means now when they say that this dress makes you feel like you're wearing jammies!

I made up the dress version in the size 5 with cuffed sleeves - and promptly took it in to a size 4 - definitely glad i made it up big though, its far easier to take things in than let them out again!


I think I had a bit of a fabric fail on this dress - the fabric I used was this ponte roma which I bought from Fabric Godmother - this was not my prize fabric - or pattern, I promise i'll share those soon. I say it was a fabric fail - but this dress has had more compliments than any other that I've made and worn out. I think the fabric is a little too drapey and maybe not the right colour for my skin tone...? These are the main reasons for wearing it with teh belt - I think the belt helps break things up a bit?

What fabric has anyone else made this up in? I'm thinking of making up another variation in

In other news I handed in the first chapter of my thesis for review on Thursday. Deadlines are becoming a little scary!

Have a lovely week guys

JCS xx