Winter Swap – Partners Announced!

Alrighty let’s get the inaugural Winter Swap 2013 underway!! So without further ado here are your partners:

Modern Vintage Cupcakes – with – Every Stitch
Sew Love Tea Do – with – Zoe
Juanita Tortilla – with – Jellyfish Crafts
Sewing for Me – with – Curls n Skirls
Beth Butcher Designs – with – Thimble & Threads
Disaster in a Dress – with – My Craft House
Tropical Threads – with – My Hand-Made Home Life
Marguerite Designs – with – Mrs Hughes
Sewist Stitch – with – Adventures of a Girl from the Naki
Dresses & Me – with – Crazy Gypsy Chronicals – with – Flossie FT 

(Sorry team – I really wanted to join in but we had an uneven number of swappers so I had to put myself in a group of three – we’re all intellegent ladies so I’m sure we can work it out between us!)

So what now? Get your stalk on! Find out what your partner is into and start thinking about what you might like to send them. Are they into vintage patterns or do they prefer modern indie designs? Do they like to wear brightly coloured fabrics or are they more of a ‘black wardrobe’ sort of gal? What have they sewn previously and what great treasures does your stash have to offer for new garments?

This is the perfect opportunity to pass on those great notions, fabrics, patterns, fasteners, trims and embellishments that you LOVED at the time of purchase and have been sitting their waiting to be used. So go on – pass them on and give them a nice, warm home where they’ll be loved!

Reminder: Parcels must be sent by Sunday 4th August – that’s three weekends to get organised – heaps of time, right?! I’d love to see what you send so let me know when you post about your parcel!

So swappers – what are you sending? Any clues?

Vintage Pattern Prize Winners

Drumroll please… the winners of a lovely vintage pattern each are …

Bluegingerdoll and Ambybambi (will the real Ambybambi please stand up?)

Please email me with your details to penny[at]dressesandme.com and I will send out your patterns ASAP

PS – Have you guys checked out Bluegingerdoll’s blog?? YOU MUST! I was having a look so that I could link to this post and I came across the gorgeous bombshell dress she designed – the Billie Jean – I was totally blown away! It is a dynamite dress with a fitted bodice and sheath or full skirt.

WOW RIGHT?!

Retro Pattern Giveaway

I’M HAVING A GIVEAWAY!

I will be giving away these three lovely vintage patterns:

Pretty right? All you have to do to be in the draw is like my facebook page and tell me which country your in! Easy!

I’ll be accepting entries from all over the world and entries close on Friday 14th September (NZ time) so get “liking” 🙂

Vintage Pattern on Sunday

SIMPLICITY 7513

The blouse with bateau neckline has extended shoulder lines, slits in side seams and back loop and button closing. – A very simple pattern this week but one that I think has lots of potential.

A Blue Dress

My sister’s birthday is coming up. The 26 June to be exact. I, perhaps foolishly, offered to make her something as a birthday gift. After looking through my small collection of patterns we settled on this one – Simplicity 6227 c.1965. I’m going to make view 2 (the silver one, bottom row).

We chose an electric blue linen. In fact, it is almost, but not quite, purple.

This is the most accurate depiction of the colour.

I’ve pre-washed the fabric and taken my sister’s measurements. Now I just need to get cutting and sewing. Wish me luck.

Vintage Pattern on Sunday

Vintage Pattern on Sunday

Butterick 6944

Sewing Class: Week Three

Monday was my thrid week my sewing class where I’m making this dress. During the week I had already finished putting the darts in, joining the facings together at the sides and over-casting the lower edge of the facings by hand. (Here’s how to do it)

My (not very neat) version of an overcast stitch:

Attaching the facings using my Grasshopper

So when I got to class I carried on making the sleeves:

I sewed 5/8″ edge down

Trimed the excess:

 Matched the front and back shoulder seams and machine sewed them together following the folded down edge as a guide. The facings sat nicely together so I then I hand sewed the facings together. 

 

Here is the finished sleeve – voila!

How’s your sewing project going?

Sewing Class Tonight

Yay I have my sewing class tonight! I really look forward sewing class. I like that I have to set aside the time to going along because otherwise I might not get the chance to do it at all.

This is my sewing machine:

What are you looking forward to today?

Sewing Class: Week Two

On Monday I went to my second week of Sew, Sew, Sew! I got there early and got cracking with sewing my velvet to the lining as I had finished cutting, pinned at home on Sunday evening (aren’t I good!) Remember this pattern…?

The instructions wanted me to baste the lining straight onto the velvet shell. My tutor was a bit dubious about this approach but thought it best to go along with what the instructions said. I took a guess and thought that a half inch seam allowance would suffice.

I then stitched the shape of the side darts, front darts and back darts right through the velvet and the lining as the instructions asked me to. This seemed somewhat unusual aswell (tutor also agreed) but who am I to argue with the pattern?

The tutor and I also thought that having four parallel darts in the front as well as four more in the back could look be a bit bulky with the velvet. Soooo I have only put in the larger of the darts (closer to the middle) on the front and the back and will see how that looks. I put the side darts in like normal.

 

Also here are some more pics of the lovely bouquet my sister bought me for graduation… just cos I felt like it…