A trip to a fabric hotspot

I started this week with an exciting trip to the west part of London, where along a short stretch of Goldhawk Road you can find at least ten fabric shops, all crammed with all sorts of fabrics. I have been wanting to visit this fabric hotspot for so long, but with two small children I couldn't really get myself travelling to there.
I am so glad I finally found the time to go there. After meeting an old friend for a nice chat over a cup of coffee there, I went to explore the fabric shops. I spent around four hours there digging into loads of interesting fabrics. I just wished I bought the fabrics I liked in the first two shops I visited, but because I didn't know what I would come across in the other shops, I decided to have a look around first and then to buy. In the end I couldn't go back to them, as I didn't have time.
Of course, I didn't come back home with an empty bag. Here is what I bought.
Some lovely pure cotton fabrics, which I intend to use to make some duvet covers and pillowcase for my two little monkeys. They were reasonably priced at £5.50/metre.



pale pink tulle




Flower printed cotton fabric and pale magnolia cotton fabric



Beautiful white trimming




Two polycotton fabrics priced at £2/metre, with good drape

I tried to capture the fabric's real colours, but the two polycotton ones were quite tricky. The same fabrics looked differently on the different photos.
Lately I have been drawn to mustard colour fabrics. It's strange, because it has never been one of my favourite colours before. Apparently with time one's preferences change.
What colours are you drawn to?

"Happy chicken" project

This week I worked on a dress pattern ( I will share more on this in my next post ), sew a little Easter gift and even made a cake (which ended up looking like a big mess, but fortunately it tasted better than it looked).

Now I am at the stage where pattern is ready and the fabric has been chosen (deep blue cotton fabric). I hope that the dress would fit my niece as I skipped the step of making a proper toile this time. I intended to finish the dress first and then to move to another project, but just before starting cutting into the fabric I realized that I haven't washed it in order to avoid shrinkage afterwards. While I was waiting for the fabric to dry, I embarked on a little Easter project.



Playing with the effects on the camera

I was inspired by this decoration which I saw on sew-whats-new.com. I had fabrics quite similar to the ones on the photo, but decided to experiment with other colours.
I've been intending to sew something for a friend of mine as a way to say "thank you" , so when I saw the chicken I thought that would make a good handmade gift.
While I was gathering my thoughts to write this post my little son came around and this conversation followed :
My son : "Mummy, what are you doing?"
Me : "I am writing something"
My son :  "What are you writing?"
Me : "Something"
My son : "But what"?
Me: "I am writing about this chicken"
My son (laughing): "Why are you writing about this chicken?"
Me: "Well,....."
My son: "What are you writing about the chicken? Why are you writing about this chicken?"
Me: "Because....... it is a happy chicken, and funny one."
He laughed more. And now he calls it a "happy chicken".



"Crazy chevron" top

I can finally share with you my completed project "Crazy chevron" top, which would be a present for my niece.
The pattern itself is simple but classic. I think it is the choice of fabrics that makes it different. I love to combine contrasting colours. Unfortunately the photos don't show the exact colours. The dotted fabric is actually pink colour but in the photo it looks coral.

The chevron fabric is from ADORNit and the dotted fabric is from Sevenberry.
As a whole it was an easy project and quite enjoyable as well. The only frustrating thing was that once I started to sew the pieces together, the collar happened to be too short and couldn't go all the way round the neckline. I wasn't expecting this because the pattern pieces were the same like those of the toile. And when I was making the toile the collar fitted perfectly. Anyway, I decided to leave it this way. I don't think it is that bad. I just hope that my niece will like the top as well.

This is little gorgeous Zara, who helped me with the fitting and agreed to model the top, so we could all see how the top looked when worn. Many thanks to her!
I am looking forward to making more tops like this one, but in different colours. I have to start getting ready for summer.
Before I finish a project I already find myself planning the next one. It might sound silly to you, but that process of planning makes me feel happy and excited. Now I am toying with the idea to sew something else for my niece, maybe a dress...

Before finishing the post, I will show you what me and my little boy made yesterday during a visit to the local Ikea store. We went there to buy a fleece blanket which I intended to turn into a cushion cover for my son's bed. He told me he wanted a cushion with a ship on it.
Anyway, in Ikea we were delighted to discover a table set up for painting on ceramics. We had to choose what to paint - a mug or a plate. It was free, but if someone liked he could donate to a childrens' charity. And even adults could enjoy some painting. So we both sat down and that was the result.

 I let my son draw whatever he wanted. I wanted him to do something comletely by himself. Now his drawing (which according to him features a carrot, an egg and a mushroom ???) makes me smile every time I look at the plate, but I think he is proud of it.

An update on my latest project

I wish I could show you a completed garment, but unfortunately I am still somewhere in the middle of the project (a top with Peter pan collar for my niece).
Sewing-wise, I have done very little this week. It was half term which was meaning full and noisy home all the time, more playdough to remove from the carpet, more glue and spilled paint to wipe. There were a few friend visits, a playgroup, a birthday party and even a visit to a museum. So after all this, I was left with very little energy for something else. And when I feel tired I find that I get easily distracted by almost everything around me.
As always the most challenging and time-absorbing part was drafting the pattern. I used the new book ( 'Metric Pattern cutting for children's wear and babywear' ) to guide me through making the basic bodice, but I must say I wasn't quite happy with the result as armholes were too deep, so I had to redraw them.

Then I made a toile (a test garment). I used plain white fabric for the bodice and another fabric scrap for the collar, which was aimed to outline it so I could properly see the collar shape. This is how the toile looked.

The good thing is that a friend of mine, living nearby, has a pretty girl, who is nearly seven. I popped to her house to see how the toile fitted her. Now I am ready to start the actual sewing.

By the way I actually quite like the fabric combination of the toile. What do you think? I might make one for Eva (and maybe even one for me) when I get a chance.

Getting ready for a new project

A few days without sewing passed and I feel ready for my next challenge. For some time I have been wanting to sew something as a gift for my sweet 7 year-old niece. And indeed this would be a challenge as she lives far away, so I have to sew the garment without her being able to try it on before completing it.
I plan a sleeveless top with a simple design as I don't want to risk to do something more complicated which might not fit in the end.

It may feature a Peter Pan collar, which I have never sewn before, so here is an opportunity to try my hand at it.
I've got lots of single-coloured dressmaking fabrics, but I have my eye on these contrasting fabrics.

Do you think the design and the fabrics are a good match? I must confess I'm not absolutely sure, but quite curious to see the outcome.

I thought you might like to see the latest addition to my growing collection of sewing books. The book arrived yesterday and I am so excited. It came just on time for this project, as the book demonstrates how to draw basic blocks for childrens garments.
I will keep you updated on the project. Thanks for reading!

The first dress I sew...years ago

Has it happened to you to dig in a pile of old clothes and come across some garments that you have totally forgotten you possessed.
That's what happened to me yesterday. I came across that long forgotten dress of mine.

 

It was the first dress I sew. I can't remember how long ago it was, but I estimated it was 9-10 years ago. That's when I bought my first sewing machine and was so happy. I sew a few dresses and then made quite a long pause of few years. During this time I kept buying Burda magazines, but didn't actually get down to sewing. I was just taking the pleasure of looking at the designs and dreaming about sewing some of them.
I still question myself what made me so busy then that I couldn't find time for sewing. And I still can't answer it.

 

I made that dress using Burda pattern. The fabric and the trimming were purchased from a fabric shop in Cricklewood. That was the only fabric shop I knew. At that time I still hadn't heard of Goldhawk road as a destination for buying fabrics.
I remember that at the time of the purchase I wasn't sure how much fabric was needed for a dress, so to be on the safe side I bought three metres. So I must still have some of this fabric left somewhere.
I also remember that when I finished the dress, I was quite happy with the result given that this was my first dress. Ironically I have worn the dress only 2-3 times. I think I find more pleasure and excitement in the process of creating a garment than in wearing it.

 

When I came across the dress, my first thought was "Here is what I am going to wear this summer", but unfortunately after trying it, it turned out it was so tight that I couldn't imagine spending even half a day in it. For my big regret, it will have to continue sitting nicely folded in the pile of old summer clothes.

"Flower garden" tunic

My little girl's handmade wardrobe has slowly started to grow. The new addition is the "Flower garden" tunic, which I wrote about in my previous post. If you have read it you probably have wondered which fabric I had chosen for the project - the one with flowers or the one with owls. I love both of them, but eventually decided on the flowers. I will use the owls fabric for something else, maybe a summer outfit.

 

I was slightly hesitant whether to make a blouse or a tunic and whether with short sleeves or long ones. I thought that tunic would be the more versatile option and as summer was still far away I thought it would be more practical to make it with long sleeves.
I feel slightly disappointed that once ready and worn the blouse turned out a bit larger. At least my daughter will have room to grow.

 

 As a whole making the tunic was quite enjoyable experience. Most of the steps were the same like those of "Winter fairytale" blouse, which saved time me when constructing it. I was so eager to start sewing the tunic, that I forgot to interface the neck pieces, which would have given a better shape to the neckline. I realized that too late and as I didn't fancy undoing all the work and starting all over, I left it like this.

And this time I couldn't resist the desire to make a matching hair accessory. My husband once joked that when wearing such an accessory our little girl looked like delicious cake topped with something. Now every time when I see her wearing something on the head it makes me think about this and laugh.
If you like to try to make such a fabric flower yourself, here is quick photo tutorial. It's so easy that you would be tempted to do more of them.

Thank you for reading!