Roman blind for the landing

The blind for our landing is all done.  It's so nice to have something up in the window again - it really helps finish the room off!  And of course it's lovely to have something in the house that I've made.

I love the pattern - it really brightens up my day to see those big happy flowers!

And after such a success with my first roman blind - it's time to make the second one now...!

Bright stripes cord skirt

I look the opportunity last weekend to finish off my New Look 6030 skirt. All I really had to do was finish the yoke and install the zip - both techniques which I've become a bit more familiar with recently! One thing which I do like is the way the patterns recommend finishing the yoke - by stitching through the existing seam, so that there is no top stitching visible when you are sewing the yoke facing to the front. I then finished the back with a zig zag stitch, just to neaten it up.

This has probably been my best (and most pain free) zip installation yet - I managed to not sew random bits of skirt into the zip, and the little flap to cover the zip looked good too. I'm happy that I'm finally getting the hang of this one...!

As the skirt is quite neat fitting, I've decided that I need to reinforce the all the seams with some top stitching, as I did on the front seam. I probably should have done that right at the start, but the pattern didn't suggest it.

I wore the skirt out that evening, and no-one pointed and laughed - always a positive sign! It's been hard to get decent photos - when I leave the house in the morning it's dark, and when I come home again at night it's dark again - horrible! I'll hopefully persuade the hubby to take some for me at the weekend when I finally emerge to get to glimpse a bit of sunshine - so those are to follow!

Sewing with a striped pattern - and with cord - has been a completely new challenge. When working with stripes, the yoke is something I'll definitely be thinking about in the future, and whether the curve should be relaxed a bit, or whether I want to cut another piece, and 'hide' the seam under my belt carriers.

One other thing which I didn't think about when preparing my fabric is that cord fabric has a nap to it - check out this helpful post to understand what that means, and this one when thinking about sewing with cord. Basically, all the pattern pieces should be cut out in the same direction. This was not something I considered! However, now that it's all together, I notice that the brown stripe on the front of the skirt looks a little darker on one side than on the other.  If you were to turn the skirt upside down - it's the opposite way round. The skirt also feels softer in different directions - on one side it feels softer if you run your hands up, on the other side it feels softer when you rub your hands down. This is because I cut my pattern pieces out in different directions, and so the nap is wrong.

To be honest, this isn't a massive concern for me - the colour thing isn't particularly noticeable, especially as the stripes are so bright, and neither is the feel. But it's something that I will definitely want to get right next time around when I make it for Esther - so I'll be referring to those links again.

Watch this space for photos...

Work in progress: New Look 6030

I realise that I'm putting up a lot of 'work in progress' posts and it looks like I'm not quite getting to the finished product - the good news is that the blind is up, but I need to do a little bit of final tweaking before we get the official post, and the pretty pictures :).  In the meantime, I've been sewing another skirt - as if I haven't made enough of those!

This one was on my to-do list though.  I've promised my sisters I'll make them skirts, and Esther found this pattern, the New Look 6030, that she really liked.  It took ages for her to find, as it's out of print - but it made it to me in Bristol eventually.  I wanted to make a little skirt with the striped cord I got in America, and considering I haven't made too many items from a pattern I thought I'd have a go at my version first - then I would have a bit more confidence when trying to sew it for someone else.  The other issue is that Esther won't be over until the end of the month so my plan is to measure her up when she's over and then make sure I'm making the skirt the right size!

Anyway, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

To be honest, I'm glad I tried my one first - and not just because I like sewing for myself.  As usual, measuring myself led me to pick a size that was...generous!  As a result, I put in very broad side seams and trimmed them down to size, to get the skirt to a more reasonable fit.  I also put an extra inch and a half or so on the bottom of the pattern.  I definitely don't have the legs of the model - neither in length or in width, unfortunately - but the pattern pieces leave you with quite a short skirt, so that extra inch or so is very welcome.

Broad side seams

I've tended to be a bit lazy with my seams - basically, because you can't see them I'm inclined to just cut and leave them, but that does mean that when you wash handmade clothes you can end up with quite a few threads hanging off.  As I don't have an overlocker, I just used the zig-zag stitch on my machine, and it finished off my seams really nicely.  It's worth taking that extra few minutes just to get a good finish on the garment.

The pattern for the skirt has pockets, but because of my (garish) fabric, and the stripes, I decided just to forget about them.  I'll be adding pockets for Esther's version.  The stripe has been a bit problematic when preparing the yoke and belt loops though.  As you can see, the pattern pieces for the yoke are curved.  This has meant that the stripe gradually moves from vertical to diagonal as you go round the waist. It also meant that my belt loops are a bit 'off' looking, which is annoying.  A lesson regarding the choice of fabric, I think!

I have hemmed the skirt, and put in the darts in the back piece, so the only bit left to finish is the inside of the yoke and, of course, the zip.  I can't wait to finish it - I think it will definitely brighten up my winter wardrobe!

Slouchy green beret

My green beret from the Simply Crochet pattern is finished - I actually finished it off last weekend, but it's taken me a while to take a few pictures - they're certainly not the most professional (taken on my phone, I'm afraid), but you get the idea.

I really like the colours in it, and the spiral pattern adds a bit more interest as well. Perfect for my new obsession with green...!

As with every new project, there were plenty of challenges.  As well as the front post double crochet stitch, which took a while to get my head around, I found the beret came out a little wider than expected.  I think I need to start measuring my gauge - I tend to be one of the people who wants instant gratification with my projects and doesn't want to faff about with measuring etc, but once I start making sweaters (I got a book in America, so that's my ultimate plan!), I know they're going to require a lot more accuracy.  This beret isn't too loose to wear though - and I may get some elastic to thread through the brim, just to tighten it up a little.

I'm looking forward to wearing it out and about now that the winter is coming in!

Work in progress: roman blind

As all the work on the house finally nears completion, I'm glad to report there is no more painting to do, so I took the opportunity last night to get started on the roman blind for the landing window.  All the bits for the blind seemed a bit complicated to gather up, so I was really pleased to find these roman blind kits for sale, at a really reasonable price.  I ordered two a week ago, and they arrived the next day by Fedex - brilliant service from Terry's Fabrics!  It meant all I needed to do was buy my fabric, and I was ready for action.

The kit also came with a little instruction leaflet, which gives you step by step instructions on what to sew, and how to put everything together.  I cut out the fabric to the instructions, and then hemmed.  One little issue I did have was that there was only 2cm at either side for hemming - which as it turns out isn't quite enough for me!  My estimate 'by eye' of the length of a centimetre was a little overly generous, but I got there in the end!

I then needed to sew on the roman blind tape - basically, a velcro strip which sticks the blind to the baton at the top.  By this stage the fabric was very thick, as there were quite a few layers, and I was aiming to get as near to the edge as possible.  Apart from a few wobbles, though, I got both edges sewn securely.

A pocket is required at the bottom of the blind, for the heaviest rod to go into, to ensure the blind hangs straight.  The pocket is about 5cm, leaving plenty of space for the rod to slide in.

Finally, I used the pre-cut loop tape provided in the pack, and sewed this evenly along the blind - doing my best to make sure each tape was parallel.  The tapes are used to slide the rods into, so the blind folds up, so it's important to make sure they are parallel.  One error I realised I'd made once the first row of sewing was done is that my tapes are 20cm apart - and as the final piece of blind doesn't have a fold, it will be longer than the other pieces. It's certainly not the biggest issue I could have had though - and I'll know for next time!

I'm hoping to get the blind finished in the next few days, so watch this space for the finished product...!