Vintage inspired dress

In my last post I shared with you all that I was going to do the easy and simple needle case project from Sew Hip magazine. I also said I would attempt to start the cover dress. Well, I did the needle case and did start the dress. I have to say I was a bit nervous with the dress as the pattern was not for beginners but for an intermediate level. I started it anyway, with some cheap polycotton fabric I had at home and guess what? I actually finished it Monday night. I have to say I'm chuffed with myself. Even though the seams might be a bit wonky, the seams less than perfect and the fact I ignored the lining, I actually managed to do something wearable...and I learned a lot in the process.

I do like SewHip magazine. It has the patterns, it has clear and easy instructions and cool, modern and young designs. I also bought Sewing World magazine which, so far, has not inspired me that much. There's one style I want to attempt doing but have to resize pattern as it is a size 16, which is a bit annoying. Today I bought Sew magazine which, at first glance looks ok but it's way too expensive. Unless they have a pattern I really like, I doubt I'll buy it regularly.

I'll leave you with some links and a self portrait I did with the dress I did :)

SewHip
Sewing World
Sew

Suppliers

There are so, so many suppliers of fabric and haberdashery out there that for a complete beginner like me, trying to find a reliable, good quality supplier becomes a nightmare. The first thing I did was google and came up with a few online shops, such as cheapfabrics.co.uk, online-fabrics.co.uk, e-fabrics.co.uk. I had a look at all these and decided to try online-fabrics. I purchased 10 samples and paid in total just over £7. I placed the order on the 3rd June and received them today. Have to say, not impressed. It looks like they did pay enough postage so the samples went back. I know they use courier for other orders but unfortunately my confidence is gone.

In the meantime, I posted a facebook wall post on my photography fan page asking for people's opinions and someone recommended Abakhan.co.uk. I had to buy some bits and bobs and decided to place an order. Arrived the following day via DHL. Not bad at all! However, I am weary of all couriers as I live in a block of flats and work 9-5 all week. Some couriers fail to leave a card and when I track it down I find out the depot is 30 miles away, etc, etc. I could have it delivered to work but shouldn't do it often. I guess my priority will be sites who ship with Royal Mail. Never had problems with them!

Anyway, enough of suppliers! As I use them and find them I will review them there. I have a project for this weekend taken out of Sew Hip magazine. A small simple needle case. I also bought (on ebay) some cheap, low quality stripy fabric to practice straight stitching. I also want to start a more challenging project, in this case a dress, also out of Sew Hip magazine. Will let you know if I start it this weekend!

Happy Weekend all!!

In the beginning

I have a new sewing machine and I'm a happy girl! Actually, I had it for 2 weeks now, but only now decided to start this blog. I'm hoping to keep a track on my sewing journey, from stitching a straight line to successfully do whatever designs are in my head. I decided to start it as a record for myself, but if any of you finds pleasure in reading it, you are more than welcome.

It really started with me trying to find on the world wide web, outfits to use in my photography. Sometimes I find something close but most of the times it is a frustrating search. So, I thought to myself: If I get a sewing machine and learn how to sew, I can make wearable (and probably non-wearable) crazy outfits for my shoots.

My pretty boyfriend dropped on me he was going to give me the sewing machine on my birthday, yayyyy!!! My birthday is actually this Sunday but I did get the machine early :) I am sooo excited with it that I'm actually going to learn properly. Within two weeks I did 2 basic aprons. The first one was very dodgy and it was really difficult for me to press the edges. The second one turned out better but it is now in John, our house bear.

As the section to the left says, this blog is for all things sewing/ crafting. Let's see where it takes me.

Stay tuned!