Dressmaking fabric success

On Sunday I made a very exciting trip to Mandors in Edinburgh to hunt down a dress pattern and some fabric for my first dressmaking project. The shops is lovely and the staff are incredibly helpful. My tutor from class works there during the week so I mentioned I was taking her class and that I needed all the help I could get - and they (being Lucy) were brilliant.  I'm very glad I spent a lot of time researching what patterns I like on the internet, and pinning photos to my Pinterest board. I ended up buying this one:

Burda 7798 - pale blonde hair optional.

I think the style will suit me and it looks like a good beginners project. So the next task was hunting down some fabric - which turned out to be mega easy as I fell in love with this straight away (I've been wanting a navy and white polka dress for ages!) 

Tomorrow night we learn how to pin the pattern to the fabric and cut it all out. I haven't been this excited (and nervous) about a project in donkeys years! 

The added bonus for me on Sunday was having a good look through Mandor's craft fabrics downstairs. I still need to do a small quilt for my brother-in-law and fiance but ended up buying this for Logan instead: 

Logan's going to have the coolest bedding!

I think it's a Robert Kaufman range (need to get better at my fabric knowledge) and I'm hoping to make him a duvet cover as we're wanting him to get out of his baby sleeping bags for winter. 

It's quite sad how excited I am about making all these lovely things!

Cushions and class

I've learned many things these past few weeks from the World of Sewing! I attended my first Dressmaking for Beginners class on Wednesday and discovered how to read patterns and other general 'beginner' basics. I need to hit the fabric shop this weekend to find a pattern for a dress I'm to make on the course and get some material. I'm both terrified and excited at the same time!

The other lesson has been more 'hands on'. As I've mentioned in previous posts, my sister requested some cushion covers which I've nearly now completed. But not without some mishaps!

Rule 1: make sure you have the fabric the right side around before sewing together.

Rule 2: don't make the covers the same size as the measurements given. What you get is saggy cushions!

Rule 3: don't use pale yellow thread on a mint colored cushion.

Rule 4: never sew when you're tired. Ever.






I have one more cover to re-work tomorrow then I'll be concentrating my efforts to my course project. Eek... Making a dress!


- Posted from my iPhone