A Touch of Glamour

Just need to have a little, (excited) shout about a special clutch bag gifted to me today by a rather talented and lovely friend, Vicky of 'Victory Stitches'. You may recall previous mention of said bag in a post on my sycamore seed dress. Hand crafted by Vicky using some of her splendid boiled wool and the remnants of my sycamore fabric, as of today dress and clutch bag are united in a pairing of perfection and glamour! The boiled wool feels fabulously cosy to hold and the size is perfect for a larger than average mobile (Galaxy Note), specs, money, essential sweeties and any required essentials !

I have to apologise to my dress in advance as this bag will also be seeing several outings without its dress partnership ; its inaugural outing being tonight, when it will be 'glamming up' jeans and glittery top for an evening in the Canterbury Festival's Spiegeltent.
Thank you, Vicky !

Autumn Ruminations.

A very wet weekend prompted several musings on what suitable attire I have for the change in temperature - and when I will get round to consigning a wardrobe of Summer skirts and dresses in to storage!

With a tempting selection of wools and wool jerseys appearing in my favourite sewing haunts, it is time to settle on a new project and it brought to mind a fabulous skirt that I made last year. Said skirt was a rather lovely Marcy Tilton pattern (V8499) and fashioned in honour of a special friend's wedding, just a few days after Christmas. It is the kind of pattern you come across and think 'why haven't I seen this before?!' I promptly set about the joyful task of choosing a wedding worthy fabric - ultimately a silvery grey taffeta.

It was fabulous fun to wear on the day, but alas has not been worn since! I think in part due to the rather 'occasion wear' nature of the fabric. Even making it at the time, I had it in mind that it would be a fabulous skirt in a winter wool and it has come to the fore again now that we have reached October ! I have since seen it made in tweed, as well as summer cotton and with inspired, contrast pockets. It shines just as brightly in all of the above and is a wonderfully versatile design.

Not only do I love the unique style of this skirt, but it was a pleasure to make and went together much quicker than anticipated. The bellows pockets give it an extra designer touch - and a nifty place for lipstick and tissues at a wedding !

I realise this post is a bit of an homage to Marcy Tilton's skirt designing prowess...however, just one of many musings that had to be shared, as I flick through my stash of Winter patterns and fabrics! Oh and finally, but not least (and with permission of Mrs L), a photo of the day itself ;o)

Finished and Ready for Wear!

It is now October and the leaves on the Sewing Tree are changing, but her work will evolve for Winter, rather than slow down - starting with the completion of a certain mustard yellow dress (in gorgeous sycamore seed fabric!) Yep, that one! Took a little longer than planned to complete the sleeves, put in the zip etc, (been working and playing hard !), but it can now be unveiled !

         

                   

Having prepared myself for some winter-styled accessories for its first outing, (I even extricated a mustard cardie from the winter clothes box!),the gorgeous weather this weekend meant I got to wear it in 'Summer style' for a bit too ! As you can see, it was also fully 'fit for purpose' with a pair of wellies and a quick stroll in the fields. And for smarter occasions...my clever sewing friend, Vicky has offered to make me a bespoke clutch bag using the leftovers from my fabric, (nothing wasted) and with a complimentary navy boiled wool. I can feel it in my hand already ! Quite the special, finishing touch to a dress that has me smiling already. Certainly it has helped me on a path to finding ways of making changes to patterns to get exactly what I want.

On which note, as with the decision to use small pleats instead of gathers in my extra panel in the back of the skirt this time, I also chose folds where the pattern had asked for gathers on the top of the sleeve and on the yoke. This seemed to make the sleeves less 'sticky outy' (official dressmaking terminology) than on the previous purple floral version, and were more controllable. What you create with folds is closer to what you get, whereas the gathers always seem to be a bit of a 'moveable feast' !

And check out those cheeky pleats!

Looking forward to 'bringing the yellow' into some Autumnal days ~ in honour of the gorgeous golds and oranges that are starting to appear on the trees.