Thats how I feel.... I am sorry to my little group of followers.  I haven't blogged since ooh March. Bad isn't it. Sorry.

Its the Aries in me I think, I flit from idea to idea and then don't follow them up.

I want to carry on blogging though as I really want to show you all the things I've made and things I do and to join in with the amazing sewing community on the blogosphere, because although I don't blog regularly I most certainly do read others blogs regularly.

So, sewing.  Ive made a few bits recently mostly dresses.. No, ALL dresses.  I made this dress from my birthday back in April and was quite happy with how it turned out considering I was still using my old clunky machine (I got a new one for my birthday).

I entered the Sew Dolly Clackett competition with this dress, my 'afternoon tea' dress, an emery of course named  after the fact that. I was going to wear it for afternoon tea.

Another emery I sewed up, not my beat work but hey I'm still learning.

This is my  most recent  makeand definitely   my fav to date. I call it my little house on the prairie dress as it conjours up images ofme skipping   carefree down a grassy hill!
This was a pattern hack between a new look design your look top half and ...... Dum dum dum........the emery! The lace and the pockets were a last minute thing and I love them.

So theres my sewing round up, sorry it vague, I will try and be a better blogger! 

Also I made my first ever loaf of bread yesterday despite having had my bread maker for a year!

That is my crazy husband btw!

Anyway sorry about the photo overload and thanks for reading. See you soon I PROMISE!

Lou x

I love London, I love all of the different places, the underground amazes me, I love it all.  So I was excited to be staying in Shoreditch for a night and attending a course in London this week.  I got to have an afternoon exploring and I decided that as I was staying right near it, I'd check out 'trendy' Brick Lane.. I was hoping to pick up some unique fabric and possibly a few vintage bargains (see, I like to think of myself as a little bit cool, I like sewing my own clothes and I love the pinup/50s look) as well as people watch all the trendy uber cool shoreditch peeps.  I couldn't wait!
Now I know everyones different and I strongly believe that life would be boring if we were all the same, but Shoreditch, Brick Lane, I just didn't get IT. I found the vintage shops to be overpriced and too stuffed to be able to browse properly, most of the shops were scruffy and underwhelming and the worst bit, the only fabric shop I found had a scary owner an unfriendly assistant and all of the fabric I have seen en masse and cheaper online :(
I'm not slagging it off, I just don't think I'm cool enough, or maybe I just didn't look properly. No I'm not cool enough. I jumped on the tube to Oxford Street Primark and LOVED IT :).

Anyway upon my return from London I finished my Sew Dolly Clackett dress (well my first one as I'm hoping to make more).  I had a strange relationship with this make.  I loved it to start with as i love the fabric and its almost identical to the fabric Roisin used for her Rocksalt dress plus I already had it in my stash so it was to be a thrifty make. I used a pattern from a book I had and was excited to see how it would turn out. All was well until I'd joined the bodice and all was left to do was hem.  I looked at the dress draped over my mannequin Betty and suddenly thought 'its not me', it looked too high in the neck for me and it just didnt look exciting enough so I left it on Betty for over a week deciding whether to scrap it and start again or deconstuct it and redo the neckline...
I decided to order the emery dress pattern and choose some new fabric, then realised that the pattern was from america and would be taking ages to get to me and i basically couldnt afford any new fabric YET.  So I sloped back to my nautical dress.  I tried it on once more and suddenly BAM thought it actually looked good this time so I hemmed it and elasticated the sleeves and voila......

Oh yeh and I added a red net trim, put my fav belt round it and fell in love!
So thats the first, I'm going to wait for my pattern and choose a new fabric for the next sew dolly clackett entry as Ive got plenty of time.

Anyway just tealised that this post is quite boring haha hope you're still awake!
Louise xxx

Hello small gathering of followers!

As I said in my first post I'm teaching myself to sew and I love dresses, I also follow (stalk) Dolly Clackett (aka Roisin Muldoon, awesome dress maker and all round cool person) on Instagram and more recently her blog http://dollyclackett.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html sew it only seams fitting (groan) that I take part in Sew Dolly clackett, a challenge created by her fiance and her friend of http://rhinestonesandtelephones.blogspot.ca as a sweet surprise for her.  The idea basically being that you make a dress inspired by Dolly. Awesome :)

So what dress to make and what fabric? for many this is going to be mindblowing deciding the pattern and fabric as Dollys fabric choices are many and each one more gorgeous than the last.  She also has several 'go to' patterns including the Emery Dress ( if you don't know what I'm talking about, what planet are you on?).

For little ole me ( get your violins out), I don't have to choose from much because well basically I'm skint, its cool don't feel sorry for me! I can't afford any new fabric or patterns right now but this does not mean I won't be taking part ooohhh nooooo. 


I happen to have these two beauties in my stash, the gingham is just like the 'oh Jane,' dress and the nautical fabric is almost identical the fabric used for 'Rocksalt' HA! BACK IN THE GAME!


The pattern, hmm.... I got this fab book from my lovely little brother and his adorable girfriend for Christmas and I've made a few variations of the dresses from it and I think one will be perfect with a few minor adjustments.

That one!

So thats what I'm going to do. I'm going to use the nautical fabric because I've eyed up the gingham for a summer dress.

I made a start but had to deal with this cuteness (pain in the arse)...

So that where I'm at! Are any of you guys taking part? Would love to hear any comments or tips
Happy Friday, Bye!
xxx

Inventive title hey!? so heres my first blog....

I'm at a busy time in my life so I thought why not make it even more hectic by starting a blog!  I'm a mum of 3 (girl aged 11, 2 boys aged 7 and 1), I'm a wife, a very loved up happy wife, weve been married for 3 years, ours was a whirlwind romance (maybe another blog on that one day) and we couldnt be happier , I am a Board Member for an RSL (thats Registered Social Landlord) which I  love doing and am training in the Management of Anti Social Behaviour.
I love love love to cook for my family although most veg based dishes get sniffed at in my house (must hide those veg somehow), I'm teaching myself to sew, slowly and badly. I love it but as a typical Aries I rush and want the finished garment NOW! saying that , I have made a couple of wearble pieces, sorry, dresses. I love dresses.
I'm on a weightloss journey (MISSION), have lost 33lb since August 2013. Ive acheived this by learning to 'love' excersise and counting calories. My loss seems to of slowed but I think I'm gaining muscle. I'm always on the lookout for new recipes and excersise ideas.

Oh and  i adore the pinup & rockabilly style and try to channel that when I can (be bothered).

Anyway, I won't bore you any longer with info about me as I'm hoping you'll find out lots in the future, but heres a quick bullet pointed summary of me and my likes!

•  Mum & Wife
• Happy
• Involved in Social Housing
• Cooking
• Sewing
• Vintage, Pinup & Rockabilly style
• Aries
• Shopping
• Reading

Expect posts on all of the above :)

hope you enjoy and hope to meet some like minded people!
Thank you for reading
Louise xxx