Dressmaking

 So here we are again, another May of Me Mades’s. Head on over to Zoe’s blog to find out more. Honestly this year I’ve started out without a pledge or plan, just chucking on my me mades as usual, but today I think I have decided on my focus for this #mmmay17 Yes that is a giant pile of clean laundry on my sofa! #mmm17 day 3 and I have been feeling guilty for not giving myself an actual challenge this year. I wear me mades most days, but I have gained a lot of weight recently….gotta love the peri menopause and a knackered thyroid 🙄 Trying hard to focus on body positivity instead of diets which make me sad….anyway this all means that lots of my clothes just don’t fit well anymore, so this month I am weeding those out and starting afresh! Today I am wearing a #maudeskirt Which co incidentally I am talking about on my You Tube Channel; this week it is part 2, just search Lazy Seamstress on You Tube to find me 😊 ...

I’ve been a little bit (unintentionally) quite on here recently. I do hate when blog posts start with an apology, but I’m going to apologise anyway, to myself if no one else! Life around here has been very busy with work, so I can’t complain about that, at least I love my work! I have still managed to fit in a few sewing projects for myself though, and if you follow me on Instagram you will have seen those, already. There have been a couple of circle skirts : ...

I have a slight obsession with underpinnings! Just take a look at my lingerie board on Pinterest! As a dressmaker, I know only too well that no matter how beautifully I sew a garment, if I wear it over unsupportive, unflattering, poorly fitting underwear it’s just not going to show that garment off at it’s best. Vintage or reproduction vintage garments especially need appropriate underpinnings! This is something I never tire of reminding my clients when I am teaching. ...

Yeah, I know it’s already 12th January! My children didn’t finish school and college until 23rd December, which means they only went back to school and college on Monday…is it really only four days ago? Why am I so tired? Poor Eden had to go back to college on her birthday! She was less than impressed to say the least. I now have two adult children, since Eden turned 18 on Monday! It’s a strange feeling. Christmas was quiet (well as quiet as it gets around here!), and I did a lot of cosying up on the sofa, a bit of crocheting, but not a lot of anything else, which felt good. In fact so good I’m finding it rather hard to get back into the normal routine. Grey January skies certainly don’t help. ...

I’m still working on perfecting the fit of my new bodice block. I’ve been working on this dress on and off for a few weeks now, finally finishing it last week only to put it on and realise despite all my tinkering it still doesn’t quite fit right! I re drafted the front into a princess seam, which I think works well on a larger bust, but kept the back bodice darted, which hasn’t worked well at all! My upper back is rounded and wider than might be expected, while my rib cage is actually very narrow, so fitting my back is often more of a challenge than fitting my bust….the problem with learning about fit is the more you know, the more you find there is to learn….actually that’s how it is with sewing anyway, and why I love it so much! ...

I’ve had my dress form for several years now, she was rather broken, picked up from Freecycle. Back then I taped her back together and replaced her stand with that of an old standard lamp, also picked up on Freecycle. My first attempt at making her my size was moderately successful, but after a while I pulled her back to her naked self, covered her with a tube of cream ribbing and just used her as a stand. Like so many of us, I’ve seen various ways to DIY dress forms, on Pinterest and other blogs. I had been planning to make a calico toile and stuffing her, but yesterday after being up half the night thinking up various designs I’d like to try draping, I thought I’d give the Duck Tape version a try! ...