Handmade Liberty pin cushion.

Made from Liberty of London 'Wiltshire' fabric.

14 x 1" hexagon cardboard templates.

English paper piecing method.

Hand stitched together.

A little Christmas gift for me.

Sam xox

If you want to learn how to sew with the English paper piecing method, this video demonstrates it well.

Hand embroidered Christmas tree decoration.

After seeing these hand embroidered Christmas tree decorations on Etsy a few weeks ago, I was tempted to try and make my own. I gathered some calico, stuffing, a scrap of Liberty 'Wiltshire' fabric, and embroidery thread to match. I cut the square just over 3" in size and hand embroidered the pattern. I then hand stitched the two squares together, slipped in a little stuffing, and attached some thread to hang the decoration from a branch of my tree.

Why not have a try yourself?

Sam xox

The latest Liberty.

I'm falling in love with...

Emma & Georgina...

~ found here ~

~ found here ~

& Dora...

~ found here ~

~ found here ~

Sam xox

The teacher becomes the student.

Last weekend we had my sister-in-law Sarah and her partner to visit. Sarah and I spent Sunday afternoon sitting in the sun, drinking bubbles, and reading magazines as my chickens 'free-ranged' around our feet. About twenty minutes in Sarah asked me the magic question - "Could you teach me to sew?". A conversation rapidly followed that uncovered her plan to replicate a beautiful quilt she had found in an antique shop (the photos of said quilt were stunning!).

My brain clicked over as I thought of what sewing project she could embark on right there and then. I showed her the bikini I had made myself at the beginning of this year, and she was keen! We set ourselves up in the sewing room, and an evening and a morning later Sarah had her very own bikini. She did a seriously amazing job. There would not be many people who can sit at a sewing machine for the first time and manage to sew an elasticised garment using four way stretch fabric. She was thrilled to bits and I hope she has now been bitten by the sewing bug.

 ~ And sew it begins ~

 ~ Sewing elastic onto four way stretch fabric perfectly - and this was her first time sewing?!? ~

Monday evening I quickly changed from teacher to student as I began my 12 week sewing course at a local community centre. The course promised help with any sewing project I brought along. I decided on taking my scalloped jacket/skirt project as this little beauty has been taunting me for some time. I just have not had the confidence to tackle it yet. 

~ Light pink fabric is for the skirt lining, Liberty fabric is for the jacket lining, dark pink is the main fabric ~

~ The cutting tables were so roomy ~

During the class I was able to sew up a muslin of the skirt and have it checked by the teacher. The fit was perfect so I cut out my fabric. I was taught how to sew tailors tacks to mark the dart placement instead of using chalk. I have the skirt now all cut out and my homework this week is to sew it up to the point where the zipper is inserted, as I will do this in class next week.

Sam xox

Scalloped jacket and skirt progress.

I realised the other day that I haven't given much of an update on the progress of this pattern being sewn together...

I was planning on having this outfit sewn up ready to wear during my trip to Melbourne this weekend. Unfortunately, I procrastinated too long on the lining and it will just not be ready in time.

A month ago I made a muslin of both the jacket and skirt. The skirt fit perfectly, even though the pattern size was smaller than my measurements (does this ever happen to you when using vintage patterns?). The jacket muslin worked well, but I still need to perfect the scalloped edges (does anyone know of any good websites that give tutorials on sewing scallops neatly? Mine are just not sitting right).

This is the gabardine fabric I purchased to make View 1:

It is so luxuriously soft that I am sure it will break my heart a little to cut into it!

I have been waiting patiently for the perfect lining fabric to find me. As you know I love Liberty of London's Tana Lawn, and really preferred this for the lining. But after almost two months spent searching ebay I couldn't find the perfect fabric. That is, until I found this pink Betsy...

I was instantly in love, and just had to bide my time for the right amount to be listed on ebay for a reasonable price. I watched 4 auctions end before I finally won this fabric. My heart was set on it but I just wasn't prepared to pay too much for it, because it was lining after all.

Pink Betsy arrived in the post yesterday and it is perfect. I am hoping that there will be enough left over after lining the jacket to make a simple top to make the suit complete.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Sam xox

Liberty print dress.

Thanks to Bella's comment today I realised that I never blogged about finishing this dress late last year. This dress was one of the final pieces I sewed near the end of my no-clothes project.

I used the Vogue V8184 pattern:

And some Liberty of London fabric - Ceaser in dark blue:

The dress only took me half a day to make as I have sewn this pattern before.

The Liberty Tana Lawn was great to use for this dress, as the lightness of it is perfect for a summer garment. I love this pattern because it is so quick to make, and has lots of options to mix and match. Thanks Bella for asking me about it!

I've also noticed that I've reacher the 100 followers milestone... stay tuned for a giveaway soon :-)

Sam xox

Pendrell blouse made.

I guess it is fitting that on my final day of my 'no-clothes pledge' I end it by making a blouse. Over the past 6 months I have been trying (hard) to not buy any clothes and instead sew any new clothes I want. The pledge was off to a good start until I got a full time job (yippy!), when I went back to working a 40 hour week. Less time for sewing - but also less time for shopping. So it balanced out.

This is my final piece of clothing for 2010.

The Pendrell Blouse.

Made from Tana Lawn fabric Claire Aude in red by Liberty of London.

An original design by Sewaholic.

The cute pattern. I chose View A for my first blouse.

Sewing machine I have had for 12 years.

I traced the pattern onto Swedish tracing paper.

Cutting out.

Pleated sleeve detail.

Front.

Back.

Blurry side.

More detail.

Very happy with my new blouse!

This blouse only took a couple of hours to make, and fits perfectly. Tasia designed this blouse for pear shaped women, taking into account the size difference between the bust and hips. This blouse is very easy to make as it has no buttons or zippers. I was a little skeptical about how it would fit without these fastenings but it really does slip on and off easily.

You can purchase the pattern for this blouse here. Tasia is holding a Sew-Along for this blouse on her blog beginning January 10, 2011.

Wrap up of the 6 months no-clothes project.

Wishing you all a very safe and happy new year!

Sam xox

Liberty quilt along.

I know I promised a Christmas post, but I just had to share this first! You all remember Helene from my Parcels. blog entry? Well, she is organising a Liberty of London quilt along on her blog 25reasons! You can read about it here.

The basics:

Diamond start quilt

8 x 8 blocks

74" x 74"

Tana Lawn (or similar) fabrics

Hand or machine piecing

Here are some of the blocks Helene has made so far...

I absolutely love the contrast of light and dark fabric that Helene is using. If you want to buy a bulk order of a variety of Liberty fabrics, you can always browse Shaukat, as I think their prices are very competitive when it comes to Liberty prints, and their service is first class.

Have fun and let me know how you all go! Thanks Helene for organising such a fun quilt-along.

Sam xox

Parcels.

I have had fun unwrapping parcels this week!

On Monday Helene from 25reasons contacted me on the blog asking about the Dante fabric I had used to make these shorts a few weeks ago. Dante was made by Liberty of London back in 2006, and it is pretty hard to find these days. Helene has been searching the internet for this fabric in this exact colourway, and asked me if I had any scraps left over that she could have to finish a second matching Dante star for the beautiful Liberty star quilt she is making. Luckily I had the perfect amount left, and we organised a fabric swap.

Look at the Tana Lawn beauties Helene sent to me...

Thank you so much Helene, I was happy to help a fellow quilter out, and over the moon to receive your very generous package! I can't wait to see your progress on the star quilt and what it will look like when it is finished. Thanks again!

* * * * * * *

Monday brought with it cards and parcels, as it was my birthday! I am now officially in my 'late-twenties' and have to admit I am still trying to get used to it. It is all a bit of an anti-climax and has left me asking "what now" but I am happy to wait for the answer.

"For your birthday... I grew you a cat"

- seriously, that's what it said!

Beautiful cards with words inside from beautiful people. I am so lucky.

Amongst the lovely parcels received, this little gem stands out. With its witty advice, it now has pride of place in my sewing room.

I think someone knows me too well. Your a gem Mel! I think this resonates with all crafters, no?

Sam xox

Craft day.

Craft day is a new concept for Mill and I. For years we have had Craft Nights; a weekly routine during which we would do craft, share a meal, and debrief about what had happened during the week. As our lives changed, our weekly routines began to become tricky to craft around, and we were finding that weeks were going past with no craft nights happening.

Mill and I are similar souls, in that we enjoy the stress relief doing craft gives us as well as having an end product. We call craft our 'therapy'. I am sure most people who do some form of craft would agree with us!

On Saturday Mill and I got together for our second craft day. An eight hour session of crafty goodness.

Mill's craft this month was to make an apron based on one that she gave me last year for my birthday. Mill had been looking at similar aprons at some Sydney markets but the store holders were charging $50 for them. Mill was convinced she could make the same thing for much less money, and she was right!

Below is the apron Mill gave me, a simple apron involving two different fabrics, a pocket, some gathering and a waistband.

Mill purchased some cute strawberry print fabric and a complimentary red and white spotted print. The grand total for Mills apron was less than $12! After a few hours spent at the sewing machine, this is what she made...

How clever is she?!? I will type up some instructions for how to make this apron sometime this week. I am so inspired by this creation, I can't help but want to make one for myself!

I worked on making a dress out of the Liberty fabric that arrived last week. I was well on my way to finishing it on Saturday, but after sewing in the zipper I realised that I had chosen a colour of zipper that was not quite right. After a bit of hesitation and consultation with Mill and Michelle, I decided to unpick the zipper and end my sewing for the day.

Today I went and purchased a nicer coloured zipper and spent an hour this evening working on the dress. It is not completely finished, and it is now dark so any pictures I tried to take of it looked terrible, but it wouldn't be fair if I left you with nothing, so here is a (terrible quality) sneak peak.

Mill and I are now committed to having Craft Day every month. It is so much better sewing in the daytime; sunlight is so much better to work in and we are not as tired as we are during the week. Plus we get in a good eight hours of craft in one session, which means we get more done as it cuts down the set up/pack up time.

Sam xox

BurdaStyle does Liberty.

Burda Style recently asked ten of its members to make a piece of clothing using one print of the new Liberty range by fabric designer Kaffe Fassette. Anyone who has quilted with a piece of Kaffe's fabric will know how unique his style is. I can't wait to get my hands on some of these prints, perfect for the coming summer! You can learn more about this challenge and check out the finished pieces by clicking here.

Picture from Burda Style.

Here are my favourites:

- Westminster Burda Dress by ajtak7171

- A-line Tunic Dress by PeterLappin

- Short Westminster Tunic by NattyJane

And finally, in the same bright fabric:

- Always Sunny in Seattle Dress by MissLivia

- Yellow Meadow Cap Sleeve Dress by wzrdreams

Inspiring aren't they?

Sam xox

Liberty arrival.

The fabric I ordered from Shaukat arrived this week. It is the first time I have every purchased 8 meters of fabric in one hit, and I have to admit that it did feel particularly decadent to have it shipped to me from the United Kingdom! They are all Tana Lawn fabrics and feel and look so beautiful.

I was thrilled to open the parcel and unwrap my bundles of joy, however something wasn't quite right. I had been most excited about purchasing the navy Mauverina fabric. I had fallen in love with it months ago and knew that I had to - needed to - buy some. However, I could not understand why, looking at it in my hands, I was not excited by it at all...

Take a close look. You might notice that the Mauverina isn't the colourway I had originally ordered. The Mauverina fabric of my dreams was a navy print with popping yellow flowers, and in my hands I held a dark and dull purple mess (a tad dramatic I know). Disappointed and not expecting much help, I emailed the address listed on the website and was surprised to get an almost instant response! Leila was very apologetic and more than helpful, giving me many options that were all very reasonable. I decided to exchange the purple fabric for the navy (as I did not want to keep the 'dull mess').

I am thrilled with how easy this error was to resolve with Shaukat. I am now a very happy customer and would highly recommend Shaukat not only for their immaculate fabrics and swift delivery, but for their superior customer service too!

I cannot wait for craft day this Saturday! What do I make first?!?

Sam xox