Turquoise Tartan Dress and another bag

I've been busy these last couple of weeks and managed to get a bit more sewing done, I bought some gorgeous turquoise tartan from the fabric shop  two weeks ago and made up a lined shift dress with zip.  I'm really pleased with how this turned out and the fit, again I didn't use a pattern as I feel they are all pretty much the same and once you have made a few dresses you no longer need to bother with over priced expensive patterns.  I urge anyone who sews and uses patterns to take the plunge and buy some cheap fabric and  deconstruct a dress that fits you well and have a go at making your own.  Once you have done this  a few times and changed the styles and yes made a few mistakes, you will save a fortune on paper patterns.   I had a straight dress that I like but I didn't take it apart, I don't need to do that anymore, I just lay it down and cut around it  allowing plenty for the seems and trying on. I make up the dress and also put in the zip, I try it on and it is only at this point that I mark all the darts using pinning, it is best to try on the dress inside out to do this  and you will get a perfect fit. You can also figure out if you need to take in the side seems at this point and if the neck is where you like it.  When you have made all these adjustments you can cut out your lining and mark them all on here also. I could give you endless instructions and some pattern making books I've had from the library make it look very complicated but the best thing to do is jump in and have a go.  Buy some fabric that is cheap and you have nothing much to lose and you will learn, it's far cheaper to do this regularly than take a course.   Here is my dress below.

Here I have unzipped it so you can see the black lining, I already had the lining so it only cost me for the fabric and zip which came to £6.00 for the fabric and £2.80 for the zip, the dress fits perfect and when you consider people pay  around £6.00 for a pattern alone you can see why I don't bother. 

A friend of mine had also asked me to make her a bag that she wants to give as a gift so I have also been getting on with that.  I had a leather bag that someone was giving away and the top wasn't very nice  I also had some new fabric with butterfly design that I bought for myself and had only used a little of.  i bought purple ribbon from hobby craft and a bag strap from the charity shop.  Finally I had a floral second hand dress with lots of fabric in it and some denim of course.  

Here is what I came up with

I cleaned up the leather with leather leaner and it came up lovely and soft, it has a zip fastener and I used the dress as the lining I like it so much  I want to keep it but I can't as it is promised to someone else even though they haven't seen it yet.  I love purple.

Clothes Dyeing 2

Well I dyed the T-shirt but it did not come out well.. When it was wet it looked ok but then you have to wash it and when it dried it appears to have strange patchy marks all over it. Its a shame because the mark on the back looks a bit like a pattern. If that was even all over it, it may look like an effect but its not!

Here is the before

Here it looks like flour is wiped down the front, Oh dear more strange patterns on the back.  Now I only wore this T shirt rarely under things before so it can continue its life in that way now.  I used the correct quantity of salt so maybe I just didn't stir it enough.  I'm sure these dyes are better if you are just brightening to the original colour and not changing it completely. I think any future dye attempts will be done naturally.

I have a lacey effect jumper with a low neck I will probably wear it under that as the neck area at the front looks ok.

I found some good ideas at Burda Style, the flower mashing dye job below looks great.

I think that is the way to go next time, not trying to get it even, if I stencil it on or use an item such as a leaf or petal then I think the results will be more acceptable.  So I have learned something, how not to do it.

Natural Dyes For Clothing

Just recently I bought a dye for a t-shirt of mine that I really like but it is beige, and beige is not really for me. To be honest the t-shirt wasn't very expensive in the first place and I could have just bought a new one.  The thing is there is nothing wrong with it and I like the style so I thought I'd give dyeing it a try and put in some denim pieces while I'm at it to give some of my bags a new shade as a background.  I haven't tried it yet, I am going to do so later.  It is a Dylon one that you put in a bucket ( I didn't want to risk the washing machine one but if anyone has tried it let me know)

This is the colour that I went for, I really like purples and I think this is more purple than red.
Now I know that dyes have chemicals in them but we all wear  clothes with such dyes everyday, this is all the reason to wear our clothes for longer. We can update them, donate or change them into something new.  So I did have a conscience when I bought this dye, so I've been looking at natural alternatives to dyeing clothes and there is loads of information out there on this. Here are some ideas at this blog

 There are also instructions for experiments you can do with kids which is a great way to get the children involved and bring up some interesting questions about preserving and recycling.  I think I will try some of the ideas at Planet Science .
I will post before and after images of the garment to be dyed even if it is a disaster.

I've also seen this lovely book for anyone with little girls Sew Pretty T-Shirt Dresses  I'm sure lots of clothing items could be saved in this way.

Custom Child's Bag

I was just asked earlier today if I could make a little bag for a toddler as my friend wants to give something a bit different,  a gift she can keep. I used my recycled bits and bobs as usual but I have to say it probably took me a while longer than I anticipated as working small is fiddly! I also hand embroidered the child's name on the front as little girls like to have their name on  things.

I did two little handles she can hold, I didn't want anything over the neck as this could be dangerous.

I lined it inside also with the same little butterfly fabric that is on the front.  Also no buttons or fastenings as she wont be able to work them yet.

It isn't very big but when she has done playing dress up with it and is a little older she could keep her crayons in it.  She could also hang it on a peg in her room to keep hair accessories or things like that in.

It would be nice to one day have one of those fancy machines that does all the embroidery for you. That said I do like to sit and hand sew things, it just doesn't have that professional look. Oh well it does have the handmade look though.  It measures 14cm across and is 12cm deep.

New shop

I have just spent the last few days trying to set up a website with shop. I used www.weebly.com which was good as they allow you to set up a site for free and they have templates. However nothing is ever quick is it? This seems to have sucked up lots of my time and some things didn't go as planned you have to go to paypal to sort out your shipping and it seemed to only want to let me have prices based on value whereas i wanted them based on location. For example if I am shipping to USA this was a bit confusing. You can find my Fabbags shop here.  Also my items are one off and it doesn't give you a sold sign on your item as it sells which is something I need really. Oh well I will give it a go and see, I have still kept my Folksy shop also at my folksy shop

Handmade roller blind

I have caught up on a few things this last week. The first thing is I have been meaning to replace the roller blind in the bathroom for a while now and I had the fabric but I just hadn't got around to it.  I bought the fabric earlier in the year from IKEA for £5 pounds which I didn't think was too bad and it's quite a heavy fabric for curtains or upholstery. I took the one down from the bathroom and just removed the fabric from the roller. I then took out the panel from the bottom that makes it hang straight, I laid it out on the fabric and cut a piece allowing for a hem up each side and a channel for the plastic panel at the bottom and hemmed. This really took no time at all so I don't know why I have left it so long.  My husband then got his electric stapler and stapled the fabric to the original roller blind tube. ( If you don't have one of these you could go with my original idea of strong fabric glue, or there are quite strong tapes now that even hold up pictures!)
We put it up and it has transformed the window. Sorry the picture is dark, these dark nights mean that if you don't get time in the daylight you have no chance of a good picture.  I think the orange goes well with the mosaic in my tiles ( sorry you can't see this in the picture)

Now I know you may look and think well shouldn't the birds be the other way? Well you may be right but because of the width of the fabric this way it fitted with the  meter I bought and of course I don't mind.  The mechanism in the blind still works perfectly well and it means I have a new blind for a fiver in just the fabric I wanted.

The other thing I caught up was some more cushions for the living room. I showed a few some weeks ago but this is ongoing as I wanted to replace all of them.  I have done two more using up my fabrics and charity shop pillow cases etc. They are both different designs as I like them to look random. Unfortunately again the picture was taken in the evening so it does not do the colours justice.  

If you look at the cushion with the heart in the center you can see a bit of the cherry vintage fabric that I made someone a dress with a number of weeks ago.  I like to use up all the little bits. 

Autumn mini break

Last weekend we went away in our caravan to make the most of the late sunshine. I've been trying to get on here to post but I have been getting an error message every time. That is the reason for my absence. we went to Sherwood forest caravan park which is brilliant for a short stay as at the weekend you do not have to leave on the Sunday until teatime so this gives you another full day. We were right beside the river so we had a lovely view when we sat outside and there is loads of room the site is big but scenic so this is great for walking the dogs. Here are the dogs I have two Jack Russell's.

We visited Newark on the Saturday which is a nice town to visit and we have been there before, there is a castle and another good walk along the river with a market in  the town square, always good for a look around ( you don't have to buy anything you can just look. Shocking I know!) 

The weather was amazing all weekend so this made it a wonderful inexpensive get away but things would have been very different if not for the weather. We even managed to eat outside both evenings. In October! We had jackets on of course and the children rode around on their bikes.  On the Sunday we visited Rufford Abbey and I will definitely be returning here again, lots to see, and once you have paid for parking entrance to look around the ruin is free. 

Here is the wonderful nature reserve part that you can walk around.  There are places to eat and a children's play area but mine were a bit old for that and I would take a picnic as eating at these places is always expensive for what you get. It is always better to eat outside if the weather is nice anyway.  

After we got back last Sunday evening I feel like I haven't been able to catch up with everything that needs doing around the house. That is the one downside to a weekend away when you work full  time.  This week has seen a drastic decline in the weather however and it is much more like Autumn now, I  had to have the heating on already. I know I should wear a sweater and I do but I also need to get the washing dry and the dryer is expensive and ruins clothes.