Author: Thimberlina

A Challenging Coco

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I have a 1m piece of fabric that NEEDS to be a Coco. I’ve walked away for a break, it’s like trying to do a jigsaw with pieces missing when there’s not quite enough fabric. So here I am, slightly exasperated, but not defeated drinking coffee and sharing my dilemma. I will not be beaten! This fabric was an absolute steal, it’s from Fine Fabrics of Harrogate – worth a visit if you’re going to the knitting & stitching show. It’s so soft, and the colours are different shades of grey (not quite 50) with an aubergine sort of purply colour. Coffee drunk, back to the drawing board, or maybe a rummage in my stash to see what might work with it…

Dahlia – My Christmas Dress

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 After my frenzy of downloading, sticking and gluing, and sewing which lasted 2 days and resulted in my most favourite dress to date, things slowed down.  Well, not so much as slowed down, things came to a grinding halt. I was daunted, to say the least, by the hemming of this frock.  I’d not ever hemmed anything with an kick pleat, or any pleat if I come to think of it. After much googling, I gave up for a few days and made a Coco for my sister instead.  After all, this Dahlia was only intended to be a muslin, hopefully wearable.  I was a little disappointed as it is a bit tight around the tartan band, but, and this a a BIG but, I woke up on Tuesday morning, put on my bestest M&S underwear and tried on my Dahlia.  Whoop Whoop! It zipped straight up without so much as me having to go blue in the face breath in. So that was it, I decided to bite the bullet and get hemming! I’d read Colette’s New Guide to Sewing …

Matchmaker – Dahlia meets Mr Zip

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Whilst inserting my zip today into my Dahlia dress I decided to take some photos of how I match everything up when inserting zips, as it can make or break a garment. This is just how I do it.  There might be an easier way out there, but after making 5 Yasmin Yoke Skirts I feel practiced and competent enough to share my way with you. Firstly, buy a decent zip!  I learnt the hard way today: This post will not show you how any special tricks to inserting a concealed zip, there’s loads of fab tutorials out there and even a free craftsy class (I always refer back to this if I’ve not inserted one in a while). Insert one side of the zip. Zip up the zipper and mark the important seams that need to match: Unzip and place where it needs to be.  Pin if you like but it doesn’t make it any more accurate!   Stitch in place – long basting stitches just near the seams that need to match: Now, zip it …

Sewing Dahlias

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Been a newish blogger I’m always extemely late to the party. The only Victoria I knew was a cake filled with buttercream, but you guys were all wearing yours as blazers! But hell no! Not this time. I’m gonna be banging on the door and the wine won’t even have chilled!  I happened to sign up for an alert from Colette for their new pattern release.  So when I received the email yesterday, with 20% off, how could a girl resist the stunning Dahlia Frock!? Raglan sleeves. Bias trim. No facings. Unlined (I can live with that) Their description on their website obviously has a lot more adjectives, (HERE) but I need to move on. Last night was spent printing and taping, I only printed out version 1 (above) but sooooo many pages! I woke up at 6am. The wind was howling outside. “Yipppeeee!” I should have been playing golf (it’s Tuesday so that’s what I do if I’m not working), but not in this weather.  After a couple of texts my days was set. …

4 Espressos, with Cake Please

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Whilst lots of you have joined in the OWOP challenge (one week one pattern – wearing the same pattern every day, Carolyn being my favourite with her collection of Archers), I’ve subconsciously been having my own little challenge – OSOP – one sumner one pattern! My wardrobe staple this summer has been the Yasmin Yoke skirt. I have my 3 denim ones (light, dark and black), my leopard print and my linen one.  Joining the RTW fast has (and putting on a few 20 pounds stopping smoking) has made it difficult to find something to wear in my vast wardrobe. That’s when the Yasmin Yoke Skirt came to the rescue. On fat days she sits on my waist and on thin not so fat days she sits more on my hips. Now Autumn is upon on, I’m now needing a little more leg coverage. I’ve worn Yasmin 5 with woolly tights and boots, But I stumbled across Cake’s Espresso leggings and read the wonderful reviews, and now 5 pairs later I’m loving them!! I also made a pair …

Prima Playsuit

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I’d been ‘toying’ with the idea of making a playsuit.  However, are they age appropriate for someone who is 40 something? Three things made me think “sod it! I’m making one anyway” 1 We have been having the most amazing weather and I need one. 2 I found an old pattern from Prima August 2002 in my stash. 3 Scooter Phoenix is having a Jump Suit Challenge.  I like to call mine a play suit! So here’s the pattern I used: It was an absolute doddle to put together.  I’d never made anything with an elasticated waist before and it was really easy. It turned out much better than I thought and have even been seen out and about  in public wearing it.  I made it with 1.5 m of sequinned jersey I bought from Dewsbury.  It was 150cm wide and £2/m.  The sequins are stuck on, and there’s other patterns too in bronze colours.  I thought initially it would just be good for: PEGGING THE WASHING OUT WEEDING THE GARDEN WATERING THE GARDEN But its …

Selfies and Sorbettos

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Late to the party? Crikey, I don’t think I’ll ever get there, late or otherwise! So, what have Selfies and Sorbettos got in common?  ……A year ago I’d heard of neither. My mums only just learning too.  Whilst taking this selfie at cricket she said…… Whilst most of you have perfected and hacked this well known (free !) indie pattern from Collette Patterns i’ve just about managed to get to grips with bias binding and made 3 this month!  Even though I’ve used bias trim before, I’ve recently invested in the Craftsy Class ‘sewing on the edge’ and have learn a lot, including a super easy way to make my own without one of the fiddly binding makers where the tape has to be just the exact size, or else. My sorbetto pattern has been stuck together and hung up since last year, and for some unknown reason I’ve not bothered to sew it. All this changed when I was umming and arrhing over this ill fitting maxi dress and tuck the plunge with my first …

Mono Frock has a day at the races

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A couple of Saturdays ago we had a day at Ripon races.  We had been invited by VW Van Centre who were sponsoring a race, so best frocks were called for as we were being spoilt rotten in the hospitality suite and would also be helping choose the best turned out horse in the VW Race. Perfect for a mono sewn garment for July’s challenge over at The Monthly Stitch! And also ticks all the boxes for Goodbye Valentino’s RTW Fast! I used Newlook 6146  (I believe is an OOP pattern) which I have loaned from one of my old golfing buddies, now new sewing buddy.  She’s a HUGE bag of old patterns which I rummaged in to find this:   I think its so fab that I’ve discovered the joy of tracing and sharing patterns!! My dress for the races needed to be a simple make as I only had about 4 hours to complete it. I decided to sew the back and front completely except for the facings, then baste the sides, adjusted the …

Golf…… Burda Style

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Last month I bought my first ever burda style magazine and bravely set about tracing these shorts It hasn’t taken me almost a month to trace and sew the, it’s taken that long to update my blog! The tracing wasn’t too bad and I’m getting the hang of adding seam allowances.  I have one of these which really helps.  The shorts came together in no time and I love the contrasting spotty fabric. My only disappointment was that the fabric didn’t have enough body to hold the shape and they were a bit flappy when I was playing golf. They also seemed to get bunched up between my legs as I walked, but my playing partners said they still looked ok from the back and no one could tell. I think they’d look good in light weight denim or a stretch cotton sateen. I cheated a little with the waist band as I wanted to finish them quickly so I could wear them for golf. I inserted the zip but instead of adding a proper …

Crikey!! Where do I start!!

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I’ve finally done it! Will it be the best £4.99 ever spent? Or will I just end up drooling over the photos? I’ve bought my first Burda Style magazine and am just about to trace off the pieces for these shorts….. My Yasmin Yoke skirt pattern is the only one I’ve used where I’ve needed to add seam allowances, but as I have 3 wonderful skirts to show for my trouble the memories have disappeared from my mind. Mmmm…probably not dis-similar to child birth! So here we go, let’s find the pieces….. Gosh! Hopefully in the near future I’ll be able to show off my spotty version…. Here’s my fabric for a hopefully wearable muslin – it’s dark cerise pink but doesn’t show up too well in the photograph. Wish me luck! Hope I get to the cutting out stage. At least that will mean I have the pieces!!