Sewing for Newcastle Fashion Week

Well this weekend was a bit hectic. Lots of sewing going on. However, this will be a short post as I can't show you anything.....yet that is.

I made a little waist-cincher and some other random bits of sewing. It is really tiny, about 20 inches closed but it is for Newcastle Fashion Week. As you know, some of us at F6 Studios are collaborating for Fashion Front Row, the "young designers" showcase (I feel it may be stretching the definition a bit with me) but it is looking good. FFR is on Wednesday night and I will post pictures as soon as I have them but I am sworn to secrecy until then. I do have to say that everyone has worked so hard and produced the most amazing things. I am so proud of them. I will do a proper post about all the things and the designers after the event.

We have all been sat in the sewing room working together and it has been really invigorating to spend time with such creative people. I am really missing my sewing machine now.

Image totally stolen from the NFW Facebook page... Oops :) But hey, it is advertising, right?

If you are in the Newcastle area you should pop along to some of the events which are running from the 9th May until the 17th. If you are interested in seeing the program you can click here. Newcastle is a pretty stylish city. People really make an effort when they go out (even if it is a bit OTT with the fake tan sometimes) and take clothes fairly seriously. There are some great colleges and universities in the area too with a very high standard of work from the students.

Anyway, I won't rant on and will post some pics as soon as I have them.

Hope the sun shines on your week!

K xx

Sheets, Shirts and Wardrobe Planning

This blog is a little late as I was recovering from the weekend. No drink was consumed, just the usual amount of running around like a headless chicken. Sprogzilla had a friend sleepover Saturday night- they were  really great to be honest- but I was too knackered yesterday to think about anything much bar some mindless iPad scrying. Well not totally "mind"-less, I spent a lot of time reading the Into Mind website which is all about personal style and wardrobe building prompted by the recent "Wardrobe Architect" posts on The Colleterie blog.

Those of you that know me in real life can stop laughing now as yes, I do resemble the Cat Lady from The Simpsons on most occasions (nor do I care) but recent changes in my day job mean that I am going to have to bite the bullet and start dressing like a sensible adult. However, I hate with a passion most of the baggy, shapeless tents that pass for plus-sized clothes, plus I don't want to look like a corporate Stepford Wife. Is it possible to retain a bit of individuality and still toe the party line? I am going to give it a good try.

I have cut out the pattern this week for Simplicity 2339. This pattern is one from their "Amazing Fit" range which has different sized pattern pieces for A, B, C and D-cups. All well and good but a bit of a non-event for me as I still have to do a 4-inch FBA over and above the biggest size, plus a broad back adjustment. I am really taking my time doing the flat-pattern alterations and am using both my Fast Fit book from Sandra Betzina and the "Sew Busted" Maria Alto DVD to help with the FBA and lowering the bust dart. And people ask why I never make myself anything!

I actually have muslin to make a muslin up in. I am taking this really seriously as I would like to have some smart, well-fitting shirts for a change and a TNT pattern would be nice. However, I am not sure that my fabric choices are serious. First off on the left I have a lovely vintage cotton sheet, the fabric is beautiful, and on the right is some quilting cotton "Flea Market Fancy" from Westminster Fibres that I bought in John Lewis. I am hankering after polka dot button plackets and collar/cuffs with these but might just play it safe. The quilting cotton is quite thin so I thought it would be OK for a shirt. I will get the final adjustments cut out tomorrow night. Hope that it fits after all the changes.

Excuse me Miss but your shirt is sheet. Well! There's no need to be rude.

I managed to get a half hour of wandering round the shops on Saturday and managed to pick up a couple of nice necklaces in a blue colourway. I bought a lot of vintage turquoise beads a couple of weeks ago and am looking to layer them up so need to add to the collection first. I love the colours and the owl is so cute.

Fashionable? I don't give a hoot.

Anyway, do you plan your wardobe? Is it a bit organic or set out with military precision? Do you ruthlessly cull the old and sick or just keep adding and still have nothing to wear (like me)?

Kxx

Grumpy and Umpty

The last couple of weeks I have been a bit tired and had a lot on at work, so today I am feeling a little bit cross for no real reason. I even ripped down the scarf I had knitted up over the weekend and it was almost done too. Grump, grump, grump!

Don't worry love, I am sure that the Sisters of Mercy will reform.

I managed to get in a quick trip to Knit and Stitch in the Colliergate in York on Friday where I bought a lovely pattern book for Louisa Harding Yarns called "Fade to Grey". Cue 80's soundtrack, and indeed the patterns do have a bit of a romantic, gothic feel. I was particularly taken by the lovely purple wrap on the front.


I also had time to pop round the corner to Ramshambles and bought a couple of balls of wool to knit up a couple of the neck warmers that I knitted for Sprog before Christmas. The pattern for these is so nice and it is free! My favourite kind of pattern. You can find it on the ""In the Loop" blog. The original pattern is in French but if you scroll down you can download it in English too. Several people at work have knitted these and get compliments every time they were them and people are always asking Sprog where she got her's from. It is knitted on 60cm/5mm circular needles and takes about 150m/100g of wool in an Aran weight so it is nice for using up odd balls and makes for a cheap knit.

I bought myself some Aire Valley Aran from West Yorkshire Spinners in a russet/blue grey variegated colourway shade 862"Autumn Mix". I also bought a ball of King Cole Riot Chunky in shade 650- a lovely mix of blues and grey that will suit Sprog down to the ground.

This is such lovely wool. Hope Sprogzilla likes it.

In case you are of a certain age and think that this post title seems vaguely familiar I will leave you with a short video from The Flumps, a fixture of my childhood lunchtime TV consumption when I came home from school for lunch. Because today I am also under a cloud.

The Blog That Time Forgot

Ok, well if there were prizes for most neglected blog I would definitely be a contender. As it stands it has been almost 2 years (2 YEARS!) since I last updated this blog. That is bad, even by my standards. My old PC died, taking all my sewing pics along with it which I didn't back up and although I bought an iPad, I am less than impressed with it for doing anything other than emails. So now I have a new PC I have decided to be a bit more disciplined in keeping this up to date and maybe even posting some tutorials now and again.

So what have I been up to since then? Lots and lots really. Day job is still in Newcastle (at the moment anyway). Have blagged some brilliant studio space in Newcastle City Centre, where I can keep my enormous fabric stash without needing an extension and have sewn my way through two NE1's Newcastle Fashion Weeks, which were the most hectic and fun thing to do. The stuff they have on is fab-u-lous.

I worked with Mel from Le Hat Noir again for the 2012 catwalk show. Her hats were amazing. My favourite was this orange silk one show below. The pink and yellow corsets were from this year's show. I made more stuff than I needed so I have some lovely girdles made from the Jill Salen "Vintage Lingerie" book I talked about in the last post. I don't have any photos of them though.



Some corsets I made for Newcastle Fashion Week. Photo Credit: NFW (orange) and Peter Reed.

Currently, I have my Bad Kitty hat on and am working on a set of four corsets for a shoot sometime in October. They are roughly inspired by the work of Alphonse Mucha, especially the "Gemstones" painting. I am in the middle of making matching neck corsets. I have made one before but I don't think it was a resounding success comfort-wise. I draped this one on a polystyrene head to get the size right (about an 8-10), but as it laces up the back it should be OK. This is prototype B, with hand painted lace and 5 different colours of Swarovski crystals. The others should be fairly similar although I was also thinking of adding in some Steampunk-style boot covers.



Pink Silk Neck Corset with Hand-Painted Lace and Swarovski Crystals (work in progress). I hope that this is a bit more comfy. Boy,does it need a press and the boning put in though.



I bought Simplicity 9553 after being inspired by Peter from Male Pattern Boldness's post on ugly patterns on Pinterest. I love this. Must be my bad taste but I want some for me. To be honest, I also have some of the other patterns from there too. Don't know what that says about my taste, style-wise but people used to raid my wardrobe when we had "Bad Taste" parties so that should tell me something I suppose.

I bought some very practical *ahem* white silk velvet to dye from Edinburgh Fabrics. Probably to go with the red corset that I have made. The two bag patterns that are included are really nice too. This pattern is from 1971 and I do have a bit of a soft spot for late 60's - 70's clothing.  This kind of swims against the tide for all things 50's and "Mad Men"-inspired which I have never ever seen. Too little time to be watching TV!

So lots of sewing to do this week. Watch this space!!