Christmas Preparations!

I know this is predominantly supposed to be a blog about sewing clothing and craft projects but I must say the majority of what I've been making in the run up to the big day is baking! I've really only started baking this year so what you see here are really all my first attempts....

Mince Pies - I've now made a few batches using the orange pastry recipe from here and they've gone down a storm! Each batch has evolved slightly, the last batch (top) definitely looked the best after I had finally found a star cutter the right size instead of cutting them out by hand. I think the final batch also tasted best after I trialled some mincemeat with Port and Orange in...mmmmm!

Yule Log - Take my word for it, this did not taste as good as it looked. I used a recipe from a Cadburys Cookbook and for future reference that quantity of Cadbury's Flake, Bournville and Chestnut Puree filling all together NOT a good idea! Still we all appreciated how nice it looked on the table...

I made some little boxes of shortbread biscuits to send family friends with their Christmas cards. I just thought I'd love it if a little festive box of biscuits turned up on my doorstep and as far as I've heard this little experiment has proved that shortbread does hold up well in the post!

Along with the stockings I blogged about making a little while ago I've also done a little bit of sewing/crafting for the Christmas table including making a runner from the lovely Scandinavian fabric below which I actually got in Ikea! They also had paper napkins and wrapping paper in the same print so I've created some homemade crackers to match. I'm quite excited about setting up the table so I'll put up a picture of it complete post festivities.

And finally here's a festive picture of a reindeer I met the other day...

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Present Make - iPad Case

For my Stepdad for Christmas I've made a very simple protective case for his iPad. I followed this tutorial as he's got one of those attachable covers for the screen but I wanted to give him something to put it into when he's carting it around in a bag.

I wanted it to look quite professional on the outside as he would have to get it out in meetings and at work so I used some charcoal coloured stiff felt. I couldn't find collar felt as suggested in the tutorial and this might have given a bit more structure to the case but what I did find (in Fabric Land on Goldhawk Road) is really soft and smart as it's almost like a suiting fabric.

I did want to have some fun with it though so check out the lining!

I'm not entirely sure what my Stepdad's job actually is but I know he's some kind of chemist and works in labs. He also likes a bit of fun (my Mum got him a periodic table tie a few years back which was a big hit!) so I did a little search for scientific fabric prints on the internet and came across this beauty on Spoonflower which is my new favourite thing. You can upload your own designs to get printed up onto fabric!! You can also buy fabric in someone else's design which is where these little test tube characters came from. There's all sorts on there so I'd highly recommend a look.

Anyway the case was fairly easy to pull together in not too much time. There's a few bits I wish were slightly neater (namely a wobble in the line of orange stitching which shows on the outside) and I think if I made another I'd work on perhaps inserting the lining separately instead of attaching it to the outer piece before making up. The way I've done this means there's some seams visible inside which don't look bad, I think I'd just prefer it without. I'm also slightly worried about the width of the case; I purposely made it snug so the iPad wouldn't slide around inside but I don't have one to test it with so the question is...is it TOO snug?! Well that's going to be an interesting surprise on Christmas Day anyway!

A Few Things I Love At The Moment

This beautiful little hat from M&S which I discovered at the weekend - so sixties! And it also comes in a berry colour which I love for this winter.

This Dorothy Perkins coat. I've also got a bit of thing about contrast collars at the moment. I actually ordered this and was then reluctantly forced to send it back as the lovely sixties (anyone sensing a theme here?) shape really does not suit my fuller at the top figure.

Finally - these amazing Fashionary notebooks which I have just discovered via twitter. Full of fashion information, inspiration and helpful hints in the first half and blank body templates in the second. Amazing for quickly drawing out design ideas without the fuss of trying to draw out a body shape correctly in the first place. I've got one earmarked for a post Christmas treat as I think this is going to come in super useful once I've started my pattern cutting course in January and ideas of what to make next are flowing too quickly to get out through a pencil!

Which Fabric?!

So I have noticed (and you may have noticed too) that my dressmaking progress has been a little slow off the mark! I have been a little preoccupied with the preparations for Christmas but I really can’t pass it all off on that. I’ve got plenty of things lined up that I want to make, I’ve even prepared some of the patterns ready to be pinned to the fabric but this is where production grinds to a halt. Fabric.

I’ve got a big old box of fabric at home from leftover theatre projects but none of it is ever quite right for anything I want to make myself and it’s generally all scraps that won’t quite go far enough to make a top or skirt. So this means I need to go out a buy fabric. I always check for the advice on the back of my pattern envelopes suggesting which fabrics might be suitable but to be honest at this stage in my working with fabric development a fabric name alone isn’t much guidance! When I get in a fabric shop I just don’t know where to start looking, I have no focus, no clue of what’s what and completely loose track of what I’m looking for.

I’m by no means a fabric expert and a very indecisive person in general (seriously choosing what to eat for dinner can be a nightmare) so when it comes to buying fabric for a project I meet a bit of a creative block. I can happily rummage and feel the weight of a fabric, look at how it drapes, and judge whether I like the pattern and colours but the problem comes when trying to picture the fabric as the made up garment I am intending it for. I do know if a lightweight cotton or a silk or a thick wool will be suitable but then I start to second guess myself and imagine all these problems that this fabric might create when making up that particular pattern; will it be too bulky at the waist, too lightweight to create a nice crisp tailored edge or too slippy for my clumsy fingers to create a nice neat hem. I then start to question whether the drape really will be right for the project I have in mind and end up going round in circles between options, overwhelmed by the range and the prices and end up leaving empty handed because I simply can’t make a decision.

I’d started to think the only way to improve my knowledge of what will work and what won’t is just to go for it and give it a try, but it does seem like a bit of an expensive and wasteful way to go about it if it all goes wrong! So I took a step back and thought maybe I should just brush up on my fabric knowledge a bit over the Christmas period so I can go do a big fabric shop for all these awaiting projects in the New Year and make some more informed choices. I’ve always thought learning about fabric was something really difficult to do off your own back as you can read endless books on the different properties of different yarns and weaves but identifying them when your in the midst of hundreds of unlabelled rolls is the difficulty. The only way to learn about fabrics is hands on and it can be a bit daunting/embarrassing to be asking the sales assistants exactly what a particular piece is. But fear not, this problem has been vanquished by the wonderful and recently published Fabric for Fashion: The Swatch Book as recommended by Tilly over at Tilly and the Buttons. Not only does the book break down the abundance of information into manageable and logically laid out chunks but there are ACTUAL REAL LIFE SAMPLES of the fabrics in there too. It's AMAZING and I cannot emphasize that word enough. It is so useful to be reading and then see, feel and play with what they are talking about, I cannot understand why someone hasn't published something like this until now. Everything is in it’s un-dyed form so admittedly as soon as I’m in a fabric shop/market full of colours and patterns all of this info may go out the window but I’m hoping some will stick.

So anyway my plans for any free time I may get over Christmas is to study, study, study every last detail of this book, think about that in relation to the fabric choice advice given on the back of my patterns and thirdly study, study, study everyone else’s blogs for fabric advice and particularly look at evaluations for finished projects similar to my own intentions to see what fabrics worked well and which didn’t. I think I might have just resolved my own confusion about how to progress while writing this post!

Does anyone have any hints and tips for choosing fabric?