Diary of a Chain Stitcher

I'd been eyeing up this pattern for a while after seeing a couple of great versions around in blogland. I'm really drawn to vintage sewing patterns and pretty dresses when choosing patterns and looking for inspiration which may be gorgeous and fun to make but are completely impractical and so would get hardly any wear. This pattern I know I'd get a lot of wear out of, I live in loose fit t's, plus I thought this pattern in it's simplicity provides quite a lot of scope for making it original and unique. As well as the bargain price of this pattern the final clincher to me buying it was the discovery of the new remnant bins in Liberty's haberdashery department! Most pieces are 1m offcuts of their tana lawn prints so perfect for a simple little top like this. I'd never normally dream of buying Liberty fabrics but these offcuts are half price and I had a gift voucher to spend so I was able to treat myself to two pieces at £11 each. At by far the most pe...

I decided a while back that I'd like to make myself a dress for my cousin's wedding at the end of September and after careful consideration decided on the Sewaholic Lonsdale . I've seen some great versions of it on the net as well as some great reviews of all the Sewaholic patterns and thought it was high time I gave one a try! It would be the first dress I'd make so although I was tempted but some lovely full skirted vintage patterns I had I thought I had better first try a pattern with clear instructions and pattern markings! I thought the shape would be lovely for a wedding with it's fitted bodice and full skirt plus would suit me as I like a fitted bodice and a bit of shoulder on view. Plus as it is for a relaxed wedding in the Cornish countryside I can see it made up in a fun print. Just check out the effort I made to do this properly, drew out all pattern pieces and notches instead of getting the cutting out done as quick as possible! I've never...

I hope you all enjoyed the Olympic experience as much as I did. Did any of you make it into the Olympic Park or any other venues? The Park is just fantastic and the atmosphere in that stadium like nothing else I've ever experienced. I felt incredibly privileged to be in there during rehearsals for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and got such a buzz just walking into work each day. I won't bore you all silly with stories but wanted to share just a couple of my highlights with you, I'm sure you all have your own! Setting up on the day of the Closing Ceremony My role was Assistant Costume Supervisor which is a job quite hard to describe! It involves a whole lot of different things but basically the Costume Supervisor's role is to supervise the realisation of the designer's ideas. This involves arranging and supervising the makers and construction process, sourcing fabrics, running fittings, arranging costume hires, buying footwear, accessories, underwe...

So I pre-epmted the fact that things might get a little quiet around the blog while I was working on the Olympic Ceremonies over the summer but I didn't predict almost 3 months of NOTHING! Working on the Olympics I think will remain one of the most incredible experience of my life, for the rest of my life but my oh my did it take over my life for those missing 3 months. Not that I'm complaining, I would not have changed a second of it and any time I wasn't there I was wishing I was! I'm planning a little follow up post so I can share with you some of my experiences of the games. I may have done a  little lap round the workshop with this after the picture! Anyway, back to stitching! I may have been forced to take a blogging and sewing sabbatical but that doesn't mean I missed out on the joy of seeing what all you have been up to. Thanks to the handy bloglovin' app on my phone I was able to make the most of my morning and evening (read night-time!) commute a...