Centaurée dress - Deer and Doe

Did everyone enjoy the gorgeous weather at the weekend?

After completing some driving duties on Saturday and expecting to be working on the Sunday too, the boss said that due to the work being carried out on the Sunday (involving CS gas!) if I don't want to come in I don't have to. How on earth could I pass that opportunity up? Usually when it's a weekend in, you have to be in for the full weekend. Lucky me!

So, I knew this was a perfect opportunity to finish off my newest dress. Literally the minute Deer and Doe advertised their new dress I was in there buying it. Looking at the pictures and the description I thought that this could be quite an interesting challenge, after all, how many bodice patterns are constructed with what appears to be triangles?

But, despite my preconceptions, it was actually quite easy to construct. Easier than princess seams, that was for sure, there was no easing required, so it came together really quickly.

I would say, however, that I'm not completely happy with the fit of the bodice. But, this is not a maternity pattern, and so I had decided to go up a couple of sizes in order to accommodate my 'in between' bump. I'm not small enough to fit into most of my regular clothes any more (especially not jeans). However, I'm a little on the small side for maternity clothes. 

  

You can just about see my bump here! I've actually got a few pairs of maternity jeans, because it's just not practical to wear dresses all of the time, the 'under the bump' pair are a lot more snug than the 'over the bump' pair, but I'm finding that the over the bump style is a lot more comfortable even if I spend half of my time hoicking them up!

You can see here I have a little extra under the bust, with the creases. These pictures were taken this morning and I do find that first thing on a morning I'm at my smallest, so towards the end of the day the dress actually looks as if it fits a little better.

I don't know if you noticed, but I used shop bought bias binding. I kinda regret this now. I think I went for larger than I should have and so the straps don't sit right at the front. So, instead of letting them sit straight up, (which made them look a bit odd) I decided to allow them to cross, which allowed them to sit flat. Next time I make this dress I will be making my own bias tape from the instructions!

All in all, I'm really pleased with how this dress has turned out. Even though the fit is a little loose and the bias tape isn't quite the right size. As I grow, I think it will fit a little better and I'm hoping I can wear it for most of the summer. I will definitely be making it again, but I think I'll wait until next summer!

Jumper to Cardi

Where on earth did that sunshine go? Not so long ago we had the most glorious weather and now it's back to rain. Uri the friendly security guard from the Ukraine always says that I shouldn't complain, it's beautiful and that it's 'Mary Poppins Country'! He's right, I shouldn't complain, he's had to cancel his holiday home for fear of not being able to come back. Despite all this, he must be the most upbeat Security Guard I have ever met. He's always so happy regardless of what's going on in his life, which is amazing because I (like probably a lot of people) catch his happiness every time I speak to him. Some people are just so wonderful aren't they?!

Again, I haven't really been sewing much. I have, however, got something to share today! A few weeks back Andrea  posted about a cardi that she had made by re-fashioning a jumper. I was so thrilled with her finished product and her simple explanation that I just had to have a go. I rarely wear jumpers as they just feel so restrictive and when you take them off they always mess your hair up, so having more cardi's in my wardrobe would be a brilliant idea for me.

So, I set about looking at jumpers that I had that I could modify. Unfortunately most of my jumpers were a bit past saving. So, whilst I was getting my car serviced I had a little walk into town to see what I could get in the charity shops. This was a big fat nothing, there were no jumpers worth saving, mostly all worn out or not very nice material.

Then, I found this little beauty in the Tesco's sale:

So I cut it right down the middle and attached some pre-made bias binding that I'd bought from Boyes.

I had a bit of trouble putting in the button holes and I have to admit I need a little more practice on these as a couple of them aren't as straight as I would have liked. The main issue was that my machine did not like the knitted material and failed to want to move to create the buttonhole. As a result I ended up with a nasty knot of thread and a bit of a jam! After two failed attempts I tried a little tissue paper over where I wanted the buttonhole and it worked a treat:

Once I'd gotten the buttonholes all stitched I then simply tore away the tissue. It came away with no problems at all and any remaining tissue will be melted away in the wash anyway.

Here's the finished cardi:

What do you think to the little heart shaped buttons? I was struggling to find matching buttons in my stash, so a quick look on eBay and I just couldn't resist them. They're just so cute!

I absolutely love my new cardi, I wore it to work yesterday and it's so comfy. I could take it off and put it on anytime I liked without disturbing the hair!