Habari!

It has been a hectic 2 months, in fact I'd go so far as to say that's an understatement. I've had to put 2 projects on hold that I had been working on. One being a skirt and the other, a pair of cropped jeans.

We bought a new kitchen from Wren and decided that we'd fit it ourselves as it's soooo expensive to get someone to fit it. But since then there has been problem after problem. It has been so exhausting.

Then, on the 6th I decided to go away to Kenya. I've been there ever since and I'm due back home later on this week. Although I've had a thrilling experience, I can see the end now and I'm looking forward to going home!

Apart from all of the late nights drinking, I've been learning a hell of a lot about being a Vehicle Mechanic. Thankfully I'm out here with a good (and patient) group of lads. I even got to work on a quad bike which was different. They are so fiddly as all the parts are teeny tiny compared to Land Rovers.

We visited Sweetwater Safari park last weekend which was an amazing experience. There were loads of animals to see and we were even lucky enough to see Lions and Elephants before we spent 3 hours trying to figure out how to get out of the park. Typical lads refused the map at the beginning! Then it got dark and that's where the adventure really began. We must have visited 3 gates, guards at each would not let us through. But we got back in the end!

Today I was sat by the pool in the local Golf club (oh lahdee dah!) sunning myself until the rain came at midday. Who said this was the dry season?? Now I'm sat in the bar red as a lobster, catching up with a bit of FB and blogging.

Life is bloody marvelous!

Simplicity 1699

Simplicity has a sale on! I had to hold myself back, I have a number of patterns that I would like, however I managed to stick to 4. One of the patterns that I got was Simplicity 1699, it has 4 patterns with it and I chose to make the peplum top in a red polka dot cotton/poly mix.

This was quite a quick pattern to complete considering that it's almost a dress with all the pattern pieces, so I look forward to making the dress at some point.

I didn't quite fancy the short sleeves, so I used the pieces for the longer sleeves from the dress. 

Some of these pics almost make it look like I'm wearing a paper bag, but I swear it doesn't look like that in real life. The top could have done with being a little more snug, but I like to have a bit of ease.

I don't know how the photo's came out so badly, or why I'm not smiling! I would, however, like to point out that we've spent half the day down the pub in front of the sun, so a mixture of Baz being a bit drunk and me being a bit sun sizzled has produced some rather rubbish pics!!!

The detail on the sleeves is lovely, the way the edge is curved, but it confused the heck out of me when I started to created the hem, I just didn't even click when I was cutting out the pieces, but it's a nice finish.

I meant to use the instructions this time, but I got a little carried away and forgot all about them!  The pieces all came together quite neatly, this was quite an easy garment to construct. I think it's time for that challenge that I've been putting off, I think it's time to make those trousers... Watch this space!!!

New Look K6123 wrap dress

So I've finally finished my New Look K6123 faux-wrap dress, that I was intending to wear at my Cousin's wedding on the 4th! Instead I managed to finish it just in time for the Girls night out tonight.

I really liked the material that I made it with, a 2-way stretch with a satin finish. It also wasn't too bad to work with. The pattern however didn't exactly fit on the first go. I traced the size 12, but I wish I'd maybe used the size 8 for the shoulders, moving to a size 10 at the bust and then the 12 towards the waist, so as it worked out it was really baggy and I had a lot of adjusting to do.

Even after all of the adjusting I was still conscious that I was flashing my chest tonight! But I always seem to have that problem with low cut tops.

All in all, I like this dress, but I may pin the two wrap sections together next time I wear it.

Really should have sucked that gut in!

Fabworks, Dewsbury

I've been so busy lately, that I've not done much sewing. So it has taken longer that I'd expect to finish my Joel Dewberry Meadow Spirit Skirt and the dress that I've been on with. Both still need finishing off, both have needed huge adjustments. I know creating a toile would save this, but the tweaks required take less time.

Seeing as I've not finished anything, I thought I'd talk about the fabric shop that I visited this week. I'm not sure that's factually correct, it's more like a warehouse! It's called Fabworks mill shop and is located in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, not far from the local train station. They have all sorts in stock for all of your crafty sewing needs. I felt like I was in a dream, you could easily go in there and lose the contents of your purse within minutes!!

They have a webpage that you can find here.

Here's some pictures that I took:

The front courtyard

Excellent dressmaking fabrics

More dressmaking fabrics

    

Even more dressmaking fabrics

Some of their ribbons, binding etc

Upholstery fabric & leather Scraps

More upholstery fabric

and more...

and more...

more fabric

Buttons and things

Easily pleased

Nipped out to get a zipper for the dress I'm making, and found this totally adorable ironing board cover. I'd planned to make a new one until I'd seen this, I love it so much I wanted to share its wonderful cheeriness with everyone!

Whey aye man!

Yesterday, Ally and I spent a beautiful, warm British summer's day visiting Ikea! I must confess that I am a bit of an Ikea fan girl, but I don't often get the chance to wander about looking at things as my boyfriend can't stand the place. He put up with it the weekend before my birthday so that he could buy my most excellent sewing table, but as we went round I didn't get the chance to look at hardly anything as he rushed me round. Apparently this is a normal male reaction to the place!

On this trip I managed to look at lots of things, most importantly the fabric section. I just love their quirky designs but I only came out with two pieces, I'd spent so long deliberating over what i was going to get that even Ally was starting to flag ha ha!

I'm very pleased with what I chose:

I currently have no idea what I'm going to make with them, I just loved the colours and the patterns!

Loving Bloglovin'

I've seen Bloglovin' all over the place for some time now and I don't know why my curiosity hasn't taken me there sooner. I have bookmarks all over the place, and a list of blogs that I follow in Blogger as well as the odd pin in Pinterest. Now I have it all under one roof, on one page for my extra convenience. Love it! I just wish all of the blogs I follow were on there. So if you are reading this and you aren't on there, please, please, pretty please add your blog!

Anyway, I haven't spent the last couple of Weeks stalking my latest blog crush. I've been slowly getting on with my Joel Dewberry meadow spirit skirt. I must say I should have finished it by now, it's simple enough, but life has been getting in the way, especially since the Sun has graced us with its presence!

I made a little bit of mistake with the skirt. I could have finished it last night, but I had previously thought it would be a good idea to use a stiffer interfacing as I always wish I had and now I know why I shouldn't. It turned my hips into a triangle. So this was me last night un-picking the bias binding I used to finish it off so I could rip the interfacing out...