Sewing Gage

Just a quick update on the red dress. The bodice is almost done, just the zip to put in at the back. I'm covered in sequins, but am so happy in how's it's progressing! And this arrived yesterday, my new overlocker! It just makes life so much easier! I'm going to try and send my old one back to the British Sewing Centre and demand a refund, which may be a challenge, going on reviews from other people trying to do the same thing. Wish me luck!

Me and the boyfriend have decided to make this iconic dress from the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (he's Jane Russell, and i'm Marilyn) for our Christmas outing at Cybil's House . I know it's not Christmasey (apart from being red maybe), but it's a good excuse to try and make it. Yeah, this really is a challenge! It was a challenge just sourcing the material. I searched everywhere online and only found one place that stocked it, but they were out of stock. When I contacted them, they told me that the material had been discontinued. I had tried all my usual shops, but one day I decided to visit Shepherds Bush, in West London. There's a whole street full of fabric shops there. After visiting six or seven shops, I finally found it at Toni Textiles . There was only five meters left on the roll, so I took the lot! We began by creating a toile, a test version of the bodice, so that adjustments could be made. I have never done this before, but for th

I've only just had the machine back after getting it fixed, and the first time I properly use it, it stops working again. I really can't believe it. Same issue as before, the upper and lower looper hit each other and fail to form a stitch. I've now had enough of this machine. I don't believe it's a new machine, but a re-conditioned one, although the British Sewing Centre advertises it as new. If you are looking for a new machine, DO NOT buy from this place. They are a shame of a place, and I wish I had read some reviews of the company before I bought it as there are numerous negative reviews of the company. Their rating on Trustpilot is one out of five, and there are numerous comments about bad customer service. Wish me luck in trying to get my money back! This couldn't come at a worse time, as i'm making two dresses for Christmas, and really need the overlocker. So, I've bitten the bullet and ordered another machine, from a different company. H

Wanting to further practice my tailoring techniques I decided to make another shirt, this time for the boyfriend. Whilst we were in Paris, we visited an absolute textile heaven. Just to the east of the Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre is a huge range of shops and stores selling all kinds of fabric. I could have spent all day there, and all my money! Some of the shops have three metres of pre-cut fabric for fifteen euro. I picked up two such fabrics, one of them was this red, white and blue strip fabric. Very French! (well the boyfriend is french!) I decided to do a casual long sleeve shirt, so I chose McCall's pattern 2149. Again, I struggled with the collar and the cuffs, but at least I put the buttonholes on the right side this time. The collar button position is not in line with the other buttons, which was a mistake, but I kind of like this. Think i'm going to make this my trade mark collar.

It's been a while since my last post. I've been super busy so hopefully i'll get round to doing a few more updates. In the meantime here's a few pics of the Barberella outfit and the silver trousers with  organza top. Photo by Dan Govan www.purenift.com www.instagram.com/princesssleya Photo by Dan Govan www.purenift.com

In my normal job I often do night shifts, which are long and boring, so I thought I would see if there were  any online courses that I could do at work, and try and learn a few new sewing skills. A quick look online and I found a course at Online Academies   in Dress Making and Fashion Design. It was online £25 through Groupon, so thought I would give it a go. The online materials were a bit dated. The sketches of 'fashion' were very late 80's/early 90's and it didn't even touch on new technology or fashion blogging. The course really needs some updating. Having said that the materials have provided me with some resources that I can use and refer to. I passed with distinction! To be honest the qualification is pretty worthless, but the certificate looks good on my wall above my sewing machine!

My friend Phill approached me to ask if I could recreate the headpiece worn by Verka Serduchka in the 2007 Eurovision song contest, and of course I said yes! (I do anything for a Chinese takeaway and some wine). I started by making the start out of mirrored cardboard. There are loads of templates online to use, so I chose one and scaled it to the size I needed. I then got Phill over and made a plaster cast of his head. Once that was done, I hot glue gunned strips of thin foam to the inside, so it sat a little more comfortable. I then stuck on mirror tiles (available from ebay) with a hot glue gun. And then finished the edges with some silver trimming with more mirror tiles stuck on top of that; It then made its way to Germany all in one piece for the Kölner Karneval in Cologne.

It's about time I made some more boy clothes and practice those tailoring skills! When I was visiting family in Plymouth, I had a day trip to Totnes, where I came across a fantastic fabric shop, Stone Fabrics . They have so many gorgeous fabrics, I could have spent hours going through the swatches. I decided a navy blue geometric floral print which was £8.50 a metre; I chose  The biggest difficulty I had was with the collar, it took me a couple of attempts, but I finally got there; The final result wasn't too bad. I think the sleeves were too long, oh and I put the buttonholes on the wrong size, but apart from that, not bad for my first attempt at a long sleeve shirt!

Having been sent back two weeks ago, I finally had it returned. However, i'm not sure if it's the same machine, it was all packaged up in new packaging, but in the same box that I sent it back in. Strange. Anyway, it doesn't matter, i'm glad I've got it back and all working well (so far)!