Unselfish Sewing - Simple Sews The Kimono Dress #010

Hello Lovelies,

Doesn't life get in the way??? I have taken on much more work at work (which is totally brilliant as I was sat bored most of my day) but it means I am using my brain and working in the lab much more so I am tired on an evening...which traverses to not getting as much sewing done as I would have liked.

Christmas is catching up, I made Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for 6 people on Saturday, 3 courses and about 10 bottles of wine later we were stuffed...much like my little friend here....

So here is a very quick and VERY satisfying make!

Simple Sews The Kimono Dress #010 

I have made this as a gift and it came together absolutely amazingly well - two pattern pieces if don't include the belt. 

I have sewn this up in the size 20 with no adjustments, this was designed as a dressing gown/cover up so no fitting needed and it is a gift.

I keep saying this but apologies for the bad picture!

Yes, I was enjoying a sneaky beer while sewing...

This material is a really thin cotton, almost sheer but I will say it is the nicest fabric I have ever sewn with. Pressed a dream, flowed through my machine easy on a low tension. Beautiful!

So very tempted to keep this for myself but I won't!

I cut the pattern to the size 20 and I was going to cut it down to a 12 for my nieces version and then an 8 for Richard's mums version but as this has made such a nice gift I will copy it for the next two I need to complete so can make it again!

I have this weekend to get these presents finished, nothing like a bit of pressure to get the machine moving as quick as possible!!! 

If I do not drop a line before - MERRY CHRISTMAS - may your belly be full, your presents be plentiful and you be surrounded by all the people you love! 

Kristy xxx

Unselfish Sewing - Christmas Update - Part 1

Hi Everyone!

Long time no post! Well, I have rambled a bit in my last couple of posts but here is some actual sewing - yay! Unfortunately not for me but I have made good progress into my Christmas presents so here is a picture heavy post for you!

4 Little Girls

I have made the The Jezabel Skirt  (quite terrible name for a little girls skirt in my opinion!) by Sadie James for all four little ladies in my life! Luckily the bad naming does not stop this pattern from being brilliant and easy to follow. It is a PDF file but doesn't give you any pattern pieces to paste together as it is just a series of rectangles and the measurements given to draw your own. I did make a mistake but as it turns out a really good mistake I repeated for all four skirts. The wide waistband is meant to be quite fitted with the main part of the skirt gathered onto it and a thin elastic encased at the top. When I have made this before I wasn't super impressed with this (I had used fairly thin material and the girls underwear could be seen through), I also had 3/4 inch elastic to hand and didn't want to buy more. I cut the waistband length the same as the main skirt and the yoke and had it gathering from the waistband/elastic instead of from the mainskirt. I really like the outcome...

Emily is 6 and I love this skirt! The main fabric is cotton I got from eBay but I have seen Sew Over It with it in stock, the flamingoes are printed cross grain so it needed a wide project or a LOT of material for me and I only had 1 metre - I would highly recommend it washed and pressed a dream.
The contrast material is just some polycotton I had in my crafty stash but colour matched perfect.

Look at my lovely top stitching!

I am not so happy with the insides - I zig-zagged stitches the edges and topstitched down - I REALLY need (want) an overlocker! Santa will not be bringing me one this year unfortunately :(

The next version is for my 5 year old identical triplets - yes they are as much as a handful as you would think! ha

I love this viscose fabric! But it does not photograph well! Infact this looks a hot mess - sorry!

 As it is viscose it frays to hell and back and is much drapier than the cotton version above but I am still happy with these! All three are the same. As I wanted to  make these as neat as possible I have french seamed (my first time!) and top stitched, unfortunately this fabric does not photograph detail well - on the plus side will make any mistakes harder to see too! ha

The extra bulk at the seams isn't ideal but much better than so much fraying *dreaming of overlockers*

As a bonus I have enough of this fabric left to make myself a skirt if I ever get chance to sew for myself again!

3 Little Boys

Now to the little men in my life! Two friends boys' and a nephew, one aged 3 and the others are two in January.
I used a free robe pattern from Melly Sews and I was more than impressed with the pattern, the PDF is 13 pages but due to the sizes I was cutting I didn't need to tape all of them together, the instructions are online and REALLY easy! Very impressed

All three are the same and I just need to hand sew the belt loops on and all done!

The insides are pinked where possible - lets not mention the hole I put into a sleeve head by pinking the armholes - FAIL! 

This is where the band attaches to the main robe, I wish this was overlocked as would be much neater but it isn't seen when closed!

More glorious top stitching! Anyone else find this part therapeutic???

A Wedding Gift

I mentioned in a previous post that I was making a banner for a friends wedding. This turned out to be a labour intensive job as I didn't want to disapoint them!

I was going to put this on bunting but was just wayyyy too big! I decided to be lazy and fabric glue the letters on - this was a mistake, the glue stained the gold satin and looked horrific. Luckily glitter paint from our local stationary shop was enough to cover it and as a bonus I got to use a glue spreader for the first time in about 20 years! Before it was hung I raided my mums car dmaking supplies and put some stars and heart brads onto it to just jazz it up a bit. They were made up with it so was worth the effort and was a lovely wedding! Lots of dancing and wayyy too much prosecco!

Nan and two bumps

I decided to make my Nan a quilt and I have two pregnant friends due in January so I thought I would make 3 quilts for them. Not going to lie this has been a bit stupid as so labour intensive but I am making headroom. My Nans quilt is all cut and am now piecing together. My two friends are both having boys so I did some cutting for their quilt at same time as my Nans - with only half of the two bumps cut I have currently cut at least 1000 pieces of fabric! The rest of their quilts are going to be MAJORLY simplified just to save my sanity!

My sewing table is currently in this state...

Mother-in-law, Sister-in-law and 12 year old Niece

I decided to make dressing gowns for these lovely ladies from this pattern

I have only cut and sewn one so far - uses a LOT of material but it has come together amazing, it needs hemming and I have just received one of these:

Rolled hem foot

A rolled hem foot, which hopefully will make this much quicker as the bottom hem and around the edges is one continuous hem so I hope this will make it easier! This pattern is so quick and easy; I have done no fitting as it doesn't matter for a dressing gown but I love it and will do a whole post once all finished all three.

Wooo long post, hope you weren't too bored. Now back to work, more patchworking tonight and hopefully the end will be near with xmas present making!

Are you making any of your presents?

Thanks for reading xxxx

Kristy xxx

My Sewing Challenge 2016 ideas?

Hello Lovelies,

As I have previously mentioned I have trouble trying to organise my head/projects as I want to delve in and do EVERYTHING all at once, be awesome at everything then get frustrated when I am not!
The Made-Up Initiative really pushed me, gave me plenty of blogging material and I enjoy a deadline, so...I want to try and set myself a sewing challenge for 2016 but I am finding it hard to narrow it down to what I want to do!

Here are some of my ideas:

• Follow a book and make every pattern, picking up new skills as I go with a set agenda I cannot change - but which book? 
• Capsule wardrobe - pick a design each month and make a capsule wardrobe over the year - but my mind will change on each pattern each month so how do I pick?
• Each month set a new garment (rather than pattern) ie. woven top, skirt, shift dress - will I try to fit too many patterns to my body then end up with no actual wearable garments?
• Aim to make multiple versions of each pattern - if I set myself too much to do I don't want to fail publicly and then give up, this challenge has to be realistic
• one pattern many ways? will i get bored? will my wardrobe be full of the same item? will I push myself?

I can see good and bad to each idea - can anyone give me any other suggestions? 

Ultimately I want to challenge myself to:

• Learn how to fit patterns and get to know my body shape
• Learn new sewing skills
• Create wearable wardrobe items
• Push myself
• Give my sewing some schedule but not restrict myself too much

Maybe closer to the new year challenges will appear on my blog roll and this will help my choice! 

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated - thanks for reading :)

Kristy xx

P.S. I have updated the costs pages of my blog just to make it a bit more user friendly and readable!

Pinterest Obsession

Hello Guys,

Long time no blog, and well, I miss it! I have been reading everyone else's lovely pages but nothing on mine - I have been unselfish sewing away in the background and will update as soon as I can but I have had 2 wedding weekends away and people visiting and a U2 concert (which was amazingggg) but I am hoping to get some pictures this weekend for anyone that wants to see!

Also, I have used my last two days annual leave this year to take a couple of days around my birthday off, and I plan to sew, sew, sew. My own personal 4 day Sewcation - selfish sewing - no xmas presents in sight and hopefully I will get something made to show you...still a month to go until that though - BOOO!

So no actual sewing but I just wanted to share one of my favourite places to be indulgent on sewing as much as I want. I am sure you are all aware of Pinterest but I just wondered if you all love it as much as me?!??!

I have 23 boards and 11 secret boards (these are a mixture of sewing related plans and non-existent future wedding ideas that I don't want my boyfriend to find and think I am weird!!!). I have over 1300 pins...think this shows my obsession well!

Among my boards I have...

Recipes that I have never cooked...

Handbags I could never afford...

Sewing tips that have actually come in useful...some may not buy you never know...

And of course all 30 year olds with a long term boyfriend has one of these boards....

...yet the hint doesn't seem to be working despite the many, many links to the board that have been sent...!

I really enjoy trawling fabric sites and looking at their offerings, pinning and pining over their beautiful selections and showing just how much I love all novelty fabrics!

I also keep a board full of my pattern catalogue I own (more visual that my page dedicated to the pattern costs) I keep looking at this board and making plans, really really shouldn't as my brain is full enough!

One of my most active boards is the patterns I want...like a never ending shopping list!

And of course my sewing inspiration board that is full of stuff I am never going to be good enough to copy (hello couture beading) but I still want to look at all the pretty things...

I swear that wool skirt, top right on the screenshot above, gave me palpatations!

I am always on the look out for new people to follow, I love the randomness of what comes on my homescreen, so please add your username in the comments and I will drop by!

In case there isn't enough links in this post I have also added a widget thingy-majig to the right hand tool bar to make it easy for you to find me

Sorry this hasn't been the most interesting of posts but I just wanted to share one way I keep in touch with the sewing world when I am not actually sewing!

Hope to see you all soon with some actual sewing...Now I must get back to actually working (boo!)

Again, thanks for reading :)

Kristy xxx

PS - this happened on Monday night at the concert I went to...

I have a wee bit of an obsession with Noel....amazing!

The Liebster Award

The gorgeous Beth from Sewing Soothes the Soul has nominated me for a Liebster Award!

The award is a way for bloggers to share their love of blogs and bloggers and pass on the love - I am not actually going to nominate anyone though, anyone that feels like doing this please take it as my nomination! I follow 302 blogs on Bloglovin  and just cannot pick - although I will say that Beth's picks are brilliant!

So I have to give 11 random facts about me that I haven't shared on here before so here goes!

1. I have travelled to 20 countries - I love travelling and holidays and would love to go travelling for a year again, best year EVER - but I would want to do it with my other half, its just the savings part that is the hard part!
2. I love the Harry Potter books (and to a lesser extent the films) if I have nothing to read I always return to the books, I must have read them over 20 times each and I never get bored of them, and I always cry at the last book, different parts each time but its Dobby that really gets me...
3. When travelling I try to eat as much local cuisine as possible, this has lead to eating dog, snake and alligator.
4. I am DESPERATE to own a dog (not to eat as number 3) but as I work full time its really not fair - and my landlord said no - boo to him! I want a Basset Hound, or just any big dog! I am the person that makes a bee line for dogs in the pub or on the tube.
5. I do not want to have children. I am nearly 31 and the urge for motherhood has never appeared so I cannot see it appearing in the future! So when I am old I will be the weird woman with lots of dogs begging her nieces and nephews to visit! 
6. I am an only child but my cousins all see me as an auntie to their little people - I have 5 nieces (including identical triplets) and a nephew. My best friends children all call me auntie too - add two more nephews to the list (and another bump is growing but its still a secret)
7. I carry a genetic disease called Fragile X Syndrome, my cousin has learning difficulties as a result of this and my grandad suffers from the premutation issues that develop due to it - mainly shaking hands, which is getting worse with age, it is a real issue for him and has to drink out of a lidded cup and eat with a spoon - serving him peas is just cruel!  
8. I cannot go to sleep in silence. I listen to a podcast in one earphone normally but if Richard is away (or I sleep on the sofa, which is becoming a regular occurrence due to mice in my bedroom!I hate mice) I sleep with a DVD on the TV. Normally Friends!
9. I have not told any friends or family about this blog, I write it for myself not to please others so I don't want to become self concious over it!
10. I have been incredibly lucky to get to 26 with 5 grandparents alive, sadly my Great Grandma died 4 years ago at a brilliant age of 94 and I lost my Grandma 2 years ago, a loss that I still struggle with. She was responsible for giving me my sewing machine and I wish I could show her how much I love it. BUT I have 3 grandparents still left and at nearly 31 I understand just how lucky I am.
11. I currently live in London, I am from Leeds, I lived in Newcastle for my Undergrad and lived in Sheffield for 2 years while studying my Masters. I would love to live abroad, somewhere with a totally different culture.

This was a lot harder than I thought but it did waste quite a lot of Monday morning! Thanks Beth!

Enjoy your week folks, I should have some unselfish sewing to show you by the end of the week! I am making some headway into the 13 presents...YES!

Kristy xxx

Too many plans too little time...

Hello Everyone,

Hope you had a fun weekend and Monday isn't too bad for you. Mine will be fuelled by caffeine completely.

My weekend was spent crafting, a family friend is getting married in 2 weeks and asked for some sort of wedding banner - quite struggled with the brief to be honest! So have decided on their names and date (quite obvious) and then 'Until death do us party'...they are a real party couple so I hope they like it. The colour scheme is cream and gold so I have been worried that the letters won't be very readable. I bought some gold satin and some ivory polycotton from the always brilliant Oh Sew Crafty (I have used this company countless times, their delivery is always quick and you get exactly what you have requested).

I have then cut the letters out of interfacing and fused to the gold and cut out, I am then planning on sticking/sewing the letters to the cream but the tag line I am sewing onto bunting so they can remove it off of the banner and keep if they so wish! 

Prosecco really has helped this whole process....!

Hopefully I can get this finished ASAP - bunting is cut just need to cut gold bias binding (soooo tempted to buy this but i have over half a meter of gold left so is just pointless!) for the bunting then get sticking/sewing! I then may have to go arounf the letters with glitter or something to stand out but will decide once finished.

Two of my quilts are in progress, but I made some errors with underestimating how long this cutting will take - and I have severely fallen out with my rotary cutter:

It is sat in the naughty corner and I am awaiting an apology from it for cutting off the end of my finger. This was done over a week ago and I still cannot let anything touch the end of my finger :( It was not an event I would like to repeat! I really don't enjoy the process of cutting quilts, it is tedious and your mind wanders and then this stupid stuff happens. I am also really impatient and want it done so I can move onto the next project.

Which brings me on to my next train of thoughts...do you plan too much like me? I have all of these xmas presents to make and I cannot stop thinking of other projects - I REALLY want to get Simplicity 8523 nailed and wearable. I also want to get some shorts made for my holiday at xmas. As well as some skirts. I am so inpatient and seem to be constantly thinking of new things yet I have a whole list of to do's and not that much time! 

How do you clear your mind so you focus one project at a time? Is it just literally head down and get things off of the list?

It is a weird feeling as at work I am very organised, I write to do lists in order of importance/deadlines and I just get on with it but with sewing my mind jumps all over and I really am struggling to be focussed. Maybe it is because I am not seeing great results with my personal sewing? I have a few spare days of holiday left to take before xmas, I am thinking of taking a couple for a 'sewcation' but worried I will just waste the days procrastinating as I seem to be most weekends! 

Sorry for the ramble, am hoping it clears my head a bit - I am even dreaming of sewing!

Thanks for reading my ramble!

Kristy xx

Fabric Shopping 4 - Unselfish Shopping

Hello!

So as a quick follow up to my previous post my Christmas sewing has gone forward!

I have finished the bow ties - this makes 1/13 makes finished - SCARY!

These actually used a fair bit of fabric but I managed to salvage some material from the failed Clemence skirt and two pieces from my crafty cotton stash. The rest of the flamingo fabric (1m bought in an eBay offer, the flamingo print is running widthways so I can't use it for a top as planned) will be made into skirts for my nieces, depending on how much can get out of it!

So I went to Walthamstow on Saturday and was sooooo hard not to buy more fabric for myself but so silly to as I need to just sew Christmas presents for a while!

I got 5 metres of this - seems so much! To make dressing gowns for the 3 little men in my life, looks too much, if there is a lot I may try to knock up some pajama bottoms if I have time and enough fabric. It is so soft for a polycotton, £1.50 a metre - £7.50 for 3 Christmas presents!

This is a gorgeous soft viscose, I fell in love when I saw it - got 3metres at £2 a metre - hoping to get 3 dresses out of it for the triplets (they're identical and fight if don't have same clothes, which makes it easier for me!)

Another lovely viscose for my eldest niece a dressing gown - Richard has said he may want this for his mums dressing gown though - 2.5 meters for £5

This is for Richards sister - its a lovely floaty cotton, quite thin but feels lovely! 2.5m for £5 again.

I still need to buy fabric for my aunties dressing gown and for Richards mum/my eldest niece depending on what Richard decides to go for!

I have made a start on cutting for my quilts - 3 in total, one for my nan and one each for my two pregnant friends. It is going to be much more work than i anticipated I think - all the cutting! It is my own fault though, I can never do anything simple once I have an idea in my head. I have designed the quilt blocks myself and now I have this in my head I can't think of anything else!

Very technical drawing on Excel! but it's easy to follow and I think will give good results.

I said before I am very aware I do not want this blog to be a crafty blog and I promise it won't be but I really enjoy shlopping all my thoughts down on here, please 'mark as read' on your blog feed if you don't want to listen to my rambling! Clothes sewing will resume as soon as possible! Promise!

I did make a muslin for some holiday shorts (much quicker than I thought!) so when the quilts are finished cutting I may need a break for some shorts!

Anyway, enjoy the last few days of September and enjoy the last few hours of sunshine before winter sets in!

I am off to try stop thinking of a lovely viscose print I saw in Walthamstow and talk myself out of going to buy it on payday....

Thanks for reading!

Kristy 

Unselfish Sewing - Christmas Planning

So sorry to mention the dreaded 'C' word in September but in order to get myself out of the sewing lull my last task has thrown me into I have been planning my Christmas sewing!

Unfortunately my Mr (Richard) lost his job just over a week ago due to no fault of his own and we have a holiday booked and for 27th December so it is just my wage until he finds something. Unfortunately my wage only just covers bills (silly London rental prices) so we are on a VERY strict budget until after Christmas now. And what is the cheapest way of doing Christmas? HANDMADE!

So plans are now queuing up in my head, meaning I am going to have to get a move on in order to make everything in time. Luckily I cannot afford to leave the house so at least I will have the time! (This is me making light of a situation that really makes me feel quite sick if think about it too long - I do not want to get into debt for a holiday, but also do not want to lose the money already spent on said holiday! Aargh)

Between us we have 17 people to buy gifts for: 2 Mums, 2 Dads, 1 Nan, 2 Grandads, 1 Sister, 1 Auntie, 5 Nieces (ages 13, 6 and triplets aged 5) and 3 Nephews (ages 3 and two 2 year olds). Oh and two friends are due to give birth the week after xmas...so basically A LOT of presents and therefore a long post ahead...

The Plan:

Richard's parents came to visit London in July and his dad was perusing a lot of bow ties in various markets we visited (for some unknown reason as never even seen him in a tie!), so I am making him some bow ties from here.

See Kate Sew free bow tie pattern and tutorial

The tutorial and pattern is really simple, I have sewn up 4 using stash material and interfacing, they aren't quite finished yet but is a really simple pattern to follow and is showing some really good results.

Richards Mum and Sister, my Auntie and eldest Niece are getting the same gift - a cotton dressing gown made from the Simple Sew Kimono Dress Pattern #010 that was free within my Love Sewing Magazine subscription. This pattern is strange because I cannot find any reference to it actually existing through either company OR anywhere else on the internet other than this Ebay seller.

Photo taken from above seller.

This is strictly a dress pattern but the outline drawing makes it look simple enough as a dressing gown. I have not bought the fabric yet but it will be a trip to Walthamstow I think for 3m each of something pretty. To keep costs down I think it will be a polycotton (so easy to sew with) or a nice drapey viscose and to keep sewing time down they will ideally be in similar colour ways so I can mass produce each robe and make it quicker. 

Youngest 4 nieces - 3 of them are identical triplets and wear similar clothes, not exactly the same as they are getting older but definitely on the same theme. I have a few patterns I already own but it will be one of these three each

Twirl Skirt  / A-Line dress / Twirl Skirt
guessing Etsy sellers are not too creative with their pattern names haha

But I have just found this pattern and LOVE it...so I will decide when fabric shopping whether I want to try something new or go back to a pattern I know is easy to sew. All these patterns take about 1m fabric each (probably much less for the skirts). Again will pick similar colour fabrics to try a production line of makes for all four. 

Sweet Pea Pajamas from Blank Slate Patterns

Through the same Melly Sews blog I have found this adorable free pattern (Pinterest is amazing for finding free patterns for kids)

My three nephews will look amazing in this, so cute! This blog has lots of amazing patterns but no fabric requirements for this, I am estimating (from looking at the comments) will need 1.5-2m of each. Again will pick similar fabrics to be able to sew as quickly as possible!

My nan really appreciates handmade presents, I have made her aprons before (she is so cute, she can't sit in the house without her 'pinny' on) and cushion covers so I am going to make her a lap quilt and have ordered this gorgeous polycotton bundle

Polycotton from eBay seller

I have a lot of blues, pinks and whites already in my craft fabric stash to bulk this out if need be but unsure of what pattern to use yet.

Two very good friends are having babies due the same week after christmas, one is having a boy, and I really hope the other is having a girl for total selfish reasons as I should have enough fabric for both then! I will need to buy batting, backing fabric and bias tape for each though (unless I am lazy and back in fleece) but will wait until finished the tops for that. 

So minimum fabric I need to buy is 21m - 4x 3m, 4x 1m and 3x 1.5m.

Wow I have a LOT of sewing to do, I can't see me being able to do much personal sewing for a while which is actually pretty sad as I want to keep up with this blog but really don't want to make it a crafty blog. We shall see how it goes but please bear with me while I am plowing through this lot! 

Do you have any unselfish sewing planned? Started to think of Christmas yet?

Hope you have a great rest of the week, and apologies for the super long post!

Kristy xx

Made Up Initiative - Simplicity 8523 - FAIL!

Hello!

Hope you are having a glorious weekend!

So this has been a journey that I was hoping to finish by the deadline of 10th September as pledged but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be!

I used fabric bought here (top one) which has a fair amount of stretch in it...as you can see by the picture below my top is stretched out at all angles so I am guessing it doesn't have good recovery from the stretch

The stretched out armholes are just beyond saving.  I don't know what I have done- I stay stitched and tried my best not to be too rigorous when using the bias tape to edge. I'm gutted and totally lost my sewing mojo!

I am determined not to give up on this clothes making lark as I love it just too much but I really need a satisfying make up my (non-stretched) sleeve! I am actually hitting the Xmas present sewing hard today to try make something easy and lovely then I may have another go at this bloody top! Aaaargh I just want to scream at it!!!!

How do you get out of a sewing lull?

Thanks for reading
Kristy xxx

Simplicity 8523 Muslin - Round 2

Hello Everyone,

Wednesday again! Every weekend should be a three day weekend, definitely makes for an easier working week that is for sure!

My morning has been pretty chaotic, worked from home due to a doctors appointment and let the plumbers in to check on the small leak I had reported to the landlord, by the time I had to leave my kitchen flooring was all up and a massive hole in the foyer (sounds grander than it is but I cannot think of a better word) ceiling had a massive hole in it. Turns out to be a leak coming from the boiler which means the heating hasn't been working - we moved in end of April and not had the heating on yet so didn't know that but the ceiling/my floor (we are upstairs flat) is all rotten and needs replacing. Dreading the mess when I get home!

Anyway, Simplicity 8523 has not got the better of me! Yay!

YAY!

This is what I did to the pattern...

• Retraced the pattern from scratch
• lowered the neckline by 4cm
• brought in the shoulders on the front and back (at the correct place this time) by 4.5cm
• Lengthened by 5cm
• I decided against the FBA and to just stop being overly cautious

And this is how muslin number 4 turned out

Muslin 4

Still not happy with the depth of the V - I do not want the lady lumps out but I also don't want to look frumpy.  The arm holes gaped, but was expecting that after last time but was happy with where the shoulders hit, will be happier when turned under into binding when in real fabric. So I followed the same gaping armhole tutorial as last time and lowered the V by another 1.5cm and sewed up muslin number 5

Not great pictures...but LOOK - IT FITS!!!!

No gaping armhole (but a strange fat armpit?!)...V perfect depth

So does the back! I can move my arms around freely, and its a good length.

After all these alterations my pattern looked a bit strange but I managed to round off the armhole perfectly fine (I bought a french curve - a really cheap one - and helped A LOT)

So, my fabric is cut for my first attempt at this in something other than sheeting fabric, I have redrawn facings for the front, cut out bias binding for the armholes and cut the back facing and have washed and ironed fabric for a second attempt - I am hoping I am not being too confident and this actually works! Also managed to easily fit it into 1m of fabric - bonus!

I am hoping to make good progress on this tonight as I have 8 days left of the Made Up Initiative - if you haven't already  made a pledge and donated why don't you give it a go? It is for an amazing charity! I am at a hen do this weekend and when I get home sunday I am not confident I will be wanting to sew so need to get lots done tonight!

Happy sewing and thanks for reading!
Kristy