Quick Knit Dress

Here's my last last-minute stash bust for the year - a fairly simple knit dress, with wrap top and half circle skirt. It is made from a knit fabric that a friend and fellow seamstress gave to me last year (I think that's when it was anyway) It used up 1.5m of stash.

Reverse applique flower and leaf top

It's been a while since my last foray into an Alabama Chanin style project, a dress that I finished back in April. It was about time that I made something else in this style. I actually started planning this top shortly after finishing up my dress, and have had the pattern lying around my studio for a number of months now, just waiting for me to have the time (and attention span) to make it up.

Stashbusting Sewalong: December theme "Christmas Mayhem"

To end the year off, the theme for December in the Stashbusting Sewalong, is Christmas mayhem! Whether it be sewing presents for gifts, or making those finishing touches to your own Christmas, it's all covered this month!

Stashbusting Sewalong: November Theme "Containment - Japanese Knot Bag"

The theme for the Stashbusting Sewalong for November is all about containment. I had high hopes of making both my children new bags for swimming, maybe some more fabric boxes to store things in my studio, and of course, a Japanese Knot Bag, for which Sue from Fadanista is hosting a sewalong this month for the Stashbusting Sewalong.

I was determined to at least make one bag this month, and had a neglected cotton top in mind to use as well.

Lingerie: White stretch lace Sierra bra

I have so much work to do for others at the moment that to make something for myself I carved out a bit of me-time this weekend while my daughter was at a birthday party. Despite having two other bra patterns that I want to try out, I decided to have another go at the Sierra bra. Although I can't really wear my last bra, as it is too tight, I wanted to prove that I could make it work. The Sierra is a free bralette pattern by Madalynne. If you're lusting after this bra and haven't downloaded your copy yet, you can get it from here.

Lingerie: Stretch lace Sierra bra

I don't often get to the end of making something, and then think, "Should I really blog this? It didn't really work and I don't want anyone to know." There's nothing wrong with this bra itself, it just doesn't really suit my figure, and it's too tight. More on that later though.

This is the Sierra bralette, a free pattern from Madalynne. You can download your own copy here. I just missed following along with the sewalong, but have caught up now. This is unlike any other bra that I have made before. In many ways.

Tutorial: Hemming a lined wedding dress with horsehair braid

I've altered my share of wedding dresses over the years that use horsehair braid in the hem, but have just finished my first wedding dress from scratch using it. I'm a convert. Horsehair braid, where have you been all my life? It gives a beautiful crisp finish to not only hems, but necklines too. (See Gertie's tutorial for adding horsehair braid to necklines. I followed it to put braid in the neckline of this same dress)

I only wish I had taken more notice of how the braid was sewn into the hems, and, you know, taken photos and stuff? I thought I remembered how they were done, but wasn't 100% sure, so turned to my friend Google to find an answer. Alas, the only instructions I could find either featured hand stitching the braid to the outer layer of the dress, or sewing the hem to the very edge of the braid (similar to how you would use ban-rol, without pulling it out), and either topstitching it down, or use handstitching at the top. Neither of these was the solution I was looking for.