knitwise

Beautiful Ladies...

I was browsing through Flickr recently and, as usual, got rather lost wandering from one picture to another when I came upon  this extremely talented lady called Lucy Curtis. I fell in love with her wonderful dressforms. She owns Corset Laced Mannequin and you can find her blog here.

Let me introduce you to some of my favourites:

Amelia

 

kate

Aren't they absolutely charming and beautiful? I would love to own one of them, if only I had the room to put her in... Sigh!....

 

A bag for Spring...

I wanted a very pink and very girly bag for Spring...

With  a bit of inspiration from a couple of old Marie Claire Idees  and fabric acquired from a swap with the lovely Milouson some time last year,  I got the sewing machine out...

I liked the idea of a patchwork look with added "extras"  from my sewing box  (i.e. the odd buttons, trims and ribbons collected through the years)  and a few embroidery stitches...  Don't look too closely at the latter, they were my first unsteady steps...

I think I have managed more or less to achieve the look  I wanted   :   a  pink girly bag for Spring,  the kind you can even swing on your bike for a ride through the sunny countryside.

... Apart that the bike is not mine  (Alas,  I am not that sporty!...) but my husband's...

The bright pink flower at the front is a brooch bought some years ago on impulse and "discovered",  a few days ago, alone and forgotten at the bottom of a drawer...

A Summer Dress...

I honestly thought I would never finish this dress for this Summer...  The pattern was simple to follow (Kwik Sew pattern 3415) but obstacles came coming which slowed me up.

First,  I had planned to make this dress plain white but I run out of fabric!  My fault:  I cut the pieces wrongly and wasted valuable fabric.  So I had to dive into my stash to add the third tier.

Then, as the fabric I chose was too thin and see-through I had to buy a slip and adjust it to the neckline.

What did I learn from my mistakes:  a) read the instructions carefully, including the cutting layout  and b) choose your fabric with care! You will save a lot of time at the end...

On its way...

This is my contribution to The big Bag Swap and it is on its way to its new owner at this very moment...  I hope she will like it! 

As I have said previously,  things didn't go exactly according to plan,  and there has been a slight moment of panic when I messed up with the original idea and had to re-think...  My fault entirely for choosing a fabric unsuitable for the pattern...  I took a good look in my stash and found another fabric, and decided to improvise, praying for the Gods to be on my side this time...

In  her questionnaire, my bag pal's  preferences went for natural tones and her favourite colour: blue.  She wanted also something not too fancy.  So I made the shape of the bag fairly simple and only added buttons and those fabric flowers for which I must thank Blair for her wonderful tutorial.  The fabric for the flowers is the same as the lining of the bag.

Now it is my turn to wait impatiently for the postman...

Green May

I  became in desperate need of a needle case as I waisted precious crafting time searching for the right needles at the bottom of my sewing box.  May Project Spectrum  was  my perfect excuse to do something about it!  These Pretty flower pins (thank you Caro!) can cheer me up all year round in their pot.

Tomorrow will be busy in our household as it is my birthday as well as the children's!  They were born prematurely and were the best birthday present I could ever wish for! Mind you,  for the last 11 years,  my own birthday celebrations had to be low key, drowned in a sea of fairy cakes,  jelly and ice cream.  But tomorrow we will all celebrate as grown-ups and have a special dinner at an old pub in a neighbouring village... but we'll come back home for the cakes!  (Chocolate for Christian,  Jam for Delphine, and... crumbs of both for me...)

Yellow April...

After having been treated to a full beauty treatment and face-lift,  my sewing-machine deserved a new dust cover to replace her broken, ugly,  grey plastic one. 

As the April Project Spectrum called for yellow/orange this month,  the color was easy to chose...  I had originally planned a more sophisticated design in the line of a Haute Couture theme,  but I changed my mind as Spring is in the air and I came across this applique designed by Nancy Halvorsen in the Easy Does it for Spring book published by Art to Heart.

When he came back from school and I showed him my work,  my son laughed and said I looked a bit like this happy bunny when I am about to sew something...  I don't know if I should take this as a compliment on my enthusiasm!...

La Vie en Rouge...

I had great fun working on my March Project Spectrum!  My sewing machine was kicking up a fuss after years of inaction,  but after much tender and loving care (i.e.  a bit of oiling and a lot of swearing),  it decided to cooperate.  I have decided to have it serviced soon as I feel this is only the beginning to many more adventures together.

So with an old pair of jeans,  a piece of fabric and a copy of Marie Claire Idees,  I now present this bag which is my contribution to the March Project Spectrum.  Hope you like it...