Adventures in Dressmaking: My First Finish

Stylish Dress Book Volume 2 - Top A
Stylish Dress Book Volume 2 - Top A
Stylish Dress Book Volume 2 - Top A
Stylish Drees Book Volume 2 - Top A

So here it is, I finally finished the top I have been working on.  My first addition to my handmade wardrobe. The pattern is Top A from the Stylish Dress Book Volume 2. The pattern is actually very easy to follow and extremely  user friendly; especially for beginners like me. All the instructions are put in a few easy steps and it includes pictures to illustrate the construction.

 I really like the way it turned out. However there are some things that didn't come out as planned. The fit is a bit loose but I think this gives me a good starting point for sizing when using this book. Although, I been debating whether or not I I should take a few inches from the sides. Finally the fabric, while I love the silky texture and amazing drape it has, it had its challenges working with it. It frays very easily so I had to be careful at not handling it too much before ovelocking the edges. And hand basting became my best friend since the fabric is very slippery. I wanted to make sure the pieces didn't shift while sewing them. Specially the pleats and the neck binding.

My friend Nat has the same book so we had decided to make the same top and share our adventures (I'm a bit late sharing mine, sorry Nat). You can see her top here.

 She shares her insights about working with this pattern and a mini tutorial on how to make the gathering for the sleeves. 

Overall I think  my first experience in dress making was a success. I'm really looking forward to adding  a few more handmade items to my wardrobe. 

Have a great week!

**Linking up to New To Me in 2014 over at 

Celtic Thistle Stitches

 **

XX

Martha.

Friday Link Up: A Picture... A Moment

Bird Watching

Bird watching... After a storm I went out to the garden and found a flock of these little guys feasting on the flower pods from the birch trees. It was such a joy to stand under the trees and watch them move from branch to branch and listen to their chirps. I hope they come back soon.

How about you? Did you capture any special moments this week?

Weekend Doings

Now on to the link-up. Add your link and  visit others how link-up. And please promote the link-up with a text link or with the button. Thank you for stopping by.

XX
Martha.




New Yarn And Some Knitting Decisions

Yarn
Yarn - Cotton
DSC_0052

Hello! I hope you are having a lovely week. I've been meaning to show you the new yarn that  I purchased a couple weeks ago from Knit Picks.  This was my first time ordering yarn online and I'm absolutely delighted with how it looks in person. The yellow/gold one is called Billow in Turmeric color; it is 100% Pima Cotton bulky weight. It is so soft and cozy. The pink/fuchsia  is called Galileo Yarn in Abalone color; it is 50% Merino Wool 50% Bamboo sport weight. I think the color and texture looks so luxurious.
I usually find it hard to work on more than one knitting project at a time. But since I'm on the final stretch of my shawl I have been working on I though it is time to decide what to do with these fabulous yarns.
After and extensive research in Raverly (oh boy there are so many amazing patterns!), I found some great options that would work really well with each yarn. For the bulky cotton I thought that this Bandana Cowl from the Purl Bee would look great with it. And for the pink yarn I'm thinking about making another shawl. I'm still learning some of the basics about knitting so I think  This pattern would be a nice challenge. 
What do you think? Which one should I start first?

XX

Martha.

A Picture... a Moment

My Sewing Room

A corner in my sewing room. My happy place.

Over the past year I've been sharing with you a series of photos capturing a special moment in my life which I titled them A Picture... a Moment. Everyday is filled with special moments and I thought, why not make it into a weekly link up where we can share one special moment from our week. Plus it gives us another excuse to grab our cameras and practice our photography!

I hope you can join me next week, the link up starts next Friday February 7. Every week the link up will be open from Friday through Sunday.
Weekend Doings

XX
Martha.

New Sewing Adventures: Dressmaking

Garment Sewing Supplies
Fabric
On my Table
Japanese Sewing Book

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed your weekend. So this is what I have been up to. At the beginning of the year I made a list of all my crafty goals for 2014 and one of them was to start  sewing my own clothes. I'm totally obsessed with Japanese sewing patterns and I finally acquired a couple of fabulous books by 

Yoshiko Tsukiori

. All the patterns are amazing so it is a bit hard to chose a favorite. However, as it turns out 

Nat

 and I have the same book and decided to sew the same pattern. We are going to show our finished project by February 15 for the February 

Le Challenge

. I'm so thrilled about this new sewing adventure. I hope I'm successful :)

Have a lovely week.

XX

Martha

Owl Project Bag and the Begining of My First Shawl

Owl Project Bag
Owl Project Bag
Owl Project Bag
Owl Project Bag
Boneyard Shawl

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a lovely weekend. My weekend was crazy busy, but I managed to fit in some crafting. If you follow my blog you might remember that I mentioned that my sewing machine was giving me some trouble while I was quilting my Feathers and Patchwork Quilt. Well, I had to take in for service and I finally got it back from the shop. I'm happy to report that it just needed some maintenance and now she sews again like new. So to celebrate the return of my sewing machine I decided to make a new project bag for my knitting. The fabric is a screen printed fabric that I got from fabric.com a while back. I think is very cute and whimsical, don't you agree? To make the bag more functional I added a zippered pocket inside to keep my knitting notions in place and to avoid loosing them in the bottom of the bag. 
Speaking of knitting, I also started to knit my first shawl. The pattern is called Boneyard Shawl and is available for free at Raverly. So far is going good and it doesn't seem too complicated, but I'll let you know how it goes...

XX
Martha.