Festival Dreaming!

I've been busy. And not "I've sewn myself a new wardrobe" busy, but "I'm working overtime with a sinus infection to get money for Glastonbury" busy.

So. Yeah. I'm going to Glastonbury.

Oh jesus christ. via UluCampaigner

I'm excited, sure, music and drinking and camping and good times... but the one thing I'm thinking about?

WHAT THE HELL DO I WEAR?

I mean, what do you wear when you're a high-maintenance-fashion sort of person who owns ten pairs of heels but only one pair of trainers? When you haven't worn a pair of jeans in five years? When, quite frankly, all you want to do is look fabulous but you know you'll ruin every item of clothing you take with you and probably lose things in mud.

Enter my main thought.

Sammi Sadler

A chambray/denim shirtwaist. Not exactly like this, a bit fuller, smaller buttons, shorter sleeves.. Light enough to be cool if the weather is nice, easy enough to throw cardigans/coats/jackets over if cold, and frankly would look adorable paired with wellies [which is very high up on my "buy for Glasto" list.], a big ol' satchel full of my belongings and booze [already bought that!], a pair of sunnies and my hair done up in a bandanna.

You may be able to tell, but "practicality" isn't my strong suit.

Are you off to any festivals this year? Maybe to Glasto too?
And if so, what would be your perfect Festival Wardrobe? Or would you be able to swallow your pride and just wear jeans and t-shirts like normal, non-high-maintenance people would do?

I'd love to hear any ideas you might come up with - any casual glam thoughts? Because, let's be honest, no one is going to be looking like Dita Von Teese at Coachella.

Melody ♪

I'm Not A Pink Person.

Yes, that is a badly drawn Grumpy Cat.

And yet I'm going to TRY, damnit.
You remember the unknown-origin sheeting I tried to dye a while back? I decided I had so much of it I needed to do something with it.

Something.

Anything.

I originally planned to make a dress with New Look 6723, which I bought for a ludicrously low price at a fabric shop near my boyfriend's house around a year ago. I cut out everything, started to make the bodice, and by the time it had formed and I was thinking about the zip, I stared at this pink half-dress with disdain and pushed it aside.

The thought of making a plain pink dress bothered me. And it bothered me enough to not pick up the bodice for a whole two months. See. I'm not a pink person.

Back in february I tweeted this picture, musing to myself that if I painted red stripes onto the dress, surely that would work? It would ease me into a false sense of security, because technically I'm wearing red, right? And the pattern would stop me from thinking I'd turned into a pretty pink princess for just a second. As Roisin said, it would make a garment wearable for me.

Big/small, big/big, small/small

All I'd like to know, my dear readers - is does this actually work? Is pink and red one of those colour combinations that don't work? Or is it perfect and I should set about making a dress like this out of it right this instant? Maybe not the stripes? If so, let me know what pattern to make - Just drop me a comment with what you would do with some pink fabric and red fabric paint!

Readers, I need your help!

Melody ♪

How on Earth Do You Pronounce "Dirndl" Anyway?

Is it "Dern-dill"?

Either way, I made one.

I like a Drindl skirt, it's just a length of fabric gathered or pleated to the waist, and voila! Instant, voluminous skirt with endless possibilities!

This lace was a remnant given into the charity shop I volunteer at and since we don't sell fabric at our shop, often I come home with bits and pieces of fabric that may or may not be made into something. This lace, however, was just enough to make a skirt.

I know what you're going to say "Another black item, Melody. We are disappoint." I know, guys, I know it's black, BUT the fabric was free, right? Does that not count? Not even a little bit?

Even if you're disappointed, I'm certainly not. The lace is a lovely soft net lace overlay with a lovely little scalloped selvedge, with a cotton lining from my stash. I have a LOT of black cotton in my stash.

I didn't want to lose the scalloped selvedges against the black lining, instead making a feature of it, so I did make the overlay a bit longer to create a slightly scalloped shape because really, who doesn't love a scalloped hem? [If you have answered "me" to that question, we might just have to break up.] Sadly that.. didn't come up in the picture, because my petticoat ended up sticking out and hiding it for me... Damn you, petticoat.

As with all my other skirts, it has an interfaced waistband with hook and eye closure, and an invisible side zip, with side seam pockets, because I find anything without pockets as frankly useless garments, I need pockets damnit!
I'm actually planning on making up a tutorial for inserting pockets into side seams with zips, if you'd definitely be up for that, I'm happy to get that together for you in the future! Just let me know in the comments.

 

So it's not really a colour challenge like I was planning, but this skirt is a nice little staple item that can be worn with so many things, I think it deserves a little round of applause for being cute and lace-y? And really, where can you go wrong with a Little Black Skirt?

• Fabric:
  Net lace overlay [gifted], cotton lining [stash], canvas interfacing [stash]
• Pattern:
  None! All done on measurements.
• Notions:
  Invisible zip [stash], hook and eye fastenings [stash], thread [£6]
• Time to Complete:
  5 hours, from start to finish.
• Make again?:
  Yes! A dirndl is a great little skirt that can be made from any fabric, and great for a quick project!
• Total price:
  £6. For the thread I had to buy half way through making it. The rest was all stash/free!

£6 for a skirt is one thing I doubt anyone would complain about! But by all means, let me know what you think about it in the comments!

Have a great weekend, dahlings~!

Melody♪

I'm Still Around, I Promise!

March has come upon us, and let's be honest, the cold weather and winds of England are getting tiresome.

I have been sewing, in between regular visits to London to see my boyfriend, work, volunteering and the dreaded "spring cleaning" that's happening, it's just the idea of getting everything up together to photograph that's proving not too easy.

Another problem I'm having is finances, the months after Christmas are often pricey for me, my boyfriend's birthday, our anniversary and valentines, mother's day, and then my brother and his girlfriend's birthday [they're 18 this year and I bought him his passport - bank account says OUCH] all happen before March is even done, and I'm finding myself unable to budget in fabric at all. [can we all just appreciate that minimum wage is a terrible place to be?]

So alongside my Sewlutions to start wearing colour [More on that in a later post, I promise!], I've decided to add a new Sewlution - STASHBUST.

I don't have a large stash, but in 10 of these 11 boxes is a mix of fabrics, some silk scraps from university, some dyed fabric gone wrong, and some lengths of fabrics that can easily be made into something.
It's quite nice, in some ways, not having the money to buy fabric, because you can see potential in what you have, and it can force you to step out of your comfort zone on pieces of fabric that you put away to "work on when you have the knowledge"

So forgive me, my dear readers, for I planned to be proactive with blogging and start my way into my internet famous ideas, and so far all that's happened is radio silence.
We've already gone through that I'm not too good at promises, but you guys take the time to follow and read my blog - you at least deserve some content! I'll be good, now!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, and for all the mothers in the blogosphere - Happy Mothers Day!

Melody ♪

I'm in the Jar!

I've never been good at keeping promises.

Especially to myself, I go "I WILL do this, and it will be fabulous!" and it comes around to the time where I address what I've done and... nope. Didn't do it.

Karen is a special sort of crazy, and has recorded a whopping amount of 187 sewing resolutions for 2013, stuck them in a jar, and come the beginning of next year, those 187 people will be held accountable to her and her blog about the resolutions.

I only put one of my sewing resolutions in the jar, and that's because I fear this will be the one thing that I won't stick to - I'm seemingly afraid of colour. I like red, sure, but my clothing is predominantly BLACK.
And black is cool, I suppose, but ultimately boring.

So I pledge, that by this time next year I will have branched out from my plain blacks and reds;
I will make at the absolute least three items that are not black. 
I will make at least three items that are not plain. 
I will also step out of my comfort zone and make at least one non-full-skirted dress/skirt, one dress with sleeves, and step away from concealed zips on dresses. 

These are my pledges, and once I'm standing before Did You Make That, I will have made some beautiful clothes that are not black.

Ideas and inspiration for using/working with patterned fabric and/or getting some colour into the wardrobe are quite welcome!

Melody ♪