A blue half circle skirt

blue half circle skirt

This is my new half circle skirt. Self-drafted and made in a cobalt blue poly crepe.

Sounds pretty simple hey? Well to be honest, in principle it was. And it would have been a swifty project if I’d have remembered a couple of simple things.

ALWAYS MARK YOUR SELF-DRAFTED PATTERN PIECES AS SOON AS YOU’VE DRAWN THEM

Why? Well in my case, I have a fair few circle and half-circle skirt pieces that I’ve not only drafted for myself, but for others too. And in my haste I’d just labelled them ‘skirt front’ or ‘full circle’ and one just said ‘circle skirt piece no SA’. The latter was helpful, at least to know that I needed to add a seam allowance but none were any help at all to know if it was the right waist measurement, the right length, a full or half circle etc. What a twit!

blue half circle skirt

So first job was to redraft another, to my size. And second job was to ensure all that info was written bold and clear on the pattern piece for future use.

I’d already prewashed my fabric, so that was a win. The number of times I’ve been fired up to sew and didn’t have prepared fabric to hand is way too many to count. But swifty projects aren’t very swifty at all if you haven’t factored in to…

ALLOW A CIRCLE SKIRT TO HANG AT LEAST OVERNIGHT BEFORE HEMMING

Sewing a circle or half circle really doesn’t take that long but don’t bank on whipping one up, hours before a party because it has to hang at least overnight to allow the weight of the bias fabric to drop. This will almost definitely result in an uneven hem and will need levelling before hemming. I put mine on a dressmakers dummy but I’m sure if it was hung evenly on a pegged coathanger, you would achieve the same result.

So next there’s the levelling. I put the dressmakers dummy, wearing the skirt, on a table so that the hem is at eye-level. I use a metal rule from table top to my desired length and then mark all round with chalk or pins, rotating the whole dummy rather than spinning it (that’s another long story). I then go round a 2nd time to double check the measurements.

Once trimmed I sewed a quarter inch line of stitches from the edge and pressed up a hem. I stitched and in this case didn’t need to turn over again. But that might be necessary if fabric is more fraying.

blue half circle skirt

The lining of course needs the same treatment.

I rarely hate on any aspect of sewing, but I discovered this morning that I truly hate levelling, trimming and narrow-hemming lining fabric for a circle skirt, like massively!

It appears I’ve only made one other half circle skirt before, but it was so long ago, it’s well and truly worn out! So as much as I love this colour blue – quite unusual for me actually, don’t you think?! – I feel I must make a replacement black one too. And maybe a red as well!

I must at this point just big up my 12 year-old daughter who took these lovely photos for me. It was a very impromtu shoot as I was doing some shots of my eldest daughter who was face-painting in the park. Little Miss O brought her own camera along for some practice and certainly did me proud. Look out dad, someone’s hot on your heels!

Bugsy’s showgirl and a lot of tears.

Bugsy Malone Bangles

Friday was my daughter’s last day as a primary school child. The final school pick up was an emotional one to say the least. There’s been 8 years of to-oing and fro-ing from that lovely little school, including those spent there by my son. And in those 8 years both Dan and I have accumulated as many good friends and memories as our children. Tears were inevitable!

The last couple of weeks have been jam-packed full of parties and celebrations. Back to back, I kid you not! And last week the year 6 children, directed and inspired by their fabulous drama teacher Arwen from Dramatic Dreams, performed an amazing version of Bugsy Malone.They turned all this around in the space of about a week. Pure magic, I can tell you. And I can also tell you how much of a relief it was when I remembered I’d already made a flapper-style dress for my neighbour’s daughter a couple of years ago. So no stressful last minute sewing for this performance… hoorah! Little Miss Ooobop was Bangles.

Bangles sitting on edge of stage

The dress was a simple design. There’s not much hip definition in a year 6 child or a requirement for such in a flapper dress for that matter, so a tube of lycra it was, with a nifty box pleat at the front and back neckline. The rows of fringing were a little more challenging. Sewn on with a zig-zag stitch to retain the stretch but careful not to stretch the fabric too much as I went along.

Waitress in Bugsy Malone

I properly squealed when I found the lovely stretchy sequin trim. It finished the neckline beautifully and was perfect for the feather headband too. Long live Shepherds Bush Market!

Bugsy Malone show girls

The photos you see are of a now-not-so-little girl who not so long ago wouldn’t have been seen dead on stage. She hated any amount of attention and the idea of people watching her on stage made her feel positively sick. I’m so glad that she took those after school drama classes and I’m so proud of her for jumping high over those hurdles. It seriously bought a tear to my eye watching her confidence soar on stage in front of parent-packed audience.

Bangles in Bugsy Malone

It’s true to say I am so very proud of ALL of the children. All singing, dancing, performing, netballing, chess-playing, footballing, maths and English prize-winning activities aside, they are a truly amazing bunch of kind, caring and gorgeous children and there is no doubt in my mind that each and every one of them is destined for an amazing future.

Bugsy Malone show girls

Oh good Lord. I’m off again!!! 🙁

Bugsy Malone show girls

This may be good bye to primary school years but I’m sure it won’t be goodbye to costume making. Besides the Dorothy dress and the Wild Thing for World Book Day, I also made a Poison Ivy cape for my eldest daughter who left school a long time ago!

All credit for these beautiful photos goes to Michelle Moradi.

Burda birdie drawstring top

blue bird drawstring top

I knew I’d make another one of these. I just needed another metre of fun chiffon and this little birdie print was perfect. All totally synthetic of course but I’m learning not to be such a fabric snob in my old age and hey… you can’t argue at £2.50 a metre!

I had a couple of issues with the last one I made, namely the size of the armholes. It transpires that this was partially due to the stretch in the other fabric because the alterations I made – namely ditching the side seam allowance and raising the underarm point by 1 inch – have made a larger difference than anticipated. But its all good and there will be no fashion faux pas when wearing this one!

blue bird drawstring top

Advisable to seam the sides with French seams. It gives a very satisfying finish but the instructions provided are otherwise very simple to follow.

Below is a pic of the back view as requested. Exactly the same as the front, in case you thought I might have the ability to rotate my head a whole 180 degrees! And you also get to see the print a bit better here too.

blue bird drawstring top back view

Actually. Maybe they’re not birdies. Maybe they are the little fluffy bits from a dandelion clock. Hey ho. Cute all the same!

Since my last post, the instructions for the pattern are free to download from Burdastyle here. It’s called the Summer Tank 05/2013. If you are not already a member I can assure you it’s worth the registration with this site. The gallery is constantly being updated with inspirational uploads from fellow sewists and there are plenty of other free pattern downlads available among the great ones you can purchase.

Thanks as always to Mr O for the great photography. He snapped these literally in seconds this evening. That birthday camera was worth its weight in gold! 😉

Blue suede shoes… and no silly walks!

blue suede shoes

Well you could’ve knocked me down when I saw these in Clarks! And in the sale… and they’re wide fitting (for my stupidly square feet) and so blue and soooo incredibly comfy and now they are mine!

They go by the name of Camelia Kate and a bargain, methinks, at £34.99. Here’s a link if they make you go ‘ooo’ and you fancy a pair too!

More often than not I will go for quirk over comfort when it comes to shoes, and that usually rules out Clarks, but these little beauties ticked all boxes and were defo one for the money! They have little spongy bits to soothe the ball of your foot which means I don’t look like a member of the ‘Ministry of Silly Walks’ when I come home from work! (usually like the lady with the tea tray)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZlBUglE6Hc]
And before you ask, no of course I don’t have anything for them to go with, that would be plain silly!