Finished trousers

I am finished my dog walking trousers, but once again I think they are too good to get muddy. The other thing about moleskin (not real moleskin, just given that title because of the feel of the fabric) it is designed to keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer so lining is not an option.......this fabric stretches and goes out of shape with only one wearing, the pile goes flat and they generally look shabby straight away......cord does the same IMHO.......but these fabrics are ideal for what I want so I have to put up and shut up.I used chalk to transfer the markings from the pattern to my fabric.

I then thread traced so that I would have markings on both sides.

I used organza to stop the slant pocket from stretching and stitched it on by handusing a herringbone stitch.....I thought iron on interfacing would flatten the pile.

Here they are same as usual, I took a few pictures but they were absolutely appalling, this was the best one and no these are not my dog walking shoes lol
I went to Linton tweeds.....I mentioned in my last post......here is the fabric I bought, the assistant gave me some labels to stitch into my garments.

Busy

I have been busy for a few months with our kitchen extension, it's nearly finished now but it shows the rest of the house up... that will have to be decorated now...... tut..... I'm fed up with it.....I am not that keen on housework.
I have been busy sewing a pair of moleskin trousers for dog walking ( the last couple of pairs of moleskin trousers were RTW and they are nearly thread bare so I am desperate for new ones) RTW moleskins are really expensive some are £120 a pair. I have the waistband to put on and the hems to do.
We went to Carlisle yesterday and I went into Linton Tweeds to see what their fabrics were like. There were some beautiful Tweeds and their wool crepes are lovely for skirts and trousers.....well I couldn't come away with nothing, could I? I bought 4 metres of black wool crepe for a pair of tailored trousers and a skirt. I looked at the Tweeds (for my first jacket) but I didn't want anything that had to be matched.....I ended up with a black textured wool with sparkly bits in it and what looks like little bits of ribbon woven into it. I have no idea when I will get round to sewing these beautiful fabrics.....it cost me £150. They were reasonably priced for what they described as couture fabrics..
There was a striped wool fabric in red, blue and cream which had been used by Chanel and this was the remnant that was left, not my taste, then there was a beautiful textured wool but it was in a sickly sweet bright pink which was also a remnant from Chanel.
I will take some pictures of my new fabrics when I get some time.
It is nice to be sewing, my wardrobe is getting very sparse and shabby so I really need some quick projects, I might sew a few knits.
The silk blouse in the post below has never been worn yet, for some reason I am not that keen on it......never mind, I might wear it next summer.

Finished silk shirt

Here are the pictures of my finished silk shirt.....I'm not that keen on it for all of the frustration I've had......I prefer cotton or linen if I am honest, I will wear it though.

From the back.

From the front.....there isn't anything more I can say about this shirt other than .......it's alright.....not worth the money I spent on it.

My Garden

The flowers are starting to open in my garden so I thought I would take a few pictures, anyway we have the plasterers in the kitchen today so I am keeping out of the mess.

I have waited 2 years for this poppy, but worth the wait.

Another view.

My Clematis is just starting to flower.

Hostas and lupins.

Another variety of Hosta.

Sky likes to help in the garden too.

She is definately posing for this one.

I noticed when reading some blogs of the ladies in America that their Iris were in full flower, my Iris have just started to bud up. I can see a couple of them are ready to bloom.
I am finished my silk shirt, I finished it this morning while the plasterers were in. I am sick of this garment, I have made more mistakes on it than enough. I was really careful doing the buttonholes, stitching on the buttons and doing the hem, by hand, but I am not out of the woods yet! I tried to rub a few of the markings off with a clean wet cloth......some of them have come off but some of them haven't..... I have worried about this fabric until the end.....I will wear it a couple of times then rinse it in cold water to, hopefully, remove the markings then wash it properly. When I get myself looking respectable I will take a picture of me wearing it.

Living in chaos

Here are a few pictures of my kitchen.....it definately isn't a kitchen at the moment.....

The old ceiling had to come down, the steel girder is where the outside wall used to be.

I have lightened these pictures so much that Sky's grey muzzle is showing.....she doesn't like change or being disturbed. She hasn't slept properly during the day since the disruption started and she doesn't like strangers in the house.

View from my new kitchen windows.....my beautiful Acer has had a battering.

There is nothing much left of my small garden, this is supposed to be my patio....it is just a dumping ground at them moment. My old ceiling is in the plastic bags.

Beautiful new windows....if only the inside looked as good.

We now have 3 times as many windows in the kitchen but we still have lost a lot of light, it is darker than I thought it would be....I still love it though.

I have made more mistakes on this shirt than anything else I have ever made, in fact it has nearly gone in the bin a couple of times. The last huge mistake was while overlocking the hem I slashed into the body of the shirt with the knife on the machine (I have done this before on a grey skirt I was making, you think I would learn from my mistakes....no!) I was absolutely gutted because this fabric wasn't cheap, I had to put it down and walk away until I composed myself and thought about what I was going to do. I couldn't cut it down to where the cut was because it would be too short.....first of all I invisibly mended it with silk thread then I cut off 1/4" at a time all the way around the hem twice, the mistake was then turned under into the hem, I am hand stitching it because I need to be in full control, one more mistake and it will be ruined. There is too much going on in my mind and I am not concentrating on what I am doing.

Too much mess

I haven't blogged for a few days now but to say we have major disruption in our house is an understatement.
The builders have been in , on and off, for three weeks now and they are nearing the end of the extension to our kitchen, the windows and door are due next week. We have ordered all of the kitchen units, fridge freezer, range and dishwasher, we need the plasterer to plaster the new walls and skim all of the old walls, the list goes on.
I am still sewing, even if it is just a little, and am progressing with my silk shirt, I have just put the sleeves in that leaves the side seams, cuffs, buttons and buttonholes.
Yesterday I bought some more RTW tops for the summer, I just wasted my time because none of them fit, I get spoilt sewing my own stuff because I always find fault with RTW, now I have to take them all back.....tut
I will try to get photos of my shirt.......when I've got time.
On a different note, I got 2nd with my lovely little girl Piper in an open dog competition a couple of weeks ago.....I was absolutely delighted. (Open competitions are for older more experienced dogs and are difficult to win or even get placed.)

Silk shirt

I have started another shirt the same as the white one and the flowered one .....my thoughts were, we have the builders in and I still wanted to sew so I thought I would do a TNT project so there is no stress just straight forward sewing.......huh!!!!!!!??????......that's what I thought.

This was not the time to use my favourite silk which cost me over £50. It is a pain in the a.....to work with, in fact at one stage I was just going to fold it up and put it away in my box and leave it there.

This is the villain in question.

This pattern has a yoke and the front shoulder seam has to have a stay to stop it from stretching.I tried organza

this was just to stiff and made the seam wavy. Then I tried batiste

this also made the seam wavy and was just to heavy for the delicate silk. I then used self fabric, cutting it on the straight grain so it wouldn't stretch.....still not suitable.....at this point I just wanted to fold it up and put it away.

This morning I decided I wouldn't put any stay in at all, everything is too heavy, so I decided to put a couple of rows of stay stitching in the seam before I sew it

this is a little better but as I have pulled this seam out about 3 times it has eventually stretched it but I am going to persevere with it and see if I can salvage it. The trouble is the V neck on the shirt and the back neck also has to have a stay and I will just have to put staystitching there as well. I wonder how this will turn out, will I have a beautiful silk shirt at the end of it or will it go back into my box and never see the light of day.

Stash

This is my collection of fabrics or stash as everyone calls it......this is a blanket box that I have had for about 40 years, it was covered with quilted vinyl and had yellow flowers all over it so I recovered it and I keep my precious fabrics inside, it keeps them dust and grime free. This is all the stash I have, there maybe 20 or so different fabrics, I won't buy anymore until there is room inside for more...... as you can see it is full to the brim with fabrics that I love. The flowered fabric on top is what is left over from my latest project.

I am still not quite sure about the design on this shirt but the fabric is really lovely to wear.
This fits a lot better than the white shirt since I altered the neckline.
I like it open like this, I think the white camisole underneath breaks up the flowered pattern.
I think I will get some wear out of this in the summer, I didn't think I would wear it at all but it is growing on me just like the flowers lol lol. As you can see I have no furniture or carpets in my dining room, we have builders in at the moment we are having our kitchen extended.

My desk is cleared for my next project......same pattern but green silk, this is lovely fabric.

Shopping again

I went shopping on Sunday of all days when the world and its children were out shopping...tut.....anyway I bought some fabric for more shirts and at last some fabric for a relaxed jacket and more linen for trousers. The thing is, and this is not an excuse to buy fabric, but I have to buy what I like when I see it otherwise it would be gone when I go back if that makes sense lol lol

Above.....from the left.....dark navy linen for trousers, £14.50 a metre.....good quality. Breathable lining in navy and sage £9.95 a metre, this is beautiful lining from John Lewis.

Above from the left .......a herringbone linen, it is blue but in fact it might be more of a violet, lovely colour, for a relaxed jacket, I am not quite sure if I suit tailored jackets, this was £13.50 a metre. The other fabric is for a shirt and is described as an ethnic floral and is £12 a metre, very pretty colours and is a viscose.

I am not quite sure about these 2 fabrics.....they are both 100% cotton the white is a slub weave at £6 a metre, the blue is an Oxford cotton also at £6 a metre both fabrics are for shirts but they feel a little stiff to me......maybe if I wash them a few times it will soften them up.

I posted I had bought this bag the other day.....well I tried to get all of my stuff in and it was just too small so I returned it and bought this one

Lovely soft tan leather.....scrummy if that is the right word.

I also needed some new make up.....well not really but I couldn't resist these from my favourite Clarins........eye shadow palette, a highlighter for cheek bones and brow arches and anywhere else you care to highlight and a tinted lip balm, all summer colours apparently.

Last but not least a dark maroon.....darker than it looks here.....nail varnish, there were four in a pack, this is one of them.

My flowery shirt only needs the cuffs , buttonholes and buttons stitched on.....I like it better than I did but I'm still not sure....my husband says he would wear it, not in my size he wouldn't lol lol

Comparison

I have been compairing the shape of RTW shirts to the shirts that I make.

I know they are two totally different styles but the shape of the RTW on the left just doesn't flatter my shape at all infact I think it makes me look rather matronly and frumpy.......the one on the left which was handmade suits my shape a lot better even though I haven't quite got the fitting right over the shoulders.
I have bought more fabric for shirts I will take photographs later, we have got builders in at the moment.....ugh.... more mess.

Ready to wear

I bought 3 tops when I went shopping yesterday and I'm not quite sure that I love any of them. I think I am so used to making my things I really don't know what to buy and if I am satisfied with the fit of them.

This is the first one, I don't mind the fabric, I think the style is a little young for me, I like the colour but I don't think I suit collars.

This little dog does make me laugh..........anyway on to the second, this fabric isn't very good it is also a dirty white......I think it is a poor quality voil, I don't like the grandad collar on this one, so this one is definitely a NO, even though Sky seems to like it lol lol

Very bad photograph......I love this fabric, it is linen and very pretty colours but it is one of those styles that makes you look pregnant, I am not keen on the neckline so I don't think I will be keeping this one either.

So I dont like any of these tops and the fabric of my latest project is awful.......I'm really having a great time......NOT

I really love this,

which I bought to go with these,

I'm not sure about this fabric at all......ugh....I thought it was a really sweet, feminine, airy, summer cotton but it just reminds me of my grandma's flowerey all in one aprons that she used to wear. I should follow my instincts and I should know after all of my mistakes that I am a plain and simple sort of person and I just don't suit busy fabric designs. I am going to finish it though.
I have got the neckline done, I actually altered the neckline by taking a 1/4" wedge from the front neckline and tapering to nothing at the armsye, I am hoping this will stop the shoulder seams pulling to the back but .....who knows.

I pinned a sleeve in just to see if it would look a little bit better......no it doesn't.

It is lovely fabric and sews up beautifully, maybe I can wear it as sleepwear lol lol