Espritpatch

July has been quite productive in the sewing room, which I'm really happy about. Maybe I made up for the lack of sun and summery weather by being creative?  Night dresses for the girls and I, using only my stash 🙂 And 2 little baskets made from the scrap baskets, with 2 more in progress Plus some hand sewing progress, working on the assembly of my Dear Jane Linking to July Furtle Céline 

  I can't remember when was the last time I picked up my Dear Jane but it was a very long time ago... so I'm happy that over the course of last week I've sewn row D to the top.  I have to fix a part of the seam between row B and row C but that I have finally unpicked too. Hoping to sew it back this coming week.  Linking to  to  Put your foot down ,  Brag about your Beauties ,   Off the wall Friday ,  Can I get a Whoop Whoop ,  Peacock Party ,  Patchwork and Quilt Céline 

  A quilting related little project, it had been a long time! I seem to be spending all my sewing time on dressmaking lately! Maybe the appeal of this particular project was that it is a fast and fun make? Anyway I joined more or less after the party, the rainbow scrappy basket quilt along organised by the Crafty Nomad last week-end. I picked my green scrap box for my first basket  The quilt as you go piece is quite fun to make and goes together quickly. The trickiest part is sewing the base to the side piece.  I had the perfect piece for the lining in my pile of larger scraps.  With the binding on, the basket is ready to be filled! Next on my list was a raid through my powder blue scraps to make a little basket for lit l my friend.  I had to use 2 different fabrics for the lining as I didn't have enough of the first one I selected.  Ready to be gifted! With those baskets, I've spent at least 15 minutes sewing most days last week, encouraged by  Kate'...

Finished and worn already! I decided not to stop on my nightwear making adventure to make myself a new night dress with the leftover panda fabric. I used the  Lark Tee by Grainline Studio  with the same alteration I had used before.  This time I cut short sleeves.  The only difference this time is I made the scoop neck for the summer version and also used Again I didn't hem the sleeves or the bottom of the dress but simply serged them. Another finish for July and one that is already happily used.  And last week, I am happy to report that I have spent at least 15 minutes on sewing activities most days, which hadn't happened for such a long time, encouraged by  Kate's challenge . Linking to  Put your foot down ,  Off the wall Friday ,   Patchwork and Quilt ,  D esign Wall Monday ,  Midweek Makers ,  Wednesday Wait Loss ,  Happy Needle and Threa d Céline 

Happy to report that I have finished the 2 PJs I had cut out about a week ago. Those were made using the trusted and reliable 11th hour gear pattern , probably my list used pattern! I cut a size 16 for my eldest, the t-shirt is a little long but that's OK. And I cut a size 10 for my youngest.  No sewing at all the previous week but I caught up on Sunday by making the pandas PJs for my eldest. I used black ribbing for the short waisband which I cut out of tubular ribbing so kept as one piece.  and cut out 2 cute pandas from the scraps for the labels so they are very soft and won't be itchy against the skin. Tried and adopted straight away! I even managed to sew the zebras PJ for her younger sister, which I finished on Monday night. I  used a cute "zebra-style" ribbing for her waistband since the short is plain fabric and again I cut out 2 zebras from the scraps for the labels. I didn't hemmed the sleeves, legs pour bottom of the t-shirts but I serged them all for a...

  Helen recently reminded us that we are at the   halfway point of this year’s Fettle Those Finishes so a good time to look back at THE list to see if anything had at least progressed a little since the beginning of the year, sadly only 2 out of 15 quilting projects have seen some (little) progress and none is yet finished. Of the 3 dressmaking project, none have been picked up (I have made other clothes from start to finish though!) 1.  Impromptu (started 2013) - now quilted and needing binding  2. Harry Potter (started 2019)   -  additional blocks made so about 70% of the blocks are now completed  3. Farmer's Wife 1920 quilt (started 2011) 4. Farmer's Wife 1930 quilt (started 2015) 5. Enchanted Star (started 2019) 6. Gipsy Wife (started 2017) 7. Project 48 (started 2016) 8. Mini Series blocks (started 2022) 9. Kingfisher Quilt (started 2018) 10. 365 Challenge Quilt (started 2015)  11. Halo Quilt (started 2020) 12. Boho Heart (started 2021) ...

  PJs have been on my to-do list for a long time. Not sure why it has taken me so long to pick up a simple and fast project, for which I have all I need in my stash. Anyway, I finally got some of my jersey fabric out a few weeks ago and asked the girls to take their pick.  I first made a pair of shorts for my eldest daughter to wear with her nightdress. Great to make it all from my stash and a really quick make too... Next I cut out 1 PJ set for each girl once they had made their fabric selections. Ready to be assembled, hopefully this will be for this week. Linking to  Put your foot down ,  Brag about your Beauties ,   Off the wall Friday ,  Can I get a Whoop Whoop ,  Peacock Party ,  Patchwork and Quilt ,  D esign Wall Monday ,  Midweek Makers ,  Wednesday Wait Loss ,  Happy Needle and Threa d . Céline 

 Half of the year is over so it's a good time to check with the goals! I missed the quarterly check point already! Looking at what I had planned/ hoped for in December to assess whether I've made progress or just forgot about some projects altogether. Time to make new plans maybe or to realign some! Quilting:  I had listed 3 quilts to finish:  the Impromptu quilt - quilted, need binding  the Farmer's Wife - no progress  the mini Storm at Sea - finished and hanging in the living room 4 to progress: the Boho Heart - no progress Harry Potter - great progress as I'm over half way trig the blocks now Dear Jane - no progress another UFO - no progress Dressmaking I had listed 2 pieces to finish: the Morgan Jeans and the Winter Coat but haven't touched either I had planned to make a blouse, 2 jersey dresses, 1 night dress and some PJ for the girls.  I've made 2 blouses, 2 dresses (almost! But not jersey) and am about to start the PJ for the girls Bags, accessories ...

  This was quite a last-minute make but thankfully it was a fast sew! I had seen the "Defi Declic" on IG organised by Atelier Scammit with their lovely free pattern and had planned to make one before the end of June, apart that again time crept up on me... I finally cut the pattern and washed the fabric on Tuesday last week, cut the top and ironed on the interfacing on Wednesday night before assembling the top on Thursday. It is quite an easy sew with just 4 pieces and the instructions are very clear, with lots of videos (which I must admit I didn't (need to ) watch). The top has some lovely details with the folds on the front shoulders for example. It is sewn with French seams (which could be a bit more difficult to manage with a thicker fabric in places) so has a very neat finish - and made me use an appropriate label! The front neckline has a lovely V shape, maybe a little low for some but I am ok with it. I used a classic hem for the bottom of the blouse and the armh...