Sigh,I want to sew something..........

......but my mojo has disappeared! Have you seen it?? If you have please give it a good kick back in my general direction, I will be looking out for it!

Not sure why I am having this unmotivated moment - well, more than one moment actually! I don't know what to sew or where to start. Whenever my day off rolls around I am determined to get into my sewing room at some stage during the day - but it never happens! I am getting to the stage that I am annoyed at myself for not feeling like sewing - because I really want to make some clothes!! How can I have the desire to make new clothes yet not the desire to actually sew!?!

I know I need to start off with something very simple that will go together quickly. A long term project is not what I need at the moment. I have got some lovely fabrics sitting there but I am not sure if I want to make them up yet - I have joined the gym and know my size and shape will be changing over the next few months, maybe that is at the heart of my lack of motivation to actually sew?!

Maybe the trick is to choose some of the fabrics that have been there a while already, and make up a few simple garments for early summer - I am getting desperately short of clothes for this transitional time of year, especially as we are having strange weather! I need some basics to see me through the next couple of months.

Any ideas anyone? Got any motivational tips for me - or know of where I can look to find my mojo? Is there a lost mojo department anywhere? Should I post in the 'lost and found'? I wouldn't know how to describe it, but I sure miss it right now! Lol.

Forgive me, it has been two seeks since my last post!!

Apologies, I can't quite believe it has been that long since I last posted! Time flies! There has been a lot going on lately, both at the shop and at home. On the home front, our eldest son (21) has moved down to Wellington! He has been planning it for months and he finally left on Wednesday. He has a job as a builders labourer (a first for him, he has worked in retail and as a teacher aide - tools and building materials will be a new experience :-)) that he starts very soon and then he plans to apply for uni to start in March. He will do a BA for 3 years and then a year of teacher training to be a primary teacher.

I have loved having him back home for past year or so and will miss him being around (he is my style consultant too!!) but I am so excited for him. He is more than ready to start living his life and being totally independant. As long as he is happy and doing well, then I am happy!

This photo was taken at his 21st birthday meal with our youngest son, their girlfriends and my nephew. Liam is the one with the bunny ears :-)

We have been spending a lot of time in the garden at the weekends too, my DH is enjoying growing veggies - I think he is hooked! Neither of us thought we would ever enjoy gardening but it seems we were wrong :-) I need to try to find a good balance between spending time outside and spending time in my sewing room! I want some new clothes to wear this summer as well as some home grown veggies on my plate.

On the sewing front - nothing! I am thoroughly annoyed with myself! I have got so many things I want to make but can't seem to find any motivation at all. I did cut out a cardi-wrap in this teal blue which I will make for my Mum for Xmas. I love mine and think she will enjoy wearing it. I am going to make my Dad a pair of cotton pj pants for lounging around in - I will use a Kiwiana cotton fabric which he will love!

I have got a few things planned for my day off tomorrow but I would like to get into my sewing room at some stage. I was hoarding three large bags of fabric that I knew I would never use, last week I took them to the Hospice shop and now I feel so much better! I was originally going to sell the fabric on Trademe but it was blocking my creative flow!! Every time I walked in my room it was there, mocking me, staring at me, taunting me - as fabric does!?! Now it is gone.

Work wise we have had our local quilt show which took place over Labour weekend. It is always good to see what the local guild has been working on and seeing new faces too. We sponsor a challenge and this year the theme was 'Recycle', the finished item had to contain something recycled and the winning piece was very cleverly done and was a person with a coathanger head and cardboard clothes labels for arms and legs! I forgot to take a photo though! How silly of me. The quilt show makes for a long weekend as we work there on our stand, it is fine if it is busy but the quiet times can get a bit boring!

My latest BWOF (Burda World of Fashion - now Burda Style but it will always be BWOF to me!) has just arrived so that will hopefully provide some inspiration. Unfortunately it is the September issue and we are coming into summer but I will still enjoy reading it and making 'pie in the sky' plans!

Mid-week murmerings!

This will be a weird Wednesday...because I am having my day off today instead of Friday! It feels strange already and it is only just past 9am!

Thank you all for putting up with my slight negativity in my last post, I feel much better now :-) I gave myself a good talking to and loved the motto Heather posted in her comment - I have decided to 'act and then get motivated'! From past experience I know that if I start to see results I will feel more encouraged so this saying has lots of truth - it is my new phrase! Who says you have to be motivated before you attempt something? Attempt it first and then motivation will follow!

I tried on the red skirt from my last post - and guess what? It is too BIG! I remember feeling awful in this when I made it, apart from being cheesed off that the zip wasn't right and the yoke seam wasn't in the most flattering place - but when I tried it on yesterday it is at least 2" too big round my waist! So...obviously that has given me a big boost and I intend to finish it today to wear over the weekend when we have our local Quilt Show (we will be there with the shop). I really love the applique on this skirt - it was an idea I saw on a RTW skirt - which is probably why I wanted to save the skirt rather than just toss it in the bin!

I will post photos later :-)

What's next.....?

I keep asking myself that question and have been since I finished the silver trench. I really can't decide. I think that it is partly because I have so many things I want to do and just don't know where to start - and partly bacause I really want to lose some weight and don't want to spend a lot of time and effort on making things that won't fit in a few months time.

I know............I shouldn't be thinking about that because I should just dress the body I have now and worry about the rest later, and I should remember that if I feel good now at my current size and shape then I will likely feel more motivated to succeed. I am not happy with how I look and feel which is compounded with not having nice clothes to wear, so I know that if I made myself something nice I would feel better! I know all that.......but I am still stuck!!!

Also, I have a few UFO's around that make me feel guilty of starting anything else.

This red linen skirt has been in this state for months. I put in an invisible zip that I 'found' in my drawer - but it wasn't a proper invisible zip and I couldn't get close to the teeth, so I ripped it out and now have to go and get another one (not too hard, right?!). I also didn't feel that the yoke was in a very flattering place so might take a bit off the top of the skirt. I already have the lining made ready to go too.

This muslin for trousers has been cut out and pinned for weeks. All I have to do is stitch 4 seams together and try them on to give me an idea of whether I am going to have any major fitting issues.

I have also got a charcoal grey knit skirt cut out and waiting, and just need to hem the teal denim skirt I made for the August Wardrobe in a Week (which is too tight!).

So...............which one am I thinking of starting with??? Would you believe me if I said none of them? Of course you would - you saw it coming didn't you??? :-)

I have had this beautiful purple knit in my stash for a few months. I originally ordered it with one of the Hot Patterns 3 Graces t-shirts in mind, so I have got 3 metres. I haven't read very positive feedback about this pattern so have decided not to order it yet, but I do love the crossover tops and have got this Jalie pattern in my stash.

The colour didn't photograph that well, in real life it is much richer and a more red purple - very regal! If I remember rightly from what I have read, Jalie patterns run quite small so I will go to Pattern Review and see what others have said about it first.

Thank you for reading my ramblings! I hope my post didn't come across as too negative. By the way, I am not looking for comments of the 'you don't need to lose weight' kind. I am overweight - fact. I am doing something about it before it affects my health (breast cancer and heart problems in both sides of my family) but I do find it a struggle.

Rest assured this will not become a weight loss blog. On the other hand, I am using my sewing as a motivational tool and reminding myself of all the lovely patterns I own and all the fabric I have in my stash that can become a lovely wardrobe. Sometimes that thinking has the reverse effect because I feel I have to wait until I am slimmer to start making myself nice things!

To top it off I have caught my son's cold, so I am dosing myself up with home made lemon, honey and ginger - I think it's helping and if not, who cares, it tastes lovely :-)

Not much to show...

...for my day off! I have had a very lazy day today, although I had very good intentions Lol! I had to go to the Post Office this morning, then I whizzed in to Starbucks for my Friday treat (Caramel Machiato, venti size!) which also included a muffin - yum!! I sat with my coffee and read my book for a while, and before I knew it, it was lunch time!

Oh well, sometimes it doesn't hurt to do absolutely nothing on your day off. I did spend a little time in my sewing room playing around with the new stamp set my Mum and Dad sent out for me, that was after spending a good half an hour - ok, maybe an hour!?!, on Splitcoaststampers looking for ideas.

So much for my plan to tidy up my sewing room, get some sewing done and plan some new projects :-) It is raining here again, for a change! Can I use that as an excuse for feeling lazy??

Oh well, looks like it's time for an afternoon cuppa..............

New fabric!

I was very restrained when I went to Global Fabrics in Wellington - I had limited time before we had to get back to the meeting point and was trying hard not to make any rushed purchases that I might regret later......you know the ones I mean!

I knew I wanted some fabric for a maxi dress (I think I want to make one, not 100% sure though!) and something for a couple of spring/summer garments. Here is what I came away with...........

First up was this lovely cotton canvas - it was the second thing that caught my eye as soon as I walked in the door (the first thing was a beautiful olive green leather skin! I have always wanted to make a leather jacket as I can never find one in a colour/style that I like....it will have to wait but at least I know where I can get leather skins from!) Anyway, back to the fabric I did buy! This is quite a wide fabric and on closer inspection I noticed that there is a line through the pattern in the very centre of the width - I am not sure if this is intentional or if the fabric is flawed.



I decided to work with it and make a skirt that shades from the navy/white at the top and have the turquoise at the bottom, using the width of fabric as the length of my skirt. It is 150cm/60" wide and so I will have plenty of width to cut my skirt from, in fact I may have to shorten it a bit as this will be for summer! I will make a very simple style with a facing - possibly a yoke but not sure yet, it might be too fussy with one.

Here is a close up of the line through the middle. If I have any fabric leftover I think it will make a great bag for a Christmas gift.

The second piece I bought is this cotton/lycra fabric, I will use it to make a shirt. I like shirts but rarely make or wear them, this summer I plan to make a few shirts and short sleeved jackets to wear. No idea of a pattern for this one yet.

In the close up you can see that the print is quite large and the colours quite bright but the white makes it fresh and clean looking. I have a pair of emerald green patent wedge sandals on lay-by that will go beautifully with this fabric, I think it would look great with denim.

This is my 'will it/won't it be a maxi dress' fabric! It is a lovely knit that I think has rayon in it - I am annoyed at myself for not taking down the content. It has a lovely hand and drapes beautifully. I love the colours in it and the hem design. If I decide not to make a maxi dress I may make a wrap dress or even a t-shirt and skirt that I can also wear as seperates. I will probably change my mind many times before I make it up! I thought it would be lovely for our holiday to Oz in February but I don't want to make something that I will only wear on holiday - I don't have that many Lol!

Here you can see the scale of the design and, if you look closely, the fruit in the centre of the ovals. The dark colour in the background is actually quite a bright purple! I have a purple knit that will go perfectly with this for bands etc.

A close up of the hem design.

Lastly, a pic of me wearing my silver trench tied. It is still a little crumpled from being in my bag after the weekend. On reflection, I don't think it is as flattering as my RTW trench coat (it doesn't have a belt) but I don't really care - I love it anyway! I forgot to look for buckles when I was away, I probably wouldn't have had time anyway so may look online. In the meantime I have put a temporary button on the sleeve tabs and will tie the belt.

On Friday I plan to have a tidy up in my sewing room and plan a few new projects. I also want to finish off my two skirts from the August Wardrobe in a Week! I am embarassed to say that one just needs a hem! The second one is cut out and should only take a few hours to put together!!

I also need to make a start on making my Xmas cards, I have two new stamp sets to use so have no excuse!!

Sound the Siren for the Silver Trench!!!

I. Have. Finished!!! Woohoo! I have loved making this trench..... I want to make another one!!


It took me the best part of the day to do the finishing touches - belt loops, belt, stitch shoulder pads in, stitch belt loops on, put in lining - actually, not so much finishing touches as a good third of the project Lol! I hadn't really thought about just how long it would take me to finish.

I hadn't felt like sewing in the evenings this week and kept telling myself I would have most of Friday and that I didn't have that much left to do - after all, I had the main coat together and the collar made and ready to go, facings done and lining attached to them....how much longer could it take?? Haha - I had a hair appointment booked for 10.30am, I spent the morning doing some housework and by the time I got back from the hairdressers it was almost lunchtime! In between washing and drying the mountain of washing that had built up during the (very wet!) week, I worked my way through. I finished at 9.30pm!! Phew. I have always been an optimist - but realise I should have done a little bit during the week! Still, it's done - and did I tell you, I love it??

Belt in progress.

Belt loops and belt finished....but I think the belt needs another row of topstitching.

Second row of topstitching on the belt - I realised when I did the second row that I had not used the topstitching thread for the first row! It isn't vastly different but the topstitching thread gives more definition. I used Gutermann Sulky 30 - mainly because we stock it in the shop Lol! Actually it is a great topstitching thread, not as heavy as Gutermann's actual topstitching thread and it has a great shine, it also comes in great colours.

Nearly there, stitching in shoulder pads.


Ta Daaaa!

Sorry for the creases - I have just finished hand stitching the lining, I will give it a final press later but wanted to post it before the weekend.

Early tomorrow morning - 7am - we are leaving for Wellington to see the World of Wearable Arts, I will wear my trench and get some photos.

Now.............whats next??

P.S. just wanted to add that I am hoping to get to Global Fabrics in Wellington this weekend - so I may have some eye candy to show you on Monday :-)