Tilly And The Buttons Bettine Dress

We've had a spell of such lovely weather recently and I was so glad to be able to start wearing summer clothes again after what feels like the longest Winter ever. This is my favourite time of year and I pretty much live in dresses when I'm not at the day job and the sun is shining. So with that in mind, I was determined to finish my Tilly And The Buttons Bettine dress!

These are the most sensible photos you are likely to get of me I'm afraid- I'm not a natural at having my photo taken and have to resist the urge to fall about laughing..!

I am really slow at dress making- mostly because I start something and then leave it half finished on a shelf- and with this dress I'm ashamed to say that through lack of time I left it on the shelf for what must be two years. I was determined to finish it so I could wear it during this lovely weather and also during our upcoming holiday in France.

It's been that long since I started the dress that I couldn't find the original photos I took of me cutting out the pattern etc- they must be lost on my laptop somewhere. 

Working in a craft shop I've always got my eye on a pretty roll of fabric or five (it is a dangerous place to work, I always say they may as well pay us in fabric and yarn) and I love this pretty floral fabric I picked for making my Bettine.

The Tilly And The Buttons patterns are so comprehensive- as well as the pattern itself you also get an instruction booklet complete with colour photos to guide you through the process of making your garment. There are even in person and online workshops to go with some of Tilly's patterns, so if you were new to dressmaking there is a lot of support. Although I have a degree in fashion and textiles, the majority of my degree was spent making knitted textiles and working on surface embellishment, so dressmaking is an area I would like to work on and the TATB patterns are perfect for this.

I'm so pleased with the dress, it's so comfy and easy to wear and I feel really proud that I made it! I'm now looking into making some Bettine tops, inspired by this Bettine Hacks blog post.

Have you made any Tilly And The Buttons patterns and are there any other lovely patterns that you'd like to recommend?

This week in photos!

Today I wanted to share with you a few photos from the week! I've had a week off from the day job so it's been nice to get up to a few different things

Garment making!

You may remember from this post that I wanted to make my way through the Tilly and The Buttons book Love At First Stitch, so now I've moved on to the second project, the Margot Pyjamas! I traced off the pattern and I have actually cut the pieces out now- I'm quite slow and a novice when it comes to making things like this but I'm glad I've made a good start! The step by step instructions are so useful and I'm looking forward to cracking on with these.

Using food tips as weights, such a handy tip from the book!

Looking forward to getting these made and wearing them. I might make a heavier weight pair for the winter too!

(Attempting to) Get fit!

A while ago I took up hoola-hooping in an attempt to bring some excercise into my life, but I didn't stick to it, so this week I've made the effort to get outside and hoop every morning with my ipod, and do sit-ups too. I'm really feeling it after a week of excercise! I'm hoping that by doing it every day I'll establish it as part of my routine and I also hope that by sharing this goal with you I'll be more likely to stick with it. It's actually really fun if you've got some good bouncy music on too!

Cake scoffing... a reward for the hoola-hooping (!)

In contrast to the exercise, I made a Blackberry and Marshmallow cake (you've got to have some treats!) and gave a vintage metal tray an update in a How To..!

Charity shop hunting and bangle covering

I recently posted a How To... featuring fabric wrapped bangles and I've really caught the bug for making these, so I went charity shop hunting for bangles to cover with recycled fabrics, beads and chain- I'll be adding a selection to my Etsy shop soon!

Some bangles in progress!

New reading!

I picked up a second hand copy of Danny Wallace's "Yes Man" which I'm enjoying and hoping to learn from!

Climbing!

A friend and I climbed the o2! I'd very much recommend it, there are great panoramic views around London from the viewing platform at the top and it's something a bit out of the ordinary to do! I'll share some more pics of the view with you in a later post

I hope you've all had a lovely week and have a happy Bank Holiday weekend. Share what you get up to in the comments!

Sunday Stitching and stitching recommendations

Today I wanted to share with you a few recent stitchy discoveries and recommendations!

My first recommendation is Tilly Walnes's book Love At First Stitch, which I treated myself to last week and today I have made the Brigitte scarf, which is the first project in the book.

I'm no seamstress- Although I spend my time immersed in all things knitting, at the back of my mind I have always wanted to sew clothes too, but a few less than brilliant attempts have deterred me. I do own several "Learn  to make your own clothes" type books, but have found them too technical and not really geared to the beginner. So, having read and enjoyed the Tilly and the Buttons blog for some time now, I was so pleased to discover Tilly was writing this book! It's bright, fun and jargon free, which is perfect for the beginner, yet appealing to the more advanced dressmaker too. The uncomplicated style of the book, guiding you through projects with step by step photographs has given me confidence and having enjoyed making the scarf I'm intending to make my way through the projects in the book. Next up it's pyjama trousers! There are several full sized patterns included in the book too, so no photocopying or printing out hundreds of sheets of paper, which is a real bonus! I'd definitely recommend grabbing yourself a copy if you're keen to make your own clothes.

You could wear the Brigitte scarf in a variety of ways, but you'll find me wearing mine wrapped around my messy bun!

Something that has held me back when it comes to dressmaking and machine stitching in general is that I find it hard to accurately measure and stitch the seam allowance. Some machines come with seam allowances inscribed on the plate under the presser foot, but mine doesn't have this detail, but a lovely friend recommended I try one of these magnetic stitch guides- you measure your seam allowance from the needle and the magnetic guide marks this measurement and also helps you stitch straight seams, as you butt your fabric up against it as you sew. So simple but so effective! I would definitely recommend getting one, find them in good craft shops. 

Another genius sewing aid I've recently discovered is the Frixion pen! In the past I have used the fabric markers that  fade after use, however I've found them a bit hit and miss- more often than not they don't fade, leaving lines over your fabric, which completely defeats the object. Handily though, I was recently introduced to the brilliant Frixion pens- you can use them to write on paper and then rub the lines out using the other end of the pen, or you can use them to mark your fabric and then remove the lines by hovering over them with a hot iron. Magic! A great addition to your sewing kit, you can find Frixion pens in craft shops and supermarkets

What are your crafty recommendations? Share them in the comments below!

Happy Sunday and happy stitching everyone!