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Monday 29 April 2013

FMQ 101

FINALLY!  Nobody is ill, I don't have any accounts to do or dull meetings to go to, and everyone is in school or nursery or wherever they are supposed to be.  In celebration, I have found my balls, attached my free motion foot (not to my imaginary balls) and finally had a real life go at FMQ.  Huzzah!

Disclaimer:  Please excuse the lurid green cloth that I have been using to practise on, and perhaps go and get some sunglasses before you scroll down, so that you don't damage your eyes.

Here is FMQ attempt #1, during which I fought with the cloth, forgot to breathe and declared "This is ridiculous.  I am NEVER doing this again".
FMQ beginner practise

Happily, I rarely listen to myself, so I had another go on a fresh piece of green straight away - here is FMQ attempt #2:
FMQ beginner practise

Much better!  I can see why people say that the key is to practise, practise, practise.  I found Leah Day's Craftsy course very useful for helping out with things like how to stop big long stitches on starting and stopping (still getting used to that).

My mantra of the day - SLOW DOWN.  My instinct is to push the cloth away like an unexploded bomb.  I think I spend so much of my day rushing about that I forget how to do things slowly.

Also, how much bobbin thread does FMQ use????  I think I might just go and wind 10 bobbins in advance and be done with it.

G x

Wednesday 17 April 2013

The best laid plans etc

Apologies for the lack of action on this blog.  The plague of ill children has struck the Pye household again, this time knocking out any kind of fun for 3 out of the past 4 weeks.  Hopefully a course of antibiotics will see off the current dastardly ear infection so that normal life can resume soon.

I didn't even have time to post about my Q1 Finish-a-Long, which is probably just as well, as despite a roaring start, it stalled in February and never really got going again.  On a happier note, I now have 2 quilts at the binding stage, and without the FAL they may have still been in boxes, so progress made.  Here is my elder daughter's Dolce quilt ready to bind:
tanya whelan dolce quilt jelly filled thimble blossoms pattern
I genuinely enjoy doing the binding which gives me an additional incentive to reclaim my evenings and sit on the sofa hand sewing, while my husband watches one of the many tedious series currently clogging up our Sky+ Planner.

I have missed the Q2 FAL deadline but I am still going to set some personal goals.  Although given this last month, just "any sewing whatsoever" would have been something to achieve.  I must also factor in my Bee blocks - I always forget to put them on my list, but they do take time.

I am also delighted to see BBC2 running the Great British Sewing Bee, on one hand just to get sewing on the map and also to see the poor contestants trying to whip up a piece of quality clothing in far too little time.  I haven't seen last night's episode yet so don't tell me who goes home!

It has also given me the nudge I needed to get my dressform (Christmas present from 2008) out of its box for the first time (*hangs head in shame*), adjusted to my expanding waistline, and set up in my sewing room:
setting up dressform sewing great british sewing bee
... which, by the by, is another new development  - clearing out the cot & assorted paraphernalia from the old nursery and claiming it as Mummy's Dedicated Sewing Space.  Next step is to put a lock on the door.  Muhahahaaa!

I have traced the pattern pieces for this Green Bee Amelia dress which I am going to make up in a muslin first:
green bee amelia bias cut dress
... with a view to then making it properly in Tula Pink's Saltwater - hoping that the bias cutting does some interesting things with the stripes:
tula pink saltwater stripe fabric
But who knows!  I am not very experienced at dressmaking (except for children's clothes, which are much easier).  And it is possible that if a dapper beardy man from Savile Row doesn't appear to check my handiwork and let me examine his trouser waistband, I may well lose interest.  If I get this finished before the proper summer weather arrives, I will be very happy indeed.

Friday 12 April 2013

Zephyr sundress

Hello peeps

Head on over to The Village Haberdashery blog to see my daughter's Zephyr sundress featured in this week's newsletter!

village haberdashery figgy's zephyr dress nani iro little letter nina double gauze kona sundress straps

(Pictures by Annie -  much better with a camera than me!)