Sew It - A Dirndl A Day

Not very long after I moved from my room in Walthamstow to a flat in Woodford, I made a skirt, this skirt to be precise!

I blogged about this skirt (here) and thought this skirt was lovely, so pretty, so colorful and so quick to make. But to my shame I've never once wore it. Oh, I tried it on a few times but always decided and that it made my hips & behind look huuuuge and so stuck it back in my wardrobe and pretended it never existed.

That was until a few weeks ago, I don't have much wardrobe space so I decided it was time to be ruthless, if it didn't fit (waiting for that mythical 'thinner me') or hadn't been worn in ages, it was time to say goodbye. So when I got to this skirt, I knew it was time either to wear it or re-uses the beautiful fabric.



I tried it on and strangely my previous concerns didn't bother me quite as much, I could see past the big-buttedness and knew that this pretty skirt would be perfect for surviving the heatwave we were having. And now that I don't give (so much of) a damn how big my butt looks I have been wearing this skirt to death, it actually got to the point were I was sad that it had to go in the wash, this made me aware of two things:

1. I am a fickle sod. I'm the same size as when I made this so my derrière must look the same!
2. I was going to need more of these skirts and quickly to give me a chance to wear them before the good weather here in the UK disappears once and for all!

So I have made some more, well quite a few more, I now have six skirts, that's very nearly one for every day of the week!

All of these skirts have taken just under 2 meters of fabric to make and with the exception of the black one came from Minerva Crafts and cost £2.99 pm.  As before I followed Gertie's Dirndl Skirt Tutorial (Part One & Part Two) I did make a few changes to the pattern. Rather than using the measurements Gertie suggest I came up with my own, due to my hip to waist ratio I wanted less fabric in the skirt so I decided to just double my waist measurement which gave me a nice full skirt but not too full. Also I didn't make a paper pattern for either my skirt or waistband, as once you have worked out correct measurement the pieces, being cotton the fabric can be easily sniped & ripped to the required size, for me not having much space for laying out fabric to pin a pattern to, it really is a huge help!

Right, on to the skirts!

Just looking at this fabric makes me happy, its full of summer sunshine and one of my favourite colours and as far as I can remember this will be the first time I have ever worn yellow!


For some reason making this skirt was more difficult than the others, due to a zip that would not behave, I think it might be that this fabric was just a little lighter in weight than the others but now that I have stitched it into submission, I am so glad I persevered as its so lovely!


This was the most worn, so far, out of all of the new skirts I've made. I really love the way the pinks and dark blue contrast and luckily despite bringing more pink into my wardrobe ( I really thought I hated pink, must be in denial) it goes well with most of the tops I already own, hence why its being worn and worn!

The Fabric was from Minerva Crafts and is still available Navy/Pink Floral Print As much as I love this skirt it is the one where the fabric has not held up to general wear as sadly the colour is fading a little more with each wash but it still looks presentable.

Yes this skirt is covered in yellow Donkeys and Blue Zebras and I love it. Enough said!

This Fabric is Donkey Fabric from Minerva Crafts and I love it! It is totally wacky and kitsch and so to my mind echoes Some of the fabulously Kitsch skirts of the 50's.

As a teen I was never really a goth more of a brit pop tom boy, but my oh my I did wear a lot of black (and by a lot I really mean almost everything) all of the other skirts would have made me sick with fear! It has taken me years to fight back my black compulsion, I'm drawn to it.







So to appease the voice in my head which is always screaming 'make it in black' I made this skirt, it also acts to balance out all the floral funkiness going on with the others. Its made from a lovely black eyelet lace /  broderie anglaise which I have had lurking in my stash for an age so its nice to finally give it some life!




It would not be a craft blog without a fury pattern weight of some kind waiting in the wings to "help", my chosen species of helper is the cat. And the cat in my life, Beau puts his grumpy mark on everything, curtains, carpet sofa, even this skirt (see below) so why not make a skirt that reflected this impact and full outed me as the crazy cat lady I am.

This is Blue Kitty Polycotton from Minerva Crafts, and it is literally covered in kitty cats (it also comes in red and yellow and green) it must meet Beau's approval as he seemed only to eager to 'help' yet again!

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So with all these homemade skirts under my belt, there are a few things I have learnt!

Working with polycotton is a lot of fun, as you can see its available in some wonderful and wacky prints, it tends to be lighter in weight than 100% cotton which makes for cool and floaty clothing and due to the blend of synthetic in the fabric it also means that doesn't need much ironing, so no annoying creases at the back from being seated at work all day! There is a downside to using cheaper printed cottons, be they 100% or of the mixture variety, there does tends to be a bit of colour loss on the darker shades once they are washed.

Top left after the wash / Lower right before the wash

I'd expected a little colour loss, I chose not to pre-wash the fabrics before sewing and so found while working that my hands and sewing machine were getting stained with blue dye, wonky donkey skirt I am looking at you!

Also I found that the printing didn't run true to the grain of the fabric, meaning if you have a very obvious stripe in your pattern you may not be able to get the pattern run parallel to say your hem, which is super annoying if your looking for precision, so its worth bearing these things in mind when choosing your fabric!

Anyway these issues aside I love all my bright and breezy skirts its just a shame, though I love autumn, that soon I will have to pack them away for next year, oh well I am looking forward to cozying up in my winter woollies too!!

Wendy x

My Pattern Pyramid Picks

Hello, remember me? No, well I don't blame you its been a while! 

I promised to show you what patterns I picked from Karen's Pattern Pyramid and here they are! I'd fully intended to show off my finished creations along with my pattern choices, but things haven't gone quite to plan on the sewing front, so rather than leave it another month, while I continue faffing, I figured I should just get on and show you so...



I had a real tough decision choosing, as you will be aware there are some lovely patterns in there so it took me some time to settle on my favorites. My plan to make my decision easier was to think more practically, ie. no more fancy evening dresses thank you, to go for styles I could see myself wearing every day and which would also be perfect for summer, with these criteria in mind I chose Style 2136 and Simplicity 9171.

I love 1960s styles, it's the simple lines and easy elegance of the era that appeals, so I was instantly drawn to Simplicity 9171 a cute late 60s shift dress with slightly fitted shape and a natty little jacket. As much as this is a practical choice, it does take me a little out of my comfort zone shape wise. My early 20 were spent slavishly trying to recreate 60's styles from the high street stores, but as much as I loved them I realised then, that some of the iconic 60s styles don't flatter my fuller figure especially when you're not fond of showing off your legs! But I decided it was time to have another dalliance with the 60s, this pattern has a bit more shaping than your average A-line (it was probably aimed at the older lady, but I am fine with that) so might do my curves a bit more justice and my sewing stash could really use a quick to make dress pattern (Ha-ha I'm currently still battling, my own fault not the patterns) which could be ready in a few hours and help to fill the gaps in my wardrobe, fingers crossed this will be the one to do the trick!



Style 2136 from 1977 is a lovely floaty tiered maxi skirt, I have long lusted over a pattern like this. 1970s fashions are where I tend to turn when the summer heat strikes as they are floaty, just that little bit glamorous and above all despite being made of  man-made fibers are able to keep you cool! I was really hoping to have made this pattern up to show you all by now, but I'm really struggling to find just the right fabric for it. I have nothing in my stash at the moment that will do the job or anything that even comes close to the amount of fabric needed, 7.5 yards for the maxi! There is also the small matter of re-sizing it, which as its essentially a tiered dirndl skirt should not be too difficult (as you will see in my next post I've gotten quite good at sewing dirndl skirts) at least that's what I am hoping anyway!

So these were my pattern picks, but don't forget, if you want a chance to win some patterns from the Pattern Pyramid and see some beautiful handmade creations then make sure you follow Helen's blog Sew Stylish as she will be showing off her choices and hosting the next leg of its journey soon!

Wendy x

The Pattern Pyramid Winner is..

Hello, so it's time to draw a winner for The Pattern Pyramid Giveaway, I have used random.org's generator thingummy to choose a number, and that lucky number is.....8!

Comment 8 belongs to the lovely Helen from Sew Stylish! 

Congratulations Helen, the Pyramid will be knocking on your door very soon!!

If you didn't win this time make sure to keep your eyes on Helen's blog for another chance to win!

I am going toddle off now, but I'll be back very soon with another little giveaway and to show off some of the things I have been making recently!

Enjoy your weekend!

Wendy x

Pattern Pyramid Giveaway

Well Hello! Today's post comes to you from my parents house on the rather sunny Isle Of Wight and is brought to you by a lackluster 3G connection on my phone so please forgive me if this is a bit more disjointed than normal, but I didn't want to wait till I got back home to post this and as my parents are not yet silver surfers, ie no internet (though I am working on it) I am having to make do!

An-y-way, back to the point of today's post and boy it is a good one! By some supreme stroke of luck, my little blog has managed to be the next stop for the Pattern Pyramid (I'm calling it PP for short)!

Not heard of the pattern pyramid? Then let me enlighten you! It was first started by Karen from Did You Make That, a Walthamstow based blogger whom shockingly I have only just discovered! She had been kindly given a gift of some vintage sewing patterns which she decided rather than keep all herself she would send them out into the blog-o-sphere, to be shared and passed on until the pot ran dry. This section of the PP has been globe-trotting now for just over two years, making them exceedingly well traveled!

I won the PP after recently stumbling across the gorgeous Sian's blog Kittenish Behavior, Sian is a lass who coincidentally now lives right here on the Isle Of Wight (lucky thing) where she designs her own range beautiful vintage dresses, yum! and is she a massive sci-fi fan! Love her already!

So how does the Pyramid work? Well, each lucky winner gets to choose a pattern or two from the stash before hosting a giveaway to pass the remainder on! Now over the course of its journey so far many of the winners have chosen to add a few patterns into the mix to keep the PP going for just a bit longer, which means currently the PP Stash is bursting at the seams with lovely patterns, I forgot to count them before I came away, but I would say I have probably only shown about half of those in the mix here, so there are loads to choose from!



I've decided to do something just a little different for my leg of its journey, I know can't stick to the rules me! I have chosen two patterns from the stash to keep (which I will show you very soon, just finishing off making them up) and rather than adding more patterns to the existing pile, I will host another little giveaway once the Pyramid has been drawn, with some lovely patterns from my stash (I've already sorted out about five, there may be more). This way it will give those of you who don't have a blog the chance to win something too and also will spare the PP stash from shortly needing a shipping crate to continue it on its journey around the globe!

Ok, before I tell you what you need to do to win, I'm going to tempt you a little more with some of my favourites, that I didn't pick so they are still very much up for grabs!!

Perfect for summer is this style Pattern No.2697 for an early eighties dress and jacket, simple and yet elegant, unlike much of what was around back then!

I just love this 1960's McCall's Pattern No.9715 for a quirky little mini dress with gathered bodice and some amazing bishops sleeves!

And then there is this New look pattern No.6000 is fabulously 60s in style, yet comes in multiple sizes so saves any fiddly re-sizing!

I think you'll agree there is plenty of lovely patterns here to choose from, the winner will certainly find it difficult to decide which ones to keep!

So here is what you need to do!

1. Leave a 'count me in' type comment on this post, it doesn't have to be anything fancy, but a link to your blog would be helpful if your Google profile is not already linked up to it!

2. You MUST have a blog to take part as you will need to host a pattern pyramid giveaway once you have won. Obviously, you must also be prepared to pay the postage to pass the parcel on to the next winner!

The deadline for entering your comment below is at the end of the day on 31st of July 2014.
I will happily post worldwide so everyone eligible (who has a blog) can enter!

The winner will be picked at random on the 1st of August 2014 and I will publish the result here on the same day, so keep your eyes peeled!

Good Luck!!
Wendy x

The Victory Garden 2014

Hello, hello, it's been an absolute age since I last wrote about my allotment, and quite a bit has happened since then. Lots of yummy veggies have been picked and eaten, a ton of hard work has been put in and a disturbing amount of weed growth has occurred!  

Last year's harvest was pretty amazing! I grew a grand total of 25 marrows, yes 25 marrows! I devoured more runner beans than one human should ever eat. Mashed, roasted and boiled my own body weight in potatoes and parsnips (well not quite, I am rather heavy, probably from all those potatoes!) Bottled up about 12 Jars of Damson, and Greengage Jam (totally my new favorite jam)...

...Boiled up enough batches of onion soup to keep most of France happy. Pickled a massive jar of beetroot (still working my way through that) and a fair few smaller jars of onions and as if all that wasn't enough I've munched 'n' crunched my way through lots of sun-ripened cherry tomatoes, radishes and little gem lettuces...yum, yum, yum!



All in all it was rather wonderful, especially to see such a bountiful reward for all my efforts and worth every second of the time I put in! It has to be said though it was the hardest work I have ever done, every weekend without fail I was at the allotment, which was hard going and sadly has lead me to the realisation that this endeavor is not very sustainable in the long term. Meaning, that after much deliberation I have decided to say goodbye to my allotment and at the end of this year I will be handing back the keys to let someone with more time (or more friends able to help) take over and give this patch of weeds all the love and hard work it deserves!

As of last week, very weedy indeed!

It has not been an easy decision to make, I have cried many tears over this, as I hate giving  up on anything (massive character flaw right there, I don't tend to know when I'm beat), but I know in my heart that I gave this allotment absolutely everything I had and it still was not quite enough, so I am happy to say I have done my best,  this plot is jut too big for me to manage on my own, so it's now time to move on.

As much as I am a bad plot holder for not weeding as much as I should, I must confess the sight of these beautiful poppies and wildflowers make me very happy. The bees in the nearby hive don't seem to mind, so I am at least doing my bit for bee cultivation if not for veg!

I will still have a little space in my rented back garden to grow in, and many a container just waiting to fill with salads and the like so I'll still be munching my way through as much home grown veg as one woman can handle!

'Scuse the washing line, I forgot to take it down.

Plus I've put my name down for a plot in my new borough (though it's not really new as I've been here for nearly 3 years!! Time flies) so if I am lucky I might be able to arrange a place on the site right at the top of my road, which would mean much less traveling to and fro, and from the over the fence nosing I have been doing at the site, the possibility of a much smaller sized plot which would be a much more realistic proposition for one woman and her trusty shovel!! Fingers crossed!

This decision does not mean that I have given up yet, there are a fair few months of growing left before my contract ends, which means I have been just as busy, if not quite as diligent as I was last year.

Desiree Seed Potato from Wilkinsons
Apparently, they're TV Chef's favourite Red potato variety so who am I to argue!

I have still been planting, though I have just had to accept the weeds will grow where they may amongst my crops. I have rows and rows of potatoes and onions which I planted in late March, sweetcorn seedlings have been planted along with some beetroot and parsnips.

Butternut Squash, Pumpkin and Chilly Peppers all from Wilkinsons

Waiting in the wings are some pumpkin, squash and marrow seedlings, which though the slugs have had a right old munch on, I still have a few ready to be transplanted very soon. Also, I attempted to grow some chilli peppers but the slugs were more successful this time and had their wicked way with them, so I am left with nothing, I have plenty of seeds left so I will have another go next year!

Leeks from last year's seed, and my marrow plants again from Green Bush variety from Premier Seed Direct

The 'Aqua Dulce' Broad beans I planted last Autumn have been growing frantically all winter and spring and have now produced quite a decent little crop, thankfully though they are looking a little worse for wear now, they survived/missed the black fly that destroyed my crop last year so I shall be feasting on a broad bean...something or another again for tea tonight!

I am still very much looking forward to my Greengage and Damson Harvest this year, got to love a crop that looks after itself! I will certainly miss these wonderful old trees and their abundance of fruit, but I plan to bottle up as much jam as I can and enjoy it for the next few years at least!

So, there is still plenty to do and look forward to over the next few months, I am certainly not ready to turn in my trowel just yet!

Wendy x