Catching up…

Oh dear, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything here hasn’t it! It’s been a busy few months one way or another and things have got away from me a bit.

I turned 40 in June and my Mum-in-Law turned 70 the same day, so we had a really lovely party for her Birthday and then we did some fun things for mine, including a trip up to London with my husband to see The Play That Goes Wrong, which was SO funny 😊 I also decided to launch an Etsy Shop in June, selling jewellery, etc that I’ve made. I’ve been putting a lot of time and energy into this and it’s a very slow process building a business of any kind, but I’m really positive that I can make a go of it 😊

It’s all been fun/positive, but I’m still struggling a bit with my health taking a dip this year, so it’s all taken rather a lot out of me. I don’t like to complain about my health, I’m eternally grateful to be so much more well than I used to be and I know a lot of people aren’t as lucky as I am, but I’m finding it extremely frustrating at the moment 😔

I also think I need to take a step back from all the jewellery/business stuff to make more time (and energy!) for sewing, as I’ve been missing it so much!! I just need to find better balance with everything in my life 😊

Soo, in that vein, I’ve been sewing again ❤️ and will try to get back to more regular blog entries, but in the meantime here’s a quick roundup!

I actually finished my Megan Nielsen Rowan Top in June and was really pleased with how it turned out – especially that v-neck!! It was rather challenging and there was much unpicking and cursing haha 🙈 but I got there in the end! The gorgeous fabric came from Sewisfaction, but I can’t see any on their website now.

I made myself another Sew Over It Silk Cami, to ease myself gently back into sewing last week and love how that’s turned out too. It seems looser than the last one, which I guess is due to the fabric being softer, but I love the way it flows 😊 Unfortunately it’s way too cold to wear it now (I’m such a chilly bean!!), but hopefully it’ll work as a layering piece and I’ll look forward to wearing it next Summer anyway 😊 The fabric was a Birthday present from my lovely Mum and came from Sew Over It, but again I can’t see any on their website now.

I’m now making myself a Megan Nielsen Kelly Skirt out of a gorgeous cross stitch denim that my Mum also got me for my Birthday. It’s from Sew Crafty Online and they still seem to have some left – I’m tempted to buy some more to make another Tilly and the Buttons Cleo Dress!! The Kelly skirt is coming together really well and I can’t wait to finish/wear it 😊

If you’d like to check out my Jewellery, etc on Etsy, my Shop is at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AmethystarDesigns 😊

Another Coco Dress :)

I fancied a quick make this week, so I made myself another Tilly and the Buttons Coco Dress out of this awesome owlie fabric that I bought a while ago from Fabric Land. Sadly they don’t have it anymore though.

I cut a size 2 this time, as I always have to take the size 3 in so much to get the kind of fit I’m happy with and it fits perfectly 😊 The only alteration I made was to reshape the skirt part slightly, as the material is too soft to hold the Coco shape.

I love it!! 😊

Rosa Shirt Dress for #sewtogetherforsummer

I finally finished my Tilly and the Buttons Rosa Dress for #sewtogetherforsummer last week and I’m so pleased with it 😊 I was sewing well out of my comfort zone, but thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt lots of new things.

Putting the collar together was interesting haha but Tilly’s instructions are really clear (and the photos help too!), so I didn’t actually have too much trouble with that…once I’d sat quietly and thought it through properly 😂

The buttonholes were my biggest fear, but didn’t up being anywhere near as scary as I thought 😂 My biggest problem was working out where to put them and I ended up with a variety of different coloured chalk marks down the front where I kept changing my mind haha 😂 but the one-step buttonhole on my new sewing machine sewed them all very neatly 😊 I found the blog post that Sew Sarah Smith put together really helpful too 😊

I decided to leave the sleeves off, as I really liked how it looked sleeveless, so I just bought some pale blue satin bias binding to finish them on the inside. It’s not particularly well done, but no one will ever notice that!!

I ended up having to take it in quite a bit at the sides to get a nice fit, which puzzled me after my toile fitting so well, so I can only assume that was down to how beautifully soft my fabric is?

I’m so, so pleased with how it turned out, I absolutely love my dress and am so pleased that I took part in the #sewtogetherforsummer challenge – there’s still time if you want to join in 😊

#sewtogetherforsummer

Sew Over It Molly Top

It’s been another bumpy few weeks here one way or another and I wasn’t able to get much sewing done for a while, but I’m now getting stuck into my Rosa Shirt Dress (it’s going so much better than I expected!!!) and last week I made my Sew Over It Molly Top 😊

I’m not entirely sure about the Molly Top to be honest, I made the smallest size and still had to take it in quite a bit at the sides to get the kind of fit that I prefer and the neck is sitting a bit weird, so I might have to take the neckband off and do it again.

The pattern went together fairly quickly/easily and the instructions in the Comic Relief Crafternoon Mag were pretty clear. I was puzzled by the seam allowances being left unfinished/trimmed and just pressed open though and I ended up overlocking my side seams to tidy up the mess I’d made taking it in anyway 😂

I don’t think I like the style enough to make my owl print dress from it, but I’ll have another go at the top at some point. I’ve seen some lovely Molly tops, so probably just need to pay around with it a bit and I do really like how it’s looked over a rollneck today 😊

For now I’m enjoying putting my shirt dress together though and am really pleased with how that’s going 😊