Thursday 26 June 2014

Capital Chic patterns launches!




Today is an exciting day for one of our lovely Spoolettes! Sally who you will know as the genius refashioner Charity Shop Chic is launching her pattern line Capital Chic!

Sally is known for her modern and catwalk inspired makes which have a different aesthetic to a lot of other more vintage inspired pattern companies, and this really comes through in her first collection.

As the name suggests, it's a really chic and sleek collection of work and evening wear. If you saw the photos from the Minerva Crafts evening party, you'll recognise the Martini dress that Sally was wearing, and I know you're going to see some of her patterns popping up on your favourite blogs soon.

My favourite pattern is the Bellini blouse which has options for a cutaway and a scalloped collar and has french seams and bound armholes. I've had a sneak peak at the pattern and the instructions are really clear and show you how to construct the french seams if you haven't done them before. You'll see it on the blog soon!



Wishing Sally all the luck in the world with this one and hope you all love the patterns! You can read about the line here, see the full range of patterns here and purchase either print at home or print at copy shop pdfs from her site here. Which is your favourite?

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Minerva Blogger Network project - Sneak Preview!

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll have heard about the Minerva meet up on Saturday.  If not, details can be found here - it's going to be a great day!



To celebrate, all of us bloggers on the network are making a party dress, which we will be revealing on the night (so watch out for pics on Twitter and Instagram) as well as on the Minerva site.

Here's a sneak preview of mine.

It's a Flora/ Mortmain mash-up - Flormain? Mortra? (sounds like a Thundercats villain!)

After hankering for a lace dress for ages, I chose a beautiful pewter sequinned lace with a navy underlining.  You can see in this pic how they actually look together - I love how the pattern of the lace really stands out with the dark lining!



Looking forward to showing you my final dress!

Monday 9 June 2014

Me Made Everyday!



After a conversation on Twitter (isn't that always how these things start?), a few of us were missing the community aspect of Me Made May and decided to start Me Made Everyday!

I always find that having a record of what you wore most and what looked good together really helps spot wardrobe gaps, see what you actually wear most and plan future sewing, and from reading other blogs lots of others do too.

There's no pledging, no pressure and no need for fancy pics - a cameraphone and mirror will do! No need to wear something everyday or photograph everything (unless you want to of course!).  Just show off your lovely handmade garments how you actually wore them. You decide whether to include bags, jewellery and accessories.

Opinions were divided on the best way to do this so I have set up a group on Flickr that you can find here or you can use the hashtag #memadeeveryday on Twitter or Instagram (oh, and I have finally started using my Instagram account - follow me - I'm JoLittleTime, or let me have your name below and I'll find you!).  You'll need to request to join the Flickr group as with Me Made May (to keep the worst of the Flickr pervs out!) but I'll approve people as soon as possible.

What do you think?  Are you in?  The lovely Katie from What Katie Sews is going to make a much prettier logo that the one above which you can grab for your blog if you so desire!

Spread the word about it as it would be great to have a regular me made community going!




Thursday 5 June 2014

Me Made May wrap up

So it's all over!

Here are my final few days of outfits.  Picmonkey isn't playing ball today so no pretty collage I'm afraid!



29th May - the Bowling dress




31st May - Rose print Maria Denmark kimono tee (unblogged).

So I did it!  I didn't wear a few of my most summery dresses that I love since the weather didn't really play ball - it was definitely tights weather for most of the month.  I was hoping to wear them the last few days but we went camping for the weekend and pretty dresses + campsite really don't go!

I'm pretty happy with how I did.  I didn't feel like I wore things I wasn't keen on just because they were me made.  Yes, there were days I would have put on something different (or a vintage dress rather than a me made one) but generally it went well.  I think having a definite colour palette worked as I have lots of things that match and work well together.  Like everyone else, I need some me made trousers and jeans, so I'll be joining in with Lizzy on Jeans in June (thankfully she's extended it into July!).  I'd also like a couple more me made tees, including another couple of Renfrews.

I also pledged to get through my mending/ alterations pile.  I mended split seams on 2 dresses, replaced a zip on hubby's jacket, fixed the zip on my Flora which was coming away and shortened the sleeves on my Blackberry dress:

I loved the sleeves but i wasn't happy with the way they were finished and it made the dress harder to wear with a cardigan - as you can probably tell from my month of pics I am a die-hard cardie wearer!

I also pledged to make some knickers and managed to make up a muslin of the Measure Twice Cut Once Jane knickers.


Eek, weird colours, but they are actually pale blue not green.  I adjusted the pattern following these but didn't get a chance to make up any more.  It's on my list for this weekend!

If you are missing Me Made May, come back tomorrow for news on something we have been plotting on Twitter!