Choosing 'THE ONE' (pattern choices!)

So you've found thirty thousand gorgeous dress patterns online and in shops and you're all eager to start stitching away on your entire summer wardrobe for yourself and every member of your friends and family! Hold your horses, here's a quick list of things to consider when deciding which dress to start with:

• Difficulty: It can be quite easy to find the most beautiful, most perfect dress ever and fall so head over heels in love with it that you forget that you've only been sewing for five minutes. take time to consider the difficulty of the project before jumping in and slicing fabric.
• Fabric Cost: Another important thing to consider is the price of the fabric you want to use, and how difficult it is to sew. For example, even though satin can come quite cheaply, it can be the biggest pain to sew. If you are on a tight budget, or you are inexperienced with sewing the type of fabric that the pattern calls for, maybe reconsider the project and wait until you have more money or experience. There is nothing worse than making a dress and spending hours on it, then not being able to afford to go anywhere to show it off!
• Preference: Do you really like this project? Or do you just love it on first sight but after closer inspection, dislike the project a little? Make sure before you start a project that it isn't just a case of getting a new pattern and being excited about it. I have lost so much time (and money!) to starting projects through excitement and not actually wanting them. I regret not putting my attention into the older patterns I had that were even more lovely!

It boils down to just picking the right project, on these factors and the other large factor, TIME. Do you have enough time to make this project, and enough time to wear/use it? Try organising your patterns against difficulty and time, so a pattern can be quickly selected and eventually you'll work your way through the list of fantastic and beautiful creations!

Review of Simplicity 9769

I purchased this pattern via eBay a week or two ago in view of making the corset from it after seeing it being recommended in several corset books. It is supposed to be a nice and easy pattern to follow for making beginners corsets so I thought it would be worth a go.

Upon receiving the pattern, I had a look through the instructions and in true simplicity style they were simple to understand and lovely to work with. Extra instructions were given for if you were using a pattern fabric. This is particularly useful but as I will be using a plain fabric, not a lot of use for me. For those of you who have not ever used a Simplicity pattern before, there are really helpful diagrams of where to place your pieces onto the fabric for the most economic use of the fabric. This is very useful if you only have a small amount of fabric, such as the remains from a previous project.

The patterns goes together easy enough, with the list of materials on the packet being accurate enough to even tell you what length bones to use. Please visit my previous post on boning and its selection for more detailed information on the pros and cons of buying boning at predetermined lengths. Overall, I think this pattern sticks to true Simplicity form and is easy to work with and a pleasure to sort out!

Sourcing Bones

This sounds far much more like a history post than a sewing post. Project Corset is going to start in the next week or two, and so now I'm sourcing the appropriate pieces to make the corset shown in the photograph above. The packets lists even the length of bones so that they can be bought from companies who cut types of bones like steel to size. This is an advantage as you don't have to faff around with cutting the bones yourself if you choose to use steel. Bare in mind that they can be more expensive than buying them in one length and taking the time to cut them to the correct length yourself.

For my corset project, I am going to attempt to make a double layer corset, with a thick jersey-type fabric on the inside and a strong taffeta on the outside, left over from a project that I have recently finished. Using old materials for a project is a fantastic idea, as if you do it wrong, you can make adjustments and sort it out before committing to that fabric that you really love. I recommend starting with an easy soft boning too, so you can get used to working with the stuff.

Now, corset kits are available, but the price does not differ too greatly from buying all the parts individually. Busks and lacing bones (if you chose to use them) are often quite expensive, but you pay for quality when it comes to these things. Handmade corsets can retail for anything above £150 each, up to the dizzy heights of £400 for a handmade to measure corset by some independent traders. Bare this in mind when you are trying to justify £45 on materials.

For good corset supplies try VenaCave Designs and Sew Curvy corset kits.

What a Charming Notion, Eminently Practical and Yet Appropriate as Always

Recently I completed my first large project (Simplicity Steampunk Pattern) and I enjoyed it. It took me roughly 25 hours including tea breaks and faffing about taking photos here and there. This project has inspired me to do two things at some point this year.

The first thing which it has inspired me to do in branch out into corset making. The simplicity pattern included a boned bustier. I had never worked with bones or anything even almost that complicated-looking ever before, and it was a pleasure to make. I am obscenely proud of it, even though it refuses to photograph properly. This learning curve has made me find someone who wants a handmade corset and will happily cover materials, so that project will no doubt be documented here over the next few weeks, along with market coverage etc.

The second thing that it has inspired me to do is to create the outfit above, for myself or a customer. It is a beautiful outfit, so very lovely. I plan on researching what it was made out of for the film, and try to find appropriate materials which I imagine will be a thick, printed cotton. I have no idea how I will find an appropriate pattern, I may have to adventure into making my own from existing patterns and my own intuition. I am also considering changing a few parts of it slightly to make it a little more wearable, since it looks like it'd be a pain to wear for anything more than about an hour.

I will take lots of pictures and update regularly as to how both these projects are going, along with photographs and reviews of the things I use during the projects, and how we get on at trading events, of course!

Having the Guts to Quit Work and Do What You Want.

So, I abandoned a VERY bad job to go into seamstress work and into making things happen for the business. As much as I hated working until 4am in a freezing cold room with no entertainment, being harassed by drunks and yobs, a wage is a wage, wherever it comes from.

Leaving work was a hard choice and was thought through for ages until my Auntie told me to leave. She didn't ask, she told me. And it was the best thing I have done so far for my own health and happiness, and Ava's Apparel.

Granted, there have been times where I look at my bank account and sigh, since some times I can't afford to do anything at all. Then I am often reminded how much I love being able to work on my own terms, for my own money, and not have to faff about working shifts around other people. Working for yourself is not all that it's advertised to be, but it is also so much more.

Don't just tell your boss to shove it on the basis that you wanna sew a little bit now and again. Make a plan, be it business plan or personal plan. Make sure you know what you are entitled to, and stick with it. Any self-employed seamstress will tell you that working for yourself is a really difficult thing to do.

The most difficult thing is remaining motivated throughout the process. I myself get a bit lazy once a project is done, since after all, I've just achieved a thing! It can be really hard getting yourself noticed and getting your stuff out there. Apply for as many markets and things as you can handle without stretching yourself too thinly, and introduce yourself by handing out your cards in local sewing shops, and to the general public.

Overall, if you can get it going and your heart is really set on it, go for it.

How To Make a Simple Skirt.

It's been a while since I wrote any kind of how-to type article anywhere on the internet, so thought I would write this one on how to make a very VERY simple skirt. It can be completed by even the newest seamstress and is a good basis to start.

Firstly, take measurements of your (or the recipient of the skirt's) waist, hips and how long the skirt needs to be. I tend to stop just below my knee for the length of the skirt measurement as then by the time that hems and seams have been sewn, it falls just above the knee.

Secondly, chose you fabric. I lean towards cottons and light, girly fabrics as they are easy to work with. You'll need roughly a meter of fabric, at a 150cm drop. This will give you enough to fix any mistakes too, or make matching accessories! Also consider any trim you'd like to include, such as lace on the bottom hem or from the waistband.

Now the construction starts. Create a waistband from a length of the fabric, about 20cm deep by your waist measurement (plus about 6cm) long. At this stage, interfacing can be applied to the wrong side of the fabric to give the waistband more strength. Fold the waistband in half right sides together, and then sew into a long tube, leaving one end open so that the waistband can be turned through itself. Once the waistband has been sewn iron it flat and place it to one side.

Cut the remaining fabric straight across, at the depth of however long you'd like the skirt to be. Using your own fair hands (and a needle and thread!) begin to stitch and gather along one of the long edges of the skirt, until it is the same length as your waistband. Leave the other long edge untouched. Once gathered, tie off the thread and lay the main skirt fabric out and place the waistband so that the bottom line of the waistband lines up just below the top line of the skirt, right sides together. Pin in place, and sew together. Once sewn, it should start to look like a skirt!

Now it's just a case of folding the skirt into a skirt shape (around itself, right side to right side) and sewing up the two ends. Leave a gap at the top to insert a zip of a complementary colour which can be picked up in most sewing shops or for mere pennies online. Once you've sewn in a zip, hem the bottom edge. Et Voile!

If you chose to use lace, include it in the hem sewing. Place it on top or underneath the skirt once the hem has been pinned into place, then pin the lace in the correct place as well. Sew in a complementary colour thread to give a professional look.

In the end, you will get something that looks quite a lot like this:

Whistle While You Work...

Okay, well maybe not whistle but definitely sing along loudly! Singing and shouting and getting into music whilst sewing really helps time fly and makes large or long projects a bit more pleasurable. Here is a short list of my favourite bands to while away the hours with:

The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing.

A fantastic band who claim to be putting the punk into steampunk, and believe me, they really do. Check them out on youtube, they combine facts and knowledge with rock and guitars!

Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer

A cheery and summery artist, Mr B rhymes (not raps!) about current events, social hierarchy and cricket, all whilst playing his banjolele. Good for background listening when hand-sewing.

I can also highly recommend the website last.fm. You can sign in with your facebook account, and listen to a wide range of music, with options to even listen to music similar to other bands you like. Really like Erasure? Pick the Erasure channel to hear a range of other bands who have a similar sound. Check it out, it's good.