Black and White and Pink and Striped...

I've been busy sewing again! And also cleaning. This week has seen me become obsessed with the offendingly named "Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" documentary series, (aside from the 'big' and 'fat' parts of the title, 'gypsy' is a derogatory term and isn't consistent with the cameraman's use of the correct terms, of Irish Traveller or Romanie). Therefore I have become as much of a housewife as I imagine I will ever be. I cleaned the bathroom, my wardrobe, my and my partner's room, did the dishes, and sorted out our study. Most importantly, I created a mini-wardrobe-studio in the study, where I can take photos of my sewing exploits. It's conveniently right next door to our bedroom and my wardrobe, and to my computer. So I can check the photos on a big screen as I go! Brilliant!

Which brings me to the newest projects. The first is my latest pair of leggings. I purchased fabric off Charlee Fabrics for this pair, which I'm sure not many people over the age of 10 will appreciate, (though I am sure the little students in the fluorescent pink goggles and stripey dotty flowery swimsuits whom I teach swimming would!) but the most important change was the pattern. My dad pointed out that the last two pairs I've made didn't really seem to fit properly, especially around the knees. He was very right- they were loose enough to be trousers but not the right shape to be. So, I simply cut from the top of the thigh down as a small size, and left from the crotch up as a medium size.  Here are some pictures;

I also recently bought some stripey satin jersey from Spotlight to create an infinity dress from. Infinity dresses are all over BurdaStyle. They are basically a skirt, of whatever length you want, with two long straps that you can use in any way you want. I fell in love with this maxi infinity on BurdaStyle, after seeing it linked on Karin's blog. There are a lot of tutorials, but basically what I did was cut a length of fabric (I think) on the grain, make this into an elastic waisted maxi skirt, (1 seam), and then cut 2 straps as wide as half my front bust and as long as my height almost twice, sew the straps to the skirt with a slight overlay, and you're done. If that's a little confusing, feel free to comment me or check out Karin's blog and have a look through her links for a little more help. Anyway, here is the dress;

 If you are planning to make one yourself I would definitely suggest having a very well fitting strapless bra, preferably with a decorative back and a nice shaped cup. In the strapless variations I usually tuck a little bit of fabric over the bra, to give it a little more support as the jersey is very flexible. Also, I've noticed some people are making little shawl pin type things with leftover fabric, which could definitely be useful if you wanted to make lots of different designs with your dress. Most people do bows, but I think knot type pins could be handy as well, as they would fit in better with Grecian styles. Anyway, at the end of the dress I had some leftover fabric, which made this top (also shown in the leggings pictures) from the chickadee pattern off BurdaStyle, (it's free! check it out!);

And here is a new project I am working on...

Hope you enjoyed!
helenxx