As it Seams

Madeit Fashion Week - How an umbrella saved the catwalk

By Victoria As-it-Seams - 06:00

It's fashion show time!

Welcome to Madeit Fashion Week, showcasing the new Fold2 collection of patterns designed by the Madeit duo, Olu and Anna.

And prizes and discount! Scroll to the bottom if you're after the goodies!

Now... ta, da!

Welcome Missy to the Madeit catwalk, wearing the Pocket Fold skirt.

The pocketfold skirt is such a clever design, with unique origami inspired pockets.

But to begin with I wasn't sure about this skirt, it's a bit of a departure from my usual style, I guess because it's so chic, rather than 'pretty'.

But after sewing it and persuading my awkward Missy to wear it (after declaring boldly "I don't like yellow"), I have fallen in love with this skirt.

Teamed with her red boots she looks so stylish, a bit of a 1960s London vibe I think.

It's sewn in cotton twill that hovers between lime green and mustard yellow in colour. This was cheap fabric from my local store.

But those inserts on the other hand - oh my word - I cut into one of the most precious fabrics in my stash for those little panels.

The striped pockets are made from the divine Anna Maria Horner fabric, Volumes in Matisse. I have two metres of this I'm saving for something special. But when I placed those stripes next to the lime green they seemed to be a match made in heaven.

Cutting the contrast pieces out of my precious fabric was like playing an extreme version of 'Tetris'. (Am I revealing my age? Do you know what I'm talking about?)

I wanted the stripes and colours in exactly the right place in this skirt. But, because of the origami style pockets, I deserve a mathematics prize for getting this bang on. And when I decided to add flat piping to the V-seam at the front and back, keeping it symmetrical and the coloured stripes continuously flowing through the pockets, well, I think my Nobel Prize is now in the bag...

Mary Poppins?

Apart from messing around with stripes and flat piping - this skirt is quite straightforward to make. And the finish is beautiful - these photos, fresh from the kitchen table, show just how lovely all the seams are, inside and out.

Olu and Anna, of Madeit, know their stuff, and the instructions 'hold your hand'. And it is quite exciting! One minute you're holding a couple of pocket pieces, staring at the instructions, and then a moment later there's a little epiphany, a moment of 'Ah Now I See Where this is going...'

It's all a little journey of discovery. Having been lucky enough to meet Olu at the Paris Sew Social in April, I know how funny she is, and her sense of humour shines through in this fun pattern.

The skirt was a little big on her waist, so I've overlapped the snaps at the front more than intended , which spoils the line of the V slightly. But I'm hoping I can move the snaps in a few months as she grows. Instead of 'hammer' snap fastening, I used sturdy snap - fasteners, which are easy to move. The pink buttons are purely decorative.

My snaps and buttons aren't perfectly placed - I'm going to move them - but sadly I just HAD to take these photos in the moment that presented itself...for the following reasons....

As I was sewing this, my moody Missy declared "I don't like yellow". "I don't like that skirt" and I knew that this stubborn little girl doesn't change her mind easily.

And then after a very busy weekend, I suddenly found myself with only one possible 'ten minute' photo opportunity slot., which just happened to be in the evening after I finished work on Monday.

I started walking home from the office in the rain, pondering the puzzle.

"How do I persuade Missy to pose in the yellow skirt she says she doesn't like?

"Oh and it's raining ...."

With minutes to spare I had my own 'epiphany' - an umbrella!

They were literally about to lock the door on the shop as I walked past... and dashed in to buy this umbrella...

And of course! Missy loved the umbrella! I took photos (in ten minutes in fading light) and she happily danced in her yellow skirt, declaring she loved the 'secret' snap fasteners, the pink buttons and the pockets....

Ah my Nobel Prize is truly deserved.... An umbrella and sewing maths....I am officially a genius.

Giveaway Time!

There's 20% discount on the FOLD collection during Fashion Week, with this code:

And everyday Madeit are giving away a pattern. Check Madeit's Facebook or Instagram page and be the first to answer the question of the day. The answer can be found on one of today's blog posts for Madeit Fashion Week. How fun!

And for the chance to win a €50 NOSH voucher... leave a comment on Needle and Ted on day 7 of Fashion Week, Sunday 6 September, about your highlight of the Fashion Week. It's going to be a tough choice. There are some seriously gorgeous creations. Here's the line-up:

Monday 31 August

Kid Approved Girl Like the Sea Huisje Boompje Boefjes Our Chez Nous

Tuesday 1 September

Kimme Sew Crazy Pienkel East and Eden Chi Chi Romeo and Me

Wednesday 2 September

Neil and Nikki In a manner of Sewing Glitter + Wit Creative Needles and Threads As it Seams

Thursday 3 September

Climbing the Willow Fliegfederfrei Fairies and Bubbles Co Sew Thrifty

Friday 4 September

Just Add Fabric So-Cal Sewing Mom Sansahash Miss Castelinhos Sewing Sober

Saturday 5 September

Made by Toya My Cosy Co Paisley Roots Diorella Fruits de Mère

Sunday 6 September

Round Up and Reviews: Needle and Ted Climbing the Willow Swoodson says

7 Comments

A 99th blog post - thoughts and reminiscing

By Victoria As-it-Seams - 09:32

It's my blog-aversary... Actually it's not really,this blog began two years ago, in April, But this is my 99th post, and that's enough of an excuse to pause and reflect.

I've been really pondering where all this sewing thing is going.

I have a fabric stash that has grown and grown (thanks in part to Paris Sew Social) but also because of my insatiable ideas. I look at piles of folded fabric and think - that's supposed to be my swishy summer maxi skirt, and there's would-be beach dress, and that's a pair of shorts for Missy, and there's a little skirt... and ... and...

And of course I have just a few spare hours a week and so the fabric remains folded on the shelf, and I have an awful sense of time running through my fingers.

It will be autumn soon - and then my little girl will be growing up, and next summer I imagine she won't want to wear a vintage-ish summer dress. I start to have slight sewing panic.

And then it all starts to seem ridiculous. She doesn't NEED that new dress. She has a rail full of dresses that still fit her that she barely wears. And I don't really need another dress either. So what is all this sewing, and blogging, and stressing really for?!?

And then I look back at the things I've made over the last two years. There are 99 blog posts here, and I guess 75 feature garments for Missy.

75! That is crazy! She wears school uniform five days a week. It's no wonder that some of the things I've made seem to have been outgrown before they've ever been fully worn.

Like this blouse...

This blouse was my first ever blog post, titled; 'It started with a 'Fat Quarter'

Yes in one idle moment I bought a fat quarter of fabric on eBay, before I even knew what a 'fat quarter' was. The original post is here. And here is little Missy, two years ago aged three, when I was still trying to take indoor photos. Missy's cheeky dimpled smile is unchanged though. The sleeves were way too long then, with the cuffs turned back, and I improvised with bias trim round the cuff seam.

Back then it was 'dress length', now it's definitely a blouse.

When I look at it closely, I can see how much my sewing has improved. I made my own piping for this, but didn't know I should use a zipper foot to make it. And the pattern is an improvised hack, based on Straight Grain's bubble dress, with added button placket and box pleats.

I took these photos a few weeks ago, um months, when the buttercups were still out, and I hadn't yet cut Missy's hair.

Since then I've been hit by blogging blues. For one reason and another, we've had a really rather difficult summer, and haven't managed to get away for a proper holiday. I'm finding it hard to manage all the tasks of family life, and work. And increasingly I find the face we present online hard to sustain. I look at other bloggers pix on their instagram feeds and facebook and their blogs, and see lovely holidays and children and it makes me feel a little overwhelmed. And I know that other people might look at my photos and feel the same. So I feel I need to add some words of honesty to balance out the 'online facade'.

I live in a small house, and sew on the kitchen table. I don't have lots of spare cash for beautiful fabric, it's a little treat to myself. My children are gorgeous beyond compare, but they also stretch me to my limits, and I get tired and grumpy.

But I am also learning to count my blessings, to see these magical dark eyes of my Missy, to perceive the reality around me, rather than the unreality of social media and perhaps to slow down a little and pick the buttercups....

Oh, and also to start to think about my 100th blogpost...

11 Comments

Japanese fabric

'Summer' encapsulated in a dress, by Nani Iro

By Victoria As-it-Seams - 15:26

Oh summer why do you torment me so?

I love long days, blue skies, sandcastles, rockpools and more. And I love summer sewing - the chance to sew glorious prints and easy dresses - like this dreamy Nani Iro print.

But I never have enough time in summer - there is just too much to cram in to these short months and long days. And barely a minute to get behind the sewing machine. In my head it drives me crazy. Because, you know, it's August, and autumn is looming (at least in England, where the summer is all to brief) If I don't make those summer sewing projects a reality, it will have to wait til next year.

So I have a confession - I really did not treat this fabric with the respect that it deserves.

It is quite simply heavenly. The birds in this stunning print have a lilac metallic finish, that ocassionally glints in the beautiful understated touch that Naomi Ito adds to her Nani Iro designs.

I bought two metres of this from Miss Matatabi back in the spring, and intended to sew it up for Nani Iro month in June (Yes, I know - see what I mean about summer, it slips through my fingers...)

These photographs don't do justice to this dress, or the fabric, or me for that matter. They were taken after I have walked a mile across cliffs to reach our secret beach in North Devon.

So my dress is creased.

And I couldn't resist a quick swim in the sea and leaping in the Atlantic waves. So my hair is damp and salty.

And then I had to persuade Mr As-it-Seams to photograph me, and he'll do that for two minutes max before we start arguing.

So these pictures will have to do. Because heaven knows when it will be sunny again and I'll have 'another summer moment' in my Nani Iro beach dress.

OK - so here's the sewing details.

The pattern is self-drafted. I made a muslin and experimented.

I wanted a dress with no zip, to simply pull on.

I managed to achieve this and have a slim-fitting dress, with simple bust darts.

The neckline is faced, front and back, and understitched and interfaced, just to give this soft double gauze a hint of structure.

And the sleeves! Well I was in such a rush, that I cut them so that the selvege forms the hem. No hemming (although this does mean the birds are flying 'up' my arm rather than around - but I can live with that)

The hem is faced, and has splits in the side seam. I love this detail, and I was going to take more photos to show, you... but for all the reasons above, I didn't..

And that's it - it was an easy-peasey dress that I sewed in a frenzy in one evening flat. And it used just over a metre of my fabric, so I'm hoping I can make a blouse too. Watch this space....

We've been going to this secret beach for nearly 20 years and it's one of my favourite places on the planet. The surf, the rock pools, the cliffs, the green and the blue and the silver.

And we're lucky enough to have dear friends who live near here. For little girls running in the sea, this is paradise. And that roar of the ocean, calms my soul and eases my panic about summer slipping by.

8 Comments

Aliceinwonderland

Alice in Wonderland 150th birthday celebrations and giveaway. Chapter One, A Tea Party

By Victoria As-it-Seams - 04:46

18 Comments

A Bedford Dress! Plus discount and giveaway update

By Victoria As-it-Seams - 01:47

(STOP PRESS - The Big Paris Sew Social Giveaway is still up and running! Hop over here for the first step, to win a choice of pattern from LBG Studio, then cruise around to win 16 prizes!)

If you've ever photographed a little girl, especially my little girl, then you'll know that their favourite trick is to run away.

But hurrah! With the Bedford dress that's perfect!

Because it's the back that is the real 'wow' with this dress.

I was delighted when Erin of Brooklyn Pattern Company asked me to test her new pattern, the Bedford Dress. Mostly I was thrilled because her first dress pattern, the Franklin Dress is one of my all time favourites.

Like the Franklin Dress, Erin's new pattern, the Bedford is really beautifully designed, and deceptively simple. It looks like a classic idea, yet you can tell a there's a lot of skill and design eye, behind that simplicity.

But the Bedford is also very different from the Franklin. Whereas the Franklin was nostalgic and vintage little-girl-style, the Bedford is sharp, funky and playful. It's named after Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. And I've actually been there! It's fun and funky area and is where I bought this vintage dress (which sparked a whole sewing adventure - see here)

And now my little girl has her own Bedford dress!

And I'll be honest, I wasn't sure if I would love the Bedford Dress as most of the dresses I sew are old-fashioned look.

But this dress has surprised me.

I mean - that back!

It is so elegant.

The straps are narrower than I expected, and somehow that slimness just contrasts with the loose A-line shape of the dress in a really pretty and dramatic way.

(Now a quick note about these photos . It was a hot day, Missy wasn't in the mood for photos. I did my best, by asking her to dance with this rainbow slinky spring thing, before she ran away. Since then, it has either not been sunny, or we have been away camping and busy. Honestly photographs is BY FAR the hardest part of this blogging thing...so the pix aren't brilliant. Please bear with me.... but I digress)

So the details: Erin's pattern comes with little drawings in the instructions, which I tend to prefer over photographs, they're much clearer. This is a straighforward sew, and Erin has a clever technique for making sure that armhole facing stays perfectly in place.

And this was my first ever exposed zip. I haven't got the top very neat - but that's my fault not Erin's.

The fabric? Well I must admit, I went really thrifty with this dress. This is a re-purposed sheet, possibly Ikea, I'm not sure. I liked its large lime green print. To me it had a bit of a surfer-vibe, which fitted the line of the Bedford dress. I finished the hem with pink bias trim. The Bedford has this lovely scooped detail, which I think the pink emphasizes.

This is a dress for playing in! For camping trips and digging sandcastles on the beach. I am so hopeful that we can find the time, and the sunny weather to spend more days full of play in the Bedford dress this summer.