Pillowcase Dress

So I decided to make another dress. A very simple one. A pillowcase dress. My other half saw this picture by GraceyLouDesigns that I had pinned and informed me that it was a winner. Her etsy shop doesn't seem to exist anymore, so seeing as I already had the fabric it required, I decided to make it. The fabric was supposed to be used to make him cushion covers for his office chair, but hey, he's already been waiting two years, he can wait a little longer.

I followed Vanessa's tutorial which was really simple and easy to understand with great step by step pictures.

I used Riley Blake medium chevrons and Michael Miller dots for the fabric. The grey stripe is a stash essential I picked up at Chilford so I have no idea what that is.



I'm pleased with my bias binding on the sleeves. I did loads of pinning and a bit of unpicking and it all looks very posh. I could have done better seams. This annoys me. They are just rubbish raw edges. I could have zig zagged or at least used pinking shears. This tutorial has really posh seams.


I sewed my tape really carefully and took time over the ends just so it didn't look shoddy.

I think the bow looks really pretty. I could have used ribbon but I am glad I didn't. This seems more substantial.
But best of all, I used my blind hemming foot. Blind hems, down pat. Worked a treat. I consider that skill learnt. Time to move onto something else. I'm pondering the idea of making an adult garment, gulp!



My only tip is to use spray water or starch when folding and ironing all the seams. I found it allowed me to fold my fabric with my fingers and have it stay there. I didn't prewash my fabric and quilting cotton can be quite thick and springy. This helped loads. I would mark my 1/4" seam with a chalk marker, spray with Best Press, fold the hem with my fingers then iron on top and add a bit of steam at the end. Perfect.
Right! Time to finish my abandoned bag...

iPad mini case

A quick naptime project. There was a meeting, there was no iPad case. It was not ideal. It was mentioned. I had been meaning to make one for a long time, but was warring with myself as all my ideas were pretty girly. So I decided to just get a grip and do something. This coincided nicely with finding a project bag full of the suit remnants I got from the tailors in Berwick street for The Rainbow Hexagon Quilt. I really need to finish that off. So I used some ultra soft herringbone suit fabric, Two layers of wadding, a wool lining (from an old cashmere sweater) and a Liberty Mitsi rouge trim.


The end result is really thick and padded, perfect for being on the move. I used the arm of a lovely soft cashmere jumper for the inside lining which was quite hard to sew as it stretches so much. It created this puckered effect at the top which is quite useful as it makes the opening tighter.


It's a pretty tight fit which is useful as it doesn't want to be sliding out inside the rucksack it will sit inside. I'm pretty amazed it fits. I was a bit worried with all that lining. I know it's a bit girly, but then I am a girl, I did my best to make it manly. I feel that Mitsi looks a bit Japanese and minimal. Only a man confident with his masculinity would carry a dash of Mitsi around with him.


As always, there has to be a tag. This gold little number says 'burger'. What better food stuff is there?


All in all, if I were to do it again I would not sew the outer and inners separate then fold and sew the flower fabric. It's a bit messy. I would sew the two bits together at the top and just leave an opening at the bottom on the inner lining so I could turn it inside out. I was just not on the ball enough to do that today. Boo. I need to think more. A common problem.

Skinny Pincushion

Another project from the project book complete! I saw Noodlehead's skinny pincushion and thought it was a lovely use of Liberty fabric. So I high tailed it over to the Green Bee blog for the pattern.


It was a great pattern because it used so little of my Liberty stash. I get really stressed when I think I am using it all up as the pieces I have are only fat 16ths many of them. I chose some of my favourites. I used different fabrics for each side. The only non Liberty fabric is the green spot.


The main fabric was natural linen which I got for £4.50 a metre from the local craft shop! It's actually not as nice as the more expensive stuff I once bought from Ikea, but going to Ikea is a life decision I find. The last time we went we had to run through the warehouse grabbing things whilst Penelope screamed like she was being murdered. That's a nice memory to file away.

The stuffing is poor. I had used all my stuffing in the floor cushion and was loathe to buy more so soon, but I found an old bag of rejected stuffing. Ace! What a find! I patted myself on the back. Of course as soon as I started stuffing I remembered that it was terrible, lumpy stuffing. Why did I keep it? Bah! My inability to throw stuff away strikes again. But you know, waste not want not, beggers can't be choosers. I did go to the local pet shop to try and get silver sand instead, but luck was not on my side and I just didn't want to spend any more money. So lumpy skinny cushions it is! I am throwing away the remaining stuffing. Here we are, me and Ray, when we were 19 and I thought a stripy skate hat was a cool accessory. Oh those days. When Kaffe Fasset was the only fabric designer in the world and mumple was amassing her wardrobe of homemade Liberty shirts. We were already tie-dying and making MC hammer trousers by this point. Crafting was go!