I was entrusted with a beautiful wedding gown and a few gulps later, I cut off a few centimetres from the bottom! (I hope the bride to be will not be re-visiting the shoe shop now). Ok well there was much deliberation, measuring and marking, even trepidation before I went gung ho with my scissors. I am truly honoured to be asked and relied upon.

Its still only hand hemmed at the moment and I’m planning to machine stitch a blind hem after some careful testing and a fitting with the Bride to be. My Bernina blind hem foot does it pretty well so I am happily confident.

Stage 1- hemming the outside layer of silk as seen here. You can see the lining layer hanging out underneath. Thats Stage 2.

Wedding dress

Stage 2 Took in the waist, adjusted back buttons and shortened the two lining layers of silk. Blind hemmed the outside layer of the skirt. Ready for a try on!

Stage 3 Bridal bag to match (for tissues and marriage vows) made from the actual dress off-cuts.

The party was full of little ladybirds and one dressed up to the boot. The dress was refashion from an old t-shirt embellished with spots and puffy sleeves from a used baby ladybird dress.

The skirt is refashioned from a Halloween costume into a multi layer twill (tutu style) skirt and some triangular piece added on top, again from the baby dress. I added a soft knitted cotton lining underneath to keep soft skin, soft.

There was a matching cake and party bags too. Party bags are made from felt embellished with spots and ribbon handles.

My little one needed a bag for her ballet kit so this is what happened to two of her ‘outgrown of’ dresses. I used the existing embroidery and colour matched it with a pink zip. A neat little handle and she was ready for class. It took longer than I thought to put it together. Working around existing dresses with all their lining, interfacing and multiple layers was challenging. It took a while to cut away unnecessary bulk and get the right shape. Attaching the bottom of the bag also required some effort as the narrow curves made it difficult to the bottom symmetrical. I’ll need to research how they do that on bags and I am planning to do more. I could do with a little bag like that myself.

I do like the end result. Its almost as if the shape of the dress is perfect for a little purse.

Applique art

Rangoli patterns are painted or created at Divali and other special occasions as a symbol of good luck. Traditionally they were done on the ground in India but these beautiful geometric patterns can be created anywhere!

There are bold and colourful and perfect for brightening up the winter days. I wanted to make some Divali decorations and here’s what I came up with using beautiful silks to create a Rangoli appliqué. It took me some time to choose which colours worked well together and since the fabrics were so detailed themselves I decided not to add the embroidery that I had designed already.

Patched

I was going to patch them anyway but then a hole appeared so I had to do it. Well I didn’t fancy wearing hole-y trousers, thats not en vogue these days is it?

I created this flower using some Madeira wash away stabiliser (partly to test how strong the stuff was – and I was not left unimpressed, it did not tear at all with the satin stitch around the flower). I used some pretty ‘old baby dress’ fabric so I carry a bit of my daughter with me everywhere, just like when she was a cuddly baby.

I used some Heat n Bond Ultra to iron the patch onto the jeans but since the jeans are stretchy and the patch is not, I hand sewed it in place just to make sure I didn’t lose it when bending my knee. I think it looks pretty cute and original and goes really well with my up-to-the-knee red boots.

Board velcro for pieces

This is a second version that I made as a Christmas present in more festive colours than the first. My kids love playing noughts and crosses though cheating is more the order of their games and hey, its more fun that way anyway. With this game board the pieces are tactile and a riot colours. They learn about waiting their turn and something about building a strategy. Well, sort of, they are still really little.

This board is finished with a bias binding for a neater quilted look and the board checks and edges are embroidered with a coordinating embroidery thread. There is cotton pocket to hold all the pieces when not in use and all pieces are made from recycled felt which is padded with wadding.

This is a really lovely piece to make, I’ve tons of ideas for creating it in different ways with different colours, fabrics and style, if only I had more time. I will definitely be making more anyway and if you like it, please make my day and order one, just for fun.

Embroidered personal welly sock

I put this together based on this post kindly shared by Jessi via Pinterest. I followed her instructions which can be found on her website.

I made a pair each for my 2 and 4 year olds. As Jessi mentions in her tutorial it was tricky to sew the curves, particularly around the heel as the kids socks are so small! I used fleecy fabric and sewed on my serger which is trickier still for curves (well I am a newbie to serging) but I used a flatlock on the serger which I think gives a lovely finish and no seam bulk which I really didn’t want for those little feet.

I embroidered the top to make the socks totally original and remove the need for name tags for school. I was pretty pleased with the result.

Refashion

This one had was dying to be remade into something with a bit more flare and colour – goes well with jeans.

It was a perfect serger project and I’ll be doing lots more after the moths attacked a pile of t-shirts during the wardrobe refurb.

I love the blend of colours which makes the top ideal for various outfits.

Embroidery detail

The embroidery turned out lovely and this bag looks much better than the skirt ever did. The letters are big and bold, just right for catching the attention of little readers. No name tags needed.

The straps were really easy to do and its great for having hands free by carrying as a back pack.

The bag is fully lined with cotton and fits an entire winter PE kit including trainers. I did think about adding waterproof lining so the contents would be kept dry in any weather the bag would be useful for swimming kit… but thats for another time when I don’t have a deadline…. (yeh when’s that gonna happen?). After a term’s use, the embroidery still looks pristine. A friend was so impressed she asked me to make a couple of bags for her daughters. 🙂

I designed a little car for my boy. I’m really impressed by how it looks and so are his friends (and their mummies) – the photos don’t do it justice (neither do my photography skills and I have a model that cannot keep still). It kinda looks like an Al Capone car to me.

I used some old jeans and bits from a corduroy dress and the owner loves it.

I think I need to do a series of cars or perhaps patches.