Feeling Very Professional

So recently I have been drawn into the market scene, with a friend running one of the most up and coming markets in the city. While it is technically a vintage market, she said she'd love to have me there. 

I'll be sewing and selling baby clothes, since they've become my favourite item to sew of late (this is probably due to the huge number of babies appearing around me!), and they are actually pretty quick and easy, with the bonus that they're rather kind to the fabric stash. Dresses have been my main item that I've been sewing, but I am about to start into unisex wear with cotton play pants. 

My first market was, unfortunately, a complete flop - while this was a bit of a downer, it wasn't one of my friend's vintage markets, it was just a little one at a local library, and it wasn't very busy. I am far more hopeful for my friend's market, as it's more the kind of crowd who would like what I sell. 

Now, onto the title of this post - I just ordered labels for my clothes and business cards. Yay! I got the cards from Vistaprint, cause it was $2.25NZD for 500 (250 were free, and you could double it for $2.25), and $9NZD for postage (it is their standard postage, which takes about 2 weeks to arrive). I also got a free stamp (the self inking push-down kind), which I got with my business name on and also my email for order inquiries. 

The labels I got from Woven Labels UK, as suggested by Jane at Handmade Jane in her post on markets and craft fairs. With postage included I paid about $12NZD for 72 labels, and it's about the cheapest I could find them at. They are technically clothes labels for kids at school, but as Jane mentions they work great just to have your name on your items. 

And of course, what name did I end up going with for my little mini-business? 

Dancing In My PJs - couldn't go past that!

When my orders come in, I'll take some pics to show you all. And in the meantime, I'll leave a hint on what my next post will be - I've been building shelves!

Making your sewing look more tidy and professional

One thing I always get asked by friends is how I make my clothing look so tidy and professional when I make it myself. On one hand, to me it doesn't look professional because I can see all the minor mistakes, but on the other, I am pretty strict now with how I finish my garments, as I like to have really tidy pieces.

Here are two baby dresses I made recently for a market (more on that later!):

They're both identical, except for the fact that one is a size 1 year, and the other is a size 2 year.

They're both in the same fabric (some of you may recognise it from Monday's post on 6824!), and it took me about the same amount of time to make both of them. 

It isn't until you look at their insides that you see the rather large differences between them.

See the difference? 

The one on the left looks untidy and a bit rough. There isn't anything wrong with it, and it is still just as washable as the one on the right. The one on the right looks clean and has smooth lines. It looks finished. 

Here's a close up of the bottom of the back opening, right on the waist, so you can really see what I mean.

Here you can see that the waist seam is smooth and flat on the dress on the right, as is the central back seam below it; but the one on the left is rough, and you can see where I have zig-zag stitched to prevent fraying. You can also see that isn't helping a whole lot.

The seams on the dress on the left are regular seams, and the ones on the dress on the right are french seams. I adore french seams now that I've gotten the hang of them. They mean you don't have to zig-zag your edges or worry about fraying, and they also lie a lot flatter than regular seams. You wouldn't believe that the dress on the right has the same gathered waist as the one on the left! 

French seams are great, and they don't take a whole lot longer than regular seams once you get the hang of them. They also make your hand sewn garments look professional and well finished, and they stand up really well in the wash too, as all the raw edges are hidden.

Have you got a favourite technique for finishing your garments? Share it with us!

Weird Wednesday - Weird sewing habits?

Just a mini post today, but I wanted to ask - what's your weirdest sewing habit? 

This is mine:

I can't sew if my right foot (the pedal foot) has a shoe on. I just can't. I need to be able to feel the pedal, and be able to easily manipulate it and move it around, and I just can't with a shoe on. 

It used to get me into a tonne of trouble when I had to do Home Economics at high school, because shoes had to be on in the HomeEc rooms cause there were sharp things that might fall on the floor. I did point out numerous times that I'd been sewing since I was like 8 or 9, and that my mother was one of the HomeEc teachers, but it never really helped. I'd still get told off. 

And now I have my partner giving me weird looks when I get up from sewing and go to the kitchen to get a drink - apparently it isn't normal to walk around one's house with only one shoe on!

What's your weirdest sewing habit?

Plus-size Vintage Lingerie? I say!

So, I had some other bits and pieces planned for posting on here, but this came about and I decided it would take a front seat as I am so very, very happy with what I achieved. 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before, but alongside my hobbies of sewing and a love affair with vintage clothes, I am a burlesque performer in my spare time. It's something I truly love and adore doing - least of all because of the gorgeous ladies I get to perform with, who are all a complete riot and great fun to be around. 

One problem which burlesque and vintage clothing both present to me is the fact I am above average size wise, in all departments. So while others in my troupe can buy costuming quite easily, I struggle a little more. This is compounded by the fact that I am rather blessed in the boobage department. 18G is not an easy bra size to find even in t-shirt bras, let alone something pretty. 

Late last week, our troupe-head decided we needed to have a photoshoot for promotional material. Awesome! I love photoshoots. It was going to be on Monday (today) during practice - sweet, that means I'm already organised to go out. It's going to be light coloured and pastels and vintagey. Fantas- wait, what? Pastel coloured? UGH. 

Now, it isn't that I don't like pastels. I love pastels. I love vintage. The theme of the shoot suits me down to the ground. However, at a plussize, the general colour that you do find in pretty things is black. Sometimes red too, but black especially. I didn't have anything to wear. 

So what's a sewing minded girl to do but make herself an outfit? I already owned a gorgeous pastel garterbelt from Lindex which I bought on TradeMe last year. It fits perfectly, so I decided to make some pieces to go with it. And here is the result:

As you can well guess, I am rather pleased! I think the colours work beautifully together, and everything fits pretty much as I'd expect it to. 

The bra is made from a beautiful silk crepe my mother gave me just for this project - fabric buying is really hard on a budget, and I am lucky enough to have a mum who hordes fabric like I wish I could, and she's always willing to help out with a little bit here and there. I also overlayed the top cup with a gorgeous stretch lace I found at Fabric Vision - a touch out of budget at $29.99 for a metre, but they do cuts of as small as 10cm! I got a 1/4 metre, so I would have enough for extra bits and pieces, which I'm glad of. 

The pattern I used was by the extremely talented Brittany of Va-Voom Vintage, and is the pattern from her Va-Voom Vintage Bullet Bra Sew-along. The pattern is drafted for a 38DD-E bust, but with not all that much adjustment I managed to make it work just perfectly for my 38-40G cups! It is a lovely pattern, and I more than recommend it if you're looking for a bullet bra pattern - even if you're a beginner when it comes to sewing, Brittany's instructions over the course of her sew-along (the project is split into 4 pieces) are easy to understand and guide you through the process brilliantly.

I didn't follow the instructions exactly to the letter - I lined my bra where the instructions didn't have a lining. It was really easy, I just made two bras, and then sewed them together right-sides facing, and turned it through. This made for a really gorgeous finish (you know how I am about finishing!) and also meant there weren't any seams against my skin to get itchy. 

I also added a line of elastic on the front of the bra just below the cups - in the end my bullet bra was a little on the big side, and I didn't like the way it sat on me. The elastic really helps pull it in and sit properly on me, which made me really happy. If you're like me and have a big difference between your bust and your underbust, I highly recommend this addition, as it made all the difference in fit for me. The line of zigzags also adds interest which if done in a bright contrasting stitch could look awesome.

To go with the bra, I decided I'd make up some mid-high waisted knickers. I have an old pair of bikini bottoms which I cut up to use as a pattern for another costume, and I love the look of them so decided they would be a good match.

These are a stretch silk, again a donation from my mother! It was not a strong stretch, and only one-way so it made it a little tricky to work with, but I adore the end result. The lace in the overlay is the same as the overlay on the bra cups, which I think is a great tie-in, and also adds interest to an otherwise plain pair of white-cream knickers. 

It was also my first time using lingerie elastic, which was a fun addition to the project. I wasn't sure how you were meant to attach it properly, so I guessed and it worked rather well. I sewed it on the right side of the fabric upside down, and then folded it over and sewed it down again, so just the little frilly detail poked out. Worked a lot better than I was expecting!

I am ridiculously happy with this 'outfi't, words can't really describe it. I've made costume underwear before, but that was always just adding lace or ribbons to bras, or red stretch liquidfoil knickers (I'll post pics another time!), where as this to me was actual lingerie - it's beautiful and lacy and all those special things lingerie should be. For a first attempt  I'm, I think, understandably happy.

So, again, thank you to Brittany and her amazing pattern. Be sure to stop by her blog if you're a lover of vintage bits and pieces, she has some wonderful content and is funny to boot - the perfect combination in my mind for a blog! 

What's the most interesting or challenging sewing project you've made of late? Have you ever tried your hand at making your own lingerie? I'd love to hear your stories!

Thrifted fabric skirt

I know, it's been an age since I posted. However, I've got a skirt I made! 

Remember that post I made back in March about my fabric haul of $2 bits and pieces? Well, the ugly ankle length houndstooth monstrocity has been given a new, and very cool lease on life

A knee-length peplum pencil skirt! And I am in love. Here I've paired it with a thrifted shirt (from the same $2 clothing place that I got the original skirt), and a vintage cardigan I collected at the market this pic was taken at. 

I lined the skirt with a dark navy lining (some cheapy polyester I got on sale for $3/m), and it closes with a zip and then a tabbed button, which I like because it looks very professionally finished - I can't stand when my hand made clothes look untidy/unfinished, so I'm pretty happy this one looks so tidy. It was also a completely home-made pattern, and I hadn't ever lined anything before so that was an entertaining project! 

I've got a few more half-finished projects in the works, so with any luck I'll be blogging more often!

First project in my new sewing room

So, while I may not be completely moved into my new apartment, my sewing machine is! I've a gorgeous little room, which is going to houae a single spare bed, our old dining table for fabric cutting, and a desk for my machine - and I couldn't be happier. You can see in the pics that there is actually quite a lot of space, the machining desk will be against the wall at the end of the bed. There's also a wardrobe behind the door, so that's a real bonus for fabric and notion storage!

The first project I undertook in my new room wasn't exactly astounding, I replaced a zip in my good friend's skirt. He was pleased for the bed in the room cause he could relax while I sewed!

I can't wait until I have the whole room set up so I can show you all what it looks like fully set up :)

~Heather