Showing posts with label burda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burda. Show all posts

Wednesday 31 August 2016

How to Use Your Precious Fabric - Just Do It !

My latest project was totally inspired by the board on Pattern Review  discussing using our precious fabric. My coral / red / cream tweedy boucle is with no doubt my best fabric .I love the colours and  the texture and to top it off , it was my souvenir from my one and only trip to France in 2013 . 
I always thought to make a skirt using a TNT pattern but when I laid out the pattern pieces there was so much more fabric than I thought . The fabric was 150 cm wide ( I thought it was 120cm ) and the shopkeeper had been generous with the cut giving me extra ! This was good and bad news because it meant I had to rethink the whole project and make a muslin . 
I already have a handmade winter work  version of a pinafore which I wear heaps and this gave me the idea to make a warm weather one . 

 I chose this pinafore from September 2012 Burda Style ,a ripper of an  issue . So many patterns I want to make from it .  It has a deep V neck with front bust darts and inset pockets . The top part is lined .
I made only two changes . I lengthened the skirt pieces and opted to fully line the garment . 

I was very lucky and found some matching lining fabric at the opshop . It had pura seta printed on the selvedge and when I googled this found it meant silk in Italian - bonus ! 
The pinafore was very easy to sew and as the V neck is deep there is no need for a zip to get it on and off . I love the little bonus front pockets but if I make this again I would make the pockets deeper although I can  store a hanky in them. 

 This was a great project to follow up my coat which took ages to sew . I really do not know why I put off sewing my precious Parisian  fabric for so long because once I cut into it , it was really easy . So if you have any fabrics which you are saving because it is so special then I encourage you to just do it - go cut it out and sew it up.  

I will  finish with another picture of my babies - they are getting bigger .The lamb in the background with the brown head and white body ( I call her ChocTop ) is only 2 1/2 weeks older than the twins ( but twice as big ) . 
Happy Sewing Janine. 

Saturday 6 August 2016

Vintage Style Burda Boule Coat - Finally !



My first hand sewn  coat .  I started this in May so I am more than relieved to be finished .
I seem to be on a bit of vintage kick this year and I fell heavily for the coat on the cover of Burdastyle 12/2011 .  I convinced myself that if I only make one coat why not do something totally different.
The coat is described as having a boule silhouette with 3/4 sleeves . The eye catching insert hides the snap fasteners. The sleeves are in two pieces being extensions of the upper fronts/ back . Inseam pockets are included.


I constructed the coat using all materials sourced from the op shop - from the magazine to the outer fabric , lining , interfacing , satin contrast and snaps !  Who says sewing has to be expensive ?  Admittedly I collected the stuff over many years - the outer wool blend has been waiting for 8 years and initially I was going to make a suit but this coat is far more interesting .

Surprisingly for Burda the instructions were understandable but as this was my first coat I also did some research especially about what pieces to interface , attaching the lining and the hand sewing of hems  . . Once the flouncey insert  was constructed and inserted into the front, the coat was relatively easy to sew . Last post I showed photos of how the flounce was constructed. Inserting the flounce required some care . I thread trace the corners of the coat front to allow accurate sewing and make it easier to see where you are sewing . I sew the along one edge then stop . Snip to the corner of the seam allowance but not too close and then sew along the other edge. This means you can get a really nice looking sharp corner.


I did change the edge finishing of the flounce . Burda said to top stitch along the seam allowance and then trim close to here. However I am never comfortable with unfinished seams ( even on knits that do not ravel ! ) so I did a rolled edge on my overlocker .I  left off the snap at the top of the flounce so this upper corner just flops down and  I also did not cover the snaps because you can not see them and it was the last step and I was getting impatient to finish and wear the coat . I added extra interfacing to the coat - to the front , hems , front facings and upper back and upper sleeves but apart from these changes made the coat as described.

Obligatory flashing the lining with mouth open wide shot. 

To make the coat something that is more me I used a dark navy blue  wool blend . The front insert is left over fake silk dupioni from my suede flounce skirt and not as shiny as it looks in the photos. I am ridiculously pleased with using the dupioni. It was only one metre and 112 cm wide - not enough a single garment - so really required some creative thought on how to use it . To think I was going to send it back to the op shop a few times in the past. I do not have very many lining fabrics and there was only one other choice - a navy floral silk - but I thought that might get made into an outer garment so the bright red garish silk it was ( this is actually genuine silk - a lucky find ) .

I am certainly glad to be finished - I tend to get impatient when things take longer than a few weeks to sew but I am determined to not have UFOs so just keep on .
I will leave you with some photos of  what else has been taking up my free time - my new babies .

This post is already long but I delivered the white one !  With only 20 minutes until I was meant to be at work I had my arm up the sheep trying to  bring down the second front leg so she could deliver normally . I did it ( and got to work on time ! ) . However my daughter ended up calling the vet to deliver the second black lamb who was also presenting incorrectly .  I used to deliver human babies and what I did to the mother ewe was nothing like I had done to a human - poor thing !

Our entire motley flock.

Happy Sewing Janine. 






Costings - Outer fabric $3.00, flounce fabric $0.25 , lining and interfacing $4.50 , notions - snaps and thread $0.50 and burda pattern- nothing ( costs accounted for previously. Total $8.75.

Sunday 17 July 2016

Fast Fasts , Fabric Stash Busting and a WIP .

I am participating in two groups this year - Pattern Review`s  Fabric Fasting  Forum  and a Facebook Fabric Stash busting Group.  I have been telling myself I have to get some kind of control over my fabrics for years but have been unsuccessful so far . So how am I doing this year ?
Well the fabric fast is a bit of a snort but only a little one . I have bought four pieces of fabric and been given a few as well from Mum and sewing friends . As per usual all my purchased fabrics were from various op shops and included  a Liberty of London print in some kind of soft twill !

The photo above shows from left to right burnout fabric from my friend ( for a Kimono ) , striped patterned georgette from my Mum ( for Simplicity 1280 ?) , peach-apricot silk for a skirt lining , Liberty of London paisley print ( for an infinity scarf ) , red floral cotton voile and a citrus watercolour cotton voile ( both for youngest DD PJs  ) . I will be using the silk for my next project and I intend to make up that infinity scarf quick smart as well so all in all not too bad . ( I have also been informed that gifted fabric does not count towards stashing  )
In terms of fabric stash busting I have used just over 20 metres,  so more out than in !  A success there .
Now I have been sewing too but not as much because my current project is taking sooo long  . I started at the end of May but the end is in sight . It is a vintage styled coat from Burda Style and has a very interesting different looking flounce at the front . I want to show you the evolution of the flounce .

 The above picture shows the flounce pieces cut out and tacked together with the pleats marked out . I have started making the pleats on the right side. Weird looking pattern piece huh ?

 Next up all of the pleats have been formed .

 Now you bring the two sides together , stitching down the middle and  voila !  It really is a little piece of magic . I do not think I have ever seen another pattern piece like it . I have inserted the lining into the outer coat and just need to sew up the hems and attach some large press studs . Hopefully I can get this done before the end of July and the winter weather ( hey it has snowed near where I live a couple of times which hasn`t happened in about 19 years )

Sewing as also been delayed by my new hobby of bike riding - I don`t think I will ever go down the path of sewing fitness wear though  and  hosting a Japanese student . She will be with us until the end of November . Just as one daughter leaves home we fill up the empty spots . Our exchange daughter gave us some KitKats - sake flavoured !  We have also tried green tea flavoured KitKats   ( yum ) and there is sweet potato as well !!


Vive la France .

Sunday 10 April 2016

National PJ Sewing Month.








I couldn`t resist adding in the tag Handmade for a Sweet Little Girl to my teenage DD`s PJs - she did at least appreciate the humour. 

Well it is anyway at my house.
I have sewn more PJs than the number of full nights sleep I had in the first 5 years of my children`s lives. No exaggeration - they were terrible sleepers - hopefully nothing to do with their nightwear !
So I am very tired of sewing that same style easy but plain pattern . Therefore I took an opportunity to make something different - Grainline`s Lakeside PJs .
I only made the bottom part . They hardly took any fabric at all so I was able to squeeze these out of a small remnant less than 50cm I think . I used ready made bias binding because I did not have enough fabric to make my own and the pants took just under 2 metres .
Despite being a bit more challenging than my usual PJ fare they were still relatively easy, the only really tricky bit being the side seams where the bias binding is .
I made size 8 and my youngest daughter loves them. They are comfortable but do not have that excessive ease that the Big 4 patterns can have.  I can see more orders coming in for these from the other DDs .

The longer pair of PJs are a UFO . Now I don`t do UFOS - my projects either get finished or chucked out . This is my youngest daughter`s UFO - so short into her sewing career and already accumulating UFOs ! I have been gently reminding her we could finish these pants up ( OK probably nagging is a better term ) so when she wanted to buy more nightwear I just went and sewed these up myself - only took an hour. The fabric is a Japanese double gauze we bought in Tokyo in 2013 and much too cute to waste - Japanese do cute really really well. In amongst those pink flowers are little panda bears . We used a very old Burda pattern 8785 for the pants - the usual PJ pattern but with added bands at the leg hems and a matching contrast waist band. Again I like Burda for the fact that their patterns fit well .

So 2 new pairs of PJs and now I can get on with the real important business of sewing for myself .

Sunday 20 March 2016

Vintage BurdaStyle Dress - Indulgent Sewing Frivolity.

It is not very often that I get to sew something a bit more special. Most of my clothes are utilitarian because that is what I need both at work and home. So when my youngest daughter decided to do the school deb I grabbed the chance to indulge in some sewing frivolity . I love my Kwik Sews, Simplicities and Knipmodes for good sewing basics but when it comes to designs with a bit more I turn to my collection of Burda magazines. A couple of years ago I found 10 recent release Burda magazines in an opshop for $20. I raced to the counter heart beating fast and greedily purchased all 10 but it is only now that I have finally made something. ( I also own about another 1/2 dozen Burdas I have picked up over the years at newsagents ) I finally chose a vintage dress reprint in the May 2012 issue .

The dress has a bias cut top with a slim fitting pencil skirt. From the front it is a quite conservative high cut blouson top . The back tells a whole different story !

The back is low cut with the most elegant draping folds. I just love it . I used some pale blue striped georgette with swirls of leaves and small mauve roses . I have had this fabric for about 10 years and it survived a couple of past culls . I only kept it because I have few pieces of material over 3 metres and thought at least it would be useful for making a toile of some unknown dress pattern. However when I saw this burda pattern I knew this fabric would be perfect for it . It is very drapey , the stripes quietly enhance the bias cut top and the soft subtle colouring contrasts with dramatic styling . I mean I don`t want to take attention away from the young slim 16 year old debutantes -ha ha.

I lined the upper bodice with a stretch knit lining as suggested but unfortunately did not have enough for the skirt so I am just going to use a slip . ALso instead of using ribbons at the shoulder seams which did not appeal to me I managed to use another long term resident craft item . Mum gave the beaded , sequinned appliques to me over 25 years ago and I was never quite sure what to do with them but realised they would be perfect for this project . In truth the shoulder seams do not need covering at all - with Burda`s drafting the pleats at the front and back match perfectly and look really lovely left alone .

Burda and I did part ways in the construction of the dress when they started describing lining the bodice. I think Burda was trying to tell me how to line the bodice so all the seams would be neatly concealed but head scratching and peering closely at the instructions did not enlighten me further so I did my own thing and it all worked out . It did mean that to finish the arm holes I used some home made satin bias binding . Also I left small slits at the bottom of the skirt side seams instead of sewing them completely up because I want to be able to walk and parents do also dance at the deb. Overall the dress was not really hard to make at all.

  I am ridiculously happy with how my dress turned out . I might make a matching belt and use a small diamante belt buckle I have but I am on the fence about that as it is not really necessary . I hope I can get some pictures of the deb night too as any proud mother I think my daughter looks stunning in her chosen gown. Happy Sewing Janine.

 Costings - Material - so old I can not remember , Pattern- Dress 133 from BurdaStyle May 2012 - $20 . Knit lining , appliques , thread , invisible zip and satin bias binding from stash . Total - $20 + .

Saturday 3 October 2015

Scrap Skirt One - The ( Faux ) Luxe Version .


I`m continuing on with clearing out scraps . I don`t like waste and  also find it a creative challenge to make the most with what I have.   I have had a small piece of ( faux silk )  satin in my cupboard for a looong time that was just not big enough to do anything with .It was starting to bug me what I could use it for .  For some reason I thought it might make a nice skirt flounce . I pulled out my navy blue fabrics and found the best match was with the ( faux ) suede a leftover from making my Mum a pair of pants and matching sleeveless jacket 13 years ago !
I then found three flounce skirt patterns but chose one from Burda April 2005 - this is the same issue that has the twist top that was really popular 10 years ago .
I changed the skirt a bit - it had a zip on the side and the skirt front had a centre seam with a split at the bottom. I changed the skirt so the back had a centre seam allowing the zip and split to be in the back.

I finished the skirt last week and was able to wear it out a couple of nights later to Hamlet at the local Arts Centre . I wore it with the navy charmeuse top I sewed earlier in the year and felt quite appropriately dressy and swishy . Unfortunately though it did not help me understand Shakespeare any easier although by the second half I worked out the plot . ( I didn`t study Hamlet at school - we did Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice ) .

I am in the midst of making another scrap skirt - this will be more a day / casual version but it is taking a bit longer because I am going to embellish it  . And there is  still some suede/ satin fabric leftover which I am hoping will be enough for a bag !
Happy Sewing Janine.

Saturday 29 August 2015

A Bloggy Catch Up and Ramblings about Fabric .

It is a lovely Sunday morning here - the rain has stopped ( our sheep at one stage had their own personal olympic sized swimming pool with a Murray River run off in their paddock  - I put a stop to their backstroke lessons when I unclogged the roadside drain ) and it is sunny.
I have had my breakfast carefully supervised by my food taster . If he does not drop dead one millisecond after eating my toast ( multigrain BTW )  prepared for me by my husband then I proceed to enjoy. My fitness instructor has taken me for a walk. The fitness involved depends entirely on how many fitness instructors have preceded us. Sometimes we need to inspect every single blade of grass and other times a quick sniff of some select trees and fence posts will suffice. Now my bodyguard will allow me to sew whilst he pretends to curl up and sleep . However I see him opening a single eye now and again to check for any potential assassins .

This year I was making a concerted effort to really sew down my fabric stash/ collection / hoard or whatever you want to call it. I made a policy that if I bought fabric then I would HAVE to sew it up straight away.



This policy works really well. I bought the mesh knit for my knipmode scarf top  from my previous post .
I bought this cream cable rib knit above  for my practice run for my black lace bonded knit . The bust darts are too low and the sleeves are too short but I was happy otherwise.


I bought this border print from an op shop - a bare one metre and sewed up Simplicity 4368 again . This is such a nifty little pattern - to be able to get a top with sleeves from such little fabric ( I use size 12 )  . However it seems the fabric buying policy expired in late July.
My excuse is my daughter had an exam in a regional town a couple of hours away. I rarely go there and I had 3  1/2 hours to spare . So I went and looked at an op shop . And found a mother lode of fabric . In the end I limited it to just under 20 metres - taupe  tropical wool, cream rayon, floral dotted swiss , cream rib stretch, cotton-silk ( I think ) floral , lemon and rust coloured crepe de chines and a pale grey mystery . Yes so in one swell swoop I bought the amount of fabric it has taken me to sew for the year . Sigh - there is always next year yes ?


I will finish with a word about my  food taster / fitness instructor / bodyguard. Just in case you are jealous or think he is perfect , well he is not . I have given him several dissertations on how to make the perfect cup of tea. He knows the theory well but has yet to put it to practice.

Happy Sewing Janine.

Saturday 8 August 2015

Not A Knitter, So A Sewer .

I  don`t really like to knit all that much although I am very tempted when I see my friend knitting beautiful socks and knitting jumpers from wool she has spun and dyed herself- incredible !
My last knitting effort was abysmal .I spent one year knitting the front , the next winter knitting the back and then one winter each for the sleeves. I left my project under the bed for the next winter and took it out and gave to my Mum who kindly sewed up the pieces . The next year I knitted the neck band and the end result was absolutely awful , incredibly daggy and baggy and ugly jumper . Seven years to produce such fugliness.
So whenever I see woolly knitted fabric that I like I buy it.

This fabric was from ClearIt late last year -black floral lace bonded onto off white ribbed knit . I`ve never seen fabric like this before so I scooped up 1.5 metres .

Such beautiful l fabric just needs a simple pattern and I had to go all the way back to a Burda Magazine from 1998 to find what I wanted. I have bought a few old issues of Burda magazines at op shops ( they are a rare find ) but this is the first time I have used one . Just a simple pullover which was very easy. I am very happy with the fit although perhaps not as loose as I wanted but I can easily wear a shirt underneath and that is all I needed.

This jumper only took about three sewing sessions -perhaps three hours and I can honestly say I am pleased with the result. So seven years knitting fugly , three hours sewing satisfaction - is it any wonder I don`t knit !
( PS I am though seriously considering finishing knitting the socks I started in 2010 )

241

Just updating my personal sewing diary.
One of the things I really enjoy about having a blog is being able to document my sewing endeavours.  Most of my sewing has long disappeared and exists only in my mind. Not that it was spectacular or special just that I sewed it and and can see that I am getting better even if I still know just about zilch on fitting and totally nothing about drafting.
Another thing about having a blog is actually having a photo of myself wearing the clothes which sometimes even includes a back view. There are very few photos of me except on this blog. That doesn't  matter to me at all but it has been interesting to me to see what  clothes , colours  and styles might suit or not. Because that is another thing I am relatively clueless on -style etc.  And until this blog I didn't actually know what my back view looked like ( and perhaps that is information that was better that way ) .


Last month I finished sewing another burda style henley T.
This was a sewing project that I needed ,  not just wanted. A basic cream T .
The fabric is a fine ribbed knit bought on a lovely fabric buying day in November 2013 with the lovely girls from the monthly sewing group ( sadly this year it has been an annual sewing group for me ) . The month before had been a stashbusting sewing month - pure genius ! The fabric was from Rathdowne Remnants and the first piece I have made up from that day ! I thought it would be difficult fabric to handle because it is so fine  but it sewed up quite easily and I was delighted there was just enough to make  another kwik sew singlet as well - hence the two for one blog title .


Monday 10 November 2014

Burda Style Henley T - Much Ado About Nothing.

I just sewed a T -Shirt.
The pattern is from December 2009 Burda Style and why oh why does it take me so long to finally make something from my patterns .Probably because I am catching up sewing from all the other old patterns.

This should have been just  a quick simple make but it took several days and used  several different products. Lots of people would think why bother and I sometimes ponder this as well .
Well there are several reasons why I bother.
1. I have the fabric in stash anyway -  a decent quality  mid- blue cotton pique knit - an op shop find from years and years ago.
2. I  enjoy the sewing process as much as the finished garment .
3. I don't think I could buy a T shirt so well constructed and I want my clothes to last - none of this one season, throw away fashion for me.

Burda Style instructions are notorious for their brevity and this was no different. Thank goodness for my Kwik Sew patterns which I referred to for the front placket. In fact when you know what you are doing the burda instructions do  kind of make sense ( the trick is knowing what you are doing ) .

Apart from the front placket there is stabilising the shoulder seams with cotton tape, interfacing the placket bands, under stitching and stitching and top stitching the neck band and adding hem fusible tape to the sleeve and body hems which I think helps prevents those wavy stretched out hems .Also the buttons I retrieved from an old shirt so I then had to resew on different buttons on that shirt .

Yep , so lots of effort for just a Tee.  ( not to mention tracing out the pattern and adding seam allowances ) .
I made mistakes as well .The twill tape I used was really too thick for the purpose , I added a 1.5 cm allowance to the neck line but only sewed the neck binding on using a 6 mm seam and mis-spaced the buttons despite carefully measuring them. Sigh.
I do like finished  top and will likely remake this. Hopefully without the mistakes .Hopefully I'll remember to read this post .
So all these words to say I sewed a T-Shirt.
Looks like even the dog is giving me an eye roll. 

Saturday 20 September 2014

Burda 10/2004 - Flappy Love Jacket .

Apparently DH the photographer doesn`t think I need the top of my head. 


Finally finished my jacket and just in time to catch the last of the cold weather .
This plush soft red fine cord came from Clear It  in February this year . I was lucky and got the last end bit. However this limited what pattern I could use. I debated a few patterns but finally chose Jacket 110 from Burda WOF dated October 2004 ! Almost up to date for me .
I loved all the flappy bits on this jacket - some useless - the R front flap , pocket flaps and some useful - the hidden zip placket and lower button  tab  . It also has pockets in the front princess seams.

I was lucky because this pattern was the pattern in pink sewing course but there were still a few  brow furrowing , head scratching moments . Many of the instructions were illustrated and there were more written  details BUT I discovered a mistake in the separating  zip application - luckily  I had only tacked half of it in before I realised the error.
I have never sewn a hidden zip placket before but once that was complete the rest of the construction was basic. I did not sew the cuffs ( I just lengthened the sleeves )  or add the shoulder tabs because I only had four of my lovely buttons recycled from a jacket I sewed in the 90s. Also I sewed this a size larger than usual because the jacket looked very slim fitting on the model and I want to wear this over cardigans and jumpers . The jacket feels about right for this but the shoulders were too long so I had to shorten them . The jacket , pockets  and right front flap are lined in just a plain black lining .

Flappy love. 

I love these buttons .

I am right pleased with this jacket  but  glad its over . ( I tend to get a bit bored if projects go on too long )
Also I have almost finished reading a kindle book so I am in that exciting place where I get to choose all new projects- yay -  Now I just need to  ignore that large pile of mending glaring at me .
Happy Sewing Janine.

PS - I`ve been told by Bruna from sewing group  that the front flap is actually to stick the end of a gun there so it doesn`t get wet or whatever . So still useless to me : )

Saturday 4 January 2014

The T-Shirt Project - Part One . Burda Feb 2013.


One thing I really do need are T shirts - I have a sparse collection and all have stains or holes except one ( which is only about 15 years old ! )  so the situation was getting a little desperate hence the T shirt project  was born. And since I have fabric and patterns stashed I got the sewing machines buzzing .
I started with a popular pattern from Burda magazine  February 2013 - the gathered raglan sleeve top.
Fact- this is the only pattern I sewed in 2013 from a pattern dated 2013 !
Fact - I only bought one ready to wear top in 2013 - and it was exactly the same pattern as this , in blue !

This is a very easy pattern but I managed to muck it up by sewing the back of the sleeve to the front bodice piece . Simple  enough to unpick though.
I sewed a size 38 but it was too small through the abdomen area. I have sewed just shy of a dozen projects from Burda over the years and size 38 has always served me well so I think this pattern may run small. However it may also have been my fabric choice - a good quality cotton lycra knit but quite hefty so perhaps a lighter weight fabric would have worked better?? It did fit well around the arms and bust though  . I found the neckline gaped a bit even though I shortened the neck band as advised by others who have made this up. Finally I do not think the horizontal stripes are doing me any favours  .I did manage to match the stripes but in the completely opposite way !

Verdict - FAIL- sort of.  (  given to my eldest daughter who likes it , fits her better  and has worn it )

PS - The T-Shirt project also refers to a book called The Rosie Project - highly recommended if you want to read a laugh out loud book to cheer you up - it is also set in Melbourne- a little nostalgic bonus for me .

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Burda 7372 - A Spotty Dotty Circle Dress.


Bonjour!  This is the second of my projects for my middle DD using some cotton voile from Spotlight ( actually quite alot of cotton voile - four metres !) . The dress has quite a slim fitting bodice which merges into a large waist and a  circle skirt  . It is has a small mandarin collar, decorative only pocket flaps, inseam pockets  and bias bound armholes.  I used size 12 which is for a bust of 93 cm and the finished garment is only 97 cm so you can see there is not much ease at that particular point. However the waist is huge and shaping is provided by elastic .

This pattern uses four metres or 4 3/8 yards of fabric because of the skirt portion which is  a gathered  circle skirt . If you sew this, take my advice and cut out the skirt portions first - I didn`t and almost didn`t have enough fabric . In the end my daughter wanted me to shorten the skirt by about 13 cms so I went through all that angst for nothing . The  other changes were that  I cut out two yokes so it could be lined. I realise that my old cotton shirts always fade first at my upper back which led to a  totally useless thought that perhaps that is the purpose of  lined yokes .
Also I eliminated the outer fabric  casing where  elastic joined  to a narrow  fabric tie is threaded . Instead I made a channel in the waist / bodice seam and inserted elastic in there before sewing on the front bands. My daughter didn`t want the fabric ties but instead will wear this with a belt .

 A close up of the bodice, flaps, lined yoke and bias bound  armholes.

So now my daughter can be all swirly and girly in her spotty dotty dress but unfortunately she just won`t do that for this blog !

Now I admit I am excited . You see I have not sewn anything pour moi in two months - I am going through serious selfish  sewing DTs so once I finish up some PJ pants for my eldest DD I will get going with a skirt which is just a little bit different to the usual. My middle DD also wanted me to sew her a skirt but I think I will just keep quiet for now and not remind her about that ;) .

Cheers Janine.