Aurevoir for now!

 I am taking a break from blogging...
This precious person below is the main reason why
.

I am still sewing a bit but with no blog pressure.
 and getting back into crochet,
and still keeping an eye on you arty girls blogs for inspiration and fun.
so tata for now
xxx
Lo

My red heart

a new red dress.
from the Deer and doe Sureau pattern.
a bit like a doll's dress.
especially with the Hansel and Gretel print!
it used to be curtains in my little ones nursery.
now, its on me.

but with modifications: pleats instead of gathers on the skirt.
shorter sleeves.
a very difficult neckline, to be adjusted still.

I like the fit.
It doesnt add inches to my figure.

I can wear it with fancy tights or boring black leggings.
Well , remember, I am often cold.

Ok with heels.

Casual with my denim jacket.

Hey guys.
I think I will only post about once a month from now on.

This sewing addiction is quite time consuming you know?

And there is a cheeky 5 year old who is slowly but surely forgetting her French in my house.

I wont give up making my retro dresses and posting here, oh no!
I just want a bit more balance. and I really want my Boo to be bilingual.

Dilemmas...
Do you like my little red dress?
xxx

Garden bugs and me

Some recent makes, bugs and me... more photos of my first Sureau:

The light on that day was lovely.

A scalloped  top in blue chambray from a 50s pattern, worn with a fave skirt found on Etsy: Love that witchy print! and a fabric necklace gifted from my lovely French bestie.

My lovely Laurel blouse in a sheer cotton with a print which I think looks a bit japanese, love it!

Why do I always make everything too big? I hate wearing tight stuff I guess.
Soooo comfortable and soft, it is, and I shall make much more of these...
a bientot. x

Simplicity 6594 and more Liebster fun

I have been sewing!
No kidding, and here is the evidence in a few slightly blurry ipod pictures, as I am planning to hopefully fix my faulty Nikon connection today and be able to use proper photographs again for this blog.
 A suspender skirt with a fab vintage checked cotton found in France in orange and teal.
I made the braces but decided not to sew them on as I felt they really didnt suit me and looked rather rideeeeeyculous on me! Too bad, but I love the 60sness of the skirt anyway.

EEeeek, noooo. I look Swiss! or something.

AAAh much better with my new old 60s Crimplene top found in a charity shop on top of the skirt, much more flattering!

Worn with cream lacy tights and my new nude cut out brogues.

a close up of that luuuuuverly 60s top and my silly mug...............aaaah those shoes.

And now for the rest of the questions Rehannon included as part of the Liebster award:
(I also have to nominate 11 people in my next post)

1. Who would you get to play you in the story of your life?
2. Career wise what would your plan B be
3. Say you found yourself in a Quantum Leap type role, which enabled to jump to any event in history what would you choose?
4. If you were coming on stage what would you choose as your walk on tune?
5. In Grease what character would you most like to play?
6. What skill would you most like to have?
7. If you could make any outfit from a movie what would you choose?
8. Do you have a recipe for something that never disappoints if so can I have it?
9. Can you recommend a good book you've read?
10. What's guaranteed to make you laugh?
11. If you could choose another name what would you go for?

1. Bilinda Butcher. Or someone equally weird and quiet.
2. Child psychologist or seamstress or illustrator.
3. I’d join the suffragettes! Or May 69 in Paris must have been kinda cool.
4. Strange little girl, The Stranglers.
5. the fun and embarrassing girl.
6. to be comfortable in any social situation. Or to never be cold!
7. That 60s dress in Moonrise kingdom that the main actress wears all the way through. Or any dress in Boardwalk Empire.
8. My Lolo soup: 3 carrots, 2 tomatoes, 1 leek, 1 broccoli cut in big chunks, 1 chopped onion, 20mns in stock, hum yummy.
9. The Time Travellers Wife.
10. The Mighty Boosh.
11. Violette. Luna. Marion. (sorry that’s 3!)

My answers make me sound like a socially awkward nerd but hey maybe thats what I am anyway. Embrace your inner nerd is my motto. Be a happy freak.
 ''What others point at, cultivate it because its the real you''
    is a French proverb I Love.
Below the adorable red fabric is going to be another retro Sureau dress my friends! I shall be working on it today and hopefully posting pics tomorrow as tuesday is my day off or SEWING DAY! YAY!
On the right is the beginning of a stripy cotton crochet t shirt for my holidays in sunny France in July.

Right, that red dress is not going to make itself, cheerios my lovelies. xxx

Liebster award fun

 Merci a Rehanon de MissDemeanour qui m'a choisi pour un Liebster blog award! A mon tour de choisir 11 blogeuses dans mon prochain article et repondre a ses 11 questions. Ci dessous ma jupe Miette du patron Tilly and the buttons.

Thank you to Rehanon from the lovely blog MissDemeanour which I have just discovered after she left me a comment saying she loved my blog and Miette skirt and nominated me for a Liebster award along with 10 other bloggers, yay!

The award involves answering 11 questions, giving 11 random facts about myself and nominating my own 11 fave bloggers.
So, I will start with my facts for this post :
(sorry not much time to myself this week! Answers to questions and my nominations next week)

11 random facts
1. I am a twin . My twin was born disabled .She is a sweetie and loves clothes and music like me!
2. I will turn 44 on the 10th of July.  I look and feel younger. I believe in star signs , I am a Cancerian, ie tough shell with a soft centre , and my family and home are very important to me.
3.I work from home which I love. Always hated working as a team in an office, me.
4. I am always cold! I suffer from anemia so that doesnt help! I keep cardigans and scarves in my bag just in case...what a granny!
5. I used to be very very shy but changed and seem confident when you meet me. However I still get attacks of shyness and social anxiety around certain people. I kinda have learned to hide these away but in my teenage years it was hell and didnt help with making friends and boyfriends. poor me, he.
6.I met Morrissey in a pub in London a few years ago. Asked for his autograph. I was shaking and couldnt really say much but didnt embarass myself. I love the Smiths!
7. The violin player from Pulp once chatted me up in a club in London. God that was embarrasing.
8.I am French and left Lille for London in 1995. always an anglophile, I did an english degree in france and was always obsessed with the idea of living in London. so at 25, I did it. Best thing I ever did.
9. I am a good dancer, give me a few glasses of wine, put some northern soul/indie pop on and i'll dance for hours.
10. I am rubish at tidying up and being organised.
11. I am very good at making soups, salads and risottos. Rubbish with cakes though.

There you go my lovelies, feel free to comment if you share some of my quirks! xxx

Refashioning, a Sureau and a Liebster award!

 Me voila de retour avec mon premier short, fait a partir d'une jupe trouvee dans un charity shop, je l'adore! dapres patron dans le dernier Burda Couture Facile. Puis ma premiere Sureau avec dentelle noire et passepoil, je travaille deja sur une 2e Sureau rouge faite a partir de tissu pour enfants!

Hey lovely followers, fashionistas and charity shop maniacs, I am back and I have finished sulking, the sun is out and I can finally wear my home stitched dresses. Happy face. And a lovely person has given me a blog award with a list of fun questions I am answering in the next post!
To get back into the swing of things, let me introduce the most comfortable shorts in the world.

 (I apologise in advance for the ipod pics, my Nikon camera is refusing to transfer my 'proper' photos to computer at the moments, and am working on fixing the problem)

photo taken by my 5 year old daughter! bit wonky, ha!

My first pair !!! Made by my little hands!
You 'll understand how chuffed I am with them when I tell you that they used to be a mini skirt found in a charity shop in my town for...3.99£
!!!!!!
I meant to do comfy summer shorts for a while now that I have ventured out from my cave and that the sun is out, so  I used a Burda pattern from the last 'Burda Couture Facile' magazine and instead of buying new fabric from my local sewing shop ( a shoe box with 2 adorable grannies behind the counter but the cheapest fabric there starts at 8£ a metre, not cheap when you need more than a metre ...) I visited a few charity shops on the look out for the perfect item i could turn into a pair of shorts.
 

I meant to make them in voile like the one the pattern called for but couldnt see anything that tickled my fancy until I saw this black and white roses print on a skirt. In stretch cotton, even better...size 18, so well enough fabric to hack into, yay!
I first simply cut away and turned the skirt into 2 rectangles of fabric so that I could lay my pattern on it. I kept the original hem and waist band because i am lazy because they were perfect as they were and could be re used, so i stitched the waistband on again after trimming it and sewing all the pattern pieces together including the pockets. One thing I love about these shorts are the 4 chic pleats at the front like you'd find on 'proper' classic trousers, and the pockets, which I did in white broderie anglaise for a bit of contrast:
man, these pockets are so comfy and cute, I love them!

impossible to match the front and back hem, oh well

 They are wide fitting tailored shorts  which is what I wanted and suit my round butt, ie, important info: my derriere is not flat and discreet !, so I didnt want tight shorts, also everyone (well teenagers and 20 y old fashionistas) is wearing tight denim shorts so no thanks.
I am wearing them with a blue chambray  top I also made recently from a 50s pattern:

Its got scallops at the hem and collar, I must say they were easier to do than I expected! I messed up the sizing a bit and the top ended up being too short and not wide enough around the hips so.....I added a row of scallops! to lengthen it, and opened the side seams at the hem. so it is a little strange but still very wearable, me thinks? I shall make it again as the pattern intends with a different fabric as it is super easy, just 2 pieces and 2 facings.

not 1 but 2 rows of scallops!

Super chuffed with my first pair of me made shorts, not the last pair, next will be these, complete with sailor top:

 Too cute, no?

And now for my first Sureau , a Deer and doe pattern:

hum could have been a pretty pic with open eyes

(excuse my tired eyes, antibiotics and a chest infection are to blame)

As you can see I added a few 'gothic' details: black lace at the hem and along the fake placket, as well as piping along the waist. I found the lovely purple and black floral cotton in my dream fabric shop in France for 10 euros.

My next step is to encase the sleeves hem in an elastic to give them a cleaner, tighter look.
Cute dress, non?! looks like a Liberty, but isnt... cute, casual, yet not boring, a bit retro, can be worn over leggings when the cold Liverpool wind blows, whats not to like.

I am already making my second Sureau in a oh so cute red japanese fabric with fairytale characters that used to be curtains in my daughter's bedroom.
Phew thats all for now, folks!
xxx

From under a blanket

Peeping from my cave, a few little news...

Just finished a lovely Sureau dress by the French pattern company Deer and Doe. In beautiful purple and black COTTON of course ie not warm. Pictures coming soon when I decide to come out from under all those warm blankets and jumpers...A few examples of my favorite Sureau dresses on the blogosphere:

Made by joliebobines and magali

here by kathhhhhysews

There by Mathilde and Loune
Yes, its a simple casual dress with a little retro flavour.
Its got long sleeves and can be worn over (warm) tights and leggings, hurray!
(Question: Shall I emigrate to a warm country if the rain makes me so damn miserable? Will I not miss drinking tea all day and listening to the Smiths? or: Shall I make all my future 60s dresses in warm fabrics like wool, cord, jersey? I think I'll go for that option.)
Meanwhile I have made a lot of tunics and dresses in lovely thin not warm at all COTTON so I am getting into the art of layering clothes and underlining clothes so that I can wear those makes without having to stand next to a radiator all day.
a bientot...
xxx