Newtown Fair Anna Dress

Today is definitely feeling like autumn, chilly and windy - I wore my coat for the first time in weeks. Weather changes pretty quickly around here, last Saturday it was the Newtown Fair and it was about a million degrees.

Rich and I went along to the fair with our friend Matt who lives in Newtown - I only ate ice based food all day because it was so hot.

That's right I had gelato, shaved ice and an ice block. The "Mr Pops" ice block was pretty amazing and made in Newtown which is pretty great.

There were all kinds of performances, musicians and general carry on at the fair - it was pretty rad.

I decided to make a maxi dress to wear to the fair and chose the Anna Dress by By Hand London, 
about a million people have made this dress already, and I don't think I can add much more about it! It was pretty easy to make, but next time I make it I think I will make it from a more stable fabric (this stuff was so floaty) and also work on the fit in the bodice a little bit.

 So the fit isn't perfect, but I'm still pretty happy with it! I know this is an easy pattern really but for some reason I kept telly myself it would be "too hard" for some reason.

The fabric cost a total of $3 from an op shop, its not the nicest fabric to wear, but I kind of didn't want to use the "good fabric" the first time I used a new pattern.

Hope you all have a fun weekend, I have another fair to go to tomorrow with Ria and then another one the weekend after that - autumn is the season for fairs it seems!

Lovely Club Fabric Swap

One of my goals for this year was to buy no knew fabric, however, I can attend craft/fabric swaps to "refresh" my stash.

So a few weeks back I organised a fabric swap with some Lovely Club friends, the turn out was smaller than I expected, but that's fine with me as everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and come home with some new treasures that made them happy.

I took over a whole suitcase of fabric, patterns and other "bits" and I am glad to say I came back with less than I took to the swap which is an improvement, even if my sewing room/cave is still bursting at the seams, perhaps its bursting a little less right now than it was before.

I thought I'd share a few bits of my 'new' fabric with you guys, I really got so lovely things.

First up is this lovely kind of tropical drill fabric that I got from Rachel, I don't know what exactly I will do with it because its quite heavy. I was originally thinking maybe a skirt, but a tote or some other kind of bag would be pretty useful as well.

I got this soft fabric with a lovely drape from Patricia, I love the colours so much. I am thinking I'd like to make a few more separates this year and I think this would make a great pussy bow blouse, I have this pattern I got free with a sewing magazine which looks pretty simple so I'm going to try and make it with this fabric.

This super cute fabric is something else I got from Rachel, I didn't think too much what I'd use it for when I got it. I just wanted it because I thought it was so pretty! There is quite a lot though and as its kind of summery I think I will try and make a dress with it for our upcoming trip. I think it could look pretty great as a simple fit and flare dress using this pattern.

I got this kind of satin stuff from my friend Emma,I have a metre or maybe a metre and a half of this. I'm not quite sure what to do with it yet. I would make lovely  lining in a jacket/coat or I could make a simple top with it like this one

This fabric is another one from Emma, she made a cute shirt dress from this fabric! I love it so much, I don't have a lot of  it, but I am hoping to squeeze some kind of simple top out of the bits I have.

This was another find from Emma, a whole lot of tulle to make some kind of giant tutu - obviously.

I got this faux leather from Rachel, I've been making a lot of smaller things lately like bags and purses and I thought I could use this as part of those kinds of projects. I'd also like a new passport cover so I will probably use it for that project as well. I just need to get the right fabric for my machine!

This is another fabric from Emma and I am hoping I have enough of this to make some kind of blazer, or light jacket. I only have one jacket at the moment and its a heavy wool jacket for cold days. I'm not sure the pattern I'd use yet, but I have a Japanese pattern book that has a couple of jacket patterns I'd like to try out.

This stuff is so cute! It's from Rachel as well, I think its going to be used to make an apron for one of my friends that loves baking.

So many scraps! Normally I don't pick up scraps but this year I have been doing a lot of smaller projects as well as dressmaking so I decided I'd actually use some of these. The butterfly fabric is actually stretch fabric so it will end up  being underwear! The blue fabric with gnomes I  picked up with a particular swap in mind. The other scrappy bits are because I'd like to make my niece and nephew quilts for their birthdays this year. Sophiia's birthday is first and she is the ultimate "girly girl" so pink and bows will work in well with her quilt (I also have cupcakes and cutesy things).

This photo does not justice to this fun cord I got from Joy, it's a really fun cord with some stretch. I originally took it to try and make some cords for Rich, but he doesn't like the fabric. That's ok though, I still really like it so when it get's a bit cooler I am going to make this dress with it and the remaining fabric can go back to another swap (there's a tonne of this fabric!).

I just wanted to say thanks to those who were concerned about me due to the operation, I'd doing ok now, but still in recovery mode. I've laid pretty low this week and will be working from home need week. I am on the mend, but as always these things take time xo

Christmas Blogger Swap

Earlier this year I took part in a blogger swap which was run by Char over at t*rexes and tiaras, when I  e-mailed Char I said it would be nice to have a partner in New Zealand or Australia to keep down the postage costs.

I got lucky this time around as I had a fellow Kiwi as my partner who is also into sewing! Kirsty from Tea and Rainbows.

Kirsty and I also follow each other on instagram so she totally had my likes down (and hopefully I had hers as well). I didn't take pictures of the things I sent to her because I'm hopeless, but here's all the goodies I recieved.

That big blue package? It's a couple of metres of this cute crocodile fabric complete with matching thread. The fabric reminds me of these lollies. I'm not totally sure what I will do with it yet - I'm thinking maybe a dirndl skirt? Any ideas?

 Next up is this toki doki unicorn blind box! The unicorn inside is just so damn cool - its kind of a unicorn tiger hybrid. It's now in our kitchen next to doughnut cat, a little bunny I bought in Japan town in San Fransisco and some kinder surprise toys because we are adults.

Next up is this package wrapped in Hello Kitty paper - its a Hello Kitty measuring tape! Two of my favorite things in one package!

Finally the kinder surprise egg - it came with something for kids, this bracelet which is too small for me (I mean really stuff only for kids what were they thinking). I might give the bracelet to Sophiia next time I see the family.

Fabric-A-Brac - October 2015

I've done many posts in the past about Fabric-a-brac, its a twice a year fundraiser we have here in Wellington where people sell all kinds of fabric, patterns,notions and other sewing bits and pieces.

I usually help out in the cafe, but I decided to take a break from volunteering this time and just hung out with friends (I'm sure I will be volunteering again next time fabric-a-brac rolls around).

I always love checking out all of the patterns at the event, you really never know what you might find!

Then there's all the fabric, lace, buttons and everything inbetween! I was very tempted to buy that sparkly velvet.

Although I didn't work in the cafe I did visit it obviously, they had the most delicious brownie.

What treasures did I find at fabric-a-brac this time around? First up the patterns - I was pretty restrained this time round.

This pattern is a size too small for me, but I hope I can size it up as its so cute!

Although there's not much call for tropical dresses like this in Wellington, I think I can make a dress from this for my next overseas trip.

A modern pattern? Say what? I loved the lines of the red dress - I have a lot of crazy prints that this dress would work with.

Next up is the fabrics - again I didn't go too crazy. I bought a metre each of these cute Halloween fabrics from the same stall.

There was something about this green cotton that just screamed "buy me!" - I have a total of three metres. Also this photo doesn't really capture the colour of the fabric, its more emerald green.

Finally this check fabric, I never used to be a fan of orange, but its grown on me lately. Also look at that adorable embroidery!

Finally I bought this ric rac - its yellow AND sparkly, how could I leave this behind? Also how cute is that packaging.

I also noticed this sign when I was up in the cafe when I  was having tea - I'm thinking of entering. Any suggestions as to what I should make with my fabric-a-brac finds?