Making Plans

My studio suffers from an abundance of dress patterns, all safely stored away in an old filing cabinet, and of fabric, which is less safely shoved on a very bowed set of shelves for all the world to see. Fortunately there is one very simple solution to this problem; MAKE THINGS. Here is what I am thinking so far...

A Hazel dress by Colette in a retro floral cotton.

Some sort of pajama-y/night dress/shorts thing in these Tana Lawns I was given for Christmas.

 I've got loads of this poly-cotton madras fabric so potentially a cheongsam style dress altered from this pattern, and..

A 50s style shirtwaister using this Burda repro pattern.

Still not decided on this one, I LOVE the fabric, and am thinking a peplum top in a similar style to this dress. Or maybe a skirt? Or something else entirely?

 Possibly a blouse in this green print chiffon, although there's about 3m of it, so I could do a full dress?

 I got a copy of Drape Drape ages ago and haven't made anything from it yet so hopefully this navy stripe jersey will become a lovely dress like this one.

 And this blue and grey jersey might get the Drape Drape treatment too, maybe with a bit of contrast trim, or a printed yoke section.

For once I've been a good dressmaker and washed all my fabrics first, with varying success, that blue jersey is VERY blue and it's not afraid to share it. No major disasters, just might need to get some colour run remover next time I'm in town...

So, what's on your sewing pile? 

NSPP: Flowers and Further

Quick update on my 'Non-Specific Patchwork Project'. I've had a lot of free time at fairs and while volunteering at Arts Hub so I've made some progress.

 I've been using Gutterman Hand Quilting thread to whip stitch the hexies together, quite pleased with the tiny neatness of my stitches from the front. The thread is nice enough to work with, no snagging, but I'm finding it a little brittle, even though it's meant to be extra strong. I don't know if anyone has any other recommendations?
I've finalised the arrangement for the hexie flowers and have begun getting the body of it sewn together.

 So far as possible (allowing for mistakes) I've kept the grain running straight throughout, I don't know if this is something you're meant to do but it seemed like a good idea. It does mean that the odd hexie that's gone in on an angle winds me up more than it should, but I'm sure I'll get over it.

Non-Specific Patchwork Project

My Mum got me a couple of bundles of fat quarters for Christmas, with the intention that I use them for myself.

So I've begun an English paper piecing project. If you don't know, EPP is the patchwork technique where your fabric is tacked around a paper template to hold the intricate shapes, and then hand stitched into segments, and then they are stitched together to make the finsihed quilt top, or whatever it is you are making. And then you take all the papers out. All done by hand. Though once the whole patchwork part is complete I think you could probably machine stitch the backing, binding and quilting lines.

I'd never used this technique before, but I've been following the tutorial from Flossie Teacakes, which gives a very straightforward breakdown of what you need, various methods and links to some good resources too.
I've opted for 1" hexagons to start with.

Hexagon templates for sewing around.

Hexagon with 1/4" seam allowance to cut my fabrics from.

Tacking the shapes in place is a good TV watching activity for those of you who can't just sit and watch without doing something. You get a good stash going pretty quickly too.