Anyone else going to join me on the Sewing Bee watch?

[flubba]

A bit excited about it

:o

why don't you make the pattern from the dress?

knob pockets are dead easy.

you just make a pocket in the shape of a knob (imagine a stylized b) , making sure you match the long line to the seam, and put it in.
I usually draw round my hand like a giant mitten.

bloody hate dot and cross.
I use plain - it's much easier not to make a mistake

Have been discussing with dh when they are going to do Celebrity Sewing Bee, and who we would like to see on it.
So far we think Kirsty Allsop, Chris Eubank and Jeremy Paxman.

They should put Victoria Beckham on it :o she is, after all, a fashion designer these days...

Excellent idea!
In fact, any sleb that has a clothing range should be invited.

Kate Moss?

I'm loving looking at all these patterns. It's like the ultimate window shopping!

I'm totally clueless though really. I had to google fat quarter earlier as I had no clue what you were all talking about.

Do NOT get me started on Kate Moss and bloody Rachel Zoe! They have/had design teams dedicated to making a collection they did/do NOT design their own stuff imnsho. It makes me really cross that they get recognition as designers when it's their design team who are fab and use them as an inspriation.
It's my understanding from somebody who interned for VB that she is way more involved with her stuff than you'd think, from a runway pov anyway. I don't think many designers labels that go in for mass prod stuff have an awful lot to do with the rtw designs. In fact, very few designers own their own name, most of them are owned by their backers.

TisAMurkyWorldFashionTiggaxx

Ooh NeverGoogle - you have got me into trouble looking at all these patterns. Now have a list of ones I want to make.

However... I am currently 5 weeks pg, so keeping fingers crossed that I will be big as a whale and not able to fit anything (it will be Dc2)

Have found this DIY Maternity blog with some great shirt re-fashions
Definitely want to try the one on the link and one with stirring where are DH's old shirts

Congratulations ChocolateCremeEggBag.

It was a bit of a tongue in cheek suggestion dawntigga.

Ooh exciting chocolate :)

So I had a go at the shirring dress, and the whole tension thingamy on my machine very nearly broke me and the bobbin (actually, it did break the bobbin twice but I fixed it. Thank goodness for the magnetism of scissors so I was able to locate the tiniest screw in the entire world ever!)

Here's a link to it if you fancy a nosy (and please don't look too closely at the shirring towards the end - the tension had really given up by then! :o)

At some point I'll need to try and make DD2 one too!

Very cute flubba, I do like little girl clothes.

So lovely flubba. I'm very jealous that you can just do it.

I have made the shirring dress.
it was really easy
shirring was easy (but think my elastic is too old so don't know if it'll stand being washed.
she's been wearing it today to lunch at the vicarage.
have taken photos and will upload them later.

feck off unique - the shirring bit bloody nearly killed me! :o

flubba show off

mine's not that good

it's beautiful.

the reason I'm so chuffed it was easy was because my mum put me off shirring because she said it was really hard.
that programme gave me the courage to try and I was so happy. (and I used all of the tips from the prigramme)

What a lovely dress, flubba and such a beautiful dd!

Shirring is a devil to do and pings all over the place. It is not an easy technique!

beautiful dress, I NEED A DAUGHTER!!!

is that the ikea duvet cover?

maybe it was my ancient elastic tgen.
but I did what thingy said and pulled the elastic out a bitcand then let it go slack for a length before cutting it. so it didn't ping back

never google make yourself one!

it would look nowhere near as cute in my size

It wasn't so much the pinging back, it was the tension. Sometimes too loopy and sometimes too tight (because I kept having to re-wind the bobbin as it only held enough elastic for maybe two rows)

Also you'd have thought I could keep a straight line with straight lines to follow, but I was concentrating so hard on the bloody tension, that I kept losing my place!!
Thank you though, for your kind comments.
Not sure where the duvet's from never as it's a charity shop buy. Will check and let you know. It's so soft and lovely though (and I thought I'd try it on a cheap fabric first - which is just as well!) :)

hmmm.
I just did what they said to do and used the same tension as normal.
maybe your bobbin tension was wonky.

I ironed in my lines (which was really hard!).
yy not many lines held on the bobbin. on one line I ran out of elastic about 4 inches from the end and had to redo the entire line.

Lovely dress Flubba!

Some tips for the shirring (if anyone is interested!) you can draw the shirring lines on the fabric with a ruler, prior to shirring with a fabric marking pen (the sort that irons out or one that fades with contact with water) prior to shirring. Guarantees straight lines.

Also, it's handy to wind on 5 or so bobbins worth of elastic to have them ready to go. If you are being precious about it you will do 2 rows then move onto the next bobbin, to make sure you don't run out mid-way. Fiddly but worth it.

And iron on top of shirring.
Lots of steam, apparently that makes the elastic contact and pulls it all better.