Linen Wrap Dress with Shawl Collar

I've had this pattern for a while now. I started it in my dressmaking class in Grafton Academy 5 weeks ago but the good weather we've been having these past few days motivated me to get the final button-hole done so I could wear it to work tomorrow.

It's held together with only one button really. I think there might have been an elastic or something inside but I didn't follow that part of the pattern.

There's a second button and a complicated loop detail. In this picture too, you might see the extra dart I had to sew to fix the excess fabric around the chest/neck.

But if I move too much it doesn't sit well so I'm going to have to hold it with a safety pin tomorrow until I add a secret internal button to hold it together better:

The back fits nicely:

Overall, I am disappointed with this dress. It didn't fit me well around the shoulder and needed a dart added. The front flaps needed to be hemmed because they were hanging loosely otherwise. 

It's funny, when I started out buying patterns I was careful not to choose something too fitted because of course individual measurements will differ; somehow I forgot that note-to-self when I bought this one... and the proof is in the pudding.

Cut-up Couture

A girl in my dress-making class leant me a Japanese pattern book of hers: Cut-Up Couture: Edgy Upcycled Garments to Sew by Koko Yamase.

I bought a man's XL sweatshirt, and my brother gave me a L shirt that doesn't fit him... and I've made myself an "interesting" jumper and a halter-neck top. Both quirky and wearable.

Sorting buttons

Highlights are:
This red button. It's quite large. I'd nearly design an outfit around it!

These beautiful little white pearl-like buttons. They have a really nice weight. Old style.

These gold buttons are a nice colour as gold buttons go:

"London" Bag

I was in Murphy Sheehy's fabric shop a few weeks ago and, out of the corner of my eye, spotted some London fabric. It stuck with me. I went back and bought a metre of it... it's 1.8m wide!
I'm such a shocking newbie at all this fabric purchasing and sewing.
But look what I made:

A bag. A "tote". I lined it in a blue fabric bought from John Joyce's in Navan. Not sure really what the fabric is. I made the blue skirt out of it too. It's heavy, linen-y, like overalls!

I used a pattern that was handed out at a free sewing demonstration in Hickey's a year or so ago. Well, I mostly used that pattern... I made up the attaching-the-handles-part myself. And broke the sewing machine in the process. It was spitting out thread at terrible tension. But I replaced the thread and bobbin and took the needle out and put it back in again and I think the sewing machine has recovered.

Figure 8 Scarf #1 Take#2

I have re-made the first Figure 8 Scarf that I made! I had bought the Anna Maria Horner fabric and voile scarf cuts from The Village Haberdashery. For the second scarf I made, I didn't use the voile but bought a silkier lining fabric from a local shop. The colour matched the Zagzig Garnet velveteen as well so I decided to remake the first scarf.

I am so glad I bought these scarf fabrics and did these projects. I learned a lot as a beginner seamstress.
Practice on sewing maching

• straight stitching
• feeding the fabric in a straight line
• sewing two fabrics of different textures

Little sewing techniques:

• starting the seam a little in from the end in order to have a hem to turn in left over (that's a difficult sentence to make sense of! See Anna Maria's scarf-making instructions)
• hand-stitching the "hem"

And as a result of all that learning, I have two beautiful scarves to present to a friend or family member.

Upcycled Skirt

I had this black velvet dressy skirt languishing in my wardrobe since I bought it.

I removed the floral panel and the velvet 'flap' which made a faux-wrap-skirt of it. And removed the netting at the bottom. And re-sewed the side seam.
Let's see if I wear it now!

Beignet Skirt in the Making

I bought some Colette and Sewaholic patterns recently from Sewbox.co.uk. After my skirt audit, I longed to make the Beignet skirt. I thought the high-waist would overcome the top-matching and draughty-waist problems I have and the fitted shape would suit my figure.

So I went to Hickey's on Henry Street, and searched through the remnants basket (I had a few fabric ideas for various projects that I was searching for). And found this fabric which was very reasonably priced at €1.48 - a mistake maybe - and the receipt shows some information about it. Without the receipt, all I'd know was the length and price seeing as it came from the remnant basket.

It is 59% Polyester and 41% Cotton. I've since learned that "Cairo" is a home furnishings fabric. Does this matter?
Firstly, with only 1.48m, I was a bit tight on fabric and had to cut the front facing panels from two smaller pieces and sew them together. That seems to have worked fine.
Secondly, the fabric is fraying like crazy. So I used bias tape on every seam. This was a ridiculous decision really, now that I see it written in black and white.

Thirdly, the fabric is not pressing well for me. It's too thick, I think. And too polyester-y maybe.
At this point, as a learner-sewer, I'm at my wits end. I feel like throwing in the towel and abandoning all projects. Luckily, I've got a sewing class on Monday next and that will get me back on track.
As to this project, there's some things I love about it. The pockets:

The shape. This was really brought home to me when I saw other people's lovely creations on the Colette Patterns flickr group.

 There was one particularly tough part in the pattern where the facing had to be sewn to the lining:

The pattern is beautifully presented. The instructions are in book form with a slot on the inside back cover for the pattern pieces. I think I was very keen to get started because of how lovely the pattern is. Now I just feel really disheartened. I can't imagine making buttonholes in this fraying fabric. It brings home to me the importance of fabric. Choosing it carefully is half the battle.
I'm creative but I'm not imaginative and that's why up to know I've had success with my projects because I've used the fabric and patterns together suggested by others that were tried and tested. I don't like failure! Trying and failing.