It’s that time of year again – trick or treating, fancy dress parties. Well, the kids anyway – I just get to stay in and make the costumes!
This year Chloe wanted to go to her friend’s party as a “BadFairy” and insisted that bad fairies wear purple and black tutus. After looking at a few not very inspiring tutus in town I decided I’d have a go at making one myself.
So, armed with a couple of metres of tulle and a bit of elastic and a very vague idea of what I’m doing, here goes ……..
HOW TO MAKE AN 8 LAYER TUTU
1. Materials
1m each of purple and black tulle (medium weight)
1m of black elastic (approx 5cm wide)
2. Take your first piece of tulle and fold in half along it’s longest edge, then fold in half again. Pin. Remember, your tulle should be roughly 1.5 times the length of your elastic to allow for sufficient “ruffle”.
Then cut along top and bottom folds. Do the same with your next piece of tulle.
3. Now to create your layers – I decided to have alternate black and purple layers. Separate the tulle and carefully lay each layer one on top of the other, ensuring the top edge of each layer matches the one below. This can be quite fiddly as the tulle can slip so you may find it helpful to use plenty of pins as you go along. If you are using only one colour tulle this step will be a lot easier as your tulle will already be pinned and ready to stitch following the cutting stage.
4. Next you need to sew your layers together. I decided to use my overlocker (serger) for neatness although you could just as easily use a straight stitch on your sewing machine. Because I used my overlocker I tacked the layers together first (don’t overlock with pins in your fabric – it gets very nasty when your cutting blade hits one!).
Don’t worry about creating ruffles at this stage – this is done when adding the elastic.
5. Pin the tulle layers evenly across the lower edge of the elastic (about 1cm from the lower edge) leaving approx 3cm overlap at one end. I added an overlap to make sure the skirt didn’t gape open when worn.
6. I always find this the scary bit! Using a medium length stitch sew the tulle on to the elastic. Because there is a lot more tulle than elastic you will need to stretch the elastic as you sew. To help avoid snapped needles sew at a medium speed and stretch the elastic either side of the needle. If you only stretch it at one end you will put too much pressure on the needle. It’s this stretching process that creates the ruffled look.
7. Finally, I pinned the tutu around Chloe’s waist and then stitched to secure. I used a zigzag stitch to allow for “give”.
And here’s the finished result – I was really pleased that it was full enough to be able to stand up on it’s own.
Chloe was thrilled as you can see from the pic
I was pleased with my first attempt but would welcome any tips for the next time I make a tutu.
I like the word cwtch. It’s a nice word. A warm and fuzzy word. It’s also a word with more than one meaning.
Now my favourite definition of the word is the verb (to cwtch). It means to hug; to cuddle; to comfort. If one of my children fell over when they were little they would want a cwtch from Mammy to make them better. If I’m feeling chilly in the evening, there’s no better way to get warm than a cwtch from my hubby. See? Nice word. Use it lots.
The other definition of cwtch is the one I want to tell you about today. It’s also a nice word. It describes a small, cosy space. Most Welsh houses have a “cwtch dan stâr” (the little space under the staircase); or if your puppy has been naughty you may tell him to “cer cwtch!” (go to your basket!).
I have my own cwtch where I sew. My cwtch is at the top of the stairs outside my bedroom door. It’s where the landing turns to make a [very little] “L” shape. My sewing table just about squeezes into my cwtch.
On top of my table I have my sewing machine; my overlocker; my lamp; my ham & sleeve roll; my magazine holders full of “Sewing World”, “Sew Hip” & “Sew” magazines; my quilting extension table and the thing that catches all the bits from my overlocker.
Underneath the table I have a little chest of drawers full of all my bits & bobs and sewing paraphenalia; my plastic boxes and bags of fabric; my bin and my chair.
(note: the bannister is quite useful to hold “work in progress”)
Ok, not a very organised or practical cwtch (to sew, everything has to be moved and dumped on my bed) but it’s mine. It’s warm and cosy and quiet and I rarely get disturbed. It’s where all my creations are – well – created! It’s where all my disasters happen. It would be nice to have a bigger cwtch – perhaps enough space so I don’t need to hire a removal van every time I want to stich a hem – but then it wouldn’t be a cwtch……… would it?
….. and Chloe’s not too thrilled about the prospect. To try and soften the blow I’ve offered to make her school skirts this year. The skirts we usually buy are never “right” – usually too long or scratchy material etc etc.
We’ve agreed on a pattern (McCall’s M5696 – View A) which I’ve made for her before (pic pending), it fits and she likes.
We nipped into town this morning and picked up 1.5m of black polyester from Lee Mill which should be enough for two skirts. They’re really easy to make and can probably finish one in an afternoon. I may start one this afternoon or we may go to the Marquis for our tea instead (the boys are going to watch football so perhaps a girly afternoon is in order). I’ve got two weeks before she goes back to school so plenty of time. In the meantime I have floors to mop and an Everest-size pile of ironing calling my name ……
I’ve finally got myself into gear and enrolled myself on my next dressmaking course. This year I’m going to do OCN Level 2 (well I have done Level 1 for the last two years so it’s probably time I moved on!). These classes have given me so much confidence in my sewing and I’ve met so many lovely people – I would recommend it to anyone.
Babs our tutor had hoped to run a City & Guilds course in Pattern Cutting this year. Now that’s something I’d really like to get into! I love the idea of being able to create something from scratch without using a commercial pattern – currently I wouldn’t know where to start. Unfortunately though, the college wouldn’t give her the go-ahead to run the course which is a shame.
Well, on to non-sewing related things – it looks like Poppy the cat wants to be fed. She’s just stomped all over the computer keyboard in a very indignant fashion! I’m guessing I’ll have no peace until I put some biscuits in her dish ….
Well I’ve been fairly productive over the last few weeks. I’ve completed four (yes count them!) projects! That’s got to be a record for me.
The first one is this rather snazzy (imho) waistcoat for Jamie’s prom.
The story goes like this….
Jamie really wanted a red waistcoat. We hunted all the usual shops (River Island, M&S etc) but all we could find were black or grey. Then we tried a wedding outfitters. Lots of lovely red waistcoats there but they wanted – wait for it – £60!! Neither of us could justify paying that sort of money for something he’s likely only to wear once.
So, to cut a short story short, Jamie suggested that the lovely red fabric I’d picked up on sale in Lee Mill a few weeks earlier would make a very nice waistcoat. I used Simplicity 4762 – a lovely easy pattern which also included matching tie.
Next up was this little shirred top for Chloe.
(unfortunately, I couldn’t zoom in any closer or you would have seen the lasagne stain on the front after a rather pleasant lunch in Narbeth)
I didn’t use a pattern for this. I simply measured her chest and multiplied by 1.5. Then, I stitched the side seam to form a tube and finished the top and bottom hems using the rolled-hem function on the overlocker. Using a long stitch and firmly-wound shirring elastic in the bobbin, on the wrong side of the fabric, I stitched corkscrew style until I reached the desired depth of shirring. For security I added a little halter tie, but it could quite easily be worn without (by the way, the fabric is the pink Laura Ashley I picked up for a snip in Butterfly Fabrics).
My last two projects don’t have pictures yet. I’ll keep them for my next post.
This is the project that really kicked off my passion for sewing! Previously, I’d made the odd dressing gown or pair of shorts (not particularly successfully) but had never felt really inspired. Then, last year, I realised that Chloe was going to need a dress for her “End of Primary School Prom”. I really didn’t want to pay silly money for a dress she’d only wear once but I did really want her to have something nice to wear.
So – I enrolled myself on an evening class and set to work! It took me months to make and was literally putting the finishing touches to it the night before but I was quite happy with the result.
Chloe chose both the fabric and the pattern (with a little steering from mum – tried to keep her away from the really complicated patterns) and was really happy with the result too.
We used McCall’s M4765, which is actually a skirt and a choice of two tops – Chloe chose the version with cap sleeves. She chose a lovely lilac coloured polyester satin, which went beautifully with her fair colouring. To add a little detail to the top I layered some lilac coloured sequinned netting over the front and back centre panels. I had a enough left over to make her a simple little stole too! (I didn’t use the pattern for that – I just squared off the edges of the fabric and finished them with the rolled-hem feature on the overlocker [serger]).
(Daddy took the photographs – a bit of a family event in the end!)
We all love fabric don’t we? And we all love to buy it too ~ but what is our favourite way of getting our sweaty mitts on that oh-so-gorgeous printed cotton or sumptious satin?
My personal favourite is to haggle for a bargain with Mad Mike at Lee Mill Fabrics - and to be honest I just love to “touch” the fabric as well as look at it – but there is certainly something very therapeutic about browsing the net over a cup of coffee.
I bought a fab sewing book this week. It’s called “The Sewing Book” by Alison Smith and I think it’s really going to get a lot of use!
It’s got lovely step-by-step instructions on how to do practically anything sewing-related. Each step comes with its own colour photograph so you can see exactly what you should be doing. It also explains the properties of different types of fabric which I find really useful (I don’t know about you but I still don’t know my chambray from my chenille!).
It also has a “Project” section at the back ~ and one of the projects shows you how to draft a simple kimono pattern. Looking at the instructions I think I may be able to adapt the pattern to create the jacket for the Welsh costume (see last post). I’ve never tried drafting my own pattern before so that should be interesting!
I can say only one negative thing ~ and it has nothing to do with the book really ~ I bought my copy in Borders because Nat gave me a £10 voucher to say thank you for making the curtains. The book was £25 so I put £15 of my own money to it (little maths lesson there). I’ve just looked on the web for a picture of the book to post here and I’ve discovered that the Book People are selling it for £8.99! What did my mum always say “Act in haste, repent at leisure”? Oh well, I still really like my book …..
Honestly, why do I put myself up for these things??
For those of you who don’t live in Wales, we have just celebrated St David’s Day. If, like me you work in a primary school, that means Welsh Dragon pictures everywhere, leeks, cawl (lamb & vegetable soup) for dinner, Eisteddfods (song, poetry & dance competitions) and, most importantly, little girls dressed in Welsh costumes.
Chloe in Welsh Costume around 2002
A few of the teachers mentioned that they’d like to dress up on the day too but adult costumes can’t be bought “off the peg” and cost upwards of £150 to have made specially. So of course I said “I’ll make some ready for next year for you”. Nice idea but where on earth am I going to get a pattern???
After a lot of fruitless searching of pattern catalogues I decided to get some proper advice. I emailed St Fagins, National Museum of Welsh Life who suggested I contact The National Wool Museum in Drefach-Felindre. Apparently they make the traditional fabric there and also “made to order” costumes so they may be able to help with a pattern.
I also emailed “Sewing World” magazine. Julie Bonnar, the Assistant Editor, got straight back to me with suggestions of patterns I could adapt. Many thanks Julie! And of course Babs, my lovely tutor, had lots of good ideas too – she suggested using a simple kimono pattern and adapting that to suit.
I’ve now got about 11 months to work on this project ~ I’ll keep you posted.
Well, those curtains are up and not lookin’ bad even if I do say so myself. Nat was really pleased with them and so were the children. As you can probably see from the photos it’s not a Post Office any more - I’m guessing it’s a vet’s surgery at the moment ……
Ooh, I almost forgot! I finished my pinafore on Wednesday night. I was really pleased with the finished result (that’s got to be a first!) and I wore it to work on Thursday. I got some very positive comments and a couple of the girls even suggested I make some for them! I’ll get Kev to take some pictures and get them posted.
Before I start on a new project I’m going try and finish off a couple of things I’ve already started. My velvet skirt just needs hemming so that shouldn’t take long, but the velvet corset top - that’s a different matter altogether (do I have a velvet fixation? I think I probably do..). It’s been thrown in a bag, half finished, for the best part of a year now. I’d really like to get it finished as it’s such a pretty design, but it’s just soooo difficult! I’ll take some pics of that too so that I can show you.
Ah well, too tired to sew tonight. Think I’ll go and settle with that coffee that Kev has just made me ……
