Just in Time Stole: Whip Up a Sexy, Lacy Wrap to Ring in the New Year - CraftStylish

Just in Time Stole: Whip Up a Sexy, Lacy Wrap to Ring in the New Year - CraftStylish

New sewing project.

I've decided to put my silk projects on hold until I feel more confident about sewing with them, as I certainly don't want to ruin these beautiful fabrics.

However my next project is cut out and ready to sew. It's a short-sleeved winter dress using Simplicity 2648 'Amazing fit', so it's a good opportunity for me to learn more about getting the right fit.

I'm going to make View A. I must point out that I'm absolutely nothing like the model on the pattern envelope, this pattern can be cut to suit all shapes and sizes, so I'm hoping it will turn into something wearable!                   

Snow.

Most people find it difficult to believe that we have winter here in Greece and imagine that we enjoy warm sunshine all the year round, but now winter has finally reached us too and it's freezing cold. It started to snow early Thursday morning and continued all day so there was very little traffic on the roads and schools were closed. I managed to take a few photos of 'our' snow.

             
    I had intended to walk round town with my camera on Friday morning but unfortunately when I woke up, most of it had melted!

Today the weather had improved quite a bit so we were able to go for a walk near the sea. It's definitely not the season for swimming or picnicking though!

                     

Colourful fabrics brighten up gloomy day.

This is the first really gloomy day we've had for a long time and it's been raining non-stop. To cheer myself up I got out the fabrics I bought in Turkey during the summer and autumn to try to decide what I'm going to make with them. I've got a few patterns in mind, but I would be grateful for any advice my readers can give me. Maybe you can recommend other patterns too. I must admit I'm rather afraid of cutting my beautiful fabrics and wonder if I should try out the patterns with cheaper fabrics first.

This is pure silk. It wasn't very expensive ( about 50 euros for 3.7 metres of 150 cms wide fabric) and it's a beautiful quality. I bought it at the Silk Market - Koza Han in Bursa ( Proussa).

   Here's a Simplicity pattern I thought I might use to make it, but I'm not sure.

     

Burda 8351.

Here are photos we took of Koza Han - The Silk Market in Bursa, Turkey.

                           



Koza Han - The Silk Market.

While I was writing this post, we had thunder and lightening and very heavy rain and I got disconnected from the Internet. I was just about to post pictures of the fabric I bought in Istanbul during August. It was extremely hot but I was determined to look for fabric in the shops between The Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar. Once again I was spoiled for choice but eventually chose two fabrics in  silk crepe - I'm not sure if it's pure silk but it's so beautiful, it really doesn't matter. The following photos don't really do it justice.

                                

  I have no idea where I'm going to wear these silk dresses when I eventually get them made - they will hardly be suitable for picnics!            

Ready to learn to use my old Overlocker/Serger.

I've had my Janome overlocker/serger for 18 years, but I've never really learnt how to use it, and it's been sitting in the cupboard for years. I've now decided that I should either make good use of it, or sell it, so I got it out out, cleaned it and this evening I'm going to see if I can still remember how to thread it.  I'm a member of the Sewing Comminity http://www.mysewingcirle.com/ and one of the ladies there is going to help beginners like myself to learn some of the techniques possible on this machine.

Here's a photo of my overlocker/ serger and the books I've got to help me learn how to use it.

                     

                      

Sewing project finished.

I've finished the dress I've been making using Simplicity 3833 pattern - a 1960'a retro design. Even though I was very careful with the hem, I'm not sure if it's even. Anyway, here's a photo:

           

     This is the first project I've made with my new Brother Innov-Is 20 sewing machine, which I'm really enjoying sewing with.
                       



My old Singer 288 machine.



                                                      

Still having mild weather in Southern Europe.

It's more than two weeks since I last wrote anything in my blog, so it's time to catch up. Northern European countries are having freezing temperatures and lots of snow, but here in Greece it is still fairly mild for this time of the year, even though we now have more rain and cloud. It's so mild that we don't even need to put the central heating on, but I suppose that will soon change temperatures will drop here too. Up until the end of November, we were able to continue with our picnics on the beach with our friends. Here are a few photos taken during the last week of November.