My Dotty Peter Pan Dress!

I have been experimenting with dress making for a while now and I have got to the point where I want to start challening myself by adapting patterns to suit my figure or put an original spin on current trends!

I have quite a love affair with Peter Pan collars so my pattern adapting 'To Do List' (is there such a thing!?) has included this for a while.
I chose a simple dress pattern; the New Look Workroom 6049 (available here http://www.simplicitynewlook.com/new-look-patterns/dresses/6049/ ) as I felt it had quite a sixties feel and would suit the addition of a collar!

Before stitching, I got some simple tips from Lisa Comfort at Sew Over It (http://sewoverit.co.uk/blog/ ...scroll down a bit for the collar tips). I would definitely recommend you having a look before starting this, she is fab!

Tracing the neckline facings

How I did it:
I used the neckline facings of the dress to trace the basic shape of a collar onto pattern paper before drawing on the classic Peter Pan shape.

Cutting out the collar

Using this template I cut out two collar shapes in white cotton and one in some heavy duty collar interfacing (seriously starchy...you could use something slightly more light weight!). Iron the interfacing onto one of the cotton pieces before sewing. Right sides together, stitch around the collar edge, leaving the top open. Turn the collar the right way round and Hey Presto, a super cool collar! Simply Stitch into the dress whilst you sewing your facing on and press with a super hot iron for a crisp look.




Front

Back

Next to try...Scallop Edging....I'm excited!!

Summer Skater Skirt

This skirt is a really simple way to start making your own patterns, as you don't need to worry about zips and it consists of just 2 pieces; 1 main panel and a waist band.

You Need: 1 metre of jersey fabric (I used a lightweight striped jersey, being ever the optimist that we might have a summer!?), measuring tape and pattern paper.

How To:

Drawing the main panel

Measure your waist and hips, take those measurements and add 4cm (for seam allowances) before dividing them by 4. Use these measurements to create you skater panel. To get the rough shape, I used one of my skater dresses to trace the basic shape onto the pattern paper before making my exact measurements fitted well.
The most important thing is that the bottom of the panel is substantially larger than the tops so that the skirt will fit you waist snugly and 'flit' out at the bottom!

Once you are happy with your paper panel, cut out four of them in your beautiful jersey.

Create the waistband using your waist measurement, this time add 2cm (for seam allowances). This will form the length of the waistband, draw this out as rectangle onto pattern paper with a width of 10cm.



Ooh matching nails!

Now over-locked the raw edges, I always find this bit slighty dull...I just want to start creating the skirt ASAP, but it is quite important for a smart finish!

Onto construction!

Cool chevron effect!

Join the four panels together using a stretch stitch on the machine, though a straight stitch will do if you dont have one! This is when you really start to see the skirts basic shape...oooh exciting!!
Fold the waist band in half, width ways, and sew the ends together to make a circle. Attach the waistband to the main skirt, right side together.

Finally hem.
I actually hemmed by hand this time because it can be hard to create a straight line when the jersey is fold over twice.

Perfect for a Sunday afternoon!

Burda Young 7051

My new favourite colour seems to be orange; I can't get enough of it and am wearing it pretty much every day! So when I was browsing the fabrics in John Lewis last week, this gorgeous orange, floral lawn (what a combination!!) just popped out at me. I wanted a quick and easy project to get stuck into, so turning it into a simple summer top seemed like a plan!

I have already had a go the making the burda young 7051- style C, but I wasn't completely happy with the shape on my figure so this time I adapted the pattern slightly by lowering the neckline, creating slightly narrower straps and a racer style back. I was a little nervous about hacking a pattern, as I tend to go for something, quickly ruin it and then regret attempting it...but as I get to understand the basic shapes I'm finding my accuracy is growing!

Having been sewing with my with my Granny recently, she drilled into me the importance of pressing. So set up, next to  my sewing machine was a towel on the table and my iron ready to go (don't say I'm not high tec!) so that I could press as I sewed.

Actually the pressing has made such as difference, the top looks so much better than the one I made previously, where I didn't press at all! I'm a pressing convert...pass me the iron!

I finished hemming my lovely top half an hour before work on Tuesday as I was so desperate to wear it (does anyone else get this excited!?). Here I am ready for work...

Ready for Work

Wild Garlic Tzatziki

Wild Garlic with bluebells

Wild garlic is a green and leafy plant with white flowers and a pungent garlic smell (you can definitely smell it before you can see it!). At the moment, there is a so much of it in the woods around me, so I was trying to think of new ways to use this lovely free ingredient!
With all this summery weather, I am making Tzatziki all the time as it's wonderful on grilled meat or just to dip crisps in when you have friends round. So I thought I'd try the slightly more subtle tasting wild garlic as a replacement for the raw, bulb garlic you usually put in.
Heres how I did it...
 

Ingredients:
A small handful of wild garlic leaves
A third of a cucumber
Four large table spoons of Greek yogurt
A squeeze of lemon.

Chopping!

• Finely chop your wild garlic.
• Cut your cucumber in half, lengthways and scoop out the seeds. I leave the skin on because I think it adds vibrancy. Then grate the cucumber into a sieve and squeeze out the excess water.

Mixing

• Pop the cucumber, wild garlic, Greek yogurt, squeeze your lemon and mix!
• Season with lots of salt and pepper.

Goes fantastically with grilled lamb and pita on the bbq (we just brought one and are using it at every opportunity!) and a simple Greek salad to make fab kebabs!

P.S. The garlic flowers look lovely scattered on salads.

Tutorial- Crystallising Flowers

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year because the woods, hedgrow and my garden are full beautiful and colourful flowers, many of which are edible! When chrystallised they make fantastic decorations for cakes or puddings and I am going to show you how to do this!

The Kit

Its rediculously simple and can be done in a relaxed half an hour.

 The Kit: Egg White, Caster Sugar and a Paintbush (the paintbrush is important as if the flower is just 'dunked' the egg can be to thick and wont look so pretty!)

1.  Start off by washing and drying your flowers, checking for no stray bugs!

 

 2.  Then get together a bowl of egg white, another of caster sugar and a plate to pop your finished creations on.

3.  With a paint brush, cover the flowers throroughly with the egg white.

4. Sprinkle with lightly with caster sugar before giving your flowers a gentle shake before leaving to dry for a few hours!

The finished flowers!!

 I made my sugared primroses to decorate a simple Victoria Sponge (Mary Berry of course!). Its looks spring like and natural- perfect for the bank holiday weekend!

 

Other Edible Flowers suitable for Crystallising: Lavender, Roses (whole or  just petals), Violets, Pansies, Cowslips, Mint and Sweet Geraniums.

If your struggling for time, you can buy them here http://eatmyflowers.co.uk/