Monday, 26 September 2011

Proper Bust Measuring, so easily explained !

Recently , whilest working with a patterns I had given to make a dress from, I decided to look on the internet for information about measuring .

Obviously I have been measuring people for quite a while and one of the areas I always have to remark about is getting the underwear right . This is actually a very important area because it needs to be the correct fit, and you do not want anything showing if you are having, for example, a strapless dress.

Whilest, browsing/wasting time !!! on the internet, I came across a site that explains the bust and cup size measurements with such ease .

In google search, type in www.amplebosom.com   and go to the section underneath which says MEASURING GUIDE.

It really does explain very easily the size of bra you should be wearing and the cup size of it.

BTW, I am nothing to do with the Amplebosom website , just thought I would pass on the information

Paula x
                                                      

Sunday, 18 September 2011

Cant Wait Any Longer !!

This post is connected to the previous post, which shows ideas and information I was given.

I do not have any official photographs because Emily only got married yesterday, but I do have some that we took on completion. I look forward to seeing some when she is all dressed up properly.

After our first talk, I knew she did not want anything too fussy. The main focus was to be the lace.
I ordered this from www.bridallaceandfabric.co.uk  They very kindly sent me a sample and , after looking at several different types of laces we decided on the best one.

Here is the final dress.

I love this dress, and most importantly, the Bride and her Mum do too .
It was a pleasure to create Emily her dream dress .

The main body of the skirt is Satin, with a Chiffon overlay.
The buttons down the back are covered in the lace, because, for me , the back of a wedding dress is just as important as the front as this is what people are looking at throughout the ceremony.
  

Saturday, 17 September 2011

Happy Birthday :)

Woo Hoo !! Tis my birthday today.
I hope the brides I have worked with have a great day and the weather is kind, its not  been too bad where I am .

I love my birthday because you get random emails and texts from allsorts of people wishing you a Happy Birthday.
 This year Next have been in touch with the offer of £5.00 off my next order of £25.00. Lovely, one of my favourite shops
Snow Patrol sent me an email and a text !!! Makes me feel VERY special LOL. They are one of my favourite bands, even before they were texting me.
Also, I had Best Wishes from a community I have slightly neglected of late. It is a fabulous craft forum and highly recommended . There are lots of lovely people on there.

www.thesewingforum.co.uk

If you sew, knit, crochet, craft, or like to chat, have a craft -related problem and need advice, thinking of starting in business etc . People are there to listen and try and help if you have any queries.
The people range from complete beginners to very competent and experienced. Most of all, this site is just lovely and very friendly, and anyone who cant be , is removed.

There are so many useful tips etc, and although its UK based, there are people from all over the world on there. 
Ok , enough waffle, I think  I have said enough !!! LOL But even as someone who has been sewing for quite a while, I still learn new tips/ techniques and I have passed on my own tips too. 

Basically wanted to say www.thesewingforum.co.uk is a site worth looking at XX

Friday, 16 September 2011

Ooooh Excited !!

Cant wait !! Cant show you the proper dress yet, the bride is getting married tomorrow but I love the dress I have recently finished.  As a bit of a pre-lim to the actual pictures I thought I would write a post on the ideas that she came to me with. 
I often get people come to me with some pictures of dresses which the person likes a bit of one and some of another but has had no luck finding the RIGHT one .
My bride to be came to me with some pictures, and she had also been to see another dressmaker too, who had created a drawing for her based on what she thought the dress would look like. Our 2 ideas were totally different even though we had been told the same things.
So, the Bride to be went off and considered, and came back to me because she liked my idea.  Which I consider very lucky, because my drawing is not especially good !!!! Something I really need to work on .
Here are some of the comments and pictures that I had to work with


I dont know if the writing might be a bit small to read, but it basically says everything I needed to know about the style she wanted. Top part of lace, with an asymmetrical ruched part, Aline skirt with a bit of volume and train.  Quite simple but elegant , no jewels or crystals .

I just hope the weather is kind tomorrow !! I have been telling her it is always nice in September , its my birthday tomorrow and it usually is a nice day !!!  I have a new rule now, never talk about the English weather !! Really, nothing is a given anymore !! The weather forecast is not too great !!

I just hope she has a lovely day.







Sunday, 11 September 2011

My Sewing 'Bible'

Just thought I would share with you, what I consider to be my sewing 'Bible'.

When I went to college, back in ........ (Too long ago !!) I was told that the best book to get would be Readers Digest Complete Guide To Sewing.  It has so much information that it really has been unnecessary for me to purchase any other sewing book for techniques of everything I need.  Although that has not necessarily stopped me !! After all , I am a woman who likes to buy books even if I never open them again after I have bought them LOL

Every now and again I will get it out and go back to basics, it is surprising that even though I have been sewing for many years , that I can still learn a technique that saves me time.

I found the tutorial on invisible zips, that I had avoided for a long time, was actually very easy.  I dont have the correct foot for an invisible zip, just a normal zip foot that came with my machine and once you get the hang of it, was so simple to fit that I was annoyed with myself that I had not tried sooner !!
You do not necessarily need to have loads of fancy gadgets and gizmos, just a bit of practice with what you already have .

People I have made dressses for say that I must be a very patient person !! But they are quite wrong, if I cant get something straight away, I tend to give in and go back to my own methods, but really, with a bit more patience !!! you can probably save yourself time in the long run .  Think I might have to try my own advice on this one LOL . Happy sewing xx

By the way, if anyone who reads this has any other books they consider to be fabulous, please feel free to let me know. I love to nosey through a book, even if it is only once LOL  I liked this books so much, I now have 2 because found one in a charity shop for a bargain £1 !!

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

A Big Thankyou, and New Look 6699

Before I get to the dressmaking part of this blog. I would just like to thank those of you who take the time to read and comment . Unfortunately, due to being a more creative person, computers and their terminology baffle me still !!  I used to be able to comment back to my readers, but for some reason its telling me I cant anymore !!!
 So I would just like to say THANKYOU XXX 
All those that I follow, I do read too, just so you know and dont think me rude :)

This post is connected to a previous post about purple satin and the pattern NEW LOOK 6699.
I made 3 bridesmaid dresses for a lady whom I never met ! Her Mum came to me with the idea of a style, so I suggested that she look at dressmaking patterns to see if there was something she liked, well, New Look 6699 it was.
All of the bridesmaids lived in different areas of the country, none of them, near me !!!
So I gave a list of all the measurements I needed and they were filled out by each lady and sent back. One of the ladys could get to me , so I started on hers first, made a sample garment to check the design was correct, this was photographed so that the bride could see and confirm she was happy, she was in London.
The other two lived in Liverpool and Chester, so I made sample garments in calico which were sent to them in the post . They got them, tried them on, photographed them at 4 different angles that I had asked for and sent me comments about the fit .  Its always difficult relying on someone elses measuring, and also, as happened here, us women have an awful habit of changing size in the shortest of time !!
So, after all of the fit changes, I made the dresses and the Mother of the Bride picked them up.  Well, I didnt hear anything for ages and I am a stickler for a proper fit so I was a bit worried !!! However, got a phonecall and the Mother of the Bride popped round with the wedding photos for me to look at, which I love doing, gave me some photos for my portfolio, and some more work. 
The dresses had been fine and fitted well, there had been no need for me to panic LOL

And guess what, this is a photo of a photo, because I have 'misplaced, in a safe place' my disc for my printer/scanner so I can connect it to my laptop !!!! Ooooh technology :) Hope you like xx