Tuesday 22 September 2015

Back to Bangor...and a new blog!

Hello everyone!

It's Fresher's Week here at Bangor University, but luckily I'm living in a returners hall this year, so it's lovely and quiet, filled with third years who are concentrating on their dissertations. I moved back to university on Saturday and have spent my time since then catching up with friends and preparing for the Fresher's Fair, where all the clubs and societies Bangor has to offer come together to attract new members. This year, the Bangor Craft and Sewing Society has gone all out - I spent my Sunday putting together key-rings and cutting out 300 flyers!

As Publicity Officer for the society, my main job is to advertise what we're about and try to draw in new faces. Last year, I made flyers to advertise our main events, set up a Facebook page and ordered society hoodies; this year, however, I want to do more, starting with setting up a society blog!

The blog, 'Sew What?', is in its infancy at the moment, but over the course of this academic year I'm hoping to develop it and include weekly workshop updates, tutorials and posts from guest bloggers. Although the blog is primarily targeted at students, I'm hoping that the content will be relevant and accessible enough to attract readers from outside the Craft and Sewing Society. If you're interested in keeping up with any society news or looking out for the odd crafting tutorial, then head on over there and please do feel free to give us a follow on Bloglovin' or Google+.

I'm only aiming to put up a post or two a week, so you won't be totally spammed - the main purpose of the blog is to allow us to connect with members of the society who don't have the time to attend weekly workshops, and give us a platform through which to easily share information about the society.

I hope you all have a fantastic week and thank you, as always, for taking the time to read,

Beth x

Thursday 10 September 2015

A Pinafore in Chambray

Hey everyone! How's it going?

I won't lie to you, I'm rather on the fence about my latest project. I saw a photo on Pinterest which I absolutely adored, but as is always the way, it seems, the finished result didn't live up to my expectations. 


Here's my finished garment - a chambray dungaree dress with buttoned straps and a front pocket. 


Here's the original photo that inspired me. It makes my dress seem a bit too stiff and matronly, I think. Perhaps I ought to go back and add more fabric to the gathered skirt? 


The fabric itself is lovely - having discovered chambray fairly recently, I've now got two projects under my belt and am sure there are more to come (I would love to make my own Sewaholic Granville Shirt in chambray, but I know that's pretty advanced stuff!) 



I made a buttonhole on each of the straps so that I could adjust them depending on whether I wanted them to sit straight or crossed. I like both, but I think crossed is probably my favourite, as they feel more secure that way. 


I added the first patch pocket I've ever made onto this pinafore! It's not the neatest execution ever, but I don't think it's bad for a first attempt. Dungarees with big front pockets are one of my favourite things ever. I keep an odd assortment of things in mine, usually a comb, my little tin of Vaseline and some notes jotted down on paper. 

I'm not sure how much wear this pinafore will get, but I'm planning on going back for a big unpicking and restitching session, to make the adjustments I think it needs to make it feel more wearable. I think I should add more fabric to the skirt, to achieve more of a drape, and some buttons at the waist like in the Pinterest photo. Hopefully it will end up as a garment I love to wear! 

Have you made any garments you feel unsure about recently and, if so, how do you think you can fix them? 

Beth x

Monday 7 September 2015

Completed (finally!): My Mustard Mama Vertebrae Cardigan

Hello all! How is everyone doing? 

The biggest news going on with me is that I have finally finished the cardigan I have been knitting since last August...my mustard Mama Vertebrae cardigan. 


Yes, this project has taken me over a year to complete. However, very luckily, I am rather pleased with the finished result! I can see the progress I've made as a knitter since my first attempt at this pattern, and so hopefully my skills will be even more developed by the time I finish my third project (more on that soon!). 


I knit up the smallest size for this pattern, using a 4-ply yarn which took an age to knit. It seemed like for every ten rows I knit, only one row of progress had been made! I think from now on I'll be sticking to double knit...


That being said, the fine yarn has resulted in a really lovely looking cardigan. Obviously my shop bought cotton cardigans are the neatest of all, but you could never replicate that as a home knitter, and this will keep me warm over the winter! 


There's five centimetres of ribbing along the bottom and to finish the edges, which took the longest of all. Ribbing really is the bane of my life. I perservered for longer than my first cardigan though, which resulted in a deeper and more professional looking rib. Even my grandma was impressed, and believe me, if she doesn't like something I've made she tells me so! 


I planned this cardigan with my Mustard Sunflowers dress in mind, which it is photographed with here. I think it does go really well! 

The observant amongst you have probably noticed I'm not wearing my glasses in these photos...I need a new prescription but didn't want to change my frames, so I've surrendered my glasses to the opticians for them to put in new lenses. Hopefully I'll have them back soon (I've been walking round like a moron in my prescription sunglasses - even inside to watch TV!). 

Have you completed any knitting projects recently and, if so, how long did they take you? 

Thank you everyone for reading, 

Beth x