A Tale of Two Tops

Hey guys! 

Today I want to talk colour palettes. Most sewers have one - what's yours? 

It's become apparent recently that I have two very clear, seasonal colour palettes. When sewing I think it's important to bear in mind which colours you wear most often, so that when choosing fabric and trims you don't get bewildered by the amount of choice available. This also helps in creating a cohesive wardrobe - if everything you make uses the same basic colour palette, everything in your wardrobe will match! 

For me, these two tops embody my colour palettes for winter and summer: 

Navy and white are my obvious go-to winter wardrobe colours. For summer, I tend to lean towards pink and white. 

To give an example of my colour palettes in action, here are a couple of dresses that I've been wearing this winter...

...and a couple of dresses which I hope to be wearing this coming summer. 

Now obviously not every piece in my wardrobe will fit into these exact colour schemes. Colours like red, purple, burgundy, black and green also make an appearance, but the overriding themes are certainly navy (winter) and pink (summer). This means that I've been able to build a real capsule wardrobe! 

To build your own colour palette have a look at your current wardrobe - are there any colours that stand out to you? When fabric or clothes shopping what colours do you naturally gravitate towards? Try picking two matching colours that you can build your wardrobe around, then add in other accent colours to add a bit more interest. 

I hope this helps! Thank you very much for reading, have a brilliant week all of you :) 

Beth x

Change

Hey guys, how's it going? 

Just a quick one today to show you all the evidence of my first haircut in three years! 

Yes! I got a fringe! 

At first I was a little dubious; my hairstyle (if you could call a straight middle parting a style) had been the same for soooo long, I didn't know if I'd suit anything different. But I have to say, I love it! I'm really glad I made the decision to have a proper haircut. 

I hope everyone has had a good week :) 

Beth x

I Made a Liberty Dress!

Guys! Guys! I made a Liberty dress! 

Months after buying some totally droolworthy Liberty poplin at an astonishingly expensive £25 a metre from their store in London, I've finally got round to sewing with it. 

Here is the finished result: 

Regular readers are sure to have noticed by now that I have a particular soft spot for the Sewaholic Cambie, which is the pattern I paired with this awesome floral fabric. 

This is my fifth Cambie, and I have to admit...three of those were practice tests for this one! They all went totally fine and are totally wearable, but I was so worried about wasting such expensive fabric I wanted to know the pattern inside out and back to front before making it up in Liberty. It's a good job I love the Cambie so much! 

At the moment it's still a bit chilly here in England so for now I'm wearing the dress with my cream tights and a red cardigan, but when summer arrives it'll be perfect with my gladiator sandals. 

The dress came together easily in the end, and I squeezed the dress out of as little fabric as possible so as to have enough left for another project - my mum suggests a matching bag! 

I made a straight Size 0 with no fitting issues, fully lining the entire thing (all my skirts/dresses have linings to avoid the whole sticking-to-tights issue). It is most definitely the most expensive thing I have made so far, taking the record off my Dragonfly Lilou, which you can see below. 

I really am a Liberty convert now, but how often I'll be able to sew with it in future depends on how much money is in my purse! It's certainly not a type of fabric that will be appearing on here regularly any time soon, but totally worth the occasional splurge. It cuts and sews so cleanly! I can't wait to try my hand at the tana lawn (I have a metre waiting to be sewn up into a Belcarra Blouse). 

I hope everyone is having a good week. I'll leave you with a photo of a pencil draught excluder I made for a friend... yes, he bet I couldn't make one! 

Thanks for reading, 

Beth x

Home for Easter!

Hello all, how have you been? 

I know it's been radio silence here for a while, so apologies! I've not had much time to sew recently, but thanks to the ridiculously long uni holidays I have now I'm now home for Easter two weeks before Easter itself. That should give me plenty of sewing time! 

I have a few plans in the pipeline including a Liberty (!) Sewaholic Cambie, a Sewaholic Belcarra Blouse and a couple of vintage dresses from a 1950's pattern I have. So, we'll have to see how it all goes! 

In the meantime, what have you been sewing please? (and have you started summer sewing yet?) 

Beth x

A Summery Cambie

Hey guys, how are you all? 

I've checked one of my summer sewing plans off the list! 

I made a Sewaholic Cambie in this lovely pink and white floral cotton from Abakhan in Chester. 

The lighting is so supremely awful in these photos I have to apologise. There are not many opportunities to get good photos in rainy Wales! 

Still, I'm really pleased with the finished result and am looking forward to wearing it during the summer! 

What have you been making recently please? 

Beth x

Knitting Progress

Hi everyone! Have you had a good week? 

A lovely comment from a reader this week reminded me that I haven't given you all an update on the progress of my cardigans in quite a while, so I thought I would do that today. 

As you can see, the green has quite overtaken the yellow! Made using double knitting rather than four ply, the green wool knits up much quicker than the yellow, so that's the one I've been focusing on. I want to have something finished to show for all my work! 

Dedicated knitters will probably be appalled at the slow rate these cardigans are moving at - I think I started the yellow one in August last year! However, I'm happy to only do a few rows here and there and am actually really pleased with the way they're progressing. Slow and steady wins the race! 

I hope to have the green cardigan finished within the next few weeks and then I can go back to working on those yellow sleeves. I may even be able to sneak in a few wears before it gets too warm. 

Have you got any knitting projects on the go? Do comment below, I'd love to see! 

Beth x

(ooh, and seeing as I'm living in Wales these days...happy St David's Day!) 

Summer Sewing Plans

Hey guys!!! How are you all? 

This week my mind has turned to the lack of sewing output I've had recently, and how that ties into an absolutely brilliant opportunity I've recently been given. 

This coming summer - June, July and August - I'll be working as a waitress in one of the most beautiful hotels on the Isles of Scilly. 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall, the islands have a gorgeous, sunny summer climate - and I need to be prepared! I am super excited, but there is one bit of bad news - my sewing machine can't come with me. That means I have to make everything for my summer wardrobe before I go! 

Five weeks into a new semester, my time is already mostly filled with the constant seminar work that comes with being a uni student, coursework, essays and, pretty soon, exams. Therefore, sewing time will be tight and if I want to get everything ready, I'll have to be really organised. I've put together a plan of some projects I really want to complete: 

McCall's 6503 shirtdress in pale blue nautical cotton

Sewaholic Cambie in soft, lightweight floral cotton

Yoke Top from 'Learn to Sew with Lauren' in a silky cotton lawn

New Look 6483 top in green floral cotton lawn (the red view in the bottom left

Vintage Butterick 7278 with pink floral cotton

My current plan is to cut out the pieces for every project before sewing anything, so when I finish one I can move onto the next without my motivation being dampened by the need to cut (is it just me or is cutting out patterns the absolute worst bit of sewing?). I'm fairly sure that with lots of different projects ready to go, a lot of procrastination time will be saved and everything will be ready sooner. That might even give me time to squeeze in a few extra makes! I've always been a pretty speedy sewer so I'm hoping these projects will be ready in time for a long summer away from my machine. 

Has your mind switched to summer sewing yet, or am I a bit early this year? 

Beth x