Sew Weekly: Simplicity 3673

I finished the simplicity dress during the week, but as I was home all week, I could not wear it to work for my friend to take a picture of it, and by the time Mr.Dibs comes home, its already too dark to take nice pictures.

I'm feeling much better today, so I decided to do some posing. I whipped out the afro wig for some reinforcements.....

I probably should have added more length at the front. The hem is quite wide, so I can always undo that and redo the hem with more allowance at the front.

 Mr.Dibs said I looked like a grumpy cow and ordered me to smile....

The dress called for lining, but I did not have any suitable lining at home, and going to buy one was not feasible so I just used bias tape on the armholes and neckline. The top ( I cut size 16) was massive. So either my babaloons have not become as big as I think they have, or the pattern is just sized for bigger busts. To rectify this problem, I made two tiny pleats at the neckline. I don't know if you can see them, but they are there.

I also used a velvet trim at the waist (bust?) seamline.

This is the first maternity wear I have completed, which is such as shame as I only have 10weeks left. I am still convinced I can make more, but as my body has already proven, I should not make plans.

More pictures outside, with my clutch which served as my inspiration...

This week's Sew Weekly challenge called for the use of buttons. I am now 1 week behind on the challenges, but I am going to do them all the same. I know that at some point in the year, I will catch up with the rest of the girls.  I have been making cover buttons lately, and I still have to choose what I will use for my next challenge amongst these two sets....

Which do you prefer?

A little bit of biology

Saturday 21st January 2012.

That is the date of today.

I'm not saying you don't know what today's date is.

I am just saying it is Saturday 21st January 2012.

In my Calendar, it is marked "Crafter's Ceilidh"

Yes, the same one blogged about here.

The same one that was supposed to provide me with 1 final bout of fabric related excitement before I became  too heavy to wobble anywhere.

Following the natural order of things, I would have been sitting on a train en route to Edinburgh, via Darlington, to meet-up with some lovely ladies. I had made up numerous scenarios on how I would scream when I met the other girls, right down to the pitch of my voice when I finally said "Hi, I'm Dibs, and its so nice to finally meet you" to people I have  been admiring for some time. I even had a dream about meeting Roobeedoo, yeah Roo, thats how much of a fan I am.

What I did not count on though, was the small matter of biology. I was so sure the only thing that could possibly stop me from going to Edinburgh would be a really expensive train ticket. I did get a really good deal on my train ticket, so all I had to do was cross my legs and wait for today to arrive.

My body however, had other plans. I have been having mobility problems lately. This started to get worse just after christmas, and even though I have spent more time at home than at work since the start of this year, I was so positive I would be better by today. And so I let my excitement grow. On monday, as I was limping to work, the guard at the gate gave me a sympathetic look, and said I should not have come in to work. I smiled indulgently, and wobbled along.

My manager upon seeing me hanging unto the walls for support as I made numerous mandatory bladder emptying trips, quickly ordered a taxi for me to go right back home, with strict instructions not to come to work until I had seen a doctor. 

I did see a doctor, and she told me I was suffering from Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. Yes....I thought the same thing you are probably thinking right now. What a fancy name, for a not very fancy ailment. When I went home, I checked online, and found this description from www.babycentre.co.uk

What is symphysis pubis dysfunction? 

The two halves of your pelvis are connected at the front by a stiff joint called the symphysis pubis. This joint is strengthened by a dense network of tough, flexible tissues, called ligaments. To help your baby pass through your pelvis as easily as possible, your body produces a hormone called relaxin, which softens the ligaments.

As a result, these joints move more during and just after pregnancy, causing inflammation and pain, known as symphysis pubis dysfunction or SPD. 

The result of this, my friends, is that I am now reduced to using my phone to call Mr.Dibs, who is almost always watching The Big Bang Theory, and asking him to bring me a glass of water in bed. If I have to empty my treacherous bladder, I either have to creep to the bathroom, or reach for my phone and call Mr.Dibs to report to the room for his ever increasing Florence Nightingale duties. 

I'm sorry if you rather not be reading my unglamorous health problems, but I am just so disappointed I am not presently in Scotland, that I wanted to share my pain.......yes, I am that mean. 

I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of the event. I don't know how I will feel seeing all the fun I am missing now, but I can't wait to see them. How pathetic is that? Mr. Dibs said I will get to go to other meet-ups, that my life does not have to end when Noah comes along, and that he could look after him while I met everyone on the blogoshpere. True I know, but it will not be the same. It will not be the Crafter's Ceilidh. 

What about you? Have you ever made plans for an event and ended up not going?

Have a nice weekend everyone.,,,oops, time for another blowing session into my tear soaked hanky.

Enabling Blogger Threaded Comments

This is a non-sewing related post. Its related to our blogs...those of us who use Blogger. I'm sure by now anyone who uses Blogger would have noticed that they can't reply to comments from on their posts. That was one of the first things I noticed after I signed up to Blogger. I used to have a blog on Wordpress called Love it!Sew it! . I used it in 2010 to write about my wedding planning.  I stopped using it because I wanted a fresh start, and I did not like the name of the blog anymore, so I set up a blogger blog.

I remember the shock I had when I realised  Blogger did not have the same threaded comments functionality as Wordpress. I started experimenting with various HTML codes to address the comments issue, and for some time, was able to reply to some comments, but unfortunately, if I did not reply immediately after said comment, my reply would only appear after the latest comment, and not the actual comment I wanted to reply to.

Fast forward to 2012, and Blogger have FINALLY solved the problem. If you look at my last post, in the comment section, you will see that I now have a similar threaded comment functionality to Wordpress blogs. I did not do any coding this time. Blogger did it. YAY!!. And activating it is dead easy. Just use the following steps:

1. You need to set your blogger comments to "Embedded below post". This means you will be able to comment on the page itself, and not in a pop-up window.

Settings - Comments - Comment form placement - (Embedded below post)

    2.  Change your blog post feeds to "Full"

Settings - Site Feed - Blog Posts Feed - (Full).

Make sure you save your changes. That should do the trick.

I know my interface might look different to some of yours, so if you are using the newer Blogger interface, you might want to take a look at this post, or this. They should be better explained than mine in any case.

Hope this helps.

Sew Weekly Challenge Inspiration

So this year I joined the Sew Weekly sewing challengers group. If you have not heard of the Sew Weekly, which I think is highly unlikely, you might want to pop over here www.sewweekly.com

Last week was the Accessories Challenge Week. I started something, which I still have to complete. So yes, i have already failed the challenge, as the week is already over. I don't mind though. I do not think I will be able to follow EVERY challenge, or finish every challenge on time, but I will try to participate to the best of my abilities.

So the challenge was to sew something which was inspired by an accessory.

My inspiration was one of my Lulu Guinness clutches:

And this is what I am making. A dress with an empire line waistline. I bought the fabric from walthamstow Market for £2/metre. I bought 3 metres, but I am using about 2 metres, or just under. It is a really soft stretch cotton fabric, and feels like velvet. So because of that, I am using a velvet trim on the waist seam line.

I am using the top half of this Simplicity pattern:

I cut size 16, but it is too big ( as I found out afterwards), so I am having to work some magic on the dress. Hopefully I should have it sorted. I really want to make this dress, AND finish it. It would do wonders for my confidence as I have not completed a single item since July last year. Shocking non?

I'm hoping to have it completed by Wednesday, and have some pictures up.

What are you all working on right now?

Freezer Paper Stencilling Project and Give Away

Howdy everyone?

I have not written in a while, I know. I really don't have any excuse to be honest. The one excuse I have ( which is a valid one mind you) is becoming a sing song ( yes I have not been well) so I will just chalk my inactivity to good old laziness. I might not have been sewing, but I have been busy doing other things, which shall be revealed in due time round these parts, so watch this space.

I don't have any new year's resolution. I never succeed in keeping them, so I don't set them. Having said that, I am going to say this year I hope I can do more craft related things, not just sewing. There are many new things I would like to try this year, when the time is right. Some of them ( like making leather bags) involve really toxic materials. I have been advised not to attempt using them until I am once more a single entity, having found the strength to expel a certain somebody from my body.....the little parasite....not my words...my friend Vicks calls them that.

So, tonight I decided to do some fabric printing. I bought some plain shopper bags from ebay last week, to practise on. The idea is to customise my outfits and other fabric related projects by printing my own fabric. I'm thinking table linen, tea towels, skirts, tshirts, and in future, Noah's onesies.

Last year I went crazy and bought three books on diy printing, but as usual, was too lazy to make anything. I have been buying up a storm lately, stocking up on things I might like to use in my crafty projects when I am on maternity leave. So today after work I pulled out one of the books, and went down to business.

The pictures are a bit dodgy.....my camera seems to be sick....I'm still working on Mr.Dibs regarding an SLR camera.

Using one of the images provided at the back of the book by Lotta Jansdotter, I traced the image unto the dull side of my freezer paper.......

Then I cut it out with a craft knife......

After cutting it out, I ironed the freezer paper unto the bag, shiny side down.Then used a sponge I had at home ( Mr.Dibs used to use it to clean his car) to apply some fabric paint to the cut stencil. You must put a cardboard or something hard between the two layers of the bag to prevent ink going to the back of the bag.

 Normally you are supposed to let it dry, but I was so impatient, and wanted instant gratification so I used my heat tool to dry the paint.

When it is dry, carefully peel away the freezer paper from the bag. It will come right out.

And there you have your new shopper. It looks really plain, so I am considering adding some words to it. That, will be a project for another day, or maybe not.

A spot of modelling.....trying to hide my ever expanding bump.

I am giving this bag away. If you like it, and want it, just leave a comment stating the other crafty things you want to try this year.

Whoever wins the bag will have the option of receiving the bag as it is, or if they desire, I can customise the bag further with whatever quotes they want on it. It could be your favourite saying, song title, or even the name of your blog. So start thinking of what you will want printed on the space above the bottle and cup.

This giveaway will close on Sunday 22nd January 2012 at midnight, London time, and is open to everyone, irrespective of geographic location.

Its Friday tomorrow. How excited are you about the weekend?