Her Best Friend's New Dress

Hello!👋

Hope you have been keeping well!

We are now down to the last few days of the school  summer holidays and I can’t believe how quick it all went by! 😰

I have loved spending the extra time with my kids, but I am ready to get back into a routine! 

Most of this week’s creations were dedicated to my daughters and my eldest’s best friend, whose birthday party was today. 🥳

I have been enjoying working with all the different fabrics chosen by my littles, they are so colourful and cheery! 😀

I started the week by hemming the Piper Dress by Violette Field Threads. This unicorn fabric is so busy that you can barely tell in the photo that the back bow is there. 😬

When I put it on the hangar, the bow was drooping and I didn’t like how it looked. I thought to just leave it like that because the mom would be able to remove the bow to wash the dress. 

But I also thought that over time, the droop would possibly get worse, so instead, I decided to tack it in place.

I think the dress is really cute, the print just makes my eyes go all funny when I look at it in a photo, not in real life though. 😅

To match the dress, we also made a bag! 

I say we, because my daughter actually stitched the heavyweight interfacing to one of the exterior main panels and I was so happy that she enjoyed it!

I just removed the pedal cable because she couldn't reach the floor with her feet, and we used the Start/Stop button.

She caught onto everything real quick and later in the evening, she even explained to her dad all the buttons she pressed and what they did! 😲

Super proud moment! 🥰 I don’t want to force anything on her though because I don’t want her to not like doing it eventually.

I would love it if she picked up sewing as a hobby, there will be no stopping her imagination.

The things she asks me to make her, I want her to be able to make for herself. ♥️

Anyway, back to the bag!

As I said last week, the original pattern was too small for my daughter’s requirements, so I had to draft a whole new bag.

With this, many positionings and measurements changed which I hadn’t really thought about until I got to it. 😵‍

Things like the positioning of the straps and how far up to sew for them to stay in place.

I did a little maths and also went by my own judgement and I think the end bag worked out pretty good!

I didn’t have enough time to finish the bags for everyone, but I thought the birthday girl’s bag had priority as it needed to be gifted, I will probably get my daughters’ bags finished next week.

I ended up asking my youngest, again, what were the final fabrics she wanted for her bag and these are obviously the chosen ones, as they have been cut out already.

Progress on my Jasmine Sweater by RitaMadeThis has been quite good!

I made a lot of progress on Saturday as we went for a drive to Buxton, and can you believe, I didn’t take a single photo! 😲

We prepared to have a picnic with the girls in a local park and we also took their bicycles with us.

In the afternoon, on our way back, we stopped to do some blackberry picking in the forest. 😀

At this location, they have a BMX bicycle track and of course my daughters are little adrenaline junkies. 😂

Both of them rode their bicycles on the ramps and unfortunately, the eldest fell going up a hump and scraped both her knees. 🤕

It didn’t stop her though, she got back up and on her bike again! 🦾

Throughout the day during the car rides, I knit quite a bit of the front panel!

So altogether, the back panel is done and I am practically halfway through the front panel.

This week, I should be able to finish the front and maybe move on to the sleeves. 🙂

The silver thread really is giving this sweater life! It is such a small thing to add and it is just making all the difference! It has been really hard to find light that will allow the threads to show in a photo, but here is one photo that I hope you can see something in. 😬

This may be my next obsession…just adding metallic thread to my knitwear!

In other news, Wool Warehouse has sent out another package of yarn for me to try! 😍

This is from their Yarnsmiths Pebble Haze Aran range and I had my eye on these since they were released earlier this year (I think it was 🤔).

I got to choose which colours I wanted to work with and I chose Limestone and Red Serpentine.

It is a blown yarn which very much reminds me of the Drops Air range that I enjoy working with, so I think I am going to love working with these too!

The plan is to make a sweater, and I do have one in mind already, but I don’t want to say which one just yet, in case I change my mind in the meantime.

😎Confidence Corner:

“Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t, pretend that you do, and at some point, you will.” - Venus Williams

Believing in ourselves doesn’t always come naturally. It is easy to believe in ourselves when things are going well, but when we are faced with adversity, doubt or fear, that’s where the real challenge lies.

Sometimes, we have to start by "pretending" to be confident, even if we're unsure. It’s not about being fake, it's about practising confidence until it becomes real. 🦾

When we act as though we believe in ourselves, we are engaging in a very important form of mental conditioning. This mental shift allows us to build real self-confidence over time!

When we believe in ourselves, we are more willing to take risks, to push our limits, and to look at challenges as opportunities. Without it, even the smallest hiccup can seem overwhelming. But when we insist on acting with confidence, whether it feels natural or not, we slowly internalise that belief, turning it into a powerful force that pushes us forward.

So practise believing in yourself, eventually, all these little moments will add up, and belief in yourself will become as natural as the air you breathe.

With determination and the right mindset, you’ll discover that you are capable of more than you ever imagined. 💖

🧵Today's Sewing Tip:

Reducing Seam Bulk on Curves

Reducing the bulk in seams when creating projects will reduce them from being visible on the right side and allow them to lay flat.

You will often come around this technique when sewing lined bodices, collars, necklines and facings.

You would normally reduce the seam allowance on the side that is closest to your body or the inside, leaving the seam allowance that will be towards the outside with its full width.

To reduce seam bulk on an INNER CURVE:

• Cut one of the seam allowances to about half the width.

• Cut some V - shaped notches into the seam allowance without cutting through the stitches.

To reduce seam bulk on an OUTER CURVE:

• Cut one of the seam allowances to about half the width.

• Clip into the seam allowance without cutting through the stitches

With both inner and outer curve, turn it the right side out and press.

Understiching the seam will help secure the lining or facing to the seam allowance, which in turn keep everything neatly inside without it peeking out on the right side.

⭐My Favourite Things This Week:

• Making a matching bag for my daughter’s friend's dress for her birthday.
• Making progress on my Jasmine Sweater.
• Being gifted the Yarnsmiths Pebble Haze Aran yarn from Wool Warehouse!

🗓️Upcoming Plans

• Continue working on the Jasmine Sweater knit.
• Continue with the bag making for my girls.
• Make something for myself? Dress? Trousers? 🤔
• Get back to my partner’s jacket - I am strongly thinking about ditching this now and just getting a pattern with better instructions, I have put this off for so long now because I do not want to deal with it. We, my partner and I, are quite tired at this point, him of asking and me of putting it off. 😂 So, if you have any recommendations for a men’s parka jacket, please let me know.

🎉Upcoming Events

21st of September 2024 - Sew&Bond - Sewing Social Event - in Gatley Hill House, South Manchester, 11:45h - 17:15h
Email bianca@beesilva.co.uk and quote reference: SEWBOND09
For more information: https://www.beesilva.co.uk/sewbond09/

26th of October 2024 - Sew&Bond - Sewing Social Event - in Gatley Hill House, South Manchester, 10:15h - 15:45h
Email bianca@beesilva.co.uk and quote reference: SEWBOND010
For more information: https://www.beesilva.co.uk/sewbond010/

Question of the Week:

What is your current work in progress? 😍

Sign in below to leave your answer please!

Thank you so much for reading it! And if you enjoyed it, please tell a friend about it to allow me to reach more people. 🥰

Bye for now,
B! xx