Jun 9, 2024 10 min read

The Fairy Tale Ball Dress

This week was all about my daughter's Fairy-Tale Ball dress, continuing to make garments for others and the #sewbloodpressure24 sewing challenge.

Hello!👋

Hope you have been keeping well!

It has been quite an exciting week!

Let me start with the YouTube live that Yvette from Stash Hub invited me to! 😃

I was feeling a bit nervous doing a live session as I always feel I am going to mess up and I thought I wouldn’t really have much to say, but looking back, I feel like all I did was non-stop chat! 😂

It was and is so nice being able to connect with the wider sewing community and chatting to Yvette who I have followed on Instagram for about 3 years now.

I gave a little exclusive tour of my sewing room which included my fabric and pattern stash as well as other little bits around the room!

If you would like to watch it, I will leave a link to the video at the bottom of this.

Other exciting news is that I finally received a book I had pre-ordered on the 25th of December 2023! 😱

The Fast And Fabulous Knit by Jaime Dorfman.

As you have probably noticed, I have been big into my knitting for the last year or so, so when I saw her book included fun, textured and varied knit patterns all in one, I couldn’t pass it up! Especially since the price of the book worked out at about £1 something for each pattern! 😲

I can’t wait to be able to make something from the book but I have 2 other knit projects that are in line before. 😅

One I have actually started this week, but it’s not the one that is the most urgent! 😂 🤦🏼‍♀️

The yarn package that arrived last week contained the sky blue yarn for a second teacher’s gift, so I decided to start on that.

It is going to knit up really quickly because I am using 4 strands of Yarnsmith Create DK from Wool Warehouse in the colour Sky Blue because it is this teacher’s favourite colour. Well, what I thought was the closest colour to her favourite one, City Blue.

I am using another one of KnitStitchRepeat’s patterns and this time it is The Dream Cardi. I tested this pattern for Becca last year (I think) and I still haven’t posted my make, but some of you have already seen it if you have come to one of my sewing socials. 🙂

After this cardigan, I am definitely starting the test knit project, I am mainly just waiting for some more yarn to arrive for it.

The main thing that has kept me busy this week is my daughter's Elsa inspired dress for the Fairytale Ball they are having in Reception.

It is complete with all the things my daughter wanted and of course, I consulted her throughout the whole process, doing various fittings to make sure it was how she wanted. 😂

Here are a few more photos of the dress:

She has been a bit of a diva throughout the whole process, but I love seeing her all excited about a vision of hers that I can bring to life through sewing. 🥰

One little bump in the road though, was school sending out a message on Thursday saying that on Friday, the day of the ball, was photo day at school.

So after timing everything out to get the dress finished on Thursday (the night before the ball), it was postponed to Monday, and that meant we still had the whole weekend ahead. 😒

But that’s ok, because that meant I could get a start on a project for my sewing challenge, #sewbloopresureuk24!

I took 6 patterns out of my stash that I have been meaning to sew for a while, some for years actually. 😱

So I decided to start with the Hipster dress from Ellie and Mac, which I think has been on my list the longest. I used a red ribbed fabric that had been in my stash for maybe 3 years.

I still have a lot of fabric left and could probably get another dress out of it.

I did hack the dress a little. I self drafted a neckband because the dress only came with a hood.

I also self drafted some waist ties, extra long ones, and I didn’t attach the bottom band for a fancier look rather than a sporty one which was the vibe I was getting from the original pattern.

Now this is not crafting related, but I bought myself some inline skates! 😂

I had been thinking about getting back to it recently, since I used to love skating when I was younger, whether on ice or on the ground.

When I was living in Girona, Barcelona, I bought myself a pair that I never really had the time to use, or better, I didn’t make the time for them.

But I had brought them with me to the UK, and this week I asked my partner to go and get them out the loft only to be told that we had given them away years ago! 😥

So I went on the hunt for a pair on Facebook marketplace and I got a second hand basically brand new pair of skates!

Naturally, when we got home I tried them on and skated a bit around the house with them and I was happy that I didn’t fall flat on my bum! 😂

I can actually still skate!

So I hope to get some dry weather this coming week to give them a proper pin!

June is underway and I am super excited to see what you all make for the #sewbloodpressure24 sewing challenge!

In case you missed this note last week, it was brought to my attention that the platform I had chosen to fundraise on, only allowed a minimum of £5 donation which I understand is a bit steep.

So I have had to choose another platform.

The only platform I could find that allowed a lower minimum donation was JustGiving which allows a minimum of £2.

Link: https://www.justgiving.com/page/sewbloodpressure24

I hope this doesn’t stop you from participating as I have over 30 prizes to hand out!🎁

As a reminder, some of prizes are from the following businesses:

Cashmerette, Atelier Jupe, IAM patterns, Sew Over It and Janome!

(You can find all the sponsors on my Instagram @beesilva.creates.)

The entry rules are very simple:

Sew a garment that you have been wanting to sew for a while.
Donate £2 or more to the Blood Pressure UK charity via the link in my bio on Instagram, or I will post it here in my newsletter throughout the month of June.
Please do leave your Instagram name in the message/comments area of your donation so I can match it up with your finished garment.
Post your make any time throughout June using #sewbloodpressure24 and tagging me beesilva.creates so I can see your make and add you to the prize list!
Any work in progress photos, please use #sewbloodpressure24wip. This is to keep the original hashtag free for finished makes only.

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😎Confidence Corner:

“Don’t compare your chapter one with someone else’s chapter six.” - Ally Love

As much as we may say that we don’t do this, at some point during all of our lives, we have compared our situations to those of others around us.

What we often forget to include in our thought process is how long it took the other person to achieve what they have.

Growth and success takes time, and each step of the way is a valuable lesson for us. We need to focus on our progress and development rather than seeing how we measure up to someone else.

Continuing to compare ourselves will lead to feelings of frustration and discouragement, so be kind to yourself.

We all have to start somewhere.

Take this as a little prompt to reflect on where you were a year ago. What challenges have you faced? What progress have you made? And how do you feel about your progress and where you are now?

🧵Today's Sewing Tip:

Gathering Fabric

This week, I did quite a bit of gathering as my daughter’s Elsa dress has 3 layers of skirts.

I tend to use 2 methods depending on the weight of the fabric I am working with.

The easiest and quickest method I use on fabrics like polycotton, cotton, cotton poplin and so on, is to use my overlocker.

Using 4 threads, I set the differential feed dial to 2.0(the highest), my stitch length to 4 and the needle thread tension dials to 9.

Then feed the fabric through the overlocker.

If it didn’t gather enough, separate the needle threads from the looper threads and pull on the needle threads to adjust the gathers.

If it gathers too much, just make sure that you leave long enough tails of thread at each end to be able to let out the gathers by using the same method above, separating the needle thread from the looper threads.

For lightweight fabrics like chiffon, tulle, organza I use my sewing machine.

I use a straight stitch setting and set my stitch length to 5, which is the longest setting on my machine.

Sew 2 rows of stitches next to each other along the part that needs gathering, without crossing over each other and leaving a tail of threads at either end to be able to pull on.

I gather some fabric on one side, tie off my threads so my gathers don’t come undone and then I gather again from the other side until it is the length I need and tie those threads too.

⭐My Favourite Things This Week:

Making a dress for #sewbloodpressure24!
Seeing how happy my daughter was with her Elsa dress 🥰
Having a couple of entries to the #sewbloodpressure24 sewing challenge 🤗
Starting knit project #2 for a teacher’s gift.

🗓️Upcoming Plans

Keep organising my Instagram sewing challenge #sewbloodpressureuk24
(Are you participating? Let me know! 😊)

Start a new knitting project - test knit for RitaMadeThis (still haven’t started this 😬).
Make another project for #sewbloodpressure24 (maybe some trousers 🤔).
Finish making the teacher’s tote bags that I started at my sewcial a few weeks ago.

🎬What I have been Watching/Reading:

Dancing For The Devil (Docuseries)

TikTok dancers join a management company and its associated church, and later discover unsettling details about the founder and their dark realities come to light.

It scary to realise we can sometimes get ourselves into tricky situations without even realising.

Rich House, Poor House (Reality Series)

Two households from opposite ends of the wealth and class divide swap homes for seven days to discover whether money really does buy happiness.

I find it interesting to see how other people live, whichever their circumstances are.

Black Spot (Series)

A police chief and an eccentric new prosecutor investigate a string of grisly crimes and eerie phenomena in an isolated town at the edge of a forest.

I couldn’t stop watching this one, it kept me on my toes!

🎉Upcoming Events

June 2024 - #sewbloodpressureuk24 - Sewing Challenge on Instagram.
This is not an in-person event but a sewing challenge with the aim of raising money for a charity and awareness on the importance of monitoring your blood pressure.

Sew&Bond - Sewing Social Event - 22nd of June 2024 11:45 - 17:15 - in Gatley Hill House, South Manchester.
(5hr30m, an extra 30min than usual)
Email bianca@beesilva.co.uk and quote reference: SEWBOND06
For more information: https://www.beesilva.co.uk/sewbond06/

Sew&Bond - Sewing Social Event - 27th July 2024 10:15 - 15:45 - in Gatley Hill House, South Manchester.
(5hr30m, an extra 30min than usual)
Email bianca@beesilva.co.uk and quote reference: SEWBOND07
For more information: https://www.beesilva.co.uk/sewbond07/

Link to YouTube Live interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxr2euJmkSw