Lockdown madness setting in

Hi guys

You may or may not know this but I own a restaurant in Porthcawl South Wales and in Wales we are pretty much still on full lockdown (even though England is now out of Lockdown) so its been nearly 4 months without any work, money or customers.

So as you can imagine Ive been sewing up a storm just to keep my mental health healthy. When the crisis first hit, it was obvious that PPE was needed, not just the throw away kind, but more scrubs, masks for the public, scrub bags so that the scrubs can be brought home and washed safely and mask bands to prevent pain to the back of the ears. So I joined a local group and out of sewers and we used old bedding to create whatever the NHS was short of. My sister is a community nurse and that side of nursing wasn’t getting as much help as the workers in big hospitals so I made it my mission to provide for that side of the medical staff.

I mainly made scrub bags because each member of staff in the NHS and care homes needed 3 each (one clean, one being washed, one drying) so it was important that these bags were supplied and that they could be safely closed with a draw string so that the scrubs and shoes could be placed inside before leaving work then put straight into the washing machine so as to prevent any cross contamination. I lost count after the first 100, but I estimate I made about 600 in total.

After that I decided to take a break from sewing, if anything to give my poor machines a bit of a breather. I then did a few other crafty type things:

Then agreed to test for Stitch upon Time patterns and their new meadow dress/top. I was an absolute pleasure to test for my friend Kelly and her designs I always love, we have the same style aesthetic.

You can get it here : https://stitchuponatime.com/?affiliate=163

The meadow is a lovely off the shoulder, flowy dress with lots of options to mix things up, so if you just wanted the top you could create a great summer off the shoulder top you could, or a maxi skirt version like mine or a shorter version, pockets or no pockets (always pockets is the right answers), ruffle at the bottom or no ruffle, its up to you.

I also tested for Ellie and mac the Invincible Skort, which os a great pair of shorts with a built in over skirt, so you get the great look of wearing a skirt without the worry of it blowing up in the wind and showing off your knickers! Trust me I live in probably the windiest street in the windiest place in the UK and I need that reassurance.

So my final test was for Eureka Designs a new designer from Greece, her clothes are supper stylish and the Dress was a lovely pattern to work on. The fabric I used was a cotton lawn and very summery, although I thought didn’t quite do the pattern justice so next time I’m going to make it out of cotton lawn with a very plain pattern and maybe a lovely white as I can just see myself walking alone the beach in Ibiza in this dress.

I also made some bunting for VE Day which was supposed to be a massive party in the town and restaurant, but we ended up having a party for two in the lounge area, but I did decorate the front of the restaurant with my bunting, it looked lovely. So I’m making more for the inside to celebrate opening again and coming out of lockdown. I have also decided to do some crazy patchwork cushion covers for the Ikea cushions I have in the restaurant, a work in progress.

I also made a load of little flowers for the restaurant because real flowers never last long in here and when on holiday we were in a pub and saw these fantastic knitted flowers on the table and I thought I could make fabric flowers for the tables, so I did and I made so many I had enough to fill a whole wooden box, now I’m starting to think maybe I should sell them in the restaurant because they are so cute.

And I even started to make children’s clothes, for my Nieces little girl, she’s 2 years old and I couldn’t resist.

And a few other things I have made during lockdownI hope you all are keeping safe.

Happy scatty crafting everyone

Love

Julia

Faith

I have recently had the pleasure to make the Designer stitch newest pattern ‘faith’

Find it here

https://designerstitch.com/shop/faith-top-tunic/

It is perfect for the Spring, I made the hi-low version with the long sleeves, in a cool cotton lawn floral fabric. It’s light and floaty but has great features such as a yolk, pin ticks and a lovely ruffle. It’s an easy sew and very quick to make.

Sewing for Autumn

Unfortunately Autumn is coming, Im defiantly a sunny day girl and love the Summer. I’m now starting to look for Autumn patterns that will keep me warm in the horrible yucky British weather that is about to come. So I’m always looking for different patterns, all too often lately you see the same pattern being created over and over, its silly. So to find a designer that is truly innovative is wonderful and really refreshing.

Rebecca Page’s patterns are really feminine and wonderfully simple, so I really  loved sewing something a little different than I normally wouldn’t try, you know, you’ve seen my makes. So I wanted to make the Neve blouse its an oversized baggy top that would look cool with jeans, trousers, skirts and shorts.

I used a lightweight cotton jersey, I’d had it for a while just hanging around and thought this would make the perfect type of fabric for this top, because it floaty and hangs lovely.

The pattern was easy to put together and the instructions are amazing, so informative. The thing I love about Rebecca Pages patterns is that if you don’t have an overlocker/serger she gives you all the instructions to create the items with a normal sewing machine, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. The instructions for the Neve are easy to understand and any beginner could make it.

What I love is the elasticated front, just gently gathering the fabric as it crosses over the front of the body, it gives a real feminine line. The back hangs down longer than the front which is a bit quirky and you know I like a bit of quirky 🙂 Its so fun and comfortable to wear, Ive already planned my next one in a woven fabric, maybe a lovely floaty cotton lawn or silky fabric, both would work well with this pattern.

This looks lovely its from Pink scissors fabric and its a lovely cotton from Nutex, I think it would look funky.

 

I see more Rebecca page patterns in my future, she’s got a great variation of patterns, so which to do next, maybe a nice Peggy pencil skirt to go with this top, or a lovely pair of Pippa pants, Ive had that pattern for a couple of weeks and haven’t found the time to create them yet, maybe this weekend is the perfect time as the weather is turning a little bit more like the traditional British summertime, basically raining all the time.

Check out all of Rebecca Pages patterns here for women and girls and defiantly download the great free ones, the Portia party dress  is amazingly versatile.

Please visit all the stops on the Turning the Page: Sewing for the Changing Seasons Blog Tour with Rebecca Page. Don’t forget to comment on the blogs each day and enter a Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win some fantastic prizes from our fabric sponsors!

1. August 20: Rebecca Page (Intro), Sewjourns, Soul fed on Thread
2. August 21: Sarcastic Sewist, PatchWitch, Flaxfield Sewing by Anca
3. August 22: Princesse et Tresors, Bellephant, The Scatty Sewer
4. August 23: BigFlyNotions, Stitched by Jennie, Millie’s Place Handmade
5. August 24: Sweet Sprocket, Australian Sewing, Advice & Inspiration, The Sewing Unicorn
6. August 25: LIVIALITY, Diskordia’s Curvy Sewing, Simply Kyra
7. August 26: Seams So Lo, Middle River Studio, Jot Designs

Happy Scatty sewing everyone xx

Bella sunshine blog tour

Perfect Summer top for the heat wave

With the heat wave we’ve had in the UK the last thing I wanted to do was sit at a sewing machine making clothes, but needing new tops for special events in the summer you just don’t have a choice, so I waited until it was 9pm before I started sewing as it was ever so slightly cooler ( 23 degrees is usually the mid day temperature in the UK, so having it that temperature in the evening was something were not used too).

Being asked to be part of the Bella Sunshine Summer blog tour is such an honour and the other participants have made some absolutely amazing things, check them out here

I had some lovely poppy fabric bought from Pink Scissors Fabric and you know when you just know what pattern will match the fabric well I just knew the Sahara top by Bella Sunshine patterns would be perfect. The pattern is so straight forward, even a beginner would be able to easily sew this up. I think from pinning to wearing it only took me an hour! Totally brilliant, because in this weather you need to have something that means you only need to spend an hour at the pedal.

And here is the result:

The fit is perfect BTW, usually i have to add a little more for my large back, but I didn’t need too and the fit as you can see is spot on. Im a UK size 16 (40′ bust) and it hits underneath perfectly and the peplum is bang on, brilliant!

As I said in my last blog Im moving and so i wore the Sahara to pack up some of my things into the car, the sahara is so comfy and versatile and I felt like I was smartly dressed, Im one of those people that even if Im painting or cleaning I have to look tidy incase someone comes to the door 🙂

If you haven’t already downloaded the Sahara top then do its a lovely pattern and I have yet to try out the dress version, that will happen after the move when I have my sewing room sorted. Cant wait for the move to be all over and I can show you all my new sewing room, its going to be huge!

Check out the rest of the blog tour here:

Monday: Sew Cucio – Inspinration – It’s Liesel

Tuesday: Big fly notions – Sew4five – Stitched by Jennie

Wednesday: Hazelnut Handmade – Cross Stitches custom clothing –Turtle Trax Too

Thursday: Jot Designs – Bloomingskies – Nathalie’s needle

Friday: The bear and pea atelier – The Scatty sewer – Sew Haute Blog

Happy scatty sewing

New beginnings

I’ve been a little quiet of late and that’s because there has been a multitude of things happening at home.

First we’ve sold our house, yay!

Second I’m in the process of closing my business 🙁

Third my husband and I are buying a restaurant together and moving in above it!!

So testing patterns and sewing in general has been on a bit of a back burner, especially as the World Cup is on as well (I love the World Cup)

I am of course testing one pattern for Ellie and Mac which hopefully will be released soon, it’s lovely and my marathon training is out the window (the heatwave isn’t helping there) but I’m hopeful that soon I’ll get back into some sort of pattern and can get back into my sewing again.

I’ll post as soon as I can

Happy scatty sewing everyone

Julia

Just thought I’d share

Here are some of my holiday makes

Look at me doing my proper model poses 😂😂😂

Sewing up a storm!

Well I’m off on my Jollydays again, back to the White Island Ibiza.

As you all know I like to make all my own clothes for my holidays and this time is no exception I have made

1 bonnaroo skirt and the top from George and ginger

2 kimonos one from Ellie and Mac and a new one from Petite Stitchery which has yet to be released but is gorgeous

1 new dress from Sewciety yet to be released but is just stunning for the summer

1 pair of new hot pants from George and ginger

1 new lea swimsuit from Laela Jayne

So I’m going to take pics in Ibiza of all these wonderful things and post them later ( well the ones I can, you’ll have to wait for the release date for some)

Right I’m going to make sure everything is packed and I’m off, so I’ll love you and leave you, Happy scatty sewing ❤️❤️

It’s gonna be May blog Tour

This is so exciting to be part of this wonderful Blog tour with Petite Stitchery this is my first blog tour and its been such an amazing experience.

Each day six different bloggers will be showcasing petite stitchery and co patterns, which did I pick??? Obviously it was going to be the sunflower dress as I am a complete hippy dippy chick and this just called to me. Find the pattern here Sunflower dress

So the sunflower dress is one of those you can dress up with a cute pair of heels or dress down with a pair of daps, either way it looks cool. It has three lengths mini (for those who have good legs), Knee length and the maxi version. This pattern is for woven fabrics, like chiffon, cottons, crepe or anything floaty really.

I went a little left field with my choice of fabrics as I had the most amazing Chiffon from Tilly Bee fabrics which I just had to use, but unless everyone would be happy seeing my knickers and bra through it I needed a lining, fair enough a nice bit of white cotton….. do you know how hard it is to get 2 meters of just plain white cotton in the UK delivered next day! Not very easy I can tell you and the delivery charges are just stupid! So I went down to Asda and picked up a plain white double bed sheet for £7, lovely quality it is too.

Now as we all know chiffon is not the easiest fabric to work with, so I would implore anyone wishing to use it to put themselves in a very good and happy mood before they start, because if you start off in a fowl mood you will soon be throwing your beloved fabric scissors at the wall screaming ‘It’s all your fault you pair of *!*!*!*!*!*!*!*’ and your neighbours will be ringing the police with concerns about your mental health, not speaking from experience of course.

So putting myself in a good mood (I watched a couple of episodes of Benidorm, that did the trick) I started to pin and cut the beloved but nightmarish chiffon. Of course its not just the pinning and danger of snagging the material thats the problem, its the slipping, the fraying and the sewing of this ridiculously fragile fabric (oh why did I start this). The good thing about the sunflower pattern is that its very clearly marked and easy to cut around unlike more complicated patterns, which would have made my life so so much harder and it’s only 4 parts to the pattern.

Because I was making a lining to go with the chiffon overdress it made sewing the chiffon that little bit easier, plus the instructions are scatty sewer proof, not an easy thing to do as I quite often just miss whole pages of instructions and have to get the seam ripper out to help me out of my mistake. Sewing it together took no time at all. You can make the dress with a lovely ruffled hem, but Im not a ruffled hem sort of girl…. well sometimes I am but on this dress I just wanted clean lines so I went ruffle-less.

So luckily in the UK this week we were having a bit of a heatwave so I was able to get some lovely shots it was a bit windy in the castle and I did have to dodge the sheep droppings, there aren’t normally sheep in the castle but being Wales… well there are sheep everywhere, I once opened my front door to a sheep and a chicken oh and a cow across the road!

So here’s what I made:

So the bottom half is chiffon only and floats around while my honor is being protected by the underskirt, although on a windy day like today it would have been hard to keep anything from blowing up on that bridge, and even though it was sunny that wind was a little chilly 😵

sheep

BTW that’s my cat Puss she’s also my sewing helper, well she runs through my fabric and scrunches it up then runs away again!

Southern Belle Fabrics is running a giveaway here https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js“>giveaway who are sponsoring this blog tour so pop along, you never know you might win and check out their great fabrics here Southern Belle and the amazing sunflower pattern from Petite Stitchery

Please checkout all the other blogs on this amazing sewing blog tour and remember happy scatty sewing 😉❤️❤️

April 22nd:

Sewjourns

Kathy’s Kwilts

Naadjesendraadjes

Diskordia’s Curvy Sewing

Sewing Adventures in the Attick

Sewing Southern Belle

April 23rd:

Margarita on the Ross

Our Play Palace

The Scatty Sewer

Rebel and Malice

My Heart Will Sew On

Sewing With D

April 24th:

Sea of Estrogen

Seams Like Style

That’s Sew Amy

Mahlica Designs

Leslie J’s Sewing Shack

Miss Marah Sewn

April 25th:

Liviality

Lime Leaves

My Sewing Roots

Tales From a Southern Mom

Jot Designs USA

Seams Sew Lo

The Needle and The Belle

April 26th:

Candi Couture Designs

Momma Sew Savvy

Blooming Skies

Stitched By Jennie

House of Estrela

Sewing Ambi

Laela Jenye pattern trio

I was fortunate enough to be chosen to test all three patterns for Laela Jenye patterns, all on sale right now Get them here now

The cosette top

The Lea swimsuit

The Josephine dress

All brilliantly designed and beautiful. The cosette top is a woven and I used a lightweight cotton which is going to be great in the summer, the sleeves are tulip shaped and a beautiful design detail, but there are lots of different options for sleeves.

The Lea swimsuit can be very sexy if you leave out the front panel, but no one wants to see my saggy old ladies so I used a bit of street hair lace to cover them up a bit. But the fit is absolutely superb on this pattern, I’ve made many swimsuits/ bikinis and some patterns are completely out there with the fit but Marisa got this spot on, everything is being held in well 😉

The Josephine dress in jersey is just absolutely stunning! I mean that! I never make solid coloured clothes, they always have a wacky print, but for the first time in a long time I made a solid coloured dress and I’m so glad I did, it’s beautiful with its drop down back and flirty skirt. This one is coming to Ibiza with me for sure.

So those are my 3 latest makes and what brilliant patterns they were, thank you Marisa and I hope to do more testing for you xx

Happy scatty sewing everyone

🙃

Laela Jeyne patterns

Busy busy bee (buzz buzz)

Ive had a couple of busy weeks testing for designers from all over the world. So shall we have a look at what Ive been up too?

Moon Pants by Sinclair patterns

Sinclair patterns

An incredibly versatile pattern, I made the full length version, but you can make the culottes or shorts with options are brilliant, I’m making a pair of culottes for my upcoming trip to ibiza.

Pacific pullover by Greenstyle creations

Greenstyle creations

I love this running top pattern, mainly because the designer has incorporated elements that runners need, like a deep pocket big enough to accommodate my iPhone plus, also the amount of different options in endless, hoods, sleeves, pockets, everything.

Luna Bells by Sew sweet

Sew sweet patterns

Flairs are back and these trousers are a great example of a a good failed trouser, so comfortable to wear, I’ve been wearing them ever since I made them.

Gloria dress and top by 5 out of 4

5 out of 4 patterns

I tested the Jessie pattern for 5oo4 not so long back well I was honoured to test this one too. The Jessie is a top and dress pattern with split sleeves and loads of options. I made the peplum top wit split sleeves and the hi/low dress option with split sleeves which I sewed up in the middle so that the flap wasn’t as big. Great pattern from 5 out of 4 patterns, a favourite of mine already.

 

 

And a few more Im still not allowed to show you yet, because we are still testing.

in other news I made a George and ginger Rulo dress for Easter Sunday, which was well received.

and Im joining a blog tour for May so details of that to come….

Remember Happy Scatty sewing xx