Spring Sewing Retreat with Norwich Sewcials

What happens on retreat stays on retreat... mostly. Although I was just going to give you a little insight to this years Norwich Sewcials Spring Retreat held at Barnham Broom in the middle of the beautiful Norfolk countryside. What's great about Norfolk is that the weather is 'usually' very nice for this! This year was glorious. Exhibit A.

Despite our sewing community name, which was started when we were little and just Norwich based, we welcome anyone from anywhere. In the past we've had visitors from Scotland, Germany, Manchester, London and other parts of the UK so do consider it if you're after a fun weekend. We are also so happy that there were some familiar faces from afar who are repeat retreaters! 

Our sewing room has a huge balcony and windows making it light and bright. As soon as everyone arrived, machines were out and it was a hive of activity. Our lovely instructor and professional seamstress Pippa (aka The Fabric Wrangler) is always whizzing around helping and assisting with all the projects. 

One thing for sure is that we were all well fed, including some incredible afternoon tea and cakes made from local lavender! Yum. 

It also felt a little rude not to sit out and enjoy the sun for cocktail hour after all that chatting. I always love the down time when you get a chance to talk with people in more detail and get to know them, everyone always has such good stories. 

This year, Rosie from Sew Eco Fabrics also attended and brought a pop-up shop where everyone went a bit wild in the aisles and picked up some beautiful labels and deadstock fabrics. Some of which were bought, cut, sewn and worn all within 24 hours!

The whole weekend was an absolute pleasure and we left with hearts (and stomachs) very full! Have a look at this little video for a better feel of a retreat - have you every been on one? Tempted? Do let me know! 

Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx

Noodling About - Buckthorn Backpack

 Another Noodlehead pattern today!

I'm a big fan of the Noodlehead patterns as they have more elevated bag features and design components than most, making your end product just that little bit more special. 

Having already made the Hillside Tote, the Oxbow Tote and the Traverse Bag (just realized never blogged about that one despite making it twice) and just having purchased the Sandhill Sling for a future project...I knew this brand was the way to go when looking for a backpack. 

Due to the Stitch Festival trip - I figured I needed a handy bag to take with me that would be suitable for travel, walking, buying stuff and space saving. Enter the Buckthorn Backpack.

 It's a backpack and tote in one! Great for wearing with the straps when walking around and perfect to carry as a tote for shopping and crowded spaces. 

Pic from Noodlehead.com

 I am quite pleased with this in terms of fabric as I managed to make it out of bits of fabric and interfacing from my stash without buying anything. The webbing for straps I got from Beyond the Pink Door. This is my version. You'll notice it's slightly less neutral than the pattern image.

The fabric is some beautiful cotton that was originally from Fleur et Ours and the colours are beautiful. I was pleased to find another use for this one. 

Starting with the interior of the backpack - it has divided pocket sections which is really handy for keeping water bottles and purses in check. Less rummaging is always a good thing.

I also added a little zipped security pocket in there for essentials and my phone etc. That's not part of the pattern but fairly easy to add on. The lobster clasp for keys was also a little extra I threw in there too. 

This fabric is leftover from my Crafty Clyde's Emporium shop and the day I made this backpack, was the day my guys woke up from their hibernation. It seemed fitting so there we have the triple tortoises featuring nicely. 

 

Another little detail I added was some bag feet. A bit of extra sturdyness and wear and tear preventative measures. Technically they are just studs from Trimming Shop but it's the same thing. 

Of course I had to add a cute little zip pull on the top. Because of all the insects I thought it would be fun to pop a bird on there. These cuties are from MeMadeMakes.

The bag pattern is very easy to sew, and unlike some of the other Noodlehead ones, it does have pattern pieces - which made cutting out a whole lot easier than having to measure each piece. 

Construction is straightforward - make the outer, make the lining - drop lining into bag. There's no 'birthing' and turning anything inside out for this one. The raw edges at the top are enclosed by a piece of binding which is a really neat finish. 

 The bag did very well on our adventure out and I was backpacking myself about the Stitch Festival collecting goodies along the way.

Have you made this one? Next up is the Sandhill Sling so any tips on that let me know!

 Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx

The Faspen

 Good morning all (or whatever it may be where you are).

 Today i bring to you.....The Faspen. My own little pattern hacked mishmash dress of dreams.

Guess which pattern this is based on. 

You probably haven't been able to escape the massive popularity of The Aspen dress by Fabric Godmother which has taken the sewing community by storm. Of course the alternate to this pattern is the McCalls M8553 which is.....pretty similar. You may have seen, and if you haven't do go have a watch, Alison of SewLikeDotty give a comparison of the two. It was actually Alison who inspired me to make this as I really liked her version in the same fabric.

She also gave little ol' me a shout out! Because I 'copied' the dress and made my own version. And you can too if you so wish.  Faspen - Faux Aspen - you get it. 

The fabric is a 4oz denim from Pound Fabrics and was absolutely perfect for this project as it is soft, drapes well but still had a bit of body in it not to look too floppy and hold the zip well. I think a viscose wouldn't hold the zip weight and could possibly pull forward.  

The bodice of this pattern is the Tilly and the Buttons Lyra shirt dress. I simply folded the front bodice pattern piece down the button line to remove the placket - voila, that's where you pop a zip.  (My bodice is a size 7 but with narrowed shoulders and darts removed.)

 I inserted the zip with a piece of bias binding behind it, top stitching it down, so that the itchy part of the zip wasn't touching my skin. An adjustment I would definitely recommend if that sort of thing bothers you. 

A moment just to appreciate the cuteness of this zip pull please...

Two patch pockets later and you have yourself a Faspen bodice.

The skirt was just an A-line shape which I free-handed a bit. I then realized the Megan Neilsen Matilda Dress had a really similar shape so I pinked the pocket pieces from that and the curve shape of the hem. I was not a massive fan of the gathered skirt on the original pattern and as I'm a bit 'middle chonky' an A-line was my preferred shape. You do you though.

Attach the pockets and then the skirt to the bodice and there you have it. 

I opted to make a belt to go with it and cover the waist seam. I like making these little fabric belts and I had a bit of fabric left to play with. The buckle on this is a bag slider/tri-glide together with a little loop sewn up to tuck in the end.

I popped a couple of belt loops on each side of the dress just to keep it in place whilst wearing. 

The most significant thing about this dress is that I HAVE ACTUALLY WORN IT. Can confirm it is very comfortable. The belt keeps working its way loose so I may have to swap that out - otherwise The Faspen Wins!

What do you think of this version? Worth a go? Do let me know what you've been making :)

  Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx

Crafty Clyde's Big Day Out - The Stitch Festival

Crafty Clyde's Big Day Out!

My lovely friend Pippa (aka The Fabric Wrangler and the other half of Norwich Sewcials) won a couple of tickets to The Stitch Festival in London so we decided to be brave and take our country bumpkin selves to the Big Smoke.   

This was my first super venture out 'alone' since the ol' Big C and so it was exciting for many reasons. If not incredibly tiring!

We took a train to London and made our way to Islington, finding the very large queue outside! Fast moving thankfully and we were sent straight up to Level 2 of the show. Immediately reminded of home lands when we found this fella waiting for us.

 The stands upstairs were very busy when we arrived and we shuffled and browsed the upper circle for 3 hours before completing the circuit! Here is a little look at the view. (Hopefully this works, not sure I've ever put a video in before!)

 Along the way we did a little shopping and stopped off at the SisterMintaka stand to meet Sandeep (who is so lovely) and see some incredible woodland items made entirely of thread!!! We made a few purchases of fabric, stitch minders, trims and a Jenerates Seam Circle Gadget that will come in handy for our drafting retreat in a few weeks. (It adds seam allowance onto patterns).

 By the time we had completed upstairs, the lower floor had quietened and it was a lot easier to navigate. A few more seats would have been appreciated as my feet were so sore at this point.

Fuelled by a little lunch and some Jelly Babies (shared with Roy of Roys Material World as he looked like he was going to pass out) we found renewed gusto to complete the stalls.  

We met the loveliest ladies at Khia Fabrics who showed us some £400pm (yes you read that right) Met Gala Gown worthy hand stitched fabric which was just glorious. No we did not buy it!

We ale met Priya and her dad who were working hard at An Indian Summer, their family business and of course we had to buy some beautiful buttons and ribbon which, shock, I actually have a plan for.  

As usual Stitch Fabrics (aka Rosenberg and sons) brought the goods and it would have been rude not to pick up a few meters right?

We saw so many sewing vloggers about in the afternoon and had to get some cheeky pictures with everyone. 

@northernsewlsisters @whatbecsews @whateverkatiesews @stitchhemsew

 By the end of it we were absolutely shattered so headed back to the station (via a rather long route - my bad, sorry Pippa). After a near miss on boarding the wrong train we finally got back on track and headed back East for a very very big sleep!

Here are a little peek at my goodies from the day. The bag strap was Purple Stitches , I picked up my favourite Lady McElroy Cobra Corsage fabric from quite a random stand with no name, and a blue/neon floral from Roys Material World. The bottom left patchwork bird satin is SisterMintaka, then I went all Viva Frida and purple marble with Stitch Fabrics. The beautiful pink trims and parrot buttons were from An Indian Summer. 

An epic day which certainly took its toll on my body but was totally worth it. Let me know if you visited and if you brought home any goodies!

 Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx

Astro Amherst and the Beetles from Space

 Quite the title ey. 

I'm coming in today with a 'new', and I use that very loosely, pattern to the blog. It's far from a new pattern in itself but it's fresh and unreported up here on Crafty Clyde. Which is a bit weird as this is my 3rd version...

I'm talking about the Amherst Shirt from Hey June Handmade. A pattern company that seems to have dropped off many people's radar it seems. A shame as they are amazing garments! 

The Amherst is a casual shirt with all the good stuff on there - breast cargo pockets, turn up sleeve cuffs, cuff tabs. A nice utilitarian look to it. 

My first version was a toile just over a year ago in some viscose - I am so pleased to report that it fit without any changes at all. I cut a 14/16 from the very detailed size chart that is provided and found it to be accurate.  The toile below was re-homed to a friend at my sewing social.

I then had this obsessive idea that I wanted a shirt covered in ladybirds - print, buttons, decorations. And so it was made. This pic was taken when I was bald and feeling VERY unwell so excuse the hiding. Have I worn it? Have I ****. Perhaps this Spring. (This fabric is a cotton called Catch and Release - so cute! 🐞)

Fast forward over a year and Minerva gave me some epic tencel twill fabric called 'Nebulous Nights' which needed to be showcased somehow. I just love how dark and stormy the print is. (Don't forget I still have my code MSS244EC for 10% off anything you want at Minerva.)

I admit that I started making a Grainline Studio Scout Tee with this – however it’s safe to say that pattern does not work for me anymore and it was a bit of a disaster.  

Enter the Amherst. I had tried on a swing dress in M&S and surprisingly found that I liked the style - so I tried to recreate it using this pattern. 

In order to turn this into a mini dress, I simply extended the pattern pieces down to 36”. Then just drew a diagonal line outwards from the underarm to get that trapeze shape, rounding off the corners at the skirt hem to make it hang properly. The width at the hem is also about 36” across.

For added detail on my dress I have added some ribbon as a trim across the shirt and seams just to break up the big block of colour. Plus, the ribbon is little metallic beetles – space beetles! This ribbon was from Beyond Measure and I had been hoarding it for a good project. 

My buttons were a bit of an afterthought as I was trying to use my stash so they aren’t a perfect match but they are dark blue like the general vibe of the dress. I had also had this sitting unfinished for several weeks so I just wanted to get it done. I would ordinarily hand stitch the inner collar for a neat finish however for the same reason, this was machined. I did find the best label for the project though – a little button moon.  (I have no clue about where that label has come from it was just in my tin!)

 Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx