Scrunchable scarf

This has been my TV/film watching knitting for the past two weeks. The only thing I don't knit during is Doctor Who as I don't want to miss anything :) Well, I came so close to finishing it last night while watching Life on Mars (UK version, don't bother with the US version. Dom told me that they completely messed up the ending) that I carried on today. 

The pattern is the Scrunchable scarf (link will take you the Ravelry page) and I used two balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in the colour 300502 in case you like the colour as much as I do :) 

It's such a simple pattern that gives gorgeous results. It's squishy and cozy and definitely scrunchable! And I love the yarn!! The yarn itself is really squishy and soft. It was lovely to work with. 

I think the bias has finished setting on my circle skirt, but we've been given the option of having our dishwasher replaced with a freezer. As we only have a little ice box in the top of fridge, we've gone for the freezer. They took the dishwasher away today, so I didn't want to do any sewing in case they brought the new freezer today too. I'd be very much in the way if they did bring it, but they didn't. Ah well, it should be here in the morning, and I got lots of knitting done today so it wasn't completely wasted :)

Ashley x

Circle skirt

I finally finished slip stitching the waistband down! :) I don't mind most hand sewing, but I hate slip stitching! Anyway its done now, it just needs to hand for a day or two to set the bias. Then there's the monster job of hemming it. And it needs a hook and eye on the tab above the zipper. The zipper went in really well! I'm so pleased with it, I'm starting to lose my fear of machine stitched zippers :)

I'm not sure what my next project will be. As I mentioned in my last post, all of my fabric fits into my new wardrobe, so I just need to decide which is my favourite fabric! I'm thinking of making a Pendrell dress with a self drafted peter pan collar. I'm just not sure I have a long enough length of fabric. We'll see :)

Those of you in the UK, enjoy the bank holiday! And those of you who aren't, have a happy Monday! 

Ashley x

Hmm, 7 things. . .

I've been passed the Versatile blogger award by Reana Louise at Curves, Patterns, and Pins! Thank you so much! :D So, I have to think of 7 things about myself that you don't know. Hmm. . .

1. I like flowers. A lot. We don't have them in the house/flat/whatever because Dom gets hayfever from flowers. I love orchids, carnations, lily's and of course roses :)

2. Talking of hay fever, I get hayfever from trees. I can always tell when we're getting close to trees in the summer because my eyes start to water. Lovely!

3. I played Alice in my primary school production of Alice in Wonderland. Yep, I was a brown haired Alice. Before we found out our parts, everyone was excited about who was going to play Alice. Everyone assumed it would be one of the two blonde girls in our class. Nope, it was brown haired me. Unfortunately I can't share a short video with you as its set to private on my mum's facebook page. I also don't have any photos. I'll share them if I remember to ask mum for a couple :)

4. I've had the same mobile phone for ages! Seriously, I think it's been at least 4 years. I've never been bothered about the latest high-tech phone. Its calls, it textes, I'm happy! :)

5.  Some of my favourite films include: Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, A Clockwork Orange, Watchmen, Sin City, Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds, Inception, Shutter Island, Kill Bill 1&2. I also watched The Godfather for the first time last night, I loved it! :) Oh, and Fight Club. I could watch that film over and over! Looking back at the list, they're all quite violent and a bit bloody (or in the case of Kill Bill, a lot bloody!). I blame Dom for this. Since living with him, my choice of films has been influenced by him a lot. Though I still refuse to watch the end of I Am Legend. I don't like zombie films, and only just managed to make it to the end of 28 days later. Oh, I also liked The Road, but it was very sad. I liked the book too.

6. I love big scary rollercoasters! I scream the whole time, but will always go on again. I went on the Mumbo Jumbo (the steepest rollercoaster in the world) at Flamingo Land 7 times in a row. However, this was not entirely my choice. When my 8 year old sister discovered she was tall enough to ride, she wanted a go. So I took her on and held her hand the whole time. We got off, and she decided she wanted to go on again. And again. And again. . .until we had been on 7 times and it was time for the park to close! By the 3rd or 4th time, she laughed the whole time while I still screamed.

7. Cold food gives me shivers. If a meal goes cold before I finish, I can't eat the rest. It seriously freaks me out. But if it's meant to be cold like pasta salad then its ok. But it's meant to be hot, then I just can't eat it. I know, I have issues. lol

Ok, now to pass it along! :)

Marie from A Sewing Odyssey

Kate from Kate's Creative Saga

Kat from Petticoats and Peplums

Jean-Mary from Meanyjar

So there you go! :)

Thank you for your advice and comments on my last post. I did go into town on Monday and I now have enough nice clothes to last me the week! Woo! I also now have a colour scheme so everything goes with something to make an outfit. I also took a look at the fabric I have, and it will all fit very nicely into my new wardrobe :) I learnt a lot about what suits me, as I tried on *everything*!! I realised I can wear a higher neckline than I thought I could, and I can wear blousier tops than I thought I could. (So I'd be willing to try a Sorbetto!). I was surprised at how well things fit too. The waist was actually in the right place! And I didn't have as much trouble from my boobs as I thought I would. 

I've been enjoying getting dressed in the morning and choosing an outfit and accessories to go with it. Yes, I have accessories! :) I got much more for my money than I expected, so I got some lovely jewellery too. I didn't get any new bags, as I have enough bags. I now have two pairs of shoes that are ridiculously comfortable because they're in the right size. And I even upgraded my foundation and face powder (I've been using the cheapest I could find for ages). And the best thing is, I even have a good chunk of my budget left over! But I'm super happy with my wardrobe for now, so I probably won't spend it unless I see something I like while out and about. 

And I'll try and post about some actual sewing soon! :)

Ashley x

Ditching the jeans and finding my style.

I've been unhappy with my wardrobe for a while. But I didn't really know where I wanted to go with it. And I couldn't afford a whole new wardrobe, and even if I could I didn't know what I wanted. 

Currently my wardrobe consists of jeans, strappy vest tops and two thin cardigan things. My jeans are in ok condition, but I don't want to be in jeans everyday which currently I am. I wear vest tops because I can get them for £1.99 from New Look. And the cardigan things I bought last summer, and I have practically lived in them every day since because they cover my shoulders when I wear my vest tops which is everyday. 

I feel scruffy and crap in my clothes because my clothes are scruffy. Take what I'm wearing now for instance. My jeans, which as I said are in ok condition, but I wear them because they're comfortable and 'safe'. My belt is wrecked, the backing is coming off and I had to super glue it back on. My vest top was black but is now faded and has holes in at the bottom. My bra is the only thing that I'll be happy to keep, as I treated myself to some (basic) bras that fit a couple of weeks ago because the situation was desperate. 

So I'm pretty desperate for new clothes. I went looking for a new jacket yesterday with Dom. We wandered through the shops and I looked at what other women were wearing, what was on the mannequins and what I liked. And it hit me! I liked the shortish above the knee cute and quirky dresses with thick tights or lacy tights and nice cardigans or jackets. I also liked the high waisted skirts paired with a belted cardy. I think this is a style I could pull off and feel comfortable in. I can wear dresses in the winter with thick tights and a cardy, and also in summer without tights or a cardy. It's simple, but much more smart and put together than what I wear now, but still casual enough for everyday. 

So now I've figured out what I want, I'm going to be irresponsible. I'm going to let my student overdraft pick it up for now, until my student loan comes in. I know, but I really am desperate. I feel unhappy in my clothes and its effected my confidence enormously. I can't wait until the end of September for my loan, because by then I won't have enough clothes to last the week! 

So as an example, I like these kind of things (sorry I've had to link to them as I can't get the picture to display):

Dress, with these tights (I can see myself becoming a crazy tights lady with all kinds of novelty tights!). Paired with this cardy worn open but belted with this belt. Perhaps not these particular things, but as a general idea I like it a lot. I think I'll get two or three cardys and try and choose dresses that go with them so I can mix and match. My brogue style shoes would look great with this, though I think I need more than one pair of shoes! Also, and a nice bag and some jewellery would be nice :) 

I hate having to resort to RTW, but I can't sew that fast! My sewing plans will be easier to make once I've got more of a cohesive wardrobe. And honestly, the RTW dresses that I do have actually fit surprisingly well, and still look like new!

I also have a couple of lipsticks that I never wear because I never feel I'm dressed nice enough to wear it. But if I'm dressed nice, I'll definitely feel confident enough to wear my nice red lipstick :)

So now that I've come clean about the state of my wardrobe, what do you think? Am I crazy for using my overdraft for clothes, even if I do need them? Do you think the look I've described will suit me? Or am I just a lost cause? ;)

I plan on scouring the shops tomorrow morning with Dom, trying my best to put together a wardrobe. Wish me luck!

Ashley x

Hong Kong Finish

Those are the two side seams on my circle skirt, they need a good press though. I was about to finish them using the over lock stitch on my machine, when I decided I was going to try something new! I've never tried the Hong Kong finish before, so I made the bias binding using Colette's continuous bias tape tutorial. I made my square 12 inches instead of 10, and I'm glad I did as I only had about 6 inches left at the end! The bias tape took me a while to make, especially as my first attempt was just awful! I'm really pleased with it, though I don't think I'll do it on everything as it took me about an hour just for those two seams!! But for simple skirts, I think it's a nice touch :)

Ashley x