back to school

Not much sewing happening chez kettleboiler over the past week or so as life tried to get itself back to a more even keel.  I even managed to miss the slow blogger linky do da  over at Catherine's #sorry.  I am now panicking a little about all the FQ Retreat sewing I need to crack on with.  So in an exemplar piece of procrastination, I buckled down and made my first Schoolhouse Tunic...

I used the Liberty Lawn fabric I bought nearly 3 years ago from Fabric Galore at the Festival of Quilts.  Most of the seams are French seams (a wee aside:  did you know that the French call French seams English seams?  Quelle bizarre!).  Anyway, I know I need to provide a "wearing the thing" shot but before I do I need to tell you that Laughing Boy doesn't do cameras or photos.  We have hardly any photos of us - when the wee man was born, it was a quick camera phone jobbie and that was pushing my luck.  So when I asked him to take a photo of me wearing my tunic, there was a lot of persuasion and very little effort. I was hoping for something a la Mary's lovely fashion shoot.  At least this one is in focus:



it was meant to be the test shot!

The eagle eyed amongst you will note in the bottom right corner... a newspaper.  He didn't even get up off of his seat or move his paper so no scene setting or working together to get the best shot.  Anyway, he gave me a usable shot (out of the two that were taken) so I shouldn't complain.  #bitching

When I first showed this tunic to my beloved, he mentioned that it looked like I was wearing my mum's curtains!  What this meant, apparently, was that it's too long and would work better shorter.  It's not hemmed yet so I'll have a think about it.  I changed the pattern slightly so that instead of two pleats at the front, I added a bigger one in the middle, as I though it might look less boxy. The finished top is ok although  I can't say I'm in love with it.  It's a little roomy and I'm not sure the neckline suits me that much (it's a bit high I think).  As you might remember, I was planning on using my lovely AMH linen feathers to make one of these but I have totally changed my mind now that I've seen the finished top.  I'm now thinking about a washi dress having seen Laura Jane's beauty in the same fabric.  But I'm still not sure as I don't do no sleeves (hence my gargantuan cardigan fetish collection).  So the jury is out but I reckon this top may make an appearance at the FQR (length undecided).

Again, avoiding what needs to be done, I finally ordered the last piece of fabric I needed to make my nephew a bean bag for his birthday (thanks Justine for the speedy service). To be fair, his birthday was back in May so I guess this was a need to do thing....

another "it needs a good iron" shot!

I don't have the filling yet and will probably get this sent separately to my sister's house as they are in Scotland.  So I attempted a dodgy shot with the bean bag half stuffed with pillows.  Anyway, you get the idea I'm sure.  My real triumph with this was ignoring the instructions to use a Velcro closure and installing an invisible zipper instead...can you see it?

#result

This was the second time I had attempted an invisible zipper (the first being a hastily abandoned effort for the PTS 10 pillow cover) and this time I followed a couple of YouTube videos and it worked!  I was even more surprised because the seams have a slight curve in them. I am so stoked that I may just put an invisible zip in everything I make from now on!  Anyway, the link to the PDF pattern I used is now broken so if you're keen to make a similar bean bag, I can send you the PDF.  Again, I think Mary beat me to it, in terms of making one!  I didn't make a liner as you can get them for free when you order the filling.

Now, I need to focus on my FQR stuff ...oh look a sunbeam......