Jungle January

Back in September, I was invited by Pretty Grievances to take part in Jungle January, thanks to my cave girl costumes.  Jungle January is an event in which participants are encouraged to make things from animal print fabric.  Now, honestly, I would be lying if I said animal print is something I would ordinarily go for – I just don’t suit it.  So I had to put a fair amount of thought into what I would make, and after much deliberation I landed on pyjama bottoms.

As promised in my previous blog, I used the Margot pattern from Love at First Stitch by Tilly Walnes, and I used a Dalmatian spot cotton that I found on eBay.  Everyone sing it with me:

“Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil…”

Anyone else now really in the mood for 101 Dalmatians?  Anyway…

The pattern was super easy to follow – a very good project for beginners, I’d say.  They went together in no time!  I added side seam pockets – in case you haven’t already noticed, I’m obsessed with pockets – and used red ribbon for my cord (because I couldn’t be bothered to make my own).

The hardest part?  Sewing a rectangle around my drawstring opening to reinforce the hole.  That rectangle you can see in the picture there.  All I had to do was sew a neat rectangle around that slit.  Sounds pretty easy, right?  Wrong!  Turns out sewing a precise rectangle is not something I can achieve without tearing my hair out (yet!).  I gave up after attempt number eight and settled for a rectangle that I’m still only sort of happy with.  Ho-hum.  They’re wearable and that’s what’s important.

You can never have too many pyjama bottoms!

Incidentally, I’ve been having a bit of a Dalmatian themed time recently.  We made Dalmatian biscuits with our Brownies the other week.  And while we were on our Brownies sleepover last weekend, one of our Brownies celebrated her eighth birthday with these amazing cakes made by her very talented mum.

Aaaannnd…  We even attempted a bit of sewing with our Brownies and Guides this weekend!  We made finger puppets with felt and all sorts of embellishments.  Sewing with kids – what fun!

Plush Addict haul

Happy 2015, everyone!  I hope you all had an enjoyable festive season.

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me for #SewingFrancoise.  I was a runner up and won a £100 voucher for Plush Addict 😀  £100 of entirely guilt-free fabric shopping!  Thank you so much for voting – I only started sewing a few months ago really, so I’m blown away.  And thank you so much to Tilly for running the contest!

I’ve never bought anything from Plush Addict, and I was so excited when I realised how much I had to choose from.  The fabric is all great and it came really quickly.  I’ll definitely buy from them again.

Since my purchases will probably make up a large percentage of my 2015 projects, I thought I’d show you my haul and let you know what I’m planning to make.

I have Tilly to thank for my spoils, so I thought it only right that I make some Tilly clothes 🙂  Also, all her patterns are lush, so I don’t mind in the slightest.  I bought some indigo canvas to make the Delphine skirt from Love at First Stitch.  I got some striped jersey to try a Coco dress, which I’m very excited about because I’ve wanted to make Coco for ages.  Aaaannnnd… I got some red faux silk to attempt her Mathilde blouse.  That one is scaring me slightly because it looks a bit fiddly.

My non-Tilly projects will include Colette’s Macaron, for which I bought the lovely Michael Miller Marionettes cotton. I haven’t got the contrast fabric for this yet.  I got some polka dot chiffon to make the simple t-shirt in the second Great British Sewing Bee book.  And finally, I bought some Michael Miller Marbles cotton to make the Colour Burst dress from the latest Mollie Makes Sewing magazine.

Phew – quite a haul!  I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.

Buuut… before all of that, I’m going to make a pair of pyjama bottoms.  I’m going to use the Margot pattern from Love at First Stitch (of course).  I’m making them from this Dalmatian print cotton.  Woof!  Do you remember the cave girl costumes I made?  Well, after making those, I was invited to take part in Jungle January by Pretty Grievances.  So, I’ll be making my PJs before anything else so I don’t miss the January deadline.

So there you have it.  My sewing plans for what must be most of 2015 (or possibly the rest of my life!) by the time I’ve finished.  All down to Tilly and Plush Addict. Thanks, guys!

What’s on your sewing tables at the moment?