Hello! It's been a while hasn't it.  My complete lack of blogging can be explained away in word word (and it's not "lazy") - it's "shingles"

Yes, I had the dreaded chicken-pox related infection over the last month.  It is as horrible as people say - very painful - but in the end I count myself as lucky as I've heard some real horror stories.

Well, in the time I haven't been blogging my hair has been growing and it's been time to do something about it. I've been tying it back using a headband I bought from Accessorize years ago. I love it but it gets a bit samey and also a bit smelly if I've been to the gym (it does happen!).  So I decided to make a new one from an old pair of jeans.

I drew out a template for the band itself using the one I already had - it really is just a piece of elastic covered in fabric attached to a more shaped piece. I just drew around the band and added 0.5 cm for a seam allowance. I then cut two pieces of denim using it on a fold each time.

Here was my template...

These two identical pieces were pinned right sides together and then I sewed around the two long edges to make an elongated tube getting wider in the middle whilst narrow at the two ends. This was then turned rightside out and I top stitched around the two long edges again just so that it would hold its shape. 

Next I cut a piece of elastic the same size as the one in my original.  Then I had a piece of luck which saved me a little time and effort - the elastic I used was the exact same thickness as the hem on the jeans. This meant I had a ready made tube to put the elastic in! In reality it would have taken 2 minutes to make up a tube from the denim but I saw this as an omen that the sewing gods were smiling on this project. 

I cut the tube to be about3 inches longer than the elastic - you need space for it to stretch into.

I threaded the elastic through the tube, holding on carefully to the elastic edges and rouching the tube along its length.  Then I stitch the two edges of the tube into the open edges of the band part - making sure you catch the elastic at both ends. This is the place that the pressure of the elastic holds so it I stitched and backstitched over it a few times for strength.

I decided to decorate mine with some fabric daisies just to make it a bit more summery.

And here it is - please excuse the armpits shot! I haven't quite worked out how to take a photo of myself whilst not contorting myself into strange angles.

This was so easy I'm going to make a load more of all the pieces of fabric I have around - I'll have headbands to match everything I've ever made!

So, this is awkward! How do I show off the new knickers and bra-top that I have made without looking like a page 3 (well, apart from being young, pneumatic and beautiful!).

I've decided to show you parts of it rather than a full body shot. It's not that I am embarrassed with  my body - I have what I have, I could probably get it smaller if I never enjoyed myself but life's too short. I just don't really want people seeing half naked photos of me!

I used a KwikSew pattern who have quite a few underwear styles. I was very, very easy - theonly bit that takes any time is adding the stretch lace on so that it is even all the way around.  I'll certainly be doing some more.  I'm tempted to make a few more pairs of the pants out of some old t-shirts and some elastic.

They're back! I know you love them - Colette patterns are back in stock.

I have new copies of all of the patterns by Colette - all available in the Shop

This was my first attempt at a self-drafted dress and I'm really happy with it.

It comes about due to a sewing class I took at the beginning of the year - Fashion dressmaking and draping at www.designercourses.co.uk and run by Lena Sentana (www.lenasentana.com).

As part of the course we used dress forms to create our own patterns for a top, a skirt and a dress. This was my final project - and definately the best of the bunch.

I made it in a synthetic green boucle  which is quite lightweight so should be good for the spring which is currently blooming over London!

Making the pattern was pretty straightforward once went through the basics - fitting proved the most difficult part (I still don't think I have the back quite right).  Also I found it hard not having instructions and am not yet experienced enough to know exactly what order to do things in. This means that some of my seams could have been worked out to cover each other a little more slickly - but nothing too detrimental.

Its definately something I'd like to do again, but urban living in London means no room for a dress form so I'm not sure when I'll get the chance again. 

This week in Grazia is "Is your denim hot enough?" - Grazia bring us the breaking news that denim is in fashion. I'm not sure when it ever was out of fashion - no doubt during the same microseconds that military or nautical or safari go out of style enough for the magazines to claim that they are BACK!

Now, I'm not going to kid you that I am going to show you how to make a pair of jeans - I haven't even faced a pair of trousers yet. But one thing did catch me eye because it was soooo simple. 

So, for once, you are going to have a Grazia DIY where I actually made it - it took me about 30 minutes.

It's a denim cuff with zip details. Nothing expensive - it only costs £16 but I just made it for free. Here's the original:

The DIY:

1. Take an old plastic bottle and cut out the cuff shape
   
2. Take an old piece of denim (I had just "retired" a pair of jeans which had worn through at the arse) and draw around the cuff shape, then add 2cm all the way around for you base layer
   
3. Cut out the denim and stick to the plastic cuff using a glue gun - stuck the edge down first then went around the cuff with a line of glue about ever 2 cm
   
   
4. I only had a fixed end zip, and only had a red one at that,  around so I pulled off the metal bit at the bottom and removed the zip part (the head?)
   
5. I glued the two piece of zip about 1 cm away from the edge - zip teeth facing outwards. Then to cover the edges I took another piece of the jeans (the other side this time) and stuck it down the middle. I could have embellished it more - but I didn't have anything to hand.

Welcome to the first issue of what I am going to try to do as a weekly feature.  I love my Grazia subscription and pore through it as soon as it arrives on a Tuesday. However, I am always struck by the number of things I could make myself - if I had the skill and, better still, the time.  

Each week I am going to pick one item from that week's Grazia and, while I don't have time to make one, I will at least go through the steps of how to make one.  

The eagle-eyed among you will notice that I am a day late for my first one (today being Thursday) - but it was a bank holiday on Monday so my Grazia arrived on Wednesday.

So today's how to is a bibbed vest from Haute Hippe coming in at a wopping £615.

The uniqueness of the top is the shoulder detailing where an embellished bib is attached to the vest via holes in the shoulders and tied at the back.

So here's how-to:

1. Take an existing vest top or make one from a simple pattern such as Kwik Sew 3523
2. Accurately measure spaces on the shoulders at an equal distance from the shoulder seam to put in the eyelets. Put eyelets through the shoulders - this does take a bit of skill - there is a good how to here eHow - http://www.ehow.com/how_5723664_put-eyelets-clothing.html
3. You now need to make a bib - there has been quite a few great tutorials on this recently for bibs as stand alone necklaces.  I think one of the best is at CraftStylish http://craftstylish.com/item/49230/how-to-make-a-sewn-necklace 
4. Simply thread the ribbon of the bib through the eyelets - plus it can be removed for washing!

I'm embarrassed - 3 whole weeks since my last post and last finished project. That 30 projects I predicted at the beginning of the year seems a distant dream now unless I get my arse into gear!

Spoonflower have a competition on at the moment to design a piece of fabric for a childrens clothes/toys company. All the entries are wonderful - I am in awe of everyone who designs fabric - but one in particular caught my eye. Its by somebody whose online name is mytinystar - www.spoonflower.com/profiles/mytinystar