My Sewing Space - My Haven

You all know I love to sew... lets face it, its a bit sad when I sew as a "job" and then the second I dont have to sew shoes, I take a break by sewing a skirt, or a quilt, or an anything really.

So its no surprise that I like to surround with lovely things in my space. I have various little things all over the place...usually in the way, but thats ok I like it that way... I am not much of a tidy person so there is no way I could keep my space tidy all the time to.

Around my sewing machine I have a array of wonderful things... my oil burner, some crystals, a million pens, pencils...way too may pairs of scissors...

I thought I would share a few things with you.

First of all what would a good creative haven be without its music? Nothing, Right?

My lovely iPod is attached to this little baby... its the tiniest speaker you could think of but it packs a punch and I can drown just about anything that I want with this baby.....

Last year I bought a journal from the lovely Michelle from Little Yon Yon... I had great "uni" plans for this baby, but have come to the realisation that I am just not using it yet... so instead its become my orders book and it sits on a book stand behind my sewing machine so I can see it while I sew...that way hopefully I wont ever forget to put ruffles on again, or make the wrong size... I love the material so that makes it even nicer to look at.

Another HUGE love of mine is Smiggle... now I only discovered the wonderful land of Smiggle last year when I was staying with a wonderful friend near Bunbury... she said "I am taking you to Smiggle... I think you will like it" so I was like "ok why not..."
Little was I to know what I was walking in to... I nearly died... seriously... I was instantly in love... not only was it filled with every wonderful stationary thing you could think of... its set out in colour blocks... this is like my ultimate way to set anything out... so I knew I was hooked... This was one of my first purchases and I keep it near me filled with all the things I need for shoes....

My last special thing to show you is a little tiny KimmiDoll. I discovered these things a while ago online and a lovely lady gave me one for Christmas a couple of years ago.... while I was on holiday I found a stash in a shop and was browsing for quite a while ... I decided to get a little one on a key ring... (but I have pulled the ring out and she sits on my sewing machine) I was drawn to her straight away and when I read her little saying I knew she had to be mine... her motto is my motto.

She is:

CHIZURU - HUMILITY

My spirit is modest, yet confident. You show my spirit by pursuing your endeavours with quiet confidence, preferring a life of quiet achievement. Not seeking the spotlight of fame or popular acclaim, but showing modest pride in all that you do.

Well there you have it... some of my favourite things that accompany me everyday on the Soleful Steps adventure.

The Latest Dress

I bought this gorgeous Amy Butler Fabric the other week and I knew when it came that I wanted it to be a dress. I sat down and cut the pattern last weekend... but I never got around to sewing it up so last night, after I had spent the whole day working on shoes I thought I would treat myself to some me-time sewing.
This is what I came up with. (excuse the awful photos... the mirror and camera didnt want to play ball today LOL)

I didnt add a tie to it, thinking that I wouldnt want one... but once I put it on I realised that it did need something. so either its going to be a belt... or I might make up a sash before I wear it out tonight... depending on how much time I get. :)

When you just cant sleep.

Last night I just couldnt get to sleep..... after tossing and turning for about an hour (and annoying hubby cos it woke it up) I decided to just get up.. normally I wouldnt but I knew I wasnt getting to sleep anytime soon so why not be productive.

So I pulled out the wide leg pant pattern I used the other day. This time I cut the size smaller as the last ones were a tad too baggy... didnt help these were too.. I think its the cut vs my shape so I will just have to live with it. I made these ones a tad shorter than the last pair too.

They arent the best photos and as you can see they sit a big baggy around the front... I added in some pleats to try and make it sit flatter but I dont think I did enough... and I am not unpicking them now. LOL.

All up they took about an hour and a half... that was with a late night OOPS moment that sent me unpicking for about 20 mins..... definitely should have been asleep. :)

My First Dress

During the week I got a few patterns in the mail. I really wanted to make myself a dress.. I also got some gorgeous fabric in the mail so instantly I knew that was the material for my first ever dress. I have never made a dress before so I was really glad when I pulled out the pattern and discovered it was a super easy one... no zips... no fancy cuts... nothing more than basic.

The pattern was the Clair Cami Pattern. It makes from short cami/tunic style top to a full length maxi dress. :)

This was my final creation. (I altered the neck line though)

As you can see I did the old photo in the mirror thing again LOL. When I cut my pattern I decided to do the above knee length... which actually ended up being VERY short... like I cant bend over short... so I added in the layer you can see down the bottom before I put my hem on.

Next time I am going to alter it a little again. Bringing in the sides under the arms a tiny bit, a different neck line again... and maybe adding a sash around the middle instead of the small draw string.

Here are some up close shots.

Fabric Heaven

I get lots of comments on the Soleful Steps Facebook page asking where I get my fabric, where I find all that yumminess from...

Everything I buy is online... mainly because I dont live anywhere near shops to be able to hit them fabric shopping. I love a sale too so I keep an eye out online for sales on websites but also on Facebook.. there are a lot of facebook pages that sell off random amounts of fabric at times.

One of my favourite places to shop is Wrapped in Fabric though. I have 3 reasons why I like to shop there.

1. Wrapped In Fabric stock a great range of fabric all the time, with new stock always coming in.
2. The owner, Sandy is lovely to deal with, super helpful and always friendly.
3. I am supporting another Mum out there, working from home to improve her family life, its great!

I thought I would do a quick post about Wrapped in Fabric so that you can pop over and see for yourself...

Here are some things you may not know....

Wrapped in Fabric offers free postage. Postage days are Monday and Thursday, and you can request and pay for Express Postage if you need your fabric quickly.

If you are a big fabric shopper, Sandy does a great wholesale deal. She offers a 35% discount for wholesale customers when they spend more than $100 at one time (postage paid by customer)

Here are some of the latest creations that feature fabric from Wrapped In Fabric:

When on a Roll Why Stop?

My kids have gotten in the habit of staying up on Saturday nights to watch the movie...(which is fine but I just wish it started at 6:30 instead of 7:30 its such a late night for them) Last night it was Jurassic Park... and with Mr nearly 9 being a bit of a sensitive kid I was really reluctant to let him watch it... but he was so desperate that I gave in and let them... It also gave me some time to sit down and trace out a pattern and cut the pattern pieces for a pair of shorts that I wanted to make. I managed to even get it sewn up so that I could wear them today...

These were so easy its not funny..... You could make them with your eyes closed... though maybe not cut them as you might loose your fingers.

You can find the pattern here!

Anyway I am not much of a elastic waist person so that is my only hang up with them... they tend to poof out a bit and with hips thats not a look you want. Plus I think I needed to make them a bit smaller... I chose a size that I thought would be a bit snug... but actually turned out a bit too big.. but that is ok.

These are about 6 inches shorter than the actual pattern... I just followed the lines and took the extra off the bottom it was pretty easy.

Next time I am going to make them with a thinner cotton material that has a nice hang to it and make them into full length pants... I think they will look pretty funky! I love funky.

So until next time....

Sew Love You!

What To Do When The Power Goes Out?

Today we had no Power from 9am til about 3pm.... I totally forgot that it was happening... actually thats not really true... I knew last week and expected it all day on the Friday but I was a week ahead of myself.... usually I am a week behind so I should be pleased LOL.

Anyway I was not ready at all. I had planned to iron on interfacing on all the material for my wholesale order so that when the power went out I could spend the time cutting... but alas I wasnt that organised...

Miss 3's solution was "Mum we should clean!!!!"  Ahem... I dont know if her Daddy has had a word in her ear... or maybe she thinks that the house is a little unkept at the moment... but anyway thats not really my idea of a way to spend a Friday... no matter how bored I am... (we ended up doing the bathrooms but that was it)

Once they were clean... I thought I would spend some time tracing out some patterns that I have had for ages but never got around to using... and seeing as I made it my mission this summer to make lots of my own clothes and I have about 5 sets of patterns coming from Wrapped In Fabric I thought I better get a start on it.

I traced and cut out this Amy Butler Skirt... its from the Barcelona Pack just incase you are wondering... its actually a layered skirt...but its hard to see in the photo as it hasnt frayed yet.

Once the power came back on a 3pm... I quickly sewed it up and added in the top sash bit (thats not part of the pattern... but I didnt have any zips so instead I used snaps and wanted to cover them up somehow... .plus I love a good bow!)

Hope your Friday was powered and productive.

Sew Love You!