I’ve just spent 3 hours discovering the wonderful world of BurdaStyle (which seems perfect for a beginner like me), I have shelves full of books, a head full of ideas, a cut out dress pattern from ‘making things from vintage patterns’ class and a thousand started-but-not-finished embroidery, sewing and crochet projects but can’t set myself to do any of them. Its a bit like standing at the bottom of an insurmountable mountain and I think I’m a bit overwhelmed by it all!

It seems that crafting and dressmaking requires a lot of patience and acceptance that you can’t expect to be able to do everything instantly. But I want to be able to do it all instantly and its frustrating! This is a bit of a diversion tactic. Instead of getting to it and just tackling something I’ll just write about it here instead. I never seem to get writer’s block with writing.

Can anyone help me shake off this feeling?

I’m sitting Claire’s weekly evening course ‘Making Things from Vintage Patterns’ at the Textile Workshop. The first thing we made was this 1950′s domestic goddess apron. The fabric for mine came from a really pretty duvet cover I bought in a charity shop ages ago.

Then yesterday Claire and I sat Hannah’s one day vintage slippers class. How sweet are these? They’re from a 1940s pattern and will make a great gift so I can’t wait to get on with my next pair.

I really want to do some dressmaking for the next few weeks of the course so I have bought two dress patterns and one smock top one, 1970s of course. I’ll let you know how they go.

Finally, yesterday we made this Halloween lantern from a home grown pumpkin. We liked the way that he looks too happy to be evil…

My dressmaking was interrupted with a very welcome interlude of a stroll to the park with my husband and then a mosey down the pub for lunch and a beer or two. I’m not sure if it was a good idea to operate the sewing machine after that but things seemed to turn out OK.

I was particularly pleased that I managed to make French seams which are good for delicate and lightweight fabric like this. They make the finished garment feel stronger and prevent fraying because there are no raw edges exposed. I’ve added a video tutorial to the resources page (under ‘dressmaking’) on how to do French seams in case you’re not already in the know.

I also love these little flower buttons which really go with the colour and style of this fabric. I bought these at a fantastic craft fayre in Brinsley a year or two ago. I wish those craft fayres could happen all the time.

Although I’m happy with my new cute top I’ve learned that I’m not yet ready to cut my own patterns as the shape is far from perfect. That’s OK though because I’ve lined up a whole load of patterns to watch in eBay ready for the snipe!

By the way, did you notice that my little ole blog has had a makeover? You like?

Excuse the pose. I didn’t think it would look the same hung on a coat hanger.

Before I go any further, here’s the link to Hannah’s workshop list. I had a great afternoon and learned so much. Hannah is a very patient teacher even when you manage to mess up a zip 3 times! Ahem, moving swiftly on.

So I decided to alter the pink psychedelic print dress as my project. The dress was very short, strapless and had a broken zip. I’d never worn it as a dress but bought and kept it because I thought it deserved a new lease of life, and now it has.

Before we started cutting and sewing Hannah fitted the skirt (still a dress) for me, marking where the waist should be and creating darts so that it fit me properly. I find it so motivating and inspiring to watch someone who really knows what they’re doing at work and Hannah knows dressmaking.

Most of my craft learning feels like a demystifying process and yesterday clarified not only techniques but reasons for doing things a certain way. Amongst many other things I learned how big a seam should be, what darts are for, when to use a concelaed zip and discovered the wonderful dressmakers ham! I’ve got to get me one of those.

Our bodies are not flat and two dimentional so we need to make our clothes fit a more rounded, person-shaped shape. This is obvious in hindsight but something I didn’t consider, being so hung up on sewing in straight lines!

My skirt is very nearly finished. I just need to complete the waistband and will show it when its done. How exciting!

I’m not going to give away too much because I would recommend sitting a class like Hannah’s first but I’ve added a few new things to the Resources page under ‘Dressmaking’.