#miymarch16 Archives - Clobber Creations

Upcycling jeans – the sewing pinny!

Post author:clobbercreations
Post published:June 2, 2016
Post category:Craft Skills Stash Busting Upcycling
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One of the projects I made during #miymarch16 was the upcycled pinny from an old pair of jeans.

jeans before — A very creased pair of old jeans!

I got these jeans for my 21st. I’m a bit of a hoarder, and while they had a tear in them where the fabric was so thin and worn out, I hadn’t had the heart to chuck them away.

When I met up with my mum and sister in March, they suggested cutting them up into something new. Due to the location of the worn out section, a skirt was not suitable! However, we came up with making a tool belt.

One of the best parts of making something from something you’re prepared to throw away is that it doesn’t cost you anything and you have a lot of freedom to just go for it! I simply placed a ruler over the jeans roughly where I thought the length would be good and took a rotary cutter to it!

As you can see, I curved the back to make it more apron like, but also so I could keep the back pockets. Jeans lend themselves to being a belt because of all the pockets!! I added some patches to the back pockets and then added a pom pom trim and ribbon border.

I wanted to add more decoration, and following my recent addiction to free machine embroidery (which I will go into more detail at some point in the future), I drew out some sewing related appliqué onto bondaweb!

Et voila! Here is the end result! I added some random buttons to the front pockets and stitched additional detail on the appliqué. Now I put my scissors on a bungee rope so they’re always with me but I do think I need to add a scissor holster to it to improve it.

#miymarch16

Post author:clobbercreations
Post published:May 26, 2016
Post category:Craft Skills
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#miymarch16 may have been a couple of months ago, but here are the resulting images I posted from it below.

Make it Yourself March is an Instagram event. It involves posting an image based on the daily photo prompt – a list can be found on Wendy Ward’s blog from this year.

New to Instagram, I found this event coincided beautifully with a couple of my goals – to become more familiar with using social media and to push myself to create more. It was a great way to be inspired by fellow dressmakers.

Instagram is an easy form of social media if you have a smart phone and I’ve carried on using it since.

During March, I made 4 dressmaking items, completed upcycling projects, planned future projects, made gifts and machine embroidered.

Pinning the templates

Back to dressmaking!

Post author:clobbercreations
Post published:March 30, 2016
Post category:Craft Skills Dressmaking Stash Busting
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I’ve been taking part in Make it Yourself March on Instagram this month by Wendy Ward and Emma Miles, which encourages you to post a sewing related photo every day in March based on a daily theme.

Within week one, I realised that I hadn’t made a dress in over a year. To remedy this, my partner chose a pattern from my hoard – Simplicity 3833 – and suggested a fabric he found in my stash. This is indeed a stashbusting project as it’s a remnant I picked up a year or so ago and I only just about had enough material to make it!

I really liked using this pattern. The instructions were clear to follow in general. I got a little bit confused on the zip directions, but then I tend to get confused when it comes to the zip stage whatever the project or pattern!

I chose the sleeve option. I like sleeveless dresses and I think the sleeveless option would turn out great but I chose sleeves to practise them! Considering this is my second attempt at sleeves, I’m quite chuffed! I did forget to trace and tailor tack a couple of reference points on the sleeves template which didn’t help but I just gave it a go!

A new technique I learned with this pattern was understitching, which I had not heard of before but is great as it stops the interfacing rolling out on display on the neckline. The pattern gave clear directions on this, but I checked online to ensure I understood it correctly.

This is the first time I’ve been able to use my tailor’s dummy for one of its main purposes – to assist with hemming! It was invaluable. I pinned where I wanted the length of the dress to finish and then used the pinned line as a guide to press and hem the length.

I would use this pattern again – perhaps using the sleeveless design or going for the longer sleeved version to vary it.

My craft studio

My college of handcraft

Post author:clobbercreations
Post published:March 2, 2016
Post category:Craft Skills
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Hello!

Welcome to my blog.

The goal of this blog is to charter my journey through my own rather roughly laid out ‘craft school’!

Last year, faced with yet another temporary job coming to an end, I decided to apply for a part time position instead. Sure, not the best option when you are renting, have no savings and your boyfriend is due to finish his PhD in the next year!

Okay, so this may turn out to be a financial mess in the end! But on this occasion, I have decided to follow what I want to do and enjoy, rather than opt for financial security.

I write this blog for those who look back at their education and wish they had studied something else. I enjoyed my education, but I’ve never learned to do any textiles or crafts- any of my hobbies- in an educational setting, and that is what I am focusing on now.

Since September, I have been going to some glass fusing and ceramics classes for fun. Neither are my forte, but it’s fun to try something new and something I really couldn’t afford to do at home (or have the space for)! I am very lucky to live nearby an adult education centre which puts on classes which are affordable and although it is a outgoing expense, it is a fraction of the cost of going back to college to study – and a lot closer to home.

From January, I have been extremely lucky to be a part of a free machine embroidery class. It’s a technique I have always wanted to get round to but never have. I’m hoping to follow these sessions with a creative textiles course after Easter if it runs. The stitching class is a real boost to my inspiration at the moment.

I have a lot of extra space to fill in my ‘craft working week’ so this blog will charter the gaps between my official classes too. This may include putting what I learn in short courses into practic or undertaking my own challenges.

Besides learning new techniques and setting up projects, I will be looking into the entrepreneurial side of hobbies as businesses (well, I believe the government likes all courses to have an enterprise module included!), so I will be tracking my endeavours with my recent little start-up: Clobber Creations.

In the next blog, I’ll be letting you know how I get on tackling some unique birthday gifts for my dad. In the meantime, I am following/taking part in the #miymarch16 event by @thatwendyward and @dressmakerssocial which involves a themed photo on instagram a day!