“In which aisle can I find your kitten-proof rubbish bins?”

I had a super busy weekend but I did get to do some sewing…and some of it was even for me!

Nerdy Husband is so happy with his merino top that he has requested more. At the moment he is working outside for his job and since it is winter it means he is wearing it everyday. I made him a second one in charcoal grey last month but that still means I have to wash them both every 2 days so on Saturday I was taken fabric shopping (squeee!) and more merino was bought. Global Fabrics had it on special at $20 a meter which means I can make his merinos for about $30 each, that is super cheap!

Then we went rubbish bin shopping.

I know right! Fabric shopping AND rubbish bin shopping in one day? I am a lucky woman 😉

The problem is that Harri thinks it’s hilarious to jump into my open-topped rubbish bin in my sewing room and then play in it. Sometimes she just tips it over to play with the contents. Just that morning we were in the kitchen eating brekkie and she trotted in with a paper scrap in her mouth that looked distinctly sewing related.

This is OK if it’s just paper but, as we have already discovered, she really likes thread. She munches on the offcuts and scraps from my overlocker catch bin and I worry she will swallow some and that would be bad. It also means I have nowhere to throw away sharp things like bent pins and old rotary blades. I’ve been putting them in the kitchen bin but one day I’ll forget and she will jab or cut her paw when she jumps in! So the kitten-proofing of the sewing room continues and a pedal bin (green with white polka dots) was purchased and success! It is kitten proof…but not the box it came in 😉

Rubbish bin box, not very kitten proof!

I swear I did not put her there. I turned around from unwrapping the bin and she was looking out at me, true to the Scottish Fold breed, she loves her boxes!

I spent the rest of Saturday cutting out my top secret project:

Then on Sunday the merino tops began, I bought enough fabric for three of them and whipped them up production-line style because I knew that if I made them one at a time I would get halfway through the second one and be super bored and want to stop. So instead I cut all three out first, then attached all the arms.

Next came the decorative top stitching (faux-coverstitch). This is the part that takes the longest, after racing along on the overlocker, switching to the Elna feels so slooooow! To make that stitch formation it feels like 1 stitch forward, 2 stitches back! But I did it!

Then arm/side seams followed by collars and finally hemming, phew!

NH was impressed with his instant merino wardrobe, his next request?

Hey you know this hoodie I’m wearing…

Sigh! 😉

Before I could move onto some me-sewing I had to give my cutting table a good clean:

Argh, Merino fluff! Everywhere!

And then finally! I got to work on my Lady Grey, with Harri’s help of course.

This is actually a really good photo of the wool which is black but with a chunky weave that’s hard to photograph:

We loves watching the bit that goes up and down

So this is as far as I got before it became too dark to sew black (must address the lighting in my sewing room!)

Look at all that fraying!

The shell is assembled, seams top-stitched. No sleeves yet but I am already really excited for the final garment. I love the vintage feel to this pattern and I think it will be super flattering and girly with the big lapels and twirly bottom.

Tonight I will make dent in the top secret sewing project stitching. I have to dig out the appropriate coloured thread and then remember how to set my overlocker up for rolled hems. I want to get some tricky and potentially monotonous finishing done first, then I’ll begin to assemble the rest.

Make sure you pop over to Kat’s blog next and check out her interview with indie pattern label Sinbad and Sailor.

Halp!

Phew guys! I had a HUGE sewing weekend, but that post is going to have to wait until tomorrow, work is crazy right now! We just won a big fat juicy job that I am super excited about but means a heap of work in very little time.

I’ve really missed whipping up a mid-week blog post during my lunch break or after work but it has all just been a bit too much for me over the last week or two and it isn’t looking any better for the next couple either.

I shouldn’t complain because if we weren’t crazy I’d be pretty nervous!

I am going to share with you all the fun of our Wellington Sewing Bloggers Meet Up tomorrow though, I just have to scrape together all my photos. Seriously, those girls! I needed a nap just to recover after I got home!

I am so ready for Christmas break…well not really, I haven’t done any shopping yet and I have a HUGE family Christmas dinner to plan (whose idea was it to host that?! Oh yeah, mine, haha!) but mentally (and I may just go a little mental) I am ready, bring on the joyous festiveness!

Ok, but for now, I need your guys help! I’m going to post this up on BurdaStyle and PR too but maybe one of you brilliant peeps can help me first.

I thought I had the RNHS Rugby Shirt button placket all worked out, I was going to use this tutorial from Two On, Two Off but when I looked at the pattern pieces on the weekend, mine are different. If no one can help me then I will calculate a new piece similar to the one in this tutorial but first choice is to make it up as cut…

Here are the placket pieces, there are two…

…and this is what the front looks like…

What do you guys think?

With the RNHS Rugby Jersey stalled I did make good progress on my Birthday Dress, much bias was cut for piping, so much bias was cut!

But the whole time I felt like I had a little Sewing Angel sitting on one shoulder, and a little Sewing Devil sitting on the other.

The guilt-ridden little Sewing Angel was tugging on my ear lobe and whispering that I should feel guilty for enjoying rotary cutting bias strips so much while Nerdy Husband went rugby-shirt-less.

But the selfish little Sewing Devil was jumping up and down and gleefully rubbing its tiny hands together, “Cut! Cut!” it chanted, a little look of sewing madness in its eyes, “Make that beautiful dress, make it!”

So bias strips I made. The good news is that I am loving the contrast colour I chose, difficult to photograph accurately, it’s a deep blue with just enough purple.

So if you have any ideas on how I can shrug off my guilt and get the rugby jersey finished asap or want to draw me a scribble so I can understand how to attach the button placket I would really appreciate it!

Happy Monday 🙂 xx