Normally it's just Liz & I in our monthly sewing circle but as it's the school summer holidays (although you'd never guess if you'd been outside today) the other Liz joined us.
Liz is a professional and she's got all the kit (including a terrifying over-locker and two sewing machines) so we went over to her place, a converted toll keeper's cottage on the canal tow path.
Liz's scary industrial machine!
Aretha the mannequin.
Inspiration for Liz's project, new cushions to liven up her lounge.
Liz claims to be a sewing novice,
but under Liz's guidance she knocked up these beauties,
using vintage scarves and remnants from Liz's stash.
Pretty impressive for a first-timer, huh?
Liz also helped her in revamping this fabulous 1970s maxi skirt which was inhibiting her ability to walk.
Liz put the finishing touches to one of her handmade bags (her website's HERE)
This amazing panel is embroidery she's done on the sewing machine.
She supervised me taking in these two 1970s maxi skirts Sarah and Helga sent me. They've been on the to-do pile for ages and now I can finally wear them without braces to hold them up.
Definitely worthy of a Ta-Dah Tuesday!
Definitely worthy of a Ta-Dah Tuesday!
Sarah sent me this amazing Young Edwardian maxi dress back in April but it was too big, too long and just looked wrong.
Now it's been taken in & up and the sleeves whipped off I love it so much that I went home in it.
See you soon!
See you soon!
80 comments:
Oh wow they look fab!!
That reminds me, I need some new red & gold cushions made....
xo
Vix this looks like a fab time. Love the vintage sewing goodies. My mam still uses her sewing machine that her Mam bought her when she was 18! These things were made to last!
Dx
What a lovely day you must've had- and productive too!
That dress looks gorgeous now you've shortened it and whipped off the sleeves, good idea!
I am very jealous of Liz's scary sewing machine!! xxx
Ooh Liz has patchwork curtains like you. At first I thought that was your house. What a lovely creative time you must have had altogether. There's nothing better than getting all those projects on the to-do list done. I have that House Proud book too. I lied the pictures in it but I have never actually tried out any of the ideas! Maybe I'll give it another look. Loving your newly revamped maxi xxx
Oh, look at you sitting there at the sewing machine! You look darling!! I love seeing craft/sewing areas like that, so thank you so much for sharing! I think I am gonna do the tah dah Tuesday, but will have nothing to match this!! Glad you had fun. Love the pillows, the embroidered bag, your dress! xoxo Lynn
Such an interesting post. It's so neat that you ladies get together to sew! Your dress turned out beautifully ... It's no wonder you wanted to wear it right away.
xo Loulou
Nice post! I love industrial sewing machines, so easy to use! :D
Looks like you had a blast! When I finally learn to use a sewing machine I'm going to get my friends into a sewing circle of some sort! Beautiful dress - more your thing now you've got rid of the arms. And it fits so well! x
Oh my - what a sewing paradise! I love the look of where she keeps all her little sewing bits and pieces in the old coke cola boxes!
aahhh what gorgeous photo's you all looked like you had a wonderful day. Love all the fabrics you all used those cushions are lovely. And that machine embroidery is amazing ;-)) dee xxx
Scrumptious
Wow, gourgeous fabrics!
How lovely - it must be so much fun working with these lovely girls, and I love what you've done with your skirts and dress. A good days work! xxx
Oooh I've met Danielle Proud and crafted with her!! http://missielizzie-meandmyshadow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/personal-touches-for-your-home-crafty.html Anyway, I digress!
Wish I could alter clothes like that, they look amazing xx
You all make sewing seem so glam. Great work.
Amor,
I thought you beauties were at your home.
Thats what I love to see hoes sewing up all kinds of gorgeous frocks an skirts.
Those cushions came out lovely.
Love your shiny new remastered Sarita frock without the sleeves.
Besotes
This is so fun! One productive time it is. I don't know where to start, but you guys created some amazing things. The skirts are lovely and that dress. What a machine you have. :)You guys looked like you had fun sewing and creating things. :)
I would love to learn how to sew. My grandmother made my clothes when I was a kid and made quilts. Wish I'd been old enough to learn how. Thanks for inspiring me!
How fantastic! Now we can truly say that sewing is the new rock n'roll!!
What a great way to spend time with friends and all your work is lush.
Liz is a huge talent. I love her art as well as her sewing.
xxxxx
What an amazing piece of embroidery! Well done you trio of seamstresses!
Wow to the bag with the embroidery girl just amazing! Love love that dress you are wearing and can understand why you wore it home its gorgeous.
And well done to your other friend with cushions they are really funky.
I am having sewing withdrawals now, but fat chance of getting to my machine as the other half has set up camp in our room on my sewing table, away from the girls hi-jinxs! lol.
Looks like you all had a fab and productive day.
P x
That looks like "sew" much fun! You three are the coolest sewing circle ever. I LOVE the embroidery on Liz's bag!!! The dress looks soooo much better without the sleeves. Perhaps I could send you a couple of things that have been on a pile for months waiting to be altered ;)
love that you are subversive seamstresses!, and love all that subversive things you made!
And that last dress is simply amazing, and you look fabulous in it!
besos
I really have to do more sewing! I need a sewing circle to make it more fun though. Your Lizs' have the biggest smiles ever! Everything you make or adjusted is fab and really inspirational! xxx
You have a sewing circle?! Well, how neat is that?!! I have a knitting circle, and having missed it last week so that I could go to Liverpool and also fall flat on my face, I've really missed it. Don't think we are as productive as what you guys have been, but then, knitting is slower.
Cheers,
Rosemary from foreveronthecatwalkoflife.com
Oh what fun!! If i only were closer (like on the same continent) I would so love to join you!!! you even looked FABULOUS sewing--love the maxi refashion!!
Oh wow - what a great day you all had!
I love what you did with that maxi dress, your talents are endless! x
idrivevintage.blogspot.co.uk
Your dress looks a-mazing honey xx
Liz's machine looks absolutely terrifying, but her house looks like a great place to hang out. Love those coke crate cubby holes. Your dress is amazing now and I'm not sure I believe your friend who made the cushions is a first timer! Thanks for linking up x
You've got a sewing circle? Wonderful! You all did so well, and now I know I really, really want a mannequin too. xoxo
Wish I could lug the Singer up the M5 and join you all in a stitching 'n bitching sesh! Well impressed with everyone's efforts and I can understand Liz revamping her maxi as I've got one that hampers my long stride so much that I nearly end up tripping up in it! xxx
Eek - looks like you had a fab time.
Great work all round - particularly loving the Edwardian re-vamp and the skirts... and the cushions - darn it they all look great!
And yes that industrial sewing machine does look a wee bit scary! xx
You and the Lizes, the Sewing Sisterhood!
I love Liz's cushions, are you SURE she's a novice? Her maxi skirt is beautiful too.
And I have just seen Liz's website and am amazed at her gorgeous work, both the bags and the paintings. She is so talented. The embroidery is stunning.
You look like you could handle Liz's scary machine, Vix, you are a dab hand at this sewing business. Love both the skirts and the dress you altered. A very fruitful day, ladies. Even I might get my dressmaking mojo working if I was there... Then again I might just chat all day and make absolutely nothing, that's what usually happens! xxx
Sewing circles/craft dates are the best, so much fun! Especially when you have a mix of people with different skill levels to help each other out. Your friend has such a beautiful home and the revamped maxi looks great:)
Love the sewing circle. Mine is called "work", we start back on Aug 13th. When I dropped in last week, one of the cutting tables was already covered in fabric for The Would-Be Gentleman (it opens in Nov!)Oh,and there's 2 more before that!
I'd love to join your sewing circle! I have machine envy over Liz's industrial one, the things you could create with one of those! Love your reworked dress and Liz's cushions are fab. Are you sure she's a beginner?
Vix!!! That should have been a pair of curtains I sent you, I found the other one down the back of the hot water tank lol It is packed and I will send it on after its unpacked again lol
V
xxx
Oh my, how much fun is this!! You look so damn cute too sitting there at your sewing machine. Love those fabrics you guys were working with. Looks like your tastes are quite compatible with each other too. Jealous!
Is it still a Stitch n' Bitch if I'm all by myself and I just have a needle and thread? ;)
How crafty are all of you guys? Your makes look amazing. Loving the cushions, thats a project I could definitely do with doing. As for your dress it looks stunning, a real transformation.
X x
Excuse me while I hyperventilate! I have sewing day envy! Look at you 3 hamming it up on the sewing machines!!! All your loved-up creations are spectacular! That would be my perfect day - followed by yum food, good wine, great music and lots of laughs x
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!
I love Liz' setup,I am inspired!My sewing room needs a major sorting out and revamp,and I am going to be showing G these pix!
I love industrial machines,having worked on them for a couple of years in a shitty job I once had.They make mincemeat out of any sewing project!I don't have room for one,or I'd damn well have one!
This post makes me feel excited about sewing!I did start revamping that white frock you sent me yesterday,actually,and now I want to crack on with it!
I love LOVE the transformation of that frock!You look HOT!It's so easy,really,to just make simple adjustments.Well,to me,anyway.I think I like doing that better than making from scratch!
Got to go check out Liz' bags,feck me that's a beauty!
Love Helga! xxxXXXxxx
Oh man, a sewing circle?! I definitely live in the wrong country! Get me out of the USA. I should have trained harder for the Olympics!
I need to start a sewing circle! I love all the projects you ladies worked on - that maxi refashion in particular!
OMG her sewing skills are amazing! I definitely need to learn to sew!!
:)
Allison
P.S. Today is the LAST DAY of my INTERNATIONAL $75 Shopbop giveaway, so don't forget to enter if you haven't done so already! :)
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Making sewing look very glamorous there!
That looks like a great sewing space, and I am totally crazy over that industrial machine. (WHAT A BEAUTY)
That looks like so much fun! I love getting together with friends and revamping clothes. I've actually been pretty busy mending and altering items myself! =)
http://pinkchampagnefashion.blogspot.com/
Oh my gourd - you three are all so glamorous! I love the revamped maxi skirt with the ruffle - and the red/black and white gingham maxi from Helga - and that frock looks PErFEcT with the sleeves off - it was just TOO MUCH wasn't it? You girls are all so clever and beautiful - one day I shall join you and bring you cups of tea as there's not a chance in hell that I'll be able to sew anything! Love you more than revamped maxis! Sarah xxx PS I love that amazing embroidery on the bag!
Wow...that frock looks amazing on you! I am so inspired by your creations & revamps...you are so clever. Thanks for the FB add too. Xx
It looked like a SuesDay with sewing machines instead of shops!! How cool. Love your dress you whipped the sleeves out of, looks amazing on.
Oh all over again you are making me wish I could sew. I think school sewing lessons put me off, I was always bottom of the class. Love the young Edwardian dress!
Oh my gosh! What a wonderful time. I wish I had pals who would sew with me.
xoxo Mama Wolf.
It would help me get caught up on my mending and alteration tasks if I had a sewing circle to go to. I'm very, very impressed by Liz' machine embroidery.
That looks like my kind of day. Unfortunately there's no-one to have a sewing circle with here. What amazing results from your session too.
Is there a whole bunch of you cool cats, or what?
Love this post, it looks so much fun! What a gorgeous house your friend has, I love her Coca-Cola shelf thingies!
And how strange that you and I bought the same scarf at the same time at opposite ends of the country! I thought the whole point of buying second-hand was so that you could be unique!! Seeing as it's you though I don't mind :D xx
Looks amazing, what great makes, all of them!
My sister is much better on the sewing machine than me... I know what you mean about scary 'professional' equipment, I don't know what half of it does (but then again all I usually do is take up a skirt or change buttons).
Love what you have done with that frock :)
That looks like so much fun! I really like what you´ve done with that dress x
What a blast and I love what you did with that dress it is stunning!! ~Love Heather
This is so cute. Me and my friend try to sew together every now and then. We're not very good at sewing so often get stressed hahaha xx
'Loved it so much that I went home in it' how cute is that! :D
You have a bunch of super talented friends Vix!
No, the electricity cut has not hit our state of Maharashtra, thankfully:)
You should definitely try Goa during the Monsoon, but I think you are more of a sunshine gal:)
Love,
Shubhi's Revels!
Love to see other sewing circles & yours is wonderful! Thats one thing I am lacking a dress form.....for now I just take on take off during the fittings. Lovely garments you all made too!
Wow! impressive sewing skills all round. Vix, that dress is SO you with the sleeves taken off. It's gorgeous, and it sits perfectly on your (enviable) waist.
What a great sewing set-up! I love all the clothes but especially Liz's Skirt and your amazing dress.
Nikki x
Glad you had a great day, we have a sewing machine like that at home, because my mum sewed clothes for a living when we were young.
I use it occasionally, for minors. But to make those cushion covers, that is great. Black dress looks stunning on you
www.personalautographs.blogspot.co.uk
Jatinda
Aah love your sewing, that dress looks perfect now! :)
You look so happy sitting at the machine, you're so lucky to have a couple of eager sewing mates - such a wonderfully crafty bunch! I am DYING over the patchwork skirt - so, so much love for that wee darling - I'm a sucker for anything patchwork, including your fabulous curtains:). I love Liz's cushions, she looks so chuffed with her beautiful works of art and the ex-hobble skirt is an ingenious revamp - another beauty!! xoxo
I love your sewing party!! The vibe must have been incredible, the humming of the machines, the laughter, sound of scissors through fabric... What a stunning Young Edwardian dress!
That embroidery is exquisite! Also, the cushions are fabulous - you are a very industrious and talented trio! xxx
There is just too much fabulous in this post!!!! I so wish I was there sewing with you girls. I can't believe all this stuff you did! Both Liz's are extremely talented but OMG that embroidery on that beautiful bag, I'm blow away and off to check out her web site. What a beautiful picture of you in your revamped Edwardian dress, it really is gorgeous! I also must see Liz's converted troll keepers cottage why just the name intrigues me! Can't wait to be kicking it with you gals!
SOON SOON SOON!!!
Love you!!!
Krista
Very neat post Vix
Izzy is a professional as well she has rhe same equipment as your friend Liz!
She did a few things for me and plus she could show a thing or 2 as well
Stunning dress you have on on the last pics!
Ariane xxxx
What fashionable and talented friends you have, Vix! I loved seeing inside Liz's home/sewing room.
I see that I need to assemble a monthly "sewing circle"! What a great idea. No wonder you went home wearing that maxi dress--Great style, colors and fit!
Looks like a great time,I would sew more if I had good friends too,I love the dress before but now you altered it ,it looks amazing,love Liz's bag :)
your work so excellent...you work for designs and make so wonderful maxis. and you also wear nice maxi dress..I like your work in maxi design. I like you design very much!!
Angelababy
what a fun way to spend the day. Love sewing but sewing with friends is even better. And what lovely things you all had at the end of it
Hope you have a great weekend
How did I miss this post?!!!!!! OMG, I'm so jealous but also inspired! I have to find some sewing buddies. This looks like so much fun. I love the projects you worked on, her space is amazing, and the industrial machine is a beauty!! I have a serger which I love and also a regular (old!) straight stitch machine that I recently had refurbished, so now I love it as well. But add friends to the mix? Pure heaven.
I LOVE how you've altered that Young Edwardian maxi dress, it looks amazing and I'm so jealous!!!!
L x
Thanks for bringing us into your sewing circle. What a great idea, to share skills and motivate each other to start/finish projects. I need one of those.
Your friend Liz's bags are lovely.
The Young Edwardian dress suits you so well. I hope you saved the sleeves for a future project! (I'm sure you did.)
Wow that Young Edwardian dress looks fabulous now!
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