Wow! Hi there! It's been a while, is there anyone out there still reading?
Don't you hate the culture of "busy"? I know I do, but you know what, I have been really flipping busy! I started a new job last April as a Textile Technician at my local sixth form college. Only two days a week, but add that to my work at Ministry of Craft and for Sew Now magazine, plus the volunteer work I do for LLLGB and my WI sewing group......hmmm you get the picture?


I am determined to manage my time better this year, and set realistic goals.I'm keeping a bullet journal ( not a pretty one, or I'd spend all my time doing the pretty and not the stuff! ), plus I have again bought the fabulous Makers Yearbook which I hope will keep me on track.

I have of course sewn for myself in little pockets of time, plus a couple of quilty gifts for special people....though I am so not a quilter!!
 
This year though I'm going for quality over quantity; I'm not promising I wont run something up quick when the impulse takes me, but I feel I need a good quality basic wardrobe, and for me that is classic fit and flare styles, and because I have a passion for good underpinnings, and can NEVER find a decent underslip that fits my boobs, I'm adding those to my to do list too!

So, if anyone is still out there, let me know in the comments what your sewing (or otherwise) plans are for 2018.

It is at this time of year, when I can fling open the doors to my shed that I probably love it most. In the winter I love it because it is cosy, but the summer gives it a whole different feeling. I think it's about 3 years now since I took over the garden shed and made it mine. I'm so very glad I did too. Our house has 7 people in it and the shed is my quiet little sanctuary.


Sadly though, I am outgrowing it. I have a studio space in a nearby mill which I am very lucky to share, but more and more I am hankering after a larger space in the garden.
I've been looking online and making plans. I have measured up and I think I can get something decently sized which means I could have all of my sewing and art equipment in one place, instead of spread between the house,studio and shed.
So, I'm trying to save up...it might take me a while!
Dream with me a little though.......


Look at this beauty from Waltons Sheds
Or this one....


Woody has his eye on my current shed for his hobbies too...at this rate the children will be left to fend for themselves while we retreat to our respective sheds!!

I've planned the inside too. Lots of storage, and a cutting table, and a wooburner.....
Take a look at my "Studio Envy" board on Pinterest .

Meanwhile, you can see my shed in action in my latest video on You Tube.


I'm off to dream some more. x

I have been casually searching since sometime last year for the perfect pair of dungarees and the perfect pinafore. The dungarees are for another day, this week I have been concentrating on Pinafores!
I was planning to draft my own pinafore, something vaguely 70's inspired and fitted at the waist, since that might suit my rather ample curves. Then I spotted the Freya dress pattern that came free with a copy of Simply Sewing, and it seemed to fit the brief well, yay! No need to draft my own pattern!
I firstly made it up in some faux suede. I made the largest size, but sadly was a bit snug, though wearable.

Look at that face! That is my " just bloody take the photo" face. Freya dress pattern, was going to draft my own pinafore pattern but this seemed pretty damn perfect.  Made with faux suede. Mostly happy with it . When I make another I will widen the bib to cover more side boo instead of gaping, and I will use a smaller seam allowance on the skirt...this is a teeny bit on the tight side...I could eat less.... #sewingblogger #sewingtutor

A post shared by Jeanette Archer (@lazyseamstress) on Mar 4, 2017 at 6:14am PST

I made the next version (first photo above.) in a lovely 40's inspired print. This time I altered the bib to fit better over my bust and I skimped on the seam allowances, but I can't get it on! The faux suede has som stretch in it, which is why I can get that on, the floral one though...not a chance!

I abandoned that pattern, and decided I needed a quick make to cheer me up. I decided to copy a simple little dungaree dress I had bought in Primark last year for the princely sum of £5.
And so, if you have been following me on Instagram ( @lazyseamstress ) you will have seen that so far this week I have made 3 pinafores from my copy of the original denim dress. I also am planning one more........

I've been a little bit (unintentionally) quite on here recently. I do hate when blog posts start with an apology, but I'm going to apologise anyway, to myself if no one else!
Life around here has been very busy with work, so I can't complain about that, at least I love my work!
I have still managed to fit in a few sewing projects for myself though, and if you follow me on Instagram you will have seen those, already.
There have been a couple of circle skirts :







A fit and flare dress :

Hmmmm, wasn't really feeling it today, but finished this dress anyway. I want/need a dress for saying goodbye to someone special, I think she might have liked this, she loved colour. 💗

A post shared by Jeanette Archer (@lazyseamstress) on Feb 21, 2017 at 7:55am PST

And a couple of Pinafores:

Look at that face! That is my " just bloody take the photo" face. Freya dress pattern, was going to draft my own pinafore pattern but this seemed pretty damn perfect.  Made with faux suede. Mostly happy with it . When I make another I will widen the bib to cover more side boo instead of gaping, and I will use a smaller seam allowance on the skirt...this is a teeny bit on the tight side...I could eat less.... #sewingblogger #sewingtutor

A post shared by Jeanette Archer (@lazyseamstress) on Mar 4, 2017 at 6:14am PST

But! Here comes the big news! I have started a You Tube Channel ! My lovely friend, Mary (regular readers will know her as my "fabric dealer" !), has been encouraging me to branch out on You Tube, so I have...Thank you Mary, love you!
Here is my first video. I hope you like it and are not too put off by my over enthusiastic "Hello".

Yeah, I know it's already 12th January! My children didn't finish school and college until 23rd December, which means they only went back to school and college on Monday...is it really only four days ago? Why am I so tired?
Poor Eden had to go back to college on her birthday! She was less than impressed to say the least. I now have two adult children, since Eden turned 18 on Monday! It's a strange feeling.
Christmas was quiet (well as quiet as it gets around here!), and I did a lot of cosying up on the sofa, a bit of crocheting, but not a lot of anything else, which felt good. In fact so good I'm finding it rather hard to get back into the normal routine. Grey January skies certainly don't help.


I've been working on updating my wardrobe with clothes that feel good lately. I designed this dress to wear to our WI Christmas party. The bodice is princess line, and the skirt is full circle with extra panels and box pleats at the hips. The fabric is a waxed cotton. The dress uses a full 6 metres of fabric, most of which is in the skirt! I am also wearing a full petticoat in these photos and a store bought bow belt.
This feels fab on, really swishy and feminine. I love it! Of course as usual I want to tweak certain things.( but that's for another post)



I used the same pattern to make this dress. This time the bodice is lace underlined with black jersey for the main bodice, sleeves just lace and the skirt is made with some gorgeous vintage pinstripe suiting.
Again worn over a petticoat and with a belt.



I put in an exposed zip this time to juzz it up a bit. I think this is the least successful of the two dresses, but it will be a good addition to my work wardrobe.

I'm trying very hard right now to stay body positive while writing this. The reason I need to update my wardrobe is quite simply that nothing much in my existing wardrobe fits me anymore. I could easily (too easily) sit here and write an entire blog post about every flaw I can see when looking at these photos, but I wont.






Happy New Year lovely readers. Don't forget to follow me on instagram

This time of year calls for cosy , and cosy for me is anything that feels like pyjamas, but looks enough like clothes to wear during the day! This dress is soooo comfy, it really feels like a nightdress, can be layered with various jumpers and cardigans, worn over jeans or leggings, or tights.


I used my Nell pattern again, but probably could've gone down a size, it is a little big.


Probably not the most flattering dress, but certainly the most cosy, and there are definately days when cosy wins over flattery.

One day last week I decided I hated most of my clothes. I was sick of trying to fit my ever expanding waistline (sad face) into dresses and skirts that refused to co operate. So over half of my wardrobe went in a charity collection bag...well, more than one actually! I have only kept clothes that I really love, and my new sewing resolution is to sew things I really want to wear, and to satisfy my urge to sew random clothes I will sew with someone in mind and spread the joy.

With that in mind, I cut out this dress last week, using my Nora, Nell and Nancy designs, this is Nell...although I sometimes forget that and call her Nora! She is made with vintage wool suiting...a lucky charity shop find . Navy blue pin stripe which you can't really see in the photos. The yoke is cut on the bias and the neckline is bound with self cut binding.

I absolutely love it! Feels great on, isn't too formal, but not too casual either. I really do need to ressurect this pattern and get it published, I know I've been saying that for about 18 months now, but I feel like it just needs a bit more tinkering before it's really ready.

My friend found this fabulous vintage housecoat a few months ago, and knowing how much I would love it, she sent it to me. Sadly it wouldn't fit over my ample boobage and so hung on a hanger for a while, while I pondered what to do with it. I felt kinda guilty hacking into it, not something I usually worry about, but it was a gift...




After a few months I summoned up the courage to have a go at making it wearable, so I popped it on my dress form and began the hacking...

 I cut the neckline deeper...

 And the armholes, taking about 3ocms off the length too..


Slitting the dress up the centre back and using the fabric taken from the length added in a shaped panel.



The rest of the fabric taken from the length was made into bias binding to finish the neckline and armholes. There was still some scrap which I used to make fabric roses.




I even made one into a hair slide.



I didn't waste a single scrap, this was all that was left to throw away.



And the final tunic? I love it!

I had a hankering for dungarees, much to the amusement of a couple of my friends! I'm 47, I'm curvy (overweight) and I'm short, with short legs! Undeterred by these facts I went ahead and made myself a pair anyway, albeit rather half heartedly. I was convinced I would make them up, hate them and then having satisfied my desire for something I would hate that would be that!



Living up to my name "Lazy Seamstress", I threw these together without even looking at the instructions. (The pattern is WW11 Homefront 1940's Overalls by Wearing History, kindly loaned to me by my lovely friend Nim.)

I popped a zip in the side instead of button fastenings, and I added the pockets last as an afterthought...not terribly neatly!


I love them!! I really do, I might not be slim or young or tall, but these dungarees make me very happy...or they will when I have unpicked the pockets and put them on more neatly (and in the right position!). I'm also going to remove the bias binding used to face the bib edge with a denim facing instead, and taken in the back darts a little....
... will I learn my lesson? Probably not!!!





Photos taken at Lady Mabel's Wood in Wigan where our youngest daughter has an acre of woodland dedicated to her.



                          Florence Violet Wood 22nd July 2009, Too briefly in our arms....

Gosh I've been slow with this one! The Nora dress and her sisters Nell and Nancy made their debut on my blog last summer, and I kept meaning to release them as a pattern, but then kept putting it off, with one excuse after another, then Sam Sterken the editor of Sewing Made Simple magazine expressed an interest in Nora and asked me to let the magazine release her, which gave me the boot up the bum I needed to get things going again with this design.
I'm really pleased how the chambray version turned out, it looks great on the model. Nora is such an easy dress to wear. I have several of the first drafts that I wear in rotation over leggings or jeans at least once a week.
The pattern can be downloaded from the Love Sewing website here the instructions are in the magazine, which also comes with two free paper patterns.



And for those of you wondering about Nora's sisters Nell and Nancy, they are not forgotten, I promise I will release those one way or another this summer!

Maybe Nora isn't your cup of tea, then check out Love Sewing Magazine on 14th July when my Maude Skirt will be featured as a free download.

It's been a while since I made myself a Maude Skirt. I do love this pattern so much; I can squeeze it out of a metre of fabric usually, it stitches together super quick, even with the pockets, and it's a flattering easy style.
I had made one up recently for a future issue of Love Sewing Magazine (you'll have to wait to see photos of that one.), and I was reminded how much I love making up this skirt, and also how I have wanted to make a denim one ever since the very talented Jayne had made a denim one when the pattern was still being tested.


Instead of having the usual side concealed zip, I opted for a centre back exposed metal zip, which I am really pleased with. And yes, lots of top stitching in contrast thread....always makes me nervous, but I'm actually pretty pleased with how it turned out, a bit wobbly in places, but nothing is ever perfect eh?

I can really see this skirt being a real wardrobe staple.


Want to try the Maude pattern for yourself ? Then head over to my Etsy store where you can buy the instantly downloadable PDF pattern for only £5, or wait until it is featured in Love Sewing Magazine and get it for free! ( Maude is only available in my Etsy store for a limited time, once it is published in Love Sewing it will be taken off sale for 3 months. )

I've had my dress form for several years now, she was rather broken, picked up from Freecycle. Back then I taped her back together and replaced her stand with that of an old standard lamp, also picked up on Freecycle. My first attempt at making her my size was moderately successful, but after a while I pulled her back to her naked self, covered her with a tube of cream ribbing and just used her as a stand.
Like so many of us, I've seen various ways to DIY dress forms, on Pinterest and other blogs. I had been planning to make a calico toile and stuffing her, but yesterday after being up half the night thinking up various designs I'd like to try draping, I thought I'd give the Duck Tape version a try!






Woody taped me up over an old T shirt, which you will have seen if you follow me on Instagram .
He then cut me out, and I draped the resulting body over my dress form. She looked rather saggy and sad at this point, and despite our best efforts, Woody had managed to squish my boobs smaller than they are.
I taped her back up along the cut, and then stuffed her with poly toy stuffing. Added a bra to give her more definition up top, carefully measuring along the way to make sure I wasn't over or understuffing.





Once I was as satisfied as I could be that she was a reasonable representation of me, I covered her in a tube of cream ribbing and added her tapes.





Weirdly she has an almost Edwardian silhouette, which I guess so must I! Now to get on with some draping!