Workroom Notes No.8: Still Toile-ing Away!
Another week and another plan for the workroom! This week I have a fair bit of sewing to do, as last week was a washout with extreme heatwave hitting Europe. I survived the 33-39ºc temperatures by laying as horizontal as possible, drinking copious amounts of cold water and iced drinks, eating salads (when I felt inclined to eat) and keeping all windows and doors closed and blacked out during daylight hours.
It was grim, and for anyone that says ‘climate change isn’t real’, please leave. You’re not a friend to the planet with that thinking, and I cannot help you!
Moving on to this week, I need the materials completed for my new online course A Pattern of Your Own. I pushed the start date back by a week when I realised it was impossible to work in a darkened room during a heatwave, and my students have been very understanding and kind about the delay.
And then there is the wedding prep on top – the fabric for bridesmaid dresses needs to be ordered! – and there’s also planning for July’s project inside my Creative Dressmaking membership.
I’m going to lose a day this week as well, as we have a ZZP hen night planned for Friday, which is happening at my place, so I need to tidy things away to host it in an orderly fashion. And I’ve briefly considered making something to wear for it. Yikes!
So, let’s take a look at this week’s goals! And in case you didn’t see, I updated last week’s Workroom Notes No.7 with what I achieved, so take a look there too!
This Week’s 5 Main Goals
I’m technically still ‘resting’ my foot after its recent injury, so I will try to be mindful of that and be seated / non-weight bearing as much as possible to continue the healing. This is good news for sewing time! Woop!
Goal No.1: Record the first two weeks of APOYO. This has been pushed to this week from last.
Goal No.2: Plan the example pieces needed for APOYO course.
Goal No.3: Little dress for ZZP hen do?
Goal No.4: Wedding things.
Goal No.5: July’s Creative Dressmaking project.
July Project for Creative Dressmaking Membership
This is the last on the list but the first to do, as July is almost upon us.
Every month I set a new ‘project’ for my Creative Dressmaking members, which they can then interpret in their own way. It’s almost like a mini-design project.
I set the theme, provide some initial research, a link to a Pinterest board I’ve curated and then off they go.
I think I know what the theme will be – and I’ll probably extend this one into August, as that will be a busy month of ‘wedding activity’ which my members are excited (and accommodating) about. Tasks I need to do before the 1st July are:
- Decide the theme.
- Curate Pinterest board of visual research as inspiration.
- Highlight existing examples in fashion brands/stores.
- Pull together a mood board and colour story for what I’ll be working on.
- Schedule two calls for members and set up Luma links.
I’m trying to create each month in a way that follows a set plan, to make it easier for members to follow, but I’m not quite there yet, but this is currently my favourite thing about my business.
Sunday Update: I decided on ‘tucks’ as the theme for July, a great way to get members to be more creative with some fabric manipulation.
Record Weeks 1 and 2 for A Pattern of Your Own Course
This was supposed to happen last week, but the heat wave prevented that. I have the plan, I have the lesson structured, I just need to film, and this will happen this week.
Sunday Update: Nailed this! And very excited for my pattern drafting course to begin, students will get such great results!
A Pattern of Your Own Example Pieces
To ensure the best results for my students, I need calico toiles to show what I’m teaching later in the course. Known as visual aids, these will help students to understand what I mean.
I didn’t include such things when I had my basic pattern making class years ago, and as this is an upgraded version, I want to have the best resources for students. So, more example pieces needed!
Sunday Update: Did not get this complete, will shift to next week.
Dress for ZZP Hen Party
On Friday, we’re having the first ‘hen party’ of sorts. A friend of mine here in NL has a group for business owners to connect and make friends, and she has the idea t hold a hen party of sorts for the ZZPers. That is happening on Friday.
And, as I have been wanting a little wrap style dress for a while I thought perhaps I could sew one up for the party… I have hacked the Odette pattern before by Veronica Tucker and then not made it.
However, I did create a wrap pattern of sorts for my Me Made Garment course example, and I think it would work with a gorgeous tencel twill I have. The only problem is the fabric is white, I have no white bra, and I’m not convinced I can make a bra that quickly to go with it, or locate a suitable fabric to use as lining to hide what I do have.
Hmm… I’ll report back on this later in the week!
Saturday Update: Turned out the dress code was ‘white’ so I started a skirt using a sheer hobby fabric, and decided it would be too warm. Switched to cutting out some cheeky shorts in white, but alas, not enough fabric. In the end I just went with something I already had in my closer.
Wedding Things
We’re now less than two months until the big day, and there is much to be done on my ‘wedding things’ list, so expect it to feature heavily over the next seven or eight Workroom Notes!
I do have a separate series of posts counting down the final ten weeks to the wedding, which cover what I’m working on each week, that you may also find interesting.
1. Best Man Waistcoat Pattern
Initially I planned to do David’s toile this week as he will be away a fair bit between now and the wedding for various conferences – the life of an academic! But, I did manage to sew together a basic toile in the semi darkness last week, and have also made the changes to the pattern.
Sunday Update: I’ve cut out David’s in the fabrics I bought for it, and will plan to sew once the best man’s is graded.
2. Maid of Honour Dress Toile
I have Clio’s measurements – in Spanish! – and can now get her pattern traced off. I’m thinking it is sensible to sew up a toile in calico and then post it to her, so she can try it on and report back, but she does travel a lot for work, so I’m going to see if this is feasible or a daft idea on my part.
If it’s the latter, I may modify the pattern to remove the existing princess seam through the bust and have gentle gathers instead so that it doesn’t look odd if for some reason the bust ‘cup’ area is too big.
Clio will also be arriving in the UK early enough on the wedding week that I could make some minor changes to the bust area, depending on the fabric I opt for.
If I do make a toile, I’ll probably cut up Sarah’s bridesmaid dress and repurpose the calico for it.
3. Grade The Waistcoat Pattern
After making a successful toile for David’s groom waistcoat, I can now grade the pattern up to fit his best man. I’m hoping to get that done this week, though I probably won’t have time to start sewing it.
Thursday Update: This was a tricky one as it took ages for the best man to get me his height, and I was aware he was quite a bit shorter than my groom. I did get it digitised and graded in the end though!
4. Ties For The Men
It’s official – I am also making ties for the fellas… I have the pattern and now need to toile one up to make sure it works. That’s another priority for this week.
By the way, I won’t be sharing too many notes about wedding prep here as I do have a DIY wedding series of posts where I can provide more explanation and photos so do check those out for more information!
Sunday Update: I think I’ll end up buying these.
Other Workroom Projects That May Happen
There’s always more that could be done, and some of those projects that spring to mind (if there’s time) are…
Bikini Alteration
I made the Sunstar Swimsuit last year for a holiday in Zeeland, and I appear to have lost weight since then as it is now very unflattering on me. Well, the top part. So I’m hoping to take it in a few inches.
I do not want to take the lower band off – it was overlocked on – so I may just take those inches of at the centre back. There is no existing seam there, but it would work to cinch in and provide more support for the ‘girls’.
Sunhat Samples
Not really a priority I know, but I desperately need a couple sun hats to protect me and my hair from the sun. I could go and buy some, but I’d rather use my own pattern and existing fabrics than spend money on something I won’t like as much.
It’ll obviously be bigger than the photo but I did enjoy making this smaller one for my great niece last year.
Right, that’s enough from me, I need to knuckle down and get to work! I’ll check in later in the week with an update!
This is the eighth week of workroom notes, and looking into the data at the end of this run, it would seem few folks are finding them / reading them, so I think I’ll put them on hold for now and see if they pick up in the future!
