the intricate thoughts of nicole: thought fifteen: my new machine

Sewing runs in my family. My Mother sews, her Mother sews, her Mother sewed and I think it continues throughout the history of my female family. My Mum made my wedding dress, her Mum made her wedding dress...

You get it.

And then there's me. I have never sewn anything (well) in my whole life and if I have a daughter I'm scared that the tradition will sadly end with me. So, for my 24th birthday I asked my Mum for my first ever sewing machine. A lovely Janome 2070. I went to the little Beccles store and picked it up having absolutely no idea what to do with it (but still very excited).

My Mum came to visit from Brussels and I thought that a great way for us to have mother-daughter time would be over the new machine.

So this is what we made

Because this wasn't so bad my sewing confidence soared and now I want to share with you what else I have created.

The Simple Maxi Dress

Take a t-shirt or tank top and cut it approximately 15 inches from the shoulder (it will depend on how tall you are, it should come to about your high waist).

Unfold your fabric and wrap it 1 and 1/2 times around your waist where you want the skirt part of the dress to start. cut off the remaining fabric.

Fold your fabric and pin together (right sides together).

Sew together.

It should become a big, looped skirt like this.

This is the bit I found tricky. You will need Elastic thread (I got mine from a local shop for 50p, so not too bad). You need to have a normal cotton thread on the top and the elastic thread on your bobbin (it took me quite a while to get my elastic thread to pull through, but it's a matter of patience and skill. Neither of which I have a lot of).

Make sure your machine is set to a long stitch and sew. The fabric will start to bunch, that's great.

It should look something like this!

(I'm sorry that I didn't take a very good photo of this step) Place the t-shirt into the skirt at the sewn end (right sides out and sleeves first). Pin together and sew still leaving the elastic thread on the bobbin.

To made the sash (that hides the raw sewing) take some left over fabric (or another print if you like) and fold right sides together and sew leaving one end open. Take a wooden spoon and push the sash inside out.

Hem the bottom and you're done!

This is how the skirt turned out.

I didn't want to take a photo with me in it because I wasn't looking so great. But you get the idea! In this picture the skirt is much lower than it is on, because the weight of the fabric is pulling the elasticity of the top. But not bad for someone who can't sew!