Tuesday 26 January 2016

A birthday, 5 years blogging and playing with Harris Tweed

 Big E was 10 last week. TEN!! How is that even possible?!

That also means that since it is 5 years since I started blogging, half of Big E's life is recorded here in some way or another. Hopefully I can keep posting here semi regularly although at the moment I don't feel like I have much to write about...

One of the things I do have to write about is some sewing . I have mentioned before that I set up a small business, Coo Creations, last year. I do alterations etc in the Edinburgh area and it is great but hemming things constantly can be soul destroying so I decided I needed a more creative part to the business. After a lot of pondering I decided to make small sewn things out of Recycled fabric and Harris Tweed.

 I never throw any good fabric away and after doing various commissions for people I have ended up with a stash of tweeds, tartans and upholstery fabric that is crying out to be made into things.




I have spent the last few weeks sewing hearts, notebook covers and gadget cases and am slowly listing them in my new Etsy shop. I haven't sold anything of course but there is always time and this part of the process is keeping me entertained for now :)




Monday 4 January 2016

Hello 2016




4 days into 2016 and I have been hatching some sewing plans! I am not doing resolutions or goals this year but if I was to choose a word for the year it would probably be 'Recover' .


It is a long time since I have been able to commit to a big sewing project so I am really excited about sewing a jacket and a shirt for the Husband. He is tall and skinny so finds it hard to find clothes that fit (although M&S now do size medium (long) jumpers which are a revelation :) )


I bought these patterns ages ago then the shit hit the fan with Mum so they have been maturing nicely in my stash.The list of fabric and notions is quite extensive for the jacket so if anyone has any preferred places to buy tailoring supplies in the UK recommendations would be very welcome.


Plans for things for me will not be happening for a while. Part of my 'Recover' goal for the year is to shed the stone I have put on since August... I just hope it comes off as easily as it went on :)

After it is gone, I need to finish the dress on the left, it is almost done but the back bodice is too long so needs tweaked. Then I am going to make myself some jeans that fit. I hope it won't be too traumatic an experience since I have my trouser block and know the fitting adjustments I had to do to it, fingers crossed.


After that my winter coat needs either finished or recycled. The fabric is awful, it is a really loose weave and you can see in the picture that the interfaced front section is the correct length and the side panel is stretched by about 4 inches. Actually looking at the picture I think it is just going to recycling, life is too short to make nice things out of crap fabric. Maybe my Dad will let me raid my Mum's fabric stash to make a better version, I am sure she would approve.

Now, off to let out some trousers...