Glimpse .....!

Here is a glimpse of a lace bodice I have made this week!

New photos will be uploaded to my website sometime soon, hopefully next week!

Hopefully you'll be waiting with baited breath!!!

Progress......

I've made this 'dress' in two parts.  Well, there are more than two because it's a sample, so there are overlays so I can make it look different.  But the skirt is finished, yippee!!!!
Here it is on my form.

There's 2 layers of interlining so it looks very full.

The bustier is awaiting a zip, so no photos of that yet.

However the lace bodice overlay is well on it's way................

....but as it is now past finishing time that is all that is happening today, Wednesday.  It only has to be finished before Saturday, tomorrow is busy day doing other stuff and I still have to make an organza bustle or two!!!!  

No pressure!

sewing sewing

Well, I did promise my daughter her Chanel Jacket, but it's had to be put on hold!  I have been forgiven, because I've got a deadline for making a sample dress and 'option' bits.  So I have been sewing at a frantic rate.

Here, as a taster, is a photo of the silk and the lace I am using. There is more to come!!!! 

Migrating my website!!!!!

It's all very exciting!!  Sometime in the next 72 hours, so I am told, my website will change over to the new format.   I've still got new photos to add, but I'm waiting on outside forces for those!!!!
Keep checking www.thelimegate.co.uk and let's cross fingers!!!

Beautiful lace fabrics

Look at these fabrics, aren't they beautiful!!

Contact me if you would like anything made from these!!

Well I despair again!!!!

I'm still having technical difficulties!!!!!  Hopefully I'll be back soon :-)

Well I despair!

Can you see the blog below without photo,  grrrrr.

I'm trying to set up a link to allow the wedding dress photos ideas from my Pinterest board to show up here in my blog.  It's not working.....  I shall research and try to contact my software developing guru, ie my son, to see if I can fix it!!!!

Lots of new dress ideas!

There are lots of new dress ideas on my Pinterest board!

http://pinterest.com/lavericksbnr/thelimegate-wedding-evening-dress-ideas/

Like this one!!

Threads Magazine

Have you discovered Threads Magazine yet?  
It's a sewing magazine published in the States, it has some basic sewing articles but it normally has more advanced sewing techniques.  I love it, and you can also have an Insiders subscription to additional articles on their website.  
This week on their blog there was a link to an interview with the author of Couture books - Claire Shaeffer.  

Threads Magazine - Chat with Claire Shaeffer

I'm also looking into the courses given by Susan Khalje, her courses look fantastic, I'm going to work out the cost of going on one or two!!!!

Susan Khalje Classes

If you look at Susan Khalje's home page there are also some online courses!!!!

Oh and by the way, I have no link to Threads other than as a customer!!!!

I'm back!!

I've been blocked out of my workroom by building work we've been having done.  And today I got access back!!  Yippee!!!!!  

I've only been without full access for about a week, but it's been a long week!!

3 weeks ago I blogged about this lovely dress  

                                        Lovely dress for bride or bridesmaids

and I'm not the only person who loves this dress - Burdastyle.com are using it in a Mash-up this week -  burdastyle - Meg's magazine mash-up - Great Minds!!

Chanel Jacket - First blog of probably many!!!

Sometime last year, quite early too, I promised my daughter that I would make her a Chanel Jacket.  A nearly all made-by-hand too!  

I'm using the Claire Shaeffer book and pattern as a base for the jacket, my daughter has asked for some changes to the styling though!

In the photo below you can see the fabric she has chosen, along with the plain black silk habotai lining. She also wants a zip front fastening and we have decided on a large black rickrack trim put together with another trim.

In this photo you can also see the pattern pieces, I drew them out on swedish pattern paper so that we could use them as the toile.  We've also re-sized the lower pockets, they need to fit an iphone!

I now need to pluck up the courage to start cutting fabric!

I also have fabric to make a Chanel Jacket for myself but that project is going to have to be another series of blogs!!!

Completed Outfit

I made this skirt sometime ago, please excuse the creases, it's been hung in my wardrobe since last summer and this blog is really about the top :-) and added the grey stripe, sometime last spring, to add a little to the length.

But last week I finally made the top from the same grey jersey ponte as the stripe and   
I'm rather pleased.  

The linen skirt fabric makes my family smile, it was a display curtain remnant from John Lewis (UK department store) which I picked up for £5.  My daughter's partner was more than surprised that I planned to turn it into a skirt, not something he'd seen happen before, my daughter, needless to say, wasn't surprised in the slightest!

I do have a love of grey at the moment, my wardrobe has changed from a black and brown mixed base to grey, black and navy.  I have wondered if the change in hair colour and skin tone that is coming with age has something to do with it!!!

Lovely dress for a Bride or Bridesmaids

Hi all
On my Pinterest Board (thelimegate - Wedding & Evening Dress Ideas) there are lots and lots of lovely dresses for all members of a wedding party but here is one example.  I think it would work well for a Bride or her Bridesmaids or both!!!

You can also check out another Pinterest Board for Brides, there are loads of ideas for weddings here too!

thelimegate - Wedding Ideas

Just loading my blog to bloglovin!!!

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/13957935/?claim=rw4gqn7fnvz">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Knitting again!

Well, here is the promised blog about the the other cardigan I have knitting in the last month!

This is the first time in ages where I have actually used the wool the pattern was designed for!  
It came together really quickly so the pattern may well be used again.  I bought the wool last year and when I got it out I started to have second thoughts, thinking that the design at the top was a bit too pretty pretty but it turned out NOT to be a lace pattern, which is what I was worried about!

It's a Drops Pattern and Drops yarn, the pattern is from Ravelry again.

If anyone wants the link, let me know!

Isn't this a beautiful dress!!

It a Georges Chakra dress from the Spring-Summer 2015 Haute Couture Show.

There are more beautiful dresses like this on my Pinterest Wedding Dress Board - Pinterest - thelimegate - Wedding & Evening Dress Ideas.

Knitting!!

I started this jacket/cardigan back in January and it has taken ages because it's double knit yarn on fine-ish needles.  But it is finished and I'm delighted!!!

I love the back dart design, I wasn't so sure during the knitting but I'm happy with it now.

The pattern is from Artesano called Jocelyn and I got it from Ravelry.com.  I didn't use an Artesano yarn, and it's always a risk, I either have too much yarn or not enough!  This time I didn't have enough and had to order more, fortunately the different dye lots look similar enough that you can't tell!  The yarn I used was SMC Miracle in the colour Jeans.

Most importantly it is machine washable!!!  I've had a few disasters over the last 2 years with yarn that is meant to be machine washable, I'm really careful about what I buy now, life is too short to be hand-washing too many knits!

I had also just finished another cardigan, but I'll save that for another post!

Sewing Weights - who would have thought.............

Back at the beginning of March on my Facebook page I gaily announced that I had cut out 35-40 of  Tea Rose's pyramid sewing weights and they were waiting to be filled.

Well..........!  

Who would have thought it would take so long to finish!  Initially I started to fill them with rice as suggested, but I don't know what other people feel but they were far too light.  
Easy I thought, I'll get some fishing weights........ well that is an expensive option, at least here in the UK and also size wise they aren't the best solution.  

I shelved the sewing weights!!   

Then at the beginning of April whilst browsing the internet, as you do, I found diver's lead shot weight bags!!!   Ebay have sellers who are selling velcro sealed net bags of 'new' lead shot.  Perfect!

Not only is the shot small and round, so that it sits nicely in the pyramid, it is also cheaper than fishing weights!!!

So now I have finally finished my sewing weights.

Here is a photo of the lead shot (on the left) and the rice I used (on the right).

Filling up the pyramid with rice, after I had put in about 60-70g of lead shot.

Sewing up, adding grains of rice as I went to pack the weight as much as possible.

And the pile of weights, there are actually 42, I think that should be enough!!!!

A new blog for thelimegate!

Hi everyone
As I've just started using blogger again, I'm setting up links to other social media and this is my testing blog.
You may find there is more than one!!!!

Back to blogging!!!

Well, I've been using Facebook as my main blog, but decided it would really be better to back on a proper blog site!!!!  And link my blog to Facebook and Pinterest rather than the other way around.
More to come folks!