Bits and Pieces #5

1. Voting on the Handbag Contest on PR has started and I encourage you to go vote if you're a member! My blue and white stripy bag is in there, but there are some really lovely bags on the list. NGL, I did vote for myself, mainly so I could be certain of ONE vote at least. Meanwhile the bag itself is on the way to become a prize in a raffle as planned. Well, originally I was supposed to go with it to attend the event where it's being raffled, but the never-ending symptoms from being ill have carried on being never-ending and all my deadlines got shifted so I couldn't. Alas :(

2. In the most recent Craftsy sale I pulled the trigger on buying Barbara Deckert's Plus Size Sewing class. I've seen it recommended all over PR and blogs and thought it sounded like it would be really good. I've watched maybe a third of it so far -- not in order, because heaven forfend I do anything in order -- and I absolutely love it. I actually bought her book some months ago which has some of the same information, but the videos are an excellent resource and I love the matter-of-fact and non-judgemental way she presents her information. Going on past experience the pattern that comes with the class might turn up any time in the next six months, but the value of the class is far beyond the ability to work with that one specific pattern. In fact, I've been using it to consider how I need to alter the pattern of my next project. So, if you've been wondering whether to get it or not, I do recommend it.

3. My next sewing project is the Deer & Doe Sureau dress. I am more than a little dubious about whether this will make it out of the muslin stage since I sort of wonder if it's going to be totally unflattering. Still, it's only a bit of cheap muslin to try it out and still more good experience of pattern adjustments. Plus, if I am going to continue to be so ridiculously obsessed with dresses I need to start MAKING them, not just mooning over the patterns. My fear with the Sureau is that the ruching at the bust is going to make me look even more top heavy than usual, and just in general that the styling is maybe a little too young for my age.


4. I'm expecting the new Burda (03/2013) next week in the post. I have not been overwhelmed by the preview except for one item. Depending on how complicated that item turns out to be, it could prove to be my next-but-one project. However, more excitingly, Ottobre announced their preview for their Spring/Summer Ottobre Woman magazine and the pictures look promising. I pre-ordered straight away, because I am ridiculous like that. Ottobre is still my favourite pattern magazine by a long way, even though I am well aware that other people thing the patterns and styling are frumpy.

5. On the knitting front, I am waiting for circular needles. I ended up ordering them from Hong Kong because they were a quarter of the price of buying exactly the same thing from an eBay vendor based in the UK, which means the wait for them to arrive could be quite long, or they could turn up tomorrow. You can never tell with buying stuff from Asia. I can't really do anything until they arrive, so I am in limbo with my first jumper. In the meantime I cast on a scarf called Bark, but then lost motivation so the little bit I've done is just lurking around on the coffee table.