Dot Coms and Stashbusting!

The last few weeks I've been working on my personal website, pippihornsby.com.  Since I finished my MA in Product Design, I decided to update my website to display my designs efficiently, and to use it as an online portfolio - exhibiting my designs and discussing the theory behind them.

Click image to see website

I'm pretty happy with the look of it, though I do feel like I've cheated a bit as it's on Wordpress not Blogger.  I am oddly sentimental about Blogger, so do feel like it's a shame that I've made the leap but at the same time, it just didn't cut the professional mustard.  Thankfully, Paper Yak doesn't need to be that professional (hooray!) as it's my hobby blog, not a professional one.

Speaking of hobbies, I've also been taking this time to start sewing again.  It started with my sewing box being accidentally tipped on the floor.  I should add that it's been full to the brim with bits and bobs for quite a while now and the little magnetic clasp just couldn't take it anymore, so unceremoniously spilt it's contents over my office floor.  After spending the first 20 minutes untangling and re-winding bobbins I noticed loads of things I had completely forgotten about including two sewing patterns that I've quite literally had since I first learnt to sew aged 12.

If you look at the basic shapes, they're all pretty good patterns to make updated items from.  Except the one on the top left, don't look at that one!

On further inspection (and quite remarkably) I noticed that I could still use these uncut patterns - though I am at the opposite end of the size scale than when they were bought!  Once the sewing box was re-assembled, I decided to root through my fabric stash to see if I could match up any fabric with the patterns I'd discovered.

Yes, yes, I know they're mirror images.  I cut the blue pleather out the wrong way by accident.  I also sewed the feature zip in upside-down the first time as well.  That's what you get for late night sewing!

Finding just under a metre of navy faux leather (bought for a prototype model for my MA), I ran up a leather mini skirt, adapting the pattern to add a feature zip.  It's modelled on a skirt I already own but I made a mock-up from an old bed sheet first as this meant I could also move the side zip to centre back for a smoother look.  Obviously, I've not quite finished it yet (probably forever doomed to sit with my other unfinished items!), but once I've bought some iron on hem web it'll be ready to wear.  Not bad for 2 hours work, and I'll have only spent money on the hem web - everything else was stash-busted!

I did originally take a photo of myself in the catsuit but decided it's too revealing for the blog (gone are those days methinks!), so here's a salacious wrist.  I will post a good photo of it once I've got it on with my gym wear.

I also managed to run up a cotton lycra catsuit! (FYI: I've got history with catsuits!) But alas, that wasn't stashbusted, I bought a load of grey marl cotton lycra for that.  The catsuit is to wear as part of my gym wear when I go to aerial silks (look it up, it's awesome!) as it stops my top rolling up when I do inversions.  I actually bought far too much of the fabric as I forgot that I only needed 1.5m not 3m, but it's got a nice drape so I might use it for a t-shirt dress (using the Seamwork Mesa pattern I downloaded the other day!).  If I use up the excess fabric I've only just bought does it count as stash-busting??

Next on my hit list is a new winter coat.  I'll be stash-busting my mass of camel wool for that one (I honestly don't know how long that's been sitting on my shelf!), but I bought some fancy lining to go with it and splashed out on a pattern (Burda Style B6845A) as I'm determined not to mess that one up!  More on that soon!