Another month has whizzed by, and here we are at the end of September! I’ve had a lovely, creative few weeks, so I have quite a few in-progress and finished projects to share with you today.
My first finish this month was my Elbe Textile Rundle Dress, and thanks to the lovely weather we’ve enjoyed in September, I have already worn this a lot! Its maiden voyage was a trip to my local Yarn Social and it received several compliments, which is always nice. I really enjoyed sewing it and took a lot of care with the pattern placement/matching – I’m delighted with how it turned out!
Another finish this month was a project from my #MakeNine2026 – The Craft of Clothes Zero Waste Pleated Top. This was fascinating to sew – not only because of the incredible pleated detail, but because it was my first time trying a zero waste pattern. I thoroughly enjoyed the precision of the process to create the pleats, and I absolutely love the finished top! I haven’t worn it yet, but I will be popping this in my suitcase next month and promise to share some more photos soon.
Strong urges to sew project bags seems to be a recurring theme in my recent blog posts, and this month is no exception! Jessie Cutts (AKA Cutts and Sons) shared a photo of a quilted bag recently, which is a project from her book Free Form Quilts & Patchwork. It reminded me that while teaching my Crumb Quilt Bag workshop last year I had finished two panels, and it inspired me to turn them into a drawstring bag! It was very quick to finish and I’m so pleased these beautiful pieces of quilting are now in use instead of shoved in a box.
My main sewing project this month has been my London Frocktails dress, and I am pleased to report that it is now finished! I decided to make the Rossi Wrap Dress by The Bold One, and as this was a new-to-me designer, I opted to make a wearable toile before I cut into £80 of satin! I bought a cotton bed sheet from TK Maxx in a lovely shade of teal for my toile, which was only £20 and provided more than enough fabric. I love the finished dress and it fits beautifully, so I was able to dive straight into the real thing without any adjustments! I’m looking forward to walking the catwalk in my dress in just a couple of weeks, and hopefully I will have some great photos to share from the event next month!
On my knitting needles at the moment is a Rananculus sweater, which I am buddy knitting with my friend Laura! We cast-on together last Saturday and have made great progress so far – I might even get it finished before I go away! We also had a lovely trip to Unravel Festival earlier this month and came back with bags of inspiration (and yarn), so my Ravelry queue is looking particularly exciting at the moment. I am looking forward to hunkering down over the winter and working on lots of lovely knits.
I thoroughly enjoyed the latest series of The Great British Sewing Bee and it’s always sad when it is over for another year. Conveniently, the new series of The Great British Bake Off started the following week in exactly the same time-slot, so I wasn’t sad for long! Watching the show always makes me want something sweet (obviously), so I made a batch of NYC chocolate chip cookie dough and popped some in the freezer so we could enjoy freshly baked treats while we watched – delicious!
I’ve carried on with my reading goal this month and actually surpassed it by reading two books! The first was Lucky by Alice Sebold, and I picked this up because it was featured on a recent episode of the Casefile podcast. Alice tells the true story of being raped and beaten when she was eighteen years old, and the subsequent legal proceedings against the person she identified as the rapist. Anthony Broadwater was convicted of the crime and served 16 years in prison, but was later exonerated after a judge found serious issues with the initial conviction. It was very interesting reading the 1999 memoir with the added perspective of what we now know about the case.
My second read of the month was much more light-hearted! I bought Kew Gardens by Virginia Woolf from the gift shop when we visited way back in 2016, and a Fold Line team day out this month inspired me to finally take it off the shelf! It’s a charming short story and was the perfect companion for my train journey to the gardens.
We’re off on our much anticipated trip to Australia next month to see my dad, and I’m looking forward to filling my suitcase with lots of me-made garments. They’re heading into spring now on the South Coast of NSW, so the weather should be quite pleasant with temperatures around 21°C to 25°C – a nice opportunity to get some more wear out of my summer makes! As well as spending time with family and relaxing, there will be some fabric and yarn shopping on the itinerary, so head back here next month to see what souvenirs I bring home!
My goodness! I am exhausted just reading about all the creative stuff you do, Mel! A question – the Elbe Textiles dress – where did you get the fabric? Enjoy Australia 🙂
Ha ha, thanks, Elisabeth! I do like to keep busy. 😊 The fabric is by one of my favourite brands (Fableism) and I always buy it from A Beautiful Thing, although I think Jo has now sold out of this colourway. I hope that helps!