washi dress | Trixie Lixies Blog

I like to sew whatever the weather, I also like to sit in the garden when it is sunny so I usually have some embroidery on the go, however this summer I have been inspired to do a bit of quilting and I am doing it by hand! It is a very portable project so I carry it around in my bag and get it out whenever I get the opportunity.

Firstly a bit about my inspiration; My Mum and I paid a visit to Bath’ The Victoria Gallery’ to be precise, to see an awe inspiring display of Kaffe Fasset quilts, cushions and samplers. Absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photo’s so here is a picture of the poster;

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I really recommend this exhibition, not just for the fantastic Kaffe Fassett display but also the amazing Candace Bahouth ceramics, they are stunning – if you don’t know her work you need to google it right now!

As we were walking around I said to Mum, I should’ve worn one of my Kaffe Fassett garments, she laughed and pointed out what was on the dress that I was wearing! KF appliqued flowers of course! We have a huge range of KF fabrics in the shop and on our Big Blooms fabric website . Not only was I wearing one of my super cool for summer Washi dresses, Mum was wearing a Barcelona skirt that I made for her!

Sooo……. back to the summer project, I think it is going to be a yoga mat, well that is the plan but who knows?

Talking of super cool summer clothing, the Washi dress is currently my absolute favourite, so far I have made 3 and my fabric of choice is cotton lawn so they are nice and thin to keep me cool and the drape is lovely. I seem to be making my way through all the Liberty tana lawn that we have in the shop at the moment, the green one is my latest make, the bicycle print one I made last summer. They are being rotated almost daily at the moment as it is very hot in work!

What summer sewing are you doing at the moment and what is your favourite outfit to wear during the hot, hot weather?

I am not great at posting regularly so I am going to introduce a regular post about what I have been making each month. Hopefully it will result in at least 1 post a month if not more!

My first make was an unusual request from my daughter, and to be honest I still haven’t finished it as I need to work out how to do the back fastener!

She does not have a huge bust so I used a halter neck bikini pattern for this Ikea bag hack, I have lined it with a soft cotton fabric otherwise I think it would chafe a bit! She wants to wear it at a festival she is going to this summer, I am sure it will be a great conversation starter!

My second make of the month was this stripey pair of Thread Theory Comox trunks, although it is a bit fiddly making boxer shorts, I find it very satisfying and it uses up any left over bits of jersey in my stash!

This month we had a few new sewing patterns delivered to Trixie Lixie one was the Washi Dress from Made by Rae which I have heard so much about so I was very keen to give it a go. It was surprisingly easy to make, I was a bit nervous about the shirring elastic but the instructions are clear and easy to follow, so now I am hooked! I love it, its so easy to wear, smart or casual. I made this one using Liberty Travelling threads fabric which is available in our shop.

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Doesn’t the garden look great! I love it when we have loads of flowers in bloom and we can take photos in the garden. Of course I had to make some matching knickers to go with this dress because …………………well what better way to use up the scraps!

Also look at the lovely butterfly that we had in the garden!

In May we went to the Malvern Quilt show and I loved some of the gorgeous quilting and applique that was on display, so this inspired me to have a go at decorating a skirt with some applique, this is a denim Tilly and the Buttons Miette skirt that I have decorated with some Kaffe Fassett flowers and a bit of machine embroidery.

That’s almost all my makes for July, although I also made some samples for our Kids summer sewing classes that will be running during the school holidays, details for these are on the website here!

The classes are to make a pencil case, a book bag, an Applique cushion and sew a simple skirt or pair of shorts.

Anyway, I think that is everything I made in July, I have got a couple of projects started already that will keep me going into August and if this rain keeps up I may make a lot more than I usually do during the summer months, we will have to wait and see!