Bunny's Novel Cleansers: 2011

Monday, 13 June 2011

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who took part in the Fairy Friday Charity Auction. Special congratulations to Mummykitty and Susueliza who each made the winning bids on the lots they wanted. Mummykitty, the green and purple brooch is yours, and I have received your donation already so thank you! Susueliza, the heart soaps will be yours as soon as I receive confirmation of your donation.

I will be in touch with both of you upon my return from Spain next week to arrange postage for your items.

In the meantime, if anyone would like to make a late bid, there are 13 lots that have not been bid on and I would be happy to accept bids and get a bit more money into the charity vault!

Friday, 10 June 2011

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 15

Custom handbound miniature notebook. Fabric-covered in your choice of blue/red floral, dusky pink floral, antique grey tonal floral pattern, pale bright green tonal leafy pattern or green with mushrooms.

Miniature notebooks will be made to order to your preferred colour, decorated with a coordinating ribbon tie closure. Images below are intended to illustrate the type of item you will receive.

These are novelty items made small with recycled paper and card.

Bidding with start at £2

How to Bid:
State your bid in the comments below. The winning bidder will be the individual with the highest bid as of midnight tonight, GMT. If your bid wins, please donate the amount bid to This JustGiving Page, confirming in the donation comment which lot number the donation relates to. Please also confirm your details by emailing me, giving your name, delivery address and confirming the lot and the donation amount. Shipping will be arranged after 21st June 2011, provided the donation has been made.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 14

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 13

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 12

One set of three small brooches, hand embroidered with shisha mirrorwork, red embroidery thread and red beads

Bidding with start at £2.50

How to Bid:
State your bid in the comments below. The winning bidder will be the individual with the highest bid as of midnight tonight, GMT. If your bid wins, please donate the amount bid to This JustGiving Page, confirming in the donation comment which lot number the donation relates to. Please also confirm your details by emailing me, giving your name, delivery address and confirming the lot and the donation amount. Shipping will be arranged after 21st June 2011, provided the donation has been made.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 11

One handmade embroidered brooch in purple, antique silver and bright green with additional metallic silver thread and shisha mirrorwork.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 10

One large handmade embroidered shisha mirror brooch in red and antique gold, with red beading.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 9

One large, rough-edged handmade embroidered shisha mirror brooch in dusky green and pink, with patterned grey fabric.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 8

One duck-shaped 3D MP soap in a purple colour, jasmin scented.

Bidding with start at £1

How to Bid:
State your bid in the comments below. The winning bidder will be the individual with the highest bid as of midnight tonight, GMT. If your bid wins, please donate the amount bid to This JustGiving Page, confirming in the donation comment which lot number the donation relates to. Please also confirm your details by emailing me, giving your name, delivery address and confirming the lot and the donation amount. Shipping will be arranged after 21st June 2011, provided the donation has been made.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 7

One duck-shaped 3D MP soap in an orange colour, cucumber scented.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 6

One set of themed MP soaps, pink in colour, with a sweetpea scent.

Set comprises 14 heart-shaped soaps. Bidding with start at £1

How to Bid:
State your bid in the comments below. The winning bidder will be the individual with the highest bid as of midnight tonight, GMT. If your bid wins, please donate the amount bid to This JustGiving Page, confirming in the donation comment which lot number the donation relates to. Please also confirm your details by emailing me, giving your name, delivery address and confirming the lot and the donation amount. Shipping will be arranged after 21st June 2011, provided the donation has been made.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 5

One set of themed MP soaps, pink and orange in colour, with a sweetpea and honeysuckle

Set comprises 14 pieces of heart-shaped soap. Bidding with start at £1

How to Bid:
State your bid in the comments below. The winning bidder will be the individual with the highest bid as of midnight tonight, GMT. If your bid wins, please donate the amount bid to This JustGiving Page, confirming in the donation comment which lot number the donation relates to. Please also confirm your details by emailing me, giving your name, delivery address and confirming the lot and the donation amount. Shipping will be arranged after 21st June 2011, provided the donation has been made.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 4

One set of themed MP soaps, white in colour, with a baby powder scent

Set comprises 3 pieces of soap with a cherubic theme. Bidding with start at £1

How to Bid:
State your bid in the comments below. The winning bidder will be the individual with the highest bid as of midnight tonight, GMT. If your bid wins, please donate the amount bid to This JustGiving Page, confirming in the donation comment which lot number the donation relates to. Please also confirm your details by emailing me, giving your name, delivery address and confirming the lot and the donation amount. Shipping will be arranged after 21st June 2011, provided the donation has been made.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 3

One set of themed MP soaps, marbled pink in colour, with a baby powder scent

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 2

One set of themed MP soaps, green in colour, with a woodland spice scent

Set comprises 5 pieces of soap with an ocean theme. Bidding with start at £1

How to Bid:
State your bid in the comments below. The winning bidder will be the individual with the highest bid as of midnight tonight, GMT. If your bid wins, please donate the amount bid to This JustGiving Page, confirming in the donation comment which lot number the donation relates to. Please also confirm your details by emailing me, giving your name, delivery address and confirming the lot and the donation amount. Shipping will be arranged after 21st June 2011, provided the donation has been made.

Fairy Friday Auction Lot 1

One set of themed MP soaps, blue in colour, with an ocean breeze scent

Thursday, 9 June 2011

Thursday Playdates! Susueliza

It's time for our next interview, and this week we'll be joined by Susueliza, who makes an impressive range of items from adorable, chintzy teacup candles to stunning weatherglass items.

Tell me a little about yourself, Susueliza. You make quite a variety of items.
I am a Fine Art graduate from University College Falmouth, and I love making beautiful, useful or just interesting things! I have a rather short attention span and I like to think it means I create “limited edition” pieces, since I sometimes haven’t even finished the first project before I’m on to the next :-S but what I do get finished goes into my new Misi shop.

How long have you been a crafter?
Thanks to my Mother I have always been making crafts. She didn’t like to leave me in front of the TV so instead she would keep me busy with a constant stream of things to make.

How long does it take to make some of your pieces? Is there a lot of work involved?
Some of my items, like my Teacup Candles, are pretty quick to make, taking as little as 30min (not including test times or setting!). Once I have the wax measured and melted it’s just pour, pour, pour! On the other hand I can spend weeks trying to make a good Weather Station. First I have to find the driftwood, then get a good set of instruments, then carefully cut out the right bits so I can put the two together...

Tell me about the barometers and weather glasses you make. That isn't something you see every day!
The Weather Stations are really my OH’s baby. The idea was originally his, and we have worked together on most of them (the ones he makes by himself we sell elsewhere). Its great fun working with him, especially because the end product is so much more masculine than anything else I make. The really special thing is that every piece of driftwood sparks a lovely memory of the beach... the surf... the BBQ that we had when we picked it up.

What gave you the idea to start selling your items online?
As I said I’m a recent graduate... so I have a lot of debt and a job that simply cannot cover more than the most basic lifestyle, but I can’t stay away from making stuff for long or I go booooring. At the same time my BH (lovely though he is) was starting to grumble that there wasn’t anywhere for him to keep his stuff since every cupboard in our tiny flat was rammed with my projects. So I came to a compromise. I decided to try to sell some of my craftings so that I can afford to buy more materials, and clear some space. I started on Ebay but I got so frustrated with the politics that I have now moved most of my items over to Misi... a wonderful place where no-one is penalised for not having free P&P or the most popular description!!

Do you do custom work, or would you be willing to if asked?
I would love to do custom work. If anyone has an idea they would like realising please drop me a line and I’ll see what I can do!

What other crafts interest you? Do you have any hobbies?
It might be quicker for me to list what I don’t do or haven’t done, but here goes! I crochet, spin, dye, weave, peg-loom weave, sew, embroider (freehand and currently learning crewel), make willow baskets, candles, rag-rug, work with wood & carve, make moulds, jewellery, paint, sculpt, embellish cups and teapots, make felt creatures, calligraphy... there are probably some other things I’ve missed too! I love learning and doing new things, I’m even currently halfway to becoming a qualified hairdresser! After that I’m going to do plumbing or electrics.. I haven’t decided which yet!

Do you have a blog where buyers can keep up to date on your work?
My (new and first!) blog is susueliza.blogspot.com

Where can buyers find you if they want to purchase your items?
Please come to susueliza.misi.co.uk

Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?
I’m planning on having an offer on as often as I can... check out my misi shop, facebook page, twitter and on my blog for details!

Monday, 6 June 2011

Preview Images Are Here!

Just a couple of quick images of all the items finished SO FAR for the auction.

I will be making more to add to it, including some very cute things which we'll see more of in the tutorial update tommorrow!

But for now, here's the brooches and soaps. Now, in order to get enough items finished in time, and following difficulties getting HP soap to conform to molds properly these are MP soaps, meaning they are from a readymade base rather than my usual from-scratch HP recipe. But I think you'll agree they are ADORABLE!

I had hoped to have finished a few sets of runestone soaps to add to the collection, too. Sadly, the runestone mold split across when I was unmolding the first batch, which also turned out to be flawed, so unless I can repair the mold in time that won't be a possibility.

Once again, as I said if anyone would like to contribute items to add variety to the auction, I would be delighted to include your items in the lots.

Sunday, 5 June 2011

Fairy Friday Preparations

Once the weather improves enough to allow for better photos, I will start taking images to share. However, for now here is a list of the items that I have so far prepared for the auction, to give you the chance to think about what you might like.

One handmade shisha mirrored brooch in burgundy and gold
One handmade shisha mirrored brooch in purple, antique silver and green
One handmade shisha mirrored brooch in dusky green and dusky pink
One purple MP soap ducky, jasmine scented
One yellow MP soap ducky, unscented
One peach MP soap ducky, cucumber scented
One set of 10 pink and white MP soap hearts, sweetpea scented
One set of 10 pink and orange MP soap hearts, sweetpea and honeysuckle scented
One set of ocean themed MP soaps, ocean breeze scented
One set of ocean themed MP soaps, woodland spice scented
One set of 10 purple MP soap hearts, nag champa scented
One set of 6 marbled pink/white and white cherub MP soaps, baby powder scented

I will be making more items throughout the week. But if anyone would like to donate more items, please remember you can message me directly to add to the collection.

Karen's Fairy Friday Charity Auction

Karen was a sweet, funny, lovely and determined young woman, who passed away in 2010 after a long battle with cancer.

Karen never gave up, and through it all was a source of joy and inspiration, a being of colour and light and love from beginning to end. She lived the time she had to her absolute fullest, and those who knew her were privileged to have had her in their lives.

Every year, we celebrate Karen's life and do our part to help the organisations that mean so much, including St Francis Hospice.

As I will not be able to join the get-together this year, I wanted to do my part in another way.

This Friday, visit my blog for a chance to win some fantastic items in my first annual JustGiving Fairy Auction!

Here is how it works;

On Friday 10th June 2011, I will make multiple blog posts, with each post featuring an item in the auction. Bidding takes place in the comments, with bidding ending at midnight, GMT of that day.

The winning bidder pays their donation directly to the charity via my justgiving page, stating their name and the item they bid on in the donation comment section.

Items will be posted out to winners after I return from Spain, which will be approximately 10 days after the end of the auction, assuming donations have been paid. I would ask that you make sure when bidding that you are logged into a blogger account, or have some other way that I can contact you directly to arrange postage.

How to Take Part;

You can take part in multiple ways! First, if you can't afford to bid on an item but want to help out, you can contribute items to the auction. The idea is to offer up handmade gifts and lovely things that make people happy. If you want to help out in this way, send me a message with some pictures of the item or items you want to contribute, and whether you want to offer them as a single lot or multiples!

Can't make anything? That's fine! Help out by spreading word of the auction and encouraging people to take part.

Want to donate to the charity but aren't interested in any of the items? You can make a direct donation at my JustGiving page without waiting for the auction.

Finally, bid in the auction! Win something lovely and feel good knowing that 100% of your bid goes directly to the charity itself.

Saturday, 4 June 2011

Weekend Treats - Shinies!

I've got a lovely selection to share with you today! Now, I'm not all too accustomed to wearing jewellery; I spend so much of my time gardening, cooking and making soap that it just gets dirty or broken, but there really is nothing quite so nice as treating yourself, or a loved one, to something unique and pretty for special occasions.

If there is one thing buyers are spoiled for choice with on Misi, it's jewellery. There is such a range of handmade, unique and beautiful work available for incredible prices, and I'll confess it was very difficult to restrict myself to just a few shops.

Here we go, then!

First up today, with a stunning, cute and very chic floral ribbon bracelet is Maffa.

I simply love the colours in this piece. The muted green and subtle flecks of pink on a silver coloured chain, and the simple elegance of the design. With this style of jewellery it can be so easy to add too much, but this piece is perfectly balanced and could go just as well paired with a coordinating casual tunic and leggins as with a light, Summery dress.

Maffa offers a range of similar pieces in equally beautiful colour combinations and I highly recommend you take a look! I was particularly tempted by a similar bracelet in a ligth brown with purple flowers on the beads. Two colours I love to wear together, but which can sometimes be heavy for the Summer, combined beautifully in a light, airy piece.

One of my favourite pieces overall this week comes from AnnaMcCade, with her stunning etched metal jewellery.

I'm something of a lover of the Norse Gods and feel a special affinity with Odin, so this twin raven cuff in a bold, solid design really appeals to me. The wide, chunky cuff is bold without being bulky, and the quality of the etching is second to none.

I chose a fairly muted piece from AnnaMcCade's collection, but I was sorely tempted by some of her more dramatic offerings; copper etched bracelets with a rainbow sheen to them. Simply stunning!

Given AnnaMcCade's stated enthusiasm for custom work, I am particularly excited! Just imagine an etched copper bracelet with a custom design incorporating runic charms and elegant, elegant raven imagery. Or an offcentre closeup on some winding boughs of Yggdrasil!

What is more, the price of the pieces currently available is incredibly good value.

Next is RosieJo's rough-edged and dramatic fools gold cube necklace.

I love the raw, earthy feel to the piece, and the simple elegance of the overall design. Fools gold is sorely underused in the jewellery trade as it has a really lovely appearance and a cute, chunky cubic crystalline structure, which has been used at its best here.

RosieJo also has some gentler pieces, including felted necklaces and gemstone jewellery, so there is a real range of choices available at her shop.

The geologist in me (yes, I studied geology, I really am that geeky) is absolutely in love with the ammonite cufflinks available at Off The Cuff.

Lovely, simple pieces which have enough sparkle for formalwear while being different from the usual cufflinks available. Off The Cuff also offers watch-parts based cufflinks as well, and I would be very interested to see what other items they may start to offer in the future. Ooh, trilobite cufflinks maybe? But not lingula. No one loves lingula.

Carrieholder's steampunk charm bracelet is very pleasing on the eyes.

There is so much going on in this bracelet without it being crowded, that it is a real feast for the eyes. This would work well with a whole range of steampunk outfits and you certainly wont' find anything like it anywhere else.

I hope you enjoyed drooling over the shineys as much as I did. Remember; this is just a small selection of what was available!

Friday, 3 June 2011

Father's Day Gifts are Here!

That's right! The supplies are in and the items are ready. The Seaweed and Juniper soap is already wrapped and ready to go, and the sandalwood and sea breeze soaps are just setting in the molds as we speak.

Want to treat your dad, your grandad or any other man in your life this father's day? What could be better than a rustic brown paper gift box stuffed to the brim with two - yes two - bentonite clay olive oil shaving soaps, one shea butter and almond oil moituriser, a lovely brown wood shaving soap dish and two soft, handcut towelling facetowels.

Want a scent you don't see here? I love custom orders and would be happy to make a customised gift set for you! Message me on Misi and I'll see what I can do.

Thursday, 2 June 2011

Thursday Playdates! Loobycrafts

Starting this week, a new regular feature called Thursday Playdates. Each Thursday, volunteers willing, I'll interview a Misi crafter and seller and let you know a little bit about them.

First up this week, is Loobycraft, who makes handmade cards and stationary, and offers some really cute pieces.

So Looby, tell me a little about yourself. You make handcrafted cards
and stationary, is that your main focus?
Cards were where it all began for me, and it has evolved from there really. Basically I love playing with paper and paints and stamps, it's often joked that if anything sits still too long in my house, it will be covered in paper - I just love to "prettify" things!

How long have you been a crafter?
I've always enjoyed making things, since I was a child. I have vivid memories of painting in the garden when I was little. As a teenager I started doing some cross stitch kits, and then I started cardmaking in 2004 - it snowballed from there really.

How long does it take to make some of your pieces? Is there a lot of
work involved?
It depends on the piece - some cards some be very quick to make, others can take ages, depending on the detail involved. Probably the most time consuming aspect of the cards, is hand colouring the stamp images I use. With the home decor projects, it's waiting for the paint to dry.

None of my pieces take that long though - mainly because I'm impatient by nature and like quick results!

Where do you draw inspiration for some of your pieces? I notice most of
your work has a very colourful, cartoony style.
I love bright colours - particularly pink! Which is probably why most of my stuff is quite girly. I don't really know where my inspiration comes from to be honest, I just sit and play until I come up with something I like!

What gave you the idea to start selling your items online?
After several years of crafting, I had amassed a huge stock of cards etc. and someone suggested I had a stall at a craft fair. To my surprise, it was very successful and as soon as I got home I googled where I could sell my stuff, found the MISI site, and the rest is history!

Do you do custom work, or would you be willing to if asked?
Yes, I love to do custom orders! Particularly special cards as they are a real challenge - I've been asked to make a Moomin new home card, an Incredible Hulk birthday card, and a Penguin themed notebook amongst others!

There are lots of examples on my facebook page

What other crafts interest you? Do you have any hobbies?
I enjoy scrapbooking and altered as well as cardmaking. My main hobby is my Horse, although I'm told that's more of an obsession than a hobby!

Do you have a blog where buyers can keep up to date on your
work?

Yes!

Where can buyers find you if they want to purchase your items?
They can find me on MISI and they can email me if they'd like to discuss a custom order.

Great, thank you! Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?
Thanks for reading!

Monday, 30 May 2011

Thursday Playdates!

I'm starting a whole new feature on the blog, now. From now on every Thursday, I'll take some time out to interview a Misi crafter individually.

Keep your eyes peeled for Thursday, when the first interview wil be posted!

Friday, 27 May 2011

Botching Update

Thank goodness for ribbons and fabric stashes!

Tuesday's disaster of a clothing tutorial is in the process of being rescued, thanks to some lovely broderie anglaise fabric and some stashed cotton lace and the time-honoured technique of botching it better. I already had the broderie anglaise as I am in the process of making myself a shirred dress with it, which I intend to embroider with some shisha work and bright, silk thread. Watch this space for that particular beauty!

Since the original top had only one seam, I simply split that back open, measured out the extra fabric I needed to make up size, shirred that and sewed it in to make a contrasting front panel.

A little lace to break up the border between the two and some coordinating straps, and things are going well. I still need to add lace to the other side, and a little lace along the neckline to finish it and keep the dress fitting as I want it.

I also need to trim the rough edges, play around with strap length at the back and hem the bottom. Next week I'll show you the steps I took to fix the top when it all went wrong, including showing you what to do when the stitching holding the shirring elastic pops!

With any luck, I'll have a lovely, well-fitting top to show off, too.

Tuesday, 24 May 2011

Tuesday Tutorials; The How Not to do it Edition Part 1

Todays Tuesday Tute was going to be all about making simple, well-fitting tops and dresses for large-breasted or otherwise curvy women using a simple method with shirring elastic. Unfortunately, I managed to make a rather stupid mistake as you will see!

Now, I'm a large woman myself, and I have a lot of shapely bits. I have large breasts, a large stomach that hangs mostly in the front with a relatively narrow waist, and wide hips. Most high street clothes are built to suit women with the fashionable rectangular figure; a longish torso, not a large amount of variation in hip and waist measurements and a small-average bust. Of course, those of us with large breasts or hips know that this means we either buy clothes 2-3 sizes larger to compensate, leaving us wearing items that hang off of us like shapeless binbags, or we put up with clothing that pulls and gapes in places.

Aside from the ever wonderful solution of wrap tops and dresses, there is also the shirred look. You've almost certainly seen loads of shirred clothes this Summer, with the fashion for comfortable maxi dresses returning. That heavily elasticated bust portion covered in horizontal lines of thin elastic, that then drapes and hangs from below the bust. It looks lovely, suits a variety of shapes, and is easy to make.

It can also be expensive to make if you're buying the fabric new. The fabric becomes narrower the more lines of shirring are added, so if you are large busted and need a deep shirred section, or even if you just want a deep shirred section for aesthetic reasons, you may find you need to use fabric up to twice the width of your bust. For someone like me, with 58" circumference of boobage, this isn't really affordable.

This is where charity shops are a real lifesaver. An unfitted bedsheet, quilt cover or other cotton bedding for a single bed can provide enough fabric for several tops, and a double enough for more than one generously shirred dress, for under £5. The same amount of fabric bought new would likely cost around £10-£20, depending. I buy cotton bedding with attractive patterns, or plain, and then dye it to brighten it up or cover up faded sections and colours I don't particularly like.

Once you have your fabric, here is how you should measure your pieces.

Sit down and, while sitting, measure your bust at the widest point. Do this sitting to ensure that any changes in the dimensions of your bust caused by your underwire lifting it up are accounted for. If you have a small bust, measure instead the widest part of your body here, whether that be bust, hips or waist.

Now. Multiply that measurement by 2. I cannot emphasise this enough. Measure out the width of the fabric to double your bust measurement. Not one and a half. Not a few inches extra. Double.

Double.

We'll call this measurement A.

Next, take your measuring tape and position it horizontally across the front of your bust to decide where you want the neckline of the top to sit. The top will have a square neckline so you may want to position it a little higher than normal to avoid leaving your bra visible, although if you intend to add nice thick straps or sleeves afterwards this won't be an issue. From the neckline you've chosen, measure midway across your larger breast, down taking in the curve of the bust to where you want the bottom hem of the top to sit. I usually go to the bottom of the hip myself. This is measurement B

Separately, measure the curve of your bust a second time, from the neckline midway over your larger breast to where you want the shirring to stop. This is measurement C.

It is important to think carefully about the shape you want before measuring. See here, the diagram shows how the length of the shirred section (in green) will effect the final sillhouette of the fabric (red and green together) against different body shapes. It is best to decide what shape you want beforehand to give you an estimate of where the shirring will stop. Don't worry though; this isn't set in stone.

Next, cut a straight sided rectangle of fabric of length B and width A, plus an inch or 2 seam allowance. Mark the seam allowance along the length on each edge, and the line indicating measurement C, in tailor's chalk to help you keep your lines straight.

Put the fabric aside for a moment. Now you'll need to fill a bobbin with shirring elastic.

Follow the images as shown. Normally, when filling a bobbin with cotton you'd just do it on the machine. However, many machines will not do this neatly with shirring elastic, so you will likely need to do this manually.

Take the elastic and wind it onto the bobbin by hand, stretching it out as you wind it.

Keep it stretched as you wind so that it is tight on the bobbin and so that it feels as though it wants to unwind itself.

The shirring elastic bobbin goes in the compartment for the bottom thread on your machine, situated under the needle.

Now we're ready to begin! Take your fabric and position it right side facing upwards in the machine, so that you'll be stitching horizontally across the width of the fabric. Make sure your machine is set to a simple straight stitch, and put it on a wide stitch setting, much wider than you would for a seam.

Do the first 3-4 stitches manually rather than using the foot. Then sew as normal, using your hand to gently flatten the fabric as it passes through.

When you reach the end of a row, manually make 2-3 stitches vertically down the side of the fabric. Turn the fabric again so you are set to sew back along parallel to the first line. Again, do the first 3-4 stitches manually and then sew as normal to the end.

Repeat the process for as many rows as you need. Even if you haven't reached the chalk line marking measurement C, take the fabric out of the machine periodically and hold it against yourself to see how far down the shirring has come. You may decide you want a longer or shorter shirred section.

Keep in mind that the deeper the shirred section, the more narrow the final piece will be. It will never stretch out back to the original width of the fabric, and you lose more width the deeper it becomes. Hence why we start with double the width needed.

When you are done, simply remove the fabric from the machine.

Looks good, doesn't it? Now you want to sew the piece up into a top. Simply pin the fabric, right sides together, along the vertical line. Replace the shirring bobbin with a bobbin if plain cotton thread and reduce the stitch size to one more suitable for a seam. Sew this one straight line. Technically, you could be done here, but you may want to add straps.

The next step is to try the top on and see how it fits, in case you want to add more shirring before the next step. If you measured the fabric right in the first place you'll have a lovely, neat straight neckline across the bust, and the fabric should neatly conform you your bust shape without pulling or pinching.

If it looks like this, you've done it wrong. You didn't measure out enough fabric for yourself. You can't see in the pictures, but the bulging continues down my bust and the shirring stops too high where it has been stretched too much. It is also far too narrow at the waist; it fits nicely, but doesn't have the lovely drapey effect I wanted.

Fortunately for me, I have a couple of nieces aged 6 and 7 and I think this might just fit one of them perfectly as a dress!

Tune in tommorrow when I add part 2; turning this item into a child's dress including adding straps, finishing the edges and decorating with lace and pockets.