Sunday 6 May 2012

Absolutely Fabulous

Firstly thank you so much for all the well wishes for my brother Will.  He had an emergency operation to his back on Tuesday and there has obviously been some nerve damage.  He faces months of rehabilitation but the doctors are confident he will walk again.  As one of his friends said, "Those energy balls work so keep them coming!"


It`s our beautiful boy`s 4th birthday tomorrow but we are doing most of the celebrating today - the luxury of being young enough to not really know what day it is! I ummed and ahhhed about a birthday party but decided on starting that next year.  Today, he`ll have 4 cousins and various uncles and aunties over fr cake later and he`ll love it. We`ve moved on slightly from dinosaurs to marine life.

Anyway, I mentioned a few weeks ago that I wanted to get back to my first sewing love, dressmaking.  I`ve ordered some books on pattern cutting and getting a good fit, a pattern and some fabric. These bundles of loveliness are all waiting for me at my mum`s in England. Yesterday I signed up for this course over at Craftsy - the Couture Dress with Susan Khalje. I have looked at this course before but waited until it was offered at special price.  Yesterday I got an email saying it was $39.99 as opposed to the regular price of $79.99. Woo hoo.

Once you have signed up, you can watch the course videos as much as you like, there are full written instructions and the price includes a Vogue dress pattern, which will be sent to you.

I have only had the chance to have a quick look at the first lesson but I like what I`ve seen.  It`s all done in real time so you really get to see Susan at work.  I like her too.  She has a nice soothing voice. She`s full of tips - for instance, did you know the width of the metal end of a tape measure should be 5/8ths of an inch - useful when marking your stitch line. I like the way how you can make notes below the video as you watch it.  As soon as you type, the video pauses until you`re ready to resume watching.  I shall let you know how I get on.  I don`t have that much use for couture dresses if the truth be told but I think I shall learn so much from this course that will be useful for dressmaking in general.

I quite fancy whipping something up for Jennifer`s Summer Sewing Contest, which looks like it`s going to be a whole lot of fun.  She has a fab lineup of bloggers taking part in the hop!

If you are a beginner dressmaker or are interested in taking it up, you might want to check out this great post by Sara of Sew Sweetness as part of Sarah`s excellent {Sew} Get Started series.


 Lastly, a few weeks ago I received an enticing email from Moo saying that they had a sale on and so duly inveigled, I ordered some mini cards and had them delivered to my mum`s.  There has been a slight delay in showing you these as my mum mislaid her new camera. Anyway, she found it.  Where?  In her sewing scraps.  Go figure.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.


25 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow what a full post, where to begin to comment. My love & prayers for your brother!
And did you know our children are the same age. Miss H's birthday is also within the next few weeks and she is turning 4 as well :)

xx

Leanne said...

Four cousins and aunts and uncles counts as a full blown party, they don't all have to have petal strewn crates and a tent. I am glad to hear your brother is doing ok and I wish him the best for the long and probably frustrating recovery period. And your course sounds lovely.

Catherine said...

hope your brother contines to recover well. Sending lots of positive thoughts his way. Love your moo cards

Catherine said...

And happy birthday to Zakki for tomorrow

Canadian Abroad said...

So pleased to hear that your brother has come through the surgery and that the outlook is good. All my best thoughts are being sent his way.

A very happy birthday to Zaki. May he enjoy his day being the centre of attention!

And yay to all the other good stuff, including those amazing looking Moo! cards.

Kelly said...

Glad to hear that your brother is starting his journey to getting better.
Happy birthday to Zaki ( I don't do Birthday paties either).

Well reminded about the Moo card, must get that sorted tomorrow x

Katy Cameron said...

Happy birthday Mr Z! Hope Will has a fab recovery.

I bought one of those craftsy classes last year, and shamefully haven't actually taken it yet (and yet I still considered paying for this one on sale lol) I'll get to it, I'm determined!

Sunnybec said...

Happy Birthday! to your gorgeous little boy and I hope you brother gets well soon. Hugs

Sunnybec said...

Happy Birthday! to your gorgeous little boy and I hope you brother gets well soon. Hugs

Pippa Parsons said...

glad your bro came through ok and Happy Birthday Zakki, a Taurean like me :O) Your a naughty woman though, yours was the first post I saw with that golden ticket...months of pondering and ahhing and oh no...I'm now a holder of a golden ticket...and would love to swop a mini moo with you :O)

Nicky said...

Well done your brother - hope he continues to get better. Happy Birthday Zaki - hope no veggies spoil the day but lots of cake and fun!


Love your Moo!

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

Firstly, I do hope Will continues on his recovery and all pain will be gone.
Happy Birthday to sweet Zaki, 4 already, my how time flies.
Your dressmaking class should be fun and you can learn all new tricks and share them with us, plus take your turn at being a model.
Lastly, love your little moos.

elizabeth said...

I have just read the comment above and feel it just about covers everything I was going to say too.
Do hope your brother does we,,, always a bit nerve wracking!

Good luck with the dress-making video--a most interesting project and you are bound to learn something!

A virtual hug for the birthday boy!

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

I hope your brother continues to recover - I'll keep him in my thoughts.

Happy birthday Zaki!

Love the Moo cards, I bet you can't wait to get your hands on them!

pasqueflower said...

Happy Birthday to Zaki!

Jenelle said...

I hope you have fun with the Craftsy class. We can compare notes if you like. :) Happy birthday to Zaki!

Cherie said...

Glad to hear your brother's operation went well!
Hope the class and the dress making goes well. I'll be waiting to see those post's featuring lovely new outfits!
Those cards look so cute! I may have to jump on that wagon soon =D

Susan said...

Best wishes for your brother's continued recovery! Happy birthday to Zaki! And I watch with interest your efforts in dress making! It sounds so interesting!

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Big Happy birthday to the young chappy!

Hope your mum doesn't hand out all the cards to her friends in a 'proud mother' moment!!

leanne said...

Happy birthday to zaki - love the shark photo - have fun dressmaking, the course sounds great and love the moo cards - they're such a great idea to pop in with swap blocks and for handing out to friends :)

Ellie said...

I hope your brother has a speedy recovery.
Happy birthday to Zak - I'm sure he will have lots of fun with his cousins.
Good luck with the dressmaking it sounds very interesting.

Sarah said...

best wishes to your brother for a full recovery and YAY! Big hugs for the birthday boy! Hope you all have a wonderful day :-)

Prof. S (the enchanted bobbin) said...

Best wishes to your brother, Annabella. I hope he makes a speedy recovery!

I was tempted by that Craftsy class too...they have sent me e-mails about it four times now...eek. I'll be very interested to hear about it from you :) Have fun!

Amanda said...

Happy Birthday, Zaki!! We're holding off on the big parties, too. As long as William has family to sing happy birthday and a cake, he's happy.

Positive thoughts for a continued recovery for your brother.

xo

Danny Heyen said...

I need to get some moos. I just don't know what I would put on them. You have so many wonderful quilts to feature.

I'm so glad your brother is on his way to making a strong recovery and that Zaki is four years old! Four!! Such a big boy!