Clairebear

Baby Clothes

2012-01-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

Some little things for my new nephew..

A merino cot blanket.. traditional styles with a satin binding.

{Excuse the wrinklies}

And an outfit ready for the northern hemisphere winter... all out of lovely lovely NZ wool

The jacket is "Duck Soup" by http://www.jujubeandlolo.com/

Leggings and booties are my own pattern.
The top is a new pattern I wanted to try from Ottobre - 04/11 #1. I wasn't too happy with how it sits and wouldn't use it again.
I made the little name label very quickly in Silhouette Studio and then cut it out of vinyl. Who hasn't been made to wear one of those...!

I was much happier with my second attempt at the same top design. I just used my normal envelope neck pattern. I think that one might be a favourite at the markets this winter!

and finally ... for a friend's little bub.. cause there's no better time to be a bit patriotic ;)

I haven't blogged in AGES! I have been sewing lots but just haven't had a chance to share anything. I've been making a lot of bits and bobs for sale at the local markets and have even made my own little Facebook page .. Please come and say hi sometime :)
Hopefully 2012 will be a nice, peaceful and natural disaster free year .. and I will do lots more sewing.

My Whip Up Weekend

2011-09-15T01:20:00.000-07:00

I was pleased to get that all done in one weekend.
None of it's finished .. but still.. quite a lot done.
I've got no sewing mojo at the moment and my kids just won't stop growing!

YAY and PHEW!

2011-08-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

I finally finished a set of ballet costumes for my sister's ballet school recital.

For something that is essentially just a leotard with a full circle skirt attached, this project took me a stupid amount of time to finish.

The leotard is a combo of nylon lycra and stretch velvet. The sleeves and lower layer of skirt are chiffon and the top layer is a thin 'fairy floss' nylon chiffon... the same stuff they use for petty skirts.

I must say I do quite like them! I think the colours will do well on stage.. I always liked the peasant style classical costumes. All very 'Act One' LOL

I've taken heaps of photos while I was making them so I will get round to doing a tutorial at some stage.
Right now I'm off to celebrate my son's 5th birthday.. :-)

Tropical Blend

2011-07-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

Tropical Blend is the name of the Ottobre pattern. (Number 18, Issue 3/2011)
I made a winter version from thick wide wale cord.

Quite pleased with this as an everyday winter dress. If I made it again I would lengthen then straps as that is the only part of the pattern that doesn't fit her well.

It came together quickly and it's cute.The piping detail on the bodice and drop waist are lovely little touches. Highly recommended!

Snow Pants!

2011-07-25T04:49:00.000-07:00

It snowed today. Which isn't a big deal for most people... but here, despite being at the very bottom of the world, we rarely get snow right to sea level. The last time we had a big snow in the city was 1992. A most awesome day in my childhood!

So when I looked out the window late last night and saw this...

... I couldn't wait for the kids to see it!

The level of excitement this morning was close to Christmas. For everyone but the dog... who wasn't overly keen on going out for her morning wee.

I realized that my littlest kid was the only one with waterproof pants.
Times like this it rocks to be handy with a sewing machine :-) ..
Also nice to be able to finally justify the big stash of waterproof fabric aging nicely in the garage ;-)

In no time two pairs of pants were whipped up and we were ready to enjoy the snow.

It was a great day!

Been awhile

2011-07-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

My kids have grown, we've had another couple of thousand earthquakes... and I've sewn some boring stuff... mojo killers like curtains and ballet recital costumes.

I've also been playing around a bit more with my silhouette cutting machine.
Loving that you can cut such intricate designs from heat press vinyl!

Both the guitar and little robot designs are digital stock art from Urban Threads. I just put the images into the silhouette software and used the trace function. So quick and easy... such great results!

The wee car is just a hand drawn and appliqued shape. I haven't had much luck using the cutter with fabric. Will have to have another go at that.

Birthday Princess

2011-05-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

My princess recently turned three.

It's always hard to imagine just were the time goes. Especially hard with her being my youngest.

Amazing that it has taken only three years to go from TV remote sized bundle.....

to fully grown (pink!) princess

As requested, I made a pink! princess dress. Pink! (the most important part) sparkly, poofy and perfect for dancing in.

The making of the gown was not without it's trials. There was some tantrums and swearing. Most of the trouble could have been averted by a little forethought and planning... but I'm a slow learner and that wouldn't be my style.

There are some awesome princess dresses for inspiration on Ikatbag.com ...and this is really helpful series on Children's fashion workshop

Of course a Princess can't go to the ball without a magnificent steed.
She was pretty pleased to wake up to this sight on her birthday morning.

He is just lovely! A free pattern on Ikatbag. Easy and fun.

rrrrring rrrring

2011-05-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

Do you like my phone tee?

I got the inspiration for this from the 'dial tone' embroidery design on Urban Threads.

The receiver is stuffed and held onto the t-shirt front with a little square of velcro. The cord is a piece of elastic.

My Superheros

2011-05-18T03:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged anything in ages. While I was on Easter holidays my wonderful husband decided to 'fix' my computer .... and got rid or everything .. including all the photos of recent projects, some video tutorials of coverstitch binding.. some photos for tutorials on making undies... the undies pattern that I had finally got round to pdfing so I could put in on my blog.... and most heartbreaking...ALL the recent photos of my children :'-(
... BOOHOOO. He is not yet forgiven. It could be a while.

So anyway.. the sulk is on hold while I show you my Superheros

Batman and Batman. (no sidekicks here!)

I finished the tops the night before we left on holiday and it was just fabulous seeing the boy's faces the following morning.
They walked so very proudly through the airport while hundreds of people stopped to talk to them and cheer them on. At airport security the guards all came out from behind the machines to clap them! They told the boys they felt the airport was very safe in the presence of superheros. My little men were over the moon!!!

In fact everywhere we went that week we drew a crowd and some awesome high fives, cheers, smiles and comments.

The entire week we spent on holiday I couldn't get the tops off them... not at the beach or the shops or the museum.. or at all. There was quite a Super smell coming off them by the time we got home.

Without a doubt the most loved clothing I've ever made for the kids!

The top is a very simple hoodie. Any hoodie pattern would have been fine. I used the same Ottobre pattern that I used for the dragon top. (No 16 from issue 04/10).
The batman logo is heat transfer vinyl cut with my Silhouette machine and the cape is a simple semi-circle attached with snaps at the shoulders.

Have you seen enough photos yet?

Ok just one more

Kindy Clothes

2011-04-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

My baby girl started kindy! I can't quite believe that she could possibly be old enough :-(

I was a bit worried how kindy would cope with my third child. It only just survived the earthquake ... seemed cruel to inflict a natural disaster of the two year old variety so soon after :-)
So far it seems to be handling the pressure well hehe!
I anticipate lots of sandpit time .....so I've made a start on some warm and comfy kindy clothes for Madame.

Trusty Ottobre!

My fav the "Poet" Cardy made another appearance, this time out of fleecey cotton sweatshirting.
I don't like it as much as the merino version I made her in spring but it's still a really useful (and pretty!) warm top.

Poet jersey jacket
Ottobre 03/09 #19

Another old favourite ...the reversible hoodie
I decided to make from two layers of cotton sweatshirting for warmth

Pistachio Chocolate reversible raglan sleeve top
Ottobre 04/09 #14

and I really love that it's completely reversible.

and a pattern that I hadn't made before, but now love!

Tulip corduory pants

Ottobre 04/09 #12

I omitted the zip for speed of making (and to help her taking herself to the toilet at kindy!). The pattern already has an adjustable elastic back so is fine without the zip.

No your computer screen colours aren't out.. the pink really is that loud. I'm hoping the get them out in the sun for some fading LOL. Missy loves them though. The most feminine pair of trousers ever!

I love all the details! Just gorgeous and so different to what's around in the shops here.

Welcome to kindy wee girl

I know you will love it.. and play till you drop!

Phew.. apologies for the photo overload. Everything else will have to spill over to a new post!

It's growing on me...

2011-04-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

With winter fast approaching I wanted to make myself a new wool skirt.
I went ultra simple with a plain full circle and yoga waistband. It was the fastest skirt ever made.. and it's lovely and warm.
Won't make favourite status though. It's just a touch too full. Not quite right.
But maybe growing on me a little.

Mr 4 was dead keen to play photographers and have a 'shoot'.

Unfortunately there were a lot of these types of photos

quite a number of his dog

but only two that actually featured the skirt

and one of them also featured his dog.

Slipper Socks

2011-04-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

I made these for Miss a few weeks ago and thought it would be a nice project to share - ultra quick, easy and practical! Slipper socks/boots are so warm and actually stay on ;-)

I think I need to upscale the pattern for me!

I tried to get a modelled shot.. but she's a very fast moving two year old...

You need:

Scraps of fleece or any stretchy and warm knit fabric

Scraps of sheepskin/lambskin for the sole
OR some way of making them non slip such as puff pant, Giffy grip etc. If you do that you may want to use a double layered sole for warmth

Cut:

2 x sole piece - I didn't make a right and left foot
2 x U shaped, foot upper
4 x leg

You could very easily adapt any free shoe pattern that has a U shaped upper. Simply measure the child's ankle and calf to get the dimensions of the leg piece. I made mine sit just below the knee.

Here is the pattern I quickly drafted for my almost three year old by starting with a tracing of her foot.
If it prints correctly the sole should be 14cm (+ seam allowances). I will add some bigger sizes once I have a chance to make these for my boys.
Click on each page separately and print. Print using "exact size" not fit to page.

If you want to add decoration to the upper foot pieces (like an applique) do this first before sewing

Sew:

Take the U shaped upper foot piece and sew the back seam right sides together.

I used an overlocker but that isn't necessary.

Put two of the leg pieces right sides together and sew along the top (the widest side).

There needs to be some stretch to the seam so use an overlocker (serger) or stretchy stitch (zigzag or stretch straight stitch).

Open the piece out

and fold again (right sides together) lengthwise

Sew the long seam

and turn the tube right sides out

Place the tube inside the upper foot piece, right sides together. Match the seams and pin

Sew the seam

Pin the upper to the sole, right sides together

Sew using a straight stitch. I sewed this twice for strength.

Finally cut the seam allowance back to almost nothing for comfort.

Repeat all for other foot :-)

Done!

copycat

2011-03-16T00:24:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at a bag!

It's a Buttercup Bag ... all the colour/mods/detail are all a total copy of the bag made on Crafterhours .. but mine's not made as well ;-)
A touch disappointing when you go as far as copying every detail and it still doesn't turn out as nice!

The key chain and cell phone pocket are most handy and it's certainly a good size for an everyday bag if not a good colour.

Obviously the Dahlia flower broach is the loveliest thing about the bag. I really love this and think they would make a fab gift. I think if I was making it to be worn as a broach I'd make it a touch smaller.

So .. no longer a bag making virgin! After what seems like a life time of lugging a nappy bag, finally using a handbag is such a treat!!!
It was quick and fun ... I think a Phoebe bag is the next one to try.

Tutu 2.0

2011-03-12T01:15:00.000-08:00

aka.. how to make a classical ballet tutu

I've been making more little tutus! This time for charity auctions...They are essentially made in the same way as the play tutus I made for Christmas. The main difference being that they are layered .. just like a real ballerina!

On top it looks like this

and underneath like this

nb. you don't need to use two colours. I just did it too break up my baby pink on baby pink a little ;-)

1. Cutting

Use at least 150cm wide very stiff net. Fold it in quarters, selvages together and cut across the width.
You need 2m for a 1-4 year old tutu and 3m for a 5-8 year old.

For up to a size 4 cut:
5cm x 4
10cm x 4
17cm x 4
20cm x 3

Size 5-8 cut:
5cm x 4
10cm x 4
15cm x 4
22cm x 4
25cm x 3

Over a size 8 you will want to add a 6th, 35cm layer or the tutu will be too short. I haven't made any bigger than a size 8 so I'm not really sure about bigger sizes. If you are making a 'real' tutu for a competition or show you will probably want to add a few more layers to get the right look.

The fastest way to cut is using a rotary cutter and ruler.

My cutting mat has 5cm grid marks which make cutting very quick and easy.

You will end up with piles of net strips. Cut off the selvages.

2. Gathering

Now gather up all the layers except the top (widest) layer.
I find the easiest way to get a very tight gather is to zigzag dental floss onto the net and pull it tight.

Use very long and wide zigzag

Once you come to the end of the first strip overlap the next one and keep sewing until all the strips of that size are gathered into one long piece.

It will look like this

Now pull tight. Because the floss easily slips through the zigzag stitching this is very easy.

You'll end up with a bunch of fluff.

Repeat for all the layers except the top (widest) layer.

3. Pleating

The top layer needs to be pleated.
This is how I do my quick and lazy version of pleating:

As far as I can tell there are many ways of hand pleating properly ...a couple of videos I've found of proper double pleating are here and here. You will need more net if you want to do this.

4. Form the gathered lengths of net into circles.

Work out the circumference of the net circle:
Measure the width of the leotard at the hips, double that and add approx 5cm. The idea is that your leotard will need to stretch to fit the circle of net.
Measure the floss to this length and tighten or loosen the gathering accordingly.
Tie the floss to form a circle. Make sure it's a nice tight knot.

It will look a bit like this

Even out the gathers until a nice neat circle forms. Make sure it isn't twisted.

5. Sew the circles of net onto the leotard.

Use tailor's chalk to mark a straight line across the front and back of the leotard just above the leg elastic.
Mark on the centre front and back
Find the quarter points on the net circle and mark them with pins.
Pin the net onto the leotard, matching the quarter points and stretching the leotard to fit. The bottom of the gather should be at the bottom.

Slip one of the legs of the leotard onto the free arm of the sewing machine and use a long zigzag stitch to stitch the net on.

If there isn't enough stretch in the leotard cut the gathering dental floss in places.

Next take the 10cm width and pin that on in the same way just above the bottom layer.

Make sure that as you sew you hold the bottom layer clear

Repeat until all layers are sewn on.
As you get towards the top it gets a little fiddly as there is so much net to maneuver. Go slowly and stay calm :-)

If you want a flatter looking tutu you need to tack the layers together.
I didn't do that but there is a short video on how to do it here

6. Decorate

I used fabric flowers and sequins and kept it simple.

This little toddler tutu has ribbon stitched around the top layer

There are so many gorgeous tutus to give you ideas for decoration. Try doing a google image search for classical ballet tutu!

Don't forget a tiara

I hope that answers some of the questions people have emailed lately!?
I've just made this all up by trial and error so none of this is the 'right' way ;-) but hopefully it's a helpful tutorial for making dress ups.
My two year old certainly LOVES her tutu.

Tracing Ottobre patterns

2011-03-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

I hear lots of people shy away from Ottobre patterns (or other magazines like Burda) because of the tracing.
I've never found it to be a problem and much prefer tracing to printing out 20 pages of a pdf.
I my opinion practise is the key... I have gotten a lot faster at it over time! The pattern sheets can be quite intimidating to begin with but they aren't bad once you are used to it. I also prefer being able to add a seam allowance of my choice. We use metric measurements in NZ and I find it much harder to get my head around when an allowance of 1/8 or 1/4 inch has been included. This is especially true, I find, when making size modifications to improve fit.
Anyway ...I know everyone has their own methods and hints for tracing. Here is how I do mine. Please do leave comments with other hints or links.
Most of this is obviously really self explanatory so I apologise for boring anyone!

1. Choose your size. The child pattern sizing is based on height in centimetres. It's best to properly measure the kid and then look at the sizing guide page. I often blend sizes to get a good fit for my skinny kids.

2. Read the "cutting instructions". These sometimes have important info on adding seam allowances etc.

3. Look at the pattern pieces and take note of the shapes of them and any pattern markings that you need to transfer to the tracing. Keep looking back at this while you are tracing.. it really helps!

4. Look at the letter of the pattern sheet (will be A - E) and the colour of the pattern pieces you need to trace (in this case green).

5. Lay out the pattern sheet and whatever you are using to trace over it. I use interfacing because it is very see through, it clings to the fabric while I'm cutting (so I don't need pattern weights) and comes on big rolls.
It doesn't need to be quality interfacing. Cheap and thin is good.

6. Find the first shape to trace. Look along the bottom of the paper and find the number in the right colour (here 1, green)... then look above and find all the 1s.. they will show you the basic shape. Keep referring to the shape of the pieces in the magazine. I know some people lay out rulers and things to make it easier. I've also heard of people using highlighter but I don't think this is such a great idea as it will be really confusing when you want to use other patterns on the sheet.

7. Add all the pattern makings. Don't forget this bit ... it's really important! Keep looking at the little diagrams in the magazine to make sure you haven't missed any. Include the grain lines and fold lines etc.

8. Continue until you have traced all the pieces making sure you leave enough gap for the seam allowance around each piece.

9. Take the paper pattern out from under the interfacing.

10. Write any details you want to record on each piece. I write the pattern number and magazine number (16-4/10) the size (98cm), the piece number (1). Then if I find random pieces of interfacing around the house I know what they are ;-) I also often include notes on any modifications etc in case I use it again.

11. Cut out each piece. I add allowances as I cut with this little gadget. Isn't it fab ;-) Such a time saver!
It is called a removable rotary guide arm and screws into the side of my Olfa cutter. I couldn't find it on the Olfa site but did find it here at the bottom of the page. Mine cost about $15 from Spotlight.
Basically I set it to the size of allowance that I want and then it automatically adds that exactly as I cut.

If you don't have a fancy guide there are a lot of other methods. I used to tape two pens together and that works well but takes more time as it's another step. With practise you can 'eyeball' a reasonably exact allowance.

Many people add the allowance when cutting the fabric but I found I often forgot so this way is better for me ;-)

12. I add allowances to every side of the pattern piece except fold lines and any edge that will have binding.
ie I add to every edge where there will be a seam or a hem.

Darth Vader Tee

2011-02-27T23:27:00.000-08:00

For my big boy

Pattern is from Ottobre 04/08 #26 Reko raglan tee

I like the sleeve detail.

I used my silhouette machine to cut the image out of heat transfer material. The software that comes with the machine has a trace function so you can make a silhouette from pretty much any image.

Unfortunately my silhouette machine was one of the things damaged in our most recent "aftershock". No more playing with that for a while ;-(

He's very pleased with his new top!

I've had heaps of emails with questions on tutu making. I had no idea it was such a hot topic! ;-)
Recently I've made a couple of real pancake tutus with lots of layers and have taken a few videos. Tutorial coming soon...

Sewing kit

2011-02-08T22:26:00.000-08:00

I made another tote/caddy thingy for a gift. This time it's a sewing kit.

I wanted to get together as many sewing necessities as I could for a new sewer. When you're starting out it all adds up.
On the front is a pocket for her sewing machine manuals etc

Patterns in a pocket on the back....

and all the little essentials are kept in velcroed pockets inside.

I used my silhouette machine to cut out the silhouettes in Duraseal. That's the brand name in NZ but I don't know what the generic name actually is. It is the clear plastic, sticky backed stuff that you cover school books with. In NZ it's cheaper than freezer paper. The silhouette machine cut it perfectly and then I just peeled the backing off and stuck it down before painting. It was so much fun!

There is even room inside for a sewing techniques book, some interfacing and some fabric!

This gorgeous wee guy is from Urban Threads.

Balloon Ball Fun

2011-02-03T01:27:00.000-08:00

We've been having fun with balloon balls!

I wanted to give one as a present and it took a few attempts to make up a pattern. My kids were more than happy to play with all the prototypes. 8-)

For fun we made up a game from an old box.. we had big plans to paint it up flash but the need to play straight away put an end to that!

I just used a loop of velcro to attach it to the light fitting

we allocated different points for getting the ball through the various circles.. although there seemed to be endless variations on the scoring and team play..

Later we turned the box on its side to use it as a soccer goal

and then a volleyball net

I LOVE balloon balls. No tears when your ball hits your brother in the head.. no tears when you ball hits Daddy's TV .. or the windows... and it doesn't get popped by an enthusiastic dog (like most beach balls in our house)..
Yay

60's birthday gal

2011-01-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

I love making birthday outfits!

The (embarrassingly crinkled) poodle skirt was the biggest hit. I must get a modelled shot because it is the most lovely skirt on. There is no skirt with the same twirl factor as a poodle skirt!

It's surprisingly quick and easy ..... and it is a guaranteed fav. My niece grinned as soon as she put it on ... and announced "I need music on, now!"

Cut two full circles, the lining several cms shorter than the outer.
Overlock the two together at the waist and sew them to an elastic waistband.
Zoom around the bottom of both with a rolled hem.
Gather a precut length of tulle (I just sewed straight down the edge using shirring elastic in the bobbin.) The tulle sold on rolls from here is very cheap and nice and soft!
Sew the ruffled tulle to the lining so that it just peeps out at the bottom.
Done... well maybe an iron would have been a good idea ;-)

There are a zillion tutorials around to teach you how to work out the skirt circumference. The one on Made is very good and easy to follow. You don't need to have the elastic showing on the waist band. It would be just as easy to make a channel for the elastic in between the outer and lining fabric.

The t-shirt was from my first silhouette project, pattern my own.

and the jacket is an Ottobre pattern.
Valmuska velour jacket 04/10 #22

I picked it hoping that it would match the skirt and be useful coming into autumn as its fully lined.
I decided against the ribbon tie, as I find they always come undone, but struggled with how else to decorate it. In the end I left it but I think it does need 'something' else. It isn't a favourite, I don't think I wouldn't make it again. The sleeves are really quite wide and she finds them a little annoying.

Two hits out of three ain't bad ;-)

Art thingymajig

2011-01-25T23:29:00.000-08:00

I made this for my niece's birthday. I'm not sure what the proper name for it would be ...
art tote? caddy? folio? .. doesn't matter I suppose. A thing for carrying ya art stuff around ;-)

The outside just looks like a bag and has a dotty front pocket that I've put a pretty covered journal/exercise book in. Of course I had to embroider her name on it... what kid doesn't like having their name on everything!

The back is the same and I've put a little colouring book in the pocket

It has two snaps holding it closed ...but open it up.... and inside is loads of pockets all your art stuff.

It's a bit crazy looking .. I just kept adding pockets!
The colours are like they are because I made it to match her birthday outfit (I just used left over scraps after I made the clothes).

The two main pockets run the whole length of each side under the pink ribbons and I've stuffed them with paper and card.. ready to be used in all her creations.

Amazingly this took me a whole day to make! Mostly because it took awhile to work out how to make it LOL. But it is essentially quite a simple design, a glorified pencil roll. .

If anyone wants to know the dimensions or wants directions let me know and I'll make up a tute 8-)

baaa

2011-01-23T01:22:00.000-08:00

I am such a sheep.

Got me a Silhouette machine for Christmas.
Feeling like one of the cool kids now.
Or maybe just a sheep.

Regardless .. it's my new favourite toy. For my first play with it I used some of the heat transfer vinyl and made these:

I originally made the top one for my niece but as soon as little miss saw it there was no way she wasn't having one!

Not sure if I prefer the black or white more. The white is 'flocked' which looks lovely although does seem to pick up a lot of fluff.

Next I am keen to try cutting some freezer paper on the silhouette and using fabric paints. I wish freezer paper wasn't so expensive in NZ!

In other excitement. My machine also made this:

It didn't need a lot of human input.. which is great because I lack any kind of awesomeness at paper crafts.

Toothless the Nightfury

2011-01-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas my Mr 4 fell in love with the movie How to Train Your Dragon
..specifically the character of "Toothless" the nightfury..

Demands for a costume to be made became almost continuous. In the end he decided he wanted a dragon hoodie and worked hard on his desired design...

Thankfully he was most pleased with the outcome!

The basic hoodie is an ottobre pattern.
Number 16 from 4/10
I left out the colour blocking on the front and added a seam down the back to accomodate his spikes.

I originally thought he would have some more spikes on the hood and a second set of ears. Mr 4 disagreed and (learning mistakes made on the Lighting MacQueen coat debacle) I decided to be a good mummy and follow his instructions.

Overall I like the pattern. I was pleased that I made it a size bigger as it isn't too long in the body (which seems usual for ottobre top patterns). It came together very quickly with no binding or anything to do.
I love the hood shape! Perfect for adding the eyes to.

He can't wait for the holidays to finish so he can wear it to kindy. I was worried that no one would recognise it as 'toothless' but it has already been adored by a couple of small boys at the park so Mr 4 is VERY happy. Getting it off him so he doesn't cook himself on 30 degree days has proven tricky.

Mr 6 has changed his mind. He doesn't want a matching toothless hoodie now... at this moment in time he is very busy designing a Darth Vader hoodie ... watch this space.

Hats

2011-01-11T22:33:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting to blog these until I had better photos.. but I haven't managed to get round to it. So in the interests of staying up to date :).. here are my hats..

This one is from one of the burda mags. I can't remember which one now as I took it back to the library.
The fabric is Micheal Miller.

scuse the rather odd expression on her face LOL

This one, in white linen is an ottobre pattern.
Hermione sunhat 03/09 #4

Interestingly the pattern pieces are exactly the same as the burda pattern down to the centimetre!

It has several cms added to the brim and I used some weedeater wire to make the brim stiffer instead of using interfacing. My very very clever friend came up with the idea. She has done a tutorial on her blog.
http://buttonsbybenji.blogspot.com/2010/09/simply-perfect-sunhat-photo-tutorial.html

and lastly this one..
It is the same Ottobre pattern in one size smaller and with less added to the brim.

Tutu tutorial

2011-01-06T01:59:00.000-08:00

edited to add: I've been busy making more muti layered tutus. They stand out better than this one that is all the same width.... and are more true to the real deal! I've written an easier to understand and more detail tutorial here. Check out that one first.

How to make a play ballet tutu attached to a leotard.

You need:
a leotard
1 to 3 metres of very stiff net for bottom layer
1 to 3 metres of softer net for top layer
fabric flowers or sequins or frills etc for decoration

Three metres of very wide net will make three tutus. Just cut it in three width wise... but you can get away with a metre or a 1.5m depending on the fabric width and how long you want it to be (how much you want your tutu to stick out.)

Make or buy the leotard

My leotard pattern is self drafted and I'm happy to share it (just as soon as I work out how to do that ;-)
I like cotton lycra for leotards but shiny (nylon) lycra will do too.

Cut a long piece of very stiff net for the bottom layer(s)

2-3m long* by 40-60cm wide** (20-30cm on the fold)

*The length depends on how soft your net is.... The softer the net the tighter you will need to make the gathering to make the tutu stick out! So if you're using a softer net go for 3 metres long (or more)... a very stiff (aka cardboard like) net 2m will be fine.
This can be in more than one piece and it doesn't show... just join the lengths.

** Whatever finished length you want the tutu to be double that number to give you the piece cut width.
ie for a 30cm long tutu cut the net 60cm wide.

Tutu length is just a case of preference. I originally made my daughter's tutu 30cm long. She is a very small 2 year old.
I think it's too long in the photos (above and here) and looks more like a skirt than a tutu.. I've since cut 10cm off all around (so it's now only 20cm wide) and think it looks much better. I'll try and take another photo so you can see the difference.
An older child will need it longer and you can always trim it down .. but you can't add to it if it's too short ;-)

have I lost you yet?

Fold your piece in half width wise... giving a piece approx 3m by 30cm

Gather this stiff net on the sewing machine. Your line of gathering should be about 1cm away from the fold line. A gathering or ruffling foot is handy but you can do without. You basically want to gather it as tight as you possibly can. The longer the piece the tighter the gathers needs to be.

If you are hand gathering the fastest way to get a really tight gather is to get a piece of dental floss or embroidery floss/thread and sew it on with a small zig zag all the way across the top. Make sure you do not catch the thread with your zig zag stitches. Then you can simply pull this thread tight and tie off.

To work out how much to gather:

Measure the width across the tummy of your leotard (eg approx 22cm on my size 2) and add 2-3cm (so in my case 25cm). Now double this number (50cm). This is how long you want the pieces of net to be once gathered. Leave a bit ungathered at the end for joining into a circle.
This doesn't need to be exact. You just want the net circle to be slightly bigger than the leotard so that the leotard has to stretch to sew on the net.

It should look something like this

Join the ends of the net to make a circle.

Turn the leotard upside down and pin the circle of net on upside down.
Match the quarters of the circle and stretch the leotard to fit.

back to the machine
It's easier if you put one of the leg holes of the leotard through the free arm of the sewing machine and keep the bulk of the net to the left.

Sew it on using a zig zag stitch so that the seam keeps a bit of stretch in it. Your line of zig zagging will be just over the top of the gathering stitches.

upside down it will look a bit like this:

Still with me?
not much to go.

Now take the softer net. This will be your top layer.

Cut the top layer to basically the same dimensions as the bottom. As long as the width is the same your length can be different.

Pleat the net so it ends up being the same length as the gathered piece (eg 50cm long). Again your stitching line should be approx 1cm from the folded edge.

It will look a bit like

If you want to double pleat properly have a look at this video on facebook
Obviously I didn't do that LOL. I just randomly tucked a bit of fabric under as I was sewing along every few stitches. You quickly get into a rhythm and it doesn't take long. It isn't as nearly as nice as double pleating and isn't as thick/stiff but is much quicker and uses a lot less net! I really just wanted the pleating to give the 'look' of a tutu but didn't stress over perfection :-)

Join into a circle and pin upside down onto the leotard just as before. You want it to sit just above the bottom tier.

This time put the neck hole of the leotard through the free arm. Your stiff net is on your left and softer (top layer) is upside down on the right. In this photo the soft net is the sparkly one.

This is the fiddly bit! With your left hand you need to keep the bottom layer clear. Go slow. If you catch it underneath you can always unpick ;)

If you look at the inside of the leotard it should have two rows of zig zag without any material caught in the stitching line. Doesn't matter if its a little messy.. no one else will be looking inside!

You can add more layers if you want. A real classical ballet tutu has many layers, as many as 12 of varying widths.. it is something quite different from this play tutu.
If you do keep adding more layers you may need to tack them together. The more layers you have the more sticky and pancake like it will be.

Now decorate .. and it's done.

sorry... I have managed to make this sound A LOT harder than it really is! It's a little fiddly but not a hard project. Once you have the leotard made it's a one evening job.

Next time I make one I will try and get better pictures/video.

Leave a comment if you have any questions. If you do make a tutu please link back here so I can see the pics.. cheers

Too many tutus..

2011-01-05T15:26:00.000-08:00

I made four tutus for Christmas presents this year. My house looked like a candy floss factory

Having never made one before I was surprised by how quickly and easily they came together.

They aren't 'real' tutus of course (that kind of project would have needed to have been started last June LOL) ...they are just a couple of rows of net stitched to a leotard. I think they ended up pretty cute though.

and its lots of fun to decorate them...

I have it on good authority from my 4 year old niece that this one is the nicest

because it has the most sparkles :-)

Pink and fluff and sparkle being the key ingredients for a tutu!

...add in a bulk supply of masks, tiaras, crowns and ribbons

And the stage is set for ......

'A lounge ballet in three acts'

....AKA cuteness overload...

It wasn't until my daughter tried hers on on Christmas morning that I realised there was way too much width in the net and looked more like a skirt than a tutu. I've given it a major shaving since and it looks much better.. I must remember to take some more pics.

Mr 4 isn't taken with the whole pink tutu thing. He would much prefer to do his twirling in a red tutu. Until that's made he has more important things to do...

The BIG playhouse project

2010-12-30T20:45:00.000-08:00

It all started a few months ago when I saw the felt playhouse on Homemade by Jill and fell in love. Suddenly I needed to make a playhouse and knew a certain little 2 year old girl who would LOVE it.

I then spent a couple of months in the "research phase" ....aka reading lots of blogs by fabulously talented women and dreaming a lot.
I especially loved these:
http://www.ikatbag.com/2009/11/little-blue-house.html
(this woman is inspirational ...I spend far too much time drooling over her blog!!!)
http://sewcando.blogspot.com/2010/03/felt-house-along-revealed-house.html
http://alittlegray.blogspot.com/2010/04/felt-playhouse-is-done-for-now.html

Now.. if I had been smart I would have realised that this is a HUGE project... and probably one that's a bit beyond me... and I would have bought one of these amazing creations:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/missprettypretty?ref=seller_info
but I live in lala land so I went ahead with making my own.

I wanted it to be tall enough to put her play oven in so couldn't do a table type playhouse. I saw a few blogs where people had made a frame with pvc pipe but I couldn't find the right joins anywhere and the pipe looked very expensive. So I saved myself a lot of trouble and bought a cheap playhouse second hand off
trademe and used that frame :-) It came with a sheriff's jail cover that Mr 4 has his eye on. Handy!

Then I got to work
and work
and work

and do you know what.. on Christmas Eve it still wasn't finished! So I had to give up on quite a few details.. I will have to do them later. At the moment I need to take a mental health break LOL..

so anyway

This is Aine's supermarket. It's closed right now. She's got a lot of work to do to stock her shelves!

I made the price tags velcro backed so she can decide how much she wants everything to cost ;-)

The checkout is open. Now that I've set the house up in its new home in our playroom it has her cash register on a little table just inside.

The on the opposite frontage there is the house. This one isn't finished. It needs curtains and a few other little details.

The letterbox is a little wonky. Just like our one at home!

Watering the flowers is a definite favourite.

and last but not least... a cafe for my tea party obsessed princess.

Some how she's already lost a tea cup and some cakes. Good job there is a mountain of left over felt.
I want to do a gingham roll up blind and maybe a clock with movable hands.
The black board is chalk cloth (love that stuff!)

Advent

2010-12-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to make an advent calendar for years and never got round to it. This year I was determined!
This one was only just finished on the 1st of December and took SO long to do.

I am glad I made it with the countdown in reverse as the kids loved knowing exactly how many days there were to go.

The characters are all machine made of course. The pack came from Embroidery Library.

Of course as soon as I'd finished I saw the calendar on Homemade by Jill and was exceedingly green with envy.

The children didn't help.. The eldest asked "so where does the chocolate go?" and Mr 4 said "glad the tooth fairy is there"... when I told him it was supposed to be an angel he said ... "you should make it look like an angel then Mummy"... fab.. thanks guys!

Sweet Little Dress

2010-12-28T14:18:00.000-08:00

I had so many projects planned for this Christmas... but "The Playhouse" took up so much time that I didn't get much else achieved. Going away on holiday before Christmas was also not conducive to getting lots done. I did consider taking a sewing machine with me .. but didn't think it was really going to work in the tent :-)

So anyway here are the projects that did get finished....

The first and by far the quickest was a sweet little dress.

The pattern is Sweet Little dress by Leila and Ben.
I could have easily drafted it myself but was feeling particularly lazy that day LOL. It was nice just being able to print and cut a perfect pattern without any thought on my behalf!
As named it's a very sweet little pattern and so very versatile. I'd really recommend it! What's even better ... it took all of 1/2 hour from printing it out to trying it on. Couldn't ask for more.
Fabric is Micheal Millar

I had to sew the pocket shut unfortunately. Little miss enjoyed opening the present bow just a little bit too much...

Ottobre bits 'n bobs

2010-12-28T12:36:00.000-08:00

Most of these were made ages ago.. but I have only just got round to uploading the photos!

Poet Jersey Jacket
From Ottobre 03/09 #19
Raspberry merino
I wish I had some better photos of this as its very cute on.
The front facings were very annoying to sew. If I did it again I would just use self fabric and stabilise it.

Lemon Juice bolero
From Ottobre 03/10 #9

This one ended up really really wide. Not sure if its supposed to be but I would take a lot out of the side seams if I made it again.
Sleeves lengthened and ruffles omitted.

Skirt with Flounces
From Ottobre 01/07 #15

I know you are supposed to use contrast alternating fabric for the flounces but nothing in my stash was ever going to work with this very loud raspberry cord!
I added elastic to the waist.

Puffs t shirt
Ottobre 3/08 #2

I lengthened the binding so it can be tied (rather than adding a snap). This pattern is a real fav of mine. So pretty and good fit.

The last few are my own patterns

Raspberry merino hoodie.

I just added a hood to a normal t-shirt and a little bit of ribbon detail. This one has been worn a lot!

Lime merino top and leggings

the fairy is from Emblibrary.com ... it was a bit dense to embroider on a t-shirt so I had to applique it.

and this last one is my most favourite top I've ever made my wee girl.

The case of the oversized pet deer..

2010-10-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

I knew this Michael Millar fabric would make for a favourite dress and I was not wrong there!

The pattern is "three way dress" from Ottobre 3/09 no 18

Unfortunately it turned out way too big for little miss. It was instantly grabbed up by her older cousin though and when I asked her if she would like it for her own she beamed. One medium sized girl happy. One small girl sad.

So I returned to the leftovers and made this one.
'Cilla' wool knit pinafore dress from Ottobre 6/08 #5

Probably should have ironed it prior to taking the photo ... take your glasses off ;-)

Little girl happy again. "baby deer... oh baby deer dess" it didn't even get the snaps on before she ran off to try it on.
I love this pattern! I love the way the yokes sit perfectly on the neckline. As usual I took a short cut and used snaps .. I must start making myself do buttonholes though... because a friend of mine has started selling the world's most beautiful buttons. Check them out! .. she ships worldwide :-)

Unfortunately I read somewhere on the Ottobre English group that this pattern runs short, so I added length. Far too much length.. and it's huge.
When will I learn? You guys must think I don't have two brain cells to rub together LOL.
If I can get it off her for a couple of minutes then I think a nice growth tuck should fix it up ok... and on the plus side it'll be at least a two year dress.

Now she needs a sunhat to match. Can anyone recommend me their favourite kid sunhat pattern?

Overlocker review

2010-10-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

In May I got a new overlocker (serger). Before buying I tried to do a bit of research and couldn't come up with much on this machine. I wondered if it was not available in the States and that's why there are not many reviews. Anyway.... here's my little bit of unrequested opinion to add to the superhighway ;-)

Elna 645

Price paid: I think the rrp is NZD$999 but I got it for $799 as a mothers' day special.

Had this machine for: 5 months

Recommended? Absolutely!

TECHNICAL FEATURES
Program reference cards
Automatic tension release
Built-in 2-thread converter
Cutting blade - up, down or locked for heavy fabrics
Front cover safety system
Differential feed
Instant rolled hem device
Adjustable cutting width
Self-threading lower looper
Color-coded threading routes
Adjustable foot pressure
Electronic foot control
Maximum speed of 1300 rpm
Snap-on presser feet
Telescopic thread antenna system
Built-in storage compartment
Waste tray included
Dust cover
Optional accessories

STITCHES
Safety 4 Thread
Stretch Knit
Gathering 4
Stretch Wrapped
3 Thread Wide
3 Thread
Narrow Hem 3
Rolled Hem 3
Rolled Hem 2
Overcast 2
Flatlock 2
Flatlock 3

PROGRAM REFERENCE CARDS
A mini instruction book always at your fingertips

BUILT-IN ACCESSORY STORAGE
You'll always be perfectly organized

What I like:

It's a lovely machine to use. I used to have a Brother but this is just streets ahead. It's big and weighty and feels like an industrial. I love that it's easy to thread and tensions easily. Unlike my old Brother there is no constant fiddling with the dials. The quality of the stitches is fabulous.

I LOVE the rolled hem it produces and it's very quick to change to a rolled hem.

I really like the on board storage. Makes it so fast to change needles and I haven't lost the tweezers yet!

The little reference cards are of a lot more helpful that I anticipated! I didn't think I would use them as much as I do but they are so handy when changing to stitches that you don't use often instead of going to hunt out the manual.

what I don't like:

not much

The telescopic thread antenna is a bit flimsy and looks like it comes from a much lower end machine. It works ok though.

Cheap as chips

2010-10-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in ages.. lost the love a little. But I have a huge amount of unfinished projects (even more than normal!) so I thought this might give me a dose of inspiration and accountability ;-)

I've done a LOT of sewing lately but thought I'd start with showing off some stripey stuff.. cause I was so pleased with how much I made from this fabric. I didn't sew kids clothes for ages because I was convinced that it cost more than buying them. But here's the proof that I was wayyy wrong on that count.
From one metre of $4 cotton lycra I made two dresses and three pairs of undies. Cheap as chips !!

First the undies
Pattern is self drafted as I couldn't find any size one undie patterns around.
They look so comfy ;-) ... I do so love nice bright undies... pity I took a photo of the ones where I didn't bother matching the stripes properly LOL

Then I made a dress for one of my Operation Christmas Child boxes. I thought the brightness might bring a smile.

It's a Burda pattern. From the Burda Style mag 4/2010 no 133. I didn't follow any of the instructions for making, they looked fussy. I just used my binder and it came together in under an hour.

It starts in a size 98 which seems big. It had lots of growing room when tried on my niece who is normally a 104.

Looks fabulous on though and a great little summer dress. I wanted to downsize it and make another for my daughter but found there wasn't enough fabric left for the flounces.

So I just lengthened my t-shirt pattern and made it as long and wide as the piece of fabric.. used every remaining cm and came up with

She grinned when she saw it ... "mine dress Mummy? .. tanky you tank you!!!"
I told her that it was far too cold to wear it .. but with the usual stubbornness of Miss two she managed to squeeze it on over her clothes LOL.

A quick whip up of some merino leggings and a hoody to go underneath and we were back in the dress wearing business (and a new found love of orange ;-)

poor girl, the life of a model is SO hard.

It's the thought that counts!

2010-07-04T00:36:00.000-07:00

It all started with a special little baby.
I needed a special baby gift.
This would be a project requiring of much ~~procrastination~~ planning.
I wanted to give the gift last Sunday and so started the project nice and early in that week. Ideas, ideas, planning ...you know how it is.
Friday night I remembered this fabulous blog that I've been drooling over for ages. I'm no quilter.. but that ladys quilt patterns are simply to die for.. and in my MUST do (when have more time) category.
So all Friday night is spent dreaming of appliqueing this gorgeous design on some thing (yet to be finalised, sleep on it).
Saturday... right.. down to it. A baby blanket? A sleeping bag? Lots of net cruising for ~~procrastination~~ research. Set a lunch time deadline for big decision.
2.30pm - I started cutting out the flowers. Realised that it could take awhile.
4.30pm - started laying out the flowers on the fabric. Disaster. Design looked awful, colours ALL wrong. My stash is clearly lacking as well as my design skills.
Tantrum
Husband takes children for walk so I can have tantrum in peace.
Start again.
Phew much better (mental note..quilting fabric stash needs enhancement)...... Right now just the actual applique.
That smart quilting lady does 'free hand' quilting to applique the shapes on. I've never done free hand quilting before.
Should probably do a class ... or practise on scraps... or something.
No time for that.
Quick check of sewing machine manual tells me that I need a special foot and shock horror it is located in sewing ~~rubble~~ draw. Get sewing....

Result .... "rustic" ..... "handmade" .... "interesting"...
Never mind. Mental note = free hand quilting very tricky and even trickier with stretch fabric.
Should probably have done more research.
LOL

but wait.. the crimes against sewing didn't stop there! oh no

Next it needed to become the sleeping bag. Can't locate my sleeping bag patterns ...
For some reason cut the binding heaps too thin making it nigh on impossible to sew on.
Then couldn't get the zip to sit straight ... and remembered that I normally bind the sleeping bag all way round to stop that issue ...doh
Tantrum

Finally it is finished and wrapped... and it is Sunday! yay.. made my deadline.
But then car wouldn't start to go drop it off.
Doh
Tantrum

(babies name is blanked out of top :)

ahhh well.
It's the thought that counts!

Every Woman's Favourite

2010-07-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

"Every Woman's Favorite" cardigan is the name of the pattern.
I thought that was a pretty big call seeing as there would be a lot of women who aren't into cardys at all!
Never the less I think it might become a fav of mine.

The pattern is from Ottobre 5/2009 #8
I made mine in thick black merino knit.
I only really made one change. I just did the one button and then left it open down the front.

Its a size 38 which is about two sizes too big for me... but I wanted to be able to wear a jersey under and have it as more of a jacket. The arms are a little baggy and the shoulders slightly too wide but otherwise I like it a lot. I added length as I'm a tall 'un.

The top stitching detail was much easier than I expected. I used a three needle coverstitch.
I first finished each edge with overlocking and then cover hemmed with the overlocking on the top as my guide (the reverse of a normal coverstitch hem). Very quick and profesh looking!

Great pattern, would use it again.

Baby things

2010-06-25T02:49:00.000-07:00

Two baby girls...

Needed some merino love to welcome them to the world :-).

Pattern is Ottobre 6/07 #3 'overall for a premature baby'. That issue has several patterns going from a size 40 right up to 56. I made the jacket for my daughter and loved it. It's hard to get good prem patterns.

I was thinking it would be my new go-to pattern for baby gifts.. quick and lots of possibilities for embroidery. I never used rompers like that for my kids.. but thinking that they would be sooo practical.
.. BUT turns out that I hate sewing them! The straps are a total pita to bind. Must see if I can find a good tutorial for using the binder around tight corners. Either that or modify it a bit maybe.

Four Arms

2010-06-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

Its been all bits and bobs sewing for me lately. Some dolls clothes for the wee girl's second birthday...that I now realise I haven't photographed yet. Some baby clothes for new baby presents ... that also haven't yet been photographed. Not sure why I'm bothering to type the post LOL

Most of this week has been taken up making aliens.
Tuesday was 'space day' at school.
Of course we left costume planning until Monday.
J wanted to be a Stormtrooper. Not possible at the last minute.
We had to think again.
In the end he decided to be an alien.
Two heads, four arms and three legs was the wish list. After some negotiation we bargained down to just the four arms.... I went rummaging through the fabric stash and got to work.

In the end it worked out rather well.. and was really quick and easy!
I just inserted a second set of arms into the side seam... stuffed the extra arms and sewed gloves onto the end. A little bit of fishing line and J was ready to try out his alien moves...

His name is Akimo .. he's from Venus :-)

The day went well and one of his friends asked if he could please have a four arms costume too. It was his birthday today so last night I made another one for a present.
For this one J decided that it should look like Four Arms from Ben 10

As a base I used an Ottobre t-shirt pattern #24 from 3/2009. It had most of the colour blocking I needed for the 'Ben 10' look so not too much thinking was needed. I missed out lots of details but in the end just ran out of time!

10 mins before the party it still had no hands.. and I didn't have time to make any so luckily found some gloves in the cupboard that kind of worked.

Such an easy costume and you could really go anywhere with it.
Added to my to do list is now a spider (add hoody and so extra arms) and a very hungry caterpillar....

No 1 fan

2010-05-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

My three year old LOVES the movie Cars. 'Love' not really being a strong enough word to express his devotion. While other babies his age where just beginning to mutter their first "mamama" he was gently stroking a die cast car and whispering 'I wuv you macqueen'.
So when I saw some fabulously well digitised embroidery designs on Etsy I knew a little man would be over the moon!

Last year we had a big problem with him not wanting to wear a jacket because then no one could see his Lightning Macqueen sweatshirt... so I thought a jacket would be the go.

I picked Ottobre 1/08 #26

The outer and inner are sweatshirting fabric and I sandwiched a heavy weight merino between. Its a fabulously thick and warm jacket.

I was pleased with it with one exception.
The flappy bits on the hood front look good when the jacket is closed but are a pain when it's unzipped.
I added some extra snaps to snap it down. Think it spoiled it a bit though and I would leave the crossover part out if I made the jacket again.

Mr 3 sat by the embroidery machine for almost the whole 11/2 hours it took to sew out the design... with a cute grin on his wee face. I thought he would pee himself when he saw the finished product.
But the next day when I showed him he wasn't pleased and announced that he didn't like it!
I just about fell over!
It turns out that there are several things 'wrong'
1) no pockets ... I should have seen that coming.... a boy can't look 'cool' if he can't put his hands in his pockets.. doh.
2) the sleeves are too long... doh
3) Lightning doesn't have any 'movement'. It took me a while to work out what he meant by that but I think I agree. From a design pov the back is just too plain. He needs some words, or better still a lightning bolt on the back to 'pep' it up a bit and tie it all together.

That's the type criticism I should expect when sewing for someone with much more fashion sense than myself LOL!

Luckily his older brother decided that he liked the jacket and would have it for himself. Phew .. that bought on a sudden new desire for it!

A top for me...

2010-05-14T00:42:00.000-07:00

It was a great fabric score... a few metres of lovely navy wool fabric for $10!
It became a top for me.
... think it might also become a skirt at some stage.. Gorgeous fabric, the photos make it look grey but it's navy with white specks (not sure what the technical term for that is LOL).

The pattern is Ottobre 5/2008 #3
I made it in a 36 I think from memory. Very pleased with the pattern. The pintuck detail is lovely and the belt brings in the waist slightly.. stopping it looking too preggy ;-)

and wonders never cease.. my invisible zipper actually is invisible .. yay

Well .. the tunic looks SO much better on that on a hanger. Unfortunately the husband's photos really don't do it justice. Never mind. Pleased with the project and must find more time to make clothes for myself!

Autumn basics

2010-04-12T02:57:00.000-07:00

I've been working on some basic autumn/winter clothes for my little girl.

A Duck Soup knitted hoodie.

LOVE this pattern. Perfect tv knitting and I love clothes that can be made too big on purpose .. ;-)
I will certainly be knitting more of these.. quick, easy, fabulous..

A few tops...

This one is merino.. from a Japanese pattern book.. just for something a bit different

getting a modelled shot was impossible.. little lady was playing run from the camera!

Stripey top... my own pattern.. can you ever have too many long sleeved tee shirts??
For fun I played a game of 'how fast can I make a top'? .. 15 mins to sew! (didn't time the cutting out) although the results are slightly shoddy LOL

A t-shirt and leggings set. Think I may finally have got my leggings pattern right!

The tutorial for doing the tree applique is from this blog. Really easy and effective I think!

An ottobre t-shirt - "Double Tea"
#5 from 4/09

and last but not least.. a thick merino hoodie.
I wanted to make a hilda hooded dress like I had made from my niece. Unfortunately the Ottobre pattern doesn't go down small enough for my midget. So I used my self drafted pattern, lengthened and slightly a-lined it.

Easter Dress

2010-04-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

It has been sooo long since I posted. A lot to catch up on.. I will start at the most recent :-)

The 'Easter dress'. It's the first time I've made something special for Easter and I had so much fun, I will have to make the boys something special too next year I think!

The pattern is 'Q' from this Japanese pattern book (ISBN 978-4-579-11100-8). I'm really into old fashioned girls clothes at the mo... and I thought it would be slightly practical as the apron could be worn over a tshirt and leggings next summer.

I only made two mods - changed the sleeves to long sleeves (seeing as Easter is not in the spring down here ;-) and added growth tucks in the hems of both the dress and apron.
As usual I made it much much much too big (just can't seem to wean myself off that addiction). I figure once I take out the growth tucks it should be good for several years LOL

The dress is a thick linen and the apron is a Michael Miller quilting cotton. It ended up being rather heavy (dress skirt is very very gathered) and slightly overwhelming on such a small child... but I guess a bit of that is just from it being too big.

Trying to capture a good photo on Easter Sunday proved more than slightly tricky. After a busy morning entertaining the congregation at Mass little Aine was tired out and not in the mood for a photo shoot!

However after a quick nap on the couch....

She was in much better form....

I couldn’t choose just the one pic... so here is my self indulgent photofest!

Happy Easter!!!

Heads and tails.

2010-02-12T12:21:00.000-08:00

I've been sadly unsuccessful with my sewing this week....

First I made a sunhat ('Hermione' sunhat. #4 from Ottobre 4/04). After searching in vain for my daughter’s sunhat for a week I gave up and decided to sew a new one. I wanted to make a 'toadstool' hat and this pattern was already traced so I thought it would be a nice quick job.
Unfortunately stuffed it up.
I blame trying to sew while watching the Grey's Anatomy season premiere :-).
Anyway.... I should have lined the red fabric and sewn the cutwork on each piece before constructing the hat... but ... I detached my head and cut holes in the red.. then sewed it all up..then tried to sew around the holes! I couldn't have reversed the order of sewing any worse! It was very very hard and looks dumb. sigh.

The very next morning I found little miss in her room... playing with her old hat! I have no idea where she had hidden it but at least it means she won't need to wear the new one (and have me stewing over the bad sewing all day LOL)

Next I started a mission to make my 5 year old a whole load of new undies. He was still wearing size 2 undies and complaining about them cutting in .. poor boy.
So I made a couple of prototypes one evening and tried them on the next day.

#34 from Ottobre 4/04

#37 from Ottobre 4/04

The fit was fabulous on both of them but I like the styling of the "Panties for little girls" (shhh don't tell him) better so the following night I started a mission to make a big batch.

He wanted "Ben 10" undies... and thanks to t-shirt transfers I could easily fulfill the wish!

He was SO excited when he saw them! He kept saying "you're too good! you're too good! oh thank you thank you Mummy!".
Daddy had to send him to school with strict instructions not to go showing everyone his underwear :-)

Anyway.. I was very pleased with my effort of 8 pairs in one night... but.... watching him wearing them I don't think they are very comfy!!! ekkkk nothing worse than uncomfortable underwear! He won't admit it.. because he just loves them too much (bless!) but I think the waistband elastic is hurting him somehow.

I think I might have to do a bit of unpicking! sigh.

Pinafores

2010-02-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

I recently realised that Americans call pinafores 'jumpers'. That sounds so strange to me, I think of jumper as a synonym for jersey or sweater! anyway I digress...

This one is just made out of an old pair of jeans, self drafted pattern.

The top is from the very bottom of the jean legs, inner seam dead front/back and gingham lining. The skirt is from higher on the legs with an inverted pleat.
I made it about 9ish months ago but couldn't find any buttons I liked for it so it sat on the back of my sewing chair 'maturing'. The other night I was putting some snaps on things and remembered it. Coupla minutes later it was done! Quite cute I think. I was going to put a back pocket from the jeans on the front but it was too big and I ran out of patience to reshape it :-)

I need to play with my pattern a bit as it’s a bit short but still a little wide through the chest.... maybe add some embroidery or something...

This one is "K" from this Japanese pattern book. (ISBN is 978-4-579-11100-8)

Its been a while since I smocked anything so it was a good job it was a simple design! Unfortunately its a terrible photo cause I actually really like this outfit.
Little miss wasn't too pleased with it and didn't want to try it on so I had to make a big deal of it being a 'special, twirly, dancey dress' before she would. I like the beige linen even if she doesn't!
It's still a heap too big yet... I think I'll make a red merino skivvy to put under the shirt for winter.

MacGyver binder

2010-01-28T23:18:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of a generic, industrial binder ... used 'MacGyver styles' on my Janome Coverpro.
I have the two Janome binders but got this one because it's a single fold (A) binder. The Janome binders are both B type binders. The difference is explained really well here. I like the A type a lot - much less bulk which is nice, especially for baby clothes.

I don't have a flash extension tape or homemade mount or anything like that... bluetac seems to work just fine!

The binder is longer than there is space for but it doesn't matter, it's just tilted on a slight angle.
The back of the binder is sitting just touching the front of the clear foot. I use the clear foot for pretty much everything, the foot that came with the janome binder isn't long enough in my experience. I’ve found that too much space allows the fabric to move around before it goes under the foot.
You can't have the binder pressing too much on the foot though or it isn't free to 'ride the bumps'.

The black line is just a permanent marker line that I drew on the front of the machine coming out from exactly where the left needle is. It helps me quickly line the binder up (and the hemmer).

Obviously the settings change all the time depending on the fabric.
These are what I was using to bind with a thin, stretchy merino:

'scuse the dusty machine!
I find the stitch length needs to be longer when binding ...

The presser foot tension knob on the top usually needs to be released for binding. I didn't need to release it much for this though because it's only a single fold and the binding was a thin fabric. When I've used thick cotton rib binding I have needed to unscrew the knob a lot!

Front:

Back:

Just like a bought one! :-)

phew.. sorry .. photo overload! I hope that helps someone. I know that binding with a coverstitch machine is a real learning curve and it took me SO long to get it right. I'm so pleased that I spent the time though, it really does make a professional finish for knits.

Edited to add:

The binder is from ebay. Its a COVERSTITCH MACHINE POST MOUNT BINDER (A) from the ebay seller "Sharp sewing". There's an auction for a similar one here . The size of my one is 1 1/4 inch which is similar to the Janome 42mm large size binder. The post mount binder has no plate on the bottom to screw onto the machine as it is designed to be screwed onto a post on the front of the industrial, not a plate on a flatbed machine that the Janome is. Clear as mud? :-)

I will try and get a video of a binder in action. That will probably answer questions much more easily that my mumblings LOL.

An addiction....

2010-01-28T21:48:00.000-08:00

I've been taking advantage of a couple of days of nice weather ..(was that summer... ?!) to prewash my merino stash all in one go.

mmm merino - just had to take some showing off stash pics!

I was just folding it all up when the courier arrived with my latest purchases direct from the lovely ladies at the Levana factory shop. Levana does the best superfine merino. Go NZ made! :-)

My five year old asked "why are you buying so much fabric Mummy? Is the shop closing and you are getting it before it's all gone?"

I answered... "no buddy, I just like buying fabric" .... he gave a solemn nod... "yes.. it's called an addiction"

and added "don't worry Mummy, I won't tell Daddy"...

Sudoku

2010-01-23T00:42:00.000-08:00

A puzzle skirt... #15 issue 1/09

Another Ottobre present for my niece's birthday.

I didn't find it too much of a puzzle... it just took AGES to sew. I'm not sure the hours of sewing were really worth it for the outcome. The pattern isn't technically hard to sew at all...just sooo many seams and the hem frill is over 5 1/2 metres long... a very long way to hem and gather and seam and overlock and topstitch...
YAY for Mr Ruffler foot. You are worth the money after all :-)

I used fat quarter packs for the fabric. The pieces were a couple of cm short for the widest tier (on the smallest size, 104cm) but it didn't matter. I got enough fabric to make my daughter one too... but I don't think its going to happen any time soon... luckily she's a few years away from fitting it LOL

Also purchased some matching ribbon to add the little bows ... still deciding if I should add them or not.

Hilda and Tilda

2010-01-23T00:10:00.000-08:00

My sister picked this pattern out for me to make my niece. Every little girl needs warm kindy clothes!

The pattern is "Hilda" hooded dress and "Tilda" T-shirt dress #27 from Ottobre 6/07 (one of my all time fav issues!). The leggings are #28 "Lily".
Such a comfy looking wee set! My sister loves 'practical' ;-)

The blue fabric is a thick, sweater weight merino and the pink is just cotton knit.

I haven't tried cut work before. It's far from perfect and took SO long to do ....would have been much quicker just to hoop it and put it in Mr Embroiderymachine! I think the pink does help to tie it all in together though. Without it I think the hoodie would be a bit plain. I enlarged the pattern a bit to make it stand out more and make it easier to sew.

I used trick film over the top of the merino to trace the pattern onto. Ottobre suggested soluble stabliser but I tried the trick film for the larger design and found it better... its stronger and has a dimpled effect which stops it moving around too much... and its cheap! I still need to heat set it to melt it away around the stitching.. better do that before I give it to her LOL.
I get all my embroidery stuff from Sotech - great company... a wholesaler but with no minimums, they deliver really quickly and are 1/2 the price of Spotlight or quilting shops.

I think I'm turning Japanese...

2010-01-15T00:33:00.000-08:00

When I got home from holiday my Christmas present to myself had arrived!

I've had about 30 Japanese pattern books on my Etsy 'wishlist' for a good nine months.. waiting to have enough money ... and narrow the list down slightly. It was never really going to be narrowed so I just randomly picked three. Of course now they are here I want MORE.
I got them from this seller and can recommend her - they came quickly and were well packaged. Next time I might try getting them from Amazon.
The patterns are just lovely in their simplicity and style... and the books look more like coffee table books than pattern mags - very inspirational. The diagrams are easy to follow too, if they were in English I think they would be the perfect first sewing patterns.

Of course I had to immediately dump all the projects I was in the middle of to try and make my first 'Japanese dress' ...

if many more discarded projects go on the pile I fear there could be a landslide.....

Coverpro attachments

2009-12-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

I have a Janome Coverpro 1000, coverstitch machine. MrCoverpro has caused much swearing in the past... but is still my prideandjoy! It comes with a lot of great attachments, most of which are completely unnecessary... but great to have ;-).
When I got my machine a couple of years ago I got the whole accessory set . There were several parts that I knew I would never use and sold. Some are still waiting to be 'needed'.
Just before Christmas I was trying to make three little t-shirts to match the pettiskirts for my daughter and nieces. I decided on Ottobre 3/08 #2. The lovely little "Puffis" t-shirt.

The perfect project to whip out one of my handy dandy "elastic gathering attachments" to do the sleeve gathers!! I hadn't used this one before but figured with three tops to make it would make it worth the time setting it up.
There are two different narrow elastic gathering attachments. One sews the elastic on the top of the fabric Part no 795804100 and the other on the underside Part no 795816105 . I don't think either are exactly necessary (especially for the price!!)...with practice it isn't too hard to get an even gather without them... but I was impressed by the speed that I could sew all six sleeves with it on. It certainly gives a lovely finish!

There isn't too much more to say about this foot. As usual the Janome directions are scant but it's all very self explanatory. The hardest thing is getting the tension just right... fiddle fiddle.
As it was... in the cold light of day the pink of the skirts didn't perfectly match the tees and I went with white ones... but at least I got to try out the attachment, not a compete waist of time.

Upcycling

2009-12-19T13:24:00.000-08:00

At least I think that's what you call it....
when a yucky old jumper gets cut, washed, shaved, sewn, ironed .. and becomes a lovely new little cardie.

When my father saw the little lady wearing this he commented how proud my grandmother would have been of me... smile... she really would! When I was a wee girl she spent hours teaching me how to make the most of things... sew the sides of sheets to the middle, remove or turn collars, save buttons... My favourite apron (for baking with Granny!) was carefully crafted from old curtains. Of course all these little skills were 'family secrets'... making new from old wasn't something her generation would brag about.
But now... it's called 'upcycling' LOL... eco chic :-)

Due to the fact that I can't draft for peanuts it didn't turn out anything like I'd pictured. I think its a bit wide on her and the gathered sleeve caps a bit OTT for someone so tiny. I was pleased though that I got to save time by using the original cuffs and that there was brown merino fabric still in the coverstitch binder to do the neckline.

Off to dig around in the back of my wardrobe and see what else can be 'transformed' ;-)

Christmas Sewing Part 2

2009-12-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

For quite a few years now I've been putting a homemade decoration in with my Christmas cards. I'm not sure if friendsandfamily think its a great idea or that I'm a little batty. But its 'my thing' now ;-)
This year I picked little felt gingerbread men from Urban Threads - great site! I only just found it and I'm headova!
Fabulous that two of these little lovelies fitted perfectly in a card! I remembered towards the end of making the mountain of little men just how bored of it I get (every year..) I am clearly not cut out for factory work.

I've also been busy making all the little lovelies in my life Santa Snack Stations .... obviously I didn't come up with the idea LOL.. and they required no real skill to make... but boy.. somehow they really challenged me!! I would always screw up at least one element and after the gingerbread men my patience for Mr Embroiderymachine was running low.
They are a cute idea though... and I figure that it's not worth being too picky about the stitching on something that only gets used one night a year ;-)

Add a couple of gingerbread men, a cutter and a new Christmas book and whamo... little package to make the eyes light up!

I'm going to try and score cheap Christmas fabric in the sales so next year can bring buntings and napkins

Two little outfits...

2009-12-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

One for my daughter and one to send to a little friend for Christmas.
The cord skirts are a lovely soft baby cord (trademe score).
The brown t-shirt is NZ merino from Levana and the pink knit I've had in stash for years and years ..

I was inspired to make a 'twirly' skirt so I could feel justified in having shelled out for an expensive ruffling foot.
I got said foot out of its box, sooo excited to get ruffling! Unfortunately Janome, as usual, aren't big on instructions 8-(
I couldn't even get it on the machine. Swear words.. swear words.
Luckily the internet came to my rescue 8-).. This lady is a saint!

I made each tier 2x the length of the one before... After I finished I read some tutes (mental note, read the tutes before sewing in the future) which said that they should be 1.5x. Oh well, turned out OK.

My husband was not pleased that I decided to put the appliques horizontally. I am not allowed to ask his opinion again if I'm not going to listen to him... I'm not too worried, he's threatened this before ;-)

I took the t-shirt styling from Ottobre 4/07 no 1. but changed the little neckline slit to the back. I really like this design for adding a bit of a girly touch.

First post - Christmas sewing

2009-12-11T00:55:00.000-08:00

My first post... this blogging thing is hard, much harder than sewing.. I hope someone reads it :o)

I've been doing lots of sewing for Christmas presents and wanted to do some showing off.

This was my first Christmas project - a little outfit for my nephew. My son was not happy to be modelling it for me

The jacket pattern is "Herringbone" tweed jacket from Ottobre 6/09 no 15.
As soon as I saw this I knew it would be perfect for my nephew. Unfortunately it's summer here and not easy to come by wool tweed. A fabulous friend came to my rescue and gifted me a some tweed from her stash that just screamed 'sports jacket' ... I was very happy!
So I cut it all out and managed to score the cord from a old pair of baby trousers and match the lining from a old dress. Then I freaked out ... eeekkk it looked hard!!! The fabric was so precious...It sat beside the machine for a week while I worked up some courage. Once I was sewing though it wasn't so bad. There was a minor freak out when I had no idea how to do the hemming. I rummaged through the cupboard and scrutinised all of my husbands suits LOL. In the end I threw my hands up in disgust, had a tantie and went to bed. Somehow in the morning I tried again to do the same thing and it worked. Hurray! Phew!
I was really pleased with the finished project. Its so dinkie.

Next I scored an old shirt and tie from the back of my Dad's cupboard. I used the pattern for the shirt that went with the jacket but in retrospect I shouldn't have because the collar was designed for a bow tie. I was pleased with myself that I managed to cut it out to use the original facings and buttons/buttonholes. Saved so much time! I think I should have cut the tie down further as it still ended up too chunky for a kids tie. You live and learn ;-)

Crossing fingers that it arrives before Christmas, that it fits him and that he (or at least his Mum) likes it.