Buzzy Bee trousers

I used a self drafted pattern to create these pajama bottoms for Mr F.  They are a good fit with room for a bit of leg growth. This was handed down fabric from my Mum. She had been using it to make bibs, and I'd been saving it for that as well. Unfortunately Mr F is now well over the bib stage so I thought I'd better use it up before it becomes unfashionable!

Don't feel any great need to fuss making a pajama top as he has lots of tee shirt tops to choose from at the moment.

Sewing weekend

I was lucky enough to go to the meet up fabric hoarders sewing weekend away a while ago.  It was a bit stressful packing up, had to tidy my sewing room first so only essential things came. Then my list of projects got too big and I left 4 of them behind. I did manage to get a skirt fixed, and  a summer a line skirt made. I also make a white tunic.

Suzanne arranged for us to decorate some bunting she had made and it hung up all weekend and made the whole place look fantastic. Emma from the Takahe bites  http://thetakahebites.wordpress.com/about/ 
was there along with 8 others and we had a great time. Of course was on a roll so no time to stop for photos

Cape challenge completed!

Finished my cape challenge. The Oliver & S red riding hood cape was so much fun to make. I made it slightly more complicated than necessary by making it reversable, and then having to rethread my machine about 6 times as I kept forgetting things!  I've already started cutting out my next cape, making it a medium size with a self drafted small hood, as the large cape fitted me rather than the age 6-10 it was designed for!  I had to put a red riding hood button on both sides that I bought especially from Stitchbird Fabrics (actually the buttons were the inspiration). So here it is.

All cut out and ready to sew. Its a crushed green cotton from Global Fabrics, and a red Cordroy that a friend gifted me.

The red side with the cute button.

 The fully reversable green side.

And to show its size in reality, modelled by Mr F age 3. (and no I could not get it to not rotate!).

craftsy the ultimate tee shirt 1

I'm very proud of actually finishing watching all of this class. I have yet to complete watching the "couture dress" (because really when am I going to spend that much time on something for me). Teh craftsy Kennith King "Jeanus make your own jeans" denimn material is now cushions which shows how unsuccessful that class was. (Maybe if I had actually made a pair of trousers before that may have helped)

I have cut pattern out then reviewed the instructions which I forgot had added in about 4 inches to the sleeves as you omitted a lower sleeve band. So it will be a 3/4 length sleeve. 

 This is me pin fitting the sides. Which were huge. I should probably have ripped out the neck band and resewn but kept thinking it had pressed out. Also had to add in back shoulder arm darts to stop the material being too bulky, but in reality once sewn they looked a bit strange (it can still be worn with a jacket). Also, managed to put the bust darts in too high, so it only looks good if you slouch your shoulders and pull the bottom tight.

 I liked the one inch hem and this was the first time I had used sewing adhesive, but it looks really good. I learnt a lot from the class, tried to make notes as I went. Next time I will make it short sleeved and try and perfect a tee shirt block from this.

cape motivation

Themonthlystitch.files.wordpress.com
 are  having a cape sew along this month. I'm planning on makjng oliver and s red riding hood cape for my niece.  I got so excited about it that I think I have bought the material about three times now, wanting to get the perfect material. In part because said niece wanted a green cape not red. so I think I am going to go for red on the outside with green lining.

Red knit dress

I made this dress to see if doing that knot thing in the front was as complicated as it looks. It wasn't but the arms look a bit funny on me - neither one thing no another. I put this back in my sewing pile to add sleeves to, and came across it when I was unpacking. Forgot about why it was still awaiting repair and wore it with a black top underneath. It didn't look too bad as I folded back the sleeves. Looked better the next time I wore it as I wore it with a black shrug so you couldn't see the arms at all. The front seam doesn't sit quite right, probably would have been good to try some sort of flat seam, but will try and press it before I wear it again and see if that makes a difference.

The problem with moving house

The problem with moving house, is that not only does it cut into your sewing time when you look for a house, when you find one you actually want to buy, you also suddenly find yourself needing to urgently do up your current house to put it on the market so you can afford the new house. Yes sensible people would look ahead and notice that second step and do something about it earlier, but I wasn't one of them. Which explains why I have been a bit slack on the sewing front. I did have a couple of project set aside so I could still do my monthly Sunday sewing, but in reality was too tired to actually sew, so just took along a sewing magazine and some trousers to hem. Now that we have actually moved, I've hit two issues I hadn't planned upon - the first being that after a month we have yet to find the camera battery chargers, and my sewing machine power cord. So I can't download any pictures, or make anything that can't be made on an overlocker with white thread (one day I will be brave enough to change it to black and curse for an hour afterwards...). I did find a couple of photos on the camera, so here is the pink nightshirt. For some reason I chose to follow the sizes on the pattern back/or read them wrong, but I ended up making a size 14, with a bad feeling all along about sizing, and I was right. It looks okay, but I really wanted something with a bit more movement in for sleep time, so this has now been gifted. I'm making this the next size up in blue, and have only the button holes to go (and a power cord to find)!