New patterns to review!

I had a bit of a sewing buzz and have knocked out four dresses over the last couple of days (one night I stayed up till midnight! Gah!).

I whipped up another knit dress for Thea using the Go To Signature Dress pattern - this time I did cap sleeves with ribbing, and an elastic waist.  Again, it sewed up in no time at all.





Amber made Macie a cute wee dress the other week, so I was keen to give it a go too - the Memory Lane Sun Dress.

I made it out of an old vintage sheet that my friend found.  It's very generous sizing - I made Thea the five but extended the straps and the middle part to give her some growing room.

Even though it has a back opening, it slips over her head easily.

Amber also had her eye on the Sally Dress pattern, so I bought it and gave it a go on the weekend.  The first time I made it, it took almost two hours! (That didn't include cutting up).

It used alot of material, and of course I had to overlock all the seams.  I probably wouldn't use quilting cotton again as it's pretty heavy.

I made a size 6 and it slips over her head fine, though I probably should have made it longer.

I also made the Sally Dress in the same sheet - much quicker this time and also the dress is much lighter.

This time for interest I added ric-rac under the bodice and on the pockets.

Whew, a big sewing effort from me!  I think Thea has more dresses than she can wear now! I should probably start sewing for me ;)

Sick day sewing

I am on day four of having the kids at home sick, which means I have missed out on both my Sewing Club, but also my weekly Tuesday morning sewing.

So today I decided to sew, and leave them to their own devices!

Thea hung out with me, cutting up bits of scrap, passing me pins and generally chattering away.  Oscar read in his room (love it when they get to that age!) so I didn't have to resort to a DVD babysitter :)

Today I made one thing for each of them - Thea some shorts and Oscar a new school book bag.

My husband gave me his star wars pillow cases from when he was a child, and as Oscar is still Star Wars mad (as are most of his friends), I thought he would be the envy of his classmates with a book bag.






For Thea, I gave KID Shorts pattern from Made a go - Dana's patterns are so easy to sew and to follow, and this one has heaps of different variations.  I chose the flat front with front pockets version.



I made it in knit so didn't bother finishing the seams - nice and quick for kindy!

Until next time,
Melissa

Who doesn't love yellow?

I found two t-shirts at Save Mart, one was grey/yellow stripe and the other was plain yellow - perfect for a three tier girls dress I had seen from Prudent Baby

So I made a few modifications to the tutorial.  I had to make the pattern bigger (and I made it quite big so will fit for a while), I didn't have enough material to make a lining for the bodice so I needed to finish the edges another way.

Using an existing garment can make sewing quicker as you can use the hems that are already there.  I always hate hemming :)

Around the edges I used fabric from the tshirts to create a binding.  The best thing about knit is you don't have to overlock it!  This is just for kindy so I didn't want to spend too much time on it.  Stretch might be my new favourite fabric ;)

Next up was a jumper for each child as they were running low.  Again I just used what I had - an old merino jersey of mine for Thea, and some merino I picked up at a fair a few years ago.

I used the Flashback Tee pattern again.  I swear, this is my new favourite pattern - so versatile, especially as it goes up to size 10!

For Thea's I wanted to add some colour, so a pink striped pocket on the front 'girlies' it up.

And my cutey seven year old even likes his jumper, and let me take some photos of him!  Pretty unheard of these days...

Both kids are going to wear their new clothes when we pick up nana from the airport tomorrow.

Until next time, Melissa

Flashback Tee into Dress

Today on my sewing morning I whipped up a dress for Thea, and it was that quick.



I used Made by Rae's Flashback Tee pattern, but added lenth and some width to make it into a dress.




While Thea is four, I made a size 6 - and it still could have been bigger!  The dress originally had long sleeves but they were very tight so I chopped them off and added a nice stretchy ribbed band.  Next time I would definately add more width or get a material that stretches more.



I wanted to add some more detail so stitched on a heart.

This pattern has infinte possibilities, plus will take your kids from 12m to 14 years so it's a good one to have in your stash.

Thea's happy anyway :)



 

 

 

 Till next time, Melissa 

 

 

Recycling

I have been having a good sort out of my wardrobe.  A few things I have set aside thinking I could make something out of them for Thea - one of them was a black merino long sleeved top.

My goal was:
- make it in the two and a bit hours between kindy pickup and school pickup
- not do a lot of sewing/altering
- add some embellishment
- use what I have

The first thing I did was cut off the sleeves following the stitch line to the bodice.  This would be too big for Thea so I shaped it slightly and then sewed it up a little bit on the inside.  Instead if heming, I used bias tape to sew around the edge.



I didn't touch the neck or the hem.

Next it needed some defination around the waist so I grabbed some more bias tape (this time very wide) and stitched it onto the dress along the top and bottom, leaving a gap in the middle.

Lastly I threaded through some white ribbon and it was done!

(scuse the expression!)

 Thea has been wearing this to kindy and its a great warm layer for these cold winter days.

'Till next time, Melissa

Its Cullen's Turn

How many of you crafters are guilty like me? I have a son and a daughter and my daughter does way better out of my crafting than my son. Don't get me wrong - he doesn't get nothing. Over the years he has had many a project focused on him like a darth vadar cape, long shorts, pj pants, wallets, pouches, crochet beanies... to name a few. However, Macie definitely gets flooded with gifts of the sewing machine. Girls are more interesting to sew for perhaps - skirts, dresses, tops, dolls, dolls clothes..... jackets, pants, hair accessories.... 

Anyway, today it was Cullen's turn. I was excited, he was really excited.

My project was an upcycled merino jersey that belonged to my husband. It was a work one that could no longer be worn to work due to the bank changing names and the wee hole in the sleeve. It was still in really really good nick and given that my hubbie is a 2xl, plenty of fabric to play with. I also had some contrasting merino in a green and grey stripe that I had in my stash from a recent Martinborough fair. (If you are ever able to go to the fair, the off cut merino stalls are a great way to pick up a metre or so of great merino in plenty of colours for projects like this one for a very reasonable price).

I found a great burda pattern.. its pattern 9614, sorry poor pic but you get the idea.

 It has four options for knit fabrics. Short and long sleeve t shirts, a hoodied t shirt like one below and a no hood option. Great valued pattern - it comes in size 3-13! Only downside is, you have to trace your pattern pieces and make your own if you want the pattern to actually last up until size 13. I have the size 7 cut out now and will also do a size 5 for Macie next. 

 So here is my handsome red head modelling his new top. These are proud smiles!

 We quite like the wee pocket option on the front.

Great days sewing today on this rainy Sunday. Macie has her 2nd pair of PJ pants, and we have cut out her Belle dress ready for Sew Club this week. I look forward to sharing with you the trials and successes of sewing that. Looks darn fiddly. Here are the pj pants in any case - not fiddly at all ;)

Happy sewing this week! A xx

Piggy PJ's? Why not?!

Right now in our house we seem to be going through pj's like they are going out of fashion. Macie is growing really fast. She likes to be tucked in.... you know, pj top tucked firmly into pj bottoms and it stays that way all the night through. Kinda hard ask of current pj's. The tops don't stay tucked for long. The pants are getting a tad too short. Solution..?.. Mummy digs out some great flannel that Grandma had given her about 2 years ago. And guess what?! There was a choice of about 5 colours/designs. Macie chose piggy's and purple with stars (those cut out ready to sew).

It might be a good place to mention that my Mum is quilt mad and a little.. ok a lot... obsessed with pigs. She purchased about 2 metres of this flannette some time ago - perhaps for a quilt backing. Anyway, now about 70 cm of it has been used to clothe her granddaughter.

 Check out the look on her face! Good models are hard to come by at the mo! Wait til you see the last pic!!!

These pj pants were from a boys pattern for sweatpants. I have done the pattern to death. It has been mended twice with cellotape. I used it to make these shorts several summers ago for Cullen. This time I have made them full length - with a good sized hem so I can let it down for next winter.

I popped to TNT this avo as they were having a good sale and picked up two long sleeved cotton tops so to use as pj tops. Pretty sure this one will have plenty of 'tuck in ability'.

 The print on the pants is actually really sweet. Macie loves them. Fresh flannel is so warm and snug. We whipped these up in about 30 mins this evening waiting for Daddy to arrive home. Quick hem and they were on. Right now she is snuggled up in her bed wearing her piggy pj's. Love it! I love that sewing can be quick, easy and useful. I have even remembered to add my little orange tag. It goes on all the things I make (if I remember).

Here she is...look at that face!!!!!!!.... sick of mummy trying to get a shot in focus - help needed with the photography please RachaelBrownPhotography! Happy sewing everyone!