My creative space: size up

I bought half a metre of red and blue car corduroy on the cheap last week.  My sole intention was to make a pair of pants for the boy.  Last time I made these I was still using the 6-12 months pattern, I skipped the 12-18 months size and went straight onto the 18-24 months size seeing as he will be 18 months in a few short weeks time.  Aaargh, they're too big!  Never mind, there's plenty of shorts and t-shirt weather around here for a time yet so here's hoping these will be the perfect size for the colder months later in the year.

I love a pair of oversized pants on a kid though, they look so cute and funny.

We had a lot of fun mucking about in his room this morning, there's a huge mirror in there and I quickly realised it's easy to get caught out in the background while taking photos...and I should really have moved that fan to the side before I started...never mind, I'm just showing you to a bit of "real life" around at our place this morning.

Ah so what, let's have a go and some self portraiture while we're at it!  

Joining in with these talented folks today.

My creative space: operation alteration

I've got a little alteration job to do.  I found this lovely dress hanging on a rack of left over summer stuff at the BigW department store.

Talk about a super special. That's right, the price tag says $5.

The dress is a size 16 though, which I am not, but it's not massively huge on me so a little taking in down the sides, particularly around the armholes ought to do it.

There's always a tie to bring it in at the back.

I've started by removing the side zipper.

Yes, there's a bit of summer sewing going on....because in a month we are heading to the European summer for a bit of a frolic in the sunshine.  Whoo hoo!

For more creative spaces pop on over here!

My creative space: adventures in pattern making

The more I sew clothing the more I am thinking about the patterns I use and the different results they give.  I used to accept the pattern pieces as ridged, fixed and mysterious in their own ways, I knew nothing about making adjustments to fit.  But now I see more about how they are shaped and how they work and I start thinking of changing this bit or that bit to please myself, and sometimes I am sure, an other times I am really unsure of what other changes might flow on from that.  It's an interesting learning process.

I have a pile of traced patterns in front of me today, I've been looking at things I've made in the past, things I've made more recently, and clothes I have bought from the shops.  I'm thinking about what I like about those garments, what I don't like...and I'm trying to morph two different patterns together to produce a top for myself to my own liking.

I'm adjusting sizes and making things less fitted and more roomy.  It's a peasant style where the sleeve pieces make up the shoulders of the top, but I don't want all the elastic around the neck to draw it in so I'm going to try gathering or pleats and some bias binding; short sleeves because that's what we wear for most of the year in our climate, maybe elastic in the sleeves, maybe not, I'll see how I feel about that as I start constructing it.

I kind of promised myself I wouldn't sew clothes from quilting fabric anymore, but when I found a substantial amount of this green and pink floral fabric in the remnants bin at the store I decided I may as well be wearing it rather than leaving it there.

After some sketching, measuring, calculating and eyeballing I've cut out the pattern, pinned it down and am ready to cut...

For more creative spaces, head on over here.

My creative space: Oh, that old thing!

I started making a wrap skirt way back in April 2011...confession time: I didn't finish it.  Something to do with being preggas at the time probably.  Last week on the reduced table at Spotlight for $4/metre there was a small black and white floral print that suddenly hit me as just the thing for the reverse side of this particular "work in progress" (cough, cough). 

It's raining again here so I'm doing a little bit of cutting out while the bebe naps.

Every project has its day, right?.

This is certainly a record long time for me to finish a project, I'm a finisher (99.9% of the time).  Is there something you made that took longer?  Please spill to make me feel better!

Today I'm linking up over here.

The craft fairy meets the tooth fairy

So many bags for my boy on a busy school day - school back pack, lunch cooler bag, swimming bag.  But wait, he needs another one, a really small one....

...something to put those tiny pearly baby teeth in.

The tooth fairy has had to come visiting around here for the second time.  Last time we put the fallen out tooth under an upturned glass on the bedside table, as I remember doing as a child, but this time the five year old insisted that the tooth (wrapped in a tissue) really should be left under his pillow.

I couldn't just go throwing a dollar coin under his pillow now, could I?  About half an hour of night time couch craft resulted in a little blue felt bag with a happy tooth embroidered on the front flap.  

In went the coin, under the pillow, and (toothless) smiles all round in the morning.

Today I'm linking up with Our Creative Spaces.

Slow and steady

Hello there!  Lots of slow and steady sewing around here, a list a mile long of things to get finished, or even get started on for that matter.

Today its wet, cool and very quiet in our neighbourhood.  Perfect for staying in, the only problem being is that I am increasingly getting hungry and there's nothing decent to eat in the cupboard (well, there sure is food, just nothing that I 'really' want to eat, you know).

Well anyway, the sewing - my top needs hemming but it's basically done.

And I've been down on the floor with my tools cutting out a pattern from the Japanese dress book I talked about last week.

The one I am making is the first one in the book, dress A.  Its super easy but still uses a good range of dressmaking skills.  Strangely for a practice run in a fabric I might not even wear I am going to a bit more trouble than I might otherwise, even making bias binding for the neckline.

Some pretty gathering in the front.

No sleeves to worry about.

I'm still curious about the fit so hopefully I'll have this one finished up in no time and I'll be able to think about using nicer fabric.

I'm linking up with Our Creative Spaces this week.

Going Japanese (translated)

 

I am currently a little bit ridiculously obsessed with sewing clothes for myself.  This is probably a good thing because:
1. I am breastfeeding and it hard to find nice clothes that are suitable for easy feeding
2. I'm fussy and its hard for me to find clothes that I actually like in the shops
3. Shopping with a baby in tow is the pits
4. I dig the idea of a "label free" and handmade wardrobe
5. I have vowed to wear less t-shirts and more blouse like tops with pretty prints
6. It's still decidedly hot here in Brisbane so I'm taking advantage of some lovely light cottons available at the fabric shop
7. It's kinder on the family budget and enjoyable to make my own

So I've been tracing patterns and am in the throws of making a few versions of this (the pattern cover illustrations are lousy but it does make a nice top, I'll model them for you later):

And I also ordered this book which arrived in my mailbox earlier in the week - I love a bit of parcel mail for me! (I reason that sewing my own clothes justifies the purchase of a new sewing book, or you might argue that such a thing never needs justification...)

The Stylish Dress Book - I may perhaps be a little late to come to the Japanese sewing book party, but recently a late night session of internet browsing on this topic had me itching to try some for myself. You should have a browse through the blog Make Something if you want some drop dead gorgeous inspiration.

And did you know that this particular book now comes in English?  Yes folks, last year it was released as an English translation with Western sizing from size 6 to size 16. Although I'm not afraid of trying a Japanese version, I think the translated version is a real bonus as an introduction to using these books.

Although a lot of the designs are not that breastfeeding friendly I am going to try a few things, I have my eye on shortening a particular style into a top, and I'm dreaming of what I would like to try later in the year when the weather cools down somewhat.  So today I'm tracing away from the patterns sheets (stealing husband's architectural tracing paper) and I'm going to grab some unwanted fabric and start making up a size to see how the fit is.  I kind of measure between a 12 hips and 14 bust, but the styles are very loose so I'm going to ignore the sizing table for now and "sew it and see".

Today I'm liking up over here, too.

Perfect

I've had tonsilitis this week, so I've learned to be a woman of few words.

The pants.

And the toes.

That's all.

I'm playing over here today.

Free at last

I've lately been through a weird patch with my sewing - making under pressure.  Even though I have had practically zero time to do any sewing at all I have managed to complete quite a few projects that were either hanging over from before the baby made his surprise arrival, or were requested shortly after his arrival.

I've managed to finish making a cover for an Ikea chair (my late pregnancy foray into upholstering shall be the subject of another post, another time), I made two little pinafore dresses that were requested by a lovely local customer and I also made a baby blanket that was requested through the shop.

Phew - exhausting, yes? Now that's all out of the way I feel more of a lightness and a freedom to start creating again without any timelines or pressures to finish something by a certain date, or because I promised someone it would be done.  I feel like my slate is clean.

Now there's a half finished toddlers dress in the sewing room, and there's no pressure to get back to it until early next week when a sleeping baby and a five year old at kindergarten allows me some breathing space to snatch a little creative time.  I'm also starting to get a list of things I want to make ticking through my mind again, which is a good sign.  All I need is time.

More creativity over here.

My creative space: Production line

This week has been all about baking and hardly at all about sewing.  My husband's birthday necessitated a chocolate mud cake early in the week.  Then some batches of muffins and a fruit loaf later I was up to a double batch of chocolate chip cookies today.

Why?  Baking for the Red Hill Kindergarten Fair this weekend. 

After lunch the little man and I set up a cookie production line.



Yummy, buttery, sugary batter...

Teaspoonfuls ready for baking



Ten minutes later - warm, buttery, chocolatey goodness...

That's what fifty chocolate chip cookies look like in a pile.



All packaged up ready for sale.



But don't worry, the double batch means there is plenty left over for the family.  I'm not going to all that effort just to give them all away!

Recipe was straight off the packet of chocolate chips:

125g butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup castor sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 egg

1 1/2 cups SR flour

3/4 cup choc chips

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. 

Add vanilla essence and egg, mix well. 

Add flour until all combined, lastly add chocolate chips.

Drop teaspoonfuls onto baking paper lined trays, leaving space for spreading. 

Bake in moderate oven for 10-15 minutes. 

Place on wire rack to cool.

Makes approx. 30

Sharing over here today!

Blanket stitch

I've discovered a new passion lately - making baby blankets.

It all started when I made one for the silent auction for the kindergarten fair.  I really enjoyed the evenings sitting and stitching the binding by hand in front of the heater and the television (knitters and crocheters I'm sure you can relate). 

 I was really sorry to give it away in the end, I love those fabrics (more Denyse Schmidt fabric love over here, and here).

So I got to and made another.  I had the patchwork top in my stash (made from a doona cover I had as a kid) and teamed it with pink flanelette and white binding (keeping it on the shelf at the moment in case I want to own something pink in 8 weeks).

Right now I'm on blanket number three.  I attacked some vintage sheets, hopefully a more uni-sex yellow and blue combination.  I'm making my way through the sewing of the binding - I even took it along to swimming lessons this morning...crafting in public...gasp!

Playing along with creative spaces today.

Quick fix maternity wear

At the moment I am attempting a sewing project for myself.  I don't really know why actually - being six months pregnant means any sewing project comes with severe difficulties in the fitting department and the cold weather is not exactly conducive to wearing what I am making.  Never the less I am forging on ahead mainly because having something new in my wardrobe is a very attractive proposition right now.

Cue one black maternity skirt I kept from my last pregnancy - I really only bought it because of the woollen floral embroidery around the lower edge.  I really do hate the style though, its got little pleats around it that make it kind of full and boofy. Having wide shoulders (by nature) and ample bosom/large stomach (at the moment) I already feel big enough on my top half, I don't need a full style skirt making me look bigger around my lower half than necessary.  I'm an A-line girl, I'm going to make an A-line maternity skirt out of a piece of black and white Ikea fabric. 

And I'm going to use this length of vintage bias binding to hem it. Yes I am.

I've ripped off the cotton rib waistband from the old skirt, I've measured and measured again my "waist", some of my existing skirts and the old maternity skirt...and I'm just going to take the plunge, cut it out, sew the sides and put the elastic waist band on and hem it.  Sewing on the edge here today!  I figure if it doesn't fit I can wear it post-pregnancy.  Thats how I figure, anyway.

My creative space: out of the scrap bag

I made a nice mess.  I emptied my scrap bag onto the floor of the sewing room, sorted out the different colours into little piles, then left it there for a week or two.  As I said, messy.

I've now started to work my way through the piles looking for pieces that are big enough for making into a few strings of bunting. 

The scraps that are too small for bunting?  Probably they'll go back in the bag for now and one day I'll cut them all into strips and sew them together.  I'll admit it, I'm totally a scrap hoarder.  What about you?

More creative spaces here...

My creative space: hoot

A departure from the usual here today - going for construction of a rather challenging softie.  I'm finishing the easy part (the front face, wings etc.) and then its onto the edging strip that's got kind of mitred corners around the ears...oh its too complicated to even talk about.  I might be needing a little bit of luck on this one that it turns out OK for a party on Saturday.

If you want to see what I'm on about you can see the tutorial  for the Snuggly Owl over at Sewing Republic.

If you want a real hoot then head over to Our Creative Spaces!

My creative space...brooch progress

I tipped my scrap bag upside down and sent the contents spewing onto the craft room floor on Tuesday afternoon.  I sorted the scraps into piles according to colour and in there I also came across a few pieces of doily.  It struck me immediately to do something with them for the brooch swap.

I have cut off a little piece of edging and machine stitched it down to navy blue cotton with a bit of trim along the cut edge.  I'm really like it so far, but I do have to sort out how this is going to become a structural brooch, and what shape!  I think a full circle is going to be too big, so maybe a half circle?  Must find that thinking cap and put it on for a while this afternoon.

You can find more creative spaces over here.