Sunday 13 January 2013

Hear me Roar!

Making roaring noises when she sees a picture of a lion (or a bear for that matter) is one of Layla's favourite things at the moment.  So when I saw this lovely lion print I couldn't resist buying some and I made this little playsuit.


This is a pattern from a burda magazine from sometime in the 80's that I found in an opshop.  The adult patterns are all very boxy, and well 80's ish but there are some baby patterns that are sweet (boxy too but babies are relatively square things ..... with very rounded edges).

Its got little frills of navy linen at the bottom of the legs and buttons down the front.  I think she looks very cute in it especially with her little blue shoes.  I managed to get some good shots sitting down but she doesn't stand still long so those ones are a bit blurry as she tottered past!

You also get a bit of a sighting of another present I made for my 2 girls for Christmas.
A teepee!
 

 This was very easy to make out of a single sheet. ( I love the flowers and the butterflies on this one - perfect for a garden tent).  Basically you cut it into 3 triangles and 2 half triangles (which are at the ends) using all the material.   Then sew up the sides!  Easy.

You could sew the sides together and then make a tube for the poles by sewing a bit further in.  I decided to add contrast tubes for the poles so just sewed the 4 bits of fabric on each seam.  These tubes are closed off at the bottom so the poles don't slide out.

The selvedge means you don't have to hem it and as the ends of the sheet are already hemmed I just sewed a bit of contrast at the top to join them together, added some ties and did a long strip to tie the poles together at the top.

It worked pretty well.  Initially it was a bit tricky to keep the poles all the way in.  I thought the tension from the shape and the tie around the top would do it but once I put little screws in the top to attach the material to the poles it worked much better.  I am sure there might be a better way to do this, please let me know if you know.  Its also not very resistant to strong winds, I think pegs might solve this but as we are not really planning on camping out in storm conditions (well not in this one atleast) I haven't added any loops for them. 

I had been meaning to make them a tepee for about a year so very pleased that I finally managed to do it and not make a dress!  Back to grown up sewing for a bit though now.

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Small Christmas Candy Stripes

Well I'm not normally into matchy matchy mummy and daughter stuff (see here for my one) but I wanted to make some clothes for my 2 smalls for Christmas and found I had just enough of the srtipey material to make a smock top for Skye.  Amazing, no scraps atall.  Pretty good for me..... for whom the fabric always comes first so is rarely the right amount for a pattern. 


Anyway it and the shorts are from Burda 05/12.  Really cute little girls patterns.  I adapted it a bit as I didn't want an opening all the way down the back and got myself in a bit of a mess finishing all the yoke neatly.  It turned out ok but not perfect.  And really I am less fussy with little people's clothes because they will not be wearing them for that long and in 5 minutes they will be covered with food, mud etc. anyway!

I've made 3 pairs of these little shorts for her now too.  They are just great..... complete with pockets to fill with collections.  The 1st 2 pairs with elastic at the bottom too and then these ones from one of their Dad's old shirts. (hmm turns out it maybe it wasn't quite as old as I thought but hey its definitely getting more wear now and he seems to have forgiven me!  He was away at work, I was clearing out our cupboards ..... what can I say??!).



I am pleased to report that we have not yet worn our outfits on the same day.

I actually quite enjoyed making these.  I do like sewing for my little people although generally I am not crazy about making small fiddly things.  I think the thought of all the little pattern pieces and short seams and general fiddling really puts me off.  Do you enjoy sewing little clothes? Is it just my phobia?

Photos of Layla in her Lion suit to follow, and maybe Skye's other shorts and nice top.  Not a very good phobia I guess if I still manage to make them a few things.

Saturday 5 January 2013

Christmas Candy Stripes

Well its not a style I would ever have brought or probably even tried on in the shop.  I saw all these peplums and I thought bleeugh.  Not my style, I have no waist.  Then I saw this one by Jorth and I went wow! THAT IS JUST SO COOL.  I didn't have that Vogue pattern or that August Burda pattern that everyone else made but then I got the November issue and there was one in there with pleats, yey.

So thats what I made.  I traced the pattern and then tried to find some material in my (VAST) pile.  I wanted to make it out of an old indonesian Style patchwork skirt but that pleated peplum needs LOTS of material. Too much for another dress I cut up too.  So I slept on it a couple of days and then remembered that I had a stripey cotton that I got in the op shop a while ago.  I had been planning one of these but hey, plans change.

So here it is.





 I still don't think I would have brought one but I do like it.  And it only cost me about $5 including the magazine and the zip so that's pretty good too.  And it matches my new red shoes too. (bit of a theme here but as I've always been a girl that wears pink its a nice change).  Here's what I did.....

  • Cut a 10/12, think it was more a 10 maybe up a bit to a 12 round the bust, did it on my measurements and I'm really pleased with the fit.
  • Its summer so no sleeves for me (and not enough material either).
  • Put in a good invisible zip.  I've not done many and I've only got one of those plastic feet that everyone rubbishes but it worked pretty well if I say so myself.
  • I didn't add any length to the torso but if I was making this again I definitely would (so maybe I do have a long torso afterall).  The waist seems to sit just below my ribs which just feels a bit weird to me.  Think it also make me look a bit boxier than maybe I need to.....but it not a big thing.
I wore it on Christmas day with a red belt (in santa helper style) and yesterday to work.  I've worn it with this skirt both times (also from the op shop - you'll notice I like them!).  Think it would also look good with my skinny jeans but 40 degree heat and all the chocolates I have eaten over Christmas mean that just not possible at the moment.  I did try yesterday but it just wasn't happening.  I couldn't bend my legs to cycle to work!  Not that the skirt is much better but you can hitch it up atleast! 

On a side note ....... I'm really pleased with how my finished things look recently.  I think they're getting much less 'home made' looking which I'm really pleased about. 




Hmmm... Was getting a bit self concious with all the posing. Not sure this helped!