And ACTION...!!!

I couldnt resist a few action shots of Chloe in her new dress, my model however had other plans for those brief five minutes this morning and thus didnt really have her heart in the whole project.

And thats it, shoot is now officially over, model is returning to her abode.

Pattern Alteration in ONE easy step...

Step One: Alter entire mind set!

All my life I've thought of sewing as something quite difficult, incredibly frustrating and probably not worth the effort.  The basis for this sewing outlook started for me at the tender age of 5 with "The White Dress".  Mum decided to make a white pinafore dress for a special occasion when I was about 5.  From what I can remember it had a fairly simply bodice, waist band, skirt and a side zipper.  While I dont clearly remember the dress in great detail, I can quite clearly remember the frustration and angst it caused Mum, not to mention getting called over every 5 minutes to try the damn thing on (well it felt like every 5 minutes anyway).  I dont remember her making any of our clothes after that, the machine only came out for mending.

That was my first experience with home sewing (and it wasnt even me doing the sewing) and its shaped my sewing life.  Fortunately as I complete projects I'm finding it easier to shake the ghosts of sewing past and as I do so I've come to find that yes while sewing can be frustrating and sometimes difficult it can also be particularly rewarding and often times far more simple that expected, not to mention you get to hoard incredibly gorgeous fabric.  That last one, I'm really good at!!!!

So here goes... step one: alter entire mind set...

When I received my yard of Minny Muu's Tiny Strawberries from Sew, Mama, Sew, Paul was home and the first thing he asked was "so what are you going to do with it?"  Now I had every intention of hoarding it away as I do but it doesn't go down too well when you say you are adding it to the stockpile.  So I kind of evasively said I didnt really know yet.  As it turns out that doesnt go down too well either because he immediately said "why did you buy it then?" (Well derrr dear... although that probably wouldnt have gone down well at all LOL).  "Because it was cute" was my reply and cue male eye roll.  Anyway, I was determine to make something immediately just so I could say "see, see, I've done something with it".

As I said, I had no idea what I was going to do with it but I knew it was going to have to be something simple to compliment the fabric.  A flick through my Japanese pattern book gave me the idea to do simple pleats in the front but I wanted two pleats not just the one pleat dress which is in the book.  A flick through my Ottos provided further inspiration in the form of this:

It was exactly what I wanted... well except for the glaringly obvious fact that its a winter dress which lets face it would be absolute overkill in an Australian summer and not really the best way to use such a soft light fabric.

In the past I would have thrown up my hands in despair and gone for the Japanese dress even though it wasnt exactly what I wanted.  This time I really thought about what I was doing, similar projects I had done in the past, how the dress was constructed and if it would be possible to alter it the way I wanted.  My recent experience with the Button Top and Cherub dress made me realise that I could very easily remove the sleeves and simply line the bodice (which would be a plus considering that the fabric is very light).  However the dress in the picture has a zipper and not being confident to do the lining and zipper I decided that the zipper simply had to go.  With no zipper in the back I didn't need two separate back pieces for the skirt and so I cut it out as one just like the front.  How I was going to keep the whole lot together at the back with no zipper was a complete mystery and it wasnt until I was top stitching that I had my light bulb moment and finally decided to do one simple ribbon at the top to compliment what would eventually be on the front.

Once I had it clear in my head exactly how I was going to construct this it all went together so very easily.  In fact, the hardest thing about the whole dress was the agonising decision on whether or not I should add the ric rac trim to the neckline and hem.  Fortunately a quick poll at Crafty Mamas and the overwhelming majority voted that ric rac was the way to go.

(Actually I'll amend that, the hardest thing about this whole project was trying to find the red thread to stitch the ric rac on with.  I found the bobbin no trouble but it took ages to find the cotton and I knew I had used it to sew on the ribbon at the front and I was determine not to buy another because I knew I had some.  Anyway I finally found it... lets just say, dont leave cotton reels out where new kittens might get hold of them otherwise they could end up in a completely different place from where you left them such as oh I dont know in amongst all your shoes in your wardrobe maybe.)

So there we go, more sewing ghosts banished.  Its nice to know that I am competent enough to make alterations if necessary and not just tiny alterations either.  That just because a pattern says "this is what I am" it doesnt mean that is exactly what it has to be.  I'm absolutely thrilled with the way the dress has turned out.  Its perfect, exactly what I wanted!!!

 

PATTERN INSPIRATION: Ottobre 4/2005 Pattern 1 Baby's Dress with modifications (Size 98cm)
FABRIC: Minny Muu Tiny Strawberries Natural from Sew, Mama, Sew
TRIM: Red French Baby Ric Rac from Ribbons Galore

When is a quilt cover not a quilt cover...?

When its a cute little Button Top and Ruffle Pants of course.

When I first saw this quilt cover on Ezibuy, I knew I absolutely had to have it and I knew immediately that it would not be used as intended ie as a quilt cover.  The great thing about the Ezibuy quilt covers is you get a lovely top print, you get a lovely coordinating back print (and you get a lot of both), the quality is really good and you can often get them at around 40% off if you wait for them to go on sale... and thats what I did.

So I had my super cute material, I needed a fun pattern to go with it and I decided to do the Button Top and Ruffled Pants from Ottobre 3/2008 again.  The pattern really suits this material dont you think.  All the ruffles have such a fun look to them and the two materials compliment each other perfectly, as you would expect.

So next time you are looking for some coordinating fabric for that next project, try a quilt cover.  In fact just as soon as this one goes on sale I think I might have to get it... for me this time.

(Pics are coming... just waiting for the camera battery to recharge *sigh*, why do these things always run out when you are in the middle of something).

And here we go... you'll have to forgive us for its rather crumpled state, Madam had quite literally just woken up from her nap, yes pigtails and all.

Just on a side note, I couldnt even use the pattern pieces I had already cut out from my first set.  My dear daughter decided to grow 5cm between October and December meaning she needed the 98cm rather than the 92cm.  What a ratbag!!!!

Baby Nay grows up (I'm a wee bit excited about this one)...

OK its fair to say that I have a bit of a Baby Nay obsession.  I love the designs, kind of traditional but with a modern twist and many have a definite Asian influence.  Anyways, The Fabric Fairy has quite a nice array of Baby Nay and I've recently bought quite a bit of the Petit Fleur Stretch Poplin.  The only thing is when I bought it I only saw the design.  True to form I didnt actually read what it was, just did the usual "that looks nice" and into the shopping cart it goes.  In fact, when I finally received it I gave it a bit of a glance "yes that really is quite nice" and into the stash it goes.  It wasnt until a few weeks later that I actually got it out and really touched it (and this is after I put in an order for a bit more).  At that point I'm thinking "hey cool, this stretches".  Yes I know, sad isnt it.

So here I am with my beautiful stretchy Baby Nay and thinking what am I going to do with this.  Because its a stretch it is quite a bit thicker than the usual poplin I work with and felt it was possibly a little thick for something for Chloe.  And given that there are only two girls in this house guess who gets a new Baby Nay outfit - yes me!!!!  And thats pretty damn exciting let me tell you.

But what to make?  I dont actually have a lot of patterns for me.  I've started getting the Ottobre womens magazines but having only just one winter one didnt help.  Flicking through the kids patterns however I came across a lovely summer top I've been wanting to try for ages.

I've recently got myself a massive Olfa cutting mat and an Olfa rotary cutter with guide arm.  Boy did this make tracing and cutting a breeze.  The material sewed up like a dream, it was so nice to work with.  And I even had some really nice buttons which compliment it perfectly sitting there waiting to be used (I had actually bought the buttons for Chloe's cherub outfit but decided to go with the clear ones instead).

All in all I was thrilled with the pattern, I was thrilled with the fabric and I'm certainly thrilled with the results.  I might even have to make myself some more bits and pieces

Fabric: Petit Fleur by Baby Nay from The Fabric Fairy
Pattern: Pattern 39 from Issue 2/2005 Ottobre Design

The Cherub Collection Pics

Its been all go here!!

Sorry I've been out of touch in blog land for such a long time - what with various technical difficulties, holidays and visiting rellies its been almost impossible to get near a computer.

At the end of September my wonderful sister-in-law and her husband arrived from the UK. Its always so lovely to have them stay with us and despite the fact that they were in Australia for 3 weeks it seemed to be over much, much to fast.

While they were here we decided to incorporate a family holiday into their holiday which saw all 7 of us head up to Darwin where we stayed with Mum for 10 days. Given that our rellies hadn't been to Darwin before, we did the whole tourist shebang!!! This included (but was not limited to) the Jumping Crocodile cruise, Crocosaurus Cove, Beatrice Hill, Fogg Dam, city centre, museum, wharf etc etc. Paul even took them to Katherine for the day (the kids and I stayed at home in the pool on this day, the 3 hour drive wasnt appealing). We managed to cram something in to every day we were there. Needless to say, by the time we got back we needed a holiday to get over the holiday LOL.

Of course with the end of the school holidays that wasnt to be. It was very quickly back into the old routine.

Just before we left for Darwin I was madly sewing up a few bits and pieces for Chloe. You've already seen the first part of the outfit here, its the little Button Top from Ottobre. But before we left I wanted to make a few other pieces to make a complete set... so I also made the Tie-Back tunic/dress and the Ruffle Back pants from that same issue. I did get started on the Daisy pants as well but in the end just ran out of time before we left (as it turns out it was probably too warm up in Darwin for her to wear those anyway).

So what I've ended up with is a gorgeous mix and match set. The little pants are perfect as a nappy cover under the dress or teamed with the top are just right for those super hot Perth days. The longer pants are going to be great for evenings out when something just a tiny bit longer is needed.

The tunic/dress is a bit longer than the one in the magazine. I added the appropriate hem lengths when cutting but when the time came to do the actual hem I decided to go with a rolled hem instead. The poplin is quite thin and if I had have done a proper hem it would have ended up with a noticable white band around the bottom which was not something I wanted. (All right, all right I admit it... the rolled hem was sheer laziness and it was only after I did it that I thought about the whole white band around the bottom thing.) The rolled hem suits the dress perfectly and the length is just right as well.

And did I mention how easily these all came together. I was thrilled!!! While the ties on the back of the dress look somewhat complicated, they are actually quite easy and the ruffle pants absolutely flew together. I even did my first waist band the "Otto way" and I was really happy with the results.

I'm still yet to finish the pants. Post holiday clean ups and a big 7 year old birthday party have meant sewing time (like computer time) has been non-existant. But from what I've accomplished so far it looks like these pants are going to be just as cute and just as easy as the rest of the outfit pieces.

Pics are on the way...

Baby Nay... where the love began

Like many of the fabrics in my stash, the Baby Nay has a bit of a story behind it. It began about 18 months ago when I bought this fitted nappy for Chloe from Hyena Cart


As soon as I saw it I knew that I absolutely had to have it no matter what. But at the same time I also thought that an outfit in the same material would make for an divine nappy set. And so with just the words "Baby Nay" to work with I set about trying to find the elusive fabric. And after many a fail attempt I finally did get my hands on some at Show Me The Fabric (and check this out, they still have 1 yard left here).

So yippe, I had 3 yards of the stuff. The very first thing I did was send off some to Zig Zag Wraps to get a lovely nappy cover made but after that the rest of it sat in the stash. This wasnt because I didnt want to use it, it was simply because I couldnt find the right pattern for it. And so Chloe grew out of the nappy cover and then the nappy and still no outfit.

But as soon as I saw the pattern in the Ottobre magazine I knew that was the outfit which Baby Nay was to become.

The contrast material is a quilting fabric from Spotlight. Ottobre use a gingham in theirs and I did start out looking at the ginghams but they had none of the really rich reds or pretty pinks like this. I did find a ticking which had the right red but being ticking it was quite bland, just the stripe, I definitely wanted something more striking but thought I could always come back to the ticking if nothing else presented itself. I only took a look at the quilting fabric as a very last resort, just in case and I'm so glad I did because this pretty material looks like it was made to go with the Baby Nay. The colours are a perfect match.

So the only thing left to do now is add some buttons to the back. I did buy some pink ones from Spotlight but they just arent right. They did have some really striking red foil type ones but they were so tiny. Might have to check out some different stores and see what I can find.

Ottobre Button Top in Baby Nay

I'll have to provide the full run down shortly...

A few things that I've learnt lately...

I'm currently working on this outfit for madam from Ottobre magazine 3/2008 and in doing so I've learnt a few valuable lesson. Actually I'll amend that, I've had a few lessons re-enforced that I should already know.

1. When it comes to doing rolled hems especially around curves, slow and steady really does win the race!!!

2. Pinning before sewing is not necessarily the slower way to do things, particularly when you have to unpick twice before thinking "gee maybe I'll pin this and then sew".

3. When it comes to doing gathers, two rows of stitching is definitely better than one.

4. If your topstitching looks fantastic on the front... something must be wrong at the back (in this case the lining was caught up and wonky).

5. That a little extra time and effort really does produce great results.

I'm really happy with how this is coming together so far despite some of the moments I've had with it. I cant wait to show it off.

Finally, a satisfied customer...

I tried the Safari shirt on Alex yesterday. Expecting his usual reaction I was quite surprised that he didn't make any fuss. Maybe he didn't realise it was made by mummy.

What do you think, he looks rather impressed right?

Safari anyone???

Yesterday I said that I was going to make finishing a couple of items I found a priority. Well last night I finished one of them. Its a shirt that I was making for Samuel but it looks like Alex might end up scoring this one too. Oops, probably not a good idea to finish things for the kids after they've outgrown them.

I probably started this about 18 months ago (yes truly it was that long ago). Its quite interesting to see how far I've progressed. I've noticed things, mostly with the overlocking, that I'm not quite happy with. Some very small areas on the inside havent been finished quite right but hey they are on the inside and its great to see that I'm get much fussier as I get better. I still love how it turned out though, it looks awesome. I love the epaulettes on the shoulders.

So without further ado...

Boys shirt: Ottobre 2/2005 Pattern 25
Fabric: Spotlight

Chocolate Frogs

In the world of frogs, one frogs stands out in a league of his own... the chocolate frog. Freddo truly is the king of the frog world and boy is he yummy (especially the strawberry ones, my favourite).

When I saw this fabric at Spotlight I initially thought about making shorts for both boys but the idea didnt really grab hold and I set it aside for a while. Recently I pulled out my winter fabric stash and found a long forgotten piece of chocolate cord and inspiration hit me because frogs really do look better with chocolate.

There is also plenty of the cord to make another pair of pants so I'm going to do the opposite effect, chocolate pants with the frog trims for Samuel.

Alex isnt particularly impressed by the pants at this stage but just wait til he sees the jacket that I'm dreaming up to go with them...

Pants Pattern: Ottobre 3/2005 Pattern 15
Materials: SpotlightThe back yoke isnt really this crooked, its just from where they were hanging on the line .

I've not done a waist band like this one before. Usually I just make the casing then thread the elastic through once its on. This one the elastic is attached to the casing then the casing is attached. It was fiddly and to be honest seemed like more work than the way I usually do it.

One silly thing I did (there is always something), I made the pant measurements in 104 but the length in 98 . But I should have moved the patch and knee pocket to reflect the 98 length but I left it at the 104 measurement hence the patch is a lot lower than it should be. Doh!!!!

Its only taken 7 months...

I'm actually going to start with the second project I finished today because it was in fact a project started about 7 months ago. This particular outfit was going to be a present for my cousin's daughter but I ended up slightly stuffing up the neckline. As a result it got put away and forgotten about until I pulled it out today and thought I better finish it off.

As it turns out I am really pleased with the results. I found the neckline of the top quite tricky when I did it the first time round (7 months ago) but for some unknown reason didnt have too many issues with it today. I absolutely love the lettuce leaf edging (or is it cabbage leaf???) and considering its the very first time I've tried it, I'm stoked with how it turned out. The tshirt ended up being quite easy to make but the ruffled sleeves make it look far more complicated.

The pants were also very easy to make (and I love the material, so summery). I did slightly stuff up one pocket but thats only because I'm a twit sometimes not because the pattern was in anyway complicated.

Top Pattern: Ottobre 3/2007 Pattern 4
Pants Pattern: Ottobre 3/2007 Pattern 3
Material: Spotlight