SewMentalMama

Sewing Japanese .... in French

2012-02-05T00:02:00.009Z

Work on my 'Minoru' is ongoing, but slow because really, I realised that a non-waterproof raincoat would be ridiculous for the weather we have here. What was I thinking! So I've been making it waterproof which involves slightly changing the pattern and looking for waterproofing products which needs another post.

Meanwhile I just HAD to sew something quick, a dress for my daughter. The jersey dots are from Hilco (I think), bought from Dotsnstripes a while ago, and the cotton (voile) floral I bought locally - both sewn up using a Japanese Pattern.

This Japanese pattern book is unusual because it is in French, which I got hold of through Amazon. I studied French in school so I can now understand some of the instructions at least. The diagrams are still the same as the Japanese vesions though, incredibly clear. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before these books will be translated into English and available in Europe and Penguin Australia has already some English translations . I used pattern 'E'.

My daughter picked the ribbon (from Farbenmix) an interesting choice for my 5 year old because some other ribbons that matched, included flowers and birds and dogs! I added ribbon to the hem to give some weight to the voile. The selvedge is showing just below the ribbon.

The skirt is 4 metres in width (I think the pattern calls for 2 metres) and pleated which means lots and lots of twirl.

This 'Butterfly' dress is also from a Japanese Pattern book, a pattern I have sewn a few times before. I made this last October, but didn't blog. The butterfly and dots fabric are Robert Kaufman cord. The green top is an Ottobre pattern and Patty Young jersey fabric.

I have gathered quite a collection of Japanese sewing books so at least I feel I can justify them if they're being used!

Hoping to sew a Minoru!

2012-01-20T13:49:00.000Z

It has taken me ages to decide on fabric for this coat, so I didn't commit to joining the sewalong on the Sewaholic blog ....... yet!
I want to sew a raincoat, but finding a waterproof fabric I liked has taken me weeks of searching, mostly because I didn't want a solid colour, or to use laminated cotton

I had narrowed it down to some lovely Westfalenstof coated cottons or Hilco coated cottons, and finally went for the Hilco which I bought from Dotsnstripes. But OMG!! :-) it's so 'flowery' I'm still not sure I'll be able to carry off wearing this, and maybe I should be making it for my daughter.

I had picked a flannel for the lining, as our weather here is wet and cold. The flannel was prewashed twice, but just this morning I decided I didn't want to use it so found an organic red cotton in my stash that I'm happier with.

The sleeves will be lined with the dots, which is a silk that I got as a Christmas present last year (2010).

Hilco have very good quality fabrics, so I didn't doubt that it was waterproof. I still tested it, just for a picture. It will be interesting to see how it deals with heavy downpours when I'm collecting the children from school.

I considered waterproofing the seams, as I remembered that Dawn from Two on Two off did a post on that a while back, but getting these type of products isn't easy. There is a UK site Pennine that looks good, maybe for a future coat!

So far, I have cut and marked the outer fabric, after raising the elastic placement and shortening the sleeves.
Hopefully I'll get to sew it before I chicken out and decide that flowers are not 'me'!

Christmas Dresses

2011-12-31T13:03:00.001Z

In planning my daughter's Christmas dress, I had a black cotton velvet bought locally last year and picked up a metre of silk duponi in a sale from Fabric.com, but it took me forever to decide on a pattern. This pattern turned up on eBay and I liked the style lines.

My procrastination didn't end there. The waist measurement fit my 5 year old, but the rest of the bodice was completely out of proportion - much too long and with front bust and back waist darts that were unnecessary. I basically had to redraw the bodice, while trying to keep the curve at the waist. All this meant that I had a lot of sewing to do the week before Christmas.
Sewing that centre point at the waist was very difficult. These photos were taken before the underskirt was finished correctly, and the wrinkles in the picture were not too evident when she wore the dress on Christmas Day (without the socks and pj's!)

The new bodice fit perfectly. Inside I lined the bodice and bound the armholes so it is comfortable to wear. I couldn't get the ribbon to meet exactly at the back waist, but I decided it was "good enough"

I also sewed a dress for myself. When I did an internet search afterwards for Vogue8593, it turns out that the pattern is based on a dress Michelle Obama wore. It seems that this dress was popular to sew in 2009 and 2010, so I'm really late to the party!

I made a major alteration to the pattern - no zip because I was sewing with knit, though I did measure the neckline to make sure it would go over my head. To ensure the fit, I measured the pattern against a knit top I wear a lot and that fits well over my tummy and hips to help me cut the correct size. I cut a 12 on top and a generous 14 at the hips.

When I was cutting it out, I tried really hard not to focus on the fabric being Liberty jersey - if that thought had taken hold, there would have been no dress for Christmas! It was incredibly quick to sew, once I got the neckline pleats done. I was so pleased with how it turned out.
My daughter took this picture just before her bedtime because she wanted a picture of me with the chocolate they bought me for Christmas, not sure that explains the "rabbit in headlights" look, but at least it's one less "missing head" shot.

SMS Giveaway Winner

2011-12-17T23:13:00.000Z

I'm quite late posting this, as I've just sat down after a busy day - family for lunch and then we took 9 children for a visit to Santa Claus.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment for the giveaway, I'm looking at that piece of jersey in a new light and seeing colours in it that I hadn't noticed before. I was thinking of something like this Burda dress for my daughter, but might go for leggings if I don't have enough fabric. The idea of a tank/vest top for myself is very appealing though!

I took a screen shot from Random.org (61 comments + 2 bonus entries = 63. And the no. 1 comment from Cindy gets the fabric and patterns.

Cindy, I'll be in touch for your details.

Catching up - Birthday Sewing

2011-12-17T00:31:00.000Z

Re SMS Giveaway Day - I'm really enjoying all the suggestions for what to make with the jersey fabric, lots of really great ideas.

Besides the Christmas sewing that I've piled up for myself, some recent makes include my daughter's birthday dress and a hobby horse. She has wanted a hobby horse for at least a year and I finally used the Melly and Me pattern Giddy Up to make one for her. The major changes I made to the pattern were using wool for the mane, and ribbon for the bridle and reins. She loved it and my six year old son also looked for one, though his is still in 2D form, ie not stuffed!

I managed to get away with one cake this year, unlike 3 last year
She wanted a surprise cake, so this was my first effort at a doll cake. She was so pleased with this she wouldn't let us cut it for 2 days, and I made her a cream sponge instead, so we would have one to cut.

So, onto the dress. The pattern is 'Appliquée' from a lovely French pattern company 'Her Little World'. There is an English version of the pattern, but the instructions have lots of diagrams, so the French version is also easy to work from. I used a Liberty print cord for the outer layer and the stripe is Paul Smith.

It has an asymmetrical collar and a lot of twirl.

.... and a matching dolls dress.

I'm still without a camera, so borrowing my son's which is full of short Lego videos that I have to be (very) careful not to delete.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

2011-12-12T14:32:00.000Z

I have lots of sewing (dresses, hobby horses, bags and more) to post, and lots of reading to catch up on, but as I've been missing in action from here lately, I thought what better way to get posting again than a giveaway.

Sew Mama Sew coordinate a twice yearly Giveaway Day for bloggers which is well worth checking out.

So what I have for you.........
firstly there's an unused/uncut Vogue pattern for a girl's occasion dress age 7-10.

Secondly I will include a Spanish pattern magazine 'Patrones' issue 307
I wanted this magazine so badly for the child's coat, that I got 2. There are no English instructions with this magazine, but if you have some experience you would be able to work from the pattern pieces.

Also included will be a lovely half yard (generously cut) piece of 60 inch wide Liberty Jersey (which I have prewashed) originally from Sewbox

How to enter:
Leave a comment to let me know what you would sew with this piece of Liberty jersey. (I'm looking for ideas, as I'm not sure what to make with it :-)

There's a bonus second entry if you have commented here before.

Be sure to leave contact details/ email
Giveaway is open internationally
I will randomly pick a winner Saturday 17th at 12 midday Irish time (GMT)

Good luck!

Sewing for School

2011-09-03T11:12:00.003+01:00

After my complete non-show here for August, I thought I'd better make an effort for September! August was full of meeting cousins, travelling to see family, sleepovers, and more reluctantly getting school supplies in order.
The upside to the lack of sunny weather, is that there was lots of sewing - about 14 items, mostly clothing and some pieces for school.

This post could be renamed Tea-Party Part 3, as I managed to use this Oliver+S pattern for the 6th time as a school uniform for my daughter. It is unfinished in this picture.

I used navy bias binding of a different colour, which helps add structure to the dress, and the buttons are dark blue shell buttons from Raystitch

My daughter picked the lining (Robert Kaufman fabric) and I put in Minnie Mouse pockets as a surprise, as she has had a Minnie Mouse blankie since she was a baby. ( you can tell that I was sad at the thought of sending my baby off to school!). The inside of the dress is completely mismatched, but when my 13 year old niece saw it she decided she wanted a school skirt with a fun lining and pockets. I offered to teach her to sew it, so we'll see what happens.

The apron is from the Oliver+S book Little Things to Sew, and is very easy. I loved sewing it, and was amazed by the quality of the laminated cotton, so much different to oilcloth which just perforates. It's from Amy Butler and bought from Pippablue an Irish online shop.(edited to add: this is an actual shop in Galway city, and they were very helpful when I ordered this fabric) The fabric label is from Farbenmix, and put there just to add a bit of pink!

Inside view of French Seams.

A matching pencil case, front ....

... and back.

I've just realized that I also made 1 cardigan, 2 white blouses, 2 tracksuit pants and a tie, but I only have pictures of two red polo shirts added because they were the first plackets I've ever sewn,( here without buttons or an ironing) and they turned out surprisingly well considering the fabric is a knit. The pattern is from Burda magazine 4/2010 #130A

Last, but of course not least, one of the boys gets something. The six year old started reading Dr. Seuss as soon as he learnt to read in school. I bought enough Dr. Seuss fabric to make a duvet cover, but I couldn't resist cutting some off to make a pencil case. It could be slightly bigger, as there was paring down of a few pencils the night before starting school -to make them fit!

With my daughter starting school for the first time and my eldest son starting secondary school, there's been a lot of adjustment around here, and not all of it the children.

Overload of dresses

2011-07-31T00:54:00.000+01:00

Before all the pics of the recent dresses I made, I want to show a picture from a website I came across recently. This company is selling beautiful dresses, but on a second look, it's a Feliz! sewing pattern made up. Can you imagine having the cheek to use that and market it in such a large scale. Not only that, but the Laguna skirt from Studio Tantrum and Patty Youngs Kyoko and Sydney are also on the site, the latter two are even made up in Patty Young fabric! Oh, and to even top that, they call their Feliz 'Patty'. All these patterns are copyrighted, most of them I have, so seeing a company being this blatant is unpleasant and must be so upsetting for the designers.

Back to my own sewing ..........

I'm almost finished the Lonsdale Dress by Sewaholic. I was going to shorten it quite a bit but after seeing the pictures, I think I'll just sew a narrow hem.

The two dresses below are for my nieces 7th birthday. I wanted some pictures of them, so my daughter had some fun trying them on, odd socks and all!
The orange dress (my niece specifically wanted an orange dress - this is the girl who wanted the green dress at Christmas) is made from a sewing magazine Sue & Blu #3080, 2006 with Anna Maria Horner 'Innocent Crush' fabric. I sized up the dress to size 8 to make sure it would be long enough. This was the second of the 2 birthday dresses I made and I wanted something easy to sew where I wouldn't be forever finishing seams. So it's a bubble dress.

Very straightforward to sew, all seams hidden and no zip, just 2 buttonholes, with lovely patterned shell buttons from my stash.

I even made belt loops, which are a bit twisted, but much improved on my first effort. There is no belt in the pattern, but the dress looked too wide for my niece, so I added it a simple ribbon belt which worked perfectly.

I lined it in white rather than any other colour because it seemed to brighten the orange on the outside.

Of course, the requisite bag, made from the Japanese pattern I've used many times before.

Another action shot!

The second dress (which I sewed first) is a combination of 2 patterns, the Analise from Portabellopixie for the bodice and Studio Tantrum/Farbenmix Redondo for the skirt. I had decided for quite a while that the skirt would be the Redondo, but it took me ages to settle on a bodice pattern. I make these dresses without my niece's measurements, so I'm always trying to make sure they're adjustable in some way. The elastic and shoulder straps of the Analise were ideal.

The Analise is easy to sew. I made 2 changes to the pattern - adding 4 more rows of elastic to the back, which means the back of the dress lies flat even with the straps tied which is not the case in the pattern pictures. The other change was to cut the underarms higher because these seemed to be too low, also in the pattern pictures.

My fanatical seam finishing continues ..... I sewed flat-felled seams on every curved seam to neaten the inside, hence, my choice of an easy bubble dress after.
The flowery fabric is Heather Bailey and the purple is Kafe Fassett, and I bought all these from Quilt home.

The bag pattern is a drawstring bag and was adapted from a picture I saw in the 2009 Sue & Blu magazine, because I wanted it ruffled like the dress.

Finally, the Redondo part of the dress. What a fun pattern! I added an extra panel so I could have an even mix of colours, this meant I had to do some calculations on the pattern pieces to make sure they would fit to the bodice.
The pattern pieces are like a puzzle, and when I had the fabric cut out, I had no idea how I would make the curved seams fit together, really NO idea, even after reading the translation of the pattern instructions.

Once I realised that the inner circle of one piece was only sewn halfway down the outer circle of another piece, it started to come together. Two other tricks helped: sewing the curved seams with the fabric to the right (rather than the usual left) of the sewing machine needle and foot made these curved seams dramatically easier to sew; and tapering to zero seam allowance at the hem made hemming the skirt much easier.

On the day of my niece's 7th birthday, she opened the bag with the dresses, pulled out the orange one and put it on - a happy Birthday girl! and a happy sewist!!!

Working on a New Dress for me - Lonsdale by Sewaholic.

2011-07-25T00:10:00.001+01:00

Treating myself for my birthday, I went to buy some Liberty Needlecord from Sewbox.co.uk (hmmm, treating myself by buying fabric for my daughter??) and I noticed that the newest Sewaholic pattern was in stock. My brother-in-law's 40th birthday is on in a few weeks, and I thought I might make myself a new dress, so the pattern arrived on Friday.

I really didn't mean to start this dress. I thought I might wait for the sew-a-long on the Sewaholic blog.
The blouse and dress I promised to make for my mother are still in the pattern drafting and alteration stage, but the Lonsdale dress was calling me so loudly, that I decided last night at 9pm after the younger two went to bed that I would start.

The fabric is a cotton with some stretch and a lovely drape that I bought from my local fabric shop. She sometimes stocks ends of bolts from RTW designers, and this is a Karen Millen piece and I found the colour irresistible. I had 2.60m at 144cm wide, which I hoped might do if I cut the bodice lining in a different fabric. I also cut the front skirt piece on a fold to help save fabric and I omitted the pockets, though I had just enough fabric left to cut them if I wished.

Needless to say, no muslin, but based on the finished measurements on the pattern envelope. I decided on a 12. However, I tissue fitted the waistband piece and got a fright when it wouldn't go around me (too much MIL's apple tart for tea!) I then cut a size 14!

I sewed all the bodice pieces last night, and tried it on for fit this morning.

There was some gaping at the top edge and when I fit the bodice closely, I could overlap the back by about 5cm. This is a fitting rather than a pattern issue, and because I decided I preferred the bodice very close-fitted, I took in the side seams.

I ripped out the side seams and re-sewed them, sewing with a much larger seam allowance at the top. When I went back to compare the pattern piece, it equaled to a size 8 at the top out to a 12 at the waist.

This felt to be a much better fit on me.

The waist edges were left uneven, but as I am also short-waisted, I decided to sew the waistband higher, though the pattern pieces have shorten/lengthen lines marked. A lot of this could have been prevented if I did a muslin, ha! The construction of the neckline is a neat design, and needs lots of close clipping so it doesn't pucker.

So this is where I'm at, terrible pictures and all!! It is not finished, but not bad for 6/7 hours work.

I have to understitch the neckline, turn up the hem, stitch the lining to the zipper tape, and sew the lining waistband to the outer waistband. These last 2 steps are explained differently in the pattern instruction sheet. I chose to sew the lining at the waistband differently.

I'm very impressed with this pattern, it's the first one I've tried from Sewaholic. I love, love the pattern instruction sheet, the best I've come across which suits my style of sewing. When I skimmed through it first I thought it could do with more detail, but reading it, this is the perfect pattern sheet for me. It's not too wordy, each step has a drawing to clearly explain it, and I could visualize the construction method and steps quickly and easily, and then decide if I wanted to sew it in the same or a different order.

After my burst of energy in getting this sewn, I hope I won't be finishing it the day of the party! I will get some better pictures in the next day or two.

Family Reunion Dress and Sewing with Liberty

2011-07-20T12:47:00.000+01:00

The children are all on summer holidays since the end of June and there seems to be a lot that I need to catch-up on and post.
I was trying to get sewing a few weeks back and came across a sew-a-long on the Above All Fabric blog.
It was more for the motivation that I sewed along, but the posts about the different pattern steps were also very good.
I was originally planning on using these buttons, but one of the benefits of sewing along is getting others opinions at each stage, so I changed the buttons later.

I considered adding lots of ribbons, but I'm glad I resisted!

I bound all the seams with Liberty binding mostly to satisfy my perfectionist streak, but also there are no scratchy seams, so my daughter will enjoy wearing it.

Sewing interruptions in the middle of the sew-a-long included a Father's Day Tie in Liberty for my husband, made from a free pattern from the Purl Bee blog

and totes made for teachers from the Oliver + S Mother-Daughter Tote Bag which I made bigger. Maybe a 'little' over the top, but this year the boy's teachers seemed to be extra helpful to them and I felt the box of chocolates wouldn't be adequate.
The 5 year old just started school last Sept and initially loved it but started complaining of stomach pains very frequently. After deciding it might be boredom his teacher put together a folder of more advanced activity sheets for him and all the stomach pains stopped. The 11 year olds teacher supported him with a bullying issue and gave a lot of her time preparing the class for an engineering competition. The 13 year old is moving on to secondary school, and was very attached to one of the assistants in the class, and his teacher also gave a lot of her time preparing the boys for confirmation, tours, and their new school. The teachers were really delighted with these bags, but the only issue is I've set a precedent for next year!
I lined 3 of the bags with Liberty and the blue one is O+S fabric which I won a few months ago.

But back to the dress......... I'm so pleased with how it turned out, especially as there was a lot of fussy-cutting of the fabric to make sure the large and small flowers matched.

The buttons don't photograph very well, but are a lovely pale pink colour, and I'm glad I changed them.I bought them from Raystitch.co.uk, another great and very helpful online shop
I dropped my camera taking these and smashed the lens, so there was no chance to take better pictures of the neck details.

Liberty fabric is a real treat to work with, the quality is consistent across each type of fabric, lawn or poplin, and it drapes perfectly for clothes, yet because it's cotton is also perfect for other uses.
All of the Liberty fabrics here, I've bought online from Sewbox.co.uk which is an excellent source for these fabrics, and more reasonable than the Liberty online shop, whose shipping is just too expensive. And Sewbox has just started stocking Liberty Needlecord/ corduroy!

I'm not done with sewing Liberty yet. My mother has asked me to sew a blouse for her, so I'm in the middle of adapting a Burda pattern for that at the moment....

Lots of Tea Parties ... Part 2

2011-06-11T17:00:00.001+01:00

Ok, so I went a bit wild with the Tea Parties! This bunch started with one I made for a niece who had just turned one, and first birthdays are special, so a little dolls dress was also deemed necessary. This one year old has a cute little 3 year old sister, and I couldn't leave her out, so I went matchy, matchy. Completely over-the-top matchy!

By the time I got to the dolls dresses, I was running out of matching fabric, but I kept them as close as I could.

Though the dolls dresses turn out really well, they are as time-consuming as the bigger dresses. I suppose leaving out the piping and ribbon would have made them much faster, but then they wouldn't be matchy!!

The insides are finished with flat-felled seams again. As these are summer dresses, they will probably be worn on their own ( on the 2 hot days we get in August;-) so I didn't want to leave scratchy seams.

And finally we have bloomers! my daughter wears leggings rather than bloomers, and because I feel I missed her 'bloomer' stage, this was my 'fix'. I topstitched the seam allowances of these to keep them neat and used French seams for the sides.

The smaller Tea Party dress is sized down from the 2Tto5 pattern to 12to18 size and I had to do the same with the bloomers. Multi-sized patterns make this relatively easy.
The main fabric is Patty Young Flora and Fauna and all the ribbons are Farbenmix.

There's one more Tea Party post, and a sneaky peek in one of the pictures above.

Lots of Tea Parties ....1

2011-06-06T23:33:00.000+01:00

There's quite a few sewing pictures that I haven't posted recently, and I think most of them involve some version of the Oliver+S Tea Party Dress. I had no interest in buying this pattern for a long time, mostly because I thought it looked basic and I have sewn a good few pinafores(jumpers) and also it's lack of 'twirl'! But I kept coming back to it because of the curved yoke seam, which I have seen in some vintage childrens patterns.

Finally I gave in and bought it about 6 weeks ago, and it is already up there as one of my most used patterns.

This dress was a birthday present for a niece who has turned 5 and she's my daughter's most favourite cousin. She's tall, so I had to grade the pattern up to a six, which was more time-consuming than difficult, because it is a multi-sized pattern. The fabric is Stenzo cord from DotsnStripes, and I have completely forgotten where I got the elephant ribbon from.

I lined it with some Robert Kaufman Toyland fabric, which I thought she might like and to make up for the lack of twirl, in case that might be an issue.
The seams of the dress are finished with flat-felled seams, these are covered in a tutorial on the O+S blog.

The buttons were in my stash and matched perfectly. And the piping, my first time doing piping, and the directions took all the fear out of it. I even had to put piping on the doll's dress!

And of course my daughter got to model it, with all the accessories. The bag is the same Japanese pattern that I've used a lot recently.

My verdict on the pattern - well worth the investment, even for how to learn to do piping alone, and the directions for how to sew curved seams are also very good.

More Tea-Parties to come ....

Sunglasses needed ...... Another Elodie

2011-05-15T23:31:00.002+01:00

Girls Dress, Hat and Bag, Dress Pattern Farbenmix Elodie, Hat Pattern Ottobre#27 3/2011, Bag adapted from a Japanese Pattern Book, fabric from threadsofgreen.ie, a photo by SewMentalMama on Flickr.

This fabric did NOT look so bright and luminous, either when I bought it or when I was sewing it up. But now, I can't get over how shockingly dazzling it is.

I intended it as a dress for a family occasion, but the colours made it the perfect Easter Dress for my daughter, and I think it's the twirliest (I'm sure that's a word) dress I've made for my daughter. She loves it, and managed to keep it clean enough to wear it 3 days running.

The hat pattern is from the newest Ottobre#27 3/2011, easy to make and one I will make again. The bag is the same pattern that I've used a lot lately and adapted from a Japanese Pattern Book. The fabric is from threadsofgreen.ie.

Another dress I really enjoyed making.

My favorite kind of sewing - girl's dresses

2011-05-09T23:28:00.003+01:00

I've been sewing lots of girls dresses again recently because of family occasions and niece's birthdays. After sewing my son's jacket, it is just such enjoyable sewing to be able to put colours and fabric and trims together and turn them into pretty dresses.

This dress is the Farbenmix Elodie pattern again, the first of 2 dresses I made for my god-daughter. She turned 6 the end of March and as the pattern is sized 5-6 and 7-8, I drew a line between these 2 sizes, which roughly corresponded to 6-7 (I hoped!)

The red fabric was bought locally, the skirt fabric is a Stenzo cotton from DotsnStripes and the ribbon is also from Farbenmix.

The picture above shows the inside back with the zip covered, and below shows the seams finished by turning them in and topstitching them.

There are 8 panels in the skirt, and sewn together they make a circle at the hem, which I hemmed using bias binding.

No hats this time, but I made a bag to match.

This pattern makes a gorgeous dress, but I find that the bodice part is quite short and I add about 2 inches to the neckline and shoulder which makes it longer and allows enough fabric to make a casing for the elastic. The zip at the back would be better if it was an invisible zip as it would sit better on the curve of the skirt. Despite these minor issues, I made another version of this dress for my daughter for Easter - I'm on a roll!

Sweet Easter Surprise .....

2011-04-27T23:09:00.002+01:00

photo.JPG, a photo by SewMentalMama on Flickr.

...... and at least as good as chocolate!

I got sent some Lisette fabric and a pattern from the people behind Stitch magazine.
It's published quarterly and usually has up to 40 sewing patterns for everything from clothes to pot- holders.
The website has some of the patterns for sale and also quite a few free patterns too - worth a look.

I got some early issues from Interweave, but now get them from Hulu an online UK shop.

So I have my fabric pre washed and the pattern cut out, and once the children are back to school next week I'll have no excuse for not getting started.

IAAT I am all that?

2011-04-16T15:50:00.001+01:00

thank you to Cindy (who blogs the most wonderful children's clothes) at Siestas and Sewing for this fun award.

I am accepting with grace and poise ( and no weeping) mostly because of the chance to spend countless hours on the Celebrity Pass question!

And the rules are...

The recipients of this award are asked to answer the following questions, link to whoever awarded them and then pass it on to five, no six people (who they think will actually be willing to answer these totally intrusive and possibly inappropriate questions). Feel free to snag the badge too!

The questions and my answers:
1) What size shoe do you wear? If you wear a size 7*, can I borrow your shoes?
7 (Growing up in a family of 6, shoes were always bought with lots of growing room, so I thought I was a size 8 for years)
* replace this with your shoe size!

2) 30's or 60's?

(I hope this is not age) 60's

3) Have you ever kissed someone you shouldn't have?

There were a couple of frogs alright!

4) Have you ever been poisoned? Was it by the girlfriend of the person you kissed?? That is awesomely "Knot's Landing".

Well, there's such thing as poisonous thoughts, so probably, otherwise I don't think so.

5) Who's on your "Celebrity Free Pass" list (top 5)?

Vincent Perez - hot, hot, hot in Indochine with Catherine Deneuve,

Andrew McCarthy - who??? ;-) Pretty in Pink,

Liam Neeson - even for the Irish connection alone,

Matthew Macfadyen - Pride and Prejudice - do I need to say more,

Rob Lowe or Robbie Williams - I can't decide. EDITED TO ADD: Scratch these, how did I forget Patrick Dempsey? and he'd make top of the list. Hmm I think I've had too much fun with this question!!

To pass it on - a few bloggers who ARE all that ....

Michal from Noni and Looli
Karin from Making the Seam
Millie from Needles and Haystacks
Joy from 21 wale
Mise from Pretty Far West
Kathy from Toomanyhannas

Whew, finally finished and posted properly this time, there's a lot more to this award business than I thought - no idea how to get the badge properly

Boy's Tailored Jacket .... continued....

2011-03-31T13:05:00.001+01:00

Well, after that unintentional blogging break, my son made his Confirmation 3 weeks ago yesterday, and it was such a lovely, pleasant day, which was also incredibly busy, by the time all our brothers, sisters, parents, nieces and nephews arrived to our house after the ceremony.

The weather was unseasonably sunny for Ireland which meant the children (all 22 of them) spent most of the day playing outside in the garden, and the adults (18 of them!)were able to relax because the children were happy. Our families don't get together too often, simply because of the numbers involved, but all the planning, cleaning, painting and cooking is worth it when everyone has such a good time. It ended in in the usual Irish way - the sing-song!

There's always some bit of drama - my husband deciding to paint 3 main rooms in the house just two days before, and you know it didn't particularly bother me because my focus was on the jacket for my son that I felt it was 'necessary' to sew. I actually removed and re-sewed the 2 sleeves of the jacket the morning before the ceremony.

The saga of the jacket started with realising that the navy jacket I initially made was too short, despite having measured the length carefully and even shortening the pattern pieces to fit. So, 2 weeks before, I was making a new 'tailored' jacket! That looks very casual and flippant written down, but I can assure you I was not at all casual about it :-)

Luckily I had a really nice light wool fabric which I had thought I might sew up as a skirt or dress for me, and I cut up 2 old shirts for the lining. This fabric was much more suitable than the heavier navy wool, and it was easier to sew with.

On this version, I decided to go with a vent in the back and vents in the sleeves, using Burda instructions - not a great idea. Though the vents look ok from a distance, I was winging it.

The reason I was taking out the sleeves of the jacket the morning before, was because of an absolute beginners mistake - not marking the relevant notches and then (doh!!) decided to match the seams of the sleeve with the seams on the back of the jacket, simply because I thought it would 'look' better. The hours I spent trying to figure out why the sleeves were dragging so much on the shoulders ..........

My MIL gave me a lovely silver confirmation medal that my husband had also worn, so the night before I was 'googling' how to make a ribbon rosette! I sort of winged that too, but again, it looks better at a distance!

He looked very smart in his jacket, and I think the faults were only noticeable to me.

I learnt a lot by making these jackets, checking out the details on RTW jackets is very helpful, especially if sewing instructions are a bit vague, and leaving a good long hem allowance, measuring and remeasuring the jacket length, also marking notches very carefully (less said .....!), and probably most important - "do NOT procrastinate when sewing for occasions"

but I hope to avoid making another jacket for quite a while.

Easy Vogue ......... my eye!!

2011-02-27T00:01:00.003Z

The children have been on mid-term from school all week, so it's been a pleasant break from making school lunches, having 3 different collection times and homework.

Though I made this Vogue dress, I can't say I've been doing a lot of sewing, because it was a fairly quick dress to make. It would have been much quicker if I had thought to look on the Pattern Review site first as a few people sewed the neck differently, and changed how they finished the armholes.

Vogue 8571

I bought the pattern on Sewing Patterns .com, which often has amazing offers on patterns. The pattern is described as Easy Vogue, but a beginner would have a lot of trouble with it, especially the neckline.

The recommended fabric is knit and I used a viscose jersey fabric that my husband bought locally for me for Christmas. The pattern recommends interfacing the neck pieces. So to get them to lie flat involved copious use of a seam ripper, (much swearing!) and clipping and trimming seam allowances, and cutting notches in the seam allowances which eventually worked.

The armholes also caused some difficulty, as the pattern suggested folding the fabric and stitching. This wouldn't have worked firstly because the fabric was too light for it, secondly because I didn't think there was enough fabric for it and to also cover the 'fleshy bits'! What I did was cut some fabric strips on the bias and sewed them around the armhole, and I'm really happy with how they look.

I'll need to line the skirt of it to wear with tights, otherwise it will stick too much to them. A side view would show how flattering the style of the dress is, but I didn't think of it at the time.

My 5 year old happily took the photos, and more were blurred than not, as he wanted to be jumping on the bed with his sister.

My 'break' from homework ended during the week when he wanted to start reading and picked up a book called The Munster Republic, so a search for a more appropriate starting book led to the 11 year old finding a Dr Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham which the 5 year old is about half-way through, and taking it everywhere with him.

That just might be reason enough to 'have' to buy some of that new Dr.Seuss fabric!

Japanese Bubble Dress and Bubble Hat

2011-02-11T12:25:00.001Z

I made my daughter a dress to wear for her brother's confirmation, while taking an unscheduled break from jacket sewing!

It took us a while to decide, but the starting point was a pair of tights and a hairband which I've had for about a year and which I was afraid she would be grown out of

Interesting ( as in I have too much pink, and that I bought it for myself) that the only matching fabric I had was this voile from Anna Maria Horner, but at least I still have enough left to make something for me!

This fabric almost picked it's own pattern, in that I knew it needed to be something simple which would not break up the design too much. I made dress H from this book, Girl's Style Book (ISBN978-4-579-11181-7) which was incredibly easy to sew.

This pattern book is from MisforMake and has some lovely designs for dresses and tops,

I know that this dress has broken all the 'rules' for sewing for children, but I love the colours in this fabric.

I added grey ribbons to the dress, which are sewn exactly as in the pattern.

The back view shows some of the lining at the top. I fully lined the dress rather than use the recommended facings.

This Japanese Pattern Book also had a hat pattern (pattern K) it's quite different to the usual hat I make, and reminds me a bit of a chef's hat, though that absolutely is not the look I'm going for!

I will get my daughter to try it on when she gets home from preschool.

Sewing a boys jacket

2011-02-03T00:10:00.000Z

There seems to be more thinking about sewing than sewing going on here at the moment, so maybe by getting it down in writing, I'll go and actually sew.

My 12 year old son is being confirmed on the middle of March, so I thought I'd make him something to wear. A few months ago when I asked him about clothes, he expressed a strong interest in a suit like James Bond .......... How do you answer that?!

Most boys seem to dress very casually for this religious ceremony, so we needed a bit of a compromise.
I had a look through Ottobre magazines where nothing really appealed, and then tried Burda Magazines where I found a pattern for a jacket that I thought might look ok, in the Dec 2009 issue.

When he saw the picture my son agreed, so it was decided!

However ........

between the maze of patterns on Burdas pattern sheet ...

The alterations that had to be made to the pattern pieces (-that I almost missed) ....

Fittings and refittings, thankfully I have a patient son.

........this is where I am at. It's just really slow progress, with lots of figuring out, fixing and tweaking, and crossing of fingers. I'm hoping it will turn out ok

despite my inability to even pin the jacket straight for a try-on!

I mentioned a few posts ago that I would like to sew more for boys this year, I didn't imagine I would be sewing a tailored jacket!!

A cinnamon Cinnamon

2011-01-18T00:20:00.002Z

I had wanted to sew up this Colette pattern for a while, and when I found a lovely satin remnant for €3 I just went for it.
Having made it, a lighter or finer fabric would probably work better.

The pictures are not great, a combination of bad lighting and shiny fabric! Still, I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Front view

Back view

Inside view of top.

This pattern is called a "Slip Dress" so is obviously to be worn next to the skin. I'm conscious of this with the children - finishing seams so they won't irritate the skin when worn, and I wasn't happy to leave the inside seams exposed. What I did was cut another (extra) piece for under the bust and completely enclosed these seams. I also put binding on the centre front seams just to tidy them up!

Top front

the other change I made was to put bows on the front of the straps to make them adjustable.

I made the straps adjustable because I thought this would be a perfect surprise present for a friend to cheer her up, but now I'm not so sure - maybe it's because of the name - is it a dress or a slip.... or a nightdress? Perhaps I'm over-thinking it, maybe I'll just wrap it nicely and hope the thought will count!

She wanted a green dress .....

2011-01-12T14:26:00.001Z

so I made her 'Elodie'.

What a beautiful name for a dress and it certainly lives up to the name.
I posted pictures on Flickr before Christmas, but I had to write about it here too ( I'm also hoping that writing will give me some motivation to get sewing again!!)

Though my daughter tried on the dress it was a Christmas present for my husbands goddaughter. Her parents had searched every where for a green dress and couldn't find one, so Christmas week my husband asked me to make one for her! After a few choice, unrepeatable words, I sent him off to buy green fabric, to find on his return that my local fabric shop is now stocking some American designer quilting cottons. The selvedge has Freespirit, Kathy Davis, Hypnotize Grapes, so I had to Google it!

I knew the pattern I was going to use would be 'Elodie' from Farbenmix. It's completely in German, which I don't understand, but there is a photo-tutorial on the Farbenmix site which was a huge help.

I got the template for the bag in a Japanese pattern book, but made it up very differently, and included some shirring so that it would match the top of the dress.

It would be an incredibly quick dress to make, but I wanted an extra neat inside, so I folded under each seam allowance (about 16!) and topstitched them all.

It was worth the extra time, I love the look of the inside.

The hairband is my own pattern and made from scraps.

I put some binding on the hem of the dress, just for a little extra weight, as the dress is so twirly.

I'm looking forward to making this dress again soon.
His goddaughter loved her green dress and her parents were very impressed with the seam finishes!!

Vanity Cases! - Gifts for nieces

2011-01-06T23:15:00.003Z

I had started sewing these a few weeks before Christmas, to see how they would turn out as I was hoping they would be good enough for gifts. The first two I made were with the Kaufman Ladybird fabric, and Ottobre decided to add seam allowances for a change, and of course so did I. I can't say that it was fun having to go back and cut the allowances off of interfacing, fabric and batting!!

After making the first one, I made some changes to the construction method. I sewed the lining and fabric to each side of the zip at the same time. Also I sewed binding over the zip ends after joining them together to form a circle, this made for a much neater finish. My daughter claimed one of the cases at this stage, and wanted me to give the other to her cousin who is also her best friend.

I added ribbons to the zip-pulls to make them easier to open.

This cousin has 2 older sisters, one being my goddaughter, and I had it in mind that I wanted to make them cases too. They didn't get made before Christmas, even though I had the fabric cut out, as I was trying not to pile too much pressure on myself. On Stephen's night, I finally decided that I would make 2 more cases as we were visiting these cousins the following day.

The case with the Farbenmix owls is for my goddaughter, and 4th one without owls or ladybirds is for her 9 year old sister as I wasn't sure if she would find the others too babyish.

For the lining, the striped fabric is a heavier cotton from DotsnStripes, last year, and the other cottons I bought locally.
I sewed them fairly quickly, despite mistaking the handle pieces for the side pieces, and I love how they turned out. After making 4 of them, I don't want to sew circle pieces to straight pieces for a long time, but I will make them again........... sometime!

Ottobre Winter Clothes

2011-01-01T13:34:00.002Z

This year it took me ages to start sewing my daughters winter coat. I found it very difficult to get a wool fabric in a bright colour. Eventually I bought a bright pink from "Threads of Green".

The pattern is from Ottobre 5/2006, a lovely coat pattern, that I made without any alterations to the pattern!!!

The lining is my favourite, a liberty poplin bought from Sewbox, a UK online shop. It also took me forever to find a lining fabric that would match the bright pink. So that it would be less extravagant, I lined the sleeves and the inside of the beret with a very cheap cotton voile.

It must be the colour of this coat, but it get's loads of compliments!

This is the dress I made for my daughter for Christmas. The pattern is Ottobre 4/2005 which I modified. So, I changed the hem, cuffs and collar and added a lining and netting. I picked the pattern because I liked the design of the bodice, and I topstitched the princess seams in black just to add detail.

The fabric is an embroidered and embellished silk that had 75% off in a sale in Hickey's, Cork. It was originally €60 a metre. Getting it for €15 a metre meant that I wasn't worried about cutting or sewing the fabric. I would have been terrified to cut it at full price!

The black velvet trim was bought locally and is a beautiful cotton velvet, also expensive, but I needed less than a quarter of a metre. I love how it looks and my daugher even agreed to wear her serviette tucked around her for her Christmas dinner - something she normally refuses! I pre washed the fabric, so it will go back into the washing machine, maybe after today's dinner.

I know I only write here mostly about my daughter rather than my sons, because mostly I sew for her. My eldest boys get most of their good clothes bought for them by my mother, and my husbands mother knits jumpers for them. The 3rd boy has lots of good clothes passed down from his brothers, so there is nearly enough to clothe 3, 5 year olds!

I'm not a great one for making resolutions, but this year I would like to sew more for my boys! Let's see how that goes!

Nativity

2010-12-30T17:50:00.006Z

My daughters preschool has a concert where they dress up with costumes from the nativity or any other costumes that can be put together easily. Last year I made the 3rd boy a crown and a cape so he could be a king. This year I asked my daughter what she wanted to dress up as and got the answer " a queen"? It took a little questioning before we realized that she didn't know what the nativity was and simply wanted to be a queen because her brother was a king.

After telling her about the nativity, she decided to dress as Mary, mostly so that she could bring a doll to school as Jesus. The costume was made in less than 2 hours. I used the bodice of Kyoko by Patty Young, a rectangle for the skirt and my own idea for the head-dress. The head-dress included some elastic at her forehead to keep it on.

She made such a sweet Mary, and ended up letting a friend of hers hold the doll while they were singing. She wore the costume the whole evening after, which must be a first!

I can't believe Christmas has passed so quickly. A two-day visit to where I grew up in North Cork to see my nieces, probably made the days pass even quicker. Back home, it's only tonight that we've brought some of the Lego avalanche under control! The children have been playing and building it happily, with only breaks to play the digital Irish version of monopoly - that did cause some arguments!

A Christmas Tradition

2010-12-22T22:32:00.007Z

In my husbands family it has become a tradition for all the siblings to get together in one house and for the cousins (all 16 of them aged 4 months to 15 years) to give presents. Well, each gives a present to one other so it's more manageable ...... and a LOT less expensive.

This year it was our turn. My 4 were so enthusiastic about having all their cousins around, it made the stress of the preparation more bearable, and I have an exceptionally clean house for the holidays.

Because the night is about the children, there was one cake I just had to make - a gingerbread house.

Really the most difficult part is putting the house together and trying to make sure the walls stay standing long enough so that the icing hardens and holds the whole thing together.

I filled the house with chocolates and jellies, added Santa snowmen and reindeer and a few icicles. The adults loved it as much as the children.

After the children opened their presents, we put the house on a smaller table and some of the younger children sat around looking at it. I think they've been told to keep away from cakes so much that they were really slow to pick the sweets off of it - until they got started!! It was priceless to watch them.

A Slow Start to Christmas

2010-12-15T22:53:00.004Z

I think I am more disorganised than usual in preparing for Christmas. I haven't even bought Christmas cards, not to mind send any; no baking done, though really we eat very little Christmas cake and pudding, and a house that just seems to grow and reproduce laundry .... constantly!

During the recent bad snow and ice the children spent an afternoon making and decorating Christmas cards. They were so delighted with the finished cards and were deciding who they were going to be sent to.

Maybe one for a teacher?

Maybe for a friend?

Maybe for a Godmother?

This is the first time I've ever made cards with the children. I used to be quite crafty when the older two were younger - even making trains and stations from cardboard and painting them.

While we were home so much, I also thought we might do some sewing ..........

I bought these patterns from Hulu a great UK online shop,

but it never got as far as fabric.

The 5 year old and 4 year old got tracing (you can guess who did the right and left!!) and really this was an activity in itself. We never got to make up the toys, but if the weather coming is as bad as predicted, I think we might get to do some sewing.

I've made a Christmas dress and a winter coat for my daughter, but just need to take pictures in daylight.

.... and the Birthday Dress

2010-12-07T09:33:00.003Z

I made this dress from scraps of fabric as I mentioned in the last post. When my daughter saw me putting the fabrics together, she asked who it was for. I said I could make it for her if she liked, so she was happy with that. The fabric has a lovely sheen to it, so I think that's why she likes it (despite no pink!).

The pattern is the Playdate Dress from Oliver+S, but I made some changes to the construction of it.

FRONT VIEWS

I lined it fully, except for the sleeves and that meant I had to put in the yoke differently. Instead of sewing the yoke seperately as in the instructions, I attached it to the front first and then the back, each with lining. Then I joined the back and front. The neck (and armholes) was finished with bias binding which I handstitched to the lining at the neckline.

I omitted the buttons on the front yoke to show off the paisely pattern in the Sandi Henderson fabric, and also because I didn't have any matching buttons in my stash.

BACK VIEWS

Lots of wrinkles on the lining as I couldn't iron the cotton on a hot setting in case I would damage the outer fabric.

I was very pleased with how this turned out. I didn't follow the instructions directly, but the construction of the yoke is explained very clearly. I had read about some problems fitting the head through the yoke, so I made the back opening almost the same length as the yoke.

This dress got lots of compliments, maybe because it was such a change from the crazy prints I usually sew!

Birthday Cakes and Bunting ...

2010-12-01T22:07:00.008Z

My daughter turned 4 last week, and loved the whole fuss about her day. We put up some balloons and bunting the night before, which dramatically increased her excitement.

Though she helped with some of the cake decorating, we got her to close her eyes to show her the final result, and she gave me a big hug, and said thanks when she saw this chocolate castle with Cinderella.

She ended up having 3 cakes. 2 versions of the chocolate castle cake, and another cake for school.

One was for the day of her birthday, one for school and one for a small party with her cousins. I made one of the castle cakes gluten-free as both my mother and two sisters are coeliacs.

We made all the pink and purple butterflies together. Luckily we cut lots as loads broke while we were trying to dry them, so I need to find out how to do that properly.

Despite her love of pink, I was amazed that she decided to wear this turquoise/teal coloured dress, with absolutely no persuasion on my part and not a pink thread to be seen.

The fabric came free after a local shop overcharged me for other fabric, and when they corrected it, they asked would I use some scraps. There were some large scraps of this in the bag.

Though it looks like a silk, I did a burn test on it with the help of my husband (he was very puzzled as to why I would burn fabric) and I'm sure it's polyester.

All she wanted for her birthday was a music jewellery box with a ballerina inside and this was the one - again no pink!!

2010-11-20T23:46:00.002Z

photo.JPG
I haven't written much about what goes on in my head for the last while, and mostly I haven't felt like I needed to write about it.

Mind you, the fact that I made Christmas bunting early in November, could prove otherwise, especially since I usually try to avoid thinking of Christmas until early December. My excuse is that I was making pink bunting for my daughters birthday, and I also had Christmas fabric since last year, so I just did it all together. It's amazingly easy to make.

I think that the lack of writing means that I am dealing better with negative thoughts. There are times when I wish I didn't have to continually battle with my thinking, and it can be difficult for me to see how much progress I've made. I would like to think that it would get, even a little bit, easier to avoid getting caught up in my thoughts.

Colette Crepe, Lined and Reversible

2010-11-10T22:24:00.004Z

I'm not sure when or why I decided to line the Crepe dress. I think I was hoping the wool/viscose main fabric (bought in Hickey's Cork) would drape better, and not stick to tights too much when being worn.

I have to say that I want to try to get back into wearing dresses, Since I've had the children, they (dresses!) seem to be waaay down on my list.
Facings wouldn't be my favourite part of a garment, mostly because I find it difficult to get them to lie flat. Also, I nearly always choose to line or partially line my daughters dresses, so I'm used to sewing in linings.

So what I did was, ("Technical Alert!!)

cut all the pattern pieces of main fabric,
cut the neck facings and interfacings - but not the sleeve facings ( I thought the neck might need extra support),
cut all the pattern pieces of lining fabric. I used a very light cotton, almost like a voile,
when sewing the bodice lining to the bodice fabric, I pinned them right sides together, with the neck facing on the wrong side and sewed from one side catching in the belt to the other side also catching in the belt
While wrong sides were together I sewed the armhole seams
I clipped and notched curves and seams,
then using the ends of the belts I pushed them (right belt into right shoulder, left belt into left shoulder) up through the sewn shoulder seams of the lining and fabric, pulled them through completely and this turns the whole top right side out. (I topstitched all along the top of the bodice)

Then I sewed the side seams, putting the lining front and back right sides together (leaving a gap for the belt on one side) and did the same for the main fabric. At the gap I sewed the lining seam to the fabric seam (RS together) on both sides of the gap for a neat finish

to attach the skirt (after sewing the fabric skirt seams and lining skirt seams and joining them at the side seams) I put the finished bodice, into the circle created by the skirt lining and fabric RS together, matching the side seams and other seams along the waist, and sewed.

I wasn't intending to make the dress reversible, but it is, though the lining fabric is so light, that some seams and facings can be seen, so I won't be wearing it lining side out!

I took these pictures just before tea (picture 4 hungry children) so tried on the lining side a bit too quickly. It looks like the waist of the dress is lower than my waist, so I need to check this again - it may be how I tied the belt.

I prefer the dress in a patterned fabric than a plain fabric

My 12 year old son, on seeing me with the lining side out asked how many dresses I was trying on. I explained that it was the inside of the darker dress. His reply? I" I thought it was the Irish version of '27 Dresses'! (Katherine Heigl film)

I will make very few adjustments, when making it again. Now, I need to hem it and get a few wears out of it!

Sewing for me! A Wrap Dress - Colette Crepe.

2010-11-09T21:35:00.013Z

When I saw this dress on the Colette Patterns site, it seemed like the perfect dress, which wouldn't need too many fitting alterations. I think I was right!

(The dress is not hemmed yet.)

I bought the pattern on Sewbox, a great UK site for dressmaking patterns and fabrics, and Leah's Pattern Packs with the Liberty prints were just irrestible. It was such a treat to buy a pattern and fabric and then to have the thread and interfacing also arrive, included free.

This is (hopefully) a wearable muslin. The 'real' dress will be made from Liberty fabric. I made no alterations to the pattern and it is a very easy dress to sew.

The fit of the top is loose, not too much, but loose.

The wrap-over at the back is generous and secure, meaning there's no chance of leg, or any other anatomical part, showing!

It is a very flattering shape, and if I can say that with my tummy (after 4 caesarean sections!), well, it must have a nice drape from the waist!

I used the neck facings, but not those for the sleeve,

because I lined the dress.

I'll write some more about the lining in the next post.

(again, not hemmed yet)

Not so much Halloween

2010-11-02T22:55:00.001Z

Star Trek logo on Pyjama tops
Originally uploaded by SewMentalMama

Halloween this year was very low-key for us, mostly because we went to Dublin for the weekend and got home a bit too late.

At the boys school there was a Halloween party so costumes were in order. The 5 year old had a bought costume, and the 2 older boys wanted something 'Star Trek' related.

These pajamas tops always reminded us of the clothes in Star Trek, so:
I drew the logo onto paper to use as a pattern,
cut out the shape from white fabric and 'Bondaweb',
followed the directions to iron one to the other,
ironed them to the tops,
pinned another piece of fabric behind,
then used a satin stitch all around.

Finally a mark in the middle and two Star Trek officers were very happy!

Lots of Oliver+S

2010-10-25T22:23:00.007+01:00

First I entered this O+S giveaway, then I ordered some O+S patterns, then I won the Blue Gardenia O+S giveaway!

Firstly about 'The Blue Gardenia', I had read and come across previous posts, but at the moment there is a great series of posts on the Sewing Spaces of bloggers (and sewists) that are very familiar - Gertie, Peter, Liesl, Sarai, Myrna, Sigrid, Erin - and more that I'm forgetting, but all are fascinating and insightful!

I ordered a couple of Oliver+S patterns from Backstitch when I read that some were going out of print.

So I got sewing and made a Puppet Show Dress. None of the pictures are great, because the colour was difficult to photograph.

A very sweet dress, and yes, I really went to town on pink and animals.

Sewing the inside so all seams were hidden, meant French Seams and Bias Binding on the arm seams.

The bias facing on the hem is a great idea from the pattern designer.

So, that is butterflies, frogs, owls and hearts - all on pink. Owls and hearts are courtesy of Farbenmix ribbons.

I have visions of the future, her looking at pictures and asking me "What on earth were you thinking?

Baby dress, Baby pants, and baby shoes

2010-10-20T22:56:00.012+01:00

Another niece and her Christening means sewing and more sewing.

I originally had a metre each of these 2 fabrics. Firstly I made these for another niece, then I made this for my daughter, and I just had about enough to make the little dress, pants and shoes, with a bit (loads) of creative matching of bits of fabric, especially for the pants and shoes.

That makes 3 dresses, 1 dolls dress, 2 hairbands, 2 hats (one not pictured), 1 baby pants, 1 pair of shoes from 2 metres!

OK back to baby clothes ...

The dress pattern is Ottobre 3/2007#1, which I also made for another niece's christening. The last time I made it reversible, this time I didn't, but I lined the top part instead, to help hide seams inside.

This is a great baby pattern, easy to sew and should be few fitting issues because of the wrap-over at the back.

The Baby Pants pattern is Burda 6/2001#151. I lined these with the gingham fabric mostly to hide the seams where I was matching bits of fabric. The lining makes the pattern much simpler to sew.

For the baby shoes I used a Favourite Things pattern for ballet slippers.

(here they're stuffed with blue socks to help them hold their shape)

These are very cute, but really not at all practical. The sizes on the pattern go right up to adult size, can't really say they'd be for me!

A Preschool Dress from a Japanese Pattern Book

2010-10-16T10:57:00.005+01:00

I still have a major ghrá for Japanese Sewing Books, and there are a few nice patterns in this one. I debated about this dress on the cover for a while,

mostly because it looked like it was going to use loads of fabric.

Then I found this ladybird corduroy and I knew I needed a straightforward pattern, where I wouldn't have to fussy-cut all around the ladybirds.

This turned out to be a simple pattern, which looks like it takes more effort that it does.

I sewed the pattern slightly differently from the instructions to reduce the amount of handsewing, and again put pockets in the side seam.

I love the shape of this dress, probably my favourite because of being so easy to sew.

Needless to say, she loves it too!

OMG I Sewed For Me!! 3

2010-10-10T17:29:00.001+01:00

Jalie Women's Sweetheart Top, Fabric: Viscose Jersey, bought locally (Pattern: Jalie 2794)
Originally uploaded by SewMentalMama

I can't believe how well this fits. I slightly changed the application of the neckbands, because not having a serger, I didn't want to have exposed seams inside around the neckline.
I folded the bands in half lengthwise, sewed them to the wrong side first, then turned them over to the right side and topstitched them.

OMG I Sewed For Me!! 2

2010-10-10T17:23:00.001+01:00

Jalie Women's Sweetheart Top, Fabric: Viscose Jersey, bought locally. ( Pattern: Jalie 2794)
Originally uploaded by SewMentalMama

The second pic. I raised the neckline by 2cm, and made long sleeves instead of 3/4 length.I also added about 4 cm to the width at the hip, because of my shape and because I like tops looser around my hips.

OMG, I Sewed For Me!!!

2010-10-10T17:16:00.001+01:00

Jalie Women's Sweetheart Top, Fabric: Viscose Jersey, bought locally (Pattern Jalie 2794)
Originally uploaded by SewMentalMama

There have been a few other attempts at sewing for myself, and one finished dress (never worn), but this is a success!

It is wearable and fits, and I'm happy with the fit. What more could I ask for?

I have 2 other pics, but as I'm posting from Flickr, I think they'll end up in 2 seperate posts.

Jalie Women's Sweetheart Top, Fabric: Viscose Jersey, bought locally (Pattern Jalie 2794)

Another dress for preschool.

2010-10-05T22:35:00.001+01:00

This was the first dress I made for my daughter starting preschool, and how I learnt the importance of pockets .... None in this dress. I thought about adding them to the outside afterwards, but the print is so busy, that I think there's no need to add to it.

The pattern is Burda 11/2008

I have made this pattern a few times
and always omit the zip as the a-line shape means that it fit's easily over her head.

The fabric is Stenzo cord, bought online from DotsnStripes. The colour is very difficult to photograph, and is more a purple than a blue shade.

Sewing Dresses for a Preschooler.

2010-09-29T22:37:00.004+01:00

Because my daughter started preschool, it was an absolutely wonderful excuse to make her some dresses - like I need one! As she gets older, she expresses her opinion a bit more on what she likes and dislikes, so it's important that she gets included at the fabric-selection stage!

The truth is, any fabric that has some pink or an animal, flower, bug ..... and as long as it is going to be a dress.

I first made a dress from this pattern (Burda BWOF 1/2009), back when I started sewing. The neck was too small, so this time I added about 3cm to the neck - a bit too much!!

but it's still more than wearable and she likes it.

The fabric is a Robert Kaufman corduroy which I bought from Lucky Kaeru Fabric a great etsy shop, and it has pink, birds, no flowers, but leaves!

What I learnt about sewing for a preschooler?
Pockets - for tissues, for ribbons, for stones, for adventures, for ..... so many things, but there must be pockets. They are in the side seams of this dress, in a French Seam, which was as difficult as it sounds.

Another make-up bag ... or two

2010-09-16T23:15:00.005+01:00

I made these for a friends birthday. I saw the pattern (free!) on the fabric.com website and it was just what I was looking for ......... until I started sewing! I am a perfectionist when it comes to finishing insides of dresses, bags or whatever I'm sewing - that means that as far as possible I don't like to see seams. So I use lining, French seams or Bias binding.

The zip part was eas-peasy, and turned out very neat.

The lining, well, I should really have used bias binding, because the lining was almost impossible to sew. There must be a better way of lining this type of bag. It turned out ok, except for an odd pucker and bulky corners!

I love the shape of these, but my choice of fabric and trimmings was just too 'seasonal'

Mind you, if she get's tired of the colour, she could turn the bags inside out- after all my trouble lining them!

More School related sewing ....

2010-09-16T22:59:00.010+01:00

Another requirement for school for the younger 2, was aprons. These should really be the type with long sleeves, but the oilcloth I used was too heavy to consider adding sleeves, so basic aprons it was.

These are incredibly easy, just cut the apron shapes and sew on bias binding.

I added elastic to the neck binding for a better fit.

I lined the inside, mostly to hide the wrong side of the oilcloth.

Two very happy customers!

More Back to School or rather, First Day at School

2010-09-08T23:00:00.005+01:00

My daughter had her first day in preschool, and that is a shock to the system!

Her first step into the world, independent of her parents and brothers, because except for her grandparents, she has never been away from us for any period of time. She enjoyed her day so much, and I missed her.

I didn't come back home, but went for coffee with my husband, also quite a different experience to be able to have a totally uninterrupted conversation.

I did some sewing for her - a schoolbag and a lunch bag.

The schoolbag was initially sewn as a practice bag using the Liesl&co/Oliver+S pattern "A Day in the Park Backpack/Tote", but I think it will do ok for school also.

The inside of the bag showing the zip pocket

I changed the pattern by adding extra fabric, cord and a stopper instead of the magnetic snap (which I didn't have anyway!)

The inside of the bag showing the other pocket.

The back of the bag showing the rucksack straps...

The front of the bag showing it as the 'tote' version. My daughter didn't want the button put into the front, so there's none. Also I used 'D' rings instead of 'O' rings, though 'O' rings would have been better. I nearly forgot - I widened the side panels and the base, so had to make some alerations to the length of the straps as well.

I like this pattern a lot for how it looks and hope to sew one for myself soon.

Then there was the lunch bag. Many shop bought lunch bags contain PVC, and most oilcloth/laminated cotton do also. The other option is acrylic-coated cotton which I bought from the Scandinavian Design Centre Online. Some of their oilcloths also contain PVC. There is also an Irish shop called The Blue Door which stocks eco-friendly oilcloths.

So not having a pattern, I made one up.

I'm pleased with how this turned out, and it's washable, and leakproof - though this hasn't been tested 'in the field'! yet.

The lining fabric was bought locally and is the same as was used for the schoolbag above

She is enamoured with the bags, and all the animals on them.

Back to school

2010-08-31T13:36:00.002+01:00

I was going to also title this post with a "What was I thinking??" I decided my 5 year old - who was just starting school, should get a schoolbag made by me.

On this occasion the pictures do the bag way too much justice! The fabric (from DotsnStripes quite a while ago) is a heavy almost canvas-type cotton, with I lined with another heavy cotton and interlined with yet another heavy cotton.

It's still a bit floppy though for my liking! The proportions are a bit off as I cut the back and front flap sections too short. When I realised that, I put on the bias binding a bit haphazardly as I didn't think the bag would be usable. As it turns out, my son was delighted with it.

He is my third in school and is having a very different experience to his older brothers. He loves going in, delighted to come home, and then instead of the exhaustion, he has boundless energy (in a good way!) for the rest of the evening. He is just so happy to be going to school like his older brothers.

It was difficult letting him at school, but he didn't mind us going.

A strong coffee, with a hot raspberry meringue was quite a help to me!

Silk Chiffon Dress - Ta Daaaaa!

2010-08-30T23:16:00.000+01:00

The pictures just don't show the depth of the colour of this dress, and my attempt at taking pictures with the wind blowing while also worrying that threads on the fabric wouldn't catch on the wall ......

This is the back. The slit at the back started out as a pleat - nearly broke my heart trying to finish it and attach it to the lining - so it had to become a slit.

This is the front. The dress looks better worn, because the bodice is very close-fitting, so the waistband hangs smoother.

The front skirt part is cut larger (wider) than the back, which means that it skims over the stomach without clinging to lumps and bumps!

What I learnt:
*Muslin, muslin, muslin - meaning I didn't make one, mostly because I was trying to keep the try-ons to a minimum, so my friend wouldn't find the experience too stressful.

*Don't be afraid of fabrics like chiffon, satin, or anything slippy. However, read up about the fabric, to know what to be careful about, such as
the cutting out - very difficult to keep the fabric straight,
needles to use - really sharp,
thread to use - polyester is fine, though sometimes silk is recommended
Interlining - the bodice is lined, but the best decision I made was to interline it as well (with the satin also). It gave the chiffon more strength, especially to support the straps

Think through each step whether or not a pattern is being used - anything to reduce the amount of ripping out which can cause the fabric to fray terribly.

Very large seam allowances - allows for errors, And means that some alterations can be easily made
Related to the last point is to pay attention to body measurements - if a pattern piece is much smaller than the body measurements taken, be sure to either increase the size of the pattern piece, or allow extra in the seam allowances - obviously a mistake I made, which I had to fix by adding a piece under the arm. Am I thankful that it's not noticeable because of the fabric colour!!!?

When I took the dress to my friend she was quite upset when thanking me for it. I think it meant a lot more to her than I can imagine. I didn't charge her, simply because I was glad to be able to do something to help her.

There's an Irish belief that butterflies represent the souls of people who have died. The day of the wedding (of a sister of our friend who died) I woke to find a butterfly on the bedroom curtains, I can't remember that happening before.

Accessories for the Silk Chiffon Dress

2010-08-25T23:04:00.005+01:00

So the dress is still in progress, with yet another 'try-on', and my friends 16 year old daughter saying the dress was 'amazing' on her mum!

I put together the bag and scarf that I promised her. These also took some time and thought and planning.

The scarf involved a lot of measuring, and remeasuring to make sure I got the sides and ends equal. And I had to figure out how I would sew it so no seams would show. The sides would have worked better if I cut them on the bias, but luckily they didn't pucker too much.

It took me quite a while to figure out what kind of bag to sew. I looked through some sewing magazines but really couldn't find anything that would suit. When I had asked my friend if she would like me to sew her a bag, I also asked her if she was a 'kitchen sink' kind of person, or 'mascara and mobile phone' kind ........... so I knew she'd like a small bag.

Basically I stood in front of the dress and imagined what kind of bag would go with it. I also had to figure out how I would use both fabrics.

I made and lined the bag with the solid satin fabric and sewed on a strip of chiffon. There's a pink pocket inside, which I forgot to take a picture of. The straps/handles involved turning a very narrow strip of fabric, a wire hanger my husband straightened, and quite a lot of brute force.

And I was hoping to use a zip, but having none of the right colour, I used Velcro. I hope she won't need the bag much in the church, as the sound of ripping Velcro, might make everyone turn around to see who tore their dress.!

She was so delighted with these, and didn't mind the Velcro at all.

Silk Chiffon Dress - an Update

2010-08-19T23:40:00.005+01:00

Well, we had a 'try-on' and I don't need to panic, I think! The bodice part was a little too close fitting, even though the zip was able to tie up.

This is what the front will look like, if you can imagine the bodice and skirt made with the patterned chiffon, and the hem and waistband made with navy satin.

Th pale blue lines are where I need to make alterations.

This is the back - the drawings seem a bit 'wide-angle', but the actual size of the dress is a 12.

Not being an experienced dressmaker, and not having a pattern, I have to put a lot of thought into each step so it is taking me quite a bit of time to sew. The wedding is the 28th of August, and seeing as I've also promised to make a scarf and a bag to match, I had better quicken the thought processes!

After the 'try-on', she told me she thought the dress was gorgeous - really, that's all that matters.

Not a Childs Dress

2010-08-04T23:16:00.001+01:00

At the moment I'm working on the dress that I mentioned a few posts ago. We went shopping for fabric and bought a beautiful piece of embellished silk chiffon and a solid satin fabric. There is no pattern for the dress, except some dresses that she likes parts of - which means a bit of design and pattern drafting will also be needed. I won't start panicking until the first try-on!!

Yet another Feliz, so .. again .. lots of pictures!

2010-07-30T21:54:00.009+01:00

I'm not too sure how I ended up sewing another Feliz, especially after the time this one took! My niece is six tomorrow. Last year I made her 2 dresses and she really liked the twirly one. Her mother sews, and had admired the Feliz dress, so I mentioned I would sew one for this years birthday.

Like the other dresses, I sewed French Seams for a neat finish, added lots of ribbon, all Farbenmix, except the elephant one.

There had to be accesories to match, and perhaps I went a 'little' over-the-top!! - so a bag, purse and hat were also added.

The ruffles didn't seem to be as difficult this time, though still take ages.

The hat pattern is my own and the bag and purse patterns were adapted from a Japanese magazine - Cotton Friend Autumn 2008. This is a sweet bag for a girl who likes to carry things around with her.

My daughter (3) modeled it for me - so it's much too long on her - which happily means that it should be ok for the birthday girl.

For a friend

2010-07-27T22:40:00.004+01:00

Went to see a friend, the one I made the paisely and elephant ribbon bag for.

(An aside- I didn't know this when sewing, but she has a collection of elephants, and so did our friend Elaine who died - quite a co-incidence)

Her grief is very raw and we spent lots of time talking about Elaine. Elaines sisters wedding is in a month, and my friend doesn't want to go shopping, so asked me to make a dress - a bit of an'oh my goodness' moment

I am so glad to be able to do something for her.

Terrified I'll make a 'dogs dinner' of the dress. I've tried making 4 dresses for myself, and only one is finished, but still not worn.

Thoughts in Patterns and Stitches

2010-07-23T00:33:00.005+01:00

It seems when I don't know what to say, I make something. This is for a friend who has lost her closest friend, and "I am sorry for your loss" just doesn't seem enough.

So I stitched my thoughts into this bag, the paisley pattern reminding me of tears, the elephants for not forgetting and the hearts for love

It might just bring a smile, or even a 'yuck', a break from the sadness and tears, even for a moment

I wanted to make it a little bigger than before so I altered the shape by making it wider. The outer fabric is Sandi Henderson, lining is Kokka, ribbon is Farbenmix.

A New Niece ......... and more sewing of course!

2010-07-16T18:04:00.012+01:00

This little dress is a present for a new niece who will be christened tomorrow.

The pattern is Ottobre 3/2007#1 and the fabric is organic cotton. The floral pink fabric is from Volksfaden (Sweet Jane by Harmony Art).

It wraps over at the back.

and has decorative stitching on the front (not a good pic)

I wouldn't be me if I didn't make sewing it awkward! - so I changed the pattern by making the dress reversible.

.... with a little surprise underneath

The pattern for the baby pants are from Burda 6/2010#151, and really made me smile - they are so cute!!

The pink stripe fabric is also organic and Fairtrade and is from a Welsh shop

Hopefully it all fits!

A Short Break

2010-07-08T12:56:00.007+01:00

We went to North Wales for about a week for a holiday - that is our main summer holiday as my husband is very busy for the rest of the summer.

We stayed in a very pretty village - Beddgelert,

Saw a little squirrel in a slate mine!

Trains on top of Snowdonia (look closely!)

trains at the bottom of Snowdonia,

Festiniog Railway trains,

and lots more...

... and saying goodbye to trains at the end of the holiday...

Elaine

2010-07-08T12:31:00.008+01:00

I mentioned my friend in these posts, first here, then here. More than a month ago she got good news that her treatment was working. Then 2 weeks ago our mutual friend rang to say she had been diagnosed with secondaries on her lung and was having trouble with breathing. I knew that sounded bad.

She died Saturday July 3rd, only 42.

I hadn't seen her in two years, last spoke to her about a year ago, sent some texts and an odd card, and was away for her funeral. It all seems so unreal, and seems like I haven't said goodbye to her, seems like she couldn't possibly be gone.

She was an amazing person, always concerned for others - the careers of junior colleagues, the lives of people with disabilities - with a great ability to think on her feet, and always know the right thing to do.

Some things I'm grateful for:

when she was starting her academic career in 2004 , I added her name to an article I had written and it became her first publication

all the dark chocolate she supplied me with when I returned to work after maternity leave - and was struggling ( she had bought a stash, but realised that it was cooking chocolate, so went and bought some more).

the hug I gave her when she returned to work after a devastating incident when she had tried to resusitate an toddler

how she helped me organise my time so I could do some work from home

I hope I will remember many more.

‘Please don’t cry for me
My time on earth is over
But please smile with me as we were honoured to have shared this time together’

a Little present for my Niece - Not a dress for a change!!

2010-06-25T21:11:00.004+01:00

I wanted to make something small for my niece who is 15 so I put this together in less than an hour, from tracing the pattern to sewing a label inside.

It is a little make-up bag. The outer fabric is Hilco, bought from DotsnStripes early last year and also used to make this dress for my daughter.

The lining is Alice in Wonderland print from Kokka, bought from The Eternal Maker.

And I added a Farbenmix ribbon just because....!

I thought i matched the ends of the ribbon exactly - I'd say I almost succeeded.

I hope she likes it. She is also godmother to my daughter, so I'll put in some make-up, that I know she likes.

Oh ....... and the pattern is from Sew Pretty Homestyle by Tone Finnager. If everything in the book is half as easy - I'll be making lots more.

Sewing 'Bizzkids'

2010-06-21T23:52:00.011+01:00

Thank goodness for sewing.
I had a pattern traced from this magazine (Bizzkids 2009 - bought from DotsnStripes) since last summer, and so I sewed!

(Bizzkids 2009 #4127, page 39 and 40)

I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out - as I winged it a bit with the instructions. The magazine uses words like 'Frontpass', 'Counterfrontpass', 'Backpass' and 'Counterbackpass' - it means there's a lot of puzzled looking at pattern pieces going on.

This is the back -

my daughter wore it all day so lots of wrinkles. She also requested a hat to match, which won't be a problem as I have fabric left over.

This is the front. I omitted the zip, really to reduce hassle in making it!

The skirt is lined, with the outer fabric gathered to fit the lining - so creating the bubble effect.

So I suppose I better get started on the hat....

Japanese Magazines

2010-06-20T11:35:00.005+01:00

My brother was in Japan recently for a friends wedding and I asked if he had some time, would get some Japanese sewing books. I sent him an e-mail with the pictures so he took that to show to the newsagents.

The bride (Japanese) was very amused at the idea that an Irish person would be able to use these and kindly offered to translate!

Of course there is lots that I cannot make head nor tail of, but there is plenty I can - lots of patterns and sewing instructions!

These are pages from Cotton Friend

- I prefer this magazine as the sewing instructions and drawings are clearer.

This pic, below, is from Pochee - the clothes in this seem to involve more detailed sewing techniques,

and the sewing instructions seem to be less clear - at least they are more crowded on the page!

I'm still deciding what to start on -- probably something for the children, though there are some nice bags and hats (adult sized) too........

First Custom make - Finale!

2010-06-09T22:56:00.007+01:00

This is really getting dragged out, but I had waaaaayy too many pictures for one post.

So this jacket (3904) was decided on - also from the same Sue&Blu magazine. This was a very straightforward pattern, but it was trying to fit in these pattern pieces on the fabric layout that caused the biggest headache, trying to make sure I had enough fabric.

I was so short of the navy, the belt at the back of the dress is like patchwork as I used so many pieces to make it.! Luckily I had bought white and navy fabric myself for the lining.

I finished all the inside seams with white binding, which made the jacket look neat inside and out.

Initially I thought it looked too much together with the dress, but it has grown on me - and my niece looked very elegant in it.

As a special treat for my niece who is only 10, and because she loves animals and had been so patient for fittings - I sewed some Farbenmix ribbons with animals to the inside of the jacket. She loved them!

'Custom' Make - Part 2

2010-06-09T22:47:00.008+01:00

The only colour material my sister could get was the navy/white, which also happened to be my favourite. There was a bit of a saga to buying the material which involved her reopening an old bank account because the seller wouldn't take credit cards/paypal!

The border pattern on the fabric meant that the pattern layout and cutting took me quite a few hours.

As I had made a muslin, sewing the dress up was straight forward. There is netting to give the skirt shape, and I lined the whole inside to make sure it would be comfortable to wear.

The neckline looks uneven in these pics, because the dress was only pinned at this stage.

I had considered making the shoulder straps adjustable, but after another fitting (my poor niece) I decided they didn't need to be.

My sister decided the dress needed something over it.............(Part 3!)

My first 'custom' make - Part 1

2010-06-09T22:15:00.008+01:00

My sister wanted something dressy for her daughter (my niece) to wear to her other daughters communion, so I got a 'commission' to make a dress!!

She decided on one from the Sue&Blu 2009 magazine no. 3911 (bought from DotsnStripes)

and it was this pattern appealed to her most, so she went on an online search for the fabric. She used some of the links given on this Dutch website

I had sewn for this niece before so I was a bit 'cool' about taking measurments (didn't take any)and had the idea (thankfully) that I would make a wearable muslin (which turned out unwearable!).

Sue&Blu and Bizzkids patterns are quite similar in writing style and are not the easiest to understand at times because of translation, and I wanted to make some changes to the back panel pieces.

This was the muslin - looking reasonable from the front

but a right old disaster from the back!

I thought I might need to put elastic in the back panel - which would explain the white stitching, and I used ribbons to hold the straps - definitely NOT a good look. When my niece tried this on, it was too short, too tight even when the elastic was taken out, and the changes I made to the straps just did not look good .

To be continued............

The Practice Dress turned good

2010-05-28T00:19:00.003+01:00

A little while back I posted about this denim dress and that it was a practice dress before I cut into the 'good' fabric.

This is the 'good' fabric (bought locally) and the dress is sewn.

The idea for this dress has been in my head (with a lot of other stuff!!) for about a year or more.

and it has turned out mostly how I imagined.

I made a hat - same as for the first Feliz dress - but this time lined it with a heavier cotton, and it holds its shape much better.

I could have made it a little longer, so I thought of adding a pair of short leggings. I didn't want to cut up a new pair, so I used a pair from last year, cut them just at the knees, mended a few holes! and added ruffles and ric-rac.

This is for my daughter to wear to another cousins First Communion - I suppose it's a bit over the top? - I just couldn't stop sewing!!

Another Feliz

2010-05-17T12:21:00.008+01:00

I enjoyed sewing this dress more than the previous one because I omitted the ruffles on this one. Though I love the look of the ruffles I found them very time-consuming. I also omitted them because I was making the dress for an older child.

The most difficult part was trying to figure out how I would make the overdress (size 9-10) out of only one metre of the pink fabric - so I cut the side overdress pattern piece in half and made one half with the white patterned 'broderie anglais' fabric.

I cut an extra hem in brown for the underdress, seen below with ribbons on. I also put white binding on the hem of the pink to keep the white theme going!

I used a white cotton for most of the underdress (except the back which is brown) again because I wouldn't have had enough brown fabric for the 9-10 size.

I used French seams for finishing, except where I added the brown hem to the white. The hem of the underdress is also finished with binding (pink)

The fabric flower which I made for the front ...

The ribbon detail of the back ...

The back ...

and the front again ...

The only change I would make is to slightly shorten the straps by about .5 cm as they slip off a bit when worn.

My niece loved the dress, (and her mother too - always important!) and wore it to her cousins First Communion.

And thanks to Sew4my3 and Wendy via Flickr for the push to sew this.

Sewing and Baking

2010-05-10T22:02:00.005+01:00

The newly 12 year old and 5 year old have birthdays 9 days apart, so plenty baking.

'Yu-Gi-Oh' is a big hit with my four, so a few characters on a chocolate cake and the eldest was delighted.

Lego fans x 4 also live here! The 5 year old also loved his cake.

Though it turned out ok, the cake was a series of minor disasters - the sugar paste I rolled out wasn't big enough - but I had practically sealed it to the cake with hot jam when I realised - off it came with bits of the cake of course.

Then some royal icing for a cover up on the sides, to which I stuck smarties - a few of which decided to slide off the cake - so I had to keep pressing them on.

And then the icing gun fell right onto the cake, so I had to re-pipe some of the writing and stick some lego icing onto the marks.

Thankfully the sewing is going better.......

These are the ribbons on the lower back of the Feliz underdress - all Farbenmix.

I think the front might look a bit plain/bare with just the pink so I've made a fabric flower with the white fabric, and some of the same ribbons hanging down.

I'll get a move on in the next day or two and try to finish it.

Sew-a-long

2010-05-08T16:29:00.005+01:00

I was meaning to sew another 'Feliz', so when a Sew-a-long started on the Flickr Farbenmix group, I joined.

This dress will be for my nearly 9 year old niece, so I'm going to try the pattern without ruffles in size 9-10.

I mostly buy fabric in 1 yard/metre pieces, which is fine for my daughter at 3 years of age. But it means that I usually don't have enough for bigger dresses. So I just had to find some fabric that matched/contrasted and these seem to work.

The brown and pink are Michael Miller prints from Volksfaden online, and I bought the white locally.

Lots of pink for a 4 year old

2010-05-02T13:23:00.007+01:00

A niece who is 4, so another dress, and of course a hat - all of which matched one of the dolls dresses.

The pattern is one I used before for a dress for my daughter, and is from this Japanese pattern book

I modified it by adding extra pleats to the sides, and slightly changing the sides and armholes of the dress as I thought the original pattern was wide fitting.

I added buttons to the back rather than a zip. The hat is my own pattern, same as the one matching the Feliz dress.

This niece is in the middle of the 'pink' phase, her mother informed me, and she picked the fabric herself when she came to visit.

The pleat details, and the pocket with a little bit of Farbenmix ribbon.

Ottobre Dresses for Dolls

2010-05-01T16:45:00.005+01:00

I don't know why I didn't do this before, but now that I have, it seems such an obvious thing to sew. I never learnt to sew formally, but have very strong memories if sewing clothes for my doll (yes - only one!). Now that I have plenty scraps, and my daughter has plenty dolls - dresses for dolls is such a great idea.

These dolls dresses are presents for nieces - to match dresses I made, modelled by 'Baby Borns' that are over 12 years old passed on by my daughters 15 year old godmother.

My daughter loved the dresses on her dolls, so I have promised I will make more including some that match her dresses.

The dolls dresses are from Ottobre 1/03 and are reversible

There is a also a headband pattern in the Ottobre magazine, so I adapted it and made 2 child sized and 2 for the dolls. Maybe next time I will make bloomers to match.