Clothes sewing

Ottobre 301

Summer sewing – yay!

Ottobre 301 pattern again. This time I left the sleeves off and added binding instead.

Fabrics are white Stella and spotty Stenzo from the Crafty Mamas shop. I used freezer paper and textile medium with Jo Sonja paint to stencil on the little squirrel. The stencil came from here and there are heaps of fantastic stencil potential there!

Sewing for the girls

by Kelly 4 Comments

We had a 6th birthday here last week so some pretty sewing was in order. First up – a tee shirt dress adapted from Ottobre 303 Creative Workshop pattern. The pattern and fabrics are from the Crafty Mamas shop.

Little sisters are allowed to get birthday presents even if it’s not their birthday! (Or so I’m told)

I used the Ottobre pattern again, this time as a simple tee with contrast sleeves and neckband.

The birthday dress. To cut a long story short, I used a Sis Boom pattern from the book and was very disappointed with the baggy and ill fitting results. Before throwing the towel in and cutting it up to salvage the special fabric (recognise the skirt fabric Carol?) I decided to totally wing it and try a major fix.

I took the dress in at the sides, added a pleat to the front, added binding to the skirt and eliminated some of the waist bagginess and bulk. Bingo! I have alteration skills I didn’t even know I had!

The dress is treasured, and I mean treasured. You know the coolest part? My husband took the birthday girl on a trip to the coast and he said so many people stopped them in the street to admire the dress and her hair accessories (also Mama made). Hearing that really made my day!

I made this hair barrette by deconstructing a faux flower, sewing it back together, adding a button and hot glueing it all to a metal barrette. Very simple, very pretty.

For this one I wrapped a cheap plastic headband in cheap gingham craft ribbon, then glued on the pre – purchased roses.

If you’d like a tutorial for the hair accessories I’m happy to oblige – just ask!

Birthdays and sunshine

by Kelly 3 Comments

July is the month of birthdays in our family, with 4 out of the 6 of us celebrating. This means I spend a lot of July in the kitchen, but is there a more perfect time of year than Winter to be baking?

A 2 year old girl must have heart cookies!

Mmmm!

Red velvet cake recipe from Joy of Baking (I dare you to go to that website and avoid drooling all over your keyboard!) I used whipped cream and buttercream frosting instead of the traditional cream cheese frosting. A little hint – next time I’ll decorate with cream and buttercream frosting the day before, it was much better on the second day.

I even found time to sew and dye at top for myself, what a rare occurence! I won the Ottobre women’s top pattern from the Crafty Mamas blog. Highly recommend – excellent pattern!

So after all the fun and excitement of games like being dragged through the house on a quilt by a mother

who is feeling very unfit, this little princess conked out early and missed her own birthday dinner!

Thanks for reading along, bye for now:)

It’s impossible…

by Kelly 6 Comments

To get an 18 month old to stand still for an outdoor photo shoot. Especially when Mum has made a new outfit to show off.

A toddler has such purpose to her/his stride!

There’s the camera – quick! Run in the opposite direction!!

Oh, the outfit – Farbenmix Antonia top and some basic 3/4 baggy leggings. All fabrics from the Crafty Mamas shop.

Hand dyed top for the boy

by Kelly 1 Comment

I don’t sew all that much for the boy – It’s not like you can make a 10 year old boy the cute little outfits you could have when they were little. I do like to make his basic pants and things though.

The pattern is Jalie 2918 which I have also used for my husband with excellent results. I started with white Stella and dyed it what I thought would be a sky blue. It came out awfully light and washed out which I now realise was probably due to a too low temperature in the mixing and curing.

I gave it another go with cobalt blue and better temperatures and it came out perfect! I love this colour on my blue eyed boy.

Spiral dyed circle skirt

by Kelly 5 Comments

A new item in my Etsy shop! I made this full circle skirt from cotton lawn, then dyed a spiral with deep magenta and sky blue. The result is a beautiful berry swirl!

It’s so good for twirling! I’ll be making more of these – they are so pretty and drape gorgeously.

SOLD – Thank you Lesley!

Don’t forget the book giveaway ends tomorrow!

Dyeing to know what’s missing

by Kelly 6 Comments

Last summer I did quite a bit of dyeing with Drimarene K dyes. I love everything about these dyes except their price tag. I always had excellent results using these dyes.

So this time around I’m trying Procion simply because they’re a fraction of the price. I’m now getting mixed results and am not happy with it all. The colours are strong (I make them strong because I like it that way) but lack the vibrancy of the Drimarene K items I’ve previously done.

I dyed some Stella for the first time this week when I made shorts for the girls. I think I oversaturated and lost definition in the designs. A lesson for next time.

Maybe I’m not combining the right colours? For example, the yellow I have is a golden yellow which is almost an orange – my next order will be for lemon yellow.

Another distorted design and way too mottled for my liking. The good news is the girls think they’re wonderful and want to wear them a lot so all is not lost.

I also made a top for the boy that I dyed with the immersion technique (very carefully) that came up really disappointing. To be specific, it looks like an older and worn top rather than brand new and vibrant. I’ve trawled information to find what may be wrong – the only thing I can think of is the curing temperatures may be a little low as the weather hasn’t really warmed up yet.

I know other dyers get great and vibrant results with Procion, so there must be something amiss with what I’m doing.

Any suggestions?

The $7 dress

by Kelly 5 Comments

Oh, the angst this dress caused me!! I wanted to make my own dress to wear to my sister’s wedding. I spent a good deal of time pouring over patterns before deciding on Simplicity 3503. Then I agonised over fabrics for about a week. I haven’t made many garments for myself and I’m not good with knowing what colours and style suit me.

So… after carefully measuring I started the dress and finished fairly quickly. I tried it on a lot before finishing, but somehow it ended up with problems. Like it was way too big. The neckline was too low and gaping. It was extremely long. And the waistband was completely wrong. Then the worst part – the style made me look about 6 months pregnant!!!

I was determined not to give up. So I did something that really surprised me. I put the instructions and pattern away. I said a prayer. I took the dress apart and started again. Don’t ask me what I did – I cut, sewed, gathered, put in darts and somehow it all came together for a perfect fit!

Now here is the cool part. The fabric was off the Spotlight clearance table. At $2 a metre the dress worked out to roughly $7! (Not including the pattern cost)

I received many, many positive and flattering comments at the wedding. My husband gazed at me all night long. He is still gazing at me 4 days later. It was great to feel “pretty” again, it’s been a long time!

I couldn’t mention the wedding without showing my gorgeous sister being presented by Dad. She was so happy and beautiful. Marriage is a truly beautiful gift.

Disclaimer: The shots of me were taken by my 10 year old “photographer”. He needs practice!

A few things I’ve been sewing

by Kelly 2 Comments

Another busy week but at least I managed some sewing time! I found a cute monkey printed jersey at Spotlight on the clearance table and made some “non girly” pyjamas for the “non girly” girl. The good news is she loves the shorts and wants to wear them 24/7 – the bad news is she hates the top and refuses to wear it. Sigh.

I had dyed a mandala on some broadcloth that was just the right size to make a little dress for Half Pint. It’s very cute but next time I need to make the straps longer and the dress less “boxy”.

From the back.

I love these moments! I caught the boy teaching the little one some piano. These two may be 10 years apart in age but they are terrific friends.

It’s pouring rain here today after yesterday being warm and windy, so the garden is drinking it in. I must show you some photos of the garden soon, it’s such a wonderful place to be at the moment.

Happy weekend and God bless you all 🙂

Pretty little wedding dresses

by Kelly 5 Comments

I finished the girl’s dresses for my sister’s wedding in a few weeks.

Note the pained “I don’t feel like having my photo taken” expression.

I used some pretty quilting fabrics and satin to make the waistbands that tie at the back.

I used my trusty Miss Madeline pattern.

This pale blue fabric has pretty white patterns on it that you can’t really see here.

I’ve almost finished my dress too.

An amusing tale. In my last letter to my Grandmother I mentioned I was making our dresses for the wedding. A couple of days later I received a letter back with a gift voucher for $50. She thought it was such a pity that I “had” to make our dresses she wanted me to go out and buy some for the girls. When she had young children she made all of their clothes out of necessity.

Haven’t times changed? I don’t think she’d be convinced that I sew for pleasure.