Happy birthday baby!

My wee boy turns two on Friday and I can't believe it! It really does feel like he was born a few months ago. I'm feeling it even more acutely with the impending arrival of his little brother or sister in a few weeks.... I think he is too. Last night after his bath I wrapped him up in his towel and gave him a big cuddle. He rested his head on my cheek and said 'I'm mama's baby'. Eek! I think we are in for a few interesting months ahead.

I really wanted to make my little guy something special for his birthday. I wasn't sure about his initial request for a 'cookie monster dress', but I let him choose some cute Kokka cars fabric from my stash which he just adores, and decided to turn them into some shorts for him. He hasn't seen these finished yet, but got very excited when he saw me sewing up the fabric. He should love them.

They're pretty much the same as the helicopter shorts I made recently. O+S Sketchbook pattern, without the pleat, with a flat front, and two rows of topstitching on both sides of the fly, up the rise, on the pockets and up the outer seam. A few minor alterations that gave me the casual look I was after.

I also wanted to make him a shirt, and as usual turned to my O+S Sketchbook shirt pattern. I've made this several times now and am always looking for ways to make it a bit different. In the past I have monogrammed and also embroidered the pocket. This time I decided to applique a little dinosaur peeking out from under the pocket, as my wee guy loves dinosaurs, and I was keen to avoid using a dinosaur print (I love novelty prints, but need to draw the line somewhere!).

I sketched the dinosaur freehand onto some vliesofix then blanket-stitched it by hand onto the shirt. The eye is satin-stitched. All in all it only took about 20 minutes and I really like the lift it gives the shirt.

I also used the spotty fabric I used for the dinosaur on the inside of both plackets and the underside of the collar. It's not immediately obvious but peeps out hen the shirt is being worn.

All in all I'm happy with this shirt. The fabric was a bit of a nightmare though. It's lovely to look at - a very fine striped aqua and white cotton, but it's very, very crisp and creases so easily.

I'm wrapping these up for the little guy to open on Friday. Happy birthday baby!


Dark and blurry sorry, but here's the finished shirt.


Dino detail! T should love this.


The inner plackets and under-collar both have the same spotty fabric I used for the dinosaur, to tie everything together.


T's brm-brm shorts.


I did two lines of top-stitching on both sides of the fly, pockets and outer seam (plus the rise, which you can't see here).

Japanese jumprope

A year or so ago my mum bought back a whole heap of fabric from a trip to Japan. One of these fabrics was a $4, 1.1 metre remnant that I fell in love with instantly. It was a lilac-grey linen and cotton blend with little bunches of deep pink and red flowers and strawberries scattered all over it. I knew as soon as I saw it that it would eventually become an Oliver + S jump rope dress.

I made view B of the jump rope last Summer and it was hugely popular with Sweetpea and me! In fact I think that dress may be one of the most favourite things I have ever sewn.

This year I sewed up a size 4, which has a fair bit of growing room for the rest of the season. I also added a wee bit of length for my beanpole.

The plackets, sleeve tabs and pocket trims are made up in a hot pink pure linen. Gorgeous fabric but it has a life of its own and slipped all over the place when trying to sew it.

Not much more to say about this - love the pattern and love the fabric, so am pretty happy with this dress. I am still sewing & nesting like mad, and now have two new baby girls to sew for ASAP before my own baby arrives in (hopefully not less than) three weeks.


Sorry for the shocking photo... here's the dress!


MOP buttons (which I think are a little too big?) and pink topstitching on the collar.


I think the pockets really make the dress.


My mum is fab: she watched the kids for me a few weeks back, and when i came home she had folded a flower hairclip out of the dress scraps.

Otto shorts

One of the hardest things about sewing for boys is the lack of variety. There's just so more choice when it comes to patterns and fabrics for girls. Having said that though, there's a lot of brilliant stuff out there and I can usually find inspiration on other blogs or Flickr.

I'm still trying to get most of my Summer sewing done and that includes lots of shorts for my little guy, who wears little else over Summer. I have a few patterns, but am reluctant to buy more as they're all just variations on a theme. That's why I like Ottobre magazine so much, lots of boy patterns every issue that I probably wouldn't purchase individually, but really appreciate.

These shorts are from Ottobre 3/11. I like the way they're a bit shorter than most of the other patterns out there, and the little cuff detail is something a bit different (to be honest I wasn't sure about it, but was itching to do something 'new', and I really like the end result).

This is only my second Ottobre attempt. On one hand it's kind of refreshing to have minimal instructions - there's certainly no hand-holding! On the other hand the finish isn't quite as polished as you'd get with say an Oliver + S pattern. I learnt a few new tricks making these though - constructing the waistband without having to thread through elastic on a safety pin was a revelation... sooooo much easier than the way I usually do it!

I sewed them in navy and white seersucker with red topstitching. There's a lot of topstitching in this pattern - two rows on most seams. I love topstitching though, although using such an obvious colour made me a bit more cautious than usual. The seersucker was from my stash (leftover from this shirt) - if I had purchased fabric for these I would have gone with a broader stripe, but I'm trying to chew through my fabric stash at the moment.

I made these in a 92 and they fit beautifully on my big, little boy.


The finished shorts. They've got patch pockets with a little flap, faux fly and a little crossover cuff detail.


*sigh*. This is the best photo I could get of my little guy wearing them. You are growing up too fast mister.


The fly with bar-tacks.


Cuff detail. Didn't like this initially but do now.


Pocket detail. I like the diagonal buttonholes, and chose red and white contrast buttons.

Popover squirrel dress

I've been sewing Oliver + S for as long as I've been sewing, yet it's taken me until now to sew the (free) popover sundress pattern. Why? I have no idea. I think i just run out of time each Summer, and there is usually a new whizz-bang pattern that takes priority over this one.

This year I have made a head start on the kids' Summer sewing, and was recently given some gorgeous Echino fabric that suits this pattern perfectly.

I matched the Echino with some linen scraps I had left from old projects, and trimmed the yoke and hem with some cotton lace I had left over from making a friend's bridal garter a few months back.

I added a little squirrel pocket to complement the dress. I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I cannot - I took the idea from this Etsy store. Making the pocket was easy. I traced a squirrel clipart directly onto the linen from the computer screen, then fused another layer of linen to the back using vliesofix. I then sewing around the edge using a very short zig zag stitch, clipped around the edges and straight stitched it onto the dress.

This is such a sweet pattern and so quick to sew up. I hope to make a few more, as it suits our hot Summers.


The finished dress. Size 4 with extra length. It's a little roomy, but will be nice and cool to wear.


I love the Echino with the linen and lace. If you haven't seen this fabric in real life, it's a much softer purple than it looks here.


Lacy hem.


Squirrel pocket


Pockets are always a hit with my wee girl.

Nesting, getting a head start on Summer and stash busting

I've been sewing so much lately, churning out clothes for the kids daily. Part of it must be nesting, part of it is getting a head start on their Summer wardrobes before baby #3 comes along next month, and part of it is stash busting (I have a LOT of fabric on its way to me and need the room! I also have lots of one yard cuts that I need to use before the kids get too big).

These little shorts are one of my favourite recent pieces, I adore them, and so does my little boy.

The fabric is Echino (my mum loves Echino as much as I do and is always picking up bits and pieces for me, this one is no exception) and the pattern is the Oliver + S sketchbook shorts.

I have made this pattern once before, but am much happier with this attempt. This time I made a few alterations:

• omitted the pleat to make them more casual
• top-stitched the edge of the fake fly and added an extra row of top-stitching to the curve of the fly
  
• top-stitched the rise from the bottom of the fly to the back waistband (again, to make then more casual)
• added a bartack to the fly.

I also gave them a flat front this time, with the elastic only at the back and sides. I added a button to the top of the fly (after finding my mother-in-laws old button box - treasure!).

All in all, I love them, and when I next make these shorts will make the same alterations.


The finished shorts. I really like them with the flat fronted waistband and without the pleats.


Fly details, you can just see the extra top-stitching either side and bartack.


The back: rise top-stitched all the way along the seam.


My wee guy modelling them. These are a sz 2 for a very tall almost two-year old. They fit beautifully at the moment. We're not going to get more than a season's wear out of these :-(

My very first Ottobre creation

I mentioned in my last post that I've finally got brave enough to attempt sewing at knit. As part of this process I discovered that sewing with knit is actually fine, but there are some elements of it that make me want to beat my head against the wall. Like attaching rib binding... that's enough to cause a nice big bruise on my forehead.

I am about 7 weeks away from meeting my new baby, and thought I would get some practice making a little onesie. I chose a pattern from Ottobre 3/2011 (I think it's called Peppermint) to make for my colleague's new baby girl - I made a larger size to fit her in the Summer.

The actual pattern is very simple. The body of the onesie is all one piece, so the only tricky bit was to attach the binding. According to Otto, the binding should be cut to about 70% of the edge length and then stretched on. But when I tested this on a scrap of the fabric it was a hot mess.

After getting some great advice from a few good sewing friends (hello girls, you know who you are!) I felt confident enough to attack the binding. I cut a huge strip of binding and stretched as I sewed - a little less on the straight bits and much more around the legs and arms. I also found using my walking foot was a big help.

When I was finished I was pretty pleased with the results. But when I went to fold the binding over and attach it to the other side, it seemed to stretch again... and I don't know why! I unpicked a few times and tried everything, but still couldn't get the result I was after.

After a few hours I decided enough was enough, and just finished the damn thing, imperfections and all. It looks okay laying flat on the table, but I suspect the neckline is too big, and maybe the legs. I also made the binding too thin, so that the snaps kind of overlap it. And the icing on the cake is that the paint flaked off some of the snaps as I was hammering them in. So I don't think this little onesie will meet it's intended recipient, I am too embarrassed and will make something else instead. If I end up having a girl I will see what it's like on her and she *may* wear it.

I am not completely turned off sewing this type of thing. It's certainly a learning experience and though I have a lot left to learn, I felt I picked up a few new skills. I'm going to attempt a few envelope tees next, as I hope they'll be a bit easier and more forgiving than a onesie like this.

I have also rediscovered Ottobre magazine during this process and am totally inspired. I have been busy tracing out lots of (mainly woven) patterns so I can get a head start on my kids' Summer sewing before this baby comes along.


The finished onesie. See how narrow the binding is? I wish I had made it wider so that the snaps fit better.


The wrap-around style is really cute, but made it hard to gauge how much to stretch the binding, especially around the legs (as it wasn't simply a matter of using the same length binding for the legs).


Hammered in the snaps and the paint flaked off to reveal a rusty snap! GAH!

The Urban Hoodie

I first bought the pattern for the Urban Unisex Hoodie (from Heidi and Finn) about a year ago now I guess. I loved it as soon as I saw it but have put off sewing it as I've never sewn with knit before.

A couple of weeks ago I bit the bullet and started two new knit projects, one of which is the hoodie, and the other I will blog about soon. And what do you know, sewing with knit isn't hard at all... unless we're talking attaching rib binding, which I'm not... in this post.

This is a great little pattern. It's a fairly simple shape and it unisex, which is a bonus in our house. I sewed this version using a couple of cheap remnants - a blue interlock and a black and grey striped rib knit.

I have read a few reviews saying that the sizing runs small in this pattern, especially around and under the arms. With that in mind I halved the seam allowance and it makes for a really nice fit on my little boy.

The only thing I didn't like about this pattern was that fact that the lining and main fabric at the bottom of the hoodie is stitched together before the band is attached. It makes it kind of clunky to sew. Apart from that, I really recommend this pattern and will be making more for my kids.


The finished hoodie. I wish I had stretched the bottom band on as I'd sewn it. I will next time.


This is the best modelling shot I could get, but you can get a pretty good idea of the fit and general look of the top here.


View from behind. I love the blue poking out from the hood. I also love that my wee boy is hugging his teddy and sucking his thumb here. At nearly two my baby thinks he is a big boy now and getting so independent. It's nice to see him slip back to baby mode once in a while!

The tea party playsuit

Nothing inspires me to sew like a friend having a baby. Baby E was born eleven days ago and is just delicious - super chubby cheeks and loads of thick, dark hair. Cluck cluck!

I decided to make him a tea party playsuit, by Oliver + S. My motives were largely selfish - I wanted to try it out as I've never sewn one before, and I already had most of the pattern pieces traced and cut from making the tea party sundress last year. I am nothing if not lazy!

This is a size 6-12 months, so intended for baby E to wear this coming (Australian) Summer. I used some of my stash of Kokka robots for the bodice, and a really lovely, super light, striped linen for the shorts. The bodice is also lined in the linen. The linen had a beautiful drape, but was so hard to work with. I swear it was alive... it just moved - my seams were all a bit uneven because of it. In the end I overlocked each piece before sewing, which gave it some stability and meant I didn't have to finish the seams post-production (again, lazy!). The piping is one of the many green Kona solids, and while I was initially worried it was too bright, I like the pop of colour it gives the playsuit.

Construction was straightforward. I used snaptape for the crotch and am pretty happy with the way it turned out. It seems kind of bulky against the light linen but I'm sure with a cute little nappied baby bum in there it will be fine. In any case the snaptape was so much easier than worrying about whether regular snaps are aligned properly.


The finished product. The left left looks wonky here but it was just the breeze - I promise :)


The bodice is lined in the same linen as the shorts, which gives a very clean finish to the inside.


Bodice detail.


The buttons, hand stitched with green floss. My initial linen covered buttons were a disaster (you could see the aluminium button through the linen on my first attempt, then when I interfaced it it wouldn't snap in on the second attempt). I didn't remember I had these buttons until I was fishing through my button box. I bought them on a trip to Hong Kong last month for the lovely Nicole, who was searching for them. If you ever are in Hong Kong, go and visit Sham Shui Po. It's home to the craft district and is absolute heaven - so many treasures at very cheap prices.

Something a bit different

I've never been one for embroidery, but over the last couple of weeks I felt like I needed to do something creative, and sewing wasn't going to cut it (something about being pregnant and uncomfortable and in love with the couch... and my sewing room being too messy to inspire any creativity).

I discovered this embroidery through a sewing forum I belong to and fell in love. It's a pattern called the Princess and the Pea, designed by the very talented Nicole from Follow the White Bunny.

Despite not really ever having stitched before, this was really enjoyable and I quite looked forward to stitching away in front of the tv most nights. I only knew the basics, so had to learn split stitch, French knots, lazy daisy stitch and chain stitch from the internet. They weren't as intimidating as I thought!

My wee three year old has taken a shine to it so it will hang in her 'new' bedroom, which is getting a big of an overhaul before the new baby comes along in a few months.

The end product is far from perfect, but I like it, and I enjoyed making it. Maybe even enough to stitch a few more over the next few years.


The finished product. Ignore the bumps, I shoved all the excess fabric under the hoop for the photos.


The princess and her blankets.


The middle mattresses.


The bottom layers, including the bedskirt and the pea!

Goodbye to a good friend

Today has been a sad day, we had to say goodbye to my dear friend and her family. Her daughter is one day older than Sweetpea and they've 'known' each other since they were five weeks old. They're thick as thieves and see each other at least four times a week.

So apart from saying goodbye to my dear friend, I've also been trying my best to help my little girl, who is 'lots of sad, not just a little bit sad' to say goodbye to her best friend (they're moving more than 1000km away). It's really heartbreaking. At 3 years old she can't fully understand what's happening, only that she won't see her friend anymore.

We wanted to send J off with a little gift, and after a bit of thought decided on some hair clips (Sweetpeas's idea) and a little purse to hold them in (my idea). Sweetpea choose the fabric and I got to work.

I based the purse on a tutorial from Noodlehead Sews. The example in her blog is divine, so check it out. Ours is made using a small scale Japanese deer print, linen, and red canvas for the 'J' applique and lining. It's very simple and quick to sew.

The clips are made using my stash of small scale prints I keep especially for making hairclips.

I also bought both girls a storybook about two best friends who move away.

So goodbye J, Sweetpea will miss you. And goodbye for now to my dear friend, you know I'll miss you too x.


The purse. The 'J' applique looks wonky for some reason - it isn't in real life!


Peekaboo!


The clips :) My favourites are little red riding hood and the big bad wolf.

Schools Days coat take 2

I finished my last post talking about the O+S school days coat I was making for my son. Well it's finished, has already been worn to death and is dirty already!

My little boy's coat is super soft pale blue cashmere, lined with a tangerine elongated dot from the Freebird by Momo collection (the actual print is called 'eggs' and the colour is melon). I really wanted a contrast lining, and this looks so lovely on my little guy, who has strawberry blond hair. I had initially wanted to use one of those cute Japanese prints for the lining, but decided not to in the end as a) I wanted a contrast and most of the boyish ones were blue/green, and b) most of my favourite prints were canvas weight, and I thought that would make the jacket too bulky, especially as it's only a sz 18-24 months.

If you're making this coat, I really recommend checking out one of those bead shops to find the leather cord. I looked everywhere and was about to use a leather shoelace, before mum told me where to look. The shop I went to had leather and a man-made leatherette cord in a heap of colours, including many brights. The leatherette would be a good choice if you plan to dry-clean your coat, and the dry-cleaning process can often make leather stiff and crackly. The man-made option is also very soft and super strong.

There's not much else to say that I didn't say in my last post. Except my son loves his coat too, and both kids like wearing their matching jackets together. They recently stood the test of a cold Melbourne escape and got a lot of positive comments.

I feel like my sewing is stuck in cement lately, so much inspiration but so little sewing time. I am itching to get sewing for the new baby, and to make a few more Winter garments for the kids.


The finished coat. The colour is a bit off here - the photo below is much more accurate.


I love the lining :)

New Winter coat

My mum and my sister have a fabric business and one of the perks for me is cheap fabric! On their last buying trip I asked them to look out for a few metres of wool to make the kids new Winter jackets. Typically, they couldn't settle on just one, and shipped back more than a dozen metres of gorgeous wool/cashmere and plain wool. Heaven!

I have had the Oliver + S School Days Coat pattern for a while but have never tried it out due to not having had the 'right fabric'. Now I do!

The jacket was surprisingly simple to make. It's a lot of work (if anyone knows of a company that will trace off and cut our your pattern pieces for you, please let me know) but all very straightforward. The instructions also had a few tips for working with wool, such as grading the seams and having a wider topstitch, and they gave really nice results.

I was intimidated by working with wool but it was so forgiving. Lots of ease so setting in the sleeves was a piece of cake, and it was even nice to cut out.

The lining is a quilting cotton by Sandi Henderson - medallion bloom from her Farmer's Market collection. It's one of my favourites but I wasn't sure about using it for the coat. In any case Sweetpea decided she had to have it, and I'm pretty happy with the result, even though I would have preferred something to contrast with the pink wool.

The jacket fits really well, with enough room to layer a jumper underneath it. Sweetpea adores it!

I'm working on my son's coat now and am really excited about it. I love that's he's still too little to have any say in the fabric choices, so his jacket is just how I want it.


The finished coat. I choose to use toggles and leather cord rather than buttons.


The coat has the option of concealed snaps or velcro. I chose velcro as it's easier for the kids to mange on their own.


The lining. Sweetpea's choice but it's not too bad at all.


The jacket has lots of topstitching. I followed Liesl's tip and made mine a quarter inch, and love the results. I pre-treated the wool by hand-washing it in woolwash then laying it flat to dry. I plan to wash the coat in the same way.

My monkey's new monkeys

Winter is fast approaching, and my little boy is not so little anymore, so it's time for a new sleeping bag to keep him toasty at night.

I have made sleeping bags before, using my own pattern. This time around I was a bit too confident, especially after such a long break from sewing, and made a bunch of stupid mistakes, like forgetting to add seam allowances, stuffing up the zipper etc. But, we got there in the end!

I really love the fabric I used. It is from David Walker's Boys Will be Boys collection. I loved it as soon as I saw it (online) and when my local fabric shop had it at 20% off I jumped at the chance. However I couldn't bring myself to use it for clothing - as much as I love novelty fabric it's a bit much, even for me. I eventually decided to use it to make pyjamas, but prefer my kids to wear something with a bit of stretch to bed, so canned that idea. I finally had a lightbulb moment when cleaning out my son's cupboard - he needed a new sleeping bag and this would be the perfect fabric! It will get regular use, so we'll both get to enjoy it often.

The fill is a double layer of cotton and bamboo, which should be very warm and has the added bonus of being low-allergy (my little guy has asthma and eczema and is constantly breaking out in hives after being irritated by something). The lining is a soft white and blue polkadot flannel, for extra warmth.

If it looks stupidly long, that's because it is stupidly long. I married a giant (6'8") and my kids are taking after their daddy. I made this to fit for at least another year. He is currently 18 months and still in a cot, and I'm in no hurry to move him to a big bed. Luckily we have my daughter's old cot for the new baby.

My little boy has given it his seal of approval and will wear his new 'monkey sweeping baggy' for the first time tonight. Even though the colours are traditionally boyish, I think it has pretty broad 'toddler' appeal and baby #3 can wear it too, regardless of its gender.

You know those gorgeous blog pics with handmade clothes hanging on a funky clothesline surrounded by lush green gardens? This is not one of them.


The arms and neck are bias bound with a coordinating print from the same collection.


Super soft flannel lining.


Monkeys! I love these little guys and am glad I finally found a good use for this fabric.