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.

Double-gauze ice cream

My poor neglected blog! I can't believe it has been more than a month since I posted. But I have a fantastic excuse in the form of a teeny tiny wee bub making its home in my belly and making me so sick and tired in the process. My sewing machine has been gathering dust and I don't think I've ever spent this long without stitching.

But things are looking up! I'm on anti-nausea meds and I've got my sewjo back with lots of little projects planned.

I've posted about Oliver + S's ice cream blouse before. Great little pattern. I've also posted about my love of double-gauze before too. Now the two have finally met.

When my little girl had nothing to wear to a party recently I decided to make her an ice cream blouse as the pattern is so quick and simple and I knew I could finish it within a couple of hours. I thought the double-gauze would compliment it perfectly, and it does.

We had a few problems though. If you've ever worked with double gauze you'll know that it has a very loose weave. This makes it lovely and cool, but is also means that it can move out of shape a bit. In this case, the nature of the fabric meant that the two halves of the notch on the yoke wanted to go in different directions. It looks fine, but I have to be very careful when washing it. I think if I was to make this in double gauze again I would reinforce/interface the notch (same goes for any other stress areas on other garments).

On the whole though, I'm happy with this top. Here are some pics:


The completed top. The fabric is from Cosmo textiles.


Button from my stash.


Sweet pea after the party. This is a size 3 with added length, for my little giraffe :)

Queensland floods

You've probably heard about the horrors happening up in Queensland at the moment. It's almost beyond belief.

Toni Coward from Make It Perfect has arranged for the sewing community to run auctions on their blogs with all proceeds being donated to the Flood Relief Appeal.

I'm in.

I'm auctioning off a replica of the journal and cover in the post below. The stats are: A5 spiral bound, unlined journal, with a hand-made cover. The cover basecloth is 100% linen and is has a floral design appliqued onto it. The applique is hand cut and pieced fabric from the Echino Fall 2010 line.

The journal and cover will be very, very similar to the one pictured below. I will get cracking on making it this weekend.



How the auction works:

1. Bidding will start at $1 (Australian).
2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.
3. Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
4. This auction is open to everyone, I'll cover the postage.
5. The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24th January 2011.
6. At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment has been received, I will post your journal to you.
7. Thank you for participating and happy bidding!

New journal for a new year

I'm not really one for keeping a diary, but I do have a little journal that I use to keep all my sewing ideas. It has everything from my wishlist of patterns to buy, to fabric combos I like, sketches for clothes I want to make, my always growing 'to do' list and lots of little inspiring pictures ripped from magazines.

I also have a huge stack of fabric from the Echino Fall 2010 collection that I just adore, and look at at least once a day.

I've been wanting to make something for me out of the fabric, but wasn't really sure what. I'd like to reupholster a chair, but haven't found the perfect chair yet, and I haven't yet found the 'perfect' bag pattern to suit the fabric, so a handbag is out for now too.

I eventually decided on using some of the Echino to make a cover for my sewing journal. It's only a small journal (A5) so completely covering it in Echino seemed way too busy. Then I remembered these gorgeous cushions I saw on Flickr and used those as inspiration.

I made a template then cut small petals from the fabric and fused it to some lovely soft linen from Kelani Fabric. I then backed the linen with pellon and quilted the petals with a big spiral, before sewing it into a journal cover.

I'm chuffed with the results and am thrilled to have something just for me, especially as I can get my fix of Echino every time I use my journal.


All done! If I had my time over I would have used a lighter-weight pellon. You can still see my chalk quilt markings too - need to give it a good dust-off.


Sigh - I love Echino. The pattern wraps over the spine and around the back of the journal.


The journal opened out flat. 'My' pen (aka the only pen in the house that isn't dried out/chewed on/missing its lid) has a bright orange shell with purple ink. I've had it artfully arranged on top of the journal all morning! I'm such a nerd...

More apples for Christmas

I blogged about a week ago about a dress I made my almost three year old for Christmas.

My little boy now has a matching shirt in the green colourway of the same fabric! It's my usual shirt pattern (sketchbook by O+S) with pearly snaps instead of buttons. I made the collar and placket cream so it's extra matchy (and naff!) on Christmas day.

When I went to cut out the shirt I found I had nowhere near as much of the green fabric as I thought. The very lovely Emma came to my rescue with some yardage from her stash - you can check out her amazing blog here. Thanks Emma!

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you all have a happy and safe holiday.


Shirt for my 15 month old. He'll wear it with some store bought shorts as I ran out of time to make some. They're beige with apple green trim.


To match this dress for my nearly three year old.

Robots for Christmas

Just finished another night's Christmas sewing. This time it's an O+S sketchbook shirt and a MIP lazy day hat for my nephew.

If you read this blog often you'll know that I've made both of these patterns before and love them both. They're simple and look great.

The fabric I used is by Kokka - I have used it before in a different colourway to make shorts for my son. I really love it. I think it might be a bit busy for this shirt, but if anyone can get away with a busy shirt it's an 18 month old.

The only thing I did differently when constructing the shirt was to cut the collar interfacing along the collar fold line (a tip I got from the Oliver + S forums). This makes the collar much easier to fold, especially as I used quite a thick fabric.

Excuse the dodgy photos, they were taken at night, using a flash, as I need to wrap and post this present first thing.


The finished shirt. Quite busy, but I like it!


Inside. Constructing the yoke is fiddly but the results are so neat.


The hat. This pattern is really well suited to cotton canvas.


Fabric detail - because I love it!


A few of the robots got a head transplant where I attached the pocket.

Apples for Christmas

One week til Christmas eve - hurrah!!!

I wanted to make my kids something to wear on Christmas day. Using overtly Christmas prints on clothing isn't really my thing, but I still want them wearing clothes that are festive on the big day.

I have previously made view B of the jump rope dress by Oliver + S, and loved it (everytime DD wears it we get asked where we got it). View A has been on my wish list for a while, so I thought I'd make one up for Christmas.

I had a couple of yards of Sandi Henderson's apple dot in red in my stash, and the colours suit my DD and Christmas, so I decided to use that. As the print is quite busy I constructed the placket and collar in a plain cream cotton to break it up and frame DD's face. If I had enough fabric I probably would have made the sash up in cream too... But I didn't, so apples it is.

The pattern was just what you'd expect from O+S - clear and easy to follow. This is quite an involved pattern though, lots of little elements that take more time than you expect (the placket, sleeve tabs, pockets etc). This dress took me three nights to make (one night cutting and another two nights sewing) so I am pleased to have it finished.

I need to make my son something for Christmas now. I am considering a sketchbook shirt in co-ordinating green apple dot fabric. What do you think - too naff? I am so tempted.


The dress! I think this fits the brief of being Christmassy without being *too* Christmassy.


Placket and collar constructed in cream. The buttons are the same white plastic button I used for the Swingset tunic.


The pockets. I think I should have made the top part up in cream...


The sleeve tabs are made up in cream too, and finished with the same style of button as the placket, but smaller. I love these sleeves, so cute. They'd work well on a boys' shirt too I think.

Little stockings for little elves

I adore Christmas. I really, really love it. I event wanted to give my daughter 'Christmas' as a middle name, but my husband vetoed it (much to the relief of pretty much everyone I know).

Growing up, Christmas was a big deal in my house and we had a heap of little family traditions. One of my favourites was digging out our Christmas stockings on Christmas eve and leaving them out for Santa.

My childhood Christmas stocking was beautiful. Mum made it by hand and it's gorgeous. I have brothers either side of me, both very close in age, and we each had our names appliqued onto our stockings and I thought it was just wonderful.

When we were a little older, my little sister was born. I always felt very sad that she didn't have a Christmas stocking made by mum (mum had enough to keep her busy with 4 kids under 6). She did get her own special stocking from I think Disneyland of all places, but I always felt a little sad for her on Christmas eve. I don't think she ever cared, especially as her stocking was bigger than ours.

When I had my first baby in 2008, I remember being very excited about being able to make her a stocking and starting our own little family tradition. Back then I had never used a machine, so decided to make her a stocking by hand. I ended up spending close to $100 at the fabric shop - I bought enough fabric to make a stocking for my little girl and 3 potential siblings!

I stayed up late each night for a month, hand embroidering the baubles and stiching silver ribbon down the stocking. I loved being able to use it for her first Christmas.

My son was born last year, in 2009, and to my disappointment I did not get the chance to make him a stocking before his first Christmas, due to him being a refluxy baby who needed to be held for every.single.sleep until he was 4 months old.

This Christmas I have a 1yo and a 2yo and they now each have their own, personalised Christmas stocking. Now that I can sew (hurrah!) I made my son's on the machine, and it's all machine embroidered. Much faster!

Hopefully, in 2011/2012 I'll have another little elf to make a stocking for. I'm already planning what it will look like (little gingerbread men, perhaps?)

Merry Christmas!


The finished stockings. The one on the left is made my hand (inc applique) and the one on the right is done by machine. Both are fully lined.


Their names are blanket-stitched using silver thread. I traced the font directly from my computer screen onto vliesofix. The font is Cooper Black.


My daughter's stocking is decorated with Christmas baubles. I used Donna Hay cookie cutters to get the shapes. The neck of each bauble is appliqued with thick silver ribbon, and each is 'hung' using narrow silver ribbon. The cutters are no longer available but you can get a similar set here.


My son's is decorated using different sized snowflakes, some stitched in silver, others in red and white. Even though they were machine appliqued it took a long time. A definite labour of love!