Purple skirt - part 2

Tips:
This is the skirt I previously blogged about here that was too big for F. I decided that unpicking this would not be very enjoyable so what I did intstead was to cut the front of it from bottom hem to waist. I then added a contrasting fabric behind it and folded in the excess fabric to get the skirt to the correct size.

Next time:
This worked out ok because the skirt was too big and would not have been used if I hadn't fixed it, but for a better result it is probably better to sew the two pieces together before doing the upper and lower hem.

Polka dot Kleenex cases

This is my second project in the November challange 'Use what you've got'. I've had a cold this week and therefore not so much energy to sew so I thought that some simple Kleenex cases would be very suitable. :o)

On the first one I put the label on the back but I didn't like it so put it on the side for the rest of them.

Pattern:
Same as this one.

Material:
Red cotton fabric with white polka dots from my stash and an old sheet for the inner fabric.

Next time:
I think they should be 5mm longer and 5mm narrower... will try and see.

Picnic blanket

So... the first item in the 'Use what you've got' challange done!! This will be a birthday present for Little F to go with a little picnic set I have bought. The set is also red with white dots. :o)

Pattern:

The blanket is 100x100cm.

Material:

Cotton for front and back. In between I have put some batting to make it a little bit softer and warmer to sit on (see photo below from before I turned it right-side-out).

Next time:

Maybe make one that is a bit smaller and easier for F to fold and take with her when she moves from room to room having picnics. :o)

 

Använd det du har (Use what you've got)

This is such a good idea!! I have joined, join you too. It is in Swedish but the rules are simple and I'll put them down in English as well.

Reglerna är som följer:

1. Vi använder enbart material vi har hemma (sytråd är det dispens på)
2. Vi försöker pyssla undan en sak varje vecka under november månad.
3. Vi väljer själva om vi kan tänka oss att lotta ut något/några saker av det vi gjort på vår blogg mot att de tävlande tipsar om det utlottade hantverket på sin blogg. (Valfritt)
4. Vi lägger upp "Använd det du har" loggan på vår blogg så vi lätt ser vilka våra medpysslerskor är.
5. Meddela ditt deltagande till http://beasbarnslikheter.blogspot.com/ Där läggs det ut länkar till varje deltagare så man kan följa sina medpysslerskors projekt för tips, peppning och inspiration!

The rules:

1. We only use materials that we have already got at home (thread excepted)
2. We try to create one item each week during the month of November.
3. You can decide if you would like to organise a raffle to give away any of your creations. To take part in your raffle the participants need to link to the creation on their blog as a tip to others. (Optional)
   
4. We put the 'Use what you've got' logo on our blog so that we can easily spot our peers.
5. To take part go to http://beasbarnslikheter.blogspot.com/. Here you can find links to all participants to make it easy to follow everybody's projects, pep-talks and inspiration!

Have fun!!

My little witch

So... Halloween is here and at F's nursery they are having 2 days of full on party!! Yesterday she was a little Pumpkin (bought outfit) and today she is a witch. The first thing she said this morning when she saw the outfit was 'I don't like it'. Excellent... somehow I managed to get her to put it on and after a while she started to like it a bit more (the broom and hat that I had bought to go with it helped!!).

I also made one cape for me and one for H to wear on Saturday when we are going to a Halloween party. Thay are made exactly the same way as F's but just longer (and on H's I made the 'hole' for the neck a little bit bigger).

Pattern:

The same as this one for the dress and the same as this one for the cape (but without hood).

Material:
Some strange and VERY DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH material with white print for the dress and the lining of the cape. The outer of the cape and the lining of the dress is something they called 'budget silk' in the shop. It is a rather heavy fabric so worked quite well.

Next time:

Try to make sure the fabric is a more easy to work one than this time... The print is almost like plastic and the thread kept breaking, stitches were skipping both on my overlocker and my sewingmachine. I was on the phone 5(!) times to Sewing Machines Direct thinking it was my overlocker that was broken. They were very helpful but I think the main problem was rubbish quality thread and this very tricky fabric.

 

Addicted to fabric??

Today I did it again... I went to the fabric shop in Tooting to buy thread and to 'have a look'. This is what happened!! 5 new fabrics!!! :o)

From left:
1. Red cotton with white dots.
2. Red and white gingham (smaller pattern than the fabric I had already).
3. White polycotton with pattern in red.
4. Warm yellow cotton ribbing.
5. Fleece that I will probably make pouch trousers from.

Where will this stop?? Need to move to a bigger house if I don't start to sew more now. Hhihihi!!

Purple skirt

This skirt was very quick to make, but when I had just 10cm left to do on the last hem, the needle broke!! Typical... it was the twin needle and I didn't have one that was exactly the same size to the seam looks slightly different on the last bit, but I don't think anyone will notice.

Pattern:
The same as this one, and just like on that one I didn't do a belt.

Material:
Baby-cord from John Lewis.

Next time:
This one was a bit big because I use an overlocker so when there is a 1.5cm seam allowance included it is a bit too wide. I will fix this one and modify the pattern for the next one. I will also try to remember to put the size label on the next one.

 

Goldhawk Road

Ooops... I was only going down there to 'have a look' and ended up bying 9 new fabrics. H kindly sent me a link to this blog that recommended Goldhaw Road fabric shops. Now, he probably wishes he didn't!! ;o)

 100% cotton that I thought could be used for lining a dress or maybe make something for the summer. (I know - summer is a long way away yet, but it is never to early to make plans.)

Cotton jersey in very nice and soft quality. The colours doesn't really come out very well in this photo, it is a very nice red in reality.

Another even softer cotton jersey. Very 'flimsey' and nice.

A not too thick stretchy denim fabric with metallic red stars printed on it. Maybe a little A-line dress or a trouser pouch? Or is it a bit too mad this fabric...? :o)

I have never seen 'fabric' like this before. It will probably be a nightmare to work with but has great potential for something rather nice. (With my lack of patiens though, it is very likely to end up in the bin if it starts to play up!!)

I love this fabric!! I found it in the last shop I visited and just had to buy it. There were a few more in there but I already had so much in my bags that I limited myself to only this one. Will definately go back though!!

This is for the summer. It is cotton with blue embroidery on it. Can see it as a little peasant top for F. :o)

The first thing I will create from this is a dress for F. Will try to add some little detail on it to make it a little bit less 'serious' and grey. Will keep you updated on how that goes.

Ok, that is it for now. I recommend a trip down there for everyone who needs some new and interesting fabrics!!

Fabric covered boxes

I needed some boxes for F's toys and was struggling to find any that I thought was any good. So, what I decided to do was to buy some temporary ones from IKEA  and cover them in fabric. F wasn't too impressed when I tried to take her boxes to photograph them so she had to be part of the photograph. :o)

Pattern:
None, I just meassured the boxes and went from there.

Material:
Striped poly cotton.

Next time:
Use a thicker fabric that is less transparent and add handles for pulling the boxes out with.

Purple dress with little flowers

Pattern:
My own. It is a modified version of this one but one size bigger.

Material:
Babycord (that I think I bought in Sweden...) and turquoise cotton for lining.

Next time:
Next time I might try to use buttons and button holes.

Patchwork duvet cover

Pattern:
My own.

Material:
Leftover fabric from curtains, boxes and duvet cover, some red and white Gingham that I was ment to make a hat from but never did and an old bed sheet.

Next time:
Do a different pattern and don't try to make a grid, it is impossible to line it up perfectly!!

Pouch-trousers v 2.0

Another little 'welcome to the world' gift. This one is for the little brother/sister of a girl in F's nursery. I had already started on this one when I finished the other one so unfortunately this one also has the jeans-stitch on the back...  However, I made the inner pouch's waist a bit smaller on this one with a much better result.

Pattern:
My own, but the idea is from ATT SY EN GECKO's blog.


Material:
Very thin and soft jeans-look stretch cotton for outer and stretch jersey for lining and inner.

Next time:
Make the inner pouch a little bit smaller than the outer one, not only at the waist. Maybe better to use a fabric that doesn't need an inner pouch?

Pouch-trousers premiere

This is a little 'welcome to the world' gift for the little brother of a swedish girl that goes to the same swim school as F. It is a bit of an experiment because I don't have anyone to meassure or test on that is of the right size/age. I have seen this type of 'pouch-trousers' in ATT SY EN GECKO's blog and thought they looked so cute.

Pattern:
My own, but the idea is from ATT SY EN GECKO's blog.

Material:
Very thin and soft jeans-look stretch cotton for outer and stretch jersey for lining and inner.

Next time:

Make the inner pouch a little bit smaller than the outer one, especially at the waist and put the 'jeans stitch' so that it shows from the front instead of the back.(I will update this section once I receive some feedback from the receiver of these 'pouch-trousers'.)

Sleep bag prototype

Even though we still have some rather nice and warm weather during the day, the nights are quickly getting colder.
Little F is kicking off her blanket when she is asleep and I have not been able to find any sleep bags for toddlers (they only seem to go up to 18 months). As soon as the weather changed F started to sniffle and cough so I made this prototype where the idea was an opening at the bottom that was done in a way so that it could be turned 'inside out' when she got out of bed in the morning so she would be able to walk with it on. Didn't work out... firstly I made a mistake when I put it together but I have also realised that it makes more sense to just take it off as soon as she wakes up (she is wearing her sleepsuit inside the sleep bag).

Pattern:
My own.

Material:
White fleece, some white stretch jersey from my stash for lining at the top half of the bag and 2 snap buttons.

Next time:
Make it a 'simple' pouch without any gap at the bottom where the legs can find their way out. Also make it longer and wider and use lining in all of the sleep bag and not just the top.

Matilda's new clothes

This little doll is called Matilda. She used to be mine when I was a little girl and now she belongs to F. Matilda has been in storage for the last couple of decades(!) and was in desperate need of some new clothes. She got this little polka dot top and some very simple trousers with elastics in the waist.

Pattern:
My own.

Material:
Leftover cotton fabric from when I made the curtains for F's room and white stretch jersey from my stash.

Next time:
Make 'holes' for arms bigger. A bit tight on this one...

Polka-dot curtains for F

I wanted some red and white curtains, I wanted them now and I didn't want to spend too much time on it. The result is simply two rectangles with a channel at the top for the curtain rail to go thru.

Pattern:
None.

Material:
Cotton.

Next time:
Try a different type of curtain. But what...? Ideas welcome.

It started with a toadstool...

Earlier this summer my cousin U came for a visit with her daughter. They gave F a lovely little money box in the shape of a toadstool. It is so cute and now has a proud place on a shelf in F's room. This gorgeous little  toadstool inspired the creations in the next few posts and F's room is slowly developing a red and white theme to match with the money box.

♥♥♥ Thank you U!! ♥♥♥

The Guardian (off topic)

On the weekend H and F was on the front cover of the family section in The Guardian. It was an article about first-time fathers.

The photograph was taken about one year ago by photographer Megan Taylor.

♥♥♥

Blue and yellow like the beach

Today it was another fancy dress day at nursery and the theme was 'Blue and yellow like the beach'. The blue linen trouses are the ones I made a few weeks ago so all I had to do was a peasant top from some leftover fabric I had in my stash and a lei to finish it off. :o)

Pattern:
Modified Butterick 3045. I didn't have any instructions for the lei...

Material:
Leftover yellow cotton fabric from my stash. The lei is made of 3 buqets of flowers from the pound-shop that I ripped apart and then put on an elastic band with peices of plastic straw in between.

Next time:
Let's wait and see what the theme is next time...

Purple hat (very small...)

Last night I finally made this hat that I had cut out several weeks ago. It was fun making it and much easier than I thought it would be. BUT.... it is too small for little F!! Maybe it will fit cousin F..?

Pattern:
Free download from Ottobre, but without the flower. For some reason I went for the smallest size 50.

Material:
Cotton fabric.

Next time:
Measure little Fs head before making the hat... :o)

Stripes and dots

I made this to match with the green linen trousers in the previous post but when I tried them on little F it looked way too green so I think they will have to be worn separately.

I love the fabrics and it was fun matching the stripes and the dots!!

Pattern:
Modified Butterick 3045

Material:
Cotton fabric bought in Australia.

Next time:
Should probably not make more tops like this for this summer... ;o)

2 linen trousers

After a few attempts I think I have finally got a pattern that fits little F perfectly!! First I made one pair of white linen trousers but they were too low in the back and too high in the front so I made another white pair. This time the result was a bit better but still needed some tweaking. The result is what you see here. I am very pleased with the way the waistband is done. It makes it very comfortable for little F to wear and it looks nice too!

I have used a twin needle (for the first time!!) for the hems which I think gave a very nice finish.

Pattern:
My own.

Material:
Linen for the trousers and stretch jersey for the waistband. The stretch jersey is 'wrapped' around a 3cm wide elastic band.

Next time:
BUY BETTER QUALITY THREAD!!!! It kept breaking all the time and I had to re-thread the overlocker over and over again... :o(

Little horses

This time I made the top a little bit longer and the sleeves a little bit longer. I think the sleeves are probably a little bit too long though... We will see what it looks like on when Little F wears it.

Pattern:
Modified Butterick 3045

Material:
Cotton fabric bought in Sweden.

Next time:
Probably make the sleeves a bit shorter.

White leggings

To make these took hardly any time at all. Only a few seams and elastics in the waist. BUT... then I decided to try the Cover Hem on my overlocker. Took ages to set it up and in the end I realised that you have to sew from the right side of the fabric and 'guess' where the fabric is on the back. Not convinced I like this...

Pattern:
'Lelle' Leggings, Ottobre 06/2008. I followed ATT SY EN GECKO's tips on how to add the elastics.

Material:
Cotton fabric bought in Australia and 41 cm elastics in waist (1,5 cm wide).

Next time:
Make them a little bit tighter and 8 cm shorter. The waist is a bit high so enough fabric there to use a wider elastics next time. I will also try using my twin needle instead of the cover hem and see how that goes. I know that is how my sister does it and I think it looks great!

Little F on her way to nursery

Seems like summer has finally arrived and I realise that little F doesn't have enough clothes that are cool enough for this heat!! So last night I had a look in my stash and found this fabric. I decided to make another peasant style top. I made a channel with thin elastics thru it in the neck. So far the best result compared to the other versions I have tried.

For the first time (EVER) everything went well. No thread breaking, no running out of thread in the middle of a seam, no jumping stitches, NO NEED TO UNPICK!!! Very pleased!

Pattern:
Modified Butterick 3045

Material:
Cotton fabric bought in Australia.

Next time:
Make it a little bit longer and make the sleeves a little bit longer. Perhaps try using bias tape at the bottom and on the sleeves.

Table cloth turned into summer dress

If any of you Swedish readers of this blog recognises the fabric, it is possible you might have seen it in your kitchen. The fabric is a table cloth that I bought in Hemtex last time I went to Sweden for a visit!!

I was really struggling with the bias tape on this one. Had to unpick and re-do several times. First I tried with elastics with terrible result, so the final version has got ruffle without elastics. My bias binder was not working very well with so much fabric so I had to unpick again and do it the old fashioned way. Anyway, all well that ends well!

Pattern:
Modified Butterick 3045

Material:
Cotton table cloth from Hemtex and home made bias tape.

Next time:
Do the neck in a different way. Doesn't look very good when looking close at it on this one...

Disaster...!!!

I think my overlocker is broken... or maybe I am doing something wrong?? I have only had this wonderful machine for a few months and so far it has been very good to me. Until now...

It works for a few inches if I only have a single layer of fabric and then the thread breaks. If I put 2 or 3 layers (of normal weight cotton) it breaks after an inch or so, and it also skips stitches.

Here are some points that might be useful:

1. I am using the same thread as I have used in the past (it was supplied to me together with the machine)
2. I have replaced the needle
3. I have re-threaded the machine (more than once!)
   
4. I am using the same type of seam as before
5. I have tried changing the tension on the various threads

So far no luck. All ideas of what to try next are welcome. :o(

Update:
I spoke to Sewing Machines Direct and explained my problem. They were very helpful and sent me 4 cones of good quality thread (I had been using the thread that was included when I bought the machine). They thread arrived the day after I spoke to them and now my machine is back to normal!!! Sooooo happy!!

The Baker

Day two of costumes as nursery. Today I have made it a bit easy for myself... Just made an apron and bought a minirolling pin. Little F already had a chef's hat. Like I said - easy!

Pattern:
My own. Two squares with the corners cut off. Sew them together leaving an opening to turn it right side out. Fold in the cut off corners to make channel for bias tape. Top stitch all around. Done!

Material:
White cotton that I also made the bias tape from.

Next time:
If there is a next time I will probably do it the same way.

Little Red Riding Hood

Little F's nursery is having 2 days this week when the children should be dressing up as a character from a fairytale or a nursery rhyme. First costume I decided to do (suggested by H) is Little Red Riding Hood. Probably not the most unusual choice but I thought it could be a good start on a costume wardrobe and it would be easy for F to put it on and take it off herself (soon maybe...).

It all went well until I was going to add the bias tape to attach the hood to the cape. The fabrics were too thick for my beloved bias binder and it did not come out very well. I removed the bias tape and just overlocked the layers together instead.

The skirt is made from a rectangular piece of fabric with loads of darts at the top to make it less bulky and with apron sewn onto it. The waist has got a channel with wide elastics inside to make it easy to pull on and off for little F.

Pattern:
The instructions for the cape and the hood came from Martha Stewart, but they were both modified and made smaller. For the skirt with apron I didn't have a pattern.

Material:
Thanks to Mannagryn's tips on Kånkarong's blog I found 'Wimbledon Sewing Centre' in Tooting Bec. I went there on the weekend and bought a red 'velvet' type material for the outer, red poly cotton for lining and skirt. I had some white cotton for the apron in my stash. I made the bias tape from the red poly cotton.

Next time:
Make one cape with hood in outer fabric and one cape with hood in lining then sew them together leaving gap to turn them right side out. Also put the ties in between the layers before sewing them together.

Leave hood the size specified in the instructions. It is a bit too small after my amendments...