See my vest, see my vest...

(Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

I've managed to finish off a couple of projects this week.  The first was this dress that I've had cut out for a while.  It looked like it was going to be pretty easy - and I guess it would have been if I hadn't have kept making silly little mistakes.  This was Simplicity pattern ("easy to sew" they boast on the front!) 2270.  I don't know what was going on the day I sewed this - I started with sewing the pockets on upside down and it all went downhill from there really.

The finished product is nice but I think it looked better in my head.

I changed the front from a gathered neckline and put a box pleat in instead as I wanted it to have a bit more of a retro look.  The armholes are finished with bias binding but I think if I was to make this again I would line the whole dress instead, especially for cool weather.  But this will be ok I think - it looks good on its own or with a skivvy under it so it'll do.  Plus I also have a cardigan and a coat to make yet, both which are going to match with this dress.

I really wanted the dress to have a flower on it but wanted to do something other than the usual yo-yos I put on everything.  I found this tutorial for tea cup flowers and thought one of these would be perfect!  I made mine with 5 petals though, and added a self covered button for the centre.

The fabric was Riley Blake Pink Cowboy Plaid from their "Wanna Be A Cowboy 2" range.  The brown is Brown Cowboy Dots from the same range.  I bought a few fabrics from this range actually - I love them!

The second project this week was the Peikko Vest from Ottobre Design 06/2009.  I think this vest is the cutest!  I want to make one for myself.

This was made with some faux fur from Spotlight, and lined with some stretch suede fabric.  Have I mentioned how cute it is?

I'd never sewn with fur before and was a bit worried that I (or my machine) might not be up to it.  But it was really easy to put together.  One thing I found really useful was making sure I had a comb on stand-by and combing all my seams as I sewed them.  I didn't have a walking foot but I used lots of pins and just took it slowly.

One other, very important piece of advice - don't wear black if you're sewing with white fur!

I just had to share this cute pic of Ellie.  She is growing so big now!

Is it Autumn yet?

I've been busy, but haven't been blogging.  Shame on me.

I've been getting a fair amount of sewing done in preparation for the cooler weather, and it seems like it's finally paid off.  The last couple of days have been pleasantly cooler, and I'm hoping it's going to stay that way for a while at least.

Anyway, I've got a fair bit to put up today, on account of my blogging slackness and all...

These are two Raspberry Stripe Tunics from Ottobre Design 1/2011.  I was only going to make one of these but after I made the first one I thought it was so cute (and easy!) that I had to do another!  I made them both in one morning.

This one is Riley Blake fabric - Brown Cowboy Dots, with some gorgeous floral interlock that I picked up from Spotlight on the clearance shelf for less than half price!

I'm calling this one "Strawberry Stripes."  The fabric is Riley Blake again - Pink Quite Contrary Berries, and once again the bottom half is some jersey I picked up from Spotlight at a recent sale. 

Just for something different I decided to try my hand at crocheting.  It's been a while since I've done any, and I wasn't sure how I'd go, but I think I did a reasonable job of whipping up this beanie for Katherine, and she loves it.  

I think it's the only item of clothing I have made for her so far that she didn't argue about having to try on.  Her usual reaction is something more like this:

I think it goes perfectly with the latest outfit that I've made her - the Oliver + S Hopscotch top and skirt.  I love this outfit, and I think she'll be getting a lot of wear out of this over the coming months.

The top is a size 2T and I've decided I'm re-making it in the 3T as it's just that teeny bit too short.  The fabric was some cheap cotton interlock I purchased on eBay.  The skirt is some red and pink spotted corduroy from Spotlight.

I think this is going to look so cute with the brown winter coat I've got planned....

All things chocolate

It's certainly the flavour of the month in our household, anyway.

Today I finished a pair of chocolate corduroy pants for Katherine's winter wardrobe.  She's wearing them now, and refusing to take them off, despite the fact that it's pushing 30 degrees here today.

I purchased this fabric online a while ago at a ridiculously cheap price (I think it was something like $2.99 a metre).  It's not the finest fabric around, and at first I was worried it was a little too 'chunky' for little girl's clothing but I actually don't mind how these have turned out at all.

Sorry, could not for the life of me get this picture to format the right way up!

I girlied them up a bit with a cute floral fabric trim, and pocket inserts.  I also made a fabric belt to match.  Katherine chose some buttons for me to decorate the front pocket with as well.

I actually didn't have a pattern for these, although I used the cargo pants pattern for a rough guide (particularly on the front pockets) and just tried to trim the legs down a bit so they were more like a straight-leg instead of a wide-leg.  I put patch pockets on the back.

The waistband (don't get me started on the waistband!) was a pain in the proverbial as I'd decided on doing a mock-fly front instead of using the zip, but then couldn't figure out which part to sew first.  I think I got there in the end.

We also made some chocolate fudge brownies today.  They were so gooey and fudgey... yum!

I love chocolate.

Jump Rope Dress

I decided yesterday that I was finally going to start my Jump Rope Dress.  I've had this pattern for a while and have heard so many great things about Oliver + S patterns so I was really excited about starting it BUT I was also worried that it looked a bit involved!  Well after some issues with my machine yesterday - which are all sorted now thankfully - I finally got it finished this afternoon!  

I say 'finally' although in reality it wasn't as involved as I thought it would be.  I was expecting it to be one of those projects that I just never get the time to finish, but it really didn't take that long at all to put together.  I will definitely make another one of these dresses, probably in the next size up next time though, as there isn't much room for her to grow in this one.  This was a size 2T. The fabric was something ridiculous like $3 a metre off ebay.

I just love the little details in this pattern.  The sleeves are the sweetest, I think.  The pockets are pretty cute too.

I didn't get many good shots of the dress as Katherine was more interested in harassing the cat...

...and rolling around on the ground.

She thought she was being clever here, evading photos... but I decided that just to spite her, I'd play around with my photo editing software and make a nice shot out of it anyway.

In other news, we also baked muffins, but I think that they'll all be gone by the time I get around to taking any photos of them... and you've all seen muffins anyway.

Run, run as fast as you can...

Katherine & I made gingerbread yesterday (the recipe is in my recipes section), and today while she was busy watching a Tinkerbell movie, I took the opportunity to decorate them.  Well, what remained of the batch anyway.

These two looked a little concerned about their fate.  I decided to put them out of their misery.

"My Family" in gingerbread.  I might stick this photo to the back of my car.

I'm also in the process of replacing our ratty old cushion covers.  Here's two I did today.  I really like the pink and brown one (the one behind) but not sure on the one in front.  What do you think?

Oh yeah, the "artwork" on the couch is Katherine's.  I can't take credit for that one!  

All in a day's work

I've had the pieces for these cut out for a while now, but finally started sewing them together yesterday.  I finished them this afternoon and have to say I'm pretty happy with them.  There are a few imperfections and if I was making them again (I'm tossing up whether to make another pair in chocolate corduroy) I'd make a couple of small changes but overall I think they're great.

The pattern was design 13 - Plum cargo pants - from from the Spring issue of Ottobre Design (1/2011).  I made a couple of changes from the original pattern - like leaving off the ties on the side pockets as I thought Katherine might struggle getting them done up/undone, and I only double topstitched the seams, rather than triple (to me the photos of the originals looked a bit "messy" with so much stitching.

They are a bit too big in the waist - should have gone with my gut instinct and made that elastic shorter even though it looked too small! - but I am thinking she'll grow into them.  In the meantime they can just be worn with a belt.

This is also the first time I've done a fly front so I was super proud of myself.

She wasn't in the mood for a fashion parade today so no photos of her wearing them unfortunately!  Maybe next time!

A few things

It's been a while since I've posted but there's been plenty going on.  I was sick with some kind of gastro or flu type bug last week - the girls both had it, and now Daddy has it too.  I still managed to do a bit of sewing though, and today the weather was absolutely perfect so the girls and I headed outside for a picnic in the backyard while we let Daddy sleep.

We made these Vanilla Satins this morning.  Katherine was very excited about being in the kitchen again (she nagged me to do baking with her the whole time I was sick!).

I love the retro print on this dress, and Katherine looks so cute in it.

I tried to get some photos of the other outfit I made... I don't know if she was bored of me taking photos, or whether it was the fact that she was now loaded with sugar, but she just would not sit still!

This is a smocked top - a McCalls pattern - and some jeggings.  I love how the jeggings turned out!  The top, I'm not sold on.  Felt like it was lots of stuffing around for a fairly average end result, but maybe I was just overwhelmed by it because I was sick at the time I sewed it.

Picking flowers.

Ellie didn't dress for the occasion but was beautiful as always.