Reversible Placemats

My mum renovated her kitchen a while back, and for Mother's Day this year I decided to make her some pretty placemats and tea-towels to match her new colour scheme.  I didn't get any photos of them before I gave them to her, but on a recent trip to Mum and Dad's place, I snapped a couple of quick photos to show that yes, I do occasionally make things other than clothes for my girls!

I made the placemats by using this tutorial here as a rough guide.  They have an awesome tutorial for making your own bias tape too.  I make my own all the time using their method.  
 

The placemats are also fully reversible, so if you get tired of looking at the same colours you can flip them over and it's like having a whole new set of placemats.  Cool huh?

One pattern, two dresses

Pumpkin Patch, one of my favourite children's clothing stores, had a sale on the other day, so I went in for a browse. Before I started sewing for my girls I would spend a fortune at this place! The sale was a good one, but I just can't look at anything any more without thinking "I could make that myself." I actually did buy a few things - leggings and tees, because I prefer to sew the "fun stuff". But there were a couple of dresses that caught my eye and when I got home I whipped up my own versions of them.

These were the dresses I saw in the store:

For both dresses I used a simple A-line pinafore style pattern, in this case it was the Winter Plaid dress from Ottobre 6/11. I hadn't made this dress before but it looked like a good starting point that I could customise pretty much any way I wished.

I loved how the red dress was such a simple design but with the interesting effect acheived by cutting fabric on the bias. For this one I cut the pattern across just under the armholes, and then down the front of the skirt, to make a bodice and two skirt sections at the front. I cut the skirt sections on the bias and I also cut an extra skirt panel about 3 inches wide for the inside of the pleat. The back of the dress I also split down the middle, and cut those pieces on the bias too.

The dress was supposed to be fully lined and have a zip in the back. I only gave it a half lining and I used a simple single button/tab closure at the back, as I really couldn't have been bothered with a zip!

I decided to make some little hair clips to match the dress as well. They were a big hit!

The navy blue dress inspired me to try something I'd been thinking of for a while. For this dress I kept the pattern pieces as they originally were, but I added a couple of little panels on the front to give the dress a bit of a nautical/military feel to it. I made this one out of some winter-weight navy blue jersey knit and again gave it a half-lining and finished it at the back with a button/tab closure.

I thought about lining it completely, but didn't want it to be too heavy, as I figured Katherine could wear it in the Summer if it still fits her then. For Winter we will just layer it with a little skivvy and tights underneath.

I'm very happy with how these turned out. I can see this Ottobre pattern becoming my go-to pattern for A-line dresses.

Some Wintery Things

As usual, I have been doing more sewing than blogging lately. I've been busy working on some things for Katherine for Winter.

I bought this chocolate brown tweed fabric when Spotlight was getting rid of Winter stock last year.   I knew I wanted to use it to make a jacket for Katherine but didn't get around to it last year, so it sat in my stash instead. 

I found this pattern and thought I'd have a go at making the shorter jacket style in view B.

Here's how it turned out (excuse the chocolate bar - sometimes it takes a little extra encouragement to get my mini model to pose for my photographs!)

 

I made the size 4 and it's probably just a little bit too big for her.  I did add some length to the bodice though,  as on the pattern cover it looked like it would come up short.  I'm glad I did.    The sleeves though, are just a teensy bit too long - I actually did measure these on her before I sewed them up so I don't know what happened.  And once I had fit the lining I couldn't have been bothered unpicking it to shorten the arms.  Oh well, at least it will see her through the winter, and maybe next year if we are lucky?

 

The back has a little half belt tab thingy (I'm sure it has a technical name) and there are also cute little shoulder tabs as well.

I lined the jacket with some pink spotty satin that has a lovely soft cottony back, for extra warmth.  This was the first time I have made a lined jacket and although it's not perfect, I was really happy with how it turned out.

The other thing I've made is this cute poncho.  Has anyone else noticed them in the stores at the moment?  I didn't realise they were still in fashion.  Katherine chose this fabric herself ("the kitty fabric").  It's a polar fleece from Spotlight. 

I used McCalls 4912 (out of print) view B for this one - it's a hoodie style.  And partly because the fleece seemed a bit thin, partly because I can't stand doing things the easy way, I decided to line it as well.  I wanted it to be warm, and I wanted it to have a nicer finish as well.

I added a cute pom-pom trim around the bottom edge of the poncho to finish it off, sandwiched between the outer layer and the lining at the bottom.  Technically, it's fully reversible, but the lining is a bit thin and the kitten fabric is a lot nicer to have on show anyway.

Vintage Goodies

For a while now I've been admiring vintage style from afar. I just haven't had the courage to take that step and actually buy a vintage pattern - or scarier still, make a vintage piece for myself. But on a recent trip to my mum's place, she gave me some amazing vintage patterns that had belonged to my nan, as well as a few other goodies, and now my only problem is.... which one do I make first?

I had no idea that mum had these stashed away!  Aren't they amazing?  I have already made a special trip to Spotlight to grab some vintage-themed fabric.  Can you guess which dresses these are going to end up as?

Mum also gave me this cool thread holder - my Pop, who was crafty in his own way, actually made this for my Nan.  Mum doesn't use it so she said I could have it. Now I just have to find a spot for it to live on my craft desk.

I also scored these vintage buttons. My sister had been given these by our grandmother when she cleared our her sewing room when they downsized and moved into a little unit a few years back. Although my sister doesn't sew (yet - I'm sure it's only a matter of time!), she is also a creative type and was intending to use them in craft projects, but because she is so wonderful she has shared them with me.

You can see some of my favourites here.

I also scored some assorted fabric scraps. Because you can never have too many scraps! Haha. Well, I can't.

I'm so happy with my vintage treasures!

When good tutes go bad...

I'm almost ashamed to admit that this project was actually supposed to end up like the top in this gorgeous tute here, only in miniature.  I had some lovely purple paisley lawn and really wanted to make it into something floaty and gorgeous for Katherine.

So what went wrong?  Well, despite my daughter's disproportionately small head, it seems that it is still bigger than an adult head in relation to her body and hence I couldn't actually get the neck hole of the finished top over her head.  No biggie.  I cut a little snip in the back, added a bit of a facing there, and put a little button closure in.  The next issue was that the top came up far too short on her body.  See the seamline where the elastic is sitting, just above her hips.  That's where Version 1.0 ended.  Luckily I had some fabric left over, so I made a tube and attached it to the bottom of the top, and then just because I could, I made an elastic casing within the seam allowance to pull it in tighter across her hips.  Of course, then the sleeves looked a bit funny, ending halfway down the top, so I kind of tapered them in to where the waistline was instead. 

So there you have it.  It's not perfect, but I think it's still pretty cute, and Katherine doesn't seem to mind it either. 

Oh, and see those baggy jeans?  They're shop-bought of course, but yes they're supposed to be skinny jeans.  She needed this size for the length but they absolutely swim on her!  Tall and lean - she certainly doesn't get it from me!

My Little Ladybug

My littlest lady is turning two this week and we celebrated yesterday with a ladybug themed party.  We had already decided on a theme, and then I was lucky enough to stumble across a fat quarter of some super cute ladybug patterned faux fur at Spotlight, so I decided to make a little fur vest for the birthday girl.  Of course, the only thing missing then was a red tutu so I made one of those too (too), and then she was set!

Isn't she the cutest bug ever?  Here she is eating cake with her Great-Grandma.

And slipping into a cake-coma.  Sometimes I make this face when I eat cake too.

My sister dressed her girls in red and black, to match the ladybug theme, and so I managed to get some nice photos of Ashy wearing her Oliver + S Secret Agent Trench, finally.  And just between you and me, that grey dress of hers is currently on my "dresses to copy" list for Katherine!

It was a lovely day and we were so lucky to be able to share it with so many of the people we love.  

Happy birthday, my beautiful girl!

      

Just make it up as you go along...

That's what I like to do, sometimes.

After I made the girls dresses the other day, I had some of the fabric left over - from the bottom founce on Ellie's dress.  There wasn't much of it, more than a fat quarter but less than half a metre.  Anyway, I thought I should do something with it rather than put it back in the scrap box.  I really wanted to make it into a skirt but it was an odd shaped piece and I wasn't sure I would get a decent panel out of it.  Also, it's getting quite cold here so I wanted a Wintery-type skirt.  Something lined.

I was able to cut a few rectangles out of it, and piece them together kind of using the technique used in the Oliver + S Hopscotch skirt.  You know, with a flat front and an elasticated back.  I added a faux placket at the front, and some cute vintage buttons.  There is actually no opening at the front of the skirt, I joined it all together.  I used an old sheet for the lining (not the first time either, I have a couple of old sheets that I like to use for lining things - more economical I suppose, and I don't see the big deal in using a boring old sheet if you're not actually going to see the lining of something).  Because the back panel came up short (I didn't have enough length in my original peice of fabric) I cut some smaller strips and made a ruffle for the back. 

You can see what I mean in this photo here, with the ruffle at the back hem.  I think it looks pretty cute actually.

There must have been something interesting in the garden when I was trying to take this shot!  Four year olds are so easily distracted!

 

You can see I was having some difficulty getting my little model to stand still, so here's a photo of the front of the skirt to show you what I did with the faux placket.  I am also pretty happy with the way the plaid matched up in the middle.  Actually, it was just pure luck that it matched, to be honest.

I like it when I actually have the energy to do something a bit creative.  Following a pattern is all well and good, but I think it's these "one-off" projects that I have the most fun with.  They don't always work out the way I expect, but occasionally I will have a little win like this and make something I am really pleased with (and most importantly, something that my daughters are pleased with!).