A sun hat and to tell or not tell?

My mother's group are having a birthday party for all our babies this week as they are all turning 1 in the next month or so. I can't believe how quickly they grow up, however it is certainly a fun journey to see your little baby grow, develop and become a person (its times like these we forget about all the challenges and struggles along the way. Challenges? What challenges?) Anyway, I stray from the point. So, for the big birthday, Mum's group are doing a present for each of the babies, like a Kris Kringle.

I was sitting there on the weekend, thinking what could I buy for the present? As this is my first child, I really don't have much experience with children so I have no idea what to get for my own daughter, let alone coming up with a gift for somebody else's. Enter the sunshine which has beamed down upon us here in Melbourne the past few days. Aha! a sunhat. So I set off to find a sunhat pattern. I couldn't go past Nicole Mallalieu design for hat patterns so jumped online to order my kids hats pattern (which has also recently been recommended to me by Mary at Perle 8's). And check out the very talented Nikki Cardigan's gorgeous hats of the same design. But sitting back twiddling my thumbs until Mr snail mail delivered my pattern didn't sit very well with me. I dragged out my trusty Ottobre Summer 2009 mag and made the sun hat ot of that.
Its a four panel hat with a brim. I was really impressed with how it turned out. Never having made a hat before, I thought they would be tricky and fiddly. But it all went together easily and worked really well. The fabric I used had rather large, sparse pattern on it so all the pieces were strategically cut out to highlight the fabric. Classic pink spots to match on the binding and on the ties (under the chin, which I added as the pattern didn't have any). I can't imagine a child's hat without some sort of under chin tie as they always seem to be pulling them off. It is fortunate my Mum's group has 8 girl and only two boy babies, so a pink hat has good odds of finding the right home.

The problem I am stuck with now is that I have put my love and effort in to create what I believe is a beautiful hat. What if the recipient (or the recipient's mother) doesn't like the hat? And do I tell that I made it myself (and avoid either being embarrassed if no one says how gorgeous it is, or equally so if they go on about how amazing I am to have made it (not that I think this, but others can often be a bit over the top in admiring something they don't think they could achieve). Or do I keep quiet, and just let what ever happens happen? And if they don't like it, can I ask for it back? Although how would you know if they don't like it (people rarely say so when given gifts). What if they hate it, but they feel compelled to put it on their baby every time we have Mum's group in the future so as not to offend me? This would be the worst. So is it just me thinking way too much about the whole gifting of handmade items, or do other people have the same worries?

At least I still have a mail package from Nicole Mallalieu to look forward to this week. And I have my handmade hat to look at, sitting on the dining table until it gets wrapped and gifted on Thursday. Until then...

Cap sleeves and a pocket

A bit of refashioning work today, grabbing spare time when I can. The top is to match with these bright bloomers made a couple of months ago. The purple singlet was a hand-me-down, so I jazzed it up with some cute gathered cap sleeves and a sweet little pocket made out of the same fabric as the shorts. Cap sleeve detail.

Summer seems to have hit us here in Melbourne in a big way these past few days, so it is time to get this summer wardrobe stocked up. This is the complete outfit.

I love a refashion project, making something boring and common into bright, happy and individual. And so quick to complete.

Summer top

Time to take a break from all the baby clothes production and have some me time. I picked up some gorgeous, breezy cotton voile fabric in my wanderings last week and decided to make myself a summer top. I chose Simplicity 9270 as it was probably the simplest pattern I owned and I didn't think I would get it finished if I embarked on anything too complex. So this top was whipped up really quickly, it probably took me about 5 hours to complete (yes, I call that quickly these days...) from cutting out to final hemming, along with the contract distractions of looking after a 10 month old, plus a few other household duties, phone calls etc etc. So maybe I could be rash and say, with dedicated time, this one could be made in an hour.

It is a really simple pattern, just two pieces; a front and a back with a bit of elastic gathering at the front to give it some shape. No zippers, no buttons (no button holes), no darts or easing, no sleeves to fit. Just a few seams and hems and I was wearing it and happy! The pattern did call for a facing on the neckline, but I boycotted that and instead finished it with a matching binding edge which I think came up well.

I am quite happy with it, it is probably not the most flattering top in my wardrobe, however it is light and breezy, the pattern is nice and I think it will be great for summer. Perhaps there might be time for a few more before summer hits? I think this pattern would even work well for cotton jersey.

It did rather nicely matched with a denim skirt at yesterday's Melbourne Cup Day party. Both bubs and I were dressed in homemade creations with bubs wearing this summer tunic with these navy leggings.

Leggings and a twin needle experience

Another accolade to the Ottobre magazine I'm afraid. I am very impressed with these leggings. Made with stretch cotton jersey from the Ottobre 3/2009 issue and they were a cinch. I made them in size 74cm intending that they would be too big for my 10 months old, however they fit perfectly now, so any more pairs I make will be the the next size up. I have some pink cotton jersey waiting to made into leggings too. The applique flower came out a treat, it is two layers of different sized flowers embroidered together and then to one of the pant legs. I chose a slightly brighter blue for the cotton and hand embroidered it whilst watching some less than B-grade movie on television the other night. It was very rewarding.

A few months ago, I bought a twin needle from Tessuti fabrics, after it was recommended by Nichola of Nikki-shell and I love it. It gave such a clean professional finish to the edges. And it was REALLY EASY TO USE!

All you have to do is go out and get yourself a twin needle and (apparently) it will work on any machine that can do a zig zag stitch. You insert your fancy new needle as normal, then thread two threads through the machine (in exactly the same place as you would thread one). My sewing machine has a second spool holder (see pic), but if you didn't have that, you could just rig it up otherwise.
The bobbin is wound on as usual. You use a straight stitch and off you go! The top comes out as two straight parallel lines or stitching, and the bottom cotton does a zig zag (which you don't see as it is on the wrong side of the garment).
(The hubby said I should have taken the picture from an angle so you could see the threads on the needle better without the machine foot in the way. Sorry about that. He also said I should have cleared the dining table in the background too...)

The beauty of using the twin needle is that not only is it easy and looks very professional, but is also allows stretching, so the stitching will stretch with the fabric, rather than break. Another fantastic sewing gadget to add to my repertoire. In my trial attempt before doing the actual leggings, I used two random cotton colours and it looked really good so I think this would make an interesting finish for another item one day.

I've since learned a few things from a Kadiddlehopper post of using twin needles (as I am a learn as you do kind of girl, or jump in and do it, hope it works, then when it isn't perfect, do the research and find out what went wrong):

• I should have lowered the tension to make the material lie flat between the two layers of stitching (mine is a little mounded as the tension was a bit high).
• The two cotton spools should be positioned so they are rotating in opposite directions (although looking back at my picture, it looks like I unknowingly did this, must remember to knowingly do this again next time!)
• I found the two threads twisted around each other every now and then at the needles. Kadiddlehopper advice was to put one thread through the thread guide (above the needle), and leave the other out. I will try this next time.

Sooz has a great and very informative post on sewing with knit fabrics (this reference is as much for me so I have a quick link to find it when I need it).

I can see more twin needle sewing in my future. My suggestion; go out and try it. I was very impressed.

summer outfit

An embellishment on a t-shirt to complete a summer outfit for bubs. I made the bloomers earlier. I used some of the same fabric along with some matching ric rac to turn it into a tree. The "dropped" flower on the left is covering up a hole I accidentally snipped in the t-shirt whilst cutting the thread ends on the ric rac. Oops!

It adds a bit of balance to the composition though, so maybe it was meant to be. I am slowly building the summer wardrobe.

I am loving this idea of embellishing existing clothes and have been going through my wardrobe looking at all my plain boring clothes, thinking how I can give them a lift. Plus it is so quick and you get an immediate effect.

Baby's summer tunic and bloomers

Have been working on this little number for the past week. The top is the Toffee Tunic from the Summer issue (3/2009) of Ottobre. I love this pattern, it was so easy to make up (although I always struggle a little with getting the the gathering even), and I love it more because I learnt a new skill - "shirring" or using elastic thread. The end of the capped sleeves are gathered with the elastic thread, which is so much easier than the last dress I made (here) like this where I had to fold over, sew and then thread elastic through. There's a fantastic shirring tutorial here, if you've never tried it, do, its so effective. The pocket detail is also really cute.

I did have trouble with finding the perfect matching buttons. I find I am so particular when it comes to finding buttons and the stores just never seem to have the right ones. After a few days of visiting every haberdashery store in the vicinity, I finally came across an old work shirt, slightly stained that was a perfect chartreuse colour (and from my own pile to go to the op shop!). So I pinched the buttons from that which I was very happy with.

The shorts/bloomers, were then made by refashioning the shirt (as it really was the perfect matching colour. I used the sleeves and made then into legs! This is what I did:

• Traced a pair of bloomers I had already to cut out the sleeves
• Sewed the two "arm/legs" together at the front and back
• Put on a new waistband
• The leg bands were already finished, but I made two incisions at the back and inserted elastic into the band so they gathered a little around the thigh (assumingly a one year old's thighs are not as big as my upper arms).

Because a lot of the finishing on the sleeve/leg bands was already done, they were whipped up in no time. One completed summer outfit - tick! Here it is in action.

Summer shorts

Spring has sprung and Summer is just around the corner. We got back from our camping trip (had a lov-ely time and there will be more on my creative space tomorrow...). For now, I got inspired yesterday and finally finished off the round of summer shorts I have been making for my little'n. I set a goal for myself to make the entire summer wardrobe for my 1 year old this year, apart from a few pieces I already have (so the majority of) . I haven't made the pledge publicly (although I think now I just have...?) as I didn't want to disappoint myself too much if I don't achieve it, but now I feel I am very much on the way.
I have made up 5 pairs of summer shorts/pants to go with t-shirts or under dresses. The pattern was made up from a cute little pair I saw in the shops and I refashioned an existing pattern I already had. I am also quite pleased to say that I also made them with stash fabrics and I only needed a couple of matching cottons bought to complete them.

I am really happy with them and now just need to hope that they actually fit for summer. At the moment they stay on, but hang around the knees whereas should be under her bum, so hopefully she will just grow longer and not too much around the waist. The denim ones (these are my fav) had a little cuff with tie ends added which makes them extra cute I think.

I thought I would either make matching tops/dresses or embellish plain t-shirts and things to match.

Nappy change emergency pouch

Whipped this one up on the weekend to give to my sister in law for her baby shower. It's a pouch with velcro closing to keep an "emergency" supply for nappy changes. I have one permanently in my handbag and it's great. It means I can keep using my handbag, and don't let the nappy bag rule my life, but am prepared for the emergency.

Made with denim and cotton. The inside lining has been contacted. I got the idea for the lining from here, it can't be machine washed, but you can wipe it clean, and I think it works well for a nappy change pouch.
The outside:

And the lining on the inside.

It was gifted yesterday. I hope she liked it and gets as much use out of it as I do.

From oranges to apples

This one was completed a little while ago. A simple summer dress in size 1 made with cute apple material I have had for a while. The sleeves are elasticised and gathered which will look very cute on a chubby one year old's arms. The dress was simple and quick to whip up, and completed in one day after I got inspired from shuffling through my stash.

The pattern is Simplicity 3853, from the It's so easy range. Definitely a winner. I have also thought of many ways of altering it, cutting the bodice out of a contrasting or a base colour, gathering the skirt a little, or pleating it, buttons down the front, no sleeves, plain material, hand print something along the hem... The possibilities are endless. Perhaps another trip to my stash to see what other ideas come up?

A little person's jacket

This is my entry into the world of craft blogs. I've been thinking about it for ages (and have been formulating blog entries in my head for ages) as I've been reading and drawing inspiration from the many other blogs out there. So here goes, I will just jump into it, post what I have to show and hope you enjoy.

After receiving my first edition of the Ottobre design kids fashion mag, I was completely inspired and energised. This is my second project from the mag from the Autumn 4/2009 edition. The pattern was easy to follow and really enjoyable to make. I love the coloured leaves, perfect for Autumn, and the bright happy colours.

Now I just have to wait patiently until Winter next year when bubs grows into it, and hope it fits!