Merry Christmas

Here you go Dad, a blog update:

Sewing had been very slow around here and my big to do list of handmade Christmas presents has hardly had a dent made in it. Oh well, learnt my lesson there.

Harry's grandparents gave me some fabric this week that was supposed to become a tablecloth. I think there's 6 metres of it so Harry may get a new pair of shorts every year!

That's all for now, Merry Christmas :)

Secret Santa

Some more O + S Sketchbook Shorts. These are for one of Harry's favourite playgroup girls. I made them a little shorter than the pattern. I have given up on making knit t-shirts for the time being as Target sells perfectly good ones for $4, so I bought one of these in a lime green to complete the outfit.

Quick Change Trousers

For a new little man in London from Anna Maria Horner's "Handmade Beginnings" book.

Happy Plackets

Nothing like a Negroni shirt placket to bring a smile to my face :)

Easy Bib

One of Harry's mates became a big brother to a little boy recently. I have a panel of bibs by Katie Hennagir for Robert Kaufman so this was a quick and easy gift. I sacrificed one of Harry's old flannel wraps for the backing.

Happy Birthday to Miss F

We have just spent the morning celebrating my niece's 3rd birthday. She was an excellent host and was kind enough to let all the kids have a go on her new drum kit.

My creations for her birthday present:
Oliver + S Family Reunion Dress
Knit t-shirt & O + S Lazy Days Skirt

November

Thought I'd better post something this month....

I just discovered there's an app for blogger but it seems for now publishing photos isn't great. However, since my rate limiting step for blogging is transferring photos across to the computer I'm going to use the app and maybe post more frequently. We'll see.

Anyway, I'll start with the rest of the stuff I made for HCFC.

Knit t-shirt (worn in public!!!)
Shorts
Sketchbook shorts

HCFC

I discovered KCWC (Kids Clothes Week Challenge) too late so I have decided to do my own "Harry Clothes Fortnight Challenge". It started off pretty well with these shorts.

I merged this MADE pattern with a draft of some shorts of Harry's that I like. The first 2 pairs turned out 3/4 length which is cute but I thought I should tweak the pattern a little more to make them nice and short for summer.

Next up was a reversible bucket hat. I used the Little Things to Sew pattern again but made the brim a little broader to account for the QLD heat and his pasty white genes.

I made a medium for him and it's a little big but I guess he'll grow into it. Might try to make a small in the meantime.

After that we both got sick so in the last few days all I have achieved is 15 minutes of thrifting. But that 15 minutes saved me at least $15 which means at least 1.5 metres of fabric :)

All I did was cut off the long sleeve part of three t-shirts. The best outcome I've had with knits so far!!

 Speaking of knits, I have had a few more attempts and finally bought a t-shirt pattern. I have cut it out and it's sitting there waiting for me to sew it together. Fingers crossed he can wear the finished product in public!

More soon with Part 2 of HCFC...

I Made a Quilt!

Harry gained another cousin a couple of weeks ago. She is a perfect little baby and I think her parents must be smitten :) When I found out this cousin was on their way I decided it was time to make my first quilt. I looked around for a good gender neutral collection for ages and when Little Apples appeared I knew it would be perfect. Eventually it hit the shops and I grabbed some precuts. I had decided to find a fairly forgiving design for my first quilt and google lead me to this charm square baby quilt.

I made a simple pieced backing because the Little Apples yardage wasn't available at the time.

When I first decided I needed to make a quilt I stumbled across this blog which I learnt a lot from. This other lovely blogger inspired me time after time and I was sold on the simple but effective straight line quilting and stripy binding.

Overall I enjoyed the process of making the quilt. It took me quite a while but when I laid eyes on the brand new bundle of sweetness that was to be the recipient it felt like time well spent :)

So that her big sister didn't feel left out I made a small doll quilt for her. I threw this together quite quickly (and it shows!) but I'm hoping 3 year olds aren't too bothered if corners don't match up!

 I've been busy making a few things for Harry for summer so there should be another post on it's way soon...

Productive Procrastinating

One of Harry's Aunties asked me to take a little bit of the 90's out of this dress:

I said I would and then avoided touching it for as long as possible. With the deadline approaching I drew up a trusty timetable to make sure I got it and some other things done....I then began a completely new project....oops.

Finally I got the courage to hack into her dress and it ended up working out okay.

Oh, and I whipped up this gathered clutch for her birthday last weekend:

So the positive outcome for me with all this procrastinating is that I made this Lisette Portfolio Tunic (with pockets!!):

Just need to hem it.

Cute buttons:

I spent a lot of time working out pretty seam finishes because I don't have any black overlocking thread and it's a trial run for using some nice fabric for making the shorter top version for a wedding.
So I did some french seams which worked out really nicely once I got my head around the pockets:

Clean Finish Edges:

Flat felled seams:

And some ugly sewing machine overlocking that's hidden in the sleeve cuff that you don't need to see.

I'm planning to wear version 2 next Saturday night so I'd better get started....but I also want to make Harry a new hat....and maybe some shorts....must go draw up a timetable :)

Therapeutic Bucket Hat

After chasing Harry around the swimming pool this morning I got stuck into finishing off this Oliver + S Reversible Bucket Hat for a little girl turning 1.

The little bit of hand sewing eased the tension built up when wrestling with Harry when dressing him at the pool. Lucky he's cute :)

A little bit of cuteness hiding inside the hat:

 If this nap goes for long enough I might just finish off another bit of cuteness...

Doing Words

Frenching

 Basting

 Quilting

Binding

Waiting...

Comfy Cushions

A birthday present for a sister-in-law.

 They close with a zipper.

I think they suit her. I hope she likes them :)

Something for Harry's Daddy

I finally made something for Harry's Daddy.

He wanted something to keep his coffee money in at work, so this is what Harry gave him for Father's Day.

Not quite sure how he's going to explain that he got a purse for Fathers Day :)

Knits & Packages

I had my first try at sewing with knits.

I used this tutorial and I tried her drafting method.

Yep, the drafting needs a bit of work. But it's my first try with drafting and sewing with knits so at least you'll be able to see my improvements. The ribbing around the neck was made with an old t-shirt of mine.

This bundle of goodness arrived in the mail this week.

So many possibilities....