A big tidy up

It's been coming for a long time.

It had reached the point where the fabric, patterns, interfacing, scissors and various other bits and pieces had started to seep out from the sewing room across the floor and were threatening to take over other parts of the house.

So I labelled, boxed, rolled, folded and filed, and now it's all spick and span.

As strange as it sounds, I find it much easier to think in there now.

Of course I unearthed a few WIP's I had forgotten about and am now suffering crafters guilt over them. (I bought all that stuff for that thing I HAD to make and it never got done. Should I shelve it now or finish it?? Is it useful, will it still fit, do I even still like it???)

I wish I could say I have one of those amazing spaces like Heather Bailey or Paula Prass, a 'studio' , but I don't.

Things don't quite match and there are a number of shoe boxes serving functional purposes, but I am extremely lucky to have a room that is entirely dedicated to my hobby.

And for this I am very grateful.

In the interests of giving you the entire picture - these are the boxes on top of the shelving - another WIP you could say.

It also means that the room is neat enough for me to show you the other part of my birthday present from my mum, aside from the fabric I showed you way back here.

Despite the money you spend on buying a quality overlocker and/or sewing machine they come with super-cheap and flimsy plastic covers.

So mum took the time and put in the effort to make me these fabulous patchworked covers for both my sewing machine and overlocker.

I have never done any quilting at all and so can only imagine how long it took to make these with the different panels and sides and of course they are fully lined as well.

Not only do they protect my machines from dust and dirt they also keep out curious little fingers. I can now tell when they have been there, they usually leave one of the edges pushed up!

Thanks Mum, they're great and I love them.

One day soon I will repay the favour and make you something requiring a little more time than just a pincushion!

Show stopper

I'm almost embarassed to blog this the event was so long ago!
But what's that old cliche, I mean saying, "better late than never".

So here goes.

The Stitches and Craft show was on here in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago and I had a lovely child-free morning strolling around taking time to actually look at the things I wanted to look at and even participating in a short workshop/tutorial class.

The class, or Craft Lab as they were called, was on making rings and brooches from vintage buttons and was run by none other than the fabulous Jodie of Ric Rac fame, you know, the creative selvedge freak lady (she calls herself that not me mind you!).

I hadn't read the guide close enough when I signed up to even know it was her running it, so it was almost a bit embarassing to walk in, given that I had outed myself to her as a reader of her blog about an hour earlier.

Must have appeared very stalkerish!

To make matters more strange, Lara of Thornberry, another blog I love to read, was there with one of her daughters doing the button thing.

So I said Hi again.

As everyone always says, both ladies were incredibly friendly and neither sought a restraining order against me so I was delighted to make their acquaintance.

Blogland is proving itself time and again to be a very friendly world and I am always glad when I take the plunge and say hi.

Of course there were plenty of other crafty bloggers who I didn't 'out' myself to, but maybe next time!

So on to the goodies.

I popped over to the Kelani stand and got some Heather Ross Mendocino mermaids just because it's lovely, picked up a piece of this fun and cheerful Sprout fabric that I might use for appliques and also some babushka's, who could resist them really.

Also got some doll clothes patterns from AK Traditions, some cute robot fabric from the Amitie stand and lastly some lovely felt flowers that I plan to make into brooches or hair clips for the girls.

Definitely make the trip to the show when it's on in your state and sign up early for the workshops and classes.

Swap revealed

This was by far the most 'serious' or ambitious sewing project I have ever undertaken, and it helped me to fulfill two of my pledges for the year; to challenge myself and to learn to do zips!

Now that I know Joy has had a chance to open her swap item and try it on her son I thought I would blog the details, and hopefully answer the couple of questions asked in the sneak peek.

I forgot to take a pic of the 'T' but you can see it on Joy's blog.

What I made

Brown drill/jersey lined outdoor jacket with small car/animal feature print on side of bellows pockets, underflaps for pockets, collar inner, lower hem band detail and shoulder patch detail.
Reverse applique on a bought T shirt (cheating I know!).

Pattern details

Ottobre Autumn 4/2007, Pattern 30 Outdoor Jacket.

Reverse Applique technique can be found here on That Darn Kat blog.

Letter 'A' for Austy is Cheri font in size 350pt printed on computer then traced for a template.

Fabric/materials used
FABRIC
Jacket was made of brown drill from Spotlight with a blue single jersey lining.
(I planned to use the stripe from Spotlight that I used for the T-shirt applique as shown in my sneak peek but felt it was getting too busy), not sure whether the blue was the right choice in the end but at the time I thought it would match the little cars.)

Feature print from Amitie, sorry but I don't actually know what it's called. Very cute though!

BRASS SNAPS were just from Spotlight!

WADDING in the jacket is Vleisoline H 630 available at Spotlight.

INTERFACING - medium weight from Spotlight.

ZIP from Mardion Haberdashery in Balwyn

Applique or decorations used
Reverse Applique on the 'T' - tutorial link above.

Information I want to share with regard to construction or sizing?
The wrist elastic on the finished garment didn't seem very tight to me (and looks loose in the pics of Austy wearing it too).
Whether it's just stretched from having to stretch it several times as you sew during the process I am not too sure but I'd make it firmer next time.

I made the jacket larger than Austy needed as I thought being a jacket he might have layers underneath it and also the body probably won't be too long, only the sleeves (and you can get those arm band thingy's to shorten sleeves which I tried, unsuccessfully, to find) so he might get more than one winter out of it.

This garment took me quite a while to make but once you got your head around each step it was not difficult to make - it was just trying lots of new things for me so I took it carefully so as not to make too many mistakes!

What I'd do differently next time
Not be so afraid to make a start!
In my head it was going to be much harder to make than it ended up being.
That said there were lots of steps, ironing on interfacing, wadding, making up bellows pockets (new for me!), and shoulder patches.
I don't think I did a great job on the snaps as two of the four were a little sensitive to operate, hoping they loosened up - my hammer may not have aimed true for them - how do they feel now Joy??

Novy suggested making this out of denim or cord outer and a polarfleece inner.
I think this would provide a great result and remove the step of having to iron the wadding to the lining, as well as being nice and warm.

I loved doing this swap and will definitely be signing up for it again next year and I might even have a go at this in some girly colours - it would be pretty good for winter with jeans and cute boots for the park.

Oh me oh my!!

Look what the postie brought to my house ...

Putting time and effort into sewing an item for a swap is always a bit of a risk.

Will the person you sewed for like what you've made, will you receive a parcel at the end of it all and will you like what you have been sent?

The answer for me to that last question is a resounding YES!!!!

I was lucky enough to receive a parcel from the lovely Ingrid of Lottielulu and I have to say that when I saw her name on the parcel yesterday I did a small happy dance on my front porch!

Having seen the sneak peek she had on her blog I couldn't wait til this morning to open the parcel, and it is every bit as divine as I anticipated.

Tha cape is of the most delicious raspberry red baby-wale cord and is lined with soft velvet in a bright pink Oilily reprint, and it is teamed with a denim and pink/Oilily print reversible pini-style dress!

Keep in mind that Ingrid drafted her own pattern for the cape.

It has little slots for Miss G's hands to come through and shaped shoulders so it will sit just right.

Divine.

I want the weather to turn cold immediately so I can dress her in it!!

Thank you so much Ingrid - we feel very lucky to have a Lottielulu creation in Miss G's wardrobe and really appreciate the time and effort that has gone into it.

Thanks also for organising the swap - no mean feat I know. I will definitely be in for next year.

A sneaky peek

It's nearly time to open the Essential Baby kids clothing swap parcels.

Here's a sneaky peek of mine...

More on Friday when the recipient has opened it up.

And then they were three

Two lovely ladies turned three last week.

Because of circumstances beyond their control it's become a birthweek instead of a birthday with the celebrations concluding on Sunday, a full six days after their actual birthday.

Still who minds having to eat more cake, not them that's for sure.

I didn't make new birthday dresses - they looked sweet in the ones I made for Christmas so they did the trick.

I did however get stuck into the two cakes and having the girls request two of their favourite storybook characters made their book-mad mum very happy to oblige, and so Olivia the pig and Maisy Mouse joined the party.

I posted more pics last year on their birthday if you want a trip down the lane of my memory.

My lovely girls, you were super-cute as babies and every day you grow more and more gorgeous, spirited, bright, happy and fun-filled. You light up my world and I am so proud to be your mum.

Buttery soft

That's the only way to describe this Amy Butler fabric I picked up at Amitie a few weeks ago - it really is quite lovely.

This is the little Ottobre top I said I was going to make - it's a great pattern - really quick and easy.

The only problem I had was that the buttonhole foot on my machine had a little trouble gripping at the top where the binding was.

This resulted in the buttonholes being unevenly spaced - so next time I will do the buttonholes horizontally I think.

I have made another one of these in some of my beloved Erin McMorris yellow birds fabric but gifted it before I remembered to take a pic! It was the same colour combo as this bird top I made last year. (scroll down a bit and you'll see it!)

Bek has made one up recently too - there were a few of the EB sewing girls planning to make one.

If you've made one post a link in comments and share it around - I'd love to see it.

I find it really interesting to see how different people interpret the same pattern.

I have at least one more of these planned and it will be quite different again.

This is quite big on Miss G - more like a tunic or smock - but looked sweet worn over some long pants today and in time will fit her less like a dress and more like a shirt.

Now at last, a sneaky peek of an outfit I am working on for the EB kids clothing swap.

You may assume I am making for a boy - I don't that is saying too much given the fabric choices.

There will be a 'top' and a 'bottom' in these fabrics. (brown cotton drill,striped jersey, blue fine wale cord and feature print with cars and animals).

The cord is a gorgeous colour - more like the first pic than the second in true colour I think.

Stay tuned for more later.