Thursday, June 25, 2015

Some more bits and pieces!

I may have taken my 'selfless sewing' pledge a bit too far! In the last two weeks I've made another 6 things for other people, and only one for myself. Whoops!

I ordered some fantastic metal zips from Boo! Designs, which are perfect for the Boo! Designs Gallery Dress (which I've made a few of by now!). I realise that my daughter is now starting to give her mummy a run for her money in the dress department, but I made her two more so I could try out the zips. They are semi-exposed, with the zip edges concealed between the dress and facing. The instructions for insertion are so clever!



I probably will stitch a little closer to the zip next time, but not bad for my first go!



I also decided to try the sweet little gathered sleeves for the first time. I think they look so cute! I bought this princess fabric a few months ago for $4/m when I decided to start making cushion covers to sell. An idea which lasted about 10 minutes.





This teal corduroy has been in my stash for years, and so has the Aboriginal- print funky cotton. I seriously love this little asymmetrical collar.

I've been on holidays this week while my kids have still been at school (I teach at private schools and they go to a public school) and decided to do a whole bunch of sewing. I tried out the Pins leggings 
pattern by Boo! Designs for the first time, using some spandex that I bought on EBay for this purpose. I took a gamble buying online as I wasn't sure how thick the stuff would be, but it's perfect! 



I made a ful length pair for Lizzie and a sports length pair for myself. Lizzie's fit perfectly - I cut them to her measure,nets, which worked out to be Size 2 with Size 5 length. I cut mine out on the biggest size (kids size 14) and they are just a teeny bit too big, so I'll cut a 12 or 13 next time. 



We seriously love our new leggings!

Lizzie has a birthday party to go to this afternoon, and I decided to make a dress as a gift. I deliberated for ages and finally settled on a patchwork look with dark denim and this funky print that I've had for years. The finished product looked a lot better in my head than it turned out. Also, I spent way too much time on this as I didn't read the instructions and did the seams and all-in-one facing in the wrong order, so there was no way to finish the armholes. I decided to put sleeves on and I think it made it worse.



I put this horrible photo on Facebook and the general consensus was that it's not really to anyone's taste, so I decided not to give it as a gift but to let Lizzie have it instead. I quickly whipped up this alternative present for the birthday girl.



I love the babushka doll fabric- I bought it when Lizzie was a baby and wish I'd bought heaps more! I think this skirt is super funky and I'm sure it will be appreciated.

Now I'm going to have a rest from sewing...for at least two days, maybe! 

Friday, June 12, 2015

A few little creations

I haven't really done much sewing lately. I've been really busy with work and crap, and have kinda lost the will and motivation to make stuff for myself.

However, I did whip up this little Sewaholic Renfrew top:



I scraped it out of a very small piece of fabric, and had to use some plain red knit to line the cowl. Upon first inspection, I didn't think the print was directional, but when I first looked at this photo I realised that most of the bows on the front are upside down! Oh well. This was a really good stash busting project.



I also whipped up this little infinity scarf/ cowl type thing using a piece of leftover ponte. No effort at all was required. I think it took 10 minutes to make!



Lastly, a gift for a birthday party that the kids went to today. The dress is the Gallery by Boo! Designs. I got the pattern for the little headband by googling 'girls knotted headband'. This was not a stash busting project...in fact, I broke my fabric buying ban in a big way last weekend. Oh well, 6 months is pretty good!