Another Lazy Days Skirt

Hmmm I'm not sure why I found this one more fiddly than the strawberry shortcake one, the fabric perhaps? It was much thicker and I found it harder to bunch once the elastic was in so maybe that was it. I'm a little disappointed with it but I'm sure M will love it. She loved it when she saw the pink ribbon lol. In the end I thought a red ribbon would look much better but of course she wouldn't hear of it so pink it was. I accidentally ironed the ribbon and it is slightly scarred as a result :-( All a learning curve though, here it is...






and a close up of my boo boo :-(

It's true, it really was easy!

I can't believe it took me this long to stumble across the Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt.

I will definitely be making more of these and have already got 2 lots of fabric (purchased after class today) to start on tomorrow. 1 fabric has lots of blue and I bought a blue ribbon to go with it, the colours are so gorgeous, I can't wait til it's finished and I haven't even started it LOL.

Anyway, I had someone in mind when I was making this skirt and I think it might actually be good enough to give as a present. I got some fusible webbing too and was going to do a matching love heart top to go with it.






Arghhhh I'm getting so sidetracked with other things to sew, what about my bibs, M's dress and the Flipsy?!!


Finally, several months later I am adding a semi action shot....

Bibs

Here is my first bib made courtesy of this pattern and tute.

The pattern is in 2 bits to fit on the page but I cut it out and didn't stick it together and instead used contrasting fabric, which I must say I am a bit tired of looking at since it's my pj fabric. I made the same mistake on the bib at the bottom that happened with R's ballet bag, either the fabric wasn't taut enough or perhaps just too big? It created a couple of unwanted pleats. I unpicked R's bag when it happened but it wasn't worth doing for this bib so M has inherited it and can use it for her doll's. Other than that, I'm really happy with it....oh actually no, I will use a middle layer of terry next time, it was a bit thin.

THE GOOD SIDE


THE BAD SIDE


CLOSE UP OF MISTAKE - Why does this happen??


BIB SNAPPED TOGETHER


This is the next lot of bibs waiting for the other 2 layers to be cut. I ended up lengthening the pattern and also squared off the ends.


I love showing lots of photos :-D

No Sew Tutu

Technically this shouldn't be in a sewing blog since it requires no sewing! Miss M loves her new tutu which I made using this really easy tute.





Digger Pants

H is obsessed with diggers. There are lots of local roadworks atm and we seem to stop in the street and watch them working away and if we're in the car, I hear about all the diggers we pass by. H also likes a particular top he has with a digger on it which he loves so I figured the boy needs some digger clothes. This was the best fabric I could find with diggers on it, I guess it's lucky he loves trucks and fire engines too! Using this really easy tute, I made these tonight. Since they are only for playing or sleeping in, I deliberately tried not to worry about trying to make them perfect, besides I decided to line them with polar fleece making them much too thick for my machine so there are lots of little gaps where I couldn't get the needle in close enough to the seam. At least they will be warm for him to wear with the days being so cool atm.





and a pic of the pants on my little man


The Ballet Bag - Second Attempt

It's done and I'm happy with it! Yep, there was more unpicking (again). I finished the whole thing and ended up with a kind of pleat at the top of the bag because it wasn't taut enough when I was sewing it, so I unpicked the whole thing and did it again. I've never been this anal about anything, how weird. Miss R loved the other bag but I'm sure she will *love* this one, I found this cute ballerina material which was perfect since the bag is for Miss R to take to ballet class.


ONE SIDE


THE OTHER SIDE

Whoops, I chopped all the ballerina's off the top on this side

Mistakes, the best way to learn

Remember the bag I made for Miss C? Well her sister, Miss R, loved it so much she requested one too. Off she went to the fabric shop with her mum to pick out some cutie pie fairy material. Up for a new challenge I surfed around for an improvement on my basic drawstring bags and found this. It looked, dare I say, fairly easy, so I gave it a shot and, well, I did more unpicking than sewing. I didn't realise the bag was more like a pouch so tried to make the whole thing bigger but it was a disaster and I got it all wrong so kept adjusting things as I went. I managed to get the square bottom on but then there was extra material and the sides didn't sew up evenly. To save my sanity I ditched the bottom and just sewed up the sides. I was really happy with the fact that it was reversible but the shape was just too funny and G even asked if I was going to keep his cricket bat in it lol. Determined not to let this bag get the better of me, I decided it had to be altered, after all, that's what sewing is all about right? So, after some more unpicking and cutting, I now have a bag that looks more like a hot water bottle cover than a cricket bat bag! Oh well, I will attempt a proper bag for Miss C tomorrow after I have bought some more fabric. I am really proud that it's reversible though so that is something great to get out of this project.

BEFORE




AFTER


Ta Daa!

I tried whacking the top snap in 3 times then decided to take the dog for a walk with H. Had a think about what I was doing wrong and then decided to make 1 more attempt before getting G to do it for me. This time it stuck. I am in love with this wallet, I think it's the planes.

Here it is all finished. I'm not sure if the pic overload is due to being so damn proud of this little number or because I'm a Libran and can't make a decision to save myself.











Oh, and I definitely need a new camera. I had to go outside for these photos, my camera refused to come to the party for any indoor shots.

Look What I Whipped Up

Late net surfing and an urge to make *something*. I found this change purse and thought it was cute so I gave it a shot. I've been dying to use this gorgeous plane fabric, dare I say it but I'm a bit over the girly stuff atm, all my projects have been with florals, butterflies, pink....I need a break!

Will have to buy some snaps tomorrow then I can finish the flap.








Ugh more terrible quality photos, me thinks a new camera is in need of purchase ;-)

Dress progress

My brain couldn't cope with what would seem an easy step, sewing in the interfacing to the dress. I had to unpick 2 attempts and I know it's still not done right but I was just glad once I got it in. Only the button holes and hem to go! I'm already really happy with it and like I tell everyone else, pretty good for my first dress :-D I tried it on M and it was perfect (in my eyes lol)

Plodding Along

For some reason it didn't occur to me that I should also wash the fabric for M's dress that I so proudly blogged about pinning last night. Not sure why I thought to do it for the flipsy and not the other. Ahh well, it was quite late.

Now, all fabric has been washed and tumble dried and the side project dress for M has been cut out and stitched down either side. Honestly I am surprising myself each step of the way and can't wait to do more on it tomorrow. It's hard getting much done though with a 2 year old "helping". I was on the floor cutting out the dress today with an aeroplane balancing between my shoulder blades. Clever huh ;-)

Some pics from today






Er, aren't the notches supposed to match up??




Tonight's Effort

Some progress tonight. I have finished cutting the pj pieces out, was a little slow in class on Saturday and at home I get nervous without the teacher standing by lol but it's done now all ready for the next class.

To further conquer my weird cutting fear, I revisited M's dress that I ended up cutting out after my first class as a side project. I ran out of pins (they're all on the pj's) but otherwise am happy to pin the pattern pieces and start cutting, yay!

I also pulled out the flipsy material and was about to start cutting but then thought I'd better wash it first so will do that tomorrow.

Here's a pic of the flipsy material, hopefully the 4 fabrics will not clash when assembled.

Prettying Up the Blog

Have been having a play around with my settings, I think I'm finally getting this blogging stuff. At least it looks pretty now :-) No sewing since last Thursday, I'm starting to worry I will forget that one and only stitch I know lol.

My current WIP

And here are some photos of the pj's I am currently working on in my sewing class

The first photo is with the main fabric of the pj's and the pale pink is the contrast fabric which at this stage is going to be the pocket on the top and I'll do contrast for the collar as well and maybe if I'm up to it I'll try and put cuffs on the wrists and pants.





C's Library Bag

As you will remember, I took my 2 little darlings + M's little school friend, C, to the fabric shop. C chose this gorgeous floral fabric for her library bag. I got ambitious halfway through this and decided to line it with a bunny rug. I was sooooo pleased with the end result even though I would do some things differently, but it's good to experiment and find out what does and doesn't work. Sorry for the dark photo, it was night time and bad light!



Toot Toot Bag

Following the huge feeling of pride and satisfaction the first bag gave me, I did another, this time a toot toot bag for H. It turned out way too big but I was so pleased with it, nice and tidy this time mum!




My First Drawstring Bag

Here it is, my pride and joy, my first completed sewing project. Mum commented on the ends of the casing where the drawstring goes through but in my defence the tutorial was for a complete beginner (perfect!) and didn't address the hemming of the casing. I have since unpicked the whole top seam and unfolded the casing to fix this up, so there mum! The tutorial I used is here



Project PJ's

This afternoon saw the completion of my second week at sewing school. We have all been assigned with pyjama's. Last week I cut out my pattern and our homework was to buy our fabric and some sewing supplies. I've been to two fabric shops this week but no, I had to wait until this morning to get my material. I raced home and threw it in the wash and then tumble dried it in preparation for class only to end up taking damp material since I ran out of time. It was all ok though and most of my pattern pieces have been cut and are ready for next week's class when we actually get to use the machines - how exciting!

Yes, I know I have promised pics, they aren't far away...

1 Week In

I've been sewing for a whole week now. In that short space of time I've made 5 drawstring bags otherwise known as library bags. I took the kids into the fabric shop tonight along with one of M's school friends, C. C fell in love with the shop and immediately pointed out a lovely floral fabric. I asked her if she would like me to make a bag for her in that fabric and her eyes lit up and she politely said "yes please", it was very cute.

As I was making it, I realised it was only thin material and out of nowhere came the bright idea to line it....what the?! Before I could change my mind, I grabbed an old bunny rug of H's and muddled my way through it.

It's not even close to perfect but again, I feel such satisfaction and pride it doesn't even matter. Besides, I think it looks perfect ;-)

I will load some pics tomorrow.