Thursday, February 25, 2010

Pretty Miss Jocie.


Isn't she just precious? I knocked this dress out for her today, just a basic pillowcase style, I just winged it. Turned out pretty good, should fit her for a while, and I figure she can wear it over a long sleeved Tee, and tights come winter.

Not a very happy girl today though, she has a sore behind her ear which is a little infected, plus more teeth coming through, topped off with her afternoon nap cut very short by noisy big sissy's.  She is 14.5mths now, and is an absolute delight most of the time, (which is a really nice change from her older sister!) She is slowly starting to make more sounds, that sound like words, she managed a very clear "ME" the other night, she wanted more chocolate cake lol!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

On a Roll!


Another shirred dress, this one is  for my besties gorgeous little girl.  It has only 5 or 6 rows of shirring quite close together at the top, elastic through the straps, and a plain green sash to break up all that pink. This dress was originally intended for her birthday a couple of weeks ago, better late then never!


I love these colours together, I hope Miss C does too! 

My Madeleine Mini-Bloomers!!


I've had a shocking run lately of making clothes for myself that are just completely unwearable, It knocks me around quite a bit, I start questioning my ability, my body, my intelligence. Sewing directly effects my state of mind, if things are going well, then I am going well, If things are not turning out, or don't fit, then yeah I'm not doing so well, I sew for sanity!


Anyway, I saw this pattern featured somewhere recently, Its a free download from Colette Patterns, and it is just gorgeous!! I love the double row of elastic around the waist, the fit is great, they sit low down on the hips, which is super comfy for me. I will be wearing these as pj's, so I made them out of some super soft Japanese cotton that I rescued from the remnants bin at spotlight for $6, (a bit over a metre) The only thing I changed, was using elastic instead of ribbon around the legs, then adding a little bow at the end.


I have a few other completed clothing projects to share, one of which is actually a "wearable" which I made before my run of "unwearable's"!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Going round in squares.


First up, some stash busting hooking for a new cushion for my lounge, It's just one giant granny square, about 16" square, using 8 ply wool from spotlight. I have no idea yet how to turn it into a cushion, I suppose I will just hand sew it onto a neutral cushion cover.


I still need to weave the ends in and block it.


Ive been inspired by all the wash/dish cloth making going on over here, this one is just straight dc with a sc border, It came out at around 9.5" square.


I figured I'd make a few more and put them away for mother's day stalls. It's good productive sitting in front of the T.V crafting!


And finally, We did some kitchen functionality work a couple of weeks ago, (I have finally got a dishwasher and a pantry!!) and we were left with a small space that need tiling, which we had never done before, (if you can't tell from the photo!) So we need to re-grout these but hey, we knew we couldn't do it perfect, let alone good enough, so we went funky instead! It's quite the fun little surprise when you walk into the kitchen to see this on the floor! Anyway must dash, hope everyone out there is having a fantastic week! Next post will probably be all about clothes, mostly failures lol!!

Seven.


I can't quite believe it really,  the last 7 years have flown by.


Happy Birthday (for last week lol) my gorgeous girl!!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Playing with fit.

Before adjusting the bodice.
So I decided to extend myself, and rather then just buy a pattern, and make a dress, I thought it would be a good time to start learning about fit, my body is a rather odd shape, and quite often will range over several sizes, Ive found (so far) that if the bust is right then It will fit, but not necessarily very well, and to be honest I have NEVER made a muslin before (actually this is from calico lol), Im so glad that this time I did! Overall this dress fit me very well, I have only done one mod, Ive chopped about 5/8" off the bottom of the bodice, when I sew it up "for real" I will also extend the length of the pleats slightly. So basically I was able to easily mod this pattern to fit me really well, Only problem is I don't know WHY that particular mod needs doing! Is it about bust size, posture, etc. I know why I need to lengthen the pleats, that's all about my broken body,  looking like I'm 3 months pregnant (which for the love of god you rude strangers I.AM.NOT!!!!!).
I'm planning on (surprise, surprise) making this up in a black slightly shiny textured fabric, it is most certainly a "going out for dinner with the husband and NO kids" kind of dress. I wonder if I will ever get a chance to actually wear it hmmm.   Oh before I completely forget it is Burda 7759, and I'm going sleeveless.
After adjustments.
Anyway..... This year marks something interesting for me, I'm enrolling in a TAFE course, Certificate II in Applied Fashion Design and Technology, I'm fairly sure that the sewing education of given myself will help me out, and at the same time I will be able to fill in some of those annoying gaps. If anyone has done this course or the cert 3, 4 or diploma I would love to hear your opinion, heck even if you haven't I would love to hear your opinions!