Mr Purple Pants

This may look like a non-sewing related, cute child shot, but it's not! I made those pants my adorable little man is wearing.

Honestly, I couldn't resist sharing this photo of my poor little boy, he was so sick with weepy eyes and runny nose, but he still wanted to smile for the camera. I just love this outfit! LOL, it's a hand-me-down singlet teamed with a pair of pants I made from an old pair of my pjs :) Now that's thrifty. But I think he looks so cute in it!

Christmas Sewing Part 2

Did I mention I was making hats? Here are some photos of them!

Here is DH kindly modelling the first batch of christmas hats - he's got five on :) One each for my nephew and two nieces, DS and two of DS's little friends. It's a great hat pattern although it does call for a heap of hand-sewing. I'm not sure whether to look at how other hat patterns go together or to stick with this one now that I know it so well.



This is about the best photo I got of one close up. I was in such a rush to get all the sewing done and then wrapped and given that I forgot to take proper photos.


And here is DS and one of his favourite little friends. DS is wearing another version of the same pattern that I made as a test run a while ago. Little Friend is wearing her just-opened chrissy present along with a dress I made her ages ago (I think it was nine months ago but it still fits!). I really love that fabric.

Christmas Sewing Part 1

I am so late posting these but I'll do it anyway!

First I brought some fabric - lots of it!!

The first four fabrics are to make bags for SIL and MIL - the birds has orange edging/lining and the stripy has the brown edging/lining. The yellow is for the lining of a couple of hats. The last two are furnishing fabrics for cushion covers for my folks. I got all of this from my local spotlight, so I was pretty happy.

This one is definitely my favourite, I was very surprised to see this at Spotlight.

Welcome Back - To Me

Where have I been? I wish I had a story to tell, but alas, I have not. No good reason, not even a good excuse. But I'm back, so I'm happy with that. Let's see if I can manage at least one post a week for the rest of the year...

There has been some sewing, but not much, I will do a post of the things I have made since the last blog entry soon (but don't expect it to be exciting).

For now, I am off to update the to do lists. I haven't even thought about christmas yet, but I am still hoping to give only home-made gifts. A few late nights to come? Perhaps!

Vintage Pattern Giveaway!

or: time to declutter :)

My gosh, this post has been a long time coming. Life seems to have been very hectic lately leaving me with little time to blog. But as of today we have a new super-fast internet connection so I can blog more easily when I get the chance.

Now, onto the patterns.... Please be aware that these patterns have been used (mostly by someone other than me!). Some have been cut and some have not. It's a bit of pot luck really :) If you would like one (or more) please leave a comment letting me know which one(s). I'm hoping at least some of these will be of interest to someone out there!

I should say, I'll leave this open for a week, till the end of Thursday 26th November :)


Kwik Sew #1954 sizes 8/10/12/14 Girls' Vest, Pants and Shorts


Style #2760 Size 5 Girls Dress



Little Vogue #1250 - Dress and Panties, Bonnet and Bib, Blanket and Pillow Cover, Shoes
This is size medium for weight 8-10kg and height 67-70cm.




Kwik Sew #2071 Girl's loose fitting jumpsuits
Sizes 4/5/6/7



McCall's #9322 Gown or Dress, Slip, Romper, Bonnet, Bootees
In sizes newborn, small & medium



Simplicity #5395 Boys' shirt, vest, bell-bottom pants, short pants or page boy suit with jabot
In size 5 *note the packet says "pocket welt missing and elastic guide all other pieces there"



Style #2437 Girl's dress
In size 5

EB Bag Swap - What I Got!!

Have a look at what I was lucky enough to unwrap!! This came courtesy of Anna from Tillytom Designs. The parcel was beautifully wrapped in a gorgeous purple fabric with silver circles that I just love - still trying to decide what to do with it. I didn't get a photo of it all wrapped up because, well, I was too keen to open it!

The wonderful bag and the two bonus surprises - a purse and a matching hairtie and clip set!

Loaded and ready to go! Inside and out...

Here is the bag ready to go to out to a party - the black and red thing is my ring sling, then there's a drawstring bag with a cloth nappy, handtowel (used as a change mat), facewasher in it. The little purse is sitting there. You can just make out the orange button on the right-hand side which is on a big pocket that wraps around - the pocket has a spare pair of pants and a couple more cloth nappies in it. On the left at the top of the bag you can see a white zip - that pocket has DH's wallet. Then there's a couple of little pocket which have my phone and a little book for DS. Then there's the outside pockets!! Photo on the right shows these - DS's drink bottle in the left one and mine in the right one.

One feature of the bag that I really appreciate is the little elasticised key holder. This is very convenient and should mean I will no longer be dropping my keys all the time.

The bonus purse is great - it easily holds my phone, wallet, lip gloss, with room for a couple of other things. This is handy as it means this items can live in the purse and if I'm going out on my own (very rare but it does happen) then I can just grab the purse and go.

To see some more expert pics, have a look here at the photos Anna took before she sent it!

P.S massive apologies to Anna for taking so long to blog, me and blogger have *not* been getting along.

EB Bag Swap - What I Sent

Front of the bag

Five or so weeks ago I took the plunge and signed up for the EB bag swap. This is the third swap I've been in, but only the second that required me to sew!

Front of the bag with the flap opened - you can just make out the side pocket and the two along the front - all are hook and loop closing

I spent so long looking for fabric and a pattern. Eventually I decided upon this tutorial. My recipient doesn't have kids in nappies any more but still has three young kids. The design doesn't shout 'nappy bag' and is very functional as an every day bag for a busy mum.

The inside showing just how roomy it is. Note that according to the tute the inner pockets were supposed to be done in the same fabric as the lining, but I quite like it this way!

The tute was great, easy to understand and I am SO happy with how this bag came together. It is by far the biggest sewing project I have undertaken, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to pull it off, but I did! I am very glad I joined in this swap as it pushed me to do things that I would've otherwise have put off learning

forever.

New skills mastered (well, perhaps mastered is going a bit far...): zips, pockets, pockets with zips, pockets with elastic.

I am very tempted to make another one of these bags for myself, and possibly as gifts.

The back of the bag - you can just see the full-width zip creating a very large pocket perfect for paperwork etc.

Here are some questions I answered on EB as part of the swap wrap-up

Who I sewed for GetShakey

Type of bag nappy/messenger bag

Pattern details: online tutorial - http://amingledyarn.wordpress.com/gallery/tutorial-hip-mama-diaper-bag/

What fabric/other materials I used:
The outer and lining fabrics were both quilters cotton that I purchased from Spotlight. I can't remember the name...

Information I want to share with regard to construction or sizing?

The only problem I ran into with the construction was that I used quilters cotton rather than the oilcloth that the tute used. As a result, the elastic on the inner pockets pulls the lining in as the fabric isn't structured enough to support it. I did interface the lining piece that has the two pocket in it, but I don't think it made much of a difference. The piece that has three pockets, I used a longer piece of elastic than recommended, and I think next time I would go longer again.

What I'd do differently next time
Two things: include a key ring and make the shoulder strap adjustable so it can be more easily worn across the body if need be.