The Norah Tunic

Recently Hayley the blogger responsible for Welcome to the Mouse House released her very first pattern, the Norah dress and Tunic pattern I loved the shape and the cute collar. How could I go wrong? Look at the photo montage! Collar, no collar, colour blocked, sleeves, no sleeves - endless possibilities I thought. 

So I caved. I bought it. And there began my tale of woe...

The day I bought this pattern was unlike others as Dear Partner was home. The Little Man seemed sick and all hands on deck to get others where they needed to be. I thought, I need something to look forward to. I will buy those patterns I was looking at..

Click, click. Bought 2. (other pattern to be discussed later - you may be able to guess why as you read on) 

Damn. Printer is not working. 

Aha! I know I will print them out at Officeworks when I pick up the Little Miss - No drama.

tick tock - The Little Man decides he is actually quite well and perks up after some food (finally!) and a restorative watching of the Wizard of OZ. 

Dear Partner decides to help by picking up the Little Miss himself. I asked him to print for me. No worries says he.

Upon his return I was presented with my patterns. Greedily I snatched them up, collected the cutting blade, ruler and tape required for PDF pattern assembly sat down at the table to start...

and realised....

HE HAD PRINTED THEM DOUBLE SIDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG. Now anyone familiar with the Jigsaw PDF pattern model realises that this is certainly not ideal. However on close evaluation I decided that this pattern, The Norah was useable. Just so you know, it is possible to put the pieces of the tunic/dress pattern together while only missing one page that happens to fall on the mid-line of the pattern. Success! 

Let's not go into the collar pieces now though shall we? 

And so I present my Norah tunic in size 8. Sleeveless, Collarless, Embellishment-less - for now. [I have plans for at least a bow and a flower which I will attach to the top with snaps. Interchangeable and hopefully easier care - remove for washing.]

And then the back. Look at my button loop! Can you see the top stitching?

Wait, this is clearer. 

Of the three photos the last is the most accurate colour on my monitor. I am a terrible photographer and having to take pictures when children are not around as discussed here results in night time or at best dusk photos. Neither of which is ideal. 

But I think you get the idea.

This is a great pattern. I already have the next one cut out, a dress with collar maybe? I can barely wait for Christmas now. A huge photo shoot so I can get modelled shots of everything in daylight. So much to show..

See you next time

Top Secret Stitching in a house with three kids..

So I have found difficulty with keeping up with the blog again. Not the sewing part because I am sewing up a storm! But because of the nature of the sewing I have been working on. The Top Secret kind. You know for the big gift giving event in December. ssshhh!


It is very challenging to try and create gift items when potential recipients are around all the time...snooping...prying...looking...asking.

The real issue is that they know I like to make them new clothes/toys/accessories/whatever for Christmas. This year I foolishly told them it would be a "Handmade Christmas" - what was I thinking? The older two are aware that it is getting closer to the date.

Big Miss should be easy as she goes to school. So I can create things without her knowledge while she is there. Except that Little Miss reports on what she has seen. Little Miss also decides things she likes are for her. (An issue as they both wear basically the same size. Big Miss just needs length added to everything.) So everything I make is known and already claimed.

Little Miss goes to Kinder 3 times a week so there is some time without her. However upon her return she searches to see what I have done.

"What's this Mummy?" 

"Who is this for Mummy?" 

"Can I have a dress made out of that new material that is not well hidden Mummy?" 

Aaaaarrrrrggghhhh!!!!!!!!!

The Little Man is perfect. OBLIVIOUS to everything. Can sew things for him with him on the other side of the table and he will not even think about what I am doing....UNTIL....Dear Partner when asked what he thinks of a particularly tricky bit which looks a bit dodgy decides to call the Little Man over for a fitting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do I do it better?

Last year I participated in a large number of swaps around this time, so I could say (and not always fibbing) that I was making things for a swap. That worked well. Not sure two years in a row would work. Also they are more aware now of parcel deliveries.

"Where are our swap parcels Mummy?"

Surely other people make things for their kids? How do they do it?

So sewing is an achievement. Pictures are an epic monumental feat!

Though I am participating in a Sew-a-long for a dress for me in November. Perhaps more pics? I cannot make any promises.

Holiday Fun!

What to do on a cold windy (and rainy in the afternoon) day in the September school holidays with three little people who just want to do something?

Grab the sewing machine, some fabric and a pre-purchased kit of ooshka babushka and two additional face panels, (one for ooshka and one for super ooshka ) and get sewing!

First up they all picked fabrics. I had to step back and just let them go after giving them the choice of two main colours and the appropriate fabric drawers to choose from.

I did all the cutting due to recent hairdressing and paper confetti experiences. Why is it they will cut up paper into miniscule pieces right until you want them to? Ask them to cut up paper for the compost (broken shredder again!) and they will do it for 30 seconds... I digress.

The Little man was up first. He was great helping sewing all the straight seams but the bobbing head while trying to applique on the face panel was nearly my undoing.

Big Miss went next and after a quick re-cut of the middle front panel (we had attached the applique fairy so she would be upside down. Note to self: focus on one at a time..) she sewed all straight seams independently. She decided that I should do the applique and sewing around the body though.

Little Miss had very definite ideas of her Ooshka and was keen to do as much sewing by herself as possible. Unfortunately height was an issue so I was able to control the foot pedal. :)

After sewing it became obvious we had a problem....

Can you guess?

Not enough stuffing! So this is how they finished up today. Will organise more stuffing tomorrow.

What to get for next holidays?

Maybe roxy longsocks? Any other suggestions of things kids could make with lots of straight line sewing? Oh and a cute face panel helps....

Go To Patterns Signature Dress

I am a little late in this post as I went to social sewing on Saturday and did not get pictures taken..

And let's not discuss Sunday or Monday. The school holidays have started here and so has Spring (what? It must have just started cause we have just organised our garden.)

And so here finally is the next post.

Here are 2 of last week's creations. I recently purchased the Go To Patterns Signature Dress in a combo with a few other patterns and I have finally had a chance to make it.

First up I made a tunic length dress using both the flutter and short sleeves combination. I opted to copy another bloggers idea (sorry I cannot find you again now. Feel free to identify yourself if it was you) and use one big pleat fold in the center front and back rather than 3 smaller pleats or a random gather. I like it better this way.

I made a size 7 for Miss Little who is 5 years old and as you can see it fits her great. So glad this pattern is available to size 12 otherwise would not get much use out of it.

After the tunic top I decided to have a go at the maxi version with longer sleeves and the flutter sleeve - am not sure I will ever be able to do it without the flutter sleeves now the girls have discovered them.

What to say about this? Hmmm... Well, it is longer....
I have used a fabric which I know to be great when new but quickly deteriorates to a grey horrible version of itself upon wash and wear. (cheap fabric - you get what you buy, that is the risk) I knew this would not last long. But when I finished it, the Little Man claimed it as a princess dress up and ran around the backyard. It did not make it to hemming, it did not make it to its intended recipient.

I need to make another one for the Big Miss. And perhaps sort out something for the Little Man to stop him running off with the next one. And so....

Another Signature dress. A size 7 made out of an old satin sheet (I wonder if the person who gave it to me will recognise it?) with flutter sleeves, elastic around the neck and long enough to be princessy but short enough to not drag on the ground. Fingers crossed he will leave the next creations for the girls alone.

New patterns!

This week has resulted in no finished items.

Stuck at home, sick but not sick enough to be completely incapacitated what could I do?

I did what anyone would do, I shopped online.

I bought some Simplicity patterns and discovered that it is worth checking pattern company's sites from different countries. A pattern that was $10 on Simplicity US was only $6 on Simplicity UK. (Let's not discuss the price of the patterns on my home country site) What is with that? The postage was just over a dollar to get it from the UK site. When they arrived (very promptly)  I discovered that this was because they came all the way from a Sydney warehouse. I cannot understand it. No advantage to buy from my home country site at all. Why bother having multiple sites (all were English speaking countries too) surely other people would check this too?

I digress. So here are the two Simplicity patterns I got. I am not certain either of them will suit me as I do not wear dresses much. I am ambitiously thinking it is because I have not found the right one yet. Maybe one of these will be it!

I bought 1537 because I love the look of a scoopy neck and a swishy skirt. (yes, I am sure those are the technical terms.) One thing I already dislike about the pattern is the zip right down the back. Oh well, you want fitted in a non-stretch fabric you need to make some concessions.  

I bought 1800 not because of the cover picture or even the drawings. To put it simply, I bought it because Laura made the most fantastic version with piping and what great fabric. I am not sure of the etiquette for using a picture from someone else's blog so you will just have to follow the link to see what I mean. In order to get my dress to look like this there are a few obstacles I will need to overcome. Including but not limited to, finding awesome fabric, learning how to put in piping and adding zips.

And then because the other pattern I want for me is not in stock yet, I got a pattern for the girls. 

I bought the Geranium dress pattern. I was going to only get the larger sizes but it was only a little more to get both...Can you guess what I did? Yes, I got both. You never know when you will need to whip up a little girl dress after all. This pattern comes as a PDF so I was able to print, tape and trace out the pieces while at home. Now all I need is to get to Mum's and raid the stash!

Cannot wait for next week. I think that all the kids will be able to get to their daily events which will give me some time to sew!

Bliss.

Multi-sized Joy

Well hello there!
You did not believe I would be back did you?
Well I prooved you wrong didn't I?

This week has been a busy week sewing wise. At the beginning of the week I sewed up a pair of pants for each of the girls using my new favourite patterns for pants. I then finished off a top for the Big Miss and whipped up some shorts for them both. Suddenly with the season change we had some warmer weather and the Little Miss discovered a lack of shorts for her to wear. (I did not raise the number of skirts/dresses she could have chosen to wear because clearly it was a shorts day.)

So let's begin with the top.

The pattern is Bevknits 3001 which is a family t-shirt pattern ranging from size 2-12 in Children, 8-20 for women and then 32-46 for men. Really I do not think I would ever need to buy another tshirt pattern now that I have found this gem in the pattern stash, but this does not mean I won't want to buy one. This pattern is perfect for Miss Big who prefers a slim fit top.

Fabric for this top was purchased from the $2 table at darn cheap fabrics a little while ago. I bought a bit of it hoping that Miss Big would like it. I also thought we could try overdyeing it and see what happens. Luckily she did like it and decided that this top should stay as it is - unfinished. She likes the roll effect at the bottom of the top and sleeves. Less work for me. Who am I to complain?

And now we move onto the pants.

For Miss Big I have made a pair of pants using Jalie 3022. This is not the first time I have made this pattern. I will do a post of all the pants I have made using this pattern in the future I think because I have made it A LOT. In the 5 months I have owned it I have made it at least a dozen times. I am currently working out which size I need for me. Did I mention it is another multi-sized pattern? Sizes range from toddler through to adult.

Miss Big loves these pants (see above how many I have made for her) and it is now the go-to for school pants. The back is made up of two pieces So they fit really well.

This is the best picture I could get of the back. Ignore the VPL, Miss Big would not stay still any longer.

If you want to buy this pattern (or other Jalie patterns) I will suggest sew squirrel as they are such a great price! This particular pattern is not listed, but I think you could ask and you may be able to get it in for you anyway. I bought it from somewhere else and seriously paid more than $10 more for it. What the? Wish I had known about Sew Squirrel then.

And the pants for Miss Little...

These are another Jalie multi-sized pattern, Tights and Mini-skirt JA2920. These have also been made multiple times, and if you look closely....no hem on the bottom of these either! They don't need one as the girls both tuck them under their socks.

What else to say about this pattern then? 2 pieces, 3 seams (because I do not do a hem) and I do a turnover casing for the elastic. The hardest most time consuming part? lining up the stripes to match. Even though I do not worry about hemming them, I cannot handle the stripes not matching up at the seams. Especially at the butt.

Now apart from this sewing (and the shorts which are as yet not pictured) I have also been shopping up a storm in patterns. More on that later as this seems a mammoth post!

See ya!

Back again...

Well it's been awhile...

And in that time I have really knit up a storm. So much knitting that I now have a recurring inflammation issue in my arms which makes knitting for long periods very painful.

This has meant randomly searching the internet for other interesting things to do. And I have discovered lots of bloggers who sew in my city! I never knew and now I feel I should try and put up some of my sewing so that if I ever get to a meet up I can say "oh yes, I have a blog" :D

Now the way I sew is kind of sporadic. Over a period of time I usually cut out a few items and then on a day when the planets align (and the kids behave, which happens more often?) I can sew up a storm. So my blog may be like that too.

Sorry if you are really hoping for more regular updates but if you have followed me for a bit you know I am a hopeless blogger. I aim to change that but I do every time. Sometimes RL just sucks all the life from me and I cannot communicate with people.

Fingers crossed I can continue to update this...

I have a post coming up soon of what I have completed this week however the camera batteries require charging for uploading. Who knows when I will find it. UGH