Denim butterfly girls dress

This dress was made completely from op shop sourced fabric and zip. I'd say it cost less than $5 to make, with the only purchased item being the cord for the piping. I'm really pleased with the result, and the fact that I tried piping for the very first time! 

Burda Style Girls dress 08/2012 #155

From the technical drawing you can see that the original pattern (Burda Style Houndstooth Dress 08/2012 #155) had pleating down the front but I wanted to make life easy and omitted it. The dress being made from embroidered denim was more on the casual side anyway so didn't need the detail.

It works really well layered for winter and I sent her off to Kinder this morning wearing her new dress - and she promised that she'd keep it clean. Cute.

If her legs keep growing then it'll end up as a tunic top by the summer!

The dress is fully lined (pink with white pinstripes) and was relatively easy to come together. The piping detail gives a bit more of a professional finish and wasn't too painful to try. 

You can find the pattern available online here. 

WIP: Tweed

Latest project.
Tweed.
Have never worked with tweed before, or had to match up so many lines!
But I'm finding that slow and steady is quite rewarding and I'm enjoying the process, which does include a lot of unpicking.

But once this is done then my 2013 Sewlution will be complete!

What are you working on?

still sewing..

Winter has officially arrived and I seem to be attracted to thick, warm fabrics. Fleece in particular. Been a bit obsessed with the stuff lately, but at 27 weeks pregnant, I am finding that although I still want to sew, my projects need to be carefully chosen.

There have been lots of handmade presents made here lately, but the most recent are these cosy Cowl Neck Jumper Dresses. I have had this pattern for a while and used it last year for my daughters. These ones however are in size 2 and will be sent off to other lucky little girls.





The tie can be made at the front or the back, but it helps gives the dress a little definition to an otherwise a-line, simple dress.
They are very easy and quick to sew. I need to whip up a couple more in the larger sizes for my girls soon.


{Dessert for tonight... when the little ones are in bed. Do it.}

Fleece Jacket for post-baby wear

Here we are.
I wanted my own fleece jacket after I made this one for my daughter, but after some pondering and consulting with Adrienne, the cutesy hand stitching was probably not going to be the look I was after so I've left off the blanket stitch and kept it simple.

Details:
Pattern based on this Burda Style Shearling Jacket 10/2012 #101

Modifications:
Used fleece (from the stash) instead of shearling.
Omitted pockets.
Two snaps to secure collar & front.
Removed around 2.5 inches from the Centre back on Size 36 to fit me as this was the smallest size available.

And a badly modelled photo shoot of 25 week pregnant self wearing the jacket ... ohhh, the back is nice!

PJ's for three!

Cold weather has set in here in Melbourne so what's better than some new flannel pj pants? How about three pairs? For $10 total. Good yeah.

The kids and I popped in to Lincraft last week, amidst a 50% off flannel sale, they made their fabric selections and by the weekend they had some awesome new pants.

I searched the net for a free pattern and came across Taylor's Pajama Pants Kid's Pattern. The sizes are from 6 months to 8 years. I added extra length and stitched a longer hem as my kids grow up like weeds. The third pair is for my almost one year old niece.

With the bits of scraps I'm thinking these.

And if you haven't tried making your own tortillas before, DO IT. Better than store bought.

Little Purple Riding Hood

I've been working on this project all week and I've enjoyed every minute spent on it. Sometimes some hand stitching on the couch is just what you need.

Details:
Fleece jacket, based on this Shearling Children's Coat from Burda style 10/2012.

Changes:

• used fleece instead of shearling.
• shortened the length.
• omitted the extra seam in the middle of the front and back pieces. I cut each as one whole piece. 
• added a pleat to the top of each pocket, and added a decorative button.
• blanket stitch along the hood, front and bottom edges of jacket, as well as sleeve edges.
• running stitch details on the pockets.

I love how easy it is to sew with fleece. 

No hemming. No fraying. No worries.

The jacket sews together so easily although as always, Burda's instructions are generally a bit dodgy and I needed to refer to the technical drawing a few times to figure out what they were trying to explain.

More time was spent on the hand stitching which I thought gave the whole jacket a little bit something extra. 

I love the fit of the jacket and really should sew another for my other daughter. 

And one for me too would be nice!

Version 2: Inverted Pleat Skirt

I'm back with some non-maternity wear and the hopes that this will fit me post-baby at some stage!

Just to refresh your memory, the skirt is from the Burda Style magazine: Inverted Pleat Skirt 09/2012, which I made last week with maternity adjustments which you can read about here.

The fabric was on clearance from Spotlight months ago and the lining was an op shop find. It was good to sew this pattern again with different fabric. There really is such a big difference between sewing with knits and woven.

Back of the skirt

Mental note to self is to grade up at the hips as seriously, I'm going to be giving birth to my fourth child in about four months time - my hips have definitely seen better narrower days. heh heh. Oh and while I'm taking notes, remember to add length to your skirts Jacinta - you're tall!

And after a comment left by Lucy about her inverted pleat skirt, I decided to do a small straight stitch across the top of the pleat to reinforce it. Fingers crossed that does the job.

Sorry I couldn't model the skirt - growing a baby and all, but I'm thinking I'll need some lovely summery blouses in solid colours to go with the skirt.

Next is maternity's turn and I have a skirt in mind. Woo, my sewing mojo is on FIRE!