Some sewing for me

Over the last couple of weeks I have finally finished two projects I had sitting around. A nightie and a shirt. Both using the Twig and Tale Driftwood Blouse pattern. The shirt is a rayon I purchased at spotlight.

The nightie is a 100% cotton sheet that I purchased at an Op Shop (Charity Shop) a while ago, specifically to make into a nightie. I just put a frill on the bottom of the shirt pattern and removed the sleeves. I'm pretty pleased with the binding around the armhole. 

Cushion - A Christmas Tree Bauble

I'm really happy with this make. A Christmassy item that is different, reusing what someone else had discarded. It is a cushion made to look like a Christmas tree bauble.

I was cruising Bloglovin before Christmas and an interesting blog post came up - Studio DIY. She had made cushions to look like Christmas tree baubles. Some of it was sewn, however to simplify it the entire top piece was glued. I knew that I could sew it all and so collected old cushions from the local dump shop to use as stuffing and ransacked my own supplies for material.

However I wanted plush comfort and so in the end purchased some furnishing velvet from the Fabric of Society and obtained the shinny furnishing fabric, for the top, from Fabric Vision. For $32 I have enough material to make two or three of these. A lot of trial and error as for some reason my seams weren't equal, I think I took more seam in the zip. My guessing for sewing the top section in worked well however, the circle given for the top did not match and was too small, so there was some fiddling.

Very excited as it was my first ever invisible zip and I think it was very successful. No more zips showing up unless I want them to be a feature. Woo Hoo. I've shown you the rather ugly bottom but when it's on a sofa you will not see that.

This Christmas present was sewn after Christmas but that's OK as I have yet to see my niece to have a present time. So all wrapped in a brown paper bag that my grocery shopping comes it... Another bit of reusing. I'm going to adjust and try the pattern again as I think they look better in a group and are a bit of fun to make the house look Christmassy.

Another Christmas make - dress pattern weights

I previously made myself some pattern weights and was really pleased with them, so decided to make a set for my sister and niece for Christmas. I used an oil cloth again but this was a much heavier cloth and very stiff. It made it incredibly difficult to turn through.

Bow tie making

Aaron and I are booked to attend Post Modern Jukebox again this year. Last year lots of people whent dressed according to theme and whilst I made a bit of an attempt Aaron did not. This year he wants to go looking the part. He purchased the shirt, trousers and neon pink braces and asked me to make a bow tie to go with it.

We had a vast selection of materials out of my patchwork material stash and Aaron chose this batik. I 

used a pattern I had made boys waistcoats and bow ties from, for my sisters wedding. In the pattern the bows were the same size but I was never happy with that look. So the back bow is about 4mm larger all around than the front. With a good interfacing it sits well. I pulled apart a bow tie from the Charity shop and used it's bits and pieces for the back neck slide. 

Really pleased with the result.

 Here he is rocking the outfit at a charity dinner we went to recently.

An upcycle - sewing for myself

 In my blogging absence I have made a few things, though not many. The absence has reflected my lack of doing and creativity in the craft sphere and feeling completely overloaded and overdone. I've finished my contract and am taking a deep breath, (she says as she is studying at Massey and frantically doing assignments).

A year or so ago my sister gave me some pink merino that she felt was too bright for her and I have used that for the main body. Rather than making new sleeves I chopped sleeve off a grey merino jersey that had holes down the front. I got the sleeve length a bit wrong so I used a bit of elastic, of the correct length, and sewed it down the sleeve seam. This has resulted in a gathered look that I really like.

Pink and grey is my favourite colour combination. The design was taken from a shirt I bought from C.REED. She is the designer of Minx shoes and designs and makes a capsule wardrobe. I was lucky enough to be in store when she was. She's a very interesting and vital person and has a style I like.

For those who follow me on facebook you'll know we have a new puppy - Pepper. She is so gorgeous and giving heaps of pleasure. So I'll finish with a photo of her.
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Dilbert the Diplodocus

 Aaron is going to Brisbane area in Australia for the Cold Play concert and it is going to coincide with Luca's first birthday. So I whipped out the Melly and Me patterns I had, consulted with the boys and they chose this pattern. A quick search for some bright fabrics in my scrap bag and then the green from my stash. There was a bit of frustration as the gusset of the animal did not turn out right so I had to resew that (which also mean removing the stuffing and then restuffing it).

Now wrapped in my current go to wrapping paper - old sewing patterns from the dump shop. Soon to wing it's way from NZ to Australia. 

Happy Birthday Luca

Linking to these places and crazy mum quilts.

Recycling - now funky Christmas decoration for my craft room

 When I went to my quilting retreat I knew I would need a couple of little projects to do when tired. I took all my old thread spools and my bag of scraps. I should have taken a glue gun as that would have been quick and easy, but I did not so I stitched the material onto the spools.

I think I saw this idea either on Crazy Mum Quilts or Cluck Cluck Sew, but as I can't seem to trace it I cannot accurately credit the idea. 

So now it is above the window over my sewing machine, decorating the craft / computer room. 

I love that it is using something normally thrown out. The first Christmassy (and to be honest it will probably be permanently up there) thing in the house.

Linking to these places and Crazy Mum Quilts.

Refashion - summer hat from linen shirt

This hat pattern I have made before out of natural linen and I wear it all the time. I had a black linen shirt and knew I wanted a black hat with polka dots. It was actually quite tricky getting enough material for a hat, due to curves, from the shirt - but I did it. I do think I am going to have to put a thin red ribbon around the seam between the crown and brim just to spark it to life a bit.

I was taking new photos as I just could not get the photo of me edited right. Eli saw me and volunteered to model. Although the linen was black someone said to me "you have made a green hat". Sure enough in direct light it has a greenish tinge somehow, I am a bit gutted by that.

Really pleased with the hat. This is now my third one and I have adjusted the original pattern so much that I almost feel I can call it my own.

Linking to these places and Crazy Mum Quilts.

A merino poncho in just 30 minutes

I was in Fabric Vision the other day purchasing interfacing and the assistant behind the counter had the most gorgeous merino poncho on. When commenting she advised the pattern was free if you purchased some merino.

Talk about a simple pattern. Just put right sides together and sew up to 30 cm on one of the non selvage sides. Hem it etc and voila. I love the combination of pink and grey and copied the assistants idea of putting a grey stripe at one end. So instead of it taking 20 minutes it took me about 35. I love it. Warm and smart but casual.

I used my overlocker for the the first time since purchasing new blades and getting it fixed. Thanks to Graham it is working beautifully. I also purchased a pile of rotary cutter blades. Wow wonders will never cease with how amazing it is cutting with new blades. Just sliced through it. mmmmm.

On the weekend Eli's rugby game was in the country so we decided to go and watch the game as a family and then have the day at Hamner Springs. The weather was fantastic, Eli won his game and we had a great walk, a lovely soak and gorgeous food.

Linking to these place and Crazy Mum Quilts.

Headbands - Christmas is coming

I have found this YouTube video on making headbands and they are soooooooo simple.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_IYc0nlejI&feature=youtu.be

The reason that it is about Christmas coming is this. This year the family Christmas is at our house and I have decided that everyone's present is a home made Christmas Cracker. What goes in a Cracker? The noisy thing, a toy, a joke, and a hat. So I decided to make headbands for all the females as their "hat". So still a few to go!!! But so easy. Get your bag of scraps.

I ironed them straight onto the interfacing rather than cutting separately as the video does.

Sew two sides together and put in the elastic. Sew Simple!!!

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I have to pack my stash

Well we move in two weeks. I am meant to be packing the house up. So that means I have to pack my stash. Now my stash is not quite the ordinary crafter's stash. It is piles and piles of clothing from the second hand store.

All the seams cut, just a few to go

The problem with packing it is that I get inspired and as I have packed all my current projects I just had to start another. My thought was that if it was started it would be far less bulky to pack. I decided to sew another "fluffy"quilt. Out came all the old pyjamas and the cutting began. I took off the buttons (very useful for other projects) and took off all tags(as I have yet another idea re what to do about them) and cut all seams off.

The tags and buttons - oooh another project to start!

So with Aaron away the boys and I were to have a quiet weekend. 1.30pm in the afternoon and I was on the sofa (yes for those who know me that means I am still in my nightie), Jakob in his dressing gown and only Eli dressed.

The rolls of material ready to go, with a bit of supervision from Morris.

Then we get a call "I am parked outside your house can I come in and look at it please?" Oh my stars. I had to confess to being in my nightie and asked for five minutes. They pottered off to an open home and we got 20 minutes. My goodness the boys have the routine of getting the house ready and then skedadaling really well. In 20 minutes I had a shower and got dressed, loaded the dishdrawer, sorted the garage, folded washing. The boys vacuumed, made beds, pulled curtains, opened window and then were off on their scooters.

Now I am ready to start cutting and sewing I think I may have seriously run out of time.!!
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I am a pillowcase snob

Now on various other blog posts I have talked about being a snob - or "having a very particular preference to...".
This time I share my pillowcase making as I am so particular about my pillowcases that very few commercially produced ones come up to standard.

A good pillowcase should;

• be % cotton or linen. 
• be ironed!!!
• Feel crunchy when my head hits it
• Stay cool in the summer so if I wake up at night I can turn it over and it will be cold against my skin
• Have a decent tuck in tab so the pillow does not come out of the case!!!.....

Oh I could go on.

For my birthday last year my sister gave me these incredibly old Osman sheets still all in their original wrapper. So last night I made some pillowcases from them. I made four normal pillowcases and then one triangle case. (First time ever) Wow these sheets were so so starched it was hilarious, just another pointer to the date of them.

Eli likes to have some company as he winds down for the night so he popped into our bed to read while I put pedal to the metal on the sewing machine.

trying to make a pattern for the triangle case

So here is my finished pile of four pillowcases all fitting my criteria.

Now I am happy to make the bed!

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Some very girly sewing

I don't normally get to do girly girly sewing. Not in a house full of boys. But at work everyone dresses in costume in the last couple of days before Christmas. It is the busiest time of the year and by the 23rd all are tired. So I decided to be the fairy on the Christmas tree. I bought a remnant satin for only $4 from Fabric Vision. Then a little bit of cheap tulle and some glitter tulle on top. Voila a Fairy skirt. Only 1.5 hours to whip it up (gathering the tulle was the longest part).

To go with it I have a string of Xmas lights but I have to wear my steel caps and hi viz vest. Will post a photo when it happens. Aaron says he is going to borrow the skirt to hand out goodies for at his work. I will have to get a photo of that too.

Linking to these places and finish it up friday.

Refashion a business man's shirt - sewing for me

From this

To this

I really liked the material that this shirt was made from. 100% organic cotton and it has a natural look and image to it. I should have taken a close up of it to really show. Anyway. There was enough material in it to make a little cap sleeve top for me. I actually used a pattern this time (very unlike me!). I have decided that the front looks OK but I do not like the back, it is all puffy and doesn't drape. So I am going to try putting the pattern on the bias and see how it goes as I think that will give it a lot more shape. As Gilli pointed out - it could do with being longer, but because it was a refashion I did not have enough material to do that.

Linking to these places.

Refashion - Now a merino tunic

Over the last week I have been working on this Merino tunic. I was inspired by a blog I follow "Sew outside the lines" and especially all her refashions of jersey's into tunics - look at the one in the bottom of this post.

After

Jodi used to call her blog "Re-inventing fashion" and that was when I started following. I would love to attend one of her workshops and keep asking why does she not come to NZ?!!

Anyway - after looking at lots of her photos and trying to work out how she does it, this is what I ended up with. Not like hers at all as I have left it opening rather than pull on. Also I cannot quite work out how she uses the sleeves etc, but I know she does.

The cowl restitched on the neck

The back

This is in aim to be warmer at work. If I am out talking the the guys on the floor it is open to the elements and freezing. I want to have a woolen garment that I can use as another layer over anything I am wearing. So black was the choice.

This jersey was given to me by my friend Susan when we visited her in Kerikeri last time. It had a huge cowl neck that in the end was just too big for me, but ended up being a fantastic collar on this and also cut for extra pieces down the front.

Adding the sleeves into the body created some funny shapes around the bottom of the article, some of it I have left as it is quirky, some I have turned into a more straight diagonal look.

The cowl used to tidy up the front bottom

Before

Pretty happy with my first attempt. It will live at work and keep me warm.

Linking up to these places and Crazy Mum Quilts.

Using Men's Business Shirts

Anyone who knows me knows that I collect fabric. Well a long time ago I realised that a man's business shirt has a lot of fabric in it and so I started collecting 100% cotton or linen ones. I have made many things from french inspired cushion covers to aprons.

This time I made a nightie. This is a pattern that I use a lot as it is simple, comfy and reasonably decent if someone knocks on the door. The bias binding that I posted about the other day was for specifically for this.

the shirts - total cost $3

I needed a new nightie and got inspired when Miriam posted about her dress made from two different men's shirts. So behind the machine I whipped this up just in time to take to Rarotonga. The pink shirt was a bit more see through than I realised at first, so it is completely lined with the pink check shirt.

The labels.

Just for a bit of fun I put all the labels from the shirts onto the back of the skirt.

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