For George

Well the first of my 2009 subscription ottobre magaszines arrived last week so I immediately celebrated the fact by making a pair of pants for George. These are the Taku pants (pattern 21) from Ottobre Spring 1/2009. I used chocolate brown corduroy and topstitched with a beige thread. I have teamed the pants up with a multicoloured tee that I made using a circa-1970 raglan t-shirt pattern (my fave for George... he has many t-shirts made from this pattern).

Front of the pants.

Back of the pants
George modelling the pants. He is 9ocm tall and these are the 92cm size.

The multicoloured raglan tee- front

Back

This is a close up of the hemline showing how the use of a twin needle makes a nice "stretchy" seam that looks like a professional coverstitched finish from the outside of the garment (the red fabric is the outside of the garment, and the blue the inside) . You just fold the hem up once and stitch it in place so that the double row of stitching is on the outside of the garment. Once you have completed sewing the hem trim the excess fabric close to the stitching- It wont fray because it is a knit fabric.

*Tutorial* for the Tubie Sundress

This little sundress is made from a series of rectangles, so its very simple to make and easy to adapt to different sizes. The measurements I have supplied are to create a dress that will fit a girl approx 8 years old.

This knit dress is made up of a series of rectangles. They are pictured above, and from top to bottom I will refer to them as Bodice band (green knit), Bodice (apple knit), waistband (green knit), skirt (apple knit) and hem detail (green knit). The rectangles formed into tubes of fabric, which are subsequently joined to form the dress. Hence the name "tubie sundress"

Cutting the fabric

You will need to use a stretch fabric, any composition should work (jersy, interlock, lycra, cotton lycra etc), although I personally prefer a cotton jersy with a small amount of lycra (ie t-shirt fabric). The measurements of my pieces of fabric are as follows (roughly a girls size 8 and to fit chest size measurement of approx 57cm):

Bodice band (green knit)- 2 rectangles of fabric 17cm x 29cm

Bodice (apple knit)- 2 rectangles 22cm x 29cm

waistband (green knit)- 2 rectangles 9.5cm x 29cm

skirt (apple knit)- 1 rectangle 30cm x 150cm

hem detai (green knit) l- 1 rectangle 8.5cm x 150cm

I used a rotary cutter to cut my rectangles, just to make it quick and neat. To adjust the size up or down I suggest taking a chest measuremnt of the child you are making the dress for, or even measure an snug fitting t-shirt from the childs wardrobe (you could even USE the t-shirt... slice off the sleeves and neck and use it as the bodice part) and using that to base the width of the rectnangles. The skirt "tube" should be roughtly 3 x the circumference of the bodice tubes . Of course you can also adjust the length of the rectangles, it you want a longer or shorter skirt, shorter bodice or thinner waistband etc.

To sew the dress

Step 1: With right sides together stitch the bodice pieces together at the sides. I have used an overlocker with the differential feed adjusted to suit stretch fabrics. If you are using a regular sewing machine use a zig zag stitch.

Step 2: With right sides together stitch the bodice band pieces together at the sides.

Step 3: Fold the bodice band in half so that the raw edges meet and the wrongside/seams are hidden on the inside of the fold. Slip the folded bodice band over the top of the bodice tube. Match the side seams and pin the raw edges of the the bodice band and the bodice together (there should be 3 raw edges).

Step 4: Stitch the bodice band to the bodice. Set bodice aside.

Step 5: With right sides together stitch the waistband pieces together at the side seams.

Step 6: with the waist band tube inside out, slip it over the bottom of the bodice piece (waistband and bodice have right sides touching). Match the side seams and pin the raw edges of the two pieces together. Stitch the waistband to the bodice.

Step 7: Press the bodice band seam and the waist band seam towards the bodice.
Step 8: Admire your handiwork so far then set it aside.

Step 9- join the side seam of the "hem detail" piece of fabric. It should be a tube with a giant circumference. Fold the tube so that, with right sides outwards, the raw edges meet. Press.

Step 10: With right sides facing stitch the side seam on the skirt piece. Then slide the "hem detail" tube over the bottom of the skirt tube. Match the raw edges and pin in place. Stitch the hem detail to the bottom of the skirt piece.

Step 11: press the seam towards the skirt piece.

Step 12: Admire your handiwork again!

Step 13: To gather the top of the skirt piece so that its small emought to stitch the waistband piece run 1 or 2 rows of basting stitch around the top of the skirt piece. Basting stitch is a regular straight stitch that has been lengthened to a stitch length of 4mm. Pull the bobbin threads of the basted rows of stitching until the circumference of the skirt is gathered enough to match the circumference of the waistband piece.

Step 14: with right sides together slip the skirt over the bodice piece and match the raw edges. Distribute the gathers evenly and pin the raw edges together. Stitch the skirt tube to the waistband tube. Pull out the basting threads and press the seam towards the waistband.

Step 15: Shoulder straps. You can either leave the dress as a boob-tube, add 2 shoulder straps or add a single strap at the centre front and tie the dress up halter neck style. Straps could be constructed from knit or woven fabric (sew into a long thin tube), clear elastic or ribbon. Simply stitch the straps to the inside of the bodice band using a regular straight stitch- the stitching will be visible from on the front of the bodice but can be hidden by stitching an embelishment over it, for example a button, or a ribbon bow or fabric flower. In the photo below I have added two shoulder straps from clear elastic, but I later removed this and added a halter neck tie and a button embellisment. When the dress has gone through the wash I will take a photo of it and add in a picture.

Note you are free to use this pattern to make and sell garments, with a simple request that you acknowledge it as a tin whistle/milly sayer pattern.

I spy with my little eye

Here is a little Ispy quilt that I snuck out this week as a gift for a little man about to undergo a gruelling 6 week in-hopsital medical procedure. His mum has been a very generous tin whistle customer in the past, and we have swapped emails various times as our children are the same ages and we are both from Perth. Oh and we both happen to share a rather embarrassing love of baby gadgets ;) (hence why she has bought so many pram accessories off me). There is much more to how this quilt came about ;) ... but the short story is that an Ispy quilt would be a useful item for a little man while he was in hospital, and making, then gifting, it best demonstrated my well wishes for the family.

Here are some of my favourite squares... no run of the mill Ispy squares for this quilt. They were all hand picked from amongst my stash of fabrics. Who woulda thunk someone would create a fabric with mobile phones on it? However, they seem to be a favourite plaything for many toddlers, so of course i had to include a patch of this fabric

I love the dancing girls and the turtles.

The croc fabric at bottom right is one of my absolute favourite fabrics. I bought 3metres of it about 18 months ago and items made from it have appeared regularly in this blog since then. I only have little scrap pieces left now- and selected one for this quilt. I also love the super hero patch and the medicine one.

The backing fabric is a stripe from the "Juicy jungle"range (my favourite stripe). I quilted the squares in a diagional pattern, which probably wasnt the best idea for an Ispy quilt (as it creates an "x" in the middle of each Ispy square), but it does look pretty on the back!

The girls playing "Ispy" while I was trying to photograph the quilt.

George butting in to point out some cats.

As promised here are some pictures of Elizabeths Mendocino raggy quilt on her bed.

I seem a little obsessed

With skirts that are cut from spiral pieces! Here is an interesting skirt I discovered in a vintage pattern book (Golden Hands Monthly September 1973) . It immediately reminded me of an adult version of the Farbenmix Redondo pattern.

I decided to sew it using knit fabrics instead of woven cottons, and also had to adjust the waist band a little- The origional pattern is a little too highwaisted for todays fashion conscious mama's ;) Here is the first attempt...I am not overly thrilled with it.

I needed 5m of fabric for this skirt so it was hard to find a knit fabric that I liked but that wasnt too expensive. I broke my own rule of either buying dirt cheap fabric and doing a trial run, or just going straight for the fabric you love and hoping like hell it works out and you love it. I went with the compromise... middle priced fabric that I thought was ok, and as a result I have ended up with a $75 skirt that doesnt really float my boat. As I was photograhping the skirt for this blog entry I decided that the large scallops at the bottom hem just werent working for me, and I wondered if the skirt would look better without them... it would also mean less fabric too. Hmmmmmm, thinking, thinking... I dug out some fabulous polyester knit that I bought on a whim ages ago, chopped the scallop of the bottom of my pattern sheet and went to it.

I am loving the result of this one... and I even got the George "pweety" seal of approval (he knows how to pleace his Mum!). The scond skirt used only 2.5m of fabric too! Not that the scallop was that large, it just meant the new pattern piece could overlap onto the fabric better.

First skirt inside out so you can see the shape of the spiral pieces and the scalloped edge.

Doodling...

Last night I decided to do some doodling with fabric. ie just cut and piece and play with fabric according to some idea's that had been floating around in my head... to see if I could get some inspiration for a new quilt. One thing I have had in my head is to make a quilt using striped fabrics; joining triangle shaped pieces of stripes into squares like this.


I am sure there is a quilty name for this type of block but I have no idea of any of the correct lingo. I think it will work as a quilt, I am just deciding whether to make sifferent sized squares and make it a crazy type quilt using scrap stripes or do something more planned out and organised. Probably the former. LOL.

The second "doodling" I did was to dig out a Moda Symphony charm pack I had tucked away in the cupboard and try making some disapearing 9 patch blocks. I liked the richness of these Symphony fabrics very much. They are kind of fun but grown up at the same time.

I think they would suit a bedroom quilt for our very formal and large bedroom. The blues in the Symphony range match exactly the curtains and the blue highlights in the ceiling rose, but overall the quilt will give the room a more decadent bohemian feel rather than just stiff and formal vibe it has now. I hope anyway!
To that end I spent today planning out the quilt, calculating the fabric requirements and tracking down 7 more charm packs.