super Saturday

Sunday 29 May 2011
I had a very rare Saturday to myself, so I made the most of it by ignoring the housework and spending most of the day in my sewing room.  My new overlocker is such a joy to use - it takes no time at all to thread (in fact it is so quick it's a bit scary!) and the tension is perfect no matter what fabric or thread I use.  It seems to have inspired a new found enthusiasm in me because I managed to make a dress, a dressing gown, two pairs of pants, finish off some UFOs and repair two blouses that had been sitting in the two do pile for at least the last year.  And I also cleaned up my sewing room - phew, what a day!

First up I made this very cute little dress for Anna from a fine wale corduroy in soft grey with bright red flowers.  I used Simplicity 2320, which is a Project Runway pattern, but I had far more success with this pattern than the last PR pattern I tried to make for myself.  It's just a simple pleated front, yoked dress with puffy sleeves and is unlined so it didn't take too long to make at all.  I used a size two for the width but a size 3 length, but apart from that the sizing was pretty spot on surprisingly.  And best of all Anna seemed to like it, even if she does excel at pulling cranky faces in photos:




Then I tested the machine on some knit fabrics, because that has been sewing Achilles heel to date but I think my new BFF may have solved that for me.  I sewed two pairs of little tracksuit pants for Anna from some French terry in a daggy doggy print (that Anna loves) solely using the overlocker - no sewing machine at all.  This is the first time I've done that because my previous overlocker didn't produce stitches tight enough for seams but oh my! this is such a quick way to sew.  I don't usually bother with making things like tracksuit pants since they only cost $6 a pair to buy, but since I had the fabric in the stash and these two pairs of tracksuit pants only took about 45 minutes it wasn't a waste of time at all.


Next I made Anna a dressing gown from some super soft polar fleece I had bought this time last year to make her a sleeping bag.  Anna's favourite phrase at the moment seems to be "it's bery bery cold mummy", so I think this snuggly gown should do the trick.




I used Simplicity 5815 which is a vintage sewing pattern and it would have looked so cute in a quilted satin fabric with lace details around the pocket and collar just like the pattern illustration, but I didn't have anything like that in the stash and I went with function over form on this one.  I also sewed this entirely on my new overlocker and I used snaps instead of buttons so that was another short cut but overall I think I spent more time vacuuming the fluff that distributed everywhere in my sewing room when I was handling this cut fabric than actually sewing it.   

So by this stage it was getting late in the day and my sewing room was clean so I was a bit reluctant to start a new project.  But I still had an hour or so to myself, so I fixed some small tears in two blouses that have been sitting in my fixing pile for way too long, and then finished off this stack of bibs that I discovered I had cut out last year and never finished:


Not that Anna wears bibs all that often anymore (she needs to but refuses to do so), but I figure it's one less UFO to deal with and its baby steps in tackling my large box of UFOs....

So I have to say the new overlocker is totally fantastic and now I'm inspired to get on with making some new things for me.  The old saying goes that a good crafts(wo)man doesn't blame their tools, but I certainly think that good tools help alot in creating some great craft.

I hope you all had equally peaceful and productive weekends too!

27 comments:

  1. Wow! You certainly were productive. :-) Anna's dress is adorable. And shoes to match?? Her "cranky faces" crack me up - she's so darn cute.

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  2. Is it odd that *I* want Anna's red and gray dress?

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  3. WOW you really plowed through the sewing yesterday--congrats!
    Your new machine sounds like so much fun!! Having the right tools for the job always helps.

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  4. At first glance I thought the gray and red dress was a top for an adult...and I wanted to wear it! But it's adorable as her dress, so I guess she can have it. ;-)

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  5. The robe, the dress - too cute!

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  6. You just had to bond so well with your new "overlocker" so quickly right? No awkward getting to know you dates for you, huh? LOL! Glad you were so productive and that Anna benefitted so greatly!

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  7. How cute! That was a very productive day for you.

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  8. Awesome job getting so much done! I love the little dress and the fabric is really darling.

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  9. That dress is darling!!!!!

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  10. Now that's what I call a productive Saturday! I love the dress...the red tights and shoes complete it beautifully :)

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  11. I love those no housework but all sewing weekends, and look at how much you got done, those outfits for Anna are beautiful.

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  12. Omg the sky is the limit now! A modern overlocker is limitless! Yay for your new addition and many happy knit projects for you!

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  13. Another productive sewing session, love the dress, those track pants are cute and the dressing gown looks warm and snuggly.

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  14. Wow, you've been impressively busy! Glad you're getting on so well with the new addition.

    All this talk about overlockers prompts me that I really need to get mine serviced. I can't get the tension right.

    Hope there's a servicing solution to this, not a purchasing one!

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  15. WoW... good for you! Isn't it a great feeling to weed out some of those UFO'S? I did the same sort of thing the other day... I removed and replacd a collar and the cuffs off of one of my hubby's shirts (I just turn them over, and the cuff's I switch sleeve's after turning them over)fixed two pair of work out pants for my daughter, she is loosing weight and needed me to put in draw strings. Seems that I did a few more things but I can't recall. Oh, I also cut out a bunch of quilt blocks from my scraps so that I can begin to get a few more things organized!
    Anna's dress turned out really cute! And just because she doesn't want to be a model doesn't mean that she won't appreciate what you made her!
    LoL.... have fun with your new toy!

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  16. Anna's dress is so cute. I'm a bit jealous that you had a whole day to spend in your sewing room - sounds like bliss:)

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  17. Lucky Anna - so many new garments!

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  18. So glad that you are enjoying your new machine and Anna looks wonderful.

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  19. Anna really is the best dressed child! So cute!
    I can't believe how much you got done in a day - I dream of such productivity!

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  20. That little grey dress is almost as cute as Anna but not quite. Don't you just love a day when everything goes good and you get so much accomplished.

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  21. I think 'super Saturday' should be a recurring event. What fun to make so many things in one day! I really love everything you make, and Anna is just the cutest :-)

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  22. hello
    i'd be so interested to know about the bibs - do you use a water-resistant middle layer? and what material(s) form the front/back?
    i'm still following you - your clothes for anna are just far ahead enough of my daughter/my procrastination/pondering delay to be really inspirational!

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  23. OMG you got a lot done! Congratulations!

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  24. Such a busy day! I just love the red accents on Anna's dress. Adorable!

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  25. Those are such sweet little clothes. Your little girl is certainly well dressed, for going out and for bed.

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