Spring Cleaning

Given that this Saturday is the 1st of December and the start of summer, it's a bit late for a post titled 'spring cleaning'.  But seriously, it has taken me that long to get it all done! And I don't usually go in for the one big spring clean of the year, I prefer to clean when necessary (which with two kids seems to be all the time) but this year one thing led to another.  I had to clean the curtains in our living and dining room because Anna spilt some chocolate milk all over them while jumping on the lounge with a bottle in her hand, and then when the curtains were down I noticed how dirty the windows were.  So I cleaned the windows which took ages since we have a wall of louvred windows which means many, many panes of glass plus a massive sliding glass door.  And then when the windows were sparkling clean I noticed how dusty everything in the room was.......

And as I said in the last post, since we've decided to sell our house next spring I've been on a massive decluttering phase made easier by clearing out my husband's stuff when he's not home! He is such a hoarder - I know I have lots of stuff but at least it's properly stored and I'm (slowly) using it, but he has been hanging on to ratty college t-shirts that are 20 years old, heaps of cricket gear even though he hasn't played for years and several sets of golf clubs even though he only uses the newest ones.

So while he was at work I threw out a big pile of ratty clothes, donated a big bag of decent clothes and when he came home he even thanked me for cleaning up his wardrobe but didn't notice that he had half the amount of clothes he had previously! In fact he even joined in by culling a few suits and a stack of business shirts that we plan to donate to an organisation that assists men trying to get back into the workforce.

I decided to hang onto a few of his business shirts that were too worn around the collar and cuffs but were otherwise quality fabric (my husband loves his designer labels), so that I could refashion them.  So from one of his business shirts that is a thick cotton with a fine blue stripe I made two pairs of shorts for Toby, kept the buttons and chucked the scraps into the bin.

I used Ottobre 3/2009 #14 for one pair, but I found them to be a little too short and too wide legged for my liking.  For the other pair I used McCalls 6016 which I modified the pattern by lowering the waistline, narrowing and lengthening the leg - it is such a big sized pattern for the size marked on the envelope that I almost wonder if the envelope is a misprint.  But anyway I've now made myself a TNT pattern for Toby's shorts that I will use over and over again, because let's face it what else is there to make for little boys?

From my big box of UFOs and wadders, I turned a pair of unfinished shorts I started for myself that failed in the making because they were too tight into another pair of shorts for Toby.  Again using the McCalls pattern all I did was add patch pockets to the back cut on the bias for a bit of interest:

Also from my box of clothes to be refashioned, I remade a stretch linen skirt in navy I made pre-blogging days and have washed and worn far too many times:

Big sister Anna wasn't to be left out (not without loud protest anyway).  For her I refashioned a strapless shirred dress that someone gave to me that I've never worn because I don't have the necessary assets to keep a strapless dress up, but it is such a soft cotton with a cutesy cotton lace border that it suits a little girls dress better anyway.  All I did was to chop off 20cm from the bottom and use that to make cap sleeves with a ruffle, and take it in about 10cm down the sides:

Unfortunately all this sewing activity has made little noticeable difference to the amount of stuff in my sewing room and hasn't reduced my stash any, but I just can't bear to waste textiles knowing how energy is embodied in each piece, even the crappy bits.  So to get a bit more wear out of some fabric in a different way makes me happy!

Ridiculously cute. But ridiculous: Ottobre 3/2009 #11 Jeans

I've always considered myself to be a rather sensible person, and a sensible and rational parent too.  I've tried hard not to join in the mass consumer culture that is pushed on to new parents, with the wide variety of very expensive items marketed as 'must haves' and instead used a lot of hand me downs, some second hand items and what we bought new we went for the mid priced version and not the rolls royce overpriced items ($2000 prams? $1000 cots? pfft!).  When Anna was a baby I dressed her in pretty but practical clothes with comfort and washability the key factors.

Which is why I feel a tad silly showing you the latest thing I've sewn for Toby.  I made him a pair of itty bitty blue denim jeans - nothing wrong with that of course, except that the pattern I used comes with a fully functioning zipper and fly shield, a coin pocket and belt loops. Seriously, what 3 month old needs a coin pocket?!  The pattern is #11 from issue 3 of 2009:

I came to my senses whilst sewing these, and was too lazy to make the coin pocket, belt loops or fly shield because those little details are seriously fiddly when doing it on such a small scale particularly when unnecessary.  I did make the side pockets and back patch pockets because they wouldn't look like jeans otherwise, and I included a zipper because I wasn't sure if they would pull up over a nappy without a zipper (for the record they do and therefore the zipper was unnecessary).  So I could have saved some time and just top stitched some faux pockets and zipper, but it's done now and they look pretty cute:

I used stretch denim, and it has some buttonhole elastic across the back so the jeans are cinched in nicely above the nappy at the waistline.  I couldn't find any hammer on jeans buttons in a small size, so I cheated and used a plastic snap in orange to match the top stitching thread.

Luckily they fit the little wombat, but for how long is the question given he's gaining a whopping 400g (a bit less than a pound) each week!

And I guess I may not be as sensible as I thought, because you can be sure I'll be making him that cute collared button up shirt this summer too!

(mis)adventures in ruffling: Ottobre 1/2001 #15

It's been three weeks now since I re-entered the living hell that is a newborn.  Except this time it's not hellish at all, it's actually quite pleasant.  Toby is still a good sleeper and a calm baby, not bothered at all by his big sister's constant hugs and kisses.  Of course I still have to get up several times a night to feed him, but he feeds, burps and then goes back to sleep unlike Anna who would scream for hours on end, day and night. I know he's only three weeks old and all this could change for the worse in a moment, but for now it's lovely and I've even made it back into my sewing room for a little bit of sewing which has made me feel normal again.

After I made this tiered ruffled dress that knocked the Dora dress off its perch as Anna's favourite dress, I bought a ruffler foot for my Brother sewing machine because gathering those layers drove me nutso.  I finally got a chance to use it on a tiered, ruffled skirt from Ottobre magazine Spring 1/2011, skirt #15:

The directions with the foot do say to use it on thin fabrics, so I made a skirt from a thin knit fabric I had in the stash.  Either my fabric was too thick or I wasn't using it properly, but the foot hardly gathered the fabric at all, in fact it didn't gather any more than using a normal presser foot with a really long stitch.  Then I tried using my overlocker to gather the fabric by changing the stitch length and differential feed according to the manual and even that gave me the same unimpressive results.  I guess I need to practice more since little girls have a natural love for ruffles!

So I ended up increasing the gathers to the required amount in the old fashioned method by pulling up the thread.  I also used the overlocker to do a lettuce edge finish to the layers to give it a bit more flippiness.  Anna loves the finished product anyway, so I call that a success.

In fact she loved it so much that I made a second version while I still had the pattern pieces out.  This skirt is so simple it barely needs a pattern though - it's literally 3 rectangles of various widths and lengths.  This version I used a funky printed corduroy I had in the stash:

I wasn't sure what would go with a purple corduroy skirt with green trees on it, but it turns out that a yellow t-shirt with a giraffe on it paired with some red patent high heels is the perfect choice according to a three year old!  Accessorised with a Wiggles band aid on the forehead, covering up a mosquito bite:

So now to start sewing something for the boy - he could use some clothes that are a little less pink!

getting back into the swing of things

Thank you all for the condolences and empathy regarding the situation with my uncle, I cannot believe how common it is for petty family squabbles at times like these. 

With all that has been going on I lost my sewing mojo for a little while there, and before I knew it almost a week had passed and I hadn't even stepped foot into my sewing room.  Plus we've been having confusing weather lately - some really warm days followed up by some cool days, so I've been at a loss of what to sew next.

But with a little one that is growing so fast, there is always something to sew.  The extra long pants I made for her at the beginning of the year are already becoming a bit Steve Urkel in length! Remember Steve Urkel when he looked like this?:

Source: http://coopbra.glogster.com/steve-urkel-house-party/

Well he's now all grown up and looks like this:

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaleel_White

I'm starting to feel very old now that kids from tv shows that I watched when I was kid are all adults now - even Winnie from the Wonder Years and Punky Brewster have kids of their own!

Anyway, getting back on topic, I made these cargo pants from the Spring 1/2011 Ottobre magazine:

I made these from a very bright piece of purple gabardine that had been sitting in my stash for a while that I couldn't quite picture using for anything else, but it turns out it's a perfect colour for a little girl.
 

Ordinarily I find sewing little people clothes quite easy and straightforward because there's not really the complex fitting issues and they aren't usually fiddly because kids don't particularly like fiddly clothes.  Well not these cargo pants, between the endless amount of topstitching, the front pockets, the leg pockets, the rear pockets, the ties on the leg pockets, the zipper and flyshield it all took ages.  But they look cute, I got some lovely comments on them from several people and she who now decides her own outfits was excited and agreed to wear them straight away, so they are a winner!

And they proved perfect for a day of bouncing on a jumping castle at a local school fete on the weekend:

And to keep the enthusiasm going I've already started my next project - a mesh sequined jacket to wear to a birthday party for my husband we're having this Saturday night at a local restaurant.  Lucky me I have tomorrow off work but Anna is off to school (happy happy days) so I can finish off the jacket, get a haircut, and bake a birthday cake - he turns 40 tomorrow so I should make something special and big enough to hold 40 candles!

small diversions

Oh you guys are too funny - all that love for that fabric I so boldly declared to be ugly! Maybe my photos didn't convey how the colours match the colour of boogers and baby poo (sorry for being coarse). But a big part of the overall horribleness of the fabric is it's feel - it's a nasty polyester that has a scratchy feel, wrinkles if you look at it the wrong way and was so slippy and slidey it was difficult to sew with.

Anyway the dress is looking promising fitting wise, but I haven't progressed much further than cutting out all the pieces. Sadly I backed up my tonsillitis last week with another stomach bug over the weekend, so energy levels and enthusiasm for getting off the lounge have been rather low I must say.

I did manage to eek some sewing time in over the last week though to make some pants for Anna. It seems that Anna has sprung up another two inches overnight because all of her jeans and pants are now three quarter length, so what better reason than to use one of the Ottobre magazines I bought recently? I made the bootleg jeans from Ottobre 6/2010:

and what everyone says about Ottobre is so correct, the fit on these are much better than those I've made from the Big 4 pattern companies. The waistband sits near the waist, and not under the armpits, and the fit is trim and not too baggy. I liked these so much that I made three pairs! First up a pair of boring plain black corduroy ones which will be a good staple in the wardrobe of a messy little girl:

These are straight off the clothes line, hence the peg marks on the legs.

And then I made a pair in brown corduroy with purple polka dots. Seriously, at what other age could you wear polka dot pants and not look a little nutty?

Plus it's a good match for our dog, and you all know how much I love to be matchy matchy!

And for the third pair I refashioned them from a pair of wool/poly blend pants that someone gave to me that never fitted correctly, so instead of trying to alter them to fit me it was much easier just to cut them down to make a little bitty pair of pants instead. For these ones though I left off the back patch pocket, and bound the pocket edge with grosgrain ribbon to make them look a little dressier:

They were perfect to wear slouching around at the Australian Museum:

and for getting soaked in while 'feeling' the falling water!

I managed to make these quite quickly, probably about 1.5 hours for each start to finish. I took a shortcut by leaving off the fly shield - it's a nice detail but a little fiddly and not really necessary for kids pants. Also it makes things go quickly when you're not trying to fit around adult curves and solve the multitude of trouser fitting problems. However I did put some elastic in at the back waist to get a closer fit, especially as we have started toilet training and can hopefully get rid of the nappies soon.

I also made them extra long so I can let down the hem in case she keeps growing the way she has been. Someone told me once that the height a child is at two is half their adult height - Anna was about 90cm at her second birthday which means she'll be 1.8m/almost 6ft!. Not quite as tall as her dad but much taller than her mum....

ps. Samina - my wedding ring is back on my finger, I just try not to think about where it's been!

jumping on the Ottobre bandwagon

As if I don't have enough expensive European sewing magazines laying around the house unused (well read and thumbed through but still unused) I ponied up $23 (eek!) to buy the 2/2009 issue of Ottobre Woman from the crafty mamas website (fantastic customer service from them by the way). After seeing the great creations that Belinda over at Sew 4 Fun has been making for ages, and the fact that this issue had a nursing top pattern I was convinced to try it out.

At first I have to say I was a little undewhelmed by the magzine. It has far less patterns than BWOF, and look at these two patterns:

Hmmm, it's a little bizarre and if you want to put on as many layers of bulky and unflattering clothes then this is for you. But if it's not your style, thankfully the magazine does have some other lovely patterns, such as these two dresses:

I'll be putting these two on my sewing wishlist, but since I did buy this principally to make the nursing top, I thought I should make it first so I could wear it whilst I am still breastfeeding. The top has a cross over front and a modesty panel underneath the lapped portions that has the sides cut out so you can access your "girls" without exposing your bra too much. The pattern looks like this:

It was very easy to sew, but I wasn't too happy with the outcome. First up it was really long on me, almost tunic length which I don't really like in a clingy jersey type fabric over jeans. But reducing the length of the bottom half of the top made the proportions look all wrong, so instead I took the midriff band off completely which made it a much better length. I'm also not too happy with the self fabric binding to the neckline because it made the top much less stretchy and actually quite difficult to push the top aside to get access for nursing. The pattern suggests using clear elastic and self fabric binding, but I think I shall take the binding off and just turn and topstitch the edge over the clear elastic. And here's my version before I have taken the binding off (I'm a little hesitant at doing more unpicking as you can imagine!):


The fabric I used is a deep red jersey that I thought I had prewashed, but soon realised I hadn't when my fingers turned pink and stayed pink for several days, my white plastic sewing machine turned pink, the bathroom towel turned pink after I washed my hands trying to get the dye off, and even the next load of washing I did after washing this fabric came out with a pink tinge. My husband isn't too impressed with the now pink trim on his black shorts and navy blue t-shirt...

I vow to finish this off this week so I can start wearing it soon, although honestly Anna doesn't often want to feed when we're out and about in public because she's far too distracted by what's going on around her. In fact she is so interested in everything these days that she has practically stopped having daytime naps altogether. She was always a short napper during the day, but now she barely has one 30 minute nap a day which is driving me crazy! I seem to spend all day singing Twinkle Twinkle little star to get her to have a nap..... It makes me a bit angry actually, because not only can I not get anything done all day it is frustrating wasting so much time trying to get her to sleep but when she looks like this I can't stay mad for too long: