10th birthday dress: New Look 6960

We've just come home from a two week holiday to Hong Kong - boy was it cold there! Not snowing cold of course, but less than 10 degC which according to my relatives that live there is unusually cold for them. So even though I sewed the annual birthday dress for my daughter before we left and took it with me it was far too cold for her to wear there but it's much more suitable for home here in Sydney a week later:

I've made this dress before for Anna back in 2013 when she was only 3 years old and oh so cute:

This is New Look 6960, which is OOP and may be the last time I use this pattern. It only goes up to size 8 which still fits Anna because she is a bit of a bean pole, but it's not overly large on her. I guess I could grade it up, but with so many other patterns in my stash I probably won't.

For this dress I've used a Jennifer Bouron print on cotton bought from Nerida Hansen specially for this project - no stashing this fabric!

I used some yellow cotton from the stash for the contrasting colour to pick up on the yellow in the print as well as it being Anna's current favourite colour.

I like those gathered cap sleeves even though they stick out a bit in this fabric, but I do think there could be more fabric at the centre front there to make those gathers look a bit more obvious.

And now for a walk down memory lane! The previous birthday dresses:

Nine birthday dresses

Another January means another birthday dress I've sewn for my daughter. Since she turned 9 this year I decided to let her choose the fabric and the pattern - this way I know she'll like it and wear it. Although I was a bit sad because it didn't feel like I was giving her a surprise gift but rather just another dress of the many I've made for her, but at 9 she has strong opinions (which is a good thing!) and knows her own mind so I decided to play it safe.

She chose Simplicity 1702, which is a Project Runway pattern that comes with a few different variations. It looks like it's now out of print, but you can find it from various ebay and etsy sellers.

Anna chose the view with the asymmetrical neckline, but wanted the bow to be detachable in case she decided she didn't like it. So I've sewn the bow to a brooch pin so it can be easily removed, although the two times she has worn this so far she's kept it on.

Simplicity's kids patterns, actually nearly all the Big 4 patterns, have a ton of ease. I find Burda and Ottobre to be far better fitting, but because I knew to ignore the pattern sizes and instead check the finished measurements on the pattern I made a size 6 with a size 8 length and it turned out perfectly.

The fabric is a cotton broderie anglaise that I bought in Melbourne on our Easter holiday last year from Darn Cheap Fabrics, and is fully lined with some white cotton lawn.

The neckline at the back matches the front - it's a little bit different without being age inappropriate or completely off the shoulder.

And I even managed to convince her little brother to sit still for one short moment so I could snap this photo. He's only giving a half smile though, he's too cool for mum's photos these days!

My how time flies when you have small children in your life growing up before your eyes. I cannot believe that the years have just flown by!

Burda of the month: 4/2016 #135 Girls Shirt Dress

I just snuck this Burda project in while it was still April, so I've managed to keep my 100% success rate going for another month at least. Funnily enough I thought I would get my April project finished in March since my magazine arrived a few days before April and I had originally planned to make a simple top for myself. But Anna asked for a new dress, so I set aside my own plans to make this dress instead and for a number of reasons I procrastinated on finishing it until I was forced to by the end of the month deadline.

I made 4/2016 #135, a button front shirt dress for her:

Unusually it's not modelled in the magazine, but instead just the garment is pictured.  I think it's a cute dress, and looks nice in the navy blue fabric they've used:

I let Anna pick out some fabric from my stash, and she chose a poly/cotton pink and grey plaid fabric that has been in the stash a long time and was either an op-shop purchase or a gift. It is a lovely soft and drapey fabric, but boy was it difficult to sew with. Not only was it shifty when I was handling it, but pulls in the fabric kept occurring when I was sewing the vertical seams, even though I tried several different needle types. A bit of tugging to pull it back into shape and pressing seem to fix it though.

Pattern wise it's a pretty simple design - just a button down shirt with a three quarter circle skirt. The skirt is self drafted which required a bit of mathematics, but is nice and full. I was pretty close in matching the side plaids - I like the diamond pattern it makes:

The collar piece is simply sewn onto the neckline without a collar stand, and then the neckline is worn open to create that notched collar effect. It has a fold back facing that extends to the shoulder seam and then a bias strip is sewn along the back neckline. Again, an easy way to do it and it looks pretty good:

The pattern is designed to have elastic sewn to the seam allowance of the waistband which is a method I hate - it's really uncomfortable to wear and doesn't look that good either. Instead, I sewed the seam allowance down to the skirt to create a casing and slid some narrow elastic through - this created a nice amount of gathers at the back:

The elastic is supposed to stretch all the way around the waist to the centre front, but I found that pulled open the placket because there isn't a button at the waistline. Instead I only used the elastic on the back, which gives it a bit of shape although the front is a bit shapeless but a 7 year old does not need a form fitting dress so it's absolutely fine!

Anna's verdict - she likes it and plans to wear it (phew!). I like the pattern and will make it again when I find the right fabric, but next time I will increase the length of the skirt and reduce the length of the sleeves slightly. I will probably add a lining to the skirt as well, because the full skirt will probably cling to tights. The sleeves do have an opening placket which is a bit fiddly, but apart from that it's a fairly easy make and I do recommend it if you are looking for a smart winter dress for girls.

4th Birthday Shirt - Burda 9/2015 #139

Thanks everyone for all your lovely comments on the last post - that project clearly struck a chord with many of you because it's been a while since I've received so many comments!

To prove that it's not all sewing dresses for me around these parts, I thought I should post this year's birthday shirt and dress made for my kids on their respective birthdays. I cannot believe that this year Toby turned 4 and Anna turned 7 - I'm some of you long time readers will remember a time before I even had any kids. Clearly I've been blogging for way too long.....

This year I let Toby pick the fabric for his shirt while we were shopping at the Remnant Warehouse a few weeks back and he picked out a pirate print cotton - such a typical boy!

I used Burda 09/2015 #139:

This shirt is a miniature man's shirt, complete with opening sleeve placket and pleated sleeves, which made it a little fiddly to make but it is a cute style. I left off the welt pocket at the front because I didn't think it would be that noticeable in this busy print. Instead of buttons I used plastic snaps so that he could get the shirt on and off himself.

Size wise I found the pattern to run a little large, but in kids that grow quickly I guess that's a good thing but it was still a little bit of a surprise since I've found that Burda's kids patterns are usually spot on. Toby's measurements matched those for size 104 perfectly and it fits him well around the body but the sleeves and the shirt seem a bit long.

But it certainly doesn't stop him hamming it up for the camera:

For Anna's birthday dress (made back in January), I used Burda 08/2014 #147:

This is a super simple pattern - essentially just a rectangle, that I simplified even further by leaving off those ruffle sleeves and the ribbon tie waist - apparently 7 years old is too old for those features! And she wanted this dress shorter, which given that the main reason that I sew her dresses is because she's too tall for RTW dresses there was no chance of that. She is definitely growing up too fast for my liking.

I used a rayon fabric bought from Spotlight quite a while ago, and sewed on some mini pom pom trim around the neckline to jazz it up a little. I also replaced the ribbon at the waistline with some elastic instead. That gap-toothed smile seems to indicate that she's pretty happy with it!

End of year sewing

Hi everyone, hope you've all had a relaxing holiday period. I'm happily still on holidays from work, and for the first time in many many years we have stayed home  this year instead of leaving at the crack of dawn on Boxing Day for 2 weeks in Queensland visiting the in-laws. It's quite nice actually to have time at home with no particular plans each day. I have been sewing too - finishing up two Burda of the month projects and taking stock of UFOs that I'm planning to finish next year.

But first to blog about the few Christmas presents I made for the kids this year. I didn't want to put any pressure on myself this year so I chose to only make a few things which turned out to be surprisingly easy and quick to make. I had these made and wrapped a few days before Christmas eve - no last minute finishing and midnight wrapping for me this year!

Since Anna has had a huge growth spurt this year, a new skirt of decent length was desperately needed. I made her a skirt from an old Burda magazine - 1/2008 #135, in a bright blue ikat print cotton from the stash purchased a few too many years ago to remember exactly where from:

 I changed it slightly by using two ribbons around the waist instead of one wide one, mainly because I didn't have any wide ribbon in the stash but also because I thought it looked kind of cute. The ribbon is supposed to go under the pleats through button holes (i.e. between the skirt and the waistband facing), but somehow I did the spacing wrong and the two centre ones are hidden under the bow. Still works though, so I'm leaving it this way:

Her dad is very pleased to see her wearing a skirt of appropriate length and Anna seems to like it as well, so a win all around.

I also made two singlet style dresses for Anna, self drafted by tracing around one of her RTW singlets that fit quite well. One is made maxi length and one is knee length, and since both are made in knit fabrics sewn on the overlocker except for topstitching the hems it took a little over an hour to make both. The purple gingham knit is from The Fabric Store and I used a plain white cotton knit for contrasting bands, and the stripe knit is part of my recent purchase from Janie's Fabrics.

I didn't forget Toby either, although this shirt is a few months late. You see I bought this very cute robot print cotton poplin from Spotlight back in March to make Toby a birthday shirt but then never got around to it (second child syndrome....). I have no excuses for not making this earlier, it seriously took me two hours but better late than never!

I used snaps down the centre front instead of buttons, mainly because I didn't have any orange buttons but also to help Toby dress himself since he's decided to do everything himself these days.

I made it from Simplicity 2907, which is a pattern I've used before and so have loads of other bloggers - it's a simple but cute pattern which includes a shirt, vest and cargo shorts for boys and a shirt dress for girls.  I made a size 3, expecting the usual excessive ease from Simplicity but this actually turned out to be a snug fit. Lucky it's his birthday in a few months and I'll have a reason to make another one!

Happy new year everyone - thanks for reading along with my sewing adventures this year. Here's to another happy, productive and creative sewing year next year!

Burda of the Month: 4/2015 #137 - a miniature French style jacket

I struggled a bit with picking out a pattern to make from the April issue of the Burda Style magazine - there isn't much in there that jumped out as needing to be in my wardrobe. I contemplated making a wrap shirt dress (4/2015 #122), but when Burda themselves describe a pattern as having a "plunging neckline" you just know it's going to need a lot of work to make it decent! So I've taken the easy option this month and made a simple jacket for Anna instead:

This pattern is 4/2015 #137, which is described as a short spring jacket:

I quite like the version Burda made up for the magazine using a jacquard and bead trim, but since we are about to enter winter and are having some wild and windy weather I used a length of wool coating that I picked up in a op shop for $4 some years ago. The fabric has a wonderful feel to it, not at all scratchy but soft with enough body for a jacket, however it's all a bit too much pink for me to wear. A jacket for a young lady though is a perfect use for it.

This pattern is really simple, as it has no closures, those pockets are fake and it's designed to have the edges bound in bias binding so there are no facings or linings.  Because I used a wool fabric I chose to line it, using a pink lining also from an op shop purchase and a long time stash resident. I cut out the lining from the pattern pieces and lined the jacket to the edge.

I changed the pattern slightly by adding length to the body of the jacket and the sleeves - it's a bit too cold for three quarter sleeves at the moment. I also added patch pockets to the front because everyone needs functional pockets, especially a six year old!

The trim is not only the most expensive part of the jacket (the only component bought new and not from the stash) but was the most time consuming part because I hand sewed it to the neck edges and pockets. I found it really hard to pick out a trim, mainly because I'm terrible at picking out complementary trims but also because they all seemed a bit too grown up for a child's jacket. In the end the trim I used is mostly pink but it has some rainbow sparkle to it which Anna loves so that was a good choice.

I used sized 120 for the body (technically Anna is closer to a size 128), but I think the body is overall a little large and particularly at the back there is quite a bit of volume although it seems pretty good around the shoulders. I'm not sure what happened at the hem line because it definitely seems to curve up from the front - probably sloppy drafting on my part when I was making the pattern!

The fabric had stretched out of shape a bit and those white lines were slightly off grain, but I tried to steam it back into shape the best I could and match them up as much as possible. I cut the pieces out on a single layer to get those plaids to match up, which I think I did a pretty good job:

And overall the recipient is happy which is what counts and hopefully means that she will indeed wear it. Everyone who has sewn for a child knows that it is never guaranteed that something you make for them will actually be worn!

Final thoughts - a simple pattern that is quick and easy to make with infinite variations with fabric and trim choices. A lovely French style jacket for the budding fashionista!