easter roundup

Wednesday 27 April 2011
Hi everyone, hope you all had a lovely easter and didn't consume too many easter eggs.  We had a great time camping, in fact Anna is still talking about "camping in the bush" so I guess that is a good sign.  It didn't rain at all where we were, but it was a bit chilly so there was a bit of warming our hands by the fire




eating some easter eggs (well an Easter Bilby in this case)



a bit of fishing with dad (without catching anything though)



photographing our friend's dogs and generally running riot with the furry ones (there were three dogs there much to Anna's delight!)


and playing house in the tent!


But the best way to top off a weekend away is a day at home all by myself! Thanks to the wonders of being a government employee, I took today off work using my accrued excess time while my husband went to work and Anna went to daycare. And it was bliss - the only problem I had was choosing what to do on this very rare day to myself.

I spent the morning doing many loads of washing, as well as tracing out some Burda patterns since there were no little hands tugging on the tracing pattern and asking repeatedly "what are you doing mummy?" - it made the task a little bit easier! These are what I traced:

Jacket 116 from Burda 4/2009 to make in a stretch dark denim.
Skirt 113 from Burda 1/2011, probably in a grey glen plaid check wool, just like the magazine photo.

Jacket 126 from Burda 9/2010, possibly in black wool crepe to match the tulip skirt from a few posts ago.

Top 121 from Burda 9/2010, which is a big call for me because I don't really have too many knit fabrics in my stash to sew it from and nor are knit fabrics and I the best of friends, so we shall see.


After a cup of tea and time to uncross my eyes after tracing all those out, I got to work on the denim jacket for a few hours before the whirlwind came home from daycare.  And here is the progress so far:


The bodice is all sewn together and topstitched, all that is needed are the sleeves, hem and buttons.  It's actually a pretty straightforward pattern despite having 15 pattern pieces, and about six million kilometres of topstitching.  However, I seem to have run into a little problem -  have a closer look at that collar:


The collar sits much closer to the centre front on one than the other, despite the fact I matched up all the notches so I have no idea what I've done there.  Now I'm in for a bout of unstitching and head scratching to figure out how to fix this - luckily there are still some easter eggs hanging around to help me on that journey.......

20 comments:

  1. That jacket is going to be awesome. I love dark denim and your topstitching is perfect. Sorry about the collar. You are a better woman than I. I'd probably shrug :)

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  2. I like the jacket already! The campout looked like fun too!

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  3. That jacket is going to be great - I can't believe how much you have done in just one day!! How frustrating re the collar though - good luck with the fix!

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  4. Wow, you got a ton of stuff done in a day! I'm envious. Re: the jacket - could it be that your center front markings are off, and that's why the collar isn't right?

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  5. Your jacket is looking beautiful - and agree with toboldlysew - how did you get so much done in a day????
    I feel for you on the collar, reminds me of the sort of problems I have :-(.

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  6. The jacket looks awesome. I never get so much done in one day, and my toddler tending days are long gone. Don't feel bad about the collar. IT MUST be the pattern's fault. Seriously. You matched the notches. IT must be a drafting error. They show up in patterns all the time. That's why some patterns are fabulous and others are stinkers. This looks fab except one error. You can fix it!

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  7. I like in-progress pictures because then I can see how people solve challenges like the one you just presented. This looks like its going to be a kewl jacket tho' when you finish it.

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  8. Wow, how much can one girl do in a day??
    Erm, I had a similar issue with a Burda pattern recently and realised I'd traced off that particular piece in the wrong size.....

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  9. Kristy, looking at your drawing of the pattern... your not off by much! It shows that the distance of jacket right (us facing the jacket) is shorter than jacket left! Is is a bit like a double breasted... or at least does it come over a bit more onto the right hand side? Because if it does that it will work out when you button it! Good luck! Look at your pattern pic's!
    Great patterns though.... love the skirt!
    Looks like you had tons of fun camping... the picture of Anna and your hubby is sooo cute! That would be one that I would blow up!
    Her hands on her hips.... sooo sweet! It's like she's saying... so where are the fish!!!

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  10. Great pictures! Anna is growing so much!
    Hope you solve the collar mystery - this jacket is going to be great.

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  11. Hmmm...well done anyway on getting so many traced and started on the first one started. Great photos of Anna!

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  12. Love your camping shots. The jacket will be great. I recently traced off that pattern - it caught my eye when the pattern first came out and I never got around to it.

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  13. Oh, some extra notches maybe. Wish I could get that much done in one day. Camping looked like great fun and glad you all had a lovely/dry time.

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  14. I love that fishing picture. So cute!

    The jacket is looking fabulous. I'm tempted to try a denim jacket....

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  15. Anna looks like the perfect little girl there. I miss those days.

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  16. It might be meant this way. Mark your buttons and buttonholes and see what it looks like.
    It's beautiful work! My guess is that it's not a mistake

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  17. What fun camping pics! Your jacket is coming along beautifully. So sorry about the collar. It does seem twisted a bit to one side. Once it gets back into its proper position, you'll be on your way. Love it.

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  18. The denim jacket looks like it's going to be great-- I hope you figure the collar issue out! Looks like a fun camping trip, too. I'm glad Anna enjoyed it.

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  19. I think you must have been the whirlwind on that day - you did so much! I wish I used my time so effectively. The Jacket is going to be gorgeous but I can imagine your frustration about the collar - it looks easily fixable though, just a bit painful to unpick and reposition.

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  20. Oh how I hate un-picking things. I rarely do it, instead I just throw it in the to-fix-someday pile.

    Not sure if this is how you originally stitched the collar, but when I add a collar to a jacket I stitch from center back down one side and then again from center back to the other side. I learned this from an independent pattern company that called for this in the construction. It was a rolled collar so I'm not sure if it works for this style collar.

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