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!

And the winner is......

Thank you to all of you that left a comment on the last post - obviously there was incentive for you to comment but I really enjoyed reading your memories of your favourite garment. And now I have some new to me blogs to read too, so we're all winners.

I just loved how some of you can remember minute details of what you had made even though it might have been 20 or 30 years ago.  The colour and type of fabric, the buttons and the linings - all still vividly recalled.  I guess that's what happens when you pour yourself into the making of your clothes, you value and cherish more so than you might a store bought garment (unless you bought something fancy from Chanel!).

I also found it interesting that many of you nominated a special occcasion dress like a wedding dress or prom/formal dress as your favourite.  Isn't it funny how we spend so much time and effort on a garment that may only be worn once (and rightly so, too), but don't always give the same amount of attention to the everyday garments which are the real heroes of our wardrobe! I think Kirsty hit the nail on the head here when she said the plain zip fronted cardigan would be one of her faves based on frequency of wear.

Also touching was those of you (especially newbie sewists) that nominated your first wearable garment - I too still have those feelings of pride that something I made from scratch actually turned out good, although I can't say the first wearable thing I made is my favourite.  The first clothing item I remember making is a pair of fluorescent yellow shorts 22 years ago in high school home economic class - it was a compulsory subject and I thought I was too cool to sew my own clothes so I didn't put in much effort and nor did I wear them.  How things have changed for me now!

And the final word goes to BConky who said that she had made so many that it was hard to choose just one - very true!

Anyway enough blabbing from me, on to the winner:

which is this comment from Antonia:

I think that it is so lovely that a garment you made was well loved and well worn, it makes the effort you put into so worth it.  If only everyone valued their clothes this much we'd have much less environmental problems in the world today (and much less disposable horrid fashions too).

So Antonia please email me (Kristy_Idle "at" hotmail.com) your address and I'll pop the mag in the mail for you.

I wanted to do a "draw a name out of the hat" process so I could post a cute photo of Anna doing the honours, but since there was too many names for me to do that I went the high tech route instead.  But here's a totally unrelated but still cute photo  of my chunky wombat at 11 weeks with his favourite facial expression - a big smile and twinkling eyes!

My first ever giveaway: the May issue of Burda

I thought I was a very clever clogs organising my new subscription for Burda magazine directly from Burda to start exactly when the previous subscription from another company lapsed.  Until today, that is.  I received another issue from my previous subscription, which I assume is the final issue.  So now I have two copies of the May issue.  But never fear, I'm going to share some Burda love and give it away to one of you lovely readers that put up with my ramblings each week!  For a critical review of the patterns in the May issue, check out Paunnet - she does the best and funniest analysis of the Burda offerings each month.

I haven't done a giveaway before, partly because I'm a hoarder and partly because those blogs that used to have interesting content about the writer and their life but now are all just giveaways and sponsored reviews annoy me and I never want my blog to get like that.  Oh ok, it's mostly because I am a hoarder and usually can't bear to get rid of anything.....

Since I'm still basking in the happiness that are my newly finished red pants, and the surprise that a pair of pants could just be one of my favourite sewn garments, I'd like you to leave a comment telling me what the best thing is you've sewn.  If you've already got the May issue please feel free to leave a comment anyway sharing your fave.

I'll post the issue anywhere, so it's open to all - the more the merrier.  Leave me a comment before midnight Sunday 1 July, and I'll do an old fashioned, random pull a name out of a hat draw on Monday. 

Thank you all for your lovely comments on the red pants from the last post - as I said above they are fast becoming a favourite garment in my wardrobe.  I've worn them a few times, and even bought a pair of leopard print ballet shoes to wear with them! The only problem is that the fabric stretches with wear, so by the end of the day they are about a size too big so I do need to wash after each wear just to shrink them back to normal, which is a bit annoying.

My July issue arrived in today's mail too - those Burda style people are efficient aren't they? So now I must really get on with making the skirts from April and May issue, so I can do the jacket from the June issue so I can make something from the July issue to keep to my self set challenge! SarahP I wish I could say I've finished with the nappy sewing, but I've only replaced the elastic on about half of them, so still have about 10 to go - it's just soooo boring!

March Burda o' the month: #126 3/2012

If you google "trouser fitting problems" you will literally get 61.9 million results.  Thankfully amongst the posts for muffin tops, whale tails and camel toes there are many thoughtful and detailed posts by patient and thorough sewists (both amateur and professional) who have detailed their fitting issues and solutions.  These people have made many, many muslins in their journey to Perfectly Fitting Pants and have shared their knowledge with the rest of us so we too can achieve Perfectly Fitting Pants.

Alas, this post is not one of those.  I ended my pants making journey after two muslins and arrived at Good Enough Fitting Pants which I'm more than happy with because I lack the patience to persevere any more when there are so many pretty dresses out there waiting to be made, and I also have a few more kilos of post baby weight to lose so hopefully these won't fit me in a few months anyway!

To recap, as part of my challenge to sew at least one thing from each new issue of Burda Style I decided to make pants #126 from issue 3/2012.  Don't know why I did this to myself - there were a few patterns from this issue I liked, plus Melissa did warn me in the comments to the last post that these pants are weirdly fitting, but hey I'm two months post partum so what better time to sew some weirdly fitting pants right?!  And funnily enough Melissa it's because I liked the way your pants looked on you that I decided to make myself a pair!

What I liked about this pattern is that the front is lower than the back, which is my preferred way of wearing pants, it has interesting details without bulky pockets, and it has no side seams, which I thought might give me a smoother finish over my saddlebag thighs.

Happily the finished product doesn't look too bad and certainly not any worse than every pair of RTW pants I've ever owned.

Well gosh look at that - I've embraced colour and made some bright red cotton drill pants!

For my first muslin I made it straight off the pattern, making the largest size (42 I think?) based on my hip measurement.  And as flagged by Melissa the fit was strange.  For me the pants fit well from just above my knee down to my ankles, but above that they were way too large, like low rise baggy jodhpurs with a gaping waistline.

For the second muslin I took in a few centimetres at each seam line, slashed and spread the pieces to add some extra height and took out a wedge shaped piece at the centre back to remove the gaping I always get at the waistline. I also deepened the crotch line a bit to cater for my *ahem* ample derriere.  I also decided not to do the diagonal seam lines at the mid thigh because they are just purely decorative and unnecessary.  As I said above, these changes were enough to make the pants fit ok and so I sewed it up in my final fabric, a thick red cotton drill I had bought from the Remnant Warehouse last year sometime.

You can see from the side view, these pants are very form fitting (but not skin tight), and I've managed to get rid of the gaping at the waistline which is always a problem for a pear shape.  What I liked about this pattern is that it has a two piece waistband, with a centre back seam which makes it easier to adjust:

And I can't believe I'm sharing this, but here is the back view, which fits but isn't overly flattering.  Thankfully I don't have eyes in the back of my head so I don't have to see this too often!

So overall I'm pretty happy with these - they aren't too tight around my hips and thighs, but they fit at the waistline.  And a pair of red pants are far more versatile than I ever thought.  I'm in the middle of a closet clean out, so while I had all my clothes out I played a bit of dress ups to see what I already owned that would work.  Quite a bit it turns out!

Classical pairing with a navy striped tee - very nautical:

A preppy pairing with a blue button up shirt and white cable knit jumper:

Over the top colour (I doubt I'd wear this combination):

More subdued colour (unfortunately this top isn't a flattering cut and may become refashioned into something for Anna):

A casual look with a beige and cream stripe knit:

Finally a nursing friendly combo of a striped button up shirt worn over a nursing singlet:

That's quite a few different looks without even resorting to the easy option of wearing red with grey.  And when I was watching The Nanny today (don't laugh, repeats just happen to be on when I'm nursing Toby), Nanny Fine was rocking a pair of red capris with a tight leopard print top so that's always a left field option too!

And now on to my next Burda make, a skirt this time which won't require a muslin.  Whilst I can appreciate the value of making a muslin, it's still annoying to have made three pairs of pants of which only one is wearable.

Besieged by Burda

Even though I haven't mentioned it for a while, I haven't given up on my Burda challenge inspired by Julie's more comprehensive Burda challenge over at ReadyThreadSew.  The challenge I have set myself is to sew at least one garment from each magazine in the month I receive it and before the next one lands in my mailbox.  But the good thing about a self set challenge is that you can reset the parameters without hurting anyone but yourself! I think I might make my challenge to sew something from each issue before the end of the year because this month things have gone haywire.

About two and a half weeks ago I finally received my March issue in the mail after waiting impatiently for ages.  I'm so glad I haven't renewed my subscription with that company because it was getting very annoying waiting so long for them to arrive.  But as soon as I got it I sat down and traced out the pattern for pants 3/2012 #126 and have even cut them out to make a muslin but haven't sewn them yet since I'm up to my eyeballs in nappy sewing at the moment.

Then exactly on the 1st of June, not only did my June issue arrive from my new subscription directly through Burda Style but they also included the May issue as well.  What amazing customer service - I had organised my subscription after the May issue had been released and so fully expected my subscription to start with the June issue, but since they thoughtfully sent it to my now I don't have to search it out. Thanks again to Renata for telling me about subscriptions directly from Burda Style, they are so much more efficient.

And then to cap it off, a few days later I received the April issue which is the final issue from previous subscription.  So now I have four garments to churn out before the end of the month if I want to get my challenge back on track.  Hmmm, we'll have to see about that.

To make things worse I haven't exactly found the April or June issues exactly inspiring either.  I found April particularly lacking but I have decided on the super simple a-line skirt 4/2012 #122 (version B), in a bright coloured cotton drill that I have in the stash:

The May issue had quite a few nice garments in amongst the shapeless tunics and wacky one shouldered big ruffled dresses, but I've decided to make skirt 5/2012 #119 in a brushed cotton again from the stash:

The June issue pretty much has nothing I want to make, but I will attempt to find some suitable fabric in the stash to make jacket 6/2012 #121:

So this is a pretty boring post wasn't it? But I'm hoping that by making my to do list public I'll be more likely to follow through. 

Totally unrelated but just to liven this post up, here's a funny photo of Anna:

She was running up the footpath in our street in her tutu and bright pink Crocs as you do, when she spotted a bizarre cactus plant towering over a fence and she literally skidded to a halt and was transfixed by it!

Changing allegiances: my first knitted finished item!

To use a well worn daytime tv phrase: "here's one I prepared earlier".  I had a nasty bout of mastitis last week, backed up with a weekend to the inlaws house so I didn't get much done and am still trying to catch up in terms of washing and housework, let alone sewing and blogging. 

Actually that blog title isn't true in either aspect - I shan't be changing allegiances from sewing to knitting because I'm a terribly slow knitter and also a terrible knitter (so many dropped stitches!). It's not my first finished knitted item either, I've just repressed the memory of the ugly chocolate brown jumper that took me ages to knit but my tension was so tight that it didn't even fit when I did finally finish it.  My mum repeatedly told me to loosen my tension, much like she repeatedly told me to lower the presser foot when I was learning to sew, hence my blog name.......

Anyway, during the last month of my pregnancy I finally conceded to the aches and pains I was experiencing and gave up trying to spend some frantic last minute sewing each night.  It was just too painful to constantly move between my sewing machine, ironing board and cutting table.  But I just can't sit still and waste time watching tv, I have to keep doing something.  So while I was laying on the lounge like a beached whale I got out the knitting needles and made the baby a simple raglan sleeved cardigan in a neutral flecked grey coloured wool that I had in a big box of wool inherited from my gran.  It only took me a few weeks, and even though I thought I might be able to finish it during the labour if necessary (expecting an epidural during a long labour - ha! how funny am I?) I did actually manage to finish it a few days before Toby was born.  I think I did pretty well too - there aren't any holes in it, I didn't make too many mistakes and I managed the fancy manoeuvres like ssk (slip, slip, knit), using stitch holders - thank the internets for youtube instructional videos.  And I swear knitters use more acronyms than us sewists do - all these co, yo, bo and ss that I had to look up.

I left off sewing on the buttons until I knew what the baby turned out to be, and in a typical lazy fashion I still haven't sewn any on! This is how UFOs get made, except that I've been dressing Toby in it anyway.  Luckily I decided to make the 3-6 month size to compensate for my tension issues, and it fits the wombat perfectly since he is larger than the average 3 months old:

Look at those chubby cheeks! The chunky monkey has been putting on about 400gms each week, and he is off the charts now for his weight and height.  His legs are so chunky that when he had his vaccinations last week he didn't even flinch, let alone cry. 

Despite being terribly sick last week with mastitis (how horrible is that!), we had a good weekend at the inlaws and I'm feeling recharged.  Which is a good thing because I'm currently replacing the elastic on Anna's cloth nappies so that Toby can start using them, and it's such a mind numbing boring task but we're getting proper smiles from the little wombat now so it makes it all worthwhile:

And whilst I was in Spotlight the other day I picked up some more balls of wool on sale and have already half finished a little vest for him - hopefully I'll finish it before he busts incredilbe hulk style out of his clothes!

Jalie brilliance: Jalie #3132

Why has it taken me this long to try out a Jalie pattern and find out how good they are? Probably because they are really expensive to get in Australia: the cheapest I found was through an ebay seller that was selling them for $20 (postage included and really fast shipping) which puts them at the same price as fancy schmancy designer Vogue patterns.

But right now I am in need of some breastfeeding friendly clothes and I've read many favourable views of Jalie #3132 so I decided to try it out myself.  It comes with a normal version and a nursing version, with or without a hood.

And the pattern lives up to the hype - it was quick and easy to sew, and functions just as it should.  It looks ok too - it's just a plain v-neck t-shirt after all, but it's what I need to hang out in the playground.  In fact I liked it so much I made three versions.  First up I made a version in the same cream and black stripe cotton interlock that I made the leggings for Toby.  I wasn't sure how it would work since it wasn't very stretchy but so far it seems just fine - the tshirt hasn't stretched out and I can still access the necessary bits.

Please excuse the crumpled look, I had been carrying around a wombat all morning! I found this version a little too long for me even though I shortened it from the pattern so it's bunched up a bit at the bottom -  I don't really like tunic tops because they finish at my widest part.  I ended up lopping a good 15cm off the pattern for the next versions.  Next up I made one in a very stretchy cotton knit in pink with a white dotty pattern, quite a departure for me as I don't normally wear pink but it was in the stash.  Unfortunately I sewed this with white thread, so the hem of the overlay part on the front is very visible:

Finally I made a version in the blue and white stripe knit that I also made leggings for Toby from (just to increase the chances of us wearing matchy matchy clothes!), jazzed up with a deep red binding at the neckline for a bit of fun.  I think this is my favourite version:

So this pattern is brilliant but still quite simple.  The pattern has a normal version and a nursing version.  The nursing version is essentially two layers - the bottom layer is full length but has cut outs at the side like thus:

there is a midriff panel sewn over the top on the outside layer to cover it all up:

which means all you have to do is lift up one to get access, but your stomach and back aren't exposed at all:

Please excuse that look on my face - I felt a bit silly taking this photo, not that you can actually see anything. 

Whilst I really like the idea of this pattern, v-necks are exactly my favourite style so I think I will try sewing the bottom layer to tops with other necklines such as boat neck (my favourite) or round neck which I think should work just fine.  It could probably even be adapted to a simple dress style too although knit dress aren't really my favourite either since they are clingy in all the wrong spots! But I am very happy at having bought this pattern because breastfeeding tops are unbelievably expensive and so I've already justified the cost of the pattern.

Thanks for all your comments to the last post -I'm amazed that so many of you are so conscious of what colours suit you when you're sewing or shopping.  I've always just picked whatever colour I liked, focusing mostly on whether the fabric type is suitable for what I'm making or whether a garment goes with other items in my wardrobe, but now I will try to make a more selective decision.

In answer to Sophie's question in the comments to the last post, I can't remember whether my mystery emailer suggested green as a colour to wear but I quite like a lot of greens and much like Mary Nanna I tend to wear whatever colours I like too.  That green suit up there in my blog header is one of my favourites, but I suppose it's a warm olive green.

And for Sew Squirrel, the rayon print is quite a large scale print so it will make a very bold dress when I make it up!  I bought it from the Remnant Warehouse in Sydney if you're after some, but I think you're in Melbourne aren't you?