Swim Baby Swim

Exciting news.
We are putting in a pool.
So everyone needs new swimmers.
Lidia's had disintegrated so she went first.
Liddy is tricky to buy swimmers for. She is so thin naturally and after having nasty bout of tonsillitis that actually required an antibiotic, she is even more so at present.
(Although she proudly announced this morning she has gained two kilo in a fortnight)
She has broad shoulders though and is long in the body.

Liddy always loved Zara's and requested a pair.

I drafted a muslin off on pattern interfacing and tissue fit it first.
I had to alter it a lot.
The 12 was a good fit around her chest but impossibly baggy through the waist and bottom.
I ended up taking several inches out. I pinched an inch from the middle and reshaped the sides by over an inch on each edge.

They ended up with a cute boy-leg look.

As part of the construction you sew two casings down the side seams and thread ties through them.
They make a bow at the leg.
It's a very cute detail.

I purchased the fabric off of eBay. It was marked as 'Speedo' and it is certainly fine quality.
We shall see how it lasts.

She loves them.
I didn't get the fit quite right, they are still a little loose but she is eating like a trooper so hopefully she will fill out a bit more.

When you see those shoulders you understand her swimming ability. She is a little fish!

We both love the vintage swim suit vibe the pattern and fabric create.

It is definitely not a competition suit, Liddy prefers a race back for that, but as a fun, pool party look, it is perfect.
I still have a big enough piece left to make her a rash vest and I will try my hand at a KwikSew racer back pattern.

xx N (& Liddy)

A Christmas Ice Cream

Last minute Christmas sewing.

In the shape of an Ice Cream dress for Miss Tilly.
Sewn up in a lurex/muslin cloth I picked up in Horsham Spotlight on our Victorian Holiday 2012.
It washed and pressed like a dream but after being cut it curled and frayed it you thought about looking at it.

Size 2T with the length of a size 5 for my tiny girl.
In retrospect, a bit long. I do find if I size back and add length too much the clothes can lose the nice line.
That almost happened here.

I desperately wanted the 'V'and I have a pretty fail safe method for achieving a perfect notch.
However, after the first pocket disintegrated trying to sew the 'V' I left it off.
It just fits over Tildy's head without it, just!

After tacking the back edges together I used a wee piece of interfacing to hold the fabric together before stitching the yoke to the dress.
I just snipped through it later.

I didn't underline the yoke initially.
Big mistake.
After I had sewn the front in place I could see the yoke was too flimsy to support the dress.
So I cut and jigsawed super soft interfacing in through the opening and then pressed it in to place.
It was a major PITA.

Matilda chose a dainty MoP button which I sewed with gold silk thread.

But when is Mother-of-pearl a bad choice?

The dress seems so very very long, but it works.

The Ice Cream dress is relatively full anyway so there is plenty of ease through the body.

As usual, I lined the dress.

It gives wonderful body and shape and this fabric definitely needed it.

A simple thread chain holds everything in place.

Pockets #2 after my machine ate attempt #1 when I tried to sew the notches.

My poor, sleep deprived brain cut the pocket and edge the wrong way, it should have been a gold main pocket, but I didn't notice until I had sewed it in place.

There was no way this dress would cope with unpicking.

They stayed that way.

Finally, a elegant 'E' for an elegant dress.

And did she like it?

Yes.

Oh yes.

'Mummy, it's sparkly'.

Either is is a bit long or my pocket placement is too low.

'That's okay Mummy'

'I can still dance in it'

Merry Christmas sweet friends.

xx N

Merry Christmas Eoin

I love sewing for little girls.

But sewing for baby boys is nice too.

A teeny Sketchbook shirt for my favourite cousins sweet baby boy.
Sewn up in Liberty Capel who can resist it?

I love this pattern, it is such a quick sew for a baby boy shirt but the neck and collar can cause a few problems.
If you get the seam allowance even a tiny bit out on each seam, the collar won't fit!
May I be so bold as to recommend my tutorial for sewing the shirt.

A wee collar stand is so bonnie on a little man.

I hope it fits!

xx N

Too Small for Schooldays

But she has worn it!

We had a Christmas party last night and it was chilly!
(Chilly for us, 15 celsius, 59 fahrenheit)

A little time back the Oliver+S Blog hosted a sew along for the School Days coat.
I have not joined a sew along for an age and as my baby coat is 17 years old I figured a new one was in order.

I used so oh-so-soft woollen coating that I picked up for under $10/m at a fabric store in Melbourne.
The lining was another bargain. Some silky Lecien cotton sateen I picked up in a bulk buy on eBay.

As always, the coat is another  excellent O+S pattern with all the pieces fitting together nicely.

However, I cannot recommend Deb's finishing techniques strongly enough.
Her ingenious hemming method saved me hours of hand sewing and gave a flawless finish.

Here is Trixie wearing the size 6-12 months at three months of age.
Plenty of room to grow.

Faux timber buttons sewed with red thread funky up the sweetness overload.

That's enough photos Mummy.

Thank you Deb, Carol and Amanda for running a great sew along.

xx N

Too Busy to Blog.

I won't apologise as I know most of you are in the same boat.
Life is busy but I am still having a ball!.

Isn't she gorgeous?
I am sewing, slowly but surely.
I made myself a Liesl+Co Weekend Getaway blouse.

I used hanky linen (ramie) which sews (and irons) like a dream.

I went with a size 12, like last time but I must make the effort to FBA this baby and make the size 8.
It fits just fine but is a bit pouffy.

I used a very special MoP butterfly button for the pockets.
Sent to me by my special friend Claire.

And I trimmed the neck with my special speckily voile.
Now for Miss Trixie......

A divine little Bubble dress made with the scraps from my Long Lunch tunic

We have a wedding this weekend and is predicted to be over 40 degrees.
Hopefully linen lined with voile will be cool enough.

I used delicate MoP flower buttons and hand stitched the bodice in place instead of my usual top stitching.
Finally, a quick black tee for Matilda.

The Oliver+S Field Trip t-shirt with the cutest little pocket.
Believe it or not this is all Tildy needed for Presentation Night.

As per her measurements, we made the size 2T with the length of a 4.

The fabric is a thick super stretchy cotton lycra.
The sleeve cuffs look a bit dodgy but I had to use a different finishing technique as my cover stitch machine is a bit unwell.
They have already settled down.

So, a bit of a catch up post.

See you later alligator!

xx N

From Black Tie to Beach Wear

They skipped to the head of the queue, again!
Last time it was formal wear, this time, clothes for the Aquatics Camp.
First up, some tee's for Elsa

A Gimlet top by SBCC patterns.
She chose a grey marl knit with a self fabric neck band and we cropped it a fair amount.

Elsa found the dream catcher image and stylised it to make a freezer paper stencil.
 This one is her favourite piece.

Another SBCC Gimlet, this time in a thick stretchy cotton/lycra.

We left the length and added a gorgeous transfer from Van Ikke.

And yet another Gimlet, this time in white, with another freezer paper stencil.
The shorts are from Purl Soho, they are the free City Gym shorts pattern that is taking the sewing world by storm.

These are super quick to sew.

They also look great!

Zara chose a Kwiksew pattern for an oversize tee in stretchy cotton lycra with  more fabulous Van Ikke transfers.
One white.

One black.

A pair of grey track pants, the same as Hugo's.

Another pair of City Gym shorts, these in taslon for drip dry swim shorts.

I also made her a dark denim pair which I literally snipped the threads on before she headed out the door, thus, no piccies.

Elsa modelled for her.

Zara was a bit busy.

These bottoms work well on the girls too.

The Twins turn on the rota, tick!

I hope they have a blast.

xx N