A dress for me!!

Inspiration can always be found while hanging out with A. from Our Ilan & Quinn, who was incredibly sweet and gave me 2 half yards of her new fabrics (from her Etsy store).

I headed home with a plan to use one of them in some way with some fabric I already had. I am not a pattern person, I run from them in fact. Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of crafts has a 'shift dress (pillow case dress) which is seriously a rectangle for the front and back, I thought this was do-able. As I am pregnant I thought I could cut the front rectangle in half and sew a triangle of the wood grain fabric A. had given me in the centre. I put a little elastic under the bust and it was done!! I love it. It is simple i know.
As usual I printed something on it, I put little ants around the hem line. The following evening made a fabric belt kind of like the one on Two Peas in a Pod. I plan to wear the belt tied at the back for this dress, but for other uses the tie can be at the front.

So here is the dress and belt.

a small gift

I needed a hand made gift for a friend's little man who just turned 1. I had been racking my brain till I found these bibs on a blog Delia Creates. They aren't super flashy but I could see them being well used so I made 2. Of course I had to print something on there somewhere, so the word 'messy' seemed to work. These fold and tie up really cutely for when you wrap them.

more of the same

I have absolutely no ideas for new projects. It shows how out of it I am. However, like I said I just want to enjoy sewing, so I made another diaper clutch using I print I did a while ago. The fabric is kinda plain so at least the print adds.. something. Last night I wanted to make something for myself.. as I don't need a diaper clutch just yet ;) so I made a larger fabric bucket, I am really happy with how it turned.

Not sure what's on the agender for tonight, but tomorrow I have my little man in day care and will be heading over to a friends for crafting and a catch up. I can't wait, my friend is always really inspired and as I said above I have no idea what to work on. I do have 50 small cotton bags that I could print on... Only thing I have to do then is cut a few stencils...eeek

Other than the sewing I was inspired to make bread this morning as we were out. mmm. I changed a recipe I found on the net to suit, it was a really simple loaf that I added some thyme to an sprinkled with sunflower seeds, so yum.

yes, i am still hear

Wow, it has been to long since I have had anything to update my blog with, how sad.

I have been busy and stressed about a few things going on in life over the last few months. Now that summer is here, I find myself with a lot of free time especially with my husband gone for the summer. The first thing I had to do was find my sewing table, then sew.. sew anything, whatever just to get the feeling back. It is a passion and definitely something that makes me happy.

I have made 3 projects in 3 days.. which made me think that i should keep this going for the whole week. Not a huge challenge I know, but let me ease into this. :)

Friday night I tucked my little man into bed, sat down with a treat to watch one soap then headed for my room.. PJ pants was the project that came to mind. I loosely traced my PJ pants (a feat that wasn't as easy as I thought as the back panel is wider than the front). Once finished I used a wide bias on the inside of the pants so that I didn't have to fold fabric over to make casing for the elastic.. they looked ok. I put them on, and what do you know they are about a mile to short at the back.. he he I had to laugh. this sort of thing happens all the time as i avoid using at pattern at all costs. Anyway just sewing was nice.

Saturday I set out to sew a tote, a style I have seen on the net quite a lot. I like long straps so I extended it and added a pocket to the outside for a bit of interest. When it was complete I was happy with it but it doesn't sit well when you try to wear it on your shoulder. So I undid the seam and used some belt rings so I can put it around the stroller handle. It's a great size for this.

Enough sewing for myself, sunday night I thought that I should really get to work on a baby gift for my new nephew. What to make?? Diaper clutch was what I came up with. I have made one of these before but it just didn't look as amazing as what I had envisioned. Using only fabric I had I am really happy, and I don't want to give this one away (as is the way with most of the things I make).

yoga pants

After making my first pair of pants out of a tee I had to make another. This time I wanted to try a simple style I saw when I was home in Australia, Bonds Roomies, ( I love anything Bonds!).

This tee was a long sleeved tee that I bought for $3 at Zellars. (I have already made a pair of pants out of the sleeves). Note: the cut of this shirt is a little off so keep that in mind when you look at the photos.

First I measured the length of the pants I made in the last post and added about 2 inches, total 17".

Second I drew the shape (from memory) of the pants. There are only going to be 2 pieces to these pants so there needs to be a big space between the legs to create the crotch. The hem of the tee with become the hem of the pants which will save you some time.

Third: The bottom of the tee's side seams can be used as the leg seams so you will just sew the top half of the legs (this saves sewing and pinning). Cut out the pattern leaving 1/2" for seam allowance, working with jersey like this can move a little once you start pinning and sewing so it's better to be safe than sorry. :)

Fourth: cut out an oval. I know that the Bonds version of these pants doesn't have a gusset, but I wanted to try one.

Fifth: pin the gusset, and sew all the seams.

Sixth: line your pants up with a pair that you already like the fit of to determine where to fold over to create the waist, then pin it.

There you have it a pair of Roomies, if your little fellas bottom doesn't have a diaper on it then these will be baggy in front. They are definitely comfy pants. I will add a pic of my little man wearing them soon.

man oh man do i love these pants

The weather here is lovely, my little man and I are spending more and more time down town, browsing and playing at the park mostly. Today we were out by 9am to grab a few things at the store, followed by a visit to the cafe.
Next we, well I decided to hit the Thrift Store, seriously, it is my fave store in town. I have been finding some real treasures lately, today I bought 2 tees for myself (woohoo) and then this Nikita tee. With the plan to make the perfect pair of comfy pants.

This was such an easy project you should really try it. I laid out the tee and cut to pattern pieces (one to become each leg) this means I don't need a seam up the side. I was also able to use the hem of the tee as the hem of the pants, which saves time and looks really neat. Sewing the crouch first then the inside legs, followed by sewing the waist band and threading some wide elastic. Last I sewed in one of my little tags and the original label off the tee on the back and there you have it my fave pants.

my first accessory

In December my lovely friend Kat organised another stocking exchange, there were 8 of us & it was a blast as usual. My Friend A. over at our ilan & quinn gave me a fabric cuff, it's now one of my regular accessories. Anyway today while enjoying coffee I saw a few cuffs that she is putting together & I knew that I just had to try one.

I love these cuffs, they seem to tell a story. The story of my cuff: the brown with tiny flowers is from the first dress I bought since high school prom/graduation (I seriously wore it for four years, since then I've turned it into and skirt and enjoy using the scraps in other project.), the blue floral is from A., the linen is scrapes from the printing course I did in January, the elephant is from an Australian company Umbrella Prints (a little piece of home), the back fabric (not shown) is from mum. Wow that was a mouth full :)

The button is off center as I didn't want to cover the elephant... and it works as the cuff is angular anyway.

(Mama Chic Wrist Cuff)