Abby is full of talents including sewing, knitting, baking and even stop motion animation (take a look, it’s really cool). She is also the most organised person I know. I think she could do anything if she put her mind to it. Don’t be fooled by her blog name either – there are plenty of things for women too and she shares so many great tips and tutorials. Here is a photo of one of my favourite things she made recently – a Peter Rabbit Jacket – isn’t it perfect?

Head on over here to see what Abby did with my pattern.

I have some exciting news! I have gathered together some of my favourite bloggers for my very first pattern tour and you don’t have to wait long as it starts on Monday.

Here is the list of talented ladies who will each be featuring their own versions of the Fancy Pants Leggings over the next two weeks

20th – Abby from Things for Boys
21st – Rachael from Imagine Gnats
22nd – Celina from Petit à Petit and Family
23rd – Jane from Buzzmills
24th – Heather from Feather’s Flight

27th – Stacey from Boy, oh Boy, oh Boy
28th – Gail from Probably Actually
29th – Jenny from The Southern Institute
30th – Ros from Sew Delicious
31st – Carla from Small + Friendly

Anyone is welcome to sew along. You can buy the pattern here and it still has 20% off with the code SMS20 until then end of tomorrow. Don’t forget to add pictures of your Fancy Pants Leggings to the Titchy Threads Flickr group. There have been quite a few different ones popping up in there and I’ll do a round up at the end of the tour. If you have a blog then feel free to grab a button (from the top of the post) using the code below.

Today a few bloggers, including myself, are throwing a virtual baby shower for Abby from Things for Boys. She is expecting her second baby very soon and we have made a few things for her and her new little boy. The gifts we made were:

1: Baby Change Mats by Ros from Sew Delicious
2: Flat Teddy by Narelle from Cook Clean Craft
3: Handmade Baby Boy Shoes by Janelle from Emmaline Bags
4: Baby Hats by Jenny from Mend and Make New
5: Upcycled Cashmere Baby Pants by Dara from Coffee and Lilacs
6: Nappy / Baby Bag by Jo from Bubala
7: Little Kid Kimono Set by Laura from Craftstorming

Make sure to visit the other blogs I’ve listed above. Everyone who took part is sharing a tutorial on their blogs today showing you how to make their gift.

So here is a close up of my gift – a cosy knit kimono top and trousers.

You can download the PDF pattern and tutorial for the kimono top and trousers (in size 0-3 months only) for free over here at my pattern website Titchy Threads. I’ve also shared the tutorial for the trousers later on in the post. Allow me to be a bit soppy first though. One of the best, and most unexpected, things to have come out of blogging is meeting other bloggers. Some have become really good friends even though I’ve never met them in person. It’s so good to be able to talk about sewing with someone who is as obsessed about it as I am. Abby was the first friend I made and we have so much in common. We even have the same sewing machine. If you haven’t visited her blog already you definitely should – she’s a crafting whirlwind. We chat almost every day and I really hope that one day we’ll be able to meet.

When I started thinking about what to make for Abby’s new baby I remembered some of the virtual baby showers that I’ve seen on baking blogs. I thought it would be fun to organise one for Abby but with sewing instead of baking, so we could actually send the gifts to her. I stalked Abby’s blog for comments to work out which other bloggers she was good friends with. Nearly everyone I contacted got back to me and was really excited to join in. We didn’t really discuss exactly what each of us would make but some how we all managed to cover a wide range of items. Ros from Sew Delicious lives near Abby, so we all sent our gifts to her and today she is meeting up with Abby to deliver them. If we can’t celebrate her new baby in person then a virtual baby shower must be the next best thing. I’m looking forward to seeing some pictures of her new little boy soon.

So do you want to make your own Little Kid Kimono Set? The free pattern is only available in size 0-3 months, although I might make a paid version with more sizes at some point. The trousers have a baggy, relaxed fit and a shirred waistband to provide comfort for a wide range of waist sizes. There is also a bum panel in the back so you can mix in a contrast print. There are only two pieces to join with just a few seams so they’re very quick to sew. Here is a front and back view…

So are you ready to make some? Let’s begin…

You will need:

• The pattern pieces (go here to download)
• 0.45m (0.5 yards) jersey knit fabric
• Elastic thread
• Co-ordinating thread

The PDF has a lot more detail including tips for sewing with knit fabric and tips for shirring as well as a size chart and finished measurements.

Lay your pattern pieces out as follows…

Cut the main leg piece on the fold and cut one panel piece, as shown in the picture below…

You are now ready to start sewing.
 

	Place the main leg piece with right side facing up. Place the bum panel on top with right side facing down so that right sides are together. Line up the long edges and pin. The panel should be wider at the bottom where it meets the leg curve.
	Stitch or serge the seam as shown with a zigzag stitch and a 1cm (3/8”) seam allowance. Stitch down to the point of the v at the bottom of the bum panel.
	Arrange the pieces so the other long edge of the panel is lined up with the other long edge of the main piece, with right sides facing. Stitch or serge the seam as before. Press both seam allowances towards the panel. OPTIONAL: Top stitch close to the edge of the panel seam
	Arrange the trousers so the leg seams are lined up with right sides facing. Pin the inside leg seam.
	Stitch the seam with a zigzag stitch and a 1cm (3/8”) seam allowance.
	Keep the trousers so they are wrong side out. Turn both ankle hems up 1.2cm (1/2”) and press.
	Arrange the leg on your machine as shown. You are sewing into the leg, so your top stitch will sew on the right side of the leg. Begin at the inner leg seam. Sew with a 1cm (3/8”) seam allowance using a zigzag stitch, stretch stitch or twin needle (recommended). Repeat for the other leg.
	Turn your trousers right sides out. Fold the waistband over 3.5cm (1⅜”) and press.
	Shirr the waistband. Use a straight stitch and the free arm if your machine has one. Start and finish at one of the panel seams. Make sure to sew a couple of times back and forwards at the start and end of each row. Sew the first row with a scant 6mm (1/4”) then use the first row as a guide for the next. Continue until you have sewn five rows of stitches.
	Your Teeny Tiny Trousers are now finished.

For the kimono top tutorial download the free PDF.

I used random.org to select the winners and the numbers it chose were:

This means that the winners are:

Tiffany, who said…

“I was sewing a ruffle to a sheet to make a tablecloth for my daughters birthday. I cannot tell you how many times I had to rip out the seam and re-do it because I had only sewed the ruffle and not the sheet in spots. So there were holes along the ruffle of it. Never again will I try a continous long seam like that”

Emily, who I think made my favourite comment…

“The biggest mistake I made was sewing my son’s pants I was making him for his birthday into a skirt accidentally! It was the first “boy” thing I made. I guess I have been in girl mode and got distracted! OOOPS!!!”

and Susan, who said…

“i make so many mistakes it’s hard to pick just one of the biggest. I guess for today I’ll stick to buttonhole variety. Do you realize it’s impossible to “fix” a buttonehole that while opening the slit I slipped and opened right through the end threads? It required a whole new front piece and lining to replace.”

Tiffany, Emily and Susan – I have sent each of you an email so please let me know if you don’t receive it.

For those of you who weren’t lucky enough to win I am offering a discount for the next week. Go to the Titchy Threads website and use the code SMS20 to get 20% off for the next week. This will end at midnight (BST) on the 19th of May. For those of you who prefer to pay in dollars (or most other currencies) it is possible to select this once you go through to Paypal.

Today is Giveaway Day on Sew Mama Sew, where there will be hundreds of other blogs linking up with giveaways.

It’s a biannual event and I am really happy to be taking part for the first time today. I have three copies of my new ‘Fancy Pants Leggings’ PDF Pattern to giveaway.

You can find more details on the Titchy Threads website here, including reviews and photos from the Titchy Threads Flickr group. I thought I’d share some photos of what some of my amazing testers have used the pattern for. If you click on any of the photos it will take you to the tester’s blog post.

Jane from Buzzmills has been whipping out pair after pair using upcycled T-shirts. It’s such a great way to get some unique prints.

Celina from Petit à Petit and Family has made several pairs. She’s even made them as swimshorts for her son and then adapted the pattern to create a stunning reversible swimsuit for her daughter.

Heather from Feather’s Flights also used a thrifted T-shirt and hand stamped it with walruses. I love these and the other pair she made with a chevron knit.

Last but not least, Abby from Things for Boys made a really cute pair for the new baby she’s expecting soon. As it’s Winter in Australia she added feet to the bottom.

Welcome to those of you visiting from Sew Mama Sew. I hope you’ll have a look around while you’re here – I mostly sew clothes for my two boys as well baking and a few other crafts. You can get a quick overview of any category if you click on the menus at the top.

The giveaway is available to anyone and three winners will each receive a copy of the Fancy Pants Leggings PDF Pattern. The giveaway closes this Friday, the 10th of May at 5pm PST and I will announce the winners by this Sunday.

To enter this giveaway leave a comment at the bottom of the post telling me about the biggest mistake you’ve ever made while sewing. I think mine was sewing a raglan sleeve on upside down – I had already unpicked the seam once for another reason and I was using French seams. I’d love for you to follow my blog and like either of the Craftstorming or Titchy Threads Facebook pages (or both) although it’s not a requirement to enter the giveaway.

You can also find out more details on the Fancy Pants Leggings pattern page on this blog. I’ll be keeping the page updated with links to all the posts and tutorials related to the pattern. I have set up a ‘Titchy Threads’ group on Flickr where you can share anything you’ve made with my patterns. I’d love to see them so do share.

They’re pretty excited about the release too…

Casper and Rowan are both wearing shorts versions of the Fancy Pants Leggings, which is an option included in the pattern. The very first pairs I made of the pattern I made last year were shorts. Fortunately, we’ve finally started getting some warmer weather here in England so they can actually wear shorts again now.

The amazing viking fabric is another one in Amanda from Kitschycoo’s shop. Casper was desparate for me to make him a purple pair and this was the only suitable fabric with any purple in it. It’s a jersey and is so lovely to work with, as was the tiger print I used in a recent pair of Fancy Pants Leggings. It’s soft, thin but not too thin, really stable and hardly curls up at all. Even the background looks purple in the photos but it’s actually grey with purple details in the images. That combined with the elastic and cuffs meant Casper was pretty happy with them though. To increase the purple factor even further I added some decorative top stitching around the panel with an overlock stitch. Casper immediately requested a purple T-shirt to go with them.

The print on Rowan’s pair is called Swim Class and is by Heather Ross. It was released as part of her Mendocino collection years ago but I didn’t discover it until it was sold out. I was so excited when I discovered that her prints are now available on Spoonflower – the Heather Ross prints are here. This also means that it is now available on their wonderful knit interlock fabric. I ordered a yard on their last free delivery day and have been plotting to make these ever since. Finding Nemo is pretty popular with my boys so I couldn’t resist adding some of Dory’s ‘Just Keep Swimming’ song. You can see how I do that in my ‘branded’ elastic tutorial.

I’ve put a lot of work into this pattern and have had a lot of help from other people along the way. Special thanks go to my family and especially my husband who built the website for me. I am also really grateful to all the testers who helped to make the pattern the best is can be. I hope you all like it.

Head on over here to find out more about the unusual ingredient in this recipe – I bet you can’t guess what it is. Be sure to take a look around Abby’s fantastic blog while you’re there.

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I’ve been sewing a lot of versions of these in the last few weeks. It was so fantastic to see some made by other people too. In the photos above Rowan’s pair have a ribbing waistband and are hemmed. Here is a slightly odd back view that shows the perfect point at the bottom of the panel.

Casper’s pair have an exposed elastic waistband. I got the amazing tiger fabric from Kitchycoo’s shop and ordered the zebra print elastic from ruffle fabric, along with a few other colours. The zebra print jersey I used for the panel and cuffs can be found here.

Casper and Rowan were so co-operative with their individual shots but got a bit silly when I was trying to photograph them together. Here are some of the shots I decided not to use, maybe you can see why…

I’ll let you know as soon as the pattern is available.

Also, it’s Kid’s Clothing Week next week and I really hope I’ll be able to join in. I have a very long list of things I need or want to make, starting with several pairs of trousers for Casper who desperately needs some that reach his ankles. If you’re at all interested in sewing children’s clothes then head on over here to sign up. It’s so motivating to know that there are hundreds of other people sewing along with you.

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Flapjack is a relatively simple thing to bake but, until recently, I’d always had trouble producing any that didn’t crumble and fall apart. These ones hold up beautiful though and make the perfect snack for my boys when we’re going out. It turns out that the trick is to press the flapjack mix down into the pan before baking. It seems a bit obvious now but never occurred to me before.

In addition to being quick and simple to make flapjack is also very versatile. Just start with the base of butter, sugar, syrup and oats and then add whatever takes your fancy. The idea for this batch evolved while I was in the middle of making it. Initially I was planning to add chocolate when, as I’m prone to do, I decided to throw in some chopped marzipan as well. After that my mind drifted to thoughts of Simnel cake and the chocolate was forgotten, for now at least. Another favourite combination of mine is cherry and coconut.

The oats and the addition of the dried fruit offsets some of the unhealthiness of the high sugar content, although the same cannot be said for the marzipan. One big advantage I found with this recipe is that it gives the weight of the golden syrup instead of stating a number of tablespoons that reach into double digits. It’s impossible to remove all the syrup from the spoon anyway and by about six spoonfuls I’ve already lost count. This is so much more straightforward.

Simnel Flapjack (adapted from Lorraine Pascale’s flapjacks)

Ingredients

175g unsalted butter
175g light brown muscovado sugar
175g golden syrup
350g rolled oats
60g chopped marzipan
60g raisins
60g chopped dried apricots
60g mixed peel
1½ tsp mixed spice
Zest of one lemon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F) and line a 20cm (8″) square tin with baking paper.

2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and melt slowly. Once melted, use a pastry brush to coat the top of the baking paper with a little of the butter.

3. Add the sugar and syrup and heat on a low temperature until the sugar has dissolved.

4. Take off the heat and stir in the oats.

5. Allow the mix to cool a little before adding all of the other ingredients.

6. Pour into the tin and squash down – I used an offset palette knife but the back of a spoon would work too.

7. Bake for 30 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing. Leave to cool fully before serving (if you can wait that long!).

Enjoy!

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We attended a family wedding the weekend before last. As I had made Rowan a blazer and trousers in plenty of time I was really keen to make a full outfit for Casper too. I had to scrap making the trousers in the end but I did just finish the blazer in time – at midnight the night before we had to leave. I was certainly very relieved to get it finished and to find that it fit too. There wasn’t really a back up plan. Most of these pictures were taken at home yesterday. Unfortunately it was far too cold on the day of the wedding (or yesterday) to stand around taking photos – the shot below was taken hastily before we headed for warmth. I can’t wait for the cold spell we’re having in the UK to end.

The pattern is burda 9671 ‘Boys Sport Jacket and Trousers, which I bought here. I used a different blazer pattern to last time for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I wanted side panels as I’d like to experiment with adding side vents in the future. Secondly, this pattern has different pieces for the lining so it has an extra bit of give in it. There’s a pleat in the centre back and a rolled hem. All the extra pieces did make it more time consuming though. The welt pockets were my own addition and I followed the same tutorial as last time (found here and here). I postitioned them just at the bottom of the darts.

I chose a fairly neutral colour so it will go with everything and hopefully get lots of wear. The fabric is Essex yarn dyed linen in black. It is so soft and has the most beautiful texture. I originally bought 1m from The Eternal Maker to sew a bag for me and got the rest that I needed from M is for Make. I’ve since bought even more and still plan to make the bag. Both of these places have great service and Kate from M is for Make was especially helpful as, after a problem with another order, I needed the fabric in a bit of a hurry. Once I’d started cutting the pieces out Casper told me that he liked all colours except for grey. Not really what I wanted to hear but it was too late to use anything else. Fortunately the Alphabetty in red lining and the rainbow dots I used for the pocket lining provide enough interest for him to like wearing it. The alphabet print (bought here) is from the Summersville collection by Lucie Summers for Moda, although a lot of it is out of print now. The rainbow dots fabric is by Fabric Freedom and is also out of print. It was one of the first fabrics I ever bought.

The instructions didn’t really include detailed enough explanations, especially at certain points like the rolled hem. I did mostly follow the steps and made something up for the hem. I’ve since found out how to do it properly. I did vary one step to avoid hand stitching the hem – after joining the front facing to the lining I sewed the hem with right sides together. After that I turned the jacket (very slowly) through one of the sleeves, something I would definitely not repeat or advise. You can still avoid the hand stitching but turn it through a hole in one of the sleeve seams instead. Once I had finally pulled it through I sewed the sleeve hems by hand. I thought this was worth doing as it will make it easier to adjust the hem if I ever need to. Also, my stitches are not visible as the lining sleeve is shorter. Next time I make a blazer I’ll keep the difference in the finished lengths but make the lining sleeves longer so there is more flexibility to lower the hem if needed.

Despite the stress this blazer caused me I do love it. The final fit is great – I made it in a size 5 although normally I would adjust a pattern to use size 5 length with size 4 (or less) width. I could not be bothered this time though as there were so many pieces. It’s lucky I didn’t as he might have struggled to do the blazer up. I really like some of the details like the darts, the rolled seam on the collar and the shorter length of the lining sleeves. I definitely want to make another one but maybe not for a while.

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