Jen's Sewing Blog

iPhone Cross-Stitch

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:16:00 +0000

Valentines day has been and gone and luckily for me we are not avid celebrators of the day. My dear husbands present is still sitting uncompleted in my sewing basket. If you have read my blog more than once, you will definitely be starting to notice a theme.

Finally this morning I could take it no longer. I worked really hard doing the first half of it, and I wanted to show him something before we got too far into March. I am making him a plush iPhone for V day.

If you think that is a little strange let me explain.... Ummm on second thoughts if your not Apple fanatic, no amount of explaining is going to make sense! :o)

So far I have cross-stitched the front section. It is to scale. The rest of it will be sewn from shiny black and grey satin. Hopefully soon.

It is a terrible photo (taken with photo booth of course). I must learn to master the macro mode of my camera. Small details for the love of my life include; The service provide is "love", the date is set to 14 and there is a heart shaped App.

Best of all, he really likes it! :o)

100 Aussie Things

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:58:00 +0000

My sewing has been sporadic again. Many things started and nothing finished. To pass time I have a list of 100 Aussie Things to do. Thanks go to my wonderful Sister for the idea.

The ones in purple are the ones that I have done :o)

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.(recorder band counts right? No? Well I was in an orchestra for years...)
4. Visited The Great Barrier Reef.
5. Stood under the stars in the outback, the real outback – think Uluru.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to the Gold Coast’s theme parks – anyone, you take your pick.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sung a solo.
11. Bungee jumped, jumped out of plane, been paragliding or hang-gliding, hot air ballooning – you get the idea, you’ve been hundreds of metres about earth in a seemingly flimsy contraption.
12. Visited Melbourne. (Airports count!)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Had a child. Raised a child. Worked with children.
16. Had food poisoning.(Why just last night...)
17. Been to the Snowy Mountains.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Visited the Brett Whitely studio in Surry Hills, Sydney.
20. Slept on an overnight train or bus.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Been backpacking.
23. Taken a mental health day.
24. Been buried in sand with just your head and toes sticking out.
25. Held a possum, kangaroo or koala – or any other native Australian animal. (tick, tick, tick)
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Been in a fun run.
28. Been on the Blue Mountain cableway.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Played, or watched, summer cricket.
32. Sailed, kayaked or canoed our beautiful waterways.
33. Seen the Daintree.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Visited an Aboriginal settlement or mission.
36. Learned a new language.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Toured the Sydney Opera House.
39. Tried rock climbing (indoor or outdoor), abseiling or just simple bush walking.
40. Visit Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art.
41. Been to the Tamworth Country Music Festival. (I have been to Tamworth many times, but I have thankfully avoided this so far!)
42. Sunbaked at Bondi.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Broome.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone fishing.
49. Seen Tasmania’s old growth forests.
50. Been to the top of Q1, on the Gold Coast.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Driven the Great Ocean Road.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Norfolk Island.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Guide biscuits.
62. Gone whale watching. (I live in the Whale Watching capital of the world!)
63. Got flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma. (Now I have anemia... great)
65. Gone jet boating.
66. Visited Port Arthur.
67. Bounced a cheque. (I'm not sure I've ever owned a cheque book!)
68. Flown in a helicopter.(I wish I hadn't, it was the Helicopter that took Ava to Hospital in Brisbane)
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Australian War Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Federation Square.
74. Been on the Murray River.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Travelled, or climbed, over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Three Sisters at Echo Point, Katoomba.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited St Mary’s Cathedral, in Sydney.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Been to Hermannsburg.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited Parliament House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. (Don't worry, it was only a fish)
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Saved a pet.
95. Been to the site of the Eureka Stockade.
96. Swum in The Whitsundays.
97. Been involved in a lawsuit.
98. Owned a mobile phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

52/100. Not Bad. And now I have a handy list of things to do when I am bored! :o)

Sewing, sewing, busy sewing

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:08:00 +0000

Ava had a hospital check up on Tuesday. Not wanting to waste a day of daycare that we had paid for, I sent her and I stayed home to sew.

I thought I would I finish up the dress from the pattern below that I had cut a while ago.
Unfortunately I cut it 10kg (22 pounds) ago. Hmmmmm. Well it is going together really well, so I will keep going. I am being so patient and careful. It is really making a difference in the finished look.

I spent a lot of yesterday on the dress as well and now I only have the zipper and hem to go. I am officially back on a diet.

I had to go out yesterday to get some thread and so I went to the fabric store to see if possibly that had some matching fabric for the Strawberry coat. I patiently waited to be served only to be sniffed at and told the fabric probably came from Spotlight. A simple no, we don't stock this fabric would have sufficed. I was going to buy this pattern

But the complete indifference I faced when asking a question about it, made me decide to order it online. I must have done something bad to the owner of this store in a previous life.

I was going to pick this pattern because it had the different cup sizings, but it only goes up to D cup, so I am not sure if it would work. I've never done an FBA on top before, I always just make the pattern according to my bust size, which make a loose fit through the stomach and waist. My latest bra fitting made me a little shocked to discover I am a 12F (or supposedly a 10G if I ever want to buy a strapless bra), no wonder tops never fit me properly.

Hopefully I will finish up the dress tonight and post photos tomorrow.

Refashioning Competition - Finished entry

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 01:27:00 +0000

Here is my Pattern Review entry into the refashioning contest

Pattern Description:
Out of print Simplicity pattern from the 1970's. Girls dress with pleated button down front.

Pattern Sizing:
Size 3

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
No, I changed everything around.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Because I was de-constructing and reconstructing, I didn't follow the instructions.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
My favourite part of the pattern was the pleats down the front. Unfortunately that did not make it to the finished item.

Fabric Used:
Shirting Cotton.
Mint green with purple stripes.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
This project is a refashioning of a size XL man's Polo Ralph Lauren button down shirt.
The original garment can be seen here

Originally I wanted to do the dress as depicted on the pattern envelope. No matter which way I laid it though, I couldn't get the pleats to fit into the amount of fabric I had. I ended up cutting the pattern with the pleats folded in.

The pattern was yoked with the buttons at the front, but I ended up putting them at the back so I could have the horizontal and vertical stripes on the front of the dress.

To cut the pattern I joined the yoke and skirt pattern pieces together and cut them as one section from the original shirt.

The facings were cut from leftover fabric.

I changed the buttons on the back of the dress to flatter pink buttons. The original logo stayed on the dress and I haven't decided whether to unpick it or not.

I ended up with cute A-line dress with button down back that looks nothing like the original pattern. But at the same time I did use the pattern to get the dress to look the way it does. I hope that makes sense.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I would definitely sew this again, either to refashion another shirt, or else I would love to make this pattern in its entirety.

Conclusion:
Very cute way to recycle a man's shirt that would be suitable for a large range of girls sizes.

Bonus Reading my Blog Photos

Better than Burda Style?

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:26:00 +0000

Okay so to call the following website better than the new Burda Style is a probably a stretch, but in the brief time I spent looking at it, I was awfully impressed!

Check out:http://wkdesigner.wordpress.com/

Drafting and pattern instructions for lots of up to the minute fashions. Can't wait to have more of look when I've got some time.

Distractions

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:41:00 +0000

I have finished the refashioned dress for Ava, but it has been raining for three days solid, so I haven't been able to get good photos. She wore the dress to daycare yesterday and it made me so happy to have a 3 year old. I can't imagine that in a few years she will still go running into a room saying, "Look, look, look, Mummy made me a new dress!" It made my day :o)

I got out the Strawberry Coat to work on last weekend. I nearly cried when I discovered that I had lost a facing piece. I went through everything and of course I have not even an ounce extra of the fabric that I bought at the Op Shop. My only hope is that the fabric store might have some, but it is a long shot. Between completely mixing up the front and this, I am thinking it might be time to start again. All the lining is right, and I have extra fabric in that print. I also have a really nice navy linen that will work. Sigh... I really need to learn to be a bit more patient and a bit more careful.

I got very distracted from sewing on the weekend and it is all Barbie's fault!

I was seduced by a Rivers ad on Friday promising $9 cotton work shirts. Of course, when I get there, they don't have any. But I really do need some plain white shirts that can be embroidered with the company logo, so I decided to just make some. I trudged off to the local Fabric store to have a look. Now, normally if someone asks, I will just say we don't have a fabric store because the range is small and they're not always super friendly. But in a bout of supporting local stores inspired emotion, I went and had a look at the fabric and truth be told, they do have some nice, reasonably priced stuff in there. Somehow I ended up with white polyester instead of cotton though...

What does this have to do with Barbie you ask? Well I didn't have a pattern for the shirts, so I went to the Op Shop to see if they had any decent ones. I didn't find a good pattern, but I did discover that pattern prices have gone up from 10c to 50c. Talk about inflation! Ha ha, I'm not actually complaining. That is still super cheap, even if they are used. I hear talk of your mystical 99c pattern sales in America, but I've never seen a new pattern here below $10, even on sale.

Barbie....
As I was leaving the shop my eye wandered over something. It was a giant doll house. I snapped a shot on my phone and emailed it to my husband, saying "huge doll house, $40." He agreed it was a necessary purchase (yes we both need to work on our definition of necessary) and the doll house came home. The look on Ava's face when she woke up from her nap and saw that thing was priceless. It needs some fixing, but unfortunately there was nowhere to hide it, so we will just work around her dolls. Be prepared for room by room furnishing.

Yes, I spent the rest of the weekend playing Barbie's with Ava :o)

On the plus side, while rearranging the lounge to make room, I found a shirt for me that I cut out 5 1/2 years ago. I was feeling so high and mighty that I only had UFOs from last year... hehehe

Okay, now I have written this big long blog post about nothing in particular. It took me a while though, so I am not deleting it. Read my ramble if you wish. I am only working a half day to today. Maybe I will actually sew this afternoon.

Finally, a Comic Life picture of just how tough it is to be my cat. These were taken over the course of one day.

Refashioning Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:25:00 +0000

I mentioned the other day that I was going to enter the refashioning competition on Pattern Review this month. My main motivation was that I had some shirts that I bought at the thrift store last year specifically for the purpose of turning them into something useful. I made the shirt-dress below for Ava in Feb last year and have been wanting to make another ever since.

Ava loves this dress and wears it all the time. It fits her perfectly now. Her growth seems to have slowed down. She's gone from being really tall for her age to around average. She is 3 and 1/2 now and is still fitting easily into size 3 clothes.

I wanted to do something a bit different with this dress and have a proper dress with facings. I went through my patterns and eventually settled on this one from 1974.

I had my heart set on the pleated, button down front. But try as I might I could not make the dress from the amount of fabric I had.

I started with this Ralph Lauren shirt that I found at the Op Shop. You can't see so well in the photo, but it is a light mint green colour with purple stripes. Not exactly very manly colours, but perfect for a little girl. I laboriously un-picked all the flat felled seams to get more fabric, but eventually had to admit defeat and give up on the idea of pleats. I decided to still use the same pattern, but fold in the pleats before I cut.

I also decided to put the buttons on the back and the yoke detail on the front. I cut the yoke and skirt as one piece for both the front and back. The back facing was already attached to the shirt and the front facing was cut from a bit of scrap. The armhole facings were cut from the original sleeves.

I'll admit I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to grain line. Everything was moving along perfectly with the construction of the dress when, through carelessness, I got the armhole facing caught in my serger and cut a big hole through it.

At this point I wanted to throw the whole thing in the bin! I was determined though, un-picked everything and went to cut another facing. Slight problem though, no matter which way I lay it, I hadn't left a big enough piece of shirt to cut another facing! In the end I had to darn two pieces together and hope no one would look too closely at the inside.

It was a 11:30pm at this time and knowing I had to be up at 6 I decided to leave the rest until tonight. I did get a couple more seams sewn before work this morning, so it shouldn't take me long to finish it up tonight.

Burda Style - Predictable but disappointing

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:37:00 +0000

When I woke up this morning I checked my emails like I always do and went on to read the weekly newsletter from Burda Style. You see, like 150,000 other people around the world I am a member. Like the majority of those people, I signed up because the patterns were mostly free and just like them I raved about this great free website to anyone that would listen.

I remember when I first signed up I thought to myself, I bet their business model is to get as many members as possible and then somehow start charging them (because I am a cynic you see). Well sure enough as of this morning, most of the free patterns are gone. I think thats the bit that annoys me (and many members the most). They haven't said, as of today we will be charging for new patterns, they have stuck price tags on patterns that yesterday were free.

Now if I want to use a pattern I have to pay about $7 Australian dollars on average. A Burda Mode magazine is $16 Aus dollars and I am pretty sure they have more than one pattern in them.

Burda Style's justification is that by charging for the patterns, they can keep the rest of the site free. They won't have to charge a membership fee and people will still have access to all the knowledge on the site. I'm not sure that anyone has told them, but in this internet age, knowledge is generally free. I have never read anything on their site that someone else hasn't blogged about, better, or more thoroughly elsewhere.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not so cheap that I mind paying for patterns. I do buy them. I understand the time it takes to professionally draft and fit a pattern. I understand they have to pay their staff. But I just can't help thinking that if they had taken the time to do proper advertising on their site to start with, instead of 10c per click Google ads, then their business would have been viable a long time ago.

My guess is that the Open Source bit will be the next thing to go. I think its fantastic that the patterns are copyright free at the moment, but I can't see that lasting long, if someone can pay for a pattern and then have every right to give it to as many people as possible for free. Maybe I misunderstand the terms though. I guess I will be digging through all the patterns I have got saved on my computer.

I haven't seen any other bloggers respond to this yet. Maybe no one used the site, or maybe time zones just haven't aligned yet. The people I really feel sorry for are all the students that used the site and truly can't afford to buy patterns.

I'm sure some people will disagree with my point of view and fully support Burda Style charging for previously free patterns. I appreciate comments either way. But as Sitemeter tells me that 95% of my blog visitors come to look at pictures of Appa, I am beginning to wonder if anyone other than my lovely sister actually reads my blog. That and I am not the most consistent poster, I don't exactly inspire reader loaylty!! :o)

The Strawberry Coat Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:03:00 +0000

So the first item I am going to finish for the UFO contest on Pattern Review is Ava's Strawberry Coat. This was meant to be finished for Winter last year (Its summer here now) but it didn't quite happen. Why? Well because like all my unfinished items, something difficult happened and rather than resolve the problem, I moved onto something else. Big flaw I have (but it would seem I'm not alone).

The problems with the coat were:

I cut the pieces and then thought I had cut the wrong piece and re-cut, but it was actually the right piece and now it isn't going to be double breasted anymore.
Setting in the sleeves was just too darn hard
The sleeve wouldn't fit round the sewing machine, which meant it had to be a sewn a different way to how I would normally do it.

When I retrieved it from the pile I found all the cut pieces and the main part of the coat sewn together with one sleeve set in with pins.

I basted the sleeve in, took out the pins and sewed it on the machine. I then set the other sleeve with pins (my skill set having improved considerably since last time I tried), basted and sewed it in by machine. That actually didn't take very long at all.

I lost Ava after that, she wandered off to another part of the house and I needed to do some adjustments. I put the coat aside and worked on ripping the seams out of a re-fashioning project instead. Hopefully I'll catch her when she comes home tonight and get started on the lining.

No great photos as Ava was being coy!

So I have two blogging resolutions as well.
1. Stop starting sentences with so (atrocious grammar)
2. Stop overusing brackets to explain myself

January Plans and Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:18:00 +0000

I am enjoying being on Holiday at me Sister's house right now. Very relaxing hanging out and shopping. Had a great time spending up big at Myer the other day. I used to travel a lot for work and so I had a lot of Frequent Flyer points. Having no inclination to travel anywhere, I decided to trade them in for gift vouchers. Much better value in my opinion!

I did get some Barbie clothes finished, but I just wasn't happy enough with the quality to give them to Ava for Christmas (silly, I know). She got a few Barbie's for Christmas and has become obsessed with them. I guess I will have to get stuck back into the sewing when I get home.

I have a couple of big sewing goals for January. I want to enter the refashioning contest on Pattern Review. I also want to enter the UFO contest. No time like the present to get the pile down. Mainly because I really have nowhere to keep it all! I'm not exactly sure what is in the pile, but I know than qualifying items include:

Two dresses for Ava
A dress for me (might need to loose a few Christmas kilos for that one!)
A winter coat for Ava (which I am hoping she will still fit)
Can't think of any more, but they are definitely there!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Barbie Pants

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:10:00 +0000

I made the first Barbie outfit yesterday, a pair of pants. I used offcuts of a fabric that I had cut for a dress, but not sewn yet. Its nice to learn a fabric's bad points before you sew a proper outfit.

For instance, this fabric burns really easily, which is why one leg is now shorter than the other. Good thing they only took 30mins to make.

Now I know that Barbie is quite old now, but elasticized pants? Surely not! So today I am making her a pair from Simplicity 4702 with a proper waist band and even tiny little patch pockets.

The mailman came

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:31:00 +0000

Is it shameful to admit that I ran out to the letterbox as soon as I the postman's motorbike this morning? Well I did and I am so glad, all my patterns arrived!

Two new patterns from Simplicity. The second one is a reissue of an old pattern. I was just finishing up the bodice sloper for Barbie when they came, but it will be nice to do some straight forward patterns.

This pattern I got off Ebay. I couldn't resist. I have no immediate plans to sew it. But hopefully one day will.

Okay, I'm off to get busy on the Barbie clothes. Not long until Christmas now!

UFO's, Barbie and a growing obsession

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:01:00 +0000

My darling sister has been pressuring me to write a blog post. Trouble is she wants me to post because she wants to see what I have sewn. Well, I'm too ashamed to take a picture of my pile of Unfinished Objects, suffice to say its nearing the 10 item mark and there is no good reason why any of them aren't completed! :o(

So onto item two, Barbie. I love Barbie, I pressure Ava to love Barbie and finally she is coming around. So now I want to make Barbie clothes. But nice ones, not the dartless tent dresses we made when we were ten. Ohhh, I thought, what a great way to practice drafting, I'll make my own patterns! Well at some point I realised that I may get the slopers done by Christmas, but certainly not a whole wardrobe, so I ordered two Simplicity patterns. While waiting for said patterns, I did manage to get Barbie's skirt sloper done. Drafting instructions are from vintagesewing.info

I did start by using the instructions from Helen Armstrong's book, but I soon discovered 4 darts at the front and 4 at the back was just too fiddly for Barbie. These instructions from the 40's suit Barbie's tiny waisted figure a lot better too.

The uneven hip seams are due to my questionable sewing rather than the pattern. My machine just didn't want to behave this morning, might be time for a service. This skirt has just two darts at the back which give it a lovely shape.

And there is a picture of the pattern with enormous seam allowance (just to be safe). I have tried and tried, but I cannot draft on paper, I must use a computer! The best bit is when I want to test a pattern. I just tack some polytrace onto a sheet of A4 paper and print straight onto it. Its great for making sure what I am sewing is exactly what the pattern says.

Lastly, my growing obsession, patterns. I realise I might never sew the patterns I am accumulating, but I love them all the same. We went down to the local Op Shop yesterday and these ones are my favourites out of the ones I came home with.

I think they are all from the 70's, except the last one, which is from 1951. Now I know the 70's aren't very exciting for most people, but I was born in 1984, so I consider them quite cool. Plus at 10c each, sometimes I wonder why I don't just bring the entire basket home from the shop!

In the mail I am waiting for a pattern off ebay and my Barbie patterns. But the mailman doesn't love me today...

Patterns - Old and New

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:05:00 +0000

I have been busy accumulating patterns this week. I am getting ready for a big Spring/Summer of sewing. In another 8 weeks or so I will be at my goal weight (I hope) and an entirely new wardrobe will be in order! We'll start with the new patterns

The first dress will be made with this fabric (mail order from spotlight)

And here are some patterns I picked up op-shopping.

I am making the cape and pleated skirt for Ava as we speak. I will put up some photos when I am finished. Resisting the urge to maker a matching vest!

Do I need a Steam Press?

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:13:00 +0000

I was browsing through the junk mail on the weekend when I noticed that Aldi have a steam press that starts selling this Thursday. For $179 (Australian, which is practically the same as American now anyway) this can be mine. But questions remain;

Do I need it?
Where would I put it?
Would the money be better spent on something else? (like fabric)

I would love to hear from anyone who has one and uses it regularly. Personally, I hate ironing. I meticulously press everything when sewing, but whether my Husband gets an ironed work shirt depends entirely on the day! He does know where the iron lives...

The strawberry jacket is coming along well. I am setting in the sleeves right now, which I hate. Its not like I've never done it before, I just don't enjoy it. I know the more I do it, the better they will get. Its a shame really. Ava was wearing an adorable navy and red outfit today and the jacket would have looked perfect with it.

New Look 6239 - Bah!

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:31:00 +0000

I am annoyed with this pattern. It is an easy pattern, the construction is easy, but the pattern is atrocious. (Harsh words I know, but I'm in a bad mood) I wanted to get this pattern done before Mixie got here, but I have now I have to wait to fit it on her. As you can see in the photo the band of the top is meant to sit snuggly under the arms. But like the last New Look pattern the ease is way too much, so that when I try it on (and I am bigger than her) It gapes under the arm. On top of that, if you follow the guide for where to place the strap you would end up with them falling off your shoulders every two seconds. Basically I am having the same problems as the two people who have reviewed this over at Pattern Review. Once I have finished this, I am done with New Look patterns. No wonder they were on a two-for-one sale at Spotlight!

**End Rant

Strawberry Pockets

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:33:00 +0000

Progress is coming along slowly on Ava's coat. The pieces are all cut and the stay stitching is done. I would have been further along except for the fact that I spent three hours deciding how I would do the pockets!

The original pattern called for an unlined pocket, turned inwards, with a strip of ribbon across the front. I played around with pocket piece and ribbon. Finally I decided to line the pocket and flip the lining forward so it shows on the outside of the coat. I really don't think I have constructed this in the most effective way, but I am happy.

First I sewed the pocket to the lining, right sides together, then used pinking shears around the edge.

Next I turned the pocket round the right way and *tried* to smooth out the rounded corners

Then I folded the facing allowance forward and edge stitched it down. It does look straighter than this...

I was going to put the pockets on the coat (they will be edge stitched down) before I posted, but when I went to double check that I had the pocket placement right with the pattern, I realised that I had done something really strange when cutting out the front piece. It seems to be a size 3 in some places and a size 8 in others. No idea how it happened, must remember to mix more water with my gin (joking!)

What happened to Ava?

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:05:00 +0000

I know this is meant to be a sewing and crafting blog, but people have been asking me what happened to Ava. This seems the most effective place to put it. So if you only want to read about sewing, I'd skip over this post.

As Mixie mentioned Ava was very sick a couple of weeks ago. On Friday the 6th June she was having a bad day. She was short of breath and wheezing, but she wasn't actually having an asthma attack. She was still running around the house playing, despite out best efforts to keep her still. I was giving her Ventolin, but it didn't seem to be having any effect, so at midday I took her to the Doctor. He diagnosed her with Bronchitis and said she could have Ventolin hourly to get her breathing under control. I put her to bed at 7pm, but was concerned that she was grunting in her sleep. We decided to take her to the hospital just to make sure she was okay. They took her straight through and put her on oxygen. She seemed to recover really quickly, but they wanted to keep her overnight for observation. We went to the ward to settle in for the night.

Unfortunately Ava's little body wasn't getting better. They kept increasing her oxygen and she kept getting worse. At 2am they transferred her to Intensive care and put her on a BiPac (sp?) machine. At 10am the Doctors arrived from Brisbane, Ava was intubated and we were flown in a helicopter to Royal Children's hospital in Brisbane. She spent another 24 hours in intensive care before she was transferred to the ward. We then spent another 7 days in hospital, because she was slow to come off the oxygen. It was strange because every time they tried to turn the oxygen down, her oxygen saturation levels would drop too low, but her breathing would be fine. It was hard work trying to entertain a 3 year old that felt and looked fine, but wasn't allowed to leave the bed!

Ava on her second day on the ward

We're back home now and it is honestly like nothing happened. She has been fine at all her follow up appointments. Its a little confusing because we are still not quite sure what was wrong with her. The paediatrician that treated when she was sick at the local hospital sent a letter to our GP saying that nothing about her breathing, chest sounds or xray suggested asthma, yet she tested negative for all bacterial infections. They are thinking Asthma combined with a viral chest infection now. She is on an asthma preventor twice a day for now. The important thing is she is better.

After all this I just have to say I am so glad they we live in Australia and that we have the free health system that we do. I can't imagine that helicopter flights and intensive care stays are cheap. I will definitely be making donations to the hospital during their annual appeals.

Back to sewing now...

Fun New Things

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:16:00 +0000

Okay, so I haven't been doing a whole lot of sewing/posting lately. But that hasn't stopped me from buying sewing related things.

I finally found some strawberry buttons for Ava's Coat

And some strawberry fabric for the lining

I got a new pattern to make a top for Mixie

I got a new overlocker/serger!! So excited, it was $200 off, how could I resist? I used this to sew the majority of the seams on the top I made yesterday.

And I got this book for a price I was willing to pay. I have read it through and can't wait to start actually drafting. But I managed to lose my French Curve when I was cleaning up, so I need to find that first!

Some other things I got were:

A second copy of the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing (awesome book)
A Yo-yo maker
Lots of fabric
Threads magazines
Stitches magazines (second hand)
Top Kids Magazines (second hand)

New Look 6731

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:09:00 +0000

Pattern Description:
Misses Knit Top or Tunic

Pattern Sizing:
8 - 18

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
I made view B and it looked exactly like the pattern picture

Were the instructions easy to follow?
The instructions were very easy to follow. If you lost the instruction sheet in a freak storm, you'd be able to figure it out with relative ease.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I really disliked the sizing/ease in the pattern. According to the pattern envelope, based on my measurements I should have made an 18. However, the amount of ease in this top (especially considering its for stretch fabrics) is ridiculous. I would have had to make this top in a size 14 for it to fit properly. Luckily for my Mum though, it will fit her perfectly!

What I liked about this pattern is that if it fit it would look really cute. It was really quick and easy to put together.

Fabric Used:
Stretch knit. I was unsure whether this fabric would be too busy to make an entire top out of. But once it was all put together it seems to work.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
None

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I will definitely cut this pattern smaller and sew it again. I can't wait to try out some of the other views.

Conclusion:
A quick and easy sew for a nice result. Just watch out for the sizing.

Crafting around our house

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:34:00 +0000

This week has been another hectic one, the lowlight of which was Ava having to spend a night in hospital. Thankfully it turned out to be just asthma (not the originally suspected pneumonia) and she is back home again in very good spirits.

With all that going on it has definitely been all about Ava lately and we have been doing fun and crafty things to keep her busy (and still, gosh does that child like to run!)

Gran bought Ava some plasticine and so we all had fun playing with that for a few hours.

Grandad (FIL) made piglet's head

Mummy (me) made a pig

Gran (MIL) made a duck and Grandad made a snowman

We let Ava play too, she made this cave/tent to go with Gran's worm

She also made her own worm, a bridge and I think the one in the middle is a backpack for the duck (it later went to the moon in a rocket ship)

Gran also bought Ava this cute little egg painting centre.

We painted paper when we ran out of eggs

One day we had to go to the transport centre to register the cars. The lady gave Ava a large stack of paper. When we got home we used to make origami and cut outs. Grandad's silhouette of Ava was the only one that I seem to have captured.

In our house (of 4 adults and one child) we all love cartoons. My parents in law used to work in animation, so they have an excuse. Ava is 2, so she has an excuse. My husband and I are just big kids at heart though! A series that we all love is Avatar. Our favourite character is Appa, the flying byson.

Unfortunately you can't seem to buy the Appa plush in Australia. No problem for my father in law though, he'll make his own for us! So far he has finished Appa's head wich you can see below.

The pattern is made just from looking at the drawings and he is made from mainly recycled soft toys.

I have also finished the pattern for my sloper, but I haven't cut or fit it yet. I bought some fabrics which will hopefully end up turning into something soon!

This is a blog post!

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:23:00 +0000

Okay so I have been a bit slack with the blog posting! A lot has been happening here (not all good) and it fell by the wayside a bit. :o)

I've still been doing lots of things, just haven't finished anything. I realised this morning I have too many things happening and not enough things finishing. I need to just sit down and concentrate, not get distracted. I just find lately when I sit down I think of 50 more projects that I would like to try and start doing those instead!

On my sewing table at the moment I have:

A dress for Ava
Pants for Mixie
A shirt for Ava (I ripped the arms of yesterday because I didn't like them)
Dress for Mixie
Coat for Ava

The first three could be finished in about 40mins of sewing each and the last two have a lot of work to do.

On my computer I am in the midst of resizing two patterns for Ava and learning how to draft patterns from scratch.

If you haven't noticed already, I do have a tendency to be a bit.... well.... cheap. I don't like paying for something I could make myself. This manifested itself quite badly last weekend when I went on a bit of a baking frenzy. This week my interest has been in pattern drafting. I like the idea of making something from scratch, truly creating it. I looked around the internet at a couple of courses, books etc. I was particularly interested in Kenneth King's book on The Moulage, but patience is something I lack and waiting for a CD to arrive in the post would be unbearable. Eventually I found this site called Vintage Sewing which has a great little book on pattern drafting. I know its not exactly modern, but I like the learning process. I have been doing the drafting in Adobe Illustrator. Its good because I can select a point, and draw a line x length at y angle. I have been using trigonometry to work out the angles of the sloping lines. The theory being eventually I will write a program to draw these lines for me and exact math will be needed. I haven't printed anything out yet, so I haven't tested the sloper. Haha hopefully it will work!

I started back at uni this week as well. I'm doing a computer science degree. I hope to minor in maths, but it still a while before I get to pick.

No pictures today, sorry.

Origami Dress - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:32:00 +0000

Drafting the Pattern

As I mentioned yesterday I am using this pattern as my base. In the end all I used was the SF & SB bodice pieces and extrapolated/drafted the rest. I wanted the skirt to have bit more of a flick at the sides than the original. To make the center front and back I used a mostly straight up and down piece. I thought a 2:1 gather would be appropriate.

There were two major problems with the center front and center back panels. The first was that it was too large and the second was that it wasn't gathered enough. I have pulled the bobbin thread tighter in the above photo, but it is still gaping. You can also see that I flipped out the skirt way too much.

Those black circles are magnets to weigh down the fabric by the way.

Alterations were then made to narrow down the skirt and I decided to belt the middle as this dress will not be worn without a belt, so major design flaws aside, what is looks like without is fairly irrelevant. And yes the tape measure was the only appropriate thing I could find at the time! :o)

I really want to forge ahead and make a material version of this dress with the alterations, but Mixie is coming tomorrow, so I will see how this is fitting then.

The Origami Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:49:00 +0000

I was reading Sigrid's blog yesterday, which led me to Berry's blog, which led me to Christina's blog, where I found this dress:

I emailed the picture to Mixie who asked if I would make her one. I loved the dress too, so I thought why not give it a go. The worst thing that can happen is that is doesn't work, and the shape of the dress is very forgiving for any sizing issues.

For the base pattern I decided to use the Laura dress from Burda Style. If you haven't already I higly recommend having a look at www.burdastyle.com They have lots of free patterns for good quality, well designed clothes.

Clearly there were going to be quite a few adjustments that need to be made. Including

Omit pockets and buttons
Replace center front and center back panels with gathered panels
Redraft center front panel
Combine skirt and bodice pieces to remove waist
Add weaving and change belt.

Really it is a guideline more than anything else. It has the right sleeves and a 6 piece skirt design.

Once I get the pattern worked out, the dress itself is fairly basic. There are no darts in it so an FBA won't be necessary.

For the belt, I doubt I will copy that exact origami pattern, but I will find something I like. The origami part doesn't scare me. Although I don't do origami that often, I haven't found a design I couldn't complete yet. I will starch the fabric into oblivion so it folds nicely. I know this will work because I used to use way too much starch when I first started working, clothes sure can get crisp!
Here is a close up of the belt buckle. I like the design, but I don't like that you can see the stitching. I think I will hand stitch it from behind to keep it in place. I can't really know for sure until I start playing with the design though.

I am that stage now where I have cut all the pattern pieces and I am redrafting them to fit. This will be a very good challenge.

Ava's Winter Wardrobe

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:30:00 +0000

There are 3 months until Winter now, so I thought it was time to start planning Ava's winter wardrobe. I started by doing an audit of what she had and found she had 4 pairs of jeans in different colours, 1 corduroy pant and jacket set and one long sleeved shirt. Not bad, but she really needs more long sleeved shirts.

I had enough fabric for one shirt in my stash, so some serious shopping was needed. I tried in vain to find a good online fabric store, but the shipping from the US was a killer, and the lovely people on the Pattern Review forums couldn't really suggest any in Australia. I'm sure it doesn't help that because I am shopping for Ava I don't like to spend a lot of money on fabrics. If I am lucky she will get two years wear out of it. I might think differently if Mixie had girls, but she is determined that their house will be filled with boys (yes I do know you can't really determine this, but I am not sure Mixie does!)

Around this time the latest spotlight catalogue came out, so my MIL and I decided to go on a long drive (3 hours round). I came back with enough fabric for 3 shirts and one pair of pants for Ava. I think a couple will actually end up being shirt dresses so she can wear them over tights or pants.

Three jersey knits and one corduroy

Some sheep flanalette for some pyjama pants for Mixie

I couldn't resist this sheep fabric. In fact I had a hard time picking just one. At $5 a meter I might mail order some more. Its super soft and they had so many cute designs to pick from. The only thing that concerned me about this obvious night wear print was that on the selvage they have written, "not intended for children's sleepwear". I know we have fairly strict rules about flammability in material, so I will assume it has something to do with that!

I am about to embark on a fairly ambitious project, but it will be a whole other post on its own which hopefully I will get up today.