Max California

The 12 Parsec Dress

2013-05-20T23:00:00.000+10:00

Good Evening/Morning!

Head on over to the Shaffer Sisters to catch my guest tutorial I wrote for their "Make for Mom" series this year!

Make a shirt in less than 12 parsecs; the key is to remember that Han shot first.

{too many Star Wars references? Said no one ever}

Moon Glory: Roly Poly Along

2013-05-15T21:49:00.000+10:00

I had this Roly Poly tunic half-planned, and then when Rachael of Imagine Gnats asked if I wanted to be a part of her pattern tour I *leaped* at the offer. Funny story, the tunic I had half-planned I didn't actually make.

See I had an idea to make it into a cat face with ears, and then make a hooded shirt with cat ears on that. BUT there are some cool developments in a pattern I really love by a pattern-maker I also really love and I am saving the cat ears thing for that. That's all I'm going to say on the matter!

Instead we have this! Little Moon Glory!

Using all recycled materials, I made a second Roly Poly reversible pinny for Edison. The first side of the dress is made from a purple business shirt I had bought from the op-shop when I was trying to figure out what I would make for the Men's Business Shirt theme for Project Run & Play. I used the lower front of the shirt, incorporating the placket. The back of the pinny is made from the sides of the shirt, so I still have sleeves, collar, upper front and an entire back of the original shirt to use up.

I made this up in the 6month size, but it wasn't until I put it on her that I realised my little girl isn't that small anymore. Plumpkin is 10 months old now! Time to trace out the next size of this pattern!

The reverse side of the dress is made from this pretty pale blue broadcloth that were scraps from a dress I made a few years ago for a pin-up-model-turned-tattoo-artist I am friends with {I really need to try and find the photos of that}. It does have the centre pleat, but that is hidden by the cowl of the sweater of course. I apologise, Edison has not been a happy camper today and I didn't really think things through with the photos!

I added a big cloud pocket to the front. It's a kangaroo pocket so she can put her hands in the sides. Completely useless and pointless to a baby, but pockets are cool and this looks cute! I just noticed that Crafty Kitty also did a cloud idea for her Roly Poly! Great minds and all that ^_^

Sorry I didn't iron it *properly*. I know that my girls are going to be all snarkin' at me for that!

You can see the side-seams of the original shirt in this photo. The hat I made before Edison was born, it's an Enid Gilchrist 'helmet' pattern. I added ears to it. I've made this before when I made Vincent a fake-mohawk hat. Haha.

I also made a second Bimaa Sweater in the smallest size for Edison from two t-shirts in my stash. The underneath of the cowl is a purpley-blue(?) colour you can kind of see peeking out there. It fits really well, a little long in the sleeve for this baby but she's so porky it fits her tummy!

Want to win this pattern for yourself?

Let me know in the comments what your favourite bug/beetle/insect is!

Please make sure you leave your email address so we can contact you!

My favourite bug is one that I love to hate, Christmas Beetles! Oh they're so beautiful but in December they come out in HOARDES and ATTACK ME. It's terrifying. I can't deal with it. But they're really pretty. The ones we have here are iridescent but they're legs snag onto my hair and clothes and they're like drunk when they fly. They don't mean to be scary, but I just.. I just can't.

By the way, the weather is pretty cold & cloudy over here! Love that I can layer Eddie up in this tunic, and she STILL looks cute AND warm!

You can see other Roly Polys in the Flickr Pool, buy the pattern here, or Catch the rest of the tour and more chances to win a Roly Poly pattern!

5.13 Jill Made with Moxie / Stephanie The Crafty Kitty

5.14 Stephanie NeurosesGalore / Cherie you & mie

5.15 Ari Max California / Caila Caila Made

5.16 Veronica SewVery / Tara Girl like the sea

5.17 Nancy owen's olivia / Adrianna Crafterhours

5.20 Ajaire Call ajaire / Sarah EmmylouBeeDoo

5.21 Laura Craftstorming / Jessica a little gray

5.22 Frances Miss Matatabi / Nicke kiss kiss quilt

5.23 Amy formwork design / Kat Sew Chibi

5.24 Joanne Rose & Dahlia / Amanda Kitschy Coo

5.27 Celina Petit a Petit and family / Delia Delia Creates

5.28 Christy a.Amelia handmade / Carolyn Fake It While You Make It

5.29 Bonnie Fishsticks Designs / Maria La Inglesita

5.30 Jane Buzzmills / Kate Things for Charlie

5.31 Polly Jack & GeeGee / Molly Rose & Odin

Special thanks to Kat's husband Jon for helping inspire me with the name!

Fancy Up Your Hosh Pants: The Kamino Kid

2013-05-06T22:03:00.000+10:00

It's safe to say that I'm in love with every pattern that Loubee Clothing has created so far, and I got a sneak peek of what she is working on now and boy is it BEAUTIFUL. When Sarah asked me if I wanted to be part of her series on hacking up her Hosh Pants pattern, I couldn't reply in the affirmative fast enough! Most of my posts lately have been Hosh pants {1, 2 & 3}, Doli tanks and the one Bimaa sweater {which I need to get onto that and fill Edison's winter wardrobe with more of these!}.

This little guy has a bit of an obsession {Star Wars}, but I am willing to take advantage of it to encourage him to wear pants {it's getting cold!} instead of his preferred bottoms choice of shorts. And so, the Kamino Kid Hosh Pants were created!

Inspired by Boba Fett, the BAMF bounty hunter from Star Wars, I decided to make Vin some pants that were fun and a teensy bit costumey {Vince will wear pants if he thinks it is dress-up!}. They are made from grey stretch-denim, the exact same fabric I made these little skinny jeans for Vinnie from when he was a little bub! {Oh man how badly I sewed!}

From the front, the construction is similar to Boba Fett's actual pants. The knee 'shields' are made from yellow stretchknit. I used vliesofix to fix them in place where the knees are, then stitched around them like patches. Then I did seams straight across the knees to reinforce it, variegating the widths from close together to about a cm apart.

Underneath the knee pads I attached two thin patch pockets made from the same grey stretch denim. Token lego pockets you know!

The butt pockets are where I decided to party, and move away from the 'costume'-ish look of the front. Two patch pockets decorated like Boba Fett's helmet. Vincent informed me he didn't want to pose for a photo with his hand in them, which is fine because we all know what pockets are for right? So here he is looking casul with his 'blaster'.

The patch pockets were made from green stretchknit that I had bleach-sprayed a few years ago. I reinforced them with the grey stretch denim to stop them from stretching too weirdly out of shape. I cut up an old maroon cord button-up shirt my dad donated to me {I don't even know how it existed as a thing!} and some black scraps. Using vliesofix I made some cool T shapes to turn them into Boba Fett's helmet! Sort of! I top-stitched the pieces on the pockets, then sewed the back pants pieces together at the centre back seam before positioning the pockets and stitching them down.

We have a pretty massive trampoline, and a gym ball is always left inside it. For some reason Vincent has called this gym ball Chewbacca and he has to wrestle Chewbacca almost every afternoon. It was only fitting then, that as Boba Fett he should wrestle a wookiee.

As you can see, these pants give an awesome skinny-leg look, but are comfortable enough to run and jump and play and wrestle wookiees.

Fun Fact: The bleached out green and the yellow fabrics were originally bought two years ago when I was going to make myself a Boba Fett dress! That never happened, and I started to use the fabrics for other projects. Pretty cool that I ended up using them for a Boba Fett inspired piece anyway!

Get your Hosh Pants pattern here!
Keep an eye on the Emmy Lou Bee Doo blog this week for more Hosh Pant hacks!

My Backpack's got jets

Thank you to our friend Chris who GAVE Vincent that Boba Fett helmet!

May the Fourth Be With You

2013-05-04T08:00:00.000+10:00

A very original title for today! Ha. Identical to last year!

Today is International Star Wars Day and also Free Comic Book Day! Guess where we will be?

Our local library and our local comic book store are combining forces to have a bit of a Star Wars party. It's going to be awesome!

I will be wearing -

{Tutorial here}

Vincent will be wearing -

{Details here!}

And Edison will be wearing -

{Details here}{If I can find it!}

I wanted to make Edison a beanie with Princess Leia buns on the sides but I couldn't find anything brown in my stash or in my reconstruction pile!

Check out last years round-up of all my Star Wars projects & tutorials!

The LITTLE Skater Dress

2013-04-28T11:02:00.003+10:00

By now you probably would have read about the Skater Dress by my talented friend Amanda of KitschyCoo, right? The pattern is in sizes 18months to 8 years, which is going to rock - when Edison is that big. In the meantime, guess what Amanda has done?

She has graded the pattern down into two smaller sizes! 6-12 monhs & 12-18months! YES!

It sews up easily, really easily, and I learned A LOT about my sewing machine and it's capabilities toward sewing knit fabrics that I did not know! I sewed up the 6-12month size for Edison who is 9 months {and a size 0 in Australian standards} and I am definitely going to sew this pattern up again. Next time, I will shorten the skirt, since Edison is crawling now and also my personal preference for baby girl dresses is above the knee. I am also going to use the bodice pattern, lengthen it, and use it as a base for Edison's t-shirts in the future!

I didn't use a twin-needle, since I couldn't find mine {need to buy a new one!} but the alternatives Amanda suggests worked REALLY well for me!

The fabric is little scottie dogs on a grey knit and is super super SUPER soft! Similar deal to the lobster knit I received, except this is from The Fabric Fairy. I am definitely going to start buying all my knit fabrics online now, at Girl Charlee and The Fabric Fairy. The quality is so much higher and lovelier than anything local here!

You can get the Little Skater Dress pattern as a free add-on to The Skater Dress pattern, if you have already bought it or if you plan on buying it! I had literally just bought the Skater Dress pattern, since everyone had it {I'm good with peer pressure like that haha}, the night before Amanda sent me the Little Skater Dress to pattern test!

Pattern: Little Skater Dress {see above for details about the add-on}
Notes: In future I will shorten this pattern a few inches to above the knee
Fabric: Scottie Dogs Love from The Fabric Fairy

Thank you Amanda for doing this!

a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

2013-04-26T14:59:00.001+10:00

Edited to Add: Check out girlfriend SewChibi's post for today. We both made Star Wars clothes. We seriously did not plan it. Sew Geeky!

I was a very very lucky little girl when I received a parcel a little while ago all the way from Chibi land. Inside was lots of goodies, including this Star Wars blueprints fabric!

I made Vincent a pair of Surfers Slacks from them, but I haven't taken a photo of him in them yet! If I was more organised I would have done a little duo shoot of them all matchy matchy but we are on a four day weekend in Brisbane and I forgot to pack his pants. Nice one mum!

With the rest of the fabric, I made Edison a Roly Poly tunic! This cute pattern was designed by Rachael of Imagine Gnats. She's pretty amazing I have discovered.

I've made little tunics similar to this one, but I LOVE this pattern. It's reversible, YES I KNOW RIGHT, and when I added these snaps to the shoulders I discovered I didn't need to add another pair for the other side. I would have done buttons and buttonholes but I couldn't find my buttonhole foot for my machine!

This pattern is ridiculously quick & easy to sew, with a cute little pleat in the centre front! It has inseam pockets, but I ommited them. Also the pattern eliminates the sideseam, but I'm super smart, S-M-R-T, and cut it out in seperate pieces.

I cut the front out of the Star Wars fabric, the back out of some blue tartan and the lining is all blue.

You can nab this pattern for $7.50 this week! Nice one Rachael.

Doli-Day

2013-04-24T19:26:00.002+10:00

I declare today a holiday in honour of the Doli tank, a Doliday! {I know, I know, it's pronounced like Dough-lee!}

Basically I can't get enough of this tank. I sew it up in the smallest size which is a 12months. Edison is 9 months, and in Australia is she is a size 0. So not quite a 12months size, but it fits like a dress on her. I think as long as I can get her head through the neckhole these tanks I made are going to last a long time!

I have made six Doli tanks, but I can only show you five because the sixth one is to be revealed on May 25 for Sew Geeky!

Ya ready?

Rainbow Doli
Inspired by the explosion of colour Kat provides daily, and the Wellen Tank by Luv in the Mommyhood, I pieced together some strips of fabric: solid red, solid orange, yellow polka dots, green tartan, blue robots, purple stripes & pink hearts. Once I stitched & overlocked and pressed them so it was a nice big piece of fabric, I cut out the Doli tank and stitched it up usual. All fabric was from my stash from my scraps bins! Most of it except the tartan would have been from Spotlight. The tartan was an awesome op-shop score.

I used some scraps from a rainbow striped dress that I have made Edison & Vince clothes out of for the binding. Probably should actually blog about those rainbow clothes!

How rad are the tags? I got size tags and personalised tags for Vincent & Edison's clothes as part of my Project Run & Play prize from Jennifer's Jewels. They were so good I even ordered more. I got size tags, so that when I send Eddie & Vincent's hand me downs to their cousins and family friends they actually know what size it's supposed to be ahha. Also I just love the name tags! Everything is fully customisable.

The site is a bit difficult to navigate at first, but give yourself a bit of time to just figure things out and once you have it you've got it made. I might do a little tutorial for it and some better photos of the labels next week.

Stellar Doli
I used some of my precious space fabric to make my second ever Doli for Eddie. This wasn't during KCW, but during the testing stage of this pattern! The fabric was from my stash, but I originally bought it from Spotlight.

I added a bow on the centre of the racerback and used the graduated rainbow stripe fabric I used for Vincent's Beachy Boatneck shirt as binding.

Like a few of my other Doli's, it bunches a bit at the shoulders. I think when I stitch the binding around the armholes I need to not stretch it so much when going near the shoulders.

Her little headband is sequins stitched onto thin elastic. It's a trim I bought from Make-It fabrics a very very very VERY long time ago. There's been a few metres of it kicking around in my stash for a while, so I made a little headband for her.

Fern Doli
I cut up a top I bought for myself from the op-shop and wore a few times. I cleaned out my closet and sent this to the studio to be cut up. It was destined to be a Doli! It's very floaty fabric, I want to say it's a voile but I'm not so good with identifying floaty fabrics. It has a few beads and sequins stitched to the front in little groups, kinda cute!

Can you guess where my overlocker decided to die? Lol!

Colour Blocked Doli
You've seen this fabric before! I'm still saving every little scrap of what I salvaged from the women's shirt. I didn't have enough to make a full front and back of the Doli, so I mixed it up with some black poplin and did some 'colour-blocking' i.e. the buzzword for putting two colours together {ha!}

Needs an iron. Clearly!

There's a reason the last two dresses weren't on my little plumpkin. She was having a hard afternoon.

Cat Doli
Okay so this one I couldn't find today to take photos of so my iPhone snaps to show Sarah will have to do; here is my test Doli. It's very very imperfect, but I love it a lot!

I used this purple cat poplin that my Oma gave me :) It's so, I don't even know if it's a set era it came from but whenever it is I think it's dorkily cute! Edison begs to differ {when I take quick snaps of her in the my LouBee Clothing pattern test she looks like this. Case in point...}

There is a mystical Seventh Doli, but my serger has decided to pack it in so it is unfinished!

Check out some other Doli Tanks around the web that I found:

Ajaire made a flawless Doli in white with pretty blue binding.
You really have to check out the Doli's that the mother ship made, Sarah shows the original Doli + some others. SO CUTE.
Kat made the most comfiest looking summer outfit featuring the Doli. In her introduction post to our Sew Geeky series she also made a PACMAN DOLI. Yeh. Internet won.
Homegirl Amanda made a Doli, and layered it over a tee. Love layering, love versatility {& I LOVE Amanda}
Raych brought it to the ballpark by adding tiers of ruffles to the front and POCKETS. Yeh!
Susan made a lengthened Doli tank for her daughter out of this rad feather print fabric
Laura made a really really cute Doli in a rad dragon print. It's unexpectedly awesome!

Sooo you need any more motivation?

Have a Happy Doli Day!

Sew Geeky: Jango is my homeboy and an Introduction

2013-04-23T17:42:00.000+10:00

This is a very exciting post for me!

First let me ramble a little...
Since Kat and I started talking and becoming best biffles last year, we discovered we have a lot in common. It's not like we're separated at birth, but we compliment each other pretty darn well! While she leans more toward the Japanese/Anime style of things, I lean toward more typical geek ventures of comic books and sci-fi movies. Did I say we lean? More like we are dancing. Both of us like to game, but two things that we are truly united in is fun and exciting sewing for our kids and pushing boundaries.

Here's where it gets meaty...
So Kat came up with the idea of doing a series together. YAY! This was right before I even was asked to do Project Run & Play, so we started planning. It was pretty much a no brainer to do something geeky. And after realising we are no good at coming up with clever names, Sew Geeky was born!

Here's where you get the details of what the heck I'm talking about...
Sew Geeky is a once month sewing series hosted by myself and my dear friend Kat of Sew Chibi. Each month we will have a different theme, and our individual takes on the theme. We will be sewing for our kids, or sometimes for ourselves! Each month the theme will be something, well, geeky!

Our first Sew Geeky is going to go live on the most geektastic of days, May 25, Geek Pride Day!

Here's the part where we get you to sew along!
It's not just Kat & I doing Sew Geeky. We want everyone in on this. This means you! Each month we will have a nerdtastic theme. Each month we will have two guest bloggers participating {if you're interested, email us!}. Submit your stitchings to the Sew Geeky Flickr Pool. If it's geeky, we want to see it! We're talking sci-fi, comics, pop culture, board games, video games, if you've been called a geek for something you are passionate about, pop it in the pool! {A Flickr pool is a group made on photo-sharing website Flickr. No swimming necessary!}

Just a few basic housekeeping rules so it's not just a free for all as there are plenty of other places you can show off your sewing creations as well as various link parties! We want this to stay an awesome group for your one stop nerdifying needs!

- it must be something you have made, and not something you are trying to sell
- it can be children's or adult's clothing!
- please add it to the Sew Geeky Flickr group, otherwise we might miss your creations and we really don't want that! If you have a blog, please link up so we can ~~stalk~~, find you!
- no more than two photos in the flickr group please, of the one outfit. Feel free to link to your blog in the photo descriptions, and also feel free to make more than one outfit of course!

And last but not not least...

Here's the part where you can take our buttons!

And so this is still Kids Clothing Week related, I made these two tees for Vincent today!

Jango is my Homeboy
Fabric: White and navy stretchknit
Pattern: Dana's basic tee pattern. I added a pauldron on one shoulder. the front is white and the back is navy.
What makes it epic: I freezer paper stencilled Jango Fett's helmet onto the front. I was going to stencil the lettering, then realised I had some of Lesley Riley's TAP on hand to experiment with! More on this amazing fabric transfer paper another day! I added a pauldron on the shoulder, just one shoulder, because when it comes to making boy stuff, why does it have to be a regular tee?

Obi-Wan tee

Fabric: White fabric. I bought it thinking it would stretch, and it does a LITTLE. It's the same fabric I used for Edison's TARDIS bimaa sweater, and I stencilled both of them at the same time a year or so ago.
Pattern: Dana's basic tee pattern. I made the bands on the sleeves and around the neck too wide. Maybe it's Obi-Wan's turtleneck?
What makes it epic: This is just a tee with the Jedi symbol on the front, but to Vincent, it's Obi-Wan Kenobi's shirt. I used freezer paper to make the symbol, pretty straightforward and easy. The fit is weird, but it's entirely the fabric's fault. I made some bias binding in Jedi Brown {the only excuse to use brown ever} from some fabric, but it wouldn't stay ironed. This is the shirt of mysterious fabrics!

Can someone please tell me to stop making making white shirts for my 4 year old? Most impractical colour ever.

Don't forget to add your geekery to our flickr pool!

We want to see your true colours! There's a little nerd in all of us!

Kids Clothes Week: Alpine Punk

2013-04-22T19:31:00.000+10:00

Kids Clothes Week! It started today for me {in Australia}, and let me tell you, cutting things out ahead of time sure does make sewing speedy! Today I managed to sew a few things, but only got to take photos of these two pieces!

The Arsenic Tee
Inspired by this picture, I use Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee pattern to make this shirt for Vincent. I used an oatmeal coloured fabric I had in my stash, probably bought from a second-hand store here. I really love the fabric, I was going to make some sort of mummy wraps-style shirt, but then this just happened instead.

The Sleeves are set in, but the shoulders are cut like a raglan style {think baseball tees}. I used fake leather for the shoulders, they're nice and soft, and then added three studs on each shoulder.

The sleeves are a bit too skinny for Vince's arms, I think when I drafted out the size 4 pattern I didn't do the sleeve right? Anyway the length is great, he is supposed to be size 3, but size 4 shirts are fitting him better and better so I suppose I better just accept the fact that he is size 4 now! {He will be 4 in a few weeks!}. The fabric has great stretch to it, and I love all the little flecks in it. I used to have a pair of stockings in this kind of colour when I was little and my mum always called them our 'oatmeal' stockings.

Alpine Hosh Pants

These used to be a pair of leggings that my mum bought me when I was pregnant. They were ridiculous. Cute and warm but didn't stretch very much at all! I rarely wore them because they were very uncomfortable. Which sucked hardcore since I really loved the print on them and the knit feel they had.

I cut them up and made them into a pair of Hosh pants for Vincent. I did them up in a size 3. Lately I have been skipping the adjustable elastic in the waistband, and sewing up a full waistband for them, then stitching elastic in the back piece of it. Lazy, cutting corners, sounds like me! They're quite comfortable on him, and he liked them a lot. At risk of sounding like a broken record {no Sarah doesn't pay me to speak about her patterns, I just do it because I genuinely love them!}, this pattern rules. I have a few more Hosh pants cut out, then I'm giving a few vintage patterns a spin. Why fix something that isn't broken though? Hosh Pants fo' lyfe!

His boots are a size too big, but are from Pumpkin Patch {they were on sale. I really do not shop there unless there is a sale!}

That's what I have to show you today, I will show you the things I made Edison tomorrow! You can also check out my past Kids Clothes Week efforts here

I dunno

Sewing for Vince: My favourite boys patterns

2013-04-20T18:12:00.003+10:00

The Hosh pants pattern giveaway winner was Rebecca Holmes! Congratulations girl! Thank you everyone who entered, your comments were H I L A R I O U S!

I'm a massive fan of free patterns, but on the odd occasion I get peer pressured {by looking at the beautiful clothing my fellow mama bloggers make} into buying some patterns. I love the 'new' way of getting patterns! Buying them online, having the PDF emailed almost straight away to you. I can print them off whenever I like, cut them out in the size I want, and then print them again if I want a different size!

Here's a mix of free & bought patterns that I use regularly in making clothes for Vincent! A lot of them are basic patterns you can change up however you want to become something very different!

I decided to do a post here devoted to all my favourite patterns, with examples of what I have made from them! If you need more convincing, check out the Flickr pools for each of them. A 'Flickr pool' is basically a group of photos people have added! It's fantastic for inspiration!

1. Dana's Kids Pants
This is a FREE pattern,and one that I have used since Vincent was really young. The size is about a 2T, and I am now at the stage of adding a cm all around to make them fit my tall almost 4 year old. These are a FANTASTIC pattern for whipping up pants, or making them into shorts. Dana also has several tutorials on how to add pockets, how to line them, how to make them into several different styles!

[Flickr Pool]

The first pair I ever made Vincent was when he was a little guy! 10 month old Vincent wore a severely shortened pair of the Kid Pants. I added knee patches to them.

I need to go take pics of Vincent in all the Kid Pants he owns, or at least find old photos of him in them! I can't believe I've never blogged about them! You'll have to take my word for it, pretty much every pair of pants I have made him in the last 3 years has been Kids Pants.

2. Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee
This pattern is $10, but is such a great cut! It's perfect for Vincent, and it's important to have a basic t-shirt pattern that fits well when making clothes for your kid! Even if all you are doing is a plain shirt, or stencilling something to it. Or maybe you need a good pattern to do some resizing and t-shirt surgeries for your little guy, THIS is the t-shirt pattern to have! It comes in sizes 12months to 5T {and now 6-14!}

[Flickr Pool]

I used the Flashback Skinny Tee pattern when I made Vince's tiger shirt for Kids Clothing Week Challenge {October 2012 version}

3. LouBee Clothing's Hosh Pants
These are a fantastic, no fuss, fairly-quick sew for pants for boys {or girls!}. You can make them basically out of any fabric ever and they rule.

[Flickr Pool]

I have made a pink pair

A tuxedo striped pair

And several pairs I am yet to photograph and blog about! I love them so much I even hosted a giveaway for the pattern!

4. Blank Slate Patterns' Basic Blazer
THIS. This pattern is amazing. Do NOT be intimidated that it is a little guys {or girls!} suit jacket! It is easy to sew up! Just take it one step at a time and you will be So proud of yourself! It is only $7.95 and well worth it! This is the second blazer/jacket pattern I own, and it is definitely my favourite {the other one is a Burda pattern with a zillion pieces}. This is a great pattern, little guys' jackets are super expensive, and you can make this up into ANY fabric you want!

[Flickr Pool]

I used the basic blazer as a base for Vincent's motorcycle vest in week 2's look in Project Run & Play. I also used in in week 3's look, changing the collar to a shawl collar.

And I used it as the base for my Sgt Pepper's inspired military jacket for week 6!

5. Peekaboo Pattern Shop's Skinny Jeans
THESE. I'm serious. Go and buy them RIGHT NOW. For $8 you are getting a pattern that fits from 12months right up to size 8! And also a doll pattern is included. These are my base for pretty much every pair of jeans I am making Vincent at the moment. They have a faux fly, so no need to worry about zippers {although it's not difficult to add one once you get your head around it}, an adjustable waistband, and the perfect amount of pockets. These are the jeans you want to make when you can't justify spending over $20 on a pair of jeans for your kid! The pattern is for fabric that stretches a little, but I cut my non-stretch fabrics on the bias and add about 2cm on the side seam so it is comfortable for Vince. Bingo!

[Flickr Pool]

I cut them above the knee to make Vincent these cute mint skinny jeans shorts during Kids Clothing Week Challenge {October 2012}

And also in the yellow!

I used the Skinny Jeans in my week 2's look for Project Run & Play!

And I made them for my Week 3 look as well. I made dual-tone jeans for him, with zippers at the ankles!

6. Designs By Sessa's Baggies
These are such a cute pattern! They sew up fairly easily and just look so great! This pattern is FREE and is in a size 3T. I use old t-shirts for these, but you can really use anything that stretches! My favourite is the binding on the pockets and the contrast on the pocket linings.

[Flickr Pool]

I cut up 2 shirts for these shorts for Vincent for KCWC {October 2012}. I wasn't sure I was going to like them until they were finished and can I just say I LOVE THESE. So does Vincent. They have dirt stains all over the bottom :/

I also made this rainbow pair for him.

7. Dana's Basic Tee
This is only in size 4, but it fit my size 3 boy really well! It's a nice roomy fit tee. I made this up quickly out of an old tee of mine, and I loved it!

[Flickr Pool]

So in summary here's what my staple boys' patterns are:

Free
Kids Pants [2-3T]
Baggies [3T]
Basic Tee [4T]

Under $10
Flashback Skinny Tee [12mths - 5T][You can now also get the next sizing up in 6-14!]
Hosh Pants [12mths-5T}
Basic Blazer [18mths-8]
Skinny Jeans [12mths - 10]

Have you got an absolutely favourite pattern, tried & tested that you can't live without? Let me know in the comments or email me so I can try it out!

Hooded Hipster Singlet Tutorial & Pattern

2013-04-18T10:00:00.000+10:00

This post was originally over at Project Run & Play!

Hi! My husband has this singlet shirt with deep armholes that I LOVE when he wears {he has nice arms}, so I decided to make a small one for Vincent. I made some changes and I'd love to share with you how I made the Hooded Hipster singlet!

It features:

Deep armholes

A hood

And a patch pocket {which you can make from contrast fabric if you like!}

You can also opt to have it without a hood!

You ready? The pattern for this is a 3T, which you can download from here. {Please note I do not control the ads on Mediafire. Just don't click on anything except the green download button :) }You can alter an existing t-shirt pattern that fits your kiddie by lowering the armholes - make them almost double the original length. You can also widen the neckhole a little, not too much.

♥ CLICK TO READ MORE ♥

TARDIS Bimaa Sweater

2013-04-17T21:00:00.000+10:00

I love pattern testing! It's so fun to be able to help indie pattern companies, and try out their designs that have become their babies. I also enjoy learning new techniques on how to do things.

After the Hosh Pants, came the Bimaa Sweater from LouBee Clothing. An adorable little long-sleeved shirt/sweater that comes in two flavours - cowl or shawl neck. I am yet to try the shawl neck, putting it on my to do list for KCW yeh? It comes in sizes 12 months to 5, which I love in children's patterns. The wider range of sizes the better!

Edison loves it

I love the way the cowl drapes around the neck. I didn't make this out of very stretchy fabric, although I really thought it would stretch! I used navy blue stretch for the wrist cuffs and waistband, which by the way is my favourite way to finish off hems on anything! I cut out the cowl lining in the navy as well, and I love the way the colour flips out.

I sewed this up in the 12 month size, but the minimal stretch meant it fit my then-6 month old really nicely! Honestly when Sarah told me about this cowl sweater I was like "... cowl... cool..." And I just, I didn't feel it. Until I made it up! I absolutely love this actually, and will be great and cosy for my little girl when winter hits here! {It may not snow here, but it is bitterly cold!}.

I've never sewn a cowlneck onto a shirt before, but I liked it! And I think you will too! Another thing for you to put on your 'patterns to definitely buy & try' list I promise!

Here's a close up of the stencil. I did it like two years ago I think, when I first got some freezer paper. It was hell. Trying to cut out all those little... ugh. Whatever I will do it again in a heartbeat! I left the fabric just sitting there uncut.. I don't even know why!

Check out another tester's sweater! And you can buy the pattern right here!

Pink Hosh Pants for the Boy & Pattern Giveaway!

2013-04-13T21:58:00.000+10:00

I taught him how to howl

So I have a friend, her name is Sarah, and she blogs over at EmmylouBeeDoo! I love her to bits and I have been honoured to pattern test her first three patterns ever {my aim is to pattern test everything she makes always until her head explodes from making patterns}. Her first pattern was the Hosh Pants {Hoe-sh}, and I loved them right away.

So much that every pair of pants I make Vincent now are Hosh Pants. And it won't be long before Edison is big enough to fit into the smallest sizing. The pattern is $8.95 and goes from sizes 12months-5. I'm not getting paid for this by the way, I just love to share my favourite things with you guys!

I've made Vincent tuxedo stripe Hosh pants, I've made camoflage Hosh Pants, and now I have made pink Hosh pants with teddy bears over them.

What's up with that? I'll tell you. The kid, he is getting super fussy with what to wear. He always wants to wear shorts. I even made him Star Wars Surfer Slacks because it's getting cold here! Nope, not even Star Wars was going to make him wear pants without a bit of a struggle. So I sent him down to my sewing room and said, "Choose any fabric you want, and I will make you pants from it."

Well I think you can guess the rest of the story. He chose the pink fabric. So I made him pink teddy bear Hosh pants. And you know what? He rocks them.

He chose to wear them this morning. He didn't even ask for shorts. THIS IS RECORD BREAKING YOU GUYS. I'm sure all you mamas out there know that once you're onto a good thing you don't want to wreck it! Going to make sure Vincents chooses all his fabric choices from now on, and make some simple basics to pair with them.

Outfit Details

Tee: Living End band tee I resized down for him worn over a long-sleeved grey henley

Pants: Pink Hosh Pants - mama-made

Shoes: Etnies skate shoes, from eBay

I love this pattern, the skinny legs are not too skinny that he can't bend in them, the adjustable elastic waistband means it's... well, adjustable! I do love jeans on Vincent, but these pants I think he prefers since he can independently pull them on and off himself. He's very critical with what he wears, once he's dressed he looks at himself in the mirror and asks me, "Do I wook good in this?" Sometimes he substitutes 'good' for 'cool'.

Yes. This is my little fashion fiend trying on jackets in Myer. ^_^

The other awesome thing about these pants is that the fabric came from my Oma. I get so stoked when she gives me her old sewing supplies! She is insanely proud of me as a mother & a seamstress, and that makes me SO HAPPY. I love that lady!

I have one Hosh Pants pdf pattern to give away to a lucky reader! To enter, all you have to do is like Lou Bee Clothing on facebook and then leave a comment here telling me that you've liked it :) AND ALSO in that comment tell me the strangest request you have had for making items for people.

Entries are open to everyone on planets Earth & Mars. Giveaway closes April 18 at 8pm AEST.

Check out these Hosh Pants around the blogosphere for additional inspiration:

Floral Hosh Pants at Alida Makes.

Here's the tuxedo striped Hosh pants:

And here's the camo ones I made {quick hallway snap}:

Patchwork Gypsy Curtains

2013-04-13T09:01:00.000+10:00

So this week for The Sew Off the theme was Home Decor.

FANTASTIC

Really.

{not really}

Guys, home decor is so hard for me! I wanted to glue & spraypaint things, but then I realised it was the 'sew' off and all those ideas were swept to the side.

So I was thinking, things to sew. I came up with cushion covers, a cover for the couch or curtains. I went with curtains.

The striped fabric I used was originally for Vincent's Submarine Pullover, but it took a very long time for it to get from the Philippines to Australia. I still wanted to do a pullover in this fabric, but Tim was like CURTAIN THAT. I guess he wanted to look at it a lot, and also the apricot Venetian blinds we had were just... no.

I cut up that fabric, plus a pile of fabrics in my scrap box that didn't really match but I wanted to use them anyway. I cut out rectangles, not all of them the same length, and sewed them in long strips, before sewing them together.

Check out the BEFORE! Yeh this is all entirely my mess... Sorry Tim...

I added some pompom trim from the Weekend scarf into one of the seams, and in another seam is a little loop of fabric. That little piece of fabric is very special to me, and I didn't know how I was going to use it ever. I decided if I put it in the curtains then I get to look at it every day.

Wanna know what that scrap of fabric is?

It's a tiny piece of blue voile that is from the original Rainbow Dash Dress by my love Kat of Sew Chibi. Unfortunately she didn't make it through the kids clothing round of the Sew Off, which shocked me majorly! Onwards & Upwards though. Check out the home decor piece she made this week. Puts my curtains to shame!

Yep, used a scrap from a button up shirt...

I was going to use pompom trim across the hem of the curtains too, but then I founder a cheaper way :D Instead of $5/m for pompom trim, I found this pom pom yarn that was $5/ball. Yeh man! It has 23m in it! Weeeee!

Do you know how hard it is to take photos of curtains? It's so boring! I was just lamenting to ol' Katsykins that they're not like kids. Curtains just HANG THERE. Looking back I probably could have styled the table a bit, but hey, I cleared it off and wiped it alright? Anyway, whether this home decor-y enough or not, it was a much needed facelift to this window!

My pathetic attempt at making the curtains look EXCITING. Different angles yo!

Google Reader is retiring, so now what?

2013-04-10T08:59:00.000+10:00

I opened my reader the other day on the laptop and got a message basically saying I had 48 hours to evacuate the premises. Google Reader apparently isn't very popular. Well I guess that makes me a hipster, because I relied heavily on that reader!

I had all the blogs I enjoy reading in it, so I could read them whenever I wanted and never miss a post.

On my phone, there wasn't a Google Reader app, so I downloaded a nifty little app called "Feedly". It took me a little bit to figure it out, but I learned to love it. It imported all the blogs I follow into it for me, which was great, and kept the categories I had already sorted them into (fashion, DIY fashion, DIY mamas, children's fashion, fitness, etc).

I was pretty stoked to find out that Feedly had an actual site, it wasn't just an app! So now I have Feedly bookmarked on my laptop. Bye Google Reader!

If you use bloglovin', you can follow me here, it's an alternative way of making sure you don't miss a post. Or you could subscribe to my blog via email, which is in the sidebar.

Or maybe I should start a newsletter :3

How do you keep track of your favourite blogs?

The Sew Off: The Weekend

2013-04-06T06:47:00.001+10:00

You can vote for your two favourite looks here

I think I may have neglected to tell you guys that I am in another sewing competition...

Remember when I posted about The Sew Off over at Nap Time Crafters? Wellllll I auditioned and I got in! And you know the best part? Bloggy BFF Kat also got in! We are competing against each other, and it's going to get F I E R C E.

Week 1 is Kids Clothing themed. Pretty broad, so this was HARD for me. I ended up with things I have wanted to try for a while but never got around to it.

Here is my write-up for this week's Sew Off:

For us, the weekends mean spending time as a family. Play dates with friends, farmer's markets, swimming lessons and road trips. A pair of stretch-denim, tuxedo-striped Hosh pants mean Vince can jump and climb with his dad looking for geocaches while a black soft jersey cowl scarf keeps him amused & trendy with it's red pompom trim. His shirt is just two pieces, a front & a back with a bound neckband & a small placket on the shoulder to help his big head get through. The fabric doesn't stretch, so it is a loose fit to enable him to lose his shirt when its swimming time. Throw on his favourite kicks and the boy is set for the Weekend.

We were only allowed 150 words! Freaking out, my first write-up was only 59 words ahha. Then I had to try and stretch it out? Oh well, lucky I have my homeblog to blabber on and on and on and...

The Scarf

I made a cowl scarf like in my tutorial here, but I made it wayyyy longer so it would drape. Instead of using fleece, I made it more of a fashion scarf and used soft black jersey. Instead of a long rectangle, I made it into a point at the fold of the fabric, so when it was sewn up it sat like a little hipster neck scarf. I also bought some pompom trim from Lincraft and attached it on the hem of the scarf.

The T Top

I had it in my head that I wanted a shirt that was not made from stretch fabric, and the sleeves were all in one piece as the rest of the shirt. I had no clue what it was called or if it was even a thing. I asked my girls at The Sewing Library and some of them suggested a dolman-type style. Well it was the closest thing I could find to what I was imagining, as far as giving it a name was concerned, and so I went with that.

I used a button-up shirt that fit him, traced around it roughly so I had an idea of his body shape, and gave it like a 3cm seam allowance on the side seams. Okay maybe it was a 6cm deal on each side ahha. I wanted to make sure he could get his arms in and out easily, but also his lovely and smart head too.

The mock-up I made fit so well, it was great! Then this finished one, I couldn't get his head through when I bound the neckline. So I made a small placket on the shoulder seam, and added a button and a loop.

The fabric was gifted to me by an amazing friend, she bought it from Ikea. It's pretty much my favourite fabric there at the moment, as well as this one that you can colour in {which apparently I can't find online}. It's a thick fabric, and will do amazing for pants {I have a lot of this fabric! YEY!}

The Tuxedo Striped Hosh Pants

My go-to pants pattern right now is my girl Sarah's Hosh Pants {Hoe-sh}. They are a slim fit, with an adjustable elasticated waistband. You can buy the pattern here {trust me, it's one of those patterns you use again and again and again}.

I changed them up a bit for Vincent. These are the size 3, and fit his long legs well. I cut up an old black denim skirt my mum donated me, it stretched so was perfect for little skinny jeans for Vinnie who has lately had an aversion to all things pants and jeans {SHORTS ARE WHAT HE WANTS FOR WINTER. Yeesh}.

I added an electric blue sttriped down the outside of each leg, I'm pretty sure this is the same fabric as the Sgt. Pepper's jacket I made! The waistband isn't adjustable, I just added elastic across the back of it to make them flat-front.

This kid is having severe love/hate relationships with photoshoots. Between Project Run & Play and now, he HATED THEM. It was disturbing his play time. Suddenly he has decided he loves photoshoots, he wants to be a model and next photoshoot I need to make him a runway.

The other day he sat on my lap and we watched a few children's fashion shows. I absolutely love them. New Generals is my favourite, but this one had me in stitches. Vincent LOVED watching them. If we didn't live in such a tiny town, and if Tim didn't have such an amazing job I would move us to Melbourne or Sydney just so the kid could have a better shot at being a model. In the meantime, he can get plenty of practice here for me.

Oh wow somehow he lost his eyeballs...

Sooooo, you know what to do! Go over there and V O T E for your favourites. Yeh you heard me, PLURAL. You can vote for your two favourite looks.

Here's a hint, one vote for me and another vote for someone else...

Four Eyes!

2013-04-04T17:11:00.002+10:00

When I fell pregnant with Edison, all of a sudden I could hardly see. I couldn't read menus at cafes, I couldn't read street signs, and I definitely couldn't find Tim in a crowd... Or the car. I couldn't even read the subtitles on our giant tv, from 2m away.

This led to some pretty humiliating moments, I waved to a LOT of strangers and walked up to a LOT of wrong cars.

After Eddie was born I went and got my eyes tested, and because I've never worn glasses before the full strength of my lenses made me sooo dizzy. But the world was SO clear!! So I got half-strength prescriptions put in, and I was able to SEE THINGS!

Coincidentally, shortly after I forked out over $400 on a pair of glasses (the only frames I liked were Ralph Lauren)(its okay I got insurance), I was contacted by Firmoo!

I'd heard about them before, through a few other blogs I had read, so I was pretty excited to try them out for myself. Firmoo is an online glasses company. You can buy fashion frames, for you guys who like to pretend you need glasses but you don't ;) ! And you can also, I was happy to discover, get your prescription lenses in any of the frames!

I browsed for a little while, but headed right to the "wayfarer" style section. This has always been my favourite style of glasses, and because I already had an all black pair I decided my Firmoo glasses would be my fun pair.

Bam. I found these bad boys. I didn't hesitate to choose the blue-armed ones, and after pulling out my prescription from the optometrist & entering it, my order was placed!

It didn't take long for them to arrive, and they came in a nice hard case. Inside was some spare screws, as well as the GREATEST GLASSES CLEANING CLOTH I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED. This thing is always on the windowsill for cleansing my glasses, whichever pair I use. Seriously you should get some Firmoo glasses just for the cloth!

In comparison to my Ralph Lauren glasses, my Firmoo glasses are:
• less expensive
• lighter to wear (I don't get headaches wearing them)
• fun & colorful!
• the prescription is dead-on perfect!

The only thing I don't *love* is the part that sits on the sides of the bridge of your nose is a lot more noticeable than my Ralph Lauren glasses. That is really the only con!

Here's the coolest part of this whole story:

Want some FREE glasses of your own?

You can choose the frames or sunglasses, for free!! You only have to pay for shipping, but everything else they take care of!

Uh yeh, pretty rad!

Check out all the details here and choose your favourite pair!

I just saw a pair with checked arms...

(I *just* got an email about a giveaway they're doing if you like them on fb & twitter. They're giving away 100 pairs of glasses & free shipping... Guys get onto it!)

Edison & I shopping at Lincraft!

Pinchy & Punchy Pyjamas

2013-04-03T08:58:00.001+10:00

A few months ago, we went to Yum Cha in Brisbane. The highlight of the meal, for Vinnie, was meeting Pinchy and Punchy the lobsters. Now they're just lobsters that you can choose to buy and eat, but Vin didn't know that. Tim named them, and since then we would always play games pretending we are Pinchy and Punchy the lobsters.

The fabric is this lobster print, from the Fabric Fairy. I bought it with part of my Project Run & Play prize. Seriously buying from online stores has really made me rethink my fabric-spending habits. I would much rather buy online, and have to wait a little while {Shipping to Australia takes forever. That's not an exaggeration..} for it to arrive, than to buy at any real stores here.

For one, the quality of the fabric is incredible. I've never felt anything so soft at any store here! And secondly, there is a MUCH better variety of stretch fabrics online than in stores.

I used a red cardigan/sweater for the cuffs, waistbands and neck binding. I used Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee in a size 4 {Vin is a size 3} for the top, and free-balled the leggings. Since I made them a size too big for him, the pants are falling off {going to add some elastic in the back I think} on him, but at least I know he will grow into them.

I'm doing this thing where I am sewing for the future winter, it's cleverer that way. The kids have 0 clothes that will fit them this winter {Vincent will be 4 and Edison will be.. 1!} so I'm trying to plan some sort of winter wardrobe. The only problem is, Vin is in an anti-pants mode lately. He will constantly get changed into shorts, leaving little piles of pants and jocks on the floor from the toilet to his room.

We came to a compromise though. He gets to choose what he wants to wear when we are at home, but if we are leaving the house to go somewhere, or he is going to kindy, he must wear pants {or whatever I choose for him}. We pinky-promised on it.

Sunny Day, Everything's A-Ok!

2013-03-29T21:10:00.001+10:00

So I made a bunch of master patterns the other day, for Eddie. Slopers/Blocks whatever. I call them bases :) bodices and sleeves and pants in every size from newborn to 18months.

It's a good jumping off point for my next adventure. I still have so much work to do but it's nice to have a goal to work toward :)

This post already sounds a bit weird, I think it's because it's 2.30am and I have spent the last fortnight being woken up every hour by an adorable little piglet. I say it lovingly, but I am so so so tired.

This post isn't about sleep deprivation though! It's about this cute little top! It's the second version I've sewn up of the Chromium Tunic.

This flavour is 'vintage pillowcase' in 'Sesame Street'

I love how it turned out, it's lovely and lightweight. I didn't interface the collar because I was just testing the new & improved version of this pattern.

It's a go :) I lengthened the placket from last time, and the tunic length a little. It's a fun sew!

I enjoyed placing the pieces on the pillowcase and trying to make the most of the pattern, incorporating the little details into the shirt. A lot of my friends on Instagram reminisced a lot! It seems it was a popular children's sheet choice back in the day!

Now to draft up this tunic in other sizes & try those out. If you didn't get my totally vagueness up there, I'm going to start making proper patterns. This is like 3rd on the list, but I felt like starting in the middle.

:)

Also I used the blogger app on my phone. It's pretty basic and I am not loving it. All my photos are at the bottom, wehh! We are currently camping, it's a lot of fun! This post is probably the strangest post I've written, my brain is so sluggy, I took the photos at Plainlands which is like a rest stop while driving between Brisbane & Toowoomba. Edison had already demolished some ham & cucumber and I thought it would be the greatest idea to take pics of her while vin was on the playground. Oh brain, you so funny.

Night ya'll xx

Beach Bum

2013-03-24T20:00:00.000+10:00

If you haven't heard about the Sun & Surf blog tour by now, then I just don't know what I'm going to do with you! Let me fill you in real quick: A blog tour is where someone who has created a pattern, or fabric, or written a book, sends a bunch of blogs their product. Those blogs promote it, and it goes on a little tour, or a blog hop! Each day, one blog has the spotlight on them to show off what they made. Today it's my day for this particular tour!

The Sun & Surf Collection is brought to you by four amazing ladies in the 'sewing-for-kiddies' blogosphere, or as I like to label them on my reader, DIY Mamas! Together, Andrea, Kate, Melly & Shauna came up with an amazing collection together. They called their gang Pattern Anthology, and I'm pretty sure we will see more of these ladies {well I hope so anyway!}. There are more details at the base of this post, but for now do you wanna see what I made? Of course you do!

Let's start with the Surfer Slacks! I am a massive fan of See Kate Sew patterns {I have sewn the Sugar Plum dress over and over}, so it was a no-brainer to choose the Surfer Slacks when I was given the choice what to make.

I used a pair of second-hand jeans I bought at the op-shop. I've been making boy pants for a long long time now, and since he's in Kindy now I try and make him clothes that are going to stand up to his high-intensity playing {yeh man, in Australia it's government-approved pre-prep. He learns stuff! He's not a little kid anymore. He told me the other day he learned that a tree fell on all the dinosaurs and that is why they are instinct...}. So the jeans I bought were soft so he would be comfortable, and the denim had a bit of stretch to it. They were an adult's pair, and I managed to use pretty much the entire things as fabric for these slacks.

For the waistband and the cuffs I use a t-shirt my dad donated to me for my cutting-things-up-to-make-other-things obsession. It's like a blue grey, and super worn so it is so soft. I really wish these pants fit me because they are probably the most comfortable thing in Vince's wardrobe!

So see the part where there are no buttons on the back pockets? Yeh I DID have these cool orange buttons on, but then the fabric that I originally chose for the pullover didn't arrive in time and so in the end the orange just didn't cut it. I pulled them off, and meant to sew some more buttons on but I forgot. Oops! The buttons were part of my winnings for Project Run & Play from Lots Of Buttons. I chose mostly black buttons, but I had to get these orange ones for fun. They remind me of little orange slices.

These Surfer Slacks came up really easy and fast. I loved the little trick to get the back pockets rounded, although I changed up the way I finished them. The pattern gets you to stitch the pockets on, stitch the tabs on, then sew on the buttons. Since I like to use my machine to stitch my buttons on, I stitched the buttons to the pockets first, then attached them to the pants and then the tabs.

Vincent is a tall almost-4 year old, and these pants fit him perfectly.. I used the 3T pattern, his waist is 21 inches, but I thought the 2T would be too short for him. The waistband has elastic threaded through it, so you can make it as small or wide as you like. The fact that the cuffs can roll up and down mean that these bad boys will be getting a lot of wear for quite some time. He's slender {we call him Skinny Vinnie} and since we are heading into winter over here, I'm pretty sure you will see more Surfer Slacks around these parts! The pattern comes in sizes 2T to 6 and are quite suitable for a beginner!

I have already made three more pairs of Surfer Slacks for Vince, they're going to be great for kindy!

I also made Vincent a Beachy Boatneck shirt. I'm quite confident making t-shirts now, but this was my first t-shirt like this. It has a facing, and I really loved the new technique! It came together so quickly, and I LOVE the fit. This is one of those patterns I will definitely be using more often. The boatneck is perfect, not too girly for Vince, and the 3/4 sleeves and the curved hem? Love it all. LOVE. IT. ALL. {You hear me Melly?}

The fabric is a rainbow gradient from Girl Charlee, I got it as part of my winnings from Project Run & Play. Unfortunately I think I must have snagged the last of it because there doesn't seem to be any of it left. It was called "Rainbow Gradient Stripe" or something with those words in it if you want to search for it another time. it's a great fabric, but even after I washed this shirt, Vincent is complaining that it's too itchy. It must just be one of those unfortunate fabrics that are amazing, but just not great. I still have some left, so if I use it for clothing {what else would I use it for? lol} I will have to line it.

Finally, I finished this look off by using the Submarine Pullover! When I started thinking of making an overall look for this tour {wow can you tell I've got some Project Run & Play hangover still?}, I wanted it to reflect the Australian beaches of summer. My favourite beaches are up at the Sunshine Coast at Maroochydore and Caloundra and all the towns around there, but mostly down in New South Wales around Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads. I love how laid back it is at those southern beaches, everything is so chilled out and you can really get into vacation mode even if you're only there for a few hours. Of course we couldn't pile the kids into the car for 3 hours to take a few pics, so we settled for the Wynnum waterfront in Brisbane :)

I bought this fabric off Etsy to make the pullover, but since I live in Australia, shipping from anywhere outside of my country takes F O R E V E R. So on Friday, when it hadn't arrived yet, I needed a plan B. I was a bit bummed, because the Indian cotton was exactly what I was imagining this hoodie up in.

So I went to my studio and looked at all my fabrics and nothing was what I wanted. Then I found this humoungous plaid collared t-shirt that my dad gave me. I had wanted to make Vince a little hoodie out of it, so I wondered if it would be enough for the Submarine Pullover.

I couldn't believe it, but it was!! I was able to cut the entire pattern in a size 4 from ONE SHIRT. One outside hood piece is piece together from scraps, but the rest fit great. The inside of the fabric was this maroon colour, so I flipped the sleeve, placket, hood lining & breast pocket patterns when cutting them out.

The GIANT buttons are apparently antique, and came from Holland with my Oma's sister. My bad. Mum flipped when she saw them, but I justified using them because they have been sitting in our button box for YEARS and YEARS not being used. She was okay with it, as long as I salvage them if this pullover ever gets chucked.

Yeh no, that won't happen. I LOVE THIS HOODIE.

Since it's made from t-shirt material, and old second-hand from my dad t-shirt material, it is so soft and worn. It just drapes so well. And this pattern is like the perfect hoodie pattern. The smallest size is a 2T, but I am definitely going to resize the hell out of this pattern because Edison needs one this winter!

Since we're the last stop of the tour, if you haven't already, head over to check out the previous blogs that have sewn stuff up for this tour too! They are listed below:

You can buy these patterns over at Pattern Anthology, today is the last day to purchase them at the discounted price as bundles. You can buy the whole collection of 8 patterns for little guys & little girls {2T-6}for $39.95, OR you can buy the boy bundle {Surf Collection} consisting of the three patterns I used here plus the Coastal Cargos OR the girl bundle {Sun Collection} consisting of the Carousel Top, the Boardwalk Skirt, the Santa Monica Cinch Jacket and the Sunshine Dress for $24.95 per collection.

So um, don't delay! Get over there you guys. Stop reading this. I'm serious. Get goin'. Shoo! Click and go!

Panda Ruffled Sunsuit

2013-03-23T00:49:00.002+10:00

Do you ever find projects that you've shoved in the corner of your sewing space and wonder why you didn't finish them? This is one of them. I made an entire sunsuit for Eddie about 4 months ago, and all it needed was buttons & buttonholes.

I've made this style before, it's by Little Betty Sews and very easy to make! Also free! I've also used this fabric before!

This was the 1 year old size, it's a little roomy on Eddie {except for the thighs, man! Legitimate drumsticks that girl has!}. I didn't hem the ruffles and I'm regretting it already. In future, all ruffles will be hemmed. I'm not really a fan of the frayed look!

Anyway I was looking for something else in my sewing room and found this all folded up in my pile of to-finish. I grabbed some buttons, some crappy thread, and somehow bent a needle with the buttons I used trying to sew them on. Eh, whatever! They're on now!

Now she has something fun to wear when we head to the beach to take pics for my next blog post :) Stay tuned, Sunday yo!

Nope. She can't crawl yet! 8 months and still quite content to sit on her butt. This is actually the first time she's held herself up on all fours, girl has no upper body strength! I like it though. She stays where I plop her.

The Sew Off

2013-03-21T18:48:00.001+10:00

My fellow contestant on last season's Project Run & Play, Amy, is throwing a cool sewing competition!

It's not just kids clothing like Project Run & Play is, it covers a range of different categories which is going to be pretty cool! You can check out the weekly themes here, the prize packages here, and also audition here!

You have until the 27th March to get your audition piece in. It can be anything you have made within the last three months! Go!

And yes, I did enter, just for fun. I really don't think I've got it in me for another competition right now! haha

T-Shirt Surgery for the Baby

2013-03-06T09:00:00.000+10:00

It's been raining here for months it feels like, I have no idea what happened to our summer, but now that it's a few days into Autumn it's already cold!

Eddie had an awesome wardrobe of lovely shorts and dresses and cute tees in corals and mints, I'm really not into pink anymore {excuse the leggings she's wearing ahah} so I chose all these pretty pastel colours. And now she has nothing to wear because it's too cold for her new things!

Lucky I'm still on a stash-busting kick, and I pulled out a few shirts that were headed to the op shop to resize for the little girl. I made her a whole heap of long-sleeved shirts the other night.

I drafted a quick tee pattern for her from a cute little long-sleeved shirt I had her in a few days ago. This first shirt was a frilly tee I bought when I was pregnant with Vincent. it was like my 'nice' shirt to wear if we went to 'nice' places. I didn't wear it once during my pregnancy with Edison. I hated it. I kept the frill at the neck and resized it to a small shirt for Eddie, the sleeves are made out of the bottom sides of the original tee.

I op-shopped this shirt during Project Run & Play when I was looking for ideas for Spots & Stripes week. I was originally going to hand print a spots & stripes tribal idea onto a shirt, but scrapped the idea. Then I found this tribal print tee for reconstructing another day.

It was an adult-sized midriff top that was a bit mullety at the back. I kept the dip at the back.

This shirt was originally Vincent's. I loved it, I love striped tees on him, but I unwisely let him wear it one day while we were painting. The paint never came out, but instead of getting rid of it I sized it down and made a stamp out of craft foam & a cotton spool

There were a few spots of paint on the chest of the shirt, which I covered up easily enough, then decided to keep stamping. I did some stamps down the sleeve and then one at the centre back too.

Cool Fabric Stamping Tutorials
Here's a bunch of cool ways to stamp and print fabric that I have found:
Lines Across stamps using craft foam & a wood block
A Beautiful Mess herringbone stamp using craft foam and cardboard
Cut and Paste stamp using a pencil eraser
See Kate Sew uses a stamp & fabric ink
Paper n Stitch stamps using craft foam & an old film cannister

Check out this cool kawaii cloud stamped pinny that Kat made using a rubber cork

Tartan Fisher Boy Shorts

2013-03-04T10:00:00.000+10:00

I have had these bookmarked/pinned since Katy from No Big Dill made them. That's a long time ago {2010}, and finally I made a pair of fisher boy shorts for Vinnie! They were super easy to make, the idea is basically to make a baggie-ish pair of shorts and add a cuff around the calf.

I made it even easier! I resized a pair of tartan shorts that were in my stash, they are linty and the little hook at the waistband closure was missing a piece. I added a black button instead, and put two black stripes down the sides as well as adding the cuffs.

I think they look like little Scottish shorts rather than the punk-ish vibe I was heading for... oh well! I like them!

linked here

Freddy Shirt

2013-03-03T09:00:00.000+10:00

Why yes I have been busy after PR&P. It was just unfulfilling sitting around and NOT having anything I HAD to sew. So I've been making myself busy. I've been pattern-testing for a friend, planning some awesomeness with my hetero life partner {as her husband calls our relationship} and waiting for my sister to have her little baby!

This morning I made this tee for Vin, cutting up an old Emily the Strange tee I once loved to pieces {there are holes in it. I love that thing}. It originally had a print on the front, but it peeled off. It was weird and I was bummed since Emily the Strange gear isn't cheap.

Anyway once I had babies, my body completely changed, mainly in the chest area, so this tee became WAY too small and short. I'm definitely not into midriff tees, not even slightly cropped as this one was now, my tummy skin is a mess.

So this was in the refashion pile, and when I was looking for something to cut up to try out Dana's new pattern, this kinda jumped into my hands. The pattern is simple & straightforward, easy to use! It's a one-size pattern, for 4 or 5 year olds. It fits my skinny 3.5 year old pretty well with lots of room to grow. And it's free!

I've made tees before. I've made HEAPS of tees, I've reconstructed them for myself, for Vin, for Eddie. I got this. Knits {this is American for stretch fabric. Not actually knitted with knitting needles fabric ^_^} are not so scary to use, if you are worried use lots of pins and check out Dana's guide to stretch fabric and also Rae's series on Knits. Both very helpful if you are intimidated!

It's been raining for weeks and weeks, since the start of the year. There's so much flooding happening in towns around here, and one wall of our house has to be replaced! We're living in two of our three bedrooms, so frustrating but I know that people down the range have it A LOT worse than we do. Every time it stops raining I send Vin outside to jump on his trampoline. There is definite cabin fever going down here.

Anyway, go try out that pattern. It is super simple & easy!