Sew Darn Tired

Here is my Dad wearing his new Urban Don  flat cap that I made for his 80th birthday. (If you don't know Urban Don go have a look as he makes such interesting clothing, hats and jewellery. The photography  on his website is really amazing also.) No one even picked that I made it - not until I blew my own trumpet and told them! Dad loves it and even though he knows it isn't polite to wear a hat at the table, he wouldn't take it off! I guess that's a prerogative it you reach 80!  I forgot to take photos when I finished it up yesterday - doh so unfortunately I don't have any showing the inside - there's another blog post in that when I get some photos in the next few days. I will say it was VERY easy to put it together - I lined mine also and it fits him perfectly. He's very happy with it and I'm happy he's happy. If you haven't made a cap before I highly recommend Urban Don's patterns. Again big thanks to Urban Don.

The strawberry dress is hold for a few days. It's my Dad's 80th birthday today and we are going out for a family lunch on Sunday. My Dad has always worn hats and caps and when  Urban Don  released a cap pattern a few days ago, I knew I had my gift. (Also one of my cousin's child is coming to Brisbane for a working holiday on Sunday morning also so I'll be busy with him for a little bit).  Edit: The cap is done but I will post when I get a photo of my Dad wearing it tomorrow. It looks great! The  cap pattern  is so easy, but I did mange to sew the cap pieces together incorrectly and only worked it out after I had sewn the lining together and had the cap and the lining topstitched (doh!). I just thought it was going to magically become a cap but unpicked it last night. I have most of it together but need some Petersham for the inside band. I bought some 1" bias tape but I think I'll get the Petersham tomorrow in my running around. The fabric is ...

I'm making Simplicity 8372. Instead of a shirt though, I'm making it into a shirt dress. I took the skirt pattern and put it on the top section and then cut it out. Made a boo boo though as I have cut the front skirt about 2 cm shorter. I don't need it shorter but will piece a big band on the bottom to make it longer and only you and I will know it was a mistake! Then I straightened it at the waist area to get a smooth edge. I decided that just cutting it longer wouldn't accommodate my hips so I made it a little A line.  This is more stash fabric. This is a left over from when I was making kindergarten sheets. It was bought at Spotlight about 4 years ago and it's just a cotton.    I used  Sherry's turn of cloth tutorial  for the collar. It works out really nicely. because it's just a cotton I used just a small 2-3mm allowance and that was enough. I also used a lime green polka dot fabric for the under collar.(you see the collar here wi...

I'm sure everyone has UFOs (unfinished objects). I think for every assignment I needed to distract myself from, I made  started a new sewing project! Hence, I have  had quite a few. This has now been rectified. I present: (sorry it is formatting strangely after I post but the preview is fine) Edit: Just wanted to add - all stash fabrics!  1. First up isn't really a true UFO but it needed to be done! This is the t-shirt that the owner of York Street Mechanic's in Auckland gave my son - he loves it but as a 9 y.o boy he is like "YUK!" at the boobies. So I made a slight modification below. I realise just now that's the photo with the pin in it, but all I did was zig zag around the bikini top and one boy happy again! 2. I had Butterick 5744 half made. I made it out of a light weight quilting cotton as a test run for the silk my friend bought for me in Vietnam. You can see the adjustments listed on the envelope and I have more on the instructions. It ...

I am cancelling the Brisbane Blogger's meet up. I have only had two takers and we think we'll try again next year some time. Thanks to Rosi and Bianca for their support however.