Sew Darn Tired

My niece came back from Japan yesterday and leaves tomorrow for New Zealand. She came past this afternoon to say goodbye in between seeing friends in town and going out for dinner with her parents and brother. After we had some afternoon tea and she showed me a couple of things she bought for the weather in New Zealand (which will be a lot colder than Japan and here where currently it is about 26-28 deg in the day time). She showed me some togs (bathers; swimsuit) she bought and mentioned that she wanted some swim shorts to go with them to wear under the wetsuit she'll have to wear when she goes caving (yikes!). So like the  yoga bag  I made a few short weeks ago, I made her a pair of swim shorts at the last minute...again! She chose the colours from my small stash of lycra. The hot pink was a remnant from Spotlight a couple of years ago and the navy was an Op shop find - I've made a few pairs of togs for Alex with this (another one nearly finished) and it's old but g...

Yes that is original '70's towelling. My Mum bought it in the early '70's to cover one of those click drop back couches that were covered in vinyl that was hot, hot, hot in the summer in Brisbane. However, as a mother of 5, she never got the chance so I grabbed it a few years ago. Looking for something else in my fabric bins, I found this again and gave it a wash.  It is a very good quality one - thick and soft. I love the psychedelic waves. I found perfectly matching bobbles  and some fantastic elastic that has cording running though the middle. (I put a label on the front left after I took the photos and it looks really cool). I should have taken a photo of the elastic - it's about 3cm wide and has the nylon cording throughout it evenly, but when you cut it and pull it out, there's plenty to tie up. I just made some button holes inside the 'waistband'. Basically this is just a rectangle with this elastic put on with the overlocker and then fol...

I made a t-shirt for my son. It's from Burdastyle 3/2013. I meant to photograph the pattern line drawing but I forgot. I am testing out the pattern for some merino ones I want to make for when my son goes to the U.K. for Christmas holidays. I wanted to check the size. The sleeve with the label on it. This went together in about 30 min and I'd say it's a 1 hour job to trace, cut and sew. Easier than shopping. My son has a favourite t-shirt that is raglan sleeved (white with black sleeves) that he loves so I promised I'd copy it. He only likes plain t-shirts with no prints on them and really they are quite hard to find. The fabrics are from East Coast Fabrics. I've just finished the edges with a three thread overlock and if my son wants me to hem it I will but I like the look of just the overlock and I like the curved hemline too. I also made a lumpy pillow out of one of his t-shirts that he loves (ha, one with  a print) but got too small. He loves ...

The new Ottobre is out. It's a really great issue. I haven't made too many things (a few not yet blogged) from my magazines but I will from this one I think. I really like a lot of the patterns this time. (I think that darker red on the cover is from shadows as it isn't on the actual cover). The pattern sheet at a glance. Love the dress on the right with those great pockets - looks much better than the solid colour one. I see this in scuba knit (but will Spotlight have any left?). I really like the zip up sweat shirt and perfect for some wool stuff I have in two colours, one just a remnant and not enough for anything even simple (believe me I have tried so many different  styles and I just don't have enough fabric so mixing the two colours will be perfect). I like this top (above) too. Hope if I make it, I don't look quite so frumpy though. I like the shape of the blue dress (above) but don't know if I can pull this off.. Also like the ...

Well this boy above will model it and the other boy will wear it. How fantastic that I don't have to beg  ask for Alex to put it on and let me take a photo. I got out my "Singer Sewing with an Overlocker" book that I got with my 4 thread Singer overlocker about 25 years ago (I also got a great travel carry bag for it too but I couldn't afford the differential feed which was a brand new feature then). (I also note that the book is "Sewing with an Overlocker"  and not serger). I was going to scan the book about how to flat lock but basically you start with a three thread (one needle and the two loopers) overlock stitch that is balanced. Then you loosen needle thread tension 'generously' (mine was under 1 - the lowest or most loose setting), then tighten generously the lower looper thread and loosen the upper looper thread slightly. Then overlock with the knife and when you are done, just pull at the seams just sewn. I have used the 'inside...

Yesterday I alluded to something I bought at the 2nd hand shop ... here he is! I found this boy black plastic mannequin on a stainless steel stand. He was only $10 so how could I resist. He's a good boy, doesn't say much (well he has no head just a neck so I guess I shouldn't be surprised), never argues and will always display clothes I make for his fleshier brother with no grumbling. He's about the same size as my 10 year old so I guess I have twins! I like that the stand goes up one leg so I will be able to put the shorts on him to really show them off! What do you think? Could you have left him behind?

This is how the jeans are at the moment. They just need to be hemmed, the belt loops sewn on and a button or stud on the waistband.  They look really good; a lovely shape. I used a lovely polka dot waistband lining that was once part of a dress I bought 2nd hand (a Laura Ashley - the cotton is lovely and soft - I changed the dress from a dirndl style skirt with a point in the front to a boxed pleated skirt a couple of years ago but kept the scraps a it was so lovely). All the photos are shocking... sorry, I couldn't get them any better. I took lots more... believe it or not these are the better ones! The zip isn't perfect but not as bad as it looks on the above photo. You can see on two photos that I snipped some inside threads and but it unravelled the sewing so I have to fix that up too. Pockets don't look too bad (but the thread is definitely not grey as it looks above). Topstitching is OK but not perfect, good practice though. Big question is why isn...