Sunday, June 29, 2008

Pretty in Pink

I made the Farbenmix Jule top for Mollie back in April, and her teacher asked me to make one for her niece. She finally gave me the measurements on Friday and casually mentioned that she was going to Tasmania to see her family on Monday. Well, me being me saw this as a challenge. You know like uni days when I procrastinated until the last second, but this time it wasn't really me procrastinating, it was just pushing to see how fast I could get myself to do it.

This always has drawbacks doesn't it? I had to spend time pondering which size to make because of course the measurements I was given were between the two sizes, but based on the numbers I knew the larger size would swim on the little girl. Then I wanted to make a pair of pants from the extra fabric, so I had to find a pattern which meant looking through my Ottobre magazines. I thankfully found a perfect pair quickly (01/04 #16). But then the devil is in the detail isn't it? In my rush I traced the pants and then found I had forgotten to put the markings for the ribbon. When I went back to put the markings on the pattern, I grabbed the wrong piece. So after midnight on Friday as I'm sewing up these pants I realise that I've sewn ribbon on the the back right pants leg NOT the left front pants leg! ARGH! In the end I decided that it's too hard to unpick the ribbon and I sew a second piece onto the left front leg. At 2am I gave up and went to bed. In the morning I woke up and finished the waistband and hem on the pants.

So here it is...

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Dyeing again

I've been a neglectful blogger. I've been crafting, but haven't really finished some of the things to take photos of just yet. For now I will share today's work.

Today I had a lovely craft day with my friend, E. She was dyeing some baby clothes. I dyed some silk and flannel pieces to make some blankets. I also dyed a set of rainbow singlets for a friend's son.

The silks and the backing flannels

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Ruffled Skirts

This ruffled skirt thing started because of my friend Amanda. She made several super cute ruffled skirts for her daughter. She used the tute over at Grand Revival Design.

So this afternoon Mollie and I picked out some fabrics from the stash. Initially Mollie wanted to use a red batik with some other fabric that it didn't coordinate with. I eventually convinced her of this other combination. The decorative bits on the white fabric were like that when I bought it. Please don't think I went sewing Euro ruffles and cut out flower shapes onto the fabric.
I basically followed the tute. I added a tiny bit to the length and width of the bands because the author said the skirt fit her 5/6 year old which Mollie is, but Moo is taller than average. I used a rolled hem on the bottom of the ruffles. I couldn't help myself and topstitched the seams between the band and the ruffle layer. AND I used my ruffler foot to attach the ruffles to the bands. Because of this I didn't use the length calculations for the ruffle pieces. It's too hard to adjust the ruffler to gather a certain amount.

Here's Mollie modeling...
It's a great little skirt that takes very little time.


Friday, June 6, 2008

Mmmmmmm Chocolate!

I participated in the chocolate swap over at Crafty Mamas. Check out what I received...
The lovely Peta sent it to me. Thank you!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

An abundance of Antonias

Yet again I've been sewing up Farbenmix Antonia shirts. One shirt is for an order, one shirt is for my Etsy shop. Two are for birthday pressies.
I had to make the mermaid Antonia because Mollie has one just like and she insisted that her friend HAD to HAVE one just like hers!