FO: A Hat for M

Pixie has been wearing her new sunhat occasionally lately and a friend asked if I could make one for her toddler. M is coming up 15 months but is bigger than the Pixie so we tested out her out on him (neither of them were impressed) to check size. Turns out her head is bigger than his though not by a lot so I’ve made the medium size again. Finding non-floral and non-polka dot small non-orientated fabrics wasn’t that easy but I found a couple of coordinating fat quarters in our local wee sewing shop. And I’ve seen him wearing it which is great.

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Pattern: Oliver and S reversible bucket hat medium

Fabric: 2 fat quarters of quilting cotton, small amount of interfacing for the brim

Notions: 2 buttons, thread (white and blue), 1cm elastic <50cm

Modifications: sewed each half of the hat separately then joined at the brim, turned out and top stitched brim. Added buttonholes at side seams on hat body, attached buttons to elastic to allow for reversible hat with added security.

FO: Summer dresses for the Pixie

I had meant to post this yesterday but having an extra day of weekend (the “Early May Bank Holiday” is today) has us all confused as to which day it is. I’ve used some leftover knit fabric to make dresses for Pixie. This is the Peekaboo Pattern Shop Grand Slam Raglan which I’ve used before. I’ve made the short sleeve (boy) version this time in size 2 which is rather on the long side at the moment but should fit well when it’s actually summer. Pixie got rather annoyed at me when I was cutting these out as some of the fabric was leftover from versions she wears currently and she thought I was cutting up her dresses. All was forgiven though and she’s happy to have more buhbuhfies (butterflies).

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Pattern: Peekaboo Pattern shop Grand Slam Raglan in 2t (Pixie is 80cm)

Fabric: various leftovers

Notions: just thread, and I overlocked all the seams.

Modifications: both back and front necks are cut the same, I left off the neck band and overlocked then folded over and zigzagged the edge (similarly for the hems).

Burda 9464 again

Sometimes my children grow at a regular rate and sometimes they grow out of all their clothes at once. The overalls that I made for Hobbit became to short in the body all of a sudden and she was very very sad. Happily the pattern goes up to a size 11 so sewing to the rescue. I went up two sizes from last time to a size 9 and they fit well though do have a giant hem which I plan to let down as needed.

There is a minor modification to this pair as I managed to not transfer the need for cutting the straps on the fold and so ended up with only half the strap I needed. Instead of recutting (and I did have plenty of fabric) I cut another pair from some floral cotton and stitched them together using half the indicated seam allowance. This meant they still ended up the correct width for attaching to the body. Helpfully they also fit through the buckles more easily than last time.

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Pattern: Burda 9464 size 9

Fabric: 8oz denim from Minerva crafts – purchased 2m, probably needed about 1.25m.

Notions: 8 jeans buttons (flower), two bib and brace buckles, matching thread and Gutermann topstitching thread (2 reels) in 968 (gold)

 

More catching up

I have done a terrible job of recording my projects on the blog this year. I hope I can do better next year because I do go back for information fairly regularly and it’s nice to have it all in one place. This is another all at once post to hopefully get me all caught up so I can keep up with myself next year. I’ve also been thinking about plans for next year but that needs to be a separate post – hopefully sooner rather than later.

(Additionally I have been terrible at taking photos so some of these don’t have photos and some of the photos are not great.)

I finished my Wenlock sweater. It’s been hanging out on my desk for a month waiting for photos. I’m really happy with the finished product and love the colours. The tricky bits are all at the yoke which is the first bit knit then everything else is just around and around.

I finished a pair of sort of jeans sort of denim trousers for Hobbit. This is the same Classic Chinos from Peekaboo Pattern Shop that I used for the corduroy trousers from the last post. I had a wee bit of trouble with stitching the many layers of belt loops on but succeeded eventually.

Then there were overalls/dungarees in the same denim but with a purple/pink topstitching thread. This is the size 7 from Burda 9464 in the long length A with the front pocket from B. These are not nearly as long as the trouser pattern and I possibly could have gone up another size – I may be making more in the summer if she still loves them. She’s wearing them today.

I made a dinosaur onesie/costume from Simplicity 1765 view C. I modified the pattern to have a detachable (via velcro) tail and separate feet with soles so that he can pick and chose parts. This was a Christmas gift and I do have a picture of it all on.

Also for Christmas I sewed three hooded cowls from fleece for the kids from the Hooded Cowl pattern by Sew Desu Ne.

I have not yet sewn any t-shirts for Hobbit, I did sew a lot more quilt squares. The original pattern is a 6 x 8 top and I have increased the size to 8 x 9. I would have liked to have 8 x 10 but my 15 fat quarters were running too low. This is a photo of  it at 7 x 8. It’s now a sandwich ready for quilting.

I used some yarn my mother gave me at least 2 years ago to make a pair of gloves using Ann Budd’s Handy pattern book. The yarn is partly possum and nice and soft.

Having finished the gloves I made a hitchhiker shawl from a gradient skein my MiL sent for my birthday back in October.

And then it still wasn’t the end of the year so I made a hat out of yarn my parents brought me from the Isle of Skye at the beginning of the summer. This is Gather by TinCanKnits and the yarn is an undyed cheviot.

But that also went super fast and I had more time to fill in so planned to projects, while the swatch for Owlet was drying I knitted a Prism hat (by TinCanKnits again) in the leftover yarn from Wenlock and put a pompom on top. This was finished yesterday and now Owlet should keep me going until the CAL I’m taking part in starts on Friday.

There has also been progress on my vivid blanket – I have knitted up the 6 balls I have and need to buy more yarn but that is waiting for a bit. I have done some embroidery that I can’t currently show (hopefully I remember photos before postage) and I’ve just started a wee Owlet Sweater for the Pixie.

 

Sewing plans

I’ve been taking advantage of the lack of trips to school and extra adult around this past week to cut out a bunch of sewing projects. Fitting in sewing is doable during a normal week but cutting out requires a larger uninterrupted time so I often get ahead on cutting out before actually doing any of the sewing. I’ve cut out seven projects in the last week so should have enough to keep me stitching for a while.

1. Overalls for baby in size 1yr, this is the Kwik Sew pattern I’ve used before.
2. A shirt for Wee Man, covered in his beloved dinosaurs, again a pattern I’ve used before – a Burda one this time.
3. A shirt jacket for Wee Man, main fabric is some wool from Oma’s stash that my MiL gifted me back in May. I managed to get the lining pieces done in leftover dinosaur fabric, pattern is Simplicity 1328.
4. A unicorn skirt for Hobbity-boo, made from this twirly skirt tutorial.
5. A gathered knit top for me, pattern is the same as this purple one.
6. Another Granville shirt for me this time in some Liberty Tana Lawn.
7. A red t-shirt for Hobbity-boo in knit fabric from Oma’s stash. I’ve used the same pattern as in the short sleeved ones I made back in April (and apparently never blogged, I think there must be pictures somewhere so maybe I’ll manage to catch that batch up) but left off the neckband and just folded it over. This one is finished already.

FO: Thistle

As expected I finished the Thistle sweater for Wee Man at the end of last week. It’s slightly shorter than I would have liked to have made it but I was concerned about running out of yarn so didn’t add any length the body. I did add a bit of extra length to the sleeves as they are the last part worked. I worked the pattern as written except I didn’t break the yarn when I worked the fronts rather I started another ball for the other front to save on ends.

The yarn is Crucci DK which my MiL sent me last year. I had four balls which I used almost all of. I used 4mm needles and three elephant buttons on the collar and one on the hem.

T-shirts for a growing girl

By the time next winter comes around Hobbity-boo will have no long sleeved t-shirts that fit. (Well assuming she keeps growing anyway.) I had enough leftovers of jersey to piece together 3 t-shirts from New Look 1332. You might recognise some of the fabric from previous garments. View C is the long-sleeved variation and has contrasting tops to the sleeves and the front. There is a short zip closure at the back neck – I had enough short zips in my stash to use so all three t-shirts are entirely from stash. It was good to get some leftovers out of there. I have made size 5 and tucked them away with other to big items.

Working with blue

I have accidentally found myself with 3 blue WiPs, two knitting and one spinning. The current sewing project is luckily not blue (or at least only little bits of blue). I’ve been busy making birthday sweaters for the children who will both have birthdays next week (though Hobbit’s is going to get postponed a couple of days as her Dad will miss it otherwise). Hobbit’s is almost finished and Wee Man’s is probably about halfway or so.

Hobbit is getting a Lush Cardigan of her own. I decided against making an exact match for mine but have got the same buttons (in blue of course). It is size 2-4yrs for her to wear now. Since this picture was taken (and it was taken with the intention of blogging about it immediately but then I didn’t) I’ve finished the body and knitted the two sleeves. I’ve just got the button bands and ends to sew in left.

Wee Man’s sweater is made of some yarn my Mum sent him for Christmas. It’s to be a simple raglan pullover based on a Drops pattern. It has a button placket on one raglan sleeve and is worked bottom up. At this stage the body is complete to the armholes and about 3/4’s of one sleeve is done. I need to work the other sleeve and then put it all together to knit the yoke. I’m hoping to have enough yarn but have backup cream coloured sock yarn if I run out on the yoke.

The spinning I don’t have a picture of (the camera is charging so I won’t go and take one) but is some blue silk I bought 4 years ago at Woolfest. It’s only 50g and I was trying to spin more thickly but that is not really happening. The staple is longer than anything I’ve worked with before and overall it’s going to be a bit bobbly so not sure how usable it’ll be. The plan is to do a 2-ply yarn. I’ve been working on it while the kids slowly eat their lunch so I am making consistent if slow progress.

Apparently I signed up with WordPress 5 years ago today – not something I’ve kept track of but nice to know.

FO: Looks 1 and 8

After a slight delay because I ran out of red thread (which made me start working on the green one instead) I’ve finished both the coats I was making for the children from Five and Ten Designs Volume 2. I made no changes to the patterns and am pretty happy with the way they came out.

Pattern: Look 1 from Five and Ten Designs Volume 2

Sewn for: Wee Man

Size: 18 months

Fabric: Grass Green Twill and Light Grey Flannel from myfabrics

Thread: Gutermann 239 (green)

Notes: Used green thread throughout even on the lining. 4 25 mm buttons. Didn’t interface the placket. Didn’t do the extra topstitching except on the hood opening.

Pattern: Look 8 from Five and Ten Designs Volume 2

Sewn for: Hobbit

Size: 4 years

Fabric:  Anti-pilling fleece (Carmine) from myfabrics

Thread: Gutermann 226 (red)

Notes: 4 25 mm buttons. Some problems making the buttonholes on 2 layers of fleece but the fleece won’t fray so think it’s ok. Sleeves are lined with twill scrap fabric in a good colour match I had in stash.

 

Failing at taking photos…

Failing at taking photos and apparently posting about it too. Or maybe I did and just can’t find the post.

A while back I made Hobbit a couple of pairs of pyjama pants out of old pairs of Husbands that had ripped. She’s not started wearing them yet but is getting close to growing out of her current onesie style ones. I haven’t worked out what to do for tops though. I made a third pair this last week out of leftover fabric from the wrap dress I made last month (also unphotographed and unblogged). The pattern is simple with an elastic waist. The first two pairs a flannel material and this last pair is black interlock jersey. I used New Look 6641 in size 3 and plan to use it again for larger sizes as she grows. The pattern also includes a nightie and a couple of different top options (I’d need to work out fabric if I want to do those though there is still black interlock leftover).

The wrap dress I made is as yet unworn – my current excuse is that I need to break in my new shoes, but first it was not having shoes or tights to go with it. One day I shall get brave enough to wear it out of the house and not feel overdressed. I made option B of New Look 6674 but lengthened the sleeves to elbow length. It’s made using cotton interlock jersey in black and I have material to make another one in plum (I have to find time to cut it out without children crawling on it). I like it but think I should go down a size for the next version, I’m not sure if it’s the sizing or the material that’s making it a bit big. It definitely fits better straight out of the dryer so will have to see how it grows through a days wear. The reason I have so much material leftover is I had to buy in whole metres so bought 3m as the pattern required 2.5m only to find I could cut it out of 2m. It’s useful fabric so I’m not too bothered by having leftovers – it’s the same as what I used in trousers for Wee Man last year.

And finally I tried out a new trousers pattern for Hobbit this week. They’re currently a bit too big (though this could mostly be fixed by shortening the elastic) but otherwise work well, plus she can get them up and down herself. The pattern is the Basic Pocket Pants from Growing Up Sew Liberated by Meg McElwee. This is the book I made her cape from earlier this year. The base fabric is another old pair of Husband’s trousers (and I have more) with trim from leftovers from one of her new dresses. The basic pattern seems to work well for her so I do plan on more pairs – I may need to find some more neutral trim so they can go to Wee Man when he gets bigger but this pair was a test of pattern and sizing so I wasn’t too bothered. And look I have a (bit blurry) photo as she insisted they go on even though they kept falling down for the rest of the day (please excuse Wee Man in the corner – he was trying to get to the camera).