Archives for "Sewing"
The Bubble Dress and the Bucket Hat
It’s been a while since I last updated the blog. But it has been a while since I’ve been sewing, making crafts or baking. Blogging does seem to take a lot of time and effort when the day is all go between the waking and sleeping hours.
Anyhow, I did get some sewing done in the last few weeks. I had some navy polka dot fabric and thought it would be perfect for the Oliver + S Bubble Dress. I had extra fabric, so I made the Bucket Hat from Little Things to Sew. After I finished the dress, I realised that it would have looked even better with red piping round where you joined the bodice and the skirt. And I had envisioned a matching hat with red flowers or ribbon of some sort – but I didn’t have any on hand. As for the buttons, I only had 2 round ones, the heart button is there only because it was the closest match colour-wise.
Miss S had a ball “modeling” the outfit – she got to prance around on the deck in her brand new red sneakers, you see, and she had a lot of fun. Can’t wait for the warmer months so she can get some wear out of this outfit. 
Bubble Dress and Bucket Hat
Felt Blueberries and Pancakes
So… Miss S decided that she can’t eat blueberry pancakes almost every weekend and not have a set of felt ones to play with. So, I sewed some up yesterday afternoon.
Blueberry Pancakes in a pan
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The New Coat
Last October, I bought 2 coat patterns from Dear My Kids – The Pea Coat & The Double Breasted Coat. Hmmm… coat patterns – in October – in the southern hemisphere. The thought of making a coat during the heat of summer just does not make sense. But as the cooler months start to approach, it was time to get into my first foray of coat-making.
Miss S chose the Double Breasted Coat, so I based this coat on that pattern. Thankfully, Christine at fromanigloo had a sew-along (Day 1, 2, 3 & 4) for the coat, so I had a quick read before starting. She mentioned that they were a little on the small side, so I cut out the size 5 pieces and added seam allowances.
Light Denim Coat
Various projects
Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks. We’ve finally started working on the outside of the house. The deck got scrubbed and painted, The exterior of the house is about 3/4 painted. New baby gifts were made and distributed, books have been read, etc. Now that Mr K is back at work, we have to relegate the painting to weekends only. In which case, I had time to finish a few projects that I had been working on.
1) The ice cream dress:
The Ice Cream Dress
Miss S had been bugging me to make this dress for her since the pattern arrived in October (see post). I’ve since found out the reason why. As soon as I put the dress on her, she said “Where’s my ice cream, Mummy? This is the ice cream dress, so I get an ice cream.” Anyway, she picked the fabrics from my stash – I was a bit dubious at first, but they seem to work well together. I love the pockets, it was the first time I’ve made pockets and will definitely make them again.
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The Birthday Party Dress
So… I decided to make the Birthday Party Dress by Oliver + S.
I had a 1 metre length of this pretty green cotton, and it was just enough to make the 3T size! Next time I am going to remember to read the fabric requirements first before purchasing any fabrics for patterns.
Birthday Party Dress pattern + fabric
Making a dress from a commercial pattern is relatively new to me. I had to re-read the instructions a lot – mainly because I didn’t know a lot of proper sewing terms. It was also the first time I’ve ever attempted box pleats, but I am very pleased with the end result. I have to admit that the instructions are really good and the measurements very precise. And blind stitching by hand is really relaxing – especially while watching Project Runway!
Miss S loved the dress too. Her only comment was, “It doesn’t poof when I twirl, Mummy”. I’d make this dress again seeing that the Oliver + S blog has a post on how to lengthen a pattern (the pattern I have is 6m-3T).
The completed dress
Patterns in the mail
I finally caved a bought the Ice Cream Dress pattern by Oliver + S (and the Birthday Party Dress pattern + a Heather Bailey pattern).
And they arrived in the mail today!
The package was wrapped like a gift:
Pretty polka dots
Isn’t that wonderful? I was so impressed!
See, I love this sort of thing. Some people might say, “What a waste of paper. Think of the trees!”. But I for one really enjoyed it. It’s probably something normal for them to do, but it made my day and made me feel happy. Maybe it’s just me being dotty about polka dots, or the pretty colour combination, but I loved it. It made me feel special even though it was not a present…. well, technically it was since Mr K paid for it.
To the owner of Bella + Vintage Chic, thank you for making my day and I wish you the very best for the future.
The patterns
Guess what came in the mail today?
I got something in the mail today. It was from hyggeligt fabrics. When I saw the package, I was so excited – the pattern is here! I skipped all the way back into the house. I’ve had my eye on this particular pattern for a few months and because of the competition on www.fromanigloo.blogspot.com, I’ve won one!
I tore into the envelope, and found this:
Sunday Brunch Jacket + Skirt Pattern
It was the Sunday Brunch jacket and skirt pattern.
I was deflated – they sent me my 2nd choice. Maybe they ran out of the ice cream dress pattern, who knows? It was rather disappointing not to get my 1st choice.
But no matter, I was still happy to get such a nice pattern and I will still get to make some really cool jackets out of it. I might just have to shell out the USD 16 (plus international shipping) for the ice cream dress pattern one of these days.
Thank you www.fromanigloo.blogspot.com and hyggeligt fabrics for running the wonderful competition!
It’s spring… feels like summer though
It has been a long while since I’ve sat down and blogged. The weather has turned nice (no more rain, yay!) and Miss S and I have been playing on the deck and just hanging out. She turned 3 the other week and it won’t be long before she’s off to kindy. I can’t believe that 3 years has gone by just like that.
Anyhow, we’ve made a few visits to the fabric shops – this time Miss S got to choose fabrics for her dresses and twirly skirts. And some white blouses to go with the skirts. Oh… and a couple of lightweight cardigans too. I worked out that it was cheaper to make clothes for her than to buy then ready-made from shops. Only thing I can’t really make are socks and knickers.
Anyway… here are some pictures of what I have been working on.
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- Something Miss S will have to grow into – it was too big!
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- Cardi (Cotton + Merino mix) + Shirred Dress (Poly Cotton)
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- Merino + Cotton mix cardigan
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- Cardigan made from cotton ribbing
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- Tiered twirly skirt (Poly Cotton)
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- Shirred Dress (Poly Cotton)
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- 2-tier skirt (Poly Cotton)
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- Cotton sleeveless top
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- Cotton sleeveless top
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- Poly Cotton sleeveless top
As you can see, the dress and tops have bound edges. Gotta love bias binding!
Note: I used from an igloo’s formula for the tiered/twirly skirts measurements.
Felt Dumplings
I’ve wanted to make felt dumplings for a little while. We (well, Miss S and I) eat quite a few dumplings in our household. And I thought they would be pretty simple to make – since I knew how to make the real thing, the felt ones should be easy, right?
Hmmm… not really. Felt ones take way longer than real ones, and you can’t eat them after all that work you’ve put in!