34. KCW Day 2 & 3

Unfortunately Day 2 was a write off as I was a bit run down.  After the boys were in bed, all I wanted to do was lie on the couch.  So I did. Not the best start but lets not dwell on it...

So today I made up for it.  I made Rohan a pair of footed pants.  These are out of Ottobre Spring 01/2014:

Ottobre 01/2014 - 11. Little Feet footed pants

I made them up in an elephant microfleece that I picked up at spotlight when it was on sale for $6/m.

Baby footed pants - front (no idea why the waistband looks crooked as it isn't)

Baby footed pants - back

I cut a size 68cm and didn't alter a thing.  I have previously made him a 62cm pair which he is nearly out of, so I knew that the crotch depth was high but not silly-high so I left it as drafted. Everything except the feet and waistband were done on the overlocker, so they were super-speedy.  Ottobre instructions are scant at best but with something as simple as these you really don't need anything too detailed.  It is Burdastyle magazine for children :)

I tried them on Rohan and they were a tad too long and the crotch length was a little high on him.  Thankfully babies grow so quickly they will fit him perfectly in a couple of weeks!

As I was on a roll and had a sleeping baby, I also unpicked the waistband of the tracksuit pants that I made on Monday and reduced the crotch depth by 1".  They are now SO much better!

Baby tracksuit pants - front

Baby tracksuit pants - back

I am now happy with them.  My pattern matching is OK but I wish I had lined up the centre front.  I was lucky it turned out as good as this - pure chance!  The coral fleece is very warm which will be perfect for our up coming trip to New Zealand.

Hopefully I will get photos of Rohan wearing them tomorrow, weather permitting.

Frustratingly, Rohan had a really long midday sleep today and I spent over half of it threading and re-threading my overlocker and it still isn't working.  I decided to change threads to start on Julian's tracksuit pants and I pull through the threads as normal but one broke and that was it.  I am up to re-threading attempt number 5...grrr...

33. KCW - Day 1

I have got off to a good start with Kids Clothes Week.  I have cut out Julian's tracksuit pants, Rohan's footed pants and a pair of tracksuit pants.

As I had white thread in the overlocker, I decided to start sewing Rohan's tracksuit pants.  The fabric is a coral - fleece lined sweatshirting which was left over from a top I made for Julian in my second KCW.  There is a niffy crotch insert and the front/back are cut in one piece with a centre back seam.  The pattern is from Ottobre 04/2013: 

Ottobre 01/2013 6. Tiikeri Sweatpants

I cut out size 68cm as that is how long Rohan is.

 The fit was surprisingly good considering that Rohan is quite slim (for a baby).  My biggest problem is that they are VERY high waisted.  I am tempted to leave it as is, however I know that it will annoy me.

The above photo is after I rolled down the waistband and it looks much better.  So I will need to take off approx 1"/2.5cm to make it look OK.  With Ottobre I have found that the baby pants are too high waisted and yet the child pants always need extra depth to accommodate the nappy.

32. Kids Clothes Week - July 2014. I have signed up!

So I had a baby boy in January.  We named him Rohan and he is lovely :) By pure coincidence,  one of the people I was in the handmade fabric swap Craftykitty has a free hoodie pattern called Rohan, which I will obviously have to make:


ANYWAY,  as I now have 2 boys and a stack of Ottobre magazines with possible patterns marked,

I thought that I had better sign up for the Kids Clothes Week July 2014!

I have done this before and I found it quite motivating. This year it has a theme - Kid Art - which is a great idea but I don't think I am up for it.  I may change my mind...

I have a plan of sorts - Julian needs tracksuit pants and Rohan could do with a few more pairs of leggings.  I am also considering making jeans/cords for Julian.  He isn't 4 yet but he is in size 5 pants (he is 111cm tall).  I am now finding that he is too skinny for size 5 skinny jeans even with the button elastic waist. I would like to make Julian a polar fleece jumper as I have traced the pattern and I need to get it made better he is too big and I have to trace the next size up!

Hopefully you will see more of me around these parts from now on.  I have been sewing but mainly quilting and home dec projects.  See you tomorrow!

31. Homemade cleaning products

This post is mainly for me, just in case I lose the piece of paper with the recipe for best cleaning spray EVER.  I have made the switch to homemade cleaning products as I was disgusted/dismayed at how the grout in the shower at the old house was getting eaten by the cleaning products I was using.  Also the smell/burning nostrils wasn't pleasant either.  At the new house, I swore off these products (BAM, Spray'n wipe, Harpic etc) and now I am converted!

Miracle Spray:
1.5L Water (1cup/250ml very hot/boiling)
300ml White Vinegar (Cheap homebrand from the Supermarket)
60ml Liquid Castile soap (I bought Eucalyptus scented, Dr Bronner brand)
3 dessertspoons Washing Soda (Lectric brand AKA Soda Crystals or Sodium Carbonate)

Dissolve washing soda in hot water and add remaining ingredients.

Makes 2L.  Use in a spray bottle. 

This stuff is AWESOME!  I spray it liberally onto the shower, bath and basins and come back about 10mins later to RINSE it off.  Even if it has dried and gone white/filmy it washes off easily leaving a wonderful streak free finish but you MUST rinse.  It makes light work of soap residue too - big smiles from me.

Scourer
50% Borax (Tub of crystals from supermarket)
50% Baking soda (1kg container from Bunnings, cheaper than the supermarket)

Mix up in a jar and sprinkle whereever you would normally use Jif or an abrasive cleaner.  This one is excellent when used with a scrubbing brush.  The added bonus is that Borax is a mold inhibitor, so if mold is your problem this will help.

All-purpose Cleaner
50% White Vinegar
50% Water

Simple as that, mixed in a spray bottle.  You can add drops of Tea Tree, Lavender, Eucalyptus or any essential oil to mask the vinegar smell.  The best part is that it doesn't need to be rinsed off!

I do all my cleaning with a stack of Microfibre cloths which I bought from Bunnings for $10 (36 cloths!).  They just get thrown in the wash and are good to go again.  I never use paper towels on the floor anymore and use these instead.

BUT that is as far as I will go for the moment.  I still use Finish in the dishwasher, OMO Sensitive in the Washing machine, Napisan for soaking and an Earth Choice toilet cleaner.  It works for me.

***Update: I have just found this from the website CleanMama. LOVE the printables! ***

30. A while...

OK, so I am not good at keeping this blogging thing up but I hope to get back into it sometime soon. 

I did just sign up for another Craftsy course.  I really am a sucker for 70% off and a 'free' pattern.

And no, I have not started the Couture Dress one yet.  This is mainly due to my growing girth but that will gone and screaming very soon, so I should have plenty of time (around 2-3am) to watch it :)

29. Umbrella trimmings competition

No I just didn't get to making anything with my Umbrella Prints trimmings but my friend did:


Isn't her entry brilliant!  Actually she has entered 2 into the competition.  
Here is her second entry, a playmat:

 Go on, have a look at the other entries and "Pin"my friend!
Umbrella Prints Trimming competition - Hurry as it closes TOMORROW!

28. And we are back

Don't EVER move house!

Actually the move wasn't too bad and neither was/is the unpacking.

The problem is Telstra (and TPG).  The good news is that we now have cable internet - YAY.  The bad news is that it took 3 weeks and we have a stupid Telstra T-hub2 that we have to return as they have billed us $360 for it when they said it was free.  So we haven't finished yet...

Anyway, after trawling through 1121 posts on Bloglines, I discovered where I first saw that Craftsy course - Did You Make That.  Now that the weather has turned and it is bucketing down, I think the summer dress will have to wait.

No sewing around here at the moment but the new Ottobre magazine has arrived with a pull-up jeans pattern - perfect timing for potty training.  *groan*