38. Wardrobe planning

It is January (for another 2 days) so obviously I am thinking about the year ahead.  I have returned to work after my last ever maternity leave and this is my last week of only working 2 days a week.  Next week I will be working 3 days and this will be my "new normal'' probably until Rohan starts school in 4 years time! This has got me thinking about the life I want to live and what makes me happy.  Sewing definitely makes me happy.  However I haven't shifted the baby weight as easily this time around, so I am not the size I used to be, let alone the size want to be.  With the limited amount of sewing time that I have due to 2 small kidlets and working, do I want to be spending it on making clothes to fit my current body shape/size?  I fear that if I do this, I am accepting my current body is a permanent change.

Source

I really do hate exercising.  I have printed the picture above and stuck it in front of our treadmill.  I bought an app for Couch to 5k and I have used it only 3 times!  I know that running is the only thing that shifts weight for me and that is why we bought the treadmill in the first place!  I spend hours on pinterest trying to find printables to chart my weightloss (they aren't very good either) and then watch Martha Bakes on Foxtel afterwards. 

Source

 I just made this fantastic Devils Food Cake for my birthday (it makes 2 tall 20cm/8" cakes!) which also explains why I am the size I am.  In addition I finally gave up breastfeeding a week ago - a whole year!! - and I am so chuffed with this.

So the long of it is, that I must focus on the things that make me happy (sewing and baking) and suck up the things that I dislike (exercise).

Which brings me back to sewing.  I haven't read  sewing blogs in ages (thanks to Pinterest) and when I sat down last night to read them using Bloglines, I discovered that Bloglines no longer exists! At the time I cursed and grumbled as I had no idea what blogs I actually read as it had been so long, so how could I set up a new blog reader?  I tried Feedly for 1day and I didn't like it, so I gave Bloglovin' a try.  Wow, isn't it fantastic!  It was so easy and I discovered some new to me blogs which are awesome!

I also did a search on "Capsule Wardrobe" and "Wardrobe Planning" as that is what I really want to do. There is the brilliant 2014 Wardrobe Architect series on Coletterie and the 2015 revision which is just starting; the excellent Wardrobe planning post on Grainline; the SewMamaSew post from IndieSew for a Handmade Wardrobe; Into-Minds whole website!; Make me a Wardrobe on My Make do and Mend year; SewOutnumbered and her Capsule wardrobe planning...Phew that was a lot of links!  So here it is, I think I am finally going to commit:

Source

I was just looking through my Pinterest and discovered more Capsule planners and Wardrobe builders which I must list here for completeness:

Project 333
Unfancy
Sewing plums

And how did I ever forget Sewing Pattern Review Wardrobe competitions.  There are lots of great ideas there and I see that there is a Travel Capsule competition starting 1st February!  Maybe this is a bit soon for me.

37. Geometric tracksuit pants

  And now for photos of Rohan in the tracksuit pants.  The waist is still quite high but should allow him to fit them for a while.

The legs bunch up a bit around the crotch which shortens the leg but thankfully the long cuffs mean his little shins aren't exposed.  I am hoping this isn't a problem as he grows. 

Overall I like them and they are very cosy.  Next pair I plan to coverup the back seam and to add knee patches just like the Oishi-m Juxtapose legging:

Image from Oishi-m

Image from Oishi-m

Absolutely LOVE these but they are already sold out :(

36. KCW - Day 7 and beyond

Finally photos of Rohan wearing the elephant pants:

They fit really well and even though they are a bit long in the leg, they are not unwearable now.

I did manage to get the top for Julian cut out of some nice thick green polar fleece from Spotlight.  This is the Ottobre 06/2012 Winter 14. Manni Zipper front top and I cut out size 116cm:

Ottobre 06/2012 Winter 14. Manni Zipper front top

Ottobre 06/2012 Winter 14. Manni Zipper front top.  Green polar fleece.

I also cut out the long sleeve T-shirt for Rohan using Ottobre 4/2013 Autumn 6.David.  Once again I cut out size 68cm:

Ottobre 4/2013 Autumn 6.David long sleeve T-shirt

I chose this pattern as I had the merino wool scraps from my SIL and the lovely Maze and Vale sample packs for the elbow patches.  The sample packs are great as the scraps are a usuable size - good for clothing embelishment or quilting. I see that the next lot is available on August 15 if you are interested:

After a bit of trial and error with the sleeve patches, I eventually chose the teal blue:

I have a little scrap of the print left over and I am thinking of adding a little pocket on the front for interest.

And that is it for Kids Clothes Week July 2014.  I wish I could have done more but there are limitations when there is a baby in the house. In all, I am happy with what I managed to get done.  The best part is that Julian loves his tracksuit pants and he was excited that I was going to make him another top.  Fingers crossed I can keep my sewing mojo :)

35. KCW Day 4, 5 & 6

Sometimes the best laid plans don't work out and unfortunately this was such a time :(  I was too tired to contemplate fixing the overlocker or risk making a mistake cutting out something new, so nothing happened.  Thankfully today was better and I managed to re-thread the overlocker and whip up a pair of tracksuit pants for Julian.

I used the basic sweatpant from the Autumn 04/2013 Ottobre (Love the hoodie too!):

Ottobre 04/2013 27. Ultimate Casual basic Sweatpant

I made the executive decision that a 4 year old does not need pockets, so I omitted them.  Might also have been due to laziness...I used some blue sweatshirt knit from Spotlight that I have also previously used for trackpants.  It wears well and best of all if/when it gets a hole in the knee, only a small ladder is created not a gaping hole.

Ottobre 04/2013 27. Ultimate Casual basic Sweatpant - Front

They are not very exciting but are perfect for childcare and mucking around home.  It is difficult to differentiate between the front and back, so I added a piece of ribbon to help when dressing.

Ottobre 04/2013 27. Ultimate Casual basic Sweatpant-Ribbon detail

As you can see this blue is closer to black, so I should have used black overlocking thread.  Might not have looked so messy if I had done.  Oh well, it is the inside of a pair of tracksuit pants so I am not too stressed about it and Julian wont care either!

Tonight I am going to cut out a polar fleece top for Julian.  This will be my second attempt at this pattern as on my first try I cut to line up the pattern and NOT the stretch on the polar fleece. 

Looks great doesn't it?  However I needed to dislocate Julian's shoulder to get him into it!  Lesson learnt.  I salvaged the zip and turned the jacket into legging for Rohan which he has already grown out of.

  My SIL gave me remnants from a woolen knit top she made herself and I am thinking of using it with a couple of Maze and Vale fabrics to make a top for Rohan.

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!