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*
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
27. Kids Clothes Week - Autumn
I really didn't think I would be doing the Kids Clothes Week this season as the house is in boxes and we move TOMORROW! I really enjoyed the last KCWC which was in October as it made me use the Ottobre magazines that I had already bought.
Somehow I did manage to make a sweatshirt AND a pair of tracksuit pants for Julian - a complete miracle!
Once again I used patterns out of Ottobre magazine. This is the sweatshirt (on the left):
And these are the tracksuit pants (with stars and made out of a lightweight knit here):
Unfortunately I stuffed up the neckline of the sweatshirt and had to cut out the ribbing and use self-ribbing (is that what it is called?) instead. I also stuffed up the tracksuit pants and the pockets are too big and definitely not big enough to hold a Matchbox car. Thankfully Julian hasn't noticed yet...
.JPG)
Man it is difficult to take a photo of a 2.5year old! These photos were taken just as we were about to race out the door to Childcare - in the last photo I asked Julian to turn around so I could see his bum, hence the hand :)
I love the sizing of Ottobre as it is reasonably slim fitting and if it says it fits 98cm tall, it does. If you do have a solid child, they also have a few patterns in a relaxed fit. I cut a straight 98cm for both the Sweatshirt and trackpants and they are both quite snug. I will make another of both but I will increase the length of the pants to give me more wear out of them (Julian continues to grow at 1.5cm per month!).
I used a printed Sweatshirt fabric with a coral fleece backing which I picked up at Spotlight during their 40%off sale over Easter. I bought the navy sweatshirting at the same time. All up this outfit cost less than $10 which makes me very happy!
Somehow I did manage to make a sweatshirt AND a pair of tracksuit pants for Julian - a complete miracle!
Once again I used patterns out of Ottobre magazine. This is the sweatshirt (on the left):
 |
| Ottobre 06/2012 |
 |
| Ottobre 01/2013 |
Unfortunately I stuffed up the neckline of the sweatshirt and had to cut out the ribbing and use self-ribbing (is that what it is called?) instead. I also stuffed up the tracksuit pants and the pockets are too big and definitely not big enough to hold a Matchbox car. Thankfully Julian hasn't noticed yet...
.JPG)
I love the sizing of Ottobre as it is reasonably slim fitting and if it says it fits 98cm tall, it does. If you do have a solid child, they also have a few patterns in a relaxed fit. I cut a straight 98cm for both the Sweatshirt and trackpants and they are both quite snug. I will make another of both but I will increase the length of the pants to give me more wear out of them (Julian continues to grow at 1.5cm per month!).
I used a printed Sweatshirt fabric with a coral fleece backing which I picked up at Spotlight during their 40%off sale over Easter. I bought the navy sweatshirting at the same time. All up this outfit cost less than $10 which makes me very happy!
Friday, April 5, 2013
26.Craftsy course
Have you heard of Craftsy? Amongst other things they sell downloadable patterns - I bought my Wiksten skirt from here (why can't I seem to find it on there now?)- and they do online sewing courses.
They have sales all the time and I have decided to sign up for Susan Khalje called The Couture Dress. For a short time it is $US24.99 which is 50%off and the course includes Vogue pattern V8648 which is mailed to you!
They have sales all the time and I have decided to sign up for Susan Khalje called The Couture Dress. For a short time it is $US24.99 which is 50%off and the course includes Vogue pattern V8648 which is mailed to you!
 |
| Source |
Apparently this is what I will learn:
- Muslin construction
- Fit adjustment techniques
- Underlining
- How to hand-stitch perfect hems
- Pattern customization strategies
25. And the winner is...
Not me :(
Ok that wasn't too surprising as the competition was tough!
The winner definitely deserved to win. Check this out:
It even has a name : 'Lekaloru' Coat. Congratulations to Sandra.
My favourite was Tamie K's top, which was one of 5 special entries to win $100 Tessuti gift voucher.
Now back to the winning Coat - the really awesome thing is that it is made up of 3 different patterns: Sewaholic's Minoru Jacket, Lekala 4170 and Green Pepper 120. I have never heard of Lekala or Green Pepper but their patterns look really good and excellent value too!
Green Pepper is mainly outdoor clothing -raincoats, jackets, overpants - and they only ship paper patterns (3 patterns max for $US18.95 - gulp) but their kids range may be worth the effort. Patterns hover around $US6.
Lekala also has their own website (they are also on Craftsy)which is full of print at home patterns and they all seem to be $US2.49. They also have free patterns which included this shirt pattern. It also sounds too good to be true but you send them your measurements and they send the pattern sized for you! I am going to try this out with the shirt pattern - it is free after all.
Ok that wasn't too surprising as the competition was tough!
The winner definitely deserved to win. Check this out:
 |
| Source |
It even has a name : 'Lekaloru' Coat. Congratulations to Sandra.
 |
| Source |
Now back to the winning Coat - the really awesome thing is that it is made up of 3 different patterns: Sewaholic's Minoru Jacket, Lekala 4170 and Green Pepper 120. I have never heard of Lekala or Green Pepper but their patterns look really good and excellent value too!
Green Pepper is mainly outdoor clothing -raincoats, jackets, overpants - and they only ship paper patterns (3 patterns max for $US18.95 - gulp) but their kids range may be worth the effort. Patterns hover around $US6.
Lekala also has their own website (they are also on Craftsy)which is full of print at home patterns and they all seem to be $US2.49. They also have free patterns which included this shirt pattern. It also sounds too good to be true but you send them your measurements and they send the pattern sized for you! I am going to try this out with the shirt pattern - it is free after all.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
24. Tessuti Gridlock Fabric Competition
I did it!
I decided to join the competition last Tuesday and I finished it minutes before these photos were taken last night - not bad considering that Julian had gastro on Thursday/Friday and I had it Sunday/Monday.
The Jacket is from an old Burda World of Fashion (BWOF) magazine 05/2009 and the Knickerbockers are from another BWOF 09/2006.
I have to say now that I was absolutely CRAZY to attempt both of
these pieces in such a short time period. The piping was an absolute
chore to make and it really got drowned out due to the busyness of the
print. And the print. Well, what can I say, perhaps only that I like
the blue? The background is beige and it looks genuinely revolting
against my face.
I will most likely only ever wear the jacket out of the house and the knickerbockers will be for around the home - I don't have the chutzpah to carry them off in public ;)
Make sure you have a look at the other entries on Pinterest - there are some stunners there!
Details:
Jacket
Pattern: BWOF05/2009
Size: 40
Fabric: 1.7m Gridlock from Tessuti (online) ($12/m)
Alterations: 1cm of sideseams, shortened by 2cm
Knickerbockers
Pattern: BWOF 09/2006
Size: 42 (and it fit with NO alterations - that NEVER happens!)
Fabric 1.55m Gridlock from Tessuti ($12/m)
Alterations: Nil
I decided to join the competition last Tuesday and I finished it minutes before these photos were taken last night - not bad considering that Julian had gastro on Thursday/Friday and I had it Sunday/Monday.
The Jacket is from an old Burda World of Fashion (BWOF) magazine 05/2009 and the Knickerbockers are from another BWOF 09/2006.
I will most likely only ever wear the jacket out of the house and the knickerbockers will be for around the home - I don't have the chutzpah to carry them off in public ;)
Make sure you have a look at the other entries on Pinterest - there are some stunners there!
Details:
Jacket
Pattern: BWOF05/2009
Size: 40
Fabric: 1.7m Gridlock from Tessuti (online) ($12/m)
Alterations: 1cm of sideseams, shortened by 2cm
Knickerbockers
Pattern: BWOF 09/2006
Size: 42 (and it fit with NO alterations - that NEVER happens!)
Fabric 1.55m Gridlock from Tessuti ($12/m)
Alterations: Nil
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
23. It's in the post
Finally today I managed to get myself, with toddler, to the post office to post out the hand printed swap fabrics. Unfortunately they all weighed 56g so they were over the letter maximum of 50g (!!) and I had to fork out another $4each in postage. Oh well, nothing could be done.
So here they are:
Can you see the "watermark" jellyfish? I had to take the photos in the shade otherwise it wasn't visible.
A lighter version.
This one has 3 colours and is my favourite.
Not the best photo of this one but it is the best I could get.
Nicely folded ready to be posted.
Fabric: White Primavera 100% cotton from Spotlight (I wouldn't call it white though, probably a very light natural);
Printing: Ezi-carve block using Permaset "Junior Navy" ink.
So here they are:
Fabric: White Primavera 100% cotton from Spotlight (I wouldn't call it white though, probably a very light natural);
Printing: Ezi-carve block using Permaset "Junior Navy" ink.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
22. Affordable Liberty
Why is Liberty fabric SO expensive in Australia?
Tessuti sells it for $45/m
Patchwork on Central Park has it for $50/m
Then when you buy overseas, outside the UK, like we did to New York it is still expensive.
At Purl Soho it is $36.52/m. Until recently, this was the best price online that I had found for Liberty Fabrics.
Not anymore!
Have a look at Shaukat which has an AWESOME selection of all kinds of Liberty Fabrics - knits, needlecord, craft fabric, poplin, silks, wool blends - the list goes on. There is so much choice here it is really overwhelming. The really best part is the price for shipping - 1m is 10.72Pounds ($AU15.50) and 8m is 12.72pounds ($AU18.50). I haven't tried adding more to my basket to see how much fabric I can jam in at this price - way too tempting. Tessuti charges $10 for posting in Australia!
We all know that Liberty Tana Lawn is not cheap but here is sells on average for 13pounds ($AU20). I am planning to make long sleeve shirts for work and I need 1.6m, so for $32 plus notions I can make myself a Liberty Tana Lawn cotton shirt. I can't buy a polyester blend shirt from Target for that price. Spotlight has the Japanese Tana Lawn for $15/m when it is not on sale, which shows you what a great deal this is for the Liberty Lawn. Obviously the shipping cost has to be considered but even then if I only bought enough for a single shirt each time it would cost $47.50per shirt which is still a bargin when Country Road is charging $99!
So what am I going to buy you ask?
Seymour Stretch Poplin 98% Cotton and 2% Elastane:
Classic Tana Lawn 100% Cotton:
I am really excited as Hera is my all-time favourite Liberty print and soon it will be mine - I hope I will have the courage to cut into it!
Tessuti sells it for $45/m
Patchwork on Central Park has it for $50/m
Then when you buy overseas, outside the UK, like we did to New York it is still expensive.
At Purl Soho it is $36.52/m. Until recently, this was the best price online that I had found for Liberty Fabrics.
Not anymore!
Have a look at Shaukat which has an AWESOME selection of all kinds of Liberty Fabrics - knits, needlecord, craft fabric, poplin, silks, wool blends - the list goes on. There is so much choice here it is really overwhelming. The really best part is the price for shipping - 1m is 10.72Pounds ($AU15.50) and 8m is 12.72pounds ($AU18.50). I haven't tried adding more to my basket to see how much fabric I can jam in at this price - way too tempting. Tessuti charges $10 for posting in Australia!
We all know that Liberty Tana Lawn is not cheap but here is sells on average for 13pounds ($AU20). I am planning to make long sleeve shirts for work and I need 1.6m, so for $32 plus notions I can make myself a Liberty Tana Lawn cotton shirt. I can't buy a polyester blend shirt from Target for that price. Spotlight has the Japanese Tana Lawn for $15/m when it is not on sale, which shows you what a great deal this is for the Liberty Lawn. Obviously the shipping cost has to be considered but even then if I only bought enough for a single shirt each time it would cost $47.50per shirt which is still a bargin when Country Road is charging $99!
So what am I going to buy you ask?
Seymour Stretch Poplin 98% Cotton and 2% Elastane:
 |
| Seymour Poplin |
 |
| Hera |
 |
| Mabelle |
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