WOW! ingrid's 'easy pants'!

I just whipped up these pants in literally half an hour, including handcutting the flower (from felt) and sewing it on!

i am soooo far behind on my baby gifts for new babies that some of them are about to turn one *blush* and i simply can't afford to buy them all. so i am using my creative talents (and mum's fabric stash hehe) to create some gifts for the mums and kids. i have choc chip cookies all packaged up ready to send, so i need to get 4 pairs of these made today to be sent this afternoon (yikes!)

i used a picot stretch fabric, and ingrid's pattern which consists of two pieces, one for each leg. sooo simple.

when i get to the boy's pants they might be a little more complicated though as i'll have to straighten the legs a bit i think, and i might design a little pocket to go on the side of each leg (what's the name of that style of pants? i've totally gone blank LOL)

oh, so now that i'm expecting blogger to rotate the photo it won't! :-S

vintage overalls #1

well, i can't upload my pic here as it keeps turning it sideways again - so frustrating!

i've put the pic on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/brazen20au/175324722/ i can see a bigger version i hope you can too... (aagh!)

will be back to add notes later :o)

ok, so i used the vintage overalls pattern in this entry. it only came in a size 2, which i thought would be plenty big enough for emelia, given my experience with newer patterns, but once i had it laid out i knew it wasn't going to be big enough to have any growth room, so i decided to use this cheaper cord instead of the vintage paisley i wanted to use.

I was right about the size. they fit her just nicely now (in a disposable) but when i make pair no 2 (whcih i still won't make from the good fabric i think LOL) i need to make them longer in the body - maybe by 2". the legs probably need to be 1-1.5" longer. the straps need to be about 2" longer. they could be just a little bigger in teh body - jsut a few mm on the sides of each pattern piece.

i had a lot of learning experiences with these overalls! i didn't have enough fabric to make the facing with so used homespun instead. great idea as i don't like the homespun for the purposes i bought it for, so might as well get some use out of it. i sewed the straps on teh wrong way at first - must remember to stay slow and steady and concentrate on what i'm doing. i used snaps for the first time and had no instructions for them (they were old ones mum had). i did an ok job with them thank goodness but did bash one a bit too hard so it deson't work now *blush* will have to see if i can get it apart to replace it. i was proud of my button sewing (so far LOL) and it was the first time i'd done buttonholes on teh new machine and i was surprised at how easy it was! i also used my twin needle for the first time to do some top stitching which gave a really lovely effect.

definitely a pattern to make again, with some alterations...

more karen heritage layouts

as you can see i'm on a total basic grey binge, plus i'm also making my pages simpler and simpler. it took me about 2 hours to do two such basic pages and that was with the papers already picked out!!! ack!
as you can see i have nothing to journal on any of these pics

and the patterns (the 80's one is sooooo weird LOL )

pictures at last... (click to see the pics in more detail)

good mail day yesterday :)

yesterday was a FABULOUS mail day as i got
my atomic boom fabrics - the pink paisley i bought it for (the others were just to share postage ) is even more divine in RL. and i didn't realise that it's a flannel, so I have washed it up already so i can make some overalls with it! the domestic goddess FQ (michael miller) is gorgeous and the floral i bought for me is a bit too in your face for me but i think it might match with our sofas as cushion covers. (i must remember to buy some zippers, i need to start a shopping list for myself so i don't keep forgetting to buy what i need)
vintage kids patterns - i got a bundle of 3 for 99c (actually i paid more!). the one i wanted i don't like as much in RL but there's another in there i adore! so i'm going to make the overalls for emelia from the paisley flannel. the 3rd pattern is a really bizarre one from the 80's i think with weird applique designs LOL i will scan them all to show you!
missymuh - my third bundle (meanwhile i had ryan saying open mummy open!) was a gorgeous bundle from missymuh - jingle pants, overalls, and two birdies (which i'm sorry to say emelia calls ducks! we got maybell and peter ) which ryan says when 'attacked' by them 'no daddy, babyroar's!' hehe

here she is :o)

too long in the sleeves but just about perfect everywhere else for my BIG girl !

today's effort for emelia

Ottober 4/2005 #15 (without the trim at bottom)

made with some of the fabric bought yesterday.

i'm so pleased! it was soooo quick and easy and yet looks special!

aaagh it's turning my pic sideways again! will have to fix it later, baby needs me now!

oh good grief!

tonight i decided to put some of today's purchases to good use and make some sweatshirts / jumpers for R&E. got my ottobre mags out and found a design for each. emelia's with a cute folded / rolled over collar and ryans with the stripes going the opposite way on each side of the top. so i traced off emelia's no probs. went to trace off ryan's - this was from teh magazine that I have lost... i copied the instructions from alice's a while back. i had lent molly one of the pattern sheets and some instructions. do you think i can find the other pattern sheets ANYWHERE???! aaagh! so then i cut emelia's top out and decided i would cut a little kimono style jacket from the leftovers, only to discover that the pattern (which i filched from mum) has no instructions! i decided i could probably figure it out only to realise that i don't quite have enough material left to make it.

now i'm too damn tired to sew! LOL

aaagh again with the sideways pictures!

why why why???!!!!

Scrapbooking

I have actually found some time to scrap in the past 2 weeks, and did 2 layouts each time. i still havne't got myself organised to print photos of the kids so am working on my own childhood shots. am currently having a basic grey fetish LOL have been using just basic grey patterned papers, cardstock, ribbons, stamps and inks / paints. no embellishments needed (takes too much time and effort!)

finally the pants!

the velour ones to match emelia's top that is...

it's annoying to see that the foe on the top still isns' t sitting right, but i think she hasn't worn it since the first wear. the pants were changed to try to be more her size - and they only just fit as you can see! LOL

i also made the tie dye longies for rory, but i have to buttonhole aroudn the bottoms before i take a pic...

today i took advantage of spotlight's 'staff only' discount (courtesy of someone on eb who's dh works there ;o)) and had a little spend athon. got some twin needles, denim needles, cute crochet flowers etc as well as some fabric. off to sew now...

June Measurements

Rory - 54cm (3 months)
Emelia - 91cm (21 months)
Ryan - 97cm (3 years)

Fun tie dyeing :)

the other day i had fun trying a method of dyeing wool using food colouring and the microwave. you can find the directions here http://www.withawareness.com.au/CraftDyesFooddyemethod.htm

i used some beige wool jersey that a friend had given me to make nappy covers. I'm planning on making some longies (like pants and cover all in one) for rory and another baby girl i know... i have the first pair all cut out but my overlocker is not working properly and needs rethreading, and i've lost my tweezers to do it with - boohoo!

Fun tie dying :)

pics

am fdg atm so excuse size of pics etc. will delete this post later

sewing at long last and an OVERLOCKER woohoo!!

yay! i was 'allowed' to buy an overlocker last week :oD i bought a janome, fairly basic model that was on sale at the sewing bug in belconnen. got myself some pretty variegated threads and now i think i'm pretty damn clever ROFL

it's been WEEKS since i've had time to sew - i've joined a group on eb trying to get everything done around the house. only problem is that i NEVER get everything done, you can NEVER (rarely) tell i've even done anything and i NEVER get time to do anything fun :o( so yesterday i decided to sew no matter what... except miss rory seems to be going through a bit of a growth spurt and fed 2 hourly for 24 hours *yawn*

today i finally got her to sleep and i sewed!

i used teh little 2 piece pattern i traced off a pair we bought http://brazenscrafts.blogspot.com/2006/04/rorys-pants.html and i cut it a bit bigger - as she has grown a LOT since that photo was taken! i cut it out of gorgeous stretch rib velour. i used my rainbow variegated thread to edge everything and the only sewing i did was the initial attaching of the waist elastic to the pants.

i got so carried away i broke my first needle on my overlocker LMAO!!!!! i was trying to do a decorative overlock but *ahem* didn't quite manage it (thank goodness i decided at the last minute to do it on a scrap LOL)

the pants took me about half an hour from start (getting the fabric and pattern out) to finish, not including the breaking the overlocker bit LOL

eta: this is my overlocker