April Sewing Challenge!

Yes, I know its still March...

I have decided to take part in my first ever sewing challenge on EB. The challenge is to sew a skirt. I have decided to do The Twirly Skirt here by house on hill road. I have spotted some beautiful fabric in Spotlight the other day so, now that I have use for it, I might go and grab a bit of it to make Ruthie a beautiful skirt. I will make the extra one for my sister's daughter Charlotte. She'll love the twirling!

refashioned jeans

Yes! I went through a "I need to sew!" stage last week and I am just getting to blog things now :) I decided that I would refashion some old jeans of mine that as Mick says "are just stupid" I actually liked the jeans, but they are a little short. (Damn you long legs!!)

So I made them into a little denim skirt. I was going to take pictures all the way through making them to show How I did it, but my camera battery died half way through. :p.

Anyway, heres the finished product. It looks good on, I will take some modelled pics at a later date. :)

Fat Rabbit!

I was asked by the kinder to contribute something for the easter raffle. I told them that i would love to make a bunny for them. When I went to take it in they told me they didnt want it anymore and that they had already made up the hampers. But Ruth loves it and has adopted it into her collection of toys with no fuss! I used the fat rabbit tutorial on tipnut. It turned out alright. I sewed the ears on upside down, but they look cool anyway. :)

EB Swap Debrief

For the last few months I have busily been sewing for a kids clothing swap with a bunch of girls I have met on Essential Baby. I decided to sew for two children so that both of my kidlets would get a package! I have already done a post for the items we recieved. Now I will show you what I made :)

Firstly I made an outfit for Natalie's Jordan. I used the pattern Burda 961 for the pants and appliqued the number 30 onto the back of them. I ditched the cargo pockets that were meant to be on the side as Im not really a fan of cargo pants. And added the rear pocket from one of the other views on the pattern as I thought that a 9yo boy would look silly with flaps and no back pocket... Im very proud of the finished product. They turned out very well, aside from a few issues with putting on the waist band... (I put it on the wrong way the first time) they were quite easy to make but I loved adding the extra little parts such as the applique and the contrast inner pockets and buttons. I also bought a bonds t-shirt and did some freezer paper stenciling using a design I made up myself and appliqued a cordorouy star on the front with the number 30 to tie the two pieces together.

Second was an outfit for Ednaboo's Kira. I had never seen a picture of Kira as Ednaboo doesnt have a blog so I was nervous at the outset and had no idea of what to make. Initially I wanted to make a pleated skirt, but I couldnt find any fabric that was 'wintery' or what I wanted, so I decided to make her some pants and try my hand at my first ever long sleeved tee. The result was something that i am very proud to say I made. I was sooooo nervous of stuffing up the tee. But it turned out really well :) I used Burda 9678 for the pants and Burda 9600 for the top. I used the applique from the pants pattern for both items to tie them together. It was also my first time using a twin needle. It took a few tries to get the tension right, but The pink twin stitching on the pants and the pink/chocolate twin stitching on the top both look a treat and Im so glad I used it! I ended up having to buy 2 twin needles in the end. One for the pants and one for the top as a stretch twin needle would have been ruined on the pants. I will definately be re-using these patterns!! The applique on the top was the most involved I had ever done and I had to embroider to make all the pieces go together But in the end it looked ace! The one thing I would do differently? I would go up a size in the pants to go over a nappy. Apparently the pattern doesnt cater for the nappy very well and is a little tight around it. But Ednaboo is hopeing to get use out of them with the 'big girl knickers' Kira will hopefully be wearing soon!!

Thanks again to Ingrid for organising this swap, I have stretched myself and realised that there are lots of things that I can do that I would have always thought were too hard for a 'novice' like myself :) It was also so exciting to see what my partners thought of their outfits and it seems they were loved by all :)

Swap Opening Day!!

Well today is opening day for the clothing swaap I have been involved in on EB... I am very excited to show off the two outfits that my kiddies recieved! I know that one of my swap partners hasn't opened her parcel yet! so I will blog the outfits I made later :)

Firstly I will show you the outfit I recieved for Oliver. Made by xenabonjovi

He got a beautiful pair of pants with an appliqued bodysuit, a knitted scarf and my #1 weakness... a pair of baby shoes. I am yet to take pics of the kids wearing their outfits yet... but here is a pic of the outfit after we unwrapped it!

I still dont know who sewed Ruthie's outfit as they didnt put in a card to out themselves! But Ruthie really likes her outfit... here are the pics of her opening it. :)



Thankyou very much lovely ladies! I will investigate to find out who sent me Ruth's outfit soon :) And put piccies of my creations up later :)

Here are some modelled pics... Olly looks like such a little boy in his outfit! The shoes came off in about 5 minutes and are now covered in slober! hehehe... we love it thanks xena!





Ruth came running out this morning wanting to put her outfit on! I had to run around in my underwear getting her dressed as she wouldn't wait! The outfit is a little big, but will fit soon I guess cos she is constantly growing! 10cm this month!! Im guessing the jacket is meant to be 3/4 sleeves because it is just long enough now for her whole arm... But anyway, the skirt twirls very well and Im sure will be well worn! Thanks to the mystery lady! Please let me know who you are so I can thank you properly. :) BTW please excuse Ruth's dishevelled hair, she'd just woken up :)



Thanks to Ingrid for organising the swap I have had a great time participating :)

I have just found out that kerry made Ruth's outfit. Thankyou very much! :D

Jumper Pants

I found this tute online http://www.cafepress.com/thatskindacool/864331 and decided to make some for Oliver. The end product is kinda cool!

Seeky Sneekies!

Okay so another sneeky peeky at my 2nd kids clothing swap item. Its almost done now, all

I need to do is put in some snapsand give it a wash before posting it this week... I wanted to get a nice pic of the twin stitching I did, but I couldnt get the camera to focus properly and give me a good pic. I'll get some for the final reveal. Im really impressed with how this item is working out! I was really scared with the applique being alot more than I thought I could handle. But the applique was NOTHING it was easy as! Enjoy peeking!!

Another Sneeky Peek!

Heres a sneek peek for my second clothing swap item :-) I was a little unsure at first of what I was going to do to embelish this item (its the bottom half) I am pretty impressed with the finished product, I now just have to do the top half. I am nervous about that one!! LOL!

Pouch Sling

Today I spent the morning making my first ever pouch sling. My sister wants me to make her one so I decided to try it out... So I did my first ever french seam.... To Be honest I was quite nervous as I didnt get the written instructions of a french seam... but got it in the end.... Im quite impressed with my effort, Im not really 100% satisfied with the bias binding on the pocket in the second pic, but these things will improve with time... I cant wait to use it!!! :-D

Okay, so I used the sling! Please excuse my dirty mirror... :-p So the sling could do with being wider, so theres more room for bub to sit in... But other than that I love it! will add a couple of inches in width next time!