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 :)