Boy t.shirt to girl t.shirt

We got some t.shirts from my cousin recently. One was a Harry Potter t.shirt (apparently! I've never read the books or watched the films - its not something that appeals to me). E is the only one that likes Harry Potter, but the t.shirt was a bit boxy and boyish, so I turned it into a girly t.shirt. Ok, the print doesn't look at all girly but she likes it. I used a Jalie pattern and I was able to cut it so I could use the hemmed sleeves and bottom edge which saved a lot of work. Hems are my least favourite parts!

Boy t.shirt:

Girl t.shirt:

I really need to press the seams but my iron is broken!

My brother gave me a big bag of t.shirts so I am going to recycle them into some tops for the boys, which will be fun.

Not Sewing

I planned to make a costume for R this year. He was going to be a bee, but I thought by the time I buy the pattern (£5) and the fabric (£10-£15) and the other bits and bobs it was going to cost a fortune. So I bought a £7.99 costume. The sewing on it was hideous, and the fabric felt horrible. But it looked effective. Next year... (I say that every year, and suddenly before I know it its Halloween and because its close to Christmas I don't tend to have a lot of spare cash).

We did make a costume for S though. I sliced my finger with the tinfoil and it was agony! And burnt myself with the glue gun. Most of the buttons (milk bottle lids) had fallen off by the time we took this picture. Oh!!! I did make the silver trousers he wore. At about 11:55pm the night before.

Cutting Fest

I spent an evening cutting out fleece nappy covers. I don't even like fleece nappy covers! But I have a lot of fleece just hanging about doing nothing. I also cut out some pyjamas from the Kwik Sewing Sewing for Toddlers book. I always think everything in the book looks very 80's or early 90's, but who cares when it comes to pjs.

I sewed up the first pair of pyjamas, and they fit really well. He put them on and went straight outside. If I decide to cut any more out I think I'll do them without the ribbing waist band.

The other pair I cut out aren't quite finished yet. I decided to cut out the jumpsuit pattern. It made really cute pjs! And the ribbing I had matched really well. R is helping me by plugging the camera in. Its impossible to get a picture of him these days because he always wants to help.

I'm hoping to finish the pjs and start some of the fleece nappy covers tonight. If I sew them assembly-line style then they should be done pretty fast.

Something Girly

I've been doing a little bit of sewing. I'm really in a nappy sewing mood. Unfortunately I've used my very last bit of bamboo fleece, so I can't really make much. I did find some birdseye though, so I used that to make a nappy. I think I'll make a couple more with birdseye. I have on way to me some time soon... some new PUL (greens mostly), some PUL prints and some suedecloth. But no soaker fabrics! I've also got a huge parcel I need to pay shipping on. $80. Gulp. Its mostly knit fabrics and a few patterns.

This is the first thing I made. Its a Darling Diapers AIO with a snap in soaker. I still need to get rid of the blue marks, and cut the threads on the soaker. The whole thing needs a wash because both fabrics I used were really dusty.

Next I made a sort of t&t/overlocked hybrid nappy. Its knit outer, bamboo fleece hidden layer and bamboo velour inner. I still have to cut and made the snap in soaker, so I used the birdseye soaker in it to give it a better shape in the picture. I sewed around the front and legs, added elastic and then turned and top stitched. Then I put in the back elastic and overlocked the back closed. I was going to add the snaps before overlocking the back closed so they'd be hidden. But I had a little problem with that on a previous one I tried to make. A needle hit a snap and got smashed. I think I'd need to adjust the snaps in a bit if I was going to do that. It is a small size, so there's not a lot of room to manover.

Here is a little bundle of things that I'm sending to a friend. A couple were made a while ago.

Starting from the bottom there is:

• A Little Comet Tails Sprightly Soaker made from wool
• PooPockets side snapping nappy (still needs snaps and a soaker)
• 2 Fattycakes pocket style nappies
• Darling Diapers AIO
• Darling Diapers fitted nappy
• A pair of Poquito Pants

They're all small size. There doesn't seem to be much variation in size between the different brands, although the PooPockets is quite a bit wider.

The Results...

This is what we ended up taking camping with us. At the last minute I decided not to take the Imse Vimse nappies to save space. We made it through 4 nights, with two nappies to spare :-)

Pants

Sorry, bad pictures again. It was late at night. I made 4 pairs of these. They did say the sizing was 18-24lbs - but they looked as if they'd fit. The pattern was already cut out on my desk, and I've run out of tracing paper to trace any more.

I tried them on the babe this morning and they do fit quite well. They are a bit on the small side, but they'll do. But he says "No! Hate!" lol.

5 Done!

Suddenly it seems like quite an achievement now that I see them all together - and realise that 5 can probably see us through a whole day if he has some nappy free time.

Pictures are pretty awful. My camera was on easy shoot mode. Never really had a problem with that before. Maybe the lighting wasn't quite right.

I've got a dark brown one, a navy, a baby blue and two print ones. The navy and brown one are front fastening ones, with touchtape. I was rushing so they look as if I've been sewing while drunk! They look bad. But they'll do the job. The rest are side fastening, with touchtape. I realised that I couldn't put fold back laundry tabs on the front of the side fastening ones because I wouldn't be able to get the inserts right to the front.

I used free moving elastic in the first ones I made, which ended up looking pretty horrible. You can see in the picture, the car print one - it looks all kind of lumpy. It's maybe not the right technique to use for pocket nappies. I sewed the elastic to the seam allowance on the owl print and baby blue one and it looks nicer. The fabric gathered nicely.

I was going to take a picture of the fronts of these two, but a little boy climbed up on his chair and plonked his (bare) butt on the table, sweeping the nappies away as I was taking the picture.

The plan now... make up a few little pairs of underwear using the Sprightly Soaker pattern. They are really fast to make up. I can probably get 6 or more pairs made up tonight. Tomorrow I need to go to the sewing shop. I was in there today to get elastic, and I noticed they had suedecloth. But I didn't have enough money on me. I'll get a yard and make up as many nappies as I can. I'm also going to make a few covers, so I can use my tots bots nappies. Then we'll be all set!