My Sewing Blog

 Lots of stuff on the go... first is this jacket from Ottobre 3/04.  It was meant for summer but summer seems to be gone now!  It still needs some buttons to finish.  The collar was a complete disaster.  I couldn't figure out from the instructions what I was supposed to do, so I made it up, and it turned out very wrong!  I have tried my best to fix it but it is far from perfect.  This is from Ottobre 1/07 - the cover design.  I need to put the collar on then finish it off with hems and buttons etc.  A quilt top made from Moda's Birdie fabric.  The picture doesn't show the colours up very well.  I need to cut the binding and the backing then it is ready to quilt.  This is going to be a bag from the book Fabulous Fat Quarter Bags.  I need to find buckles and things before I can go any further with it.  My picture is pretty bad - the colours are much brighter in real life. This is going to be a cathedra...

Finally finished something!  One and a half pairs of pyjamas.  I don't know where the bottoms from the smaller size went.  Maybe I didn't even cut them out.  These are from Ottobre issue 4/05.  They turned out far too huge and baggy.  The neck line is also very large.  I didn't do the neck binding like it said in the instructions.  I copied the method from a Jalie pattern, which I really like the look of.  I didn't manage to get my V quite pointy enough though. Girls pyjamas.  The top is from Ottobre 1/03 - it's not a pyjama top, just a long sleeved t.shirt.  The bottoms are the leggings pattern from the book Sewing Clothes Kids Love.  The top turned out to be a bit on the large side, and the leggings really are very tight, so maybe not the best thing for pyjamas.  I didn't like the neck binding on the top.  It turned out very bulky.  I need to make more girls pyjamas and also some plain long sleeved...

Well, that's not quite true.  I have been cutting out though.  Finally got a bit of a sewing bug again. I did actually sew some cushions for the boys room with Ikea fabric a week or two ago.  I was pleased with how they turned out. Now I have some pyjamas cut out to sew for W & R, I did trace out the same pattern for S but I ran out of fabric.  The pjs are from an old Ottobre magazine.  04/05 I think.  I also have a jacket cut out for E from an old Ottobre mag.  I'm making it from a striped orange fabric, since orange is her favourite colour.  It looks like a fairly complex project.  I'm not really sure what she is going to wear it with either.  I have some other things cut out for her from a really ancient Burda magazines.  There is a shorts and top set, and a short tracksuit set. Hope to have some pictures to post here soon. 

So I'm not quite finished my To-do list yet, but I fancy a change of scene.  I’ve just had a rummage through my UFO boxes and I’ve found: Girls Pjs Ooga Booga hooded top Smocked dresses x3 Oliver+S playsuit Newborn nappy cover Newborn AIO Newborn nappy AIO nappies x2 Dress/pinafore type thing Baby carrier Most of them are fairly simple to finish.  Makes me wonder why I never finished them in the first place!  I’ve got 13 items, so I will see how many I can finish in 7 days – starting tomorrow.  That gives me today to find pattern instructions and get everything I need to hand to finish these projects.

Finished the Ottobre pyjamas.  They’re from the 6/2009 issue.  I am not overly impressed with them.  The necklines are very wide, the top seems quite baggy, and the trousers are very small.  I get that they are supposed to have a legging type fit, but there isn’t much bum space!  For a child in nappies they would be useless. This is the first pair I made.  The squirrely/moose fabric is from the JOS co-op, and the grey knit is from eBay.  Its not quite as stretchy as the interlock.  I made these the way the instructions said to make them – the seams are overlapped then sewn with a cover stitch.  I found this very annoying!  It kind of has a chewed up look to it. I don’t like the wavy effect on the ribbing.  Maybe cutting the ribbing slightly wider would have helped. The second pair is made from some fabric I got from a friend paired with eBay interlock.  I made fake cover stitched seams this time.  I just sewed and...

Alterations needing done: Take up really long jeans Take up other pair of jeans Take up knit dress Take up other dress Take in denim dress Possibly take up dress I am currently wearing(?) Cutting out needing done: Corduroy jacket Mark cream blouse markings then remove pattern and cut out white blouse Finishing: Elastic in pjs Jalie top needs hems Possibly have a finishing marathon on old box of UFO’s Sewing needing done: Ottobre top – needs some interfacing cut out first

Alterations needing done: Take up really long jeans Take up other pair of jeans Take up knit dress Take up other dress Take in denim dress Possibly take up dress I am currently wearing(?) Cutting out needing done: Corduroy jacket Mark cream blouse markings then remove pattern and cut out white blouse Finishing: Elastic in pjs Jalie top needs hems Possibly have a finishing marathon on old box of UFO’s Sewing needing done: Ottobre top – needs some interfacing cut out first (Edited to add - this is my first time posting with Windows Live Writer.  It seems to be easy enough to use.  Will need to see what it is like with photos, since posting them with blogger can be a bit of a pain.)

I cleaned out my cupboards last week.  I didn't think there was that much in them.  Wrong!!!!  I have been hoarding brown rice (4 packets of it!) and tinned tomatoes (7 tins).  There was more food in there than I would normally buy in a week.  So we've been eating from the cupboards for the last week.  I've just done a £50 order from Tesco since I had a £10 off voucher.  I went through mySupermarket.co.uk (clicked on through topcashback.co.uk so I could get some money back!) and I ended up saving £12 on the things I was going to buy.  They are a really good site.  Never used them before.  They suggest cheaper alternatives to the things you are going to buy.  It showed me that Tesco's "special offers" were not so special after all.  I'm hoping that this and the stuff in my cupboard will last me till the 4th of Feb - 2 weeks. Then I will start up a weekly order with Grow Wild and do a bulk order for things like toilet roll etc ...

This isn't about sewing, but I am sewing right now.  I've almost finished 3 pairs of pjs for R, and I have something cut out for myself.  I bought myself an Ottobre Woman magazine for my Christmas.  I also bought a bag pattern and some vintage patterns.  I plan to do quite a bit of sewing this year (like I planned to do last year, but just never got round to...)  Just reorganised my fabric stash the other day too. I wanted to blog about my new idea... to give up shopping at supermarkets.  There are lots of reasons I want to do this.  It seems like supermarkets are trying to take over the world.  All the local shops are closed.  All their stuff is totally over-packaged.  And they're always trying to make me buy stuff I don't even want or need with their special offers.  I want to be more eco-friendly - cutting down on the waste we produce.  I want to support local businesses that people actually own rather than big companies...