Category Archives: sewing

Quick catch up

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As you know, I am most productive when I have my children around. Still not sure why. But I can definitely get a lot done when they play next to me. At least as long as they don’t fight or try to burn the house down.

So actually I was really busy during the first half of the Easter break. I am still working on a big yoga bag order but I did take some breaks (when I had done my daily task) and made a few things for my children.

The least exciting one would be this shirt, using the left overs from my niece’s shirt in combination with a stripy jersey that was once in a “surprise bag” from Michas Stoffecke and a cheap grey jersey from Shepherds Bush, initially intended as trial material on my search for the perfect breastfeeding top (which I will ideally make while still breastfeeding)

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I used my usual pattydoo pattern but I am now normally hiding the seam at the neck which looks much more professional:

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and I am trying out a new stitch for the hem. I used the twin needle in the past and was really pleased with the look but that seam actually fell apart in some of the shirts which is not exactly ideal.

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I am not sure if I have even posted a picture of the initial girl version, made in February already:

The second most exciting item was a dress, using a klimperklein pattern and a pink flowery sweat that I have since a while:

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I find this dress really cool. I think the sporty raglan pattern and the colour of the heart go very well in combination with the rather girly fabric.

So two lovely projects for two lovely children but the loveliest (project, not child – they are all exactly the same lovely) of all is still to be shown:

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A reversible jacket with a pointy hood. Just right for the “in between seasons” season.

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I didn’t have enough of the brown car sweat left for the whole jacket so I made blue sleeves. Then I thought that the inner jacket should similarly have different sleeves but I am not entirely sure about it. It looks a bit odd. Maybe I should have done the hood in the orange stripes as well. Plus the teal of the star fabric doesn’t go with the blue of the sleeves but I was really keen on using it. It is a lovely fabric, almost a bit of a waste to be used as lining only. I can’t wait until the outside gets vomit on it so I’ll have an excuse to turn it.

I have used another klimperklein pattern, this time from her book. I was so excited to get that book. When it finally arrived I was slightly disappointed at first. I guess, after all the great e-books I expected much more pictures and variations of each pattern. Which is silly and totally my fault. A book simply can’t provide the same amount of  step by step pictures and 20 variations of each item. And actually the author Pauline Dohmen must have thought the same as she is now even publishing amazing tutorials on her blog for the most crucial questions. Like how to properly sew and turn a reversible jacket…. or a lined coat :). The tutorial landed in my inbox just about a week after I had struggled with the coat! What a bad timing. But I will now know forever how to do this 🙂

Just a few pictures of my little jacket, a proper tutorial  can be found on the klimperklein blog.

First, the two jackets sewn together, except at the sleeves. The two jackets are NOT to be put inside each other. (And obviously, there is a gap at one of the side seams of the inner jacket so they can later be turned inside out):

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Now, join the sleeves, being careful not to twist them. Pauline Dohmen refers to it as kissing elephant trunks. What a useful image!

Finally, the jackets fully sewn together – except the turning gap at the inner jacket, you can see it on the left side.

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I love that little jacket so much, I have never been happier to live in England where it will be just the right weather for an “in between season” jacket for another 6 months 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Sunday: Sleeping Bag

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Just a quick one for this Sunday, but a cute one.

Mr. No Thank You agreed on my suggestion on a mummy made sleeping bag for his dolly as I thought a plastic bag is not the appropriate choice. So he chose the fabric, I took the measurements and my little assistant (the girl, Mr. No Thank you was totally exhausted from the decision making) helped me draw the design and then the pattern.

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I decided to line the sleeping bag as facings on such a tiny scale would be a nightmare and even if it is only a sleeping bag for a doll, I still want it to look nice. Even as a child I always found the doll dresses cheaply made. I guess I already had an eye for top quality.

After the slight inside out problem last week, I decided to make a tiny sample first, just to see that I leave the right seams open this time. And I managed. Hard to believe, I know, but I did.

IMG_4624The sleeping bag went down well with the new owner – not only had the doll to sleep for three days non stop but he also requested a few new clothes 🙂

And I am rather happy too. It is actually cuter than the one for the life sized baby.

And I am seriously considering to create an e-book – except that I do not know how to do this or where to even start. But never mind. I am the proud owner of a brand new computer, surely there is a button for E-book creation. I’ll just put it on my to do list 🙂

 

 

Busy Business Bee

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I had a very busy week. Businesswise. Well, obviously also familywise but that is the norm so doesn’t count.

So, apart from the observed knitting class (a crazy one, really. Not only did almost everyone turn up for once but there were also 2 new people and 2! who came to visit because they were interested in taking over the knitting class plus an unusually high number of children. It was crazy. But good. The observer was most impressed by the atmosphere in the class and how I managed to do my thing – I guess the poor man didn’t quite expect a bunch of chattering women with small children climbing all over the place whilst discussing numbers on needles and yarns and patterns and how to calculate clever things 🙂 ) – see I closed the bracket so we are back to the initial sentence – I also had a lot of custom orders to be finished.

Apart from about 10 yoga bags (another bracket but just to tell you that the pictures are really bad as taken in a rush this morning so I am not going to show you I think) I also had to knit a woolen cardigan for a little boy except that I didn’t know the parents nor the little boy and their personal taste.  Plus it was meant to be a special present, so I thought that  something classic rather than crazily colourful would be more appropriate.

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I have used my favourite pattern for these kind of things: Little Rascals by Julia Stanfield. I am a big fan of top down seemless knits.

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I have used Lana Grossa Cool Wool big, a lovely soft merino which can even be washed in the washing machine if you really have to. The shade is amazing too. It is a rather darkish blue for the classic look but it is a melange so there is something going on, it is not just a plain blue.

Just blue would possibly have been really classic. But also really boring, so I thought a bold red stripe with white edges will make it look fresh and sporty whilst still classic enough to not be offensive to someone who does not share my love of less obvious colour combinations. IMG_4610

So that was all nice and classic and precious (wool, remember) but a tiny voice of the little 2 year old girl in me said: “yuk, boring!” and it began to dawn on me that maybe the 2 year old who will actually wear the cardigan might not think: “Oh what a lovely and nice little cardigan in a neutral colour. It will go with many of my smart trousers and shirts for special occasions” so I decided to add a little thing to the outfit which would be more every day nursery style and might find more appreciation from the little boy (obviously without knowing him, I might be totally wrong)

So, this is the Wendebindemuetze from klimperklein with a triangular scarf.

Which leads to a slightly maritime outfit 🙂

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or slightly more classic, just with stripes

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I like it and hope the little boy and his parents will do, too. And obviously the customer who had ordered the cardigan 🙂

 

Scrap Sunday: the homemade tag blanket – a tutorial

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I am really busy these days businesswise and I actually have to follow a rather strict time table in order to fulfill all pending orders. That sounds spectacular, I know. And I like it. Even if it is slightly, just slightly exaggerated. But I do have to make a few yoga bags (manly ones. I hope I will achieve this goal this time round) and knit a cardigan plus a birthday dress for my niece (ok, that is a private matter but it definitely has a deadline). Plus I have to write a scheme of work for my class “numeracy through knitting”. So while I was busy doing the latter, thinking a lot about numbers, shapes, patterns and spacial sense, I needed a break and thought finally making that little tag blanket might be a welcome change.

As super-ambitious teacher and generally smug person I thought I’ll spoil my readers with a little tutorial as I am clearly an expert of turning things inside out as I had recently experienced with the coat.

So here is how it is done properly 🙂

You’ll need two nice pieces of fabric, I went for woven cotton, I guess, jersey might be softer but I wanted to use the cute animal fabric from the advent calendar. I also cut a really broken and scratchy face cloth into shape to add some texture. For the tags you can use all bits of left overs, ribbons, labels, bits of fabric,…. Just make sure you’ll have all the edges sealed. The easiest will be to fold them and have the open edges inside the seam.

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You could also add some crackling material, either in the main part or, as someone had commented last time, just in some of the tags, which I did for this one.

As one of the fabrics features unsuitably dangerous sharks, I cut (twice) a few blue waves and stitched them together with some of that crackling foil.

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I left the piece open at the bottom to be able to turn it inside out and that open side will later be inside the seam of the blanket anyway.

Next, you carefully arrange the layers. It works best if you smugly explain your baby or any other person present how brilliant you are that you whip this up during a “numeracy through knitting scheme of work” break, just before you’ll have to go shopping. And that you are going to take some pictures for your blog readers to explain them how things are done.

Basically, all you have to do is to put the layers in a random order on top of each other not caring about right and wrong side as long as you are taking pictures of the process. And pin everything in place. Make sure that all tags are looking inside, in line with the seam. There is no need to take pictures of the five tags that you pinned sticking out in the first attempt as you will realise early enough which way to place them. You are a clever and well rested person after all.

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Take an other picture to show your readers that the right side of the top layer is facing down as you are going to turn the whole thing. You are not stupid after all.

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Stitch around the four sides. For added safety, you should secure each tag by going back and forwards again. Actually, don’t go around the whole thing. Leave a gap of a couple of cm for the turning. Be proud of remembering that. I’d take a few pictures of that really.

IMG_4593Even if by now you might be realising that you actually hadn’t payed attention when you put the first layer of fabric on the table. And that the sharks will be facing inwards after turning. They are inappropriately dangerous for a small baby anyway and it might be better that way. No need to get the seam ripper out. You only have about 5 min until the baby sitter comes anyway.

IMG_4594Just make sure your readers will see that gap properly. That is the only important thing here.

And then turn the inside out. IMG_4595This might now be the moment where you are slowly realising that not only the wrong side of the sharks but also the old and scratchy face towel will be on the outside and the cute animals will be completely hidden. But possibly give the whole thing some added stability. And that scratchy face towel will really have a very different feel and the baby will enjoy that. At this stage it is all about different textures. After all this is why you created all these different tags.

So you could just keep turning the whole thing. Or you do take that seam ripper and take the whole thing apart.

No it is probably time for shopping. A bit of fresh air might not be the worst at this stage anyway. So do that and continue with this quick project later.

When reassembling the layers, just remember one thing: The two sides that are supposed to be on the outside later, need to be on the inside, with the tags in between them. The middle layer can either be underneath everything or on top of everything. Doesn’t matter. As long as the two pretty sides are facing each other and have the tags in between them. Easy. And actually follows the same principle as the crackling material in the waves. Remember when you stitched them together correctly in only one attempt?

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The benefit of this slightly longer process with the few extra steps before this one is that you will actually have a line of dots from the previous stitches showing you where to sew. Which is really helpful. So just be proud of it again.

Shorten the seam allowance, especially the corners.

And turn the whole thing inside out. You can either close the gap by hand or top stitch around all sides and close the gap during that process.

Now, it is optional to iron the whole thing. I decided not to take pictures of the ironing process as I would like to leave a bit of room for imagination to keep my readers active.

Time for more pictures. And to be proud. Before you finally go back to your numeracy scheme of work and all this thinking about spacial recognition and logic.

IMG_4597IMG_4598Needless to say that the baby was most impressed by the cleverness of his mum. And the crackling waves are so much fun. I really enjoy playing with them.