Tag Archives: pattydoo

One for all and all for one

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You know I like mixing fabrics. And colours. And patterns.

I don’t even remember if I ever made a shirt just out of one fabric. But I am sure some of my clever readers will remember everything ever shown on this blog and know the answer to that question, so please do not hesitate to post it beneath.

I usually use a contrasting fabric for the sleeves

very rarely I do a contrast hood as well – in fact I think that should become the norm, I don’t know why I do not always do that, it looks much better, maybe I never have enough of the contrast fabric, again the clever ones of you will know.

See, the pink one looks much better.Pictures aren’t great though, I know.

Sometimes, I do even front and back in different fabrics. Well, once. It was custom made.

The benefit of this mix and (sometimes) match method is that you usually end up with rather big pieces of scrap as you do not actually need the whole width for those little children shirts (especially if the amount of fabric indicated on the pattern is usually calculated for a whole shirt) – sometimes there is enough left for, lets say a skirt for a grown up who would otherwise never have chosen that fabric. But back to the title of “one for all”. And back to my enormous project list for this autumn.

I bought a lot of sweat this season. And a pattern bundle for hoodies for the whole family.

Meet Toni by schnittreif. A comfortable hoody for the whole family with my favourite feature of a longer back. I hate getting cold at the back. Or at the derriere.

So far I made the boy version. Which is not worn. Apparently the sleeves feel funny.

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I love those fabrics, not keen on the hood lining, seemed ok in the soft light of the building site light bulbs.

For the girls version, you’ll have to wait. A dress was requested instead, stupidly altered to tunic midway as the fabric seemed too hot for a dress.  So, the girls A-line hoody is actually not a Toni but a pattern from klimperklein.

img_5465-2 img_5453-2Still really cool fabric. And luckily more than enough left to make a skirt for a grown up who would never ever choose such a fabric for herself. But if it is a left over, you have to use it up, haven’t you.

But first a closer look at the two hoodies:

joined in unusual harmony

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close up of the hoods, I like the cross over in the girls version more:

The sleeves. Toni features a extra ribbing whereas klimperklein is “only” folded up and stitched with a stretchy contrasting stitch. Looks surprisingly similar somehow:

The two grown up versions will have to wait a little (well, I don’t know if there will be a daddy Toni, I haven’t seen my husband in clothes warmer than a T-Shirt since I made a woolen jumper for his wardrobe for him).

I got a new dress instead. Carol by pattydoo. Meant to do that since ages. It looks cool, super comfy and extremely breastfeeding unfriendly. Which is why I haven’t made it before. Now we are only feeding when I feel like it so why not wearing dresses sometimes (and at home it doesn’t matter anyway)?

I am afraid, I can not show you any pictures of the dress when worn so please click on the link to see how it is supposed to look. I really like my new dress, don’t get me wrong but I do think it makes my tummy look a bit big and wobbly in pictures (the camera’s fault, not the tummy’s) plus my resident photographers are currently busy with lego building work, so it is “dress on hanger only” this time. But as clever as you readers are, you will manage to imagine the rest.

I like the contrasting pockets and the low waist. Oh, and the little rectangle for the belt button holes are actually hiding a little mishap (others might call it hole). But doesn’t it look a bit like a belt buckle? A bit?

I have used a cheap summer sweat as this is only the trial version. I think a proper, slightly heavier sweat will actually make it more suitable for me and my tummy.

Plus imagine just the skirt part of the dress with the leopards! That will look so cool. Initially I thought only the dark navy with the yellow dots as side panels however I might not actually have enough of the yellow left and it might just become a proper mix up of both leopard fabrics and the dots as pockets only.

The clever reader will by now be wondering where the baby item is if this post has anything to do with its title (It actually hasn’t, I’m afraid, no fencing, no horses, no silly hats).

Any if you are by now thinking “I don’t get any of these tasks. Am I not the clever reader she is referring to?” then all I can say: Apparently not 😉

And as I have by now probably lost most of my offended readers, I can finally tell you that there will be a big secret revealed next time. And it has to do with the baby’s new coat. Which is far to thin for october in Austria by the way. No one has told me it would be that cold already. Anyway. Big secret coming up. Not to be shared with the whole wide world, only with those few followers who simply can not be chased away. Watch this space.

 

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: The legging project

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I have this lovely, pretty and witty friend whose son decided a couple of months ago that he is not wearing trousers anymore. Ever. Under no circumstances. He wants to wear leggings just like his big sister. As these feelings seemed to be very strong, I my lovely friend went and bought leggings, sets of two to make sure that she wouldn’t get into trouble with the big one if the small one had suddenly nicer ones. As it turns out, pink or grey leggings are ok, black leggings aren’t, leggings with butterflies are ok, leggings with teeny tiny pleats at the hem aren’t. It is all rather complicated.

Suddenly it seemed like a good idea to give this pattydoo leggings pattern a go. Up until then I found it slightly pointless to make leggings myself. I did consider to make some out of a thicker material like sweat for the colder season as I know another person who things that trousers are not an option for girls whereas I think that at some point it gets too cold for leggings only. Even in England. I did adapt a fair bit to the English way of not dressing properly when it gets wet and cold but not all the way! If you put your feet under my table, you will wear trousers AND tights when you go outside in winter. And boots. And a hat… But ok, I live here since 8ish years, so I don’t have strong feelings about scarfs or gloves. But definitely trousers! Even if you are a girl! Ok, I am getting side-tracked. So back to leggings.

I still had a rather big piece of the dragon and knight fabric from the lovely shirt I made for the little boy and thought it would look rather interesting as leggings. Certainly something you don’t see very often. I was only a bit worried he might combine the two, which I think, would look a bit silly.

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Rather cool, isn’t it.

Now, how about a picture of the boy wearing these? When wearing leggings he generally looks a bit like a 70s rock star. (I quote a friend here, sadly I did not come up with it myself, but it is true).

Well, as it turns out, there is no need for me to worry that he might go for the silly combination of dragon shirt and dragon leggings as obviously he doesn’t wear them at all. So no picture of them in action, sorry.

I also made a pair for my daughter. And they look rather cool too. At least that is what I think.

IMG_3602IMG_3603You might find them not tight enough for leggings. Well that was done on purpose. She is very skinny so I would have had to adapt the pattern but I decided to just go for the right size lengthwise as I thought the fabric might just last longer if it is not constantly stretched over the knees. And as it is a relatively expensive fabric, I would prefer if they last longer as the shop bought leggings.

So, I will definitely make a few more leggings in the future but I guess, it will be limited on the warmer versions which you can hardly find in shops. In that case, I guess it is worth the money.

 

Scrap Sunday: Accept who you are

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Yesterday, I was accused of being obsessed by scraps and of only buying fabrics to produce scraps!!!! Can you believe it?! This is obviously not true! At all! If I ever bought new to have scraps than I would obviously just buy remnants like these that otherwise would die a lonely death in a shelf. So really I am not only saving a poor piece of fabric but also supporting the shop owner in her attempt of decluttering. And it has definitely nothing to do with me wanting to have more scraps… but now, thinking of it, I have just tried to save one of these pieces. After complaints from my personal stylist that my maternity T-shirts are all white, black or, even worse, grey, I thought I’ll try to adapt a normal pattern to my recent body shape.

So, I used a pattydoo sleeveless top pattern for the first time and made it a few inches longer and the front a few inches wider around the middle. So far, so good. I think that went reasonably well, still a bit room to stretch. And I am also thinking that it will be fairly easy to just take away all those inches next summer. Otherwise it would have been a bit of a waste because it happens to be a beautiful Hamburger Liebe fabric.IMG_3586

I have also adjusted the top section as I know from previous experience with any bought standard sized pattern that I seem to have unreasonably narrow shoulders. So all necklines will be too wide, shoulder straps will slip down from my weird shoulders and it will just not look like something that was made especially for me. So I also decided – without having used this pattern before – to narrow the neckline and to just take the shoulder straps a bit more in.  Before you are getting all clever and “you shouldn’t alter without knowing the pattern bla bla bla”, I can inform you that actually I was right, in fact, I should have taken them in even more.

So, this is the status quo, I am having mixed feelings of how to proceed:

IMG_3584Well, the picture is actually not great, not sure if you can see all problems. No 1 is that the neckline is still too wide, No 2 is that I haven’t done a great job with the binding, I should have stretched it more and then it would pull things together much better. I have managed to arrange the front okish but as you can see, then it shows at the back

IMG_3585Obviously I could get away with it but I know that every time I wear it, I will be super consciously trying to constantly arrange things. Not really worth it. I am relatively new to this type of shirts and elastic bindings. I wish I would have invested time in research as I think closing the seams before putting in the bindings would be much neater. Not only would I not have the side seam showing on top of the binding but also, I would have seen how it fits and would have been able to make adjustments before finishing the binding.

Now the armhole binding is locked with a overlocker seam and the neckline is also blocked by a shoulder seam. If I want to open things and do it better, it will get really complicated.  I am considering to pull the straps up and add a new seam, that could actually work fairly well, it just might get a bit thick at the shoulder seam.

The only other option would be to dismantle to whole thing and I am not sure if I fancy that. I do however like the idea of my patterned not so boring maternity top and would make another one. Not sure if I should make something with sleeves though as I am currently staring into torrential rain.

Well, I guess there would be one other option, which would also sort out all future pattern problems…. plastic surgery to broaden my shoulders.

Oh, and if you think that buying a huge piece of remnants is cheating on Scrap Sunday, I would like to point out that we have been busy making fabric mosaics for the end of term cards:

IMG_3581I still think this is actually the best way to use up scraps. Except that you are only using tiny bits so it is really something for people who want to super efficiently use up every single square inch of their fabrics.