Sew your pants

Back in my primary school days if someone said 'so what?' a common smart-alecky retort would be 'sew your pants.' And that's what I did this weekend: sew your pants. My husband's pants, to be precise. Here's an exchange from a few weeks ago that led to this exciting development:

Husband: What are  you doing?
Me: Blogging R's dress.
Husband: What about those torn pants I gave you to mend a year ago? Are you going to blog them too?
Me: Well, yes, I think I will. 

And here they are. Mended. Blogged. As promised!

Winter dress in corduroy

Another pattern from Girls Style Book: an unlined A-line dress with straps. The pattern is intended to be loose-fitting with no opening at the back, but I adapted it by taking in the sides a couple of centimetres, adding an invisible zip and lining the whole dress. The dress in the book is in linen, which would be stunning, but as much as I wanted to, I couldn't justify making a linen dress at such a chilly time of year. So I went for corduroy instead, with cotton lining, and it's nice and cosy.

When we had a bit of sun today I rushed out to get some photos but R was not terribly cooperative - she seems to really dislike being photographed lately. Then she started being silly and the shoot degenerated into a gigglefest... and I ended up without a photo that shows the dress in its entirety. It is seriously cute though!

A blouse for R

I have no idea why R chose to hold a spade for this photo..

There are a couple of Japanese pattern books I've been coveting for ages, but things are a bit tight financially and I have displayed an amazing amount of restraint (so far) by not buying them. Happily, both the books have recently appeared in our local library and are currently in my possession, where they will remain for at least three weeks - at which point I'll probably have to buy them for myself anyway because they're so fantastic.

I chose a blouse pattern from the fabulous Girls Style Book but had no idea what size to trace for R. She's very petite - so wouldn't a Japanese pattern fit her better than, say, an American one? Turns out that would have been a very bad assumption to make. I did a bit of research and found this great French website where you can click on various Japanese pattern books and see (and read about, if you speak French) what different people have sewn from them. I soon established that the sizes in Girls Style Book are huge, which is good to know as I would have been very annoyed had I sewn up a gigantic, tent-like garment.

In keeping with my no-budget approach to sewing (which will probably not last the week, given that I now have two books full of great patterns), I used some fabric my mum gave me a couple of years ago. And although I wasn't that keen on the fabric at first, I have grown to like it a lot.

So here it is, pattern L made in size 2 with size 4 length for my 5-year-old daughter. Simple to sew and very sweet.

Playgroup art and craft: Autumn leaves

We are well into Autumn now, and many trees around Melbourne are turning glorious shades of yellow, orange, red and brown. Among Autumn's great pleasures are admiring the changing colours, finding especially beautiful leaves on the ground and enjoying the wonderful crunch of dry leaves underfoot (when it hasn't been raining. The sludgy, slimy feeling of walking on wet leaves is not so pleasant).

R and I collected some Autumn leaves and a bag of gumnuts to take to playgroup and found that they made interesting patterns when dipped in paint and pressed onto paper. The leaf patterns soon disappeared as the children discovered the joys of fingerpainting and handprints!

Today R and I came across some irresistible leaves at the park and brought them home. I asked her to arrange them on a piece of greaseproof (waxed) paper, put another piece on top and ironed it. She was delighted to see her leaves sealed inside the paper! I have fond memories of making these leaf pictures in kindergarten (or perhaps school?) as a young child. When put up on a window they  have a lovely translucence.

 
Two things to remember: make sure the waxed sides of the greaseproof paper are facing each other so the wax can melt and seal the picture, and put a tea-towel or cloth over the paper before you iron it, or you may end up with a waxy iron.

Kids' Clothes Week Project 3: Aprons big and small

I promise I finished this project during Kids' Clothes Week. Two days ago, in fact! It's just that circumstances conspired against me so that I couldn't photograph the aprons on actual children, and if you've ever tried to photograph an apron you'll know that it looks pretty unimpressive when it's not being worn.

So - the details of this very simple project:

Pattern: None. Vaguely copied (reducing considerably) an adult apron, then vaguely copied (enlarging slightly) a child's apron made a few years ago. Decided against adding pockets - could see myself finding disgusting bits of old food in them when doing the laundry after cooking sessions. Used D-rings on neck straps so they are adjustable - hate it when aprons hang too low (as K's does anyway. Must adjust it.)
Fabric: Drill from Spotlight. The children adore it.
Size: One big, one small.

And that's my final KCW project for this season. Now for some cooking!

Kids' Clothes Week Project 2: Red Geranium with an invisible zip

Pattern: Geranium dress from Made by Rae
Fabric: Three Cats from my stash
Size: 3T (for a very slim 5-year-old)

Every year or two when my dad visits from Cape Town I get him to bring me a couple of metres of Three Cats shwe shwe, a sturdy printed cotton fabric used in South Africa to make women's clothing for traditional ceremonies as well as everyday dress. When I was a little girl I had skirts made of shwe shwe, and I love that I can now make clothes for my own daughter in similar fabrics.

For this geranium dress I used some of my special stash of Three Cats and decided to put a zip in the back instead of the buttons, as I wasn't completely happy with the way the overlap worked at the back of the last one I made. I'd used invisible zips a while back for a couple of Amy Butler skirts so - knowing that the instructions do work, despite the completely counter-intuitive method required - I pulled out the pattern and used the instructions for the dress. I like this closure a lot better than the buttons, as it's neater and doesn't catch on R's long (and tangly) hair. Plus I saved myself at least half an hour's work as I am quite possibly the world's slowest and most indecisive button-chooser.

I love the dress but I'm kicking myself as I was so distracted by modifying it to add the zip that I completely forgot to put in the white piping I had prepared for the bodice. While not quite as frustrating as last year's KCW linen dress debacle, this was still extremely irritating, especially as I only have myself to blame... On the positive side, though, the fit is perfect and all the dress cost me was the price of the zip. And a tiny piece of my sanity.

I showed R where the 'secret' pockets are, but she still struggles to find them!

Kids' Clothes Week project 1: DMK coat

Got off to a bit of a late start with KWC due to preparations for R's birthday party. Last time round I did some preparations beforehand - planned projects, cut out patterns, chose fabric etc - but this time I've basically done nothing. In fact, the only reason I have something to post today is that I made this coat some weeks ago, then failed to finish it off as the party took over. So, not strictly speaking a KCW project, but having worked on it for an hour last night (30 minutes to find the matching thread I'd been using; 10 minutes to find the buttonhole foot; 20 minutes to sew buttonholes and buttons) I'm just going to say it qualifies.

I love the old-fashioned styling and the fit of the coat on R; it's a little roomy, but that's what I was aiming for. The DMK pattern is very simple and I'm extremely tempted to make another coat in wool, only I've never used wool fabric before and I'm concerned about how well it would wash. Thoughts, anyone?

Pattern: Dear My Kids stylish double-breasted coat
Fabric: Cotton duck lined with quilting cotton (both from Spotlight)
Size: 4T