Fabric Addict

I guess I am one -- a fabric addict that is.
I have piles of material in the stash, but I just can't seem to resist adding to the pile when I see something lovely -- particularly when it's a good deal, as well!

So, I decided that I needed some plain cotton jersey, for Mitchell. (I truly didn't have anything suitable in the stash, as this wasn't a fabric that I even looked at pre-baby....). I couldn't find anything that I liked the look of at the local shops (Spotlight, etc.); so off we went to Designer Textiles in Otara. It's a bit of a hike out there -- about 25 minutes drive if the traffic is behaving itself. But, I've been before, and loved their fabrics, particularly the merino jersey.
It's an outlet shop, so you have to be prepared to be flexible.

And I found a lovely soft cotton jersey, in blue and green stripes. It was about the only one, everything else was either polyester/lycra blend or hideous colours. So, of course, I bought it.

But did I stop there, dear Reader? Of course not!

First I found some lovely linen, in soft grey/white/yellow stripes, then another one in shades of blue and another one in broad stripes of blue/red/brown. All of these are ideal for shorts/trousers for Mitchell. Yes, they will have to be ironed, but so lovely against his skin. And for the munificent sum of $4 a metre. How could I turn that down?

And finally, I fell for some of the lovely merino jersey striped in 2 shades of blue. I have heaps of this, but it was so lovely I just couldn't resist. And it is unusual to get patterned jersey, usually it's single colour.

I whisked back home and cut shorts for Mitchell out of the yellow stripe linen, but then had to go to Spotlight for some elastic, as all mine was the wrong size.

And what should I find, but a lovely bright coloured striped cotton knit. I can't imagine how I missed it last time, but it was the only one remotely possible for him (others were either girly or polyester blend). And, because it was the last metre (well actually 1.3 metres) they not only gave it to me for the metre price, but had a special of 30% discount if you bought the whole roll!

I just hope it's not a case of "lucky in fabric, unlucky in sewing"

So, just look at my lovely colourful additions to the Mitchell fabric stash -- could you have resisted?

The Cursed Pyjama Project

Sometimes it seems that a particular sewing project is cursed. No matter what you try it all goes wrong somehow.
I feel that way about Mitchell's pymajas -- and I've only done the top half!

I'd been given a lovely soft cotton jersey in a very fine navy & white stripe. Nice to sleep in, and Mitchell had grown out of all his pyjamas.

I really liked the envelope necks that he'd had with his onesies, and wanted to use that design feature, rather than having fasteners -- much more comfortable.

I found an Ottobre pattern that I thought would do nicely (No.5 from 1/2009). It was a jersey tunic (which suited the fabric) and had an envelope neck.
I didn't have any ribbing to hand, so decided to use the cotton jersey as self binding. First big mistake. This had worked well on previous projects made out of merino jersey, but the cotton fabric didn't have a great spring back when it was stretched. Using the same fabric for the binding, resulted in stretched out seams.

The first one I made for Mitchell ended up huge: the envelope neck didn't have enough elasticity to stay in place, and constantly slipped off his shoulders; the sleeves were about 4 inches too long, and were very baggy. Every time it was washed, it seemed to get bigger. After stitching on some extra elastic around the neckline, which looked dreadful; I reluctantly consigned it to the rag bag.

I'd begun the second top, before I realised the major problems with the first one; and the self-binding on the envelope neck was already in place. I re-cut the sleeves to a much narrower and shorter pattern. But what to do about the neckline?

I decided to stitch in the ditch along the envelope overlap. Retaining the effect, while actually making it a much narrower opening. We'll have to see if it works.

In the interim, it seems that everything that could go wrong with the process, did. I stitched the binding onto the wrong side of the sleeves, (rather than unpicking, I turned it onto the right side & re-stitched -- it looks OK, but is a bit thicker).
I ran out of thread in stitching the seams, and broke the overlocker thread, 3 separate times!

Finally, I decided that I couldn't be bothered binding the bottom, so just overlocked and stitched it up (breaking a needle on a pin in the process.). It looks a bit puckered where the stitching has stretched the fabric, but I guess Mitchell and I can live with that.

I think it's back to the drawing board with this fabric. I'll need a pattern that's a much slimmer fit, and stretchy rib knit for the bindings.

In the meantime, Mitchell is sleeping in t-shirts.....

Ladybirds

I'm a sucker for bright colours. And find most of the outfits for little boys to be, in a word, boring.
When you go into the shops, 3/4 of the space is for girls -- hot pink, lime, purple -- colours that zing! And then the boys corner: blue, grey or khaki.
Dull, dull, dull (even with diggers or Thomas the Tank Engine on the front)


So, when I found this fabric, I had to have it for Mitchell. I loved it so much, that I bought it in all three colourways (yellow and green, as well as the red).

That was last year, & I've finally made it up into overalls.




I used the same Ottobre Farmer overalls pattern as for the blue geometric overalls, without dealing with the size issues -- so they're still a bit roomy for him.
[The photos aren't great -- it's hard to get him to stand still to be photographed right now -- he's always on the go!]
The panels of ladybirds on the fabric were separated by the sets of stripes, which I've used for the shoulder straps and to define the waist. I like the straps, but the waist stripes seem make him look a lot wider than he actually is, so I don't think I'll repeat it. Maybe, I could use that detail on one of the pant's legs -- asymmetric details are cool in kids gear right now.



I've added 2 buttons on the straps to allow for growth (and they look quite cute as a button detail as well). The button-holes got sewn a bit too close to the edge (blame doing the finishing at 11 pm). The extra volume comes in handy in the bend & stretch of a toddler's life!

And I have no problem spotting my kid on the other side of the playground!

Fabric Sale

I love fabric -- as the size of the stash in the wardrobe testifies.
Right now, though, I'm buying for Mitchell rather than myself (I don't need more clothes, and he does). And most of what I have isn't suitable for a small boy.

So when I got the card in the mail that Global Fabrics was having a sale, I trotted right on over.

They specialize in designer dress fabrics, and don't have a lot of 'kids stuff', but do have lovely quality 'basics' (this is where I get my merino jersey in about 100 colours) and some interesting prints. And because they do end of lines, small runs & sample lengths, they're (relatively) cheap. Their selection is better for girls than boys, but that pretty much sums up the entire world.

Even better, they have a play corner for the kidlets -- blocked in with a wall Mitchell can't climb over, so I can browse in peace -- for at least 10 minutes at a time.

I came away with 5 fabrics, all medium-weight cottons, including some of the lovely Japanese cottons that I fell in love with last time.


The closeups show the fabric patterns better -- it all tends to blur in the wide angle shot.
The last one (bottom, right) is actually a double weave. I've reversed it to show the inside, which I like better; I'll make this up into overalls with details in the 'right' side.

These will all make up well, but there wasn't anything as exciting at the gorgeous ladybird fabric I bought last time!

The black and grey cotton jersey (back row, left) are from Fabrica which is closing down. They mostly do bridal and event fabrics (luscious coloured silks & velvets), but did have a few plainer ones. These are cotton and lycra, super soft and stretchy, they'll make lovely tops (or even pjs) for Mitchell. And at 180 cm wide, I get lots of fabric per metre.

Now, I just have to start sewing.
This blogging is taking some time to work out. I spent 45 minutes last night working out how to post pictures side-by-side, rather than vertically. And another 45 minutes today figuring out how to use Photoshop layers to insert the detail images beside the main one.
I'm sure I'll get quicker as time goes by.

Overalls

I love overalls for toddlers.
They're practical, tough, and look cute as well.
They also solve 2 of the big clothing problems I have with Mitchell.
1. The gap between shirt and trousers. He's such an active wee man, that he seems to come untucked all the time. Not that that's a problem in itself; but when he's climbing he seems to manage to get a knee into the front of his shirt & pull himself over.
2. The nappy removal problem. Having figured out how nappies go on, he seems bound and determined to down trousers and take his off whenever possible - regardless of the impact on floors, bedding and anything else in the way of the natural consequences.

So, overalls: no gap at the waistline to come untucked; and (so far, at least), he hasn't worked out how to undo buttons or snaps at shoulder level.

Sadly, however, there is a dearth of overalls in the 2+ size bracket, and what is available is, shall we say, on the drab side. Fine, if you want denim, and....more denim.

Enter Ottobre magazine.

I first found this, when I was looking for good patterns for onesies, when Mitchell was a baby; and I've loved it ever since. It's just full of fabulous sewing patterns for children, in a slightly edgy Scandinavian style.

Tracking through the issues, I came up with this overalls pattern (Farmer overalls, #9 from Issue 3, 2008).; which seemed close to what I was looking for.
Naturally, I wanted to make a few changes!
I planned to make them out of patterned fabric, so decided to eliminate a lot of the detailing: pockets, (yes, thank you, I can imagine what Mitchell would put in them), belt-loops and the double stitching. I also decided to use buttons, rather than snaps at the shoulders and sides. I like the look of buttons, and they're also harder for small fingers to undo. Finally, I eliminated the snap fasteners at the crotch. I find that they pop undone too easily, in ordinary toddler active movement, as well as being an easy access route for nappy removal.
As, these are for summer, I made them about 3/4 length -- almost shortalls, rather than overalls.

I hunted through the fabric stash & found a cute cotton/lycra geometric print in shades of blue.
And here they are.

I think Mitchell looks very cute in them.
I'm not totally happy with the fit. They seem to be a bit large around the waist and chest, while fitting nicely in the nappy area (cloth nappies make him a bit more bulky). I think they could stand to lose around 3 cm at each side.
But the plus side of a lose fit, is that he has complete freedom of movement.
And, I made the straps plenty long enough, so that we might just get another summer out of them.

Just Do It!

So, enough procrastinating already!
Stop fiddling with the blog settings, and just get on with writing the posts.

Hi everyone,
Thanks for dropping by.

Blogging is going to be an exercise in sheer self-indulgence. It seems that my whole life revolves around Mr 2. Not that Mitchell isn't totally adorable and absorbing, but just occasionally, I wish for a bit of 'me' time.

Although, it's going to include an awful lot about what I do for him (and a bit of what he does for me); Time to Sew will also be a creative journal, documenting the successes (and OK, more than a few failures), of one semi-domesticated Mama.

Nothing can beat the joy in your heart when a little boy runs up to you and says "Hug, Mama". But there's also a solid sense of accomplishment when you achieve something creative, something that didn't exist until you gave your time, inspiration and care.