Showing posts with label Baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baby. Show all posts

Monday 13 January 2014

My handmade Christmas Prezzies 2013



I was very busy sewing this Christmas, mostly for my youngest niece who is 18 months old.

I made her a runway collection!


This consisted of:
Blue tank top, flowered and green pants/shorts and flowered cross-over top (flower fabric from Spotlight) - Butterick 3846, size L;
Pink dress - The Warhol dress, free pattern from MADE with an added ruffle at the hemline;
Flower print sun jacket - Kwik Sew 2596, View C, with added sleeves, no peplum and altered at the front so it is open and cool;
Ruched leggings - also Kwik Sew 2596 with a piece of elastic stretched and sewn at the lower outside seam to create the ruching.

Here she is in some of the pieces:

Kwik Sew 2596 (altered)

Kwik Sew 2596 (altered)

Butterick 3846

Butterick 3846

The Warhol dress- MADE

I also made owl cushions for both nieces. I looked at Google images and came up with my own design. I can't find the photo I took of the finished cushions, but here is Miss 18 months unwrapping hers (yes, she is always the centre of attention!):


and again later at home


For my older niece, I made this dress from light and airy, blue patterned cotton. I used Patrones magazine 30 (a recent edition full of children's patterns), dress No. 2. I had purchased the fabric for me, but thought it would be perfect for Miss 8, which it was. I raced back to Textile Traders for some more at the first opportunity!


The neckline and armholes are bound with a strip of lycra, folded in half, stitched to the inside of the dress first and then folded over the edge and stitched again, a variation on this method. The same turquoise lycra is used for the ruching.


I also made a skirt for my sister (not photographed) and these shoe bags for my (hard to buy for) brother-in-law.


Everyone seemed very happy with their meggipeg prezzies and the hard work was all made worthwhile (actually it made my year) when I received this letter from my niece with a picture of her wearing the blue dress and hi-top sneakers I also got for her.


Wednesday 18 September 2013

Baby car seat blanket and toddler circle skirts


I indulged in a bit of baby sewing recently. The first item was this car seat blanket for a friend's new baby. I followed the tutorial by 'Running with scissors', which was excellent. This picture is not taken of the blanket on a pregnant belly, but rather on a cushion to try to represent the baby!


The blanket is made in the shape of a rounded plus sign. It has three slits for the car seat straps. Once baby is in, the bottom and sides of the blanket fold over to keep him/her nice and warm.


I used green flannelette and pink cotton for the front and back. The sides were finished with a folded lycra strip used as piping and the same lycra was used to bind the edges of the slits.


This was something I would have liked when my boys were babies, so hopefully my friend thought it was useful. I'll be checking her car seat next time I see her!


The other project I whipped up was this circle skirt. I have made lots of children's circle skirts, but I saw this idea on 'Polkadot Overload' and, as suggested, used the circle skirt calculator by 'The Snugbug'. This calculator intrigued me and I wanted to see if it worked on very mini sizes. I can happily report that it does and was so fast and easy that I made two skirts in quick succession for my niece, aged 16 months.


One skirt was made with red panne velvet, to which I added randomly applied ribbon detail, and the other was made with four sample pieces of velvet from one of those sampler things you get/scavenge from posh upholstery shops. The waistband was made from purple knit fabric. Both skirts fit really well, even though one is knit and one is woven (apart from the waistband). 

 I finished each with a rolled hem.

Speaking of those sampler things, I have lots because I am a hoarder and I can't help myself when I get the chance to help myself to outdated ones. They are perfect for small projects like this and some interesting effects can be obtained when they have pieces in graduating colours like these pinks. Some even have larger pieces of fabric big enough to make a women's top or shorts. Yay for upcycling!

Wednesday 24 April 2013

Little sweetie turns 1


My sweet, little niece turned one this week and, of course, I had to indulge in some rare little girl sewing - living, as I am, in a house full of boys :)

The little, soft shoes are from the 'Make it Perfect' book by Toni Coward. I made them as she's just walking and might need something warmer than bare feet as winter approaches. Here in Oz, many children go barefoot most of the time, which I think is just fantastic, although I know some frown on the practice! I have trouble getting my boys to wear shoes at all.


The shoes/slippers are made with faux silver leather with a thicker brown vinyl sole. They are lined with red panne velvet.


I made size 1 and the fit is perfect. I left off the front strap as it didn't seem to fit such a small shoe. The 'leather' would not ease to fit the sole, hence the gathers. I think they look ok actually and the shoes stayed on all through the rigours of a first birthday party so I was impressed with the pattern.


Next was this all-in-one rain suit. As far as I know, these waterproof suits are not available in Australia, but I did see them in the UK when we lived there (at great expense I might add!)...


...and they didn't have ears on the hood or bling on the sleeves!


I used this pattern, Simplicity 7807 for a fleece all-in-one. I made size 18 months so it would last hopefully two winters.I changed the sleeve and ankle cuffs to be elasticated instead of covered over.



It is a tad roomy!


Ahh, that's better :)


This is made with waterproof fabric from Homecraft Textiles. The fabric has a coating on the inside, but is soft enough to use without lining. It never gets that cold in Perth, so I opted not to line it.


I added the silver ribbon to the sleeves and zip pull and self-made gingham bias binding to the inside of the hood.


These little hip hop-style pants were a last minute addition to the present pile as a request from my sister. I copied them from a pair of well-fitting RTW (ready to wear) pants. They are made from panne velvet and are comfy and cosy and practical. 


Here, being modelled with Grandad while playing with the mini kitchen/hairdressing salon we also got for her.


 Aww, the girliness, it just kills me!

Thursday 3 January 2013

More Christmas sewing

I was kept very busy before Christmas making presents for my family. I have already detailed the tennis outfit I made for my niece using Jalie patterns 2795 and 3023. 
I also made...

A 'rashie' (lycra swim/surf/sun top) for Mr Meggipeg. His old one was completely stretched out of shape, but I managed to trace a pattern from it and make him a nice new version. He was most pleased and has worn it several times already, some even to go swimming ;)

I rarely convert my overlocker (a Bernina 2500DCET) to a coverstitch machine, but I did for this project and the hem turned out really well. I should do it more often as I forget what to do each time and always spend ages consulting the instructions! This hem was done with a three-thread coverstitch.


For reasons that now escape me, I chose a three-step zig-zag on my sewing machine to finish the sleeves. Maybe I'd already forgotten the coverstich instructions!


My sister requested some cotton lycra shorts with a stretchy waistband to keep cool and comfortable during our hot summer. I made these for her. They look better on!


To hide the stitching on the turn-ups, I sewed a strip of fabric over the inside seam, just at the bottom where it would show.


Another request was this stretch mesh swimming wrap for my Mum. I surreptitiously traced one she already had and liked. It is basically a large rectangle with two little sticky-out tabs for the ties.


I finished the edges by overlocking the edge, then folding and stitching a 1cm hem with zig-zag.


...and for the littlest member of our family, my 8 month-old niece, I made a swimming outfit from this cute polka dot lycra from Textile Traders. The top is made using Kwik Sew 2596 (also used here for a baby t-shirt) and the pants are made using the tutorial and free pattern by Dana from Made. This is a great pattern if you are looking for a baby gift.


I added ruffles to the back of my version using strips of pink lycra. I also finished the sleeves with the same pink fabric, just folded in half and stretched slightly as it was sewn on (as for fold-over elastic).


Awwww, so cute!

Finally, I made a hat to go with the swimming outfit and some very light pants to protect that delicate skin from the sun when she is riding in the pram (both using Butterick 3846 in size M). The pants are made with printed muslin from Textile Traders and finished with more pink lycra used as fold-over elastic.


The hat turned out a little large so I added a button and elastic loop to keep it out of her eyes until she gets a bit bigger!


Modelling the pram pants!


Phew! I'm looking forward to some me-sewing now :) Fortunately my sister gave me 'Drape Drape' and 'Drape Drape 3' for Christmas (I already have No. 2, also from my sister for my last birthday - she knows me well). Fire up the sewing machine. Yee ha! (or whatever 'Yee ha' is in Japanese).





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