Teeny Tiny Clothes for Teeny Tiny Humans

I'm not quite sure how or why I got it into my head that I wanted to make some clothes for my friends' new baby. The lovely Zoe (of So Zo What Do You Know) and Marie (of Stitching Odyssey) have both been sharing super cute tiny makes lately, so maybe that's where the idea started.

In any case, since my sweatshirt madness abated, I decided to spend some time making little things. Oh what fun. HOW CUTE ARE THESE?! Argh! The overwhelming adorableness. I can hardly stand it.

The first thing I made was this 'test' version (calling it a toile seems an overstatement!) with some Ikea fabric from my stash. I used the free Little Geranium Dress pattern from Made by Rae. She has a version to buy for older bubs, but has made the infant version free which is so lovely of her. This fabric is way too cutesy for the parents in question (who run to more of a modern aesthetic) and even for me if I'm honest, but even still it is pretty damn cute. I may yet hem it and take it up to the baby in question, just in case...

Once I knew the pattern was ok, I got some fat quarters and plain cotton and made this wee one. Awww. And pockets. Because of course tiny babies need pockets for all their swag!

And then when I was at the craft store (which I've never bought fabric from before because it's all quilting cotton and not really me), I found this amazing fabric with retro VW campers on. My friends have recently bought a vintage camper themselves, and so I thought it would be a perfect fit. But a gathered skirt didn't seem like the right style for this fabric, so I hunted around online and found this lovely pattern on Etsy by Puperita (who seems to specialise in adorable kids patterns). Anyway, I was even brave and used piping for the first time (made it myself), and the dress is fully lined which isn't even something I've done for my own garments yet! It's a really quick make, and I'm utterly charmed by it! I just hope it fits!

I've also been attempting to make some cute baby sweatshirt garments, but they've gone a bit pear-shaped. I have left them for now and may come back to them later, but I've learned that crankiness with a pattern tends to mean I should step away for a while! It only leads to mistakes and more crankiness. So, for now, it's just adorable dresses for my new tiny friend. 

In which I make ALL of the sweatshirts

Ok. I think I have a Linden problem. I have made more, sorry. But these ones are fab and I'm so pleased with how they've turned out. Exactly as planned, yay!

I got some gorgeous Liberty terry sweatshirting when I was in Glasgow just before Christmas (I love Mandors fabric. I can't tell you how much I wish we had a shop like that in Northampton!), and I had to have it. I had in mind that it would look good with grey sleeve/accents, but damn if it wasn't impossibly hard to get a matching fabric! It turns out it's not so much grey as one of those greys that are freaking magical colours that match nothing else. I have bought a LOT of grey sweatshirting online this week trying to find a match (I'm going to have to make some trackpants or something with all the failed match fabric). But eventually I got one that is a pretty close match - it's not perfect, if I'm entirely honest, but whatevs. Close enough. I got 2 metres of the Liberty, so I actually have lots left after making this - thoughts on what to do with the remainder?? 

I ended up going down another size in this jumper, plus I took off an inch in body length, and cut 2 inches off the arm pieces (stumpy arm alert) - I think it helps a lot. So I'm down to a size 6 in this pattern now, and I started out with a 10 (based on boob size). I think because I would normally do an FBA on a fitted pattern, with a boxy knit pattern like this, I probably should go with my upper bust measurement, rather than full bust? Dunno, but the smaller size makes a nicer jumper I think. Less hermit looking, more 'functional person capable of leaving the house and not scaring people'. Just the look I was hoping for!  

(I even went bravely outside into the snow this morning (our first all winter!) to take pics. I felt a bit of an arse, to be honest, but I'm trying to work on my posing skills. As you can see, those still need quite a bit of work!)

The sensible you-can-actually-see-the-garment pic

The second jumper I had in mind was something a bit dressier. I realise that sounds oxymoronic when we're talking sweatshirts, but my sister-in-law always has these cute, slightly dressy sweaters that just fancy-up a pair of jeans. So I spotted this lovely floral ponte on Girl Charlee and got some matching black for the sleeves hoping to replicate the look. (Ponte de roma is funny, isn't it? The label seems to cover a massive range of fabrics that seem completely different. This "ponte" is quite slinky and thin, and the black has almost got a sheen to it. In this case it's totally fine because that works perfectly with the sweater style I had in mind, but if I'd bought it for something like a Moneta, I'm not sure it would have worked? It's gorgeous fabric, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't have the heft that I expect from a ponte normally).

Anyhoo: here is my new fave fancy Linden!

Leanin' on the lamp-post at the bottom of my garden...I totally slipped and almost fell on my arse in the snow seconds after this was taken.

I wore this out for Sunday lunch yesterday and it was cute and cosy without looking like I was wearing a moomoo. Yay! Whereas I did something slightly weird with the neckband on the Liberty Linden (I don't think the grey had enough stretch, so I cut a bigger size and now it's quite a wide neckline), this version turned out perfectly. I'm so pleased. All knocked up on my beloved Elna overlocker, of course. 

I really must learn to stand so that I don't look like I have massive love handles. I don't. Small ones, maybe, but not as big as they look here. 

I think that will be quite enough Lindens for a while. Although I met with the lovely Charlotte of An English Girl at Home this week, and she was wearing a gorgeous Linden that she'd made into a dress. Sweater-dress cuteness!! So maybe I'll have one more before I'm done (ooh, I wonder if I have enough of the Liberty to make a Linden dress...?). This really is a lovely pattern. All the love for all my sweatshirts!

Now, it's freezing...let's get out of here! 

Getting to Grips with my New Machine

I got seriously spoiled for Christmas this year. My lovely partner Andrew bought me an overlocker!! Crikey! It was completely unexpected, and way too generous of him, but OH WOW how I love it.

He wanted me to help choose the actual model so we trotted off to our lovely local sewing machine shop (Sew Northampton - they are so lovely in there. They take such time with customers - letting you try out a bunch of machines and giving you as much info as possible. No hard sell or pushing, just lovely helpful people) as soon as they reopened after Christmas and spent aaaages trying to decide which one to buy. In the end, we went with the Elna 664 Pro. It had a lovely sound when using it, and it's got this super handy wee stitch display dial thingy.

Look how lovely it is! Since we brought it back from the shop, I've basically done nothing but play with it. I will admit that I haven't yet needed to rethread it, so I should probably do that soon (SCARY) but otherwise, I've been zooming through seams and allowances like nobody's business! Why was I so afraid of these? I used to be filled with fear even thinking about overlockers (I actually prefer the word serger. I know I'm a Kiwi who lives in the UK, so I should only use 'overlocker', but serger sounds onomatopoeic somehow...) and I think it was all the threads and dials - they just seemed intimidating. Plus knowing that you're cutting as you sew made it seem like there was no going back if mistakes were made (and let's face it, mistakes are always made). But it's been totally fine so far! *touches wood*

I've used this as an opportunity to work through a bunch of ugly fabrics that have been lurking in my stash, so the things I've made have not been wildly pretty (or wearable outside the house!!) but they're great practice. I've made 4 (!!!) sweatshirts - 1 Astoria and 3 of the Grainline Linden. I have been humming and haaing about buying Linden for MONTHS but finally just sucked it up and did it. So glad I did. It's lovely - super quick to make, great fit, great instructions, and the perfect getting-to-know-your-overlocker projects! I've also made 2 pairs of Seamwork Moji pants which I made on my normal machine and finished on the overlocker. One of those pairs has been a sort-of success, the other...not so much. I might blog about those another time - I've been trying to create the perfect 'lounge pants', and had hoped Moji would be the winner. Not sure it is.... 

Anyway. To the sweatshirt projects! 

First up is the Astoria, in the most obnoxious fabric the world has ever ever seen (trimmed in the last shreds of my blue merino wool sweatshirt from the earlier Astoria). Truly, the photo does not do justice to the insanity of this fabric. I bought it after having seen it draped in a shop and I could only really see the flowery panels. So I knew it was bright and a bit crazy, but I did not know it had asymmetric stripes and random shapes as well. I realised as soon as I got it home that it was probably too garish to do much with. But it kind of works here. Kind of. Sorry if it hurts your eyes. 

The first Linden was also made using shitty shitty fabric. Fabric that prompted Andrew to suggest that when wearing it, I'd have no trouble attending a high school in our old home town. Mean. Totally right, but still....mean. I thought that by trimming it with some other contrast fabric, it might make it less 'school jumpery'. And then I sewed the neck binding on back to front so it all went a bit pear-shaped. And the jumper is miles too big. But good practice, good to make mistakes with shitty fabric, and it's fine for wearing at home when I'm doing DIY or something. It's warm if nothing else (you can see I've already worn it around home - it has a freaking grease spot on it, hello Friday burgers. I'm so classy). 

But once I realised that I could use the overlocker without destroying things, I set about buying ALL THE FABRIC from the internets. I'm not even joking. My bank account looks sad. The first lot to arrive was some lovely sweatshirting from Guthrie and Ghani - in navy blue and bright fuschia. I had in mind that I could mix and match, and that's what I've done! 

The first pink/blue one is ok. I went down a size from the original green monster, which has helped, but I still need to lose some length in the sleeves and possibly go down just one more size to get the fit I was hoping for. Again, it's fine for 'round home (which, given I'm about to start my sabbatical, is pretty much all the time), and it was a lovely thing to wear to hand-made clothes to yoga yesterday. 

My final Linden is the best so far (I have at least 2 more planned). I used a slightly bigger seam allowance, shortened the length and sleeve-length, and I'm much happier with the colour blocking. And no mistakes! Hurrah! 

Victory leap. Nailed the focus *sighs*

And one where you can actually see the jumper. And less of the messy house.

It's starting to look like I have a terrifying number of sweatshirts, but the green one will not last long before it gets covered in paint splatters, and the scarily bright Astoria is really not wearable except as high viz running kit. These are great garments to practice overlocking with, and frankly, when you work from home a lot, what's wrong with having lots of jumpers?! My next two planned involve some amazing Liberty sweatshirting I got in Glasgow (squeeeee!!) and some lovely ponte roma from Girl Charlee. 

Christmas Catch-up

Well 2016, here we are. 12 days in and scarcely a frost to be seen.* My hopes of a delightfully cold white Christmas were thwarted, but despite that, we had lots of food and drink and plenty of laughter. Quite a bit of blobbing on the sofa watching TV too, if I'm honest, but that was really what we desperately needed. Semester 1 (Oct-Dec) was a bit mad last year, so I felt properly wrung out by the time Christmas rolled around.

I didn't do very much sewing at all for Christmas. I'm not a homemade gift giver (sewing for others still fills me with fear) but I did manage to make myself a super cheesy Christmas dress! I bring you, the Christmas Moneta dress! Ta dah!!!

It really is quite cheesy, being only a step up from a Christmas jumper, but I actually really like it!! It's a bit mad, but properly festive and thanks to the lovely Moneta shape - it's pretty and feels a bit fancy. Plus...stretchy fabric on Christmas day with the illusion of a waist-line?! WIN! It's funny fabric - slightly furry. I wouldn't call it a fleece, but it's on its way to being a fleece. I suspect it was originally fabric intended for adult onesies or something awful. It has now been packed away for next year, but it did Christmas proud!

Here's a pic of it in action on Christmas day...

I had also intended to make a more chic Christmas dress to wear as well out of some gorgeous Liberty lawn in a pretty berry pattern that I bought. But Christmas arrived really quite quickly, so that fabric will have to be put to another use. Maybe a summery Anna dress - it's pinks and reds and greens...that doesn't have to be Christmassy.

Anyway, that's the extent of my Christmas sewing, but here is one more pic of me doing some Christmas cake icing (I decorated the cake as a present with a red bow), wearing one of my Coco dresses (layered over a RTW black merino from NZ). Not sure if I've blogged about this dress or not, but I do rather love it.

And so we leave 2015...a year of lots of sewing, quite a bit of progress and exciting work developments which relate to sewing. I'm happy with my efforts in 2015, although I think I need to push myself a bit more in 2016 - I want to work on my fit skills, and try to develop a couple more skills or techniques. I got into a bit of a knit fabric/jersey habit this year, which has been wonderful because I've realised how much I love wearing comfy fabrics, but they do allow me to be lazy with fit issues. Here's hoping 2016 will be the year of the fabulous fit!


*snow is forecast for Thursday. I am stocking up in the hopes of a proper snow day!