More Playdates

The girls and the husband went to the bathhouse on Monday (Easter Monday) when we had out last day off for Easter.

It gave me time to finish Sofia's Playdate dress with elephants.

I'm not entirely sure about the yoke - due to how I combined the piping strips I "lost" the dots in the piping fabric.
The construction of the dress makes it possible to fix it easily, but I'm not sure I should put that much effort into it. I still might. I just haven't decided.



The buttons are from a mixed bag I bought at the fabric store. I also got all fabrics there except the batiste for the yoke which I got from April. I have since ordered 3 more yards of it as it is a dream to sew with!

Easter

We were celebrating Easter Saturday at my SIL's place. Her in-laws were also visiting so with kids we ended up being 14 people.

We were asked to bring some food to the table and we made a "matjesillstårta" (as in herring cake - not as bad as it sounds, in fact bloody delicious if I say so myself).

We went for a long walk/bike-ride in the morning. The girls rode their bikes and Rickard and I walked. I think it ended up being something like 5-6 km (3.5 miles) and I was a bit sore once we finally came home. (Silly me was wearing flip-flops and my soles aren't toughened yet.)

On our walk I had time to ponder the girls' dresses and I realised I wanted to make some bloomers for Sofia (and ideally for Isabel too) to wear underneath for modesty. I find that long walks are good for these ideas to turn up - and to be planned out.

When we came home I went upstairs and traced the Bedtime Story Pyjama Pants. I cut them off 3" below the leg notch and then cut them out from some creamy gorgeous cotton batiste I bought from a fellow O+S-junkie in the US.

To give them a nice finished edge I contemplated a ruffle, but ended up using one piece of lace I had got from my MIL a few years ago. It's hand crochet lace and it worked out wonderfully.



Sofia was mighty pleased with them and I liked their heirloom feel.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to make any for Isabel before we had to leave. But I think I'll use the Nature Walk Pants as a starting point for hers. I'm thinking adding the yoke to the pants leg and using a similar waistband as the pyjama pant. Maybe add a few 1/2 inches of width since that pattern is for stretchy fabric.

I have one more piece of lace that I could use to hem hers.



In the end Isabel wore a pair of cropped leggings and that worked well too.



I need to learn to factor in a few extra inches for length when I make dresses for Isabel. O+S dresses in size 10 fit her beautifully, but she needs an extra 2" or maybe even 3" for length.

Happy Easter!

More Multi-tasker Totes

I can finally show you pictures of something!



It's taken a while, but I finally finished another Multi-tasker Tote by Anna Maria Horner.

I cut out the first pieces I think a month ago, but I didn't start actually sewing until last week.



I had it almost all finished yesterday. I just needed to stitch up the opening in the lining.
I was gonna do that last night, but Rickard insisted on watching a movie (Star Trek - oh woe be me ;-) ) and it was too dark, plus I couldn't concentrate on the awesome of the movie.

Once the movie was finished I stitched the seam up and it was ready for a test drive today.



In hindsight I should have interfaced the pocket pieces too. The fabric I used is a bit too thin for this bag. But it will make a great knitting bag this fall.

It goes really well with my new purse. I bought that from Marieliz on Etsy. Amazingly talanted woman (runs in the family).




I'm debating ripping out the straps on the tote and replace it with something brown like in the purse.
What do you think?

Making dresses ...

Last year when I started stashing fabric (to my husband's gentle frustration) I found a lovely fabric from Alexander Henry called Baby Berry.

I ordered a yard (along with a bunch of other yard cuts) with the intention to make something for our kitchen from it. Like a table runner or a tea cosy or something like that.
The fabric was way too thin for that though and at the time I was more into collecting fabric than actually making something from it.

But a year later my fabric stash is growing at an alarming rate and I really need to get started on using it.
Don't get me wrong I love fabric fondling and I could content myself on doing that, but I fear my husband will stop feeling gentle frustration and move onto something else if I don't start using it.

So lately I've been on a sewing binge. I bought a bunch of patterns from different designers' and I've been keeping busy.

I've been off work for a week starting last Monday and I definitely caught the sewing bug.
I traced the pattern for Patty Young's Frida one evening and picked out the Baby Berry and a green/white seersucker fabric I've had lying around (they were gonna be curtains) for a few months.
I took time out during the day to sew up the bodice for the Frida but had to put it aside since we were going to dinner at a friend's house.

We came home again late last night and I was fondling the fabrics and looking at the pattern pieces I had cut out. And then I thought - I can sew the pocket on. So I did. Then I thought sewing the ruffle strip together wouldn't take that long or serging the edges.
Then I might as well sew the gathering seams too.

And before I knew it the dress was done and the time was ... way past my bed time. At least the birds hadn't started singing again ...



I made the dress for Sofia who turned two last month. But since I have a taller-than-average-husband she needed the 4T/5T size ... no point in making a dress for her if she's not gonna be able to use it for at least a few months (which is the reason I prefer to put my time and effort into making dresses for Isabel - then Sofia will be able to inherit them and I'll get more mileage out of them)



I thought the dress would be too long and that I would have to make some pleats in the skirt ... after trying it on her I don't think so anymore.

Now - I have already picked out a fabric combo for a Frida for Isabel. But the pattern doesn't come in a big enough size for her so I will have to grade it myself.
I'm still working on that.

Twirlyness

Today was my final day on my own. The rest of the family left for the in-law's cabin on Monday and I hadn't seen them for almost a week.

I had fully intended to start sewing in the morning but it was still too hot and the thought of sitting down at the machine with a hot iron right next to me wasn't tempting.



But after they had arrived home, eaten lunch and Sofia had napped they headed for the public pool and I could get a few moments to myself again and since Sofia had been presented with a cami and panties right before they left I wanted to make Isabel something too.

I had decided on using some of my Freshcut-fabric from Heather Bailey. And I had decided on making a circle skirt.



I measured Isabel's waist (or the place on her body that has to double as waist since she wants to have all her pants and skirts fall on her hips) and the approximate length of the skirt.

I couldn't make the skirt longer than 12" because of the width of the fabric so I had to add a hem band and I think the dress looks a lot more finished than if I had gone without it. I considered doing the hem band ruffled but decided against it mostly cause I hate to gather fabric.

A circle skirt is the epitome of twirlyness and when you're almost 5 years old that is important.



It also makes your hips dance ...

Kyoko for Isabel

Late last night I finished the Kyoko for Isabel.

I have agonized over this dress for over a week, ever since the pattern dropped into my mail box.
I had a fabric combo set up that I was gonna use but I wasn't 100 % convinced it would be perfect.



I had intended to use the green Kokeshi-fabric and the pink dotted fabric for the skirt and the darker green for bias trim, but then I had second thoughts.
The darker green would look nice in a Kyoko for Sofia and I have more than 1 yard of it so it would be a shame to cut it up and make trim of it.
Then I feared I didn't have enough of the green Kokeshi anyway to use for the skirt pieces.

The pattern doesn't say how much fabric the skirt requires - probably because you can configure the skirt as you like. But it threw me for a loop for a bit. I found an orange fabric that I liked with the dolls but I didn't have enough unless I turned the pattern pieces 90 degrees and I didn't like how the fabric stretched on the cross grain.
Then I recalled I had the black Kokeshi fabric and that it would look quite cool to use them together.



So I measured and puzzled the pattern pieces on the green fabric I had and made it all fit. Now all I needed was trim.



I bought a package of three coordinating fabrics at a crafts fair in April and I had intended to make YoYos of it. The orange fabric I had considered for the skirt came in that pack.
It also had a dotted fabric that I liked and when I put it next to the Kokeshi-dolls it just matched. There was a green dot in the fabric that was the *exact green of the background for the dolls. And almost all the other colours in the dotted fabric was repeated somewhere in the dolls' outfits.
Perfect.

Now Patty had said you needed 1 yard of it to make trim for the dress. And I had 30 cm (12 inches). But I figured I could at least use it for trim of the sleeves and the bodice. So I cut it all up and made bias binding of it.
I didn't realise I like to make biniding. It's sort of relaxing. Strange.

The dress came together beautifully even though I had a brain fart and forgot to finish the seam in the sleeves. I may have to amend that.
Last night I gathered the skirt and attached it to the bodice. Perfect timing for today's birthday party.

But I still needed fabric for the obi-sash. I had intended to use a piece of stretchy thin denim I had at home but when I took it out I realized I had used it for a dress for Sofia and I couldn't find a large enough continuous piece to make the obi.

But I had the orange fabric.



So instead of going to bed like I intended I cut out the pieces for the obi and finished it too.

I love how this dress turned out. The pattern was well written and all the pictures made it easy to follow. It was a fun project to make.

I will need to lengthen the obi for Isabel if I make another one. I also need to make the bodice a little longer. She's normally a size 134 for length but she's rather slim so the 122 is ok for girth. Although the obi was on the short side.

I'm making one for Sofia next. As soon as my order from Heather Bailey arrives.

I think I'll measure her before I cut the obi for her. Maybe I need to lengthen it too.

More creativity

Now Isabel's got a birthday dress too ... This one took a little longer but I like it so much!

On second thought I think Sofia's dress became too big so I may have to draft a smaller size and make another for her ... maybe this weekend.

I also whipped up something I've been thinking about for a while.



I took some scraps, cut them randomly with my pinking shears then sewed them to a Moleskine with a wide zigzag.



To protect the stitching on the inside I glued on some pretty paper.

Birthday dress

Every little girl needs a new dress for her birthday. And if it's home made the better.

Sofia's 2nd birthday is next Friday and this morning I decided she needed a birthday dress.



So tonight after dinner I sneaked away into the sewing room and started drafting the pattern. It's from Ottobre Design's latest issue. I used model 18 which is basically a pillowcase dress.

There were 3 variations and I chose the sleeveless one in size 104. I think it will be a bit too big for her this summer but come fall I'm sure it will fit nicely.

I used some Robert Kaufmann fabric (Kleo and Bangle Dot in Sage) that I bought last year from an Etsy store to use for this very thing.

The dress came together really fast. I started copying the pattern at 7pm and the dress was finished at 9:45 pm.



I need a different drawstring because the colour on the satin ribbon isn't quite right, but I can't decide if I should make my own drawstring from the Bangle Dot fabric or if I should buy something.
I'm leaning towards the first option, but I'm planning on making a second dress for Isabel using the same fabric combination so I'll have to wait to make sure I have enough.

I'll try it on Sofia tomorrow and I hope she'll like it.

New dress

Three weeks ago I saw a knitted little dress at the LYS and fell for it immediately. I was a little reluctant about sizing though. I have a not-quite 2-year-old who is taller and heavier than many 3-year-olds I know, and the sizes on the pattern went only to 18 months.

But I did some swatching and some calculating and finally decided on knitting the largest size on 3.5 mm needles instead of the 3s the pattern called for. That gave me enough girth around waist and chest to fit her comfortably.

Normally I lose interest halfway up the back piece, but this time I finished the back in less than a week and when time came for me to go on a business trip I brought it along and knitted in the car (No, I wasn't driving) for the 2,5 hours it took to get there.
I also had plenty of time to do some knitting in the evenings. Both at the bar and in my room.

I quickly decided not to put sleeves on the dress (there were really cute puffed sleeves on the pattern) because I prefer the look above with a sleeveless dress with a little shirt underneath.

I sewed the sides together last evening and weaved in ends until 10:30 pm. This morning I dug through my (tiny) button supply and found a button that will work for now - I might buy a new one later - and Sofia got to wear the dress for daycare today.

She kept stroking it and twirling it so I think she liked it.

Pattern notes
Needles: 3.5 mm
Yarn: Kasper from Marks & Kattens, 4 skeins variegated and 1 skein solid
Size: 18 months (sized up to 2 years using lager needles)
Alterations: I lengthened the armholes and rather than struggling with adjusting the sleeves I opted on knitting the same lace pattern used for the neckline around the arm holes.
I knit the lace edging before sewing the sides together.

Red Verity and Not-Enough- Ruffles

I made a "Just Enough Ruffles" for Isabel. I had to modify it for size both because her neck is small and because I didn't have enough yarn.

I made one version of it and ended up with 20 cm yarn left when I had 300 sts left to bind off. Less than ideal. This is version 2.0.

The red hat she's wearing is a Verity. Size S. I love it. She looks like little Red Riding Hood.

The black and white dress was a Christmas present from my mom.

Hit and miss

I've been very productive lately. A few weeks ago I started on the Just Enough Ruffles by Laura Chau. (Ravelry link)

Looking at the pattern you'd think it would take a long time to knit, but it really doesn't.

I finished the Butterscotch one above in just 2 days. And ...



... immediately started a second one in a yummy green shade.

The yarn is Cora from ONline. I couldn't find a local store that carried the Malabrigo yarn suggested, and I didn't want to wait.

I've still not knitted anything in the Malabrigo so I can't tell the difference, but Cora is a very nice yarn. Acrylic content but ... meh.

Once the scarves were done I shopped around for a hat to match and came across Verity by Ysolda Teague (Ravelry link).



The hat was a really quick knit. Started on Monday at Knit night and finished today (Wednesday) with ends woven in, just lacking a button.

But.

I chose the wrong size. I thought the beret would have enough ease to fit my 58 cm head in the 56 cm size, but it just looks silly.
So I'm debating frogging it to the point where I skipped to Medium size and start over - or leave it as it is and maybe give it as a gift to someone.
I'm definitely starting another for my daughter who asked for one in red - and I thiink it will look adorable on her. X-small would be the way to go there.

So some hits and some misses - but it's all learning so I should just accept and move on.

I guess.

Rainbow pencil roll

Ever since I first saw one like this (here) I've been wanting to make one.

Then a few weeks ago a friend of mine asked me if I could make a pencil roll for her girl for Christmas. She asked me to get the pencils/crayons and make something with this fabric on the outside.
Other than that she gave me free range of the design.



A week or two after that my father gave me a box of pencils that he had gotten for some kind of promotion.
There were 15 sets of pencils (!) with 15 colours in each. It fit perfectly for this idea.

I made 2 rainbow insides at once and I plan on making one for Isabel as well. It will probably turn out differently though.

Candy skirt for Isabel

I designed this skirt to go with the Candy Sweater I made Isabel a few weeks ago.

I did a green ribbing in the waist with YO-eyelets to thread an variegated i-cord through.
I then increased the number of stitches by 25 % and began knitting 1.5 repeat of the structure pattern.
Then I thought about how to hide the increasing and still keep the pattern intact so I did a row of garter stitch and hid the 50 % increases after it.
Then another 1.5 repeats of the structure pattern.



After a second garter stitch row I increased by 50 % all along the front and 100 % along the back to add a little more bounce in the back.

I ended the skirt with 3 rows of green stockinette for a rolled hem.

Isabel liked it very much and it turned out exactly the way I imagined it. I like how it's rather tight around her bum and then flares out.

I want to make another for her in green, because this skirt with the Candy Sweater looks a little busy.

[FO] Needle roll for me

I've been needing a needle roll for my straight needles for a while now. I've planned on making one but other things always got in the way.

I had decided on the outer fabric but the inner fabric was still missing and I wasn't sure how to divide it.

Then at last, last week I managed to get my butt into gear and actually do it. I found a pretty, pink fabric in my stash with white dots on it, that I was probably planning on using for a dress or something for one of the girls but it matched the outer fabric so well I had to use it.



The outer fabric is a fat quarter of an Alexander Henry print I bought from a friend in the UK.
I only had to trim the edges, otherwise it fit perfectly for this project.

I added some padding to the outer fabric and quilted around some of the larger features in the print.
Then I just started to make dividing seams for the needles.

I have a quilter's ruler for my machine that attaches behind the presser foot and it made the whole process a lot easier.

I made a few 1,5 inch slots, some more 1 inch slots and finally some half inch slots. Then I grew bored and decided I didn't need any more slots for needles.
So I fashioned some pockets for stitch markers and other notions before I sewed the inside to the outside using the birthing method.
It's my prefered method because it doesn't involve binding.

I'm getting better at binding though so maybe I'll try that next time.



It looks quite neat all rolled up!

Candy sweater for Isabel

I finished a sweater for Isabel yesterday. It had one million ends to weave in. At least it felt that way.

She got to try it on immediately and she gave it her seal of approval. She refused to take it off so I could photograf it.
It wasn't until she got ready for bed that I managed to peel it off her.

Picnic bag

One evening last week I went to the Quilt-store across from my office for a sewing class.
We were gonna make a garden tool bag or a picnic drink bag.

Initially I was gonna chose a fabric with winebottles and wine corks to keep with the theme, but in the end I opted out on that and decided to use fabric from Sandy Gervais' latest collection Freshly Squeezed.

It made for a very summery bag I think.

The pattern was fairly simple but it had a lot of steps so I don't think I'll be making it again.
If I do there are a few things I would change about it so maybe I'll give it a go during my upcoming 5 week vacation.

Another view of the inside

Apples and Strawberries

I made another sewing bag to match the Apple bag I made a few weeks ago.
It came out a lot better than the Apple bag so I decided to take off the binding on that one and remake it right.

A Bushel of Apples

Last night I started a sewing bag that I had been keeping an eye on for a while. I think I sewed, ripped and re-sewed portions of every single seam on that bag, but now it's done.
It's not done right or perfect (I misread part of the pattern) but it holds together and serves its purpose.

Here are some more pictures
The basket patterned fabric makes up 4 pockets on the outside.


Another outside view


The Lining


And then I had coffee and a sandwich or two ...

[FO] Crayon roll with space for drawing pad

Inside view - room for 8 wax crayons and 1 small pack of writing paper


Back view


I bought the fabric on Etsy last fall and never got around to using it. Then I bought the crayons and the pad and realised it would be a perfect match.

I didn't get around to actually make the roll until last night when I was inspired by this picture.

The girls loved it when they got it this morning. I think I'll have to make another so they have one each.