Thursday, March 29, 2007

Latest purchases and b'day mail

Jalisa will need some new PJ pants this winter, so I bought these flannelette prints;
The pink fabric is a *feathers* knit, which was bought to line her winter jacket with (I am thinking of using a black and white houndstooth-like fabric that I have in the stash for the outer portion of the jacket). The lilac is a burntout voile - something to stash for next summer.
Thanks Cindy and Mick for the *retro* books you sent. My book was first published in the 1920 and man is it a hoot. Unfortuntely for the author, I picked up no useful information from the book. Wayne's Manners for Me looks like a good read too.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Paris maternity top


I modified Kwik Sew 2874 and used this cotton lycra with Paris features to make this maternity top. I hope this print is not too busy. Since I did not have any matching/contrasting ribbing or knit I decided just to turn and topstitch with a twin needle - very easy to do, as long as you make small clips along the curves. This is a great pattern, except I found it too narrow at the wrists compared with the rest of the arm.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Op shopping is such fun

Decided it was time to go and do some shopping after a 2 month forced "I am pregnant and feeling sick and tired" break. First we went to the baby store as it is moving and was having a sale. Picked up a toddler tourer, which I hope will be useful for out and about in the early times.

Next stop, Lifeline, where I spotted this delightful little sewing machine - I thought Jalisa might like to play on it while her Mummy is sewing! I also picked up this great little cash register for only $2, but that is for playgroup.


We also went across the road to the Hospice store. Got these patterns:

They also had a stack of fabrics, but I ended up with these.
The white is a pique, hopefully cotton, with "Marie Claire" kind of embossed in there. The grey pinstripe will be a winter tunic and I think I will make the check into a little kilt or dress for winter too.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Finally...

I felt good enough to do some sewing for me. Yesterday I decided to alter some Kwik Sew patterns into maternity using the instructions from Rostitchery (scroll down a fair bit) - I did also add 1 inch all the way around as I did not want my waistbands showing.

Pattern is KS2856 view A- basically a raglan sleeve top with a large foldover collar. I used a rayon/elastane knit - originally I was thinking I might be able to get a short dress out of the 2m length, but after the maternity alterations I thought there is no way there would be enough fabric.
This is the skirt I made the other day - same pattern as the last skirt I made. I just used a micro-model knit this time. A modelling shot would be better, but I keep forgetting to line DH up.