Fifi & Florence

KCWC - days 2-7!

2011-10-16T21:40:00.001+08:00

welllllllllllll, i did manage to sew for an hour a day, but i don't have a lot to show for it. i went for quality over quantity and tried to focus on the details.

inspired by these gorgeous shorts, i set about making a girly pair.

lots of faffing around later et voila!

i used this tutorial on made, really good and i'll definitely be making some more, think i'll try the lined trousers next time with some old t-shirts for the lining.

things i've learned - sew pockets onto trouser panels before sewing the trousers together!

and i made harriet a matching pair.

i just traced an old pair of shorts to make a pattern, and i'm really pleased with how they turned out, i think i'll make some more adding a little bit into the bum and the rise and they'll be perfect!

i even made little name tags for them both, i just stamped onto cotton webbing using ink which once ironed will stand the up to the washing machine.

i still have lots of stuff i want to make so i think i'll continue my own personal kids clothes challenge for the next few weeks..... but first i need a week on a thai beach......

kcwc - day one from an iPad!

2011-10-10T21:02:00.003+08:00

a rather dark picture of what I achieved on kcwc day one - two pairs of yellow gingham seersucker cut out and ready to sew - goodnight!

KCWC

2011-10-09T16:51:00.000+08:00

not as prepared for KCWC as i'd hoped...

i had grand plans to have loads of things all cut out before the start of kcwc, and ready to sew together, resulting a very productive week.

as usual my actual output this week has fallen monumentally short of my rather optimistic predicted (hoped for) output. and i have nothing cut out, not even a list of things to make.

so here we go....

here's a little stack of some of my fabric i've pulled to work with

and i'd like to make knot shorts in yellow seersucker for S, and little shorts in yellow seersucker for H, a skirt with heart pockets in the chambray, and some sort of dress in the spot seersucker.

this funky japanese print is just calling out to be worn by cute little people!

this dress

in this strawberry print.

another dress for S and a peasant top or shorts for H in this pink gingham

and i really want to make some of these for both of them for when we will be in slightly cooler weather (wooohoo!) but i'm undecided on fabric.....

maybe this for one side...

so there we have it, a rather optimistic plan of action for kcwc! what are you planning on making?

vintage treats + KCWC

2011-09-19T14:38:00.003+08:00

do the 80s count as vintage?!!!

my mum came to visit a few weeks ago, and brought with her a few sewing bits and bobs which she's had in her cupboard for yonks! (she's a bit of a hoarder!)

all packed up in this cool tin

filled with lace and broderie trims, some lace collars, cutout patches.....

i think some of them came from my aunt who used to be a designer, and then had her own boutique.

and these cool tapes, i remember playing with these when i was a kid, not sure what to do with them though - any ideas? especially the number one?

and she also brought these beauties

Burda magazines from 1986! two in german and one in english (at least the german should be easier to figure out than the japanese craft books!)

how cute are these two?..

nice specs!...

i actually quite like this one...

and these could be cute in some nice fabric...

kind of scary but cute too!..

i really like the boys all in one

and as it's KCWC in a few weeks I'll definitely be making use of some of these trims and patterns.... now i just need to find some leg warmers and velvet scrunchies to complete the looks!

whoooaaaaa!

2011-09-16T14:19:00.000+08:00

didn't mean to be quite soooooo long between posts!

things have however been pretty productive around here, but as usual i forgot to take pictures!

basting is completed on the single girl quilt, that things is mahooosive, i thread basted as i'm hand quilting and safety pins just get in the way and add too much weight, but it took quite a long time to thread baste so i'm just imagining how long the hand quilting will take!

and i whipped up this little nappy carrier for my smaller bag, the tutorial is from Anna of noodlehead, and was really easy to follow, but i did unpick the whole thing and make it smaller, as I wanted something pretty small, so i made it just the right size for two nappies and a packet of wipes.

i've got a few other finished projects to show you, a few projects on the go and a HUGE list of things I need to make!

bean bag

2011-07-02T21:03:00.001+08:00

this bean bag has been a loooooong time in the making. months and months ago i googled for a bean bag tutorial and only found this one and this one. i didn't want a round/ball type one so i made the martha stewart one, but it just wasn't right. so after many, many, many hours of filling and unfilling various shapes i finally settled on my original idea of just a big pillow shaped beanbag. and here she is!

made with some ikea canvas and anna maria horner's innocent crush which coordinated perfectly with our rug... finally finished and in use... ahhhh.

my creative space

2011-06-30T09:23:00.000+08:00

this week i'm working on a quilt for Sophia, i've had the fabrics for two years now, so i decided it was high time for this quilt to make it to the top of the to do list. lots of far far away in pink and orange to match her bunting and canvases, and there will be a pillow to match too. just hope i don't run out of the white linen!

toyko subway map quilt

2011-06-29T21:24:00.001+08:00

finally finished, only started it about 9 months ago!!!!

please excuse the dreadful photo i really must find a better way of photographing large quilts

but she's finished and i love her! she's awesome, thank you elizabeth for such a great pattern and quilt along.

made using lots of scraps and fabric from my stash (although an emergency trip to spotlight was called for after a complete lack of any grey in my stash was noted) and the white is an ikea sheet

i loved the quilting so much on the original quilt, i went with the same straight line quilting, although i didn't stitch in the ditch (partly because i forgot, and by the time i realised i really couldn't be a***d to go back and fill it all in!!!)

the cutting of the squares took long time, as did sewing the 1600 pieces together, but it was well worth it!

and the back is some ikea houses fabric, along with some blah blah blah fabric which i think is from timeless treasures, along with a small piece of black and grey to make it big enough.

pillow

2011-06-15T20:38:00.000+08:00

more pretty-fying of the girls rooms, a little embroidered pillow for H to match her quilt.

just some two inch squares and a solid border around a piece of white linen, with her name embroidered in floss, just perfect for a mini ikea poang chair!

envelope back, with a little contrast binding on the opening.

i love making these and i'm just starting on one for S.

my creative space

2011-06-02T14:44:00.001+08:00

today i will mostly be working on my tokyo subway map quilt.

i did the quiltalong on oh fransson, finished the top months and months ago, did half the quilting and then gave up as the quilting was so dreadful! i just can't seem to get the tension right, but in the end i just decided to live with it and finish it off. i think the dreadful quilting may have something to do with the thread, it's DMC hand and machine quilting thread, but i think it's too thick so i'll keep it just for hand quilting.

check out all the other creative spaces here.

purple baby quilt

2011-05-28T13:41:00.007+08:00

here's a little quilt i finished last week, it's probably in a dark lonely sorting office now - on it's long journey to it's new baby owner in england.

it's a three improv-ed log cabins sashed in white, on a natural linen background

the gorgeous little purple flower was a japanese voile i got in spotlight which i love love love. unfortunately i haven't seen in again.

also in those little log cabins are a couple of shot cottons, some grey kei honeycomb and a little snippet of some kokka ballerinas, some kona ash and a couple of other little scraps from the scrap box

quilted with organic lines a la jacquie

i bound it with the voile which from a longevity stand point - probably not the best choice, but it's just so gorgeous and yummy i couldn't resist!

hopefully it will enjoy have a little baby girl rolling around all over it!

giveaway winner!

2011-05-27T13:09:00.000+08:00

and the winner is..... drumroll please....

sertyan who said...: My Favourite tutorial in blogland is Made By Rae's Itty Bitty Dress

thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway - i was blown away by the response. and i now have 421 suggestions of tutorials. i will put together a post of the most popular tutorials from the comments and any other tutorials which i haven't seen before.

i'm still waiting with baited breath to see if i've won anything from the giveaways i entered on giveaway day - but can i just say i've never won anything in a giveaway and i've entered the giveaways on three sew mama sew giveaway days now. it takes me back to my childhood when i never ever won pass the parcel - not even at my own party! but now that i've hosted a giveaway - you never know maybe karma will eventually let me win something!

small print - it's not about winning it's the taking part that counts!

giveaway day!

2011-05-23T14:37:00.001+08:00

hello to everyone visiting from sew mama sew's giveaway day.

this is my little blog journalling my crafting adventures - it's still fairly new, but i have lots of great projects all waiting patiently for a little write up!

anyway... i'm giving away this fat quarter set of momo's wonderland, four fat quarters in total.

i'll select a random number on May 26th (Singapore time - so it may well still be the 25th where you are!) and i will ship internationally all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favourite tutuorial in blogland is. i have a list as long as both my arms of tutorials i want to make, and i decided recently to make an effort to actually sew some of them! so watch this space for some tutorial reviews. if you'd like to become a follower - please do, but no pressure!

japanese craft books

2011-05-23T14:34:00.000+08:00

i can't believe i have lived virtually across the road from a japanese book shop (kinokuniya) for three years and have been coveting all the gorgeous things online made from japanese craftbooks for two years - and have never actually thought to seek out some books for myself! maybe it's the fact that all the book sections are (obviously) labelled in japanese so i would have no idea where the craft books are. but last week i decided to plump up the courage and venture into the japanese section of the book shop. it didn't take me too long to locate the craft section, but it did take me a while to chose my purchases - so many gorgeous pictures and two trips to the toilet ("mummy I need a wee" swiftly followed by "mummy I need a poopoo" the second we had returned to the shop!)

i chose these two books to adopt and bring home.

stylish clothes for girls (ISBN9784579112890)

and this one (ISBN 9784834731736) which I have no idea what it is called

both are filled with gorgeous pictures like this

and this

and i can't wait to get started making some of the projects

what a shame - i think i'll just have to buy some new fabrric to do the patterns justice!!

bloggers quilt festival

2011-05-19T16:07:00.000+08:00

here's my entry for the bloggers quilt festival over on amy's creative side.

i started it when H was doing time (9 months gestation! actually 8 and a half!) and after deciding to add hand quilting detail with perle 8 i finally finished it a couple of weeks ago (H is six months old!), i could only manage a couple of lines at a time due to boredom and a sore finger.

the fabrics are a bit of mixture, the matryoshkas were where the whole theme started - i decided a simple strip quilt would be the best thing to show off the large scale print. and i added the michael miller dot in teal, a gingham seersucker in red, a couple of small dots i found at spotlight, and a great find from spotlight - the blue retro floral which i have since realised is almost exactly the same as a cath kidston print.

the back is a few strips of leftover scraps, dividing some off white linen and the amy butler lotus print.

and i found the perfect stripe for the binding in my stash.

amy puts in a lot of hard work to organise the festival - hop on over and take a look at all the other quilts, and checkout the sponsors.

KCWC - day six and seven and a roundup

2011-05-16T10:33:00.001+08:00

as suspected the weekend didn't leave a lot of time for sewing on day six and seven of kcwc.

i did manage to finish one pair of bloomers...

and get three quarters of the way through another pair.....

and i started on a baby sunsuit using this tutorial, but then realised the only poppers I had were ones which you hand sew on and I didn't think they stand up to much wear and tear, so I'll need to get to the shops before I can finish those.

so my grand total for kcwc is as follows....

3.75 pairs of bloomers
2 skirts
2 dresses (finished off)

so not a monumental amount, and not as much as i would have liked, but i always have grand plans in my head - but with only a measley 24 hours in a day there's just never enough time! (n.b. when pre-bath meltdowns are in full swing believe me i am very thankful there are only 24 hours in a day!)

but the flickr group has provided so much inspiration, and i've pulled out so much fabric - i think kcwc might just stretch out to another week.

i'd love to make some shorts like these, using this tutorial....

and a leah tunic from this sew along...... found through here...

and a top using this as inspiration....

the week after this will be my personal - "all those little sewing projects i keep putting off week challenge"

KCWC - day four and five

2011-05-14T09:38:00.001+08:00

day four and five saw a lot of seam ripping!

but i did finish off this pillowcase dress made from some fabric i bought yonks ago in a spotlight sale. i think i might change the tie to a ribbon as it's a bit stiff as it is. and maybe add a corsage and a ribbon trim around the bottom....

the pattern is from "making children's clothes" by emma hardy. it's supposed to have a full lining, but with it be so hot here I thought a full lining was too much, so it has a half lining. i also altered the arm holes as the ones from the pattern are HUGE! again i think H will have to wait and grow for a while before it fits her.

i also knocked up these skirts. just selvedge to selvedge, with a contrast band.

not sure how much productivity day six and seven will yield - but i do have a huge pile of fabric and millions and squillions of ideas from the flickr group, so i might do KCFC - kid's clothes fortnight challenge (does that acronym make anyone else hungry!)

anyway a spot of laundry is beckoning....

KCWC - day one, two and three

2011-05-11T22:01:00.000+08:00

days one two and three of kids clothes week have been fairly industrious - however it has revealed to me that I am a very slow sewer!

on day one I started on this pair of bloomers from lotta jansdotter's simple sewing for baby.

the seam ripper made an appearance when i sewed the bias binding on upside down.

on day two i finished the bloomers (will have to revisit at the end of the week as the elastic in the legs is a little snug!)

and then i pulled out the pieces for this dress, cut out nearly a year ago for S, now far too small for her, but H will grow into it. re-did the pocket friend and got as far as sewing the bias binding onto the armholes.

day three saw a trip to spotlight to pick up some more elastic, trims and i might just have purchased a little more fabric! on returning home day three saw the finish of the simple dress - and i love it! i can't wait for it to fit H.

i'm really pleased with it, yes there are a few puckery bits on the bias bits around the armholes and neck, but i can look past those! i added a special little name tag and instead of using a button and ribbon look, i sewed contrasting ribbon to the neckline for the closure.

and i'm so in love with the pocket friend - i think every pocket should have one!

kids clothes week

2011-05-09T11:19:00.000+08:00

it's kids clothes week challenge (kcwc) over on elsie marley. a week where you dedicate one hour a day to sewing for your kid(s). this is my first time to participate and I'm quite looking forward to it.

i've made a few bits of clothing for S in my time, and they're nice, but looking at all the inspiration out there for kcwc i think i need to branch out a little in the embellishment and detail - so that's my challenge to myself this week...... and maybe practicing some french seams along the way.

i think monday morning is a little late in the day to be collecting inspiration - but hey-ho - as is life!

i might make H some of these bloomers (although I don't have any vintage hankies), and also a pair from Lotta Jansdotter's Sewing for Baby

and not that she actually where's anything on her feet (it's ALWAYS hot here) i might whip up a pair of these booties.

maybe another one of these skirts from oliver and s

this looks like a pretty sweet little top

and this is just the cutest little dress

right now to start gathering fabrics and i might find a few unfinished projects along the way!!

My (messy) Creative space......

2011-05-05T20:53:00.000+08:00

my creative space this week is extremely messy!

but mess is GOOD - in my book it means productivity (well that's what I tell myself!)

.....there's a little baby quilt being quilted (it will be a tad late to it's baby recipient)....

....the single girl quilt top and backing waiting to be marked, basted and quilted....

....and my baby girl's quilt finally finished, washed and out to dry....

embroidery

2011-04-25T09:49:00.001+08:00

"prettyfying" (my own word) the girls rooms continues - here is and embroidery which I finished a while ago, but only just got around to framing and hanging.

p

it coordinates with the quilt for H which i will hopefully have finished next week

i drew my own pattern based on the matryoshkas from the quilt fabric and then used badbird's heart embroidery pattern as an inspiration for the patterns on the doll's body. Andrea's free embroidery patterns are awesome, and on my pre-christmas to do list is definitely this tree embroidery, and another prettyfy project involves these fab unicorns for S's room

my creative space - single girl update

2011-04-21T14:45:00.000+08:00

here she is so far!

my first complete block.

had a few issues with getting it to line up, i sewed Q1 and Q2 together and then Q3 and Q4 together but then the rings were nowhere near matching up so i had to take a bit out of the centre seam and use lots of pins. hopefully blocks one through 19 go together a little more easily.

tonight will be spent laying out the blocks on our giant rug. because i've used scraps, no ring quarter is the same and i want to get colour and value balance right in each ring and across the quilt as well a making sure the same fabrics don't sit too close to each other - this could take a while!

head on over to the flickr group to see some serious single girl loveliness!

laptop sleeve

2011-03-25T14:03:00.000+08:00

our laptop was coming along for the journey on our trip home a few weeks ago, and since it was cold in england i decided it needed a winter coat of it's own. a little look through my file of tutorials and i came across elizabeth of oh fransson fame's laptop sleeve tutorial. i have used it before to make a gift to much success.

i chose this echino glasses print in black,so it's manly enough for my husband! and simply lined it in a cream twill which i had on hand.

The tutorial is very well explained, and i found it really easy to follow.

My Creative space......

2011-03-24T11:11:00.000+08:00

My how quickly Thursday rolls around! I'm sharing my creative space with a single girl.....

This little pile is 620 handcut pieces of fabric stitch together to one day soon make up a fan-dabby-doozy king size quilt for our bed! (note the trousers folded up in the background - need sewing back together after I ripped the crotch - must get on that diet ASAP!)

I'm fairly far behind the schedule for the Single Girl Quilt Along run by Katy, Nova and Meg, but that doesn't bother me - as long as I get this baby finished one day! Go check out the flickr pool to see some fab finished quilts and quilt tops.

My arcs are on hold until my background fabric arrives - kona bone ordered from Sew Fresh fabrics on etsy.

So from now until it arrives, my creative space is going to be filled with finishing some much neglected WIPs!

My creative space......

2011-02-10T15:56:00.000+08:00

as viewed from afar....

currently sitting on the sofa nursing the bubs.

but over there are 5 dresses waiting to be finished - check back tomorrow to see if I get them finished!