flashback friday - reading pouffe

i made this reading pouffe for miss S when i decorated her room. i used this tutorial from living with punks. it was pretty easy to follow and i was super pleased with the resulting pouffe.

my piping technique could use a little refining, as could my zip inserting technique!

i appliqued on little circles of liberty prints, and to make them really pop i stab stitched around the outside.

the main fabric is the leftovers from the fabric I made the blinds for miss S' bedroom. it started life as a duvet cover from ikea. one side was grey with white dots and the other white with grey dots. the white with grey dots will eventually become the backing for her quilt (watch this space!) and it's filled with beanbag beans which have been sitting around in a plastic bag annoying me for the last few years!

mine-crafty

no.1's very good friends are twin, and they turned six today.

as their gift i wanted to make them something, but what do you make for a six year old boy (unless you work in a toy factory in china - then you could make loads of stuff they'd like!) they are completely and utterly into minecraft - so a minecraft cushion it is!

i ordered the fabrics from plush addict after school on tuesday and they were through the letter box on wednesday! very impressive.

i did all my maths to calculate what size squares i would need for a 30cm cushion insert, cut some squares out and decided my maths must have been wrong and cut lots and lots of squares a bit smaller...... turns out my maths was right, so this one has a black border to make it a bit bigger.

then i went back to my originally calculations and made this one....

in a way i quite like that they are different as they are for twins, it's nice for them to have things not exactly the same.

KCWC - days 2-7!

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

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

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!

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

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.

pillow

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.

purple baby quilt

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!

KCWC - day six and seven and a roundup

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

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

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!