My First Crochet Item

with armholes and shaping and stuff! That is wearable :) And isn't a scarf or shawl.

I have been spying so many lovely knitted or crocheted items lately, from many of the totally talented Crafty Mamas in the forum, that I was completely inspired to have a go. Then the lovely Tracy started up a Yarn-Along, and I decided to jump in feet first, not expecting to even finish an item.

But I did, and it is gorgeous! I love it! DD on the other hand, isn't as impressed, as it is a bit big. Pfft! She is doing nothing but growing lately, and really, it was my first ever cardigan. I think she should cut me a bit of slack lol

I do know why it is slightly too big, and that is because the pattern calls for a size 6mm hook, and I only had a 7mm. I knew it was going to be slightly bigger, as I did do a gauge swatch thingy.

Anyways, the pattern is the Bebop Cardi. I found it on Ravelry - it is a free pattern and is rather easy for a beginner. It was also quick. I managed to have it finished in 4 days - about 10 hours tops. The yarn is BWM Luxury in cream - DD picked that out of the colours that were available. And I must say, it is an absolute pleasure to work with such beautiful wool!

I added some button loops as I was finishing the edges, and they are a bit hit and miss - but they seem to work ok. Two extra rows were added when I was working the bottom, so that it had a bit more length and I think that works well.

Mis-matched buttons, just because they were there and it is helping to reduce the stash :)

Also crocheted lately is this simple granny square blanket for my niece. She drags her bigger ones everywhere and trips over them. So this one is to drag around with less chance of tripping.

Cheers!

Well finally!

I have some pictures to show of my new jeans :) My first pair of jeans (in adult size) that I have made. Woohoo! Even though they are not quite perfect, it does not detract from that fact that I made a pair of jeans lol And they weren't hard to do.

I did procrastinate for a fair while, a month or two at least, because I was scared. And it was probably a good thing I did, as the denim I had bought wasn't enough. Also it had lycra in it and if I had used it, well, I wouldn't be so happy right now. Although I used the size according to my hip measurement, they were slightly too big, so a smidge of adjustment over the hip/waist area got them fitting snugger.

But oh dear, one slight problem, they are most definitely considered high waisted on me :( Sitting pretty much at the smallest part of my waist, they are a good 4cm + too high for my liking. This is ok and live-able with in looser tops, but certainly not with anything that fits snugly - well not after wearing for a few hours, as I develop a little pooch in front lol But I know what I want to change next time around, so it isn't a waste of time.

The colour of the jeans screamed home made when I first finished them, very solid and flat, with no high/low lights. So I took to the jeans with some steel wool - what fun that was! The result was much preferable.

To go with my jeans, I decided to make a new top as most of my long sleeved ones are looking pretty tatty. Gorgeous charcoal marle stella from Crafty Mama's, with some LoveChirp embroidery from Huups. (I know it isn't centered perfectly, I still need practice).

The joy of this top is that I got to use all 4 of my machines on the one project, sewing machine, overlocker, cover stitch and embroidery - I knew I needed all of them for a reason!

Top is Ottobre 2/2006 #1 with a slightly rounded v-neck. Jeans are 5/2007 #10, the bootleg variation.

Cheers!

Farbenmix meets LoveChirp

And a very nice meeting it was!

I had two new baby girls to make gifts for, so I pulled out my copy of the Farbenmix Baby pattern pack (it has a very long, unpronounceable name I can't remember) from the CM Shop. I decided to do the jacket, as it is coming into winter here and I had some gorgeous cotton velour I wanted to use (stash busting and all that).



LoveChirp was the very first embroidery I bought from Huups - and wow! It is just so gorgeous :)



The jackets are identical apart from the colours I used in the embroideries. A slight mishap with my placement meant that I ended up making them into badges to sew on - but that also allowed me to position them exactly where I wanted.


I used a size 62/68, so the bubs can grow into them, and they should be light enough to wear through spring.

Cheers!

A Birthday

Was celebrated last week. My boy turned 7! I still don't know where all those years went. One moment he is a baby, wanting constant feeding, next he is at school, can read by himself and needs a bigger bike! (Which luckily was a birthday present).

As seems to be the tradition since I began sewing, my kids get a new outfit for their birthdays. DS actually checked to make sure I was making one :) And when I handed him a present to unwrap, he said "Ohhh it's from Mummy. Must be new clothes". Well then, no surprises there.

I had fun picking the patterns, as he is now a size 128 (euro sizing for those thinking he is a giant lol). So that means for a lot of the Ottobre patterns, he is in the next/bigger size range, and there is some seriously cool boys wear for older boys.

Some influence for choosing patterns came from a piece of fabric I received in a Crafty Mama's swap from the lovely Lissy of handmade - homegrown. It was a woven in black with awesome dragons on it. I knew immediately that I wanted to make a button up shirt. But heading into winter and with only just enough fabric to scrape a short sleeve shirt from, also taking into account the fact that DS really didn't like button up, collared shirts, I was in for a challenge. The pants fabric was some widewale cord that I had been hoarding for years! The t-shirt fabric was a remnant of a stretchy knit - probably a cotton/elastane blend - beautiful to sew.

1/2007 had exactly what I was looking for! A button up shirt, combined with a long sleeve t-shirt (#31). Perfect. Even better, the pants paired with it in the magazine (#32), were just what I was looking for. DS loved it!






I also realised after beginning to sew the t-shirt part, that it was navy blue not black like the shirt. But it works well. I had to fussy cut the sleeves in the dragon fabric, and didn't notice that the blue dragons were different sizes at each selvedge. But these are unimportant details - it looks great overall - and I am finally getting to the point of "blind man....galloping horse" about my sewing (ie: it is perfect to my hubby, it is only me that notices the fiddly bits).

Little boast for the binding - look how great it went on with the twin needle :) Though the stupid needle decided to skip when I did the hem and I had no more, so I won't show you that.



Oh, and a sugar laden cake :) The Treasure Island cake from the Womens Weekly Kids Cake Book.


Cheers!

April's Challenge Completed

Well it may not be a completely lined item, it was about all I could muster this month. For Carolyn's April Challenge of Something Lined, here is...... a hood! lol


It also completes a sew-a-long over at Crafty Mama's where many of us had a try at the Farbenmix Imke pattern.

I did one each for my kids, off the paper pattern not from the book, as I didn't feel up to tackling the tissue patterns in the Sewing Clothes Kids Love book. I also used the pieced version for both the kids. Fabric, cotton knit (I think the pink print has a touch of poly), is all from the stash - I am trying really hard to use it up - no small feat, let me tell you!
I really like this pattern, and the sizes I chose, the kids can still wear a t-shirt underneath for winter. I would like to try them in something warmer, more as a jumper style - but with the sporty hood from the book.


I did find the neck opening with the hood to be a little snug on my big headed people, so for DD's I cut the seam allowance from the jumper part, but not the hood, and then attached. I jsut means there is a bit of a gap between the edges of the hood, instead of them crossing over. Still looks fine though :)

Cheers!

It's News Time!

Yes, finally, I can share (well at least I hope I can lol)

The Crafty Mama Marketplace opens tonight! Woot! It is happening about 7:30pm EST, which I think is about 4:30pm here in the west :)

A big thank you to Lisa, from Crafty Mamas forum and shop who is hosting the marketplace, allowing long term active forum members (like me) to all join in and have a collection of little shops for our handmade goodies, including some of mine (look for the banner like my blog - well the coloured threads anyway).

And goodies there are - these lovely mamas are super talented and their wares are gorgeous.

So without further ado - The Crafty Mamas Marketplace

Cheers!

A Birthday and 2 Challenges Completed

Last week it was my baby's 5th birthday - she is growing up. Awww. I also joined in with a Sew-a-long at CraftyMama's for the gorgeous Mamu Vivi pattern and I finished my item for the February challenge at Carolyn's blog :) These two items made up part of my daughters birthday present.

The Vivi pattern is gorgeous! A funky little skirt that has about 6 variations. I chose the college skirt variation, and altered it a bit too. This skirt has a pleat in the front and the back, I decided to make the pleat from a contrasting fabric, and used that same fabric for the waistband.




My knit fabric challenge was the Farbenmix Antonia top. I used a cotton/lycra for the body and stella for the sleeves and shoulders.




Both items were well received, and DD had a lovely day - she even got to take a tub full of biscuits to school to share with her class.



Cheers!

I like sewing boys clothes

I really do like sewing boys clothes. Here are two examples that I made as a gift for a friends DS. The Bert Bermudas from the latest Ottobre - 3/2009 #23 in a size 104. I didn't add a hem allowance, as I didn't want them to be too long. I used a lovely red soft drill (possibly with a touch of poly in it) that I picked up as a remnant. The colour is a bit out, as I took the photos too late in the afternoon. And yes, the white line on the fly is my marking pencil - I have washed it out now :)



A singlet top from 2/2005 #19 in a size 110 with a length of 116. I used some Stella (cotton/elastometric blend) from the Crafty Mamas Shop in lime and chocolate. It is delightful to sew (this was my first project with it).



I added tags to both the top and the shorts from my Farbenmix ribbon (also from the Crafty Mamas Shop).

I can't wait to give these to the birthday boy on the weekend!

Cheers!