Stitch by Stitch

I’ve been sewing more things for the little one compared to DD1 simply because I think that it would be nice for DD2 to have things that she could call her own and are not hand-me-downs. Also both being born during different seasons just mean that more often than not, the type of clothes that I made for DD1 doesn’t mean that it would be suitable for DD2.

We are now into autumn but it’s not as cool as you’d like it to be and on some days, it feels as hot and humid as any day in summer so I decided to sew some tshirts for DD2

These tshirts were made from big scraps that I had in my bin and not wanting to waste them, I thought it would be the perfect idea to use them up.

I’m not too crazy about the ‘fairy’ tshirt which has frills at the bottom.

Perhaps I didn’t sew it well or maybe I simply don’t like the pattern, I don’t know but I wont be sewing that one any time soon, I think. As for the tshirts in general, I use knit of course and it was relatively simply to sew up except that I kept making the same silly mistake I make every time I sew a tshirt – the sleeves don’t match the notch because I cut it the wrong way!!! It really pisses me off that at this stage, I should know better but I am still making these silly mistakes! *sigh*

Other than that, I like how the collars are done. It’s not your usual binding collar where you sew one edge then turn over like how you’d sew bias binding and top stitch down. This one just required you to sew the short edge to form the loop, fold it in half, and with the right sides together, stitch one edge. Then fold and topstitch. Somehow I feel that it looks more professional and like ready-made stuff you get off the shelves.

I’ll be inclined to sew more of these even for DD1.

These are definitely a pair of overalls I had fun sewing up. Simply because it doesn’t have a zipper! *lol* I’m utterly hopeless when it comes to zippers so I try to avoid it if I can.

When I first traced out the pattern, I thought it seemed a bit big. And then when I finished it, it looked humongous! And I was thinking, well….DD2 wont be wearing this any time soon. And waited till she woke up to try it on her.

Apparently I was dead wrong! It fits her perfectly albeit the length is a wee bit long but I think that’s quite alright.

The fabric is a 4-way stretch knit which feels kinda lyra-ish so it reall stretches well. And hopefully will last till winter! Then again, babies grow like weeds so I may be kidding myself here. At least she can wear this on the plane back to Malaysia in May coz it can get chilly sometimes.

A final shot to seal the deal.

What better way to use up most of the scrap fabric I have than to make some fabric alphabets! Thanks to Aida who first sewed it using this free tute. And a huge thank you to Jessica of thinking of such a brilliant idea!

This is what mine looked like last night. I took this before it went into the wash.

I tried my best to associate the alphabet with the fabric ie. A for apple, C for cat, etc…but after awhile I ran out of fabrics that would match and to be honest, I really had a headache trying to pick the fabrcis hence, I just took whatever I could find! lol I think Arianna is a wee bit confused but she’ll be ok I think.

I’m not too happy with a few of the alphabets so may re-do a few of them. Jessica made hers with cotton I think so it’s nicely ragged around the edges. Aida did hers with knit but looks ok too. However, I mixed mine up and seems as though my knits are curled up….as they are meant to. :/ I think I might actually do rolled hems on all of them or something to finish the edges coz although Arianna loves it, she’s picking at the raw edges of the woven fabrics and it’s ALL over the carpet floor. >.<

But other than that, she loves it and was already excited as I was sewing them last night. They are really easy to make and fast too. Next, I’m going to make numbers coz Milly [lovely CM member] who had given me the batting for these gave me quite a fair bit and I have more than enough left to make numbers. But that will have to wait till the machine comes back from service.

She’s going in tomorrow….and I’ll be on a week long sewing detox from tomorrow! Eekksss…..

TFL!!

This is what I did with the other leg piece. I meant to turn it into a pair of pants but it wasnt enough so I turned it into another bareback dress. This one wasn’t shirred as the width wasnt wide enough.

Don’t mind the hair, Arianna had just woken up from her nap before I rushed her into the dress and made her assume position. lol The things I put my girls through. DH said it’s scary how she knows what to do when she spots my camera and I tell her to go stand there and say cheese. LOL

What I did – a mini tute :

1. This time I didn’t chop both sides up, instead just straightenned the inner leg seam and sewed it up. Again, as with KR’s dress, I measured from the bottom hem up to the length I wanted it to be, and OL the edges.

2. Since I couldn’t shirr the bodice, I decided to use the same method you’d use for elastic bands but instead of elastic, I replaced it with straps made from the same fabric. It’s the same method I used for the straps for KR’s dress. So, you’d just have to tightenned it around the chest and bring the straps up behind the neck and tie it up.

And you’re done! TFL….

I’m pretty happy how these turned out! All from a pair of REALLY old almost vintage sort of cotton knit culottes from the 80’s – they belonged to my cousins and were hand-me-downs until the the elastic wore off and no one bothered to replace them that I took over. And even then, it sat ages in my wardrobe. I had even tightenned the elastic but after awhile, I kinda got sick of it coz I’m really not into culottes so during my recent raid, I knew it was destined to be a recon. It was meant to be Arianna’s but you’ll see why it’s not.

Looking chic in her new-old shirred bareback dress [Note how the bodice fits her so nicely? It would have strangled Arianna! *lol*]

What I did – a non-pix tutorial:

1. From one half of the legs [it's a 2 pattern pieces pants, iykwim], I took off as long as I wanted the dress/tunic/top to be, measuring it from the bottom so I didn’t have to bother hemming it up.

2. Then [stupidly] trimmed both sides to give it a bit of a shape, which I think I shouldn’t have bothered with anyway since with the shirring, you can’t really see the shape. Then I sewed 6 rows of shirring at the top and joined the side seams.

3. For the straps, using the same fabric from scraps left behind, I folded [right sides together] 2 pieces of 47cmx4cm into half and sewed one top and side steams together. Into an ‘L’ shape so to speak and using a pencil, I pushed it through the sewn strap so that I could turn it right side out. Then I just handsewed the other open end, tucking the raw edges in and stiching it up. Lastly, attach the straps by also handsewing them to the bodice. For this dress, I attached it 3cm away from the side seam, I think 4 or 4.5cm would be better. But it’s up to your personal preference of course.

And you’re done!

A backview of the dress

Despite measuring [a sleeping baby], I think this dress is a little long but I was thinking that longer is better so she can grow into it. Also, if the shirring gets too tight, I can later on unpick it and turn it into Arianna’s design [coming up next].

Will be uploading Arianna’s one as well once I’ve taken pix of her in it. TFL….Happy Upcycling!

I recently had this thing to upcycle what I already have since as much as I would like to buy more fabric, space is an issue and well, so is my wallet. Hence, I raided my wardrobe and got out a couple of tshirts and blouses which I knew I wouldn’t be wearing anytime soon or worst still, ever!

Upcycled from my tshirt – I turned it into an A-line dress.

Loosely based on this tute, I just winged this dress. I also used the bodice pattern of Otto’s China Grass Dress to get the shape since I didn’t have any other pattern to base it on.

I made the most of the shirt hence it is a little big but although for now it is a dress, in due time it will make a nice tshirt. So she will definitely get a lot of wear out of it.

Made out of one of my clubbing spaghetti straps, this item will always bring back memories for me of my long gone clubbing days! *lol* Although this is the simplest upcycle I’ve done, to reach the end result too a LONG time and loads of thinking and unpicking!

Because I wanted minimal modifications and what I really had in mind for the end result was merely a gathered/shirred back, it wasn’t as simple as I thought! I started off by just doing 3 rows of shirring in the middle to gather it, but it was too loose at the back so I unpicked and made the shirring longer and that too didn’t work. So I decided to do shirring for the whole width of the back and it worked.

Then I had issues with the front! It too was loose so I added 2 rows of shirring instead of 3. I’m glad it turned out ok too!

As with the tshirt, this will get even more wear out of it being stretchable and versatile as well. It can be worn, in my opinion, as a dress as well as a tunic with a 3/4 pants. I tried that yesterday and I like it!! Super summery outfit. Heh.

TFL…..

Since I’ve been sewing a number of dresses for Arianna as well as skirts, I don’t have enough knickers to match coz during winter, she was mostly in pants coz I really couldn’t be bothered with leggings and the lot. So now that its summer, it’s dresses most of the time.

Anyway, I decided to sew up a bunch of knickers from scraps of knit I had lying around. This is a good reason to clear room for MORE fabric. LOL

Knickers #34, 04-04

I was thinking of making some for me too since I have the pattern here. I don’t think DH would mind me in ducks and cherries!

TFL…..

I have been in the mood for some free patterns lately and this is my latest. The free pattern is from Sewing Mamas.

Both made from knit [CM, recognise the knitted mushroom fabric?? ]

The pattern is easy to sew but I think there is a slight mistake which I think is not intentional. I believe that the measurements may have been switched ie. the bodice calls for it to be 6″ wide and the strap 3″ [unfolded] so I followed as per instructions but when I sewed it on, I realised that it looks a little out of proportion so I switched the measurements and it looks fine now. Hence, the bodice is 3″ and the strap width is 6″.

I can actually see myself making more of these as I actually completed them both within a day, technically anyway. lol

I cut out the fabric the night before and stitched the straps up and finished both dresses the next day. The girls wore the dresses to a Christmas Eve party as I coulnd’t wait till New Year!! *lol* One of the perks of being able to whip something up there and then.

Did I ever tell you about the time I whipped up a pair of 3/4 leggings for Arianna just before mass as her other white pair was in the wash?? LOL And it only took about 1/2 from start to completed leggings. Gee, we’re a spoilt bunch of mamas aren’t we? Whipping up clothes just like that…..

TFL….

See what I mean when I say that KR seems left out? lol Actually I had finished this before I completed KR’s purple outfit but never got to posting it. This fabric is from my Mum’s stash so I consider it as vintage batik from the 80’s which she bought from Terengganu, Malaysia. It is cotton and I love the color! Especially how nice it looks matched with white. One thing though, the color runs really bad so I’m glad I soaked/hand-washed it instead if chucking it into the wash. I think there is also enough to make a little something for KR as well.

Another summer outfit + modified leggings #38, 04/04 : This top is somewhat the same as the green one with slight modifications to the sleeves which I added some frills, inspired by a pinny from one of the previous Otto’s. As for the gathers, I only added to the middle bit of the bottom panel. The leggings I’ve chopped to almost 3/4 length but I think any longer and it wouldn’t be as nice.

I really like how it turned out especially the color combination. Also, these leggings can also be matched with the green summer top too! I’m glad to be SWAP [Sewing With A Plan]!

TFL….

I’ve been busy with making summer outfits for mainly Arianna and poor KR has been left out. I hate to be unfair so I whipped this up today.

Own top + mod leggings #2, 04/04 : I drafted out the top, something I had in mind, this morning and sewed it during the day and then traced out the Otto leggings, made them shorter in the arvo and sewed it within minutes and voila! A simple and easy summer outfit for KR. Made from cotton for the top and knit for the leggings.

I think purple suits this little miss.

TFL…next time, I’ll be trying my hand at shirring instead. Hope it goes well!!

And now…do you notice that something is wrong with this top? If you don’t, thank goodness. But if you did….hhmmm, then it’s too obvious. What is it you ask? Well….
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I didn’t position the top too well and didn’t realise that the design was upside down hence only KR can appreciate it the best. Lesson of the day : Pay attention to design on fabric before cutting! :/ Yvy…yvy…yvy…..*sigh*