Stash Avalanche

KCW: More trousers

I ended up having more of a KCW fortnight than a week and emerged with another two pairs of trousers for Stashlet and that Casual Lady dress you saw me grumping in the other day (not very KWC admittedly).

I used Blank Slate Patterns' Coastal Cargos pattern and based on Stashlet's waist measurement made a size 4T even though the boy is only 2 and a bit! Strangely the first pair fit him fine while the second pair (cut to exactly the same pattern) is a bit big in the waist but wearable with a belt*.

The first pair were made with an old pair of M&S linen trousers. The seam down the front came with the original trousers and I thought it would add a bit of interest.

The fabric wasn't great to work with and a few of the pieces ended up vaguely off straight grain because no matter how much I pinned them things seemed to move.

I made this pair exactly as the pattern (ie. all the pockets - front, cargo and welt) and all I missed off was the bias on the leg seams because some how I completely managed to miss the fact that I would need bias binding.

Look - you can just see the little cars of the lining fabric here. I love putting little secret things in like this.

The second pair were made from some lovely beach-y Ikea fabric which is a heavier weight cotton that the floppy linen. I wanted a quick make for these so I only put the front pockets on - back patch pockets might make it on at a later date.

These are also 2" shorter than the linen pair (which taught me that half a metre is not enough for trousers these days!) but still need a bit of rolling up to be wearable - not much of a surprise given the 4T sizing.

The pattern is graded as an intermediate project and I would say that although it is pretty straightforward there are a few places where a bit more advice would be useful or the photos don't exactly match what you're doing (I put this down to different sizes more than anything else).

That said, in general, it is an excellent pattern and the fact that it comes together quickly and goes up to a size 8 years means I will be making plenty more of them. By the way, Melly at Blank Slate Patterns is giving away three patterns as part of SMS's Giveaway Day week so if you like the look of them you could even win them for yourself.

Linking up with Make It Wear It today and Show and Tell Tuesday next Tuesday.

Happy Thursday everyone!

* edit 12-05-12  Mystery solved! I just went to put them in the wash and discovered that I had forgotten to put the elastic in the back waist band - no wonder they needed a belt.

 

Show and Tell Tuesday - shark trousers

I'm a little out of kilter with finishing things off, posting about them and Show and Tell Tuesday this week, but here are a pair of trousers I made for Stashlet over the weekend.

You can read more about them (and the very tawdry stripey t-shirt from Kids Clothes Week)  here.

Added 04-04-13:  Also linking up with Make It Wear It Thursday at The train to crazy. Thanks for the invitation to join in, Andrea!

Kids Clothes Week achievements

Added 10-04-03: I got my dates wrong but feel free to read on...

It's been rather a frantic week here at Stash Towers so despite remembering on Tuesday that I should be sewing, it took until Friday for me to actually get anything done for Kids Clothes Week. So the aim of doing an hour's sewing a day totally went out of the window.

Still, timing failure aside, I did manage a few things so the week is not a complete write off.

Achievement 1: I finally finished that stripey t-shirt that I started for Celebrating the BOY.

I still haven't really got the hang of t-shirt necks. This one is a bit too baggy although I think part of the problem was that I wasn't using ribbing and there isn't a great deal of stretch in the jersey I used. I also felt that the neck opening was a little on the small side so I didn't want to make it any tighter. Anyway, I'm sure it will be fine.

I also put a snippet of rocket ribbon on the front hem, like a logo, to make it look a little less plain. I have some decoration plans for the other two I made but I thnk they'll happen when they happen, y'know?

Achievement 1.5: I skipped on over to Pattern Anthology and got a copy of the Coastal Cargos pattern, which is now printed off, stuck together and waiting for me to unpick a pair of old M&S linen trousers. Not exactly a proper achievement but I used the welt pocket instructions for Achievement 2...

Achievement 2: A pair of trousers, all ready to wear, and pretty fancy if you ask me.

The pattern is Made's Kids Pants pattern, which is downloadable in size 2-3T so perfect for Stashlet this spring and summer.  The fabric is from my LFS (now, sadly, not so L), and I used the flat front option (with only the back elasticated) to reduce the baggyness I've found with previous trousers I've made.

I have decided that you can't have trousers without pockets (especially if you are a boy who collects pebbles) so I ended up getting a bit carried away and put welt pockets on the back. Never done them before but the instructions from the Coastal Cargos couldn't have been clearer, and while they're not perfect, I am pleased enough with them for my first attempt.

I did make a couple of changes. I wanted cropped trousers for the summer so I took an arbitary 7cm off the leg, aiming for three quarter length, and I also sewed down the outside leg seam so that it looks neat if I do turn ups. That worked pretty well.

...and I've just realsied that it would probably be a good idea to add a photo of the inside, so I'll take that tomorrow...

Somewhat stupidly and mostly because it was gone midnight when I did them, so my brain was not entirely keeping up, I put the welt pockets in an inch higher than they should have been, and then I had to fudge the waistband a bit. In the end though, I think they are not too terrible, and I will definitely know better for next time.

Overall, the trousers worked out miles better than any I made when Stashlet was younger and I will definitely make several more pairs using this pattern. I can also say that welt pockets are not half as tricky or time consuming as they look. Length-wise, they are full length on Stashlet at the moment (he seems to be having a short in the legs/long in the body phase)  but I hope he will do a bit of growing over the summer (surely there's a growth spurt coming up...).

Happy Sunday!

 

Show and Tell Tuesday - quilted placemats

Ok, so welcome to the first Show and Tell Tuesday hosted by Randi at I have to say...

I decided over the weekend that we need to have some placemats that we actually use. Ones that aren't unwashable (pretty bamboo ones) or get ripped up by Stashlet (thin cork ones) or  are too big for the table (plastic Ikea ones).

In a world where I had plenty of money to spend on nice things, I would have some of these. But in the meantime, I will make some (hopefully naff-free) quilted ones. The fabric is an Ikea table runner that I have cut into four, and I plan to sandwich it with a bit of medium weight calico and some cotton batting, then quilt it by hand and bind it with some navy blue bias (deafening silence on my plea for quilting help, by the way).

So here they are, fresh out of the washing machine and ready for some sandwich action...

 

Need. Help. Quilting.

...made long before the blogging started...

I have been trying to write a list of all my WIPs and the things in my head that I want to make and haven't started yet (fortunately - there are more than enough half finished projects here at Stash Towers already). And even though I am not a quilter, I find I have about seven quilts either semi-started or waiting to be cut.

Now you know me. I make things up as I go along and sometimes things work and sometimes they don't, and I really don't know why, but I have decided that before I go any further, I need to know more about quilting.

Really basic stuff like what exactly is English paper piercing, and what's the best way to get your quilt sandwich to stay together, and how do you get the stitching pattern on top the finished quilt top. And I know there are heaps of excellent blogs out there but I think what I need is a book. A proper drop-it-on-yout-foot-and-go ow! book. A My Bumper Book of Quilting. Perhaps a Dorling Kindersley Encyclopedia of Quilting (if such a thing exists).

So can anyone recommend a good book on quilting that covers the basics, different styles, techniques etc? It doesn't need to have projects in it. What I want is to be taken through how to make a quilt from start to finish (technical talk and too much detail very welcome).

So do let me know your thoughts.

Sun hat #2

I made another one! This time for Stashlet.

Having had a bit of a ponder on how to construct this hat, I hit on the idea of bias binding - not round the edge of the brim as previously mentioned, but round the brim-crown seam, like this...

I have to say the inside of this hat brings me great joy.

Using this method makes a reversible hat - you could even put bias on both sides if you wanted. Unfortunately I was too clever and sewed a name tape into the crown, so this particular hat is not reversible, but the orange+spots combo is so fabulous I may have to make another one.

Here's what I did:

• sew brims together and top stitch
• sew crowns and tack together
• create sandwich of bias binding (wrong side out) + brim  (right side out) + crown (inside out) and sew all together
• turn up bias and hand sew edge to crown (but through one layer only)

If I do this method again, I'll try to take photos of the sandwich bit because I'm not entirely sure my description is clear.

ps. fabrics all from Ikea except the bias which is some I made from an unidentified fat quarter a while ago.

 

Towelling post-swimming robe-tunic-thingy

Now there's a title that just rolls of the tongue.

We're going to go swimming.

I've been holding off on this on principle because I think the idea of having to wear a hat so that my hair doesn't clog the pool drain is absolutely ridiculous (one of those only-in-Ireland type things...), but Stashlet's love of water has finally won through so we're going to a parent and baby session tomorrow.

Babies get cold easily once they're out of the water, so inspired by Dana,  I thought I'd make a little towelling robe to cosy him up in once he's out of the pool. The original idea was to made an open fronted dressing gown type robe with a tie belt, but this metamorphosed into a tunic as Stashlet is not walking by himself yet and I felt that something with a closed front would work better.

Yet again, it's an Ikea repurposing. Three Nackten guest towels (30x50cm, and ridiculously cheap which probably means I'm supporting Taiwanese child labour or something); one for the back, one for the front, one cut in half and tapered a bit for the sleeves, and a bit of Kaffe Fassett bias binding that I made back in the days when I had time for such luxuries.

It looks quite a slim fit but with no nappy on, Stashlet is  a bit of a bean pole so I think it will fit him for a while (by which I mean at least this summer, fingers crossed).

You could easily make it with thicker towelling (the Nackten towelling is quite thin) or with bigger towels for larger kids. Bearing in mind the neck opening size experience I had with the Charlie tunic, I made this one a good couple of inches longer so there is plenty of roomto get in and out easily, and no need to fight with a wet and wriggling baby.

More posts on the way, I've been having a productive week...

Trousers

 Here's the thing: I sometimes have time to write posts, but then I forget to take the photos or the weather is so gastly (I do love that word!) that there just isn't enough light to get a good shot or there is too much rain to get anything other than me looking like I just fell in a pond. So here's a post I wrote nearly two weeks ago (small grimace) but have only just remembered to take the photos for...

Reading through my feeds last night (hmm, well, more like a couple of weekends ago now), I came to the latest post from Film in the Fridge. Ashley had her baby son, Max, about 6 or 7 weeks after Baby Stash appeared, and she has recently been making fabulous trousers and shorts for him to wear.

And that reminded me that I never got round to showing you the pair of trousers I made for Baby Stash. Hmmm, I think I must have made them a good month or two ago, but I included some room for growing so I hope that they will still fit in the autumn.

Unlike, Ashley, I put a popper crotch into these trousers, and although they are more functional this way, I can't say I like the finished look as much as Ashley's versions. Baby Stash has several pairs of pull-on shorts and his jersey trousers, of course, which have come to be known as his yoga-combats.

In fact these navy ones are exactly the same pattern as said yoga-combats, but in a medium weight cotton (I think I made a skirt or something for work with it a long while back). The hem trim is some Kaffe Fasset bias binding I made a couple of years ago:

The idea is that Stashlet will wear the trousers with funky turn-ups now and then when he's a bit bigger I can just turn them back down and let the elastic out in the waist a bit.

I'm not sure I'll make any more trousers with popper crotches. It's just as easy to pull them off completely for nappy changing, although now Baby Stash is a bit older, it takes a bit longer to get them back on because he has turned into a right wriggler. They also don't really work with turn-ups unless you have the poppers a lot closer together than I sewed them.

The fabric is not great either. Although it's cotton, it seems to attract fluff in the wash like nobody's business, so it never looks entirely clean. Admittedly this is a minor point when there is baby dribble to cover up the fluff but it's still a small annoyance all the same. So now I just have to find some fabulous fabrics to sew with and Stash can look as fabulous as Max does.

ps. the lurid grass in the photos... well, I had my camera on it's 'foliage' setting and normally the images are very green but not so washed out looking. But I did take the photos literally just now so the sun its at it's highest and brightest so perhaps that's the reason.

 

Being busy

Nobody seemed to find the woman giving birth in a tank full of koi carp funny - not even Mr G. Perhaps it was just too extreme. Ah well...

Anyway, just wanted to check in and say I'm still alive and frantically doing lots of fiddly things before we go away for a few days.

I added some fleece padding to the mei tei that Baby Stash hated so much back at the beginning of May and he seems to have had second thoughts...

And I made him a sleeping bag out of cotton sheeting because it has been so hot in his room, even with the door and window open.

It was pretty quick to make; I just traced round one I got from Mothercare and sewed it together. It's a 6-18 month size so it should do him for next summer too (fingers crossed). The outer fabric is from Ikea's kids department (can't remember what it's called though) and I lined it with white cotton lawn. I used a 30" zip which just about made it to the middle of the bottom - alright for getting Stashlet in and out of but probably a bit of a pain if we were still in the midnight nappy changing phase.

It would have been even quicker if I'd bias bound the arm and neck edge (as with the Mothercare version) but somehow that didn't occur to me and I'd cut out a seam allowance and sewed half round. That's what comes of doing too many things at once probably.

Happy Tuesday!

Cute as a Button theme and variations

First there was this...

The original Cute as a Button baby jacket that I made in January.

Then I made this...

The Whale Jacket: a size bigger and a teeny bit tweeked from the original.

And I thought, that's a useful little pattern, I wonder what else I could do with it.

And made this...

But the sleeves - well, the wrists - turned out to be too tight and I could just only get Baby S's hands through them.

So I cut them back and added a little cuff...

But I didn't like the seam across the top of the sleeve, so I altered the pattern to make raglan sleeves instead, top stitched the sleeve seams, added little vents in the side seams, and took a really wonky photo of it...

And then I thought, I still really like that original Charlie Tunic which is made in linen rather than cotton jersey. So I was going to make a Bomull tunic version (which admittedly is cotton not linen) but Baby S was having a bad eczema week and didn't like pulling his arms through sleeve holes, so I decided to make life easier for him and made this...

Which admittedly needs ironing but there's no space to unfold the ironing board at the moment!

I think it looks a bit like something a Chinese Mandarin would wear, but perhaps that's just me. I kept the raglan sleeves and the vents in the side seams, and added 1cm to each front half to enable a bit of overlap for buttonholes (yay! for a sewing machine that makes button holes!).

So, despite the fact that I originally grumped about the miniscule seam allowances, I think I can say that all in all it's quite a versatile and alterable pattern. I still intend to make a linen/cotton pull-over-the-head version, and there is also a half-made dressing gown version waiting to be finished, so I think we can officially call this my first sewing frenzy of 2011.

Happy Monday!

(ps. the binding for the shirt and the blue top are both Kaffe Fassett.)