runcibledays

Let's never speak of this again

2012-03-09T14:13:00.000Z

So, I traced a pattern from my Japanese book.

Knowing it was meant to made in a woven, I chose a knit.

A knit which had previously proved disastrous in not one but two other garments.

Knowing that my machine hates and fears twin needle sewing, I threaded a twin needle.

Knowing that baby would soon wake up, I sewed recklessly against the clock.

Did I not listen to myself at all last week?

The machine ate my fabric, and the needle too.

It was just what I deserved.

Time for some sewing rehab.

Patiently, and with care.

A grand unified theory - and an honourable exception

2012-03-04T20:36:00.001Z

Since last week I've been thinking a bit more about good sewing resolutions, and hoping to happen on the grand unified theory which leads to sewing success every time.

I came up with various theories of my own, and then remembered the clever people at Merchant and Mills:

(Now, I wanted to copy this next part from their website - and had permission to do so - but it just won't copy. So I'll rewrite the words, but it's worth following the link above to see the original.)

'SEW CLOTH TOGETHER PATIENTLY AND WITH CARE FOR YOUR INDUSTRY WILL BE REWARDED BEYOND ALL MEASURE'.

That really says all that needs to be said on the subject. It is the story behind many of my favourite things, like this dress,

this skirt,

and this top.

I had planned to say many more words on the subject, but now they are mostly redundant. Like all good principles, however, it has an exception which proves the rule: making fancy dress costumes. Last Thursday was World Book Day, and I sent to school a Harry Potter and a Wild Thing (from Where the Wild Things Are, of course). There was fake fur flying on Wednesday night. Costume sewing bends all the rules - it needs to be slapdash and scrappy, pulling together unlikely materials against an unfeasible deadline, and usually with a voice at my elbow asking 'is it nearly done yet?'.

For everything else, the mantra will be 'patiently, and with care'.

Inspiration all around - and a touch of thriftiness

2012-02-27T13:33:00.000Z

One of my new favourite blogs is Handmade by Carolyn, which is a joy to read and has an appealing and sensible ethos, all about making things which are both beautiful and necessary, with minimal waste. It's clean, green and elegant: just what I aspire to on runcibledays. So why do I have a huge trunk full of fabric remnants? When I look at it, I feel the need to use up some of my hoarded fabrics and scraps before even contemplating any more shopping.

On the other hand, sometimes the hoarded-fabric-trunk-of-shame just doesn't contain the right material for the task in hand. Baby girl needed a hooded towel to keep her warm after swimming, and it seemed like one of those win-win situations where the cost of the materials really would be less than the cost of buying one ready make. So, I went out and bought a metre of off-white towelling. I felt the good intentions had slipped a little, but promised myself that I would put every inch to good use.

Here's my hooded towel - sweet and simple. It has ears, of course. It might have been a sheep, or possibly a polar bear, but in fact the children identified it immediately as a panda. They must have been seeing the subtler details that I'd missed!

There wasn't much towelling left, but certainly enough that I'd usually have stashed it away. Instead I turned to Amy's bib tutorial at Lots of Pink Here, as my last batch of home-made bibs have been in constant rotation for over a year and are looking a bit tired. The new ones are much more fun.

I used scraps for the fronts, and backed them with the left-over towelling. Quick, stash-busting fun! I made two small changes: one was to draft my own bib with a side fastening, so as to avoid getting hair caught in the back fastening; and the other was that I left off the trim as I didn't have any ric-rac in appropriate colours. I'll be coming back to Amy's pattern, though, and will do it properly next time - it would make a lovely gift for a new baby.

There were only a few tiny snippets of towelling remaining, and oddments of the apple fabric. Doesn't apple fabric just cry out to be made into an i-pod case? I followed a tutorial from Dog under my Desk, which had been flagged up by another sewing friend.

Everything about this little case is intrinsically pleasing, from the clever construction (oh, that zip!), to the clever storage solution (I was constantly fiddling with tangled wires before, but miraculously, they don't tangle inside the case) to the oh-so-satisfied feeling of having put all that towelling to good use. There's no time to feel smug about using my scraps, though, whilst there are so many more still waiting. Some sort of good resolution is needed... I just need to work on the details.

Oh, and one other thought, from another favourite blog of the moment... I'm tempted to suggest that this was not only efficient, but also economical use of fabric, at £4.50 for the towelling, plus a few scraps and a zip from way-back-when. But then I think of the (inspirational) Selfish Seamstress, and her notional hourly rate of $85. If I adopted that (in £, of course) then the costs would soar to the point where I might as well have spun the towel out of gold.

Off to work on that good resolution now - it might take some time! Meanwhile, thank you to all the talented people whose patterns I followed and whose ideas I've borrowed for this post.

Mummy-and-me sewing (by stealth)

2012-02-19T20:13:00.000Z

This book was a Christmas present, and it's been in the bed-time reading pile ever since. It's a Japanese book of patterns, all with matching mother-daughter options - and the photographs are so elegant and charming that I'm very, very tempted to give it a go.

Then the voice of reason whispers in my ear, and reminds me that these are photos of very glamorous and carefully styled models - and the matchy-matchy look might be harder to pull off on the school run. So I'm dipping my toe into the water with some minimalist matchiness:

Here's the Colette meringue skirt (minus scallops as before) for me...

... and the O+S Family reunion dress for baby girl.

Not too matchy-matchy? But the inside stories are a little more co-ordinated:

This is mummy-and-me dressing by stealth (that is to say, for cowards). Maybe when I feel comfortable with this then I can move on to the fully co-ordinated look on the book cover.

But I'll have to do it quickly, before my little girl gets big enough to voice objections.

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T12:09:00.002Z

This was breakfast last year.

It was so much fun to make and eat that it needs another outing - maybe supper tonight?

Happy Valentine's.

Order, order!

2012-01-31T12:53:00.000Z

A new favourite skirt, hot off the sewing machine:

It's the Lisette Market Skirt in a thick charcoal wool unusually (for me) embellished with lots and lots of ribbons. I had a very particular vision for this skirt: multicoloured ribbons cut to random lengths all criss-crossing one another in dramatic diagonal stripes around the hemline.

Then I came to pin the ribbons in place and something in my sewing subconscious said "no". So I pinned them in parallel lines instead, to keep my inner self happy.

I left the right side-seam - the one without the zip - open to allow for easier access to applique all those ribbons. A few would have crossed over the other side-seam, so I left those unfinished and then stitched them after closing it up.

The hem is finished with an Oliver+S trick from the Lazy-Days Skirt: one last ribbon used as a hem facing and top-stitched to the right side.

Look at that stepwise pattern! I really thought the ribbons were placed randomly (within the limits of being parallel, of course) but a pattern emerged despite all my best efforts...

So, this is my order-out-of-chaos skirt, and I'm loving it. As a happy side-effect, my ribbon store is a lot more ordered and less chaotic than it used to be. Perhaps I should listen to my inner organiser more often.

Almost effortless glovelets

2012-01-06T22:29:00.000Z

Happy new year from runcibledays!

I've started the year with the simplest sewing imaginable: felt and fleece tubes with a hole in the side.

Here they are in action:

Are they fingerless gloves, or just wrist warmers with pretensions? Either way, they are just right for those in-between days in winter, and they take less time to make than a pot-noodle.

Looking at the photo above, I think they are probably just a variation that thing which schoolboys do with their jumpers to keep their hands warm: the one where they pull the cuffs down over their knuckles, and then wriggle their thumbs through holes in the seams. Maybe that's why my boys loved them immediately, declared them to be 'cool', and asked for several pairs each.

They work for baby hands as well, and are much easier to put on than real gloves with actual fingers...

Yet, despite their many good points, my husband looked dubious when I planned to write about them. "It's not really a pattern, is it?" he ventured (cautiously, given that he was on my territory), "I mean, even I could make them".

He's probably right, but something so simple and practical deserves a place on runcibledays, especially as it lends itself perfectly to using up scraps and up-cycling laundry disasters (I used a felted wool jumper, but socks might work even better). Here's what I did:

I cut two squares of felted wool, long enough to reach from knuckles to beyond wrists.

I folded them in half and sewed down the long side.

The fabric needs to stretch widthways for a tight-ish fit.

I snipped a little semi-circle about 5cm from the top edge of each glovelet.

(On my first attempt I snipped from the opposite side to the seam, but this meant that the seam ended up very visible on the back of the hands. The seam positions shown above gave a better finish with the seam ending up more towards the palm).

Then I turned them both to the right side...

... and made some more...

... and some more.

So no, it's not an actual pattern, but it's a quick and gratifying project for anyone with access to old socks and a pair of scissors.

Wishing you happy sewing and warm hands for 2012!

Here comes the sun...

2011-12-30T14:43:00.000Z

There's something about the Cath Kidston shop that I fall for every time. As soon as I step inside I completely believe in the CK world of eternal summertime, with strawberries for tea and boating on the river - never mind that I'm wearing woolly gloves and boots, and the nearest river is miles away. And then I start buying fabric...

Maybe this print would be better suited to an apron, but even back at home it still has a hint of sunshine about it! This is my muslin for the lovely meringue skirt from the new Colette pattern book. If you know the pattern you'll see that it's been extensively tweaked: the scalloped hem on the original might have been a bit much with this floral print; and the stiff canvas fabric holds its shape so firmly that I chose to trim a bit from the side-seams to straighten it.

The biggest triumph? An invisible zipper! The book's instructions are so good I didn't even feel afraid, and I'm delighted by its invisibility. Somehow I managed to set the zip too low and had to add a button at the waist, but luckily it was one of those happy accidents that end up looking almost intentional.

Don't look too closely, though! It's still a bit scrappy.

So now I just need to wait for the weather to catch up with my wardrobe...

Happy New Year, everyone!

Herman the cake #2 (and #3, and #4)

2011-12-19T14:00:00.000Z

It's been a measure of Herman's popularity that since I last wrote about him here he's been baked and eaten three times without ever having his photo taken. This last time, though I was prepared, and had my camera ready as soon as he came out of the oven, still in his baking tin.

This, of course, is Herman #4. In his previous incarnations he's been out for tea with friends, sold well at the school fair, and been the highlight of several lunchboxes. He's also lived up to his billing as a 'friendship' cake: delivering jars of sourdough gloop offers the perfect excuse for an impromptu coffee and catch-up.

In keeping with previous pets, Herman has grown smellier over time and the children have lost interest in maintaining him - whilst expecting him to remain part of the family forever. Luckily, Herman-talk on the internet says it's ok to freeze him in his uncooked form, and that he should recover when he's thawed (not something I'd try with the goldfish). So, we'll cook him one more time, Santa will get a jar of sourdough mix on Christmas eve, and then it's time for hibernation.

Linking and thinking - a small post about the O&S puppet show dress

2011-11-26T23:11:00.000Z

I've just bought the Oliver+S puppet show pattern - now available as a PDF, and taking instant pattern gratification to new levels. I would probably have bought any pattern which O+S chose to make available digitally, just to encourage them to produce more, but I was especially excited that they chose to start with this one because I've been wanting for ages to copy Janimal's amazing Snow White version.

But, while I wait for my little girl to learn to recognise the Disney princesses (and it might be a long wait, with my husband hard at work protecting her from their dubious influences) I've found another puppet-show-a-like to keep me going. Teal, from the wonderful 'Abney and Teal' wears a long-sleeved version with patch pockets and a gingham trim. Off to look for fabric at once...

Knock knock...

2011-11-21T13:28:00.000Z

Who's there?

It's my friend Justine at the door, with a bowl of gloop...

... and some (well-used) instructions...

... for a sourdough cake called Herman.

I'm very excited about having Herman in our family, having been wanting to try a sourdough recipe for ages. The children were dubious at first, but have started to enjoy him now: they come downstairs in the morning and ask 'is Herman still alive?', and they enjoyed feeding him his first top-up of flour, milk and sugar. It's like having a very quiet and undemanding pet. He does smell a bit - somewhere between 'delicious' and 'odd' depending on your perspective - and needs less maintenance than the cat, but slightly more than the goldfish.

Someone once told me that pets are very important to children because they teach them about death - she was a child psychologist, and she recommended hamsters for their short life-span.

Back to the cake - as I'm not sure where that last sentence was leading - we're now on day 6, Herman is bubbling away happily, and we're still planning to eat him at the end of the process.

Photos to follow...

Buttonhole bliss

2011-11-12T21:59:00.000Z

The new sewing machine has made the whole process of creating buttonholes so easy that it almost feels like cheating.

No more press-on snaps.

No worrying that the machine might suddenly decide to eat my nice new creation.

Buttonhole bliss!

How much is that prom dress in the window?

2011-10-30T21:13:00.000Z

I read somewhere that the secret of successful de-cluttering is to take as much pleasure ingiving a thing away as you would have had from keeping it (perhaps that should read 'hoarding it').

It was such a clever insight that I'd love to attribute it properly, but can't find my source now. I thought it was from this article by Oliver Burkeman. Maybe the original article was de-cluttered for the online version, and that particular gem got edited out.

Anyway, it rings true for me: I love it when I pass the children's clothes on to friends and neighbours, and get to see them in action again on even smaller people, and there's always a sense of satisfaction in finding just the right new home for retired treasures.

But, sometimes there isn't a new home to be found, and when I cleared out my wardrobe earlier this year, I just bundled the casualties into bags and took them to Oxfam. The space in the wardrobe was reward enough.

Or so I thought...

This week I walked past the Oxfam shop, and there was my little black dress in the window, all styled up with a feathery hat and sparkly necklace... This was one of the first 'proper' dresses I made for myself, and it went to a lot of black-tie dinners and dances, about 20 years ago when I had the figure and the lifestyle to suit it. Then it languished in the wardrobe for a long time, before I eventually de-cluttered it away.

It was a thrill to see it again so unexpectedly. It looks ready for a few late nights and parties this winter - hope it has fun!

Tra la la la la...

2011-10-12T22:15:00.002+01:00

A quick link to a very good idea... it starts on Friday, so there should still be lots of sewing time ahead.

Usually I put off sewing for Christmas until well into Advent, and then go shopping instead. Maybe this year will be different?

A runcible wordle

2011-10-07T22:23:00.003+01:00

For those with busy lives and little time to linger over details, here's the whole of      runcibledays (to date) encapsulated in a very lovely word cloud.

Do try it for yourself - click on the cloud and it will take you to the wordle site where you can make your own... you can play with different fonts and colours, reshuffle theclouds, even omit any words which don't appeal (though that feels a bit like cheating).

Have fun!

Buttonhole Blues

2011-09-11T20:35:00.002+01:00

My sewing machine is old and weary. It's four-step buttonhole is now more of a 27-step process, and every buttonhole is an adventure (not always a good thing). When I see the word 'button' on a pattern, I reach for the press-on snaps...

Sometimes it works out serendipitously and the snaps get lots of compliments.

(Like these lovely pearl snaps on the Dr Who shirt)

But, sometimes I pine for real buttons...

(wouldn't they have been nice here?)

(and here?)

(and maybe here?)

A new machine is on its way...

(but shhh - I haven't told the old one yet)

A place for everything (or, storage solutions, writ small)

2011-09-06T20:50:00.000+01:00

The runcible household is on the verge of a complete reshuffle: Flora's bedroom will become a bathroom, the bathroom will become a staircase to the loft, and the loft will become two new bedrooms.

And then there will be a place for everything (and everyone), and everything in its place.

My neighbour, who knows me well, understood the loft project immediately. "Imagine all the wonderful built-in storage", she squeaked.

Husband looked a bit harrassed.

But, whilst waiting for Ikea / Conran nirvana, I've started my storage odyssey on a slightly smaller scale. Runcible O has a bunk-bed with a tiny little shelf, and is always losing things over the edge. It's a long climb down the ladder in the dark, and soon, given the season, it will be a bit chilly outside the bed covers, so he needs a storage solution now.

And here it is:

The front view - the red spotty pocket is elasticated along its top edge, and has been sewn vertically in two places to create three little pockets.

The back view, with two strips of velcro...

... (now you see why I needed the ribbon - it covers the stitching for that velcro)...

... and the velcro holds it in place over the rail of the bunk.

Finally, the action shot - with torch and handkerchief safely in their pockets.

I wonder what the third pocket will hold?

Making pants while the sun shines: ruffled bloomers tutorial

2011-07-19T14:08:00.001+01:00

Thank you to all those who left nice comments about the ruffled bloomers last month.

Here, at last, are some instructions!

This is the template, which you can download here .
It should print out at the correct size on A4 paper with the printer set at 100% scaling.

A note on sizing - these are made to fit my 16 month old daughter. The size is determined by the elastic at the waist and legs, so they could easily be made smaller or larger. Soft, super-stretchy baby elastic would allow for flexibility and growing room.

You will need to trim the right side of the paper along the ends of the printed lines
(although if your baby is in cloth nappies you could leave it untrimmed - the extra couple of inches might come in useful).

In addition to elastic, you will need:

Three strips of fabric measuring 1.5 inches x width of fabric, finished on one long edge (I cut and finished these in one go with my lovely overlocker).

One bloomer front, cut on the fold using the template outline.

Four bloomer back pieces: A, B, C and D (from top to bottom).

Two bias strips for finishing the leg holes.

Ruffles first:

Gather the unfinished long edges of each of the ruffle strips until they are each about 16 inches.

Bloomers back:

Lay one ruffle onto piece A, with right sides together and the gathered ruffle edge aligned with the bottom of piece A.

It should look like this. (The ruffle is a little longer than the bloomer pieces - I find it easier to trim it later once the whole back has been assembled).

Now lay piece B, right-side down, on top of the ruffle, aligning the top edge of piece B with the bottom edge of piece A, so the ruffle is now sandwiched in-between.

Pin the three layers together.

And stitch with a 1/4 inch seam allowance (apologies for the upside-down picture above).

Press all the seam allowances up towards piece A, and topstitch through all layers above the ruffle to encourage it to lie flat.

Now it should look like this...

Pin the first ruffle out of the way, and repeat the same process to attach piece C to piece B, with another ruffle in-between.

And then attach piece D to piece C, with a third ruffle...

Bloomers back completed:

Side and gusset seams:

Place the front piece on top of the back piece, pin the side seams (making sure the ruffles are lying nicely) and then trim ruffle ends.

Sew the side and gusset seams with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

(I did this with the overlocker to finish the seams at the same time).

Fold and press and 1/4 inch hem at the waist, then fold again and press a 1/2 inch hem to form a casing for the waist elastic.

Sew around the waist, leaving a little gap to thread the elastic later.

Bias casings for the legs:

Fold and press a 1/4 inch hem along one long edge of each of the bias strips.

Then stitch the unfolded long edge of the bias tape around each of the leg openings, right sides together, with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Press the bias tape to the inside and stitch along the folded edge to form a casing for the leg elastic, leaving a small opening to thread the elastic.

Measure the leg and waist elastic to fit your baby, thread through, and sew up the gaps in the casings.

Beautiful spotty pants with ruffles!

(And the front view too).

Do let me know if you make some!

sorbetto sundae

2011-07-13T13:32:00.000+01:00

This is the Sorbetto top from Colette patterns - the stuff that sewing obsessions are made of.

It only has two pieces (front, back), and can be cut from less than a metre of fabric. The fit is forgiving, yet still flattering, and it pulls on so there are no fiddly fastenings. And, best of all, it's available as a free download.

With so much to recommend it, you can't blame me for having got a little carried away...

Despite my frenzied mass production, I've yet to make this patterns in its original form. It lends itself so readily to a bit of adaptation that it's hard to resist tweaking a bit. The Sorbetto proper has a centre-front pleat, sewn down and pressed outwards, and decorative bias tape on the outside. The bias tape I had on hand was nothing special, so it had to stay hidden, and the pleated front just kept evolving away from the original...

I started out with this: pleat inverted and left open. It was a purely practical choice based on allowing a bit of extra tummy room in case the pattern proved un-generous in its sizing. I needn't have worried - it just right (though Colette works in American sizes, so I did have to measure myself and check the chart).

No pleat at all here - I cut with the fold of the fabric on the pleat line instead - because I didn't have much of this silk and was trying to eke it out.

A fully lined version, double-layered as this cotton voile is more or less transparent. No bias tape for the facings here, as the lining does that job instead, and no pleat either.

The pleat is back, still inverted, with buttons down to the level of the darts. This is copied wholesale from JohannaO's photo on flickr, perhaps my favourite variation so far.

And finally, a summery Sorbetto with gathers where the pleat should be.

Truly, it works every time! This pattern is pure sewing therapy at the end of a long day.

(And I can hear the Colette website calling me back to spend some actual money next time...)

What a good idea...

2011-07-08T12:53:00.000+01:00

Ever since I read that the carbon footprint of an avatar on Second Life is equivalent to that of a real-life human being, I've been wondering (perhaps worrying) about the carbon footprint of a blog. But now I think I've found an answer, and better still, a solution.

Have a look at this.

My blog is still in its infancy, and at the moment its emissions could probably be offset by a small lettuce, but I'm hoping it will grow over time, and now it will have a tree to grow alongside it.

Dr Who jackets are cool (aren't they?)

2011-06-29T13:07:00.000+01:00

So, we're in that tricky hiatus before the Dr Who season returns in the autumn, nerves jangled by the last episode and troubled by the multitude of questions still unanswered. How do we manage the situation?

Flora is coping quite well, and doesn't mind that now her brothers call her 'Melody'.

Husband is in denial: "It's only fiction".

Runcible O is immersing himself in the literature - 'The Brilliant Book of Dr Who 2011'.

Runcible J is role-playing his way through the series so far.

And me? I need some therapeutic sewing. Luckily runcible J has a plan already - he needs a jacket 'just like the doctor wears, with a pocket inside and on the left for the sonic screwdriver'.

I looked into buying some real Harris tweed, and realised that, at £48/m, there's a reason why the shops aren't full of miniature Dr Who outfits. (Incidentally, I read somewhere that Matt Smith and his jacket have revived the entire Harris tweed industry and turned around the fortunes of the company / island. Not sure if it's true, though, I'll add a link if I can find one).

Anyway, then I looked for second hand jackets. There were no men's versions to be had - maybe the older Who fans had got there first? - but I found this size 8 brown wool jacket just asking to be regenerated.

(see those nasty unfinished seams? - the Doctor wouldn't stand for them...)

I unpicked all the outside edges; reshaped and finished the collar and lapels; cut the sleeves and armholes using the Imke pattern (which had worked so well for Captain Bluebear); reshaped the front, and buttonholes...

... and sewed it all together again from the inside...

...not forgetting the all-important pocket for the screwdriver.

Bow-tie and braces to follow.

Geronimo!

A Bouquet of Bloomers

2011-06-07T13:50:00.000+01:00

When my daughter was born, I made her a wardrobe full of lovely little dresses...

and then she learnt how to play peek-a-boo by pulling the skirts over head...

so I started on a new wardrobe of matching pants.

This was the very first pair, made from the scrappiest of small scraps.

Then I realised a pattern might be helpful, and invested in New Look 6718.

(with help from the cat)

I experimented with contrasting casing for the leg elastic...

... shirring instead of casing...

... and little shorts, with no elastic at all.

And then made a few more just for fun.

That was before I'd been introduced to Oliver + S.

This summer's bloomers are the O+S tea party pattern...

(sugar city village frock)

made to match this dress,

(Oliver + S music box jumper)

and this dress,

(the seashore sundress)

and this dress.

And at last I felt brave enough to make some of my very own design...

... with ruffles.

(These are adorable on a crawling baby - I'll put together more details and a mini-tutorial for next time, if anyone is interested).

Thank you for coming to have a look!

an elegant cake for a more civilised age...

2011-05-15T20:41:00.000+01:00

Runcible J ~~wanted~~ needed a light sabre cake for his birthday party.

It's made of two swiss rolls (rolled lengthways) end to end, covered with ready-to-roll icing.

(The blade should really be thinner than the handle, but that would have resulted in unacceptably small portions, so artistic integrity had to compromised.)

The blade is painted with blue food colouring and dusted with edible glitter, and the handle is painted with edible silver paint, decorated with lines of black icing and half a jelly baby as the 'on/off' button.

There was just enough black icing the add 'may the force be with you'.

My husband said that some words would 'help to site it in its context'.

I think that was code for 'give people a clue what it's meant to be'.

The swiss roll recipe came from Marguerite Patten's 'Complete Book of Teas'.

She didn't mention the light sabre option, but I feel sure that she and Obi-wan would have understood one another.

Runcible J was very happy.

He says he'd like a Death Star next time...

Bunting bonanza, and now an excuse for more sewing...

2011-05-08T13:53:00.000+01:00

April was all about making bunting for our royal wedding street party...

Can you spot the home-made strands?

... but May has brought a fabulous excuse for some fun sewing:  Kids Clothes week at Elsie Marley.


    




I'm planning some Oliver+S sketchbook shorts for then boys (made from blue and  white ticking which somehow escaped the bunting manufacture process) and some  baby bloomers to match a couple of Flora's existing dresses.

There's still time to join in - it starts tomorrow.

Happy sewing!

frou-frou skirt tutorial

2011-04-19T22:51:00.002+01:00

We've been having glorious spring sunshine for the past couple of weeks, and Flora has been out and about in her new skirt. It gets lots of compliments, even though it was so simple to construct, and it was fun to use up some oddments of fabric. I used a Riley Blake quilting cotton for the outer skirt and the yoke lining, a heavy woven silk for the middle layer of the skirts, and another quilting cotton for the under-layer. I'm pleased, and also a bit relieved, to find that the elastic waistband holds it all up nicely. (I'd been a little concerned that all those heavy fabrics might weigh it down - but it seems fine - no problems with gravity).

The sizing here makes a skirt which fits my one-year-old quite generously. I think it could easily be adapted for bigger sizes, but perhaps light-weight fabrics would work best, bearing in mind the elastic considerations above!

So, now it has been tried and tested, on with the tutorial...

You will need a quarter of a yard/metre for each of the two under-skirt layers, and slightly more for the outer fabric to allow for the yoke as well.

You will also need elastic for the waist - about 20'', and a few inches of extra elastic for the ruched skirt.

There are only two shapes to cut, and they are both very simple rectangles:

Four rectangles, each 16'' by 4'' for the front and back yoke, and front and back yoke lining.

Six rectangles, two in each colour, 23'' by 7'' for the front and back inner, middle and outer skirts.

All pieces ready.

With right sides together, sew 1.5'' seams at both short ends of the yoke front and back pieces, and press the seams open.

Repeat for the yoke lining front and back pieces, but leave the top 1'' of one of the side seams open.

Press the seams open for the yoke lining pieces, including the seam with the 1'' opening.

Stitch together the yoke and yoke lining around the top long seam, with right sides together and matching the side seams, with the edges of the open section on the yoke side seam abutting each other.

(Hope that makes sense - I've tried to show it in the photo above!)

Trim the seam allowance, turn and press.
Sew two rows of topstitching - the space between them will form the casing for the waist elastic, so check it is wide enough for the elastic that you plan to use.

Here's a detail shot of that top-stitching, forming a channel about half an inch wide for the waist elastic.

Now for the skirt and petticoats...

Sew together the front and back pieces of the three skirt layers along both side seams, and press the seams open.

Hem and press the bottom edge of each of the three skirt layers.

Place the three skirt layers together. I aligned the hemmed edges, then pinned and basted the top edge.
(The side seams are quite bulky if they are aligned for all three layers, so I didn't match up the side seams for the middle- and under-skirt layers - it made the gathering easier at the next step.)
Mark the centre of the front and back pieces before gathering.

Gather all three layers together, until the top of the skirt is the same length as the lower edge of the yoke.

Pin the gathered edge of the skirt to the yoke, with right sides together, matching the side seams and the centre front/back.

Sew through all layers using a half inch seam allowance to attach the yoke to the skirt.
Trim, and press the seam allowances up towards the yoke.

Press a half-inch hem at the lower edge of the yoke lining, and pin the yoke lining in place inside the skirt.

From the outside, topstitch through all the layers

Almost done! I wanted the petticoat layers to be a bit more visible, so added a little bit of ruching using clear elastic. This might reduce the twirliness of the finished skirt, though, so you could skip this step if you prefer.

Mark a vertical line on the outer skirt layer about 5'' in from the left side seam.
Cut your elastic to abut half the length of the skirt (mine was 3'').
Then stretch the elastic and sew it onto the wrong side of the skirt along the line you have just marked
(I used a wide zig zag stitch, which is very forgiving).

Now the middle layer peeps out...

Repeat the ruching process for the middle skirt layer, this time with a slightly longer piece of elastic - I used 4''.

And now there's a glimpse of the underneath layer as well.

Last of all, thread the waist elastic into its casing at the top of the yoke through the little opening at the top of the side seam (I use a safety pin at one end to wiggle it through). Sew the ends of the elastic together, and then stitch the side seam opening closed.
My waist elastic was 18'' long, about 2'' less than my baby's waist measurement.

Enjoy your springtime skirt!

If you make one, please let me know, I would love to see it!

frou-frou skirt for springtime

2011-04-03T14:40:00.000+01:00

photo A - smart but not so sunny

The sun and the daffodils are out, and the park is full of little girls running around in twirly floral skirts. I wanted my little girl to be able to join in - and so even though she can't yet run, at least she now has a flouncy skirt for scooting about in.

photo B - scruffier but sunnier

The outer layer is a Riley Blake print, the middle petticoat is a blue silk which I've had forever, and the underneath floral petticoat is an nameless print which really deserved an outing. It's been fun using up some hoarded fabrics! I'll add a tutorial for the construction process in the next few days...

and so to bed...

2011-03-25T21:07:00.000Z

I've been taking the pyjama theme towards springtime with this pattern from 'Vintage Style for Kids' by Fiona Bell. Mixed feelings on this book: on the plus side, it has beautiful photography, the clothes are gorgeous in an Enid Blyton-esque way, and there are plenty of patterns for boys (not just pyjamas, but shirts and shorts as well). On the other hand, the instructions are brief to the point of unhelpfulness, and the computer printouts of the pattern pieces don't give any indication of scaling, so construction from this book is a hit and miss affair. On balance, possibly more of a coffee table book that a useful resource for making clothes.

Hmmm - that scaling issue may be the reason why runcible J, aged 5, can only just squeeze into this pyjama top, in size 6...

It's nice enough, though, and might see a few nights of use. I did enjoy the pocket placement with those deck-chair stripes:

(please ignore the snaps where the buttons should be... I was looking for a quick finish once I'd realised it wasn't likely to be a good fit)

For the trousers, I used a shorts pattern from 'Making Children's Clothes' but Emma Hardy. It's not so glam as the vintage clothing book, but it works every time!

Bear ear tutorial

2011-03-08T13:43:00.000Z

There was a lot of trial and error involved in making my bear ears last week!

Here's the technique which worked best:

(I might also be using it for bunny ears at Easter)

Here's my template - the solid lines are the cutting lines, and the dotted line is the stitching line which represents the actual size of the ears.

Cut four pieces of the larger size in your main fabric, and two of the smaller size in a contrasting fabric.

Here they are!

Place the smaller pieces in position, with the straight edges aligned, and attach them
(either by sewing or glueing - either works fine)

Now put the larger sizes together, right sides facing each other, so the smaller inner pieces are sandwiched in between.

Sew around the curved edge using a 5mm seam allowance
(above left).

Now make a very small pleat at the base of the front piece of the ear, as shown above right. My pleat was about 5mm from the fold line, and I stitched about 1.5cm up from the base.

Turn through the open bottom part of the ear - see how the pleat makes it work?

Now you can stitch your ears to whatever you please. I attached them to a hoodie, but an alice band could work just as well...

Bear ears for book day

2011-03-05T08:00:00.004Z

It was World Book Day yesterday. The boys were allowed to go to school dressed as 'any character from a book'.

Runcible J was Harry Potter - easily achieved with an eye-liner scar and a paper wand.

Meanwhile, runcible O decided to go as Captain Bluebear. I was quite excited about his bear outfit, especially the ears. Here they are:

And here's the whole hoodie, based on the Imke pattern from Sewing Clothes Kids Love. It's made from an Ikea throw with tasselled edges, to add some hairy beariness to the cuffs and hem.

Thenwe added a bear tummy as well:

And the trousers had tasselled ankles.

Runcible O is nearly nine, and maybe getting a bit too old to wear ears in public on a regular basis. But, if needs be, the ears and tummy can be unpicked, and the tassels trimmed away to leave a plain fleecy tracksuit. (Luckily we haven't had to do that yet - he's adopted the whole outfit as his current pyjamas of choice.)

If only my Oliver + S book had arrived - it's due any day now, and it has the perfect pattern for a hat with ears. But somehow the timing has gone awry. Unless it arrives in the next few days I'll be adding a tutorial for bear ears shortly...

Revisiting the village frock

2011-02-17T22:34:00.001Z

Do you remember the Sugar City Village Smock?

It was the starting point for runcibledays, and has been a favourite top through the winter.

Just one problem, though - baby Flora has learnt how to do the starfish manoeuvre, with all her little limbs pointing in different directions. And this is pattern which really requires a

co-operative little girl willing to work on wriggling into it.

Whereas the Music Box jumper is enduringly popular...

... because it opens down the back, like this...

... so that even a little star-fish can wear it happily.

Introducing a new-look Village frock...

(spot the missing button placket?)

... with snaps at the back.

Hooray!

Valentine eggs on toast

2011-02-15T20:24:00.001Z

This is such a good and satisfying valentine breakfast (or post-valentine lunch) that I had to share it.

I can't take credit, though - here's a link to the secret behind the perfectly heart-shaped eggs.

New Look 6131 - a Big4 moment

2011-02-13T20:31:00.003Z

These are the New Look 6131 pyjamas:

(sorry - this photo just doesn't want to rotate)

It's a rare Big 4 moment for runcibledays. I so enjoy that label that I had to find an excuse to use it: the Big 4 pattern companies seem so much less shadowy and sinister than the other 'Big 4' multinationals out there (I'm thinking of Big Pharma, the uber-supermarkets, and the investment bankers - and surely there must be others too?). I suspect that the pattern giants are only guilty of peddling slightly unimaginative patterns which don't always fit. New Look 6131 certainly ticks both those boxes, but after a bit of tinkering and tweaking I'm beginning to feel quite fond of it.

(Perhaps I should I include some sort of disclaimer here, and add 'please don't sue me'?)

So, this is the story: I'd been looking (longingly) at the Oliver+s bedtime story pyjamas, and was wanting to make them for the boys. But I had already had New Look 6131 in my pattern store, and I had some fleece which needed a purpose, and the nights were very cold, and I was in a thrifty post-Christmas mood, so the Oliver+s version had to wait.

When I was cutting the pattern there wasn't quite enough blue to make the whole top, so I made panels in white-blue-white and cut the sleeves from these, centring the patterns pieces on the middle of the blue stripe. They are by far my favourite feature of the finished pyjamas - there should be more stripy sleeves in the pipeline. Anyway, back to the pattern...

The picture on the pattern envelope shows two small children both wearing pyjamas which don't quite fit. Maybe I should have taken heed of that before I bought it. However, with a bit of extra length, a bit less width, and stripy sleeves, NL6131 adapts to an approximate fit for runcible o. And, hooray, he likes them!

But can I buy the Bedtime Story pattern now?

Midwinter inspiration

2011-02-09T13:13:00.004Z

I've been a bit quiet on runcibledays so far this year, but that should be about to change as this week has shaken me out of hibernation with all sorts of sewing inspiration.

First of all: my shiny new overlocker...

all threaded up and ready to sew...

(Hooray! - and thank you to my kind family and friends who made this happen!).

I'm loving the overlocker with all its chunky dials that go clunk, and its whiff of machine oil. So far I've spent more time threading it than actually sewing, but that's fine because it and I are still in our honeymoon period. And, once threaded, it is gloriously efficient. I'm practicing at the moment by turning a tatty old dressing gown into a heap of lovely fluffy washcloths (so quick, so instantly gratifying, and so good for wiping traces of parsnip off a wriggling baby). As soon as the overlocker and I are feeling confident, though, the first real sewing project will be a re-run of the Sugar City Village Frock. It's all cut out and ready to sew. All those gathers seem to be crying out for a bit of overlocker magic to make the dress beautiful on the inside.

Other exciting news from runcibledays: November's bib tutorial appeared on the Totally Tutorials blog.

It looked so fresh and appealing in its new setting, surrounded by other lovely things, that I was about to make another bib on the same pattern - but then I spotted this even newer bib tutorial by Amy Dunn at Lots of Pink Here. Amy's version involves a few pins, but is so tempting with its ric-rac, its fluffy backing and its cleverly co-ordinated fabrics that it may have to be the model for my next few bibs. It looks like a cunning way to use up tiny oddments of material as well, and I have plenty of those!

And finally - I have two new books which arrived in the post this week, including one in Japanese: the Girls Style Book. I've been admiring the Japanese sewing books from afar for some time, and decided to take the plunge. All the patterns look beautiful, and the instructions look quite beautiful too. What can go wrong?

Off to do some sewing now...

(I'm posting this without photos in the spirit of just-getting-on-with-it, but will be back later for an edit and a tidy up...)

Upcycled apron from the airing cupboard (aka the pillowcase pinny)

2011-01-21T21:00:00.004Z

Last month I promised a tutorial for germ warfare aprons, but things have moved on since then...

Recently I found some busily-patterned old pillowcases, and was wondering what to do with them when I realised that the pillow case dimensions might be just right for a child's apron. It worked! I do like a nice upcycle, so here's the new tutorial for an apron from a pillowcase (though of course it would work with non-pillow fabrics as well).

You will need:

one pillowcase

thread

sewing machine

ruler and pencil (or washable fabric marker)

scissors

(I used a housewife pillowcase with a folded-over section - if yours doesn't have this you will also need some ribbon or other fabric for the ties and neckband).

Let's get started:

Turn your pillow case inside out...

and carefully cut away the folded-over rectangle of fabric at the open end.

First: the neck-band and apron strings

(it's good to get the fiddly bits done at the start)

On the cut-out rectangle of fabric, mark three 4cm wide strips, starting at the long hemmed edge.

Here's a close-up of the strips, marked and ready to cut.

Ready to start sewing!

The strip which already has one hemmed edge is going to be the neck band.

Fold and press a 1cm hem on the other long side, then fold and press again to form a double hem.

Stitch along the folded edge.

The two strips without hems will be the waist ties (the proverbial apron strings, I think).

Fold and press a 1cm hem on one short end of each.

The press both in half lengthways, fold in the long raw edges to the centre and press again.

Fold again lengthways to enclose the raw edges, and topstitch along the open edge to form the ties.

(They will still be unfinished on one end - this is where they will attach to the apron later).

Neck band and ties finished - hooray!

Cutting out the apron

Fold the pillow case in half lengthways.

Mark a point 11cm from the fold on one of the short edges - this will be the top of the apron.

Mark another point 28cm from the top edge on the side-seams of the pillowcase.

Join these two pints with a smooth curve - this is the stitching line.

Draw a cutting line 1cm outside the stitching line and cut along this through all four layers of fabric.

Cut off the top seam 1cm from the edge.

Unfold (it's starting to look like an apron...)

Attaching the ties and neck-band

Fold back the upper layer of fabric to separate the top halves of the apron - now you are looking at the right sides of the fabric on the inside of the pillowcase.

Pin the neck band in place, aligning its raw edges with the top of the apron.

(The neck band needs to be placed 1cm in from the sides to allow a seam allowance when the two layers are joined together - see the photo above).

Baste neck band to apron and pin to make sure it doesn't get caught in the seam allowances later on.

Pin the waist ties in place - raw edges against the side seams - 1cm below the edge of the fabric
(again, so they don't get caught in the seam allowances).

Sewing it all together:

Pin the two layers together, sandwiching the waist ties and neck-band inside the pillowcase, between the right sides of the fabric.

Now stitch all the way around the edges of the body of the apron, leaving a 10cm gap in the lower edge for turning.

Leave a 1cm seam allowance all the way around - even on the side seams which are already stitched. You need to sew inside the original seams in order to catch the waist ties in the new seam allowance.

When you come to sew over the waist ties and the neck-band, backstitch and sew over them again to secure them really well.

Close-up of the lower edge with pins in place to remind me to leave a gap.

(The edges look a bit uneven here so I trimmed them before stitching).

Trim the corners and clip the curves to help it all lie flat when turned.

Turn and press:

Turn through the gap in the lower edge, and press very well all the way around - it's worth doing this from both sides if you're wanting the apron to be reversible.

Press the lower edges under by 1cm at the turning gap, and pin this closed.

Now topstitch all the way around the body of the apron.

Hurrah! All done...

My apron looks as though it's posing for the camera here...

... and here's the more demure version on the reverse.

It didn't take long to make, and it's good to see old pillowcases rehabilitated and brought out from the airing cupboard!

Let me know if you make one (or two, or three...)

Best (sewing) of 2010

2010-12-30T21:30:00.002Z

I do love a good list, and New Year's Eve seems like the perfect excuse for a round-up of the year's creations.

In springtime I was nesting, waiting for baby to arrive. I discovered on-line patterns, and made endless tiny dresses and bloomers while my bump was growing bigger and bigger. Perhaps I should have paid more heed to the size of the bump, as some of the dresses were already small when Flora was born. (No matter, I have a plan...)

In the summer, with babe in arms (literally), I flirted with bags, bunting and baby bootees - quick and simple projects which could be squeezed in between feeds.

The Taxi Tote: an Anne Marie Horner pattern made in a variety of Cath Kidston prints

In the autumn I was searching for the Sugar City Village Frock, and was so delighted to find it that I had to start writing runcibledays in order to share the excitement! Autumn was also make-do-and-mend season, possibly because I had just discovered oliver+s, whose reassuringly expensive patterns had led to cuts elsewhere in the sewing budget...

The Sugar City Village Smock in a Liberty print corduroy

Winter has been an oliver+s bonanza - working on the principle that those lovely patterns really can become economically viable on a cost-per-use basis - alternating with the ongoing search for the perfect bib.

Could this be it?

(Have there been any disasters? well yes, a few... let's agree never to speak again of the scratchy linen pyjama trousers, or the self-drafted jersey skirt with the irredeemably wonky hemline).

Can I choose a single favourite item from 2010? Maybe not just one, but I can pick my top three.

In third place, representing all those little dresses (and with a nod to the o+s obsession) is the bubble dress, made for Christmas in beautifully soft patterned corduroy. And there's a matching bib - hooray!

Oliver+s bubble dress in a Valori Wells corduroy

In second place, a lovely upcycle. I wondered about the camper van set here, but settled on the vroom shorts - so simple to make, and so loved by their owner.

Vroom! - the upcycled cycle shorts

And in first place, my surprise favourite of the year: runcible o's cub blanket - almost not a sewing project at all, it's a square of fleece with a hem around the edge and some cub badges sewn on. When I sat down to make it, I thought it would have an outing once a year at a cub sleepover and then languish in the bottom of a drawer. I was so wrong! He uses it every night, and it's a joy to see him snuggled up with blanket and book at bedtime. Once again: so simple, so loved...

Should there be a moral in there somewhere?

Happy New Year!

Germ warfare - reversible aprons to keep the bugs at bay

2010-12-20T14:49:00.002Z

This fabric caught my eye in the shop and seemed to be saying 'make me into something for the boys...'. It's so rare to find fabulous prints for boys that I was at the checkout before I'd actually thought about what that 'something' should be. Luckily, the lady at the counter had a suggestion: she had used this fabric to make an apron for her brother-in-law. Once that idea had been planted, it was clearly the only thing to do with these multicoloured bugs...

They were very simple to construct: both are reversible with red on one side and blue on the other, so all the seams are enclosed and there was no fiddly finishing. The waist and neck bands fasten with press-on snaps, mostly because I'm trying to foster independence in my boys, and snaps are easier than ties for small fingers. The photo below shows a glimpse of the reverse on each apron.

I used the alternate colours for the waist and neck bands - but the boys weren't very so keen - they felt each side should have just one colour.
At least I'll know for next time!

ps: there aren't any photos of the work in progress - I was too focussed on the end product. But I'm thinking of making another in the new year so could put some photos and instructions together then if anyone would like tutorial - leave a comment to let me know if you would be interested!

Update Feb 11: tutorial (for something very similar) now in place:

http://runcibledays.blogspot.com/2011/01/apron-tutorial.html

I say potato and you say...

2010-11-28T20:53:00.003Z

One of the (unexpected) joys of this blog is looking at the 'stats' page and finding out who has been visiting me at runcibledays. I love looking at the map and knowing that someone in Portugal - or Chile, or Reunion, or Mexico - has been interested enough to read about my goings-on in England. And I love reading blogs from around the world and getting glimpses into other people's lives.

Every now and then I come across a word or a turn of phrase which reminds me that English is not quite the same language all around the world. When I lived in Queensland I soon learned that 'crook' can describe health rather than moral character, that 'thongs' can be footwear rather than lingerie, and why Australians are so entertained by talk of 'rooting' for a team. There was a whole thread on the O+S flickr group recently about alternative words for crossness on different continents. Even in the relatively contained world of sewing, there's always confusion to be found in the pants / trousers / bloomers situation.

And so, on to exhibit A: the Oliver + S Music Box Jumper...

Front view of the apple jumper

and the back - with poppers (or maybe snaps?)

Isn't it lovely? I nearly missed this pattern altogether because when I hear 'jumper' I think 'woolly'. Apparently not in America (though I'm ready to be corrected on this one!). Anyway, this is a gorgeously simple little dress, which I'd probably have called a pinafore. The bodice is lined, and with french seams to finish the skirt the whole construction is a delight.

Music box jumper - the inside view.

I'm already making another - in a smaller print this time, hoping it will prove more pleat-friendly.

Thank you for looking, wherever you are!

Rag doll ruminations

2010-11-05T13:17:00.001Z

I haven't had much time for sewing over the past few weeks, but have had plenty of opportunity (usually during nocturnal feeds) to plan future projects.

But first, a project from the past...

These lovely 'itty bitty dresses', from an online pattern by Made by Rae were made just before Flora was born. I have such good memories of sewing these last spring, with my huge bump, using up tiny scraps of fabric. As it turned out, she wasn't very itty bitty herself, and had grown out of both within two weeks. It was a bit like making dolls' clothes perhaps that's what they should become.

So, I'm thinking about making a rag doll - but just how ragged should she be? She'll need to be robust enough to withstand both love and washing, probably lots of both. And I'd like to use some existing fabrics, rather than buying anything new. Maybe old clothes which have a bit of history already?

Now that I'm flirting with toy-making, I'm feeling a more urgent need to make something for runcibles o & j, before they are too grown-up. Maybe bears? Sock monkeys? Those little stripey monsters? Or an owl? The rag doll might just have to wait...

Back to the itty bitty dresses,for a moment...

I think of this one as a flower-pot dress, though on closer observation I realise there aren't actually any flower pots there. This is the original pattern, minus the piping (must have been feeling a bit cowardly that day), with snaps at the shoulders to secure the ties.

And this one has been pared down even further into a little pinafore with snaps at the shoulders.

It's a very satisfying little pattern, with a self-lined bodice, and french seams in the skirt, so it finishes itself beautifully. I've read since that it's easy to enlarge by setting your printer to a larger size, so I'll be trying that next summer, and hoping for more than two weeks of use next time!

Embracing imperfection...

2010-10-22T22:26:00.002+01:00

Here is the new-look, super-quick 'perfect' bib. I think I've stumbled on the secret of the ideal bib: it must be slightly faulty. Otherwise, you might not want to cover it in goo on a daily basis. (I have a couple of venetian lace bibs - they are really very beautiful - and they have never been near a pea puree, or even a baby).

So wonkiness in the stitching and glitches in the bias tape are here to be celebrated. This is all about speediness

These are the components:

- a very old flannel.

- two rectangles of patterned cotton, each at least 10' by 13', or a fat quarter folded in half.

- 130cm (ish) bias tape

The pattern measures 10 inches across, 8.5 inches from neckline to base, and 13.5 inches in total from top to bottom - it's a bit more generous than most, so it will work for very messy babies. The inside neckline measures 12 inches.

And here's the method:

Sandwich the flannel between the cotton rectangles, right sides facing out.

Pin here and there around the sandwich.

Sew through all three layers using a straight stitch to form a wide zig zag pattern,
first from side to side, then top to bottom of the rectangle.

Don't be tempted to cut the bib shape yet, this stitching will save a lot of pinning later on.

Here's a detail photo to show how it should look when it's stitched.

Now cut it out, all three layers together...

... and bind around the edges with bias tape - fold it around the raw edges of the bib, and sew through all the layers using a short, wide zig zag stitch to catch both sides of the bias tape at once.

No need to pin anything, hooray!

But - my home-made bias tape was just a smidgen too short. I decided to celebrate this, in the spirit of embracing small imperfections, and patched it up with a contrasting colour. I'm quite liking it this way - what do you think?

Attach your fastening of choice - I chose the instant gratification of press-on snaps.

All done! - and in super-quick time, even allowing for making my own (slightly too short) bias tape, and for taking photos.

Please feel free to use this pattern for whatever purposes you wish, but I'd be grateful if you would link back to here as runcibledays is still a blog in its infancy and needing all the help it can get.

Do let me know how speedily your bibs come together! I would love to see your pictures on flickr...

In search of the perfect bib

2010-10-21T13:29:00.000+01:00

Baby Flora has started eating real food, three times a day, and I spend a lot of time contemplating her bibs, noticing how very few are actually fit for purpose. Some are just too small and dainty to be useful, some are so thin that the slightest dribble soaks straight through, and others are so waterproof that they channel rivulets of pureed veg on to her bottom half. A few are very good in action, but either i) have velcro closures which hunt down and destroy my tights in the washing machine, or ii) are now covered in disturbing (mostly orange) stains.

Two options: I can accept the food-on-clothes situation and dress her to match her meals (that would mean a mostly orange wardrobe) or I can look for better bibs.

Or better still, make some...

Blue-print for the perfect bib

It must be:

Bigger than you might expect

Absorbent, not waterproof

Patterned to disguise the inevitable carrot stains.

Snap fastening

And, ideally, made out of fabric that I already own...

Here's what I came up with:

The front and back are made from and old cotton shirt, with a layer of towelling sandwiched in between, bias binding around the edges, and a press-on snap. They do their job perfectly (hooray!). But - though they look quick to put together, each one probably took almost an hour, what with cutting, pinning, zigzagging the edges, binding the edges...

So, one more criterion for perfection:

Quick to construct.

I'll be giving that some thought for next time.

Thanks for looking - I'd love to hear any comments or suggestions you might have.

Bubbles and ice-cream

2010-10-13T13:43:00.000+01:00

I've recently discovered Oliver+s patterns, and, like all new converts, I want to share them...

Do you know them already? I've been noticing them for a while, mostly in nice, boutique-y (read 'expensive') on-line fabric shops. They come in gorgeously retro packaging, with paper-doll cutouts of each pattern that speak to me of Bunty magazine (circa 1980) and must surely induce a similar generic-yet-personal response in every woman born in the twentieth century. They have a lovely typeface. They have wonderfully evocative names like 'tea party' and 'school photo', guaranteed to conjure up childhood memories. These are every little girl's dream party dresses, but also practical enough to be worn every day.

The patterns even come in a separate cardboard sleeve, so the little girl wearing the dresses could even cut the dolls out to play with (if she old enough to be trusted with scissors). Inspired!

And yet... despite all that it's taken me a long time to buy one. I'll whisper it: the paper-doll pictures, for all their good points, just don't quite do justice to the utter loveliness of these clothes. It was only when I saw them made up in real life that I was smitten. The oliver+s flickr group is very addictive, and every day there is something new and beautiful to inspire.

So, still early days for me. Here's the bubble dress:

bubble dress front

bubble dress back - with poppers to close

Size 6-12m fits my six month old perfectly, with a little bit of wiggle-room. The pattern was a joy to follow. I'd never done a bubble hem before, but now I know the secret (clear elastic stitched to the seam allowance) I plan lots more.

And here's the Ice cream dress:

pocket detail

All the credit for this one goes to Christine at From an Igloo, who ran a sew-a-long last week.
I might have missed out on this pattern otherwise - it looks deceptively simple in the picture, but the beauty of this dress is all in the little details. I followed the sew-a-long almost to the letter, and only deviated very slightly in using my zipper foot to align the edge stitching instead of doing it by eye using a normal foot.

Oh - and I opted for the smock length option (again, a la village frock) so am thinking perhaps my baby will need some matching trousers? Maybe that's a project for another day...

In the orchard

2010-10-12T22:14:00.001+01:00

A celebration of apples, autumn and good neighbours...

The autumn sunshine is so lovely today that it has enticed me away from the sewing machine and into the garden.

It isn't really my own orchard (never mind) but a branch of our neighbours' tree which overhangs the garden wall. And they have, very kindly, given their blessing to a bit of controlled scrumping every autumn.

So, baby flora is learning to eat solids with a unifying theme of apple mush. Apple and pear puree is a hit (the pears came from the neighbours on the other side - what can we offer in return?). Broccoli, carrot and apple has also been a surprising success. Cauliflower, apple and squash is not quite so popular (and who can blame her?).

Meanwhile, it's apple crumble season for the rest of us, or occasionally tarte tatin if I'm feeling the need for a domestic goddess moment. The crumble is mainly a vehicle for lots of custard: the boys have been brainwashed by their father into believing the skin is the best bit, and fight over who gets the most.

Back to sewing next time...

Vroom! Upcycled cycle shorts

2010-10-07T21:22:00.001+01:00

Last weekend was the 3rd annual Brompton World Championship. Just in case that means nothing to you, it's a folding bicycle race around the grounds of a stately home in Oxfordshire, with a dress code that includes 'jacket and tie' and 'no visible sportswear'. J (my husband) was taking part, dressed in green to match his bicycle, and I had planned to take all the little runcibles for a picnic next to the track so we could cheer him on. But we are fair weather supporters and the weather was not fair at all. The torrential downpour made it look a lot more gruelling and less cucumber-sandwichy than last year (at least on the you-tube version of events, which was as close as I got this year).

Anyway, as I wasn't there for the actual race I thought I could show my support instead with some upcycled cycle shorts for runcible j, aged 5. There's something very satisfying about a bicycle-themed upcycle.

This isn't a tutorial, as such, because there are so many better ones out there. My favourite is at Make Baby Stuff, and includes patterns for baby sizes. This is just larger version using a current pair of shorts as a template, and tweaked slightly to make the most of the 'vroom' T-shirt...

Here's the original T shirt, from last year's Bike to Work day...

... and here it is again, with two leg pieces, each cut on the fold using an existing pair of shorts as a template, and two pocket pieces, which look upside-down in this picture - this means the straight, top sides of the pockets are cut from the hemmed lower edge of the T-shirt, so there's no need to finish them later.

Does that make sense?

Here's another picture which might help...

All the pieces opened out and ready to sew.

This is my favourite bit - the 'vroom' logo from the T-shirt cut out and appliqued onto the front of the left leg piece, using bondaweb and a zigzag stitch around the edge.

The pins are marking the sideseam, and the places where the bottom of the waistband and the seamline at the back will be, to allow the back pocket to be placed centrally.

The pockets are hemmed at the top already (from the T shirt hem) and won't unravel as they're made of jersey, so I just stitched around them with a short zigzag as well. This is the left leg - the right is just the same but without the applique.

Here's the left leg folded right-sides-together and pinned ready to sew the inside leg seam, and the right leg, once again, is just the same.

Here are the two legs ready to be joined together - the right leg turned right-side-out and placed inside the left leg which is still right-side-in. The two pieces are joined along the crotch seam with a stretch stitch.

I've only recently discovered the stretch stitch on my machine (after 25 years I decided to read the instruction booklet) and am very excited that I can now sew jersey fabrics!

Not sure how useful this picture is! The shorts have been opened up but are still inside out. This is the waistband hem, folded over about 3/4 inch to create a channel for 1/2 inch wide elastic. The photo is supposed to show a zig zag stitch just covering the raw edge. The zig zag goes almost all the way around the waist, leaving a 1 inch gap to thread the elastic.

I measured my elastic by holding it around runcible j's waist, then threaded it through the channel, overlapped the ends about 1/2 inch and sewed them together and closed the gap. The waist is just tight enough to keep the shorts up, but still nice and comfortable.

Hooray, Vroom shorts completed!

And this is the back view with pockets.

The fit is more circus short than cycle short at the moment, but runcible j loves them.

Perhaps he can wear them to the 2011 world championship (weather permitting)...

Village frock - part 2

2010-10-03T22:22:00.001+01:00

the village smock, again

I don't plan to return to this dress every day forever after, but I realised my last post was more about the process of writing than the process of sewing. I love this little smock, and plan to make many more versions over the next few years, but I might approach the pattern a bit differently next time... there was a lot of trial and error involved in this version, and I want to share some of it, to maybe save someone out there from some frustrating hours with a seam ripper.

The pattern suggests sewing the side seams and underarm seams quite early and then forming the button placket afterwards. I left the side seams open until the neckline and placket were all done, and found it much easier to work with the smock that way as I could open it out flat when I was doing the fiddly binding bit on the placket. I'll do that again.

On the subject of the button placket... I was a bit scared of it at first, and tried to miss it out altogether. The pattern suggests an elastic-neck version without the buttons, and I liked the sound of that (I must have been feeling a bit lazy at the time). So, I made a neck binding to fit the ungathered top edge of the yoke, and tried to thread elastic through it. Disaster! By the time it was gathered up it was so bulky that poor elastic could barely hold it and kept trying to ping away from the safety pins, and the fabric was all bunched and puckered. Altogether, a very bad look. I had to unpick it all, and by then I'd lost my nerve for off-pattern sewing and followed the instructions for a while... the button placket was fine, came together beautifully, and is my favourite art of the whole smock now.

the successful placket

I only made one change to the placket, and I'll do the same next time. The patterns suggests sewing the button loops on at the end, but I wanted to cover the raw edges, so I tacked the loops onto the wrong side of the fabric before attaching the bias binding, so the raw edges were covered by the binding. Then I doubled the loops over, and topstitched over the edge of the binding to hold them in place...

These loops are made of ribbon - after my neckline debacle I was afraid that sewing the loops from the corduroy and then doubling them over would make them too bulky.

Just one other thing - because I finished the sleeves without gathering them, I had to cut the sleeve bindings a bit longer then the pattern suggests. I could have gathered the sleeves, but I liked the hippy look for this version. Maybe for a sweet summer dress in a light weight fabric the sleeves would look better gathered?

Hope this is helpful! I'll be looking back at this next time I make the pattern, just as a reminder...

My first post... and why

2010-09-29T21:17:00.000+01:00

Why would a luddite like me ever embark on writing a blog?

Generally, I like to write on paper, ideally with a pencil and in a nice notebook, sometimes with a cup of tea next to me as well.

But recently my sister-in-law introduced me to the Craftster website
and in particular the kids clothing page. I love it! - especially when there's a story behind a project. I love the process of creating something new, and the little bits of history which are woven into each piece.

So, here's a little dress I made last week.

the sugar city village frock - shortened to a smock

I saw it originally on the From an Igloo blog and loved it, but the pattern was out of print. So I started looking at pictures of it on Flickr, wondering if I could recreate it without a pattern (and realising it was quite unlikely), and happened across a link to a shop in Ohio which still had the pattern in stock. April in Ohio posted it around the world to me, and here it is.

and here's the back view

It all means that this evening I'm feeling quite friendly towards the technology, and thinking it might feel friendly towards me as well.

But there was another reason why this dress prompted me to start writing this.

My husband looked at our gorgeous daughter in her lovely new smock and said, "It makes her look like a hemulen".

I'm thrilled to be married to a man who can critique a garment with a relevant moomin reference (clearly my soulmate) but I'm thinking there are people out there who might appreciate the finer details of the construction, like these three little buttons picking up the colours of the fabric, or their velvet ribbon loops. And I'd love to hear comments from them - or you? - as well.

and the buttons (quite excited about these)

Welcome to my world! I've enjoyed writing my first post, with a cup of tea close at hand for reassurance. It's all going to be ok...