Sewing for Boys

I hope you are all having a good weekend,  I have spent the last two afternoons making two jackets for my friend's boys.  They are my latest make from the burda  June issue, the sizing didn't go down small enough for the baby one so I have had to create my own pattern from a little jacket my friend dropped off.  I made the bigger jacket first then worried it was a tad too short so I have added a cuff to the bottom to give it extra length and it also now has four buttons not three.

I chose to line the jackets but they are not lined in the magazine, I also faced them my own way as the pattern just shows it as continuous piping.  Always I have to go off on my own way, I think you just find your own preference for doing things after time.

Oops I forgot to take another picture of the larger one with the amended hem, it just has a cuff like you have on a bomber jacket but in cotton.  That is the only difference a bit more a big boys jacket.

It has been some time since I have made things for my boys, also they always used to want dressing up clothes making of whatever the favourite character of the moment was.

If anyone has a good idea about the sizings relate to UK ages it would be helpful, I know all children are different but I find the height info an odd way of doing it.

The fabric for the jumpsuit has arrived so that is next, I just need to trace those pieces off, I did find that I ordered a coral button to go with the coral fabric and the colours are nothing like each other, possibly coral can cover a range of colour shades.

This evening I have been watching Goodbye Christopher Robin, it makes no sense to me how the upper class could be so far removed from their children.  You would think if they had missed out on time and attention from their parents they would be more determined to change things but no it appears it just passed through the generations.

Well that is all for now, take care everyone.

Retro Sewing on a Rainy Day

A little bit of bag making today and I just loved this fabric as soon as I saw it when it arrived in my gift bag from Jo.  The colours are very 1970s I think and I decided to do a little bow design to keep it in that sort of same style, it was really fun to make with a bit of playing around with the bow to get it just the right size in the right spot.

I have used a number of fabrics on this one with three layers in the body, one of them being a waterproof piece as the outer body is not, there was only just a small amount of the black faux leather left so this has just been used as detail at the edges, underneath and on the strap.  Although I would have to say do we ever let our handbags get completely soaked, I think not but the extra layer gives a bit of protection from the damp.

I am happy with how this turned out and I may do other variations of this design, experimenting with where the bow can go and so on.

While I was making this I listened to a couple of videos about etsy, I say listened as it was just people talking so I didn't really need to look.  There were a few interesting tips but I am always left feeling very behind with the whole techy thing whenever I listen to this sort of stuff.  Everyone making these videos always seems so young and they have grown up  with IT as a first language while all us older people are still frantically peddling to catch up.  Or is that just me?

I also made a few more face masks for my friend and I will give those to her tomorrow at work, I really do not relish the idea of having to wear these things for any length of time. It can get very hot behind a mask.

People are making lots of these but I do find them rather boring to make, is because they are now a necessity and things like that are never as much fun?  I went to visit my mum earlier and she has an appointment next month so she will be needing some and my brother asked for some for his girlfriend so obviously I am not done yet.  I had better source some more elastic.

There are some lovely courgette flowers growing in the greenhouse and lots of buds on various plants, it would be nice to see the sun again although I do appreciate the gardens were in need of a good drink.  It is much more fun gardening when the sun is shining and you are not getting blown about, a few of the taller plants are starting to lean due to all the wind and just as they were getting stronger!  Lets hope this cool snap doesn't last long.

I have strarted a new book 'Things in Jars' by Jess Kidd it is nice to be reading something other than War and Peace after all these weeks and a nice change of pace.   I'm not fully into it yet as I have only just started it, I'll let you know if it is any good as the reviews were very mixed as they often are. 

That is all for now, take care. 

Burda Top from Maxi Dress Refashion

I have had a fun day of sewing today, I got the shopping done first thing and with that out of the way I could get on with my refashion.  This is my first pattern to try out from the Burda June issue and I thought I would try it out by refashioning a thrifted maxi dress that I bought for £1 some time ago.  The dress is a size 16 so I had an idea I would be able to cut out the top pieces from further down the dress where there is more fabric.  It only just did it as I wanted to save the bottom border for the frill.

             

It has taken me quite a bit of time mainly because of the frill as I had to join the pieces together that matched, the ones you can see in the image with the little petal shapes. After a number of joins I then chose to edge the frill with a fine zig zag on a small stitch as I didn't want a turned under hem because I thought that would look too bulky.  So as you can already guess I started following the instructions then did things that I thought would work better like this hem.  One thing that did annoy me was that I could not find pieces a, b or c for this pattern on the sheet!  As it is just the frill and belt I could guess at the width and length and do my own thing but if you were new to sewing  this may  prove tricky, maybe it is just my eyesight, there is a lot on those sheets. 

One thing I did manage to salvage from the original dress was the tie belt, I just cut that in half and made the ties for the back. That was the only quick job as the rest I made from scratch, this was not your usual chop the bottom off refashion but rather chop it all up and start again.

After cutting the pieces out of baking paper I had a bit of jiggling to get the facings out of the fabric so they did not lay straight on my scrap pieces but rather at an angle, this has not affected the finish of the top though.

There was surprisingly little fabric left after I had finished probably because the top of the original dress just had spaghetti straps so not a lot of fabric at the top and then of course that deep border.

When I bought this dress for the fabric I had no idea what I would use it for but it just shows if you wait the right project will come along.

When I had trimmed these pieces down for the frill I used the in between pieces to make the binding for the arm holes.

This just gives it a bit of interest on the inside too so I am very happy with that little detail.

I am happy with the fit so now I know that the sizing for the patterns in the magazine are accurate I will be able to confidently make more items without worrying that they are poorly sized.  I never make mock ups before I sew I usually just jump straight in.

Now we just need the sun to return so that I can actually wear this, here is the original top from the magazine and it looks much warmer where she is...

As you can see I chose to make my frill much narrower than this as I felt it would look better on me.

Well week one of June and that is one project complete from the magazine, if my fabric doesn't come in the next few days I may have to hunt around the house for something else to refashion!  There is a charity shop mans shirt that I bought, not sure what to do with that??

Well bye for now and enjoy what is left of the weekend.