Monday 1 November 2010

Some progress

OK so it's not on a white shirt, but I did get somewhere today.

Between ... running kids to school in the morning, collecting eldest ds from school before midday, going shopping with eldest ds for new jeans and a belt to wear to a class dinner tonight, picking up 2 Burda mags from the library, doing the grocery shopping, getting petrol in the car, and collecting the other two kids from school ... I have managed to trace off and alter the pattern, and cut out the fabric for a top for myself, and download and trace off a pattern for newborn pants (for a friend who just had a baby).

Unfortunately there is no time to sew now. I have to get the groceries away, organise dinner for the other 3 kids and myself, supervise homework, iron some jeans and a shirt, and then take eldest to the restaurant.

Perhaps tomorrow ...

Wednesday 27 October 2010

So ...

I have been leafing through my pattern folder today trying to decide on which pattern to use for the white shirt sew along. I am starting from scratch with a new pattern (no TNT's yet) and I am really not sure which way I want to go.












I am considering McCalls 5433 (view a), McCalls 5522 (view a), and Simplicity 3684 (view d), but I also picked up Twinkle Sews from the library yesterday and love the Balancing Act shirt, although I am thinking that is not the best shirt to start out with.

I guess I need to think about it a bit more, but in the meantime I have some white Poplin I plan on using for my first attempt/muslin so I will be getting that in the wash shortly. Once the muslin is made I have some white shirting with a pale grey stripe (already laundered) that has been waiting to become a shirt for some time, I hope the wait will be worth it.

Never too many white shirts ...

I confess ...

I do not have one white shirt that fits well and looks nice on, sigh, and this is the reason I have joined in the 'never too many white shirts' sew along.

http://www.sewingontheedge.blogspot.com/

Some of the girls are aiming for TEN white shirts, using a combination of patterns and fabrics, but my plans are not that ambitious.

I am aiming to fit, sew, and re-fit (as many times as necessary) the same single pattern to hopefully end up with a TNT (tried n true) pattern that can be tweaked and changed and used again with various fabrics without having to re-fit.

Now to check the pattern stash and decide on a starting point ...

New (to me) Sewing Machine

I love Freecycle!

You never know what you will see being given away and last week my luck was in.

When I saw 'sewing machine' my heart was all a flutter, when I saw it was on offer from one of my friends my heart skipped a beat. I sent off an email straight away and was promised the machine almost imnmediately. It was collected during a lovely catch up visit a few days later.

This is not a unique machine, it is not an antique either, it is a regular machine that you can get (re-branded) all over the place. Why am I so happy about this machine? Well it has something my Janome 6500P does not, a free arm. Now some of you may think no big deal and I know I can manage without one as I have done so for years, but when your smallest person in the house is only 4 and there are things such as little sleeves to sew in and hem it does make it easier.

After earlier receiving back my two older machines I had leant out and discovering bits and pieces missing, and dealing with that disappointment, I am pleased to say that this machine will fill the gap they left quite nicely. I have given it a good clean and it is already running well, once it's had an oil it will be humming along nicely.

The next task is to put aside my scrapbooking stuff and create myself a little sewing space ...

Oh my goodness!

Has it really been months since I posted anything here? I am so sorry but life does get in the way sometimes and despite good intentions there are just not enough hours in the day.

I am pretty much on top of housework, garden maintenance, school stuff for the kids, etc. and have put aside my scrapbooking for the time being (my mojo has deserted me) so besides the Spring Cleaning (which I am yet to start in earnest) there is just the usual day to day stuff to contend with. Hopefully that means I can actually get some sewing done soon.

Stay tuned for upcoming plans ...

Monday 22 February 2010

Arrived safe and sound

Well the fabrics I ordered from http://www.fabric.com/ have arrived.

After the minor problem of a few out of stock items and having to choose replacements, the order shipped from the USA on the 10th of February and arrived here in S/E Qld on the 16th of February. That was not bad at all considering it had to clear customs, the package sat in Mascot (Sydney) for almost two days and in Brisbane for another day. It was certainly faster than I anticipated and when you get a delivery across the other side of the world in that amount of time it makes the high shipping costs understandable!

The fabrics are all as they appeared online apart from the green slinky which is a slightly different shade to what I expected, but I do like it so no problem there. The weather has been awful here the past week so I haven't managed to get them washed etc. but I plan on getting to the pink slubby knit first as I want to make one of those cosi-cardi wraps before Autumn gets here.

I am very pleased with the service and also with the fabrics. Will I shop there again? I certainly will, although I need to shop the stash for a little while before I do any more fabric shopping :)

Wednesday 10 February 2010

A slight change of plans

I received an email this morning from Robyn of Fabric.com to tell me that two of the fabrics I wanted were only available in shorter cuts. The lengths available (eg 1/2 yard pieces) were not really what I wanted so I chose a couple of alternatives. My fabric order now looks like this. Gone is the purple slinky knit and there is a soft green slinky in it's place, and gone is the b&w floral print knit, and in it's place some sofrt pink linen blend. I think I will be able to make some nice new pieces with these ...




Tuesday 9 February 2010

Online shopping

I felt like I needed a little retail therapy, and with the discovery of online coupons for http://www.fabric.com (thanks Karen), I finally gave in to temptation.

I had been looking at some of the fabrics for a while, in particular jerseys and a linen blend, but I had been worried about shipping costs. I thought about if for a while and then decided to go ahead, I figure that if I could even find the fabrics here they would cost me about the same (if not more) than what I paid including the shipping. I think I ordered about 15m in total.

Delivery from the USA could take a while, after all it does have to come half way around the world, but I can be patient, can't I?


Saturday 2 January 2010

First pair finished

This morning I decided to leave the housework and start on the pyjama top before I got bogged down with all the other stuff. This worked well and the sewing was a breeze. Ok so the dishes didn't get done till later and the floor is still waiting to be vacuumed, but hey I have a new pair of pyjamas :)

Update: The pyjama pants are fine, very loose and comfortable, but I am unsure about the top. Although suggested fabric types included all types of cotton I think it would have been better in a softer fabric, this fabric has very little drape and the top does not sit very well. I will make more pairs of these pants but think I will use a different pattern for the next top.


Friday 1 January 2010

First day of the year, 1st piece made

Happy New Year everyone.

I am not one for new years resolutions but among other things I have decided that this year I am going to make some time for me, every day, something I have not done for a long time. I really need to take time to slow down and have some fun, time to enjoy things like reading, sewing, walking in the fresh air, or just plain relaxing. I intend to do whatever needs to be done (housework, shopping, laundry, study etc) early in the day and once it gets to 2 or 3pm then it's my time until I need to start making dinner or have something urgent to deal with. I don't know how long this will last but I am going to give it my best shot.

I worked hard today to get things done so I could have some me time and it just happened I was finished with everything when my little one decided to have a nap.


Today I have sewn up a pair of pyjama pants in a stripe cotton using Simplicity 9505. They are nothing flash but I really need pyjamas. I altered the pattern slightly as I didn't want shorts and I didn't want full length either, I made them just under knee length.

It's time to make dinner now and I won't have any more me time today but tomorrow I hope to get on with making the pyjama top from the same pattern as the pants, view F. The top shouldn't take long, the fiddly bit will be making the drawstring but I made one today for the pants (not in the pattern but I wanted one) and it didn't take very long.

Once these pyjamas are given a trial run to see how they stack up comfort wise I will either make another set the same (with perhaps a different top) in the other fabric I purchased, or wait till the McCalls pattern I ordered a few days ago arrives. Either way I am so looking forward to have some new 'jammies and having two pairs to choose from will be nice.

What are you working on?