The Posts that Never Were

Two days ago, I started writing a post about me and Friend Sarah recreating my 12 year old friendship experience complete with snazzy coordinating outfits. Yesterday I started writing a post about a newborn girl who entered the world dramatically in her own living room.

Today, all I can muster is a dramatic representation of our up to date family portrait:


From left to right.

Jamie- Chicken pox. Or not chicken pox. Medical opinion is divided. Please note smile. These pox don't itch, they're merely exciting.

Me- The Mother of All Sinus Infections. Please note irritation to all areas of face.

Maia- Crying because she does not have Chicken Pox like Jamie. Please note model hair and multicoloured eyes.

Steven- Happy because he's going to the football. Please note how his smile is so big it creates eye crinkles.

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The Capacious Be-Pocketed Changing Bag

As mentioned in previous posts, my adorable friend Claire is currently (over)due her third baby. To cheer her up (and remind her that she will soon be carrying approximately four stone of baby accessories), I made her a super-sized changing bag. I'm helpful like that.

Under the messenger flap are two external deep pockets.

To both sides are deep elasticated pouch pockets for keeping keys / wallet / phones / beer bottles safe and handy.

To the back a rather large zippered compartment for Xanax and candy bars.

Because I hate ironing on interfacing, instead the bag is inner-lined with stiff canvas so it can stand up all by itself. Inside, there are a further two pockets to keep nappies and wipes segregated from an interior gigantic enough to accommodate lots of extra clothes, blankets, snacks. The strap is double sided with a length of webbing hidden inside so she can safely cart wine boxes to baby group. In short, the perfect bag for a person with all the attendant glories of Being No Longer Pregnant.

Addendum: Friends, next time the Jehovah's Witnesses come proselytising, please can you convert so I no longer put myself under pressure to make your birthday and holiday presents? Also, become celibate. I'm currently not spending enough time messing about on the internet.

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If this was my toiletries bag I'd fill it with testosterone

Steven is a hard man to shop for and an even harder man to craft for, but I wanted at least one of his birthday gifts to be handmade. When I saw the lovely leather in Mandor's a couple of weeks ago, the dark brown / black skin struck me as testosteroney enough for man -crafts. And so, I finally gathered the courage required to cut into the leather and fashion it into a toiletries bag.


It's a bit bigger that the make-up bags I've been making as I wanted it to be capacious enough to fit his shaver and other various manly accoutrements. The dotty fabric has been in my stash forever and has a spot that's a perfect colour match. Steven was impressed enough that he didn't think I made it.


My verdict for sewing with leather? Painful. Obviously I couldn't pin at all because of the puncture marks, but most frustrating was that it didn't want to feed through the machine and sewing required a lot of pushing and pulling (especially tricky when I was trying to hold the two slippery surfaces together!). Any tips for sewing leather?

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Round up, roll up, Ottobre

Despite being a subscriber to the Ottobre children's magazine for a couple of years, I don't actually make very many things from their patterns because of the tracing / seam allowance sadism. Is it possible to resist this though?


No, I don't think it is possible to resist. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen.


I'm really drawn to this loungey suit too, probably because I'm still hankering for some feety pjs.


When I recently renewed my subscription, I added the woman's magazine too. The majority of the clothes are not my taste as such, but I really like this knit dress.


And I'm pretty partial to this sweatshirt too with its zippy raglan seams. And I must say I find the 'real life' models really refreshing too! Has anyone attempted Ottobre Women patterns and have any feedback to pass on?

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If Minnie Mouse got pregnant she'd totally love this top

My lovely friend Kat has just announced the impending arrival of her third child and ordered me in a bossy way asked me to make her a maternity top. Being afraid of Kat and her mystical powers of back-chat (she even insults me in Spanish), I couldn't refuse. But I could make her wait an unreasonable time before I started it. Sorry about that.

Pattern available here.

The pattern is very clever. It has a cross over wrapped bodice and two nine feet tails that go round and round and preserve your modesty. And other than the cutting it's very easy to make*.


This is my adorable friend Claire modelling the top, who was due to have her third child yesterday. I'm so glad she delayed child birth so she could model for me. Obviously I haven't done any hemming yet, which is just as well because I inadvertently made each side of the wrap seven feet too long. Seven feet too long. Ergo, Claire has 32 feet of fabric wrapped round and round her stomach. She's such a trouper.

*For other people, obviously.

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Tutorial: How to get your pockets straight when sewing blind

I've heard through the grapevine that a lot of people are having trouble getting their pockets straight on their reversible hoodies. It can be tricky to get them to match up perfectly when you're sewing a zipper in blind, but I thought I'd do a post of all the advice I've been passing on! Obviously, this is most relevant to the people who actually have my reversible hoodie pattern, but it's good general advice for matching up prints and seam lines whenever you're sewing blind, be that inserting zips into bags or just lining a coat! Bear with the 'well, duh' points as I'm sure you're already doing most of them :)

Important factors for getting balanced pockets:

• Make sure that once you've sewn your shell pockets to your lining pockets, flipped them right sides out, and pressed, that they are the exact same height. If they are, great. If they're not, either stitch rip and redo or adjust how it is pinned to the hoodie front so that they match. This means that if you have one pocket slightly taller than the other, pin the shorter one to the hoodie first and use the top edge of that one as the basis for pinning the other one. They'll be a slight overhang along the bottom edge, which you can trim off after basting. But once trimmed, they will have an identical / balanced top edge. Lay it down and match up to be sure.
• It might help to put a contrasting thread in the bobbin when you sew the pockets on. You can't see it from the right side, but it'll be easier to match the top edges if you can see the stitch lines from the wrong side.
  
• When you're sewing the ribbing along the bottom edge, make sure that you are using a uniform seam allowance for both shell and lining, paying particular attention to the four centre front bottom corners. If one of those corners has even a 1/4" difference in the amount of fabric or ribbing caught in the stitch, that could be enough to throw your pocket alignment off.
• When you lay it down to insert the zipper, have the side with the pockets facing up so you can see the stitch lines. you will see that the stitch lines for the pockets should be even, the stitch lines for the ribbing should be even, and the amount of ribbing extending down should be even. Readjust your layers until they are. Before I pin in the zipper, I pin the layers together about an inch from centre front so no more shifting is possible.
• After you've pinned the zipper in, hand baste it in position very close to the teeth. Nobody likes doing it but honestly it's the best thing you can do to keep your pockets straight! Basting means that you can remove the pins so it's a nice flat surface to sew, and close to the teeth means that there will be less shifting of layers.
• Sew the left side of the zipper in with the pocket side facing up. You can see my basting stitch in black.
• Now to the other side of the zipper. If you're anything like me, you'll desperately want to flip the hoodie over and sew it from the other side just to stay out from under the arm of the machine. But don't, please. When you flip it over and sew with the other fabric facing up, it will be fed through the machine a bit differently (at least my machine is notorious for this) and can shift the pockets out of alignment. And you can't tell if the pocket layer is shifting because you can't see it. You really should roll it up and sew with the pocket side facing up. I find this hard to do, so I go really slowly. If it starts to tug, shift or bunch, stop with the needle down and smooth it out with your fingers before starting again.
  
• Now that both sides of your zipper are sewn in, make a final check that the pocket stitch lines still match up and that the ribbing is still even.
• Turn it right side out and it should be perfect!

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If I was at school I'd get a A+ for effort and a C- for execution

Oh, joyous pumpkin carving time. When kids squick out about pumpkin guts, go to soft play with their Dad and leave me in blessed peace to get my geek on. Everyone chose a design relevant to their interests...

Jamie's classic pumpkin face

Maia's more genteel cat

My Eric from True Blood. Obviously. Maybe. Bad photo.

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