Use the force.... and the sewing machine

My dear son is going through a 'Star Wars' phase.  

I happened to stumble on this material on one of my rare trips to Spotlight. (If you go cold turkey and throw out all their promo material you can survive surprisingly well with out Spotlight... who knew.)

 This was my favourite material.  Not his, but now that I've made them up I can't get them off him.  They're supposed to be pjs, but he wore them out for dinner the first night. 

 I'd better sew the next pair before these ones get too smelly.

The pattern is one that has just 'evolved' over time.  I only cut two pieces and once I've ironed all the hem allowances it takes about 15 minutes to sew up.  I made these ones quite a bit bigger than he needs so that they'll last for next year too, I think they may have worn out before then.

Christmas PJs

 I may have mentioned before that I make lots of pairs of pyjamas that don't ever make and appearance here.  My kids love their handmade pjs - why they won't wear other things I make is still beyond me.

Here are a couple of pairs that I made for Christmas.

Master 4 is still going through his Kenny the Koala phase (will it ever end?) and I found this cute Christmas Koala material in Spotlight before Christmas.  

It's just a light cotton but perfect as the nights cool down.

 I tried to applique a koala on the tshirt - it looks a bit better in real life.

 Miss 7 loves shiny material (Master 4 hates it) so she got scotty dogs and a bone on her tshirt.

 The only problem with the satin ones is that she's so active in them the seams come apart even with over locking and running two or three rows of stitching down them.

Less time at the computer = more time sewing!

I have actually been doing a lot of sewing lately. And by a lot anything more than the nothing I had been doing seems like a lot.

I found some patterns in a second hand store and have been giving them a whirl.
The good thing about this is that they cost next to nothing (one even cost 10cents and had the best twirly skirt in it) and often the pieces are already cut out (I hate that job). They are patterns from the 70's and 80's but the shape is still good and I was happy to give them a whirl.

Getting photos of the made objects has been hard.
I decided this day to get one subject in his natural habitat - on Sodor Island**
These weren't supposed to be Christmas pants as such, but they work well for this time of year.

The first pair I made in this pattern were a size 6 and they comfortably fit his older sister and she's wearing size 7. (I made a size 6 because I thought a little growing room wouldn't matter.)
Little Mister still wears them (he picked the material for those, they have dog paws and dog bones all over them) they just look nice and spacious.



I love this pattern because it has front pockets and they are easy to do.
I'm not so fond of the attached waistband but it's what you have to do because of the pockets.

I might tailor the pattern to give it a different leg shape so they aren't quite so baggy, but this pattern will stay in the repertoire for quite a while I think.
I have also made some circle skirts for DD but haven't photographed them.
I turned one circle skirt pattern into a wrap around skirt and it looks really nice so I thought I'd give the wrap around skirt in one of the patterns a whirl.

This is cut to a size 7.
(This is also the day before her front tooth fell out so she is sucking it back in her mouth to look like she's got a gap.)
I love the material. It's drill and when I grabbed it I didn't realise the little red spots on it made hearts. DD likes hearts so it worked out well.


Cheeky little monkeys aren't they?
DD has voiced clearly that she doesn't want me to make her any more shorts unless they are soft (ie tshirt material) and tiny. hrmph. She has said I can make dresses and skirts though - thank you Your Highness.

She does get a little bit jealous of DS's shorts though.

Definitely more sewing going to happen this summer, especially for DD. Have you noticed that when girls clothes get to size 7/8 they automatically become more trashy? What happened to the sweet girls clothes? I am combating the chain stores by making age appropriate clothing this year - which just means Spotlight will get my money and not Target. :o)



** Sodor Island is where Thomas the Tank Engine and friends live.

More Testing - Big Brother Explorer Vest

I put my hand up to test this pattern in Ravelry and originally Miss6 said she'd like a vest and wear it, but after a few days of discussion she decided she wouldn't wear a vest.

We compromised and decided I could make it in her size (for the point of the test) but in colours for her brother so that he could wear it, because he will.

She did agree she'd put it on for photos though, but when it came down to it this afternoon she was pretty grumpy about it!
The colours are nice and they came from using food colouring when we dyed the crepe wool.


I asked Master3 if he'd try it on for me and he was only too happy too, especially if he got to see the photos afterwards.
He's been watching the progress keenly - although he did mention to me that it should have red in it too. Maybe the next one.
He knows what he wants.
I asked him to turn round so I could photograph the back - how cute is this?
It's a bit big, with plenty of length at the moment so it should fit him for *many* more years to come - the best kind of knitting.
He's cute isn't he?
At least someone appreciates the knitting! :o)

Her stripey vest

When my daughter saw my son's stripey vest she wanted one.
One exactly the same but with bigger arm holes (his fits her but the armholes are a little tight).
We talked about it for days and days... could she have different colours? - no, she wanted it *exactly* the same so they could be twins. (erm right, I'd get blamed for that in years to come, I just know it)
Eventually I managed to get her to choose some different colours and popped to Spotlight to get some more to mix in.

Here it is started. It's purple on the bottom (but a very blue purple) a jade colour (her choice not mine), lolly pink and I've just started the blue row there.

I can't say it will be a beautiful thing when it's finished, but I'm sure she's going to love it and wear it with everything. There's not much more I can ask for than that I guess.

(I just hope taste comes with age!)

Just whipping things up

We're taking a seven hour plus trip on Saturday, down to Mum and Dad's farm in Victoria.
I found my daughter's travel pillow and she was all excited, so was my son, but he doesn't have one.
Step in one already over committed mum.
How hard could it be, I had the shape in front of me, it just needed a bit of overlocking and some seams.

Here is draft one.The neck wasn't right, and the bits at the front curled in too much so it got a bit of a work over.
It's stuffed now, and just waiting to be sewn up and used. Hope it helps him have a nice long sleep in the car.
(for the record, not too happy with the pattern I ended up with so if I want to make more I'd probably try and source a proper pattern.)