Bunting - Finished!

Its taken me months to finally finish this bunting, and weeks to get around to blogging about it, lol.

I struggled to get a nice shot of it (this room is tiny) but DD likes it and I think it looks nice. She doesn't actually sleep in her room at the moment as she prefers to sleep in with the boys but hey one day she will appreciate having her own space ;) and even more so if it is pretty.

Library Bag

My daughter is starting Kindergarten next week!

Firstly I can't believe she is 5 already and secondly I can't believe I will have 2 of my 4 children at school this year!

So anyway the reason for the post is that I finally dusted off my sewing machine (been so busy with school holidays and 4 kids at home) and quickly sewed up a library bag for her. I still need to buy a cord as the ribbon probably wont stand up to use too well, but she is very happy with it.

It is so funny that given the choice of all my fabrics she picked some spotlight fabric that my mum bought me for about $2 a metre.

Size 2 Shorts - Light Weight Denim with Tree

I made DS#3 (21mths) some more shorts today. I was clearing my sewing area, which has been taken over by our dining furniture during our renovations, and decided to make something. I used some soft denim that I bought at spotlight a few weeks ago and a tree from some IKEA fabric I bought in April.

front

The tree has been pinked around the edges and zig zaged, no bonding stuff was used though so I hope it doesn't fray. I decided to use the white thread to outline the darker green area to bring it out a bit more.

back

They fit DS#3 really well and he will be wearing them tomorrow, with a green shirt, when we go to see my family for our Pre-Christmas lunch.

A Skirt for my Daughter - Amy Butler Midwest Modern Fabric

I thought I would give drafting a pattern for a skirt a go, I took all my daughters measurements and came up with this skirt.

It fits her really well, and best of all, she likes it!! So of course she wore it straight away and I didnt get a photo. I think that that next time I will change the waist section by adding a *little* more in width, just to allow for a bit more growth.

My gathering leaves a lot to be desired on this one......I have read that using the walking foot can stop the gathers from shifting so I may give that a go next time.

I will write a little "how I did it" post with the next one I make.

Thanks for reading.

Finshed Scrap Bunting and Gracie Top Alterations

I decided to use some white drill I had here to bind the scrap bunting that I made.

I think it turned out cute and seems I wasn't sure what to use it for I added it to the gift I was giving to a friends daughter.

I also had to fix up the Gracie Top I made for her so I could drop it over today. I ended up cutting the straps, turning and topstitching and then added some orange resin snaps at the back. I really hope it fits!

I also used a little swing tag with "made by hayley" written on it.

Bunting - Getting started.

I am making my daughter some bunting for Christmas. I thought it would add some colour and fun to her room.

I decided on 25cm triangles, for no other reason than that I thought they would make a good size, lol. I made the pattern from a piece of paper (top right of the photo) and got cutting. I used my new CHEAP rotary cutter and not so cheap cutting mat.

(please excuse washed out flash photo)

After cutting the triangles (stack top left of photo) I was left with a few half triangles. I figured I would use those for my first try at making the bunting. So I matched them up, sewed them into larger triangles and then sewed two together (they are patterned front and back).

I only had enough for 5 double sided flags but despite my worries about it looking a bit too much, it actually looks OK (I think). I am not sure what I am going to use these five for as they are a little smaller than the others that I will be using (because of the centre seam). I still have to make some bias binding or buy some ribbon.....not sure wat I want to do yet.

I am planning to applique my daughters name on a few of the triangles, I am thinking that if I cut some denim and then applique with the Amy Butler fabric her name will stand out more. I think that will make it more personal and special for her.

I have a few days with 4 kids and no hubbie so I am not sure how much I will get done this weekend, but I plan on trying.

Portabellopixie Gracie V-Neck Top (Dress) - Size 3

I finally washed all the Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric that I bought, and what better way to first use it than to make a girly, frilly, dress.

A friends daughter turns 2 on the 6th of December, she had her party this weekend and I went to empty handed as I just didn't get the time to make anything, so I sat down yesterday and made this dress..................

A Portabellopixie Gracie V-Neck top/dress in a size 3 (she is tall for her age) and thought I might make some shorts for under it if I felt it was necessary.

I really like it, I lined up the trees for the top tier, and the flowers for the bottom......all was well in the world, until I had it all together and went.........hmmmmm......I don't think its going to fit.

So I thought, my 3y9mth old is short for his age, I will try it in him.........nope didn't even go over his head. OK OK, I will try it on my almost 21 mth old...........it was a bit of a squeeze to get it on but it went on and fit him well (just a little long in the shoulder straps).

The thing with this pattern is that it has no fastenings, it is made to go over the head but in all seriousness I don't think they tested the pattern . As with the child's arms over their head to get it on the bodice is not wide enough to fit over.

So anyway......I am undecided......do I try to alter the straps so that the dress can be slipped on and then be fastened? Or gift it in the hope that it fits her? I don't think I want to gift it as is incase it is too small and never gets worn.

If I make this version of the Gracie pattern again I will be altering it to have fastenings on the back of the bodice or on the straps.