A pair of Plantains

I have joined the Deer and Doe Plantain party, a little later than many but very pleased!

First, this one in Australian-made 100% organic cotton jersey - a plain basic that I think I will wear rather a lot. When we were in New Zealand I survived on a very minimalist wardrobe, which was quite satisfying. I felt quite liberated and had a substantial wardrobe clearout when we got home. But I did realise I could use a few new long-sleeve tops for winter, to replace some old faves that had seen better days.

The Plantain is just what I needed, and seems to really suit my 'pear shape' with fitted sleeves and upper body, and ease over the hips so it won't do that annoying creepy thing where it all ends up bunched around my waist.

As the pattern suggested, I graded out from my size 42 bust to size 44 hips, although a straight 42 probably would have been fine. It was quite long on me so I made a deep hem.

On a high from the success of this one, I nabbed a bit of Birch 'Elk Grove' organic interlock from the shop, washed it and dried it by the fire overnight so I could launch straight into another one. And here it is!

I could perhaps have thought a bit more about the print placement on the neck band but, eh, who really cares? I'll wear a bit of strange chopped up deer (elk) body, no worries.

Here's me 'directing' Jasper as photographer:

(This was after a series of shots where he neglected to notice - okay so he's an 11 year old boy - that I had Visible Bra Strap.) Ah, the joys of blog photography... awkward at the best of times.

Aside from my denim Moss skirt that you see here, the other staple I wore to bits on our holiday was a a very plain A-line denim version of Stylish Dress Book Dress A, that you can vaguely see here:

(This is my Cate Blanchett as Galadriel in Lord of the Rings impersonation, in case that is not entirely obvious. She stood by this exact tree.)

Anyway this photo is pretty representative of my holiday 'uniform'. I love the layer-able shift dress, all year around. And being half-owner of a fabric store and all, and if the perks don't currently include drawing an actual wage, y'know, well surely I can make the most of the fabric at hand. So....

Brumby Frock! In the ridiculously simple Dress D from Stylish Dress Book 2, without the sleeves and with different pockets. In stunning eco-friendly, hand-printed fabric by Cloth, from Sydney. Great as-is and supremely layerific for cooler weather. Yay!

And let's round off this blog post with a bit of special stylin' by Clem, with his beloved Pillow, and back-to-front pyjama top.

- Jane xx

So easy, it feels like cheating

I finally got my mitts on a copy of the book 'You Sew Girl' by Nicole Mallalieu. For some time now I've been wanting to try her 'Pattern-free Cowl Top' that's in the book. I shopped my stash and the fabric I came up with was actually long enough to try a dress: exactly the same technique, just longer, as the book suggests. (It's a light cotton knit with a touch of spandex, I think originally purchased from Crafty Mamas.)

I'm ridiculously pleased with the result. For one thing, I never thought a dress in this style would suit me (lumps and bumps, hello). For another, it was so insanely quick and easy to put together. It just seems almost wrong for a dress - or even a top - to come together this fast! Nonetheless, it's the clever techniques in the book that make it work.

Sure, it's not a perfectly-fitted sheath but that's what I like about it. The cowl neck kind of gives it permission to be a bit drapey and moveable all the way down. It's about as comfy as a giant slipper. And if you want it more fitted, the book can guide you.

I think the book would be worth purchasing just for this garment alone. But there are plenty of other things in there that would be worth a try too, and as usual Nicole Mallalieu's instructions are clear and precise. (No, no-one's paying me to say this... although the book is available in our shop :D   Oh actually... better check on stock and order if need be! This shop-running thing is still all new.)

If we hadn't just begun summer here, I'd be immediately planning one of these in merino wool knit. To be honest I probably have enough summer dresses so can't really justify another of these but I probably do need a top or two....

- Jane x

A Briar Top, and probably the cutest t-shirt I have ever made or will ever make again

Charlie and Jasper were using fabric markers to decorate a couple of white t-shirts and of course Clem wanted in on the action. I didn't have a white t-shirt in his size and I asked him what he wanted to draw. "Miffy on one side and Pillow on the other" he said with certainty. His two most beloved toys who share his bed every night and are sought out for comfort often during the day.

Well... I had to try to make that work for him, didn't I?

I cut out a t-shirt front and back from some plain cream cotton jersey and taped them to some cardboard, and let him go with the markers and a bit of acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium, when the markers didn't provide the right colours.

See below - pretty good likenesses, don't you think? (Minus the ingrained dirt/love.)

Pillow, made by Charlie for Clem some years back.

Watch out, he's coming at ya in his Miffy and Pillow t-shirt!

Here are the t-shirts that Jasper and Charlie drew:

(Ahem... proving it's not all organic-earthy-home-baked goodness around here. But he's happy with it.)

And this is a little seal character Charlie has been working on, drawing cartoons of.

And here's me in the Megan Nielsen Briar Top I whipped up during quiet moments at the shop, in a hemp/organic cotton jersey which is a rather striking but hard-to-photograph tangerine colour. I made up a size L because I wanted it nice and loose, chose the cropped version, the bound neckline and lengthened the sleeves, just for fun. I really, really like this pattern and I think I may be another bloggy sewist who makes more than one!

 Andy said 'now walk like an Egyptian'...

(I feel like I ought to offer up some sort of apology to Megan Nielsen for this shot, for making her Briar look dorky!)

- Jane x

a 12 year old! (and a very insistent 5 year old)

Well this dear glowing face turned 12 last week. Charlie is much loved by his youngest brother, who insisted on taking his own pocket money to Haighs to buy Charlie some chocolate as a gift.

Charlie loves to draw and I bought him 'Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals' by Carla Sonheim which is a simply delightful and inspiring book. The bedroom he shares with Jasper features some fabulous wall cracks that, as the book demonstrates, can be wonderful starting points for all kinds of illustrations!

He also asked for, and received, more Tintin books. I think I have talked him into letting me cut and style his hair like Tintin for Book Week at school this year :)

Charlie is a happy soul, enjoys his own company and doesn't ask for much. Which is fortunate really because he has two very squeaky wheels for younger brothers. Clem has been pestering me incessantly for new pyjamas ever since he laid eyes on the fabric he is wearing above, in our shop. And so, during quiet moments at the shop, on Charlie's birthday, I found myself sewing pyjamas for Clem (sorry Charlie). He put them on as soon as he saw them (after school on Friday, in the shop) and wore them non-stop until mid Saturday afternoon. Pestering + appreciation = happy Clem + happy Mama. And a happy 5 year old means a happier whole family, really.

The printed knit is organic cotton/spandex by Lillestoff and the stripe is some Farbenmix from my stash. Top pattern - Ottobre Best T-shirts, legs from Growing Up Sew Liberated, a rough combination of size 2 width and size 4 length with added seam allowance and cuffs. I just love soft, stretchy, forgiving knits! And I do wish I could rock a pair of stripey leggings like he does.

- Jane x

tees and shorts for boys

 (ouch)

 "butt five!"

 

In case you hadn't guessed, that's more Spoonflower organic cotton jersey made into Ottobre t-shirts. A surefire winner around these parts.

Actually this Spoonflower knit has been sitting in my stash for some months. I wasn't totally sure how it would sew up because it seemed a lighter weight than examples I'd ordered previously. I was a little disappointed when I received it. I am pleased to report however that so far it has been lovely to work with and the boys have exclaimed about how soft and comfy it is. No doubt it will fade as usual but that has never stopped these boys loving these t-shirts.

The green is Aztec Armor (I thought it looked like dragon scales) and the blue, personally picked by Jasper, is Monsters on the Loose. Bands and the back of Clem's tee are from the several yards of unprinted jersey I got from Spoonflower a while back.

Charlie's shorts are some hemp/organic cotton stripe from Kelani, made up to a basic pattern I traced off a favourite pair of RTW shorts he has. Jasper's are a super-soft washed linen that happened to coordinate brilliantly with his t-shirt, made in my self-graded-up Oliver + S Sketchbook Shorts pattern. Clem's shorts are not me-made, but actually some baby shorts that used to have elastic in the hems, bloomer-style. I removed the elastic when he got past crawling age and he is still managing to wear them, now as pyjamas!

Charlie and Jasper's t-shirts are pretty large, as are Jasper's shorts. Sizing can be tricky when these boys are shooting towards the sky at a frightening pace. But better a bit of room to grow, I guess.

Right at the end here is Clem with the latest harvest from our garden. That's a butternut pumpkin (squash), reduced to bonsai size by the special magic powers of our soil. Pumpkin soup for fairies, perhaps?

- Jane x

KCWC - tee two with tie

Clem is having his birthday party at home tomorrow so I thought he would like a new t-shirt to wear. And because I bought a bunch of these coordinating Farbenmix knits (partly with a voucher I won from Crafty Mamas, lucky me), it's clearly in the same 'family' as Jasper's tee from yesterday.

Before I could take some decent photos of it there was food down the front but I don't think you can really pick it in these trampoline action photos, where Clem was willingly letting Jasper bounce right over the top of him, even though it was clearly unnerving.

(covered as usual in bandaids and temporary tattoos)

Pattern: Ottobre Best T-shirts, with bands added on the sleeves, calculated at .85 x circumference of sleeve ends so they pulled in a bit

Fabric: Farbenmix cotton/elastane jersey from Crafty Mamas (I cut the neck and sleeve bands from the wide stripe version of the red/turquoise knit)

Iron-on: another from Crafty Mamas

Tie tee is in the wash as I write, ready for party duty tomorrow!

- Jane x

KCWC - beetle tee

I really wanted to take part in the Kids Clothes Week Challenge this time. I didn't sign up last time and then I felt a bit left out when I saw the awesomeness everyone else was posting on their blogs.
This time, when I tried to put the KCWC button on my blog it wouldn't fit on the sidebar. Maybe I should have taken that as an omen. As I previously posted, it's been quite a week here. The hour-a-day of sewing thing hasn't been happening.
But today I managed this:

Pattern: Ottobre Best T-Shirts (skinny version)

Fabric: Farbenmix cotton/elastane jersey from Crafty Mamas

Beetle: iron-on velour from Crafty Mamas

Am I still allowed to call this a KCWC achievement if I haven't adhered to the rules? It was certainly inspired by KCWC. The volume and quality of garments being sewn out there is simply incredible.

How cool is that iron-on beetle? And it's fuzzy!

Okay so enough of the cool cropped photo stuff, let's see this kid enjoying his new t-shirt.

That's more like it.

- Jane x

merino dress

Here's a dress I made a few weeks ago. It's made from beautiful fine New Zealand merino wool knit.

(Do I ever take those boots off? Um yeah, when I go to bed.)
I was very pleased with this dress when I finished it and I've been really enjoying wearing it so I'm not sure why I'm feeling a little uninspired to write about it. Maybe because the thrill of having it newly finished has passed? Do you find that?
Anyhow, on with the details.
Fabric: was very reasonably priced, from this Etsy shop (as opposed to $45/m from the shop around the corner, which I really want to support, but...).
Pattern: began with the Sew U Home Stretch boatneck top, like my blue stripey one. Since the merino doesn't have a huge amount of stretch, I gave it a wee bit more room across the bust and shoulders by the incredibly un-technical move of slanting the pattern piece away from the fold of the fabric slightly at the top. I cut the neckline just a bit lower at the front. Then I added a drapey cowl-ish neck.

I measured the length of the neckline and cut a long rectangle the same length (small added seam allowance), sewed it into a circle, doubled it over and sewed it on.
I made the sleeves extra-long for winterish warmth. Edges left raw cos I can... let's call it a style thing.

Purple has to be the hardest colour to capture in photographs. This is really a very deep, dark purple, kind of like if you started with navy blue then purpled it up.
I wore the top part around for a day with a skirt on just to get the feel of it and see what to do about adding a skirt. I decided I liked the way it crumpled around my waist and that I wanted to maintain that in a dress.
To make the skirt I measured the bottom of the top and cut a six-panelled skirt that would match that width at its top. It's slightly a-line at each seam so there was no way it would end up too clingy. I just winged it really, making one pattern piece for the centre panel (front and back) and one pattern piece for the four side panels (front and back) but I did make a test version out of scrap to make sure it would work.
I sewed that to the top and then made a wide drawstring casing which covers the waist seam. Edges are raw here and on the bottom of the skirt. Made a tube of fabric for the drawstring.

And there you have it.

Cosy comfy purple dress!

- Jane x

Update - forgot to ask - does anyone have any ideas for adding a pocket to this? Or should I just keep stuffing a hanky up my sleeve?