A puppet show at playtime

This wasn't meant to happen! Two really great patterns but basics in some ways were put together when it wasn't really intended.

I made the playtime leggings a while a go, in a 6-12 month size because Chloë was beginning to move around and she needed something simple to wear. These were just the thing. I made a few in plain colours (mostly shades of pink) and then I found a remnant of Hilco stripe I had in the stash for a little while. I couldn't resist!

The intention was to make a playtime tunic to match but as yet it hasn't come to fruition.

The Puppet show tunic on the other hand, was started just prior to the Monochrome project challenge being organised on the Oliver and s forum. I thought it a perfect piece to crack on with and include with a pair of shorts in black. Alas, the top is the only piece in that duo that is actually done! It is made using cotton with a raised windowpane type pattern. It was horrendous to sew the buttonholes onto but it is just so pretty, I couldn't help myself!

So, the pairing of these two items of clothing came about due to a lack of washing being done! I hide my head in shame! But let me justify my actions by saying, three kids with illness and running around after a very busy husband had me behind the housework ball and consequently, I dropped it. I had to drop something and it wasn't going to be the kids!

So with nothing decent to wear and with the weather a bit warmer, I had to put the two together. It's cute and practical but in my opinion slightly mismatched. One day I will team them with their proper partners. But for now it will have to do.

A quilted bedtime story

Chloë uses a sleeping bag to sleep in but it is not easy making sure she is warm all night without a few changes during the night.

When it gets below 18 degrees celsius, she is supposed to have a sleepsuit with padded arms. We don't have one of those!

I had always wanted to try adapting a pyjama pattern to accommodate padding in the sleeves. So after making a pair of bedtime story pyjamas and finding them very straight forward, I decided this was the pattern to use in my experiment.

I used some left over battig from some finished quilts to make the sleeves. I used the flannelette print for the top and another plain colour flannelette for the underneath and sandwiched the batting inbetween. The sewing was just straight lines, nothing fancy.

Because the sleeve is basically a rectangle it was very simple to put together.

The result is a warmer pair of pyjamas!

Dressing up baby!

We went away for the weekend at the beginning of August, to a place called Narrogin. It took seven hours to get there and the kids all travelled really well. We were expecting it to be colder than it was but thankfully, we packed appropriately for the weather.

It was a great excuse to dress up the baby!

Catching up

It's been a while since I last checked in. So let me fill you in on what's been happening.

Firstly, it finally rained.

This is the view from my sewing room. Perfect sewing weather doncha think?

Secondly, we expanded our taste sensations

Chloë is tasting avocado in this photo but unfortunately, we suspect an intolerance due to an ezcema flair up. We are yet to try again.

Thirdly, we became a sitting up and moving around baby who loves to pick up threads and play with the ironing board wheels.

And lastly, I have been sewing

and sewing

and having a grand time!

Kids clothes week days 3 and 4

And so it continues, my frenzied but favoured and very much looked forward to time in the sewing room. This week I am on a high with the commitment to join in sewing Kids clothes for one hour a day for the whole week.

I cannot, I confess, sew for just one hour! If I am in for one hour I am only just getting started and would be most displeased to be pulled out of my creative zone before another hour is up. This is why I decided that seeing as I finished off the pants I had started on Wednesday, I would bog myself down and finish from the start, another item of clothing. Enter the Afterschool shirt!

I apologise sincerely for the less than professional photos! I didn't "do" photography at school and perhaps I should have!

I decided to follow the "travelling" theme of the week and use some rather precious fabric I had saved from the Children at Play fabric line by Sarah Jane. I had intended on making my son some sketchbook shirts with this but he has grown so significantly that the pattern is now too small for him and at age almost ten, the fabric looks a little too babyish for his tastes now (unfortunately!) So, I felt a little guilty cutting into it and a tiny bit reminiscent of the fact that it was once Noah's choice and I am not sewing for him. But look at the result though. A very cute little shirt!

Once I had finished the shirt I felt ready for something else and was actually starting to panick a little also. Along with kids clothes week, there was also a sew along on the Oliver and s forums which allowed one the chance to enter and win two pdf patterns. So I decided to jump headlong into making the butterfly skirt and it took me all of an hour from scratch.

So all in all a good day's worth of sewing! Chloe has a whole new outfit and I feel like my creative time has been well used!

And here she is!

Parachute pants for play

It's Kids clothes week and I have decided that it is high time I joined in. Not that I don't sew, like, all the time! But I just thought it would be fun to actually make sure I made it into the sewing room everyday.

So I made a pair of Parachute pants from the new Oliver and s pattern and I have been using them on Chloe quite often. I felt that more pants were needed so, seeing as the first pair took only two hours to make (including cutting), I decided I would make some to start the kcw experience off.

All three were in the same size as the first (6-12 months) but this time I went without the ties. It wasn't that I didn't like it. I do think its cute! I actually ran out of the ready sewn bias I used in the first pair. So that's why it was omitted.

This pattern is a great way to use up scraps. I bought a metre of the pink fabric and have some still left over even after using pieces to make all four pairs!

So without further ado, here they are!

And here's the pair I made first!