This blog is to chronicle my sewing adventures, or more accurately ‘misadventures’. I love sewing and making things, but I don’t really know how lol. With persistence, enthusiasm and Google, I am determined to master sewing and make some really great outfits for myself and family.
Miss 4 was given a soft Pig pillow/toy for her birthday from her BFF. She absolutely loves it. She was sleeping with it, dragging it around the house, wanting to take it to Nan Nan's house etc. Within a couple of days it was starting to fall apart. The seams were ripping and the little plastic dots on the bottom of it were falling off (everywhere).
Spotlight had a sale on Minky fabric, so I decided to buy a metre of it and fix 'Curley Tail'. Miss 4 picked hot pink.
I unpicked/ripped off the back of the pig and used the pieces as a pattern for the Minky.
I was nervous to use Minky because I heard that it was really difficult to use. I googled it and people were advising to use pins every 2cm because the fabric slipped, so I went overboard with pinning it.
The back legs were seperate, so I did them and stuffed them first. Yep, the first one I did I forgot to leave a gap to turn it the right way round. Miss 4 was very happy with the back legs and was using them as a pillow.
The sewing went fine and I didn't have a problem with slipping. Then I thought all those pins were unnecessary, so I pinned high up and added a few pins where I was going to sew.
Then I couldn't be bothered with all those pins, so just pinned it normally. It wanted to slip a little bit, but nothing that couldn't be easily controlled.
Once I sewed the body, I realised I needed to sew the legs into the body and not just attach them. Therefore I had to unpick so I could sew in the back legs.
Once I turned it the right way and stuffed it, it was just a simple matter of machine sewing the gap.
Miss 4 loves it. Even I couldn't stop cuddling it. It seems much thicker now, but that it probably just that my seams were bigger. I thought that the hot pink wouldn't work with the colour of the fur, but it was a really good choice. Very happy with the result. I think it looks fantastic!
My name is Jayne and I am a married stay at home mum of 2 beautiful girls. I really needed something to do for myself. Before she died, my Nan gave me her Husqvarna sewing machine with all the bits and bobs. I always imagined that when I had kids I would make all their clothes (well some of them anyway). My oldest was just about to turn 4 and I decided that it was time to start. While I don't lack enthusiasm, I do lack experience and skill and have to google how to do even the most basic things.
My first project was matching dresses for my girls. I used the Burda Kids 9494 dress B.
I admit that I didn't quite get how the top section went together, so had to unpick it about 4 or 5 times. I can't even guess how it connected the shoulder straps, so I just sewed them straight across. I don't think I have a zipper foot, so my zippers were not the best. Regardless, it turned out really well and everyone commented how good the girls looked!
I was feeling really positive and loving that I had made something that the girls could actually wear, so I decided to make a library bag for my 4yo. So I googled library bags and came across a monster bag (http://lessordinarylibrarian.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/monster-book-bags.html). For about a week I thought about how to make it and even wrote out instructions for myself. Finally I ended up with this:
So proud of this effort! My 4yo didn't think that much of it though lol But she does love going to the library.
So I was super confident by this stage and decided to make Vogue V1247.
It was just a huge failure! Talk about a misadventure! When I finally finished the skirt, it turned out to be more like a size 6 than the size 12 I was trying to make. Again I had trouble with the zipper. I will really have to invest in a zipper foot (or at the very least get my Mother over and show her what I have - maybe I do have a zipper foot?). Nevertheless, I gave it to my niece who said it fit and that she will wear it next week.
The top turned out (well not really). I couldn't work out how to do the cuffs and I got the bottom front section around the wrong way. On the advice of the sales assistant at Spotlight, I used the wrong fabric and it didn't even look good at a squint. The fabric was absolutely beautiful, so I was very disappointed that I wasted it making that top.
Miss 4 was then invited to a princess themed birthday party, so it sparked my creativity and I decided to put my Vogue disaster behind me and make Frozen play dresses for the girls based on the Burda Kids 9494 pattern B. I used Frozen satin for the skirt, blue sequined dance fabric for the top and added an organza cape. I still don't want to attempt a zipper, so I changed the back of the dress so it was V shaped and could fit over the head. Unfortunately it was a bit of a comedy of errors. My first mistake was to use a wrong bobbin. Apparently bobbins are not one size fits all. My second mistake was that I sewed too much and too fast the blue sequins, which caused the needle to heat up and the fabric to melt. These mistakes caused major (I repeat MAJOR) damage to my machine. I had to take it to Vera's Machine Shop to be fixed. They had it for about a month.
I still really wanted to finish the dresses for the party, so I borrowed my Mum's machine. With strict instructions from Vera's, I used oil every couple of inches on the needle and went really, really slowly. Everyone said the girls looked fantastic. So proud of my work! Miss 4 loves to put it on, even to play in the backyard.
With my confidence restored, I decided to make the V1247 top again, this time with fabric that will drape. I managed to work out the cuffs and didn't have to unpick at all. It's not perfect, but I love it! The first time I wore it was at Church when I was scheduled to do a reading. Miss 1 was restless, so was going for a walk outside with my Mum when I went to the front of the Church. When I started reading, Miss 1 heard me and came running back into the Church and straight up the aisle like a little elephant. I started to giggle, so had to stop. Then she proceeded to grab at my shirt and pull it down. OMG my bra was exposed in front of the whole Church (although I was told that the Bible covered everything - someone else also said that they thought there would be a strip show). I completely lost my place and someone had to point out where I was up to. By the time I finished and looked up (because I was too embarrassed to look up before then), the whole congregation had Cheshire Cat smiles on their faces.
This now brings us up to date with my completed sewing projects. I welcome any advice on offer. I am still learning, but am finding that it is getting easier. I love sewing and buying fabric and patterns. I have a couple of projects ongoing at the moment and can't wait to share when they are completed.
