Showing posts with label top. Show all posts
Showing posts with label top. Show all posts

Wednesday 9 July 2014

What I sewed for my mum's birthday

How do you choose a present for someone special? Do you usually plan it well ahead or leave it for the last moment?
For me personally choosing presents for children is easy but choosing presents for adults could sometimes be a torture. I am a fan of practical presents. I don't want to clutter up someone's home with beautiful but unusable gifts. Maybe because I don't like receiving such.
Anyway, my mum's birthday was a month ago and that was a good reason to get creative and make something special for her.



In fact, the initial idea was to buy her something, but with two little "helpers" with me on the shopping trip, the only thing that I would have come back home with was lots of stress and probably no present.

Just like me, my mum loves clothes. We have similar taste for clothes and I knew it had to be something simple with a little twist.
That simple thing I decided to be a short sleeved top(which I drew using a vest of mine as a guide - luckily we are almost the same size) made with two contrasting fabrics and "crooked bamboo seams" on the front. The "crooked bamboo seams" is improvisational pleats technique which I saw here and I loved it . The fabrics are lightweight polycotton and fall really well.


The necklace was also a part of my present. I grabbed one for myself as well.



If you wonder whether my mum has liked the present, to be honest I don't know. I just hope she has. She has worn it once so far. Now I am planning to sew a knee-lenght skirt to go with it. I will probably use that orangish (??? how do you actually call this colour?) fabric for it.



Sunday 2 March 2014

"Crazy chevron" top


I can finally share with you my completed project "Crazy chevron" top, which would be a present for my niece.
The pattern itself is simple but classic. I think it is the choice of fabrics that makes it different. I love to combine contrasting colours. Unfortunately the photos don't show the exact colours. The dotted fabric is actually pink colour but in the photo it looks coral.




The chevron fabric is from ADORNit and the dotted fabric is from Sevenberry.
As a whole it was an easy project and quite enjoyable as well. The only frustrating thing was that once I started to sew the pieces together, the collar happened to be too short and couldn't go all the way round the neckline. I wasn't expecting this because the pattern pieces were the same like those of the toile. And when I was making the toile the collar fitted perfectly. Anyway, I decided to leave it this way. I don't think it is that bad. I just hope that my niece will like the top as well.




This is little gorgeous Zara, who helped me with the fitting and agreed to model the top, so we could all see how the top looked when worn. Many thanks to her!
I am looking forward to making more tops like this one, but in different colours. I have to start getting ready for summer.
Before I finish a project I already find myself planning the next one. It might sound silly to you, but that process of planning makes me feel happy and excited. Now I am toying with the idea to sew something else for my niece, maybe a dress...

Before finishing the post, I will show you what me and my little boy made yesterday during a visit to the local Ikea store. We went there to buy a fleece blanket which I intended to turn into a cushion cover for my son's bed. He told me he wanted a cushion with a ship on it.
Anyway, in Ikea we were delighted to discover a table set up for painting on ceramics. We had to choose what to paint - a mug or a plate. It was free, but if someone liked he could donate to a childrens' charity. And even adults could enjoy some painting. So we both sat down and that was the result.



 I let my son draw whatever he wanted. I wanted him to do something comletely by himself. Now his drawing (which according to him features a carrot, an egg and a mushroom ???) makes me smile every time I look at the plate, but I think he is proud of it.


















Monday 24 February 2014

An update on my latest project


I wish I could show you a completed garment, but unfortunately I am still somewhere in the middle of the project (a top with Peter pan collar for my niece).
Sewing-wise, I have done very little this week. It was half term which was meaning full and noisy home all the time, more playdough to remove from the carpet, more glue and spilled paint to wipe. There were a few friend visits, a playgroup, a birthday party and even a visit to a museum. So after all this, I was left with very little energy for something else. And when I feel tired I find that I get easily distracted by almost everything around me.
As always the most challenging and time-absorbing part was drafting the pattern. I used the new book ( 'Metric Pattern cutting for children's wear and babywear' ) to guide me through making the basic bodice, but I must say I wasn't quite happy with the result as armholes were too deep, so I had to redraw them.


Then I made a toile (a test garment). I used plain white fabric for the bodice and another fabric scrap for the collar, which was aimed to outline it so I could properly see the collar shape. This is how the toile looked.



The good thing is that a friend of mine, living nearby, has a pretty girl, who is nearly seven. I popped to her house to see how the toile fitted her. Now I am ready to start the actual sewing.

By the way I actually quite like the fabric combination of the toile. What do you think? I might make one for Eva (and maybe even one for me) when I get a chance.