sewing projects Archives - Page 3 of 4

Diaper box train

April 8, 2014 by Cheryl 2 Comments

Whew! I can’t believe I actually had time to sit down and write a blog post. This motherhood thing is really zapping all my free time! I’ve been a bit put off blogging for a while because it seems like every blogger out there is a professional photographer and writer. I’m amazed by all the talent out there – such creative folk – only… I do feel a little bit inadequate… I guess I’ll just have to aspire to one day be like that and for now I’ll post the kinds of things that are relevant to my every day looking after a toddler and working from home. This one is a couple of random things I’ve been up to lately: entertaining Audrey with a bit of craftiness and my newest hobby: quilting.

I’ve been finding it more and more difficult to get things done around the house lately – my little girl seems to be increasingly curious and proportionately accident prone. Just recently she ran into a wall and nearly bit her tongue off. Luckily the tongue is probably the quickest thing in the entire body to heal – but my God it looked bad at the time! Audrey’s attention span is also seeming to be a bit shorter so sometimes it is a challenge to find things for her to do while I do the mundane chores like hanging the washing out or cooking dinner. I was about to throw a diaper box out when I had an idea.

Diaper Box Train

We taped scrap paper onto the box and then decorated it as a train. (I know, the artwork isn’t beautiful, but just trust me on this – it IS a train!). Don’t get bogged down in making it beautiful. It’s only going to go in the recycling bin once the little one starts ripping the pages off anyways so let her go nuts with the crayons. I poked a hole in the side so that I could stick a string through it then secured it with a fork (I suppose you could use a straw or a stick, but I just grab whatever is handy). All that’s left to do is find a passenger, in this case it’s Donna the Cabbage Patch Doll, and make “choo choo” sounds as you pull it! This was a really big hit and actually kept Audrey’s attention for long enough for me to hang the laundry out. Win! Alternatively you could attach as many boxes as you like and have several cars to pull dolls and teddies. I think Audrey’s train actually needs an engine. I’ll get to it eventually.

The other thing that I’ve been doing in the few hours between Audrey’s bed time and mine is quilting. I always figured quilting was something my grandma did so it didn’t really appeal to me. But after going to the Stitches and Craft show in Brisbane and seeing all the beautiful quilts I felt inspired (I also had a bit of encouragement from my friend Amanda who has made adorable quilts for her kids). At first I found it oddly relaxing to sew nice straight stitches between blocks of fabric. And then came the borders. After stitching and unpicking my borders TWICE I certainly had a few curse words for Amanda under my breath. Actually it still wasn’t that bad. I found a great YouTube video on how to do perfect borders. It turns out you can’t just sew a really long piece of fabric to your quilt and hope it works out. You actually have to measure and pin your border first. Who would’a thunk it?

This is where I’m at with the quilt so far – the squares are from a charm pack by Kate Spain called ‘Daydreams.’

Are there any quilters out there reading this? I’d love to hear your favourite quilting tip!

Kitchen renovation – just a splash of paint can make a huge difference!

March 9, 2014 by Cheryl Leave a Comment

When my husband suggested moving into the motel with our baby I was horrified. NO WAY, I said, unless you get rid of that ugly green carpet that has been there since the 70’s – there is no way my daughter is crawling on that. He made a few other changes too – he painted the living room and Audrey’s room. He really didn’t want to spend too much money on it though because we rent this place on a periodic lease, so any money we invest on the building is pretty much throwing it away since we don’t have anything to sell at the end of it.

About 40 years ago our kitchen used to prepare the meals for a Chinese restaurant. It was a pretty happening place back then, and apparently our tiny little motel was a pretty flash joint – we were told so by an elderly man who informed my husband that he had “consummated his marriage” at our motel. Wow. I don’t usually use this abbreviation, but I think it fits the occasion: TMI. We haven’t served meals here in ages – there’s a pretty good pub on the corner of the street that we send guests to for meals. Anyways, back to the kitchen: wood paneling on the walls + too many greasy dinners + time = a kitchen you don’t want to spend any time in at all. I waited until my husband was away for a few weeks, then set out to paint the ugly thing myself. Have a look at the photos for yourself and you’ll agree that something needed to be done!

The solution needed to be budget friendly (i.e. no major renos) so all I did was paint. You can see in the last photo I had started preparing already. I took the cupboard doors off and painted them separately. With laminate you are supposed to sand it all down, add a primer, then paint. The laminate wasn’t shiny anymore because it was so old, so I didn’t bother sanding it, but I did give it a super good wash (twice) with sugar soap. I used a Bin primer on the walls and trim because it covers well regardless of whether you’re covering oil based or latex paint, but you absolutely must use a painting respirator when applying this particular primer! I then used a Wattyl interior paint for the walls and Aquatrim for the architraves.

The walls just soaked up the primer really quickly and the first section I did needed 3 coats of paint to cover it, so on the next part I did 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint. I replaced the dirty old curtains with roller blinds, and added a new key holder, but other than that it was really just a couple of coats of paint. It cost just about $300 in total. But it made a huge difference. My husband was pretty surprised when he got home. His dad, who is a builder, also stopped by and they were so pleased that they didn’t even pick out my faults. Who knew a coat of paint could make such a huge difference!?

Painted - corner — I think I need some art or something to put on that wall. It’s looking a bit bare.

Sewing with knits: much easier than expected!

February 23, 2014 by Cheryl Leave a Comment

I’ve always been kind of scared to sew with knits. I tried making a knit dress for myself once, and it was a bit of a disaster: wavy seams and the stitching on the neckline snapped as soon as I put it over the head. It was pretty evident to me that sewing with knits was meant to be classed in the “too hard basket.” But now that I’ve got a running, jumping, mayhem-causing toddler, I figured I should give knits another go because they’re really the most comfortable fabric for kids on the move. I’m pretty pumped with the results and have discovered that sewing with knits is actually much easier than I once thought!

Knits are stretchy so use a stretchy stitch

The number one thing to remember is that knits are stretchy and a straight stitch is not. That is why a straight stitch on a knit top will result in a popped seam. For that reason you just have to avoid the straight stitch! Use a zigzag or a stretch stitch (that’s the one that looks like a lightning bolt)

Use a twin needle

The stretch stitch looks a bit messy, in my opinion. It’s great for doing seams, but for top-stitching you would probably want something a bit neater. You could always go and spend thousands on a serger… but for those of us who must make do with just a sewing machine a twin needle is a very cost-effective upgrade when it comes to sewing knits! I paid $8.50 for a twin needle at the local Janome shop. The second spool of thread is put on the bobbin-winder and thread through the machine. Just a regular straight stitch will give you two perfectly spaced stitches side-by-side on the front, and on the back a sort of zigzaggy stitch.

Back side of the fabric when using a twin needle — Stitching with a twin needle. This is the back-side of the fabric

A walking foot is a big help

In my first attempt at sewing knits I found it impossible to avoid a wavy seam. As the fabric is pulled through the machine, instead of simply passing through the material stretches – and does so unevenly. A walking foot is a good way to make sure the top of the fabric passes through at the same time as the bottom part of the fabric. I’m pretty sure mine came with the machine. What a huge difference it makes to the seams!

The finished product

It fits Audrey pretty perfectly and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I’m looking for some pattern testers if anyone would like to sew this pattern up for free in exchange for a photo and some feedback! Give knits a shot -they’re really not as hard to work with as you would think.

Sweetheart Dress

December 8, 2013 by Cheryl 2 Comments

I have had a photo of this dress on my Pinterest board for ages, and every time I look at it I think “I’m going to make that one day.” Well, I finally went ahead and did it! This is a pattern created by Shannon Cook from luvinthemommyhood.com. I think I paid around $11.43 AUD for it, and it was worth every penny!

In Australia everything is measured in metres, so instead of converting yards to metres in my head I just bought it in metres – 1.5m of fabric ($16.99) and 0.5m of lining fabric ($5.99), so with the pattern it comes to $34.41, and this turned out to be enough to make 2 dresses!! (size 2T and size 3T). Just over $17 is not too bad for a beautiful toddler dress.

I have an aversion to reading instructions, so the first dress I made didn’t fit very well… Shannon’s instructions are pretty good though, so I strongly advise reading – especially the part about sewing a lined bodice. My one year old could barely pull on the size 2T. I’m thinking it could either be because I didn’t read the instructions ~~or because the waist does not open up~~ – so make sure to measure your little one before sewing! (note: I made another dress in the size 2T and it fit my 16 month old perfectly)

I have a small adjustment to the pattern. I find that instead of cutting out the heart and then sewing, it makes more sense to trace the heart pattern, then sew it, then cut it out.

cut_heart — fold the heart pattern in half and cut around to create the full heart. Position the heart in the center of the bodice back piece and trace. Draw your two lines to create the opening.

sew_heart — Carefully sew along the traced lines. It helps to use a see-through or open presser foot so you can see what you’re doing. Once sewn, cut your heart out and clip the curves.

heart_back — Voila! the finished back cutout. (The topstitching is done after the lined bodice is finished)

I am so very pleased with how the dresses turned out – particularly the second one I made after reading the instructions!! I added a tie to the dresses to hide my ugly stitching on the waist. I haven’t stitched a gathered waist in a while and it didn’t turn out very pretty. It looks nice with the tie though.

The really cool thing about downloading patterns is that you can print them out as many times as you like so you can cut out a pattern in every size if you want to, as your little girl grows up.

What to sew for a baby boy

August 27, 2013 by Cheryl 4 Comments

I’m so excited that Teresa is pregnant and having my first nephew! I have to admit that I was a bit surprised of the news of a boy – we have both had girls and we come from a family of 3 girls so I’m a bit lost when it comes to making boy things! Whenever I think about sewing for babies I always think of my mom, who was the seamstress of the family.

Our mom LOVED sewing baby clothes – but just little girl dresses! She went a bit overboard with the dresses – she didn’t have any grandchildren yet – so she ended up selling many of them in a local shop. Since Teresa and I both had little girls it worked out well that mom had sewn little girls clothes. When mom passed away we had several little dresses handmade by her to give to our daughters and I admit that I get a bit teary whenever Audrey puts one of them on because I know that mom would just be thrilled to see her in it.

So, to bring this back on track, my mom never sewed any boys’ clothing so I feel like I need to make a few things for the little guy so that he doesn’t feel left out. The thing is, what do you sew for a little boy? I have only really sewn for girls too! I’d love to get some input (I know, I sadly still have no comments on this blog and I still keep blindly requesting invisible – or non-existant- readers for their input!). The patterns you get in Spotlight for boys are remarkably un-cool. I wandered around Lincraft the other day and couldn’t even find any fabric that I found inspiring!

Typical pattern for boys – how uninspiring!

So I suppose the next port of call is to scour the pages of Pinterest to get ideas on what to sew for a baby boy. Here are a few of my favourites. Send me some links if you have any that you adore and I will add them to the list of possibilities.

Shark Robe — I did actually attempt this one… and it was a massive fail! It was so hard to cut the teeth out and when I sewed around them they looked terrible! But isn’t it Oh-so cute??

Green stripe cardigan onesie with yellow bowtie — Cardigan onesie with bow tie! This one is actually for sale – click on the photo for the etsy page.

Rocket raglan t-shirt — How about just making anything and adding some cool appliqué? This one is made by craftyNHmom, inspired by the book “sewing for boys.” Click on the photo to see her post.

Boy shoes — These little boy shoes are adorable!! The link was bad – so I don’t know who to give credit to. I am so inspired!

It seems that I have subconsciously chosen a colour scheme as well – I notice a recurring theme. Well, I must say that after my short search I am inspired to start sewing again! I will post photos once I’m finished (I might have to wait until Teresa has opened them first though before I post photos!)

If you have made something fantastic for a baby boy, please send me the link and I’ll add it to the list!

Diaper Box Train

Knits are stretchy so use a stretchy stitch

A walking foot is a big help

The finished product

Let’s Connect!