Tag Archives: sewing

New Look 6230

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Sew Magazine came with a free New Look 6230 pattern a couple of months ago, and I was drawn to the baseball t-shirt look. It doesn’t have set-in sleeves, which is a nice bonus as set-in sleeves and me don’t tend to get on!

I found some really funky fabric, but I decided it was a bit too busy to use for the entire top, so I balanced that out with some plain purple. Again all the seams are zigzagged, including the top stitching, so they should stretch with the fabric. I did get in a bit of a mess trying to attach the collar, but apart from a few pleats and stretch marks on one side, it looks pretty good. I’m still struggling to work out the size I need though – this one was way too wide on the neckline, so I brought in the body-sleeve seams by about 1/2″ on both sides to try and narrow the shoulders a little.

New Look 6230

The sleeves are nice and roomy, but I think if I make another of these, I would try the smaller size for the shoulders, and just widen it a little at the waist to try and get a more suitable width on the shoulders.

New Look 6230

New Look 6230 – excuse my unphotogenic eczema-covered wrists and hands

 

Gryffindor Sock Owl

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I was browsing the Primark website the other day, when I came across a pack of 4 pairs of Harry Potter themed socks. “Nothing special about that”, I hear you say, but I had plans for these socks….

Sock Owls

Wouldn’t it be a neat idea to make these into sock owls? I’d already made one out of a grey sock, but while it looks cute, it’s not really all that startling. My first challenge was the orientation of the sock – the pattern uses the toe part of the sock as the head, but then the writing and crest would be upside-down. Gathering the heel part of the sock, I realised I would need to add something to the head in order to cover the stitches and make it look more finished.

Sock Owls

Cue the Witch Hat free pattern from BeeZee Art on Craftsy – what better way to shout “Harry Potter” than an owl wearing a wizarding hat?

I stitched the hat by hand, but I think it would look better on the machine, as then the brim could be totally flat on the edges. However, for a first Gryffindor Owl, I think it looks pretty cute, and I’m already planning the next 7 owls from the remaining socks! 🙂

 

Hooded Towel

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I was searching for a suitable “first birthday” gift, and came across Amber’s Hooded Towel pattern, which seemed ideal. I couldn’t find any brown towels, so I picked cream, with a tan shade for the nose and inside of the ears, plus a white flannel for the whites of the eyes (the black pupil was made from acrylic felt).

It came together really easily, considering it’s the first hooded towel I’ve made, and I hope the little boy likes it!

towel

Because it worked so well, I’ve already got plans for another one for another child’s first birthday coming up later in the year – maybe yellow towels to make Winnie-the-Pooh.

Simplicity 1556

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The trouble with buying bubble bars from Lush, is that they come in a paper bag. Great for the environment, but what do you store it in to stop all the pieces going everywhere? I’ve found some small plastic food containers in Poundland that work pretty well, but then you get a pile of them in the wardrobe, which invariably falls over whenever you want to find something.

So, I decided to make Simplicity 1556 for my Mum’s Christmas present – a drawstring bag with pouches around the outside. There’s no dimensions given on the pattern envelope, but going on the fabric requirements, I hoped it would be large enough to work.

basket1

Armed with my red and orange outer fabric, and some nicely patterned orange lining fabric, my first problem was with the usual “fusible fleece”. Not having any of that to hand (and realising that if I bought it from the only shop I found it for sale, it’s cost more than the fabric did), I decided to use 2oz polyester wadding instead. I quilted that to the base and bag linings, so you can’t see the stitching on the outside.

asket2

Attaching the pouch strip was challenging, and some of the pouches are a different width to the others, but it fits the items I want to put in there. I will also admit I messed up the drawstrings, sewing the wrong ends together, but it still draws closed so I’m not going to unpick that!

I wanted to give her a pack of bath bombs from Slimbridge Soaps, but the packet of 4 wouldn’t fit into the pouch, so I made some small sewn bags to put them in individually – that way I can get one item per pouch, so it’ll fill them up 🙂

basket-pouches1

Lush didn’t stock her favourite bubble bar this year, but I did find an alternative – but what to put it in? I couldn’t just put it straight into the pouch, as they sometimes leave a greasy stain and that wouldn’t look good for a present. So I made a quick quilted pouch (quilting the lining again), which should mean the bubble bar can slide in, and hopefully not make a mess everywhere!

basket-pouch2

 

Basket fabric from Fashion Fabrics, Christmas fat quarters from John Lewis

Loyalty Card Wallet

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I don’t know about you, but I have so many loyalty cards, it’s hard to find the right one in my wallet! So when I decided to give a relative a Starbucks card as part of their Christmas present, I thought I’d sew a basic wallet to store it in.

I found the pattern at Crafty Cupboard, and found this one a lot easier to follow than the previous wallet I’ve made. I didn’t have any fusible fleece, so I used some lightweight interfacing on the lining and the outer fabric, just to give it some more stability.

wallet1

The pockets aren’t lined, so I’m not too sure how well they will last, but it looks strong enough for the moment. I used a hair elastic and a hand-sewn button to close the wallet – the last one I made didn’t have a closure, so there’s a risk of the cards sliding out in your bag.

wallet2

I was hoping to find a novelty button with a cup of coffee painted on it, to go with the Starbucks theme, but there didn’t seem to be any about so I resorted to a plain black button instead, to match the hair elastic.

Reggie the Reindeer

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When I spotted the pattern for Reggie the Reindeer, I knew I was going to want to make at least one of them. I found a pack of two fleece blankets on sale for £3.95, which were the perfect colours for a Reindeer, so he was a bargain to make!

The first Reggie I made had thread jointed limbs, but this one is for a 9 month old child, so I used the alternative instructions to machine sew them into the seams.

spottyreindeer1

If I was to make a third Reggie the Reindeer, I would probably turn the legs 90 degrees before sewing, so they shouldn’t turn inwards at the hoof, but that’s just a minor annoyance for me.

spottyreindeer2

Mum keeps saying that Reggie is a cow (because of the spotty fabric), but whether you see him as a cow or a reindeer, hopefully little K will like him when Santa delivers the package on Christmas Eve!

It’s Christmas! ….well, almost

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Ok, so it’s not quite Christmas yet, but I’ve been busy sewing gifts for people. Some of those people have already opened their presents, but others have been good and resisted the temptation….

I think this has to be the best fat quarter bag I’ve sewn yet! The sides came out really evenly, and the topstitching works brilliantly in red as a contrast to the green main fabric.

jam-bag-brown-bg

The tree ornament was made from felt, with some white ricrac for the icing on the arms and leg, two red buttons for the candy, and some white felt for the eyes. It’s the neatest hand sewing I’ve ever done on the mouth, and the whole thing is sewn around the outside, so there’s no turning involved!

jam-bag

I ended up making a few of the gingerbread men – a couple for presents, and also one for my tree. They just looked too good to just make one 🙂

Purple Bear

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Following on from Leopard Bear, I had also bought 50cm of some longer pile fake fur – this had been sitting in a box for a few weeks, while I plucked up the courage to try cutting out the pattern pieces.

Purple-head

Rather than using the same pattern, I found a different one for this bear. The muzzle is longer (this one doesn’t have a chin), but I want to try something even more challenging for this bear – an open mouth! So far I have the head made and trimmed around the muzzle, in readiness for the lower jaw and nose.Once I’ve tackled that, I can add in his ears, then work on the paws!

purple-body

This fabric sheds even more than the black did, but I hope that once the bear is completely stitched up, that he won’t shed any further!

London Tourist Bag

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I thought it was time I made myself another messenger bag, and I’m sure that Amber read my mind, as she posted a tutorial for a messenger bag with a zipped pocket.

tourist-bag-front

I wanted the fabric to be different to my previous bag, and this London map fabric stood out in the shop. The lining is a red polycotton, with some blue polycotton and piping around the edge of the flap.

I deviated from the pattern, and added a lining to the front flap pocket, so it doesn’t have any visible raw edges (and fraying ends). The red works brilliantly in there as well, and the pocket edges are just caught into the flap seams, so the pocket is full sized.

tourist-bag-zip

Because a map is obviously directional fabric, I did have to add a seam at the top so that the back and flap could both be the right way up. It was worth the extra figuring out though, as if the map was upside-down, it just wouldn’t have looked right!

tourist-bag-back

I think if I make another one like this though, I would probably change the front zip pocket slightly, and not have the zip reaching the end seams. That would give it a neater finish, and would also lose some of the bulk in the seams at that point.

Leopard Bear

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I was browsing the shelves in the fabric shop and came across their small selection of fake fur fabric – it was black but with dark patches, almost like Leopard spots. I decided to take the plunge and buy 50cm to try making a jointed plushie…. my first time of using fake fur, and also the first time I’d ever even looked at bear joints!

Apart from the fur shedding everywhere, and the mistake of using black thread (have you ever tried unpicking black stitches from black fake fur fabric?), I think he came out pretty well! I didn’t trim the muzzle, so this particular bear has no nose…. but from a distance, you wouldn’t know 😉1

His eyes are a little lopsided, but that just gives him a cute, slightly quirky look.

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