better bib project....

today emm decided to have some of my carrot soup and destroyed the sleeves of a lovely top, so i decided to try my hand at making a better bib. i made a raglan pattern using one of the tops that are still to big for her for reference. i got some lovely fluffy cupcake tea towels in penneys (aka primark), 2 for 3€, so if i can make 4 bibs out of them, that's not too bad! for the sleeves i'm using an old top of mine, the embroidery actually matches the colours of the tea towel!



the sleeves are deliverately long, so i can roll them up a little, the idea is that they will push up the sleeves underneath it and hence keep them clean! BLW safe!


as the little one is asleep, i just attached two fabric pieces as ties for now, and left the edges unfinished. we'll try it tomorrow morning for breakfast, and if it works well then i'll finish the edges and make ties using bias tape!


i could see these working with slightly puffier sleeves, with elastic in the cuff!

scanning old photographs

i'm having great fun (and frustration) scanning old photographs on an old scanner. the software on it is very spartanic, no remembering settings or file locations, and i can only run it 'as administrator' ... (the driver is not really meant for my version of windows, and not approved and possibly a little dodgy)

the fun comes into it when i look at images on screen! this one should be summer 1976, sunday afternoon coffee, i think it's the day of my little sister's christening, that's why my aunt's there, and the good china is out even though we're in the kitchen. on screen little things that i don't really see when i look at a photo in the album jump out at me, expressions on peoples faces, the cute coffee pot on the counter, and the printed glass on the table. i also love the pattern on the high chair!

and of course to me it's amazing how YOUNG everybody looks! i forgot how pretty my aunt was, and my uncle and 2nd cousin were mere boys!

my aunt is wearing a 'kittel' over her skirt and top, white for sundays, they were the 'modern' version of an apron, crackly polyester or 'perlon' sleeveless apron-dresses, and my mum and aunts and granny wore them almost all day every day, goes to show you how much of their day and week was seen as 'work', only for leaving the farm and in the evening the aprons came off.

i might post some more of these as i come across them. it's a pity all those seventies plastics haven't lasted, i'd love that high chair now for my little one!

aprons

Isn't this the loveliest apron ever!?
It's so flattering and the colours are brilliant and it's reversible, too! I don't usually buy many patterns, especially not for practical things like aprons, but I am very very tempted! It's by Meg from Montessori By Hand, a very talented lady!

These are some photos of aprons i made over the last few years...

this one's made from habitat teatowels, for my friend





the first ovenglove was a bit too snug for its own good, it got donated to my other friend's kids' toybox... the second ovenglove was a little better and is actually still in use in hel's house!

this one is my own, again, habitat tea towels... i am planning to make matching oven gloves with the left over tea towel, using the pattern from lotta jansdotter's simple sewing book.



i made this little one for p's niece, she loves it!


and these two for p's granny. she's not been feeling well for the last two weeks and hasn't been baking. today she was brought into hospital! i hope she'll get her spirits up again, she's been a bit down about being weak and old and everybody around her is very worried.

apron for p's granny

i made this wrap around apron today! i know, it's not flattering at all! it's for p's granny who's turning 90 this week. i posted before about planning to make this, i checked again with p's mum and she thinks granny wouldn't fancy velcro (i thought it might be easier for her arthritic hands to have velcro fastenings, but she's still managing fine with the strings) so i went for the classic strings.



i'm modeling it here (excuse the blurry pics, p took them and he's not used to taking pictures) and it's too wide around the shoulders and too tight around the hips, which should make it a perfect size 12... to make the pattern i put granny's old apron on a sheet of newspaper and traced around the back and the front, good job there weren't any darts... i noted where there would be bias tape and where seams and hems, and i measured the length and noted that as well (it's about a meter long, although this one is only about 93 cm because i didn't have enough fabric). i still managed to forget to add the side seam allowance when i cut the fabrics, so it's smaller than her old apron, hope it'll fit!)



the fabric is cotton 'yarn dyed' westfalenstoff, bought in germany. the bias tape and the pocket are made from a pale green cotton. i made the tape with a clover bias tape maker, the 18mm one. i used one fat quarter and got over 6m bias tape! that was a bit much but i'm sure i'll find a use for it. (i'm thinking of getting some plain tea towels and put some applique on them, in the same fabrics, or maybe i'll make pot holders). i did the 'continuous bias tape' method and i was nearly sure i was getting it all right without looking at the instructions when i discovered i sewed it together the wrong way and was going to get 8 circles of bias tape instead of one continuous length of bias tape, but i realised just before i was going to cut.

the armholes and the neck and crossover parts are done with bias tape, i wonder did i stretch the fabric a bit while i was sewing because i think it's a little wavy.

anyhow, i like the result, not sure if it is because it reminds me of my own granny who died when i was 14 or because it's actually nice. it's not figure enhancing or anything, but that's not high on p's granny's agenda, she just wanted a new wrap around apron and couldn't find one in the shops. her last one is navy with white daisies printed on it, and some of the daisies have worn off completely at this point, it didn't wear very well. this one hopefully will!

p's granny lives on a farm, she had 10 children (so did his other (maternal) granny by the way) and she used to cook over an open fire when she was younger. last year we were a bit worried about her, but since she got her new hip this year she's very chipper again and up to date on politics and everything. she still bakes her own soda bread, she likes to keep doing everything she can and says that's what kept her fit for so long. i've tried many times to get her soda bread recipe off her but she does it without any measurements, a good amount of flour, some soda and salt, buttermilk and also normal milk...

hmmm a bowl of greek-yoghurt-and-honey ice cream appeared in front of me... must stop writing, must eat!

fabrics

felted jumpers, waiting for bag inspiration


this apron is from the charity shop, it looks like it was a school project, the seams are quite uneven. unfortunately it has a little stain. Will I cut it up? or try to get out the stain? although it doesn't really fit me, it's a bit small.


these are cotton shirts that i cut up for fabrics, the pink one's my favourite. they are partly from the charity shop and partly donated by P. I might make some more bibs from them,


this is another charity shop find, a big polycotton (that's what 50/50 polyester and cotton is called, right?) duvet, washed many many times, a lovely soft feel to it. i think it might make pretty lining for a tote bag. although all the wool fabrics i have wouldn't really go with pale brown and dusky pink on cream background. i think dark brown soft corduroy would work well though!


i can't claim credit for these, my mum made them for me ages ago, she wen't on a course. they are not pieced but attached to this foundation fabric that has pre printed squares, so it's easier to get the squares at the right angles. she made a good few of these at a course, and also some small star shaped tablecloths, for christmas, they are done on a different foundation fabric, with 30 degree angles on it.

the photos are taken with the new camera that p. got me as a surprise. it's a small compact camera, i haven't quite figured it out yet, it doesn't always seem to be focusing, it's supposed to from 50cm or further. but the menu is well layed out and it has a lot of handy functions. it's also much quieter than my old one (which was a bad value very basic olympus i bought out of the pure frustration of my lovely canon powershot breaking after the warranty was up and i didn't have a lot of money to spend, a bad buy. i should know better, it's probably like spontaneously going to the hairdresser!)

At home with a cold

I think P. gave me this weird flu, he had it over the weekend, it comes with a cough and a temperature and a feeling like breathing superheated air and a headache! But I forgive him... I spent the day at home with the duvet, doing a good deal of sleeping and a bit of browsing all the great blogs out there! I only recently discovered bloglines and it's really handy!

I came across a good few new blogs in the last week, one being applehead with these cute frogs that I want to make (I'm adding to my long list of must-sew-projects...) .

I also discovered Rebecca's irish craft and eco blog, which is great, I can't think of any other irish blogs on these topics, but then, I don't get as much time as I'd like to, to explore blog land!

Another great discovery was a post on alicia's blog, with a link for a downloadable pattern for exactely the kind of smock i'd love to make for P.'s niece, (I already made her an apron, which she adores, so I'm told) I was going to try and figure out a pattern but I'm really glad I don't have to. Thanks Alicia! Hope there will be an adult version of this crossover smock apron, I'm sure some talented person out there will make one!

Which brings me to a question I'd like to ask the apron lovers out there; P.'s granny, who's going on ninety, and still bakes soda bread and cooks her own dinners (with a bit of help) has this crossover apron (a bit like a wrap dress) she wears all the time. She'd like a new one but can't find them anywhere any more, so i offered to make her one if I can find a pattern, but I'm also looking for some improvements. I think if I could make it with velcro instead of ties it would be much easier for her to handle, as she has arthritis in her hands. I also had the idea of the pippi long stocking type smock, but it might be hard for her to put on as well if it's a slip over the head type, (I'm not sure if she can move her arms over her head easily) or if there's fiddly buttons on the shoulders. Or maybe one of those smocks that tie on both sides, done with velcro, although they also slip over the head...
What do you think?

My friend Hel with her little boy (who's just about the wriggliest baby I've ever met) and her hubby were over yesterday for coffee, omelet and a game of settlers of catan! She was mentioning she's starting to look for bigger bibs that are harder for him to take off, for when he starts to learn to feed himself so I think I will make some kind of smock for him, it would have to be more manly looking though. I'm thinking thrifted checked shirt fabric, no crossover back but more like a shirt on backwards, velcro instead of ties, and it would have to be short so it can't be confused with a dress , which might damage him psychologically if his future classmates sees photos of him in it...

You see, A LOT of projects in mind, none started.
So I have nothing to show off tomorrow at the ' stitch and bitch' evening. I met Kasey, who does quilting and embroidery at a quilt show, and we discovered we live in the same village and we were the only ones under the age of sixty at the quilt thing, so we decided to see if there might be more crafty people around our age, and put up a notice. At the first meeting there were 4 of us, there might be 9 of us tomorrow, see how it goes! In our village there is no coffee shop, no restaurant, no evening entertainment apart from the pub, and the majority of houses are built within the last 5 years, so a lot of people live here and don't know anybody in the place. We think that's why the flyer we put up got so many responses, it's a way to meet people, we had a great time the first night, chatting mostly about roads and houses and schools and so on, while eating chocolate cake and drinking coffee.

Hm, P has put on a lamb stew, with some of the veg we got on friday plus a leek from the garden, I think it's ready, it's smelling delicious!

...more drawstring bags, they truly are addictive

some more of my creations... i'm on a database course this week and it's a great to be doing something at night that doesn't involve a computer screen...



this is made from a weird lace like very seventies looking fabric, with matching pink satin lining (and strings) I use it for my dancing shoes


an apron for P's niece, M, made from a fruity fat quarter, with green ric rac trim. i thought the slice of melon at the bib would have made a great pocket, but i couldn't remember how to make these invisible pockets and didn't want to ruin it... she's 4 and likes to help baking.




i made another backpack, using happything's tutorial and I think an idea from martha stewart, but I can't find the link right now. I also saw a 'puma' drawstring backpack in the street the other day. I used two flea market fancy fabrics, a plain chocolate brown cotton and bright red satin lining. I'm not so keen on the white rope but it was the only thing they had in the fabric shop. you'd think the biggest fabric shop in a capital city would have a bit more choice... i also sillily bought a pattern for cute corduroy trousers for my nephew (1 year old in next may), but when i looked for fabric a few days later they didn't have any children's fabrics. maybe their second branch in the north of the city does... i'm still waiting for a craft and sewing revival over here, i think there's still more shops closing down than opening up.

this backpack is going to be my commuter-bag, holding my book, my handbag and if i'm in a pretty shoes mood, a pair of shoes (can't walk a mile along the muddy road in pretty shoes, they wouldn't be so pretty after...). i added a fabric strap with a swivel hook for my keys on the inside, so i won't have to search for my keys in my bag any more!