Friday, February 5, 2010

Some sewing...

So I am trying to get a little sewing done each day. Some days are better than others, obviously, with three young children under 4 underfoot.

Some time late last year, one of the members on patternreview.com started a 30 minutes a day sewalong, and I signed up.

But it was not until recently that I have had much luck with this concept. Previously I used to wait until the kids were in bed, to begin any sewing activity. It does not work. Usually because by the time they go to bed at 7 pm, I am so tired I can't be bothered to start. Also, the fear of the noise of the machine(s) waking the kids borders on paranoia for me. And of late, my 7 month old DS has also been keeping odd hours, often refusing to go to bed until 9 pm and later; I suspect he might be teething. So...there went that plan.

What I have found DOES work for me, is setting aside 30 minutes or more to sew daily, when the time permits.

I am trying and liking Flylady.com for organisation, and once my morning routine is done, I am free to sit with the kids, and play with them, which also includes some unstructured play time for them while I roll out my Sullivan's hobby table into the lounge room, and cut out patterns and fabric, usually in batches.

So what have I just finished? Kiwk Sew 3734, which you can see reviewed here

One of my friends is due to have her second child, a boy in 2 weeks, and she is a bit of a novice sewer too, so I figured, this way, I get to make something for her, which to me, always means more than yet more clothes, as long as it is usable. And I get to use some of my stash, and I get to practice sewing. Win-win IMO.

This is my test garment, which I will use for my own 7 month old son. I got the material from Spotlight, and it is 100% cotton. My husband thought it was too bright when he saw the print, especially since it is so hard to find suitable prints for boys, unless one gets licensed stuff. Having sewn it up however, he has changed his mind about its "ugliness".



It was pretty easy to put together, for the most part. I am sure a big part of that was the fact that it is another KS pattern, cos the instructions are just so great.

It is fully lined with 100% poplin in royal blue, also from Spotlight.


I traced and cut it out in about 1/2 hour, and put it all together in another 1/2 hour.

Here are the results. I cut the XS size, based on my height and measurements of 5'4, but it is being modeled here by my 6'0 tall husband, hence the bunching. Apart from that, it is a pretty good fit.


Easy peazy...like it? I rather do.

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