Simple yet useful

It was my turn to do washing for preschool, and one of the items was a vinyl mat that protects the floor under the painting easel. I knew it was worn around the edges, but when I went to wash it, I realised how tatty it really was. So this morning, Helen and I went to the fabric shop and bought a metre of heavy vinyl with a fabric backing. She helped me mark out the hem lines, and I dug into my thread stash and found some heavyweight thread. The thread doesn't match, but I don't think anyone will mind. The vinyl was a bit cumbersome to handle while sewing, but at least my machine coped well with it - the walking foot definitely helped with this!

Here is the new mat with the old one on top of it:

Sneak peek

There is another kids' clothing swap running on EB. I've settled on patterns (after a false start), and bought fabric today. This is some of it:

There'll be another one or two fabrics to go with the bottom one in this picture, but my local fabric shop didn't have anything suitable, so that means a trip to Spotlight sometime this week.

I have mail...

The latest Ottobre (1/2011) arrived today. As usual, there are some great pieces I'd love to make, and others I'll most likely never try. Helen has already put in an order for a peacock shirt:

Here's a nappy I made last night. Darling Diapers free newborn fitted pattern. If you look up this pattern now, there are two sizes, but I printed it when there was only one, which I believe is the same size as the current orange edge larger size.
The body has a cotton knit outer, hidden bamboo fleece and microfleece inner. The snap-in soaker has three layers of bamboo fleece, topped with microfleece. I am well out of practice sewing nappies, so there are a few wobbly bits on this one, but it should still function well enough.

Vaahtokarkki

Vaahtokarkki blouse, #15 from Ottobre magazine 1/2010. Unfortunately this fabric makes it look like a flight attendant's uniform - not hideous though, just not the look I was after. I may make a skirt with this for trim and lightweight denim (same as the shorts and pants from a few months ago), which I hope will soften the look.
I made size 98 for Helen, the same size as the pink dress from September, but the sizing on this seems a bit smaller. At least I have a younger daughter who'll be able to wear it.

 

I did the sleeves a little differently than the pattern - rolled hem and thin elastic 1.5cm from the edge to make a slight ruffle.

Yes, the ruffles are slightly out of alignment. Actually, I think I wasn't careful enough with the button holes and the right side is pulling.

Mama cloth: liners

This was a quick and therefore satisfying project. Made from scrap fabric, too - even better.
Three liners. The pattern is by Marnie of Noonee Wilga, who was kind enough to give me copies of her Star Pads patterns a couple of years ago.

The top and bottom layers are quilting cotton. The hidden soaker is a single layer of cotton drill. I have found that using stiffer wovens works well for cloth pads as it makes them less likely to scrunch and fold in on themselves. The liners I made in the past used 2 flannelette body layers and a bamboo soaker layer, which doesn't sound like a lot, but even that was too much, hence trying thinner cottons this time around.

As you can see, my topstitching needs practice.

Christmas aprons

Here are two of the aprons I (hurriedly) made recently for Christmas gifts.
First, DH's mum. My camera battery went flat after the first photo and she had to leave for work, so SIL modelled for me once the battery was charged.

The straps can either be crossed like this, or worn straight as per the original tutorial.

Cotton lace trim on the pockets...

...and at the neckline.

DH's step mum. These pictures would look better if she'd been wearing plain coloured clothing, but you can still see enough I think.

Ruffles on the pockets.

By the time I sewed this apron, I was a little tired of doing the shoulder ruffles, so added a v-shaped ruffle at the neckline instead.

I still need to get photos of Mum's butterfly fabric apron.