I’m not a great sewist, I’m ok at following instructions and that’s enough to get me by. This is even easier these days with so many photo tutorials available online. I’m in awe of mum who can look at some clothing in a shop window and think ‘I can do that’, or even with the couch at home that needs an update and can visualise how to do it.
Mum has re-covered numerous chairs and lounges over the years even for her grown up kids who have moved out, cushions, bedspreads, curtains and clothes galore, she also made my school uniforms. That last comment ages me doesn’t it! That’s right you gen Y’s and millennials, back in the day we didn’t have uniform shops. You just purchased the material and you sewed the uniform yourself. I guess you could take the material to a seamstress, but I had mum :)
I have always enjoyed sewing and making something with my own hands. I guess this ‘crafty’ hands on enjoyment, carries across a lot of things in my life. Over the years I sew, sew, sew and then I drop it, only to pick it up a year later with renewed inspiration. I think if I’m being totally honest I would probably do it more regularly if I wasn’t so lazy. The thought of having to clean and pack up after finishing each day puts me off, if only I could have a room that I could leave with material strewn about. Why not a room just for any messy art too while I’m dreaming! That also probably says something about me too doesn’t it!
Spoonflower have a new fabric which they call Sweet Pea Gauze, its a cheesecloth. I purchased some and made a kaftan/coverall out of another fabric of mine. Not great, because I didn’t have a pattern and I thought how hard could it be…well apparently I think my head is a lot bigger than it is and the head hole is huge! Although i’ve decided to sell the design as a sexy off the shoulder sort of creation. My dear daughter then decided I needed to make her one too and it needed to have a hood, it needed ties that did this and the arms had to be so long, and this had to be like this and that had to be like that. Getting the picture? So I thought I’m not my mum, I need a pattern. So we went searching and found one on etsy. Here’s the link if you would like to have a sticky beak Pattern Emporium
I designed the Starburst_Pink fabric quite a while ago and uploaded it to my Spoonflower page. This is the pattern that DD thought would work so I ordered some and waited patiently for it to arrive. That’s my only gripe with Spoonflower, the delivery times to Australia are loooong. It arrived, I always do a happy dance when I see the Spoonflower package in the letterbox. I overlocked the edges which is a must with this fabric and washed it, ironed it, crossed fingers and started cutting out the fabric.
I was halfway through the 2nd shoulder seam and my serger made some godawful sounds and stopped! Although I’ve had it close on 2 years I’ve hardly used it, as I’ve been so intimidated by its’ numerous threads and confusing threading. So off to the repair man it went and it’s not back for a couple of weeks at best. So my thoughts of quickly whipping it up went out the window and it was back to my trusty Janome.
I followed along with the great tutorial with its clear instructions and great pictures to help out someone just like me. I went slow as this fabric stretches out of shape so easily and after all madam is a fussy client. It went well until the very last bit where all I had to do was sew the side seams. Ever hear those little voices in your head and you ignore them? Well don’t! The instructions said use a fabric pen to measure the side seams on the ‘right’ side of the fabric. As I could only find a lead pencil and I really needed to mark and pin it as it moved so much. So I just marked it up on the wrong side of the fabric, didn’t I. As I was doing this I asked my self ‘why on the outside, that’s silly, must’ve been a mistake’. In my defence I was running late to pick the kids up from school. So the exposed seam was no longer exposed was it, not a lot more needs to be said about that, except it’s not a lot fun to unpick cheesecloth!
It all turned out in the end, and my daughter must be fairly happy with the result because she agreed to model for these photos. I am over the moon with how my fabric looks (just like a bought one) I love the colour and how the dusty pink shows off the Aussie Summer Tan.
The only problem I have with this pattern is this: that while my daughter is a petite 11yr old, and the patterns largest size is 9-10 fits her perfectly… this year. There is no larger size available, we need a bigger pattern (hint hint).
