play clothes

I can still remember as a child, having to take off my 'best' clothes (which were beautifully, 'made by mother' dresses) and changing into play clothes. My play clothes were handmade/homemade smocks, pinafores, rompers, trousers, jumpsuits, all simply designed for comfort and lots of play. Again all sewn by my mother from left over fabric or sheets.

Inspired by Enid, I've been working on making some play clothes for Miss 2. She loves to wear dresses and skirts. She'll happily go twirling and whirling in a pretty dress or skirt straight to rolling around on the ground or stomping in the mud. Hopefully she'll enjoy her vintage styled play clothes too.

I'm off to Wellington tomorrow for a few days. Can't wait to see the Monet exhibition while Miss 12 and Mr 10 are very, very keen to see the colossal squid, urgh lol!

not sew good tote bag

with the trip to Wellington in mind, I've been preoccupied with making a tote bag. In the Spotlight remnant bag was this open weave cotton fabric with the worst grain issues ever. So in a moment of mad inspiration, I thought it would be a great challenge to use it for my bag. Looking back, I was certainly challenged!


This tote tutorial makes a nice, roomy bag. It's ideal in size for supermarket shopping, library books or as a gym gear bag. Next time I make this tote bag, I'll sew a lining inside it. For now, the bag is host to a number of toys including a vintage golliwog 'Mr Jim.'

simple nightgown

now the big reveal of Miss 2's simple nightgown. As with all of Enid's patterns, it was easy enough to draft up. I usually skim read the instructions and then put the garment together my way. The fit and length is good. When it was made up, I realised that Miss 2's wrists were larger than the finished nightgown. It was something that I hadn't thought of. So the french seams on the sleeves were undone to make room for her wrists. I guess the 1950s 2 year old had tiny wrists. As you can see that nightie is made up of floral & plain pink wincyette (both remnants), ricrac and leftover pink satin ribbon. My nightie has to be a salute to 1950s thriftiness.

simple nightgown

now the big reveal of Miss 2's simple nightgown. As with all of Enid's patterns, it was easy enough to draft up. I usually skim read the instructions and then put the garment together my way. The fit and length is good. When it was made up, I realised that Miss 2's wrists were larger than the finished nightgown. It was something that I hadn't thought of. So the french seams on the sleeves were undone to make room for her wrists. I guess the 1950s 2 year old had tiny wrists. As you can see that nightie is made up of floral & plain pink wincyette (both remnants), ricrac and leftover pink satin ribbon. My nightie has to be a salute to 1950s thriftiness.

more enid gilchrist magic

finally found the 70s styles pattern book by Enid Gilchrist. It's been on my 'want list' for sometime. It has patterns for over 70 designs, ranging from tops, skirts, dresses right through to caftans. My favourites are the crossovers top/dress & frills and flounces patterns. Definitely watch out for more enid sewing magic!

craft reading

a visit to the library today was a welcome chance to see what craft books were on the shelves. While the children dispersed to different parts of the library, I had the chance to have a good browse. There seemed to be quite a lot of knitting books in, so I chose some 'easy' baby knitting books and a sock knitting book that I've been umming and ahhhing about buying for a while.


I've already started reading the couture sewing book. It's an interesting read so far. It's all about the fascinating world of haute couture & the amazing work that goes into a haute couture garment. Loads of tips and techniques too. I think that I'll certainly have learnt a thing or two by the time I've finished reading it.

little girls nightie

Miss 2 prefers wearing nighties to pyjamas. It was easy to find her nighties for the summertime but it's been almost impossible to find her winter ones. In the Spotlight bag was a floral wincyette remnant which should make up nicely into a little girls nightie. I'm using an Enid Gilchrist pattern from her 'Babies' book. Like all of Enid's patterns, it's easy to draft. Luckily Miss 2 is small for her age so she'll probably fit size 2 for a while with room to grow. The only challenge for me is remembering that I'm working in inches rather than centimetres.

Remember my A+O pants? they're in the 'lack of enthusiasm' box at the moment. I just don't seem to 'feel the love' for the pants project so I guess it'll sit there until I either force myself to finish them or they go into the scrap basket for rehashing.

little easter bunny

The Easter Bunny's feet
Go hop, hop, hop,
While his big pink ears
Go flop, flop, flop.
He's rushing on his way
To bring our eggs today,
With a hop, flop, hop, flop, hop

(author unknown)

little easter bunny

The Easter Bunny's feet
Go hop, hop, hop,
While his big pink ears
Go flop, flop, flop.
He's rushing on his way
To bring our eggs today,
With a hop, flop, hop, flop, hop

(author unknown)

polar fleece toddler beanie

a remnant of spotted blue polar fleece from the Spotlight bag is perfect for making toddler beanies. I used this free pattern to make up the beanie pictured. Although it's a perfect fit for Miss 2, I think it would work better with a little more length added. I'll add 2.5cm on to the length on the next ones I make. I've got 45cm of 150cm fabric and it looks like I might be able to squeeze out possibly 6 beanies. These beanies are destined for the hospital charity. Miss 2 is in love with her beanie, it hasn't left her head since she put it on early this morning.

crafting for charity

my crafting for charity is inspired by my little nephew Jodeci, who was born at 24 weeks gestation. His twin brother passed away at birth. Jodeci is a real fighter and against the odds, he's progressing well. He celebrates his 1st birthday next month.

He was so tiny and needed specially handknitted teeny tiny beanies to keep his head warm. That's what got me started as I'm the only one in my family who knits. From there, I heard that there was a charity programme associated with the hospital that always needed knitters and sewers to make clothes and blankets for babies & toddlers. So I joined the South Auckland wool programme straight away & have been knitting & crafting since then.

I feel connected to my community when crafting for charity. I'm now more aware of the world around me and feel blessed to have talents that I can share.

baby blanket

whenever Spotlight has a sale, I try to buy at least a couple of fabric remnants bags. They're a real bargain at $5 each and are bursting with fabric. I'm always surprised with what I get as I can't see what's inside when I buy a bag.

Today's bags were full of children fabrics including this really lovely muslin in a sweet shade of mint green which I thought would make a nice baby blanket. I rounded the corners and hemmed, adding some simple animal appliques in one corner. This blanket is off to the Middlemore hospital charity. There's also some towelling which would make great bibs and polar fleece for toddlers beanies as well.

mary quant inspiration

Miss 12 has a school project to work on during the upcoming holidays. She has to choose a 'well known person' and then put together a presentation based on their life and achievements.

Inspired by this retro pattern in my stash, she's chosen Mary Quant. As she has to dress up like Mary Quant, she's convinced me to make up this pattern for her. Miss 12 is a Junior size 8/10, so I'll definitely have to do a number of pattern alterations to make it fit. Plus trim a cheap black wig into a geometric bob & find some 1960s styled shoes.

Our flights & accommodation to Wellington are booked, so that we can visit the Monet exhibition. We'll be travelling in about a fortnights time. Can't wait!

pattern making textbook

Last year, with well meaning generousity I lent this textbook to a friend who lost it when she moved house. Needless to say, our friendship was a little strained for a while.

Anyway, today I received my replacement book from the 2nd hand textbook shop. This is my favourite reference on the subject of pattern making. It's well written with easy to read instructions and lots of diagrams. When I have a 'brain freeze' moment (which happens sometimes as my drafting skills are more than a little rusty), this is the book that I turn to for the answers. It's on the recommended reading list for most NZ fashion design courses.

It's pricey (so buying 2nd hand is worthwhile) but worth every penny if you're interested in pattern making. There's a great chapter on creating 'knock offs' from ready made garments. I always have a giggle when I read this section. It reminds me of someone I worked with at Barker & Pollocks years ago. She would pop into her favourite High Street boutique, buy something that she adored but couldn't really afford, take it home, make a pattern off it and then return it for a refund. I know, very naughty! She always had the best wardrobe lol.

simple sewing by lotta jansdotter

from the library is this book by Lotta Jansdotter called 'Simple Sewing.' I've managed to snatch a few quick reads between Miss 2's naps. It's obviously a book more for the novice sewer, but there's plenty of inspiration for the experienced sewer.


I'm really enjoying the photos. Especially the photos of the retro styled furniture and accessories. There's something really appealing to me about the clean lines of Scandanavian inspired design and the clearly defined colour palette. I'm the opposite, living in a colour 'explosion' environment.

another 1950s hard plastic

another bent knee walker by Pedigree NZ. A very lucky find considering that they're hard to get hold of now. Anyway her owner was having a major declutter and wanted to find a new home for her doll. So now she's joined my little collection. There's some repair work to be done, especially around her head and face plus a new wig. Other than that she'll be looking good very soon.

It's been a 'no crafting' zone since Miss 2 has been ill. She's been unwell for almost a week and today's the first day that she's been anything like her happy self. So until she's better, not much sewing or crafting will be taking place. I'll pop in every other day and post photos but probably nothing crafty until she's 100% well again, which is probably up to a week away.

bye bye birdie

Miss 2 (when 18 months old) wearing some bird gear made by Miss 12. She loved to wear the hat and mask everywhere. Then one day, she didn't like it anymore and it was bye bye birdie.

wonky scraps doll quilt

as the title of this post suggests, the 2nd doll quilt which started off really well, has turned 'wonky.' I thought that the small blue floral print had more cotton than polyester. I was wrong. When pressing the seams open, the fabric kind of shrunk a little. Now I have curvy instead of straight edges in some places. I can't be bothered unpicking and replacing the wonky squares. Besides I don't have any other scraps to replace them with. So I'm going to finish the quilt and use it to practice my stippling. I'm sure that Miss 2 will be only too happy to take it off my hands for her dollies.

miss tika at work

Miss 2 has been sick with a really yucky tummy bug for the past 3 days. The combination of poop, vomit and sleep deprivation has me a little loopy. I'm even talking to miss tika (aka wonder pinny). Couldn't resist getting her accessorised and all set to take on the fashion world lol!

pixie beanie for baby

to keep my charity knitting enthusiasm going, I like to have a play around with shapes and colours. Here's my version of a pixie beanie. Miss 12 has nicknamed it the 'wannabe' beanie, which means that she's not sure whether it wants to be a beanie or a tea cosy?

scrap fabric doll quilts

The simple doll quilt that I blogged about last week is finished. It looks really great on the doll bed even though its a little small for this bed. I also made a little pillow to go with the quilt. I found the instructions from this really great
tutorial very useful when doing the binding. I think I did a pretty good job. Even the mitred corners look good. I'll need to practice stippling a lot more before even trying it on a quilt as my earlier attempts were awful.


I've started a second doll quilt with my leftover fabric scraps. This one is more of a challenge as I'm working with a very limited colour palette. Guess that's just what happens when it comes to making something out of scraps. However, I think that I can 'make it work!'

more enid gilchrist books

this morning's post brought a parcel of enid gilchrist books. The sender is a very experienced dressmaker who served her apprenticeship at Ballantynes Department Store in Christchurch. She was working at Ballantynes in 1947 at the time of the fire. The Ballantynes fire is considered to be one of New Zealand's worst fires ever.

She has a complete collection of all of enid's books and these were her extras. Some are missing their covers and have been obviously well used. That doesn't bother me in the slightest. I'm just pleased to boost my little collection. These titles are what I received today:

Boys and Girls 5 - 9 yrs
Boys and Girls 10 - 12 yrs
Pinnies N things
Ten to Teens
9 to 11
Junior Teens
Small women
Girls Gear
Six to Nine yrs,
Boys and Girls 8 - 10 yrs
Maternity Wear
Toddlers wear
Babies wear
Beach and sleep wear (part of)

Off to do some reading!

burda 9607

today we finally found a pattern for Miss 12's top to go with her new jeans. You may remember that I blogged about this 2 weeks ago. She's decided to go with the longer version but with long sleeves, made up in a lightweight khaki drill. She's letting me use her new machine until my Singer is back from repairs. Sorry about the photo quality, I'll take a better one tomorrow.

sewing and fat quarters

While at Sewing Machine World, I saw a perfect sewing machine for Miss 12. She's doing quite a lot of sewing and is finding that her little retro Singer Genie machine can't keep up. This is a Janome MS5027LE (it's one of the Breast Cancer support sewing machines). It was from their 2008 'old stock' and was priced to sell. I know Miss 12 will be over the moon.


They also had lots and lots of gorgeous fat quarters on sale, perfect for all those smaller crafting projects. So Miss 12 will have plenty to inspire her sewing.


Now I wonder if I ask nicely, whether she might even let me use her machine lol!

waitakere ranges rainforest

just sharing some of the photos taken by Miss 12 when she went on a school field trip last week to the rainforest in the Waitakere Ranges. The drive was 1 1/2 hours long and the day was wet and windy. Miss 12 is showing a real talent for photography. Hope she keeps it up.

sewing machine blues

(Photo by Miss 12)

I was just starting the quilting on the doll quilt when clunk, clunk, clunk, the sewing machine comes to a stand still. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't pinpoint what the problem is. So it'll have to go to the repair shop on Monday.

Now I've got the 'sewing machine blues' - boo hoo!

simple doll quilt

last night, after the children had gone to bed, I got stuck into cutting out my squares for the doll quilt. I'm a total newbie when it comes to the world of rotary cutters and self healing mats. So it took a bit of time for the rotary cutter and I to get acquainted.

Then today, as Miss 2 had her afternoon sleep (thankfully she slept 10 minutes longer than usual) I was able to complete step 1 of the doll quilt tutorial. Hopefully tonight, I'll be able to make a little more progress.

the scrap fabric stash

yes it's finally time to take a hard look at the scrap fabric stash and give it a good sort out. I don't like waste and try to do all that I can to reduce my environmental footprint with my crafting as well. So all the scrap fabric is put aside to use in one way or another. Apart from the fabric balls and my crazy patchwork dorothy bag (both still 'work in progress'), I've been on the lookout for some other small projects to use up my scraps. My pattern stash yielded this Kwik sew pattern for pin cushions, which could be great.


I discovered these liberty fabric scraps hiding at the very bottom of the pile. They were a $1 op shop find. These could make up a pretty doll quilt using Sew Mama Sew's doll quilt tutorials and there's enough scraps to make 2 doll quilt panels.

If you have any little project suggestions, I'd love to hear from you.

pasifika

every year at this time the Pasifika festival and Polyfest cultural secondary school competitions bring a uniquely pacific flavour to Auckland. It's a chance for many Aucklanders to get a real feel for the taste, sights and sounds of the pacific islands. I feel quite nostalgic when I go to these events. Te Vaka's very popular song 'Pate pate' (one of my all time favourites) brings it all together for me. Hope you enjoy the song too.



Pate Pate (Log drum)

LYRICS and Translations

tu la ki luga ke fai malama
get up stand up let your feelings be known
taimi tenei e fai na hiva
the time has come to perform the dance
tu la ki luga ke fai malama
get up stand up let your intentions be known
lue lue malie te gali o na hiva
swaying ever so sweetly the message in the dance

aue aue Oh! Oh!
tama mimita the boys are very bold
aue aue Oh! Oh!
teine mimita the girls are very bold
aue aue Oh! Oh!
hihiva mimita the dancers are very bold
aue aue Oh! Oh!
kikila mai la fakaakiali atu Watch me now, it’s my turn to show

e a mai tau faiva e a mai
“How is the fishing with you, how is it?” (Girl)
taku ika e fofou ai au
“The fish that I truly long for” (Boy)
e a mai tau faiva e a mai
“How is the fishing with you, how is it? (Girl)


CHORUS
hihiva ki luga hihiva mai ve
dance on up, dance just like that
hihiva malie ki te pate pate
dancing ever so sweetly to the Pate Pate (logdrum)

chant: hiva ki luga hiva ki lalo dance on up, dance on down
hiva malie ki te pate pate
Dancing ever so sweetly to the rhythms of the log drum

inspired by enid gilchrist

I have a small collection of Enid's pattern books. Now that I've tidied up the sewing/craft room and see that I have some shelf space available, I think I might collect some more.

Enid Gilchrist's pattern books are full of inspiring patterns and ideas. It's not hard to see that her patterns would have been a great resource for mothers during the 1940s to 1970s. Her patterns are easy to follow and draft and are as stylish today as they were when first published. Knowing that the patterns have been used by past mothers to make clothing, toys etc for their families is a very special feeling to.

pattern stash now sorted

This morning I dropped off the fabric and a box full of retro and vintage patterns to my local hospice shop. The ladies at the hospice shop are a very friendly bunch and were pleased to get some new stock for their crafts section. Going through my pattern stash brought back lots of happy sewing memories.

This was one of the first patterns that I ever bought. It made up really well in a reddish coral coloured muslin with matching cotton lace. I thought I looked quite stylish at the time wearing this top with my flared jeans.


This wrap around skirt pattern was very easy and made up in next to no time at all. My skirt was made up in a floral printed chambray. Although it looked nice, it wasn't a very practical skirt especially on a breezy day.


My mother made me the view 3 dress for a church social when I was a teenager. The skirt had huge pink swirls on a white background with a lacy bodice and sleeves. I thought it was the prettiest dress ever. It was such a popular style that I remember being a bridesmaid for 2 weddings wearing this same styled dress. Love those flirty sleeves.

Parting with patterns was nowhere near as hard as the fabric stash. There was over 30 plus years worth of pattern collecting to rationalise. It didn't take long (quite a few patterns were either 'stuck in a time warp' or 'not age appropriate') and I'm very pleased that it's done.

rationalise the stash

Yesterday I filled the whole bottom half of the shelving with fabric... lots and lots of fabric. This morning at 6.30am, I got onto the job of rationalising the stash. There was a sea of fabric around my feet and I'd no idea what to keep and what to part with. Working methodically, I've been able to part with quite a bit of fabric (now all bagged) ready to deliver to the hospice shop tomorrow. Yikes, the photo is a little blurry, sorry.

The stash is rationalised at last!

tidy up time

today was the day for tidying up. The craft/sewing room has been a mess for days with stuff now being piled up on the floor. So this morning with children in tow, I went shopping and bought some second hand shelving. It took 2 trips and the help of Miss 12 and Mr 10 to get the shelves into place. Then it was sorting through all the fabric. I didn't realise until today that I had so much fabric stashed away. I'm even embarassed to admit that there's lots of material that I couldn't even remember buying (sigh!)

Anyway, it looks like the weekend might be swallowed up by my 'attempt' to rationalise this rather large fabric collection.

As for my other stuff, Miss 2's dress is finished and ready to wear, the cushions are cut but not sewn and the curtains are hemmed and ready to be hung. I'm waiting for dear hubby to put up the new curtain rails. Miss 10's sewing requests are on hold, as she can't decide about her tops or her dress for the school social. And the A+O pants, I haven't even touched them this week.