A holiday at last

I won't be sewing for about a week as I'm off with the family to Wellington for a wee break. We're planning to take the children to see the Beehive, Te Papa, ride the cable car and do some sightseeing too. It should be very exciting & hopefully I might find a fabric store or two to visit as well.

BJD top finished

I finished the shirred top earlier in the week, but have only just taken the photo today. It will fit most of the large busted bjd dolls. It's shown here on Lishe. Went shopping with my daughter at Westfield Albany's mega mall yesterday & saw so many different versions of this top. I'm inspired to re-create a few of the styles that I saw for the bjd girls.

BJD Adam's boxers

Adam (Limhwa Mano) arrived last week and today finally has a pair of boxers to keep him decent. I found the fabric in my sample stash. The boxers are snug in all the right places, although next time I'll probably allow a little more ease in the back. Other than that I'm happy with how they turned out. He makes a great model, so it looks like I'll have to make him a lot more clothes.

Now a tote bag

Sunday was shopping spree time at Spotlight's massive fabric sale. Lots of craft & dress fabrics were heavily discounted, so of course I had to stock up. I swear my shopping cart was so full & heavy that I could hardly push it. Luckily my 9 year old son was there to help.
I spotted this Kwik Sew bag pattern at the counter. I love bag example A with the different fabric combinations. It looks like a great way to use up all those offcuts from other projects that I've got. I've chosen a pink theme (see photo) and I now have to look in my stash for a co-ordinating lining. I'm planning to get started on it tonight after the children are asleep.

Another laptop sleeve

This one is for my daughter's 12.1 inch laptop. I struggled a little with the fit as I forgot that her laptop has little rubber feet and didn't include that in my calculations. I chose a coconut button to feature on the tab (underneath is a large metal snap). She loves it!

BJD top in progress

I chose a light weight pre-pleated cotton fabric from my sample stash to make a shirred top to fit the 60cm bjd girls. I'll probably keep the ribbons long as I like the way they look around her neck. Sooah tried it on first. Still got to be finished. Very happy with how it looks so far.

Laptop sleeve finished

Finished the laptop sleeve in record time. I deliberately placed the 'doily' print off centre and I'm very happy with the result. Also decided to either use velcro or tab & button hole fastening. It all depends on whether I can find the right 'coconut' button at Spotlight today.

Laptop sleeve

My next project is to make a laptop sleeve. I have a 15.4 inch laptop so I'm going to make a snug fitting sleeve with a loop & button closure at the top. I've chosen 2 Amy Butler fabrics for my sleeve. I'm using the 'doily' print for the outside & the pink paisley print for the inside lining. I'm using quilters padding for the inner. The main purpose of the sleeve is to protect my laptop from scratches when it's inside my bag.

Once the sleeve is finished, I'll get back to the summer bjd tops. Hope to post photos this weekend.

Messenger bag

This was a project that we started almost 2 years ago, lost interest in & have only just completed today. Yes the cherubs are upside down. I mistook them for flowers and had my daughter cut all the pattern pieces this way. Unfortunately we didn't have any extra fabric to put it right.

B4583. An easy pattern to sew up. The bag has a roomy interior with a large inside pocket & a cellphone pocket. I put in a piece of stiff cardboard along the bottom so there's a secure base for the bag. Plenty of room for a laptop, library books, lunch box etc.

Now I'm inspired! next project is to make a padded laptop sleeves for myself & my daughter.

Spring is here!

As always inspiration takes a turn and I'm up at 4am this morning making a halter top to fit LB Sooah. It's made up in a lightweight jersey knit brown with a cream emblem pattern. This fabric comes in 3 colour ways: brown/cream, black/cream, cream/black. It's also got a reasonable degree of stretch so I'm sure it will fit other bigger LB bjds. The back has elastic for ease of fit.

Still working on the messenger bag project. I've pulled it apart to put in a heavier interfacing to help give the bag more shape. Hope to post a pic of the finished bag

very soon!

Groovy knit tops

At last! a photo of the first bjd clothes I've made from the fabric samples. The tops feature a groovy 'psychedelic' tunnel print on the front. Love the way that they turned out. It's great that a lot of the fabric samples are in several colour ways... means that I can offer the same item in different colours plus my big dolls all get a chance to do some modelling.

I've made a start on some tops for the bigger bjd dolls

I'm also working on completing a messenger bag for my daughter. We started it last year and then lost enthusiasm for our project... I'd like to finish it for her birthday at the end of the month. I'll keep you in the loop with my progress.

Where to start?

The boxes of fabric samples that I bought off Trademe take up quite a bit space in my small sewing room. It was fun to go through the treasure trove of fabric and be inspired to create some new BJD designs. So far I've made 3 off-shoulder knit tops with a funky psychedelic effect on the front. Pics to come.

I've also started on a simple top with a shirred elastic bust for the 60cm bjds.

I guess with spring on the doorstep I'm feeling a great burst of enthusiam to get crafting. This blog is a means of documenting all the different avenues that my journey into sewing, arts & crafts will take.