Summer Caye pants by Love Notions

The Summer Caye pants pattern by Love Notions is a very versatile pattern.  It can be made as palazzo pants, wide leg pants, capris and shorts.  It has different types of hems with a regular hem, split hem or tulip hem. It has optional front pockets and back patch pockets.  They are pull on pants with a flat front and elastic back.

This is my first time making them and I made a pair of wide leg pants with regular hem.

Front pockets are a good size

The measurements for size 14 fit me almost exactly so I made a straight size 14.  Love Notions patterns are designed for 5'5", so at 5'9" I decided to add an extra 2 inches to the length.  However this wasn't needed as I ended up turning up the hem 3/8", then another 3".

They took me 5 hours to sew, but about an hour was spent on fitting - testing the elastic length (ended up using the 17" inches recommended in the pattern and the leg cuff length.

These were an easy sew and make for a great pair of comfortable every day pants.

Winter pjs

I bought some wincyette at the end of last winter at an end of season sale. I bought it to  make another set of Carolyn  pyjama by Closet Case Patterns.  The last few nights have been getting cold, down to around 6C, which is as cold as it gets in Auckland.  We won't have too many of these cold nights left and if I'm going to get any wear out of the pjs  this year I  needed to get busy.

If you are paying attention to the top  photo  you'll  notice  the front of the jacket is in a different  fabric. When I was sewing the pants,  I grabbed what I thought was the front pant legs and sewed the groin seam together and served it. When I came to join it to the back pants piece it was too short. Puzzled I looked closer and realised I'd seen the front jacket pieces together at the armscye. As I'd overlocked it I couldn't unpick it. I'd bought 5.3m at 112cm which was just enough. So I had to rush out to Morelands Fabric to get some more  wincyette. Of course I couldn't get the same pattern. Oh well it's a good job it's just for wearing  around the house.

The details
1. This is the 4th time I've  made this, no alterations needed
2. Size 14
3. 5.3m x 112cm wincyette, plus 1mx112cm for front jacket
4. Sewing time 6 hours. 2 hours for pants, 4 hours for  jacket
5. Buttons from stash
6. Total cost $32

New cross stitch start

As a teenager my next door neighbor got me interested in stitching  tapestries. In my 20s I discovered cross stitch and switched allegiances.  So since my teens I've  always had a project  on the go, doing some almost every  day. I even started this  blog in 2011 as a way of keeping track  of my progress.

However the last 3 years one thing after another has happened and I lost motivation.  While  I really liked the picture  I was working on, after some reflection I realised why I had lost my mojo. One, the picture was huge,even doing some every day would take around 7 years to finish. Two, at nearly  200 hundred colors I was spending too much time trying to find the thread that matched  the chart symbol.  Three, at 22 count it was just too fine for my deteriorating eyesight,  I now need glasses for reading which  I didn't  when I started the project.

So I decided to start over, taking those above 3 issues into account.

I've  chosen a Heaven and Earth  design, mini Minervas melody by artist  Josephine Wall.It has 88 colors,will probably  take around 18 months to complete and I'm  stitching on  16 count Aida.

And guess what! My sewing  mojo  is back.

This is progress after the first week,  starting in the top left corner.
And I bought myself a few cute things to celebrate. See the cute needle  keeper in photo above.

 A little tin, keeping cut threads in.

A new sewing basket. My other sewing basket  I've  had since a teenager  and one handle has broken off and the front  clasp is broken.

I also  treated myself to a TV for my sewing  room. I have been watching  TV on my laptop but the volume  doesn't go very loud and when machines are running I can't hear it.

I'm  looking forward to  sharing more  progress  photos.

Kiwi coasters and block 8 of the Mystery Garden

I've been busy the last few days with machine embroidery.
First up was to make a set of Kiwi coasters, a free set from Kreative Kiwi

These are made of  denim and gold lycra.  The denim was bought with the intention of making a jacket, however when I got it home I realised it has a plasticy sheen to it, not what I wanted in a jacket.  I made the curtain tie-backs, posted earlier, from the same denim.  The plasticy surface means they can wipe clean easily. 

This month saw the release of Block 8 of the Mystery Garden from SweetPea.  Another pretty block

The block consists of 4 smaller blocks that are then sewn together.  I ended up remaking the block with the flowers in a basket.  My first fabric choices weren't good. The background fabric I had was too loud and busy and the leaves, vines and flowers got lost in it.

New floor in sewing room, curtain tiebacks and table topper

The last couple of weeks have been very busy and I haven't had much time to get into my craft room.  I've been getting new carpet, curtains and dining table.  In my sewing room I got vinyl wood-look planks.  I've wanted a hard floor in my sewing room for a long time.  Trying to vacuum up those pesky tiny bits of thread and fibre is impossible from carpet.  So much easier to just get out a brush and dustpan and sweep it up.

I love how much cleaner the room looks with the planks down.

I also got new curtains and decided to make my own embroidered tie-backs.  Making my own tie-backs has been in the back of my mind for a long time.  In my imagination I was going to make something sophisticated, maybe a swirling design or fleur-de-lis type design.  Instead I went for a design of pukeko's from Kreative Kiwi.

If you don't know pukeko's are a quirky bird and live around wetlands.  We have some in our street and you can hear them screaming at night.  When driving you have to be careful to avoid them, they look very funny running across the road.

These are photos of pukekos that I took at a park a couple of years ago.

I also made a table topper for my coffee table.  The design is from SweetPea

Mystery Garden Block 7

This month was the release of Block 7 in the Mystery Garden Quilt.  Another pretty block

And all the blocks so far:

Only another 3 blocks to go!

Tessuti Oslo Coat

I bought some wool coating at the end of last winter when it was on sale intending to make my first winter coat.

The pattern I chose was Tessuti's Oslo coat


The pattern is described as:  This stylish and classic coat is fully lined, double breasted and features a shawl collar, full length raglan sleeves and side pockets. Oslo has a straight fit and sits on or just above the knee.



Here is my version.

I found the instructions easy enough to follow.  Although when I was making it I left off the back neck facing in error.  I had to unpick it all, only to realise I could still have attached it anyway. I then didn't follow the understitching instructions correctly and didn't turn it at the collar edge.  So instead of understitching underneath the collar, I have topstitching on top of the collar.  As the stitches sank into the thick fabric I decided not to unpick as I would probably damage the fabric.  I think I will be the only one to notice it's not as it should be, the topstitching will just have to be a design feature.
 I also didn't remember to attach the hanging loop between the back neck facing and back collar so had to add it later.

 I decided to leave off the extra button that the pattern calls for to give the double breasted look.  I liked it with just the one button.

I had problems making the buttonhole.  The fabric was a nubby finish and the buttonhole foot did not want to travel over it.  After I'd finally done it I thought I should have put some washaway stabiliser over the top, or done it as a bound buttonhole.

For a total of $61 I'm very happy with it.  I couldn't buy a lined woollen winter coat for that price.

I also bought plenty of the lining fabric so I can make a shirt and a dress to match.