Ah, the joys of having wee ones interested in making something out of fabric. Mind, it only lasts ten minutes at a time, and I do most of the sewing, but it is nice to have them at the table making something. This time they wanted to make pillows: draw, stitch and fill. All done!
The lack of blogs over the last few weeks is mainly because of this coat! It has taken me quite some time to get it sewn together. The Oliver + S instructions are however such that you would need to pay no attention at all to get things wrong! The number of nights spent sewing until halve twelve caused a serious lack of sleep and a serious backlog in blogs! But it was so worth it. Hendrikje was pleased as punch with her coat and keeps telling everybody I made her the coat. I feel so proud that I made this coat all by myself and so satisfied that I am able to do this. I think I have found a serious new hobby….
When I had ordered the pattern, I needed a nice fabric to make a summer coat, rather than a winter or a rain coat. Rumour had it there was a good fabric shop in Carrickfergus that would be well worth the hour’s drive from Armagh. And my, how it did!
A huge shop with lots of corners and side rooms full of everything a seamstress could want. I spent nearly an hour and a half just looking and touching, not yet really finding the red canvassy/linen fabric I had in mind. Just as I was about to give up in entered a slightly dark section with big rolls of fabric (and considerably cheaper fabrics) where this fire truck red corduroy jumped out at me. Yes!
As the lining I had two fabric in my stash: Ikea fabric from a few years back, which used to be curtains and Amy Butler’s Garden Maze in pink. Hendrikje was quite definite: Ikea! Although the background fabric is white and susceptible to the dirt that Hendrikje seems to attract like no other, it was my choice as well. I am quite pleased with the match in colours.
The photographs were taken by Paul in true photo shoot fashion: ‘turn around, oh yeah baby!’ That’s why Hendrikje is baring her teeth in this way, she loved it!
After having decided to make my own clothes, the access to fitting patterns (if you pardon the pun) was essential. Of course there are plenty of patterns available in my size, but boy, are they boring!! Luckily I remembered the Finnish pattern magazine Ottobre from long ago. Initially they only published childrens’ clothing, but since a few years they publish a woman’s magazine twice a year. Their style of clothing is very much my style and the sizes go up to 52, so I was a happy bunny to find their magazines to be for sale online. After flicking through all the copies, I settled on four copies. These should provide me with over 20 patterns that do not need size alterations!
First on the list are the tunics in jersey fabric.
Then a coat which should be made with boiled wool, but I envision it in apple green cord with a shocking pink or orange lining!
And so forth, and so forth!!!
After getting these magazines, I realised that Hendrikje really needed a new summer coat. Strolling the city shops I found nothing suitable (Hendrikje agreed). Why then, why not make her a coat? I had been eyeing Oliver + S patterns for a while, and now that there seemed to be a real need (what more excuses do you need?), I went online to buy the school days coat. Just my luck, it was on offer at Oliver + S, but only if you bought another pattern as well. Oh dear, such a difficult decision, hahaha. The jump rope dress is sooo pretty, I couldn’t resist.
Within a couple of days I thus received enough patterns to last me years!!
[Apologies for the dire quality of the photographs, evening photography is not my strong point (if I have any!]
After some serious conversation with Kathrijn, who asked me: ‘Why do you always never finish my quilt?’, I kicked myself and got going again. First of all the back of the quilt had to be made. Easy peasy, if I would have stuck to the original plan of using just one block colour of Kona Cotton Kiwi. But of course, I happened to find bundles of pieces stacked coins that I didn’t use for the top of the quilt and it would be a waste not to use them. Unfortunately the blocks didn’t match up, so I had to dig into my fabric stack to find the right colours, cut extra coins, sew them at the right place (which is quite difficult, when you’re watching Who do you think you are? at the same time) and measure until the column was long enough. After some seam ripping I ended up with a correct stack of coins which would fit 1,5 column.
There was going to be little debate on what shapes I should use for the quilting: hearts it should be, and hearts only. After contemplating some different heart shapes: modern and symmetrical, hand drawn, I settled on the heart pattern on one of the “Sent with Love” fabrics.
Marking both a print out of the fabric and the quilt, I managed to get the pattern more or less satisfactory unto the quilt.
After that, the dreading quilting began… Thank goodness it wasn’t half as bad as Hendrikje’s flowers! Actually, it went quite smoothly. I didn’t have to stick to the lines rigorously and could skip lines, without comprising the overall feel. So far, so good!
A couple of weeks ago I received my long yearned for order of the Sew Liberated Schoolhouse Tunic pattern and a long long stretch of Anna Maria Horner’s Fortune Sea fabric. While I finally had it, I didn’t dare cut it, in case the tunic would prove too small, wrong fit etc etc etc. The only way around that would be to make a test tunic. Unfortunately my fabric pile did not have enough fabric to make up the 2.7 metres I would need for the tunic. Maybe patching things up would work, but I figured: what if the tunic is perfect, but I can’t wear it because it is made out of seven different colours? I might as well go for a proper, but cheap fabric.
Up and away to the fabric shop to get pattern paper and fabric. Ha, paper yes, fabric, no. Only synthetic fabrics and not what one would call cheap. But not to worry: I still neede plenty of time to trace the pattern AND add one size to the largest on the pattern… Although all my tops are a size 20 when shop bought, the schema of the pattern said I would not fit into their size 20. With a lot of patience and double calculations I increased the largest size to a 22…
A solution for the fabric came from an (for me) unexpected corner: Hendrikje and I went to the Barnardos to leave down some clothes all children grew out of. And what did my eye spy? A second hand, o sorry, *cough*, a vintage *grin* duvet cover! Lovely smooth and fine fabric in creme with orange motive on one side, and a woven orange, brown and green striped fabric on the other. £2.99! I didn’t have to think for too long, and that same evening I was cutting the pieces for my first schoolhouse tunic.
Before long I was pinning and sewing away, feeling so happy that most of the pieces actually fitted! Only one piece had a little excess fabric, which was swiftly cut away. Yesterday night I finished it and I was really pleased. The shape seems to suit me, although the split at the front gapes a little more than on any photographs I have seen so far, as I am just a tiny weeny bit more endowed than others. Perhaps with the ‘proper’ tunic, I will close the split a few inches at the bottom.
There is a recent trend in our house: whenever I get my sewing machine out during the day, the girls ask if they also can make something out of fabric. Last week Hendrikje really really wanted to make a heart like the one we made for our friends. As I hadn’t planned any major sewing detours that afternoon, I gave her granny’s box of squares and let her pick her fabric and cut out her own heart (you can imaging I had to rewrite this sentence a few times, to prevent social services coming to investigate!). I did do the sewing on the machine bar 1 inch, but she turned the heart herself and stuffed it with Ikea pillow filling. Not long after Kathrijn came in, saying she wanted one as well. Same procedure as last time.
When they were hugging their hearts, I asked them to pose with them. Would they stand still? No. Too interested in their late afternoon movie… So here you go: several blurry pictures of the girls with their handmade hearts!
Last week was ‘last time’ week. Last school day, last french lesson from Madame Bernard, and probably the last time of having lunch in Armagh with our friends Petya and Stanko and their girls Yoana, Zornica and Anna. About four years ago I met Petya at one of the local toddler groups. She moved to Armagh around the same time as we did, in the same group of people as her husband Stanko (whom she didn’t know at the time, ah, romance). Their eldest two girls have been the best of friends with our girls ever since they started playing together at the toddler group. Great was the excitement when they found out they were going to go to the same school and class! We have grown very fond of the whole family, and we were happy, as well as sad to hear that Stanko gained a place at a hospital in Edinburgh for his doctor training. Sometime during the summer they will be leaving for at least six years…
As we got a sneaking suspicion they didn’t want to have big farewells, we invited them home for a lunch last Sunday before the girls would leave for their summer with their grandparents in Bulgaria. We had a lovely time, a bit quiet every now and then. I was able to contain my emotions really well until Petya called the girls to leave. Yoana came downstairs in tears saying that she would never see Hendrikje and Kathrijn again… I fled into the kitchen: one child upset was bad enough and I didn’t want to set anyone else off. Unfortunately I still had to hand over a gift I had made them: a family heart, or rather, a friends’ heart that I made (again from Amanda Soule) with a little pocket containing an A4 sheet with drawings and messages from everyone to wish them well. Well, eventually, all adults and Yoana were crying and the others were looking sheepishly….
I so hope their new life in Edinburgh and the new little life they are expecting in August will make them happy and content. Of course we will now have a prefect excuse to finally travel to Edinburgh together, but it would have been nicer not to have one.
Gosh, how ridiculously emotional can one get from a child’s last day at school?! A very lovely and genuine comment in Hendrikje’s report set me of into a weepy mood. Luckily the girls were as casual as always and even needed reminding to say a proper goodbye for two months. The French teacher who was leaving for another job in Belfast, was fine when I said goodbye, but the second time I walked past was red-faced and teary eyed… Gulp. Madame Bernard, you’ll be missed!
I have never been one to encourage the children to buy presents for their teacher at the end of the year: a drawing or some art work especially for the occasion is just fine. This year however I couldn’t let the excuse pass me by: two teachers, two classroom assistants and the French teacher: HA, lots of sewing! In order not to make things too difficult for myself, I chose to make each a ‘mama bag’ form a pattern by Amanda Soule. The pattern is slightly adjusted, as I use a fat quarter for each, which is a wee bit smaller than the pattern requires. The lining and straps are made from creme coloured curtain lining.
As usual, I started far too late, thinking one bag takes around an hour to make… Ah, not. With all the cutting, sewing, pressing, it takes around two hours to get one finished. So, when the girls were at school having their last hours, I was frantically sewing the last bags…
The recipients were happy and impressed with them, which in turn made me happy and proud! If only I would sit down and make one for myself!!!
Yippie: my final Kona Solid fabrics for Kathrijn’s part of the Eliasberg bairn triptych quilt have arrived! Only two weeks after ordering, which is a record from Hancock’s of Paducah. I was so happy when I opened the package, as the two colours that I ordered were just right: bright green for the back and ocean blue for the sashing and borders. I couldn’t wait to get everone in bed and the house tidy, so I could begin with putting the quilt together. Ah, the poor dears.
When I finally got round to it, I realised that the measurements in the Last Minute Patchwork and Quilt Gifts Book are in inches and I am an imperial girl. It took several ‘measure twice, cut once’ moments (i.e. measure four times, cut once), but then I finally had cut the border and sashes for the front (I hoped). Although it was really time to go to bed at that stage, I couldn’t resist pinning at least one, or two, or three stacked coin columns, until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. The next day some time is spent watching football (WHAT?!) and pinning the other columns. After sewing column to column, bigger pieces to bigger pieces, I was able to cut away the extra centimeters of fabric before sewing the columns to the borders.
Pressing the fabric nearly ended in disaster, as the only suitable surface for pressing without folding the fabric was the floor. ‘Our’ (i.e. the landlord’s) carpet is definitely not 100% natural: after pressing a corner of the quilt, some of it stuck to the carpet and left sticky residue in one of the corners… Some of it come of straight away, some with my nail and some is still on. I hope it will come of after the first wash.
Below the top basking in the sunshine of 20th June 2010, held down from the wind by the future owner.
After I came across Amanda Soule’s blog SouleMama, I spent a few days reading the archives from early morning to late evening, not really knowing where to start with making ’stuff’. But, when the end of September came round and Hendrikje’s 6th was waiting around the corner, I knew I HAD to make her a birthday crown. A felt crown, especially for the birthday girl or boy, only to wear on that special day. Hendrikje got a pink and orange one with flower buttons, Tjabering got his in December: blue and green, and Kathrijn got hers last week. After I couldn’t find hers…
I was under the impression I had already made three, one for each. But, on the birthday eve I couldn’t find Kathrijn’s, and strangely enough, I couldn’t remember what it looked like! So, after a birthday without a crown, but before the princess party kicked of, a trip to the craft shop resulted in shocking (or should I say neon) pink felt for the front of the crown and a roll of elastic band. Elastic is sooo much cheaper when you buy a roll, rather than little bits of what you need! Probably 5 times cheaper, if not more!!
I still had some nice felt in my felt box for the decorations and the crown was sewn together while I was watching the Marriage of Figaro on iPlayer. (I love iPlayer!!! You can find whatever you fancy, even from channels you can’t get, or necessarily want at home. We only have BBC 1 and 2, ITV and Channel 4, which is plentyplentyplenty.) Unfortunately I had forgotten to get some fancy buttons, so I had to make do with some plain Jane ones. Kathrijn even remembered: ‘I want some flower ones as well’! Oops, another trip to the craft shop!
Kathrijn’s crown.
Tjabering’s crown (also in need for some fancy, butch buttons!).
Hendrikje’s crown.
