Crafty Mermaid

My finished Itch to Stitch Belize skort in blue linen from Fabric a brac  ( Desiree  was the seller) and pockets lined in cotton lawn. I am so impressed I soldiered on and finally finished these!  If you haven't read my epic journey to this point (save yourself!), it involved one skort muslin  (4 sizes too large), one short muslin (2 sizes too large), one short muslin (sized correctly for me rather than from measurements but too large in the seat), and one finished shorts (hurray). Of course, now that these are finished I'm not sure if they quite suit me.  I've worn them once - out for a walk up a hill side on a very hot sunny day - and they were comfortable but in my head, they're really suited as cycle wear and I haven't been doing a lot of that.  (except for renting an ebike with my brother over Christmas and going for a spin!) In terms of the pattern.  The sizing really didn't work for me.  I followed the measurements o...

My sister in law is rather taken with Harry Potter and on the long nights in the early days with LP, I found quite a few impressive online fabric shops.  Snowy Owl Fabrics*  have a number of different colourways in Harry Potter themed fabrics.  I bought a baby and adult panel - the front of both tees, grey painted coordinating fabric - the tops of both tees, owl and text fabric - the sleeves, back and neck of the baby tee, and the castles fabric (text and outlines of Hogwarths underneath) - the back of the adult tee.  I had to guess the size of the adult tee - I really hope it fits! The baby panel was a little too small for the 18 month version of the tee so I had to add a little white to the sides. Pattern: Baby -  Easy Neck Tee Sewnz  and Adult - hacked  Papercut Ensis Tee Fabric:  Snowy Owl Custom Fabrics*

I've been very taken with the Itch to Stitch Belize Skort .  I quite fancy the idea of a skirt with a pair of built in short.  Possibly stemming from my days of cycling to school with my bottle green pinafore school uniform and trying to keep the cycle somewhat PG 13.   So version 1 was a muslin using wine fabric from stash (purchased way back in the early days of my sewing to upholester a couch but I moved first!  Its not upholestry fabric).  I made a rough version using my largest measurement (waist) which worked out as size 20.   The pattern is beautifully drafted and has some really lovely features - like the mitred corners on the inside of the skirt front. Not very well mitred above ast was my test case and I couldn't really figure how all the pieces went together.  But so impressed with the different pattern pieces and how neatly finished the garment is. The Belize shorts part of the skort is only really vi...

I tested a child's short pattern for Little Kiwi Closet - the Jogger Shorts .  The finished pattern looks lovely but I really haven't had a great time with the sizing for LP or her friends. Photographing them was a mission in of itself! LP would not stay still! I made the simplest version up first and used encased elastic in the waistband.  The fabric was from Fabric a brac  and is a green french terry without a lot of stretch. The finished version was a little too plain for my liking so I added some applique by hand to the finished product.  These were 6-9 months (I think but could have been 9-12 I just can't remember when I finished them) and quite tight on LP at the time (despite her being in the size range). Pair two have fake pockets and in the same fabric.  I used flannel cut on the bias for the pockets.  The faux fly was lenghtened in the final version and would probably look a little more polished than these. ...

Is there a more kiwi dessert than pavlova?  I made my first in November and had beginners success. Beautifully glossy peaks. A work out for my kitchenaid. And a crunchy creation. Unfortunately, BM was sick and we couldn't visit the friends I had made it for. Round two was a disaster and then so was round 3.  I gave up and brought cookies (oophs).