Denim addict

I don't know about you, but I find it hard to go past a great roll of denim in a fabric store. You know the one: a good deep blue, dark but not too dark, good drape but still with enough body and perhaps a little stretch.

When I found this recently I immediately thought of this pattern (below) which I am, umm, quite familiar with now. Number 3 is made and being worn regularly, I'm hoping to get a good pic some time soon so I can blog it. Unlike number 2 which I think is a no-go unfortunately :-( I'm thinking a nice denim version with a little ease added (smaller seams maybe?) could work layered with a cardigan and leggings for autumn or a merino wool top, tights and boots for winter. And wouldn't the denim look great with a bright contrasting piping around the neckline, armholes and that great back feature!

But it would also be a great fabric for this one, Grainline studio's Moss skirt. I'm picturing this as a good little workhorse basic with leggings and flats for autumn or tights and boots for winter:

And maybe even this, Victory's Chloe dress (though it may be a little stiff for this pattern):

But also this one, the Sewaholic Thurlow trouser pattern, which I have been coveting since it came out and am surely going to cave in and buy soon (weak-willed, I know!). Especially after seeing this fabulous pair.

Ah denim, you look great in so many guises... So what do you think, which one should I try? Maybe I should just start with one and attempt to make myself a whole denim wardrobe, hee hee!

Posted with Blogsy

Pleated girl's skirt

Hi! Long time no post... the school holidays have kind of thrown me off routine lately, as they always seem to. And a heap of other little things have been getting in the way (that I won't bore you with) but also a not-so-boring fabric-based exciting crafty project has been sucking my time up. I'll share it with you as soon as I have some decent pics... but for now I thought I'd show you a skirt I made for my big girl a while back...


I had pinned this cute tutorial from Madame Zsa Zsa a while back, and finally decided to try it. The instructions are not in english but there's a cute little hand drawn diagram and pics, so that was enough to get by on.

Basically it's just a rectangle of fabric, measuring about 3 times the circumference of the child's waist, plus a few centimetres added on for the side zip. The length is up to you. To make it up you insert the zip, pleat the waist, finish the waist with a length of bias binding (long enough to hang over and tie into a bow). Then finish the hem however you like. I folded it under twice and hand stitched it, but you could machine stitch or use more bias binding.

I love the cute, simple styling and the lovely detail that the binding gives, and in my opinion it's a perfect little skirt for an active girl. Mine went scootering in hers after our photo shoot (not such a successful shoot though - oh well!). It could also be dressed up for a more formal look, using different fabrics and bindings.

I'm very keen to make more of these skirts. They'd be great for using up spare bits of stash fabric (a colour block panelled version might be nice). And seeing as it's KCWC time again soon - woo hoo! - I'm positive there will be more. Are you participating in KCWC this time? The timing is good for me so I'm planning to. Fingers crossed for no sick children or disasters of any kind that week!

Duck skirt

 On a trip to Spotlight a while ago my little girl stopped at a roll of corduroy printed with very bright ducks and begged me to make her a skirt with it. Even though it's not a print I'd normally buy, I figured she's a good sport when it comes to being dragged around a fabric shop (the curse of being the child of a sewing obsessed mother ;-), so I bought half a metre. But then it sat in my stash for a while as I couldn't quite get my head around just how I was going to approach those neon ducks!

Then it hit me that I probably just need to break up the print. She's still at that age where elastic waists are pretty useful, so I thought I'd make a flat fronted, elastic backed design. Using an existing skirt that fits, I cut a basic A-line shape for the front panel, a wide rectangle for the back. Then I used a bit of scrap dark denim to cut out some large contrasting pockets and finished them off by topstitching them with a thick yellow thread to match some of the ducks on the print.


It turned out OK, I'm still not sold on the print but she likes it, and it keeps her warm in this cold weather (worn here with her jeans, being a ballet dancer ;-), so that's all that matters really I guess.

Do you ever use fabric you're not that keen on? Or do you refuse to?

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Just as an aside, I recently discovered the folk band The Unthanks (been around for years, but I've obviously been living under a rock!). And now I'm addicted to "The Testimony of Patience Kershaw", a beautiful song about a young girl working in the mines of northern England in the mid 1800's. A little reminder for me to be thankful for what I have and the times I live in, methinks.