The night before we left for Queensland I was feeling organised and sat down to a spot of sewing. On the sewing machine was a adorable little top for Lil made from some of my Liberty of London fabric.
The latest Ottobre magazine had just arrived in the mail, and whilst it was a Winter issue, I was drawn the sweetest little camisole top pattern in it. The pattern is from Ottobre 6/2012 – #22. “Lumikello”. I think the camisole is supposed to be worn underneath another top or lengthened to make a nightie but I really like the style and knew that it would be perfect for warmer weather, especially when made in some lightweight Liberty.
I love the fine detail of the front yoke with tiny pintucks. I was supposed to sew buttons down the middle, but didn’t get around to it. I think it looks fine without but might add some one day.
Instead of a lace trim around the yoke and hem, I used a tiny pompom trim that I had in my stash, another cute detail.
After I had finished the top, I decided to include a little sleeve to cover her shoulders, so cut a semi-circle from fabric and hemmed the edges with more pompom trim. Isn’t it adorable? It was a quick sew, although I didn’t understand the instructions to sew in the yoke so I made it up and it worked fine.
Guess what? Tommy grew! Up, at least. He never seems to put on weight as he gets taller and looks skinnier by the day. Growing means that I had to take some of his long-sleeved tops out of the cupboard and replace them with some new ones. Fun!
Here are the three latest additions:
All from Ottobre. Two I have made before and liked so much that I made in the next size up. The first is from Ottobre Spring 1/2011. #25. “Eleven & One”striped hoody. The boys in the house love hoodies, so this one is received well and will probably be made in every size for the next few years! I added long-sleeves under the short ones to this one again (the pattern is for a short-sleeved hoody).
This one was another favourite last time. I really like the slim-fit of this top. It is from Ottobre 4/2008. #25 “Pekka T-Shirt”. This one will also be made alot – I like the ribbing binding on the neckline and short-sleeves, especially when I can use a funky striped ribbing for extra contrast.
Lastly, this one was a new top that I hadn’t made before. It’s fine, but definitley not my favourite. It’s a little sloppy looking to me. Which may be partly because of Tommy’s skinny frame. Would probably look better on a fuller kid! It’s definitley still wearable and will fit him for awhile. This one is from Ottobre 1/2009. #22 “Harava” sweatshirt. The original pattern was for a double-sleeved top, but I decided to leave out the short-sleeves on this one.
So there you have it! Time to get stuck into some Summer sewing I think…better go and reasses the wardrobes and see what the kiddos are in need of!
SUPPLIES: Lots of Hilco and Stella knits from Crafty Mamas.
A little more sewing that I did for Lil before going to Queensland. Some new tops from the Ottobre mag.
This one is from Summer 3/2012. #17 Seesaw. a cute little tee with layered, flutter sleeves. I finished the sleeve and bottom hems with a rolled edge on my overlocker. The tshirt seemed quite short when I was finished with it, so using a rolled hem meant that I didn’t have to loose any more length. This one is made from a really light fabric I bought from Girl Charlee. The fabrics are cheap, and definitley feel it after using mostly European and Stella knits. Okay for something lightweight for Summer though.
And this long-sleeved top is from Autumn 4/2011. #15 Dreamland. I love the shape and fit of this one. The contrasting ribbing makes me smile and the love-heart applique was a happy afterthought. These fabrics are all from Crafty Mamas – yellow solid is Gitte, pink solids are Stella and ribbing is Hilco Ringel.
You know what? I’m happy to say that it has been a long time since I bought the kids new tops! I didn’t know that I would actually get to this stage in my sewing hobby, but I love not having to go shopping for them and being restricted to dress them in what the fashion industry views as “in fashion” for kids! I will still buy them pants and can’t make as much for Oscar now that I could when he was little, but as much as I can, I am managing to fill their cupboards with clothing made by me and it is a really good feeling.
Once you get the hang of it, tops are really quick and easy. To make things even faster, I’ll usually get a production-line going. First, I’ll work out who needs what (I’m also trying really hard to only sew what they need – to make the most of my sewing time and also to make sure that they are actually going to get good wear out of it!) Next, I’ll select patterns. I do use my Basic Tees pattern a lot but like to spice things up a bit with some different styles from Ottobre magazines…I don’t want to be known as the family that always wears the same tops! Then the production line takes place. Usually I will sew 3-6 items at once. I’ll do all of the cutting out first, then put it away for a few days. Come back to it and sew each top individually. Usually I’ll only get one top sewn per sitting and once everything is cut out and ready I only spend about 30-45 minutes of actual sewing time. It just seems to happen faster this way, if I’m all organised and means that if I only get small pockets of sewing time in, I can be productive straight away instead of fussing about getting myself set up each time.
Anyway, it’s not rocket-science and it works for me! I only really like to sew if it is something that is needed and going to be worth my time and seeing the kids wear their tops every day is definitley worth my while!
Tommy’s new shirts for winter have been winners so far! This one is so cool – it comes from Ottobre 4/2008. #25 “Pekka T-Shirt”.
I love all the tones of blue with a little hint of green. The top is long sleeved with a short sleeve overlay. I must be a big fan of this look because I’m always drawn to tops like this!
This cute little man turns three on Friday – THREE?! In some ways he is starting to seem really grown up, but mostly he still feels like the baby. We have a 22 month age gap between all of our kids and I realised yesterday that if we had done that again after Tommy we would have a 14 month old baby now! Isn’t it funny how at the time it feels okay but looking at it from a different perspective it seems totally crazy! You definitley don’t know how much you can handle until you have no other option!
From the latest Ottobre magazine, Summer 3/2012…#14 the “Hoops tshirt” for Lil.
Nice fitting t-shirt but the neckline is a bit too wide and gapey for my liking. The pattern said not to add seam allowance around the neckline, so if I made it again, I would add the seam allowance.
I love using this funky Hilco Ringel ribbing around neckline/armholes and have done it quite a bit on my latest projects. It is an awesome quality ribbing (kicks the pants off the dodgy, lame-stretch ones I’ve bought from Spotlight) and because you are only using a narrow strip, it’s worth buying the good stuff. Plus, the colours are funky and add a fun pop of colour to an otherwise plain shirt.
The little owl is a Beutron iron-on patch motif I bought recently from a local craft store. I made the tshirt with no idea what I would put on the front of it, if anything. Then sifted through my box of goodies and remembered about it! It suits the colours really well and was faster and easier than embellishing in any other way!
Since making this shirt (and cutting out another tshirt), I’ve cleaned out Lil’s wardrobe and realised that she has an abundance of tshirts – I think she could probably keep 3 or 4 little girls clothed!! But is lacking in the long-sleeved top department, so I’m onto those next! I’m worried about not having any need to sew for her after this year when she goes to school full-time and won’t go through so many clothes 🙁
