New clothes for Joel

 I love making hoodies for my grandson 

This is the pattern I use 

A lightweight top for spring

A beautiful winter print for Christmas 

A birthday vest

 Kathy and I often travel to craft shows

 We saw this amazing fabric on Dots n Stripes stand in Manchester and Kath asked if I could make her a waistcoat 

This is the result

A summer dressfor Jess

 My daughter travels to warmer climes whenever she gets the chance. Sadly she can't at the moment but that doesn't mean she can't dream

I made her this dress in cool cotton for her next trip

It's quite straightforward and has top stitching as a feature on the bodice

gathering on the pockets adds a little feature 

Lockdown crafting

 I've been pottering around during lockdown making a variety of things. Here are a few images of my makes over the last few months

A simple but warm cardigan for my grandson when he visits 

A hat, scarf and gloves as requested by my grandson. He even drew me a picture of the colour sequence 

A waistcoat in aran weight which has been nabbed by my purple loving daughter#2!

A scarf/mini shawl for my best friend. I random dyed the yarn in denim blues requested and incorporated a seed bead on each point. This is a version of the hitchhiker's shawl

 

Something floaty for Jess

My daughter is off on her travels to somewhere warm so I thought I would make her a little something to pop over a bikini

The pattern is New Look K6575 and I chose a sheer fabric which has butterflies all over bought from my local fabric store Calico Laine

I wouldn't normally use something that frays so badly but my new overlocker makes simple work of edges and has revolutionised my choice of fabrics

The front has double facings that form the collar and a deep V opening down to a draw string waist. I decided to go with a satin ribbon drawstring and popped two hand made beads on each end.

I altered the pattern which has an integral casing for the drawstring  but with such a sheer fabric I decided to use a wide ribbon  inside to thread through. This makes the casing much stronger and smoother to draw the ribbon through

It works very well and is easy to make look very professional.

Working with stretch fabric

I am really enjoying my new sewing machines - the overlocker has taken quite a bit of getting used to but I think I have it now.

I bought some medium weight stretch jersey for a hoodie for Joel and wanted to use ribbing with it. This is the same pattern as the fox hoodie but then I didn't try ribs I just did straight hems.

this is the super material - sort of paint spots

this is the pattern which is quite simple but has lots of ways to alter and adapt it

using ribbibg for the sleeves and hems

the technique for ribbing is quite tricky but I researched the web and also used a good book from Tilly and the Buttons

 here is the finished hoodie

next step is to make a pair of matching joggers

They're done!

In February I wrote about my decision to unpick and frog my hubby's large cable jacket to make a much smaller one for his new sleeker self. Plus our grandson's mini me version which was too small for him.

So here is hubby's new version - down from a 46inch chest to a 40inch.

I used the left over wool to make a new veriosn for Joel.

His is slightly different to last time because he is now 4 and the original pattern was for for 2-3yrs.
The yarn is Stylecraft Life which is an acrylic/wool mix and washes well.

Hopefully these will last a little longer than last time