Muddy Waters

I love love love finishing projects! Don't you? It's a wonderful feeling when you bind off that last stitch. This scarf/shawlette was my 'on the go' project this month. Great for picking up whenever, crocheting a few stitches, getting interrupted by a toddler, and picking back up again without losing track of what you were doing! It's a lovely simple pattern called "Sweet Eleanor Scarf" by Quince Tart.  I like how it turned out and have called it muddy waters because the Yaguchi yarn I used has lovely blue and brown plies and they reminded me of a pond.. in a good way.

Anaiah loved twirling about and having me catch her up in this scarf. I did however have to hold her arm to get her to stop spinning long enough to snap a picture. She's such a silly sweet little girl and she is growing up way to fast.

Hope everyone who celebrated Diwali this week had a great time and enjoyed all the lights!

Labels.

I've been wanting some labels to sew into the clothing I make for some time now. My budget however still does not allow me to get custom labels made, hopefully someday! I bought some cute 'mother' ones while in the US late time and I have been saving them so only the pieces I love best get a label. It really does feel special to sew these in. Here are the ones I do have: However I have less than a dozen of these.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I saw that there was a chance to win some on the blog Crafterhours. It's a really fun blog!
Even if I do not win it was really fun to dream about my ideal label, having 'my own label' etc..


There will be 2 publics' choice winners and 2 judges' choice. The publics' choice is based on a vote on Facebook. There are some great labels in the bunch!
Check it out.





Hope you've all have a great day!
We enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood to see the "doggies". :)

KCWC - Day Seven

Well, on the 7th day I rested! At least from sewing. I have run out of sewing steam. Time to pick up some knitting needles again! I have a list of yarny projects I am hoping to finish in time for Christmas so I better get going on those!

Hope you've had a great weekend and a relaxed Sunday!

KCWC - Day Six

I finished the dress! Today as I was sewing it up I realized that I that I had made a big mistake when cutting out the pattern pieces. I completely forgot to cut the back in 2 pieces so that I would have extra allowance for the button placket.. OOPS.  I had to get a little creative to insert a button placket but hey it works! I wish I had better pictures of the cute green piping that I added because it really adds to the look of the dress. I'm happy it's done and it fits nicely! I'm slowly getting over my fear of sleeves!

Getting photos was tricky again. She really just wanted to run around. I think this is one of the best shots I managed to click. This dress should be great for colder weather because it's made of nice thick cotton. :)

Hope you are all having a great weekend!



KCWC - Day Five

It's been a long day and it's only about 9.50pm right now.  Anaiah seems to be coming down with something because she didn't wake up from her afternoon nap. She was feeling a little warm today too. No fever just a slight elevation. I'm also trying to get rid of a headache and some body aches. I hope we are not about to really get sick.

I did get a little sewing done today but I feel like it's been a comedy of errors with this latest dress. It's not like I have not made half a dozen or so similar dresses before so I'm going to blame the mistakes on my headache. Whoopsy.. Hopefully I can wing it and make it work! I was hoping to finish but I don't think I have the energy left today. Here is a sneak peek:

The super cute foxy print. I love the little squirrels too!

Have a happy Friday!

KCWC - Day Four

Do you ever wake up in the middle on the night with an idea for a sewing project? Or do you have trouble falling asleep sometimes because the ideas keep flowing and do not allow you to rest? I do. Some days I wish there were more quiet hours in the day and more energy to go with them so that I could sew up all the ideas in my head.  Oh, and less power cuts would help too!

After a lot more than the 1 daily hour that is suppose to be given to sewing during this Kid's Clothing Week Challenge, I made this:

 I LOVE it!  I'm calling it the Leafy Vine Top.

 I only had about half a yard of this corduroy. I had been intending to make a skirt or pair of pants from this fabric but then the ideas started coming as I tried to sleep last night. It took more than an hour to draft this pattern up so that I could make it with the limited fabric I had. I used nearly every last scrap! If I had had more fabric the sleeve bottoms would have been puffier! But I'm just happy I got full sleeves out of it in the first place! It took several re-drafts, some edits and VERY careful pattern tracing but I did it! :)  I used fabric from my stash for the facings. (Fabric my mom had sent me when Anaiah was born to match her Winnie the Pooh mobile. I was suppose to make a cover for the mobile stand. Glad I didn't get around to it.) I also used 4 buttons I had bought on a whim from the bottom of a jar of odd buttons in a little shop. Yes, 2 have a brown centers and 2 have green, but I say it works! I love buttons! Finding the perfect buttons from the oddballs in your button jar = being in button heaven! They also only cost me about 20 cents bringing the grand total cost for this top to about $2.50. Happy.

The Oreo is a bribe! It's the only way I was able to get these shots! 

Here are some modeled shots of the fall for flowers dress. The bunny helped me out this time!

Isn't she cute!

Happy Sewing!

KCWC - Day Three

Yay! Another finished dress. My model was getting her beauty sleep while I took these pictures so you'll have to wait for action shots.  I discovered that I do not actually enjoy making bias tape seams... it got a little fiddly and slowed me down in some places. This dress I am calling the "Fall for flowers dress". 

We are once again having massive power cuts.. I guess it's time to start drafting a few patterns for later then. I am praying that whatever is going on with the power supply to Delhi gets sorted out soon. It's no fun to sit in the dark! In case you are wondering how I am able to type this during a power cut - well, we do have an inverter that the computer is hooked up to for some reason. No TVs, no radio, no power in the kitchen but hey I can still surf the web! (provided the power cut does not last for hours and hours.)

May your power never go out and your sewing machine always run smoothly!

Happy Wednesday!

KCWC - Day Two

I was hoping to have lots of great things to show you today but it just didn't materialize. There were several long power cuts here which left me unable to use my sewing machine very much today. I did work on things for the requisite hour for the challenge, actually I think I spent about 2-3 hours between drawing up my idea, selecting the fabric, drafting the pattern pieces, and cutting them out. So hopefully I'll get it done tomorrow.

Here is a sneak peek of the fabric:

I also spent some time today at the mall. I had to go and return some imported Goldfish crackers I had bought because Anaiah was so excited about the 'fishies' when she saw them in the store. I get excited when she actually wants to eat something! It's been a struggle to get food into her for months. So after paying WAY too much for crackers and getting home she was begging for them. I opened the package only to be greeted by a weird smell, so I tasted one.. BIG MISTAKE. I never could have imagined how bad, bad crackers could taste! After checking the packaging over and over I still don't know why they were so bad. They are not suppose to "expire" till next year. I had even checked that prior to buying them in the store. Thankfully, 1. Anaiah didn't have to experience the 'joy' of these goldfish crackers because it might have made her food aversion worse. 2. The guys at the store, though they took FOREVER, refunded my money without giving me any problems. I did however dare one of them to try one. He declined to do so.

Going to the mall is something Anaiah really loves because they have a playground there. That may not seem so special to many of you but here in Delhi having a nice playground to go to is rare. There are not many safe and nice playground and this one even has a free ball pit. She really loves it. Even if we are on the other end of the mall she knows the way to the playground. The only trick is getting her to come out when it's time to go.

Hope you are enjoying your day like a kid at a playground!

Kids Clothing Week Challenge!

It started today! 

I am excited to put down my knitting needles and crochet hooks this week and pick up some fabric and some scissors! I went fabric shopping this last weekend and bought some fun corduroy prints that will hopefully become some fall/winter clothes for Anaiah.  I don't know how much will get done in one week but I love the idea of focusing at least an hour each day on making clothing for her. I also recently bought this book for myself, Metric Pattern Cutting For Children's Wear And Babywear by Winifred Aldrich.

  

It's far from the most exciting looking book about sewing but I really think it will help me while drafting pattens.  It contains lots of great measurement charts and pattern shapes. Some of it is really basic but I don't mind that. It's has already helped me to finish my first KCWC item!

Anaiah's Pumpkin Patch Overalls! AKA Dungarees to some..



They are not perfect but I'm still pretty happy with them. They fit her that way I hoped they would.. not too baggy but not too tight either. The little belt I made might need to have the button moved to fit her more snugly.

She loves the pockets! In order to get her to sit still I had to offer up a crocheted 'fishy' for her to play with. It was going to be part of a mobile for a baby but it's so dirty now that I think she can keep it. She loves amigurumi too! :) In case you wondered she was pointing at an airplane.

Hopefully there will be more to share this week! Have a happy Monday!

 

Johanna