Face mask using the John Hopkins folded pattern

I really hope these stay unnecessary in New Zealand. I made four soon after we got back as something relatively easy to sew in lockdown.  Two for me and two for BM.  I used up an old tee as the lining.  Its four layers - two knit (the tee) and two woven (front and back).  

I added a cotton tape to the back to add a removal wire.  Its a pocket - one side open so I can change the wire. (which is a pipe cleaner actually)  The wire makes it much less likely that my glasses will fog up.  But my glasses keep slipping down my nose.

The ties are good as it means you can tie them at the back of your head rather than around your ears.  

I've made another one since then that looks better on and feels more comfortable!

pattern;  https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/coronavirus/_documents/INF2003076_VW_Hand-Sewn%20Mask%20instructions-1.pdf

fabric: from stash and lost to the mists of time

Holiday Night Pajamas

These are adorable and such a fun make to sew too.  These are the Holiday Night Pajamas from Sew a Little Seam.  I made a standard size 4 and they're a little too long for my little one - but the cuffs mean I can turn them up so there's room to grow.  

The pattern has very detailed photo instructions - I didn't bother to follow them too closely except for how the facing and the neckbinding fit together.

I have some iron in name tags (that I also sew in) that add a lovely personal touch!

All the fabric and notions (buttons and interfacing) were from stash.  I used two types of cotton flannel - the cats I purchased in Joanns in the US in 2018 and the foxes in Spotlight in 2017.  Its nice to be making a dent in the stash :)  I'd forgotten that I'd bought the cats when fabric shopping with my little person.  It feels so long ago and so strange now that I'd choose to bring the three of us around fabric shopping.  I hope that sense of ease returns soon.

Little person loves them (but won't stay still for photos these days!)

Rather pleased with my pattern placement here.

Pattern: Holiday Night Pajamas from sew a little seam

Size: 4

Changes: None!

Fabric: Spotlight (foxes) and cats (Joanns) both cotton flannel

Notions: labels from Ali Express, interfacing from Made Marion and buttons from stash

Notes: Though I *hate* taping together pdfs but the final product was worth it.  Just a pity that it isn't provided as a A0 file as well.  I'm a lot happier paying for printing if its less of the boring stuff.

recycling Tees

A quick post to show off the baby tee (12-18 months) of the SewNZ Raglan Sleeves Tee.  All from a conference tee that the new Dad attended.

Thank God for Crochet

We left Ireland in quite a rush mid Covid-19.  One of the many many decisions I had to make the week we packed up months early and made a mad dash back to New Zealand was to rationalise our luggage to meet the requirements of three different airlines as flights were cancelled and we had to repack and update when or if we would be leaving.  So so glad to be back home in our house.  Not sure when we'd be able to get back if we'd stayed and options for our sabbatical in Ireland were so limited - all the events we'd organised for work were cancelled and we were unable to visit/stay with friends.  Our house in Dublin was lovely *if you could leave it* and was very tight quarters with two adults trying to work from home and a toddler.  It didn't help that the head of our organisation's first response was to suggest redundancies.  In the mist of all this, I ended up deciding to leave the crochet project and my hooks as well as my nascent knitting project in Ireland with family.  The upshot was that we were in isolation in New Zealand for a few days and then entered lockdown with everyone else but I was without my hooks!  I really find crochet relaxing and definitely rely on it as a meditation.  Thankfully after pulling apart my sewing/guest room, I managed to find a few random sized hooks.  It was such a relief to have something relaxing to do with my hands.

I found some yarn (cotton) in stash and followed a pattern from one of the crochet books I love to own but rarely use!  I adapted the Faux overlapping circles pattern from the finer edge.  Wasn't very happy with the result so frogged the project and redid as a simple circle.

And another dishcloth done...

I raided my stash to see what yarn I actually had and was pleasantly surprized to find I had a lot left over after making some blankets for my niece and nephew when they were born.  I moved on to the next project fairly quickly so I don't think I realised quite how much I'd overbought.  

I don't think I've ever been as pleased by my hoarding tendencies - yarn and unexpected hooks!  The relief. The yarn is Debbie Bliss - Baby Cashmerino. I don't have the colours for all the balls.  

Started work on the growing ivy crochet blanket pattern by Yarninspirations using a 5mm hook.

I've had fun admiring my yarn stash in my project basket. 

Not quite sure the colour combo is one I would have put together ideally but is a beautiful yarn and the pattern is shaping up well. 

Jacks PJs

New PJs for my little one.  Really pleased with how these turned out.  

From design to execution!  I ended up using a different top pattern than I planned but I only had it up to size 2.  I ended up using the T-Shirt, Raglan Sleeves pattern by Sewnz (in size 4 - it goes from 1-10 years) and a free bottoms - Movie Night Pajamas from Sew a Little Seam (available from 1-12 years).  I had fun designing these and the colour combination works really well and takes away from the prison like colour scheme!

The fabric is a stretch cotton and the red has a really nice recovery.

I love using my bodkin for pulling the eleastic through the casing - makes that job so much easier (purchased at Made Marion in Wellington).

Someone now needs to admire my stripe matching!

They're a comfy hit with my little person.

Pattern: Sew a Little Seam Movie Night Pajamas Bottom size 3T

& SewNZ T-Shirt Raglan Sleeves size 4

Fabric: jacks were purchased in the states via mail order from I *think* Fabric Mail and I can't recall when I got the red (but its great)

Notes: annoyingly the SewNZ pattern doesn't include the expected length of the neckline and gets you to measure it for each size - it really should be in an associated table.  I used a 31.5cm strip here for size 4.  The seam a little seam pattern was free via their facebook group.  Its a great bottoms and I'll happily make them again.  The only downside was that the pattern is only available as a A4/letter print PDF and I really am beginning to hate taping patterns together.  

McCall’s M6592 Toddler dungarees

This make seems so far away.  I finished it in December last year and in the interim went to Ireland and an Irish university for what I thought would be a 6 month sabbatical to network, catch up on research and spend as much time as possible with my family.  Instead things changed significantly and we're back home in New Zealand in lockdown.  Its ANZAC weekend and I finally finished some of my sewing projects since we got back (it forever to take out the coverstitch machine!).  I started uploading photos to dropbox today to write the blog posts and found these photos - I think my plan was to document the makes in Ireland and reignite this blog!



Anyways, this was a fun make with fabric from Vinnies ReSew fabric sale last year.  I think I have a bit of it left.  I used Kam snaps from Green Beans (and my Kam Snap press) to finish the sides and straps. Its rather a light fabric so summer use only - just as well as its difficult for my little person to get off by themselves which doesn't lend itself to self toileting!



Rather pleased with my pattern matching!  Deliberately offset the pocket for colour so it was more visible but I"m not sure it really worked!



What'd you think?





The pattern was MaCall's M6592 and I made size 3.

Would I make it again? Perhaps but I'll wait until toileting is easier and make sure to use buttons as the snaps can be quite hard to open for small fingers.

Friday Pattern Company Seabright Swimmers

Let me start by saying I wore the heck out of this swimsuit on my recent trip to Fiji.  And I LOVE it.  I love the long sleeves.  Its my second swimsuit make and I intended it as a wearable muslin and yes, there's quite a few things I'd like to fix in my next version (and there WILL be a next version possibly not for a while as I don't need one for a while - and I have two!).



I offered to test the pattern for the Friday Pattern Company as they've recently extended their size range and this new Seabright Swimmer pattern was offered in the extended range.  I was given a free copy of the test pattern and subsequently a copy of the final pattern.  My main incentive was my upcoming trip.  I've hacked the hell out of the Cashmerette Ipswich swimsuit to get it to work without the extra seaming so I was keen to try something that offered a one piece without excessive seaming.  The sleeves means quite a bit more sun coverage which I'm really keen on.  At some point I might get around to making a rash guard but as summer has come to a close here - that's likely to be quite some time off.



This was the tester version so the front lining was enclosed (my preference) but its changed in the released version as a few testers found it problematic.



I really liked the 'guts' finish of this.





Back neckline was a little tight - I need to check the pattern pieces before I make the next version.



I made this up on the Fabric Hoarders monthly sewing meetup which was so useful to convince me that the neckline wasn't too risque for me!  Thanks peeps!

I made up 1X graded to 2X at the waist.  I didn't do an FBA and I'm regretting it.  I would have liked to add the foam cups but the suggested placement wasn't going to work for me as the suit is designed for a B cup.   And the combination of not making many similar patterns nor doing the FBA meant I wanted to wait and see the outcome.  The front would definitely benefit from the FBA as the seamline below them is pulled quite high on me (I have a large bust and larger too at the moment as I'm still breastfeeding).  The back neckline was quite tight but I'm not sure what line I needed to cut as I printed all the sizes so it could have easily been user error here.  Its quite hard to get on and off due to the arms and I'll make the sleeves looser the next time.  Sounds strange as I've just listed the current fit issues but its a definite winner from me.

The instructions were clear and the print layout was excellent as they've really made good use of the pages.

My Cashmerette fits better in terms of pulling but I found myself reaching to check if this was dry each day and wearing it if it was.  The neckline is a little risque but as my sewing meet up suggested, the sleeves make it less exposed so its not in your face (though I could see how some people would easily rock that - I'm more comfortable in more coverage with the added bonus of sun protection).

I made it up using the rest of the pineapple swimwear fabric I bought from the fabric warehouse for my last swimsuit make and some additionally purchased black lining from Nellie Joans as well as swim elastic I earlier this year in their swimsuit competition.  I had to shorten the sleeves to 3/4 as I didn't have enough for full length but I like them that way so unintentional win!

Pattern: Friday Pattern Company Seabright Swimmers
Size: 1x to 2x at waist
Adjustments: shorter sleeves due to fabric availability (but that's a win) and size grading.
Future changes - FBA.  The Friday Pattern Company have a tutorial up online and I'll check that out next time.
Fabric: Pineapples from fabric warehouse and lining and swim elastic from  Nellie Joans
Verdict: Win!

*disclosure* no affiliate links in this post.  I was given a copy of the swim wear pattern to test and did not need to write a review nor post photos.  I've also been sent a copy of the final version but haven't opened it yet.