First up was this sweatshirt made from Simplicity 2192.

When I ordered this pattern I was convinced that the top was a sweatshirt pattern and I was totally surprised to read the fabric recommendations stating that it was actually a shirt.  I put it away disappointed and then when I stumbled across this piece of PRR sweatshirt (it came to me dyed that colour) fabric I thought what the hell it was worth giving it a go.

The pattern has some nice details to it

The bottom band is sewn on and then flipped to the outside.  I somehow managed to match the prints rather than avoiding a match even though the front and back were cut on the fold and the bands weren’t, didn’t even think about it or realise it until I took the pictures!  The sides of the bottom bound are rounded, for some reason I didn’t take a picture of that.

I like the neckline and its wide facing a lot even though it’s pretty wide.  As this is a sweatshirt I’m not worried about how wide it is as I’ll always be wearing a t-shirt under it but had I made a blouse it definitely would have been an issue with bra straps showing.

The only thing I would change about this sweatshirt would be to make a size smaller next time around.  I made the largest size thinking I wanted it a bit baggy and going by the pattern measurements and it’s just that too much baggy, I’d prefer it a little more fitted but I can live with it.

The final make of the year was the only hand-made Christmas present this year and it went to my Mother who had requested it and chosen the fabric at the Knitting and Stitching Show with me.

This is Jalie 2005 which I have made for her at least 3 times now, maybe more.  This is the v-neck version but I didn’t do the sewing of the front into a point, leaving it as a u-neck instead.  I added an inch to the length and to the sleeves as whenever I see her wearing the last one I made I think that it could do with being a touch longer.  The fabric was a lovely cotton synthetic knit with a lot of drape and I was very careful with pattern placement when cutting it out!  This pattern is so easy and goes together so well I really should use it for myself more but I suffer from always wanting to try something new!  My Mum loves the t-shirt and wore it on Boxing Day, can’t ask for more than that!

So, onto my round-up.  I’ve not done badly this year with my knitting or my sewing.  My final finished project counts are knitting 30 (same as last year) and sewing 78 (only 53 last year)!  Here’s how that works out

Knitting

Socks – 12

Scarves -3

Jumpers -4

Cardigans – 7

Hats – 1

Blankets – 1

Dishcloths – 2

Sewing

Kids Pyjamas -11

Baby outfit – 1

Kid’s Shorts and Trousers – 6

Kid’s Tops – 10

Dressing Gown – 1

Wizard Costume – 1

Shirts -15

Dresses – 4

Trousers -1

Skirts – 2

Pyjama Bottoms – 2

Underwear – 4

T-shirts and other Tops -13

Purse – 1

Sandwich Wraps – 2

Bags – 3

Apron – 1

In terms of using up the stash I didn’t have such a bad year either, in fact I have had the best year to date with the amount of fabric I used and the total difference of fabric going in and fabric going out.  I think the totals are helped by the fact that the boys are bigger now so there aren’t as many things I’ve made for them that use less than a metre and the 5 metres used for the Wizard outfit didn’t hurt either!  I had quite a bit of fabric that went in and then came right back out again having been used, such as the flannel for the winter pyjamas.  So, I’m proud to say that this year I sewed 102.5 metres/yards, I bought 73.25 metres/yards which means that my sewing room is currently holding a staggering 29.25 metres/yards less than it was this time last year!

I would like to get the amount of fabric in my sewing room down a bit more if I can and to keep my buying low.  Had I not bought a huge amount from someone clearing out their stash for £1 a metre and 20 yards of flannel my totals would have been amazing!  I am planning a trip to Brighton in the New Year where I always buy quite a bit, but as we’re travelling by train I will have to consider the weight of it this year.

Beyond the using of the fabric stash my goals for next year are to use up more of my knitting stash.  Now that my right hand is working (even though I can’t use it fully I can already knit!) I will hopefully be able to knit faster again and not spend half my knitting time waiting for the feeling to return to my hands.   I’m not ashamed of either of my stashes, I’ve bought them over a number of years, I very rarely pay anything near full price and it’s incredibly rare for me to find something in my stash that I don’t like anymore.  Fabric, yarn and books are my main vices which isn’t all that bad (I even quit smoking this year again, finally!).  Saying that I am feeling a little weighed down by the fact that I have yarn ready to use for 41 projects, and that’s not including yarn for socks or shawls which I tend to match up with a pattern right before I use them.  I have reached a point where I don’t buy yarn unless I can match it up to a pattern as I was fed up with leftover odd balls or yarn I couldn’t make anything with.  In fact to counter that problem I gave away a huge bag of yarn to a youth group this year and it felt so good to clear it all out (the odd balls I kept are being made into another crochet blanket very very slowly!).  I would like to get my list down to under 30 (I want to aim lower than that but I know that I will add new things as the year progresses and make things that aren’t on the list!) and to not buy yarn unless it’s not going to be available again (like shawl or sock yarn) or it’s a really good deal (i.e. the Rowan Cotton Jeans that I have bought for 4 projects because it was 99p a ball!), I’m also not ruling out souvenir yarn!

Life goals for this year are the same as they usually are except with the added incentive that I turn 40 in November and would like to not have some of them on my resolutions list again!  I want to lose the excess weight and get into an exercise routine that I like and can maintain.  Of course I also want to carry on paying off debts and saving money, work hard on the PhD, waste less money on crap I don’t need, travel more, read more and enjoy life more.  I possibly will move house as well if I can get past the fact that I own every single thing in this house and would have to pack and unpack it!  Is that asking too much of myself, I guess we’ll see!

Here’s to another productive and happy next year for us all!

First up is 20301 which is for balloon trousers as so:

I didn’t actually test this pattern, Maria very kindly sent me a free copy of 30300 to try which looks like this (those are the English instructions to the left).

The patterns come on thick paper which you trace off the appropriate size and are in a good range of sizes (the 20301 I’m giving away is 6 months to 3 years but it is also available in 4-10 years) and include pattern pieces for variations (although no instructions but they’re pretty easy to figure out if you’ve got basic sewing skills).  These are the variations for the pattern I sewed.

For Piggle I went for the standard pattern in 4-year-old size.  Having measured the pattern against a pair of trousers that currently fit him I knew that they would be a bit long but as I was using a summer weight fabric that was fine.

Modelled shots are nearly impossible with 2 boys who don’t stand still, please excuse the flash and the pyjama top!  As you can see they did come out a bit too long but not so long that he couldn’t wear them now if he wanted to.

For Jim I decided to add some pockets and a false fly from the options and to not do the elastic at the bottom of the trousers.

Again, please excuse the flash picture and the pyjama top.  Like Piggle’s I used a summer weight fabric for these (PRR cord dyed grey with Dylon) and didn’t worry that they were too long.  I love the width of the trouser legs for these and will be using this pattern again nearer the summer for him.

Both the boys loved these trousers so I’m sure this will be a useful pattern and considering Piggle is in the smallest size I could very well use it for the next 7 years!  It was really easy to sew, we’re talking as easy as pyjama bottoms, but more stylish than most basic patterns I think.

Maria also sent me a copy of 10400 to try and another copy to give away.

The pattern is sized Newborn to 9 months.  Although I don’t have a baby to sew for I wanted to try this out so I could give you a review of it.  I have plenty of left over velour and terry from sewing for both my boys and making nappies but the nearest fabric to hand was the leftovers from the sweatshirt that I made Piggle recently.  I made the 3 month size as I will probably give this outfit as a gift at some point and most people have enough clothes in the smallest sizes (or like I did with Jim had a big baby and never used the smaller sizes!) so I thought it was a safe bet.

The trousers have the oddest shaped pattern piece I’ve seen, you cut them on the fold (which I had to double and triple check with the pattern because I didn’t believe it to begin with!) and you end up with a piece like this:

The pattern is so simple to put together, it hardly took any time at all and the finished outfit is very cute.

As you can see there is a second set of ties inside to hold it closed and I used ribbing for the edging.  The ribbing was actually a bit too stretchy and if I chose to use it again in the future I will shorten the pattern piece so it fits a little better.

So, there you are!  To win the to patterns (20301 6m-4y and 10400 0-9m) just leave a comment and make sure I have an email address to contact you at.  I will draw a winner by random number generator on January 5th.  The give away is open worldwide and Maria will email the instructions to the winner directly (they are also available in German and Swedish if you would prefer that to Danish and English!) and I will post on the patterns.

Make sure you check out the other MiniKrea sewing patterns at Shop Onion and if you’re sewing for girls check back in a week or so for the final give away!

January

Pattern: Marian by Monkey Toes
Yarn: Maizy in Earth
Needles: 2.25mm

February

Pattern: Mojo by Some Knitting Required
Yarn: Panda Soy in Green Fields
Needles: 2.5 mm

March

Pattern: Snowdrop Socks by Sara Morris
Yarn: Wendy Happy in Capricorn
Needles: 2.5 mm

April

Pattern: Java Socks by Cailyn Meyer (Knitty, Winter 2011)
Yarn: Yarntopia Treasures Bamboo Cotton in Starbucks
Needles: 2.5 mm

May

Pattern: Sunday Swing Socks by Kristel Nyberg (Knitty, Summer 2009)
Yarn: Maizy in Hot Feet
Needles: 2.25 mm

June

Pattern: Ambrosia Socks by Ann Budd (via Knitting Daily)
Yarn: Cascade Fixation shade 9862
Needles: 3.25 mm

July

Pattern: Angler’s Loop Socks by Andrea Mules
Yarn: Maizy in Orange Crush
Needles: 2.25 mm

August

Pattern: Eleanor by Monkey Toes
Yarn: Sock Candy in Sun Drops
Needles: 2.75 mm

September

Pattern: Spring Forward, Linda Welch ( Knitty Summer 2008)
Yarn: Yarntopia Treasures Bamboo Cotton in Figi
Needles: 2.25 mm

October

Pattern: Gentleman’s Socks by Kristi Schueler
Yarn: Wendy Happy in Gemini
Needles: 2.50 mm

November

Pattern: Socks of Kindness by Chawne
Yarn: Yarntopia Treasures Bamboo Cotton in Tango
Needles: 2.50 mm

December

Pattern: Off Road Socks by Jennifer Schmidt
Yarn: Maizy Print in Indian Corn
Needles: 2.25 mm

I have really enjoyed this challenge and am really happy that I managed it but I have to admit, as much as I love knitting socks, I’m looking forward to a break!

So, here are some pictures that have been lurking on my computer for too long and some commentary to go with them!

I bought some more flannel from the Co-op I rejoined, she had some robot flannel which I knew the boys would love and also this fabulous owl print (I love owls and have quite a few pictures and china ones around my house, I’m also very slowly collecting fabric for an owl quilt should I ever finish the first quilt that’s been sitting there 2 years so far).

The selvedge says that it’s from Joannes which I guess means it’s common and readily available to those of you in the US but even with air mail postage it comes in cheaper than buying flannel in this country and we really don’t get much of a choice of prints either.

I used my standard Ottobre pattern for these lengthening it as usual from cropped to full length and I remembered to add the seam allowance to these making them a lot more comfortable than the last pair I made.  I’ve worn these tons already and will continue to do so until it’s too warm for them and then I’ll be sad until I can wear them again.

These are my November socks from a pattern/recipe called Socks of Kindness (the English version is on Flickr not the pdf link).  The yarn I used for these was bamboo cotton by Yarntopia Treasures in the colourway Tango.  I adore the way the black has striped and I think these are gorgeous!  The dye did make my fingers and the needles a bit pink but with the amount of colour that this yarn has I’m not surprised or worried about it.

I finished these about 2/3 of the way through November and felt all smug and happy that I had ages until I needed to finish the final pair for my ‘pair of socks a month self challenge’.  I then remembered that on the 20th of December I am having carpel tunnel surgery on my right hand so I need to get the final pair done by then (I’m on schedule having turned the heel of the second sock today).

For those of you who’ve been reading forever may recall back in the mists of time I had issues with my hands after Jim was born.  Some physio sorted that out eventually and I was fine and dandy until I had Piggle when the problems returned.  This time around I have had 3 goes with the physio, x-rays, blood tests, consultations, wrist braces etc over the course of 4 years and nothing has worked.  They are pretty sure it’s carpel tunnel, although as with the majority of physical issues I get it’s not cut and dried (even the Dr said I don’t get plain and simple illnesses).  The specialist says that there is a 90% chance of getting full use of my hands back after the surgery so we’ll give it a go even though it’s been a logistical nightmare as I won’t be able to drive and will need a lot of help with the boys when I only have the use of one hand.  Once the right hand has recovered I have the joy or reorganising my whole life again so I can have the left one done…

The thing that has kept me going back over and over to try and sort this out (I am pretty used to dropping things being incredibly clumsy) is that my knitting is really not going well.  I have to stop halfway through a row to wait for the feeling to come back and the pain to subside and my knitting with 100% cotton is nowhere near as neat as I am used to and it’s depressing.  Not being able to do something I love because I’m not physically able is incredibly frustrating and I’m hoping that this surgery will sort it out and things can go back to their normal knitting whenever I can ways.

This would normally be the time of year I look at my knitting basket and bags and decide what I want off the needles by January 1st.  In fact I’ve mentally done the planning but there is no way I will be capable of getting it done, surgery or not, which is a shame.  I will be working through the pain and getting this sock done though, I’m not getting this far with the challenge and flaking out!

This is my version of  Onion 2031 which was one of the patterns I gave away recently.  Please excuse the bathroom shots, my dressform no longer fits in my sewing room and the hallway where it stands is too dark for photos.

The fabric is from Ebay, a shop called Price Immaterial which I bought a lot of fabric from for a while.  Sadly it now seems to have stopped selling, I check every now and again to see if it’s returned.  This is a cotton with a raised rib on it, sort of like cord but not.  Oddly the next garment I made for myself also is paisley, don’t have a picture of that to show you yet though.

I worried about the front of this dress and kept putting it off as I hate the slashing to the dot, turning it, ironing it and then realising that it’s completely wonky or not centred.  I seem to have done an ok job with this one though and the button is from my button box, it’s antique and I only had one.

The ribbon is actually from one of those annoying ones they sew in shop bought t-shirts to stop them falling off the hanger.  I tend to chop them off and throw them in the bag that goes to my son’s school for the cutting and sticking area but I dug out a black one to use for this.

The shoulders have elastic in them and they connect to the front in a slightly fiddly but oh so neat when you get it right.

And finally there are sleeve bands and pleats.  This pattern went together incredibly easily and quickly once I got over my unfounded fear and worked on the damn thing.  It does fit me, not as well as I’d like but that’s my gut’s fault and not the pattern’s.  Sadly it is too cold to wear it at the moment, even with a cardigan and tights so it will have to wait until Spring, but wear it I will!

I have two more pattern give aways to do which I will get to soon, promise!

I seem to have strayed away from my sewing to do list and am just grabbing whatever project I feel like at the time.  I’ve been pulling out fabric that I have a plan for and trying to get on with it.  I cut out two pairs of summer pyjamas for Piggle as I know he needs to go up a size and the fabric is there and waiting.  He’s picked the fabric for the third pair so I can cut those soon too.  Jim has fabric ready for two pairs, again he needs to go up a size so it’s safe to make them, but we need to have a dig and find something for the third pair as I think he’ll have grown out of last year’s ones by the time it’s warm enough to wear them (except for the dinosaur pair which are still pretty big).

I have a single Christmas present to make which I want to get done this weekend pre-surgery and I’m hoping to break the 100 metres/yards sewn barrier for the year, even if it’s by a tiny amount, I think that would be a great achievement even if I have bought about 70 odd to fill the space…

Hopefully I’ll be back soon with more to show you!

The boys were supposed to go to their Dad’s for the weekend leaving me free on Saturday to enjoy the day out.  Yes, I said supposed to… About 5.30am Jim came through into my room to say that his pillow was too hot and could I sort it out.  Lovely, fever, just what we needed but he was impressed with my suggestion to just turn his pillow over and went back to sleep as did I.  Twenty minutes later Piggle started moaning in pain.  I was just turning the last corner into the bathroom at a trot carrying him when he threw up on us both…  He was sick three more times in the next hour before going back to sleep and I may win the prize for the parent ringing in sick for her kids at the earliest time ever as I left a message on the school’s answering machine at 6am so I could turn my alarm off.  Jim seemed a bit better once he was up but Piggle slept until 10.30 and then didn’t eat that much all day.

Still determined to go and with the kids on the mend my sister very kindly offered to look after them for the day.  Mum and I dropped them off and then headed off to Harrogate.  Even though we set off early by the time we’d dropped the boys and found a parking lot it was 12.30.  By the time we found a space in the parking lot it was just before 1.00, I kid you not, we paid for 20 minutes of driving around and around in circles looking for a space.  Anyway, instead of going into the show for a bit and then coming out for lunch we went right to Wagamamas and enjoyed a lovely meal (there isn’t one any closer than Harrogate and we both love it.  If you’re vegan ask them for the folder every restaurant keeps behind the counter that has a page saying what’s vegan or can be veganised).

Finally, into the show we went.  We stopped by House of Hemp which is a bit of a joke with us because the first year we went to the show I spent about £45 there and they are only just inside the front door!  The reason we looked this time was because I’ve never actually knit up the yarn I bought.  The pattern that I bought with it from them is written in a single size and they didn’t tell me that when I was making the purchase (the pattern size is a 36, well below my size).  I tried on the sample this time and I may be able to make it work with an extra panel on each front, I need to count my skeins to see if I will have enough.

Onwards we went using our handily pre-marked show programme to make sure we didn’t miss anything.

I spent an age at the Habu stand talking myself into and out of different things and was glad I hadn’t spent anything there when I spent an absolute fortune at Susan Crawford’s stand.  The stand was the first I had marked that I wanted to see as I knew that I wanted to have a flick through A Stitch in Time and the second volume to see if I wanted to buy them.  I had obviously seen the patterns shown on Ravelry and on Susan’s website but the books aren’t cheap and I wanted to make sure that there were enough reasons to spend the money on them.  I had intended just to buy the second volume but she was selling the first at a discount so I got one of those too.  Then I saw the cotton she was selling and bought enough of a dark pink colour (it’s called bordeaux but it’s not dark enough in my mind to be that) to make The Jan Sweater.  I also picked up a set of 4mm needles as they were on my list and she had some!  I got a free cotton bag which my Mum and I had to take turns carrying, those books are really heavy!

Other purchases were three fat quarters in pansy prints for a future quilt (I have 10 different fqs collected so far but I’ve been collecting for years, don’t expect to see anything soon!), a metre and a half of stretch knit to make my Mum a t-shirt for Christmas, a stripey cotton scarf (2 for £5, we got one each), a cardigan pattern from the Wensleydale Sheep stand, some giant ric rack in black, narrower ric rack in teal, a metre of ribbon that is actually ‘made by’ labels and 5 blue flower buttons.

By my calculations I spent as much this year as I would usually have over 2 years so I made up for missing out last year even though I only got yarn for one project.  I had spent the previous night finishing off and figuring out how to print off a list of projects from Ravelry to look for yarn for and I only got it out of my bag once.

This year seemed a bit different.  There was quite a bit of sock yarn and more sewing stuff than before, although less sewing machines.  The Texere stall didn’t have as much variety as in the past and there weren’t as many stands just selling balls of yarn, it was either buy it by the bag or very expensive high end stuff.  There was one stall my Mother and I both found things on we would have bought but the man running it was so opinionated and rude to both of us that we just walked away, not worth putting up with that for yarn.

Anyway, we had a good day and actually ran out of time at the show.  We thought it closed at 6 and it was actually 5.30 so we did the last, luckily smallish, hall very quickly.  I’m happy with what I bought, I was happy to meet up quickly with a lady who I’ve ‘known’ online for 8 years and another lady who I’ve spoken to online too and to see what is about.

I’ll go again I’m sure but I think I have reached the stage where I know what I like, I’m pretty well stocked up and prices are going too high with the cotton shortage for me to buy anything at full price.  Even if we don’t buy anything it will be nice to have a wander and a good lunch out (we did say maybe we’d go to London instead, we’ll see if that pans out).

I have some Minikrea kids sewing patterns to give away as I said so keep an eye out later in the week for the first of 2 give aways!

These are my Retro Rib socks which were completed in March 2005.  The pattern is from Interweave Knits (Ravelry has it listed as being from a book) and the yarn is Lornas Laces Shepherd Stripe Multi in Fresh Stripe which I won from a blog competition, although I can’t remember who the blog belonged to after all these years.  I no longer enter competitions for yarn containing wool, this was the last time I did.

I have to say that I don’t understand what the attraction is for this yarn.  I find these socks incredibly floppy, they don’t stay up and they don’t hold their shape well.  I hate it when the yarn patterns differently on socks too, if it’s going to do a huge stripe on one it should on the other one too surely?  The colours have lasted well, although due to the floppiness I don’t actually wear them all that often so they’ve not been washed many times.

These are Sole Solution socks finished in April 2005.  I didn’t get this pattern from where it’s listed on Ravelry, the yarn is Bernat Sox Multi which I bought off Ebay.  This yarn is so acrylic is makes your teeth hurt and the socks came up a bit too baggy for me so the went off to live with my sister to wear with wellington boots on her farm.

These are Samantha’s Fixation Socks finished April 2005 (I don’t think I did anything but knit in early 2005…).  The pattern was Knit List and the yarn I can’t remember, although it is Fixation and not a copy.  These socks were worn to death and got holes in them, I was sad to see them go.

Two more no longer with me knits and something I’m still wearing all the time coming up soon!

Just to clarify this wasn’t a Halloween costume, it’s a ‘Jim and I are reading Harry Potter (we’re on book 4 now) and he wanted to dress like he was attending Hogwarts and in Gryffindor house costume’.  I had actually ordered the wizard costume patterns (I got an adult sized on too as 8 is the final size of the kids one and I wasn’t sure which pattern I would need to use) before we even thought about Halloween, but as we don’t trick or treat and there wasn’t a school disco I finished this off the week after all that was over!  The pattern I used is Simplicity 5512.

I bought 7 metres of black polycotton for this but I actually could have gotten away with less, firstly because I decided not to make the hat (he’s not asked where his hat is yet and I’m not mentioning it, the pattern calls for 2 kinds of wire which is a bit scary) and also because I cut the main cloak sections sideways rather than lengthways.  This does mean that the grain of the fabric is all wrong but it’s polycotton for god’s sake and it’ll probably be used more to make tents from than worn as a robe anyway.  I also bought 11 metres of bias biding and could have again gotten away with less but both these things are worth having in the stash anyway and weren’t that expensive.

The pattern actually calls for every edge to have jumbo rickrack added to it and then the bias binding sewn over the top.  I’ve not seen jumbo rickrack over here and the idea of sewing all that on and then the bias binding on was too much for me anyway!  My bias binding is sewn on as one piece around the neckline, centre fronts and bottom, my mitre corners aren’t perfect but they look ok.

The front and back of the robe have yokes which were easy to do as there is no gathering involved.  I did make things slightly more time-consuming by doing french seams on the whole thing.  I don’t have any black overlocker thread and white inside this would have looked awful plus the strength of double seams will work in my favour when it comes to having to mend it after they have had a tug of war or their tent falls down…

I took 3 inches off the bottom of the robe as it was much too long for him and I didn’t want him tripping up.

This photo makes me laugh, don’t all Wizards wear camo slippers?!?

Under the robe is a tabard to hide your everyday clothes.  It’s very simply two pieces of fabric connected at the shoulders with a small hem around all the other edges.  The belt is just cord which I have attached to the back to prevent them from hanging each other with it, having to constantly search for it or being asked over and over again which way around it goes when he puts it on (I value my sanity).

Jim and I are both very happy with this and should Piggle set his heart on a matching one I may just have enough of the fabric left for a cloak for a 4-year-old.

My sewing room has been distributed all over the upstairs of the house due to the fact that a new central heating system is being installed in there.  I didn’t have anywhere else to put the fabric so I began to stack it at the end of my bed as and when it needed removing.  The plumbers did offer to put it back each night but as it was really dusty in there and stank from all the soldering of pipes that had been going on I decided to leave it in my room.

Just to give you an idea of the height of the stack the green bit at the front of the picture is my bed!

It seemed like a good idea at the time, however, a one day job turned into a 3 day job and then they didn’t show up for the 4th day which left the fabric at the end of the bed over the weekend with the ever-increasing issue that my wardrobe, and therefore all my trousers, shirts and pyjamas (that live in the bottom of the wardrobe), were trapped behind it…

The good news is that I am thinking of reorganising my sewing room and buying myself some big shelves to store the fabric on as the new boiler has been installed where it was previously being stored.  I also managed to locate a couple of pieces of fabric I’ve been looking for for a while that were buried!

I re-joined the Color Me Flannel Co-op on Yahoogroups a few months back having finally sewed up almost all the flannel I bought from Dena last time around!  I needed 1 more pair of pyjamas each for the boys for this winter but also stocked up on some prints that they liked for future winters.  It is expensive with the shipping but no more expensive than finding good quality flannel prints in the UK, swings and roundabouts I guess.

This is a new pattern I’ve used for Jim, although I didn’t use the pattern for the trousers as it is a one piece pattern and I didn’t have enough fabric to fit it on.  Jim now needs almost 3 yards of fabric for a pair of traditional pajamas, I can’t believe how big he’s getting!  The pattern is Simplicity 2134 and I used the 8-year-old size.  The trousers are Kwik Sew Sewing for Children size M with the legs straightened and some length added.  For summer I will be moving up to size L I think and the 9-year-old shirt pattern as, as you can see, these fit him right now but if he grows at all that’s that!

These are Piggle’s last winter pair of pyjamas this year using Kwik Sew 3126 for the final time for my boys (sob!).  I will be moving onto either the pattern I’m using for Jim or using some of the Ottobre tracings I have from when Jim was that size.

I’ve actually got out a lot of the fabric for summer pajamas and I may start sewing early for them. As I’m making larger sizes I don’t think they’ll grow out of them before they get to wear them!

I finally found some fabric in Boyes and got around to making Vogue 1247.  I’ve loved this shirt pattern since it came out but didn’t have anything in my stash that I thought would do it justice.  The fabric is a synthetic mix that they had on sale and I got some in brown as well for something in the future as it was on sale.

There is a lot of shaping and work that goes into the front with the lower front being made up of 4 pieces cut on the bias and the top having darts and pleats.  All of the seams for this shirt are french seams too so that added more to the work.

There is a centre seam down the back and more pleats along with a curved hem.

Finally, there are sleeve bands cut on the bias, I like the way the plaid works in a different direction here.

I knew that the plaid wasn’t going to match in most places and in fact at the front I didn’t want it to match, I wanted it to be noticeable that it goes in different directions.  Maybe to make more of that I should have cut the centre fronts separately so that they look different rather than mirroring each other.

I have to admit when I finished this I felt very blah about it.  It hung in my wardrobe for a few weeks before I pulled it out and stuck it on.  I was expecting something really special that would knock my socks off and instead I got an ok shirt that I will wear now and again.  I can’t pinpoint what I’m so disappointed about though.  The plaid is working how I expected, the different construction methods were fun and interesting and having made a size smaller than the pattern suggests for my measurements I didn’t end up with something huge and shapeless.

You can see what it looked like on here if you’re interested.  The neckline is very low, I knew this and didn’t bother changing it as I’m happy to wear it with a tank top or a long sleeve t-shirt underneath.

So, two wins and a sort of growing on me win!  I seem to be very into grey and black at the moment so I’d not be surprised if more of these colours come out of my sewing room this winter.