Peasant / folk t-shirt I designed

Here is a muslin of another go at designing a tshirt. I´ve just watched the original ice-dancing section of the 2009 Olympics and I loved all the peasant and folk costumes the skaters wore. This tshirt was supposed to be gathered at the neckline, with another underlayer at the neckline, like a peasant shirt, with cap sleeves. I think I´d like to try something like this again, but with a woven fabric peasant shirt.

The neckline on the paper-pattern is a very defined flat U-shape, like a folk peasant shirt, but made up in a knit material it curves alot more, like a scoop neck. I´d might make the U-shape sharper neck time.
The neckline is a 1:2 increase for gathering, just at the base of the neckline, and 1cm up on the neckline curve, (but no additions on the sides). I did the increases as per Cal Patch´s book Design It Yourself:Patternmaking simplified. I took the sides in slightly so that the shirt would not be too baggy due to the extra fabric along the neckline.
The fabric is some lycra from my friend Anna - thank you! The purple is cut off an old scrap tshirt.

Lyttleton Harbour, South Island, New Zealand

Amy Butler Cabo Halter

Here is my first go at the Amy Butler Cabo Halter. I made the Medium size. I didn´t alter the length, however, I did do a SBA (or more accurately, a NEBA), so that the neckline didn´t gape, by altering the angle of how the front top meets the front bodice. I sewed it together as per the pattern using 4.5cm stitches to see what size gape needed fixing, undid it, then moved the front pieces about 2cm down in the centre. (not at the sides). This was great and solved the problem, until I edgestitched the top bodice, which somehow stretched the fabric marginally (but enough to gape again). I´m not sure what I would do next time, as I think the bodice does need edgestitching and joining as the halter top is very low cut. Perhaps, do sba fitting after edgestitching.

The left hand pic is with the top worn as a halter top, which gapes a bit imho. The ties just reach to the back upper bodice, so I could turn the ties into shoulder straps - the right hand pic is with the ties pinned as shoulder straps instead. Still considering which option to do.
The pattern is easy to follow, and I´ll definitely make some more (with a better SBA). Also, it is very low cut, and I think I´ll add 1/2 cm onto the neckline next time.

Wellington Harbour, from our old flat, North Island, New Zealand

Bean bag party favours for boy´s party

I´m a bit sick of all the plastic things that go with birthday parties, so I thought I´d make some mini bean bags as the party favours for my son´s party. The finished size of the square bags are 2 inches square (not including seam allowances), and they have only about 1 1/2 to 2 tablesppons of wheat in them. They don´t feel heavy at all, but they are actually just the right size to do bean bags games, but without incurring that head-breaking velocity that a 5 year old can create throwing any heavier beanbag. I put them in little bags, but I forgot to take pics before giving them out, so here they are in a little bag I made a while ago.

It was a pool party, so I thought I´d do an ocean theme, and started making fish bean bags, a tiny bit bigger. These were for the guests´ younger siblings, who also came. I experimented with lots of different types (fin, no fin, edgestitched), and decided that the best prototype fish :o) was the one in the bottom left hand corner (no edgestitching, no fin).

Wanganui River, North Island, New Zealand

Feet wheat packs

Here are some wheat packs for feet which I´ve made for my son´s kindergarten teachers as a goodbye present. The blue and green things are the inserts, and the yellow, red and pink ones are the covers. The covers slip on the wheat packs like pillow-covers. I´ve drawn up some instructions on how to make them, and I´ll add them here in a few days.

Near Opotiki, North Island, New Zealand

Short sleeved funked out peasant blouse

I used to have a long sleeved white funked out peasant blouse, but the long sleeves seemed too heavy on me, so I converted it to a short sleeved version. I do like this version much better.

I still really like peasant blouses, but I think I´ll try some different versions. I think I have enough of the Funked Out Peasant Blouses (pattern by Lila Tueller) now!

Featherston, North Island, New Zealand

Green funked out peasant blouse

Mmm. Not sure about this one. In the fabric shop this looked like a nice shade of green, but having sewn it up, it seems a pretty drab shade.

I´ve also realised that the long-sleeve funked out peasant blouse (great pattern by Lila Tueller), doesn´t really suit me. The sleeves puff out too much and just make the whole thing look too heavy on me. I didn´t take a photo of the unaltered ¨before"version unfortunately; I only realised after making the blouse, that I needed to reduce the sleeves. I felt a bit like a clown, or a milkmaid or something (its not the pattern´s fault, just my build). I didn´t want to completely unpick the whole thing, so I just took out 2 inches from the outside of the sleeve and shirred it a bit. (If I made it again, I´d just take 2 or more inches out of the width of the sleeve when cutting it from the fabric). The seam is very obvious, but hopefully the shirring makes the seam look intentional? Or not. I definitely like the blouse better with the sleeves de-puffed (as per this photo). Although, due to the bad choice of fabric, I´m not sure how much I´ll wear this.

On this version I also halved the width of the empire band, and made it end centre front, leaving the join open. I did a very thin string of the same fabric and this means I can get it over my head without needing a zip and tighten it slightly once its on.

Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand

A-line skirt I designed

Here is an a-line skirt I drew up the pattern for after reading Cal Patch´s Design It Yourself: Patternmaking Simplified book. I followed the drawing-up instructions, but in the end I just tried on the skirt and adjusted it to fit correctly that way (which is also part of the instructions). After having kids I´m not the regular shape anymore anyway, so making my own skirt pattern seems the best way to go. The fabric is a very, very lightweight denim. That makes it comfortable, but it doesn´t seem to sit the same way all the time (sometimes it ruffles, sometimes it sits flat etc). Next time I would use a medium weight denim, possibly with less sweep.

Porangahau, North Island, New Zealand