Oliver & S Sunny Day Shorts and BONUS (belated) Halloween post :-)

I have been trying to think of a witty post title, but ... nothing. Anyway, my son required new sleep shorts and when Oliver & S released their new(ish) free Sunny Day Shorts pattern I was keen to try it out RIGHT AWAY. I printed and taped it the very same day it was released, picked the fabric, all set to go ... hmmm, now several months later, I have finally finished them. There are 2 of them, but they look almost identical really.

Since they are sleep pants I eliminated the side seams, by simply taping both pattern pieces together. Luckily I didn't bother cutting off the seam allowance, because, although according to the size chart he would be a size 10, I thought I make the 12 to give it a longer life and despite essentially adding an extra inch to each leg by not cutting off the seam allowance, it is far less roomy and in my opinion fits just right. Maybe I have truly acclimatised to Australia and now everything has to be baggy :-) I changed the second pair slightly in that I straightened out the inside leg seam so the I could do flat-felled seams without issue.

I think overall they fit wonderfully and I have the desire to make him a couple of 'daywear' ones with pockets, maybe for Christmas :-)


Bonus Blog Post :

I intended to post this refashion the day after Halloween, but it didn't happen, so I thought I might just tag it on here. Halloween is a big thing in our house. Next to Christmas and Birthdays, it is a definite countdown-worthy favourite.

4 weeks prior to H: 'Mummy, I am going to be a witch this Halloween' ... 'Alright dear'
2 weeks prior to H: 'I am going to be the awesomest witch ever' ... 'The awesomest, of course'
1 week prior to H: 'I'll be all in black, with a long dress and my hat and broom stick' ... 'Sure'

Sadly, although I remember every bit of these conversations, it didn't really penetrate until the day before Halloween that my pink and butterfly loving 5 year old needed a long black dress that wouldn't just materialise in her wardrobe. I was still debating whether to dash into Spotlight at 8pm when I suddenly remembered an old maternity dress that was a lovely black Jersey, but had stretched out in bust area and I couldn't wear it anymore.

In the morning of Halloween I cut out 2 simple bodice pieces from the back (the front wasn't really usable) and I just hoped that the stretch factor would hide any and all fitting issues. I used clear swimwear elastic to stabilise the shoulder seams as I have seen this done in RTW clothes and as that was readily available at my local spotlight, I have used it ever since I sewed with Jersey and so far the shoulder seams have stayed put ... Instead of finished the neckline and arms off with a band, I took a page out of Tilly and the Button's book and simply turned the edge over and finished it with a zigzag stitch ... my word, black is hard to photograph.

I then took what was left of the dress, gathered it to fit the bodice and attached it again with using the clear swimwear elastic as stabiliser.

The end result is pretty awesome actually. She loves it. She has worn it almost every day since I made it.

Anyway, speaking of Tilly, I am very tempted by her new Francoise Dress pattern, not sure whether it is actually the dress or whether it is simply that the dress on the front of the envelope is yellow and I SOOOOOOO want a yellow dress ...

a cloak fit for a princess

I have put myself on a fabric diet. I will not buy any more fabric until I have used up a substantial part of my stash. It's not that I regularily spent lots of money of fabrics, but I frequently pig out on remnants, because at 2m a metre, who can say no. Well, my bedroom reflects that inability to say no. It seems like there is fabric EVERYWHERE. There are also clothes that need to be altered and a crochet blanket that needs the ends to be stitched in and some yarn for another two scarfs and so on. In short it is a mess and that is actually more depressing then inspiring to sew.

In an effort to stash bust I have made a costume for my little girl out of 2 pieces of stretchy panne velvet. It frayed and shedded like mad, so there is pink fluff everywhere now :-)

It has a cloak - I am really proud of sucessfully drafting and attaching the collar

a skirt - I intended to just make a gathered skirt with a light pink trim, but I didn't have enough light fabric for that, so I made a panel skirt instead

and a little scarf - I tried out making a lettuce edge without an overlocker (serger) and it worked, yeay

She is very happy with the results of 3 days sewing and has refused to take it off for the last 3 days. I call that a sucess :-)

After this I have the greatest admirations for the mothers, who regularily create costumes for dance recitals and other competitions, because the material slips and slides and sheds and it takes time and effort to be percise and accurate with it. Onwards to the next remnant ...

Sewing is contagious

Whilst I muddle my way through the sewing process, my family eagerly observes. Apparently I am not doing so bad, because for my son's school costume challenge (he is 7) he decided he wanted to make himself a Jedi Robe. I thought he meant he would drape some brown fabric around himself and be done with it, but no, he meant he was going to sew it himself with my sewing machine.

So we went to Spotlight and picked up 3m of brown broadcloth (they were out of brown fleece). He them washed it and iron it. We drew his outline and he cut it very carefully.

He pinned the sides, whilst fearfully looking at the pins to see whether they were going to march up to him and prick him.

We had to get a step for the foot pedal, because his legs were too short to reach it, but otherwise he was a star. We didn't do any seam finishes, because I didn't want to make it too fiddly for him.

He did find it a lot of work, but he did like the actual sewing part, so perhaps he'll do it again in the future. Now, what to do with the left over 1.5 m brown broadcloth, because only after we purchased the fabric, he announced that he wanted a short robe rather then a long one :-)