Oddly shaped balls.....

Well, if you're a rugby fan, like me, you can not have failed to notice that the Rugby World Cup is under way in New Zealand!

Now this is very exciting for me...I've been a fan since I don't know when, and now my little dude is getting into it too, which makes me a very happy Mummy indeed! It's not surprising though, really - last World Cup, he was in here - I gave birth one month and one day after this was taken ha ha! 

 He's been walking round the flat ordering 'Crouch! Touch! Pause! ENGAGE!', and was shouting 'Come ON England!' and 'Go Johnny!' - he makes me very proud lol!

So yesterday morning, I decided he needed an England shirt of his own.  

So I found a picture of the England Rose (not hard - it's my wallpaper on my pc!), and traced it onto paper with pencil. I made sure I did the lines quite dark, as I then turned it upside down onto the back of some fusible interfacing, and using the schoolkids trick, rubbed all over the back with the end of a pencil so the design was transferred to the back of the interfacing. This way, the applique pieces would form the image the right way round.

I then cut them all out, and then ironed them onto the jersey scraps, and cut them out. Then Istuck them onto the shirt with washable glue stick to hold them in place - there were too many pieces that pins weren't practical.

Please excuse this photo as it was taken with my phone cam lol! You can see the traced image on the left..this is all the pieces glued onto the shirt.

Then the last thing to do was to stitch them on....I handstitched it all as I think it would have been too fiddly for my machine skills!

And here's the little guy in his new shirt....he seems to like it!

Thanks for looking...and 

COME ON ENGLAND!!!!

Lisa

xxxx

Sorry it's been quiet here....

But I have a lot going on right now personally, and I don't seem to have been able to find the spare time or energy to get on here and post.

But today, I decided if I don't start updating it now, I never will...so here goes. 

Firstly, you'll see the new look...I decided it was time for a change, and I wanted something fresh and different - hope you like it! 

These are a few things I've made lately(yes, I've still managed to make time to sew - if I didn't, I'd go bonkers!).

Firsty - here's a (little bit) better picture of the bunting I made.

here's another Imke for Jamie - this one made from linen with a button fastening yoke.

a couple of camera strap covers - one for a friend, and one for me!

a Farbenmix Insa skirt...

and a pair of Farbenmix Dortje pants changed up a little for a boy (it's a girl pattern!)

Jamie seems to like them...lol!

and finally...a first attempt project - I followed this sandpaper crayon transfer tutorial here...it's fantastic.

Now I know it works, next time I'll make it a little neater ha ha!

Jamie's nickname is Monkeybum, so he's my little surfin' Monkeybum - bet you won't find another tshirt with that one anywhere lol! 

 Phew - that was quite a lot of stuff - thanks for looking!

Lisa

xxx

Kung Fu Panda, Thomas, and Swing Birds.....

As we're off to Pandamonium in the Park on Saturday, I told Jamie I was going to make him a new shirt to wear and he said he wanted a Kung Fu Panda one lol!

So, one modified Imke hoody later - here it is! 

I added a custom curved yoke...and Panda ears.

He loves it.

I also made another Thomas back pack - this time in red - for my friend Jane's little man. I think it looks great in this colour!

and finally, a self drafted camera strap cover with a lens cover pocket...I actually need to make myself one of these now lol!

So all in all a productive day here at SMM Towers lol!

Thanks for looking

Lisa

xxx

Hot hot hot!

Wow, the weather has been glorious here for ever.....long may it continue lol!

I haven't got a lot of sewing done, but thought I'd share what I have made.....

I needed to make up a Romance bag for the tutorial I'm doing to go with the pattern pieces I've already put up, so this is what I came up with! It's the Big Romance pattern....and a phone case I self drafted to go with it!

then, as my lovely man bought me the 'Sewing Clothes Kids Love' book, I thought I should get some more use out of it other than just the Feliz! I decided to have a go at the Imke hooded top for Jamie. I upcycled it from two of his Daddy's tshirts - the stripey one had a huge logo/pattern on it that would have been cut through and looked odd if I had left it, so I self drafted a square yoke for the shirt that eliminated the problem nicely!

Jamie likes it, and I'm pleased with how it turned out, so that's good - I'll definitely make it again.

and finally.....yes, it's been in the 80 degree range here....but sometimes, a boy just needs to make fairy cakes.

So we did.

I love to bake with Jamie - he's so enthusiastic, and gets so annoyed every time we have to actually COOK them before we can eat them - he's so funny!

Thanks for looking

Lisa

xxx

Halter Top tutorial

OK, so here goes - bear with me, I had no photos for this one so I've gone with a diagram! Hope you can make sense of it! 

See, I knew you'd get it......rofl!

Ok, so the amount of fabric you need will depend on the size of top you're making, obviously - so I won't tell you how much you need! For mine, I used a yard of main fabric, and then 5 charm pack squares. You'll also need some elastic - I used 1/4" (6mm).

• Firstly, decide on how long you want your top to be, and measure it. How high up the chest you'd like it to come, and where would you like the bottom to sit - on your waist? Hips? I wouldn't recommend tunic length, unless to omit the elastic from the bottom - it might look a little odd!
• Next, you need to work out how many charm squares you will need, and sew them into a long strip. Alternatively, you can just use a long strip of co-ordinating fabric.
• Then you need to decide how wide the top of the top will be - then halve that measurement (as your fabric is folded) and add half THAT again. Clear? (So say your top will be 20cm - halve that to 10, then add 5. ) That's your top measurement.
• Then do the same for the bottom...only this time, measure all the way round your waist/hip, halve it, halve it again, then add half that. That will give you your (B) measurement.
• Next, from an existing top you have, mark arm holes (but remember the top of your top doesn't come all the way up to the shoulder, so mark only from where your top will sit!).
• From the bottom corner of your arm hole, draw a straight line down to the bottom corner of your bottom line. Your 'pattern' should now look like the main outline on my picture above. It does? Amazing!
• OK, now the hard part is out of the way - cut it out, (with whatever seam allowance takes your fancy, remembering to leave enough top and bottom for elastic threading!) but leave it folded.
• Now to cut your back piece - exactly the same size as your front piece, but only as long as the bottom of your armhole (C). Cut out with seam allowances as before.
• Now, back to the front piece. On the fold, mark in 1cm at the top, and 4cm at the bottom. Draw a line between the two points, and cut. (D) This will be your graduated front panel.
• Take your charm squares (sewn into a strip) or fabric strip, lay it out flat, and add your two front pieces - 2cm apart at the top, and 8cm apart at the bottom. I did mine by folding over a small edge on the front piece and pressing, then folding again, laying on and top stitching. 

Still with me so far? You're doing great!

So now you should have one front piece, and one back piece. You HAVE? You rock, you know that? 

• Now we need to sew the channels for the elastic on the tops of each piece. The size is up to you, but will obviously depend on the size of your elastic! Once you've done that, I used the technical method to measure my elastic - holding it up against myself and saying 'Yep, that's about right!' lol! 
• Then thread your elastic on the top of the front piece and back piece, pin in place, and and sew front and back together down the side seams (making sure you have right sides together so your seams are on the inside!).
• Now for the bias binding and straps.....and I have a confession to make. My straps aren't cut on the bias *SHOCK*. The armhole bindings were, however...there's no way straight cut would go round those corners! If I'd had enough left over fabric, the straps would have been too. But I didn't. If you decide to use all bias tape, then you can do these in one continuous strip from armhole to strap, whereas I did mine separately. If you don't know how to make your own binding, here's a fantastic  'Make your own bias binding' tutorial!
• Once you have made your binding, straps, etc, decided how long they need to be to go round your neck (I'm assuming here you're not a giraffe - I've never seen a giraffe with a sewing machine), then you need to sew them on - you can find more about this in the tutorial mentioned above.
• Wow, is it looking like something you could actually wear yet? I do hope so....although if you follow my ramblings, then it may be not so much lol! Now we just need to finish...
• The bottom! Now, if you're leaving it loose with just a hem, then hem it and you're done, so go for it! 
• If, however, you want it like me with an elasticated bottom (my top, not MY actual bottom!) then you need to sew a channel for the elastic round the bottom, remembering to leave a gap to actually put the elastic in (unlike me, who had to unpick some!) 
• Then thread your elastic, sew in place, and finish up the gap in the hem!

Woohoo! You're finished! Well done you! (Especially if you managed to follow these instructions without the need of psychiatric help lol!)

Click here for a downloadable PDF of this tutorial!

If you decide you're brave enough to take this on, please come back and link me up so I can see your versions (I'm nosey like that!)

Thanks for taking the time to look, and hopefully read and make this!

Lisa xx

Riley Blake Summer Halter Top

So those of you who are regular visitors here (I thank you!) will remember my post about winning a Riley Blake charm pack and full yard from One Hundred Years Ago and Plum Patchwork...

well, here's what I made with it!

A halter neck tie top with a patch front panel..it has elastic at the top, across the back, and round the bottom, and is very comfy!

I'm so pleased with it, I want to make another - and if I do, rest assured I'll also write a tutorial for it too!

I'm also entering this in the Made by Rae Spring Top sew-a-long, so look for me there!

Front

Back

Patch panel detail 

Thanks for looking!