Wrap Over Felt Shoe

Using varicolour wool gives an interesting look

 I have been sewing some felt baby shoes. 

I love this thick felt, although 3mm thick was just about on the limit of what my sewing machine can handle.

I made the first pair as part of the process of designing my wrap over baby shoe knitting pattern. This is not the way I normally work when knitting. Usually I have an idea in my head, and just sort of go for it, adapting and altering as I go along. But for the wrap around on the knitted shoes to work, I knew the shape had to be precise. The best way to get this right was to make a pair, first out of paper and then out of felt.

This green pair was my first go, and they are completely stitched by hand. The button is just sewn on through all the felt layers without a buttonhole, as I was just checking the shape. But they turned out so cute, I thought I would have a go at making a few more. 

To make these a bit more hardwearing and practical I have machine sewn the seam, and just oversewn around the edges by hand with wool. The buttons are functional, and really useful when putting them on a baby's feet. On some I have handsewn around the buttonholes, though explain on the pattern how you could machine sew them if you have this available on your sewing machine.
 
The pattern for these shoes is available to download on Etsy. It comes in two sizes - 0-3 months and 3-6 months. It is very good value (that is to say cheap). The little shoes are very easy to make, and I think the wrap around makes them quite different to other felt shoes I have seen. It would be really fun to customise them with a bit of embroidery, but for the photos I wanted the shape of the wrap around to stand out. I suggest you use the best quality felt you can find. 

If you don't have a baby to make some for, I think with a ribbon attached they could make a really nice Christmas decoration, perhaps with some sweets popped inside. I know I shouldn't even be talking about Christmas at this time of year, but I may have a go at giving some of them the Christmas makeover.

I am sure than there must be software that is useful for creating sewing patterns (I would really welcome any advice with this), but the only way that I know is to very carefully draw the pattern pieces by hand, and then scan them on my printer. So this pattern has the same rustic charm as these little shoes. 

As you can see, I just can't stop making them.

If buttonholes are really not your thing you could us a little velcro.

Skater Girl Skirt

Cutting out the paper pattern.

School holidays are the time when you need a few indoor projects. So my daughter and I decided that it would be a good idea to make a skirt. Since she has not done it before, we thought we would have a go at following a pattern. We were also a bit inspired by the return of The Great British Sewing Bee.

This was the pattern we used.

She picked a light weight cotton, which I thought would be easy to sew, and would gather easily. She hasn't done gathers before, so I thought it would be good to learn a new technique. The skirt is gathered at the front, and has elastic inserted in the waistband at the back.
 

Not quite sure what was up with the beret. I think she was getting in a 
French fashion sort of mood.

A little bit of hand stitching to close up the channel for the elastic.

And here is the skater girl in action

1940s Fashion - New Look Jacket

This is my second post on 1940s fashion. Previously, after my visit to the Imperial War Museum, I wrote a little about the utility fashion of the war years. But in 1947 Christian Dior came out with "The New Look". Although jackets still had the slightly military look, and a nipped in waist, The New Look was more romantic. They often had a peplum, to give a really feminine shape. There was a move away from the austerity and fabric rationing of the war years.

I am really using this as an excuse to show you a jacket I made as part of my City and Guild Fashion course, which I did as an evening course quite a few years ago. It skulks at the back of my wardrobe, as I never seem to have an occasion that is quite right to wear it.

Forgive the terrible photos. I forgot to brush my hair, and that my bottom half was in jeans. My eye is also immediately drawn to all the faults in the jacket, but I guess as I made this jacket two babies and a lot of years ago, it is not too bad. I had a second attempt at photos, but they turned out even worse. At least the garden looks nice in the background. What a contradiction - although I love fashion and clothes, I am also naturally quite scruffy, and would probably wear jeans all week if it were not that they aren't allowed in my job.  Also this is almost the most I have ever shown of myself on my blog. I am a shy blogger, which is also a bit of a contradiction. 

As well as designing and making the pattern from your own block, you had to have a theme and incorporate techniques. (I had a thoroughly good time, learned a huge amount, and met some lovely people. I also ended up with a collection of rather unusual clothes.) 

Sketches where I was working out my design ideas for the jacket

My theme for the jacket was 1940s "The New Look", but with a twist. The twist was that I used a zip as the front fastening of my jacket. Although zips were used in clothing in the 1940s, they tended to be used concealed in the side of the garment, and it would have been more usual to have buttons at the front. 

Drawings of the jacket

The jacket is made up of panels, which was also a feature of the 1940s war years, when large pieces of fabric might not have been available. The black pieces are made of a suedette fabric, and I was really pleased with how the handmade piping between the sections and around the edge of the collar turned out. Though probably the best bit, which you can't really see, is the lining. I hadn't lined a jacket before and probably won't ever again!

Here are some links to other garments that I made on this course: African Skirt, and Shepherdess Smocked Blouse. There is one more that I will show you in the future probably when I am a bit short of knitting news. Although I have been knitting this week, most are Christmas gifts, and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

1940s Fashion - Make-Do and Mend

I have just spent some of the morning at the Imperial War Museum in London. My son is going to monthly mathematics classes nearby, so my daughter and I had some time to kill. We decided to concentrate on just one small part of the museum, which was based on a real family of 10 children, their home and their experiences in World War II. We found it fascinating, partly because the family eventually moved out from central to London to the part where we live.

Clothes during World War II were typically utility clothes. They featured squared shoulders, narrow hips, and skirts that ended just below the knee. Tailored suits were the dominant form of utility fashion. Material was in short supply, and women were encouraged to make-do and mend. 

You are probably not surprised that when we got to the museum shop I was drawn to these postcards reproducing wartime propaganda posters. I am very much drawn to this idea, or as we would call it recycling, so am going to put the postcards up in my sewing room.

Women were also encouraged to knit socks for the troops. 

In a corner of one of the display cases was this sweet little needlecase, which I photographed because I thought it might be fun to try to reproduce it.

If you keep watching my blog, there will be a second part to this post on 1940s fashion.

Big School Wallet

My daughter is off to secondary school in just a few days, and so we started hunting around the shops for a new wallet. There wasn't anything quite right, and I then saw Vicky Myer's 5 Wallet Tutorials. Why not have a go at making one?

My daughter was very specific about what she needed: a pocket for her phone, a space for her bus pass, and somewhere for a tiny bit of cash for emergencies and her door key. They have to hand these things in every day, so it does seem a good idea to have one wallet for everything. 

The wallet tutorials, although all excellent, had lots of pockets for cards, and as we didn't need this, I thought I would just go for it and make up my own design. So with a few mistakes along the way, she now has a bespoke Big School Wallet.

Like Vicky, I do like the idea of recycling fabric, so we used a pair of old denim shorts, and a cotton fabric you may have seen before. The zip pocket for change and the phone pocket were stitched onto the lining piece. I then made the curved pocket flap and rouleau loop and tacked these in place. The lining and blue denim outer piece, with thick interlining piece, were then sewn together inside out, leaving a hole, so the whole thing can be turned out. A few buttons and poppers and I was done. I did top stitch carefully, but didn't do a lot of measuring, so there are a few bits that are wonky. I may have another go at making another one with a bit more precision. It has inspired me a bit for my small squares of thick fabric that I wrote about here, but still have done nothing with. So off to Big School ...

Model's Own Accessories

I made this dress for my daughter before we went on holiday, and had the idea that some photos playing on the beach would be great. Somehow that isn't how they turned out. I think my little girl may be growing up before my eyes. When did that happen? These pictures were taken at the North Devon County Show. You may also notice the change of hair colour, which I agreed to in a moment of weakness, and am very much hoping will wash out before she goes back to school.

This is the pattern I used ....

... and the fabric that my sister will recognise, as I think it was a leftover from some window blinds. It was just the right width, and I like the balloon like pattern. I will probably have another go, and make the version with a different panel down the front, or the shorts version. This was quite an easy make. I made it over two days, though it could be done in one if you are a fairly quick sewer.

I slightly altered the pattern. Instead of using the shop bought bias tape that the pattern recommended, I thought it would look nicer to make my own tape from the main fabric. I had enough material to cut the tape for the front and back neck edges on the diagonal, but was running out of fabric and had to cut the tape for round the armhole straight. But it seemed to work fine. 

We then altered the shoulders to have ties, as this seemed much simpler that trying to get the lengths exactly right, and I thought would make the dress wearable for longer as she grows.  I top-stitched either side of all the seams as I thought it gave it a better finish. I would be interested to know what other sewers do about neatening seams. I don't have an overlocker, and often use a zigzag stitch to neaten, but this always takes a lot of time and thread.

But I am going to get back to some knitting next, as this seems to have become a sewing blog over the last few weeks.

Wedding Pictures

I didn't think I had any photos of my daughter being bridemaid at my niece's wedding in Ireland. But tah dah, there were some hiding on my husband's phone. The dress is really more purple than it looks here. Click Here if you want to read a bit more about the making of the dress.
 

And a few from the reception, where there was pottery painting, face painting, balloon modelling, and I think a lot of fun. I wasn't there as my son had some school exams, which still makes me sad. They have the coolest ever wedding video on Youtube which I will try to link to, though I am not sure if it will work. It makes me well up whenever I see it, although I am someone who cries very easily. The setting by the river is beautiful, but my favourite moment is at the beginning where my husband and daughter arrive at the hotel.

Link to YouTube
 

Upcycled Cushions

I am so happy with my latest sewing project. Mainly because these lovely cushions are for me, but also because I love an upcycle project.

My old cushion covers were looking very sad. I should have done the TV makeover trick of photographing them before in very poor lighting. So I had in mind to make some new cushion covers. Around the corner from my house there is an upholstery shop, that often has a bin of bargain bits outside. A few weeks ago I was having my usual look at the curtain offcuts when I saw there was a massive book of fabric samples propped against the bin. I was delighted when the shop said they did not even want anything for it, and when I got home I very carefully dismantled the book to get the samples out. 

So with most of the plain velvets pieces I have recovered my sofa cushions. Aren't the colours great. I don't think I would have used this variety of colours if I had had to buy the material. They look like jewels. I unpicked and reused the old zips and cushion pads, so this project was a complete bargain.

But I still have a huge selection of fabric pieces left. So any ideas of what I could make with them would be really welcome. Most are really thick brocades, and with quite big patterns. But none of the pieces are bigger than 30cm by 35cm.  The only idea I have had is to patchwork again, and try and make a large funky handbag. The sort of bag I like has room for a book and some knitting.

There were also a few bits of embroidered organza, and I am going to use these to make some little bags for my knitted shoes and toys.
 

Let me know if you have any ideas for what I could make with my hoard of fabric pieces.

"Razzle Dazzle Em"

I promise this is going to be the last version of this dress.  I just thought I would make one more to get my value from the pattern, and this being my third version it really was a bit of a breeze. I didn't stress too much about tacking this time, but did finally work out how to insert the invisible zip properly. I remembered my techniques file from my City and Guild Fashion course, and there in it were the instructions and even a sample for an invisible zip. I must remember to use this file a bit more often.

This fabric was from the lovely Fabricland, and although my daughter doesn't really go for pink, this was a really subtle shade that we both liked. It was also quite a heavy cotton, which was very easy to sew.

So I had already planned to make this outfit, when she suddenly said that she would like to wear it in her end of year show: "Dazzle". So a bit of frantic sewing one weekend, and this time I let her win over the length, as she did have to dance in it. The show was fantastic, though quite emotional, as this is the end of primary school. 

So with the fabric I had cut off when hemming I made one of my "Land Girl Hairbands". I had forgotten how simple these are to make. The pattern is available in my Etsy Shop, and has three versions of tie. I have temporarily reduced the price to just $1. It is really fun to make bands to go with different outfits, but they are also a fairly quick make for anyone selling hairbands at fairs.