Hi, adding a second post today because this blog is mroe about sewing than kettlebells, and I noticed a friend’s sewing blogroll had my kettlebell post ast he latest update–can’t have that!
Once again Victoria is hosting a Fearless February Sew-Along, so why not join in? Last year I heard about it too late to jump on the bandwagon, but this year at last I’m in early.
What will you sew in February?
The two KS wrap tops are waiting to be coverhemmed. The ivory version has turned out to be very sheer, which looks a little ridiculous in a long sleeve wrap top since it’s clearly not made to be an underlayer. Yet its destiny lies there. I’m on the fence about the sleeve length of the watermelon pink version, which doesn’t fill a gap in my wardrobe at this time either. Should it be a classy elbow length? Or cut at bust height? What do you think? So they are both lingering unfinished. Indecisiveness is the way I make UFOs.
Meanwhile my dusty purple floral jersey that I cut into my first version of a wrap dress back in 2011 or 2012 is back to gathering dust again. I’m not in love with the colours nor the design, but they are OK and jersey selection in Brussels is limited. So I chose it for a muslin. A clear (not greyed) purple looks better on me. Once seeing its near-finished version on me I’ve decided that the floral design doesn’t send the message I want for work, and I am sewing under a deadline. Then the neckline treatment I ususally do, trading a facing for clear elastic on the edges and turned and stitched, I am starting to question since the stitching will bobble over the waist ties whereas a facing wll neatly disguise them, and not show any sporty stitching. But I’ve already put on the clear elastic. Sigh. I should show you pictures to help you give informed opinions but my to-do backlist for sewing is getting longer by the minute, so I’m staving off.
I start my new job at 9am tomorrow. DS is in the crèche and DD at maternelle (preschool, but more accurately ‘nursery school’) to free me up on my vacation day I’m taking to finish up loose ends and get some nice clothes.
I cut a skirt for bike riding, the Burda Classics half-circle skirt. Burda Classsics made it up in a Pince of Wales check and it was very smart with a matching jacket. This is the same one that the Slapdash Sewist made in a light chiffon for a biking skirt, and ended up giving to a happy young member of the family because the hemline was wonky. I cut mine in a grey blended fabric. Not spring, but grey is a business neutral to be sure, unlike dusty purple florals all over. DH remarked, isn’t it a little big? I inserted the zipper. (Yay! Looks perfect.) In the mirror it looks like the ideal skirt for a 8-year-old’s demure school uniform. I’ve hacked off masses of width; over 7″ at the hemline, and shortened it. It still looks demure and silly. Not business-like. But it could redeem itself by taking off more fabric to be something wearable in the end.
Rats.
I had both of those outfits in mind for a very cool pair of grey heeled boots gathering dust.
DH has counseled giving up and going to H&M.
I pulled out two skirt fabrics for a TNT KS A-line skirt which is just barely wide enough for bike riding. Unfortunately I have to admit DH is right, they look a little dowdy on my petite and somewhat wide figure. Neither fabric fits in with my existing work wardrobe.
So I think I will hop on my bike, head out to get some RTW, and call it a day. I just want to go into my new job feeling happy and confident.
Kristy in Sydney (darn hyperlink isn’t working again: http://loweryourpresserfoot.blogspot.be/ ) is an admirable combination of working mum and strict adherent to no UFOs. In her honour I salvaged a long slumbering UFO from a year ago to the top of my sewing list: the Vogue Diane von Furstenberg lookalike wrap dress from their Very Easy collection.
Vogue 8379
My version has been updated today to include cutting the wrap front skirt and upper bodice. My collar and sleeve cuffs are probably lost to oblivion but they will be cut out once DS wakes up from his nap, he is sleeping in the room with the ironing board folded up on the wall. I like to fuse interfacings on uncut fabric and then trim around to get the perfect fit.
My sewing machine is threaded with matching thread in the needle and bobbin.
I’ve staystitched the back neckline.
Time to thread my serger and do major construction. Then back for a photo update. Update 70 minutes later DS is up, but I managed a lot of construction. It’s sewn enough to try it on and the fit loks good. It would have been ideal if I had pressed seams as I went but perfectionism is what stopped me in the first place, and it looks pretty good anyway (it’s just a knit dress, not a tailored jacket, c’mon!)
Anyone update with Google+ storage for WordPress? I’m almost out of WordPress storage.
More later!
In process Don’t you love a new spring wardrobe? For Valentine’s Day yesterday, I got a new job! It’s not just any job. I changed career tracks and now have my dream job. Did I mention the 80% after-tax salary … Continue reading
Sewed up a KS empire waist wrap top, am at the hemming stage. Yay! Handmade by Heidi hosts the sew-in one Friday a month
🙂
Yes, we opened presents according to Belgian traditon on St Nicolas’ feast day, which is 6 December in Belgium. It’s 5 December in the Netherlands. Does anyone know why?
Going to do my first Friday Night Sew In this Friday!
See you there–albeit a few hours earlier than the majority of North American participants 😉
The fourth trimester is the usual 3 months after giving birth when one still looks several months pregnant. Alistair is 9wks but I’m going with being 2mos postpartum, and not a week already into the last month of the fourth tri. Besides, 9 months up, 9 months down.
I’ve made a Burda Easy Fashion paneled skirt in a gorgeous wool, making the lining first to check the sizing.
Still pregnant! Two days after my estimated due date. Baby will come within the next dozen days, that’s the only certainty!
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| De 01 Aug 2011 |
Here I am earlier this month in the famous maternity twist dress pattern, Butterick 5196. It was a vast tent on me at first, but I grew into it!
Lara wrote:Hi! I hope you don’t mind that I followed the link to here from your response post at http://diapersewing.wordpress.com/2006/12/08/diy-prefold-diapers/. I am getting things ready to start my stash of prefold diapers, and reading your comment about the changes you made, I just wanted to ask how the prefolds with the pockets worked for you from how you described you made them? I have read that with a newborn, I really won’t need to add any inserts, but I figure if it will be necessary relatively soon I might as well learn to sew them that way at first since I am not very crafty anyway.
If I could press my luck with questions, I’d like to ask one other….another website suggested making the newborn prefolds larger and said folding the extra cloth in the back down would allow room to grow. I’m curious if you agree that this would not pose a problem?
Hi right back! Glad to see you here, and like most CD advocates I’m delighted to answer questions 🙂
I think newborn prefolds with a pocket insert are a good way to make them quick-drying for those of us who air- or sun-dry. If you plan to use a dryer then stuffing pockets might not be worth the couple minutes of extra work. It’s true, NBs have very small interiors and will hardly wet or soil at all. La Leche League’s guide to counting nappies to check if baby is getting enough says that a soil stain that is the size of an ‘OK’ sign with your fingers counts as one poo. Mothers who use disposables are advised to put in a tissue to see if their NB actually wet a diaper since the nappies are so absorbant. Truth is, you don’t really need a pocket to increase absorbancy. You can fold in, say, a cloth wipe or tea towel and lay that right over the nappy to increase absorbancy for overnight. Stuffing an extra ‘doubler’ or insert into a pocket doesn’t make a nappy any better than one with an insert put over it.
Yes, many people use prefolds that are quite long and fold down the extra in the back while the umbilical cord is healing. For girls, keep the fold in the back but for boys fold down in the front since their urine stream is more focussed.
I would decide which size based on what kind of outer waterproof/water-resistant shell I was going to put over it: what kind of cover. Are you planning on folding a prefold into thirds, then laying in a velcro wrap-style cover and putting it on? Something like a Bummis Whisper Wrap (so I’ve heard, I’ve never used one or seen one in person). You’ll want to choose your prefold size with the cover in mind. Or are you planning to independently secure the prefold with pins or a Snappi, then pop a cover over? In this case the length of the prefold isn’t as important, but you want to keep all the prefold inside the cover or some liquid can leech up and out of the cover, onto clothes.
Prefolds of any size generally keep their value very well because you can use those that become too small as burp cloths and as cleaning cloths.
HTH, Lara!
HappyinAsia wrote: Hi Katharine, what kind of disposables do they use at the creche? They sound totally nasty, but mostly it sounds like they don’t change them often enough. I use them with my girl and got 4leaks in 8 months and no diaper rash whatsoever. The diapers we use are fragrance free, but I was surprised to open a bag of canadian Pampers and smell heavy baby powder fragrance (was the first and last bag!)
Hi there HappyinAsia, I’d say you’re right, they don’t change them often enough and rely on heavy use of rash creme to keep rashiness in check, but DD got her first nappy rash in the hospital on Day 3 so I think she’s just susceptible to skin irritation.
Ick, a strong smell of baby powder sprayed into nappies! Yuck! What are you using, then?
She had 4 mosquito bites recently that were very close together and she itched them even with a soothing homeopathic anti-itch gel over them for days. The whole area puffed up and it looked like an allergic reaction to a spider bite, but there was just one prick in the bite and I killed the mosquito trapped in the mosquito net myself. I also get bumps and itches at the slightest… She’s had eczema for over a month, could be her skin is contributing to it.
Location: Eurasian 