Like Sleeves for Olive

A new vest for Olive. I love the yarn, I like the pattern, but I think I am over knitting in fingering weight for babies that grow fast. The rest of the details are on ravelry.

 

Renfrew and Day to Night Top

I picked up this piece of wool blend knit in the remnant basket at Knitwit. There was exactly the right amount to make a Day to Night Drape Top. This is a great pattern for someone who doesn't usually like PDF patterns as it isn't huge, there aren't too many pages to print off and stick together.

 

It went together very easily. I like the way the neckline is constructed.

The only change I made was to the arms. I left off the elastic and cut a piece of fabric to and added it just like you would do a neckline on a knit top. I'd really like to make this again and add the sleeves from the Birgitte tee which fit this pattern.

I needed something to wear under this top in winter so I finally made a Renfrew. I used another fabric I picked up on sale at Knitwit. I think I might be the last sewer to make a Renfrew so I'm not sure there is anything to say about this pattern that hasn't already been said. It is easy, quick and I really like the way the arms and waist are finished with bands.



 

Rain



I've been playing around with a bundle of Rain by Timeless Treasures. I think I might like it almost as much as I like Sketch.

Onion 2026

Onion 2026 seems to have become my winter uniform. This is the fourth one I have made and I wore all four of them last week. I used a remnant from Knitwit for the front and back and some black cotton/elastane from the stash for the sleeves and neck.

 A couple of headless pictures (the bags under my eyes will freak you out!) from the only clean corner of my house.

Deep Space



The pattern for Deep Space is finally finished! You can find it here, here and here.

 The instructions also include how to make this cushion cover from the offcuts of the quilt.

 And how to make a mini version of the quilt.

Sidekick Tote

I have needed a new bag for a while, but a small lip gloss incident recently meant I desperately needed a new one. I'm a messenger bag type of person. I need my bag to go across my body so I don't have to worry about it falling off my shoulder. The Sidekick Tote was perfect.

It is a great pattern, each step is explained well and the finished product is just what I needed. I made the largest size. I used a black and white fabric that I think is half linen from Spotlight a few years ago. I used some Denyse Schmidt for the lining and some Stamped by Kokka for the pocket. I can be a bit lazy when it comes to using interfacing at times. If I think I can get away with not using it, I won't, but I used the recommended interfacing, Pellon SF 10, and it was worth it. So smooth and nice to work with.

I had a roll of black polyproylene webbing so I used that for the handle which saved a bit of time and is easy to clean if it gets dirty.

If you need a new bag I definitely recommend this pattern.



Skinner Hat

I love the magic that is blocking a piece of lace knitting.

 Thanks to this tutorial I discovered the perfect way of blocking a lace beanie. Pop a balloon into the beanie and blow it up to the size you need and you get a perfectly blocked beanie.

 A present for my sister. A little bit late, but in time for the coldest part of winter.

 

More details on Ravelry.

Modern Quilts Winners

Congratulations to Louise and KristyMN!
You have both won a copy of Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe.
Email me your address and I will send them out!

Petal Pod

After my success with the improve blocks I thought I would try something completely different from Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe . The last (and maybe only) time I have used templates was for my Single Girl quilt. I didn't exactly love the process, but I loved the finished product. This is the Petal Pod quilt by Jessica of Twin Fibers.

 I really like all the negative space in this quilt, but also like that it is kind of a scrap quilt. You don't need a lot of fabric for each block. I would be quite easy to make smaller or bigger or change the shape completely.

I made two blocks exactly like the ones in the book and then thought I would try it without the strip in the middle. This is what I came up with. I like the two different shapes together and can see some different design possibilities here. As with my Single Girl I don't love cutting up fabric from templates, but I love the finished product so it is completely worth doing it.

 You still have a day to leave a comment here to win a copy of the book.

Favourite Patterns

I have made a few things for my niece and nephew over the last month from some of my favourite patterns.

Tee for Two shirt - I thought this was out of print, but I found a shop on Etsy selling this pattern.

 Skater Dress, I think this is the fifth one I have made in the last few months. A  note to myself - don't be lazy, get the twin needle out for the hem, you get a much better finish.

 The smock from Ottobre 1/2008. I never get sick of making these, I think I have made them in nearly every size.

Do you have a go to, never fail pattern?

Overalls for Olive

I found this cute corduroy in Spotlight last week, it was down to $4.30 a metre so I bought the last 1 1/2 metres of it. It is that nice and soft baby cord. I found a great pattern in Ottobre 4/2011.

It looks a bit tricky when you first look at it, but really it is a little shirring, finish the top like a peasant dress and then bind the legs and add some snaps. I was dubious about shirring the corduroy, but it is so fine that it works really well.

I made a size 74 and it fits Olive perfectly now. I think she is about 67/68cm tall. If I make another pair (and I probably will, I think these are adorable) I will add a little bit of length. There is a pattern for a pinafore/smock in the same Ottobre which has exactly the same top as the overalls, I think I might have to try that sometime too.
The only thing I disliked about it was the nap on the corduroy was going the wrong way in relation to the way the elephants are facing.
Some photos to show you that Cross Olive is occasionally happy.

Starflower



After my improve tree block success I thought I would try the Starflower quilt by Angela of My Three Sons. 

I used some layer cake squares left over from other projects and some grey spotty background fabric. So quick and fun. I love not having to measure precisely and just squaring the blocks up at the end. This quilt was made with fat quarters, but it is the perfect quilt for a layer cake.



If you want to win a copy of the book head over here to see how.

Tree Quilt

I love the Tree Quilt by Jolene of Blue Elephant Stitches in Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe. I don't do a lot of improvisational quilting so I though I would give it a go. The instructions are really clear and easy to follow and I had whipped up a few blocks in no time at all and it made me wonder why I don't work this way more often. It is fun!

I used different colours of Sketch by Timeless Treasures for the background and some scraps of low volume prints for the triangles. I made four blocks and it is the perfect size for a small doll quilt Apparently we are in need of a few of them here.

If you want to win a copy of the book head over here to see how.

Modern Quilts Giveaway

It is giveaway week! I have two copies of Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe to give away.

I am still so excited to be in this book with such amazing quilters. It is full of wonderful quilts and every time I look through it I decide a different quilt is my favourite. I found a bit of time over the weekend to have a play around with some of the quilts and blocks in this book so over the next week I will share what I have made.

This is my quilt from the book. I used a Moda layer cake by Kate Spain to make mine with a white background.

I tried a few different colour combinations over the weekend. This one uses a background fabric with little red polka dots.

 I used a dark grey background for this one and some low volume prints.

 One of my favourite things to do is play around with blocks and colour combinations in Electric Quilt. I still haven't got the grey, yellow and teal colour combination out of my system.

 And you can never go wrong with grey and red.

So to be in the draw to win leave a comment by Wednesday night Western Australian time 19th June with your current favourite colour combination and you could win a copy of the book.
Yes I will post them anywhere!

Burda 9772 and Christine Pants

I think I bought Burda 9772 when the twins were babies so I have owned it about 8 years. I always meant to make it, but the overalls don't have snaps on the legs and I couldn't be bothered altering the pattern and it does not have the clearest diagrams and instructions, especially where you add the elastic under the arms. It is a very cute patterns though so I thought I would try it for Olive's cousin Chloe who is the same age as her.

I made the size 74/9 months and didn't add the frill. I like the look of the frill, but I am too lazy to try and do a nice rolled hem on corduroy for a baby. I think the straps are way too long, but the good thing about this pattern is you can just remove the buttons and make them smallern and as they grow move the buttons back to lengthen the straps.

 I can't say I enjoyed making it much due to the instructions, but looking at it today I really like it and will probably make Olive one.

 Olive was in need of some pants. This is the Christine pattern from I Think Sew.

 I made the smallest size, size 1. My elastic was smaller at the waist so they are a little shorter there and I used 8mm elastic on the legs so they are a lot shorter there. In the pattern picture they look to be about 3/4 length and size 1 go right to her ankles so they will fit during winter and will be great as shorter pants during spring. This was an easy pattern to follow with a good shape for big nappies. Only one small thing annoyed me about this pattern. You are told to measure the child to see how much elastic is needed. This makes perfect sense and is really easy to do when you are sewing for your own child, but when you are sewing presents it is a bit hard to measure the recipient. It would have been good to just have an average length for each size.