Our Creative Spaces and Elsie Marley KCWC days 2 and 3

So super efficient and organised am I, that today I can lump 3 posts into one. Fantastic! What a time saver! This is very lucky as time is not something many of us Mummys have these days. Actually, I don't think Mummys have ever had the luxury of time on their hands but that's a whole other post.

So back to the main reason for this post, the one hour a day sewing challenge set as part of the Elsie Marley Kids Clothes Week Challenge. Tuesday's hour allowed me to applique a little dinosaur onesie for a friend who is going to be a Grandmother soon.

 I am quite sure dinosaur experts would have a fit and criticize the non specific nature of  my dinosaur, but I like him.

The little zigzags on his back were created with ric rac if you haven't already guessed.

 And this was yesterday's creation much to the happiness of Dora's number one fan (who admits, even to me, that she has more Dora stuff than any little kid could ever need.)

 It's a bubble skirt made using a pattern from Making Clothes for Children by Emma Hardy . I've raved about this craft book author before. I love her simple and straightforward method of making really cute things and this was no exception. It took me 1 1/2 hours (including the time that it took me to unpick a whole bunch of lining fabric that had folded over double under my machine) to make the skirt and she loves it.

You can see where the lining meets the skirt outer to create the bubble effect in this photo. You can also see one of the many plasters currently being worn as an important accessory by Miss E. Does anyone else need to take out a second mortgage in order to keep their children in plasters? I believe she went to kindy wearing 4 plasters this morning. I hasten to add that most of the injuries that the plasters are protecting are weeks old or absolutely miniscule but they are important to E so I tend to just give in and give her a plaster! 

Back to the skirt... it has an elasticated waist so no buttons or zips. Super quick and very cute. One thing I would change next time is to make the skirt out of a less crushable fabric. I can imagine this skirt is going to be a nightmare to iron (when that ever happens... hah!)  and the pure cotton creases like you wouldn't believe. E is happy so that's the main thing! She has worn it to kindy this morning so I am expecting it to be covered in paint and playdough and mud by this afternoon.

There are some fab outfits being shown off on the Elsie Marley KCWC flickr group so go and grab some inspiration there. And while you are at it, pop over to Our Creative Spaces and check out everyone's Creative Spaces. I can guarantee that you'll be glued to your computer for hours.

So late I know - Elsie Marley Kids Clothes week challenge day 4 & 5

I've finally got around to blogging about this little top I made as part of the Elsie Marley Kids Clothes week challenge. It's a size 3-4. I need your help. Do you think that it should have the bear peeping out of the pocket....

Or no bear?

Let me know what you think.

Kids Clothes Week Challenge - Day one

Here's today's finished piece for the Elsie Marley Kids Clothes week challenge. I love this dress. It's so adorable.

 I have just managed to squeeze E into it to show you what it looks like. It's a generous size 2 (E is 4 and the dress is pretty snug around her arms) but it would definitely be a great fit for most kids aged 2 and 3 and if you got it for a 2 year old, it would probably do 2 winters.

The little teacup pocket is made from pink wool felt and has a floral ribbon trim on the edge of it. The same trim is along the bottom of the dress.

The little mouse is a finger puppet!

The dress is partly lined with a teacup print fabric and there are hard wearing nappy snap buttons on the shoulders for easy dressing. I'll be popping this dress into my Felt shop as soon as I have played a game of Monopoly with the model!

Kids Clothing Week Challenge

Oh hello. Yes, I'm still here. Yes I know I have been really really rubbish at blogging lately but I'm going to make it up to you this coming week. It's Elsie Marley's Kids Clothes Week Challenge (KCWC) this coming week and I can't wait.

To join in, you need to commit to sewing for kids one hour a day for a week. This is great for me because I've been avoiding the sewing room lately and I need a great big boot up the backside to get myself in there again.

My girls have enough clothes to last them for several winters so I probably won't be making any for them. Instead, I'll be making things for my market stalls and Felt shop. I have so much beautiful fabric that needs using and my addiction to sewing patterns and craft books means that I won't be short of inspiration.

E's fairy wand dress made during last year's challenge

I nearly lost large amounts of my patterns and books (not to mention my machines) on Friday night. Luckily, Mr Cotton Kiwi was wide awake and checking our basement for signs of flooding at 3am and managed to save them all when a huge wave of water came through my sewing room. It's not the first time our basement has flooded but my sewing room rarely gets wet. This time, a few leaves had got stuck in a drain which meant the drains backed up and the water came through the door. Ugh! 

M's reversible dress from last year's challenge

My poor husband was out there in the pouring rain creating a water diversion system that Macguiver would have been proud of. It turns out the roots from a tree next door have grown through the stormwater drain and almost completely blocked it so fingers crossed our new neighbours will be happy to remove the tree.

I've been in my sewing room today giving it a good tidy so I'm all set for next week. Can't wait!

Gathering insanity - Day 5 Elsie Marley Kids Clothes Challenge

I spent the day sewing at the beach today. My lovely friend Soo has just moved into the most incredible house right on the beach. I took one look at her dining table in the brightly lit front room and invited myself around for a day of sewing, coffee and chat. So much nicer than sitting in my basement sewing room on my own!

Look at that gorgeous Marimekko fabric.

Lunch. Homemade Leek and Potato Soup. Yum!

And this is what I made. (The skirt and one happy little girl.)

Kipper the cat had quite a lot to say about being disturbed from his nap for a photo shoot.

(and if you are wondering about the title of the post, that's what it felt like everytime my gathering thread snapped whilst making the skirt)

Visit the Elsie Marley Flickr Group to see what the others have been making.

My Creative Space and Kids Clothing Challenge Week Day 4

Today's Creative Space is tied up with the Elsie Marley Kids Clothing Week Challenge that I'm joining in with (check the last few posts to see what else I've been making).

My Creative space is this 1970s reversible pinafore dress that I have nearly finished making for Madeleine. There are just two pattern pieces (if you don't count the pocket!) so it's really quick and easy. Maddy loves that she could change her mind about what she wants to wear while she is out. I used a white light weight denim on one side and cord on the other. I love the white print fabric but have been too scared to use it because I've had visions of whatever I make being wrecked by tomato sauce, paints or mud on the first wearing. Now I can relax because even if it wrecked the other side can still be used and my time hasn't been wasted. (edited post: Ive just realised that the flowers are upside down on the white dress. Doh! Now I remember why... I didn't have enough fabric to do them the right way around on both sides of the dress and intended putting that side underneath so it wouldn't be noticed. Oh well... it'll serve me right trying to make things too quickly!)

I'm also in the middle of making korker hair clips using this amazing tutorial by CJ of Pink Tea (check out the rest of her blog while you are there. She is a very talented lady!) I haven't had much luck finding the crocodile clip style hair clips yet so if any kiwis know where to find them locally, please do let me know!

Eloise and I popped into our local op shop on the way home and a dig through the fabric section turned up this gorgeous cotton-lycra print which is going to be a skirt for me. I also found some wonderful old kids books and a fantastic Debbie Bliss knitting book (because obviously I don't have enough knitting patterns already!). The best find though had to be this dinner service. I am totally in love with it and can feel a collecting spree coming on to try and find extra pieces of it. Don't you love the green?

I'm going to grab a coffee and spend an hour or two on the computer today gathering inspiration.

Visit the Elsie Marley Flickr Group here to see all the amazing kids clothes being churned out this week.

And pop on over to Kirsty's to see what other creative genius is going on.

Please all excuse all the pink

Day 3 of the Elsie Marley Kids Clothes Challenge and my sewing room has been a whirr of activity. My overlocker is speaking to me again (I think she just wanted to be used but I've been grumpy with her for so long I've been ignoring her and she has just got stiff and noisy and was dropping lots of stitches. Now she has had a good work out, she seems to be working again.) Okay. I'll stop talking about machines like they are people now. Obviously the fabric fumes getting to me.

Here's Eloise wearing the merino top I made for her yesterday.

Please excuse all the pink in this post. It's not just the little girl thing. It's because my overlockers is threaded with pink thread at the moment and I was trying to save time by getting all the pink stuff out of the way. I promise to show you other colours during the rest of the week!

I made her the leggings last week and the skirt is one I made for Maddy years ago

that she refused point blank to wear.

Both my girls have been home from school and kindy today. It actually worked really well as they play really well together most of the time so I was able to get a lot more sewing done than I would have done if it was just one of them. Eloise could have gone to kindy in the afternoon but Maddy was begging her to stay at home and they were playing some great games so I let her wag off kindy. (Bad Mother!)

I finished the little tunic dress and thought I'd try it on Eloise just in case it did fit. It fits perfectly so that's another thing ticked off the list for her winter wardrobe.

It twirls quite well too!

I mentioned yesterday that the bulb had gone in my sewing machine. I still haven't replaced it so there's no night sewing for now, but I made use of yesterday evening to do lots of cutting out. I made this hoodie for Maddy using Butterick 5164. It's another pattern that I have used a lot and is really quick and easy. Great if you want to start using knit fabrics and want to start somewhere simple.  It does make up really big though. Maddy is wearing the size 4 and she is a tall 6 1/2.

And because I had just enough of the pink star sweatshirting left, I made their babies hoodies too. Jasmine on the left belongs to Eloise and Caitlyn on the right is Maddys. The girls were very excited and pranced about the house for about half an hour in their matching tops. Very cute!

I got most of a reversible dress finished for Maddy but it needs hemming and buttons on it so I will save that for tomorrow. Phew. I'm off for a cup of tea and a lie down now!