Time for a change- Toddler capsule part 3

I’ve never really been much of a refashioner. The refashion challenge on the Sewing Bee has always felt like a bit of a mystery to me. How to visualise how something could become entirely different! This means that I usually start with cuts of new fabric, nice and flat and without seams or other features to work around. So it’s a bit of a change for me to be cutting two things for Toby from some of my maternity and post maternity clothes.

I found a pair of linen/viscose Capri length trousers which are far to big on the waist and a Raime Miette skirt that I made after Toby was born, but hasn’t seen much wear. They were both perfect for turning into summery trousers for Toby. I recently downloaded the High Tide Trousers from Made By Jacks Mum so then it was just a case of planning how to make the most of the fabric available.

It definitely took a bit of figuring out how to get all the pieces out and on grain. I had to let out the hems to manage it! There was a lot more usable fabric available in the skirt than the trousers so I decided that the best route forward was a contrast waistband and pockets.

It really is ages since I last sewed a woven garment, so I was a but unsure as to how well these would fit over his nappy. Toby is also quite a bit shorter than the age 3 size at the moment, but I figured that being as these trousers are designed to be rolled up anyway I wouldn’t worry about shortening them. I can always add an extra button to give an additional length option.

At the moment, the rolled up length is ankle grazing when standing, and about knee length when sitting or on his bike which is actually really lovely for this current beautiful weather. Being covered up but loose fitting and cool saves too many worries about sun cream!

I used a nice new fine needle to sew, and then finished the seams on my overlocker because the fabrics do both fray. I didn’t want this to be a really complex sew, so I decided to skip the back welt pockets and Toby certainly wont miss them! The front patch pockets are more than roomy enough for collecting treasures, and I even remembered to pop a handmade label in to the side seam of one pair.

One of my favourite parts of the pale blue pair is that I was able to reuse the faux drawstring from the capris into a functional one in these trousers. The instructions tell you to use buttonholes for the drawstring, but I already had some 5.5mm grommets which were perfect and speeded up the final few sewing sessions too. Because these have an elasticated waist they are still really easy to pull on and off for changes, but look pretty smart too!

Now I’m just hoping that the good weather holds so he can get lots of use out of these for the summer!

Advertisement

Memory Blanket

Do you have clothes that you keep, not because you intend to wear them but because they have memories attached? Last Christmas I turned some of my brother’s military t-shirts into a cushion for him so that he could enjoy them without having a stack of unworn things to drag around. This year, my sister asked for something similar for her birthday, and presented me with a while stack of her event t-shirts to create something from!

I have to admit, the scariest part of this whole project was starting the cutting out! Unlike most dressmaking projects, if I made a mistake, the fabric could not be recut or replaced with something else because each t-shirt had it’s own sentimental reason for being included. For that reason, I did spend a while procrastinating and sketching out a couple of options for laying out the blanket top. It was quite dependant on the dimensions of the various logos and I definitely measured and re-measured them several times before I made any final decisions.

Once the cutting was committed to, this actually went together fairly quickly. I enjoyed arranging the pieces to make a pleasing arrangement of colours across the spread, then set about attaching them together in rows on the overlocker.

Once all the rows were constricted and attached together, I backed them all with a fleece blanket to make it all snuggly. It definitely helps with the weight and drape of the whole thing too as the t-shirts were all different weights and some were quite light. I decided that it was easiest to attach the two wrong sides together, then turn the whole thing through a hole. I then hand stitched the hole closed and topstitched all around the edge to help it sit properly.

I didn’t want to worry about actually quilting the two layers together and I’m fairly sure that the blanket will wash and soften naturally over time anyway. It is definitely more fun to look at than the stack of t-shirts!

Simple Sewing

This is not a dressmaking project, but something much simpler.  I’ve been finding my sewing time much reduced these days so this is just a quick project, but one that I have been getting a lot of use out of!  We have been using reusable cloth nappies, and it occurred to me that it wouldn’t generate any extra washing to use cloth wipes as well.  The wipes would just be washed along with the nappies.  It is possible to buy cloth wipes (we have some of these which I use for babies face/hands), but I figured that I am competent with a sewing machine so I simply dug out an old towel and set to work.

These wipes are made from an old microfibre towel which rarely got used. An ordinary cotton towel would also work just fine, but this towel is both very quick drying and not very bulky so it seemed perfect for this project.  I cut 15cm squares, rounded off the corners and then went around the edge with my overlocker to stop them from fraying.  It has been a great project to do in small batches while baby Toby is asleep or content for a few minutes.

Once the cloths are complete, I keep them in a basket next to our changing mat.  They can be moistened with just plain water, but I have been using a spray bottle and have mixed a few simple and baby friendly ingredients.  Here is my approximate “recipe”:

1 tbsp. Sweet Almond Oil (for moisturising and ‘glide’)

1 tbsp. Castile Soap (for gentle cleansing)

A few drops of Lavender Oil (for scent and its antibacterial properties)

200ml cold water

In fact, we now keep some of these wipes and a smaller spray bottle in the nappy changing bag so we can also use them when we are out and about too.

I know for most people reading this, nappy changing and baby wipes aren’t part of your daily routine, but perhaps if you use make-up removing wipes or other similar products you could also consider using something like this.  Research by Water UK suggests that baby and facial wipes account for over 90% of the contents of sewer blockages and ‘fatbergs’ because they don’t break down or biodegrade, and contain plastic.  See the full report here, but I’m willing to try and improve the situation by cutting out the need for these wipes as much as I can.  Let me know if you give it a go too.  All I need now is to make a little bag to contain the wipes in the changing bag and make them as convenient as possible.

Maternity Modifications 2!

While I have managed to sort out a few options for everyday maternity wear, it turns out maternity work wear is far more complicated to find!  I am an outdoor education instructor, and while I’m not planning on hanging around at the top of the climbing tower much anymore, I don’t want to totally give up on being busy outdoors.  Unfortunately, the only UK supplier I have found of maternity walking trousers is fairly limited (and I had to take the elastic of the waistband in about 3 inches even for the smallest size).

Fortunately, I have a few things which I don’t wear often or don’t fit well to modify.  First up is a pair of walking trousers.  I could have just removed the waistband in the same way as my jeans, but these trousers had a nifty side adjustment already which gave me an idea about modifying them at the side seam instead.  I unpicked the side seam about 20cm on each side and then tried them back on to see how much extra room I needed to create.

I had a bit of navy lycra in my stash, so cut out some triangles of about the right size, and hemmed the top edge.  Then I went about inserting them into the side seams where they had been unpicked.  I decided to make them a little bigger than I needed them right now to give me a bit of space to keep growing.

Once they were in, I tidied up the waistband edge, and stitched it all down.  The next problem is that the original side adjusters were obviously going to be way too short.  I thought about taking them off and replacing them with a new longer set, but thought they might be more versatile if I added to them instead.  They currently close with Velcro, so I bought a couple of rectangular sliders which the current strap can slide through and fasten the Velcro behind.  Then I sewed these into the end of a strap extension.  It sounds complicated, but it is actually really simple to look at.

I’ve also been a bit short of jumpers and layers which fit properly to do up, so I adapted an old softshell in a similar way.  This time the sides are opened from the bottom hem upwards about 25cm and I added similar triangular inserts.

The insert is essentially a godet, so if you are thinking of doing something similar and want a bit of sewing advice Liz has a tutorial, as does By Hand London.

 

This jacket had a drawstring at the bottom originally, and the side seam coincided with some eyelets which helped adjust the elastic.  I decided that it would be worth keeping the drawstring feature, so sewed the lycra into the side seams before hemming so that I could keep the channel clear.  I had to add some new eyelets and elastic, but it works really well, stopping the jacket from riding up and keeping the draughts out!

I love that these things fit me now, but have enough adjustment (hopefully) to keep me comfortable for the next couple of months too.  Now I’m all ready for more adventures!

P.S. Apologies for the low quality pictures.  My normal cameraperson/husband has been away a lot recently, so these got taken on my phone using the timer and the contrast/exposure/quality is just not so great!

 

Maternity Modifications

In the last couple of weeks it suddenly feels like none of my clothes fit, and trousers especially are all really uncomfortable. I didn’t want to spend loads on a whole new maternity wardrobe to wear just for a short while, so I have been keeping my eye on the local charity shops to find some things that I could alter. Well I came up with two pairs of skinny jeans and a skirt, and I think I spent £6.50 in total on them, so not a bad start!

There are quite a few tutorials online about modifying clothes for pregnancy. Two that I found particularly helpful were Rachel from Bobbins on my Mind, and DIY maternity, a project by Megan Nielson. Both suggested altering things by removing the original waistband and substituting a stretchy band instead. So, armed with my chalk and a pair of scissors, I set to work!

I drew on approximately where I wanted the stretch band to start by putting the trousers on and seeing where my bump began. Then I just curved this line up towards the original waistband. I didn’t bother trying to unpick anything except the belt loops, and just cut the lot off! Then you need to carefully trim out the metal parts of the zip, so that you don’t catch them when you are sewing. The stretch panel I just cut from some ribbing from Guthrie and Ghani for this first pair, and used similar dimensions to the end result of my pleated maternity skirt. The tutorials above talk you through sewing it all together, but it is very intuitive, and I am really pleased with the end result.

This red pair were my first attempt, and I did find that topstitching was a bit of a pain. My machine didn’t really like all the layers, and did skip some stitches. I doubt anyone is going to be looking that closely though and they are so much more comfortable to wear.

With one success under my belt (literally) I cut into the other trousers and the skirt. For these I had a rummage through my fabric stash to find some suitable jersey (this is cotton spandex from Girl Charlee) and I think all of them are going to get plenty of wear in the next couple of months.

I’m particularly pleased with the topstitching on the skirt.  It matches really well with the existing stitching.  The skirt initially was below the knee, and made me feel a bit frumpy, so I cut off 4.5″ and sewed a new hem.  It feels much more wearable now.

There is definitely a bit of space for more growing, but they fit well enough now to be comfortable.

I am loving that these are so much more cost effective, and sustainable than buying new in the shops.  It really surprised me how much it affected my sense of self wearing my one pair of maternity jeans, which weren’t quite my style.  In these ones I feel like myself again, and it feels good!