Grow Fonder

I really love pattern testing for companies where I already know and love their products. You already know that you are likely to love the end result. This time I was testing an update to an already established pattern, the Grow Fonder cowl by Appletree Sewing.

I had already been stashing away fabric for a capsule for Lottie and I’ve suddenly realised that if some of the key pieces are grow with me then I get to enjoy it for so much longer. This mustard zebra and grey stripe are key parts of my plan. I just love how the stripe mirrors the stripes of the zebra.

The cowl is perfectly proportioned. I think I like the idea of cowl jumpers on kids. They never seem to keep hoods on, and the cowl is less bulky under a coat too. This is the 3-12 month size on Lottie at almost 8 months and she definitely has some spare room in the length and the sleeves but it doesn’t look to oversized.

I did find the tabs at the end of the drawstrings pretty fiddly and bulky, but that may have been my own fault for wanting to match the colour perfectly and using a bulky knit fabric instead of the recommended woven. I’m pretty sure I would do it neater next time though and I’m not so worried about how these ones turned out to feel the need to do it again.

I fancied making a bit of an outfit to kick-start her capsule so I made a simple pair of leggings to coordinate. These are the free lightning leggings from Made By Jacks Mum, but in the spirit of getting them to last as long as possible I gave them double height ankle cuffs too which can be unrolled as she grows. The pattern has several fit options so these are the looser relaxed fit with space for a cloth nappy. They are surprisingly not actually too big for her given that they are the 6-12 month size. I think if I make more I might need to increase the rise height a bit to give a bit more room for her bum!

I’ve always been a bit scared of pairing different prints together because I don’t think I’m very good at getting the balance of colours and scales right. This outfit however has turned out even better than I expected.

I feel like I’m fan-girling a bit but I really do love the revamped Grow Fonder pattern and already I have plans for two more in the next 12 months to 3 year size! I believe it is being released imminently so it is definitely one that I would wholeheartedly recommend.

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Spontaneous Speedy Shorts

Does anyone else feel a bit caught out by all the lovely weather we have had recently? I realised almost right away that Toby has just two pairs of shorts that fit and even they are on the small side so we needed a couple more pairs pretty urgently!

When I made his harem trousers I realised how much I like them on him so thought they would be a good base for some quick shorts. I could have made them even quicker by omitting the pockets, but I liked the idea of a flash of colour, and I’m hoping these will fit quite a while. Who knows how essential pockets might be by the time he grows out of them!

I used a new reel of multicoloured thread to topstitch the pockets, but unfortunately the colour changes are a bit too spaced out so it didn’t work all that well. Next time I will go back to using my multicoloured overlocker cones instead.

For these I literally guessed a length, cutting them about 3 inches below the crotch. I decided to hem them, rather than add a cuff, so I needed a bit of length to turn up into the hem.

I really like long shorts on little children. A bit less skin to worry about slathering in suncream! These have ended up a little below knee length so he has plenty of growing room. If they start getting too short I can always add a cuff later on.

The green fabric is a little heavier weight than the blue, and possibly a better weight for shorts. Both are cotton lycra so they are light and comfy. I kind of fancy some knit shorts myself!

There’s not really much more to add on these shorts. For a spontaneous sew I think they have turned out really well and Toby will get lots of use from them, possibly even into next summer depending on how much he grows.

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!

Hoodie and Harems- Toddler capsule part 2

I made Lottie some MBJM harems as part of her mini capsule and loved them so Toby needed some in his capsule too! I’ve always been a bit unsure about the dropped crotch on harem trousers, but I think the fit on these is spot on. Plenty of room for a nappy and freedom of movement, but slim legs and cuffs so that there isn’t too much volume.

This purple sweatshirt has only about 10% stretch so it’s been waiting for ages to find a suitable use. These harems work in lower stretch fabrics so it seemed like a good option.

There is a great big through pocket in these trousers, so I thought it would be fun to tie them in with the striped t-shirts. I also used rainbow thread for the topstitching as another fun little detail.

Usually I want the seams to disappear invisibly from the right side, and that was my intention with these. When they are stretched though you can see just a hint of the rainbow overlocking, which I actually quite like!

I have already made Toby an I CAN hoodie since I tested the pattern with Lottie, but haven’t been able to share it yet. This is his second one, and as soon as I saw this monkey fabric on the Poppy Bear Fabrics Facebook group I was sure he would love it! One of his favourite animals is the monkey, and this fleece backed sweatshirt is so soft. This is the basic version without the colour blocking and the pockets so that I didn’t need to break up the pattern.

This time I didn’t have a suitable colour of bias binding, so I went for the simpler version of the hoodie where the seam allowances are just topstitched down. I also topstitched the hood seams, like I have before on some of his hoodies, because I don’t really like the way that the inner and outer hoods move around without it.

I want to save as much of the monkey fabric as possible, so I thought I would use the purple sweatshirt for the hood lining instead. It means that I think I have enough fabric left from my 1m to make another jumper in the future.

Both of these got a thorough toddler road test and passed with flying colours. They have been through toddler gymnastics, climbing on banks, jumping, leaf kicking and stone throwing. He just looked so comfortable through all of it so there will definitely be more. I’m even thinking they might be cute as shorts!

Tons of t-shirts- Toddler capsule part 1

I have a few bits of sewing to share today, but all of them are from the same well used pattern and fairly simple I thought it best to share them as a group. This is the start of Toby’s 2-3 capsule wardrobe.

I made a selection of pick n’mix T-shirts, which is part of the same MBJM (Made by Jacks Mum) pattern as Lottie’s bodysuits. These are all the basic round neck version, but with a few tweaks to add variety. These first two are as in the pattern. I took my time matching the stripe, and I just love the space print. I even bought a bit extra of the space fabric to add a dress to this capsule for when Lottie gets bigger!

Next I added a simple pocket to a plain shirt using the offcuts from the stripes.

I recently bought some rainbow overlocking thread so I thought it would be a nice feature running through all of the little capsule. I did actually buy 4 cones, but I’ve just been using it in the loopers, and matching the needle threads to the fabric which seems to be helping to let the seams blend in from the right side.

I’ve been making friends with my twin needle again so there is a mixture of twin needle and zig zag stitching. Definitely enjoying the finish of the twin needle and the ease of stitching when using walking foot so I need to stop being so lazy in switching the feet over!

Then I started to get a bit more creative. I colour blocked this t-shirt so that the white background had a better chance of staying stain free! Toby is great at eating independently, but somehow tomato sauces get everywhere so I thought the teal would have a better chance of survival!

I also curved both the front and back hems, so this shirt is a touch longer than the others. As an engineering student I was required to have a set of French Curves among other things to use when technical drawing. I’m glad that they get to have a new use now in my sewing space. I’m glad I took the time to create a hem facing because I love the little bit of teal peeking out of the bottom.

The final t-shirt has a whole load of applique. I think it might have taken longer to prepare and sew all the shapes than cutting and sewing the rest of the t-shirt. I have some fusible stabiliser which can be printed on, so I used that to help cut the sea creatures out. Then it was just a case of slowly stitching each one on.

All of these tie in with the colour scheme I planned for Toby’s wardrobe. I’m going for more pattern and embellishment on the tops and keeping the bottoms plainer to avoid pattern overload!

I think this should be enough t-shirts for now, though I would like to add some long sleeve t-shirts/ light jumpers in to the mix at some point. I like that though these are ‘short sleeved’ they come right to his elbows at the moment, which gives a little more sun protection. I also recently bought the MBJM explorer raglan, so there may be one or two more once I’ve printed and traced that one out too!

Grow with me two

I’ve been making a couple more grow with me rompers– one for Lottie, and another as a gift for a friend who has recently had a little boy. When you have a baby you seem to end up with so many clothes for the first few months so it’s always nice to have clothes which will last a little longer.

I put a little handmade label in the gifted romper, and included a little card showing how the romper adjusts to different sizes. I hope they enjoy it!

This time I used a bit of a hack that is talked about in the Appletree sewing patterns Facebook group to simplify and speed up the sewing of the side seams and the drawstring channel. I extended that part of the pattern by about 1cm to give it a seam allowance and sewed the channel down before the side seam so that it could all be done in one pass without needing to switch machines part way down.

On the left- drawstring channel sewn as in the pattern instructions.
On the right- hacked to overlock the seam in one go.

I think it is quicker to sew and looks fairly neat, but it is a little bulkier than the way that the pattern is drafted. If you were sewing lots, then it might be a good time saver, but I think I might go back to the original method in future.

I also made a couple more pick n’mix bodysuits, one for Lottie, and one to gift. It was great to use some of the offcuts as fox appliqués on the bodysuits.

The bodysuits each match the lining of the romper. Lottie’s fits her proportions so well at the moment. She is fairly slim, but with a big cloth nappy so it’s quite impressive to find a pattern that works so well straight off. I’m happier with the binding on these than the banana one too, and I think it might be even better next time if I use my walking foot.

I went with lovely bright snaps on the crotch, though I did have a few issues with them falling apart to begin with. I think it might be that these smaller snaps don’t have a long enough shank for the four layers of fabric at the binding.

I can see Lottie wearing this new romper loads now that the weather is warming up. It’s great to be able to just lenghen the legs a little when we are going out on our daily walk to keep her out of the sun.

Baby mini capsule Part 3- all the legs

This is the final part of my mini series on Lottie’s capsule wardrobe. Find her t-shirts and bodysuits in the previous posts. This time I have tried out two new trouser patterns to finish of the capsule.

First up is the free Petite Pegs by Patterns for Pirates. This is a pretty simple legging pattern with a yoga waistband so it came together so easily! If you want a quick win this is definitely it because there are only two pattern pieces.

Like on the kimono bodysuit, I chose yellow thread to hem to tie in with all the other yellow. It’s a lovely subtle detail though, and Lottie wears these with lots of other colours too.

The second pair of trousers are a bit brighter! These are the High Kick Harems from Made By Jacks Mum, which I bought a while ago as a bundle with the Double Trouble Joggers. I actually made the joggers first, and will share them soon, but I totally love these harems over Lottie’s cloth nappies!

Like the petite pegs, there are only a couple of pattern pieces, and I think these might be even quicker to put together with an overlocker because there are cuffs instead of hems. I will definitely be making more of these both for Lottie and Toby. They just fit that baby nappy proportion so well!

I’m really pleased with how this mini capsule turned out. Perhaps the yellow isn’t the best for coordinating with other things in her wardrobe, but it is so bright and sunny! It’s inspired me to come up with a more detailed capsule wardrobe for Toby next year or so which is already well underway and I’m really looking forward to sharing the planning and the execution. It’s probably the biggest sewing project that I have ever embarked on, though it does get broken down into lots of little parts.

In other news, we’ve been so appreciating our garden at the moment (and knowing how fortunate we are to have an outside space to use while we aren’t so able to get out and about).

There have been lots of changes in the garden as we spend more time in it making it more toddler friendly and tidy. Who knew that being confined to home was going to be so good for organising!

Baby mini capsule part 2- Kimono bodysuit hack

For part two of Lottie’s new wardrobe I went with the Kimono Bodysuit from Brindille and Twig. (See part 1 here.) I’ve been eying it up for ages and finally decided to just go for it! I have a few ready to wear bodysuits in this style and really like that they are super easy to put on and off.

For this one, I did make a few changes to the pattern. I wanted to keep the kimono style wrap front, but omitted the snaps to keep it closed by sewing the overlap into the side seams. This did require a few drafting changes. I needed to make sure there was a little extra at each side to take in to the seam allowance.

I also added a hem allowance to the underlayer. I went for 1cm, and used yellow thread in my twin needle to tie in with the yellow binding.

Finally, I needed to create a new binding piece for the neckline and the crotch edge. These I just approximated by measuring the length of the area to bind and sewed them on stretching slightly. I think next time I could do with stretching the binding around the neck a little more to help it lie flat.

I really like the bright yellow binding contrasting with the blue. It feels very fresh and vibrant. I also found this narrow binding much easier to sew than the wider binding on the Made By Jacks Mum Pick n’mix.

A little trick that I learned recently to help loosen up new snaps is to put a little vaseline on them before closing and opening for the first few times. It definitely seems to have worked here because they open beautifully and don’t feel like they are going to pull out of the fabric.

I really like the crossover front. It feels a bit unusual and is a nice change from all the envelope neck bodysuits. I might use the pattern to make a cardigan at some point too by sizing up, removing the bottom half and tweaking the binding again.

This does fit really nicely at the moment, but I’m not sure I would get it on over some of her bigger cloth nappies. It is definitely not going to last as long as the Pick n’mix, so if I made it again I think I would borrow the bottom half of the roomier fit on that bodysuit instead.

The final part of the capsule will be revealed next week. I think she could do with some trousers next!

Baby mini capsule Part 1- Going Bananas

I’ve had a little bit of a splurge on a few new patterns because a couple of pattern companies have had release sales lately! It means I’ve done another batch cut and sew to create another little capsule wardrobe for Lottie and matching t-shirts for Toby too.

The whole outfit was inspired by these two banana prints that I bought a while ago in a sale at Fabric Godmother. Toby loves bananas, and it’s one the words that he uses often so he was very pleased to see this print.

Toby’s t-shirts are Brindille and Twig ringer tees. I’ve made him the next size up- 18-24 months. It’s a staple that I keep going back to! The fit is quite roomy which is useful when you know that. Toby is a chunky 22 months and still has plenty of growing room.

I made Lottie ringer tees to match, but with my snap neck hack. To go with them I’ve been testing out new patterns. First up is the Made By Jacks Mum pick n’mix bodysuit.

The pick n’mix has loads of options, including a t-shirt cut line and both ‘regular’ and ‘cloth bottom’ fit bodysuits. I’ve gone for the cloth fit, and the snap neckline. There is also an envelope or crew neck option.

I’ve always liked the idea of making bodysuits to go with handmade baby outfits, but I find it hard to justify spending time making something so basic and that can be bought so cheaply. This was a slightly fiddly make. I’m not 100% happy with the binding so I am wondering about doing it as a band in future instead.

On these bodysuits the side seam is sewn after the binding, so I’ve stitched the side seam allowance down with a few little stitches. It’s quite a common feature of shop bought bodysuits too.

The little offcuts from were great for creating a couple of little appliqués. I used bondaweb to fix them in place, and a fusible wash away stabiliser to stop anything from stretching as I sewed. This has been through the wash a couple of times and the stabiliser still hasn’t washed out completely, but it did make the sewing really easy.

I’m looking forward to showing you the next parts of this mini capsule. I have 3 more new to me patterns to share, some of which are about to become firm favourites!

I can zip!

I recently got the chance to be part of a pattern test for a new to me pattern company-Made By Jacks Mum. I figured that it was a great opportunity to try out their pattern instructions and drafting without much risk on my part. The pattern I got to test was the I CAN Zip Hoodie which is aimed at novice zip sewists and has a pretty amazing size range of premie to 12 years! (I received the pattern for free in exchange for feedback and photos during the testing process.)

The pattern has two options for finishing the zip- a simple version or a bound edged version. Its intended as an introduction to zips, and does have some really good tips, especially recommending wash away tape to secure the zip while you sew. Both versions look very similar when the hoodie is closed, it is only if you are looking at the details inside that you can appreciate the bound edges.

I generally avoid bias binding like the plague, but I thought I would give it a go. I found it tricky, especially at the top corner where it all got quite close to the zip. It certainly isn’t perfect but I would try it again, and I do like the finish.

There is also a colour blocked version with pockets, but I thought that being as I was sewing for Lottie and she has very little use for a pocket that I would stick with the basic version. I think I will make Toby a colour block one at some point though because all the samples I have seen look really great!

Sewing wise, I was really impressed with the instructions. They have really clear photographs, and the sample fabrics have been well chosen to have a distinctive right and wrong side. It meant that I could understand the construction with a fairly speedy look through the instructions.

The pattern seems to be a big hit with children too. While I was part of the testing group, all the older children seemed to love it and barely wanted to take it off. I’ve thought about hacking the free Brindille and Twig Raglan Hooded Sweatshirt, but I think now I would just use this pattern instead.

Since the test, the pattern pieces for the hood and cuffs have been altered slightly, but I think it probably would be barely noticeable in this small size. I really like the fit. Lottie is quite long and skinny so it is a bit roomy, but I think that is probably good in a jumper and gives her some room to grow. I would like to make Toby one in fleece for playing outdoors.

I recently ordered some new size labels on Etsy and this hoodie was the first thing to get the label treatment. I’m still not sure quite how to add the labels neatly into a overlocked seam, but stitching this one under the binding was really convenient.