Inspiration Please

After a crazy few weeks I am thinking about sewing again and I need some inspiration. I would love to make a couple of pinafore style dresses for Miss M for winter and I have some fab wool fabric and printed cord that would be just perfect. So I am asking a favour of all you readers. Hit me with your fav links to either pinafore style patterns (can be bought patterns etc, and I dont want the sort that cross over at the back smocket style) or to pictures of such dresses for me to get some ideas and inspiration. I know a lot of you spend time reading crafty blogs or even looking at kids clothes online and I would love some help on this one :-)

FO: Trousers for Miss M

These wee trousers/leggings have been in the making for so long that I can't actually remember when I started them.  It has been one of those projects that would get a wee bit done and then sit aside for ages before the next wee bit got tackled.  That said they actually went together really well and I love the result.

The pattern I used was once again from an Ottobre mag, this time from issue 1/2011 pattern number 9.  There was something about this pattern that jumped out at me when I was looking for leggings to go with the Fiona's Top I knitted for Miss M at the end of last year.  I had some fabric in stash in the perfect colour to match so it was just a matter of getting them made.  I love the wee gathers at the bottom of the legs on these and I picked up the perfect vintage buttons for the finishing touch from Holland Road Yarn Company a few weeks ago :-)

So here they are...

The legs are the same length they are just sitting funny in the photo

I made a 68cm size and Miss M was approx 68cm at last measuring which was some time ago now.  The rise is good on her over a cloth bum and there is plenty of length in the leg still for her, if anything they are a bit long at the moment.

Hi there

Look what I've got

I'm off

Cheesy!

FO: Winter Explorer

During all the mayhem that was April and birthday time I decided in my ultimate wisdom that it would be nice to make something for Mr A for his birthday.  Yes call me crazy but in my defence this was before things started going pear shaped and turning truly chaotic.
Anyway I had some gorgeous 100purewool worsted weight yarn tucked away and earmarked for a new vest for him as he had well and truly outgrown his old one and so that's what I decided on.  OK so it didn't quite get finished in time for his birthday but  nearly got there and it was done before the end of April :-)

The pattern I used was the Explorer Vest, which is a fabulous top-down seamless vest pattern and the fit is fantastic, I will certainly be knitting more of these in years to come.  I did the 3T size for Mr A and although I usually have to add length in the body for him I didn't bother this time round and the fit is perfect.  The yarn as mentioned in 100purewool 3ply worsted in colourway Winter Joy, with grey trim.  This used about 1.5 skeins of the min colour and 0.5 skeins of the trim.

Please excuse the desperate need for a haircut.

I am really pleased with this wee vest and Mr A loves it so you can't ask for more than that.

A Week of Birthday Madness

Over a week in April three of the four members of our family celebrate their birthdays.  As you can imagine this makes for a pretty crazy time of year and this year seemed to be worse than ever.  So here are some pics of what has kept me busy and away from the computer over the last week or so :-)

First up was my birthday, this unfortunately ended up like this...

...a wee boy on IV antibiotics for an infected bite which meant trips to the hospital every 6 hours for another dose.  Not how I had intended to spend my birthday but there you go.

Gran was staying so there was lots of time taken up with her enjoying the kidlets.

Miss M learned how to do this all by herself.

There was a birthday cake to be made for Mr A to take to daycare.

A very excited wee boy (who was thankfully now feeling a lot better, although still a bit knocked about by the antibiotics) went on the train with Mummy, Gran and Miss M and went to see The Wiggles live in concert!

The wee boy turned 4!  Where did the time go?

Time for Daddy's birthday which he spent playing his new computer game with Mr A.

And finally a late night making this..

...for Mr A's birthday party :-)

And finally Easter :-)  There were presents from Granny and Papa..

And an Easter Bunny hunt (in jammies and sheep gumboots naturally).

Now I feel like I need a couple of weeks sleep to catch up!

Look what I can do!

I can do this all by myself aren't I clever?

FO: Special baby gift

A dear friend Julia had a gorgeous baby boy a couple of months ago and you would have thought I would have been organised enough to have a gift all ready for the arrival, but no!  With life getting in the way I finally got this wee jersey to her last week so I can now update here with this FO.

I blogged a sneak peek of this some time ago.....

And here is the finished jersey :-)

I have had my eye on this pattern for years and was so pleased to have an excuse (and the time) to finally knit it.  Yes it is simple but there is something about the wide rib and the raglan shaping that I think makes it a perfect baby boy jersey.  Also it is completely functional!  I am not a fan of jerseys for wee babies as they are invariably difficult to get on and off but this one actually opens right down the back and fastens with domes so you get the look of a jersey with ease of dressing - ingenious!  So the details.  The pattern is from a Phildar magazine, number 447 and this was one of the very first Phildar magazines that I ever bought (I am now completely addicted to them).  They have the most lovely simple and stylish knits for babies and children and are just a bit different to local patterns.  I guess things have changed a bit since the introduction of Ravelry and so many online patterns but I was craving something 'different' to knit and having to send for the books from France and translate the patterns from french was not going to stop me.  Although Phildar occasionally bring out one of their pattern books in english I tend to just use the french versions, they are cheaper, there is more choice and once you have a good translation sheet for abbreviations it is easy enough to follow the patterns.
So anyway this is from Phildar Layette number 447 and I knitted it in Bendigo Luxury 4ply in colourway Stone.  This yarn is lovely and soft although I did find the 4ply varied in thickness a wee bit through the ball although this wasn't obvious once knitted up and blocked.
Overall I was pretty happy with this FO and glad that I finally got it to it's intended owner (before it was too small).  Here is a pic of it in action, isn't he just scrummy?  :-)

FO: Trousers for Miss M

Recently I had the opportunity to test a new pattern for trousers/leggings specifically developed to fit over cloth bums!  Since I was just starting to think about some sewing for Miss M to cover autumn/winter I snapped up the chance and here are the results.
First of all I LOVE this pattern.  It is super quick and easy, I whipped these up in about 20 mins including the cutting out, and the fit is fantastic on my wee one.  I did a size 72cm and Miss M is only about 68cm long so although they are a fantastic fit in the rise they are a bit long in the leg still on her, but hey that just means they will last through winter ;-)  As the pattern was developed for a fabric with 2-way stretch I chose a pink and white pinstripe cotton lycra for my prototype pair.

I was so happy with these that I just had to whip up another pair.  This time I used some merino I had in stash and as it was only really a one-way stretch I added about 1cm to the rise to give plenty of coverage over the nappy.  The results...

This pair do seem to cling a bit more around her nappy but I think that is really just down to the fabric choice.  This pattern will definitely be my "go to" pattern for trousers for her for this winter.  I'll be sure to blog more about it upon it's release :-)