FO A Birthday Hoody

Today Mr A turned 7!  Can you believe that, where have the years gone.  Anyway I'll write more about that later once his celebrations are complete.  Because it's Easter quite a few of his presents haven't arrived yet in the post so I decided on the spur of the moment to make him a birthday hoody.

I've had my eye on this pattern since the new Ottobre mag arrived in my letterbox a couple of weeks ago.  Yes you read that right, this must be some kind of record, they usually sit in my stash for a lot longer than that before getting used.  Anyway there was  a cute hoody in there and the shape and style really took my eye.  I actually traced the pattern out in Mr A's size a couple of nights ago but then when I read the fabric recommendations it was designed for a stretch knit and I wanted to use a sweat shirting with zero stretch.  This combined with the fact that its a slim fit meant it was back to the tracing board.

So this afternoon I went down to the garage and dragged out the fabric and then traced, cut and sewed the whole thing.
So here it is the car hoody.  The appliqué I got from an earlier edition of Ottobre 4/2008 to liven up the black a bit (Mr A chose the black), I also lined the hood and added a band on the bottom.

 The hood lining is fabric I got in a huge destash bundle and was the inspiration for the whole hoody really, it works well as a lining for my car mad boy.

The edge of the hood is meant to be bound in ribbing so I used this to nicely finish the hood and enclose the lining instead of stitching and turning.  I also tried the Kitschy Coo method for rib binding for the first time (been meaning to try this for ages).  I probably should of cut my binding strip a little wider and this was quite thick to do this way but I do like the tidy finish, esp on a hood where you see both sides.

 And on the birthday boy himself:

 I think it may be time to remeasure Mr A as the fit of this is pretty good.  Due to the lack of stretch instead of using a 104 with 116 length like I usually would I cut a 116 with 122 length.  I still had to add the length of the bottom band (well didn't have to but it didn't hurt and Mr A wanted a band) and the sleeves are barely long enough).  Overall I would definitely make this again.  I like the shape of the hood (cut on the fold at the front) and it's a nice slim fit on Mr A.  The only problem is he really prefers zip up hoodies as they are easier for him to get on and off so this may not get worn to school.

So all that remains for now is to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mr A.  Love you!

It's Been A Little Quiet

I've been pretty slack at keeping things moving in here.  Partly because much of my spare time has been taken up planning a big family trip for later in the year, partly due to end of term chaos, and partly because our family of 4 celebrates 3 birthdays in April.
I have still been crafting away.  I have a couple of knitting projects on the go and one test I'll blog about shortly.  I've also been sewing when I get a chance but everything is still in a "not quite finished" state (maybe I should learn to finish one thing before starting another).

Anyway I have the next 10 days off work and I'm hoping to fit some knitting and sewing into that time.  Here are some of the things I'll be working on...

A winter jersey for Mr A which has seen more time spent unpicking than moving forwards in the last week or so, back not he straight and narrow now though.

 A winter coat for Miss M, this is a bit of a labour of love and I can't wait to blog about it when it is finally done.

 A quick wee top for me, well actually I started it about a month ago and it's been sitting ever since.  I suspect it will take me about 30 mins to finish when I finally get around to it.

Does anyone else have crafting plans for the Easter weekend?

FO: Leila's Everyday Blouse (+ Giveaway)

This wee blouse is another test for Lydia of Little Kiwis Closet.  This is the third time I have been lucky enough to test one of her patterns and I have been impressed each time by the attention to detail in the pattern, the myriad of options that she fits into each pattern and also the thoroughness of her testing process.  This time around unfortunately I only had time to test version one of the pattern, which while it is just adorable has actually been improved upon and made even more adorable (can you believe that?).

When I got the call to test this I had a look through my stash and Miss M's wardrobe and I decided to use up some lovely vintage broiderie anglaise that I inherited from Mum's stash, every girl needs a nice white blouse in their wardrobe after all.  In keeping with the vintagey theme I went with the sweet peter pan collar and the puffed sleeves with frill (rather than a band).  I am so thrilled with the result and Miss M loves it.

Although Miss M is 3.5y I actually made her the 18-24m size and added length as required as this size best matched her chest measurement.  I would suggest sizing this by chest measurement as it has plenty of positive ease built in anyway.  After this version was made up the pattern was adjusted slightly to have be narrower in the shoulder so that the sleeve isn't too 'dropped', but other than that (and the fact that I lengthened it) the overall silhouette is the same.  I finished off the sleeves of mine with some vintage lace and used cute kitten buttons I picked up at a fabric sale last year.  I found that this pattern went together well and the instructions were very easy to follow.  The skirt worn in the photos is by the lovely Anne of Threadalicious.

This is a fabulous staple blouse pattern.  There are two collar options (peter pan and a ruffle collar) and size different sleeve options (puffed with band, puffed with frill, puffed with long sleeve, flowing long sleeve, flutter sleeve and cap sleeve), so there really is a blouse for every occasion in there.  It also covers sizes 9-12m up to 8y :-)

Because I love this pattern so much, and I haven't had a giveaway for ages I've decided to run a little giveaway with this post.  Just enter via rafflecopter below and I will draw the winner on 30/3/14 (NZ time).

Thanks for looking and happy sewing.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Staglands

Over the summer holidays our local library ran a a reading challenge for school kids.  There were a series of stages which were completed by reading a certain number of books and completing activities, and with each stage completed you got an entry into the prize draw.  We were very lucky to get a phone call to say that Mr A had won a prize and he was so excited when it turned out to be a family pass to Staglands Wildlife Park.
Today we decided to use the pass, packed up a picnic and headed off.  We had an awesome day there getting up close to the animals.  Here is our day in pictures.

This must be one of the few places anywhere where the main things bugging you for food scraps at lunch time are magnificent peacocks.

 The kids loved the obstacle course and flying fox :-)

 And we ended the visit with a well deserved ice cream and coffee.

A huge thanks to Staglands, the library and Mr A for a fab day out.

Time for the Tooth Fairy

It has been a long time coming but today at 6y11m Mr A lost his first tooth.  It hasn't actually been wiggly all that long and he was so proud.  I picked him up from OSCAR to be presented with this

It came out at lunch time and the teacher taped it to the paper so he wouldn't lost it.  So when we got home he wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy on the back and it's now safely tucked under his pillow.

Here is the aftermath!

And because she doesn't like to miss out here are Miss M's teeth too as she requested, hehehe.

Now I just hope the Tooth Fairy remembers to come tonight.