Shorts, shirts and shirring

Welcome to another New to Me Link Party, come celebrate or commiserate with me on the highs and lows of trying something for the first time!

This month I have sewing related New to Me's for a change.

First up, I tried a New to Me pattern for Baby Bloomers from Vagabond Stitch

The pattern was so easy to follow that I stitched it up twice more!

Of course, shorts need a t-shirt to go with them, so I tried another New to Me pattern from Brindille and Twig

This pattern is free too, so if you need to whip up a t-shirt or two for a child then it is definitely a great one to try. The sewing wasn't altogether without incident, but all troubles were entirely self-inflicted. I was not able to convince myself that no-one would notice the upside down dachshunds from my first cut but, fortunately, I was able to rescue the fabric to make the sleeves! I found attaching the sleeve binding a tad difficult so would probably add that before stitching up the sides next time. This t-shirt is for 12 - 18 months so I suspect it would be even more difficult if I had been making the t-shirt for a newborn. Other than that it was really straightforward to do.

Sadly my third New to Me wasn't anywhere near as successful.

My niece is coming to France for the first time in a couple of weeks and I thought that I would upcycle this dress to make a sundress for her holiday. I don't know her exact size so thought that a shirred top was the way to go. I checked out lots of tutorials, who all stressed how straightforward a technique it was. I found the shirring elastic for sale in the local supermarket, chopped up the dress and set to work.

I stitched the first couple of rows and it wasn't quite as tight as I had anticipated but a couple of the tutorials mentioned that the first few rows might be looser, so undaunted I carried on until I had run out of elastic in the bobbin. Bobbin rewound and replaced I stitched another row, what a difference! Now this looks more like it.

When I had finished stitching with the second bobbin, I had a very tightly shirred piece of fabric but on testing the stretch I think that it is now too tight!

Clearly something is not quite right and I need to find that happy medium between too loose and too tight, so I am hoping that wiser heads than mine out there will be able to tell where I have gone wrong and what I need to do to produce a piece that is gathered but not so tightly that it would be better placed around a wrist than a chest :)

So, these are my New to Me successes and failures this month, now it is over to you. As always the link party will remain open until 23.59 GMT on July 31st, so if you are thinking of trying something new this month but haven't yet here is the nudge that you need. Grab the link party button and take the plunge! Check out the linkers and give them some blogger support for their endeavours too.

An InLinkz Link-up

Then there were three

Once I had made the gorgeous grandson some new shorts for his summer holidays, it was time to get cracking on a couple of t-shirts to complete the ensembles.

As ever I used my go-to Brindille and Twig Lap Neck Tee pattern.

First up, this fun Whale Organic Jersey from Jelly Fabrics that has just been waiting on my shelf to be stitched up into a t-shirt.

Next up, this lovely Organic Jersey stripe fabric from Jelly Fabrics again. I have resisted using stripe fabric before as I worried about the difficulty of matching up the stripes but actually it turned out fine. I think it was probably easier that it was a simple stripe that I was matching. I have some knit fabric that looks like a Fair Isle pattern that I am planning to use for a Christmas top for the gorgeous grandson, but I might need a bit more practise with stripes before I attempt that :)

Last but not least was this Lap Neck Tee made with this fun Flying Hedgehogs Organic Jersey from you've guessed it (!) Jelly Fabrics

I found all of the Jersey fabrics to be 'slippier' than the heavier knits that I have made these t-shirts with before, but that makes them ideal for the lovely weather that the boy will hopefully get on his first summer holiday.

I wish these patterns had been around when my boys were little, not to mention access to such fun fabrics, I could have been a Pro at stitching up boys clothes by now if they had been :)

Good to Go

Remember this hat?

Well, I couldn't just send a hat off to my friend's new grandson, so I dug through my stash of knit fabric from previous projects for the gorgeous grandson and found enough fabric to make this.

My go-to t-shirt pattern from Brindille and Twig. I am definitely getting good use out of that pattern!

This one seemed tiny even although it is only a few sizes smaller than I am now using for the gorgeous grandson.

With the addition of a matching pair of leggings, pattern you will have guessed from Brindille and Twig, I had a much more respectable gift to send off in the post.

Next up some summer sewing for the gorgeous grandson's first holiday :)

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts

More tiny togs

When I purchased the t-shirt pattern from Brindille and Twig recently I also bought a pattern to make matching leggings for the soon to arrive new grandchild.

Making the leggings involved tangling with knit fabrics and elastic! So I procrastinated for quite a while before taking the plunge.

Finally I decided that it was time to get off that fence and have a go :) I misread the measurements for the first pair so the stitching of the elastic top was narrower than it should have been, which I corrected in the green spotty pair. I was thrilled to bits though that they were instantly recognisable as baby leggings!

Then I might have got carried away and made some more pairs :)

So have ended up with five pairs made to date and plenty of fabric left to add to that total.

Well, a baby can never have too many changes of clothes in the early days can they??

I have just seen the really cute hooded top that Cathy at Blueberry Patch whipped up on her brand-new serger, I am so tempted to give that a go too. 

Linking up to

Baby steps

Welcome to TGIFF, the link party that celebrates that Friday finish feeling!

This week I have lots of celebrations rolled up into one very little package!

My first celebration is for the fact that I have never sewn an item of clothing in my life before, other than the obligatory costumes for school plays. So, I am beyond thrilled to have produced a recognisable t-shirt :) It might not seem much to the dressmakers reading this, but it is a big deal for me.

Not only is this my first item of clothing, but it is also the first time I have ever worked with knit fabric.

In May I saw the gorgeous baby leggings and hats made by Cathy at Blueberry Patch and thought that it might be fun to have a go. I followed the link to Brindille and Twig patterns and couldn't resist buying a pattern (or two!) Well it was May is for Makers over at LR Stitched, so it would have been rude not to :)

I have to say that working with knit fabric wasn't the easiest thing that I have ever done, and there are definitely a couple of wavy seams in there, but all in all I am pretty pleased with my first attempt with knits.

Which is just as well as I might just have got a bit carried away when I ordered the fabric from Fabricworm and ordered all of these too!

I think that I will have another go at a t-shirt before I attempt the even scarier combination of knit fabric and elastic for matching leggings :)

So, that's my TGIFF finish now it is your turn to link up and celebrate your finishes. Don't forget to check out the other linkers to spread the celebrations around!

An InLinkz Link-up