More mama pads

My project last week was really successful.  I whipped up a few more mama pads.  They are a seriously fast and easy project.  It wasn't all plain sailing though.  My overlocker apparently doesn't like to over lock several thick layers of fabric, and getting around the curves was a little tricky.  By contrast when I used my sewing machine for the finishing, it sewed through the layers like a hot knife through butter.

These have wings (snaps to be attached when I get some more), and are about four layers of bamboo fleece.  I find bamboo fantastic for these because they are so absorbent, but cotton would work as well.  I cut the hourglass shape of the pad out first, and then cut the wing shape out of two layers of PUL.  Make sure that the wing piece is larger than the absorbent pad.  I over locked the absorbent pad together and then attached it to one layer of the PUL with two lines of stitching in the hopes that they will stay put and be comfortable.  I then over locked all the way around the PUL to create a nice finish.

I also did a couple of smaller mama pads.  These only have a couple of layers of cotton fleece, and are smaller in size to round out my collection.

This was a very satisfying project.  Its a really easy beginner project, and there are heaps of patterns and tutorials out there.  You don't need any special fabrics (although if you have cloth nappy materials they are helpful).  Give them a go, just think of all the savings you'll make over your lifetime.

Cloth pad tutorial - Natural Suburbia
Jan Andrea's pattern
Directory of other cloth mama pads
My previous posts here and here

Are you inspired? Or does the whole idea just gross you out?

Birthdays

My project this week is birthday prep.  And the best part is that I am going away for my birthday for a weekend without the girls! I'm very excited to see some of my friends and family and swan around the capital without two little ones in tow.  I think I will go to Te Papa, and get sushi, and do a little shopping.

Summer Blouse

*The Facts

Fabric: Two floral pillowcases from the Hospice Shop
Pattern: Simplicity 9502
Year: 2000
Notions: None
Time to complete: 6 hours
First worn: October 2011

Wear again? Yes! I'm wearing it right now

Total Cost: 25 cents

I made myself a top, and its awesome! 

But, first things first, its not a Sorbetto.  I had intended to make the version of the Sorbetto by Mena over at the Sew Weekly, and I printed out the pattern and everything.  Then, because I was being extra good, I actually measured the test square to make sure that the pattern had printed out properly.  It hadn't.  So without access to a printer I had to find another pattern instead.  Initially I thought of drafting something myself, but I really wanted to make something that I knew would be mostly right when I put it on (not always a given with my drafting skills).  And then I found this pattern in my stash.  Its a great pattern for using narrow fabrics with because there are side pieces to both the front and back of the top.

It was just right for my two upcycled pillow cases (they had the same fabric).

Its a pretty straightforward pattern to work with, although you do need to be able to match up curves, which seems a bit more daunting than it actually is.

I did make some modifications though.  Because I didn't have a zipper, I cut the back piece on the fold.  It worked fine, but it is a little big.  Next time I use the pattern I'll definitely have to use the smaller size.  I also altered the length.  The pattern comes with either a tunic length (view A) or a top (view B).  The top was too short, and the tunic was too long, so I cut my material longer than the top and shorter than the tunic and it turned out exactly where I wanted it to be.

I altered the sleeves as well, because the pattern looked huge and poofy.  So I redrafted them to be a little shorter, and instead of gathering the sleeves, I pleated them.  I love the pleated sleeves, its my favourite feature of the top.  It makes me look a bit top heavy but I don't really mind.

The only part of the blouse that I'm unhappy with is the bias binding.  I used the same binding as for P's nightie, and it just isn't really very good.  The orange fabric has a little bit of stretch in it anyway, and its really hard to iron crisply.  And despite all my ironing and pining and careful sewing, I still didn't manage to get the binding right.  Its really frustrating so I think I will definitely need to redo it at some point in the future.  

But all in all, I'm really happy with the top.  I wore it to work, and felt great in it, and DH didn't mention it at all when I had it on (he'd have said something if he thought I was wearing a pillowcase).

*This post is totally in homage to the Sew Weekly.  If you're interested in sewing its definitely worth a look, those are some truly talented women.

A summer number

I have to confess that I didn't manage to complete all the summer sewing I had planned this week.  J's skirt fell by the wayside as I just didn't have the time to complete all three items of clothing.  I did, however, make P's nightie (she was so please she wore it to bed even though the weather has not really been warm enough yet), and I made myself a blouse (more on that in my next post).  

So last week was really successful - J is too little to remember that she should have an extra skirt.

I didn't have a pattern for P's nightie, so I used some parts of a pattern I did have, and made the rest up.  I used the bodice parts of Butterick 4574 although since this dress was designed with a zipper, I cut the back piece on the fold, and then cut down the back once I had sewn the shoulder seams to ensure it would fit over P's head.  I measured P's body to the right length for the body of nightie, and then added a few centimetres to the width of the front.  This enabled me to gather it a little in the front.  Once I had sewn the side seams, I just attached the body to the bodice parts and voila, a nightie was made.  Because I used the overlocker, this was a really fast sew.

I found this great tutorial for making bias binding, and I made the binding around the neck and arm holes.  The only problem was that I let P choose the material, and it wasn't really suitable to make bias binding out of.  Don't be put off by the idea that making bias binding is really time consuming, because it actually doesn't take all that long, especially if you only do enough for the garment you are actually making (rather than reams and reams of the stuff).

The trick with bias binding is accuracy, its really important to cut as perfectly as you can, because it will make a big difference to the finished product.  Mine was actually a bit of a fail - more for my top than P's, but I'll talk about that in my next post as well.

Feminine Hygiene

My project this week are more reusable products of the feminine hygiene variety.  I thought I had better start with how the ones I made last time have gone (don't worry, there will be no gory details).

On the plus side of the ledger, my Mama pads work at least as well as their disposable equivalents, and I suspect in some cases actually work better.  They're easy to use and wash (I soak and then put them in with the other clothes).

On the negative side of the ledger, they are bulkier than their disposable equivalents.  There's no getting away from it, they are less comfortable to wear.  This is the main reason that I don't tend to wear them at work, where it might be a little too obvious ( I do a lot of presenting work in front of young people, the last thing I need to worry about is whats going on down there).

They also move around.  Even the ones that have snap fastenings on them seem to move and curl in and require more adjustment than I like.

So this week I'll try tweaking a few things in my pattern to see if I can address these issues - specifically bulk and movement.  At the very least I'll have a couple more Mama Pads to round out my collection.

Blogertoberfest

After giving it alot of thought, I've decided not to enter blogtoberfest this year.  I had heaps of fun doing it last year, but it is seriously time consuming, and I'm not in the right head space at the moment to commit to posting every day.  Yes I know there are people who just try their best and don't manage every day, but that would just stress me out too much this year.

However, if you want to have a look at some of the blogs that are taking part, please head over to {tinniegirl} for the list of participants.  And if you want in on the giveaway action you can head over to curlypops for a giveaway list later in the month.  Have fun, and be inspired.

Summer sorting/sewing

My project this week is to put all the girls summer clothes into their drawers, and then do a little sewing for all of us.

Well actually, the sorting part is already done.  P asked if it was Spring, and when I said it was, she immediately (really the first thing out of her mouth) suggested that we change clothes over.  So we did that on the weekend.

I've mentioned before the generosity of people in my life, and I've never had to buy clothes for the girls.  We buy them things occasionally, but the vast majority of their clothes are hand me downs.  But we haven't received any this season, so I thought I might need to sew a few bits for them.  I needn't have worried.  They still have plenty of summer clothing.  But we did decide to sew an item for each of us this week.

 For P: A summer nightie

For J: A skirt (she really doesn't need anything, but a skirt seemed the easiest to make)

For Me: A sorbetto top

Fingers crossed these are three fast and easy projects, because P has already started asking to wear her nightie (I had to explain that it hadn't been made yet).