Ottobre 1/2009 "Muksis" tunic top

Here's my latest Ottobre creation! It's taken from the 1/2009 issue and is called "Muksis" design number 5). It's basically a long t-shirt, with and envelope neck opening and wide ribbed cuffs on the sleeves. There are two different designs, one with binding on the bottom hem which makes it look more like a boys tops and this version with a flared shape and no binding making it look more like a little dress. I didn't put a kangaroo pocket on the front like they have in the pic as I wanted to do some applique. Fabric was a printed striped cotton interlock and is very snuggly!
I made size 80cms which seems to be very generous but will last Mary all winter and then some.

Overall it was a easy top to sew despite a few hiccups.....like thinking I didn't need to mark where the envelope fold over flaps needed to match up and thinking I could just "wing it" and then making it waaay to big and having to unpick and redo it all! Sigh....it helps to be more accurate when tracing the patterns and markings :P

The binding was done on the coverstitch and I omitted the topstitching on the sleeves as it was going wonky due to the thickness. The applique wasn't working at all until I added a bit of iron on interfacing to the inside to stop the fabric from stretching out of shape. I had to unpick a fair bit before I thought of that idea so it's a little rough.

Enough of the talk, here's the pics......
(please ignore the water mark from my iron on the bottom of the top!)

 

So tiny and sweet

I've been sewing tonight! Last week we had a "Do It Yourself" morning at church and started work on some preemie gowns for our local special care nursery. I thought I'd some finished up and here's what I made.....

 

The pattern comes from here and they are super quick and easy to make. There is also a pattern for knitted cardies, booties and a hat if you're into that kind of thing. I'd love to be but by the time I'd finish it the baby would be 16 :P
I've had two little nieces who were born premature, one was 6 weeks early and one 10 weeks early so projects like this are very close to my heart.
We've got my younger brother Glen staying with us for a week which is loads of fun! The first thing baby does when she wakes up is run around the house looking for him and calling out for him! We took him to the car museum in Launceston which was great....I love old things! They had cars there dating back to 1906...and some even had these great baskets attached to the side to keep your umbrellas in, handy!

Garage sale finds

All this for only $5....bargain! Some of the patterns are so vintage I'm a little scared to open them for fear of disintegration. The ric rac is funtastic and the 1965 barbie clothes patterns are simply divine....our underdressed barbies won't know what hit them!

It all come in one big sewing basket and it was like taking a walk in someone elses shoes, someone who loved to sew, who couldn't bear to throw away little pieces of pretty ribbon, who made adorable little dolls clothes for the little girls in her life. What a treasure trove!

 

 

 

Mary in the hood!

Here's another Ottobre pattern I finished the other day. It's from Autumn 3/2003 design 6. "Hooded sweater". I've been trying to find the perfect hooded top for Mary, something not too tight that can be made from t-shirting or something warmer. This pattern calls for a thick fleece so it has a very generous cut which I like. The hood has topstitching detail which was turned out quite neat thanks to the centre guide foot for my Coverpro.(Sort of like a stitch in the ditch foot for all those quilters in the audience). I did length the top by about an inch like always to help it fit her for longer.

The fabric was just a spotlight cheapy with not a huge amount of stretch because of the print but it stretches fine over her boofy head because of the generous cut of the pattern.

Here's some pics of my little nutter!
(and yes, those are still some threads hanging out of the sleeve...I was too keen to try it on her!)

My Ottobre rave

You knew this had to be coming....it's time for me to rave about my favourite sewing magazines!
Ottobre Design are a series of pattern magazine that come all the way from Finland. Luckily for me they come in an English translation as my Finnish is a little rusty :P

There are 6 magazines a year, 4 are children's and then 2 women's and they are jam packed full of trendy patterns for all sizes. The children's patterns start at newborn (some even have preemie sizes) and go all the way up to 170cm which is taller than me so I find myself being able to make some of the bigger kids items for me...bonus! I have quite a collection of them now and honestly there isn't a pattern that I need that I can't flick through them and find.

I find the sizing to be quite accurate and the instructions have been pretty clear....they follow the same techniques usually and once you've made a few items you'll be set.
You can flick through the issues on their website and either order direct from them or through their Australian agent Crafty Mamas.

Hmm...what else can I say to convince you? The designs are really up to date and the patterns are exactly what you'd see in the stores current range. There's something so satisfying about being able to say "I made it myself" and these magazines are what kick started me in having the confidence to sew for the girls and myself.
I've decided to do a little pattern review each time I use on from Ottobre to share what I've learnt along the way.

Tonight's efforts were from the Ottobre Creative Workshop range. I have number 301 which is a basic t-shirt in slim fit or traditional fit. (Long and short sleeve option). the sizing is from 92cms to 170cms so I can use it for the older girls and also for my tops.

I've found it to run a little on the small side but then I don't like things too tight or short so I usually add an extra few inches to the length and am generous with my seam allowance generally. I find the neckline a little higher than I'd prefer for my tops, not that I'm into the low cut look but I don't want skivvies either! So I have taken a half an inch or so off the neckline on my traced pattern.

I used it tonight to make a basic white top for layering and am pretty happy with how it turned out. I actually went looking for such a thing in the shops the other day and came away with nothing so instead an hours work and a couple of dollars worth of fabric and I have exactly what I wanted....bargain!

(Forgive the headless photo.......you get the general idea though!) 

Don't sit under the apple tree.....

Or else you might just rediscover the miracle of gravity! We have six apple trees in the yard and with the strong winds we've been having lately they've been dropping the fruit at a rate of knots!

So I thought I might try my hand at preserving some. I have a fowlers stove top kit but only some jars and lids etc. I gave google a good work out trying to find a way to do them using recycled pasta jars. In the end I decided to dig out my old Grass Roots magazines, yes, I am a hippie at heart!

Turns out you can use them, either on the stove top in a hot water bath or in the microwave. We choose the stove top and used our apple slinky to peel and core a big basket full. Here's the results! They look okay to me....but I guess time will tell!

There's a pic of what happened to the last of our nectarines too.....we had a pretty fierce rain storm the other night and I came out the next morning to clean the fallen fruit up and found all the nectarines looking like this. That's some pretty heavy rain!

The two older girls started up dance class too in the last few weeks. Becky, Miss 4 is a bit more keen about it than Hannah, Miss 5, even though she loves to dance around at home and is a real prima donna. I think the combination of a full day of school first and then having to keep up with the instructions etc is a bit much for her. We might have to find something else fun for her to do this year.
Becky though who missed out on going to Kinder this year by a month is just busting to do anything so we have pre-kinder 2 days, play group one day, music classes, dance classes and then whatever church activities are on that week too......AND she still looks for something to do! All this just to keep her from pining for her sister at school.
Here's one of the little dance skirts I made for them.....so girly!! It's so not me!