Kei's Creations

Craftsy Block of the Month - Block 3

2012-02-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

This one is made from two pink fabrics that I used for little H's "Feliz" dress a while back, and some pale green cotton from an old duvet cover.

Craftsy Block of the Month - Block 2

2012-02-06T13:48:00.001-08:00

This block is made from some fabric I am saving to make a dress for F.

Craftsy Block of the Month - Block 1

2012-02-06T06:10:00.001-08:00

I've started another quilt! I signed up for the "Block of the Month" course at Craftsy.com. Today was the first chance I had to get started, so I've only done the first January block so far. Now I need to do another three blocks by the end of February to catch up.

Here's my first block. I'm not going to buy a FQ bundle especially to make this quilt. It will be made from fabrics that I already have leftover from old projects or ready for new ones. These two fabrics are for a dress for little H.

Lots of old projects!

2012-01-19T06:57:00.000-08:00

I haven't been able to blog much for the last 12 months or so, but I have still been sewing. Here is a little catch-up. A few of my favourite sewing projects from the last year.

T-shirts for the girls.

A large-size vest for a beautiful girl.

Leggings for H.

T-shirts for the girls.
T-shirt for my boy.

My favourite dress for little H! I covered the snaps (poppers) in fabric, so it looked a little classier.

A dress made from an old pair of maternity trousers and an old maternity top!

Quilt for my lovely gran.

A bag for a little friend's birthday. We filled it with colouring things.

A 10-foot-long Christmas banner. Made from Christmas fabrics with letters appliqued on the front.

A Swedish costume for H's "international day" at nursery.

A patchwork cushion for Gran's 90th birthday, to match her quilt.

Various insulin pump belts, including this Twilight themed one.

Fashion Doll Clothes

2011-11-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

My eldest daughter wanted a special present for her friend's birthday party. Something "different, that no-one else would give her". We bought a 12" fashion doll, and a pretty cardboard suitcase to put her in, and made her a set of clothes.

A frilly pink underskirt with a glittery blue waistband, fastened with little blue snaps.

This is the petticoat under a stripy dress we made recently for my daughter's doll.

A blue and white checked dress, with matching shopping bag.

The dress also fastens with little snaps. I find they're better for dolls' clothes, because they don't catch in the doll's hair like hook and loop tape, and they don't pick up fluff! This dress also has a ribbon sash that can be tied in a bow at the back.

An elegant white evening dress made from spotted lawn.

A pink and white striped dress with ribbon straps. This dress also fastens with snaps, but I didn't think the pink snaps looked great with this fabric, so I covered them with matching fabric before attaching them.

Much classier!

I hate unfinished seams, so when I designed these dresses I made all the bodices fully lined, and finished any raw edges on the overlocker.

As you can see, I didn't make the bodice on this one quite right. There's a big overlap on the left there!

Another view of the white evening dress.

Teacher Gifts

2011-07-22T02:16:00.000-07:00

The children made their usual concertina books for the teachers instead of cards.

On each page they have written something about their year in this particular class, and added a picture that they like on the opposite page.

Because their teachers and teaching assistants have been SO fabulous dealing with their diabetes, we made them each a tote bag. Their main helpers got a reversible bag with pockets, and the others have a plain tote bag.

Reversible bag part-way through construction.

One side...

... and reversed.

Another reversible bag, part-way through construction.

Looking inside.

The two reversible bags, made using this tutorial http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=91070.0.

The plain totes, improvised by me. They are both lined.

Diabetes Week 2011

2011-06-17T02:59:00.000-07:00

Until July 2009, I knew nothing at all about type 1 diabetes. I have had to learn, as two of my three children have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes since then. My children are both otherwise fit and healthy, and it upsets them when other people confuse their condition with type 2 diabetes, or try to tell them things that are totally wrong about diabetes.

As it is Diabetes Week this week, I would like to make more of you aware of what type 1 diabetes is.

Please take the time to read this! This time two years ago, I was like you. This time next year, who knows whether you might be like me.

Type 1 diabetes cannot be caught.

Type 1 diabetes is caused by the immune system attacking the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas and destroying them, meaning that the body cannot regulate blood glucose levels on its own. It cannot be prevented or cured.

People with type 1 diabetes can eat chocolate, cakes and sweets!

This is what has upset my children most. Other children have told them, “you can’t eat sugary things”. Yes, they can. They both eat exactly the same healthy diet that they ate pre-diagnosis, with occasional treats, exactly like any other child. When they have sweets, cake or chocolate, they usually keep it and eat it after a large meal, and I make sure we adjust their insulin dose to cover it.

Type 1 diabetes cannot be controlled with tablets, diet or “alternative therapies”.

Only insulin can control type 1 diabetes. All the food my children eat is carb-counted, and I used to inject the correct amount of insulin into them to deal with it. This involved a minimum of 4 insulin injections a day for each child. Now they both have insulin pumps, which infuse insulin subcutaneously 24 hours a day, and only involve firing a needle into each child every 3 days. We still carb-count everything the children eat, do lots of fingerprick blood tests and input the calculations into their insulin pumps, which give the correct amount of insulin to deal with the food. Your pancreas does this for you whenever you eat.

People with type 1 diabetes do not need to go on a special diet.

My children eat exactly as they did before they developed diabetes. They have a small snack before any strenuous exercise (such as PE lessons) to keep up their blood sugar levels, which drop with exercise.

My children do not need to eat special “diabetic” foods.

The products, like “diabetic” chocolates, sweets and biscuits in the shops do not have a lower carbohydrate content, and they often have a laxative effect.

Type 1 diabetes does not only happen to unfit, overweight people.

Most people who think this are actually thinking of type 2 diabetes, which can be triggered by obesity, although it can also be triggered by other things too.

Type 1 diabetes is a life-threatening, life-long condition.

Unless a cure is found, my children will have type 1 diabetes for the rest of their lives. Every day will be a balancing act between carbohydrates and insulin for them. Their blood sugars can rise dangerously high or drop dangerously low within minutes if we miscalculate. Exercise, temperature, excitement, and many other factors can also affect their blood sugar levels. It makes life a lot less spontaneous than usual, and we have to spend a lot of time doing calculations, doing 8+ blood tests a day per child and using an insulin pump or injecting insulin, but otherwise they do exactly the same things that they did when they did not have type 1 diabetes.

Thank you for reading! If you want to find out more about type 1 diabetes, take a look at www.jdrf.org.uk

We are doing the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes in Birmingham, UK, on 17 September 2011, to raise money to fund research into a cure. If you can spare a few pounds to sponsor us, please do so, either in person or at www.justgiving.com/Claire-Paxton

Lovely New Fabrics ... What Will I Make?

2011-05-09T04:36:00.000-07:00

Lots of lovely new fabrics arrived today. What will I make with them? Watch this space! Something interesting is going to happen soon. :-)

The Summer Project - Two Dresses Finished ... and One T-Shirt!

2010-08-30T01:39:00.000-07:00

Two happy girls in their new dresses, ready to visit their grandparents and uncle yesterday.

Little boy was shown his sisters' new dresses on Friday night and said "why haven't you made me something special to wear, Mummy?" Oh no! Huge Mummy-guilt! I told him to choose some stretchy fabric from the drawer and I'd make him a t-shirt. Here is the result. I used the Imke t-shirt pattern from the "Sewing Clothes Kids Love" book. The neckline is a bit wobbly as I accidentally stretched it a bit while sewing, but otherwise I'm pleased with it. Little boy was very happy.

Just to prove that I have inherited a crafty gene. Here is a train that my grandfather made for my little brother (now that big bearded chap in the photo above) over 30 years ago. It's still in amazing condition and the children all had lots of fun playing with it.

2010-08-30T01:20:00.000-07:00

The red dress is finished! Big girl loves it, and enjoys twirling around in it.

Summer Sewing Project Update

2010-08-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

Dress 2 is coming along nicely. Here's a preview:

Freezer Paper Stencilling

2010-08-12T01:06:00.000-07:00

Having seen several tutorials and examples of other peoples' freezer paper stencils, I couldn't wait to have a go. We love fabric painting in this house, and I have a box full of Dylon fabric paints that the kids couldn't wait to use during the school holidays. We bought a few blank t-shirts, and I located some freezer paper (not easy in the UK, but some online quilting shops sell it).

It's a roll of white paper, with one shiny side. To use it for stencilling, you cut out your stencil and iron it onto the fabric with the shiny side downwards. Then you simply paint over it, wait till the paint dries and peel the stencil off the fabric. Dead easy!

Note: You need "Freezer Paper" for this, because the plastic-coated side sticks to the fabric when heated. Baking paper, greaseproof paper, wax paper and other kitchen papers do not do this! (I mention this because I've seen this question asked a lot on other blogs.)

The children each chose the picture they wanted. A fairy for big girl, a train for boy and a butterfly for little girl. Daddy wanted an England flag on his.

This is what we came up with:

We'll definitely be doing this again.

2010-08-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

Here's the small dress, nearly finished! I just need to sew in the threads and hem the underdress.

Elasticated back of the bodice.
One ruffle, with fancy trim hiding my horrible stitching.

I decided to only put two ruffles on the back instead of the planned four.

The nearest I could get to a photo of the front.

The back.

I'm pleased with it, and big girl can't wait for her red version!

Progress on the Girls' Dresses

2010-08-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

All the pieces for the dresses are cut out, and big girl and I laid them out to see roughly what the finished dresses would look like. Here is the back of the size 7 - 8 dress.

... and the front.

Here is the back middle section of the little dress.

and the front.

So far I've only sewn the front of the tiny dress. It's looking cute though, and I think the completed dress is going to be lovely. I only hope I've made the right size!

I decided to take the advice of the tutorial and add elastic to the sash, so little H can get it on and off without undoing the ties.

I do love these fabrics! The trim looks good with them too.

The overdress so far.

Fabrics for our summer project

2010-07-26T05:54:00.000-07:00

My 7-year-old and I were planning to make pretty dresses for her and her tiny sister last summer. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes during the first week of the summer holidays and spent a week in hospital and the rest of the holidays adjusting, recovering and learning how to deal with her condition.

This summer we are DETERMINED to make them, and we'll keep you up to date with our progress.

Here are the fabrics we have chosen.

Tiny girl is having pink ...

Big girl is having red ...

We're using the Feliz dress pattern by Farbenmix and adding a few ruffles at the back of the underdress.

Watch this space!!

End of Year Teacher Gifts

2010-07-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

It's becoming a bit of a tradition in our house to make one of these little concertina books for the children's teachers at the end of the school year. The child chooses the patterned papers, ribbons and embellishments, does all the sticking and glueing, and writes little messages on squares of coloured paper to stick inside. I think they're nicer than giving a shop-bought card.

Front:

Back:

Inside:

This year, because the teachers have been absolutely wonderful, and have looked after my two diabetic darlings so brilliantly, we also made them a little handbag each, using theApril Bag pattern at Sew Mama Sew. http://www.sewmamasew.com/store/media/blog/SMSAprilBags.pdf

Less fattening than a box of chocolates, and will last longer. :-D

Some of my sewing from June

2010-07-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't taken photos of everything I made, and some of it has been sent off to other people, so it's too late.

I have a pile of old baby clothes sitting upstairs waiting to be quilted or turned into something useful. As we were having a birthday party in June for our littlest girl, I decided it was a good time to try making some bunting with it. I didn't manage to get much made in time for the party, but it's a start, and I'll try to make some more ready for the next party. :-)

It's a great way of keeping some of your favourite fabrics from the childrens' clothes, without ending up with a houseful of useless tiny outfits!

I also cut out some letters freehand and appliqued them onto a dark red towel.

Not the best photo, but you get the idea.

Starting a New Quilting Project

2010-05-12T13:10:00.001-07:00

I found this tutorial recently

Cathedral Window Tutorial

Years ago my gran showed me some beautiful examples of cathedral window quilting that she had done; some of them very tiny. They were all perfect and amazed me. I couldn't imagine how she had made them.

As there is a pile of old baby clothes waiting to be quilted, I thought this might be an ideal way to use them.

My first attempt turned out quite well, but I discovered that doing the "window" part with my machine isn't very practical. The stitches turned out very messy and I broke two needles in the process. I think I'll try by hand next time. I like the overall result though.

Spotty Wrap Dress

2010-04-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

There's a lovely little dress in a shop in town, which I would love for Baby, but they only make it in sizes up to 12 months and she's now 22 months old. :-(

This is the dress...

http://www.mothercare.com/Humphreys-Corner-dress/dp/B0031NOZDQ/sr=1-2/qid=1272052090/ref=sr_1_2/276-1987948-9217856?_encoding=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=42764041&mcb=core

I decided to try making a version myself, without the elephant embroidery and without the big bow on the front. I think it turned out quite well.

Instead of the spotty strip and white ruffle around the bottom I used this cotton trim. I bought a full 100m reel of it on ebay for about £1.99 when I was making frilly bibs for my first baby, 7 years ago. Since then it has been used on skirts, dresses, doll clothes, baby blankets, bibs, etc. and there is still quite a lot left!

I started overlocking and one of the needles snapped. I can't find the hex key to replace the needle at the moment, so I did a 3-thread overlock instead which wasn't great (I didn't get the tension quite right) but was preferable to raw edges.

Topstitching the trim.

The bodice.

The almost-finished dress. All I have to do is add the poppers (snaps) to the back and sew in the last loose threads.

I Finally Finished the Quilt!!

2010-04-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

My YCMT quilt has been sitting around unfinished for about a year, during which time the baby has grown up so much that she won't be able to use it as a pram quilt!

We've had a very full year, and I've hardly been near the sewing machine. Our eldest daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in July 2009. In February 2010 our son (just turned 5) started showing symptoms too, and he has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes too. It's a lot to cope with, but we manage, and the injections, carb-counting, etc. are becoming a routine part of daily life in our family.

Today the two eldest children went back to school after their Easter holiday, and the baby decided to have a good nap, so I thought I would try getting a bit more of the quilt done.

Here is the quilt top pinned to the wadding (batting).

I chose to use the same pink flowery fabric for the backing as I had used for the border.

All ready to start stitching!

The back. I decided not to do anything too complicated.

Almost finished! The binding sewn on at the front and pinned at the back, ready to be sewn. It's not a magic, self-standing quilt. Somewhere behind there, there's a 7-year-old standing on a chair! :-)

The camera batteries ran out before I did the blind hemming, but as it basically looks exactly like the pictures above, you don't really need another photo.

I'm glad it's done, but wish I'd finished it while "the baby" (now nearly two years old) was still tiny enough to use it in her pram. It would have looked gorgeous.

2009-12-08T00:43:00.000-08:00

This isn't a creation of mine. It was made by my daughter, who is 6 and has type 1 diabetes. It's a "diabotic". See this blog to find out about diabotics.

Introducing ... Diane Botic. She has purple spiky hair and an antenna made of a calibration strip. Her tummy is also a drawer which apparently makes ice cubes for dispensing to children at injection time.

Wipe-Clean Spelling List

2009-09-25T02:57:00.000-07:00

The children have a list of spellings each from school, and until now I was writing them out on A4 paper and blu-tacking them to the wall. It wasn't ideal, so last weekend we decided to make wipe-clean spelling lists.

Take one piece of A4 card. Centre a piece of A5 paper on it, and draw around the edge.

Cut out some pictures, or find some stickers that you like.
Stick the pictures and stickers on the border of your cardboard. Make sure you leave the rectangle in the centre clear, as this is the part you will write the spellings on.

Strips of patterned paper look good around the edges (and are a quick way to make this, if the children are impatient!).

Laminate the finished sheet.

Fix the sheet to the wall (we used blu-tack) and write your spellings onto it with a whiteboard marker. When you want to remove them they can be removed by wiping with a dry cloth.

Note: We accidentally wrote the words on with permanent marker the first time, and the children were very upset that we couldn't remove them, but we discovered a way to take permanent marker off these laminated sheets. Take a whiteboard marker and write over the permanent pen. While it's still wet, wipe it off with a dry cloth. You will need to work with small areas - maybe one letter at a time - but it works!

2009-08-04T13:31:00.001-07:00

It's so long since I wrote anything on here! I'm half-way through making dozens of things, but my eldest child was taken into hospital last week with diabetic ketoacidosis and has been diagnosed as type 1 diabetic, at age 6. It's a huge shock, and a big change as we have to do blood glucose tests 4 times a day now, and give her insulin injections morning and night. We also have to count the carbs in all her foods, and make sure she gets regular meals and snacks to keep her glucose levels steady. Add to that the fact that the baby is teething, and all three children are at home due to the school holidays, and you have an action-packed day. All this means I haven't had time to go near the sewing machine, and probably won't for a few weeks.

Purple Set

2009-06-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

This is a little set that I made for a friend's daughter's first birthday.

RRP fitted nappy in purple farmyard flannel.

Tag toy.

RRP wrap in purple farmyard fleece with a pink microfleece inner.

Booster. Purple flannel on both sides and microfibre inside.

Flannel bib.

Fleece pinafore dress.

Another Dress

2009-06-02T03:52:00.001-07:00

This dress is one I made for my eldest daughter at the weekend. We were visiting Nanna, and I wanted her to have a pretty summery dress to wear. I used the "Perfect Dress" pattern from YCMT, and made her a matching hair bow.

I haven't disappeared!

2009-05-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

I've just realised how long it has been since I last posted on here. I'm a rotten blogger!

I still haven't finished my YCMT quilt, although I do now have all the materials to finish it.

The latest project was a dress for Baby. I decided to try the "Ellie's Twirl Dress" from YCMT. It was finished last weekend and turned out very well.

Here's Baby modelling it.

My 6-year-old daughter and I also started making hairbows recently. Here is the first attempt. We sewed this one onto a little ponytail band for Baby's hair.

This one was glued to an alligator clip which I covered with the checked ribbon, and gave to a friend for her gorgeous little girl.

Here is Baby wearing a bow we made to match her new dress. It has the same button in the centre as the button on the back of the dress.

This is my favourite, modelled by big sister...

... and baby sister.

This week it's the school holidays and I've promised my 6-year-old that we'll make her a dress together. She loves to sew and is very excited. We've downloaded the "Perfect Dress" pattern from YCMT and worked out the measurements.

I Finished the Monkey Set Today!

2009-03-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

Here is my little monkey (9 months old), wearing the set. Dress, vest, pocket nappy, embellished prefold (used as a nappy insert) and nappy wrap. I'll post a longer post soon with details of how I made the nappy, but here are photos for now.

Making a Nappy (Diaper) Wrap from the Rita's Rump Cover Pattern

2009-02-24T13:30:00.001-08:00

For this nappy wrap (cover) I am using the Rita's Rump Cover pattern (http://handmadebyrita.blogspot.com/2007/10/httpwww.html).

To make this cover you will need -

Fleece fabric - about half a yard, or two different quarter-yards.
Some elastic.
Polyester thread. Do not use cotton thread as it will wick any moisture through to the outside of the wrap!
A sewing machine - preferably with a straight stitch and a 3-step zigzag stitch but any sewing machine will do!
Velcro/Aplix.
Poly/cotton piping.

1 - Draw around the cover pattern on the wrong side of your inner fabric (mine is a plain microfleece), then cut out, adding an extra half inch all the way around. The cutting doesn't have to be perfect as you are going to sew along the drawn line. Make sure you mark your elastic start and end points on your pattern, in the seam allowance.

2 - Place your inner piece right-sides-together with your outer fabric and cut out.

3 - Make your tabs. You can either simply cut two pieces of hook tape, each about 1.5 - 2" long and cut the edges into a curve, or make the more complicated but softer tabs as follows...

Take your Aplix and cut two pieces of hook and two pieces of loop, each about 1.5 - 2" long. Keep them stuck together for now. Cut the edges into curves at one end, so they look like this:

Take a piece of poly/cotton piping.

Open up your Aplix. Place the pieces back to back (one hook piece and one loop piece), catching the piping between the layers to make an edging.

Stitch around the edge of your Aplix, ensuring you catch both layers of Aplix and the piping. I sew around the Aplix once with a straight stitch ...

... then I turn around and sew back around the edge from the other direction, using a zigzag stitch and making sure half of the stitch is on the Aplix and the other half is on the piping.

Each tab should look something like this.

4 - Now to elasticate one of the leg holes. Take your elastic. I usually use clear elastic for nappies, but braided elastic works really well with this pattern. Here I have some ordinary quarter-inch elastic from the local sewing shop. Do not cut the elastic yet! Put the elastic on your nappy inner fabric, on the outside of the drawn line - actually in the seam allowance. Make sure about an inch of elastic is before the elastic start mark that you drew in step 1. Put your sewing machine on the 3-step-zigzag stitch (or normal zigzag if you don't have a 3-step). Starting at the elastic start mark, stitch in reverse for an inch, then forwards for an inch, without stretching the elastic or fabric. This anchors your elastic in place.

5 - Make sure your needle is down in the fabric before you do the next bit! Pull your elastic hard and keep it stretched as hard as you can while you sew along it, keeping the elastic just outside the drawn line on your fabric. Do not stretch or pull the fabric as you do this.

When you reach the elastic finish mark at the other end of the nappy, stop. Don't stretch the elastic. Sew one more inch, then sew backwards for one inch, to anchor this end of the elastic well. Cut off the excess elastic.

6 - Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the other leg elastic and the back elastic. Your nappy inner should now look roughly like this.

7 - Place the tabs on the nappy wings on the right side of the outer fabric, with the loop side facing downwards. Pin your inner layer on top of your outer layer, right sides together, stretching the elastic as you pin, so they fit together.

8 - Remember during this next part that we are going to leave a large gap at the front edge of the nappy, to enable us to turn the whole thing the right way out! Change to a straight stitch on your sewing machine. Stitch along the drawn line on your inner fabric, stretching the elastic as you go past it, and making sure that you do NOT catch any of the elastic in your stitching. I sew slightly inside the drawn line as I go past the elastic.

Remember to leave that gap!!

Your nappy wrap should now look something like this.

9 - Trim the seams around the corners and past the elastic, fairly close to the stitching. Do not trim along the bottom (the front of the wrap) or you'll make it very difficult to stitch together.

10 - Turn your wrap the right way round by pushing it through the open gap. Make sure you push all the curves out neatly. Your wrap should now look like this

11 - Nearly finished!! You need to close the gap. Fold the edges inside and pin them together neatly. Starting to one side of the gap, stitch all around the edge of the wrap. For most of the wrap you stitch very close to the edge.

When you get to the elastic, do not stitch close to the edge. Move inwards, stretch the elastic and sew along the wrap just inwards from where the elastic is. This creates a nice little channel for the elastic and gives a lovely neat finish to the leg edges.

12 - Your wrap should now look like this.

13 - Cut a piece of Aplix (loop side) to fit the front of your wrap. Set your sewing machine to a zigzag stitch and sew the Aplix on.

14 - Sew in your ends of thread and admire your new nappy wrap!

Monkey Set for Baby H

2009-02-24T06:38:00.000-08:00

My next project is a set for the baby, who is 8.5 months old at the moment. I have some lovely green flannel with monkeys on it, and matching fleece, plus some co-ordinating spotty flannel. I'm planning to make her:

1 Rita's Rump pocket nappy - monkey flannel on the outside and dotty flannel on the inside.

1 Rita's Rump cover - monkey fleece on the outside and white microfleece on the inside.

1 embellished vest - a bought vest with some of the monkey flannel appliqued on the front.

2 embellished infant prefolds, to be used as inserts for the pocket nappy, since she's too big for them now!

I'll update here as I make them, and if I have the time I might do a tutorial for the wrap and pocket nappy too.

Here are the materials, all ready!!

So proud of my "pupils"!!

2009-02-22T13:21:00.000-08:00

One of my friends who admits to being "sewing challenged" tried using the cloth nappy tutorial to make her daughter a beautiful starry nappy. Look! It's gorgeous!

If anyone else has used the tutorial, I'd love to know how the nappy turned out!

YCMT Quilt - Looking Good!

2009-02-15T13:20:00.000-08:00

I've been putting off doing more to my quilt because I have so little sewing time and I always feel that I need to get each project exactly right or not do it at all. However, from now on I'm adopting the phrase "done is better than perfect" which I think I read at Rostitchery (http://rowena.typepad.com/) as my new motto. Today I had the opportunity, so I sat down at the machine, baby on lap for part of the time, although I got more done when she fell asleep and I put her in the pram!

Here are the pinwheels all sewn together. Not exactly perfect, but definitely done!

Here it is with edges added. Not pressed!

So - have I caught up?!

Making a Fitted Nappy (Diaper) from the Rita's Rump Pocket Diaper Pattern

2009-02-06T11:55:00.000-08:00

For this nappy I am using the Rita's Rump Pocket Diaper pattern (http://handmadebyrita.blogspot.com/2007/10/classic-rrp-ritas-rump-pocket-pattern.html), but adapting it to make a fitted nappy instead of a pocket. I've worked out my own pattern for the inner soaker pad, which I also use to make lay-in doublers for heavy-wetting babies.

To make this nappy you will need -

Just over half a yard of flannel fabric.

Half a yard of microfibre fabric (or a couple of microfibre cloths, or half a yard of terry towelling...).

Some elastic.

Thread.

A sewing machine - preferably with a straight stitch and a 3-step zigzag stitch but any sewing machine will do!

You can add poppers (snaps) or Velcro/Aplix, but I'm not showing how to do that today. This nappy will be fastened with a pin or a Snappi.

1 - Cut around the nappy body pattern from your outer fabric (mine is a patterned cotton flannel), adding an extra half inch all the way around. This doesn't have to be perfect.

You may notice that I have cut out an inner soaker pad shape too, to use as the top of the matching doubler It fits well below the wing of the nappy ... economising on fabric. I usually cut the remnant from the other side into an oval shape, stitch it to some terry fabric and use it as a matching wipe.

2 - Cut out another piece exactly the same from the fabric you want to use for your inside layer. I'm using some lovely soft cream flannel.

Cut out 3 layers of microfibre for the nappy's inner soaker pad, and two or three for the doubler if you're making it. You can work out a shape that suits you, or use mine... the 2 PDF files containing the pattern are here.http://www.mediafire.com/?fo0kdwoyumz and
http://www.mediafire.com/?gdgozmde430

3 - Place the paper pattern centrally onto the wrong side of your inside layer and weight it down.

Draw around the edge, making sure you mark where the elastic will begin and end (triangles on the pattern), and the long gap at the top for turning.

4 - Place the three layers of microfibre centrally on the wrong side of the inner layer.

If your sewing machine has a 3-step zigzag stitch, like stitch C on my machine ...

... select it now. Stitch around the edge of the soaker pad, making sure you sew through all three layers.

When you turn your nappy inner over now it should look like this.

5 - Take your elastic. I usually use clear elastic for nappies, but braided elastic works really well with this pattern. Here I have some ordinary quarter-inch elastic from the local sewing shop. Do not cut the elastic yet!

Put the elastic on your nappy inner fabric, on the outside of the drawn line - actually in the seam allowance. Make sure about an inch of elastic is before the elastic start mark that you drew in step 3. Keep your sewing machine on the 3-step-zigzag stitch. Starting at the elastic start mark, stitch in reverse for an inch, then forwards for an inch, without stretching the elastic or fabric. This anchors your elastic in place.

6 - Make sure your needle is down in the fabric before you do the next bit! Pull your elastic hard and keep it stretched as hard as you can while you sew along it, keeping the elastic just outside the drawn line on your fabric. Do not stretch or pull the fabric as you do this.

When you reach the elastic finish mark at the other end of the nappy, stop. Don't stretch the elastic. Sew one more inch, then sew backwards for one inch, to anchor this end of the elastic well.

Cut off the excess elastic.

7 - Repeat steps 5 and 6 for the other side.

Your nappy should now look roughly like this.

8 - Place your nappy inner and nappy outer right-sides together and pin them together, stretching the elastic as you do, so that both sides are pinned together correctly.

9 - Change to a straight stitch on your sewing machine. Stitch along the drawn line on your nappy inner, stretching the elastic as you go past it, and making sure that you do NOT catch any of the elastic in your stitching. I sew slightly inside the drawn line as I go past the elastic. Remember not to sew the gap at the top!!

Your nappy should now look like this.

10 - Trim the seams around the corners and past the elastic, fairly close to the stitching. Do not trim along the top (the back of the nappy) or you'll make it very difficult to stitch together!

11 - Turn your nappy the right way round by pushing it through the open gap. Make sure you push all the curves out neatly

Your nappy should now look like this.

12 - Nearly finished!! You need to close the gap at the top. Fold the edges inside and pin them together neatly. Starting at the top left, stitch all around the edge of the nappy. For most of the nappy you stitch very close to the edge. When you get to the elastic, do not stitch close to the edge. Move inwards, stretch the elastic and sew along the nappy just inwards from where the elastic is. This creates a nice little channel for the elastic and gives a lovely neat finish to the leg edges.

13 - Sew your ends of thread in and admire your new nappy!

To make the matching doubler, place your flannel layer and microfibre layers right-sides together. Stitch around the edges, leaving a gap at one end. Turn the right way in. Fold the edges of the gap in and pin. Stitch all around the edges.

More Progress on the Quilt

2009-01-29T12:28:00.000-08:00

I don't have a square ruler, so I used a different method to square up my blocks. I made a square 3.5" x 3.5", with a diagonal line across it, put this on each square, with the line along the line in the centre of the square and trimmed off any bits of fabric that stuck out.

It's starting to look nice when I put the pinwheels together. Can't wait to sew these together.

I have another 20 blocks to neaten before I can start step 5.

More Old Projects

2009-01-28T12:55:00.000-08:00

A few past creations...

A baby cardigan for a friend.

Some wash mitts with appliques.

A nappy made from some old flannel pyjamas and some bamboo velour that I dyed bright pink.

A couple of bibs with appliques.

The first nappy I made for baby #3, from a Miffy t-shirt!

2009-01-28T11:48:00.000-08:00

This is how far I had got with my YCMT quilt before today. Half-way through step 2!

Today I stitched squares together...

..with the aid of a nice cup of tea!

They looked OK flattened out.

The pile of sewn triangles was quite satisfying to look at.

All the pieces have been pressed. I took this last photo before I trimmed the edges. The colours will go nicely together. I felt quite pleased to have completed step 3 ... until I checked the blog and found it was up to stage 7! Help!

2009-01-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

I've sewn together, and cut apart, the first two squares for the quilt today. I'll upload photos to here as soon as the batteries are charged!

Some Progress

2009-01-10T03:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I made and posted a pair of mitts for Seri (hope they fit!). I couldn't take a photo before posting them as all the batteries in the house ran out at the same time.

I finished cutting out the squares for my YCMT quilt, so hopefully I should be able to start the second step today, if I can find any spare time.

A Few Recent Projects

2009-01-08T14:48:00.000-08:00

Label blanket toys for two baby friends.

Christmas fairy tutu for a friend.

New Year, New Blog

2009-01-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

Maybe this year, instead of cluttering up everyone's inboxes with random photos of my latest sewing project or other creative offerings, I'll remember to post them on here, so that those who are interested can keep up, without being bombarded with emails! :-)

My first sewing project of the year will be some fleece mitts for Seri, but after that I plan to follow the sew-along at YCMT...

http://wordpress.com/tag/make-it-up-as-you-go-quilt/

So far I've cut out 48 of the required 64 squares...

... and sliced my finger with the cutter.

Baby had fun playing with the fabrics while I was cutting.