Nursing cover / sun shade

(full view of nursing cover)

(decorative topstitching)

(view of boning so cover sticks out)

I whipped up this beautiful nursing cover that resembles the hooter's hider. I got the tutorial here. I made a few changes as I also wanted to use this as a sun cover for ds2 as he is only 3months old and not yet allowed to use sunscreen. I have used blankets but ds2 is so long that his feet sick out of the carrier. So I lengthen it to 32". I also did a rolled hem for the bottom hem and added a decorative topstitch. The directions also failed to included a stitching line so that the boning doesn't go beyond the straps. I loved the tutorial and love the cover. Similar covers retail for $40.00 but this only cost approximately $9.00 to make as I recall the fabric was about $8.00 a meter but you can find cheaper fabric. Well actually all the materials I had laying around from other projects and I acquired some boning from my mother-in-law so really it was free. The d-rings are not really necessary as you could just do a pretty tied bow in the back. It would be a great sewing project for a novice sewer too!

I sewed up these tinkle time trainers in about 1 hour. I made them more like underware. They fit great. They are the tinkle time trainer from ladder hill design. I like how it uses up scrap knit fabric to make them. I love the pattern. It's easy to use and they turned out great.

Tea wallet for Grandma!

I found this great tutorial online for making a tea wallet and immediately thought of my mother-in-law as she is an avid tea drinker like myself. I only did a minor change as I embroidered a merged design on the front, I didn't want the button in the way so I added ribbon instead by sewing all the way around leaving a small hole for turning and then once turned I decided where I wanted the ribbon and seam ripped out a small opening on both sides where I inserted my ribbon. Then I topstitched all the way around, re-enforcing the ribbon spots.

ottobre knee pants

Here are two pairs of knee shorts from 2/2005 ottobre. I love the way that they turned out!

More raglan tshirts (ottobre) for sons!

Made from ottobre design magazine issue 2/2005. Made sizes 92cm and 62cm for dear sons ages 2 and 3months. I used the same jersey to binding the neckline and the stitch in the ditch technique with the satin stitch foot for getting a consistent 1/4" topstitching. They turned out amazing! I do love ottobre magazine. I have also requested a burda magazine to see if this is something that I might like as well although at the current time I really don't need to make myself anything as I still have clothes with the tags on them from prior to getting pregnant.

raglan tshirt ottobre

Made from issue 2/2005 in size 62cm (3months). Coverstitched the sleeves instead of applying binding. Used the same jersey for binding the neckline and applied with right sides together using a 4 thread serge then topstitched.

Ottobre Three-way dress

I made this using the 3/2009 issue. I used quilter's cotton(green) and a lightweight linen (orange). The only thing I didn't like was the instructions for the armholes which told you to fold over and stretch to make them lay nicely but no matter how many times I did it, it just wouldn't lay nicely. So I decided to just do a rolled hem on the armholes. If I would have had more time I would have made my own binding in the green fabric and added that but due to lack of time (I have a newborn baby and I only had 3 nights to complete it) I just used a rolled hem. Now the linen was very lightweight so I used a tearaway stabilizer for the hem panels (bottom of dress in orange) to serge through the seams without any problems, as well as using the tearaway for the rolled hems of the sleeves and hemline. The pattern is very nice. I just hope that it fits as I was guessing based on my ds1's measurements.