Frou Frou by Lovenicky

The day has come....

No no no! I'm not talking about the baby's due date! I'm talking about my belly outgrowing the Green wool coat that I made for this pregnancy. As of last week I could no longer button up the beloved green wool coat that I have been wearing everyday this winter. An emergency project was put in place: an even bigger coat to accommodate the exponential growth of the belly.

Initially I thought about making a wool cape/poncho. Capes/ponchos have been a trend in the last couple of winters so why not? It would be easy to make too! I already have Vogue 7977. So let's make it then! BIG MISTAKE. The checker wool fabric that I used was a medium wool coating, and at 5' 2", I looked like I had been eaten by the cape!

I had to salvage it somehow because I used all that expensive wool! So I cut out the sides and made it into an a-line coat with sleeves. It's not the best coat I have made but at least I didn't waste the fabric and it functions well as a winter coat --- with lots of room for my belly to grow. The lining is the same purple quilted lining that I have used in my green coat. It looks like a tent but it's all about function!

Note to self: I'm too short for cape/ponchos longer than hip length. 

Getting more confident

I have this olive taffeta fabric that I really like. I have made a wedding guest dress with this fabric before and I have always wanted to make a clutch to go with it. So this is the result!  I designed it, made the patterns and made the bag. It has a zippered top. The inside of the bag is lined with black broadcloth and has 2 pockets. I decorated the clutch with a purple brooch. I like the green/purple combination.

I made this for my girlfriend as a gift. I hope she likes it!

Olive green clutch -1

The fever continues.....

Yes I made another bag with my scraps again! This time, I used this faux snake skin fabric that I must have had for about 10 years (I think I bought it in a market in the UK). I thought I could use a fancy clutch bag so I made it with this fabric. I interfaced the fabric and added a zipper pocket in the lining. It looks okay but because I didn't use buckram, the handle is a bit soft for my liking. It functions fine but I think it's time I look into getting some proper hardware for these purses if I continue to make them. Off to the library and the web!!

Faux snake skin clutch-1

Bag fever

I'm having Bag fever this week! I have made another bag based on 3 store-bought bags that I already own. I amalgamated the features I like in the 3 bags, used scrap fabrics and hardware from my stash, designed and drafted my own patterns for the different bag pieces, and voila!

Denim bag front

I used scrap black denim for the outside, created a small zipper pocket with the same denim for keys, and topstitched the ouside with orange threads. For the inside, I used an icy orange linen as lining, created another zipper pocket with the linen, as well as 2 pouches inside to store little things like cell phones. And the bag has a zipper on top because I don't want things to fall out! It's big enough for my water bottle and a National Geographic magazine. It's denim so it should be a 4-season bag!

I'm really happy with this because I just studied the store-bought bags, and created my own designs/patterns for it, and it's perfect for what I need! Of course there are things I can improve on (e.g. the top zipper could be done better, the topstitching could be straighter, etc) but this is giving me so much confidence in bag making that I think I will make some more!! (lol)

As for the leopard tote I made previously - I 'test wore' it and I'm not happy with it. First I'm used to cross-body bags that leave both my hands free in case of a fall (icy winter roads and my pregnancy clumsiness). Second, the leopard fabric is a soft apparel fabric scrap which doesn't hold the bag shape well even though I have interfaced it. Perhaps I need to interface it with buckram. I'll try again and see if I could do better with that leopard fabric! 

A purse to go with the pouch

I made a leopard shoulder bag to go with the leopard pouch I made on the weekend. I have always wanted to have a bag that has simple lines, not too big but big enough for a National Geographic magazine and a water bottle. This one measures approximately 14" x11". I'm going to 'test-wear' it tomorrow to see how it performs!

Leopard purse-1

A quickie....

I needed some quick sewing satisfaction this weekend so I made a small leopard pouch. It's 5" x7" and it's good as a small makeup bag. It is lined with a lightweight denim fabric with a quilt batting in between. Now I'm thinking of making a tote to go with this pouch! The ideas are flowing.....

Leopard pouch-1

New Hat

The recent extreme cold weather alert all over Canada has halted some of my ongoing projects for an emergency project: A warm, nice wool hat to go with my green wool coat!! :-)

I have a big noggin so it's difficult to find ready-to-wear hats that fit me. Good thing hats don't use too much fabric and I love making them (and wearing them)! This one is based on McCall 5541 view C (size Large). I used the green wool coating fabric that I used for my winter coat, plus some purple wool coating scraps I have in my stash for the banding. For the lining I used black cotton/poly broadcloth. The design feature I added was a rosette using the same purple wool coating scraps.

The hat is very warm and goes very well with my coat. And it's roomy enough that if I want to pull the hat down to cover both my ears, I can!

Green and purple wool coating hat

I also finally finished an old hat that I was wearing last winter. It's based on Simplicity 5799. It's made with a Red wool coating material (quick thick and stiff). It was very warm and I liked it but it didn't have a lining. I like things to be lined so last night I just quickly made up a lining in the same black broadcloth that I used for the green/purple hat. It's a bit more snug now that the lining is in (probably due to the thick wool coating material too). I like the colour and I have other black winter coats that I can wear this with.

Red wool hat

Nursing cover

One of the visitors to my blog is a wonderful lady 'katlew03', who told me that I didn't need to make complicated nursing tops but to make a few Nursing covers. She had made her daughter a few of these based on a store bought version. She even provided full instructions on how to make it. Thanks very much!

You can see her finished product here: http://www.friendsofpr.com/katlew3/100_0539.jpg

I can't wait to make one with some fab fabrics from my stash!

NOTE: Nursing cover is a big bib-like thing to allow a mother to nurse in public discreetly. It covers the baby and the front torso of the mom.

Something for the husband

This is something I made for my husband as a X'mas gift 2 years ago. It took me almost a year on and off to make it. First, it's a big man's coat with a lot of fabric, and I only had a small sewing desk. So it was really difficult to manuveour the fabric while sewing on a small surface. Second, my husband doesn't like to stand still and be fitted for an in-progress garment. So I started and stopped for a few times and finally took the plunge and finished it just before X'mas.

This is based on Vogue Men 1032 pattern (now out of print). I don't see a lot of coat patterns for men out there. I found this one in the cheapy bin when I was living in the UK for only £1.5. So I bought it without hesitation.

  

The pattern is rated as 'Advanced' so I was worried about making it because I'm not an advanced sewer now, not to mention 2 years ago! So for the first 2 months, I read the instructions, studied the pattern very carefully, and measured my husband many times before I started to cut the fabrics. I learned a lot and made my first welt pockets. When it was done, I was just happy that I didn't ruin the fabrics! :-)

The outer material is the same green wool flannel coating I used for my own knee length coat. The lining is some sort of a black quilted material to add warmth. I added a removable hood to his coat. But beacuse I didn't use a pattern for the hood, it's actually too big and I have to make a smaller one to replace it.

I'm glad that my hubby likes the coat and wears it almost every day in the winter.

Green wool coat for him

Baby slings

I saw a lady with an infant in a baby sling in the grocery store a couple of months ago. I thought that was sooooo adorable! So I got this McCall 5678 Pattern. I read somewhere on the web that the bottom of the sling should hit the top of the parent's hip. I already had a baby bump so I wasn't sure where the top of my hips would be post-pregnancy. So I made a medium and large for myself (I am hoping at least one of them would work with my baby). My slings outer fabrics are made with a cotton denim. The inner fabric is a cotton flannel.

Last night I made another one for my husband who is 6' 2" with broad shoulders. I actually have to add 3 inches at the folded edge of the pattern (total of 6 inches added to the length). The sling's outer fabric is a green cotton canvas, and the inside is lined with a cotton flannel. The slings are both topstiched.

Since no one would loan me an infant to try the slings out, I guess I would have to wait until mine is born to test them out! :-)