Dresses

Sewing for kindergarten

September 04, 2014


Today I am joining in with Mie from Sewing Like Mad's series, Sewing for kindergarten.  Now, a bit on terminology...in Australia, or Victoria at least, kindergarten refers to 'pre-school' - the one to two years prior to school where children attend kindergarten for 3 - 15 hours per week, depending on their age.  Children generally start school aged five.  So 'kindergarten' in the US relates to the first year of school in Australia which is usually called 'prep' here, although this year they have started a new term for the first year of school (which I don't like) - 'foundation'.  


Anyway, this year my eldest daugher Isabella started school!  In Australia, the school year begins in the final week of January or first week of February - after the six week summer holidays.  A logical time to start a school year I think!  So Issie has been at school for seven months already...how the time has flown!  

Now onto the sewing...In the vast majority of schools in Australia (both primary and secondary), children wear a school uniform.  Isabella's school sports a very common gingham summer dress for girls and the colour scheme for the uniforms is green and white with a bit of bright yellow (for t-shirts).  I actually began this school dress in February when I was like, "I can make Issie a nicer dress than that!" looking at the summer dresses available.   Oops, I only finished this dress two days ago!!  Thanks Mie for hosting this series to make me finish my unfinished project!  The pattern is An from StraightGrain's tinny dress - the skirt is a big longer. I modified the sleeve cuffs to look more like the generic uniform.  The perfect pattern for a school uniform! I found the gingham at my local fabric store.  


My Mum is contributing to this post too!! She knitted Isabella's lovely school cardigan which has kept her warm all through winter.  Thank you Mum!!


Each morning I drive the girls to school and Isabella and Juliette always insist on escorting Issie into the classroom and they love saying hello to all the big girls! Emily has become a celebrity at Issie's school with her vocal talents and cheeky personality!  She loves joining in with the national anthem at assembly on a Monday morning, "golden soil" and "girt by sea" are the only words she knows.  Aussie's will know what I mean!


Mie asked me to answer a few questions about Issie starting school and about my own first day of school...

 Is this your first time sending a child to Kindergarten/ school? Yes!

Do you feel like crying or celebrating?  I didn't just feel like crying, I cried.  I missed Issie for the first couple of weeks!!

And what about your child? Isabella cried too. She was a little unsettled for the first week.  We moved a few weeks prior, and Isabella had only visited the school once the day before starting.  Luckily she made some sweet friends right away and now she loves it!

What type of school (public, private, homeschool) does your child attend?  Isabella attends the local state school.  If is a four minute drive from home and has about 160 children. 

What was your own first day of school like (if you remember ;-)?  I do remember my first day of school, mostly because (as far as my memory tells me), I got a fly stuck up my nose.  Yep, that's right!!  I had to pick it out!!  I was pretty nervous for a the first few weeks of school and I remember telling Mum I had a tummy ache.  Luckily I had two big sisters and a big brother at the school already to look after me!!


Issie loves school now and she loves learning.  She can read simple books and her writing is coming along. She has lots of lovely friends and her teachers are all great.

Thanks for having me Mie!! Head over to Mie's blog to see what everyone else is making their kids!!


Bathers

Roots: Sewing your heritage

January 31, 2014


I am excited today to be the last guest in the lovely sewing series called - Roots: Sewing your heritage, hosted by the lovely Heidi of Elegance and Elephants.  Heidi has invited bloggers from around the world to create something inspired by their cultural/family heritage.  You can read the introductory post here.  I am the Aussie counterpart!

Here is my wonderful and lucky country, Australia!!!


Australia has been inhabited by Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years.  Europeans first settled in Australia in 1788.  The 'First Fleet' captained by Captain Cook arrived and Eurpoeans began colonising the country.  Therefore, our documented history is quite short.  There is no real 'national dress' that is associated with being Australian.  Most Aussies would own a pair of 'thongs' or 'flip flops' (you will see Isabella wearing these on her feet).  After being invited by Heidi, I started brainstorming ideas that might capture the essence of my heritage...  

I am Australian, born and bred.  The previous three generations of my family tree (parents, grandparents and great grandparents ) were all also born in Australia.  So, a very 'Aussie' look was what I was after.  I did toy with trying to create something inspired by Australia's convict history, I could also create something inspired by Australia's Aboriginal culture.  But since I do not have any direct family ties to Aboriginal culture so for me, sewing my roots came down to sewing something inspired by my childhood and the landscape of Australia.  With this in mind,  I decided to create something based on the Australian coastline.  Australia is a one huge, amazing island.  The majority of the population are scattered around the coastline.

Australia has some amazing beaches.  I have visited much of the coastline throughout my life - both as a teenager and also an adult.  We boast the Great Barrier Reef, Broome, Byron Bay, Ningaloo Reef, The twelve apostles, Wilson's Promontary and countless other famous Australian landmarks that are located along the vast coastline.  You can read another great Roots story inspired by the rugged coast at Renee's blog (her history is also more informative than mine!!).

I grew up in the coastal town of Warrnambool, situated three and half hours south west of Victoria's capital, Melbourne.  I have lived in Melbourne since I was eighteen years of age, but four weeks ago, we moved back to Warrambool!  I have moved back to the place of my roots and we are now creating a life where our children can establish their roots.  An exciting time.  Warrnambool has a lovely beach and also many rivers.  Isabella is mad about the beach.  She steps into another world once her feet hit the sand and she happily plays in the sand, waves and shallow waters with the biggest smile on her face!  These photos were taken, of all days, on Australia day on Sunday!  Down at the river mouth ten minutes from our house.


So, it's finally time to tell you about what I made.  I purchased a cotton lycra brown vine print a few months ago.  I have a photo of myself at the same age in very similar print bikini so it fit on two levels to make bathers for this series.  I loosely based the bathers on the pattern in Summer 2009 edition of Ottobre.  I adapted the straps making them wide and joining together at the back.


I also wanted to make Issie a beach shirt.  I love letting her play on the beach, but with the hot Australian sun,  a shirt is a necessity.  I was inspired by the colours of the Australian flag to make the shirt.  I picked up a blue and white striped cotton seersucker and drafted a simple loose fitting shirt.  I used red biased binding around the neckline.  Isabella loves her little straw hat I bought her for Christmas and it suited the theme!


This is the face Isabella usually sports when playing at the beach...


She didn't look so out of place dancing around with the Australian flag on January 26th!


I feel very lucky to live in such a lucky country - Australia.  I can't imagine living anywhere else and am so glad to be raising our girls in such a fortunate and beautiful place.


I hope you have enjoyed my post.  Thanks so much for having me Heidi  - it has been lovely and we are sure to get lots of wear this summer from our Roots inspired sewing!!

You catch up and read all the past posts in this series over at Elegance and Elephants.

Dresses

Hooray for Spring....and a sneak peak at my upcoming dress pattern

September 06, 2013

 
Today I am joining in with an Australian/New Zealand based 'blog hop' hosted by Jane from LilPip and Cass from CassCanSew.  You can read all about it here. 
 
Cass can sew and Lil Pip Designs Spring has Sprung
 
'Spring has sprung' has run all this week and finishes on Sunday - featuring two bloggers a day who are posting anything and everything related to Spring!! (see bottom of post for more details). There are also lots of prizes going on too...so make sure to have a look at Jane's blog at LilPip for details.
 
Well, spring happens to be my favourite season.  It has so many things going for it...This is why I love Spring:
- goodbye to winter rain and cold days inside
- starting to plant out our vegie patch
- spring blooms
- outdoor play
- lighter evenings
- the sound of lawn mowers and the smell of freshly cut grass
- usually lovely weather...not too hot!
- my birthday is nestled in there somewhere!
 
The only I don't enjoy about Spring is my yearly dose of hayfever!!
 
So for this blog hop, I decided to share a dress I made recently.  It is a pattern I am working on, the second I hope to add to my etsy shop, sewpony vintage in the coming months (current work on the pattern is on hold due to me taking part in Project Run & Play...yay!!).  I am tossing up between developing this pattern next or another one I am working on...will post more about that soon!
 
Anyway, I think this version of the dress is totally spring - and Juliette trying her hardest to make wishes on the dandelions made this photoshoot even moreso:). Sorry the colours in these pics are not great - the dress was really reflective!!!
 
This is the best of the full length pics I got of Juliette - a typical Aussie backyard backdrop...lots of grass (currently a barren vegie patch in the background), homemade compost bin, gum tree and a slightly rusted hills hoist washing line!! 
 
This version of the dress features:
- Small capped sleeves (I think I will make them smaller than on this dress)
- V-bodice (lined)
- Gathered skirt with central seam
- Rectangular pockets (I may change these to rounded pockets...haven't decided yet!)
- Button closure at back
- Piped detail (gotta love a bit of piping!!)
- Deep hem
 
There will be five sleeve options to make this an all season dress. 
1. Capped (seen here),
2. short puffed sleeve,
3. long sleeved with slight gather at shoulder seam and wrist (I have started the long sleeved version in a super soft velveteen for Emily... I better get it finished quick before it gets too warm here!!,
4. sleeveless
5. and an altered squared off bodice to accommodate straps. 
 
Being an Australian blogger staring out designing patterns  (with a  predominantly international reader base), I am challenged to think of designs that will appeal to those in the northern and southern hemispheres.  My first pattern is sleeveless but lends itself to heavier fabrics so can be worn over long sleeves and with tights (as my girls did this winter). 
 
The fabric I used here is a thrifted vintage bed sheet - I think it is very fitting for this spring theme!!  If you follow sewpony on facebook, you may recognise it from here!  I used store bought yellow bias binding to cover piping cord for the detail around the sleeves, bodice seam and pockets.  I could not find buttons in the right shade of yellow to match the piping.  So I decided to make my own!! I used fimo.

So what do you think of my dress?  I would love to hear your feedback.

And for more Spring inspired posts, make sure you check out these Aussie/NZ blogs taking part in the 'Spring has Sprung' blog hop...
 
 
PS.   If you would like to see what I have made for my first sewing challenge for Project Run & Play, make sure to pop back next Tuesday/Wednesday to see my Oliver & S Popover dress remix.  I would love some more Southern Hemispherean support:)))



 

guest post

When we were young - Week 10: StraightGrain

August 14, 2013

I have had the pleasure of An, of StraightGrain's company on my blog twice in one week.  She sewed up my Debbie's birthday dress here, and today she is guest posting for When we were young!  As you may have read a few days back, I am a huge fan of An and her lovely creations for her daughter Norah.  An's is one blog that I read very regularly.  She always comes up with new and imaginative sewing ideas and techniques and her patterns are just gorgeous. 
Watch out for her latest pattern - the Hanami top and dress which will be released very soon!

When I dreamt up my idea of When we were young, I really wanted An on board.  When An saw my blog button for when we were young, a conversation started about our mutual love of Marcel Marlier (who inspired her Tinny dress and my Debbie's birthday dress pattern), and also started the very first conversation about co -hosting a series together .... aka Secret Squirrel.

Anyway, I will now hand it over to An who will begin by telling you a bit about when she was young...

*****
Hi everyone! I'm so excited to be part of Suz' beautiful series. The past weeks, some amazing creations have been shown here... Before I show you mine, here's a little bit about myself:

Where were you born/where did you spend your childhood?
I was born in Duffel, Belgium, and lived there untill I went off to study in Antwerp, where I still live now. In case you're wondering: yes, the duffle coat and duffle bag were named after the little town I spent my childhood in! Indeed, a long time ago, Duffel was renowned for its production of the cloth used for overcoats and luggage. These days, it is renowned for pretty much nothing.
Who did you grow up with?
I grew up with one little sister, Sarah, who is 2.5 years younger. And with Guinea pigs - I love guinea pigs!
Did you have a childhood ambition? 
Becoming a veterinarian. Specializing in guinea pigs, dolphins, and kittens (dogs scare the **** out of me!)
What did you like doing when you were little?
Reading books, and writing stories, mostly. And taking care of  my guinea pigs, of course.
Do you see any similarities between yourself and your child/children? 
This is a difficult question. As far a personality is concerned, I see more resemblances between Norah and her dad, than between Norah and me. But that's probably because I don't know myself that well. 
There is one similarity which does stand out I guess, and that is that Norah loves to play with (matchbox type) cars. She's not interested in dolls at all; she plays with her cars and garage all day long. Her interest in more "boyish" stuff is something we share: I also like doing cool stuff with hammer and saw, lighting the barbeque, trying to fix the sink, and so on, much more than I like so-called girly jobs. Sewing would be one important exception to that rule, of course (although, aren't most successful fashion designers men?).
Where do you live now and who with?
I live in the city centre of Antwerp, with my husband Jelle and our daughter Norah. 

Do you live far from where you grew up?
No, Antwerp is just a thirty minute drive away from Duffel.
 
*****
When Suz invited me for this series, I was immediately excited about it. Such a cool idea! Only one problem: I tried to remember some pretty clothes I used to wear as a kid, but really couldn't. I asked my mom for some photo books, but they only confirmed that there was nothing wrong with my memory: I really didn't wear pretty clothes as a child. The reason was not that my parents had bad taste or anything; the problem was simply that I was born in 1980, right at the start of Fashion's Official Decade of Horror. I flipped through the two photo books about a million times, and then I suddenly realised that the picture below might have some potential. Rather than doing a real knock-off, I decided to create a dress inspired  on the knit dress below. Good taste and all, you know. (Oh, and, disclaimer: I have no idea why my toes look like those of a frog in that pic, and I would like to stress that today, I have perfectly normal, even quite pretty toes.)
I made the 2013 version in a lovely beige linen, on which I painted horizontal stripes with some ordinary fabric paint.
Painting the stripes was a job which took me a lot longer than I anticipated. My original idea was just to paint them on off-the-cuff, so you could really see the brush strokes. But that didn't work out very well, as the paint really needed to be brushed into the fabric. So I used tape to protect the areas around the stripes.
I used my upcoming Hanami dress pattern, but left off the flutter sleeves. 

I also replaced the blind zipper in the back by buttons. Do you like them, by the way? They are handmade ceramic buttons, made by Sarah from Fulton & Co. Beautiful, aren't they? I just love their raw, matte look. If you'd like to win a set of Fulton buttons of choice, or enjoy a 20% discount on all Sarah's beautiful buttons, visit my blog today! :-)

Thank you so much, Suz, for including me in this amazing series!
 
*****
Thankyou An!  What a beautiful and creative outfit!!  But I was hoping to see Norah in a pair of orange pipe-cleaner glasses!!

Dresses

KCW guest post

July 12, 2013


Hello...I am very excited to be guest posting over at the awesome Kids' Clothes Week blog today!  I have put together a post on summer dress inspiration - ironic for me since we are mid -winter here in Australia, but why should us lovely Southern Hemisphereans miss out on all the KCW fun?!!
I made up the Oliver + S ice-cream dress for the occasion.  You can see the rest of my post here:)