so, who gets to decide?

Sometimes the most time consuming part for me is the tracing out the pattern. It means making enough space on the dining table at the time of the day when M is not running around. And, it has to be daytime, because by night I am too tired to trace out patterns. Motivation usually kicks in by the time I have cut the fabric after which I am eager to get to get to the sewing machine. (This actually even happens with sometimes M on my lap!).

Something similar happened to the dress here.

Back in April, I added length to a previously traced size 6 of the Mini Southport dress pattern. You can see it here.  All of four months went past until, in August, I realised that it was going to be too short. I dragged myself back to the table for more tracing (because by this time, as is often the case, Ms. N had remembered the fabric we had chosen and was wondering what happened to the dress).

I should mention that I tried to push it off to next year because mosquito season is upon us, and I tried to convince her that she won’t be able to wear it much. Honestly, I was also not feeling much upto making something that I hadn’t thought of for a while. But, as luck would have it, her luck that is, I also remembered that I don’t have much of this fabric and it may not be enough next year for the said dress. And so eventually between her pushing for it, and me giving in, first somewhat unwillingly and then quite eagerly (as is often the case), the whole start to finish took less than a few days.

I suppose the current version could also be slightly longer, but I think the length looks good on her. The fabric is lovely Alexander Henry, if I am not wrong (but, I entirely unsure since I forgot to save the selvage and can’t find details of it anywhere). I have held on to it for a good six years because I loved it so much, but it was time to make something of it. And, I agree with N, the dress suits the fabric well.

The pattern instructions, for anyone making it the first time are very clear, and in general I like the fit of True Bias patterns on N. (These pants were a super hit and I plan to make more). I would say the same about the dress. Version 1 still hangs in her cupboard and while it is incredibly short she wears it plenty.

And so here she is–chatting with M as I am trying to take photos.

I have to say I am pretty pleased it got off my to-do pile as well. The fact that she has worn it almost non stop since it got made means that it was worth it.

Which really brings me to the question that I have really been pondering over. What and how do you really decide what you are going to sew next? As I read blogs of other sewists, I know a lot of you sew because you don’t buy anymore for your kids. I do the same for N, not only because I like sewing for her, but also because it saves some serious amount of money. But it also means that many choices are dictated by the need of the moment, and so for instance, the reason why I was hesitant to go ahead with this dress was because the girl needs pants and full sleeves shirts, and not, in my mind, a sleeveless dress! (With M, I am incredibly lucky because he gets fantastic hand me downs).

But, then on the other hand, there is also what your child wants you to sew, right? Not just in terms of pattern of a dress or a particularly style or fabric, but increasingly, what does he/she want? I am sure most sewists, including me want to accomodate that desire, because let’s face it: there comes a time surely when you don’t want your mom to be sewing for you? So while N loves for most part what I make, and can be quite exact and demanding at times, the time when she doesn’t care much about what I make may not be too far away.

And then, last but not the least, there is small but significant aspect of this business of sewing which is entirely selfish, right? That, I am not sewing for my child, but really I am sewing for myself because I really really like to do this. But between negotiating what the wearer needs and what the wearer wants, I often feel quite lost in terms of what I want to make. Or at the very least, what I want to make comes the lowest priority.

I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way. Certainly, I hope not to be! But I always wonder how others negotiate this, and would love to hear from others.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy sewing!

Asmita/xx

 

 

 

 

 

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a dress that almost didn’t happen

Hello again!

So, on our aforementioned trip N wore her new dress. I had finished making it a few days before with no particular intention of packing it for our trip. But as things go, she decided she wanted to take it, possibly because, well, it’s the newest thing in her cupboard and super comfortable.

And to think that I had almost abandoned this one half way!

The original plan was this: to have the bodice and skirt from the same print that you now see in the skirt. The bias binding was to be in shocking pink. Neither fabric, both straightforward jersey knit (or so I thought, still think) presented any particular problems because I had sewn enough t-shirts, and binding seemed like something I could do in my sleep. Well, the lesson learn here is never to be over confident. I am still not sure what I did to get the waviest neckline, and why I continued to proceed thinking somehow that everything would work itself out. It didn’t, of course. When the first neckline went bad, I should have stopped. But, instead, I cut off that neckline, bound it again (if you can believe it) and made her try it on, sans skirt and sleeves. I could see half her chest, and I think she was clearly wondering if this was somehow going to be a swimsuit of sorts. Or god only knows what. It is almost sad, I don’t have photos to show of this, because once I got over it, it was quite funny!

To continue the story, at that point it didn’t feel so entertaining. But, thankfully I decided to take a short break  and come back to it the next day. To start over, I realised I needed some new fabric for the bodice, and so what you see is the remainder of yoga pants that I had made earlier. I still had plenty of pink, but decided to stay away from that too, to not jinx this dress any further. So, the green binding comes from an old t-shirt of mine. The rest is what I had originally cut into from a lovely knit that I have had for several years now. The dress, if I may say so is actually really simple. I have made one from the same pattern before (you would think I would have gotten it right, since I had no problems whatsoever the last time around). N had loved the last one, and I thought it would be fun to make it in a different print this time. I didn’t take a look at the instructions this time, but I remember that were very clear when I had taken a look for dress no. 1. It can be sewed up fairly quickly, if you do the binding carefully, and there is a fair bit of that. I made it in a size 7 based on her measurements, while adding 1″ to both the skirt and bodice.

I am happy to say both she and I are pretty happy with the fit. I think she likes the fact that the pockets meet, so it’s not two really separate pockets but one continuous one. (Does that make sense? Perhaps its clear from the photo below.) For me, it’s an elegant looking dress, which seems more complicated to sew than what it really is. Plus it’s in a knit fabric. The comfort level is hard to beat. 

N wore it happily on the first day of our trip. And, I must say, I am so glad I did not send it to the to-do pile.  Knowing me, it would have sat there forever, and by the time I would have got to it she would have definitely outgrown it. 

Asmita/xx

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three

Of late I have found myself making versions of the same pattern not twice but thrice in one go. I am not saying it doesn’t get a bit tedious, but N is currently in the state where when she likes one thing (in this case what I have made for her once), she wants another one exactly-the-same. In part, I suspect it is because she sees things in shops where the same design comes repeated in different sizes and same size in large quantities, so perhaps I should take this as a compliment. And, sure making the same thing over and over again is a huge time saver, for all the obvious reasons.

Thankfully I usually don’t have so much of one fabric to make two let alone three of exactly-the-same. So I have made a deal that she will get the same pattern but in three different fabrics. If one has a favourite top and a good fit, it’s not a bad deal actually -certainly one that I would be happy with!

So, without further talk, here’s the first version:

The fabric is a lovely voile, that I bought a few years ago in Bangalore (on Commercial street) and this is the original top that N fell in love it. I made it in size 6 with 1″ added to the bottom length and 1″ to the sleeves. However when a request for the second one came I thought she could do with a longer version. So I added another inch at the bottom but kept the sleeves the same length as above. I had only about 1/2 metre of the beautiful Nani-iro double gauze, so I added a contrast pink bodice (in mangalgiri cotton). My favourite part is the fabric buttons, but sadly N is not particularly impressed.

In fact as it turned out, she is not pleased with this one at all, despite my thinking that she would fall for the double gauze and my lovely buttons. Sadly, no….!

So, then came the third one in which she chose the fabric.This is another lovely double gauze that I had been saving for long. It’s from Echino by the designer Etsuko Furuya and is softer than Nani-iro. Plus she loves the lions.

I did a couple of things differently for this version. For one, I added slits on the sides and did a bartacking stitch right on the top both for decorative purposes and durability. Then I added tabs on the sleeves so that she could fold up her sleeves like this.

The yellow fabric which is as gorgeous and soft as the blue double gauze is locally purchased from here. (For those of you who might be in Delhi it is worthwhile checking out what else the Sunbird studio has-Karin Koch, the owner, has some of the most beautifully tailored clothes for children and adults.)Needless to say this is N’s favourite with the pink flowery one coming a close second. She adores the tabs on the sleeves, and of course the lions. The second one, despite some initial interest, is, at the moment, barely getting worn. But, I think she will come around to it once it gets cold. Oh, and before I go, a word on the pattern which I have failed to mention until now. It’s the after school shirt from Oliver+S. With much excitement about Liesl’s new book, and I can’t wait to get to it too, I am happy to be trying out an older Oliver+S pattern. As with her other patterns, there is almost a guarantee that it will teach me something new and I enjoyed the making every bit of it.

As I already mentioned I made it in size 6 with some length adjustments. The fit is roomy and relaxed, more so than I felt of some of her other shirts, and perfect for N to wear to school. As the pattern states there are buttons on both the front and back yokes. For versions 2 and 3, however I have closed off the back buttonholes. N’s head is pretty small and I figured that she didn’t need to unbutton both front and back to get it over here head.

And, that’s about it from here. Before I go here’s one last picture, my favourite one, of N and M.

Dasara holidays are coming up so I hope you are doing something fun!

Asmita/xx

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from here and there

I got a lovely fabric gift earlier in the month and thought I’d share it with you all. The yellow one is Liberty, and has been picked out by N as a favourite, and  I think I am going after the blue. They all come from London where Mr. M had to travel for work. He was good enough to go here and here (of course with directions kindly sent by me) and get back these goodies. I am wondering what to make with them….On the sewing front I finally made the bag that had been on my list for a while. N started dance classes in July and needed something to carry her stuff. Of course she has other bags but she wanted something in the “backpack” variety. This free pattern comes from the trusty Purl Soho. It is really simple to make so I didn’t really take a look at the instructions, but from my past experiences I am sure they are thorough. They have three sizes (I made the child version) and despite some earlier doubts, it’s the perfect size for her.

The fabric is remainders from an earlier sewing project. She chose it because she now likes grey.Well, who knew?! I have no idea what the line is called. I had it saved it for long enough and am glad I made something that would get a lot of use. I used a different fabric for lining inside, but sadly no pictures.

So that’s about it. I am sewing other things in a meandering kind of a way, but mostly I have been spending large amounts of time pottering around the house, thinking that I need to cleanup some spaces small and large while desperately waiting for the weather to change. But, before I go, here is something hilarious that my sister sent me yesterday. If you haven’t seen it before, and I hadn’t, it’s worth a read. Enjoy!

Asmita/xx

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birthday #1

After my last posting in early August, I don’t know the rest of my month went. I mean to post these pictures earlier, but as it turns out it’s already the middle of September and and I am still carrying some last bits of news left over from July. Mainly that we celebrated two birthdays and two little ones turned 8 and 2.

So, here goes…

N turned 8 at the beginning of July and celebrated her birthday during our last week in Pune. Her request for this year was a party at my sister’s dog hostel. (Yes! She runs what I think of as a really cool pet hotel on the outskirts of Pune.). N loves dogs, my sister and she really bond over this, and when N requested her birthday party to happen there we all agreed, since she rarely gets to have her birthday party with extended family anymore.

The other request was a frock from “something blue” which I was happy to make.

The pattern comes from this Japanese book. Ages ago, when N turned three I had used the same pattern and I remember N wearing that dress for the longest time. She is currently into the colour blue and wanted something really simple, and so I thought I’d try making a larger version of the same.

The fabric is ikat and has the loveliest of drapes. I bought it in Pune last year at Banjaras. The pattern calls for a collar and ideally I would have liked the dress to have it, but I realised at the last minute that I had cut the wrong size. It was the day before her birthday, I wanted to make sure that it gets done and so on a spur of the moment I decided to skip the collar. Well, so I finished it on the night before, snaps and all (which as it turns out is her favourite part), and she was delighted to find out that it was indeed ready by her birthday. (Clearly I don’t have a very good record on that front.)

Only problem—it is huge on her. In fact, I think I can almost put her baby brother along with her inside it 🙂 I made it in 120cms. What I needed to do, knowing that the sizes run rather large in this book was to make it in a size 100 with only the length increased. Oh well. She likes it well enough, despite appearing rather grumpy in a few of the photos.

 I am already thinking another one, perhaps a different blue, but this time with a collar and definitely two sizes smaller.

So this is birthday #1. The party was fun! I wish I had more photos of it, but I guess that is what happens when everyone is having a good time and no one is really taking pictures. Even though she is already two months into being 8, I can hardly believe that she is actually 8—somehow she does seem so much older (especially when compared to her baby brother) and still such a baby at the same time.

Tomorrow I will post about birthday #2, so if you are visiting I hope you will come back soon.

Asmita/xo

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t-shirts

After making pants, it was time to make a few shirts. She certainly doesn’t need them right away, since t-shirts are almost exclusively for worn for school…and summer holidays have just begun. But one led to another and before I knew it I had finished three. What can I say?

#1 is from a pattern I used just a few days ago.

This is a Heather Ross knit. I made it exactly like the last one, but unfortunately this is a big tight at the neck. She is not complaining as yet, because she loves the print, but it is hard to get in and out of a bit. I should have checked the stretch factor before. Oh well.

#2 is also from the same pattern but a far more comfortable fit. The fabric is from a hand me down that I have had from years ago. I thought I was paying attention when I cut it, but in fact, it seems that that was not really the case. The design is slightly off centre–do you see it?

Initially N was not too keen on the sparkliness, and I was ready to put this down in not-going-to-be-worn pile but she now claims to love it 🙂 The rib knit with years of use is soft and very comfortable. In fact we are taking it on our summer trip!

And, finally #3.A complete and a total hit! The pattern is this one. I tried the simple tee, but I am dying to make the twisted kind. I have long wanted to try some of their patterns and there are some really nice ones to chose from. The fabric comes from my old hardly worn t-shirt, and I am feeling quite happy because this could not have found a better use.

N loves everything about it, the blue stripes, the pink ribbing and most importantly the pocket.

We are definitely taking this one with us.We leave tomorrow for our annual summer vacation for seven weeks. I am carrying some sewing, embroidery, lots of book plus this, that, and the other. And we are planning to have internet there. So I hope to write soon from Pune!

Asmita/xo

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long awaited

s

A few days ago I started sewing the long awaited jumpsuit/romper. N has asked for one since last summer but I couldn’t find a pattern that I liked. As it turns out there was a free pattern right in front of my eyes at Purl Soho.

I quickly printed out the pattern pieces, chose the fabric with N’s help but decided to keep quiet about what I was going to make. That’s not usually the way I do sewing anymore but I knew how badly she wanted a jumpsuit and so this one was bound to make her happy.

Needless to say she is delighted! She wore it last night first, right after I finished and then this morning to our local farmer’s market after our photo shoot. And she already wants me to make her three more !!

A quick word about the fabric and pattern. I used Nani Iro double gauze and I am feeling pretty pleased with this choice. It’s a lovely colour on her,and the fabric will only soften with use. The pattern instructions are very clear with lots of drawings to help on the way. It’s not at all a difficult pattern to use and had I sewn it in one continuous sitting I don’t think it would have taken more than one afternoon. I did go a bit back and forth on the sizing since N has a really small chest, but hips that fit in the 8-9 size. So I stuck to the latter and reduced the elastic length for the chest by 3/4″ each. The straps don’t fall off that way and I am pretty happy with the fit.

So, that’s it. Isn’t it great for summer? And the best part is that it comes from a free pattern. 🙂

Happy sewing everyone.

Asmita/xx

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summer sewing

There is a very short window during our long summer months when N can wear shorts to school. It means that the temperatures are high enough to warrant shorts, but the fear of dengue hasn’t yet set in. A few weeks ago N and I combed through her cupboard to realise that many of her pants needs to be given away. Given that it was still April we decided to settle on shorts.

And so, I finally got to try out the Oliver+S lazy days shorts which was a super quick sew and got done in half a metre of fabric. That felt like an achievement, because as it turns out I have a lot of cute 1/2 metre (and yard) cuts that are languishing in the cupboard!

The 1/2 yard, however, did not leave enough for the waistband, so I added one with a contrasting fabric. I hope you can see a bit of it peeking out in the photo below.

I tried a size 6 based on her waist measurement, and I think the length is good. After a few wears however, she is complaining that it is tight at the crotch. I think it means I may have to size up for the next one as we would need to retire these sooner than I had hoped. (Oh, and also then give up my dreams of cutting a few more pretty 1/2 yard fabrics to fit in this pattern!)

Shorts #2 come from a free pattern from the Purl Bee.

I have had these pinned forever and I am so glad that I finally made them. Based on my experience before, and after checking her hip size, this one is in a size 8-9.

 At first, I was worried that the width of size 8-9T was going to be too broad for her legs, but it doesn’t seem so does it? The waistband too felt a bit tricky to start with. As the instructions say it is actually five layers of fabric, and given that I was using quilting cotton (brought from Purl Soho years ago…) I was afraid it might be too much. But it isn’t, and N says that they are very comfortable on the waist.

I have to say I love this pair! And, given that I could use different fabrics for the main front-back panels, waistband, and binding, the possibilities are limitless.

The final pair, #3, is a longer version of something that we had to give away so I already knew that she liked the fit and pattern.

The highlight of this is the fabric (she loves the patchwork). I should say that I did not make the patchwork fabric but purchased it a few years ago from Pune. It won’t be hard to “make” I think just perhaps a bit more, ok maybe a lot of extra work. The pattern itself is simple enough (flared shorts ‘D’), with only two pattern pieces. The top part is folded over to make a casing for the waistband. It has a feel of a skirt or culottes and I think are her current favourite. It comes from here and I made a size 120 cms with added length.

So that’s it on the shorts front. And to go with it all I also made a quick t-shirt, again, using a pattern from my to do list.

This one also comes from Oliver+S. I made view A it in size 6T with 7T length on both sleeves and main panel. The fabric is entirely re-cycled. The grey and red both come from my old t-shirts. A relatively easy and quick sew, I was happy I could finish it in one afternoon.

So, that’s it from me today. I have recently had the good luck of finding some extra time to sew, which makes me really happy. And, so I will be back with some more to show very soon:-) Hope you are having some happy sewing days too.

Asmita/xo

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for summer

This dress started out as they usually do with a particular fabric in mind. The bodice is a lovely embroidered remnant with chikankari work of my old kurta and I had just enough to make the top part. So N and I went some fabric hunting and got 1 metre for the skirt, and then some more. The green striped fabric is a gift from my mother. And this way eventually one dress turned into two!

The pattern for both is exactly the same. And given that it’s my third dress in the last year from the same pattern, I think I can put it down as one of my all time favourites.

My only slight annoyance comes from the fact that I cut a size 120 cms, when I knew that really I should have stuck to one size smaller and just extended the bodice and the skirt. The pattern runs wide as is common with Japanese patterns. And despite me going a size up and extending the length of the skirt by a good 1.5″ it is still on the shorter side if you ask me, and the waist is very wide.

N however seems to not mind. For the very hot weather it’s a non fussy simple dress and I suppose it is nice not to have fabric sticking to you anywhere.

Plus the fact that we could use different fabrics for the bodice and the skirt makes this one a current favourite. N is all for very colourful dresses right now. Her favourite is the green one at the moment. I am tending towards the blue….But all in all they are really good usable everyday frocks for summer!

And now, I have saved my favourite part for the last.

I was so happy to finally be able to use these button that Marta sent me almost two years ago! It’s taken me two years to find the dress to go with but I am glad to have found a match. N is particularly pleased to have them on her dress too, since they come from (what she terms as) my “blog friend” and she is fascinated by the idea. Thank you Marta!  I think that is one of the nicest parts of sharing here is that I get to meet like minded people who love sewing and making as much as I do, and somehow in this virtual space magically a connection happens!

Have a good Sunday.

Asmita/xo

 

 

 

 

 

 

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fancy

I have always felt a bit terrified of sewing with silk, and even though with a wedding in the family there was going to be a chance to do just that I didn’t immediately jump into it. Well, because you know there is always the possibility to wear something store bought and not fret about it.

But then I remembered that one of my aunts had given me her old but gorgeous kanjeevaram silk sari.  The border of it, a beautiful red had seeped into the yellow in some places so parts of it were unusable but I still had enough large parts left to make something fancy.

And so I made the Fairy tale dress. The pattern comes from Oliver+S (view A). N had loved and worn plenty the last dress I made using this pattern, plus she adores the sleeves. We recently gave that one away so clearly another one was in order. Plus, in cutting up this gorgeous piece of cloth I wanted to stick to something tried and tested, knowing well that provided I didn’t mess it up N’s love for this style was already guaranteed and would wear it.

I made a size 6 with both bodice and skirt length increased by 0.5 and 1″ respectively. The sari had a pretty large border, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use the entire width so I cut of a fair bit and just left about an inch of the top part of the border (where the yellow begins) and used it at the bottom of the bodice.

As it turns out sewing with silk (this was the more stiff variety and not as slippery) was not a whole lot different than with cotton, although of course it was a tad bit more slippery when cutting and  I had to use a lot more weights and be extra careful. The only thing that I wish I had done differently was to pay more attention to cutting the front bodice. Part of the sari has the small lovely motifs and I wish I had centered it.

She still loves it, as do I! Especially the sleeves–

And the zipper needed a bit of fiddling but was well worth the effort! I didn’t add the hook on the top because N complained of it on the last dress.

All in all, I think I can say that it went well. I am glad I could make it at a slow pace and the effort was well worth it. And an extra plus: it feels good to sew something fancy. N wore it at the wedding of course, but then also plenty more–always a good sign!

Summer is almost here, and so N is wanting to wear this at every chance she gets. I realised that this silk does not stretch at all (unlike regular cotton fabric which becomes a little loose over a period of time), and so it means that another month of it and we may have to pass this one on!

Here she is off to her friends house for a playdate.

But I will still be left with a little bit of border and I am already wondering what I want to do with it. Any suggestions?

Asmita/xx

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