Draft stops

I put up these purchased curtains to help keep the room warmer. But, cold air flows out from the gap at the bottom.

Leah modeling the draft stoppers (also known as "sausages"). You can see the gap between the curtains and the floor. (If I had hung the curtains lower, the window molding would have shown at the top). The white one is her own personal "sausage" because she insisted that she needed one too. (Oh the fun of trying to sew while little kids are home!)


Sewing the stuffing into a sausage.

The draft stoppers in use.


The green furry fabric came from the thrift store a year ago. I wish I had enough of it to make all 4 draft stoppers since it matches the carpet so well. The burgundy flannel is 7 years old. I stuffed the green draft stoppers with quilt batting picked up at an annual village clean-up (includes a "give and take" area), and the two burgundy flannel are stuffed with fabric scraps. Leah's "sausage" is 1 metre of fun fur rolled up and sewn. The other 4 draft stoppers took 1/2 yard each.

Kwik Sew Cat Coat

This coat is based on the "Jacket with zipper, hood and ribbing waistband" from the Kwik Sew's Sewing for Children book.

Satin stitching the cat on the back.


Coat uses 4 different fabrics, all found at the thrift store in the last few years. I might add more of the leopard fun fur to the cuffs and hood, but I need Leah to try it on first, and I won't be giving her the coat until Monday (her birthday!).


I made sure the cat on the back wouldn't be covered by the hood. I did that on a sweater of my own -- the hood covers the horse I stitched on the back (duh!).

Jalie 2787 Criss-cross tops

View B top in tie-dye panne velvet.


Size K (7) top for my DD in green crushed panne velvet.

Kwik Sew 2678 Leotards and pants

Just the pants from this pattern, which Leah will actually use as tights under skirts and dresses.


Hello Kitty ribbon to mark the back.

New Look 6478 Girl's Knit summer dresses

Simple and cute little dresses for Leah this summer.

The yellow one has ribbon bows on the sleeves and front. I also added a fabric rose to the front bow. This is view A.

Close up of the back closure.


I love this fabric! It's one of my better thrift store fabric finds. This is also view A, but I left off the sleeves.

Custom Boy Shorts

Okay, for all the world to look at, here are my underwear. I sewed them. Yes, you can sew underwear. It's easy, cheap, custom fitted and better quality.



The fabric used is mostly the leftovers from other sewing projects. Most are polyester/lycra, perhaps the blue is nylon/lycra, and the fun zig-zag shown below is probably poly with no lycra.

Kwik Sew for Children Book

Pajamas, size S, using sweatshirt pattern and no-side seam pants. The dark spot on the pants is the navy grosgrain ribbon I used to mark the back.


I put snaps at one shoulder seam. Fabric age: 8 years.


T-shirt dress, size S. I really don't like how it looks, so I satin stitched a heart on the front with variegated woolly nylon to try to dress it up. Mint fabric is stash aged 3 years, darker green is 7 years.


Tiered skirts, size S. Fabrics are all 2 or 3 years old.


Close up of bunny prints on purple skirt.

Another tiered skirt. The black fabric is a faux suede with a satin like wrong side (about 18m old, thrift store find), and the animal print I believe came from Fabricland about 8 years ago.


Lined plaid straight skirt. Not very happy with how it turned out, but it's cute when Leah is wearing it. She's tired of modeling, photo shoots and being measured, poor girl! Fabric and lining came from my mom about 2 years ago.


Eric in his side-seam pants in stretch denim. Size S, with length added to legs. They are a bit baggy on him, but he did say they were comfortable as soon as he put them on. Fabric is 2 or 3 years old.

Jalie 2682 Girl's tops

I don't look good in purple or yellow, so lucky Leah gets some new tops so I can use up this stash fabric!

"Hello Kitty" top, size J (age 6). Leah is almost 5. It fits her, but she did complain that it's tight. (It's not tight, she's just a complainer!)


I found this Hello Kitty ribbon at Michaels.

Yellow and yellow/red print top. Size L (age 8). Leah can wear this now with the sleeves rolled up.


Purple with fine white stripes, size L (age 8).

Suitability 2600 Western Chaps

I've been wanting to make these chaps for 2 years now, and finally made them!

My bed sheet muslin to check the fit. The bottom is supposed to cover your boot heel.


Laying out the pieces to figure out how the zippers attach.



I don't like how low the front straps attach, so I raised them to the top edge of the chap. This is the before picture.


Cutting the fringe with a clear ruler and rotary cutter.


Success! They fit my leg and they are long enough.

Front.


Back.


Leah looked at them and commented something about I guess you have to wear pants with them! LOL!

Simplicity 4076 Tops

These tops have been reviewed over 100 times over at Patternreview.com, so it was about time that I gave them a try!

Unaltered View B to match the Jalie skort. I don't like the hemmed flutter sleeves on it.
(I was acting silly for my son, and it ended up being the best picture of the shirt!)


View A in a 4-way stretch, made 1" longer. I like the length, but the stretchier fabric makes the neckline a bit big for me.


All 3 fabrics used are from the thrift store!

Kwik Sew 2450 Hats

Super, easy, funny hats from Kwik Sew!

Jalie Skort - Tropical print

My tropical skort with matching top made from Kwik Sew 2668. The shorts that you can't see are a tan lycra. The tropical print is somewhat thin, so I wanted the shorts in a colour that wouldn't show through.

To add some interest to the top, I stitched a tropical frond on the side of the top. I got the inspiration from another woman's top at my yoga class! My stitching is a bit shaky, but I think it still turned out pretty good.

Simplicity 9474 "Grooves" Junior pants

This is a Junior (kid's) pattern, but the sizes run so large that they fit an adult.

I believe this stretch denim came in a box of freecycled fabric that I got 3 years ago (it seems like I'll never get to the end of that box!).

The size I used is TWO SIZES smaller than the pattern envelope says I need. And then, I took in the sides another 1/2" each. Beware!


Sorry for the dark picture. I need a wider angle lens, or a more powerful flash on my camera.


The inside facing.

Vogue 7785 Belted Shirt

Vogue pattern that I found at the thrift store. Bought it for the belted shirt (the plaid one on the right), but I also like the skirt too.

My muslin which was too tight across the shoulders.

The finished shirt in an interesting black knit. Made 2" longer than the muslin.

Close up of the fabric.