I would love to hear all the tricks that you got up to since it was April fool's day. Maybe you told the kids that there would be no Easter eggs... lol. Cruel but so funny.
We did our first Easter egg hunt with my daughter. She loved it. It was really the first time that she was more aware of what is going on.
On the other hand at the start of the long weekend, I bought myself a sewing machine instead of chocolates for Easter. I have wanted a machine for many years. A sewing machine always comes handy at home, and now with little ones...even more so.
I got myself the Brother Innovis NV180. I was told, I had the last one in the country. They were only getting more later this month. Be as it may be, I can see why the machine is so popular. When you are selling a machine as a 3 in 1 combo, it can be very attractive. It is a cute machine and functional. You can sew and embroider on it. The third function they are selling is quilting, though that never interested me. Above all, I need to be able to sew, and the added bonus for me is the embroidery function.
I got the machine and unpacked it on Friday. Ran a few test stitches through it, and was totally impressed.
I went off to the shops on Saturday to buy all the fabric and thread for the number of projects I have lined up for myself to do...as if I did not have enough already... I am planning to make my daughter a range of pants for winter and a small backpack for her. She is always grabbing my handbag, so now she will have her own bag (once I have made it).
On Sunday evening, I cut up one of her old pants and sketched up a pattern from it. I needed an extra pair of hands since, one person has to hold the elasticated part open, while the other person traces out the outline. I added 2 centimeters all around. 1 centimeter for the seam and the additional 1 centimeter growth (in total 2 centimeters). I really wanted to start cutting up the material, but it was late and dark, and I didn't want to chance the possibility of making a mistake.
Monday morning, I got stuck right into it. It is amazing how much energy one can find with a new toy in the house... I used my new blade and glided through the fleece. In 30 seconds I had my material cut. The next three and half hours were spent sewing the edges and putting the pieces together. I'm sure the next lot will go faster, now that I know what to do.
The pants also have an additional 2 centimeters to the bottom seam of the leg part of the pants, so as she grows, I can extend the pants, without having to make new ones. It does feel a bit bulky, but the extra weight helps straighten the length of the pants. With a few washes, it will become more compressed and not so bulky.
The second time around while the long side of the leg seam was still not sew together, I first sewed the bottom seam of the legs, then sewed the seam of the long side of the legs together. After that, I rolled the bottom part up again and sewed that. It was a bit of a tight area to work in, but the reason behind me doing it that way, was because when it will come to the time of extending the legs, I will not have to undo the long seam in order to extend the pants. The first time round, I sewed the long side together and then worked in the small space sewing the bottom seam and then rolling it up again, and it was tight and time consuming to work in such a small space. (You learn with experience.)
The image below is the waist band being sewn. I leave a centimeter gap so I can weave in the elastic. The best way to weave it it, is pin a safety pin to it and glide the safety pin with the elastic attached through the hoop. Once you get back to the starting point, you pull the end of the elastic band out and sew the one end to the other end. Be careful not to let the end of the elastic disappear into the hoop while you are weaving the safety pin, otherwise, you will have to start all over again.
I never took photos throughout the process of sewing but will try to add some photos when I do the next lot. In the end, I was so impressed with my very novice skills that I managed to produce a fairly decent piece of clothing. Isabella loved it! She was so proud that she was showing them off to the family and would not take them off for the entire afternoon. It made making them that much more worth it and all I want to do, is make some more for her.
Here is a picture of the finished product.
Update: I made another pair, and this time round, I took a few more photos. I also took me half the time to sew it all together. All photos have been added to the rest of the blog. I cut the pattern out multiple times, and will start bulk sewing the next colour. I have some material left over, and will need to see if I can find a pattern to make her a top.
