boxer shorts

While getting back into sewing I've decided to make a really concerted effort to make things that are needed, rather than things that are just pretty or fun to make (there's a place for these, but at the moment practicality and usefulness is uppermost in my mind.  

I was going to make some boxer shorts for David for Fathers Day (back in June) - but my sewing machine was AWOL and so it never happened.  The kids did though buy him a boxer shorts sewing pattern (lucky him!).

After extensive research they bought him Kwik Sew pattern 1672 they bought this one as it has a one piece back.  (read: no annoying seam up your bum.) 

I've made 5 pairs of view A so far all from stash material - I started off with the medium size - the first pair (below) is made from an old cot duvet cover and are a bit tight around the waist.  I sewed all the seams as French seams.

The second pair are made from some black sheeting that I had around as a remnant after making a duvet cover a while back.  I continued with the medium size, but cut the elastic as a size large and this now seems to be OK.

The third and fifth pair are made from some checked cotton that I had left over from making David some PJs a few years back - I think I should be able to make him at least one more pair from this fabric. 

And the fourth pair are for me as PJ shorts:  I cut a size small and did the medium elastic - which fits nicely.  I also tried to make a PJ top using McCalls 3247 view A.  The pattern was already cut out in a size that is now too small for me, and I had to improvise the back as I didn't want it tying together like in the original pattern.  I thought I was doing OK, but when I had finished it was huge around the bust.  I'm not quite sure what I've done, and I'll give it another go at some point.  In the meantime I just nipped the excess at the sides and sewed down to the horizontal join.  They're only PJs so they're perfectly wearable like that.

Daddy Totoro

A knit I made at the end of June to compliment the rest of the Totoro family:  

May I introduce O Totoro, or Daddy Totoro as called by the kids.  I knit him using the free Chu Totoro pattern, but with bigger needles and thicker yarn to make him a bit bigger.  I also added some whiskers and a mouth.

Raveled here.  There's not a huge amount to say about the pattern - it's quite a fiddly knit, which makes it interesting for such a small knit, and the overall result is quite satisfying - and using yarn that was in my stash makes it doubly satisfying.  I was hoping the O Totoro pattern that is said to be under construction would have been released before I felt the need to complete the Totoro family as I've liked how they're written, but not to worry I think this looks fine. 

Octonauts masks

These are a couple of masks I made up for the kids a while ago from scraps of fabric and some thickish interfacing I had lying around.  For anyone not in the know they are Tweak and Kwazii from the Octonauts.

They were pretty simple to do - I used this tutorial from annkelle.com and copied some printable Octonauts masks from Etsy for the shape.

I'm pretty pleased with them - the kids were for a bit (as kids of 3 and 4 are).  The interfacing in the Tweak mask isn't quite as thick so it wrinkles a bit between the eyes.

Wearing what I make - fancy dress

We've been away in Spain for most of the summer - I had hoped to be able to do some blogging while I was there, but after an unsuccessful attempt I decided to concentrate on having a great time enjoying the sun, pool, and just chilling out.  There wasn't much crafting going on either - just one pair of socks knitted. 

I do have a few more pictures of some clothes that I find when I dip into my wardrobe - since I've started doing this I do feel that I'm making some progress in my wardrobe, but need to keep the momentum going.  I'm also still having some problems with my sewing machine, so I doubt I'm going to be able to make any more clothes before that's sorted.  I sat down to sew some name tapes onto clothes for first day of school the other day and the bloody thing wouldn't even stitch a proper straight stitch :-(

Anyway, back to things I made when my sewing machine was behaving itself:  I made these two for a couple of fancy dress parties I went to quite a while ago:

The first is McCalls 8108 view B. 

I was dressed up as one of the power puff girls with a couple of friends for a fancy dress party.  My hair was a lot longer then and I found a huge red bow to put in my hair.

It still fits, although the sleeves are a bit tight.

The other dress is this one:

This is view H from Vogue 2429 in size 10, with the addition of some black net underneath.

I was meant to be dressed up as Cindi Lauper - but if I remember correctly I ran out of steam getting ready before I could put on enough make up.  I think I was aiming for this kind of look:

The dress doesn't fit any more - but I like the pattern, so maybe there's some scope for its use in the future

Why don't I wear them?...well, fancy dress is fancy dress and I don't go to a lot of fancy dress parties (although I do have one to go to in a couple of weekends time with a wild west theme! - I have no idea what I'm going to wear.) 

They've now been taken out of my wardrobe and put in a box - maybe they can be adapted to be something else at some point?