Archives: 31. Januar 2008

… and terribly discomforting at the same time, is that you never really know what you’ll get until the shipment arrives. I wanted to make this sweater, also from ottobre design,

but use different colors than those in the magazine. Therefore I kept browsing some of the many places to buy fabric on the net and found a really nice „Jersey“ – whatever one would call that in English. I thought it might go very well with deep blue and lighter cuffs but wasn’t really sure. You can never tell what those colours really are like.

It turned out to be a beautiful mix, however, and I really do like the pattern. It took me forever, though, to find out exactly how to put the borders around the pocket openings and the cuffs on the arms. The pocket openings were not that hard after all, just a lot of tiny work – that is actually a down side of making children’s clothes. The cuffs had to be put on the other fabric in a way to make all seem allowances invisible from in and outside. You do this by sewing twice their supposed length to a ring, then stitching one side right on right onto the arm. Then fold in the seem allowance on the other side, lay on the inner arm and sew through all fabric. The waistband is made just like that.

I had to play tricks, however, on the hood’s borders. I had measured the fabric a little bit to short and didn’t want to take it off again, so I seemed both ends together, while putting a little part of fabric on the inside. That way, my mistake doesn’t show AND the hood is rather tight – no need to put on a shawl when wearing it!

Well, as a second project, it turned out alright – and didn’t make me stop trying.

Check back again soon,

Katrin

… Sewing! Just what makes anybody do all those things? For some of us I suppose they’re just musts. Things you’ve got to deal with. For some, they might be what a big part of life’s full of. For me, some of these are really fun (I do admit that neither cleaning nor ironing qualify!) But seriously, I like to make things. Put something together and get something new: a meal or a cake, a sweater or socks. Until last summer, though, sewing has never really been on my agenda except for quickly (and very amateurishly) shortening trousers or seeming a tablecloth. Well, come to think of it, I once did make a log-cabin beadspread for my sister (it was supposed to be a Christmas present, I think she got it for Easter!)

Anyway, last summer, I came across a copy of the Ottobre design-magazine at my local library and I happened to have a one-year-old going to the beach for summer holidays. So I decided to give it a try and made these trousers for him.

That having worked out quite nicely, I figured that sewing was a much quicker way to make clothing than knitting and went on with it. Fortunately, I still have that (now older) one-year-old around, as well as many babies being born to friends of mine. I’ve also been lucky enough to get a new sewing-machine for my birthday so I don’t have to borrow my mothers each time. This blog is going to be about my progress in becoming a hobby-seamstress.

So, welcome to all visitors, I hope you’ll stop by again!

Katrin