Day: 16 July 2010

children's clothing, kids clothing, sewing

Winter is time for flannelette pj’s

My children have been growing (finally!) lately.  All I have to do to find larger clothes for Stella is drag boxes out from storage – we kept all of Clare’s clothes.  I love seeing them worn again by her little sister!  That means that most of my sewing is for Clare.  She need some new flannelette winter pj’s.

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I bought this pattern some time ago and have made the nightie in the past.  Luckily I remembered that when I made it (in size 4) it was huge – so I measured Clare and the pattern carefully before making it up as pj’s.  I made size 4 once again!  And Clare is 7 and a half!

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She was freshly out of bed when I took this so her pj’s are rather crumpled! They were such a success that she put them on as soon as I’d finished them and I hadn’t been able to get a photo earlier. The fabrics are Urban Flannel by Valori Wells. I used the spot for the yoke, pants hems and heart shaped pockets on the top.

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Cold tootsies! The hem trim wasn’t on the pattern – I just cut bands and applied them like a facing, except to the outside. Clare doesn’t like elasticized wrists on long sleeves, so I left the elastic off and narrowed the hem width by a couple of inches, tapering up to the original sleeve width at the armhole.

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Moral of the story – make sure that you flat measure the pattern and compare it to your child before deciding what size to make. This is perfect for Clare.

vintage crochet

Vintage crochet Friday #72

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These bags are made from Turabast Swiss Straw. Does anyone know what this stuff is? I think it’s some sort of nylon raffia.

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They’re terrific patterns.  The texture is superb.  I don’t know how pleasurable it would be to actually crochet with “Swiss Straw” though!  What would I use as a substitute nowadays?  I fancy the green hat and bag ensemble in the top photo.