Apron

My mum asked for an apron for her birthday so I picked some pretty fabric that I thought she'd like then set to work. I made up the pattern, based loosely on an apron I already have.

It didn't work as well as I'd hoped but I put elastic along the top to stop the gapping and added a yoyo flower for fun. 

The skirt is gathered using the zig zag and wool system and sewn onto the back of the waist tie. I added a rounded pocket and some lace from my mothers collection, to remind her of an older project. Then a frill on the bottom. 

It was a fun easy project. Here are some pics of kids apron's I've made as well. Each one is a one of a kind, I don't tend to make the same apron twice. 

Saturday Market Skirt

Another fun project from portabellopixie! The Saturday Market Skirt. Can you tell how much I love to twirl! I put this skirt onto my bucket list for 2012 and finally in October I finished it. It took me ages to decide what fabric I wanted to use and after making a dress for my daughter out of Michael Millers LUSH I decided I loved those colours and used the left overs. I decided to make the colours in layers for a different look. I love it!

ZG

Rag doll: Maggie

Meet Maggie! I love free tutorials all over the internet. There are some amazingly generous bloggers who take the time to make these tutorials for all of us to enjoy. I found a great rag doll tutorial here: quaintandquirky. I made a few changes but all in all it had awesome instructions and even a pattern to download and cut out.

My little girl just loves it. She has carried it around all day (I only just gave it to her) and given it lots of cuddles. I think I might just have to make a few more for little girls in my life.

What have you been sewing lately?
ZG

To market, to market

I've finally booked myself and my sewing into a craft market in Orewa. The market is on every fortnight and I've booked for August 4th. I figure that's far enough out for me to sew lots of stock to take with me. I'm quite excited. 

Anyway I will need an apron to keep my money, notebook, pen etc... in while the market is on, so I did  a bit of googling and got some ideas. My fave was a pair of old jeans that someone made into an apron. 

When I cut up all my old jeans for my tshirt quilt, I kept the top bits, that I didn't use so I didn't have to go op shopping again, I could get straight into my project. 

Into my sewing room I headed and sketched out what I was going to do. 

I decided I'd need quite a few pockets, one with a zip for money and I really liked the idea of the waist tie, running through the belt loops. 

The front pockets of my jeans cutoff were in tact. Score. More pockets. 

I used a lot of scraps of fabric for the hidden pockets on the inside (see above) The stripy on holds my notebook and pen, the zipped pocket has my money and even has a pocket behind it. 

Then I used some pretty funky flowers fabric for my front big pocket and blue gingham for the strap and edges. My mum gave me a bag of lace a while back and I decided to use some of that for the bottom, just for a little bit of 'pretty'.  

And this is how it turned out. What do you think? I love it. Lots of pockets for money and phone and notebooks etc..... Now I've got the back of the jeans to make into something. FUN!!! 

Check out my New Zealand facebook page: Zealous Design for other products I make and will be selling at market.
Have a great day
ZG

Pirates

It was my son's pirate party yesterday and he looked super cute in his pirate outfit (that I made). I made it big enough that he'll hopefully have a couple of years wear out of it. Or I have enough fabric to make the rag bottomed pants into trousers by adding onto the bottoms, or hemming them to make shorts.

The tee material was pretty fun with the stripes and crossbones. My second time making a tshirt and this time I got to use some stabilising strips on the shoulders. That was a first.

I love the waist coat, it has red inside and a little pocket for secret treasures. I also made the red scarf under his captains hat with a little skull and crossbones bondafixed on.

I had fun fun fun!

Vintage Pyjamas

I was given a box of 'vintage' fabric from my friends mum. Awesome!!! My first project was to make Mr 3 some winter PJs. I made them quite big in the hope they will last two winters. Don't you just love the vintage cowboy print! And the flannette was still so fluffy and soft too.

The top of the PJs was my first try at sewing knit fabric. Man was it easy!! This raglan sleeve pattern is a raw style. The seams are on the outside and the hems are raw. I love it. My boy seems to as well, wanting to wear them to bed that night, even though it's still relatively summery at night.

I love it that he's excited about home sewn clothes. I know it won't last forever, but I'm making the most of it for now. He asked me just yesterday to make him some winter pants. Ay ay captain! Off to make some sweat pants for kindy!! When does sewing clothes become more expensive than buying them? I was pretty shocked at the price of sweat material... I'm hoping to get two or three items out of the piece I bought.

Next challenge is some pirate clothes for his 4th birthday in a month. I'm quite excited about making them. I've got fabric for a tee, waist coat and pants. I'll also make a waist tie and a head scarf.

Happy sewing!

Wallet

I decided to have a try at making a wallet (see tutorial here). It wasn't too tricky actually, although I would sew up slightly different at the end if I made it again. Mine looks a tad messy, but not bad for my first time.

Check out the photos:

I changed the magnetic snaps to a flap and snap. This week I'm having my first try at sewing a tshirt. I haven't sewn with knit material since I was at school. Wish me luck!!

What is your favourite fabric to sew with?

Too many things to sew

There are too many sewing things to make... I have a list of items to sew and I keep adding to it so I will probably never get to the end of the list, but that's exciting. It always means I have a fun challenge waiting!

Recently I decided to try making some bags, trying out some fun appliqué ideas I've had. Check them out, aren't they cute!!

I've been thinking about going to a craft market, but I have no idea what people want to buy at them. What sort of things would you buy at a craft market?

Cats and quilts

Our cat of 15 years died this week. It was a very sad time and made harder by trying to explain to our 3 year old where the cat had gone :-( I stopped sewing for two days as every time I went to use the machine, my eyes welled up so badly, everything went blurry. (Here she is sitting on my strips of tshirts I was half way through sewing for my quilt).

I want to try sewing a sleeved bib for messy meals, but before I tackle that, I made a few regular bibs. They were fun and, with the great fabric around these days, look fab! Who doesn't love minky!!

I finished my quilt last week, it only took a couple of evenings to cut up all my squares and a couple more to sew them all together. I decided to use iron-on batting to hold the tshirts firm (to stop them stretching too much) especially when sewing them to the denim. I am really happy with the result. I won't be entering it into any quilting shows, but it has awesome memories and will be toasty in winter! (photos = back denim, front tees)

Do you like the pockets I left on? I think they look so cool!!

Happy sewing!
ZG

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog dedicated to all things crafty. I've read so many first blogs from crafty ladies who say having daughters got them into sewing... well I'm no different. I have always loved all crafts (including sewing) but suddenly I just can't stop making little girls things, it's an addiction (I'm taking medication - ha).

I keep thinking of new things I want to sew that my list is getting ridiculously long and my house is getting seriously neglected.

I decided to start a little teeny tiny business to sell a few of the extra things I'm making and to earn a little bit of money to makes ends meet (and so I can afford to buy a few bits of fabric here and there). Check out Zealous Design on facebook!

Since I've started sewing madly, my son keeps asking me to make him things too. So far he has shorts, trousers and a superman cape and next I thought I'd make him some winter PJ pants.

I've also been trying to declutter my wardrobe and didn't have the heart to throw away all my old tees that have so many cool memories (but just don't fit anymore), so I decided to make a quilt (kinda like Bella's mum on Twilight) using my tees on one side and old jeans on the other. I'm having so much fun. I'll post pictures as I go. For now, here is the pic of all my denim squares cut out. I used the cardboard square as my template.

It's meant to be summer here in New Zealand, but I'm feeling seriously ripped off this year... it just won't stop raining... grrr... oh well I guess that means more sewing time :-)
ZG