Swimming suits

Hi all.. We are preparing for the Summer now... Last year I made Modkid swimming suits. Posted right here... Love that pattern
But the swimming suits from last year are still good.. so I thought I should make the new swimming suits using another pattern.
I chose this one. from YCMT. I was going for the ruffled one, but my girls feel they are too old for this. Can you believe it??? Too old for suffles????
Anyway, regarding this pattern.. I choose the higher range of sizes, thinking it's good.. it would be good for a couple of more years.. making the price of the pattern OK.
The pattern is nice, the instructions are very good... I made the basic suit and it turned out really nice, except that it was SMALL!
I started with size 10 for my 9.5 years old... it was so small... My girl is not tiny, not at all.. but she's not that big either. I gave my 6 years old the 10 sized suit and made the biggest size (14 I think) for my 9.5 years old. It was still too tight! I enlarged it a bit and made it the third time! This time the fabric made troubles, was very slinky and even my serger wouldn't sew it nice! and the result is a swimming suit that fit, and it looks OK,.. but when you look up close it doesn't look good.
It's a shame really, because I think the fabric is cute, good and well explained, but I kind of lost the motivation for it. I will probably try it again next year. but for this year those two suits will have to do:

I'll soon post on some dresses I need advice about.. and on the bridesmaids dresses for my girls...
Bye for now!

Summer sewing in the middle of the winter

Ok, it's not the middle of the winter. It's spring here, but for the past few days it's cold and raining and storming!
I Really hate this weather, especially when it arrives only two weeks after I packed all the winter blankets and put them away..

For the past few weeks I've been kind of blocked. I didn't feel the urge to start new patterns, to try new stuff (which is a shame because I have so many new patterns waiting for me!). I don't know why... And I have two big projects coming - the bridesmaids dresses for my girls and a cute dress for myself for my little sister's wedding and summer clothes for my girls. They do not need much, but still..

So I was in the mood for some really easy projects, The first is "Ima and Aba Shel Shabat" (how to translate it??? the little boy and girl that help the kindergarten teacher to lit the candles?). I made a costume for my little guys when it was their turn to help, and left the costumes for the kindergarten.

The pictures are bad. You'll have to trust me as to how cute they looked!
I made my 9 years old the Ceci pants. I already reviewed this cute shorts pattern right here. As I wrote, the pattern goes up to size 8. and it gotten too small for my dd. So I had to upgrade it a bit. I think I did a good job...

And the last of the summer sewing I did (it was funny to make my kids try it when it rained like crazy outside) was the Bandana hat. I got the pattern in YCMK. right here.
I realy like this little hat. The pattern is very good, very detailed, and very fast. There is one tricky part of attaching one of the fabric straps to the brim. I got it a bit off when I tried it the first time... for the third time it was perfect :-)
The patterned fabric are quilting cottons. the blue hat is denim (I did not clean the threads before taking the picture...)and it is the cutest..
I hope to have some more serious projects soon...
That's it for now!
Bye!

Bad, bad blogger!

I know.. I am doing bad! I use my blog for reference when I look at stuff that I made, I find it useful. This is why I keep going... at least I try to. anyway, Spring has started!
So I made the girls cute Modkid outfits. The bubble skirt, which I already reviewed (LOVE that skirt), the tie top (first time.. another great pattern) and the hair band...


Do I need to review? As always, great patterns, great fit, great explanations! Do I need to say more???
I also made a megan dress for m little girl. I made the 18 month size. (she's 20 months old). the fit is great. I highly recommend this pattern!

and last for today, I made Ks 3156 for myself. I liked that it's a pattern for fabrics with just a little stretch. I thought that if I worked well on the fit it will look like work pants. Nothing difficult with them, since there are no pockets, no zipper...

I made size M.. It was big (which is flattering, because I am BIG!) so I cut it again, an inch here, another one there.. then I came with this fit. It's pretty wide, I'll make it slimmer next time I make it. But I do like it. what do you think?
I think I'll be making more, next time less wide, and maybe add something.. a pocket maybe>
There is nothing to sa about the direction.. it really is easy pants. Only two patterns pieces...
Happy Passover all!

KS 3915, Birthdays, Purim

This was a hectic month…
We celebrated a birthday to my 6 years old!



We celebrated a birthday to my 2 years old nephew.


And on top of that, we started reparation of our house.. and we still live in it. It’s going to take a couple of months, of dirt, and noise, and overall a lot of headache… but we couldn't find another place to rent for three months for a family with 4 kids and two dogs.

I hope that once done, we’ll have our home in top condition, organized properly so every kid (and every adult!) has a little space for himself.
But in the meantime, it’s difficult. And I had to pack a lot of my sewing stuff.. I left out just a couple of patterns and very few fabrics, hopefully I’ll manage to make something… but not much for sure.
Other than the cakes I made another Megan dress for my 6 years old birthday:



And I checked KwikSew 3915 for myself.

This is the pattern:



This is my first try… The neck didn’t come out just right.. but almost. I think it is still wearable. What do you say? I left out the little loops because I was afraid I’ll mess it up…


This is my second try. It looks better in real life, but I think the buttons look “not connected”
For this attempt I sewed the neck by hand, very carefully, then I restitched with my machine.
Pattern Review:
A basic Tee with a twist. I like it because the neck is realy special, but I think the buttons, at least for me, are not a good idea. The top is comfortable, not tight fitting at all.
The instructions are clear but to be clear.. the neckline was tricky for me to make.
I sewed it by hand and only when I saw I like the result I repeated the stitch with my machine... Just so you know.
I'll probably make it again, at least for the Summer.
It's not my top favorite pattern, but it's a nice one and I'll make use of it!

And now. Purim! for my older girls I bought costumes. I wanted to sew but.. time was a big issue. But for the twins.. well, I thought that waisting money on a one time 'animal costume' was a shame... so I made them tiger outfits. Very comfortable!
The top is from Ottobre Magazine, 01-2009. size 92 which is very big for them, but all my other magazines were already packed when I thought if it...
The pants are Vilkas pants,, Made those in the past for my little girl when she was their age.
The fabric is knit tiger fabric, very nice... I
I did not bother with the finish of the costume..
The tail can be is attached using velcro, so I can take it off in case they find it uncomfortable...

So, a few pictures...

A big post this time... Hope to come back again soon with more.

His and Hers...

Yes, I wasn’t here for a while… No, I have no excuses… I keep wanting to update the blog but I have no time.
So I’m just briefing now..
These two are old patterns that I’ve used before…

The pants are Ottobre 04-2008-2. Made out of fleece, pink for my little girl and grey for my little boy. I don’t have a good picture of those, but trust me, they look so cute in it! (I actually have great difficulties taking a picture of both of them together, since they never seem to sit down, they always tend to grab each other, take things from each other or simply hug each other :-))

The pattern review, I don’t think I reviewed it here ever. It’s a simple pants for toddlers, nothing much, It is cute and tested so I chose it. I made size 80cm for my 1.5 years old. It’s slightly long for them.. but not too much. I would have made them more, since it’s so easy and a great use for fleece leftovers, but I have so much clothes for them… so why bother!

These two are the from Ottobre 01-2009-11, also size 80.
I left out the elastics in the legs’ bottom part… but I may do it anyway. Again, not great pictures, but they really so cute in it.
I placed just one pocket only on thr front. They really enjoy putting stuff in their little pockets.

for the pattern review I can refer you to the review I wrote years ago when I sewed this for the very first time.. pattern review

The last thing I made is a new top for myself, from Burda 09-12-104.. I really like it, It comes out comforatble and roomt. I made size 40. The only changes from the original design is that since I did not have enough fabric for the full neck part, I made it shorter... meaing the turtle neck is not as high as it should be. It's still nice though.

Here's what I plan for the coming month...
* birthday dress for my 6 year old
* two new long sleeves tops for myself.
* two new leggings for the girls (one per each)
* cakes for my 6 years old birthday


I have been working like crazy this past two months... I get frustrated of how little I manage to make at home, at "my other life". I'm sure this is not only me, I guess a lot of hard working mothers out there wish they had some extra time, to sleep, to craft, to just get some rest.
I assume that within a year or two life will get a bit easier. Until then I force myself to be happy with what I manage to make, and just 'feel' my fabric stash once on a while... remind mysekf that each fabric will get its turn to become somthing :-)

The Megan dress

My 6 years old... well, she didn't NEED a new dress, but as her older sister refuses to wear dresses at the time, and her younger sister is not walking steady enough to wear dresses yet.. she got two new dresses!

The pattern is The Megan Dress...

I got it from here... Isn't it pretty? and here's what I made of it...

The first version is from quilting cotton.

The second version is made out of denim...

Pattern review:
what a great pattern! So easy to make... so pretty! The dress is twirly enough to satisfy my girl, easy, because there is no need for zipper or buttons. I know I'll have plenty of use of this pattern in the years to come, I already traced the pattern for my little one. I pln to start dressing her with dressses this summer.
The sizing is great. I made size 5 for my 6 years old, and it fits really well. The instructions are very detailed and clear. I LOVE everything about this dress, and I highly recommand it!

a long time.. again!

I lost my camera over a month ago, my little boy threw some bread to the fish when we were on a trip, he got so thrilled he tried to throw his bottle too. I heroically jumped to save the bottle... but then my camera fell to the fish...

Can that explain why I didn't blog for such a long time???

I keep postponing blogging, because I really don't have the time to tell the whole story of what I made, how I made it, and how I feel about it.

But lately I've been using some old patterns again, and I realized that having a place with a full review of the pattern, notes to myself and pictures... well, it helps, because though I remember the stuff I made, after several years I may not remember for each pattern how good it was, or what conclusions I had for it when it was still 'fresh'.

So I decided that even if I don't have time, I can still upload a picture and write some notes about the pattern.

So, I can show some of the stuff I made lately

first - cakes, my girl turned 9!!! She's a young lady now, she almost broke my heart lately, told me that she no longer wants to wear dresses!!!! She'll return to dress though, right????? when she's a bit older????
And when did she get so 'old'????? She was a baby not so long ago!

And this one is for sister's son, he celebrated his birthday yesterday..

Now, some sewing
The pattern is Simplicity 2018

I made it twice...

The first version is roomy, but not too roomy. I made size 8 which is usually my size and the fit is good. The fabric is light weight and very stretchy. I need to take care when I lean that nothing is shown, but it's not too revealing.

This version is from a heavy weight jersey. Pretty fabric, deep purple... not very stretchy. I thought of making the top a bit narrower this time, good thing I didn't, because it's very tight as is. Here are my conclusions for future reference..
Great top,If I make it with heavy weight fabric I should make it a bit wider.
The instructions are VERY easy and clear, and it looks special, not your regular T.
Love it, will make it again, for sure!

I made some more items, but since I was without a camera I don't have pictures yet... Hopefully soon!