Hooded Baby Towel {Sewing}

Baby report (D-date +5): nothing. What's the spiciest curry I can get tonight? On the bright side, I have managed to finish Baby MiH hooded towel following the PurlBee tutorial. I kept putting it off because of the way the Terry Cloth behaved when I first cut it. It generated so many bits and even seemed to unravel. I was slightly concerned that I would be disappointed in the result.

However with some 'high-tech' machinery (a sticky roller, a handheld hoover, and a lot of ironing) It was nearly painless - and a beautiful hooded towel we have now.

                **Don't forget to enter my giveaway - open until Tuesday night** 

I did not change a thing to the tutorial as I wanted to see how it turned out in the end - and also using a new fabric texture got some used to. I mentioned a few appliances that were life saving in the end.

Cutting Terry Cloth is a nightmare, well personally I find it a nightmare. There are bits everywhere it is messy and you are worried it will unravel. I had my sticky roller handy all the time, and actually it did not unravel once you are rolled out all the bits. It was really useful to see the sides of the fabric again. I was worried the bits would also go into my sewing machine, but as I removed them that did not happen. 

Also Terry Cloth has a tendency to stretch and therefore it is hard to keep it flush with the cotton fabric. I ironed it a lot to make sure the two layers stayed together during the sewing process. So every time I was sewing a side, I ironed the towel again. Worked wonders. 

I personally feel that the hood is actually quite small in comparison to the body of the towel, and I think I will change that next time. Also it does eat a lot of fabric in one go - so I may go for cheaper fabric or make the main part with different bits of fabric. 

To buy the organic Terry Cloth.. Well that was a bit of a chore here in the UK. I bought it from EcoEarth fabrics, and I believe you can buy it on Etsy at Werkundstoff as well. The cotton fabric is from Robert Kaufman Urban Zoologie Owls. 

And apart from that, it is finished Friday, and this little cross-stitch (definitely not little by the way) is finished. More tomorrow, I am hoping to have a chance to frame it to show you!

Happy Friday everyone!

Denim Blue {sewing}

I love this top, I have worn it many times already. It is the first one I made during my sewing class back in March, and I am glad I still fit in it (admittedly just). It is easy to wear with jeans for 'dress down Friday' at work, or pack it when we go away. The fabric needs to be ironed really, but the bump provides enough stretching for me to deem this task unnecessary.  

Do you know how difficult it is to take outside pictures at the moment, with this weather? Fortunately we spent Bastille Day/weekend in France last weekend, and in Brittany you can  have sun and rain the same day. When we had a moment to ourselves (both sets of parents were there!) Mr MiH took his new camera and we were off to take pictures. The first one is my favourite! 

So less about photographic prowess, and more about the top construction. So the pattern is from La couture nature by Kyoko Sakauchi, a Japanese sewing book in French. The fabric is from M is for Make. It is part of the Essex Linen line of Robert Kaufman (in denim here). The fabric is perfect for this cold-ish weather. I did it in a size M (I am a size 12 in the UK, 40/42 in France). 

When I had the different pieces for the pattern in front of me, there were two things that were clear: 1) there was a problem with the sleeves (and it was not because of my fat arms); 2) I was going to look quite pregnant (I was not at the time) considering the size of main front and back panels. Note to self, do look at the pieces before you cut out the fabric. I added 2 inches for the sleeves, and I think I left the body as it was, but to be adapted at a later stage. 

The pattern itself is quite easy, there are a lot of pictures included like in any other Japanese sewing book - really useful when it came to the gathering of the front and the back panels. Quite an interesting process in the end. The pattern calls for some Vilene to stabilise the top, but I found in the past that the fabric became too stiff. I used some very light weight cotton voile interlining/facing in John Lewis (more expensive but it adds fluidity to the top). 

All in all quite a success, not sure I would have made it without the help of my sewing class. But I think it is probably a case of trying to make these tops or other patterns in the book and learning the process. I am still quite new at sewing garment for myself. But it is sometimes so much quicker than knitting! 

Shame this top will soon be relegated to my pre-pregnancy clothes pile!