Sewing – Page 4 – Hopefully Creative

Doggie DPN Roll

Finally a place to store my double pointed knitting needles.

So, at some point in the distant past, I got hold of some DPNs, double pointed knitting needles. DPNs are needles that are used for knitting small things, or things in the round, or i-cord. I used them for the dragon, for example. As I am wont to do, this meant the start of a DPN collection. I never set about to find storage for them though, and that was a problem. They’ve been left in plastic bags, pen-things, stabbed into a cardboard box and I’ve found them in all kinds of places. But no more!

I set out to create a storage for them that was similar to my interchangeable knitting needle storage. Found some fabric in the hoard that had cute dogs on it, some semi-coordinating fabric for the needle pockets and got to work. I first had to sort all the DPNs into size and length to figure out how many and how big the pockets would be. I ended up with 19 different needle size/shape/length combinations from <2.0 mm to 9.0 mm in diameter.

Full view of DPN holder with plastic covers, green dotted needle pockets and dogs in the background

Since the doggy fabric was a specific width, the case would be a maximum of that wide. The height was determined by the longest DPNs I had, so it turned out around 37 cm. I cut out the front and back from the doggies and some batting for the middle. Then cut a long strip of coordinating dotty fabric to into the pockets. Sewed down one end and just started putting the DPNs in and sewed the pocket down so they fit somewhat snuggly.

The interchangeable needle storage has a plastic flap over the top to stop the needles falling out. This works really well, so I decided to implement it in the Doggy case too. Since there is such variation in length, and I didn’t think to split first by length then by width, there are actually two plastic covers, one for the shortish needles and one for the longer ones. To combat the ones on the end falling out, so I made a tiny flap on the side too. I sewed down all the flaps, and bound the edges of the whole thing. Made some spaghetti straps from a coordinating fabric, wrote the sizes with a textile marker and called it a day.

I love this thing and it has already brought so much joy!

Striped Overalls

Silver snap detailed mash-up overalls with grey stripes

I got some interesting grey striped stretchy fabric from one of the fabric markets this summer. It seemed really fun to make overalls/dungarees with it. I’ve been dreaming of having some overalls that have the same top details as the Cat Dungaree Dress. Since that dress was supposed to be dungaree pants before I made terrible fabric choices…

Striped overalls with silver snap details, front

Striped overalls with silver snap details, side view

I tweaked the pants pattern I used for the previous corduroy dungarees and pants to make this thing. The main changes were to add some length to the bottom again, and to eliminate the dart in the front. So I redrew the pocket pieces to take those in by a few centimeters. I added pockets to the back, and made the back darts work, in contrast to the Dark pants. I grabbed the cat dress pattern and just directly copied the top onto the fabric.

Striped overalls with silver snap details, close up of side and pockets

I made some stupid mistakes that meant that a waistband wouldn’t work, so I just slapped the front and back bib straight on. I don’t trust zippers 100%, so I added an additional closure with a snap to the side seams. It also looks fun, so I’m happy with this choice. With the cat dress, I’ve found that the top strap is helpful to hang things on, like a bag with my yarn if I’m knitting. So it’s both another design detail and useful. I still have some of the fabric remaining and the plan is to make a blouse, similar to some I purchased eons ago from H&M.

Ps. if your screen does weird things with the stripes, The whole thing looks like the side detail image, there are no psychedelic blobs.

Red, White & Blue

Everyone needs a ceremony dress with happy ribbons.

I’d only vaguely been thinking about the Convocation ceremony this year when I ran into a fabric that would be perfect. The pattern is fun, but still appropriate for work things. It’s a dark blue with little white bars topped with red blocks. The contrast wide stripes on one end of the fabric would work really well as a hem, I thought. The fabric itself is a thick knit, so easy to work with.

Blue dress printed with white topped with red bars, front

Blue dress printed with white topped with red bars, back

I used a pattern from Simplicity Naaimode 41, model 4, also known as Simplicity 8751, version 2. I made some changes to the original though. I left off the sleeves, as the slight extension on the shoulders looked like it would be plenty. I don’t like drop sleeves. To make sure it would cover enough, I did raise the underarm edge a little. However, the neckline was quite wide so I added some afterthought strips to narrow the neckline. I moved the waistband from the inside to the outside and used the dark contrast stripe from the edge of the fabric. Finally, I had to include some decent pockets!

Blue dress printed with white topped with red bars, hem detail with horizontal red white and blue stripes

Blue dress printed with white topped with red bars, details of pocket

I finished this thing almost a month before the event actually happened! I don’t think I’ve ever been this in time. I didn’t even dally with the hem, which was done sooner than some of the other details. The dress doesn’t have closures, but you make it fit with ribbons in the waistband tunnel. Since I put the tunnel on the outside, I could use those functional ribbons for some extra pizzazz. It worked well and we had a great ceremony!

Ginkgo Jumpsuit

Short little ginkgo leaf jumpsuit

The Christmas gift from the office is always a gift card to spend at a local bookshop. This shop also sells sewing magazines, so I regularly check out the selection. The Burda Style 07/2024 version had some interesting patterns so it came home with me. I saw model 124 – Jumpsuit in it (also available online) and thought it looked very cute. So I searched through my stash and found this lovely ginkgo leaf fabric that has a bit of stretch. Then I dove in the deep end without making a mockup.

Short jumpsuit out of fabric with ginkgo leaves on a black background, side view

Short jumpsuit out of fabric with ginkgo leaves on a black background, back view

There were some small changes, I added belt loops, lengthened the pockets and added an extra security hook and eye at the top of the zipper. The pattern calls for buckles with a pin, but I didn’t understand how that would help, so I removed the pin. The straps are supposed to be scrunched through the buckles anyway, so where would you even make a hole for the pin? The instructions also seemed to miss a few little steps, but it worked out in the end.

Shoulder strap detail of short jumpsuit out of fabric with ginkgo leaves on a black background

Zipper detail of short jumpsuit out of fabric with ginkgo leaves on a black background

If I were to make it again, I would shorten the body length a smidge, because it’s a little low (short people problems), and I’d place the straps further inwards. Apart from that, I think it’s super cute even if I don’t know how much wear I will get out of it. Summer is fickle at best in the Netherlands and even more so this year.

Split Skirt

Historically inspired pants that can turn into a skirt with an added panel.

I was thinking about secret pants, also known as split skirts, for a while. It probably started some time during covid lockdowns when I got into the historical sewing. It took a bit longer to commit, but in June of 2022, I purchased the Laughing Moon Mercantile #150 Split Skirt pattern. Printed it, cut it out, took all the relevant steps and then.. left it. The pattern was in the corner of my living room, waiting for me to decide which fabric I wanted to use.

Brown split skirt with old brass coloured buttons, front view

Brown split skirt with old brass coloured buttons, back view

It took two years and a bit to actually get myself in gear to make this thing. I chose a bottom weight brown fabric that I do not remember purchasing. Maybe a de-stash gift too? I made some minor changes to the pattern. The pockets seemed very shallow, so I added more length and the legs were very long so they were shortened. I added back pockets and belt loops. The fall front pieces were cut partially out of lining because they would not fit on the fabric anymore and they are hidden anyway.

Brown split skirt with old brass coloured buttons, no front panel, with lifted leg

Brown split skirt with old brass coloured buttons, with separate front panel

All the panels were serged and then sewn together on the Pfaff. I had to remove about three centimeters from the top of the split skirt to make them fit near my waist. The front panel was supposed to be lined with lining fabric, but that didn’t seem smart, so I chose to use the main fabric too. The buttons came from my stash, one of the few options that looked old-ish and that I had enough of. All the buttonholes were made with the Greist buttonholer on the 1901 machine. It took a while, but the results are so satisfying. One of the back pockets was absolutely perfect flat, but my butt isn’t flat so it does gape a little when worn – very disappointing.

Brown split skirt with old brass coloured buttons, button detail — Perfect pocket

Brown split skirt with old brass coloured buttons, buttonholes detail — Perfect pocket

The first pass of the buttons through the buttonholes was a struggle, but it’s much easier after a few goes. I like the fall front method of closure on these pants. It gives a little extra security. Since the legs are quite wide, I do have to pay attention to not get stuck on the pedals of my bike, but it’s not been a problem yet. All in all, this thing is fun to wear, with or without the front flap buttoned on. I do now also have an incentive to make a top that fits with this. There isn’t as much brown in my cupboard as I thought.

Octopus Award

Making a plush to celebrate a fellow skater

Our new tradition of making an award for the end of roller derby season took place again. I got to make an award for one of our newest skaters. My inspiration came very late, but when it did, it hit hard. My skater is someone who does all kinds of things; in her daily life she’s a hairdresser and a barber, is getting married soon, moving into her house etc. I wanted to reference all of that, and include her way of turning around on roller skates, which is more of a ‘disco turn’ than a step transition. So I decided to make an octopus plush with a disco ball for helmet.

Gray and yellow octopus plush with a sequin 'helmet' and cardboard icons around its tentacles.

Back of gray and yellow octopus plush with a sequin 'helmet' and cardboard icons around its tentacles.

I already had the Octopus plush pattern from Choly Knight, so I decided to reference that. Since the normal round arms from the pattern wouldn’t be conducive to give a ‘holding something’ impression, I wanted some longer arms. Reddit came to the rescue with this post by CynamonoweKrzeslo, where the sewist also helpfully shared the pattern for their tentacles. I enlarged the pattern a little until it was the size that I wanted and cut some out in a grey fleece and yellow bobble minky. The test-tentacle looked great! So I cut out eight more before heading to bed.

The next morning, I assembled all tentacles and needed to decide on the size of the head. In the end, the original Octopus plush pattern head shape, the eyes and laughing mouth were all enlarged 150% and printed out. This looked great, so I embroidered the eyes and mouth on and assembled the plush together. One of its arms is put into the disco fever pose with a little hook that you can hang a tiny loop on. The helmet is made from foam and an overlay of sequin fabric (for a disco ball effect) – I am still finding sequins in my house. The pattern was based on the normal head shape of the octopus plush with a little extra space. Some ribbon is used for the straps.

Gray and yellow octopus plush, with zoom on the ring and key cardboard icons around its tentacles.

Gray and yellow octopus plush with a focus on the donut and comb cardboard icons around its tentacles.

To reference all the items, which I wanted to keep removable, I chose word icons (to keep a similar style) and printed them on cardstock. I put two together with a loop of sticky tape to get them to stay around the tentacles. There are two roller skates, a ring, a donut, a cupcake, a comb, scissors and keys. I also wrote a rhyming poem to explain what I did. The helmet is also removable, so it can also be a ‘naked’ octopus.

I think he’s adorable and I hope she’ll enjoy having him around!

Blue Dots

Inspiration turning into reality

It is yet again almost time for the next event on my work calendar. This year, I started on time! The deadline for this was mid-June, but I managed to finish it before the end of May! It certainly felt like an accomplishment. The inspiration for this project came about from seeing this pin on Pinterest of a white dress with an overlay at the bodice and a blue edge around the overlay and the hem of the dress.

What I ended up with doesn’t look like the pin at all, but it was heavily inspired by it – don’t ask how my brain works. I found the pattern of a dress with a bodice overlay in Simplicity Sewing Pattern magazine nr. 42, model 18-20, also known as Simplicity 8047, and I really liked it. The pin came into play when I decided I could add a border to the overlay and the hem of the dress. So off to the hoard I went to find fabric. One of the boxes yielded this blue opaque fabric and some white and blue dotted stuff, neither of these I remember buying, so I assume they came from a friend’s de-stash.

I used the markings for the short length and made extra pattern pieces for the dotted band. I chose to cut the size 38 which was a mistake. I had to take the underdress in massively in the bodice, several centimeters at center front and added extra darts in the back neckline. This also lead to some real challenges with the overlay, where I had to take a bunch out at the side seams and wasn’t entirely sure how to even get the neckline and sleeves to behave. After having it sit on the mannequin in desperation for some weeks, I persevered and got something that looked pretty decent.

Of course, event outfits require pockets. While the skirt isn’t tight per se, there is not enough room for bulky items in the pockets to remain invisible. But alas, we carry on. The weather was still dreadful and so cold that I had to wear a layer extra over the dress in order to be warm enough to function. Nevertheless, it did behave well on the day so I’m pretty pleased.

Dark Pants

More dark pants, now without a front flap.

After the dark dungarees, there was enough fabric left for pants. Since pants are still my favourite thing to wear, more pants seemed like a great idea. Never mind that I now have two stacks of pants/jumpsuits in my cupboard. I used the same pattern for these as for the dungarees, with some small changes. I tried to slim the legs a smidge by eliminating the original pleat/crease, removed the insane hem allowance and added welt pockets to the back.

After I started sewing, it turned out that not all of my cutting changes worked out. The plan was to have double darts in the back for shaping, ending before the pocket. Somehow that led to a very pointy butt, so to solve the width issue in the back, I had to add some buttonhole elastic to the waistband to make it fit. This also meant that I got to bust out my buttonholer again to make the buttonholes in the inside waistband. This time I chose a longish rounded buttonhole and added two buttons.

I had hoped to eliminate most of the pleat at the front and replace it with a dart, but it still needed a bit more dart than I anticipated. It turned out well enough though, so I’m not sure I care too much. These pants close with a zip in the left side. It’s not in these pictures, but I did add a hook an eye on the inside just for some extra security.

The hem is less deep but still works well. I really like wearing these pants and their dungaree sibling. Extremely comfortable, great belt loops, nice pockets, good stretch, goes with everything.. Fantastic project if I do say so myself.

Dark Dungarees

Cosy dungarees, just finished in time for winter to end.

I bought some corduroy on a market a year or so ago and was like: pants for me! But then I brought it home and washed it and discovered that I hadn’t bought enough because corduroy has a nap and it looked silly to put things on sideways *insert sad trumpet noises*. Some time later, I went back to the fabric market and found a different dark corduroy (it’s not black, but it’s not .. not?). I didn’t take any chances and bought more than enough for dungarees so I could make those, and more!

The dungarees are based mostly on the Burda Style 12/2022 model 1 pants pattern (from these plaid pants) and on this shorts dungaree flap. I made some changes to the pattern that I don’t particularly recall, although I remember changing it to a side opening. I included jeans style back pockets and the same pocket shape on the front of the bib-flap. This corduroy is very stretchy so I was afraid to use a woven fabric for the lining pieces and grabbed a knit in the end. The bib, pockets, waistband and straps are lined with this stripy knit fabric.

There were two problems with getting this thing done: making choices & executing them and getting the buttonholer to work . I hemmed and hawed over the bib shape, the pocket shape and placement, how to put it on the fabric, everything. This makes a project take so much longer than expected, also when it takes you a week or so between the major steps to actually finish it. Throw it in the corner when you haven’t exactly figured out how to get that pesky waistband attached, how to hem it, stuff like that.

The other major thing was that I wanted to add the straps using buttons and I wanted my imported Greist buttonholer to do the work for me. Those templates would make it so easy to make a pretty (keyhole) buttonhole, I thought. It took trying it out on three machines, a lot of cursing and finally taking it apart and cleaning the sticky grease out to get it to function. I’m so very proud that I managed though (this was my third try). It’s now stored next to the one machine that could make it work, a 1901 Singer 28, hand-crank vibrating shuttle sewing machine. Check out how it makes buttonholes!

All in all, I really like these pants. The corduroy is comfortable, the straps are nice, dungarees are generally great. The only downside is what to wear underneath, so I’m now knitting a ‘shorter’ sweater that can go under the dungarees. Got to keep busy after all!

Dinosaur Dog Coat

Doggy coat for warmth

My dad just got a tiny little dog thing, but I’ve been told that it’s regularly quite cold. So in order to help the creature feel more comfortable outside, I was asked to make him a little coat. I looked online for a pattern and found one from Wholefully. Apparently commenters weren’t always super happy with it, but I decided to give it a try anyway.

Since my dad and Timmy (the dog) live quite a ways away, the dog was measured by Cathelijne and then I made the coat from some other leftover fabric I still had laying around. For the outside, I used the scraps of my first dinosaur coat, in hopes that it would also provide some protection from the wind and rain. For the inside, I found some fleece for extra warmth.

I put in the measurements and drew out the pattern on some paper, then placed it on my fabric where it happened to fit perfectly on the tiny bit that I had left. As this is the third thing made from that dinosaur fabric, it’s been used more than expected. For the closures, some Velcro was attached to the front flaps and the tummy flaps. I lined the Velcro bits with some extra dinosaur to prevent it from sticking to the fleece. Lastly, a hole was added in the back for the leash to go through.

The whole thing was snail-mailed and unfortunately the tummy flaps were a little bit too short. I seem to remember that it fits when Timmy is wearing the coat by itself, but not when he’s also wearing the harness. So I’ve made some notes on the pattern so that if I were to made it again, I can add some length to the tummy flaps. Cathelijne has made a Velcro solution to make it fit now.

Category: Sewing