Castleton Caravan

Yesterday we went on a little road trip. We went to look at a caravan...it was advertised as being suitable for anyone watching cows calving, or ewes lambing. We only saw a photo of the outside, and the add said it was about 25 years old. (yeah, so am I!) I expected it to be dirty, and well worn inside.
Anyway, it was not a lot of money, less than the price of a playhouse for the kids...even a little cheap one!
We spoke to the seller, and he seemed very genuine, he seemed keen to leave it safe to tow home. He replced a tyre, checked lights, did all that he could. That meant a lot to us...we had a 3 hour drive with this, if we bought it.



I have to say it was love at first sight for me (and for Maeve). All of us piled into the perfectly original 2 berth Castleton Rovana caravan, dated 1970 from what we can see. It is nicer inside than outide.



Everything is inside it, including the brochure, with the price written on it. The instructions for all of the appliances. There is a canvas awning under the seat, and...well... just everything is still in it! Can you tell that we love it!?



The only problem now is, that I had great plans before I saw the inside, to paint it all pretty colours, and to make some dinky little curtains, and to cover all of the cushions etc! Now I'm not so sure...I kind of like it!
I think I will make some patchwork curtains for a start though, because the ones on it are well worn and faded. I will decide what we should do after that....



The door needs some repairs, and the fixed windows need new seals, but otherwise it seems sound. It was planned as a playhouse, but depending on how the awning looks when it is taken out, this little caravan may still end up going on holidays with us sometime!
As for it's role as a playhouse/den...so far, since yesterday evening, the kids have spent several hours in there...the two little ones and I even had our lunch in there today! I am seeing some bunting in there too....hopefully I'll get some sewing time tomorrow!

If you click on the photos, you'll see them on Flickr, and see the notes I've added.

Holiday

We were away.....we are now back...sometimes I wish we were still away!

It was raining when we arrived...


Then the weather got nicer....










We had fun...can you tell!

Van Katoen Summer Dresses

I made the two girls two dresses a little while ago. They come from a Dutch company, with Dutch instructions. (I don't speak Dutch!) Unfortunately the pattern is no longer available, but it was a Van Katoen pattern. Both girls chose their own fabrics, and both seemed especially happy with the wonderful pocket at the front!
For those of you who don't know, my girls do not like wearing dreses, but they do understand that there are times when dresses are really needed. These are their only summer dresses, so you needn't expect any more until Winter!

They did however want to try them on for me as soon as they were finished, so I could take a photo.

Today they had reason to wear them, I wish it had been for a happier occasion, but sadly funerals are sometimes the only time when extended families, grown up cousins, and their children get to meet up with each other. We compared children's ages, facial features, heights, eye colours, personalities, and it is always lovely to see how many traits pass from one generation to the next....it is a pleasure to have married into such a lovely family, hopefully there wil be a happier occasion to meet at next time...

Figgy's Zephyr

I remamber when I was about 10, really wanting a "Jumpsuit", you know, an a one piece trouser and top thingy. I don't know where I got the idea, maybe my friends had them, or maybe I saw them in the shops, but anyway, my mother bought me one for a school trip. We weren't very well off, but the school trip was always an excuse for a new outfit, a bit like Christmas or Easter.
The jumpsuit I got was turquoise, and I remember we stopped at a nearby castle enroute to the main attraction we were going to on the trip, and I slipped and got a huge grass-stain on my jumpsuit! I remember being pretty annoyed about this....funny the things you remember!

So a little while ago, Maeve started asking me for a "Playsuit"... where this idea came from, I have no idea, but sometmes a mother just has to go with these notions! I had been hoping for an excuse to buy some of Figgy's new patterns....(I have been trying not to buy any patterns or fabric while we are working on the farmhouse), so I bought the Banyan and the Zephyr...but since they only go up to 8-9yrs, and Maeve is a slightly shapely, tall 9, almost 10 year old, I had to alter the pattern.
I added an inch to the centre front and back bodice pieces. I added an inch to the bottom of the bodice, and an inch to the bottom of the shorts.
Maeve had reservations about the opening at the front, so we agreed to make the straps opening instead, so she could pull it up and on. I used the pattern piece for shorts tie bands to make the straps. I made them knit and woven, like the ties.



When it came to making the waistband, I sewed the top and bottom together as per the instructions, but I made a circle of elastic, the size I needed, and I zig-zagged it to the seam allowance, and then turned it over, and zig-zagged it down to the bodice...(you now how I love to zig-zag!) I could see myself having problems making the channel...my knit kept creeping ahead of me, and puckering when I sewed it. It didn't happen with the woven to stabilize it, but the waistband is knit to knit..



The other change I made, was a real after thought! When I got to the band at the bottom, I attached them the wrong way, and ended up with the contrast on the outside, but I liked it, so I left it! But when It came to tying the ties, they didn't seem to sit well on her...so I pinned them down, and then got the idea to leave them like that. I decided to put buttons on too....well why not! I love them like this. As it happened, Maeve spent the whole time fiddling with the hem, so they surely would have untied a lot!



She wore it on a trip to the zoo the other day, and she looked so pretty and comfortable in it!

Sewing Swimsuits

A friend asked a little while ago if I could share the process of making a swimsuit. So here it is.
Firstly let me say that I am no expert and I only use a basic sewing machine. I use 3 stitches - a straight stitch, a normal zig-zag and a 3 stage zig-zag. What I do is not at all technically correct, but it works...for me at least! Take from it what you want and experiment.
The thing about swimsuit fabric is that it is ver forgiving. I know people are scared of it, but a decent quality fabric is easy to sew...yes, it is slippery, and so it moves about a lot, but if you work around that for the cutting stage, it has never caused me a problem with sewing.
Maeve needed a new swimsuit, and I chose what I thought was a remnant, with  border, but in fact it turned out to be a pre-printed panel for a specific suit, after a lot of head scratching, I came up with a plan.



I decided (with the help of a few sewing friends) to make a tankini, with the bottoms in the smaller print, and the top in the larger print. My one big saviour with swimsuit fabric is ussing a mini rotary cutter and a mat to cut out the pieces, this stops everything from moving so much.

I used a one piece swimsuit pattern, and folded down the top to cut the bottoms out, and then turned the bottom up to cut out the top. I overlapped by several inches. The top ends at the leg opening. I tend to just eye-ball the seam allowance, and use the rotary cutter as a guide....what can I say...I like to live dangerously!

Ottobre patterns also call for a crotch piece cut from cotton jersey...I use scraps for this. I had some navy for this suit.

 

You then sew all three pieces together in this order..back and front, right sides together, and the cotton piece goes right side to the wrong side of the back...making a sandwich. Sew all three together. Then you sew the lining to the front with a narrow zig-zag (3). This encases the back seam.
For all of the "straight" seams, I use a very bare zig-zag..width 1 on my machine, it almost looks straight, but there is give in it.

I then sew the two sides together. With seams like these, which take pressure, (the back, and side seams, I do two rows of stitching, again, a bare zig-zag (1). I then cut a strip, about 4 inches deep and a little smaller than the waist of the top of the swimsuit bottoms..you don't want it too tight, remember it is snug already. I doubled it over, and sewed it straight (bare zig-zag) on the top. Like a yoga style waistband.

I then bound the leg holes...this fabric has a metallic print on it, so I didn't want to use just elastic here, although it would be way easier. I felt that the silver threads would hurt against bare skin. I used a co-ordinating plain fabric for the binding, and the waist. I happened to already have this. I cut it at about 2.5 inches wide, and a little shorter than the circumference of the leg opening, again, you don't want it too tight. I made a loop, and then I sewed it on with a bare zig-zag to the inside, and then turned it under on the right side. I used a slightly wider zig-zag to sew the outside. I use lots of pins for this stage.

The top was much simpler in some ways. I sewed the side seams, again, a two rows of bare zig-zag, one on top of the other. I bound the front and added a little piece of clear elastic, by zig-zagging it on before I put on the binding. I don't think this was actually necessary, but it's on now. I made a long piece of binding, which I found the centre of, and matched that to the back centre, and then ran it on both sides of the back, under the arms, and up the sides of the front. I sort of pin and stretch the binding as I go, to make it a bit smaller than the swimsuit top. Above the swimsuit fabric the binding became the straps, which I just did by continuing to sew it together. I then criss-crossed the straps at the back.

I hemmed the top with a narrow zig-zag. I know that all of this zig-zagging may not be the proper way to make aa swimsuit, but this is not haute couture..this is a child's swimsuit, which unless you happen to meet another seamstress at the swimming pool, and they happened to examine it, then really who is going to notice that you used a zig-zag stitch and not a cover-stitch machine. These are swimsuits made by a hobby sewer, with a basic machine, and some inexpensive fabric. They can be made to fit snuggly, with straps that don't fall off their shoulders, or gape anywhere. They are made to measure. Also they cost very little to make...the panel that I bought cost me €7 and the other bits a couple more euro, so I would say, a decent swimsuit for less than €10.

Next week, I am planning to make the little girls some similar swimsuits, but with plain elastic in the leg holes, and I will try and remember to get some photos of that.

The pattern I used is the Seahorse swimsuit from Ottobre Magazine 3/09 (for the 3rd time/. I changed the layout of the straps, and of course I made it a two piece swimsuit.

The patterned fabric is from Elingeria, they have a huge selection of swimwear fabrics.

The plain dark blue fabric is from an ebay seller Tia Knight/ In Fashion Fabrics It is listed under lycra spandex in their shop now.

Catching Up...

I seem to be playing catch up all the time these days...the same goes for here. I have not been sewing a lot, but all of my children are growing at a rapid rate, and all needed new trousers, especially the eldest two. For Maeve I used an Ottobre pattern I have used in the past. I am trying really hard not to buy any fabric and use up my stash, I have had this purple corduroy for a while...I could never find a use for it...why did I never make trousers from it! They are Sarita jeans from Ottobre 1/09. Size 140cm.

Tadhg got some jeans. Black denim always reminds me of the 80's, but I am happy with how these turned out. They are Algebra jeans from Ottobre 4/11. Size 128cm.




For the little ones, I made a new pattern, from a new (to me) company...Van Katoen patterns. All of the patterns are in Dutch, but there are very good photos and I figured it out..I think! Blathin's are blue denim...



Realtin's are brown denim...

 


They are a boy's pattern, but they are perfectly fine for girls. I sewed up the second ones in no time.

Happy Birthday...how about another shirt?

Today is my handsome husband's birthday, and I spoke to him a while ago about what he would like me to make for him. We decided on a shirt, (like he needs any more!) and having admired floral shirts on various TV presenters over the years, I offered to make him one.
We looked at the Liberty poplins over at Sewbox, and I chose a lovely soft grey and pale blue floral print, abut Colm chose what I thought to be a much bolder, darker floral. I asked the opinions of a few girls whom I know online, through sewing, and one girl in particular has a son who considers himself rather an expert in Liberty for men's shirts. He chose the same dark floral for Colm...his advice was that it would be the best print for "a Beginner"! (referring to the wearer rather than the person sewing it!)
So the expert, and the wearer had spoken...



The fist waving is directed at the young lad who called him a beginner! (not at you, my lovely readers!)




I also bought a new shirt pattern. I have the Colette Negroni shirt pattern, but it has a very informal camp collar, I felt that the floral shirt would look better in a more formal dress shirt style. I was however worried about the loose cut of the Kwiksew shirt, so I made a muslin in a size L, and as I suspected, it was too big all over. I made the real thing in a Medium. There is not much room to spare, but I like the fit.



I found some lovely little grey buttons in amongst my button collection...I am always surprised when I am making a garment, I imagine certain buttons on it, but when I lay it out, with the buttons laid out on it, they seldom look how I imagined. I usually end up with something completely different. I had thought of black mother of pearl on this, but the leaped out from the floral.



Happy Birthday Handsome!