A Long Way...

I didn't get much done this weekend - started making a vest and a dress but haven't finished them yet. So I'll post about them when they're done.

What I did do this weekend was a bit of shopping. I bought 4 different cotton jerseys that I will use to make trousers for my little one. I'm so looking forward to making them.. probably around 6-8 pieces! All different colour combinations!



I also found the time to read some books that have been on my to-read list for quite a while now. And strangely enough, the two books I'm reading now have almost identical titles :-)

A dress... a blouse... a skirt

I found some light viscose rayon in millefiori design and planned to make a long summer dress. I actually did make a long dress loosely based on the pattern from Burda 2/2009, Nr.122 but realized that I'm never going to wear it. That's when I decided to cut it in half. I kept the upper part to make a blouse and from the rest I'll make a skirt. Basically, I'll just put an elastic band in the waist.
Anyway, here are the photos. First the fabric, and a fabric detail (yes, I love my macro lens!), a detail of the neckline and the final blouse. I love the way the sleeve moves when I walk or ride a bike!

Fleece boy jacket

I made a jacket for my son based on a knit-cardigan pattern from Ottobre design, 4/2003, Nr. 21.

Instead of using a wool knit, I decided to go for a two sided fleece, which is slightly more windproof and slightly stiffer than ordinary light fleece. It was a standard Raglan sleeve with a zipper in the front.



An interesting detail of the side seam:


The zipper in the front:


Almost finished jacket. I later did the hems and sleeve edges and added some reflective tape on the back and on the sleeves. My kid loves to walk around after dark so you can never be too careful!

A laptop sleeve

I always wanted to have a special laptop sleeve for my special laptop. Ideal would be neoprene padded, fitted, with a zipper, AND pretty... but it was impossible to find something that would match all the criteria.

So, I got myself some stretch canvas (cotton with a tiny bit of elastane), black with pink flowers, and some black neoprene. I first thought about buying uncut neoprene but it was way more convenient to get a laptop sleeve in a computer store. The bought sleeve was slightly bigger than my laptop so I cut it to fit it.

Once I had the materials, it was pretty straightforward. I cut the fabric according to the size of the laptop, adding 1 cm for the inner layer and roughly 2 cm for the outer layer. Since the fabric was a stretch, the exact cutting wasn't that important. Then I made a double pouch with a neoprene layer in between. I did not actually sew the neoprene, just the canvas around it. I added a pink zipper and voila.

Here are the photos, first the fabric, then the zipper and finally the finished sleeve.