A touch of autumn sewing

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Autumn is well & truly here & is reminding me why I love it so.  The cooler days are just delightful & although there have been a few mornings  that make you want to stay tucked under the toasty, warm covers, most  are perfect enough to tempt you out of bed early, ready to rush right into the day!  
Unless you live in a particularly mild climate, this is also the time of year for the ' great clothes change over' no matter which hemisphere you dwell in .  You are either replacing the cooler, summer clothes for the more bulky warmer ones or vice versa.   So last week I decided I'd better tackle it & chose the most difficult    child who would care the most about what she's wearing ~ yes, miss Ellie.  As we ploughed through her unbelievable amount of clothes  (the twins should be girls ~ Ellie has that many clothes)  we found she had most things for this coming winter season, but she did need some more pyjamas as she had seriously outgrown her size 6 ones she had last year.  To my surprise she requested a winter nightie.  Now we tend to wear flannelette pyjamas here at Sunnyside during winter, however since I really do like to encourage femininity in my girl I decided to see what I could do.  
It wasn't until later that night that I thought of my material box.  I remembered that my Mum had given me some fleecy & I really wanted to use it up but it was in rather girly (considering Mum had 5 girls) colours so it couldn't really be used for anyone bar Ellie (or myself, but I've really outgrown fleecy :).  When I told Ellie that we would make her a winter nightie she was so excited.
When I asked Ellie what colour she would like she chose them all!!

We sat down & designed what we would make.  I've always loved designing & sewing my own clothes, but haven't done it for so long.... ( definitely since before I had the twins)   We chose a basic design with a yoke, long sleeves & skirt. Since I was using fleecy I didn't have to worry about any facings ( YAY)!!
We had so much fun with this step!

























Next came making the pattern.  I have found over the years, that it is best for me to make a pattern rather than just cutting straight into the fabric.  This way I make my mistakes on the paper before I wreck the material :)

Sewing... this took me a few days as I really am bad at sitting still.  I've found that if I give myself permission to leave my sewing machine set up on the end of the dining room table for a set amount of time ( in this case the holidays) and do a bit each day, projects get finished.

I still use my Mum's old sewing machine.  It is the one I learnt to sew on as an 8 year old.  I love it!!

 After a few days of intermittent sewing  it was completed.  A very excited Ellie put her nightdress straight on & modelled the finished product ( let me just add again ~ Ellie chose the colour combination).

Front
Back

A very happy girl in her snuggly, warm winter nightie!   Now I just have to find another project to complete in this next week ( but don't worry ~ I'm not lacking in ideas)!

Have a wonderful day!
Blessings
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12 comments:

Heather's Blog-o-rama said...

HI Renata,

Your little girl's fleece nightgown turned out really cute. It looks like she's really happy with it, too, judging from the smile on her face :) :) Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :) :) :)

Ann at eightacresofeden said...

Wow you make your own patterns? Well done on completing such a great project in time for winter. Guess what - I have my sewing machine out too and it is where I should be at the moment. I can't believe what I'm doing - adding a lace border to the hem of my floral curtains to disguise the mould spots that I couldn't get rid of. It's only on the hem thankfully. I didn't want to go out and buy fabric or lace so I used my Laura Ashley lace napkins - a few holes are starting to appear in them so it wasn't too great a sacrifice. One pair of curtains finished, another two to go plus maybe tiebacks but I'm going to run out of napkins and deciding what else could be sacrificed to trim these drapes as I don't want to spend money on them as they are faded but oh so pretty. The question is will I get it done before the holidays end! Better get back to it!

Smilie girl said...

How clever you are with sewing! Love the colours and the beautiful smile of Miss Ellie. She will be nice and warm in it.

Selina said...

Good job Narn!!
Ellie looks gorgous in her winter nightie.
Much luv,
sel

Marsel said...

There's nothing quite like a kid in snuggly pajamas...even better when they're from mom! :) Lovely job.

Anonymous said...

Hey Renata, your little miss Ellie is absolutely gorgeous and I can see her sweetness in her smile. I love her gorgeous nightie - future fashion designer? Maybe a mother-daughter fashion house....xx Cath (Beautiful Life)

Haf Dozen Reasons....... said...

Adorable!

debi10kids said...

that turned out fabulous and she looks SO happy!
Boy, I wish I could sew!

Rachel~At the Butterfly Ball said...

You did a great job. I often add my own "touches" to sewing patterns, but I've never drafted my own pattern from beginning to end. Ellie looks adorable in her new snugly nightie!

Angie said...

Very nice! It's spring here, but still could use fleece in the evenings! :)

Grandma said...

Well done, Narn and Ellie!!! They were such gorgeous colors together! She chose well, and you were very patient, putting them all together! So what was the next project. The only sewing I seem to do these days is taking up trousers for Dad. Maybe, just one day, I'll do something! Having lovely autumn weather at the moment (okay, people in much of the northern hemisphere would call it summer weather, we're still only wearing short sleeves and a sheet on the bed at night, though a blanket is there if required!
Better get some work done - my ironing pile is exceedingly high - I have a couple of iView programs to catch up on and want to listen to a couple of podcasts, so I'll get in and tackle some!
Love to all the darlings xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kimmie said...

what a lovely model you have for the lovely nightie! you did a fabulous job...impressed that you made your own pattern...Ellie looks so happy and adorable!

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