A Sewing Catch-Up

I have been very slack and not blogged for over a month now... so here's a catch-up on some of the projects I have been working on for the Bartacks and Singletracks' 'Oliver + S: Little Things to Sew' challenge.

Firstly I made my niece a bear carrier for her 3rd birthday.

To make it easier for her to use independently I added elastic to the straps.  This was quite fiddly but I think it works.

The two bears are brothers - and both have been loved lots!

Here she is enjoying her present alongside our K - with a bear carrier I made a year ago.

Next up is a baby jaguar costume for K, incorporating both the 'cosy hood' and the 'art smock'.

 

I wanted to make the smock as a neutral costume that would work with other hoods (should they be needed) and I'm super pleased with how easily it sewed up.  I used cotton homespun from Spotlight and made no adaptations to the patterns apart from omitting the pockets.

For the hood I added a front facing of fake fur to the same homespun, as well as making the outer ear pieces from the same.  I used the same pattern a few years ago to make a 'kiwi head' and knew how great it is for costumes.

K's favourite part of the whole ensemble is the tail!  Just a length of the homespun with some fur sewn on the end, attached to a elastic waistband.  Very simple!

The latest item I have completed has been a pair of mittens made from two layers of fabric.  On the outer I used a scrap of waterproof fabric and I lined it with some polar-fleece.  Although I followed the idea from Froo and Boo, I added a separate binding strip between the layers that could hold the elastic.  I sewed it to the outer layer, threaded it with elastic, then inserted the whole inner and edged the bottoms together.

I used a microtex needle to try to keep the mittens as waterproof as possible (small hole = less leaks?) and there is still some more of winter that might provide the opportunity to try them out.

These projects are numbers 87, 88, 89 and 90 in my O+S count and numbers 11, 12, 13 and 14 in my LTTS challenge!  Progress is intermittent, but happening!

I am working on a few more projects from this book, hoping to finish them by the end of this month.  My sewing room is undergoing renovations  at present (very slowly), so craft is mainly in the form of knitting.  And maybe some gardening and chicken watching!