Month: Nov 2021

Nibling’s Wardrobe
Sewing

Nibling’s Wardrobe

yorkiemouse4 Comments

As is often the case, I felt down an internet rabbit hole about six months ago. On that occasion, I was trying to find a collective/gender-neutral term for nieces and nephews after learning the exciting news that my sister was going to make me an Auntie again.

There isn’t actually a word in the English language but there’s a contender that somebody made up – “Nibling”, meaning child of your siblings. I love the term so, for the rest of my sister’s pregnancy, the baby was “New Nibling” in my mind. I deepened the internet hole by looking at collective nouns and trying to pick a favourite but couldn’t decide between a “chattering of Niblings”, “fidget of Niblings” or “glitter of Niblings”.

Today I’m sharing some of my sewn items for New Nibling, which also explains why there were so many presents in my Random Project Generator!

When we learnt that we were going to be adding a niece to our Fidget of Niblings, I started thinking about what I could make for her. Sewstainability has a free patterns blog post that was invaluable as I don’t tend to have many children/baby patterns in my stash. I had a few that I have made before but Vicky updated her list just when I was planning so I found some more gems.

Whilst writing this blog, I realised that all of the patterns I used are freebies, which is astonishing because they’re all so fantastic.

For fabric, I had lots of jersey off-cuts from previous kids’ and personal makes so I had fun rummaging thorough my jersey stash. I bought some elephant and ballerina jersey from Jelly Fabrics as both have special significance to my sister. I tried to find cycling fabric as a link to my brother-in-law, but failed so that’s still on the “to find” list for future makes.

Special thanks to fellow York sewist sewcatie who kindly gave me some of her jersey remnants and contributed to this mini-wardrobe.

Baby sizing

The apps that parents-to-be use where the unborn child is compared to a fruit or vegetable depending on how far along they are always make me wonder what statistical methodology the apps use. Are they using an average avocado…do they use the mean, median or mode…am I overthinking it…?

I can confirm that the Patterns for Pirates Teeny Beany sizing is as follows:

  • Premature baby head = bigger than a big orange
  • Newborn baby head = perfect if you need to cover a gin balloon

Yes, I’m “that” kind of Auntie ;o)

These hats were really quick to put together and the optional little ears are so adorable. Apparently the hospital staff admired the hats, which is lovely. I’m hoping to send some to the hospital to keep other newborns’ heads warm as a thank you for looking after our new niece (and her parents).

As well as the little hats, I also made two Elemeno Bibs, another speedy batch-sew.

Tops and bottoms

My “go-to” t-shirt for small children is the Wee Lap Tee (also by P4P). Feedback from parents of babies that I’ve gifted t-shirts to is that the neckline of this top is better because it expands and makes dressing wriggly ones slightly easier. The neckline construction is a bit fiddly but if it makes the top more wearable, it’s worth the extra effort.

I try and have fun with colour-blocking when using this pattern and do the sleeves and neckline in a different fabric to the bodice pieces. As well as making the tops more interesting, it helps make the “main” fabric go further.

I made tops in sizes 3, 6 and 12 months to give a good range. If we have a very hot summer (we can dream) when she fits into some of them, I can always shorten the sleeves.

I made Nibling two pairs of Petite Pegs leggings in sizes 3 and 6 months. I purposely made these in darker fabrics with a vague idea that they would be better for bum-shuffling marks without realising that I was over-estimating what age babies can do that!

I try and make leggings in my most stretchy jersey to make room for nappies. Whilst I’m sure pattern designers think about nappies when designing baby patterns, they always look so small to somebody who isn’t particularly familiar with baby sizing.

I also downloaded the Waves and Wild Lightning Leggings but already had the Petite Pegs cut out. Waves and Wild patterns do a fantastic range with most of their kids’ patterns going from baby to age 12. I’ve printed their leggings pattern to try it out in future.

The party dress

My sister is a massive bookworm and collects books in the way I collect fabric…i.e. she likes to have several (shelves) of unread books to choose from, depending on her mood.

I searched online for Matilda fabric and was presented with this lovely pink cotton from The Cotton Patch. It was perfect for a tiny gathered Made by Rae Little Geranium dress.

I LOVE pockets on baby clothes. What are they for? Their wallet and keys?! I considered putting a Strong Girls Club patch on the pocket but decided to save that for a longer-term gift (ooh, what a tease).

The free ‘Little Geranium’ goes up to 3 months but there are two Geranium patterns in their shop that go all the way to age 12. Whilst little dresses probably aren’t the most practical thing for a tiny baby (I don’t really know, are they?), I’m hoping this will fit for party-season in December(!).

On everything I made, I stitched an “Auntie Made It” label that I got from Lamazi Fabrics. I found these when making t-shirts for two of our other Niblings last Christmas and they’re so cute. I tend to put them on the front bottom hem to help children (and parents) know the front from the back, but they’re not scratchy on the neckline of sensitive skin.

Thanks for reading :o)

Sewing

Avery leggings

yorkiemouse1 Comment

Hello all!  The Random Project Generator (RPG) is working well.  I’ve made some gifts which I can’t share yet, but today I’m here to chat about filling a gap in my wardrobe – activewear leggings!  Most of my ready-to-wear leggings were holey and/or see-through and needed urgent replacement.

I’ve wanted to make leggings for a while but was a little bit scared about technical fabrics, negative ease and lightning stitches.  The beauty of the RPG meant that I was at the mercy of chance and when I pulled “Avery Leggings” out of the tin, I was happy to finally commit to this garment.  I also recently listened to an episode of the UnCUT podcast which talked about activewear which had lots of tips to help get me started.

I chose the Helen’s Closet Avery Leggings, partly because their instructions are always excellent and partly because it’s a relatively simple pattern (no outer seam, minimal pieces).  Helen’s blog includes some hacks to add pockets and mesh cut-outs which I may try in future now that I’ve got the basics sorted.

Fabric explorations

I also did quite a lot of research into fabric to make sure I bought something that would work.  I ordered some swatches from Funki Fabrics in their Flex All Rounder and Life Recycled bases.  I liked the idea of the more eco-friendly Life Recycled base but it was a bit more transparent and I didn’t want to have to line my leggings with mesh, so I opted for the Flex All Rounder base.  I love it when shops offer swatches because it’s a great way to get my hands on the fabric, which is so important when trying something new.  I chose this blue pattern from Funki Fabric’s clearance to make a wearable toile.

Wrinkly knees!

Fitting

I was fortunate that a pair of my ready to wear leggings had an incredibly similar design to the Averys and the same stretch percentage.  The pattern calls for 70% stretch which my fabric was not.  So…I knew I would need to size up but I wasn’t sure by how much.

I used a semi-scientific method of laying my RTW leggings over the pattern pieces to try and determine what size they were, taking into account seam allowance.  Based on my measurements, I am a 12/14 but using this method I traced size 16/18 and crossed my fingers!

As always, it’s better to size up and increase the seam allowance if you need to, rather than try and magic fabric from nowhere if you need to size up.  This is particularly true when seam allowances are on the narrow side.

Once I had cut the leg pieces out, I wrapped them around my rtw leggings and was pleased (astounded) that they were pretty bang on!

PSA: if you bash a new rotary cutter on your knuckle, you will need a plaster

I also took 3″ off the length of version A, and used the deeper waistband from version B before cutting.ewing the leggings together was a fairly simple process for me.  I used my lightning stitch throughout, apart from the hems where I used a standard zigzag.  I was really pleased with my wearable toile and wore them around the house for the rest of the day.

Sewing the leggings together was a fairly simple process for me.  I used my lightning stitch throughout, apart from the hems where I used a standard zigzag.  I was really pleased with my wearable toile and wore them around the house for the rest of the day.

The definition of “smart casual”?  A shirt and leggings!

Round 2

I wanted a few pairs of leggings to replace the holey, see-through ones.  Before leaping in to making more pairs, I committed to wearing the first pair a few times (with washes in between!) to check the fit.

  • Pilates verdict: great!  Full movement and flexibility.  The deeper waistband made me feel comfortable and reassured around the back and was a good fit.  I didn’t grade the waistband and noticed that it was a bit slack on my waist – my difference in waist and hip means I would usually grade.  However this wouldn’t be an issue if I used the version A waistband or had a big lunch…!
  • Cardio verdict: minor room for improvement on the fit as I found the leggings slipping down when “jumping around” (not quite the technical sporting term).  I did think this could partially be due to my own laziness as I opted not to add the waistband elastic in my first pair.  I also noticed that they were bunching around my pelvic bone slightly.

To combat the “pelvic bunching” (sounds like a Pilates exercise in itself), I took 1/4″ out of the crotch length and approx. 1cm (there I go, mixing my measurements again) out of the front crotch.  I also committed to including the waistband elastic in my next pair!

I bought some more Flex All Rounder from Funki Fabrics and some black/pink activewear from Sewcialising.

Verdict

The addition of the elastic inside the waistband didn’t do much for the fit so I put it in some pairs and not others.  I think this might be because it’s quite supportive fabric so doesn’t need the extra help to stay up.

The crotch adjustments helped but I could potentially have taken more out. They still bunch up a bit when I’m sitting but I don’t want to take too much out as it might put too much strain on the waistband seams.

I discovered that telling the front from the back is quite tricky in a rush. I put an ironic label on the outer back of two pairs using the trusty method by Pinkcoatclub. Using washi tape to hold labels in place is a really handy tip and I keep a roll in the little drawer of my sewing machine.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my experiences with leggings.  I went into a bit more technical detail and process this time in the hope it will help somebody else overcome their fear of technical fabrics.  Go on, give it a go!  Thanks for reading :o)