pink and ponies
Hi! Are you a new or recent visitor to my blog? I hope you stick around and have a bit of a read. To make it easier to keep up to date with new content, please subscribe to my RSS feed. Of course, feedback is always appreciated and leaving a comment is a great way for me to come and check out your site.
Emma turns 5 on Saturday. She has been asking “how many days till my birthday” for about the last 11 and a half months - seriously. I can’t believe my baby is turning five. Another milestone. I look at her now and she looks so big and yet still so young, all at once. We are having a party here at home for her on Saturday and having some of her friends over for some fun. It’s the first proper party she has had as we have always just done the extended family thing (dinner and cake or ten pin bowling or BBQ) before. Now that she is in preschool she has a bunch of friends to invite - we’ve settled on eight girls and one boy.Â
Still working on the activities for the party and hoping I don’t procratinate all the way to Friday night on this! So far, I am thinking: beading (a necklace to take home), making a mask or hat to decorate, musical statues, pin the tail on the pony and running races. I made this invitation tonight which Emma just LOVED so at least I have started!
Â
I haven’t posted a studio shot for a while… Love these Janomes:
After many years of thought and research (here and there when I would think of it) I finally bit the bullet and bought some pattern design software. I didn’t go with the one that everybody else has (PMB - Pattern Master Boutique) because I really don’t like the interface and figure I can more easily make more complex pattern changes on paper instead of with the CAD interface. After weighing everything up, I chose My Pattern Designer instead.
After having my husband measure me up last weekend, I made this casual jacket today from thrifted black fleece as a wearable muslin to try the software out. Overall, I am pretty happy with it, although the hem looks wonky in the photo. I’m sure it doesn’t in real life.  It is great to have something fit you without any pattern alterations - even just little things like hemming the sleeve and knowing that it will be just the right length for my arm. I always thought sticking bits of paper together would be a pain but if you are used to tracing patterns off from magazines then it’s really not a problem to get out the sticky tape instead of the tracing paper. Quicker and easier too.
I want to make another one of these with a few changes. Things to fix/investigate:
- I am not convinced that my front and back armscye measurements are correct so I will check those before I make anything else. The side seam is further toward the back than it ought to be.
- I would like the yoke to be about 10cm (3″) further down and perhaps a bit more fabric to gather.
- I had a Peter Pan collar cut out which I just totally forgot to add before doing the neck facings. I didn’t bother unpicking to insert it as this was just a test garment but I think it will look cute on this style of jacket
- It’s a little too short - add an extra 2-3″
There was a weird angle thing with the side seam that needed to be trued before I cut the fabric but honestly, it was all very easy and only small things to investigate.  Looking forward to trying a few more patterns out…
Permalink
Visited 8615 times
Email this Post
Print this Post
hey! try this out: visit a random post on my blog
subscribe to my feed
Poli Said,
Friday, August 1, 2008 @ 4:12 am
Congratulations for your little girl who is not that little anymore:) I hope the party went really good!
Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves Said,
Friday, August 1, 2008 @ 11:40 pm
three machines in a row. i could just die!
Vintage Kids’ Books My Kid Loves’s last blog post..The Circus Book
Robyn Said,
Saturday, August 2, 2008 @ 3:41 pm
I LOVE that jacket. It is SO cute. I hope to be able to sew that well one day
Robyn’s last blog post..I’m doing it for reals!!