DIY FashionSewing Pattern Review

Burdastyle Karen draped cardigan in ribbed knit fabric

It’s great when my Mum comes to stay with us, we spend hours together doing sewing projects and get things finished really quickly.  Mum and I were able to finish this cardigan in two days.  She does the basting and pinning while I overlock or sew the pieces together.  It’s a highly efficient system.

I bought this chunky knit fabric on ebay.  It’s a lovely caramel colour and despite the thickness, still manages to drape quite nicely.  The pattern is called the Karen cardigan, from Burdastyle.  It looks like a difficult garment, but once you have cut the fabric, it really wasn’t hard to figure out how to put the bits and pieces together.  I used the overlocker for everything, except to join the sleeves on to the body.  I wouldn’t have been brave enough to tackle this fabric without an overlocker!

We are well and truly into Autumn in Sydney, so this cardigan has already been getting lots of outings.  The entire project cost me less than $40 (plus 2 days of mother – daughter time) so I’m pretty happy.  Happy Mother’s Day to my Mum and all the Mums who kindly visit my blog!

Stuffed Toy Free Sewing Pattern | Learn how to make this cute stuffed toy! not sure if it's a rabbit, or maybe it's a gremlin? It's really cute though!
Kids & Baby

Stuffed Toy Gremlin? from Vintage Recycled Materials

Is it a rabbit?  A donkey?  To me this little blue creature most closely resembles a Gremlin.  Whatever it is supposed to be, it’s quite cute in a freaky baby alien kind of way.  This is actually a present for Dave’s niece ,who just turned one.  She wouldn’t know what Gremlin is yet, so hopefully she will find the toy cuddly and cute…at least for a few more years.

The blue fabric is a vintage bed sheet I picked up at a secondhand store a few months ago.  The rest of the accent fabric are all remnants.  The pattern and instructions for this eco toy was free from homelife.com.au, but unfortunately, they’ve taken the pattern down. I hope everyone has managed to relax with some crafts and sewing over this Easter and Anzac Day long weekend.

DIY FashionTutorial

DIY Denim Cutoffs from Thrifted Jeans

Gosh, I haven’t blogged in a while.  Had a lot of things on, with work and of course the earthquake/tsunami crisis in Japan.  I have been glued to NHK news for the past week.  My close friends and family are all ok, thank goodness, but my heart breaks for the people in the north east of Japan.  My obaachan (grandma) is in Yamagata, so even though she was not affected by the tsunami, there is minimal petrol, many blackouts and food shortages in her little town.  I was a bit teary speaking to her on the phone this week, but she is so brave and staying positive.  My thoughts are always with the people of Japan at the moment.  The Red Cross are doing amazing things to provide for people who have lost their homes.  If you have been touched by this tragedy, please donate to the Japan and Pacific Disaster 2011 Appeal.

Now back on to bloggy stuff.  Thought I’d upload a little project I did at the beginning of summer.  On weekends, I have been living in these denim cutoffs.  I like to tuck in a loose top and wear a pair of vintage boots.  I think they’ll be cute with tights in the winter too.   These high waist jeans were purchased at a thrift store for $8.  I simply cut the legs off at desired length, and then used a cheese grater to abuse the denim for a vintage feel.  I also watched this YouTube video by MakeoverGirl1 on how to distress jeans to get the white threads underneath the blue to show.

I made a great big mess on the carpet doing this, but I highly recommend it!

DIY FashionJapanese Sewing Patterns

Oversized Polka Dot Top

I’ve always been a fan of comfort dressing, and have always liked the slouchy, casual look.  I’ve seen lots of very simple, oversized tops in stores recently.  Many have rolled up sleeves to make you look less “proper”.  I thought I could easily make one of these tops, and here is my result.  It’s a cropped length, polka dot top with a button closure at the back.  The fabric is a rather thick, poly cotton which my Mum kindly donated to me.  I believe it’s from Spotlight?  I love the sense of achievement from creating your own version of something you saw in a shop!

DIY FashionJapanese Sewing Patterns

Winter Kate by Nicole Ritchie Inspired Kimono Cardigan

Whether you like Nicole Ritchie’s  style or not, you have to agree, she’s definitely got an individual look.  I quite like the dressy outfits she puts together, because they look chic but a little “undone”.  As soon as I saw her Winter Kate collection, I was attracted to her colourful draped cardigans.  Immediately, I thought of “happi”, a Japanese kimono-style top that people wear at festivals.  Many fishermen wear them as well, so I never associated them with fashion!  Just recently, my Mum had made more than thirty “happi” for the kids in her Japanese class so that they could perform a traditional fishermen’s dance.  I used the adult version of the sewing pattern she had used for her mass production.  I tried to use a fabric that did not look Japanese at all because I didn’t want to look like I was wearing my national costume…

At the risk of looking nightgown-esque, I chose this satin fabric from Spotlight.  As long as I don’t walk around with slippers, I think the cardigan looks pretty funky.  In this photo it looks very shiny, but in reality it looks much nicer, without the reflective light thing going on!  This “happi” pattern is from the naniIRO’s free pattern page.  

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