Prince Charming Suit

I generally like being challenged into making things I've never made before...but sometimes, I get myself into these difficult situations just because I find it so hard to say 'no' to people.

I recently met this young mom in the baby shower I attended a few weeks ago.  One day, I got a very unexpected phone call from her.  She said she was so impressed with the handmade baby presents I brought to the shower that she thought I could help her with something.  Her son is turning one year old in April and she was wondering if I could make a Prince Charming costume for him to wear on his birthday party.

I've sewn just a few clothes for my youngest when he was a toddler.  They weren't very good at all.  But then again, that was years ago and my sewing skills weren't that good either.  So I thought, why not?  I'd give it a shot.  If it doesn't work out, at least, I tried.  The timing was in a way perfect cause I just got myself a second-hand overlocker/serger from eBay.  This was a great opportunity to try the machine out.

She sent me a link to this awesome tutorial and provided me with Size 1 top and pants to base my patterns from.  I got to work right away.  Three days into the project and not without much frustration, I managed to finish it.

The royal blue colour was the mom's choice as she had already purchased a hat/crown to match.  I used satin for both the coat and the pants. It wasn't the easiest of fabrics to work with but I reckoned it was the most appropriate and the most comfortable for a baby.  The trims on the pants, collar and belt, as well as the frill on the shoulder (the epaulettes) are all gold (but look yellow on the photos). The tutorial was a huge help though I changed some things to make the whole process easier.  Having the overlocker was great!  The seams were all nice and neat.

Would you have asked to be paid for making this suit?  I didn't, inspite of everyone around me telling me to do so.  I asked payment for the materials alone.  I am not a professional seamstress and I don't want people to expect me to do a flawless job just because I am being paid for it.  I did my best and that's enough satisfaction for me. 

Would I do this again?  Maybe not.  I sew my own shorts because they're pretty easy to do but baby clothes???  My son was joking me that soon, people will be asking me to make wedding gowns.  Oh please!!!!

Speaking of weddings, here's a sneak peek into another challenge I got myself into...

  
Will keep you posted on how that went!  Wish me luck...

Alone again

I never would have thought that watching re-runs of Dragonball Z and That's So Raven with my four kids nearly every single night for the past two months would make me miss them as they all went back to school.  While in the past, I would look forward to being alone again after the lengthy vacation, this time around, it's like a big part of me had gone missing.

We didn't do anything much out of the ordinary during the school holidays.  It's summer and we didn't even go to the beach, not even once!  Personally though, I feel my family bonded a lot more by staying home .  We played boardgames and ping pong, watched our favourite TV shows and laughed together, stayed up late every single night.  Considering three of my kids are teenagers, I think doing these things with them was priceless and worth much more than any trip to the beach.

So now, I should get back to normality, to my old routine and to faithfully doing my chores (which I slightly neglected when my kids were around).  I surely am looking forward to more sewing, baking and more computer time too!

Before I end, here's a simple laptop sleeve I recently sewed up for my daughter.  I made her a laptop bag at the beginning of the school year last year but after using it for sometime, she found it difficult for her to be carrying that plus her heavy backpack.  This one, she can just chuck in her backpack along with her other stuff.

I used the leftover denim from the laptop bag and appliqued a couple of flowers which are actually cutouts from a curtain material I found at the Op Shop a long time ago.  I lined the denim with fusible fleece and used pre-quilted material for the inside (again, a leftover from the laptop bag).

The laptop fit rather snugly because of the thickness of the bag layers but I think the snug fit is actually a good thing.

Close-up of applique.  I think the blanket stitch really adds a nice look to it!

That's about it for now.  It seems I'm getting distracted again.  There's so much to do around the house.  I better get moving.

Have a good week!


P.S.

My patchwork pillow tutorial has been featured in Sew, Mama, Sew!'s Pillow Tutorial Round-up along with a bunch of other cool tutorials!  Stop on by and check out all the links!

More baby gifts

Baby changing pad, nappy/wipes clutch, and bath mitt (I hope you're not getting tired of seeing this bird fabric yet!)

 

I used the tutorials here and here to make the baby changing pad and the bath mitt.  For the changing pad,  I used two layers of fusible fleece and quilted the flannel myself instead of buying a pre-quilted one.   For someone who nearly hated bias binding just a while back, I can even say I thoroughly enjoyed making these!  Seriously...I think I'm even beginning to love bias binding.  It makes everything look so neat.

The baby shower was yesterday.  I brought along these baby items plus the baby bibs I made earlier.  Can you believe it, the two moms-to-be aren't even my close friends?  They're my sister in-law's.  I haven't even met one of them till yesterday.  But it really didn't matter.  I had a great time making presents!

And this cake,too...

Purple yam cake (Ube macapuno) as requested