So, what are the latest whatevers to wing their way out of the atelier, hmmm? Well, I’ve been making LOADS of things, just nothing much to show for it, as yet. Remember I mentioned I was making a pattern? Well, making a pattern comes with making a truckload of muslins, of course. I’ve actually made 13 dresses in the last month alone, albeit they’re made from old sheets and are a bit rough, but still. Am I going to count these in my “one refashion a month” resolution? no, that wouldn’t be fair. How’s the pattern coming along? swimmingly! which is fab… I’m almost at the testing phase, I will be incredibly happy to get there after 8 months of preparation. 8 MONTHS!
In more tangible making results, I made a little romper for Sarah’s new little boy… Sarah LOVES stripes, so the descent into stripe-matching madness struck once again. I used Butterick 6372, which I’ve made twice previously, and just altered it slightly to be a romper, and added that cute little pocket. Would you believe I re-did that little pocket THREE flipping times?? First I made a curved bottom pocket, which was pretty awful, followed by a flat bottomed pocket. Equally awful. I do really like the pointed bottom pocket though, I think it’s super cute. It’s my favourite part about the whole romper actually!
The striped cotton terry is from Spotlight, hopefully the last piece of fabric I will buy this year, given Project Stash Reduction is a goal this year. The red cuffs and pockets were culled from a Wildcats Tshirt from my refashioning pile. Thus partially fulfilling my once-a-month refashioning resolution #virtouslyRubbingFingernailsOnChest.
There was a little bit of leftover striped fabric, so I also made an adult sized beanie, using a pattern made by Andrea of fabric epiphanies. I’m afraid though that I couldn’t for the life of me work out how to print it up so the sizing square was the correct scale… three attempts later, and eventually I settled for “pretty close”. I estimated my beanie is actually about 7-8% bigger than the pattern, and then Sarah informed me it is too small! aaaagh! It is a pretty cute pattern though, I will still probably give it another go one day 🙂
The stripes do match up all around though, both inside and out, a matter of personal pride for me. I bound the beanie using a strip of blue merino, given to me by Mum.
So, after cutting the romper cuffs and pocket from the Tshirt, I still had quite a chunk of Tshirt leftover, well this wouldn’t do! I immediately realised, as you do; that I could get two pairs of knickers and a bra from the leftovers. Well, I’m sure that is the first thought anyone would think, hmmm?
I used the cloth habit Watson pattern, and cut out a bra plus two sets of matching knickers… yes, it was an XL Tshirt. I avoided as much of the advertising as possible and tried to stick to just the Wildcats logos as much as I could.
As I was making it, it occurred to me… is jungle January still a thing? See, in the past few years I’ve been in the habit of making a set of underwear for jungle January, and one of the things about the basketball is that the Perth Arena is known as “the Jungle” during the Wildcats games. Like, they’re always screaming “WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!!!!!!” and going on about “…. HERE IN THE JUNGLE…!!!!” “Jungle” I guess because, wildcats. Anyway, it occurred to me that I was serendipitously making a jungle-themed set of underwear again. Without even meaning to! Win!!!
Do you wanna hear something funny?
I’ve been in the throes of making this set for several weeks now, fitting it in as light relief in between working on my pattern, you know; and I took it along to the sewing guild meeting yesterday in the hopes of finishing it up. And there I had the joy of seeing Emma also making a Watson bra. Except her’s was really beautiful; super pretty, with chartreuse lace, pink and blue elastics, generally all round gorgeous and very feminine. Just absolutely lovely in every way. Such a contrast to my sorta … lowbrow one made from an old basketball Tshirt, With logos, and everything. Like something a teenager might wear. Or more like, refuse to. Omigawd, so embarrassing. I swear I don’t try to be like this. It just happens. Every now and again, I think back to an anonymous commenter who used to frequent my blog, and who couldn’t resist from pointing out my 1) immaturity and 2) unnecessary penny-pinching-ness, among other things. Ahem, guilty as charged!
Fully lined with a lightweight stretchy stuff that I discovered during my stash clean out… My tutorial for fully lining this pattern to enclose the seams, is here
I thought about not posting this next one… but wellll, here goes… I’ve also made another thing, squeezed out from the Wildcats Tshirt, I mentioned it was an XL yeah?! I also got a little cropped top, much nothing to write home about at all… I made it specifically for my new workout aspirations. I hadn’t made any working out or losing weight resolutions on New Year’s Eve … but just lately I’ve been feeling a bit stodgy and decidedly… “matronly”, is the only word I can think of. So I decided to do something about it, and purchased the Kayla Itsines Bikini BodyGuide. One thing you’re supposed to do before even getting started is take a picture of yourself, preferably in a sports crop top and little shorts, and then take a new picture in the same ensemble every week as you work through the guide. So obviously I had to make myself a little crop top, asap! I used my customised version of the Closet Case Nettie bodysuit pattern and whipped up this super basic thing, just edged with a line of white overlocking thread around all the edges, which I think looks nice with my little white shorts. I made those too.. they’re are the eponymous Carolyn pyjama shorts. I rolled them up a bit, to show as much abdomen as I dared. Hopefully, it’s going to become a more shapely one in a few weeks! Don’t worry, I will not be posting a new picture here every week, but I’ll probably do an summary when I finished the course!
I started out with the beginner’s schedule, and practically killed myself just doing day 1!!
before…
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Making this 
So, Le Stash has for a long time been a quiet and secretive thing, its perceived size diminished by distribution into far-flung corners of the house. It lurked furtively and unobtrusively in my laundry cupboard, the cupboard under the stairs, hidden away in various innocent spots like a guilty thing, a sort of fabric-y portrait of Dorian Grey, or something…
I managed to walk the boxes from the car and into the hallway on my own, but there had to admit defeat. The boxes were pretty heavy after all…
