When I made the ruffliest ruffled dress in the world, ever, for Eddie, I made a less ruffly version as well. The Clementine Dress comes in three different versions so you can do something nice and simple or something very frou-frou. For the second dress I made it in the simplest version.


I used this cute orange and grey striped stretch for the bodice, which is almost like a lycra but not as dense. I've had it for a very long time, it's not like I sew a lot of things out of orange and since it's not really a jersey fabric it is hard to find suitable things to sew it up with. It worked perfectly for this pattern! The skirt part of the pattern is sewn up in woven fabric, and I chose this cute cotton poplin I bought from Spotlight on a whim, it's blue with little oranges all over it.


When I made this dress for Eddie she refused flat out to wear it. She already had her beautiful pink and rainbow twirly princess dress that she was completely in love with, and this wasn't pink and not nearly as twirly (even though it's from the same pattern!). One day she was being a little disobedient and throwing tantrums so I told her she couldn't wear her princess dress because she wasn't acting like a princess. I grabbed the nearest thing I could find and threw it on her because I couldn't take her to pick up Vin from school without any clothes on and I slipped her in this dress. It got a bit of a reputation with my mama friends as the Punishment Dress, the dress she had to wear when she was being naughty. Which is hilarious because of course it was just one time and it certainly wasn't chosen to be the punishment dress haah.


It's got a better reputation now, she enjoys wearing it and I really love the colours on her!

Hi friends!

You know how you see patterns made up all over the blogosphere but you don't know for sure if it's a pattern you'd ever sew up yourself, or if you would even make it more than once? I don't know about you, but I love patterns that I will sew over and over, and you're probably sick of all the same things here that I keep sewing but COUNT YOURSELF LUCKY because there are approximately 200 more of the same things that I've never photographed and blogged about :,)


So when Laura of Titchy Threads (patterns) and Craftstorming (her blog) asked me if I wanted in on her fun Twisted Tuesdays series, I was so in! I'm a huge fan of her work; her patterns are so professional and she was the first to use layered sizes. The instructions are always clear and my finished garments from her patterns are probably the most professional-looking pieces I have sewn. However I was a bit hesitant with the Twisted Trousers pattern, only because I wasn't sure if I could sew up something that I would like and that my soon would actually wear. I thought the twisted seamlines were pretty amazing, and when I saw the watermelon pants that Laura sewed up I knew I was starting to fall in love with this pattern!


 I bought this bedspread a few weeks ago from the op-shop. It was $4 and was handmade, backed in calico and I thought it looked pretty amazingly vintage. It wouldn't eb the first time I've bought bedding at the op-shop with every intention of cutting it up and then changing my mind and keeping it as is (Vin has a Snoopy, Star Wars and also little blue houses doona covers that survived my ideas about giving them new life as clothing and just stayed as is!)

The fabric is called "parrotphenalia" which is fun, and it's a very heavy fabric. I knew I wanted to make pants out of it and when I printed out my Twisted Trousers pattern the parrots pretty much squawked at me to sew them up! And so I did!

Every step of the pattern has you sewing like you're a legit seamstress! Haha, it's true though. I usually love to whip up shorts and shirts that take minimal effort but when it comes to Titchy Thread Patterns I really appreciate the care and the time and the extra steps to take to turn out an amazing garment!


 There are several options available with these pants, including a reversible option! Since my fabric was so busy, I did go ahead and follow the instructions for adding piping and I'm really glad I did. I chose a fluro orange heavyweight cotton that I also scored at the op-shop (I just realised Vincent's Sega shirt was also a men's shirt from the op-shop that I resized for him for Sew Geeky!). I bought a roll of piping cord off eBay a few months ago and it's really handy to have just stashed away because it means i can make piping whenever I want. And I do want!


The more I look at these pants the more I love them holy crap. I sewed these up in a straight size 5 for Vincent, which was a bit risky because although I have the majority of his measurements (have you measured your kids recently? Do it!) I wasn't entirely sure I'd have the length right. He turned SIX YEARS OLD last thursday and I've noticed that a lot of his clothes aren't fitting him so well anymore. He's still a little shawty, the youngest and the smallest in his class, but I've realised I still had size 3 and 4 shirts in his drawer that he could wear ahha. I shouldn't have doubted myself though, because as usual, Laura's pattern was a perfect fit on my little dude!


I had every intention of sewing up the Twisted Tank instead of the pants, but it's COLD here, so there was no way that sewing a shirt for him was going to get much use until the summer, in which he might have grown out of it by then! I was going to see if I could do a Rowan Tee/Twisted Tank mash-up with the sleeves from the Rowan on the Twisted Tank?

The waistband on the Twisted Trousers is my favourite kind right now: a comfortable knit waistband with elastic inside it. I really love the diagonal belt loop at the back too, I'll probably do that for all Vin's pants now really!




I've literally just finished printing a size 2 because there's a little miss in the family who is in need of some pants for winter! Somehow I have to make these Princess Pants...


Have you ever sewn up a pattern you weren't completely 100% on and then been pleasantly surprised? I really should know better by now, especially when it comes to a Titchy Threads pattern!

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