My Refashion project was featured on Craft Gossip

I just found out that I was featured on Craft Gossip! Wow! I was googling something and found my swimsuit refashion featured on the Craft Gossip website. Wicked!

You can see the article here: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-turn-a-too-long-swimsuit-into-a-faux-tankini/2011/07/08/

Saree fabric to Shirt refashion

This is a refashion project from before I joined Refashion Co-op I thrifted a piece of 'art silk' purple saree fabric a while back. I love the royal purple colour and the gold design. I made a button down shirt with this fabric using an old Simplicity shirt pattern from the 90's.

The saree fabric looked something like this (this is not the actual picture of my saree as I didn't take a picture before I cut it up. However this is very close to the real thing):
I used the gold designs to make the shirt's cuffs as well as the buttons. I loved it and wore it many times to the office and on weekends. I got lots of comments about it. Unfortunately, I underestimated how 'un-colourfast' the fabric is. I handwashed it and the purple dye just bled non-stop. Now there are slight blotches of discolouration here and there! Bummer! I really like this shirt. If anyone has any idea how to fix the blotches please please let me know!

I need to work on my ironing skill..... :-(

Pattern Review: Simplicity 5316

I had decided early this year to use only stash patterns and fabrics to make X'mas gifts. I have remnants of this yellow fleece and mauve microfleece. I thought they might make a good combo for a jacket for my baby girl. The only new thing I bought was the mauve zipper.

Here is my review of this pattern:

Pattern Description: Babies' overall, jacket or vest, pants, knit top and hat. I made the jacket.

Pattern Sizing: XXS to L. I used L.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Not really because of my design changes.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I didn't read the instructions. The pattern pieces seem simple enough.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It's a basic baby hoodie pattern and one can easily add one's only design changes to it.

Fabric Used: Golden Yellow fleece and mauve microfleece. Both remnants in my stash.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I lined the hood and the body with the mauve microfleece. I also use the mauve microfleece to make cuffs for the jacket. I eliminated 4cm from the bottom of the sleeve pattern to accommodate the cuffs. I also added about 2.5cm to the length of the jacket.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? This is the not the first time I have used this pattern (See this review). But this is the first time I have made significant design changes to it. I will definitely use it again and would recommend it to others.

Conclusion: Simple baby hoodie pattern. Easy to make design changes to make it your own. Highly recommended.

ECing a 6 month old baby

My baby has started eating cereals, fruits and veggies. Her poo has really changed! It used to be the consistency of a thick milkshake and didn't smell. Now her poo is much harder (like adult poo) and stinks! She cries a bit every time she has to push the poo out. I guess she will get used to it eventually. I make sure that she has lots of fruits and veggies so that she doesn't get constipated. When my toddler started eating solids, he didn't cry when pooing. I guess each kid is different.

My baby's poo schedule has also changed. She used to poo a couple of times a day. Now it's more like once a day or every other day, in which case she would have a big quantity of poo. She seems to enjoy eating solids so far. The paediatrician said that she can start eating meat next month. I wonder what that would do to her poo?!