Pattern-drafting & scrap-busting

Farbenmix afficionados will immediately recognise this t-shirt as the Antonia pattern, which I've had in my collection for ages but only got round to using last month when I realised Laura was in urgent need of long-sleeve tees. It is now officially my favourite t-shirt pattern and great for scrap-busting. The neckline runs a little wide which means that you don't need to use ribbing to bind it - always an advantage for UK fabric buyers!

But for the ultimate in scrap-busting, you can't beat dolls clothes! I have a very large box overflowing with tiny pieces of fabric that I just can't bear to bin. On the other hand, my sewing room only has so much space. So I put LiEr's drafting series to work again - it's gratifying to know that it works just as well for 16" dolls as 3 year old girls! At some stage, when I have a bit of free time (so not before 2011!) I'll post my drafted block as a printable pattern.

A few tweaks of the basic body block produced this little blouse...

and a very sweet velour dress that has already found a buyer, despite being made up of different dye lots.

But this is my favourite outfit - a teeny tiny Antonia top and embellished bootlegs. Too cute and another quick sale!

And I'm starting to think if a scrap of fabric is too small even to make a doll's sleeve then the chances are it shouldn't be in the scrap box. What about you? How small does a scrap have to be for you to consign it to the bin?

Three little bears for school are we...

Dressed as a little bear well can be! Aren't they cute together? It almost seemed a shame to separate them...

But this morning, I did the announcement of the winners at James' school and gave the bears to their happy new owners. It was such fun and James was clearly proud as could be of his mummy - something that I hadn't foreseen but really enjoyed! And now I have to do another pattern for a dressing gown for James' Label Bear. Something else I hadn't foreseen, but you can't have everything!

This is the winning entry for Key Stage 2 - the little girl actually used real fabric on her design and I was fortunately able to find an exact match for the skirt. For the jacket, the designer had overlaid some red fabric with cream organza printed with stars. I settled for using some red Killington and embroidered it with sequins. The white top is sleeveless, and also sequinned.

This was the Key Stage 1 winner's design. It was so cute, and lovely to make! The Killington dungarees and fleece t-shirt are super-cuddly. This one is my husband's favourite.

And finally, this is the Foundation Stage winner's design. I loved how eclectic it was - is the bear being a Mountie? Or a pirate? Or is he about to go to a pilates class? Who knows! He's clearly having a good time and looks amazing. I used different jersey fabrics for this one. The belt is black elastic and the star is, alas, cardboard. The hat is black felt with white fleece applique. The trousers were a swine to make - you will note the horizontal stripes across the crotch on the original design. I did an orange applique rectangle under the waistband and called it a day!

Apparently the children love their bears and many other children got to cuddle them (the school being big into sharing!) before the bears left for their permanent homes. A successful enterprise all round, I think!

Children in Need Day - Design an Outfit for Pudsey competition

It's Children in Need Day here in the UK on Friday. For international readers, this is a telethon style charity event, raising money for disadvantaged children in the UK. I like it because every penny raised goes to the charity.

Usually I just give money but I decided that this year I would "do something different" which is the charity's motto. So... I got together with James' school and we have put on a little competition for the children - Design an Outfit for Pudsey. The prize being a Pudsey Bear dressed in the winner's own outfit design. It was £1 to enter and my only worry was that enough children would enter to make it worthwhile. But there were 145 entries, which is just brilliant! And the standard of entry was unbelievably good. You can see a slideshow of them at the top of the sidebar. So far there's only about 50 entries uploaded - it's a slow job!

Three outfits in a week is not trivial, even when they're bear-sized. So I made the toiles last week for a shirt and pants. I started off by drafting a t-shirt pattern just as I would do for Laura. It didn't fit. Pudsey, I discovered, is a very odd shape!

So after a lot of re-drafting and tutting, I went for the Project Runway approach, and did some draping. Even with paper, this worked much better and I moved onto the trousers.

These were impossible to do with paper so I used some calico and put together a very odd looking pattern that actually made up into an acceptable, if snug, pair of trousers. I then made up the top in the calico, and that was fine too.

I've already chosen the three winners and their outfits are completed, bar some hand finishing. They were so much fun to make and I think the children will be pleased with how their designs turned out. I'll be posting pictures on Friday, after the children have received their prizes. I will also be posting a PDF of the patterns - I couldn't find any free patterns for Build-a-Bear Workshop clothes online and I think that needs to be remedied! So watch this space...

Milo Armadillo

This is just the cutest book by one of my favourite authors, Jan Fearnley. Unlike many of her books, everybody in this one survives right to the end, which is excellent news because Milo Armadillo is completely adorable, as is Tallulah, his owner. They also both have excellent dress sense - very a la Lulu's Clothes (another gorgeous book).

When I saw that Walker Books had published a free downloadable knitting pattern for Milo, I had to have a look at it and as you would expect, it is super-cute. It also looks like a stash-busting project (as long as you've got lots of pink in the stash, that is) and it doesn't squeak or need batteries. I shall definitely be making Laura one of these for Christmas. And if you'd like to make one for your Milo fan, then here is the link.