Well, I did it, I opened up my Etsy store!
I have a grand total of 2 listings now!
And more to come in the coming weeks!
Check out my store, Oak Tag Designs, to see the very cool bibs and cloth wipes ready to ship 🙂
Tag Archives: sewing
SNEAK PEEK – what have I been sewing?
Coming soon!
To my Etsy store!
Can you guess what they are?
Bibs!!
Not long to go…
Up in the store Friday 11th July 2014, 6:00 pm EST
I got LABELS!!
So really, I want to put about 10 exclamation marks on the title of this blog post. I’m terribly excited that I now have my own clothing labels. I have been sussing them out for a while, and finally ordered them.. to discover they take 2.5 weeks to come. The people at Gang Apparel Accessories were great though; quick to respond, answered all my questions, and delivered a perfect product.
So I waited patiently next to the mail box, and eventually they arrived. Hooray!
Here are the brand labels. They were made as a cotton weave.
Here is the care instructions label.
Can anyone guess what I will be selling soon??
Flowery circle skirts!
I have seen some lovely circle skirts on Pinterest, and thought hmmm….
Well, the time had come to make some. One daughter owns about 2 skirts, neither are the right size! The other, despite being a size 6, regularly wears a particular size 4 skirt (no need for the elastic, really!) and a tie dye rainbow skirt that has seen better days back when it was a dress. So I decided I would make the skirts as a surprise for them.
I picked out a floral weave fabric that I had in my fabric stash. It worked perfectly to fit both of the girls skirts. I decided to finish the bottom edge with bias binding. I thought it would be easier, but really, it took about the same amount of time as pressing and sewing a hem. It does look nicer though, and brightens the skirt up. For the elastic at the top, I made it exposed (like all the cool kids are doing with their skirts), and used black to match.
I love them, the girls love them, and bonus.. ! They think they look great as capes and decided to wear them like that all day. Well, you just never know with kids!
And although I didnt actually use a tutorial for the skirts (because goodness, I should be able to pump out some simple math after all that university math I’ve done!), I do recommend that those with fewer math skills, or sewing skills should follow one. The skirts are as simple to make as others rave. And they turn out great.
Here is a tutorial that explains really well how to make a circle skirt.
So good luck, all of you, because I know you are going to rush off and make one now! Vroooommm…
Completed felt cushion!
So my daughter finished her felt cushion kit! It has actually been 95% done for a while, but hey, we all know that feeling! So cute! It was such a good tool for teaching her how sewing works, and how things are put together.
The back was much simpler with the buttons. But… some of the coloured buttons went missing, so we replaced most of them with wooden buttons instead.
A warm winter coat – for the dog!
Winter has arrived.. only days ago. Apparently. Not for this short haired dog though. He curls up in a ball so tight, he looks the size of a chiwawa. He’s taller than my knee..
So a few weeks ago, I made him a new winter coat. The last one I bought, was lined with an old woollen blanket. Such a genius idea. Sad he decided to lose it, on what can only be presumed was a blackberry bush, when going for a run after some rabbits, last winter. 5 hours later he was found, tired and minus coat. That was an interesting day.
I wouldve loved to written a tutorial on how I made the dog coat, but really, it was a heap of fiddling that could have been avoided, and it depends on the size of your dog.
My tips are:
- Â Pick a time when the dog is chilled out. Nothing like trying to fit a dog who is excited!
- Get an old pure woollen jacket (preferably a large one) and felt it in hot water.
- Use a heavy duty outer fabric (I picked a good quality calico).
- Bind it together with a large width bias binding.
- Use elastic around the belly of the dog.
So Im just going to show you some photos of my surprisingly photogenic dog! (Yes, I realise he isnt the most attractive dog!!)
And my favourite photo for last..
So did you spot the attempted photobombing of another lovely dog? Thank goodness she has been blessed with a thick natural coat!
Now bring on winter!! (Well, maybe not too bad.. I havent made a coat for myself yet…!)
Sewing, sewing, sewing…
Ive been knitting a lot lately. A lot. And trying to tweak the knitting pattern I hope to have out soon. But alas, my poor little brain needs a break from the knitting and its math. So back to a sewing pattern that is also very close to completion. I tested out some fabrics today.. so here is a sneak peek. For some reason I just cant go past the orange butterflies with purple. I just love it!
Lots and lots of capes!
So this is a bit of old news.. but I forgot to do a post on it. I made a large number of capes and here they are! They were for our church’s Easter program (where local kids enrol to do 3 full mornings of activities over the Easter holidays). They were for the younger kids, and it was so satisfying to see the kids enjoying what I had sewn (especially after making a squillion in a row and wondering where variety went!!).
Here is my daughter’s after it was decorated by her. Cute!
Sweet cotton pyjamas!
Sometimes Im so busy sewing things for other people and doing repairs on clothes, I run out of time to make clothes for my own kids.
I decided to spend some time making my eldest daughter some pyjamas. Where we live is quite temperate and so I decided to make long-sleeved and long-armed cotton pyjamas.
I used this old pattern I found at an opp shop recently.
I thought I would make the girls’ version, thinking it had a yoke. Nope! It is actually a giant collar! So I didn’t use the collar; instead adding lace.
The sleeve cuffs are probably my favourite 🙂
I loved making these pyjamas. Cutting them out well, pressing everything as I was making it, overlocking, putting in the lace.. Â They came out looking professional, and I feel assured that they will easily last both of my daughters because of the high quality fabric.
<3
Shirt and tie!
So I got my sewing machine serviced ( so its running like a dream again), and decided its time to start a bit of sewing again.
A sweet little boy we know is turning 2. I had a size 2 white tshirt that I knew I would use.. but I couldn’t work out what I would do. I thought some shorts and a matching applique on the tshirt. Alas, having daughters, I dont have much fabric in boys’ prints! So to Pinterest I went. Looking around, I saw an idea I liked. Putting a tie on a boys tshirt. The rest is history!
I Â kept the tie free so it can move around. Love it!
