Lilla Handlebar Basket

Waaaay back in March I bought the Lilla Handlebar Basket pattern from Hemma design and ordered oilcloth and started out to make Hazel a basket. I got about 1/3 of the way in and it kind of fell by the wayside. There was a lot of gluing involved and I couldn't seem co-ordinate myself to do the gluing at times when I could let it dry and then get on to the sewing later. A couple weeks ago I had a fit of wanting to get some UFOs finished, and this was one of them (I still have too many to list here though).

One of the things that prodded me in to doing it was Hazel wanting to take stuffed animals with her on rides but not being able to since we've taken off the little doll's seat at the back of her bike. So for all your stuffed animal transport needs:

If you look at the pattern photo, you'll see Hazel didn't want to mess with perfection in terms of which oilcloth we used, which was fine by me! I ordered mine from La Cuisine and it came super-fast. I've never used oilcloth before but it seems nice and it's not horrible and thick like I always think of oilcloth being. It sewed up really easily too, I was surprised that I had no issues with my foot sticking to it, and the needle went through easily. I had some tension issues, and the seams looked a bit untidy but other than on the flower at the front they aren't visible anyways so it didn't really matter. The pattern itself went together very nicely, even if there is a lot of gluing, but I had to do a bit of fiddling to make sure the lining pieces were the right size for the outer before committing myself with the glue! Parts of the lining were too small, and parts were a bit too big, and it's not like you can stretch or ease oilcloth to fit!





She hasn't used it as a handbag yet, but I wouldn't recommend carrying heavy things in it, the handles are only held on with a narrow hem at the top. It's also a bit of a bitch to get on and off because the straps are very thick and don't bend easily.

A sheep following the flock

Last week Angry Chicken had a review of the Sunki tunic and leggings pattern and I thought it was kind of appealing so ordered a copy for myself - which arrived today - which just made me realise how super-fast it was coming!



Anyways, I don't have much to say about the pattern yet except I won't be making the top in ikat since I don't actually like it much (am I allowed to admit that seeing as it's so in at the moment?), but I'm about to sit down with a cup of tea and read the instructions and expect to enjoy myself very much in the way I often enjoy reading recipe books because the dish always turns out perfectly in my imagination!

Are you a sheep when it comes to this kind of thing? Do you read a recommendation by a popular blogger and rush out and buy the item? Do you ever feel like maybe the review is positive because the person is reluctant to be rude about a product they've agreed to trial? The whole Go! Baby issue springs to mind with relentless positive reviews and only one balanced one. I freely admit I'm a sheep in the worst way, but I like to think I pick my reviewers (yes I know I'm totally delusional but let me retain some vestiges of dignity). Of course another way of thinking about it is that the rise of social networking in shopping is a hot topic and that people like to have personal recommendations before they buy or visit. I felt a little hoist by my own petard when I pulled this pattern out of mailbox this morning because yesterday an Instagram big-wig featured one of my photos in his 'best of the year' round up and I got about 15 new followers and a heap of likes and it was all very thrilling - until it stopped dead and my feed went back to normal. It was pretty much like when my mug cosy was featured on How About Orange. So I was being all cynical last night and mocking the whole process on Instagram to a degree and then in the mailbox was physical proof that I'm no better or worse than the next sheep.

Baaa.

I'll let you know how I go with the pattern (for real).

(the famous photo - raindrops on the washing line)

Pattern snobbery

I've realised that I'm a pattern snob, that all brands are not the same. I started thinking about it today when I was relieved that I found a Burda kid's pattern that I liked better than a Kwik Sew one. And it wasn't just that the Burda one was more what I wanted, I was relieved I didn't have to buy a pattern from a company that spells quick the way they do. Plus Burda is European - inherently more stylish right? So I started to think about my list of pattern coolness and it goes something like this:

1. Pattern you draft yourself from scratch (you are massively cool and clever)
2. Pattern you draft using instructions (still very cool and clever)
3. Pattern from a foreign book or magazine, like a Japanese one (ooo foreign)
4. Pattern from indie pattern company like Oliver + S (sticking it to the man, go indie!)
5. Pattern from a magazine like Ottobre or Burda Style that you have to trace out and put on seam allowances. (foreign! stylish! different! takes a bit of effort! Might even have to order magazine from Finland!)
6. Pattern from a craft book - Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Betz White etc. (support fellow bloggers and style mavens!)
7. Pattern from an online tutorial or magazine (go the little guy and freebies!)
8. Pattern from Burda (Slightly edgy sometimes, great for kid's patterns, but the fabrics can be a bit weird in pattern illustrations)
9. Pattern from Vogue (they take nice photos and hey, Vogue is a stylish magazine right?)
10. Pattern from McCall's or Simplicity (not very exciting but reliable - like a comfy pair of old trakkies)
11. Pattern from Kwik Sew (same as above plus appalling spelling and even less excitement)

I'm sure I've forgotten a pattern source in there somewhere! So what do you guys think - what order would you put them in?

I've started getting together the patterns for the kid's clothes challenge starting on Monday and one of the projects is making some long-sleeved tshirts out of merino to use as undershirts/layering items. I was going to adjust a tshirt pattern out of an Ottobre magazine - it's a turtleneck and should be easy enough to turn into a scoop-necked style. But today I came across this Burda pattern and got very excited about it:

Long sleeves! Short sleeves! Hoodie! It has it all. Including a really crap review at Pattern Review :( Oh well, I'll check it out thoroughly before I start cutting that's for sure. Further to the pattern snobbery I was slightly loathe to buy it in some ways becasue I felt like I should be using the Ottobre pattern I already had and just altering it (may yet do that if this pattern is as bad as the review suggests though!). Not surprising considering that option would have been #5 on the list, plus a little of #1, up against a lowly #8. On the other hand, ease of construction and flexibility of 4 different styles counts for a lot!

Christmas to-do list

Making the list, checking it twice... The only way I'll stay even vaguely organised to get things done this year! We're off to the in-laws for Christmas on the 17th, so I get cut off then - though I'm taking the sewing machine down with me so I can work on a shirt I'm doing for Mat. He's been waiting for it for so long and is quite desperate which is too flattering to resist! It's going to be out of Heather Ross's Glass Beach fabric from the Mendocino line. It's nice he likes it as much as I do, though I suspect it's more because he's very interested in archaeological fish bone than that it's just fabulous design! I'll take what I can get though.



You'll notice on the list that I've been very bold and scheduled in some clothes for me! All very simple knits I think. I had visions of getting something done from Twinkle Sews but that's probably best left until after Xmas when time moves a little slower! The things I'm going to work at are: a couple of tops, a dress and maybe a wrap/cardie. One top will be based on a favourite I bought last year from H&M but that has seen better days. I'm going to take a big deep breath and cut it up for the pattern. The other one is 'Our Fave Top' from Sew Tessuti (link top right of their sidebar) which looks fabulous and easy to make. The dress is View C from McCall's 5423

The cardy/wrap is the Origami wrap sweater from UN Journal. I want something fairly light just as a cover-up for cooler evenings and days and I think this could be just the ticket. I certainly plan on making it again for winter in something more snuggly!

So we shall see how I go with this list thing, so far so good! Except I noticed this morning I neglected to add blogging anywhere in there so I'm taking some time away from designing a course to teach at Uni next year to do something completely unrelated to the 'Bioarchaeology of Death and Burial" That's not a very fun title though, I'm toying with something based around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - War, Famine, Pestilence and...ummm...Conquest (thank you Google!). I think this would be the first image I'd put up, it's been a favourite since Art History days!

Translated Nani Iro patterns

Oh joy, oh rapture, caloo calay! The Fabric Bar blog, along with Kiki, are offering English translations of the free Nani Iro patterns. So far they appear to have a Collared Dress, a Child's dress and Children's Pants. How gorgeous do they look made up in some Nani Iro from The Fabric Bar's shop? If you have any issues with the .pdfs on the site Amy will email you the files.