Top & Hotpant Bathers Combo

Here is a gorgeous Bathers top and hotpants bottom for children that a one piece doesn't suit their personality or they do not like wearing them.

I made an aqua blue set for Jade in size 2. The have her initial "J" on the front and the bands are done in a sparkling patterned material
She loved wearing them in the pool! I hope there are many more swims to come Jade. She is always a happy customer and a pleasue to sew for!Love Aunty Lee

Bubby Blue Bathers

My friend has a 5 month old girl, so Christmas was a great chance for me to make her some bathers. In size "00", here is a halter neck number in aqua blue with her inital on the front "K". It is a halter neck so the nappy can be check from the back easily. I made enough room in the bottom for a waterproof nappy and a low leg line that should cover the nappy.

Here are some very cute frills around the bottom of the bathers. Arn't they georgous!!!! So cute!!

I hope Keelani has a great day on Christmas swimming in them! Merry Christmas to everyone!

Lee-Anne

Rainbow purple Bathers

Summer is here, which means little girls in the pool looking cute! Here are some bright purple bathers a friends girl, they also have her initial "C" on the front. It has frilly straps and in a size 3.

The rainbow material is just georgous and has been a hit with everyone! Here is a frilly skirt to match her bathers and i'm sure they will be worn on a Bali holiday! You will be the best looking girls in the pool!Aunty Lee

Pretty in Pink Bathers

These georgous pink bathers are for a friends girl who is just mad about Pink! I put her initial "N" on the front of the bathers and made an "Off-the-shoulder" number for the little miss in a size 4. I also made a matching pink frilly skirt out of the shimmer material that will sparkle whenever she is around the pool!

Have a wonderful time in Bali girls and you will be the hottest girls around the pool!

Versatile Skirt/Dress

I can tell this will be my favourite dress to make for summer! and in lots & lots of colours!

I cut a pattern from a friends skirt (thanks Rin) and I love it! Easy to make, looks great on, you can make it out of different types of fabric and you can wear it as a short skirt, long skirt & dress.


Here I made it out of a suiting that has lots of spandex in it, so it is super stretchy. I made the waist band in a different colour than the skirt, so it looks a bit different as a dress.
I love it so much that I made a dress out of a olive/brown patterned jersey material. This will be my most weared dress in summer!

There will definately be more of these to come! Let me know if like the idea of a Versatile Dress/Skirt?

Thanks to everyone who has kept checking my site! Lee-Anne

Pre-washing fabric

Apologies that I didn't post during October.... and thanks to everyone who kept checking my blog...

My mum has always said to me "you must wash your material before you sew with it" and I always thought "yeah, yeah, yeah, but never did it" Now it is the first thing I do after buying fabric.
Over the last month I think I would have washed over 30 metres of material! I have got into the habit of washing the material twice to let the colours run out and the material to shrink, the third wash I use fabric softner, then I roll the material back onto a cardboard roll and label it.

So that is a little of what I have got up to in October.... not very exciting, but I know realise that preparing the fabric is as important as sewing something wonderful in it! Thanks mum!

I will be sewing again in November
Lee-Anne

Meg's & Ben Wedding Cake

We went to Megan & Ben's beautiful wedding over the long weekend, it was in Pinjarra. The location backed onto the river and every little detail matched perfectly!
Here is a copy of the cake that I made for them. The bottom & top were fruit cake and the middle mud cake.
I didn't make the tulips & hat on the top...... wish I knew how to though.....

We had a great time and here are the people that went from my work.Congrats to Ben & Meg's!!!! We hope you have a wonderufl honeymoon in NZ!

Lee-Anne

Cross Top

I got this pattern free from the Burda website. I think the material suits this top that crosses over at the front, I put long sleeves with a slit down the side of them to show off a bit of the arm.

I made a red singlet to go underneath, which compliments the red in the material.

Do you likewearning tops like this?
Lee-Anne

Painted dress

I am constantly buying fabric that is different and buying pieces that I love. Sometimes I can picture a style straight away and want to get stuck into it then & there, but other times I love the fabric but struggle to see something out of it... Then I get frustrated, cuz I desperately want to use the beautiful fabric but not sure what to do. I know now that I should WAIT until that brilliant idea pops into my head!

I always loved this fabric and I hesitated buying it, until that day it was all gone!!!! The only piece left was hanging high on the wall as a display, so I had it saved for me. I couldn't wait to sew something out of it, but didn't know what I could fit out of 1 mtr!

A few days ago I had this idea in my head and I knew it would suit the fabric!

The fabric is black silk chiffon and it is hand-painted with gold & red paint in this beautiful pattern. As there is not much of the pattern on the material :( I had to be careful to fit as much on it as possible. I have lined the dress with black Monte-Carlo (heavy crepey fabric)

The dress has a red satin panel across the front & back and up to the shoulder. At the shoulder I have made a flat red bow.

I am really pleased with this top/dress and wore it to a wedding last night with black pants!

Now I will always wait until I have that perfect idea in my head until I chop up that perfect piece of fabric!

Lee-Anne

Versatile Wrap Top 3 & 4

I love this top! Here is the wrap top that I have previously made in Satin. I have made it is stretch jersey and it is great. I have already thought of 5 ways you can wear it. I made this one as a present, so I hope you like it Shannon! Happy 21st!



I made the below top of scraps and in a rush. I didn't expect it to be my favourite top this weekend! I wore the black longsleeve Micromesh top with it.


Let me know if you would wear this top and what would you wear it with?

Lee-Anne

Panelled Skirt

Here is another way to add a feature piece of fabric to a great skirt! The feature fabric I used is a white stretch net with strips of beigh material that is sewn on in a cirular pattern. I always looked at this fabric when I went into the fabric store and never knew what to do with it!

Here is a skirt that is made with panels. The front has 4 panels all with different lengths and directions, which is great to the eye! The back has 2 panels and a kick out at the back.

I love this pattern and will be using it more! I can also see it with each panel being a different colour and fabric texture. I am not a fan of darts... so next time I'll add a nice thick waistband to the top of the skirt.Feedback is great, it helps me to improve and find out what othr people like to wear. Please let me know if you like this design of skirt?

Lee-Anne

Bootleg Pants

On our Sewing Inspiration Course, Sally gave us this brilliant pants pattern! I have always struggled finding a decent Pants pattern and hated sewing pants, now I love it and this is the Wholly Grail to making pants! It is a ripper and so easy.

I have used it to make Casual Stretch Pants, PJ pants, Dance pants with lots of variation of without a zip to a fold over waistband. This pattern doesn't have a zip & I love anything that doesn't have a zip! See post "Easy Black Pant" dated 31st July 08, it's the same pattern.Here I have used a waistband that does up around the side (to keep the tummy flat looking!) and used press studs for the fly. Pattern number: Easy Vogue 8157

If you sew, have a go with this pattern. Thanks mum for the material!

Lee-Anne

Skirt with triangle feature

I have had this idea in my head for a few months now... since doing the Sewing Inspiration Course. This skirt suits a pear shape body, it follows the line of your hips out to a A line.

The triangle feature at the bottom lets the eye quickly move past my pear shape hips and the eye follows the line towards the bottom of the skirt.

If you see a piece of material you just love, but it is too expensive to buy 1-2 mtrs for a full skirt. Here is a way to have best of both worlds! You can use the material as a feature and only need to buy 20-30 cm.

Let me know if you prefer to wear pants or skirts? Do you just wear skirts on special occasions?

Lee-Anne

Boy or a Girl?? Who know's...

Here are some baby bibs I made for a friend's baby shower. It was a gerat baby shower and great to catch up with some best friends from high school!

As she is not sure if it's a Boy or Girl, here are some different coloured bibs


All the best for the next few weeks Tamara!


Lee-Anne

Baby Cherry Bomb Dress

I made this tiny dress for a newborn baby girl. It is made out of material with Cherry's on it. I have used shirring around the top and put a red ribbon to tie around the waist.



Isn't it cute!
Lee-Anne

Baby Bibs! New & Improved!

Thanks to everyone who gave me some feedback on my Baby Bibs! I have been listening and took every bit of advice to improve the bibs. Here they are!

The first bib has a tie on the side, as this will give easy access to getting the bib on and off. You push the tie through a button hole slit in the fabric. I have also made them longer and wider.
The second improvement is a button on the side of the bib. It might be a little hard to manoeuvre the button through the button hole while the baby sits still, but I look foward to seeing if this works or not! The buttons & tie are quiet and easy accessable...(I hope)

I had great feedback on the Change Mat! Here is a sample in bright pink

Our cat, Angel, just would not get off the matt while I was trying to take a photo!Please let me know any feedback you may have. It may take me a while to action it, but I definately put it all down on my "TO DO" list!

Lee-Anne

Easy Black Pants

I made these black pants with Cavelli, which is a stretch fabric that feels so nice and soft. As I made them out of stretch i did not need a zip (Thank god!) and I put a thick waist band on that folds over. I thought them might look like Dance pants/PJ pants, but they don't! I was a bit worried about the material clinging to my skin, but the fabric falls really nice.Once you have a top on, it covers the waist area and you can't even tell they don't have the traditional zip, waist band & buttons. They are easy to make and easy to wear.

Do you prefer pants that are easy to wear or do you like fitted pants?
Enjoy the rainy weather in Perth!
Lee-Anne

Bat Wing Top

WOW... I nearly forogt my login & password, it's been so long since my last post! June & July are always busy for us.... apologies for no post. But I have been sewing and have drawn up lots of ideas I have!


I love this top too!!! A big thanks to Sally for the pattern. These tops are made out of stretch/knit fabrics and are so comfortable. The top has a wide neck line and the feature of a bat-wing effect under the arms and up the side seams.


I have made a few versions of these, here is the top with a very small bat-wing


Here is another version with a V neck and a large bat-wing, and i love it in this mesh fabric


I couldn't get the top to sit correctly on the dressmaking dummy, so I had to improvize....
A big thanks for everyone who keeps checking my website and for the feedback! I find feedback usefull.

Would you wear this top? and would you like it with long sleeves maybe??
Thanks
Lee-Anne