Tetrahedron

In between of making more cushion covers for the boat (yes those are still unfinished) I made three tetrahedron bags for Likka to play with. The tetrahedron bags have dried peas inside. These as many other of my crafts was inspired by Hupsistarallaa. Norsis had made similar for her son over a year ago. The pattern is from hääräämö blog. I tried to find similar pattern for you in English, but with a quick look I could not find one, so the pattern link is now just in Finnish, but the pictures are pretty good, you might not need it in English anyway.

Lacy diaper covers

At a close by town center I saw a woman/teen wearing lace shorts, maybe these, or similar. Those shorts inspired me to make another set of bloomers for Likka. I have had scraps of lace just waiting in my crafts stash and now the pants were a perfect use for those. I used the same pattern as I did for the previous bloomers. Some of the lace scraps I had were just a centimeter wider than I needed, just perfect, no leftovers anymore.

There is lace covering only the bum. There is eight pieces of lace, which of only two are exactly similar. Not all the lace I had was white, there is also yellow, pink and blue lace. The pants turned out bit more funky than I had envisioned, but that is ok, I like funny clothes.

Seat cushions on the galley

Remember I had some mattresses and cushions to recover for our boat? I have not got all of them done. The only ones that are done are the seat cushions for the boat's kitchen. There is still the mattresses to cover for the peak and the rear. That makes six mattresses altogether. But five is done too, so about half way there. Yay! I finished these many weeks ago and I took these photos long ago. I had hopes I'd take new better photos but every time we've visited the boat I have not had the good camera with me, so I'm afraid you'll have to settle for the dreadful pictures I took with my phone. Sorry. 

This is the only photo showing the colour about accurately

What has been slowing down the sewing of the covers is the fabric. I think we chose a bit poor quality fabric. It frays really easily, plus it stretches on the other direction which makes it very difficult to sew and cut accurately. Also the old covers for the cushions are broken and stretched too, so the pattern I have cut out from the old covers are not very accurate either. So I have been bit disappointed with the quality of my sewing and it has not inspired me to move on with the project. In my opinion the covers look really bad from some places, but luckily adding the shank buttons on the cushions makes them look more professional than they are.

Once I get a few more of these covers done I will take better photos and maybe change these terrible photos on this post.

A's mom sewed curtains for the windows. Those are made from black striped cotton. The curtains fit really well to the boat. She did a good job.

Mattress cover

When I made the toy basket from the cradle I was left with a mattress with no home. I could not throw the mattress out, like I cannot with any craft item, and needed to place it somewhere. It does not fit in my crafts cabinet and so I decided to recover it with nice fabric and give it to Likka to use. She can later perhaps lay on it, while drawing, painting or "reading" or what ever children happen to do while then don't run around.

I covered the mattress with the carrot fabric from an old sheet which I have used before on Likka's stuff too, like for her duvet cover. The black zipper is from an old shirt of mine. So far Likka has not been too interested in the mattress, so I hid it in the toy basket. It's there out of the way but available when even these sort of things like pillows and mattresses start to interest her.

Mamelukes

Babies and dresses are a bit difficult combination. Since babies don't tend to stand upright, at least not all the time, the dresses do not drape nicely over the bum. Instead babies crawl in various ways and try to eat the hem of their dress. If you don't dress the baby with pants or tights the diaper can be seen. Not that the diaper is such a bad thing to see, but I feel like it bit ruins the look of the dress and tights or pants are a bit too much on a hot summer day. And that is why I made Likka underpants to wear over the diaper. I had the lace and the fabric already at home and used a bit modified pattern from an Ottobre magazine 1/2013 pattern 2. I think they look super cute on Likka and my dad asked if they sell lace diapers in stores nowadays, hilarious.

In case you are wondering about the title. These style of underpants are in Finnish called mamelukes (mamelukit). I do not know why.

Rainbow quilt

A very good friend of mine is having a baby on late July and I wanted to make something for the baby. I made a quilt for Likka before she was born and in use I noticed that a quilt (or any blanket) is very convenient to have for a baby. You can use it in between the baby and a hard floor at home, friends' places, at hobbies. And so I made a quilt for my friend's soon to come baby.

My friend is a railway engineer and so I was tempted to use pieces of the train sheet I still have left. Then I used various other fabrics I already had at home. I did not bother to make all the pieces the same width, it is much easier to sew them together if the pieces do not need to align. I was not going to place the pieces as I did, I actually cannot even remember how I was planning to arrange them at first but once I laid them on the floor this rainbow arrangement looked the best.

At first I was thinking of hand stitching the front to the back, because the last time I made a quilt I really disliked machine stitching it together. But it seems the hand stitching is even more annoying. I gave it a shot first but it was slow and boring and I soon lost my interest in it. In order to get the quilt done I went with the machine stitching, still I did not like that either but it was done faster.

On the backside of the quilt I draw washing instructions for the quilt with a fabric pen. Since the quilt is for a baby to lay on the quilt might need to be washed quite frequently. Hope my friend's soon to come baby enjoys the quilt.

Long planned bib

Over a year ago we were in Stockholm with a friend celebrating Easter. At that time I was expecting Likka and when we visited Tiogruppen store and saw all the oilcloths sold there I naturally thought of making a bib for Likka. It took slightly longer than I assumed to actually start the bib for her, but now it is done. I used a pattern from an existing bib and sewed bias tape on the edges. I was going to have the straps which are used to tie the bib on the back of the neck from the same bias tape, but I did not have enough of it and used some random white ribbon I had at home.

Likka has used the bib already so it does not look brand new anymore. I forgot to take photos before she started to use it. I do have some more of the same fabric, I could make another bib or even two from it or I could make something else. 

Pink sweatshirt

Not sure Likka needed this, but I made it anyhow. I guess it's good for colder summer evenings. On day she can wear a sleeveless top and then when evening comes I can just dress the sweatshirt on her. I have had the pink fabric for quite some time. I am bit surprised I decided to make the sweatshirt for Likka from that fabric. In theory I dislike dressing girls to pink (and boys to blue). But it is not the colour I actually dislike. I dislike that girls are only dressed as princesses and boys as superheros. I really don't mind the occasional soft pink dress on Likka if it fits the occasion, but for everyday, that is not my cup of tea. But I think this sweatshirt in hot pink and with the dark blue accents and the stripy lining makes the shirt look very perky and bold. It's not too girly.

Anyway... I love how it turned out. Not only does it look really good in my opinion but I love that I was able to make it look so professional, I'm really proud of it. I finally figured out how to use the double needle and used it on the hem of the shirt. Also the rib knit on the hood is perfectly stretched. There were so many details on the shirt which made me learn new sewing techniques and I think I was able to learn them well. I'm happy I made this, it makes me proud.

Pattern from Ottobre magazine 1/2013 page 12 in size 74 cm

The phase of the boat cushions

The re upholstery of the boat cushions, which I mentioned in this post, is moving forward, slowly but surely. We have washed most of the mattresses. Washing them is like grape stomping, not that I've ever done that, but I imagine it would feel similar. I ordered new shank buttons covered with the upholstery fabric from a professional. There are kits also available so I could have covered them myself, but I trust that the professionally made ones are more long-lasting. Then I have made the cover for one (smallest) cushion. It's not my best work, but I used the smallest one to familiarize myself with the new fabric and how it behaves. Few more cushions to do still.

Warm feet

My periferic blood flow seems to be nonexistent and so my feet are cold all the time, especially on winter. I got a heating pad for my cold feet as a birthday present (two and a half months ago). I keep it in the bed all the time and then I can switch it on when ever I need it. It's electric and therefore it has a cable that needs to run from the socket to the foot of the bed.

The cable of the heating pad was just loosely hanging on the side of the bed. It looked ugly and the controller of the heating pad was not easily accessible. But I made a cable holder from a white sheet fabric and now I don't have to reach for the controller and the cable is not hanging loosely anymore.

I made slots for the cable, but left an opening for the controller. The slots are wide because the controller and the plug needs to be pulled through the first slot and the plug through the further slot. The fabric cable holder is attached with safety pins under the mattress pad. In the last photo I've drawn where the heating pad is positioned and how the cable runs under the sheet. I think this holder looks very good (read: it does not really show much at all) and I think it's pretty clever. But the main thing is that the heating pad is now super easy to put on and off.

Pile of mattresses (no pea just other green stuff)

You might remember we bought a sail boat last summer. Last year we did not do much maintenance to it, besides some work on the engine for the winter. This spring there will be some more work to be done for the hull, electrics, genoa sail, the motor and for the cabin. 

Last summer the textiles looked like in the following picture. The cushion covers are faded, stained, missing buttons and even broken from some parts. The curtains are faded and well just ugly.

The cushions also have moldy spots under them and they stink. Also the matresses on the rear which we mainly use for sleeping are too thin and at least for me those are not comfortable for sleeping. So not only do all cushions need new covers, they also need to be either totally replaced or washed.

And there are a few of those cushions. To change the covers for these we needed to buy almost 20 meters (22 yards) of fabric. That is, sorry for the language, a shit load of fabric. I had to order most of the fabric. The colour I chose is called Gargoyle, but I almost ordered the wrong one. On the samples there was also a colour called Charcoal. The pronunciation is fairly similar and I did not notice difference until I got home and looked through the receipt again. Ups, lucky I noticed that, it would have been embarrassing to get the wrong colour.

I'm planning to recover the cushions only a few at a time since I do not know how many of these I can get done and how fast because of Likka. She might not co-operate with me or then she will. So in case I wont get all these done, then those are not all unusable, but some will be finished and some not started at all, or at least so I hope.

Apron for a baby

I was in Ikea the other day for a lunch with a mommy friend, it was quite an ex tempore visit so I did not really think through that we would have actually needed something from there. I should have bought a painting apron Måla for Likka from there. Not that Likka paints, but many of our friends wear that apron on their kid when they feed them. The apron has sleeves too so it protects the clothes way better than a regular bib.

Likka has now started to practise eating, so far it's not going very well. She has tasted quite many vegetables already, but from most of them she has not eaten more than a molecule. She might have eaten a full spoonful of sweet potato in the course of a week, maybe. Which means most of the purees given to her squirt out from her mouth and onto her clothes. I've also let her 'eat' on her own, she likes to chew cucumber sticks and I've gived her some salad, tomato and avocado to try. But it's awfully messy ofcourse. So we could have used that Måla apron.

Then I decided to make one. I had some PUL fabric left from making the diaper covers and so I used that. The apron turned out ok, but it is bit difficult to dress on Likka, the fabric is not very slippery so the sleeves are slightly difficult to pull on. I should have made bat sleeves for the apron, then it would be easier. Also the apron could be slightly longer, so it would protect Likka's pants too. Anyway once it's on it does work quite nicely, but it won't fit her for long. I guess I could make another one but I don't have enough material anymore and I'm not going to go and buy any, the material alone is more expensive than the ready made apron in Ikea. So I guess I need to make another trip to Ikea sometime later. 

I forgot to take before shots of the apron alone, so here it is after eating or tasting just one slice of tomato. Beautiful.

Balaclava for Likka

I was not going to post anything this friday, because I had nothing to write about. But then suddenly I made a balaclava for Likka. I got some fabric pieces from my grandmother few days (or maybe weeks already) ago and two of the pieces were already cut, but my grandmother had never sewn them together, so I did that.

From those two pieces I got Likka a balaclava. I did not bother to sew a rib knit around the face opening, I just used stretchy honeycomb looking stitch on it. That works well too. Likka is already sleeping when I'm writing this so here my hand represents Likka's head.

I'm not sure who my grandmother was going to make the balaclava but if it was for me then she has had the pieces waiting in her fabric stash for thirty years.

Separated side curtains

I sewed curtains for Likka's room, which she does not yet have. Perhaps not the visest thing to do. Before she gets her own room I might change my mind about the style of the room or we might even move (well, that is very unlikely).

We visited Alvar Aalto house in Helsinki over a year ago. There in the office quarters of Alvar Aalto house was a curtain between two rooms from Siena fabric. I fell in love with that fabric right there, but it took me quite a while to decide where to use that fabric.

Lately I have been thinking about Likka's future room, I like to ponder on future projects, which of some I never even start, but this one we will sure start although not very soon. At least so far our sleeping arrangement feels good and I'm in no hurry moving Likka to her own room or more accurately me and A will move out of Likka's room.

But I already have an image in my head of Likka's future room and the curtains made of Siena fabric are included in that image. So since I had time and inspiration I bought the fabric and sewed the curtains. Now since we already have curtains in the room that will be Likka's room and I like those curtains there for now I hung the other curtain to the office where we had no curtains and the other to the kitchen were we had a curtain, but a really dull one. I hope I don't change my mind later about the curtains, the fabric was not cheap.

PS. If you have been very perceptive you have already seen the curtain here

Selfmade PUL-covers

I was sure that I will never sew PUL (polyurethane laminate) -covers for the diapers, I assumed those would be difficult to make because you have to do get it right from the start. Once you make a hole in the cover fabric it cannot be fixed. But I was insecure for no good reason. Once I started these were so easy to make.

I googled pattern for a diaper cover and found one from Kiedo (in Finnish). I actually did not use their pattern, just their instructions. I took the pattern from a bought PUL-cover I had at home and which had prooven to be good in use. I made only two, I do still have more of the fabric but I do not need that many covers in same size. I think I can make new bigger covers later if Likka needs them.

Cloth diaper pile

I have gone officially cuckoo about cloth diapers. Like I mentioned in the previous post I have really liked making cloth diapers. It's just so rewarding. Firstly I can finally use up some of the material I have piled up over the years, secondly I can save money when making the diapers instead of buying pacs and pacs of disposable diapers, thirdly I can do my hobby, sewing, and make something usefull at the same time.

Before Likka was born I made two fitted diapers using a pattern from a book Vaippailmiö. I'm glad I had made only two of those diapers. The pattern I used has been good, but I did have to add rubber bands on the crotch and I had sewn way too little absorbing material inside the diapers. But without these trial diapers I wouldn't have known how to make better ones.

Using those trial diapers as a starting point I made seven fitted diapers more. This time I used a lot more absorbing materials inside. I used so much that the rag pile we had is now completely used up. Which is great!

I first made the three tartan patterned diapers. The tartan fabric was sewn into half finished pajama trousers by my grandmother. She no longer sews so she gave the trousers to me to finish, but I didn't need trousers so I cut the trousers up for diaper material. I sewed the rubber band between the inside layer and outside layer, the diaper just looks better that way. The tartan patterned diapers have dry cloth inside, but it was not very vise to use that fabric on the whole surface, just a small piece on the center would have been enough. Lots of the dry cloth got wasted because the shape of the diaper is so curvy.

After the tartan patterned ones I made four more, two using stripy flanned on the outside and and two with small blue flowers on white backround flannel fabric (the other was on laundry when I took these pictures). Instead of using the dry cloth on the whole surface I sewed a flap from micro fleece. I was going to use dry cloth on these too, but the fabric store did not have it anymore. Micro fleece works well too.

We have used these a few times already so they do not look pristine anymore, incase you are wondering why these do not look perfectly white.