Mama made Monday - skulls and piranhas

Just made Anthony this t-shirt by chopping the image off an old adult's t-shirt and machine stitching onto a plain one.

And over the weekend James made himself a pencil case on the sewing machine - with a little bit of Mama help of course!

Mama made Monday - peasant top

I've still got loads of this Ikea fabric so this week I made a peasant style top and a little bag for Poppy.

Waiting for summer now so she can wear it with this skirt.

Mama made Monday - Tank top

I bought a load of Sirdar snuggly bubbly yarn in the early days of my knitting journey, before I realised I hated knitting with bumpy wool.

To be fair this one isn't too bad to knit with and is nice and soft.

I didn't know it was going to be a tank top; I just cast on 100 stitches on a 4mm circular needle and starting knitting. When it got long enough I changed to straight needles, splitting it into 2 lots of 50 stitches.

I decreased by k2tog at each end of every knit row until I had 40 stitches left. I did a few more rows, then cast off. The straps are 10 stitches wide.

I decided to make a crochet edging because I hate picking up and I hate doing rib.

It's just a row of single crochet and a row of double crochet.

The yarn is Sirdar Calico, a cotton yarn leftover from another project. Not quite the same shade of lilac but looks nice nonetheless.

And it fits just right on my little model.

Mama made Monday; pj bag and an mp-whatsit case

My son Anthony (aged 6) chose this fabric for his pyjama bag.

It's just a simple drawstring bag, took about 15 minutes to make and he's very pleased with it.

And there was enough fabric left for a case for his mp4 player.

I sandwiched a layer of wadding between 2 rectangles, sewed them together - added some velcro to fasten the flap and folded into a little wallet, topstitching to hold the sides in place.

Here's the lucky recipient.

That's his happy face apparently.

6, going on 16.

Knitted Pinafore Dress - Mama made Monday

 

 This is a stash-busting attempt!

I have a rather large amount of a bobbly yarn called Sirdar Fresco; I was lured in by the pretty pastel colours and soft fluffy bobbliness but it turned out to be a pig to knit with!

But not to be beaten I decided to try knitting it with a strand of plain blue yarn - just a cheapy acrylic dk.

I'm quite pleased with the look of the two together.

And this is the finished pinafore, looks rather triangular in this photo!! The two yarns make the finished knitted garment quite thick - I might try making a sweater using more of the blasted stuff.

Here is my little model; I was worried it wouldn't fit but it is actually rather roomy and will fit for ages!!

Mama made Monday - flouncy skirt

My first item of clothing :)

A skirt for Poppy; she gets all my prototypes!!

You might recognise the fabric, it's from Ikea and it's already featured on this blog.

Yes, my daughter will now co-ordinate with the kitchen accessories.

I (more or less) followed the instructions on this lovely helpful blog ikat bag. Except my skirt is dual layered for extra flounce. The underskirt is a pink embroidered remnant donated by my mum.

Mama made Monday - advent calendar

The children are every excited to see a string of little bags pinned up the stairs.

I bought the string and Christmas pegs in Poundland; they are supposed to be for cards. I needed two because there were 12 pegs in each packet.

I bought the paper sweet bags on ebay; they were just over £2 for 100.

Ours contain sweeties, but you could also fill them with small toys, crayons, erasers etc.

I'm hoping to have time to hand print some labels with the numbers 1 to 24, but no promises on that front!

Mama made Monday - slouchy hat

I have been productive this week!

This is knitted from some leftover self patterning aran procured from my mum's house.

I used 5mm needles, and cast on 60 stitches.

(It's quite roomy for my 2 year old dd so I could have got away with perhaps 55 stitches.)

The first 6 rows were 2x2 rib, then I switched to stocking stitch for 2 rows.

Then continuing in stocking stitch I increased on the knit rows as follows.

K2 (Kfb, K4 - repeat) K3 (72 stitches)

K3 (Kfb, K4 - repeat) K3 (86 stitches)

K3 (Kfb, K4 - repeat) K2 (103 stitches)

Then I carried on in stocking stitch until the knitting was 7cm long (not including the rib.)

Then more stocking stitch and decreased on knit rows as follows.

K3 (K2tog, K4 - repeat) K3

K3 (K2tog, K4 - repeat) K3

K2 (K2tog, K4 - repeat) K2 (back to 60 stitches)

K2 (K2tog, K4 - repeat) K2 (50 stitches)

K3 (K2tog, K4 - repeat) K3 (42 stitches)

K3 (K2tog, K3 - repeat) K2tog, K2 (34 stitches)

K2 (K2tog, K2 - repeat) (26 stitches)

K2 (K2tog, K2 - repeat) (20 stitches)

K2tog, repeat to end (10 stitches)

K2 tog, repeat to end (5 Stitches)

I cast off by pulling the yarn through the last five stitches and pulling tight, then sewed a seam down the back.

Poppy seems quite fond of it, wearing it for a very important game of fairy skittles.

Mama made Monday - stripey jumper.

It seems ages since I actually finished knitting something, but here is a little jumper I've made for Poppy.

The yarn is Sirdar Juicy DK, which is a bamboo viscose and cotton mix, lovely and soft.

The pattern is just one I made up as I went along; the front and back are basically both stocking stitch rectangles, with a few rows of garter stitch at the top and bottom.

I put 6 buttons and buttonholes at the top to hold the shoulders together.

The sleeves have garter stitch cuffs, then stocking stitch gradually increasing to end up wider at the top.

Mama made Monday - nappy soaker

Today I'd like to share one of the more useful things I have knitted - a wool soaker.

It was the first thing I knitted on a circular needle. (Actually it is the only thing!!)

Here is Poppy wearing it at around 6 months.

And here she is wearing it today at just over 2 years old!

I used this pattern.

Mama made Monday - felt food

I've said before I'm not the sewing sort, but last summer I had a bit of a fad on making things with felt.

The cake was made using a kit my husband bought for me, but the sandwich was created entirely from my imagination!

Of course there were grand plans to make enough stuff for a pretend picnic - but that plan has yet to come to fruition! Poppy does like playing with the cake though, so more cakes might get made soon.

Mama made Monday - my first knitting project.

(Yes, I know it's Tuesday.)
This is a lovely idea started by Talie on her blog "Being Me." The idea is to share things you have made for your children - feel free to join in!

So this is the first thing I ever finished knitting!

I learnt to knit as a child, producing an ongoing scarf of odd bits of wool.

When I was a bit older I remember starting a tea cosy. And maybe a cardigan.. But I never finished anything.

So, pregnant and bored I decided to try again.

I started with a pattern for an intarsia blanket which I quickly abandoned in favour of knitting the humble square. Okay, so the stitching together isn't that neat, but it works as a blanket.

Still pregnant and still bored, I decided to knit a back piece to cover up the untidy stitching, and I finished that too. Which, to be honest, made a rather warm pram blanket for a June baby.

It didn't get an awful lot of use, but now it sits on Poppy's bed engulfed by soft toys. And reminds me that it is possible to finish something!