I decided to make my newest nephew some dungarees for Christmas. The pattern I used was Kwik Sew 3145. I've made this pattern before and absolutely love it (and got really good reviews from the mother concerned). Its time consuming with all the top stitching but not particularly difficult.
The red accent colour was inspired by the really cute buttos I found in my local shop - I'm not sure if you can see in the picture but one is a tiny train and one a tiny truck. The embroidery is the first 'real' embroidery I've done on my machine, by which I mean it involves more than one colour, and I actually made something with it! I love the design, and the words 'I think I can' are just perfect for a one year old with all the things he'll be learning!

So here's a few projects without a lot to say about them, but they're all things I'm proud of so I wanted to share anyway!
Picture 1 is the embroidery I've done for what will eventually be a babies pinafore dress. I started this as a way to explore the things my new machine can do and will probably be coming back to at random intervals.
Picture 2 is the garter I made for my sisters wedding. This was an experiemnt to see how shirring elastic worked on my machine, and the fabric has been in my stash for years - it was the trim on a pillowcase which was so old the main fabric was disintegrating.
Picture 3 is a pair of handbags I made for my two sisters-in-law for christmas, using this free download pattern http://www.made-by-rae.com/2009/02/free-buttercup-bag-sewing-pattern/. This is a great pattern, easy to assemble and the result looks really proffessional. And it nly needs a fat quarter for the outside and another for the lining.
Picture 4 is the waitscoat I made for my hubby for christmas, using a gorgeous embroidered silk. I used simplicity 2895 again.

I love dressing up! At the start of December we went to Rochester for the Christmas festival. And here's what we wore! This was the first time I got to wear my 'Katy Brown' dress, and I loved it (and was pretty relieved to find it still fit). John is wearing the frock coat and waistcoat I made for him last time, and the frock coat I made this year.

And here's a picture with a couple of random people we passed on the street and ran after to ask for a picture. Why these people? Because John really wants an American Civil War confederate officers uniform, and this guy is wearing one! Apparently he belongs to a motorcycle gang who drive round dressed like this - how cool is that!
As usual, I'm saying 'next time we go we'll make it to the ball - the post wedding finances wouldn't stretch to tickets and hotel this year, but I'm hoping next yer will be the one!

Remember this post about making an inverness clock for John? http://www.faraboverubies.co.uk/1/post/2010/11/mens-waistcoat.html
Well, last years Rochester festival was off the menu for us due to the snow, so it never really got made... till this year!
I did indeed use pattern 1 from the above post as my main resource, sizing up the front and back pieces according to John's chest measurement. I resized the sleeve pieces with the same scale, but ended up removing quite a lot of the back of the sleeve at the muslin stage.
Another change I made and later regretted was changing the dart at the top of the sleeve to be more of a gradual curve, once I'd got the whole thing assembled and on John (rather than on my female dummy), I realised that a slight squaring of the shoulders as indicated by the pattern would probably have looked better.
I used a shower curtain to line the sleeves and the top section of the back. I was determined that this time John wouldn't be getting cold and wet while I was wrapped up warm!
Here is the muslin:

Here are my pattern pieces after assembling the muslin, making changes and taking it all apart again:

Finished garment in the next post!

I love it! He finally got to try it on and fortunately it fits! We didn't get to attend the Dickens event at Rochester so its modeled here with jeans and a shirt that doesn't fit. I'm unsure of whether I need to add even more to the torso length in future, or if the pro But the important thing is the jacket does fit :)

I also made a puff tie from the same fabric as the waistcoat. Surprisingly there don't seem to be instructions on line to make this so I figured it out from instructions on how to tie one and thought I'd post my 'how to' here.

Start with a two rectangles of fabric - one 9" by 28" and one 2 1/4" by 10".

Fold the larger strip in half lengthwise, right sides together and sew a 1/2" seam around the raw edges, leaving a small gap at the center of the long edge.

Turn right side out. I chose not to press at this stage to give more 'puff' to my tie, you may find your fabric needs it.

Sew a narrow hem around 3 sides of the smaller rectangle. Wrap the small rectangle around the center of the larger rectangle and stitch, leaving a long tail on one side.

Attach to a piece of tape long enough to go round your neck and fasten - I used bow tie fastenings, but you could use velcro or tie a knot at the back.

To wear the tie, tie round your neck with the tail section pointing down. Tuck each side piece under the opposite side of the waistcoat, so that they have a gentle fold at the top and cross over at the bottom. Tuck in securely but not so tight that the puff tie ends up flat. If you wish you can add a tie pin. The 'tail' section should fill any gap between the two side pieces.

Hope thats helpful!

Progress on Johns frock coat - its all coming together remarkably well! Only question is whether it fits - its at the stage where I'd really like him to try it on, but since I have a stinking cold I'm quarantining myself and will have to wait a few days before I see it on. I'm too impatient to stop work till then however, so I'm going to go ahead and put in the lining and facings, just leaving the sleeve and hem finishing till after he's tried it on.
I've added an inch and a half above the waist, so hopefully that will be enough to make the waistline fall in the correct place.
One thing I have noticed is that the upper welt pocket tends to fall open, it seems as if the weight of the coat pulls it down. If this isn't resolved by having a proper sized body inside the coat I guess I could stitch it shut, but I'd be interested to know what the proper solution would be.

With a deadline in mind (the Dickensian Christmas in Rochester in December 4th) I've starte work on a Victorian outfit for my BF. I'm so lucky to have a guy that not only lets me dress him up, but actually has an opinion on what he wants to wear.
The waistcoat is from Simplicity pattern 2895 and was easy to make - I'm not 100% happy with the welt pockets, but I don't think anyone will be looking at them from a range of 6" so 95% happy will do. It fits well too! The only problem with it is the length, which I think is a little short - not surprising, since he has (in his own words) a freakishly long torso. Mental note to adjust for length when I make the frockcoat.

The other thing I want to make for him is something to keep him warm and dry in the unpredictable english weather. After to-ing and fro-ing about whether he'd rather have a coat or a cape, I did a little research and came up with the parfect solution - an inverness coat. This is a sleeveless coat with a shorter cape section. The cape section can go all the way round or be sewn into the side seams to form a kind of open sleeve.
I was extremely please to discover not just 1 but 3 cutting diagrams for inverness coats while looking for ideas online.

Pattern 1

Patterns 2 and 3

At the moment I think I'm going to focus on pattern 1, but use patterns 2 and 3 for additional information as required.