Girls Leggings Tutorial

Today we are very privileged (and maybe it was really just a bribe seen that she works in the shop!) to have Juliet from Tartankiwi guest posting for us today with a fantastic tutorial on sewing with knit fabrics. 

Designer knits are finally making their entry into New Zealand and I love the way the manufactures are bringing out not only knits but laminates & flannels all in the same ranges great  for co-ordination! 

My daughter is a fairly tall and slim four year old. Often when I buy her leggings, they end up looking like baggy, badly fitting pyjama bottoms, so when I saw the beautifully soft the Sweetest thing Multi Knit fabric at the Make Cafe, I thought that I'd try and custom make some leggings for her.

Now, I have never sewn leggings before and I have fairly limited experience of sewing with knits but I love trying new things, doing my homework and generally experimenting with my sewing. I'm the sort of sewer who enjoys working without a pattern and figuring things out. I thought it might be fun to share what I have learnt about leggings making with you.

To make a pair of leggings you will need:

• a pair of leggings that fit well to use as a template
• Knit fabric
• an overlocker/ serger. (recommended, but not essential)
• a ballpoint needle or a double needle for your sewing machine (I'll discuss this in a bit more detail later on)
• a walking foot on your sewing machine (again, recommended but not essential)
• elastic for the waist

Lets get started!

First choose a pair of leggings to use as a template. Fold them as shown in the photo and lay them on top of your fabric. Ensure to lay the long straight side of the leggings along the fold in your fabric.

Cut around your leggings allowing at least 1/2 inch at the sides, 1 inch at the top and however much you want at the bottom.

I left too much fabric at the top and ended up cutting about an inch off it.

Here is one of my leg pieces cut to size.

Next take each leg, fold it in half lengthwise with the right sides together and serged down the inner leg seam. Please note, you don't have to use a serger, but if you have one it leads to great results. Remember that knit fabrics do not fray or come undone if the edges are left unfinished.

Turn one leg right side out, leave the other leg inside out. Insert the leg which is the right way into the other leg, serge around the crotch seam. Ensure that the leg seams are beautifully lined up when you do this.

Turn your leggings the right way out now. They should be talking shape nicely now. The next step is to hem the bottoms. This is when I started experimenting. I was fortunate in that I was able to squeeze two pairs of leggings from one width of fabric. As such I was able to have a play and discover the best methods to use when sewing knit fabrics on a sewing machine.

Here's what I learnt:

For the first pair, I used a ballpoint needle, a walking foot on my sewing machine and a small zig-zag stitch. This was a technique that I had read heard would result in neat stitches with a certain amount of stretch. The results looked neat, but didn't have as much stretch as I had hoped.

For the second pair, I used a double needle, a walking foot and a straight stitch. I do not have a particularly fancy machine, but having read this blog post on the advantages of using a double needle on knits, I decided to give it a go. I was surprised how easy it was to install and by the instantly great results. I placed a bobbin with white thread under the thread reel and taking the two threads together, I threaded my machine as I would normally do. I didn't have to do anything special with the bobbin or the stitch selection.

The stitches have lots of stretch and after seeing the results I was immediately convinced as to the merits of a double needle on knits. To be honest, I'm extremely tempted to go back and unpick the zig-zag hems on the first pair of leggings!

Next, create a casing for the waist elastic. Leave a 2-3 cm gap through which you can thread the elastic.

Place a folded ribbon or a label of some kind in the back of the elastic casing (so that you can tell what is the front and what is the back.

Using a safety pin, thread your elastic through the casing.

I will admit that I used different elastic for each pair. For the first pair of leggings I used 1 inch wide elastic. Once the leggings were finished I felt that the elastic was too stiff and not particularly kind my daughters little tummy.

For the second pair I divided the elastic casing in two and used two lengths of 1/4 inch wide elastic. Its far softer with lots more stretch so its kinder to small tummies. When I make leggings in the future I will either use this technique again or 1/2 inch wide elastic.

Sew the ends of the elastic together.

Close the casing.

Try the leggings on your child (if you are anything like me, keeping your fingers crossed that they fit!) then stand back and admire your handiwork.

If your daughter is anything like mine, she'll love her new leggings! Can you tell from the photos?

I hope that these pointers have helped you and encouraged you to try sewing with knits- its fun and you'll love the result

Modern Applique Workshop

NEXT WORKSHOP: TUES 29th JANUARY CLICK HERE

Last week we had our first Modern Applique workshop, run by this amazingly talented lady 

It was so much fun! During the 2 hour workshop you learn the 3 methods of applique and get to have a go and creating something wonderful like this!

All our workshops come with a glass of Charlies Raspberry Lemonade (so good during the summer!), something sweet to nibble on like chocolate & strawberry tarts or our gorgeous caramel or cranberry slice! Plus tea & coffee is served

You not only learn new skills during the class, but you have a great time creating and meeting new friends!

We have another applique class running this Sunday (there are just 5 spaces left) This is a great way to make some fantastic quick & special Christmas presents this year! Book here now and our gift vouchers are also valid for workshops if you know someone who would love to up their sewing & crafting skills!

          

  

And if you are an addicted applique fan already check out the Slice Fabrique! 100's of designs cut out at the touch of a button! The starter kit comes with everything you need to get going including a free design card with over 148 designs including a full alphabet & numbers

Homemade Scallop Advent Bunting

Lucky us, Stella from The Golden Adventures of a Very Dark Horse  is guest posting today and has created a fantastic tutorial for homemade scallop advent bunting! Oh the treasures you could store in there!

Don't forget you still have time to enter our fantastic $200 crafty basket giveaway! View Here Closes 17th December open to NZ residents only :)

You will need:

• fabric of your choice.  I used five fat quarters in these delicious designs via the Sew Pretty store.
• Plain fabric in the colour/pattern of your choice, to use as backing.
• Approx 3 yards of trim.  I used this pompom trim, but binding or pretty ribbon would work just as well.
• A template for cutting out your scallops.  Hand draw and cut one from a piece of card, to suit your size and shape specifications.  I wanted my flags to be 4inches in width, with a quarter inch seam allowance.  In the end my template was about 4 1/2" by 4 1/2", which allowed for seams and perfectly fit my 3 yards of trim.
• Fabric paint (normal acrylic will work as a substitute, as this project requires no washing) OR felt.
• (If you are using the paint option) A stencil with numbers - unless you are willing to paint these free-hand.

Note:  I chose not to add letters to my bunting this year, so that I can use it for some upcoming celebrations, and because Eleanor cannot recognise numbers yet.  Next year I plan to glue hand-cut felt numbers on using fabric glue.

Step one:  Using your template, cut out 25 pockets from your chosen fabrics, and 50 pieces of backing using a plain fabric (I used white) leaving a extra 2" allowance for the 50 backing pieces (shown below).  

Pocket piece.

L: Backing piece.  R:  Pocket piece.

Step two:   Topstitch the top edge of each of the pockets with a single fold hem.  

Step three:  Painting the numbers onto the pockets at this point will give the paint time to dry, and remove the risk of paint seeping through onto the backing fabric (which could cause it to stick, as well as looking messier).  Alternatively if you are using letters cut from felt, now would be a good time to glue/sew them down (once you've done all that cutting out!).  I would recommend a dab of glue, even if you are sewing them on, to hold them securely in place.

Step four:  As soon as the numbers have dried, it is time to assemble the flags.  First you will lay the pocket atop the flag piece - wrong side to right side - as in image A.  You will then place the backing - right side to right side - atop both of those pieces, as in image B.  You will then attach all three pieces together using a single hem, with a 1/4" seam allowance - as in image C, leaving the top open.

A

B

C

Step five:  Snip around the curves of each flag, careful not to slice your hem.  Then turn your flags right way out, using a knitting needle if necessary to keep the corners smooth.

Step six:  Turn the top 1/4" of the exposed edges inside the flag, and press the entire flag (if you are using binding, it's fine to skip this step and leave the edges raw).

Step seven:  Attach your trim/ribbon/binding to the flags, like so! And then you're ready to pop some little treats in!

Easy, if a little time-consuming with all those flags.  But now you have the cutest advent bunting ever, and if you're like me, you won't want to take it down after Christmas.  In fact, who says you have to?!

OPEN!

So opening day finally arrived! It was a hard manic rush to the end but well worth it! We enjoyed celebrating with a few friends the night before and Angie from Bake Me Cakes (who will also be teaching classes at Make) made a fabulous last minute cake for us!

Here are a few pictures of the fabric side of things 

The reflection across the road  is the Lone Star (The historic Bush Inn Hotel originally) which was built in 1865 it's nice to have a bit of history around along with a place to make new memories!

You can book a table at the make cafe simply call 03 348 6187 or email info@themakecafe.co.nz. We also offer a special high tea for bookings of more than 8 which consist of bringing out the china cups and some tiered stands of sweet or savoury treats to try. Have a smell test of our 8 blends of Harney & Sons teas and then choose 3 to share at the table (filter coffee also available) at an introductory rate of $8 pp

Don't be afraid to bring the kiddos in either! We have a great section of toys in the cafe & fabric shop! 

I will post some more pictures up as soon as things are settling in :)

COMPETITION!

To celebrate our opening we are giving away not just one but 2 amazing gift hampers consisting of the following valued at over $200!

Mollie Makes Magazine

Gorgeous Quilts for Gracious living book

Fiskars ergo Control Rotary Cutter (for left & right hands!)

Robert Kaufman 18 pack of homespun (4.5 yards total)

A Jar full of buttons & findings

7cm purse frame

2 Fat Quarter Cupcakes

1meter of Adornit Damask Ribbon

Mini Embroidery Hoop

2 Madame Tricote threads

Martha Stewart Craft Paint

To enter to win just leave us a comment! 

We also have another basket in store so you have double the chance to win. To enter in store just write your email & contact number on the back of your receipt at checkout :) 

Closes 17th December - Winners announced 18th December (so you can get your prize in time for Christmas!) Be sure to sign up by email to this blog to see if you have won!

Time Flies!

Where did the time go to in the last two weeks? Everyone and I mean everyone has been working like mad to get things ready and I am still in panic mode today!

Justin took this picture last night of the coffee shop, we have our training at 3pm today on how to make coffee so you will have to excuse our coffee making abilities on Saturday!

Today we start the big move carting all the stock over to the premises.

This is Ruth and I working until 12:30 last night recovering some chairs we found at the Eco Store for $5. It was loads of fun and we manged to come away injury free - well except when I dropped the chair on Ruth's head!

We have a brand new range of gorgeous home decor prints in store and these will be up online soon too!

I think the staple gun is my new friend!

This is me getting paitning - I know unusual! I had grey paint all the way down my sleeve by the end ,but the counters look good now! Many many a night spent in there until 1am! 

There we go all finished! The sewing machines of course won't be there but they will be replaced with yummy french pastries - which I have to choose today :)

How do you love our CHCH bricks - a special type that does not require our staff wearing hard hats behind the counter!

Here is the other side, with the soon to be fabric and craft supplies. I love the table in the window - a perfect place to craft together! Holly, Treena and Juliet got busy yesterday painting picture frames too which also came from the Eco Store - new life ♥ :)

This is Paul putting up the signage - I do love our signs! Let's hope that little fingers won't be scratching it off! 

So we are almost all good to go for our Saturday launch, do be easy on us as it is a huge learning curve but we are super excited to finally have a craft haven in Christchurch! 

The Make Cafe - 355 Riccarton Road, Christchurch
0220 179 296 - Kirsty for all enquiries

Boys to Men

Taking a plunge into something very unknown takes your breath away sometimes, and I found myself updating Facebook this week with Excited, Scared, Excited, Scared .....

This is exactly how it feels - moments when you relax and see a glimmer of what it is turning into and then total panic to get it all done on time!

As you can imagine a time like this is incredibly stressful on the family, we try to make a rule not to talk business over the dinner table but it is a huge topic of conversation when Daddy brought home Charlies Honest orange juice and the phoenix organic juices for us all to try - which we will now be stocking in store :) Yeah!

We try to make the boys feel involved all along the way, they were super proud to help us with the painting the other day - hopefully if we teach them well, they will turn out to be great guys like these two!

Justin said there was a mutual respect when Chris & Jason met for the first time at The Make Cafe, they both were fully kitted out in named overalls and full head gear to get going! Two amazing guys who have spent till many a midnight to build all our shelving, the cafe & fabric shop counter - all for nothing! Well of course they will get free coffee for life now!

I also want to say thank you to their wives who have sacrificed their family time together over the last few weeks. Outstanding Kiwi men you have here!

This is the progress of the cafe area, the men decided in the end that part of the wall had to go, so Justin spent the day knocking it down! A good way to relieve some stress!

  

And of course the finished product is on the top picture with  Chris & Jason.

I may have mentioned the mustard couches, going to be  a bit of work to get them how I want them, this is my fantastic artist work in Paint :) I love the grey & mustard as well as mustard & teal colours that are coming out this season - hoping to use some of the new Joel Dewberry range next year too. You will have to wait and see if it looks better or worse than this! 

Black

 

A great day at the Woman's Expo! We have just a wee stand but managed to get the overall Make Cafe effect squeezed in somehow!

I am enjoying hanging out with Lee & Lee from Pretty Birds & Cloud 9 Creative all these fabulous jewels around me is very tempting! Also got to look at Brenda's amazing patterns over at Natural Star going to have to have her come teach some classes and Fiona Marie from Piece - another yummy crafty store!

One of our new workshops at the Cafe is Learn to Sew over lunch, a complete beginners sewing lesson where you will be taught how to thread a machine, wind your bobbin and sew some gorgeous bunting!

All materials and machine hire included as well as a light lunch! This class will be available to book online soon, but if you are super keen, email me kirsty@themakecafe.co.nz. $35 reduced to $30 each if you bring a friend!

Who will be queen of craft @ Make?

Believe it or not these are soaps! 

Plenty of strokes for the Singer 160!

Gosh there feels like a lot of black around in all these pictures! But hey at least our fabric is bright and cheerful! Would not want to detract from that in anyway! Progress is continuing at the shop, poor Justin is painting his hair  heart out. These are all 50 of our shelve stands! Each individually handcrafted :)

Well "more is nog n dag" (tomorrow is another day!) and it will be spent at the Woman's Expo again and Justin collecting Trade Me purchases, including our "golden" Make Cafe couches! Watch this space!