A few weeks ago the parents of some friends of the boys had a ceilidh to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary and, happily, I had nothing to wear, so it was the perfect opportunity to make something!

I needed to be able to feed the baby and I also have very little free time at the moment, so a skirt was going to be the easiest and quickest thing to make.

Here’s what I did!

I used 2m of taffeta that was 150cm wide, 6m of net also 150cm wide and some 30lb fishing line.

Cutting out

I needed to make squares, so from the taffeta I cut 1 square 150cm x 150cm and from the net 4 squares 150cm x 150cm.

I folded the taffeta square into quarters.

Next I took some measurements: the distance around my waist (what there is of it after 4 babies!) and the distance from my waist to my knee.

Now for the tricky maths part. I needed to cut a circle out of the middle of the square. I had the middle of the square thanks to folding the original taffeta square into quarters, and the circumference (ie my waist measurement) of the circle, so all I needed was the radius (distance from the centre to the edge of the circle). Mercifully there are thingies on the internet that do this for you. Phew!! For people who are not hopeless at maths, the way to work it out is circumference divided by pi (2 point something?) divided by 2. Don’t forget to add a seam allowance!

Next cut a piece of string the length of the radius. Attach the string to the centre of the fabric and mark off a circle. Cut out.

Cut another piece of string the same length as you want the skirt to be. Attach to the centre with the safety pin and mark off the bottom edge of the circle. Cut out.

You should now have a circle with a hole in the middle.

Cut in a straight line from the edge to the middle.

Repeat with the net.

Making the Curly Hem

Wind some of the fishing line around the handle of a wooden spoon. Microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes in bursts of 10-20 seconds. Check that it’s not fusing together. This should be enough to make the fishing line curlier.

Now the fishing line needs to be sewn into the hem. If you have rolled hem foot, this should be easy. Just be sure that the fishing line is inside the hem and some of the line is poking out of the end.

If you don’t have a rolled hem foot it’s a bit trickier. Not impossible though Fold the edge over the fishing line, then  over again, and sew the hem using a straight stitch. Keeping the hem as narrow as possible will help the curliness.

With the net, it might be easier to zig zag the fishing line into the hem. Put the fishing line in the centre of the foot and sew away, ensuring that the fishing line is in the centre of the zig zags.

Waistband

From the remaining fabric, cut a strip 8 cm wide and as long as you need for your waist. Fold in half lengthways and press. Fold up 1 1/2 cm on each side and press again. (This might work better cut on the bias, but it will use more fabric. I cut mine on the straight.)

Pin net underskirts to the taffeta skirt. You will need to decide whether you want them to show or not. Also remember to pin vertically with the pin heads pointing down, otherwise you will end up with pins sewn into your skirt (this is the voice of experience here!).

Next attach the waistband, making sure that the net underskirts are caught in the waistband as well as the outer. Sew, keeping close to the edge to ensure a neat finish.

Finishing off

Nearly there! Inserting a zip can be tricky, but this is how to do it according to a very useful book Husband found for me in that bargain bookshop The Works

Starting with the taffeta, pin the seam. Line up the zip and mark where the end is. Sew up to the mark. Repeat with the net.

Go back to the taffeta and tack the part of the seam where the zip will go. Press the seam flat. Put the zip over the tacked part of the seam and tack into place. Sew, then remove tacking stitches.

One completed skirt!!

Having looked at the list I made last time, I can say that I managed to finish precisely none of the things on it before Boy 4′s birth. However I did make some tops for breastfeeding

The biggest problem I have with breastfeeding in public is not so much getting my boob out (it’s fairly easy to do this discreetly) as flashing my saggy old tum. After 4 kids you can probably imagine the kind of state it’s in. My stomach looks like a blancmange that has a map of the London underground engraved on it. Also it’s very draughty in winter. I did some research on the internet and found some tops that would keep blancmange contained, but they were expensive (£15 for a vest top!!) so I decided to have crack at making my own. One trip to Primark, £20 worth of stretchy tops and a needle and thread later, I had several tops and for a fraction of the price! Here we go…

1. Belly Band. This one is the easiest to make. Take a stretchy top, work out where where the top of you tum/ under boob area would be. Cut the top part off and hey presto!! One belly band stylee thing, to wear under a top of your choice. The only disadvantage with this is that it doesn’t stay put and has to be rearranged every so often.

2. Top With Attached Belly Band. 

This solves the problem of the band part moving about. You will need 2 tops for this one and a needle and thread. Take one of the tops and cut the top part off, as above. Turn the other top inside out. Put the belly band piece on top of the whole top. Line up the side seams and sew along the side seams. Turn it the right way out.

3. Belly Band With Straps. Make a belly band, as above. Cut strips from the top half of the top and attach to the belly band half. I found this to be problematic as the fabric curls and trying to hem it without an overlocker is horribly difficult.

4. Vest Top. I actually found this one to be the best. Take a vest top and cut the straps at the back. Attach about 10cm of elastic to each strap to make the straps longer. The neckline should now sit underneath the boob area.

So there you go!! Release your inner Gok and be comfortable breastfeeding in public

Advent Calendar

I’m now 39+2 with Boy 4 and he is showing no signs of wanting to make his way into the world. I don’t know whether to be annoyed or relieved. I remember how much it hurts but I want it to be over!! Anyway, at least this time the baby’s bed is ready for him and is not full of jumpers.

I’ve been using the time to do some crafting too, of course! Carrying on with the Christmas theme (and using the same fat quarter bundle as for the patchwork star in my previous post) I have made an Advent Calendar. There’s lots of inspiration out there, some of it’s on my Pinterest Christmas board. The boys usually have a Playmobil Advent Calendar (that’s Daddy, not me!), usually stuffed with such Christmas themed things as police and pirates. This year they will have an actual Christmassy Advent Calendar because in each pocket I will put a bit of the Christmas story, some sweeties and a decoration for their own tree.

The calender was easy to make but time consuming. First of all I cut 24 rectangles measuring 11cm x 14cm. I arranged them on the table to get a sense of how big I would need to make the tree, and also so that I could take a photograph to help me to remember the order I had decided to put them in. Using a ruler and a large piece of greaseproof paper I made a template for the tree.

The next task was the numbers. Using the same polycotton backed with interfacing and some number templates from Craftseller magazine I cut out the numbers then sewed them on to the patches. Next I hemmed the top of each pocket, then folded in the three remaining raw edges, pinned and ironed them.

To prepare the tree, I cut out a piece of interfacing using the paper template I had made earlier and a slightly larger version out of red polycotton. After I had ironed on the interfacing, I hemmed the tree.

My next job was to pin the pockets to the tree and then sew them on. As you can see from the picture, some of them are a bit wonky!! I’m blaming my astigmatism! The very wonky one I corrected, but the others I actually did not notice until I looked at the photograph!

To finish it off I made a star out of a tiny piece of gold lame I had (it became tinier because the first star I made broke. Lame needs interfacing, as I discovered!) and attached a loop of ribbon.

The pockets still need stuffing but I’ll save that job until nearer Christmas.

I’m pleased with the results but if I was to make another there are several things I would do to make it quicker as it took a long time to make.

I would use either bondaweb or felt for the numbers and glue them on.

I would use felt for either the pockets, so that they would not need hemming, or the tree, for the same reason, or even both

Gluing and not hemming would definitely make it quicker.

I’ve still got lots of crafty tasks to complete! Ideally before the baby comes but that is becoming less and less likely! Tasks include:

• Finish painting boys’ room (hills and sky, then mural)
• Make curtains for boys’ room
• Make changing bag for baby (I’ve bought some gorgeous fabric from Fabric Rehab, with houses on it)
• Make instructions for patchwork star and list on Etsy
• Make instructions for bauble and tree shaped decoration and list those too
• Finish knitting dinosaur puppets and sew up
• Finish unfinished heart decorations

Phew!! How I get on we will have to see!!

Star Tree Decoration

Ok, maybe it’s a little bit early, but Boy 4 is due to be born in a couple of weeks and I want to get the kits into my Etsy shop and it’s not going to go off, right?!! So here we are, a tutorial for making a patchwork star Christmas decoration.

Fat Quarter Bundle

I love red and white stuff at Christmas, actually all the time but especially at Christmas. After quite a long time trawling the internet, I found this fabric bundle on Ebay. It’s not actually Christmassy, but I didn’t like any of the Christmassy stuff and I also liked the idea of turning something non-Christmassy into something Christmassy.

The star is made using 12 rhombuses (rhombii?? Who knows?!!)), 6 for the front and 6 for the back. It would probably work just as well with 2 or 3 different fabrics as with 6.

First of all make a template. If you have access to plastic shapes (I’m thinking patchwork enthusiasts, their relatives, and primary school teachers ) then that’s easy. If you can’t find a rhombus, 2 equilateral triangles will do. Otherwise there might be some on the interweb somewhere or you can make your own.

If you want to make your own, here is a quick(ish) explanation of how I did mine. I drew around the lid of a takeaway coffee cup then folded the circle in half. With it folded, I then folded the semi circle into three triangles.

Folded into 6ths (1/2 then into 3rds)

Cut one out and there you go!!

Using the template, cut out 12. I cut 2 from each different fabric. Then arrange into 2 star shapes. If you have trouble remembering stuff, taking a photo is a good idea.

Then sew together. Take 2 pieces, put the right sides together and sew along one edge.

Join 2 pieces along one edge, RS together

Open out and press seam. Add another piece in the same way and press seam. Put it to one side and repeat for the other three pieces. Then join the two halves together.

For the benefit of anyone considering to join the 6 pieces all one after the other, don’t do it!! It will go pear shaped, believe

Join 2 halves of star, RS together

me! Join three, then the other three, then join the 2 halves together. This will result in a neat finish. Joining the 6 bits separately will result in you hunting for a huge button to hide where it has gone wrong!

Repeat for the other 6 rhombuses and you will have 2 stars. Decorate with a button sewn in the middle, or in any other way you like.

Take a piece of ribbon and fold in half. Match the raw edges with where you want the top of the star to be and place on top of the RS of the star. Put the other star on top, RS down, making a weird kind of sandwich. Pin together, making sure that the ribbon is well out of the way of where you are going to sew.

Sew around the edges, leaving an opening along one edge. Turn RS out. Stuff with polyester filling and sew up the opening.

So how will you do yours? Big? Small? As bunting? Or a dangly thing? What colours? Which fabrics? I’d love to see, so please post on here or on the Peacock in a Pear Tree Facebook page!

For anyone who would prefer one in kit form, I’ll hopefully have the kits in my Etsy shop in the next week or so

Boy 2 on his buggy board with cushion

I’ve finally done it!! Somebody has actually bought something I’ve made! I listed a buggy board cushion on ebay and a lovely person in Leicestershire has bought it I’m so encouraged I’ve got five more cut out and ready to sew up.

The idea for the buggy board cushion came about one day when Boy 2 was complaining that his buggy board was not comfortable enough and the bumpy country lanes hurt his little botty. Because of the times of the buses in our little corner of Norfolk, we would take Boy 1 to school and then walk the 2 miles back.

My little pushchair objected to the potholes and grass verges, so I bought a lovely three wheeler for Boy 3, but I hadn’t considered that Boy 2 might need something else too.

Anyway, I thought a little cushion would probably do the trick, so, using the shape of the buggy board, I made a pattern from greaseproof paper. I had some rainbow fleece left over from when I made a cosytoes (I accidentally bought too much!) and some polyester filling, so that would make a snuggly, warm little cushion. I needed it to stay attached to the buggy board, so I added two loops of elastic and a couple of buttons.

I was pleased with the results and Boy 2 liked it. That would have been the end of it, except that Husband, when he saw it suggested that I made some more and tried to sell them. I made one up and put it on Etsy but it didn’t sell and it looked completely out of place in my little shop.

It occured to me a few weeks that Ebay might be the way to go, as there are often similar buggy boards on there.

So I listed it and here we are! Somebody bought it!! I’m slightly closer to buying an expensive pushchair for the baby!

I would always encourage people to have a go at making things, but for anyone who would like to buy a buggy board cushion for a Litaf Seat 2 Go, send me a message and I can let you have one for £8