Progress on drafting

I'd forgotten how much fun it is drafting pattern blocks. The Aldrich book has size charts from a British standard, and while they are odd in places (scye depth of 5.5cm for a one year old vs Aldrich's 20ish for a 2 year old?!) they are a good place to start. I've always liked maths, and drafting blocks is a simple process of following a plotting plan. You need to pay attention, but there's no complicated working out to do. (I did make my own decision on the scye depth by what looked right to my eye though.) So here's my completed block for an overgarment, via the basic bodice block.

And here's the sleeve. It has a very high looking sleeve cap, and the curve still looks a bit pointy, but that's what toiles are for! Next stop is to make a quick toile to see how this block works. I compared the pieces to the pattern I used for Nicholas' jean jacket and was pleased with the comparison. Just not sure about that very high sleeve cap.

I took these two photos on my desk. To get an aerial shot I stood on a chair. Naturally this was pretty fascinating to the twins, and when I looked down, I saw this:

Excuse the ratty pink socks. It's winter and my feet are cold :-)

How I Get Stuff Done.

Every now and then someone will ask (usually with a tone of disbelief) just HOW I get any sewing done with twin babies. The answer is two fold. Firstly, I have been blessed with babies who do this:

Usually for a couple of hours (sometimes THREE!) every day. Secondly, while the little darlings are thus occupied, I ignore all the housework I should be doing, and sew instead :-)

Apart from today, when I am glumly contemplating the fact that no matter which way I squint my eyes and rack my brains the fabric I desperately want to turn into pants will Not Look Good as pants. It's a stretch woven (so far so good) in a lovely sagey green with the teeniest subtle pink pin stripe. Where it falls down for pants is that it has a stretchy design element woven into it which gives it lovely texture and dimension, but I have a sinking feeling that pants made out of it will look like pyjamas. And not in a good way. Before I pre-shrunk it it was flat. I worried that washing would release the stretch, and sure enough, this is how it ended up:

So what do I do with it? Pants are out. It is telling me that it wants to be a jacket, but I don't currently need a jacket. So, it will sit while I re-think the pants. (Still ignoring the housework though.)