A Kimono for Me

Last summer I made myself a Kimono out of black chiffon. I don't know much about chiffon and have very little experience sewing it. I received this piece as a prize from the fabulous Alida of Alida Makes for the original Sew the Show Series last year. I used a basic Simplicity pattern 1620 (which oddly only seems to come in the larger sizes now) and modified it somewhat. I shortened the sleeves and did narrow rolled hems around all the edges. It was alright, just ok. I wore it once or twice, but it didn't feel very cool. It felt frumpy even when worn with a tank and joggers and heels.

So as crazy as this sounds, I was watching the Netflix Full House reunion series with my daughter and I noticed lots of kimonos so I guess they're still in enough. The awesome Gibbler wore one in every episode I think. I pulled my frumpy kimono out of the closet and gave it an update.

I trimmed off all the hems and then cut the front shorter and at an angle. Then I cut strips of chiffon, folded them in half and sewed them around all the edges. I used my regular machine and mock-overlocked the seam allowance and pressed it towards the body of the kimono. I topstitched with a decorative stitch all around. I also shortened the sleeves even more.

I left the back long and flowy and with it's original narrow hem. The back seam and the shoulder seams are all french seams. The underarm/side seam is stitched and overlocked. With a sheer chiffon, the inside finishes were important.

I wore it to church today with my Downton Abbey Lady Skater dress and felt very chic with my salt and pepper hair and silver jewelry. 

How chic? About this chic:

And this chic.

Ha, ha! I'm all posed out and feeling completely silly so that's it. I'm going to go walk around my nephew's birthday party now and try to act normal, but I really feel amazing in this outfit so I think I'll try to keep the attitude. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

Denali Jacket for spring

More pink and purple coming out of my sewing room. Elena needed a new jacket with sleeves long enough for a monkey armed girl. She loves fleece jackets and I wanted to make one with buttons. So this jacket is the answer.

 I went to Joann's and bought some antipill polar fleece in colors I knew she would like, but that would include some colors I like. It's all about compromise with this opinionated girl. The pattern is the Denali Jacket by GYCT Designs. I believe I won this pattern in a contest in her Facebook group. It is a very useful pattern with options for a solid front, a color-blocked front, or like this version a color-blocked and gathered front. There is also a choice of a 2 piece or 3 piece hood. I went with 2 piece. I lined the hood and did the facings with jersey from a tan t-shirt. Not exactly "glamorous" like she would pick, but stable and it does match a color of the fleece print.

She is getting good at buttons, but you can see she's putting some stress on the top buttonhole. I think that's because she can't see that one since it's high up and she forgets which way the hole goes. It is well interfaced so I hope it holds up. The buttons are thick for little fingers to grab easily. They came off of an old jacket of Olivia's.

She really likes it and is wearing it a lot. The poor kid spends a fair amount of time in the car every afternoon driving the teenage siblings around so a light jacket is all that she needs for that or she gets overheated. Andrew has changed swim teams so now our afternoon drive for him is down from just over an hour to only 40 minutes. In a couple of weeks (after spring break) it will be 15 minutes so YAY! For all of us.

I do really like this pattern and can fully recommend it. I had no trouble with it and think it produced a nice jacket. I'm also thinking that if I sized up, I could make it in a woven, maybe even a raincoat type fabric. There are side seam pockets but Elena finds those kind hard to find usually. I was thinking of adding a vertical seam to the front panel so I could move them there, or I could bite the bullet and learn how to make a welt pocket. Hmmm. But this version is great for playing outside on the warmer days we are starting to get.

Of course she chose pink pants and pink shoes to wear it with. I could gag on so much pink but she loves it. The top she is wearing underneath is swirly pink and purple. Oh my goodness.

I'm still trying to de-emphasize clothes and blogging for her, so this wasn't an official photo shoot. We were just playing outside and I took some occasional pictures. I like this last one shot through the toy barn we were playing My Little Pony with. She was being so silly and cute.

I had been hoping to make her an Easter dress, but 1) she doesn't really need one, 2) I don't have any fabric she likes for a "glamorous" dress and 3) I'm running out of time so it isn't going to happen. How about an Easter t-shirt? Is that a thing? If she isn't careful she is going to wind up exactly where her picky older sister (who turned 18 last week!!!) is - not on my sewing list at all. I have a long list of sewing for myself and so I hope that the next thing I show you is something for me. Take care everyone!

Upcycled & Hacked Aster Cardigan

My 15 year old son recently went through his drawers and contributed to my upcycle stash with a nice thermal knit long sleeved crew neck tee. And although it's been really warm lately, we've had 2 days of 50 degrees thrown in. I wanted to make a quick Aster Cardigan for layering and I wanted to keep it neutral to go with lots of things, but not be white.This oatmeal color is nice.

The hack was to lengthen the sleeves, change the shape of the bottom hem to reuse the cool shirt-tail hem the tee had, and change the closure. I interfaced some woven floral cotton to make a strong tab, and  and sewed it to one side and added a snap to the other side. Easy for Elena to do and adds some needed femininity to a boyish tee.

One cool thing about this quick project is that I finally tried my walking foot and it's AWESOME! I'm going to leave it on there a while and experiment a little.

Also new here, are these wide-leg knit capri pants made during Kids Clothes Week and shown on Instagram, but not here. They are also upcycled  from an old tee. The tee had the large rose print on most of the front but the sleeves and back were the lighter leafy print. It makes for some interesting pants. I used the Ananda Pants pattern again in a 2T and shortened them. Super comfy and the short length gives an Asian feel to the outfit. (The tunic was previously posted here.)

I get such a thrill from making clothes for Elena out of nothing. I may or may not have initially paid for that thermal tee. I can't remember at this point if I bought it or if it was a gift to Andrew, but it will live on with Elena. The rose tee had been my mom's so there was no cost there. The only real costs here were my time (the most valuable), some thread, and a snap. (Though the tunic is made from fabric from Girl Charlee and a bit of a thrifted lace tee. And a scrap of that tunic fabric makes up the pant's yoga waistband.)

I just love that I can get away with this recycling for now for her. It's so easy to upcycle items when the new item is a small size. That is much harder for the 4 adult sized people that make up the rest of the family. I'll keep doing it as long as I can just because.

Elena's Fall Jackets & Sweaters

I can't resist Kids Clothes Week. Any excuse to sew and not clean the house, right? So today's excuse is that Elena will never learn to zip a jacket if she doesn't have a zip-up jacket, and every kid needs to learn to zip, right? So we fixed that problem.

Tuesday, I made her a pair of black fleece leggings out of fabric from my stash. They didn't exactly seem blog worthy and didn't even make it into the Kids Clothes Week Instagram pool. This morning I found a few minutes to cut out a coordinating jacket to sew up during her miniscule nap this afternoon. Everything is again from my stash, including the zipper which I removed from her big brother outgrown hoodie. (And what a nice zipper it is- the edges are all bound in soft knit fabric.)

In only 25 minutes I managed to attach the front pieces to the back, attach the pockets, attach the sleeves, sew up the sleeves and side seams, add cuffs to the sleeves, and sew on the collar. Then I had to wake Elena up to pick up big sister from school. When we returned, it didn't take much longer to add the waistband and zipper and bam- a jacket.

All was going well until picture time. Oh man, I've had enough of pictures, cameras, 3 year olds, and computers this week. It is what it is, right? As of this moment, I have no plans to sew tomorrow, but we'll see if I can stay away.

I used McCall's 6782 for the jacket. The only modification was to size up a bit since it's meant for moderate stretch knits and polar fleece doesn't stretch a lot. I also stopped the zipper below the collar because it didn't seem like it would be comfortable all the way up since the zipper is exposed on the backside. It fits great and is so soft and cozy.

The pants are my self drafted leggings pattern with the smallest seam allowances I could manage to add just a little more ease because it's not super stretchy. I think they're going to be too short soon, but I can add cuffs to extend them when the time comes.

Both fleeces came from Joann's over the last few years and are very thick, soft, anti-pill fleece. Elena LOVES it. It can be hard to get  my little nudist to try things on while sewing, but she did not want to take those pants off. I put the half done jacket on her to go pick her sister up since she naps in her underpants and she didn't complain at all about being woken up to wear that softness. She left it on when we got home too. Until I took it off her to finish it up. Then she wore it the rest of the night. A real win for me.

As for Elena's other jackets/cardigans for her all handmade wardrobe, here is a round-up of previously blogged items. Click the pictures to go to the original post for details.

Figgy's Nituna in Wool

Greenpoint Cardigan Modified and Dip Dyed

Aster Cardigan Refashion

That's mainly it. Her winter coat from last year still fits so we may get away without buying a new one. That is one of things I'm not interested in making for her. Maybe I'll even be able to wait long enough to get one on clearance or at least a really good sale. We were also given a nice thick snow suit so we are ready for playing in the snow too - but that had better not be any time soon!!!

Figgy's Nituna Jacket in Wool

I made a wool jacket! I ventured into new sewing territory here and I'm pretty dang happy about it!

I've had this pattern (Figgy's Nituna Jacket) printed out for a whole year now and finally made it. I found this wool remnant at the thrift store for 99 cents on half price day! I purchased the buttons, embroidered trim and bias tape at Joann's. The lining is from a box of stash my aunt sent me. So even purchasing some of the items, it cost so little.

The scrap of wool was barely big enough for the size 2/3 we needed, but it was totally meant to be. I took a picture just because I was so amazed that I could make it fit.

So the pattern gives you options to line it or not, make it reversible or not, and to use patch pockets or welt pockets. I went with patch pockets because they are easy and Elena still doesn't care whatsoever about pockets. Strange, huh?

In my infinite sewing wisdom, or not, I decided to underline the wool with cotton and bind the seams per the pattern's instructions for an unlined version. Not really a great decision on my part. Always in retrospect I see that pattern designers should be trusted more often than not. It sounded like a good idea, but the problem was that the wool is pretty thick and the lining pieces shifted a little when sewing so it was hard to keep things even and covered in all places. Probably would have been a great opportunity to try my walking foot, right? I should do that someday. I should have taken pictures of the inside because it is beautiful! Black binding on black lining wouldn't show up too well anyway.

All in all, I love this jacket. I love that I made it. I love that I now have the confidence to make more jackets. I'm still not interested in sewing actual winter coats of the kind necessary around here in winter, but jackets that can take us out in 40 degree weather like today, that I can do and will do more of in the future.

The only fit issue is with the hood. It's kind of huge on her but I like it folded back so you can see the trim. I would probably shorten it a bit next time. Otherwise, the width allows for thicker layers than the t-shirt she was wearing today and the sleeves are plenty long and also look good rolled up because of the clean finish inside.

I know that last one is a little blurry but I just love how teeny she looks next to her daddy. 

KCW Days 1 & 2

This post is a 2 for 1. I'm participating (at least to some extent) in Kids Clothes Week and also Skirt Fixation's Knit Sew-Along. I love sewing with knits. I'd say at least 50% of what I sew anymore is knit.

Elena doesn't really need anymore summer clothes so I'm trying to make things that will transition into fall - things that are good for late August into September. So Day 1 (Sunday) was spent prepping patterns, choosing fabric, and cutting. Day 2 (Monday) was sewing. It took a total of 1-1/2 hours with lots of interruptions to make a Hey June Greenpoint Cardigan and Crafterhours' Monkey Bars Skirt.

This little skirt was done in 20 minutes flat. It is made using Doodles interlock from Joann's. I didn't make the undershorts because it will be easier to layer with tights or leggings into fall this way. She can wear separate shorts in the meantime. It's hard to tell the color, but it's shades of gray with a lavender cast to it.

The cardigan combines the Doodles interlock with some ponte also from Joann's this past winter. Based on measurements I made a size 1 because I wanted the snug fit. I did the 3T sleeve length. It just fits. I hope it lasts a couple of months at least. But again, another quick easy pattern (no hemming so yay!) so I plan on making more. It's nice to have lightweight layering pieces for mornings and evenings and our church. Man, it's cold in there!

It works well all together, and it'll be so useful split up as well. Sorry no pictures of her in it. We've all got summer colds and someone wasn't feeling like getting her picture taken - not even for gummi bears. I'm thinking about making another cardigan for tomorrow so come back to see what else can be done with the Greenpoint Cardigan pattern. Well, if it works out that is.


Edit on 7/24 to include pictures wearing the outfit:

K is for Knickers

     I'm Sewing All 26 with Katy of No Big Dill again this week. K is for knickers.
  
     Hey Mr. Knickerbocker, boppity bop. I like the way that you boppity bop. I can't get Barney out of my head this week. Sewing knickers made me think of that song and then I was working with a lot of purple to make matters worse, but I LOVE this outfit!

 

 

There was no better place than a castle to take pictures of such a regal outfit.

     Elena is very into Shrek lately and talks all the time about the castle and the dragon and the princess in the highest room of the tallest tower. So I told her there was a castle near where we live and she was of course very excited. She was just sure that there would be a dragon there. She's only 2 and a few months so I didn't ruin that for her yet. I told her the dragon was sleeping and we'd better be quiet and not wake her. It's a girl dragon you know.

     The knickers are a combination of a McCall's pattern for below the knee capri's with a zip fly and buttoning bands at the bottom. I don't trust the sizing on those kinds of patterns so I made a really quick muslin and was glad I did. Elena is tall (90th percentile) but they still came almost to her ankles. I took the features I liked (baggier fit, vertically split front piece and front yoke) and melded them with the famously good Kid Pants from Danamadeit to get the flat front elastic back look. I changed the bands to not button just because I'm a little lazy and mostly very busy all the time. I love them baggie because they fit her cloth diaper really well.

     The fabric was a thrifted skirt and the piping is from a thrifted blouse. Practically free. I always forget to take before pictures. It was very librarian chic.

 

 

     The jacket is the Zermatt Bow Swing Coat from see kate sew patterns. It was part of the Fall 2013 Sew Fab Bundle and I don't know if it's still available. So cute. So fast. So easy. What

 a pleasure. From printing to finish was 1-1/2 hours with interruptions to write a note to my son's teacher, make breakfast for Elena, and start some laundry. Can't thank Kate enough for making it so easy and adorable. The awesome blackberry colored anti-pill fleece is from Joann's.

 

 

     The hat is something I crocheted last winter. I had no pattern and I have a bad memory so I can't really remember how I did it. I think I just kept increasing and increasing rather extremely and then had to do a lot of reducing at some point. I love the king's crown effect. Reminds me of the old Imperial Margarine commercials when I was a kid. Dating myself again I'm sure.

 

 

 

 



 

 

     Elena says it's pretty cold out here so let's come back for a picnic in the spring. I agree.


Side note: I am so frustrated with Blogger. It will not let me resize the photos after the first 2. I hear it's a bug. Anyone have any info or know a solution? I want to see these pics bigger. waaaaaa.