The Ready for Anything Outfit

I was super productive this past Kids Clothes Week and have more to brag blog about. Actually, these aren't anything very special, but good grief, they are comfy and I want some.

The top is my go-to CINO Nessie Top made from a scrap of floral interlock Doodles from Joann's a couple years ago and a white box tee cleaned out of my oldest daughter's room recently. That is the quickest way to make a tee. I cut the neckband off and reused it and reused the sleeve hems too. So fast.

The pants are shortened Ananda Pants, a pattern from Chopstix that was part of the SewFab Bundle in Fall 2013. I made a 2T and shortened them a lot, partly because that's all the fabric I had. Last year I had cut a maxi skirt down to knee length for Olivia and had this piece left. It's super soft and drapey rayon spandex. I didn't hem them because they are just for play and it's so thin I didn't think it would be any fun to do.

And now Elena is ready for anything a beautiful spring day can throw at her.

Long walks on the fishing pier.

Sliding.

Swinging.

Jumping, running and rolling down hills.

Ignoring her photo-bombing cousin.

Keeping half an eye on that cutie cousin creeeeping up on you again, trying to steel your spotlight.

Bring it on spring. We're ready for anything.

(And it cost us NOTHING but an hour of my time and some thread.)

Friends Part 2 - The One With the Re-do

I'm asking for a re-do. My first Friends look for Alida's Sew the Show was boring. I must have been PMSing and feeling old and incapable of having fun. So here is my new Phoebe look instead (complete with my rendition of Smelly Cat).

After Becca DuVal wrote in the Facebook group that she was looking for a slip dress pattern, I thought "Oh, that'll look great on her. She's young and cute and slim. I can't pull that off." Then I watched Oprah's Spirit Class yesterday (Sunday's epidsode with Christiane Northrup) and had an ah-ha moment. She said, "Belief trumps genes." So if I believe I'm still young and pretty enough, I will be. And my genes must be pretty good too because I have a 3 year old. I read somewhere recently, that having a baby in your 40's makes it very likely that I'll live into my 90's. There is a correlation between my reproductive system being young enough to do that at 42 and the age of all my cells. Elena will be 4 this summer and is keeping me young.

Anyway, the dress here is made using an old pattern from 1996. I forgot I had it, but am so glad I did. I used a thrifted rayon dress to make this, which is essentially a muslin because it felt very experimental. I didn't have enough fabric to make it as long as I would have liked. I also didn't have enough to do the facings the pattern called for, so I did bias tape instead. All in all, it still turned out pretty good and I may even make another. It feels so light and comfortable it's amazing.

I feel quite naked without my granny chic sweater on, but I  wanted to show it on it's own at least once.

So now that I'm feeling young again, we'll be switching to the Golden Girls for next month!?!? Are you screwing with my head Alida? That is another awesome show and will be perfect for summer coming up so I'm excited. Thanks for stopping by.

KCW - Day 3 - Blouse & Skort

I've been wanting to make a white blouse for a while now and today was the day. This one is Butterick 4176 made from a vintage sheet from my neighbor. I will think of Irene every time Elena wears this. (Irene is now in an Alzheimer's unit and doesn't even realize that her house has been sold. That is so sad to me.) The skort is the free Monkey Bars Skirt from Crafterhours. I moved up to the size 3 width and 4 length this time and the fit is very good. The inner shorts are the size 2 from last year because I was in too big a hurry to trace a new size. (The skirt pieces have all straight lines and can easily be folded to the right size.)

I love the design of this blouse - the pleats and the puffy sleeves are so sweet. It was a pretty easy sew except that set in sleeves in a size 2 isn't really much fun. The Big 4 patterns don't get much love in blogland, but I have 3 I'd say that I just love and have used multiple times. I opted for flat felled seams on most of it. The neck is finished with bias tape. There is a button and loop in the back.

 And yes, Elena is freezing in these photos. It's about 60 degrees but windy as all get out. All done in 2 minutes flat.

I'm still planning on continuing sewing for her each day this week, but I may not blog about it. The list of things she needs isn't very exciting right now - a white t-shirt, some knit capri's in a couple of colors, boring basics. I'd like to get back to sewing for me since Me Made May is right around the corner. Until next time.

KCW Days 1 & 2 - Butterfly Tee & Shorts

This is going to be the fastest post ever. I have approximately 1 hour of battery life left to work off of until I can get a new power cord for my laptop. Oh yikes.

For the Kids Clothes Week Wild Things theme, I was able to make Elena some summer pieces that she really needs. These pieces are in our same color family I've been working with so the mix and match theme continues.

The tee is CINO's Nessie Top, again. Instead of hemming the sleeves, I did little bindings. I also bound the neckline instead of doing a band. It is hemmed with the double needle, which I must say I had been avoiding lately, but she performed beautifully today. She is a fickle thing and this knit from Girl Charlee is quite thin so I was nervous.

The shorts are really Twisted Trousers made before the turquoise capri ones. These were my muslin made out of some lightweight denim. They were worn 3 or 4 times and then Elena tore both knees in
the same day. I hemmed them by making facings and adding little vents at the sides.

The embellishments were done with freezer paper stencils and fabric paint. I sponged on a few colors last night and then added the embroidery this morning. It's like grown-up coloring and it's fun to do.

That's the first 2 days of work. I'm hoping to do some sewing every day and post at least a couple more times this week. Enjoy your week!

Spring Essentials to Mix & Match

I am still committed to not purchasing any clothes for Elena with very few exceptions - socks, jeans (which she doesn't like anyway) and winter coats being the main ones, and possibly swim suits. We do have some ready to wear items handed down to us, but the goal is to sew most everything and be smart about it. I strive to make pieces that Elena will like and will wear a lot. I also don't want her to have so many clothes that each hardly gets worn. While I enjoy making them, it feels wasteful to me.

Her spring wardrobe really started with February & March's Project Run & Play outfits. (February 1, February 2, & March) Then I ordered some more fabrics that would fit in with the purple, green, coral, pink, and turquoise that those outfits included. I'm also considering the fact that Elena really likes to pick her own clothes out now, so I want everything to coordinate as much as possible so it's easy. She may still look ridiculous sometimes (I'm cool with that) if she puts some of the prints together, but otherwise, I hope she'll look pretty good no matter what she picks.

Those are our 3 new pieces I'm showing you today. The pants are the Titchy Threads Twisted Trousers again. I like the 5-pocket styling options with the simplicity of a knit, pull-on waistband. I used floral stretch twill from Girl Charlee.  These are the 2T again, with 2 inches added to the length (at the lengthen line mid thigh). I didn't use any piping this time but added a bit of coral ribbon to the front pockets and back yoke. Elena hates them. She actually cried and begged for leggings. They aren't really that heavy so I'm hoping she'll try them again when she is in a better mood and not being such a threen. They fit her very well.

Next up is the Sofilantjes Otium Sweater in it's most basic version in size 2. I used scraps of green sweater knit left from her big sister's sweater 2 winters ago so they can sort of be twinsies if big sis will allow it. The fabric is from Joann's and has held up great on Olivia's sweater. Being so close to Lake Erie, we'll warm up slowly in the spring and still need sweaters in the morning and evening until early June. It's neutral enough to be versatile.

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As you can see here, she can bend down perfectly easily so hopefully she will accept these pants even though they aren't leggings.

And finally, Elena's favorite new piece - the heathered lilac peplum tee. I used the GYCT Designs Tinley Tee in 3T that I've used several times before. I shortened it and made up the difference with a ruffled flounce that is twice the width of the bottom of the tee. The puffy, gathered sleeves and a skirt are so girly and just what this princess loves. It looks allright with the floral pants, but not as great as I'd expected. A darker purple might have been even better I suppose, but I also bought this same cotton/spandex from Girl Charlee in coral so there will be other tees. Elena prefers this top with some leggings.

I'll be back next week during Kids Clothes Week. I'm planning on a pair of shorts and a tee at the very least, but possibly more. Will you be participating and if so, how are you incorporating the Wild Things theme? I'm not sure how wild I want to get yet, even though I've seen so many inspiring posts.

Pernille Pencil Tunic - A little sewing therapy

The level of crazy got a little too high this last weekend, so I got all the littles in bed, made sure the bigs (teens) were good, and headed down to the basement sewing room. (My poor hubby was still out there dealing with crazy.) There were many interruptions, late into Saturday night, but in the end, it felt so good to make something useful and pretty for someone I love.

My oldest, Olivia,  turned 17 last week. It's pretty unbelievable to me. I'm starting to really feel like my days with her in our household are numbered. I know I don't have much of this phase left. But I've had enough emotions this weekend, so before I start crying, let me just tell you about the tunic I made.

This is pretty much just a shortened Pernille Pencil Dress by Maria Denmark. I won my choice of patterns last year through Skirt Fixation's Challenge Create: Adult Edition. I haven't been too happy with my mid-section lately but I thought maybe I could pull off this dress for myself in sweatshirt fleece since it's thick and not clingy. But alas, it wasn't stretchy enough and therefore too small for me so I asked Olivia if she was interested. With a couple of tweaks, and the removal of several inches of material, it became a pretty cool tunic for her.

If' you've paid attention to all my posts about her clothing choices, you know that I'm lucky that she always chooses modest, conservative clothing. I never have to worry that she will wear a ridiculously short skirt or low-cut top. While her skinny jeans are a little baggy and she never wears leggings without being covered, she still is an artist at heart and likes interesting clothes. She enjoys the design process and has good ideas.

It was her idea to add some kind of bands/facings and also her idea to use the triangle knit that arrived from Girl Charlee last week. It's a perfect match for the navy sweatshirting also from Girl Charlee last year. I threw in a few fun stitches from my Singer, and there you go.

This stitch looks like a blanket stitch, #23 on my machine. It's intended use is for applique. I used it to join all of the raglan sleeve and body pieces. After sewing the seam, I pulled on the 2 pieces to expose the stitches and then ironed it. I think it's cool and it's a bit stretchy so that is what I was really after.

 I used #24 (same thing but spaced wider) for the decorative stitching on the neck band, and wrist and bottom facings.

The back of the dress has darts. They do help a lot with giving it some shape. But I admit, I was being lazy, and kept the darts from my size that were already sewn so they are a little widely spaced for her. 

The triangle knit is quite a bit thinner than the sweatshirt fleece of course so I thought facings would work better than just bands. I sewed the facings to the wrong side of the fleece and then flipped them to the front, ironed the edge under, and sewed them down with the applique stitch. Oh those sleeves, they taught me a good lesson. I thought I was being all cool and finishing them so cleanly by doing the cuffs in the round. But then there was no way to sew down that top edge 5 or 6" up the arm. I had to rip it all out and open the sleeves half way up to do it flat. It bothers me that I didn't foresee that. It also bothers me that there has to be a seem inside that cuff, but I will live.

Well we are both immensely pleased I'd say with this tunic. I can tell she loves it. She is wearing it today with a favorite scarf, gray leggings and the messenger bag I made her last year. The brown sandals would probably not be her first choice but she always gives up shoes and just wears sandals for Lent. Since this February was the coldest EVER on record here in northeast Ohio and March hasn't been kind either, she did wear socks with those sandals some days. She just wanted you to know that the sandals aren't part of the look. And hey, she let me put her face on the blog!

Besides enjoying getting away and sewing a bit Saturday night, I got to enjoy seeing her wear it all day today. And that is the best part and helps wash away some of the drama of the weekend. I predict the need for much more sewing therapy in this coming week so stay tuned. I'll be back.

PRP March - Reversible Knot Top

A quick look through Elena's closet reveals that she already has 8 everyday dresses, 3 fancy dresses, and 4 twirly skirts for this spring/summer. So even though I had two absolutely perfect, coordinating prints that I wanted to use to make Jess's Knot Dress, my OPD (obsessively practical disorder) wouldn't allow me to do that. Judging by Elena's appetite, we're heading for a growth spurt so I'll save those fabrics for a dress version later this summer. For now, we have a fully reversible knot top and some capri pants for this month's Project Run & Play challenge.

Both fabrics for the top are quilting cottons from Joann's. The floral one is a premium quilting cotton and has more weight to it. The geometric one is lightweight, and unfortunately, Elena doesn't like it much. Sad face. To make it fully reversible, I sewed the side seams of the outer and inner and then placed one inside the other. I sewed around the entire top edges first. After trimming and turning and topstitching that part, I worked on the ruffle and hem.

I cut a strip 2.5" high and double the width of the hem for the ruffle. I sewed it into a loop and pressed it in half lengthwise before I gathered it and basted it to the outer piece. Then I pulled the lining all the way up and over matching the side seams and pinning my way around. It makes a funky looking donut like thing. I left a 3" opening and sewed all the rest of the way around. After trimming the seam allowance and turning it, I closed the opening by topstitching once all the way around. But it doesn't make Elena love the other side any better. She would only flip it over for a few seconds so I didn't get many pictures of that.

As you can see, I made some edits to the design. Besides making a top instead of dress, I also skipped the back opening and knot. Elena is just so narrow I a) didn't think she'd need it and b) thought it would overwhelm her slim body. I like it simple like this, but the ruffle is still a nod to the skirt.

Pants have been a sewing struggle for me. I've tried some of the blogland favorites and haven't had much luck. Without naming names, they are always too big, even when I make ridiculously small sizes. I have found a great pattern here in the Titchy Threads Twisted Trousers. I made a 2T out of some stretch denim bottomweight from Joann's. There is a shorten/lengthen line mid-thigh so I took out 3 inches there to make capri's and still have the seams twist all the way to front and center. It makes a very cool affect when highlighted with piping.

 My error was in not adjusting the length of the rise for her typically 4T height. I will do that next time. So you can see her underpants popping out in the above picture. Instead of doing a knit casing with the elastic inside, I found matching elastic at Joann's and just used it straight. It is so soft and comfortable. Just look at all that cool piping. And below is one of the rare pictures of the reverse side of the top.

 Look at the flexibility in that ankle. Anyone else thinking I have a little dancer or gymnast here?