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.

Slow Sewing - Hand Embroidered Knit Sally Tunic

This past Kids Clothes Week I made 8 pieces for Elena and 2 for myself. After all that, I took a couple days off from sewing. But I can never stay away for long.

This little tunic was made using the Sally Dress pattern (my third I think) but I used a knit for the top. I still lined it (same knit) so that the backside of the embroidery wouldn't be irritating The bottom half is cotton voile from my inherited stash. This top is light and breezy. The other obvious change from the Sally dress pattern is that I did large pleats instead of gathers. I made it as long as I could with what fabric I had left but this tunic length is confusing to Elena. She would prefer it as a dress I think. That's an assumption based on how much she argued about having to wear shorts or leggings under it.

The embroidery is from this book and adds a sweet folk touch. I'm just mad that I didn't get it in the center somehow. Not sure how that happened. Is it better to embroider first and cut the pieces out afterward? Seems more fool-proof that way and I am feeling quite the fool.

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.

Add caption

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.