All That Glitters for PRP

This week's Project Run & Play theme is All That Glitters. Elena is all about the glitter and glamour these days, and purple and pink. She is really lucky that I have such a ridiculous stash of fabrics, trims, and clothes to upcycle. The only thing I had to buy for this outfit was the glitter elastic. So we are all happy with this outfit.

This has become Elena's favorite pose. She is hilarious. I'm just glad when she is willing to take pictures and keep it fun. So anyway, the skirt is self drafted with a yoke and a gathered on skirt. It is a simple style to make and flattering. The fabric is corduroy given to me (Thanks again Mrs. M.) and fulfilling all of Elena's dreams of pink and purple and my dreams of warm and no ironing. The elastic was Elena's idea and I dare say it was a great addition.

The bolero was made from a hand-me-down novelty sweatshirt with sparkly snowflakes on the front. It is a modified version of McCall's 6914. I didn't make the band ruffled like they did but otherwise, it is the same shape. It's warm and cozy and works well to cover her arms because the t-shirt is short sleeved so that we will be able to wear it this summer.

 The t-shirt is a modified GYCT Tinley Tee, agian. Is that 3 in a row?  I think so. It just goes to show that you don't need to own a lot of different patterns if you are comfortable with a little frankenstein-ing. This one is the gathered sleeve again, but without the elastic inserted. I did a lettuce hem instead and love how they hang. I made the sides straight down instead of mashing it with the Nessie like I did last week on the fringe one because I plan on her wearing it tucked in most of the time. Instead of a neckband, I did it as a binding since that gives a little dressier look too.

But the biggest change to the t-shirt pattern, was to move the shoulder seam 2" forward and then widen the top of the front shoulder pieces so that I could gather it on. I love how sweet it looks. It helps that this fabric is a rayon knit with lots of drape. In it's former life, it was a maternity t-shirt.

So there we have 3 more pieces that will carry into spring and summer. Thank you to Project Run & Play for the inspiration. It's been nice to get creative and make things that make my little girl so happy.

Cosplay - Twilight Sparkle

There is nothing quite like the Project Run & Play themes to get me creating outside my box. Elena is absolutely thrilled that I decided at the last minute to play along with the Cosplay challenge. She is a big fan of Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony. I didn't even realize when I settled on this idea that we have not only the Equestria doll version, but a couple of pony versions too.

We had to do a really quick photo shoot under not great circumstances - no time, no light, early morning, only 5 hours of sleep for me... I was not hopeful. We did our best to have fun with it.

 Here are the characters in case you aren't familiar. The bright colors are fun, and the shapes are nice and simple. I was able to use bits and pieces from the stash and purchase nothing.

The t-shirt is a mash up of my 2 most used t-shirt patterns for children: GYCT Tinley Tee and the CINO Nessie. The top half is the Tinley and the chest down is the Nessie. I love the Tinley's gathered sleeve option and the Nessie's just enough hi/low hem and swing shape. This is now THE perfect tee in my opinion. The neck fringe is something I had been thinking about and then See Kate Sew happened to do a tutorial very recently. Great timing. I think it's really fun. Elena was sad that I didn't make a pink bow like Twilight Sparkle has but I think it's more versatile this way. The fabric is leftover scraps of Stenzo jersey from Mable Madison.

This skirt really cracks me up because it's a huge departure from my usual style. I find it amazing that I even had these fabrics around to play with. The skirt itself was a polyester knit top my mom bought at the thrift store and gave to me because it had a million seed beads in many strands forming an attached necklace. I cut off all the beads for a future use and threw the shirt in the stash thinking I'd probably never use it but that I'd keep it around for a while just in case. The ribbon and glitter embellished stretch mesh matched perfectly. I bought about a half yard piece from the thrift store for 50 cents not knowing what I'd ever do with it, but I knew Elena would love it.

For the skirt pattern I used a pattern piece from a dress, but modified it enough to not name it. I just needed an idea of the top curve for about a half circle skirt that would be about 10" across. I folded the edges of the netting under and sewed them down with a double needle to keep it stretchy. It is hemmed with the double needle as well. The waistband is a separate casing with 1/2" elastic. She loves it!

She was really not into the pictures today, but I was happy to get any at all. She mostly watched TV while I tried to get her to look up once in a while. You know how it is. Am I going to offer her marshmallows and such at 8 in the morning? I didn't resort to any bribes and we got out the door on time so it's all good. See you next week for the All The Glitters theme. Lucky girl is getting 2 glittery outfits.

"Nothing But Knits" Challenge

This Project Run & Play theme of Nothing But Knits is my jam. Knit clothes are my favorites and definitely Elena's favorites too. They are so easy to wear and so easy to sew. Tunics and leggings on Elena are top of my list for what to dress her in for preschool. They are comfy, inexpensive, functional, and help her be self-sufficient.

I wanted to try a different shape on her this time. She's so thin I wanted to see what she would look like in a rounder shaped tunic. I used a standard t-shirt pattern (the GYCT Tinley Tee) but redrew the sides to curve out a couple of inches. The body of the shirt is made of a cotton lycra repurposed ladies sized mock turtleneck. It has been transformed from the dowdy to the cute. The striped sleeves and pockets are cotton lycra from Girl Charlee. There is elastic in the hem to draw it in, but still pass the sit on the floor criss cross applesauce test.

The pockets are a fun touch and were inspired by Elena's love of a stuffed owl toy I made her years ago. She has been playing and sleeping with "Who-eee" a lot lately so I found a template online and cut up a bunch of scraps and appliqued them on by hand. Honestly, I had to do it by hand because that whole part was an afterthought. She had already worn the outfit with plain pockets once before we had that idea. My favorite part is the blue sequin eyes.

The leggings are plain brown Laguna Cotton Stretch Jersey Knit. Nothing fancy about them, but so very soft, comfy and useful to her wardrobe.

Now for Who-eee. He is made from an old fleece jacket with a broken zipper and a bunch of odds and ends and some crocheting. He was completely free-formed, improvisational kind of sewing. That is so much fun for me. That was pre-blogging days so there was never any thought of making him picture worthy.

And now more pictures because she was in a ridiculously cooperative mood and that is rare.

Thanks for reading. The contestants did an amazing job. Be sure to cast a vote and comment on their hard work. I have to go decide on my favorite now and I don't know how I'm going to do that.

Lady Skater Goes to Downton Abbey

What's today's date? January 28th already. I am just barely squeaking in my Sew the Show project. January's theme is one of my very favorite shows - Downton Abbey! I love everything about this show and will be so sad when it ends this year. Thank goodness for Amazon Prime so I will be able to watch it forever and ever.

While I'm not a very formal person, at all, I love the dress and manners of the show, and who doesn't love a good English accent. I find myself using words like golly and quite and wanting to dress for dinner. I love how elaborately beaded but still delicate the ladies' dresses are. Of course, I have no purpose in my SAHM life for things like that though, so I made a more basic dress that can be dressed up or down.

I just recently bought the Kitschy Coo Lady Skater pattern. Who knows what took me so long to do it. I usually just hack stuff like this, but this really is better than any of my previous attempts. This pattern is well worth it. I only made 2 modifications. First I added 11" of length at the lengthen/shorten line of the skirt piece. I like this tea length because I don't trip on it and I don't have to hold it up with one hand while trying to carry the laundry up the stairs either. I can walk out to the garden in the morning without getting the bottom wet with dew (you know, when spring and summer return eventually). It may not be the most popular length, but it serves me well and I still get to feel all swishy and elegant.

The second modification was to shorten the bodice an inch. This fabric stretched downward so much I had to. Speaking of this fabric, I may have nightmares. It is an organic hemp knit from Girl Charlee last year. It feels amazing and it's organic so I love that, but it is thin and stretchy with no recovery to speak of. It's also a good thing I had a lot of it, because it was cut so incredibly off grain that I had a huge trapezoid of fabric, not a rectangle. It was a beast to sew, but I persevered and wound up with a lovely dress, so I'm pleased. Quite pleased. (hee, hee)

It will be good this spring summer with sandals. I'm sure that's how it will mostly be worn. I'm a little more downstairs than upstairs, if you know what I mean.

Back to my hacking tendency, I went rogue with the lisette/Butterick 6183 pattern and made the top out of a knit. My fabric is a gray/black/silver polyester knit from Fabric.com (I think - it's been a while). It's medium weight and pretty stable so I thought it could handle the structure. I sized down, but could go even smaller if I try it again. 

Besides sizing down, finishing the neckline becomes an issue. On the original pattern, the front piece is lined and the back piece has a facing. I just cut one front piece to avoid the thickness of 2 since my fabric is already of good weight. Once it was all together, I laid it out and traced my own facings for front and back. I stitched them on and understitched and tacked at the shoulder seams. 

So now that I know this is doable, my plan is to do this again with not so thick polyester fabric that doesn't press well and mash it with the Lady Skater skirt and make an actual dress instead of layering it like above. I love how the necklines and sleeves matched up so perfectly that I can wear it layered and no one can tell that it isn't just a skirt and top. And yes, it is killing me that my skirt looks so wrinkly at the bottom. 

I think I'd like it in a thick french terry with 3/4 sleeves at least. Then I can also just do bands at the neck and sleeves. Or I could just do what I did with the Lady Skater and suck it up and buy the pattern because really what I want is the Victory Patterns Lola, but I'm over budget on pattern buying lately so a hack it will have to be. Do I sound mental? I just might be.

Thanks for checking out my Downton Abbey looks. Next month's Sew the Show focuses on Mad Men so that should be fun. 

Butterick 5679 Draped Tunic

2016 is off to a slow start for me as far as blogging. The sewing and making is still happening, the pictures and writing is not. We are being slammed with snow yesterday and today, the kids are all home from school, and I've got the itch to actually post something so here is my stripey draped tunic using Butterick 5679.

Yeah, my eyes are closed, oh well. I made this tunic back in late November and am trying my best to remember what I can tell you about the pattern. The only thing I remember is that I should have made the binding on the back piece quite a lot tighter so as a result, it was big around the shoulders. Instead of unpicking it (lazy me), I just took it in at the raglan seams instead. So lazy, but effective.

The fabric came from Girl Charlee last year. It's very thin cotton spandex. It worked fine for this, but of couse it's thinness made it a pain, not to mention the stripes. Not the easiest choice, but I really liked the colors and was intent on using it somehow.

We have received a foot of snow already since yesterday, and as you can see, it's still coming down. (Also, it's only 9 degrees.) This is great news for my sister and her kids who are flying up from Florida later this week. They grew up here so the kids really miss snow and are excited. Not me although I had a really beautiful drive taking Andrew to swimming this morning. There is something so amazing about the silence that a storm like this brings. The roads weren't clear at all, but there wasn't much traffic and it was truly beautiful.

The main reason I haven't blogged much is because it's impossible to get pictures lately. No matter what I tell my various photographers about composing a good shot, they still manage to grow trees out of my head, or get ugly backgrounds. I give up. I still think that this pattern is a good one and deserves to be made up and worn a lot. There are several other variations including a cowl neck and different angled hems. It just runs big is my only caution. You can see below that the side seams on this one hang lower, and they are supposed to me several inches lower, but I didn't have enough fabric so this is how mine is. It's fine with me.

So I will be staying in today, making soup, and only venturing back out to pick Andrew back up from practice. Keep warm and keep safe, wherever you are.

More & Less in 2016

Do you get excited about the New Year? I often treat it like no big deal, but this year feels different. I feel more compelled to put some serious thought into the coming year, lest it slip by un-noticed. I don’t want more of the same old, same old. I want this year to be special. So I’ve put together a list of things I want LESS of and MORE of in my life.

1. LESS Stuff – The clutter growing in my house and the clutter growing in my mind both have to go. Even though most of the extra junk in the house is hidden away in the attic, the basement, and the closets, I still want to get rid of it. I want to pretend I live in a tiny house. I want MORE open space and lightness. I want to detach from material things even more.
2. LESS Worry – I will not allow myself to worry about the future, about my children, the bills, all the sadness in the world… I want MORE trust, MORE faith, MORE joy. I give all the troubles over to God.
3. LESS food. Yep, just less overall eating. We eat well around here. We eat clean,  homemade, often homegrown, gluten-free (3 out of 5 of us), and delicious. I just eat too much of it. I know I can do with LESS food. I want MORE energy, MORE yoga, MORE walking.
4. MORE organization – of the stuff that gets to stay in the house and of the stuff in my head. This may require some furniture swapping or repurposing as well as more self-discipline. Ouch, it hurts already.
5. MORE creativity in many ways, but definitely in sewing ways! I hope to do interesting projects that push me to learn new things. Last year I tackled zip flies and buttondown shirts. 2016 will be the year of the welt pocket! 

I've never done a year-end round up post, but I do think they are a good idea for a couple of reasons. First, I have gained quite a few new followers recently so I thought it would be a good idea to show some of the highlights. Second, it is so beneficial for me to look back through the year and see what stands out and think about what to do this year.

The following represent my very favorites. Some are favorites because they feature a technique or pattern or fabric I love. Many are featured because they have been worn so much that it deserves to be mentioned. 

January was a good, busy month for sewing producing lots of well loved clothes for Elena. These all include some fun handiwork with reverse applique, crochet, and a freezer paper stencil. Click the picture to go to the post.

Otium Sweater with reverse applique

McCall's 6785 with crochet trim

Freezer paper stencil tee and yarn/bead embellished skirt

February was still bitterly cold outside but I escaped by thinking about summer and sunshine. I love the colors of both of these outfits. I especially love that the carnival printed dress was a window valance I found at the thrift store. 

Caroline Party Dress

Bow Back Otium and Tiered Skirt

March was a slow month, but did result in one well-loved piece for Olivia. We had fun collaborating on this one. Anytime she actually wears something I made for her, I call it a win.

Pernille Pencil dress turned tunic

April showers brought out the need for flowers before May. I just couldn't wait after the longest, coldest winter in a while so I made flowery Twisted Trousers and some pieces to mix and match.

Spring Essentials to Mix and Match

May brought on the nice weather and brought out the summer clothes! I sewed a lot, but these are the most worn pieces. Most of these include some kind of upcycled fabric along with pattern hacks. I love changing patterns up to suit my needs.

Maternity skirt to Japanese pattern shorts

Hello Kitty Gumnut Dress Pattern

Izzy Top in knit and a recycled scarf

Kimono Tee color blocked

June was another very productive month of sewing filling in the gaps in Elena's wardrobe. These are the pieces that were worn the most.

Flowery shorts and sweet halter

More Twisted Shorts and a foxy tank

July wasn't a month for much sewing. Summer is a busy time and I like to take the time to be outside as much as possible. I did however, cross a major item off my sewing bucket list by making myself a buttondown shirt to sew along with Sew the Show Parenthood.

Sewaholic Granville in gingham

August and the return to school is always inspiring for me. I tried hard this year to plan Elena's wardrobe to be very comfy and very mix and match. This month I found time to add hand embellishments again and that made me very happy. 

All the stripes

Hand-sewn bindings on a modified Nessie Top

Embroidered skirt and a Mini-Sutton blouse

September allowed me to cross off another bucket list item. I sewed jeans! It wasn't really that hard. This was my third zip fly, and I think I've got the hang of it now. It's good not to be afraid of things. Now I have choices. I don't really have much trouble buying ready to wear jeans, but knowing I can sew my own, is pretty empowering.

Butterick Jeans

October was a good month for creativity. We had gorgeous weather the whole month. My sister was in town for a visit. I had successful sewing experiments. It was a good month.

Rose embellished Tinley Tee

Self-drafted Circle Shorts

November was a dud. I sewed a little, but mostly unblog-worthy nothings. I spent quite a lot of time on this jacket and am proud of myself for making it, but I admit I haven't worn it once. That's partly because I'm not sure how to style it, and partly because it's just a bit big all over. I find the waist length awkward for most of my wardrobe. So no link here. If you  really want to read about it, you'll have to search the archives. Lol. I also made myself quite a few t-shirts, but there wasn't anthing special to them so I never photographed them.

December was much more fun than November. I participated in a very fun blog tour called Sew the Show: 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon. I made a couple of looks inspired by the movie Princess Bride. I enjoyed this challenge so much. This pink Bimaa has been worn so much already it's crazy. Andrew's performance season hasn't begun yet, but I hope he'll wear his black buttondown as much or more than his ready to wear one with the too short sleeves. He also said he would be willing to model for me again so now I'm thinking he can be part of my January look for Sew the Show: Downton Abbey. We'll see if I can get him to leave the house for pictures next time. (Both pictures go to the same post.)

Prince Humperdinck in a pink Bimaa and velvet skirt

Marco Shirt 

Well that was the longest post EVER! I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that you may have MORE or LESS of whatever you desire too!