Sailboat Pants

Size 4

I love the look of these pants but sadly the smallest size off the pattern I have is still a tad too big for my little girls.  M was swimming in the pants when I had her try them on yesterday.  I might try using wider seam allowances when I sew another pair and see if that helps with the fit.  I should have taken a picture of the inside.  I sewed at my parents' house yesterday so I took advantage of the serger and finished all the seams and the inside is as tailored as the outside!

I've been hauling patterns/fabric back and forth to my parents' house trying to get excited about sewing fall clothes.  Eh, it hasn't really happened.  I signed up to play the Stash Game over at sewingmamas so that's put any plans of starting fall sewing into a holding pattern until Sept.1.  I do have a few projects to tide me over...a backpack for M for Kindergarten and finishing a smocked top.  The backpack is cut out but I need a few things from the fabric store (piping, heavier interfacing, buckles) before I start on it.  The top's smocking is done which is half the battle.  Now I need to cut out the other pattern pieces and sew it together.  I haven't tackled blocking and sewing a smocked insert yet.  Usually, I hand that off to my mother and let her do it.  It'll be fun to to work through the process and learn how to do it myself.

Angie from Brooklyn, Revised

I had one problem on my second attempt.  Originally, I had the sleeves cut from the same color as the body but after a mistake while sewing them on I had to scrap them.  The pink fabric was from an old shirt of mine and there wasn't enough yardage to cut another set out.  Boo hoo. So I grabbed this green from my scrap bag and I think it worked out fine.

 

This top fits better than the my first attempt even though it's not laying completely smooth in the pictures.  Miss Malone was more than happy to wear the shirt and pose for photos but she did a lot of silly contortions in between that wrinkled up the shirt.:)  Since the last one was a little too big, I took my pattern pieces and cut off the seam allowances.  Also, while sewing the side seams this time around I took it in some right under the arm pits.  When I gave the shirt to M to try on she told me, "Mommy, it needs a butterfly or a flower on the front!".  Yes, Miss Malone it does.

Angie from Brooklyn Muslin

My first attempt at this shirt...

Using the book Sewing Clothes Kids Love I traced off the front, back, and front binding pieces from the Brooklyn Tank Top and the front and back pattern pieces from the Brooklyn Shrug.  I'm a little rusty after not sewing for over a month and it showed.  What should have taken me 1-2 hours to sew, took me most of the day.  My first mistake...sewing the front piece of the shrug onto the wrong place on the back.  If I'd bothered to look in the book, I wouldn't have done it!  My second mistake was forgetting to place the hook on the walking foot onto the needle screw.  I didn't realize that until I was almost done with the top.  Whoops!  That explains why the walking foot wasn't "walking".

 

The top is too big because I traced a larger size than what M usually wears.  Looking at the pattern pieces, the tank top looked too small in the 98/104 size.  I can't stand to spend time making something (even if it's only a muslin) and have it not fit because it's too small.  Based on how it turned out though, the 98/104 would have been just right.  Live and learn!  I'll do a few modifications next time.  I'd like the back seam to have a little curve to it and for the sleeves to be more cap like.  Also, it would be fun to add an embellishment to the front seams.  Maybe some ric-rac?  M likes the top despite it's current flaws so I guess I need to get to work on attempt #2!

Getting Organized before Jumping In

I've traced a few of the patterns that I have on my to-sew list but that's it for any sewing related activities.  Instead, I've spent the last few days organizing various "hot spots" around the house.  One in particular...the garage.

Saturday, my husband and I took almost everything out so we could de-clutter and clean. 

We discovered a few items that had gone "missing" including a baby carrier I had borrowed when Miss M was a baby and thought it had been returned.  Sorry Jenn!  We ended up with a load that's bound for the dump and have several bags filled for the next charity that is picking up donations.  The kids can now all easily access their bikes and toys and there's even room to park a car if we were so inclined. 

I don't know about anyone else but it's hard for me to jump into a new project when there's junk everywhere.  To me, the mess clutters up my mind because I have a tendency to fret over all that needs to be done and I don't have the mental room to plan/execute a new project.  And with a house full of kids, tiny areas of clutter have a way of exponentially increasing until they threaten to take over the entire house or in this case, the garage. 

With the garage taken care of, I'm hoping that Wednesday I'll have time to cut into some fabric and start sewing.  I have an idea on how to recreate this top...

...with the merger of 2 patterns I already have.   I'm trying real hard to cut back on purchasing new patterns and fabric and to instead work with what I have on hand.  I'll let you know how that goes...I'm expecting a rather large order from Chez Ami any day now!*blush*

My Fall Sewing Plans...Kind of, Sort of

I've been digging through my fabric stash and perusing all the patterns I have trying to come up with a plan for my next few sewing projects.  I really need to branch out and start sewing for myself but it's satisfying to sew for the kiddos since fit isn't quite as hard and the amount of time/fabric required is significantly less. 

Also, our couches are looking pretty forlorn.  After all, with 4 kids and one gigantic indoor dog you can't expect the furniture to look brand new.  I've been meaning to tackle slipcovers for oh, 5 years or so.  I'm convinced that this winter will be the year I start  accomplish that goal.  But back to the fall sewing, here are my starting fabrics...

I ordered the green animal print fleece a year or two ago because I thought it was cute.  Last fall, I considered making a hoodie from it but the little girls had ton of hooded sweatshirts.  Luckily growth spurts mean they don't have a plethora of hoodies so I'm thinking this pattern: 

06/09 #8

Technically both little girls are in a size 98 but I've never had an Ottobre Design pattern be too skinny so I think if add a little length to the body and the sleeves I'll be okay. 

The rust is a a bottom weight and I'm thinking pants.  Whenever I originally purchased the rust and fleece fabric I was thinking of making a mix-and-match fox/outdoor/fall/hunting themed "collection".  In the spirit of this line from Gymboree...http://www.gymbohaven.com/foxnewline.htm.  Obviously, I never got around to it  and neither of the girls need an entire collection of clothes for the fall this year but I'm still going to make something from it.  I haven't decided which pants pattern.  Possibly the Oliver + S sailboat pants or maybe these...

01/10 #13

I'll use the brown knit that is in the fabric photo for leggings, maybe these since they are a little more interesting that regular leggings...

01/10 #18

The green knit will become a basic long sleeve shirt with perhaps some fun embroidery?

 

A green shirt will go with rust pants and a pair of pants from the acorn print corduroy.  I'm considering trying this pattern for the pink woven print...

01/08 #16 

The solid pink lycra would be for a regular old long sleeve t-shirt.  It could be used for layering under the print blouse or on it's own with the acorn print.  It would also work under this top from the recent Sew Beautiful magazine...

 

made out of this...

I'm not doing a SWAP but rather a few pieces here and there that will help expand what the girls already have.   Cool weather is still months away but it's nice to have an idea of what I'll be sewing.  There's still at least 2 months to enjoy the beach like B...

 

eta:  Here are a couple of pics for madebymum  from an Ottobre Design issue to give you an idea of what the pattern sheets and instructions look like.

I'm back!

We arrived home from our almost month long journey last week and are right back into the fast lane of life.   I had a fabulous time on the trip.  Here are a few pictures from it with the kids wearing clothes I've sewn.  If you're interested in seeing/reading about the trip in it's entirety, I kept a separate blog for that:  www.siestasandtravels.blogspot.com

K at City Museum in St. Louis, MO

Kids with their Great-Grandma

The morning the above picture was taken, we were at my cousin's house eating breakfast.  She knows I sew and had asked P if I ever sewed for him.  He tells her that I made everything he had on.  I walk in and my cousin is telling me how impressed she is with my sewing and that P had shared that I sewn the entire ensemble he was wearing.  I turned to P, "I ordered those shorts from Old Navy!".  He mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "How was I supposed to know?".  The tag that says Old Navy in the shorts perhaps?:)

 

K's swimsuit in action in CO

Garden of the Gods in CO

Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD

Now that we're back home and unpacked, my thoughts have turned to fall sewing.  K and P are pretty much set at this point.  The little girls have plenty of clothes but they're a random mix of hand-me-downs and sale items so there's not a real sense of mix-and-match unless you're pairing tops with plain jeans.  I've been digging through all the OD issues we have and going through my fabric stash trying to pick out a few pieces to sew that will bring the clothes the girls have together.  When I have a semblance of a plan, I'll post it!