Moving on

We wrap up ballet on Friday, continue on with soccer, and have introduced track into our schedule.  K has made her school's track team which translates into practice every day after school, a trip to the running store for specific running shoes, and purchases of compression shorts and a shirt to wear under her rather skimpy, not well fitting track uniform.  Too bad I couldn't have made her uniform! 

On the sewing front, I've been keeping busy.  I finished a Swingset Skirt for B to go with her blue floral top.  I also made a pair of Sailboat pants for M & B out of white denim that I had received from a lady at our church.  Now I realize that white pants + M and/or B = pants that won't stay white long but I figure the pants can always be bleached if they get stained too bad.  Plus, the white pants will look so crisp and pretty against their tops I made...at least until they go play outside in them!




I also have one Jump Rope dress in view A cut out.  It's a potential Easter dress for M or B.  My mom pleated some fabric I brought her that is supposed to be BK's Easter dress.  Realizing I have about 3 weeks to smock the dress and sew it means that it might not be ready in time.  My back up will be another Jump Rope dress in a to be determined fabric.  I'd like to say that I'll be making my dress and something for K but I think what I have planned is enough for my official to-sew list.  Unofficially....we'll see what happens!

Birthday Season Begins...

with MG turning 6 today!

Birthday Shirt made by Grandma based off of a Sailboat Top

Usually at this time of the year we are in Florida for the week.  MG has celebrated each and every one of her birthdays there.  But this year, between having a middle schooler who really doesn't need to miss a whole week of school and my in-laws not renting a house in Florida this March, celebrations are taking place at home.

MG was disappointed at first but then came the realization that she could take a treat to school on her birthday to share with her classmates and have a party with her friends.  She's chosen Chuck E. Cheese (a place I swore I would never enter again but you have to humor the birthday girl) and we're having the party tomorrow evening.

I'd told her that she'd have her cake and presents at the party but couldn't let her actual birth day go by without doing something special.  Late last night after all the kids were asleep, I baked cupcakes, made a tutu, and a doxie necklace so she could have a little celebration this morning before daddy left for work and the older kids went to school. 

Last night's work=

Nothing says "Happy Birthday" like a cupcake for breakfast

Tutu from Little Things to Sew

Doxie Necklace from Wee Wonderfuls

The Doxie Necklace is a little rough.  Poor MG was beset by an earache Wednesday night so neither of us got much sleep.  Trying to hand sew the dachsund at midnight last night when I was already sleep deprived wasn't the smartest thing to do but I wanted her to have it this morning.  The look on her face when she saw it was priceless.  She quickly asked, "Can I wear it to school?  You know, we're allowed to wear necklaces to school!  Please, Please, Please!!".   Off to school she went in all her birthday finery.  The exception being the tutu which will be worn tonight at her ballet class.

One birthday almost done...only 3 more to go!

Icecream, Oliver + S Style

Back in January, I went to the dollar sale at a local consignment shop.  Poking around and enjoying my free time with no little persons in tow, I stumbled across a men's button down shirt that I had to have.

Navy Blue with little aqua and green butterflies!

With some spring-like temps last week putting me in the mood for warm weather sewing, I knew that an Oliver + S Icecream top would be perfect.

Unfortunately, even though the shirt was big and offered a lot of material to work with, the size 5 pattern pieces wouldn't fit.  I played around with it and decided that if I made the yoke into 2 separate pieces (front and back) and cut the back panel and back yoke with the buttons running down the middle I could make it work.  And I could save myself a few steps by using the existing hem. 

I had to remember to add seam allowances to the now existing shoulder seams and I ended up having to add a little bit to the bottom of the back yoke piece to get my buttons to be in the right place.  I don't know if I could duplicate what I did ever again, but here's what I ended up with...



Miss BK was not a very cooperative model today.  She was more interested in chasing the neighbor's 2 year old granddaughter around. 

That's the best shot of the back I could get while she was wearing it.



If you look closely, you can see the shoulder seam.

It was nice out for picture taking but by the time we got back from a fabric store run for my next project the temp had dropped by 15 degrees and it had started to rain.   I'm ready for warmer weather!

And the Saint Patrick's Day Giveaway Winner is...

Kristen who said, "Cindy: I was looking at the Lisette Flickr group last night! I would make the Traveler Dress first...or the Porfolio tunic. Liesl showed some really cute alternate views on her blog yesterday... "

Congratulations Kristen!  If you could email me your shipping info (meinen1997 (at) cavtel (dot) net), I'd appreciate it.  I tried to email you this morning via the email info on your profile page but it came back as an invalid mail box.  Thanks!

Hopscotch Meet Up with Tutorial

Ever since finishing K's Meet Up tunic and realizing that I had enough left over fabric to make a similar top for one of the little girls, my mind has been envisioning this:



It's really simple to do. 

I started with the Oliver + S Hopscotch top pattern and cut out the yoke, back, sleeves, & binding from a knit.  The front panel I cut from a woven (AMH voile) adding 4 inches (2 inches on the fold) to the width.

I stitched the front yoke and neckline together exactly as the pattern says. 

I finished the lower front of the yoke with a zig-zag stitch.

If I had a serger, I definitely would use it here!

Next up, I did a rolled hem on the top edge of the front panel.

And here!

I sewed 2 lines of gathering stitches near the top of the front panel, about an inch/inch and a half in from the sides and pulled them up.

I marked along the yoke's edge 1/2 an inch up with a disappearing ink marker and then pinned the front panel on top of the yoke.  The rolled hem should be right against the marked line.

Make sure your gathers are distributed evenly!

I then sewed the panel to the yoke with a straight stitch, using my presser foot as a guide against the rolled hem edge.

From this point on, I was back to following the directions for the Hopscotch top.  I used the seam/overlock stitch on my sewing machine to sew/finish the sleeve and side seams.  This is especially important when using the voile as it has a tendency to unravel.  It would have been a lot quicker if I'd sewn this at my parents' and used my mom's serger but I made do with just the ol' sewing machine.

Voila!  The Hopscotch Meet Up!



Saint Patrick's Day Giveaway!

Remember back a few weeks ago when I babbled on about the Lisette pattern and wasn't sure what size to order?  I ended up buying both size ranges.  However after all the feedback on the forums and flickr group & comparing the finished garment measurements to clothing I wear, I'm confident that the smaller range will work for me.

What to do with the 4 patterns I have in the larger size range?

GIVEAWAY!!!

To celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, I will be giving away all 4 of the size 14-22  Lisette Patterns to one lucky reader.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me which pattern you would make first.  The giveaway will be open until 5:00pm EST Sunday night and is open to everyone, no matter where you might live.  I'll announce the winner Monday morning, March 21.  Good Luck!

Oliver & Otto Picnic Outfits (named per M's request)

Whew!  I finished the shirts on Friday with the last button sewn on during M's ballet class.  I had 2 Swingset skirts cut out but was only able to complete one to meet my self imposed deadline of Sunday afternoon.  The little girls graciously agreed to model the outfits with only a small bribe (a touch of blush on their cheeks) before running off to enjoy the nice weather.



Both shirts are from Ottobre Design, Issue 01/10, #15 "Vaahtokarkki" gingham blouse.  I made a size 104 for both girls.  The blue floral shirt is made from Lisette Lawn and the white/red polka dots is a quilting cotton.  I really like how the blue shirt drapes and how the lawn fabric lends itself to the gathers.  But I also like how the quilting cotton is crisper and the small hem was certainly easier to do on that shirt. 

"Vaahtokarkki" gingham blouse and Oliver+S Sailboat Pants

The pants were sewn last year and were a little big on both the girls.  What a difference half a year makes!

"Vaahtokarkki" gingham blouse and Oliver+S Swingset Skirt

I used a cotton plisse print leftover from a nightgown I made in 2002 for the skirt's lining and thought that it would be fine.  Unfortunately, the print shows through a bit.  I might go back and take the skirt apart and cut a solid white for the lining but realistically, it'll probably stay the way it is.

I did make a few minor changes to the pattern.  1)  I cut the frills an inch longer than the pattern piece.  2)  I lined the yoke following these instructions.

My attempt at a closer shot of the ruffle thwarted!

I'd  like to thank Sandra for doing the sew-a-long on her blog Sugar Cubes and Spice Cake.  Without having her sew-a-long as a motivator, I don't know that I would have gotten around to sewing this pattern up.   Thank You!

And now off to tag hundreds of items for a consignment sale...bye-bye sewing time!

Sew-a-long Progress

I'm participating in the Ottobre Shirt Dress Sew-a-long over at Sugar Cubes and Spice Cake.  Sandra's been posting step-by-step pictures which is helpful.  Today I got a little tangled with the collar binding and being able to look and see what exactly was meant helped me overcome my mental block.  

Twice now while working on my shirts, I made it to the end of a seam before my bobbin thread ran out.  Twice!!  Usually, I'm smack in the middle of a tricky part when that happens.  I've also had a light bulb moment.  When gathering the front panels and ruffles, I realized that if I knotted the strings on the ends after I gathered the sections that it would hold the gathers in place.  Well duh! Why didn't I think of that before?

I'm sewing two shirts (one for B and the other for M).  I have a feeling they're going to fight over who gets the blue one made out of the Lisette lawn fabric...

Meet Up, mostly done

My mailbox has been empty, no goodies delivered on Friday nor Saturday.  So, K's new shirt is done with the exception of the snaps. 

Ottobre Design 01/11 Meet Up Tunic #33

I had thought that I had a good match in my stash for the ribbing but I didn't.  The blues I had were either a bright royal blue, a blue that was almost gray, or baby blue.  I looked in the local fabric stores and still couldn't find a good match.  Color matching is such a funny thing that I didn't trust ordering off the internet.  In desperation, I looked to the pile of clothes that reside in my closet waiting to be made into something new.  An old t-shirt of mine was a better match than all my other options.  It's not perfect, but I think it's good enough.

I love the combination of the 2 fabrics, City Weekend Yellow Gold Cafe Dot Interlock Knit and Anna Maria Horner Little Folks Voile Little Honey Ink.  I'm thinking of using a different pattern to make a similar top for either M or B with my left over fabric.

The pattern is pretty much straight forward.  I didn't run into any diffculties making the top.  My only problem was that I traced off a size 152 and it's a little large on K.  A 146 would have been a better fit. 

Hopefully, my snaps will make their way here today, along with the Passport Dress & Jacket pattern.

eta:  The snaps arrived yesterday evening and I'm too lazy to write another post just to share pictures of K wearing the top...



The snaps are lighter than I expected but it's finished and K likes it.  Good enough for me!

Lisette Fabric

I've been trying to rein in my fabric buying until all my stash can be stored in the drawers of my sewing room but I couldn't resist when I saw that our local JA's had the Lisette fabric in stock.  I went ahead and purchased the blue medallion print sateen for my Passport Dress.  And because I liked the way the lawn felt, I grabbed a yard.

I also picked up some other fabrics for pants/shorts for the 2 younger girls:

Linen lycra blend and 100% cotton ripstop (?)

And lastly this print for a Jump Rope Dress:

I had B with me and she kept lobbying for some pretty obnoxious prints.  "But Mama, it's so PRE-E-E-E-TY!"  "Don't you think it's bee-you-tee-ful?"  It took a ring pop (for her) but we made it out of the fabric store. 

Waiting, Tracing, & Researching

I've been working away at K's new top and it's basically done with the exception of the hem and snaps.  There is no place locally that stocks colored snaps so I had to resort to the internet to find what I needed.  I chose a yellow and hope that the color is as good a match as it appears on the computer screen.  The snaps should be arriving any day now.  As should my Lisette patterns and the Kwik Sew swimsuit pattern that I ordered last week.

After months with only one child participating in extracurricular activities, we've entered the Every Night is Spoken For Season.  P is finishing up basketball (2 more weeks) and has started soccer practice.  K has been attending spring conditioning in hopes of making her school's track team (3 weeks until tryouts).  M has ballet one night a week.  B is the only one with out an activity.  We tried ballet with B back in the fall.  DISASTER!  This picture sums up her feelings toward ballet...

"Don't make me do this!"

Whereas M really enjoys it and didn't appreciate taking a class that included B.

B would hassle M while the latter tried to listen and do exactly what the teacher asked.  And BK did her own thing.  Yes, she's only 3 (almost 4) and what can one really expect?   B is not like her 2 older sisters who loved ballet from a young age.  She's happiest chasing her big brother around the backyard with a yellow, plastic bat.

During the day before practice runs start, I've been tracing new patterns off.  I have the Oliver + S Ice Cream top size 5 traced and also the "Vaahtokarkki" gingham blouse from 01/10 Ottobre Design in a 104.  I'll be participating in a sew-a-long for the blouse here that starts March 5.  I had fun with the last sew-a-long I did and find that the motivation is a great way to clear items off my to-sew list.  I haven't decided yet what fabric I'm going to use but at least I have the pattern traced!

I've also been doing some research/mental planning for a tutorial I'd like to put together.  I impressed with those who are constantly posting new tutorials on their blogs.  It's a lot of work!  There's a dress that K likes that I'm trying to recreate.  I already have a name for it...the Olas Dress but that's about it so far.:)